He gave her a bland look, before nodding to the priest. "His summoned goons. Sure the demons are great for bolstering numbers, but they get bored and gossip worse than ancient washerwomen. I don't recall which ones, I just remember overhearing a bunch of demons bitching about getting pulled from the blood war to help some human summon his god.<br/><br/>As for the other parts, maybe so, but at least make it known that unharmed sacrifices are worth more. Maybe not much, but even a few gold would make most willing to hold off amusing themselves for a while.<br/><br/>Other rumors you probably haven't heard, that the coffers are starting to look a bit lean, and that we are all going to head over to the site to drop off all the sacrifices. That we aren't getting as many captives as required, and the leaders are desperate to boost the numbers, through any means. Putting those two rumors together, like some of the smarter ones have been, and you start getting desertions, and I am betting you already have noticed some of them trying. Sure, they claimed to be heading out after villagers, but..."<br/><br/>He shrugged, before continuing. "And you might be running out of sacrifices faster than one thinks. When I was ran out of the last town, I overheard some guards talking about your group, hence why me and mine showed up. They were nervous you might start drifting in their direction. Nervous guards tend to hire adventurers. I don't think I need to finish that thought, do I?"