Meet some goblins

Rasa studied the parchment as she walked along. She'd never gone anywhere where she'd had to use a map to find her way. Fortunately, so far she hadn't gotten lost.

This section of the city was older; while the road stones were clean, Rasa could see moss and ivy growing on many of the buildings. There were alcoves and stairways that were half-built over; larger roads had been built over winding paths, making her journey more and more confusing. But with the slip and the map she'd purchased, Rasa was able to find her way. Turn off a road, go down a hill, look under a bridge...

And there was a goblin encampment. Half a dozen tents squatted in the shadow of the bridge. Wide mats were set out, with wares being sold. Torches and campfires burned.

And of course, there were goblins. Not everyone was a goblin—there were a few humans browsing the goods for sale, and there were a few creatures Rasa had never seen before—but there were lots of goblins. They were short and skinny, and very often wearing only loincloths. Rasa was startled to see different skin colors; back on the farm she'd always heard that goblins were green, but there were also blue-skinned goblins, goblins as red as apples...

"'Ello, miss!" A goblin walked up to her, twisted face twisted even more by a grin. His eyes flicked up and down her form. "Need a guide to the Goblin Market? Just a few coins for one as pretty as you!"

Rasa felt her cheeks heat. "Ah, no. I mean. Here!" She held up the slip.

The goblin tilted his head this way and that. "Hmmm. What's this? Why is our water..." He blinked at her. "Why is our water drying up?"

"I don't know," Rasa said. "That is, um." She took a breath. "This was a quest in the Adventurer's Guild. Someone wanted to hire an adventurer...? To find out why the water..."

"Oh," the goblin said. He rubbed his chin. "Oh, well. We'll get to the bottom of this, don't worry! Oi!" He turned and yelled. "Oi! Who asked to hire an adventurer?"

A goblin merchant looked up. "Who asked to hire an adventurer?" he called. His customer took up the chant. "Who asked to hire an adventurer?!?"

Rasa watched, eyes wide, as the question bounced back and forth, goblins chattering and laughing as they called it back and forth. Then she perceived a different sound, a different word. It sounded like...'Specs'? "Specs!" "Specs!"

The one who had met her laughed. "Oh, Specs!" He nodded to her, as if sharing a secret. "Yes, don't worry. Specs will set this right."

The chattering died down, to be replaced by laughter and even applause. Another goblin walked out from under the bridge, the others cheering him and slapping him on the shoulders. He walked up to Rasa.

Rasa looked back and forth. Both goblins were green-skinned, both wore only loincloths. The newcomer was taller. Oh, and he had a satchel slung over his shoulder; he dug in the satchel, and he pulled out a pair of spectacles. These spectacles were perched on his nose, and he gazed at Rasa. "I am Specs."

It took a moment for Rasa to find her voice. "I'm Rasa," she said. "I um. I found. Did you?" She held up the slip.

Specs took the slip, and he peered at it. Rasa noticed that the spectacles had no lenses. "Ah!" he said. "Yes, of course! Oi, Scout." He nudged the first goblin. "You were gonna start an expedition, into the sewers?"

"Oh, aye." The goblin, apparently named Scout, nodded. "Almost ready, we can leave any time."

"Good." Specs nodded. "Asked for help from the human Adventurer's Guild, I did. Didn't know it would be this cute."

"Aye!" Scout said. "How 'bout it, miss, ready to help us out?"

"Um," Rasa said. "You're, ah...There will be a reward, right? And I'll go up in rank, probably?"

Specs straightened up. "Absolutely!"

"Then I'm your woman!" Rasa smiled. Dammit, her face felt warm again.