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The Foxen from the woods was a strange sight, even going beyond how she was a cross between a red fox and a human in appearance. She wore a green hooded cloak under her quiver and clasped bow, but under the cloak was hardly a speck of decency. Only the barest cloth to cover her delicates, a wrapping for the breasts and a loincloth, and a belt also carrying a a small leather pouch. A scabbard that held a knife was strapped to her thigh. Her feet went as bare as most of her, looking much like a cross between a human foot, with heel and all, but instead with four toes at the end, arranged like a fox's toes. While Engin was not expecting much from the witch of the woods, the obvious barbarity of the woman, and the pride she seemed to take in being at ease with it even amongst such civilized company, made him ill at ease in her presence. It did not help that she would often adopt a vacant stare, or glance to her side, eyes moving and ears swiveling to pay attention to that which no one else saw or heard.

"I hope you have found Elmgar hospitable, miss Meredith?" he asked with forced politeness, standing straighter and adjusting his shirt as if to demonstrate the importance of his noble clothing, with its silver threading and cloth dyed a fine velvet. She turned to the human, amusement in her eyes as she seemed to stare through him, not at him.

"Well enough," she said simply. "I have seen more curiosity than hostility, which is refreshing. I admit, I was surprised."

"Yes, well... they fear the Knockers more than you," he said with a frown, leaning forward and picking up the silver goblet from his well-polished table. He took a sip of wine, tilting the goblet, the firelight glinting off it, dancing like malevolent spirits.

"Of course," responded Meredith, a grin appearing over her muzzle that revealed those sharp canines, so different from the teeth of humans. She continued to stand, refusing to take a seat at the table. "And the cloistered mages would not help you."

He frowned. "Apparently not," he said, his tone darkening further. "The mages only responded that it was not their place to intervene in the duties of politics." He struck the table with his fist in rage. "Do they not realize that this mine could mean much for all of us? All this silver and gold, even out here! It would open new trade routes the deeper we go, and even the mages cannot avoid trade! These deaths are causing the miners to refuse to work!"

"Well, maybe most cannot. Some seem able to avoid this world altogether, trade and all." Meredith gave a small chuckle. "And why should I help you with these Knockers, precisely?"

"Yes. I've been thinking what would be a fitting, or at the very least tempting, reward for someone in your position." He leaned back, his face attempting to express decisiveness and instead accomplishing smugness. "A deed to a local property, signed in my name." He pulled out a small envelope from his vest, tossing it on the table. "It is to a large house, on the northern side of town. The owner was the previous manager of the mine -- he was one of the first targets of the Knockers."

Meredith bared her teeth once more, but not quite in a grin. "An interesting offer," she responded. "And a scarce one. However, you seem to assume that I will wish to stay in this town. Or you are giving me incentive to do so... to which I must question your motivations."

Engin raised his hands placatingly. "Come, come. If you truly do not wish to accept the deed, I will offer you some of the silver we dig from the mine, enough to be worth half the value of the property. It is a much flimsier reward, of course, but we have little enough to spare as it is."

She seemed to ponder that, staring at the deed. "I will consider which I prefer when the job is complete."

"So you will do it? You will stop the Knockers from destroying my mine?" He brightened at that.

"Rambunctious spirits are not only your problem, after all," she responded, turning and already heading to the door.

"I can send my guards to escort you..."

"That will not be necessary."

"But I think it is very necessary." His tone caused her to stop in her tracks and regard him. His expression had darkened, and he called aloud, "In!" As he called, two men entered from the doorway on the other side of the room, who apparently had been guarding the outside. They wore brigandine vests of fine cloth, longswords sheathed along their back, long dirks sheathed at their side. Both were human, the one on the left with short brown hair and the kind of face only a mother could love, with a bulbous nose. The one on the right had more handsome features, only partially ruined by the deep scar across his cheek and neck. "This is Hinsh," he said, the brown-haired man nodding, "And this is Ranyl," he said.

As he did, Ranyl gave more of a bow to her, almost seeming playful in the action. "A pleasure, I'm sure," he said, his voice sultry and pleasant -- or it would have been, to those that would have cared. Meredith's hackles raised, but not from fear. "You seek to hire me and then insist I have armed escorts? What game are you playing here?"

"No game. I am seeking to protect my property -- and you will be going deep into my most valuable property. I must be certain you will not be taking advantage of this opportunity for anything nefarious. Besides, they will at least ensure you get past the guards posted at the mine, who would be suspicious even if you came in with a signed noted from me -- I have trained them to be so."

She bared her teeth once again, her ears folding against her head. "They cannot deal with spirits! I cannot protect them and myself."

Hinsh stepped forward, his expression determined. "We can and will protect ourselves."

"Besides," said Ranyl with a shrug, "I'm not even entirely convinced that the problem is Knockers. I, for one, do not believe in them -- and whether this is the work of small creatures knocking on the walls or the work of regular men, I am confident my dirk can handle both."

Meredith just stared at the man for a moment, her expression becoming neutral. "Very well. You come on the condition that, should anything happen, you are responsible for yourselves. If you can't handle what's to come, it is because of your decisions, and I am under no obligation to help you." The two nodded, and she gave a snort before turning and storming from the noble's house, the two men clumping behind in their boots. The light of the lanterns barely illuminated their way, casting flickering shadows that may as well have been dancing shades ringing them, and occasionally a small glint of silver could be spotted within the wall. The mine-shaft was barely thick enough for one person to walk down, and Meredith insisted on being in the front -- after informing those following to be prepared to turn and run when she gave the signal. The Foxen had shirked her cloak at the entrance, the amount of body she showed all the more visible to the two men behind -- and Ranyl kept his eyes more on that than his objective, apparently the sort to find anything with a feminine figure to be worth fantasizing over. She tried to keep such things far from her mind as they strode deeper into the mines, sometimes barely able to fit through the hallway. Occasionally the scraping of a longsword against the wall would cause her to jump, and she'd once again question why they refused to leave them behind, with never a satisfactory answer in response.

One sound was not the sound of sword against wall, however; when the knocking started. It was dim at first, but became very noticeable as the knocking grew closer and closer, as if there were creatures behind the walls tapping the walls and moving towards the three. "Gods!" hissed Ranyl. "They are knockers! We should leave, before they get to the supports!"

"No," responded Meredith, her voice strong and calm. "You may leave if you wish, but they do not mean harm. They are announcing their presence and wish to communicate." She stood in the hallway, speaking words to the hallway in a language neither of the men could identify. They frowned and watched on uncomfortably. The knocking didn't stop, but neither did it grow louder. Eventually, she turned to the two. "They say we must go deeper into the mine, where the latest shaft was dug. They are weaker the closer they are to the surface, and have trouble speaking."

"We go where they want?" asked Hinsh incredulously. "We're not here to do what they want! We're here to stop them."

Meredith paused and glanced to Hinsh, her expression weary. "And if doing what they want stops them?"

Hinsh frowned in response. "They've killed good men in these mines."

"Men that carve the earth in return for coins made of metals found in the earth. If a race would carve your body with a knife, and wear your knucklebones as a necklace, would you be well disposed towards them?"

It was now Ranyl's turn to frown. "Knockers aren't the earth, they're in the earth..."

"For one that didn't believe they existed before we entered, you seem to trust the perceptions of frightened miners quite a lot," she responded, amused. "No, these spirits are closely connected with the earth. They seem part of the same group I've seen in this area -- spirits of the rivers, spirits of the earth itself. I do not normally see so many similar spirits spread over such an area, but they seem to be banding together, becoming like one another, for some reason..."

"And that is?" asked Hinsh.

"I intend to find out, where they can speak more clearly." She turned and continued deeper into the mine. The two glanced to each other, before continuing to follow her. They came to the shaft they were directed to, which opened into a large broad area, full of rocks with large veins of gold. As the three stood around, with the escorts marvelling at the visible riches within the rocks, Meredith turned to them. "Now go stand elsewhere and be silent. I must have full concentration." Hinsh and Ranyl nodded subserviently, even fearfully, in contrast with their earlier bravado. They gave her space and sat at the edges of the large room, as Meredith simply stood and stared into space, occasionally mouthing quietly some words. Ranyl and Hinsh took to whispering amongst themselves, fidgeting impatiently as time passed, dragging on into what seemed like an hour. Finally, her voice broke the silence.

"I do wish to thank you..." she said, turning her head to face the two humans.

"What?" asked Hinsh, looking up, eyebrows scrunched in confusion..

"For leading me here. I never would have gotten here without your escort." There was something in the vixen's tone, and especially her eyes -- they didn't match the expression of someone being grateful. "You little witch!" shouted Hinsh, his voice echoing down the shaft. "You're in league with them, aren't you?" His hands came up, pulling the longsword from its sheath, while Ranyl stared in disbelief. "As I said," the vixen said with a toothy grin, "Doing what they want can stop them." As she spoke, the knocking on the walls started again, rhythmically beating and echoing down the hallway. The air started to shimmer even as Hinsh ran forward, longsword up in the roof position, yelling as he readied a strike from his shoulder in a diagonal cut to the floor. His sword was stopped in mid-swing by a toe-claw that was larger than him. He tried to adjust his view, craning his head up and up -- but before he could see the tremendous vixen barely illuminated by lantern light, the foot belonging to the claws had lifted up, blotting out all the light, and descended. He tried vainly to thrust with his longsword desperately, but even the steel of his sword could not threaten to puncture the now-very thick pads. The black pad, however, was merciless in the force it brought on his body, and with the wet sound like a small insect being crushed, he was gone.

She turned to Ranyl, who had just seen his companion seem to disappear, just for the vixen to step on something on the floor. Cold sweat pooled at his neck when he realized what she had done, and he backed against the wall, arms spread to the sides. Meredith approached him, her gaze slightly amused as she stepped up to him fully, a hand coming up under his chin, a finger-claw raising his head. He didn't dare attack, fright still running through him when he realized her power. "Wh... why?"

"Because these spirits, I agree with," Meredith said simply, before leaning her muzzle up to his face. As she talked, her warm breath flowed against his eyelids. "You were staring at me pretty closely back there. Am I less attractive when you know I will reduce your little town to dust?"

"You can't! You..."

"I think you'll find me very capable of such a thing," she interrupted. "The question is just how loyal you are to your lord. Will you die for him?" Her grin returned, her sharp canines looking all the more predatory at such close distance. His hand lowered to his dirk, fingers close to the handle. Even through his fear, he could not help but notice the warmth of her body against his, even felt through his brigandine.

"I... no," he said, moving his hand from the handle as his will broke. "I'm not willing to die for him. I'm not!" He barely kept his voice from cracking in his plea, shaking as she didn't lose her grin. The shimmering returned, and he screamed.

A moment later, he craned his neck to see the much larger vixen, only he was not at such a dramatically small size as Hinsh was, instead coming up past her ankle. The sight of the looming vixen removed all sense of sensuality, as every part of her body now appeared a deadly weapon at once. He turned and tried desperately to flee down towards the shaft entrance, before fur and pads slammed in front of him, the footpaw's crash shocking as he fell to the ground, his longsword along his back scraping the floor. As he looked up, yelling in fear, the vixen knelt, her hand coming down to roughly wrap his body in her fingers, and quickly he was held completely helpless in her grip, with only his head above where the fingers were closed, arms pinned to his side. She lifted him to her muzzle, her breath all the more potent in its warmth as it flowed around him. Her voice was now all the more louder and deeper with the difference.

"You will not die for his sake," she said, her voice mocking, "But you MAY die for my own. If you try to escape me, you will die for stupidity's sake. Do you understand?"

He swallowed and nodded, and she grinned as she opened up her hand, rolling him face-down upon it, quickly plucking off his weapons, flicking them to the ground. He yelled in surprise as she then tore at his brigandine with her claw, managing to break the holdings for the metal plates, and the rest of his clothes were soon to follow. "More of you humans should go naked more often," she mused, "If just to remind yourselves how vulnerable you truly are." He curled up on her hand, whimpering. She reached down, tucking him into her leather pouch and walking down the shaft, the power of the spirits flowing through her. Elmgar was moving at its hushed, tense tone. The disaffected miners, forced to do little more than to spend what little they have brooding in the tavern, sat and idled away their fears. The beggar sat on the street not far from the tavern, rattling a small wooden cup. Women carried washed clothes to lines, and the general mood was quiet and hushed, as if the calm before the storm.

Then came the knocking. The ground started to thud throughout the entire town. All shouted, the drinking miners knocking over chairs, the women shouting, not knowing which way to turn. The beggar looked about in disbelief, his coins spilling from his cup.

Then the shimmering in the sky. Soon, all seemed... off. The trees outside the town seemed all the bigger, and distance seemed all the farther away. The thudding of footsteps was the next indication something was amiss, as the shape of a female Foxen loomed closer and closer to the town, her flowing cloak only adding to the perceived size of her -- if one were to measure from the perspective of the town, she would seem around two hundred feet tall. She paused before entering the town, staring at the town. For a moment, it was as if the entire town paused, breathless, to see what would happen next and unable to believe any of it was happening at all.

"People of Elmgar!" her voice boomed. "For long enough, you have run your mine. Your ore waste would flow down the rivers, the products of your greed would seep into the soil, your picks would score the earth. The spirits you have unleashed upon yourselves have decided that any attempts at warning would go unheeded -- and so, an example has to be set!"

As she spoke, she strode forward, her foot crashing down through a house. A panic spread through the town, all of the townsfolk attempting to find a way to escape the town.. Her every step demolished another town, heading straight to the tavern. The beggar looked up, gaping in disbelief as he looked up the athletic legs of the vixen. She stared down at the inn with domineering eyes, and as she stepped forward, her footpaw soon blotted out the sun as it hovered over the beggar. He yelled and threw his hands up, falling back as it loomed and then descended, crashing with great force, supporting the vixen's weight. He uncovered his eyes, to see the walls of the toes on either side of him, every fur strand seeming almost as long as he was tall, strong heat and scent emanating from all around him. As he peered up, he saw her face look down to face him.

"You, beggar. I have observed you in the night, as the bird that would perch above you. When I came close, you fed me crumbs, even when you had little. For that kindness, you will be my messenger."

Struck dumb, the beggar nodded mutely, crawling to his feet. As she spoke, her foot ascended, and she gestured. "Run, then. When you get to the trees, you will grow back to normal. No animal will hurt you on your journey." Even as she spoke, her foot poised in the air, and then crashed down into the tavern, dismantling it. Three miners clustered together inside were revealed, backed against the wall, even as the beggar ran for his life.

They pleaded, but she seemed to hardly notice. Instead, she leaned down, scooping all three in a single hand, moving it up to her muzzle and staring at them with large, golden eyes. "You miners, you pathetic specks," she spoke menacingly, every word vibrating the handpaw, sending all three off their feet whenever they tried to stand. "You feel because you have tools, you have power, and can take and trade what you will. Every time the supports broke, the earth swallowed you whole, showing how weak you truly were..." She grinned widely. "This is just a continuation of that demonstration." They screamed ineffectually as the large vixen's tongue came forward, sweeping all three up and drawing them within the maw. A wet gulp was their final death knell, and the vixen forgot them almost as quickly, turning watch the town, looking for those continuing to try to flee.

Many had managed to flee the confines of the town, and several paw steps ended their desire to flee -- along with all desires they ever had. Many didn't bother to look up to see the foot overhead, instead insisting to themselves that the faster they ran, the more likely they were to be able to not be stomped. Others turned and collapsed, attempting to ward off the oncoming foot by reaching up. Both types were ineffective and just as dead. Those who looked behind them had the chance to see the image of the towering vixen, plantigrade footpaws hide in the air, the four toes splayed as those black pads came down. She was quick with many, but a few she knew were more guilty than others of harming the area, and she pressed down slowly, letting them accept the weight of her pillowy pads slowly, helpless beneath their increasingly crushing weight, almost suffocating even before the weight became too unbearable for their bodies. After having dealt with all of those attempting to flee aside from the beggar, she took a moment to survey the damage, she turned to face the town, seeing tiny blotches of red that were once people within her footprints. Several houses had been demolished, the most prominent houses left being those that she saved for last. Meredith walked over to the estate of Engin, another wooden house collapsing under her knee as she kneeled. The guards she remembered seeing about the estate were no longer seen, either hiding in the few buildings that were left or having been among the victims of her footsteps. She reached down and started to tear at the size of the large stone estate, her claws making short work of the rock, as if made from a harder stone themselves. "Engin," she called out smoothly, her tone teasing, "I wish to discuss our agreement."

There was a yell from inside, and soon she caught her quarry, the tiny body of the nobleman between two fingers like an ant. He struggled against those large pads, yelling as he was lifted into the air. She brought him into view of one large golden eye, observing him. At this point, she could make out what he was yelling.

"...ake what you want! Anything you want!"

"I'm afraid that wasn't part of our deal," she said her voice booming around him, vibrating every bone in his body, his teeth chattering.

"Neither was destroying the town and killing my people!" he cried, his voice less indignant and more in disbelief.

"You told me to stop the Knockers from destroying the mine. I think we'll all see them stop at this point. Well... I'll see them. Even if you could, you wouldn't get the chance." She glanced down to one of the houses. She reached down with her free hand, fingers forming a cage around the house. She lifted the house up off the ground, uprooting it. As she hefted the house in one hand, she looked to her quarry. "I do think I'll take the house after all." Her gaze darkened, and the noble attempted one last plea. Her fingers closed around him, and she felt rather than heard his body cave. As she opened her hand back up, she gazed at the little smudge that had once been the nobleman that dared to offer the spirit-witch a backhanded reward. She wiped his remnants off on her cloak, looking down at the house and peering at it a moment, before shrugging and turning to the few houses that were left. Survivors peered at her from behind the windows, some even brave enough to try to sneak past the buildings, but they threw themselves to the ground and tried to hide in the rubble quickly.

Meredith reached up to undo the clasp of her large billowy cloak, looking to the people below. "Whoever escapes to survive will be a strong person indeed," she said simply, before pulling off the cloak with her free hand. She then threw it up in the air, the long green cloth blotting out the sun before landing heavily atop the town. The cloth was achingly heavy for those beneath, pinning those outside in the rubble, and stealing those within the houses from being able to escape. The vixen bared her teeth in one last grin before striding off, leaving naught but a cloak covering a broken town. She grinned and patted the leather pouch as she did, as if reassuring the human inside she didn't forget about him. "I will tell you, Ranyl," she spoke loudly, knowing he could hear her even if he could not respond in a way she could hear, "If you can remember your place here, you may survive a while yet. But you will not be seen again by another human for the rest of your life." So she strode into the forest, and indeed, her captive was never seen again.