"The basic premise of In the Company of Ogres was always about regular people just trying to make a living. That is a theme that pops up quite a lot in my books, and a lot of those regular people also tend to be monsters. It was In the Company of Ogres where I really had my chance to first explore the topic. This is just a tale of working stiffs who happen to be goblins, ogres and orcs, and the trials and tribulations that come with the job. Also, it stars Ace, that most fearless goblin roc pilot, a character I've always been fond of"
— Author's Notes
Wizard Bait is a Comic Fantasy short story written by A. Lee Martinez and published in the 2013 anthology book Robots versus Slime Monsters. The story is set after the events of the novel In the Company of Ogres, where Glunkins the Goblin has been assigned to guard a Dragon Hoard from any potential thieves. Unfortunately for them, the dragon has a lot of wizard enemies who've come to retrieve their magical MacGuffins.
Wizard Bait provides examples of:
- An Ice Person: Ice Witch Besberdin is, well, a witch made of ice with the powers of "Ice Hell", having arrive to retrieve the Sword of Winters from Thusalah's horde.
- The Beastmaster: One of the wizards that shows up is a shaman with power over an army of badgermen, having come to procure the Bones of Swur from Thusalah's hoard.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Centurypedes are centipedes large enough to be used as a riding animal and a beast of burden.
- Boring, but Practical: Ace manages to undo the Shaman by essentially offering his badgermen a job at Ogre Company, claiming that they have a much better employment plan than whatever the Shaman promised them.
- Dragon Hoard: Glunkins and the rest of his party were hired by Thusalah to protect his treasure hoard when he's off at his "big dragon orgy party thing." Since the brood calling is happening with every dragon and they all have treasure that needs guarding, the entirety of Ogre Company has been shipped out to properly handle the workload.Thusalah: You make it sound so unseemly. The brood calling is a sacred ritual for the continuation of my glorious species.
Glunkins: No judgement. Do what you gotta do. - Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Since Sally is a Fiery Salamander, she easily manages to beat the Ice Witch Besberdin, reducing her to a heart-shaped lump of ice in an empty canteen.
- Evil Weapon: As a reward for his services, Thusalah gives Ernie a blood-red sword that screams every time it's swung and dooms its wielder with a terrible death. Considering Ernie is a skeleton animated by Necromancy, it's an improvement to the rusted hand-me-down sword he was using before.
- Necromancer: The Lich Lord Zarazath is a lich who uses his army of the undead to conquer armies (and raising them to further swell his ranks) who's come to reclaim an Ancient Artifact — the Pale Orb — that he claims Thusalah stole from him.
- Noodle Incident: We never find out exactly how Ogre Company managed to beat the Storm Mage. Nor do we know anything about the alchemist that was crushed under his iron golem, the "immortal war warden" pinned to the ground by over a dozen weapons, or the Naked Nutter they managed to tie to a rock.
- Rock Beats Laser: While Zarazath is undead and therefor can't die, Lewis and Martin get around this by crushing him under a large rock. Every time he gets back up, they flatten him again, eventually stealing the Magic Staff he uses to control his army before leaving him under the rock.
- Schmuck Bait: Thusalah keeps a lot of magical MacGuffins in her Dragon Hoard so that she could deliberately attract eccentric wizards who desire their power. She sees it as a public service to keep the wizard population low, considering they're all incredibly powerful and megalomaniacal.Thusalah: I've found that all you really need to do is collect a few enchanted baubles, sit back and wait for them to come to you.
- Weather Manipulation: One of the wizards that arrives is the Storm Mage, a weather-centric wizard who arrives to proclaim the Rod of Zorb from the treasure hoard.
