"To build a society that reconciles the public sphere for multiple sentient species, some of whom are inclined to eat one another, you'd best go with a leader who can draft engineering diagrams. Lacking that, find a lawyer who holds a patent on a repeating crossbow. With me you get both!" 

- Tufimatix Kantankeran, Last Chancellor of the Sunterranse Federation

"This is no ordinary Horde." 

- Estante Trallan, High Diaphonia for the Sunterran Legion's Strategic Warfare Branch

THE HEROES’ JOURNEY

Where are you? Let’s see… you lived in the Ordinary World, digging ditches for a war on Sentar. Then the "Call to Adventure" came. Whether it was your orders to look for a certain Moon Elf or getting kidnapped by space spider pirates… you’re in it now. The current stage, judging from Lieutenant Felcorte’s constant weeping, is the "Refusal of the Call” – how you are dealing with that remains to be seen… So, onward! 

You are slaves. Stripped of your possessions and denied your dignity. All you are equipped with are your wits and your skills.

So, tell me heroes, what is best in life? 

Shroktath

1. To sate the lusty pleasures (blood, wealth, money) that stir hot within him

2. (Secretly, still) To be a paladin of the Temple of Heironius.

3. To have a home and purpose, something like he used to have

Luckums

1. The sweet whispers of a stolen ancient arcane secret.

2. Not being seen by the hateful eyes of others.

3. The taste of flesh when nobody is watching.

Khalid

1. To make and build and do with my own hand

2. To be in the company of a band of brothers

3. The sight of the Middle Sea from the hill above Jendouba across my family farm.

Basile

SHRAKTOTH: You are seated at the front next to a Gob. You suppose it has a name, but it thinks it is funny when it soils itself, and you want very badly to kill it, so you don’t care about its fucking name. Dreek, the Hob leader, is seated directly behind you. He regularly kicks the bottom of your bench, and more than once he has sicced an Orc overseer on you. Death is too good for him.

Shraktoth waits for his moment and head-butts Dreek. The Goblins love it. A pattern settles in.

LUCKUMS: This is kind of fun and everyone is so nice. The Goblin sitting next to you is Glenn. Glenn likes to talk but nothing he says is remotely comprehensible. The only thing you know for sure is that he is psychotic, even for a Goblin. It’s hard not to flirt with him! Bronwyn and  Lewis are sitting in front of you. She’s cute and he’s funny. Connor and Dakota are sitting right behind you. He’s quiet (which is weird) but she likes the “Would you Rather?” game [HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS GAME?]. 

Luckums will use the game to guard her mind against Skitterex's unwelcome infiltartions.  

BASILE: You are accustomed to sorting through a rich variety of smells. You are familiar with Goblin Holes. Neither of these two experiences prepared you for the bewildering assault on your senses of being trapped in a hold full of feral Goblins, while being seated directly in front of a sweating ogre. A point of future inquiry: the extent to which Goblins consciously and unconsciously communicate to one another through odour. You are sitting near enough to Coalman to hear him whistling or humming happily to himself at times, as if he were on a stroll through a park.  

Basile realizes that Coalman's increasingly good natured demeanour is a coping mechanism. He seems well equipped to accept his lot.

KHALID: You are worried about the Lieutenant. He has barely spoken to the troops at all beyond yelling “Leave me alone!” when Luckums asked if he would like her to sing a song. He is no longer weeping as much as he did at the beginning, and the Gobs no longer find it quite as funny as they did. You actually think he started making them uncomfortable. However, he mumbles to himself and occasionally makes little keening noises. Dreek still imitates him and laughs at him, which enrages you to no end. Death is too good for him.

So… three questions…

Luckums: Where is Jeniffer and how do we rescue her? Where's my stuff? I need spells! Where's my precious steel-stone coronet?

Shraktoth: Have I noticed are very secure or especially well-guarded? What is the extent of the hostility between the Gobs and the Hobs? Anything to give us a sense of destination? 

Khalid: What is the rough size and layout of the ship? What is the disposition of the crew? What makes it go?

Basile: Is there any obvious division amongst the crew? Factions Are their any weaknesses or need amongst the Neogi? WHo is the Orc headman and do they have any vices that can be exploited?

The way you see it, you face three major dilemmas...

You know next to nothing about your captors, your prison, or the terrifying and wondrous environment that you witnessed on deck. You are exhausted, starved, and beaten. And you are outnumbered and surrounded by your mortal enemies.

Which dilemma are you going to address first? There is a logic to what you should choose first. Depending on where you start and what you solve first, each of these challenges could become easier… or more difficult.

• Recruit “Stubby,” “Stumpy”? (“what the hell was his name? Uh, he was a Dwarf!”) does not seem to have survived the revolt. He’s not back in the hold.

• TEAM FEDERATION: Cpl Khalid, Grd Basile, Pte Shroktah, 1st Thaum Luckums, Lt Felcorte, and Pte Coalman

• TEAM HORDE: There are 13 Goblins, 1 Hobgoblin and 1 Ogre

• TEAM SPELLJAMMER: Orcs, Neogi and Umberhulks!

• You are kept close to 0 Grace – give or take 1d4 – through lack of sleep, lack of food, overwork, and regular beatings.

• Luckums in particular is being kept from getting enough sleep and is plied with drugs that swell her tongue and addle her mind too greatly to allow her to prepare or remember any spells. (-2 to all INT modifiers). There seems to be two other Goblins being treated the same way.

• Luckums, you know that your cat is somewhere on board. You just don’t know where.

• Luckums, you successfully resisted two strong compulsion (mind-affecting) attacks since the revolt.

• Each of you has been subject to your thoughts being probed. Sometimes you’ve been able to resist. Sometimes you haven’t. 

• None of you is sitting together. Each of the surviving Federation-types have been surrounded by Hordelings. They are curious about you, but their C.O. doesn’t like them talking to you, He does approve of them harassing you.

• The Hobgoblin Sergeant is named “Dreek.” He is ambitious and violent and clever.

• Hobgoblins are known for being very unrelenting disciplinarians, especially valued for their ability to keep goblins in line

• Dreek loudly declared himself to be “Fist” (a junior officer) not long after the revolt. He has insisted that if the gobs obey him, he will make sure that their “New Master” will let them all live.

• Luckums: You’ve noticed that the Goblins are not overly fond of Dreek. They complain that he has no imagination, and would never let them set fires. They call him “Dreek the Freak.” Not very creative, but it gets on his nerves. 

• When you try to speak to each other across the room, and over the general din, most of the time, the orc overseers end up delivering vicious beatings to you and your benchmate. This attention does not generally endear you to your benchmate. 

• The Goblin who engineered the little revolt when you first regained consciousness onboard, Jennifer,  is nowhere to be seen. 

• The creatures that have captured you are called Neogi

• Their leader is a cruel preening little creature called Skitterex. He is usually carried around by an Umber Hulk. At one point during the revolt you saw him riding on the back of one of the larger Orcs. You haven’t seen him since the revolt, but you can hear him screaming above decks, and sometimes, whispering to you in your sleep. 

• The ship is a “Spelljammer” called “The Inordinate Amount”

• If any of you hear one more Goblin song about disembowelling dogs, stomping on birds, or setting different things on fire…

Make Friends...

• Meet the Goblins of the Inordinate Amount

• The goblins were going after the Merchant. He had something special. They had to get it before the Federation did. 

• Jennifer, the Goblin Rogue who led the revolt was the source of the intel on the Merchant. 

• Jennifer killed the Moon Elf (before Dreek could interrogate him). He’s not happy about that. In fact, he despises Jennifer (probably because she should be the Fist! “Yeah, Freak’s gonna’ get Fisted!”

Regain Your Strength...

• The Lieutenant has been dominated (Dreek has not). He's Just an asshole

Figure Things Out...

• There is a single set of stairs leading onto the deck plus a cargo door, there is one door in this room. It leads to the cooking area and a crew area that is accessible from above deck.

• Six different Orcs have rotated through supervision of the rowing deck.

• Their gaze of an umber hulk causes Confusion

• Neogi are naturally poisonous slavers who see everything in terms of property

• Skitterex is a psionic adept of some sort - a specialist in mind-affecting magicks

• Your rowing steers and maneuvers the ship

• The trapdoor and cargo door leading onto the deck could be locked from this side

• Orcs have vizors to keep them from being incapacitated by the UH and to give Skitterex extra leverage over them; they also link back to Skitterex somehow

• All Neogi have the natural ability to compel others

• Skitterex is a “Mesmerist” - a specialist in hypnosis & compulsion

• The spelljammer is powered by a magical device called “a Helm”  

• Crew complement: 13 Orcs; 3 Neogi besides Skitterex 

• Four of the 6 orcs that rotate through the slave deck are pliable and could be won over against Skitterex

• There is only 1 Umber Hulk… the others are powerful illusions…

• Skitterex is a creature of habit. He neurally strokes your minds every couple of days, likely going through the ranks as he does so.

• He usually does this first thing in the morning to get a sense of your intentions for the day.  

Are we not mete, and worth, and measure

That you should have us as slaves...

Luckums -

I am an Agent of the Unspoken, and I think I am going to need your help.

My partner and I were looking for a Moon Elf, Asteri,  travelling from Sunfalls with an important package. Things got complicated. Asteri killed my partner, and I got overtaken by a Horde patrol. Long story short - I had to improvise. And then I had to improvise some more.

My goal was to get Asteri before he got to the other Elves. If he had, that would have been a Very Bad Thing. But it became a Very Worse Thing! Asteri is dead and Skitterex stole the package and brought it offworld! That’s opened up a whole new can of worms. Literally!

Now, Skitterex has gone and made things More Very Worse by selling what he stole! It had promised the package to an Illithid collective that financed its expedition to Sentar, and a lot more. Instead of delivering, it sold the package to a race called the Psulron. It thinks its clever for getting paid twice for the same thing. I’m hiding away on the Psulron ship to stay close to the package.

I hope you found the key I sent you and that you escape before the Illithid find out what Skitterex did. If not, and you’re actually an Illithid or a Neogi reading this… uh… you’re a bunch of jerks. We know what you’re up to and you better stop!

But, if you are Luckums, find Hooper Meadowtop on the Rock of Braal and tell him, “There are more worlds than this.” He’ll know what to do!

You are now all Deputy Agents of the Unspoken, once removed!

Love and Rockets,

Jeniffer

Finding allies and confronting our enemies - Corporal Khalid's Wardiary (Days 2 - 97)

Dakarday Umberweek Fharlanga in the 48th Annum Independencia

It had been several days on the Spelljammer suffering hunger and beatings at the hands of our Orc captors. This was not the typical captivity I had learned about from my boot camp instructor Sgt Macdonald.  Unfortunately, amongst his pithy sayings and rabid profanity he never mentioned how to handle mind-control and telepathy while staring into the infinite blackness of wildspace.  The endless days on the oars were spent trying to keep track of time, monitor the health of my squad by clandestine hand-signs and grunt and learn the patterns of our guards. I focused on my memories of the sunshine across the fields of Jendouba and also routine and rigour of assembling muskets and flintlocks.  The goblins that had been our enemies just days ago were in a similar circumstance.  The songs of the Sunterran army won the day out over their ridiculous songs of dog slicing and horse meat.

We decided that all of us from Sentar had to work together if we were going to escape these strange and powerful unseen creatures from the outer worlds.  Slowly and in painfully small steps, we convinced the goblins to work with us:  to re-build our strength with stolen food, to secretly scout the ship, to shield each other from beatings and to keep our collective morale high.  All of my squad performed bravely and with uncanny innovation.  Private Coleman was bearing up well under the relentless pressure but the LT had been fallen prey to the dominating powers of Skitterex.

About two weeks into that journey we met up with another ship and it resulted in some excitement among the crew.  In that time we learned the patterns of the orcs, the presence of the Umber Hulk and its minions the Neogi [The Neogi are the masters of the vessel, the Umber Hulk is the minion - DM].

It took us two months to bring the captives together except for the hobgoblin Dreek.  It was Shroktath that was the catalyst to defeat that monster and completely unite us against our captors.  He finished off that foe with his own broken oar.  This was enough to turn the orc guards Drog and Grunnel to our side and solidly rally the goblins behinds us.

It was Moraday in the month of Berrona.  It had been 97 days since we had begun that simple chase to find the lunar elf and became abductees in Wildspace.  Now we had two orcs, 13 goblins and an ogre and my squad with Coleman.  As my new platoon of Inordinate Mutineers was grabbing improvised weapons, tools and shields, I organized them quickly and called them together, “Now we take the ship!”

After the fight between Shroktath and Dreek, the captives slipped their bonds and chaos erupted.  Khalid had been thinking about how to organize this motley crew for over a month.  He grabbed a broken board and a burnt piece of flotsam.  He sketched his thoughts out quickly as the goblins were screaming and the orcs smashed random things.  He had spent hours on his oar matching up skills and personalities to best organize this crew to have a hope of making a team.  He thought about the spellcasters and bomb throwers, the fighters and the scouts. 

Once this improvised platoon was armed and focused on him, he would attempt to organize and direct their energies.

He sketched it out in seconds with a piece of charcoal on a slab of wood. 

In his mind's-eye, he could see some soft-handed staff officer labouring for hours with a quill and coloured inks.

After the fight between Shroktath and Dreek, the captives slipped their bonds and chaos erupted.  Khalid had been thinking about how to organize this motley crew for over a month.  He grabbed a broken board and a burnt piece of flotsam.  He sketched his thoughts out quickly as the goblins were screaming and the orcs smashed random things.  He had spent hours on his oar matching up skills and personalities to best organize this crew to have a hope of making a team.  He thought about the spellcasters and bomb throwers, the fighters and the scouts. 

Once this improvised platoon was armed and focused on him, he would attempt to organize and direct their energies.

He sketched it out in seconds with a piece of charcoal on a slab of wood. 

In his mind's-eye, he could see some soft-handed staff officer labouring for hours with a quill and coloured inks.

He knew it was for naught.  This platoon would disintegrate into chaos about ten seconds after he gave them any direction.

He knew it was for naught.  This platoon would disintegrate into chaos about ten seconds after he gave them any direction.

Getting whipped, not enough food or sleep, seated right in front of that asshole hobgoblin Dreek, and staring down a likely future of a life of slavery. There’s not much that could make me miss the homeless days before the army, but this did. I lost track of time. It’s hard to keep track of the days, what with the strange place we’re at and the rough treatment, but it seemed like months passed.

But that’s the bad. The good was my squad - best group I’ve ever served with. They really came through. Basil and Luckums were so great at using their skills to get us every edge they could. Sneaking off to get more food, rallying the Horde goblins to our side slowly but surely, gaining info. Luckums especially - ‘cause as bad as we all had it, she had it even worse. I think it’s because of the spellcasting, but she had it really tough from the guards. Still managed to get out and get every advantage she could for our growing squad. And Khalid seems to keep a clear head about him. I wouldn’t shed any tears if the lieutenant wound up dead, but I’d follow Khalid’s orders. I just looked for chances to help the best I could. 

Slowly, we gained a lot through their efforts. We found out that the lead slaver, food, increased strength, a stronger group ready to act, and info about our slavers. It was tough to get everything through a few words and gestures, but we did manage to figure that a good number ot the orc slavers might join us against our slavers. We figured that the lead creature, Skitterex, is a bit lazy - always reaching out to our minds at the same time, so we could learn to be ready. We learned that we’re on some sort of magic ship far beyond the sky, powered by magic (and, I guess, our blood and sweat). The slavers had only one Umberhulk under their control. Only one… There was some sort of goblin agent on board, who seemed to make a connection with Luckums? I’m not too sure about that last one, as I didn’t get much of a chance to talk with her. Lastly, Luckums found out where our gear was. That’s good. It was in a room pretty close to us. Also good. The bad news was, it was in a room filled with weird crawly creatures.

So, anyways, one of the things that kept me going was dreaming about getting back at these slaver bastards. Whenever I thought it was safe, I pictured myself popping the heads off our strange captors and watching their blood run through my fingers like overripe gujamellon juice. Dreams of cold cocking Dreek the Freak, also helped to keep me going, and these I didn’t make any effort to keep hidden from Skitterex, Dreek or anyone else. I could tell the goblins hated that asshole. That was probably my biggest part of the team effort - getting under his skin, getting some shots in, and getting on the goblins’ good side through it.

And then Dreek snapped. He somehow got out of his shackles, and loudly said to all that he knew what we were up to, and that he was going to put me in my place. I felt rage, and joy, and life flow through me all at once - what a rush! I snapped my oar in two, and it couldn’t have worked out much better - a butt end and a sharp end, enough like a spear that I felt ready to go.  One of my squadmates - in the heat of battle, I’m not sure who - managed to distract Dreek for a second. I cold cocked him. Better than sex? He got a shot in, but I took him feint high, come in low to the gut, and then spin round the butt end driving him into the deck like a hammer on a nail.

The goblins were cheering, [They chanted "Shroktath go-gath!" over and over again. - DM] we were busy freeing everyone. Khalid used his smarts - he’s good with machines - to get the two orc guards out of their weird helmets, and they seemed ready to help us. 

And now? The really tough part. Somehow, we’ve got to figure out a way to take down our mind-controlling, Umberhulk-owning slavers. And their spider pets. And their orcs. On a magic ship above the sky. Which we then need to figure out how to work.

The Heroes Journey - Friends

Indistinct goblin chatter is momentarily paused by the cracking sound of an occasional whip as a heavy pair of boots walks up and down, creaking the boards in the galley. "Row you shit piles!"

Dakota, one of the goblins behind me whispers: "Would you rather ah... loose a finger or an ear?"... "Really? cause I still got 10 fingers".

My tongue is so swollen that I can hardly breath, my head is spinning as I row. My mind is so... foggy. They are drugging me. Focus, what is the proper arcane for Giant Growth? I look around the room. My companions are still here, still shackled and rowing. Basile, Khalid and Shraktoth. I think I misjudged them. They are getting ready for something. I see Shraktoth being pestered by the Dreek again. "I'm the Fist now!" If only I could turn Shraktoth into a giant, it would be more like, "Dreek, this is the real fist". Mind you, he's pretty big already and probably doesn't need my help to smash Dreek. How long have we been rowing? Where is Jenifer? Skazz? The familiar bond is still there, but where are you? I bite down on the oar to focus my mind. Must get my mind cleared. Skitterex has been probing again today. Did he find out about my Steel Stone Coronet? Focus, this ship was powerful magic in it.

Dakota continue: "Would you rather ah..." I slump over with exhaustion and hunger.

-----

Hungry, tired, and scared, I see the watch running down the bustling street looking for me as someone shouts "The little green thief went that way!". I do what any civilized goblin could do in this situation, run. I bolt under a moving wagon, spring into an alley and shift the colour of my skin to blend in. Dead end! Shit, Cloth street is one alley over. The watch is not far behind. Think.. Think..

"Luckums is it?" Startled, I turn to peer into the shadows where some hooded figure remains unseen.

"Would you rather live out there in the open everyday, begging for what you need, alone and powerless? Or would you rather live in the shadows together with us, making an honest living?"

It's Fildops again. "I'm not a thief" I reply.

"Oh really? I don't think they would agree." 

I look back to where he is pointing and see that the watch has just turned the corner. 

"You know, for such a smart goblin, you are pretty stupid sometimes. You should know when to get help. Life's not fair, you need friends if you want to turn the tables".

-----

The rancid prison galley comes back into focus with a crack of a whip.

"Luckums... Would you rather... escape and be left alone floating out there in the wild space or die on this crowded prison boat like a rat?"

I see my cat snake around the boots of the many rowers, it hands me a fresh rodent treat.

I look over to Basile and my companions and whisper back to my chatty friend: "This crowded boat is not so bad.", "Would you rather follow that boring Dreek the Freak or watch Shraktoth smash his head in?" - Dakota giggles.

We are not rushing into battle this time. This boat is mine.

To pass the time, I imaging the freed crew of prisoners, running the ship. Alexis would be running the medic room. Blaine could setup security measures to protect our ship from intruders. Brendan on ordinance and Charlotte on repairs as a blacksmith could assist Basile in engineering. Connor would be in charge of the troops under the leadership of Khalid, drilling them to keep us boarding ready. The weapons team would consist of the Shannons and their Balista ready Gurunk. The mighty Shraktoth, whom is now revered by the grunts, would lead Bronwyn, Dakota, Glenn, Grunnel, Lewis and Veronica. They would ensure that none boarded our ship without paying a heavy price in blood first. Edgar would prepare feasts to celebrate our victories. All the while, within the private chambers of the helm, Skazz and I could pour over all the pillaged arcane secrets we would collect.

The Heroes Journey - Strength

I've been managing to keep most of the drugs in my mouth and spitting it out later. Skazz has been visiting me regularly with some snacks which I've been sharing with my new friends. The guards are well, letting their guards down. I've managed to resist Skitterex a few times. The Lt. hasn't fared so well, he is weak and has the eye that judges about him. Better to cut him like a dog and eat him than let those Neogi spawns use him as a spy. My companions have been busy. They have befriended many of the hordlings and gathered a lot of information on our captors. They think even some of the orcs might join our side when the time comes. The ship docked with another today. I'm not sure what exchanges happened but we are back to rowing and getting whipped again. The crew here is helping each other out and we are slowly getting ready to strike. I think the ship is whispering to me sometimes. He's coursing with energy. I have to find the helm. 

The Heroes Journey - Figuring Things Out

I've managed to slip my bonds now and then. Our gear is nearby but guarded my more parasitic arachnids. If we can take care of them, well have a chance to capture the ship. On one of my most recent runs, I crawled up inside of the ship to where Jenifer was hiding. I found a letter she left me. Apparently she is an agent of the Unspoken. Her partner and her were looking for that Moon Elf merchant we found back on Sentar just before being captured. The meeting didn't seem to be friendly because Asteri, the merchant travelling from Sunfalls, killed her partner and the package (my Steel-Stone coronet) ended up in Skitherex's claws. Mr. mercantile Neogi had promised to sell it to an Illithid collective that financed its expedition to Sentar but instead sold it to a race called the Psulron. What a worm Skitherex is. Supposed, once we get control of my ship, we need to find Hooper Meadowtop on the Rock of Braal and tell him "There is more worlds than this".

I guess I'll add that to my to do list:

1. Get control of my ship.

2. Find Hooper Meadowtop on the Rock of Braal.

3. Deliver a message to Sadore of the Lunar Elven Embassy in Riot's Gate from Asteri. "They know what's driving the Horde. They know what they seek. Take what's inside... Alert Sadore of the Lunar Elven Embassy in Riot's Gate. Our sphere holds the key."

4. Kill Skitherex, have Edgar cook it, feast.

5. Get my Steel-Stone Coronet back.