"When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk." - Tuco Ramírez, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
"Deserve ain't got nothing to do with it." - William Munny, Unforgiven
The Inordinate Amount is carrying you into the unknown. Obsidian skies beckon, streaked with impossible colours and a symphony of twinkling stars.
About a day and a half after Tumult sent you flying you begin to feel the ship slowing down. The temporary reprieve your oxygen supply received from blending with his personal atmosphere has passed, and the air is growing stale again.
You appear to be approaching a vast field of asteroids. Smaller rocks and dust arc around your ship’s gravity field, being spun into different directions by complicated algebra. But it’s not the smaller ones that worry you. They’re still far enough away. But that’s changing.
You here a chittering at your feet and you instinctively stomp, narrowly missing a neogi spawn. It hisses, staring at you defiantly as it walks away. That's probably why it missed Shannon Two skewering on a stick with two other twitching neogi babies.
"Oh, good work private!" Coalman enthuses, "That makes 6 today!"
A lot has happened since you came off Tumult's back.
Was it Tumult? Was it months of neglect by the former Neogi shipsmasters? Was it the gods of space travel? Whatever it was, the Inordinate Amount has an infestation problem. Tiny Neogi spawn, the size of a hand are turning up all over the ship. And the little blighters are smart.
Like most Half Elves his age, Felor Coalman was born into bondage. His Elven ears were clipped at birth and trimmed again at 13. He received his first slave brand at 6 months old; his first behavioural tattoo at 5 years. He worked most of his first two decades in coal mines that killed about half the slaves that went down the shaft. Hence his cognomen. He received his last tattoo at 56 – paid for with Dragon Fleet coppers in Röt Mantel, 10 years before the establishment of the Federation. It’s a stylized Hankuan ship, drawn with wings outstretched.
Three years before, he had been moved from Colonial Hills, where he was born, to Selunaport, where he was sold to a Kronos Dwarf lake galley. His move was part of a deliberate effort to break up over 1,000 Half Elven families following a revolt in which he had not participated. It would be 17 years before he would see his daughter again. She did not recognize him and he didn’t know what to say. He would never again see his wife. Not long after his one thousandth day on board, the ship was seized by agents of the Dragon Fleet collecting on the owners’ debt.
The Hankuo do not keep slaves. It was one of many cultural practices of the backwards lands in which they had found themselves that appalled and horrified them. Although their fleet pledged neutrality in regional politics, it was well known that any escaped slave that had supplicated to the Throne of Heaven would receive protection from the Fleet. All the chattel of Coalman’s vessel were released into the then no-man’s land of Lake Range as freedmen. Each of them was given fresh clothes, two pair of pair of sandal wraps, and a bag of lentils – a gift of the Throne of Heaven – before being sent on their way.
During the Wars of Independence Coalman worked as a longshoreman and mule skinner. Afterwards, he worked seasonally as a farmhand, forester and shipboard fish cutter. He eventually settled in Sunfalls, working as a porter. When the attack of the Horde brought him into military service for the first time, he was already middle aged at 66 years old. He is now 81, greying at the temples, his threadbare uniform mended and somehow clean. He looked sheepishly at his feet while you read his report of what happened while you were on Tumult’s back, waiting for his punishment.
Stopped unnamed Goblins from attempting to set fire to ship. Twice.
Stopped unnamed Goblins from cutting sails to make new uniforms for themselves.
Stopped unnamed Goblin from conversing with ornate box in helm room. Was spoken to by box. Found lock to place on door.
Stopped the L.T. from collecting Neogi spawn in his pockets. They were biting him and making him drool and flop around on deck terribly. He is resting.
Found Orcs packing to leave ship. Tried, but could not convince them to stay. “The Orcs are awful keen to disembark, sir. They say the goblins make ‘em nervous, and they don’t much care for the neoginni infestation”
Asked orcs to train goblins as Spacehands. Half of them have agreed. Training currently underway
"Them Gobs ain’t so bad once you get to know them. Funny little folk. Full of mischief. Just need to be kept busy, is all. They see you all as the authority on board. And when you left, well, it was play time. Connor did his best, I saw, before he joined in the fun himself. They remind me of my little grand-nieces back home.
“Uh, there is one more thing… Uh, the box in the helm room spoke to me. Didn’t mean to touch it, but I had to in order to get Pte Bronwyn off the helm. Uh, I kinda’ ended up having a long conversation with someone named Shilynn…
"I sailed a bit in my day. Not much mind you, but enough to know the bow from the stern. This here spelljammer, they call it, well, it’s nothing but an old galleon. Orindish, by the looks of her."
Coalman on Shilynn:
Shilynn was delighted to speak to someone in Elven. She nearly wept while she was correcting Coalman’s pronunciation.
She feels abandoned by her own people.
She’s very lonely. I know how she feels. She’s a slave – something to be owned and commanded. With no control over her own destiny.
Shilynn on Coalman:
He may not have magic flowing through him, but’s a natural helmsman
His thinking is clear and straightforward, if a little simple, and he is unflappable.
Bronwyn on Shilynn:
She sounds pretty
She said she doesn’t like goblins because she useta fight goblins. I told her that I useta fight elves but that doesn’t mean I don’t like ‘em. It just means they keep telling us to do what we don’t want to do. I want to be an elf princess. DON’T TELL ME I CAN’T BE AN ELF PRINCESS!!
Shilynn on Bronwyn:
Luckums and Bronwyn are the only goblins with whom she’s ever spoken.
I am speechless. Are all goblins like her? Like Luckums? I always believed the only thing they knew how to do was destroy.
You are in a crystal sphere. Not Between crystal spheres – that’s called the phlogiston. As near as you can tell, there are seven spheres. Six are known, one is called the missing or lost sphere. Each sphere contains multiple worlds, like your own.
There is a debate. Some say that there is an 8th sphere. Other’s say this is ridiculous because 8 is not a prime number. Advocates for an eighth sphere, respond that 8 is a lucky number, therefore they are right. If there were an eight sphere, smartass, where is it? Why hasn’t anyone ever found it? Well, you haven’t found your seventh sphere either, so why can’t their be two missing spheres? After all “2” is a prime number! Ha!... and so it goes (much of this comes from the novel and its exotic marginalia – which is in at least 4 different languages)
The sphere you are in is known as “the Shattered Sphere” in a massive cataclysm, millennia past. SInce then, it has been damaged even more during the Nyn’ylfen Wars, over the past 1,000 cycles.
A cycle seems to be something approximating a Senatrean year. The original name of the Sphere seems to have been “Magluon” – a name that predates the Nyn’Ylfen Wars (Knowledge – Religion… name echoes “Maglubyiet or Cinderfingers” god of the goblins). It is not clear whether the Nyn’Ylfen Wars are still ongoing. Magluon had one star at is centre, and multiple planets. The Shattered Sphere has two stars, and multiple asteroids and planetoids
You are able to determine roughly where you are and where you are headed. You encountered Tumult somewhere between two great asteroid fields. You are approaching the larger one, closer to the centre of the sphere. It is called the Grinder. Incredibly, it seems there are settlements marked on some of the asteroids and planetoids, as it seems that mining and farming are going concerns in this sector.
You appear to be headed or one called “Fort Kerium.” It is marked with shorthand for “docking facility, air, water, and supplies.”
You are confident that having stopped at the Fort, you would be able to re-find whatever trajectory Tumult had you on, if this were not the place.
The Orcs & HalfOrcs depart here
Humans, Half-Elves, lizardfolk, some indeterminate things and a few Half-Orc slaves.
If there’s a bright spot in the Universe, you’ve found the rock that it’s farthest from…
The sky is red, and everything is tinged. The air is dusty and reminiscent of neighbourhoods built too close to a tannery.
There are exactly five buildings in Fort Kerium,
One that looks as though it collapsed and burned down a while ago, though no one told it.
A carpenter and undertaker – with a garbage pit out back (there’s a hungry Otyugh inside that)
And the combination livery stable, water tower, dried goods facility, and transport depot bundled into one (from one whose docking towers you just descended). There’s a painted sign out front that says “Spaceport”.
Three great metal towers reach up into the sky. At the top of one of them is a spelljammer - The Golden Bough - shaped like a massive insect. It’s graceful, but it has seen better days. It’s about half the size of yours, made of seamless wood, covered in plantlife - most of which appears dead – and ceramic plating. It has great leathery wings. Although it looks fairly dinged up and poorly kept, it makes you feel very self conscious about your own clumsy looking vessel with goblins swinging from the rigging.
There’s a great metal hulk rusting outside on rails that disappear into the dust outside of town.
A building with the words “Gitchyer Stuf Here” in Wildspace Cant and phonetically spelled in Elven letters at the top. It looks like an all-purpose General Store
And at the end of the street, there’s The Five Star Tavern and Inn: Finest Victuals and Libations in the Territory (Elven & scrawled in Wildspace Cant as an afterthought)
There are 4 saddled lizards tied up out front.
Local Politics
Ft. Kerium is the largest outpost on “Fish Head” – that’s the name of the Asteroid on account of it looking like a fish’s head.
Thus far, the Imperyion has failed to establish itself in the Shattered Sphere. It’s not clear why
Compact of Steam and Steel provides what passes for “law & order” in the fringes, beyond the Grinder. They are, in effect a guild of mercenaries, thieves and bounty hunters with a letter of marque from the Imperyion authorizing them to provide intelligence and do what they can to make sure no goblin remnants leave the sphere.
Frowzy and Dirk are two local thugs that associate with the Compact
Local economy is based on mining and trade.
Orcs and half-orcs tend to be slaves, bought and sold. Free-Orcs are rare.
WALKING THROUGH FORT KERIUM
As you walk down the dusty streets, people stare. Darkened faces flash briefly behind closing blinds and shuttering windows. Someone spits after you pass, mumbles and limps away between buildings.
Connor’s enthusiasm is not dampened in the least, “This place is great! It reminds me of my Goblin Hole back home!”
The Five Starr
When you walk in the place, every single conversation stops and everyone inside stares at you for a long moment before returning to their business.
But for his three arms, the creature behind the bar appears to be a light skinned human male (FLECK)
There are three groups inside: Two at the bar (one in front, on behind); a group of 2 dwarves and two cloaked and tentacled things with feathered sensory organs in the corner; a group of about 4 people of indistinguishable race beneath their dusty clothes, sitting at a table covered with dirty tools and several stacked bowls o’ liquor, some empty, some full.
Two figures stand waiting for you at the farend of the dusty street. One, wearing the blowsy wraps and goggles of a dessert dweller, nimbly holds a staff and has a stance that screams “battlemage”. The other is an old clockwork in a wide-brimmed hat and rust coloured poncho – halberd in one hand, pistol in the other.
“Bounty use’ta be higher for a dead goblin. Been so long since there been any but dead ones, reckon they’ll pay more for a live one now, just to find out “what the hell?”
“They say y’ain’t sellin yer Orcs, are ya’ sellin yer gerblins.”
“If you won’t sell ‘em, we’ll take ‘em…”
You can see how the Grinder comes by its name. Spacerocks the size of Mountains dance clumsily around one another, though they just as frequently step on each other’s feet. There are few winners in these encounters. In the distance, a gas giant looms (PRETAJI) larger than ever, casting a rich golden bronze light upon the entire region, and pulling the rocks of the grinder into ever greater contortions.
A massive forest-covered asteroid comes into view, over 5 km across from one oblong end to the other. On one side, it is orbited by three smaller asteroids each attached to the larger with a complex series of cable rope bridges that refuse to become twisted. On the other side, it is encircled by a spectacular waterfall that in effect falls into orbit both above and below it, while carving a meandering path up and down either side. As you approach, meadows full of wildflowers come into view. Orchards bursting with fruit. Herds of goats and sheep roam freely. A rail system seems to circumnavigate the entire asteroid, weaving in and out of a web of tunnels from one side to the other, bringing to mind a toy train that Coalman remembers once seeing in a shop in Riot’s Gate.
Luckums, as far as you can tell, there are no magical forces that protect this place. However, with Shilynn’s being finely tuned to gravitational fields, you can tell that something about the main asteroid has been altered and adjusts continuously, as though its gravitational plane and core were constantly shifting and adapting. It doesn’t take you long to realize that the mining rails are part of this system of ever-shifting weight distribution. The result being that any rock, no matter the size, that is about to collide with the asteroid grouping veers off and is catapulted away around its adapting gravitational field.
There is a docking tower with two ports. One is occupied by a small spelldasher, similar to the one you recovered off Tumult’s back, although this one is in pristine condition, covered in polished ceramic plates and obviously functional. It bobs slightly on its tether as the Inordinate Amount docks and is locked in place. A couple neogi spawn shake loose from the hull and plummet to the ground below, making an angry hissing sound. From this height, you can see a little cottage in the distance, perched atop a rocky outcropping, surrounded by gardens and several out-buildings.
The air is fresh and cool and fragrant.
At the bottom of the docking tower, a series of modified mining carts wait with their doors open. Inside one of them sits a very old gnome. He is deep in conversation with a goblin child. In the time it takes you to realize that the gnome is blind, you also notice that the child is blue. It stares as at you intently with far more age than its eyes ought to have.
“Ah, Mauveen… our visitors have arrived.” The goblin child couldn’t be older than a toddler, and yet she helps the old gnome up.
“Welcome Sentareans! Mauveen tells me your spelljammer is a state. Your Goblin crew is welcome to disembark and make themselves at home. It’s been so long since we had any excitement hereabouts. I imagine you were all groundlings until recently, and I’m sure you’ve a tale to tell. I’ve made scones and there’s a big kettle of milk tea on the fire back at the house…
“Please…” he gestures to the waiting mining carts
“Folks hereabouts call me Havelock,” he chuckles, “On account of my habit of tinkering with locks. When it comes to their appellations, as with much else, they are neither the most creative nor thoughtful creatures in the Architects’ Creation, but that’s why I stay. Morons ask fewer questions and are easily distracted.”
He sets a wind up bird off, and it jumps away, beeping… (goblins?)
He stands up a little straighter when he speaks again, “My name is Abraelo Gogwoggle Bonnydock, but my friends call me Brail. You aren’t my first recent visitors from Sentar, and according to the G-Nome, even more are due shortly.”
As you approach the little cottage on the hill, you pass a sign that reads “Welcome to Algail,” in Goblin (the G is backwards) Populashun 9 with the 9 crossed out and replaced with a descending series of numbers 8, 7, 5, 3, 2.
Coalman gave us a report of what happened on board while we were gone. Not good. Some of our goblin crew have been just great - Alexis & Connor most of all. But the rest of the bunch had basically run roughshod over the poor guy. Setting fires, playing with knives, damaging the ship, behaving like a bunch of little brats, really. Plus, Coalman tells us, it turns out Tumult gave us more than a push towards his friends. His holding the ship, as gentle as I think he tried to be, seems to have damaged a bunch of things on the ship. Including, sadly, the seal of the door to the baby Neeyogis. So now we got a bunch of baby Neeyogis running around the ship, chewing on things and people, eating our ship stores, and generally being a gigantic pain in the ass.
We needed to get our crew ship shape, and pronto. After a quick discussion between the four of us to get our plan straight, we got the gobbies up on deck. First, we used the stick. Khalid told them we knew that some of them had been misbehaving, and we weren’t going to tolerate that. We punished one of the offenders, Glen, by having Luckums shrink him and then put him in a cage to humiliate him and have Luckum’s cat bat him about for a bit. We told ‘em there was more of that and worse in store for future badassery. That seemed to get their attention. We further told them that they were being paired with what Basile called a “punishment buddy.” If one member of the pairing was caught misbehaving, both would be punished.
Then the carrot. We told them about their pay (pretty good too, I might add), that we’d give, bonus pay, awards, and special privileges to crew members who had done something really good. We even gave out our first awards to Alexis and Connor.
Not that it totally stopped the little buggers, but Basile also seemed to be messing with their heads somehow. I’m not sure exactly what he was doing, but I caught him a few times watching the goblins, putting down some notes, maybe a word or two in their ears. He’d been cutting up the bodies left to feed the baby Neeyogis, trying to understand the little critters better I guess, so he’s walking around with this apron covered in gore and goop, like an overripe gujamellon left in the sun too long exploded all over him. That seemed to add a nice touch to the mind games. Pretty soon, I started seeing the goblins looking spooked, checking over their shoulders. I even heard Bronwyn whisper to Glen once, “you better not. Basile will know.” Smartest rat I ever met.
It’s strange being a leader, I’m not going to lie, but if we didn’t all step up our gobbies were going to wreck the ship. I put myself to my task and tried to work my crew of Marines hard. I drove them through drills, clapped them upside the head when I saw them slacking or goofing off, and got a contest going for them to hunt down the baby Neeyogis. Things seemed to be going in the right direction, but we didn’t have too much time because in a little under two days we started coming up on a bunch of floating rocks. Luckums said that according to her star map, this was called “the Grinder.” It was so cool to see floating moutains. As we came closer, you could start to see that one of the bigger rocks wasn’t just a rock. Shaped kind of like a fish head, it had buildings and plants and shit on it.
Luckums did a great job of getting us through the rocks and everything, but the docking she did at this big rock… well. A lot better than I could have done, I won’t lie, but still. Needs some practice.
I learned that we’d arrived at an outpost called “Fort Kerium.” I got a weird feeling from the harbourmaster straight off. He was saying stuff about our gobbies, that we had to pay a tax for them (which pissed me off. They’re brats and all, but they’re OUR brats.), that we should be careful, blah, blah, blah. Didn’t like that guy.
We make our way to the shop, and pick up a few odds and ends. I even managed to get Khalid to pawn off the L.T. on the merchant, which felt like a weight off my shoulders.
We headed over to the bar. Reminded me of lots of the end-of-the-earth bars I’ve been in, but as the door closed behind us, I caught a sniff of the rotgut and swill. I could feel the drool running down my chin. My missing eye started to ghost twitch - hate when that happens. I had a tough time keeping my eyeballs off the bottles behind the bar.
We started talking with some of the locals, the bartender. We find out some stuff about the place, a place we’re looking for (the Rock of Brahl. Locals say it’s a legend. Floating city that’s supposed to pop up in different places in “Wildspace.” I reckon that where there’s smoke, there’s fire. I drank some whiskey. Khalid told me to go easy. I nodded and finished the bottle as soon as he looked away. I felt the happy fire spread from my belly to my limbs, and my head. I could have kept going, but they said it was time to go.
We had out the door, and there’s a bunch of no-good looking guys waiting for us. Guy with a weird voice - sounded like a machine - says he wants to buy our goblins. “Not for sale,” we reply all at the same time (how many times did we have to say that on this hunk of rock?). I guess this wasn’t the right answer, cause the machine voice guy says that then they’ll just take them then. The warmth of the rotgut in me, I felt a smile curl my lips as the drool just kept rolling over my chin. I almost felt like laughing as I reached for my spear, and started to step forward.
We wiped the floor with these losers. Khalid’s just a dead eye - pounding the machine voice guy with shot after shot. Basile’s weaving about, taking down the magical duplicates that their wizard threw up, and Luckums is rolling around this ball of fire among these losers. I only got in a couple of shots… but damn. Booze and a fight? I felt like a million gold. And even better, the machine voice guy is carrying a fine looking halberd that Luckums tells me is magical.
I guess these guys were part of the “Compact” - some group that’s supposed to police this area of Wildspace for the Imperyon? I’m still trying to get my head around all this crap, but apparently these “Compact” guys are supposed to be tough or something. People in the fort started to look at us a little different after that dust up, I noticed. More respect. Nobody asked about buying our goblins anymore.
We picked up the wreckage of the machine voice guy (so weird - there were seriously little metal wheels and wires and oily fluids coming out of the body? Wreckage?) and start heading back to the ship. We find our orcs, who had decided to set off on their own, and give them the nod. There’s now an empty Compact ship at dock that they might be able to “persuade” the harbourmaster to let them have. They seemed happy, which is good. I have a feeling it’s not the last we’ll see of that crew.
Some of the information we got was the location of Tumult’s “friend,” a being named “Havelock.” We sail (fly?) up to this gnome’s home. What a beautiful place - I’ll take that site with me to Hieronius’ Rack. Deep greens of a jungle-like forest, a waterfall that seemed to almost circle the huge rock Havelock called home, with smaller orbiting rocks tied yet not tangled to the home rock. Maybe somebody smarter than me could paint a better picture. Just beautiful.
Anyways we land/dock (better this time. Luckums learns stuff so fast) and Havelock welcomes us. Real friendly. It’s him and a weird looking kid goblin. ‘Cept the eyes look like an old goblin, the skin is [blue], and the goblin seems to speak for Havelock? With his voice. Thing number 742 I never thought I’d see when I signed up with the army.
Seems like a good place to really catch our breath, and figure out what we do next.
[...]
Selunday Umberweek Berrona in the 48th Annum Independencia - Day 100
Sularday (Day 99). When we returned to the ship, Private Coalman had been diligent while we had been helping Tumult. His efforts to save the ship had been professional and his reporting on their cutting and burning was accurate.
We continued for a day and half in the direction that Tumult launched us and we watched as the Grinder, those impressive field of asteroids, approached steadily. We used the time as an opportunity to learn about our shipmates, our ship and Wildspace itself. We were able to learn about the difficult life of Coalman as a half-elf slave and his eventual freedom. Using his experiences and observations to organize the goblins to catch the neogi infestation that had escaped from the centre of the ship and also begin repairs. It was hectic getting them focused on the necessary tasks in the ship. Shroktath again demonstrated great leadership of his marines and weaponeers. Basile was also invaluable in bringing the goblins into line with Coalman’s help. Coalman became critical in this time to keeping all those myriad and sundry items working in the ship. Luckums continued to navigate the ship well and even assisted all of us to understand wildspace and ship operations using the meagre shipborne library we began to build.
Noting that Selunday was the start of a new Umberweek and our 100th Day in Wildspace, the day after we departed Tumult, we mustered a parade. Shroktath and I laid it down thick and Luckums was ready to reinforce the message. A sharp punishment for Goblin Glenn was well understood and, surprisingly, the award for Veronica also worked. We established a pay parade (10 pieces of silver a week) and that seemed to get everything in order for the time being.
The sense of routine allowed us to try to prepare for the next challenges. Basile put incredible effort into understanding the neogi to root out the infestation. Luckums prepared spells and did arcane research. I started working with her to better understand magic as her apprentice. I could see how gunpowder and magic could be mixed to great effect. More importantly, I was able to assemble a new pistol from the parts I had salvaged from my former squad and from those I had found on the Inordinate Amount. It was my small homage to my fallen friends looking to the future. I named this new gun “wiladet jadida” – re-birth.
The Shootout at Fort Kerium
Dakarday Umberweek. Luckums determined that Fort Kerium was along our path and diverted the ship towards it. It was Day 101 and we docked with some trouble at the Fish Head. We paid our docking fees to Happy and went to the general store. We transacted with the Xorn, Griddlebirdle, for equipment and stores for some time. He provided some information and star charts after we mentioned “the rock of Brall”. When we asked him about Tumult, he pointed us towards Havlock. After re-supplying, we checked on the goblins on our way to the Five Starr.
Inside we started drinking whisky with Shabbers, the legless human. Shroktath certainly enjoyed the opportunity for a little liquid release.
We departed the Five Starr with a case of overpriced whisky and we confronted by the local Compact thugs, Frowzy and Dirk. They demanded that we give them the goblins and they fought us for them. Frowzy was a half-elf battlemage and Dirk was a clockwork gunslinger. Dirk was an outstanding ‘slinger and even as it threatened my crew I had the smallest of regrets to destroy that clockwork. My new gun was like a siege cannon and worked beyond all expectations. Shroktath was again fearless and devastating in a toe-to-toe battle. It was an incredible street fight but the Privateers overcame them. We collected their gunna and marshalled our crew.
While we were finalizing our departure, we called on the orcs from the Inordinate Amount and gave them the Golden Bough, the ship of Frowzy and Dirk.
Recognizing that the LT was not safe on the Inordinate Amount and had continually posed a danger to us, we arranged for him to work for Griddlebirdle as an apprentice shopkeeper. I paid his apprentice fee for a year and gave him a cut of gear, food and clothes: far more generous than his fate could have been.
Arrival at Algail
Moraday. It was Day 102 and I will mark that as my first time to see a star that was not a star. I barely understood what my senses, our books and Shilynn were explaining. A star that would never become a star, a gas giant. We travelled towards the gas giant Pretaji and landed on a forested asteroid. It was a wondrous place of strange gravity, nature and rail. After landing, we were met by an ancient gnome and with a blue goblin called Mauvine. Overlooking the village was a sign saying “Welcome to Algail, Population 2”. By the village, the gnome Havlock introduced himself as Brail and I addressed him in gnomish and introduced my squad. We discussed Tumult and the Rock of Brall. He spoke of other Senterrans and other challenges ahead.
[...]
I clearly remember the first time I had felt it. The goblin known only as Luckums had been assigned to my squad that morning and we were in the middle of an ambush. Gnolls and goblins were pouring down from a ridge and I was rushing up the right flank. She cast a spell to enlarge Shroktath but as she did, the ends of my fingers tingled. At the time I immediately shrugged it off as fear as I raced towards an enemy that outnumbered me three to one. Even after we were captured by the neogi on the Inordinate Amount, I could feel that tingling. There was a lot of time to think and watch and learn pulling that oar on that bench for three months. There was a lot of fear too...but the sensation of my fingers was not fear. For me, fear is a twitch behind the left eye. Perhaps it was something about the interference of the neogi or something about wildspace itself. The tingling in my fingers was not fear.
I felt it again when we gained control of the Inordinate Amount. I was bloody and battered but as Luckums connected with the "brain-box" called Shilynn it was like being in front of a campfire in the winter. My hands tingled again.
The next few days I found myself always near Luckums. I can to this day recall every word she spoke and found her magic words echoing in my head after our battles. During our battle to heal Tumult, Luckums magic powers were everywhere as we blasted away at the infestation.
The tingling was in my whole arms; perhaps that was why I had shot so well that day.
Those two days to Kerium were hectic but Luckums spent time teaching us about wildspace and spelljammers and I was able to formalize my heretofor studies into something coherent. As she was organizing the helmsroom, I asked her about being my mentor, my teacher of the arcane. She said to me,
"I know I have talent and power but I never had the support I needed to live up to my potential. I was involved in a gang and my mage abilities were mocked. I needed to be sneaky. Later I tried to find a mentor in the Libriohenaeum but they only wanted information from me. I did barter a few treatises I had wrote in exchange for what I needed to explore my arcane potential. Then there was the Prestigious Halls and Thaumaturgical Studies. I could never have afforded to attend nor would I have been welcomed since I am a goblin. I was resolved to watch lectures hidden in the rafters. Most recently, meeting Shilynn offered hope to me to finally find a mentor only to be yet again disappointed. Khalid, your suggestion gives me a chance to grow beyond my need to seek a mentor and so I resolve to learn magic on my own, or rather, I will learn and teach you."
I was staggered by this offer that Luckums would become my mudaris. She began teaching me how to read magic and how it flowed around us. In Algail, I had time to focus in peace and used Luckums and Frowzy's spellbooks to write my own. Dirk's pistol became a perfect channel for the arcane within me just as other wizards use a wand and perhaps how Luckums is connected to her cat. It was mudaris who suggested that blackpowder itself could be a spell component. I was able to flow power into the gun so that when I fired, the bullets themselves were magical. I would keep this new gun and with the new spells mudaris had taught me, I marked it "Hariq". The feeling behind my left eye is now a different tingling.
Sometimes you get to choose your path in life, and other times a giant the size of a small moon hurdles you and your toy ship across Wildspace. It sure beats riding shields down the roof tops in Riot’s Gate.
We had defeated the Neogi and claimed “The Inordinate Amount” for our own. With this freedom came the problems our oppressors faced. Now the roles are reversed, and we were struggling to control an infestation of Neogi spawn. We will have to be sure not to underestimate them. We cleaned up the room that housed “uncle” in it. Basile seems to like to dissect flesh as much as I long to eat it when no one is looking. About that, I have been feeling a little off lately. (I took the eat anything racial treat to help with the tummy troubles).
Skazz, like the other goblins, seems to enjoy hunting down the Neogi Spawn. Hopefully, the Neogi spawn bounty and deck by deck search will clear the infestation out. I have noticed that the Neogi Spawn can have some mind control or behaviour influencing abilities which invoke motherly instincts in some of the goblins. Skazz is keeping and eye out for that as it could be a serious problem. By the way, I have suddenly manifested the ability to talk to and understand my feline companion. Our bond is growing! It is nice to have and equal to share such a close sensory bond with.
I have been wondering the ship from time to time invisible. I am trying to keep tabs on what really goes on when no one is looking. We are going to lose the orcs which is unfortunate as they reduce the chaos around here.
As for Shilynn, I have said what I had to say. We still get along and talk from time to time, but I am no longer looking for anything from her. I will free her from that brain box someday, but I have a lot to learn before I will be able to accomplish that. She has her own prejudices to work through, and from what I am beginning to learn, a deep sense of being forgotten by her kind. Maybe someday she will come to see us as equals. I hope we can teach each other Elvish and Goblin.
I am now focusing on the things I have always wanted to. There are lots of books to read, my magical studies are evolving quickly, and for the first time I feel I can pursue the interesting things around me. Navigating this ship is no where as easy as doing tricks on my floating disc. By the way, I have got this neat trick where I can grab the side of my floating disc and tilt sideways to avoid getting hit. I love to fly!
The crew is really starting to grow on me. I wish I had more time to spend cooking with Edgar, tending plants with Alexis and surprisingly I even enjoy chatting with Glenn. Not that he can actually say anything that can be understood, and I do feel bad about shrinking him and putting him in a cage in order to make an example of him. Turns out I might be treating others poorly because of how I felt I have been treated.
I have been very intrigue about Khalid. We have been spending a fair bit of time together. Turns out he can do more than just shoot pistols and coordinate the team. He has got the spark and I could tell he was interested in the arcane arts. He asked me to teach him a thing or two and calls me his mudaris. It also turns that out that when you give, you get back more. I have been always searching for someone to teach me magic and Khalid gave me the confidence to trust in my own abilities to learn.
I detoured the ship to a nearby trading post named Ft. Kerium that I found on a star chart so we could supply up. I think I need to work on my docking a bit. The red dust ball of a rock was backwards, smelled of a tannery that has been working for beyond its intended years, and certainly no place of a civilized goblin. They made us pay extra for each goblin that wanted to disembark. Apparently, this is not a form of insurance against the high probability of fires that might or might not be started around the time we visited. We got lots of stares from the local folk but the Shannons were glad to take the ogre for a run and I could see my goblin friends were having a great time.
I did enjoy visiting the “Gitchyer Stuf Here” store run by a Xorn named GrdlBrdl. He promised to not purchase our goblin from anyone in town that might try, and I felt we was dealing honestly with us. He was happy to hear about Gump and told us where to find Havelock.
Here is the shopping list of things I picked up as I felt like the goblins could use some distraction on our long journeys.
For Alexsis: Some seeds, fertilizer, pots, and gardening tools.
For Blaine: A deck of Red Dragon Ante and the latest edition of Skull Dice.
For Brendon: Some firecrackers (hopefully he will stop starting fires onboard).
For Bronwyn: A real-fake princess tiara, including ear piercing tools and rings.
For Charlotte: Slime making bomb kits.
For Connor: A trophy necklace
For Dakota: A “magic” 8 ball and almost complete tarot set.
For Edgar: Sharper knives and new kitchen stew pot.
For Glenn: A pet beeble that mimics sounds that you make.
For Gurunk: A huge smashing post.
For Lewis: The second of a trilogy joke encyclopedia set and a box of magic pranks.
For the Shannons: Reams and reams of cloth, as well as needles and thread. (hopefully they will stop cutting the sails)
For Veronica: A set of dissection tools.
For me: A whole box of used books!
My companions wanted to head over to the The Five Starr Tavern and Inn next. I was starting to get nervous for the goblins. The townsfolk looked like they might try to capture them as them seems to fetch a high bounty. The behaviour of the goblins also was not helping much. I saw a few of them ride by on saddled lizards and figured it would not be long before the owners of said lizards would come looking for restitution. The Five Starr was more like 5 one-stars rolled into one. The folk looked like they needed to get out a little more. Skroktah got into the alcohol a little hard. I had always thought a good fight was his favourite thing, now I am not so sure. Again, we had to reassure the locals that our “gerblins” were not for sale.
Of course, as expected, the “law” of theses parts showed up to welcome us once we exited to the main and only street on this trading post. The Compact of Steam and Steel they called themselves. More like blow off some steam and steal if you ask me. The whole scene felt like one of the numerous gang showdowns I had been an unwilling participant to back on the cobblestone laneways on Sentar. The short dialogue eventually ended with “If you won’t sell ‘em, we’ll take ‘em…”. So we took them. After a fierce but quick fight, I tipped the carpenter for some coffins and placed the mage Frowzy in one for transport back our ship. Edgar is going to be busy tonight!
On the way out we bid goodbye to the orcs and tipped them off about the “extra” ship now docked on this rock and told them we hoped to be looting with them in the future.
We set off for the gas giant Pretaji and to find Havelock. It is nice to fly in the company of equals.
On this day of Selunday Umberweek Berrona.
Master Girdlebirdle, on behalf of the ship and crew of the Inordinate Amount, the following supplies, tools, equipment and sundry items are requested:
Food (item, desired amount, estimated cost):
Dried meat, 200 lbs (4 x side), 120 gp
Coffee, 50 lbs (2 x sacks), 1 gp
Sugar, 50 lbs (2 x sacks), 3 gp
Flour, 200 lbs (8 x sacks), 2 gp
Tobacco, 25 lbs (1 x sack), 10 gp
Dried fruit, 200 lbs (8 x sacks) 20 gp
Dried legumes 200 lbs (8 x sacks) 20 gp
Nuts 100 lbs (4 x sacks) 20 gp
Cheese, 50 lbs, 20 gp
Cost sub-total: 216 gp
Tools:
Lanterns x 5, 60gp
Shovels x 2, 4 gp
Crowbars x 2, 4 gp
Blacksmith forge 20 gp (anvil, hammers, tongs, drifts, vise, bellows)
Sub-total: 88 gp
Ship's Ammunition:
Heavy ballista bolts x 20, 600 gp
Sub-total: 600 gp
Miscellaneous:
Paint, any colours, but preferred are blue, red, yellow up to 50 gp in value
Assorted bric-a-brac 20 lbs, 2 gp (to be used for goblin awards and medals)
Ship's costs total: 956 gp
Equipment:
Settlement of items requested by Pilot Luckums: estimated at 300 gp
Alchemy Lab, 200 gp (paid out of Basile's share)
Blunderbuss (described as "old and rusty, not-serviceable"), 500 gp (paid out of Khalid's share)
Pistol cartridge components, 620 gp (Khalid's share)
Paper, ink and leather 180 gp (Khalid's share) (Khalid Total: 1300 gp)
Reagents:
Quicksilver, 10 doses, 100 gp (Luckums share)
Proposed Terms:
50% deposit with order, in gold
Payment:
Delivery charge 10% of total freight, 200 gp
Residual charge payable on delivery, in gold and gems
Requisition signed by:
Ship's Quartermaster, the Inordinate Amount
[Placeholder: Images needed]