Red Shirt Crew Tales – Game 1 – 2022-09-09
Our “red shirt crewman tales” adventure begins in a bar filled with all kinds of folk, including a kenku, a female dwarf, a female tabaxi, and many others having rousing arguments and belly-filled laughs. Among the group were Lewgwyn, the prideful leonin barbarian and Montgomery, the elegant-speaking artillerist giff, who are friends to each other. They are sitting and chatting at a table, desperately seeking work. An autognome rogue by the name of Fitz enters the bar, too, after he finishes a small task of fixing things up around the bar, if somewhat unsuccessfully. Without an instrument to play, Deslan the entertainer (and warlock) sings a song that is eerily similar to a previous adventure involving Captain Nerris of Starbirch enterprises. Although the performance is quite good, all things considered, the room is in no mood for it.
As Deslan goes from table to table to collect coin, being paid a total of 6 copper to go away, he is approached by a female tabaxi who bets him 10 gold to win a game of throwing daggers. Using his secret weapon, a sentient talking dagger, to heal himself in the contest, Deslan barely wins the game by somewhat stealthily (though not to the eyes of some) absorbing his magical dagger’s blood energies into himself.
Meanwhile, in comes Kal of the Pathfinder looking for new blood to recover crates from a goblin vessel. He recruits all of our adventurers, with Fitz the autognome rogue making the best deal, for he presented a detailed contract ready to sign.
Before setting out, the crew enter the den of the local mob boss, a plasmoid (“Big Hands”?) who “encourages” them to recover the goods, threatening Kal’s crew mate they are holding captive.
The red shirt crew set out on the Pathfinder and gear up. Kal provides a longsword to Lewgwyn, a magical rope caster crossbow to Fitz, and 6 healing potions that the crew divvy up. Afterward, they strategize on how to enter the flying goblin asteroid vessel, with the options being the front entrance guarded by ballista towers, an entryway with smoke coming out of it, and a metal grated entrance.
The crew choose the grate, and they are able to rope down and slip through. Inside they fight a giant bat like creature, which was quickly dispatched by Fitz’s backstab. Lew descends down pipes and the crew follow, but Deslan loses his grip on guano-covered rope and falls. Monty’s quick reflexes save Deslan’s life as he catches him just in time in his burly arms.
Lew forces open a grate into a room, which stirs a goblin alchemist inside. The crew move into the room and fight the alchemist, who summons more bat beasts with a whistle hanging from its neck. Blades sing and slash. Monty and Lew force the grate back in to keep more bats at bay. Fitz rides a bat up high before falling and crashing to the ground, losing consciousness. In the end, though, the team wins the battle. Fitz loots an alchemist set from the room, Deslan dons the goblin’s beaten-up chain shirt and pockets various colorful potions, and Lew loots the whistle from the alchemist. The crates are nowhere to be found, but Monty and crew discover a keg containing unknown material, as well as some goblin bombs.
After a short rest, the crew continue their search for the crates, with the crew splitting up, taking both left and right paths. Goblins accost the crew from both sides. Lew swings furiously down the left path with his sword and club, often dropping one weapon to favor the next, and Deslan lobs bombs. Unfortunately for Monty, Deslan then throws and breaks the keg, which was filled with gunpowder. Meanwhile, Monty and Fitz fight the goblins up the other path.
Monty and Fitz’s kill the goblins they can see on their end, and they join Lew and Deslan who are struggling to break through the line of goblins. A giant goblin creature of sorts blocks their path, using goblins as shields. However, with the new help from Monty who explodes heads with well-aimed shots of his gun (when it isn’t jamming), the crew push through the line into a room.
The room appears to be where the smoke from the exterior is coming from. Two fires sit in the middle of the room, one on the “floor” and one on the “ceiling” as gravity is reversed in the halfway up the room. Goblins are everywhere above, below, and afar, throwing bombs, unleashing arrows, and attacking in melee. A goblin throws a bomb at Deslan, destroying the stairs and blasting Deslan to the ground unconscious. Lew halts his furious swings for a moment to bring Deslan awake with a potion. Deslan then revives Fitz after he falls with one of their few remaining potions.
Monty’s aim with his gun continues to be true, as he continues to explode heads. Lew swings violently with a club and Fitz stabs away. Deslan curses enemies with his hex, feeds his dagger with goblin blood, and fires his eldritch blast at faraway opponents. They fall all of the goblins, but one wounded bigger creature retreats through a corridor.
———————————————————–
Red Shirt Crew Tales – Game 2 – 2022-10-23
With the big goblin boss in retreat, the group, bloodied and breathing heavily, survey the aftermath of the battle. Amidst all the explosions, they somehow all came out alive and have learned how to hold their own in battle.
Lewgwyn dabs his fingers in the blood of one of his kills and draws lines down his face, marking his victory. He moves to rejoin his crewmates, stepping across furs and bedding, when his paw hits something hard. He tosses blankets aside to find a Morningstar and a small leather purse. He looks inside to find some bones, large dried boogers, some cats teeth, and an onyx gemstone (worth 25gp).
Seeing Lewgwyn’s discovery, Deslan rummages through the rest of the bedding. Secreted inside a ragged sleeping bag, his hand pulls out a small gold bracelet (worth 20gp) and a grayish-green bottled potion. As he looks at the swirling liquid, it seems to turn into a smoky gas before turning back to liquid.
From his pocket, Monty pulls out some berries that he gathered using his heritage. He opens his giant mouth and tosses one in, then holds the rest out to the group. Lewgwyn and Deslan each take one and bite into them, and they suddenly feel full and slightly refreshed.
A metallic sound reverberates off in the distance, but soon gets louder and louder as something is heard coming closer through a pipe. Within seconds, the pipe shakes and a panel pops off, and a small goblin tumbles to the ground on its knees.
“Hands up!” Monty aims his gun.
“No hurt Gab Gab!” the goblin says. She’s much more kempt than the other goblins, with friendlier yellow eyes, and on her are many vials filled with various colored liquids. “Gab Gab help. Gab Gab friend. Gab Gab do coc…”
Monty blushes. “I’m sorry?”
Deslan’s eyes go wide. “What?”
“Gab Gab do good coc. Gab Gab coc yum yum.”
“She’s coming with us,” Deslan says with a smirk.
“These creatures aren’t trustworthy,” Lewgwyn protests.
“Gab Gab make concoc… concoc help!”
It starts to click in the Giff’s mind. “Oh…concoction!” Monty says with relief.
“Do you know where they store the boxes with a white hand?” Lewgwyn asks.
“Gab Gab know many boxes.” With her primitive use of the common language, Gab Gab then begins to offer several of her potions to the group and tells them she can lead them where they want to go. She explains that she was taken against her will and forced to make potions for the other goblins. “Gab Gab show you Garbok, big gobbo!”
“Gab Gab, I want to blow Garbok. Will you help?” Fitz looks to the others, “I think I’m on Gab Gab’s level.”
“Gab Gab take you. Path go big gobbo room, it go big box room, it go boom boom balloon room.” She huffs, making her small frame slightly less so, and then grabs a scrap of one of the exploded balloon-like creatures from the ground.
Gab Gab points the group ahead where Garbok, the big goblin boss, escaped. The crew moves down the dark corridor, with Monty struggling to not step on Gab Gab as she becomes his shadow. He offers her up on his back and shoulders, and she climbs up, latching onto Monty’s massive neck. Fitz’s lantern grows dim far in front as he takes the lead. With Deslan trailing behind, he pulls out a crystal and whispers a few words, and light suddenly shines from a piece of his clothing to help light his path.
They soon reach a door, and Gab Gab explains that it is Garbok’s room. Lewgwyn sniffs the ground and finds a trail of blood that goes in and out of the room, or perhaps out and in, for Lewgwyn isn’t sure. Fitz confidently searches the door for traps and then pulls out an oil can, pumping oil to soften any sounds they might make when opening the door. Lewgwyn hands Fitz a key he gained from the goblin alchemist’s room. Fitz tries it on the door, but it isn’t a perfect fit. However, with the use of thieves tools, Fitz manages to click the lock open and slowly open the door. Peering in, the room is empty except for bloody bandages and some chests. Fitz enters and begins searching the room.
As Deslan flips his dagger out in the hallway, he hears footsteps off in the distance. He exaggeratedly tip toes to the rest of the group outside the door and ushers them inside. “Inside! I heard footsteps,” he whispers. They all go in and shut the door.
As Monty keeps an ear to the door, Fitz picks open another lock and easily pops open the lock of a chest, finding several intriguing items. He gently sorts through the chest, pulling out a small striking rod with flint, a small pouch of lead balls, and a small pouch with fine, black powder. Buried beneath those items he finds three bottles, two which have a glowing red liquid inside. The third is different, with strange looping swirls glazed onto an earthenware bottle that has a hinged opening instead of the typical cork. Lastly, Fitz finds a set of leather bracers, too fine to be of goblin make. He pulls them onto his wrists and forearms and traces the intricate gold filigree along the leather. His metal fingers run along the pattern that forms ivy and leaves, and he traces it all the way up to his wrists where golden arrows intersect.
Lewgwyn finds one of the crates with the white hand symbol that the party is looking for. He hears liquid swashing around inside as he takes some rags and wraps it up.
By the bed, Deslan spots a pair of high, fine leather boots with a fur motif and uses the bed to put them on after the rest of the party refuses them. His feet now feeling exceptionally warm and comfortable, he continues searching, swiping away toenail piles on a dresser and then looking up to see a thong and a wrought iron key dangling from a nail next to a thong. He delicately pulls the key off of the thong and nail and then, at Lewgwyn’s suggestion, checks under the bed.
Deslan quickly pulls out a beat-up, matted green ball of fur and loose stuffing, and he tosses it to Lewgwyn. The Leonin’s cat-like reflexes kick in, and Lewgwyn unleashes a longsword strike on the ball, bursting it into crusty bits of fur.
The party holds its breath as it steps back out into the hallway, risking assault for a safe breath. With no enemy in sight, Gab Gab offers to lead them to the “boom boom balloon room.” Fitz asks if she can help “boom boom” the balloons, so Gab Gab pulls out a yellow potion and gently shakes it, causing it to bubble and turn orange.
“Do Fitz drink?” Fitz asks.
“Uhh..” Gab Gab shrugs in a way suggesting that Fitz might not like the results. Fitz then realizes that he should throw the potion instead.
The group continues on and makes it to a room. Inside along the opposite wall is a wrought iron door with a padlock. Between the group and the door, however, are more than a dozen balloon creatures in a cage along the wall. Being the stealthiest of the group, Fitz volunteers to sneak to the door. Lewgwyn and Deslan each hand him a key to try on the door.
Fitz gently steps forward, matching his steps to the leaking air sound patterns of the balloons. For a moment, the breathing stops, and one balloon’s eyes open and body begins to puff up. With quick wit, Fitz mimicks a calming breathing pattern, and to the party’s surprise, the balloon slowly deflates and its eyes close.
Fitz oils the hinges of the door and inserts Deslan’s “thong key” into the lock and turns it. *Click*. The door opens and Fitz sees what appears to be a small storage room with unappealing mushroom jars and three crates, one of which has the distinct white hand symbol. He opens one of the unmarked chests, finding two beautiful vestment robes of silken material with gold filigree, two copper ornamental chalices with silver filigree, and a golden locket. He opens up the locket, revealing a painted portrait of a girl with red hair, and continues shuffling through the chest. Next he discovers two embroidered silk handkerchiefs, one blue and one red, and a small gold bracelet.
Inside the second unmarked crate Fitz finds a rolled up sealed scroll, three reddish potions, a crumpled scroll with a wax sigil sealing it, a small grayish globe of glass, and beneath it all an impressive metal breastplate. The breastplate is embroidered with a crescent moon and stars and displays a ships in full sails. Fitz manages to load all of the valuables into one crate and takes it to the group. He then quietly brings the white hand crate, though muffled skittering inside the crate almost raises alarm. They tie the critter crate to Monty’s back. With that done, Fitz tells the group he has retrieved all items.
However Deslan’s eyes glow blue as he finishes a whispered chant. With magical sight, he spots a glow left inside the storage room. Fitz an Deslan push their luck by sneaking back into the room. Fitz missteps and causes a stir in the balloons. They rush inside the room and close the door. Deslan removes a cloth in the corner of the room, revealing a large pike. He grabs it and prepares to leave.
A loud expulsion of air blasts from the balloon creatures. Goblins scream off in the distance. The party scrambles. Fitz opens the door, holding his lantern as he heads right to a new path, calling to the group to hurry. With shouting coming from whence they came, Lewgwyn scurries to the new path. Gab Gab squeezes tightly to Monty as the Giff carries crate in hand. Deslan runs to the path and holds out the pike. Lewgwyn nods and grabs the pike as he rushes up the path.
As the rest of the group hurries up the new path into a large opening, Deslan turns back to the ballooning creatures. His arms swirl intricately and his mouth utters an ancient language. A beam of black energy, outlined in twisting lights of purple and white, crackle through the room. The magical torrent slams into a balloon creature and it erupts, setting off a catastrophic chain reaction that destroys the room and prevents attack from the rear.
Ahead in the cavern, Fitz and Lewgwyn see several islands of rock separated by rickety bridges. Groups of goblins stand on each rocky outcrop, with Garbok on the furthest island, holding its gun in one hand and a goblin in the other.
They were waiting.
Fitz runs for cover as the nearest goblin group unleashes arrows at the at the Leonin. Lewgwyn heaves a javelin in retort, but the distance proves too great as the javelin skids along the rock and falls into darkness. More arrows clink and clunk off a boulder that Fitz hides behind. Fitz steps out momentarily and throws a dart at a goblin, but it harmlessly bounces off the goblin’s leather armor.
Deslan runs and shouts ahead to the barbarian. “Lew renewed with magical pike, run and leap and lunge and strike!”
Lewgwyn rage is bolstered by the inspiring words. He roars in a frenzied rage and dashes across an unsteady bridge with blinding speed, so fast and stedy that the bridge is unable to even wobble. With bows in hand, the goblins attempt to retreat. Lewgwyn thrusts forward at a goblin, stabbing it square in the chest. The wound sizzles and green acid pours out from the wound. Lewgwyn pulls the pike cleanly back out of the goblin as the goblin’s sternum dissolves and offers no resistance.
The remaining goblins next to Lewgwyn launch arrows at him. Arrows glance him in the shoulder and arm, but he shrugs it off in his seething anger.
Monty sets down the crate he is carrying. “Gab Gab, hide in here,” Monty says. “You’ll be safe.”
Gab Gab nods and crawls inside, her back poking out as she can’t quite fit in all the way. Her voice quivers in fear. “You kill the gobbo boss,” she requests. Monty advances into the room. With a mystical power, he marks his prey. He pulls out his sling and launches a stone towards the goblins, but it misses its mark.
“A kay ga!” Angered at the turning of events, Garbok tightens his grip on the goblin in front of him. “Ahzz cha cah, adda da!” Garbok shouts commands, and the goblin loads the boss goblin’s gun. Garbok aims and fires at the nearest foe, but Lewgwyn’s frenzied movements make him too hard to pin down, and the bullet whizzes by harmlessly.
Deslan pulls out a crystal, using it to focus his energies. Bolstered by the crystal, his voice reverberates through the room before settling on a group of goblins. One by one, they slump to the ground and begin snoring. Fitz takes advantage of the sleeping spell as he scurries across a bridge, stabs down and ends the snoring of a goblin.
Lewgwyn chugs a potion and then lunges at another goblin. Striking with reckless abandon, he misses with the first strike but hits hard with the next. The pike penetrates the goblin’s throat as Lewgwyn lifts the little green creature up and then slams it to the ground. The remaining goblin uses the opening, unsheathing a longsword and slashing at the barbarian’s exposed side, drawing some blood.
More arrows whistle through the air. Fitz ducks in time, but Deslan is knocked back from a hard blow that forces its way between the links of his chain shirt. The goblins scream and shout and laugh menacingly, taunting them.
Montgomery steps forward and whirls his sling. With the mystical mark guiding his aim, the rock bashes a goblin right in the head, crushing its skull.
Reeling from the blow, Deslan winces and clenches tightly to his dagger. He tries to pull only have of the stored blood magic from the blade to heal his wounds, but he is too inexperienced, and it all rushes into his body.
“No, you idiot! I need more blood. Feed me! Get over there and stab!” the sentient blade screams in Deslan’s head.
“Ogg jee jah, klee nuh gla!” Garbok fires at Fitz as Fitz runs and stabs at the big creature, but they trade misses. Seeing the fearless Autognome take on a creature much larger in size, Deslan further emboldens Fitz with a cheer.
“Metal you may be, but you fight with the heart of a hero!”
Goblins begin coming to the aid of their chieftain, shooting arrows at Fitz. Lewgwyn downs the last goblin nearest him and pounces to another island, trying to catch up to reinforce the exposed and outmatched Fitz.
Deslan calls out to the towering Giff. “Mon Mon, gun gun, boom boom, pow! Aim it true and shoot it now!” Monty stashes his sling and his gun whips up. The Giff’s eyes focus on Garbok as he pulls the trigger. Just as the bullet is about to hit, Garbok’s hand pulls a goblin up as sacrifice. With his goblin shield gone, Deslan hits Garbok with a sizzling blast of sinister energy. Garbok roars, and with his army depleted, runs away and down a long flight of stairs, holding the limp body of his goblin as a shield behind him.
Fitz chases after in quick pursuit and flings a dart that flies over the dead goblin slices through Garbok’s ear. The rest of the group struggles to catch up. As Lewgwyn runs across a bridge, it wobbles, and he falls into darkness. He roars in surprise, but after about 25 feet, his descent slows, and he buoys up and down before settling in place where the gravity changes.
“Lew, are you okay!?” Deslan cries out.
“I guess I am.”
Montgomery hands Deslan a rope as he carefully crosses over the bridge to catch up to Fitz. He steps next to a sleeping goblin and crushes its head with the butt of his gun as he passes. Deslan throws the rope down. Lewgwyn, with rope in one hand and pike in another, leverages the rock wall as he climbs. He reaches the top and heads towards Fitz.
Deslan tries towards Fitz as well, but is flung from the bridge.
“Monty, a little help?” Deslan pleads. Monty unties the rope Lewgwyn used and looks at Deslan, trying to work out the logistics.
“Just throw me the rope,” Deslan shouts.
Monty throws the entire rope.
“That’s not what I meant.” Deslan sighs.
“You should have been more clear, then,” Monty says gruffly.
Remembering Deslan’s inspiring words, Fitz throws another dart at Garbok, hitting him once more. Garbok returns fire with his gun, impacting Fitz and denting his body. Fitz downs a potion to rejuvenate himself as Garbok disappears down the stairs. As Fitz reaches the end of the stairs, he halts. In front of him is a giant room the opens up to outer space in the opposite end and a ballista aiming outward. On his left and right are ladders leading to upper levels of goblins working furnaces. Various pipes run along and up the walls. In the center of the room is a massive two-legged machine of various mish mashed metal parts, slowly moving big boxes as steam and stoot spit from the machine’s exhaust ports.
As Garbok’s shouts echoes in the distance, Fitz closes his lantern and slides along the wall before anyone notices him, blending into the pipes with his metal body. With cat-like night vision, Lewgwyn pounces forth and rushes down the stairs, halting near the end of the stairwell out of caution. With no light nearby, Montgomery tears off a piece of his sleeve and wraps it around an arrowhead and ignites it using his gun’s igniter so that he can continue on.
Deslan chants and produces a magic hand which grabs the rope and eventually wraps it up above. After climbing up, he looks back and sees how far away Gab Gab is. Concerned the group may never return in time to rescue Gab Gab, he goes back for her.
“Gab Gab, come come. Bring box box!” Deslan yells. “Wait, why am I saying everything twice?”
As Deslan slowly and safely makes his way back across the bridge nearest Gab Gab, a bomb thumbs behind him and explodes, staggering Deslan forward and collapsing destroying one of the two ropes supporting the bridge. Deslan turns and sees a faint figure of a goblin as it rummages through its pockets looking for another bomb. Deslan shoots another beam of purple energy but misses, and then turns and runs to Gab Gab. He makes to Gab Gab and the crate and quickly transfers the crate’s contents to his bags. As he reapproaches the bridge, he sees that the other rope was cut and the bridge is completely out. A goblin snickers on the other side.
Deslan lights a copper coin and throws it to the island, illuminating the goblin that is now preparing to throw another bomb.
Deslan shouts back to Gab Gab. “Gab Gab, throw bomb bomb!”
Gab Gab peeks out. “Throw bomb bomb you?” she asks.
“No, at goblin!”
Gab Gab pulls out a blue vial and shakes it. The vial gets brighter as she steps halfway out from her rocky cover and pops the cork. A dart of freezing cold energy flies forward. It smacks into the goblin, freezing him instantly. The stiff goblin teeters and crashes into the ground and breaks into several frozen chunks.
With the bridge out, Deslan and Gab Gab climb down the rope dangling on their end. They reach the end of the rope and push off the rock, using the strange shift in gravity to float across so that they can then climb up the other side. With Deslan’s hands softer than they are strong, they struggle up the other side.
“Gab Gab miss hippo,” she pants.
“Just remember who came back for you,” Deslan says in short breaths.
It will be quite a while before they can rejoin the rest of the party.
Meanwhile, a goblin tries to sneak his way to Lewgwyn, but as it turns the corner, Lewgwyn thrusts a javelin into the mouth of the goblin, dropping it instantly. Garbok shouts more orders, and a goblin runs to the giant goblin machine, shouting something in the goblin tongue. The gargantuan goblin machine slowly begins to turn towards the party.
With the goblins now organizing, Fitz throws a small multi-bladed item of unusual design at Garbok. It spins and sparks as it zaps into Garbok and bounces to two of the goblins next to him, electrifying them all with arcane energy. Fitz dashes toward the far end of the room.
Lewgwyn rushes in the room in a full Leonin’s sprint as arrows pierce his flesh. Lewgwyn hardly slows as he pounces up the ladder to Garbok and unleashes a daunting roar, frightening the big goblin. Three smaller goblins back away from Lewgwyn, but not before he kills one with a well-placed pike strike. Garbok steps back and tries to shoot Lewgwyn, but the big goblin’s shaky hand causes him to miss.
Amidst overwhelming numbers, Lewgwyn chugs a healing potion and stuffs a pinch of his rare and powerful thistle weed from his homeland. His eyes turn red and his mouth froths. He doesn’t even notice the arrows that suddenly pierce him.
A bomb explodes near Fitz, nearly knocking him off his feet. Now near the ballista, Fitz consumes a healing potion and inspects a goblin corpse, retrieving a bomb.
The Leonin and Autognome need reinforcements fast.
Montgomery moves in, gun in hand, and fires. A goblin looks down at the hole in its chest, not realizing that it is already dead. After reloading, the Giff moves further into the room and shoots another goblin, injuring but not killing it.
Lewgwyn leaps forward and strafes to the side as he thrusts his pike forward at Garbok. Garbok presents another goblin sacrifice to take the pike in full force and then steps back and fires another shot, with this one piercing the barbarian. With matted, bloody fur, Lewgwyn charges forward, ignoring the goblin’s sword as it narrowly misses him. The barbarian flanks Garbok and drives the pike from behind. The pike nicks Garbok’s throat. The pike’s acid eats away at the flesh and artery underneath, and a gush of blood spurts out. Garbok’s eyes flutter and then stare blankly into nothingness.
Lewgwyn did it. He beat the boss. The party just might make it out of this.
Before Lewgwyn can mark himself with the kill, his life flashes before his eyes as a bomb explodes right in front of him. Blinded for but a moment, he’s unable to parry the small dagger that enters his stomach. He falls to the ground, bleeding profusely.
More bombs fly and explode, with one shard slicing into Montgomery’s tough hide. He ignores the pain and adjusts his position to shoot the giant goblin robot. The bullet connects but bounces off into the distance. Fitz hurries to the back of the machine and tucks a bomb in the gears behind the mech’s knee. It explodes but appears to have caused little damage. As Fitz makes his retreat, he and a nearby goblin are met with the blast of the bomb. Both are knocked down and out of consciousness.
With Montgomery the last standing in the room, he reloads and fires, but is unable to kill any more goblins. He then huddles behind a large crate marked with the white hand for cover and fends off a charging goblin using a dagger. A bomb bounces on the crate and explodes, concussing him. As he shakes the ringing out of his ears and eats the last of his healing berries, he hears a growling in the big crate. He sighs with relief when he realizes the crate is still intac.
Unfortunately, the crate on his back is not.
Hairy tendrils crawl up Montgomery’s back. A creature that appears part wolf spider and part eel sinks its fangs into him.
“Oh no.” Montgomery droops to the ground as poison courses through his veins.
Goblins approach Montgomery. One wrangles and bags up the creature. Another begins to stab down at Montgomery.
Deslan dashes into the room and shocks one of the goblins with eldritch energy. He produces a healing word from his lips that travel to Montgomery’s ears, but a goblin quickly stabs the Giff again.
Gab Gab runs up, drinking a potion. The potion reacts in her mouth and throat, and she billows out wave of flame. The goblins scream out in pain as they burn. The bag burns and the creature inside falls silent. Gab Gab then uncorks and pours a healing potion into Montgomery.
A goblin shoots an arrow from up above. It hits its target.
Gab Gab falls to the ground.
Deslan rushes up to protect Montgomery and Gab Gab, stabbing a goblin with his dagger.
“Finally, you bitch!” the blade shouts.
Gab Gab begins to convulse on the ground as goblins continue to pour into the room. The goblin machine continues to turn and try to crush the party. It raises its giant metal fists and slams them to the ground, cracking the floor with terrible force and narrowly missing the group.
Montgomery rushes over to Fitz and pours a potion into Fitz’s mouth, restoring his processing. In hopes of finding a weapon to combat the machine, Montgomery runs to the ballista. He tries to turn it, but it is bolted in place to prevent 180 degree movement. Deslan approaches the edge of space and shoots his purplish beam, signaling Kal’s ship to come retrieve them.
The wait feels like an eternity. Deslan and Montgomery step back towards the goblins and goblin mech. They shoot again and again at the mech, trying various tactics, but none seem to have much effect. Goblins shoot them both, and they struggle to stay on their feet.
Out of ammo, Montgomery is forced to drop his family heirloom gun to pull out a bow and arrow to fend off the enemy. However, he is struck once again by arrows and falls. Deslan uses his final healing potion on hand to bring Montgomery back to his feet, and then restores himself with more of the dagger’s mysterious power. Meanwhile, Fitz gets to his feet, gathers bombs, and throws them to keep the enemy at bay. Gab Gab stands to her feet with a fixated gaze and strangely begins walking, almost mechanically, towards the end of the room towards space.
Using his large frame and incredible strength, Montgomery grabs the giant crate stamped with the white palm symbol. He plants his feet and pushes. He picks up speed as his momentum builds. The gigantic goblin machine raises its arms and brings them down again, once again barely missing the party.
Fitz runs over to Lewgwyn but sees that the Leonin’s body is lifeless, having lost too much blood and taken too many bomb blasts. Fitz finds the white hand crate in pieces. He picks up the pike and the barbarian’s other possessions before returning to where the ship will pick them up.
The Pathfinder arrives just in time as arrows fly at the party from all angles. The expressionless Gab Gab hops aboard, as do Fitz and Deslan. Montgomery pushes the only remaining crate onto the ship and then turns back to the goblins.
He sees Lewgwyn’s, the last of the Starhunter Pride, dead.
He sees his gun, a precious family heirloom, crushed.
“Go,” he says to Deslan and Fitz. Dagger in hand, the Giff steps off the ship and charges at the goblins.
“What is he doing!?” Kal asks.
With more and more goblins flooding in, Montgomery doesn’t make it far. Arrow after arrow pierce the Giff’s thick hide, and he falls to his knees, and then to the floor.
Fitz fire’s the Pathfinder’s ballista, putting an end to the goblin machine’s movement, but the amount of goblins seems beyond count. With Montgomery down, the goblins turn their attention to Deslan, critically wounding him. Fitz rushes over and feeds Deslan a potion with haste.
“We have to go!” Kal connects with the Pathfinder, pushing it away from the asteroid and out into space.
