Private Eastern Brisshal Always greener

[Brutus Dahlgren]

Brutus eyed his UI, waiting for a message back from Corsair. About an hour ago he'd had a life changing encounter with a group of...sapient goblins for the lack of a better word. Their leader, a "Knight" by the name of Gon Gobote, had asked him for his help relocating his people out of western Brishal and into the eastern region of the forest in order to distance themselves from raid happy goblins. In exchange, they would help form an early warning system for the town of Honeyhome. He'd needed some heavy hitters to get this done, and when the chips were down he reached out to his trusty partner in crime.

The main Dame of Gundame.

The message had been simple.

Corsair, I've found a tribe of friendly goblins out in wester Brishal. They're seeking refuge from raiding goblin clans. They're looking to settle in an abandoned Gnoll village to the south, in exchange they've offered to work as an advanced scouting unit for the forest, giving us an early warning system against other threats in the forest. It seems risky, but I think we can forge a brighter future if we help them. Meet me at the marked location on this map and I'll explain more to you.

The knight, Gon Gobote was sitting on a stump looking rather impatient, kicking his legs. "You said your friend was coming hours ago."

"They're on their way, I'm sure of it." Brutus replied, chewing on his nails. The other goblins, roughtly 45 in number, were all milling around restlessly. Out in the open they were sitting ducks, they would need to get moving sooner rather than later. "Aaaaany moment now."

@Corsair

 

[Corsair]

The reply was like Corsair herself: short and to the point.

On my way. You'll be pleased.

It was another ten minutes, but when Corsair arrived it was with a whole menagerie. She didn't just have Sam and Fujitsu, but a new snake shaped magitech, and another that looked like a small deer, with antlers made of shimmering steel. "Apologies for the delay," she said, giving a little nod to Brutus and then to his accumulated goblin friends, "your message came as I was finishing up a little gift for you."

She handed Brutus a fifth construct. This one was another spider like Fujitsu, only it was presently curled up into a perfect ball shape, like a miniature metallic baseball. She tapped its back lightly, and there was a spark of green as it unraveled, spindly legs stretching in Brutus' palm. "A new tool for you to play with. It's got the soul of a screech owl in it. Ethically sourced of course. Latch this onto an enemy and it will keep screaming at a frequency only we can hear. About 45kHz. That way you can tracking moving foes," she explained. "Also helps if one of us is captured and can't shout or scream for help. "What do you think?'

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

The goblins watched as the small magia woman arrived with the entire clockwork circus in tow. Even Brutus was suprised, sure he'd seen some of her projects lying around in various states of completion, but he'd yet to reconvene with her and all of her mechanical goons in their full glory. He would give the spider a light toss into the air, like a baseball, catching it and getting a feel for his heft.

"So I just fastball special this sucker at whatever we're chasing and it'll just start screaming eh? I dig it!' He would motion to the snake and Deer. "These are new too, do you have names for them yet?"

After letting Corsair introduce all of her mechanical pals, he would motion to the goblin knight, wearing a bucket for a helmet, his armor consisting of forks, knives, and spoons being woven into his vest like strange metal plating. "This is Gon Gobote, a gentlemen goblin with dreams of being a hero." He would then motion over to a goblin who was about as thick as five other goblins, "This is Boomer, he's kinda their heavy." and the then he would wave over a large group of goblins. "The one with the cowboy hat is Shanks, the red scarf is Iggy, the guys with the slingshot is Hal." He was surprised how quickly he'd learned their names, considering most of them barely spoke common. All in all there were about ten "fighting" goblins guarding about thirty five women and children.

"Only Gon really speaks Common really well, the rest sorta understand but don't speak it well."

"A pleasure to meet ze Lady" Gon would add, tipping his fedora. "You must be ze Silver Witch who works alongside the Red Giant zen."

@Corsair

 

[Corsair]

"The snake of Razer, the Deer is John, and you can name the fastball." The deer stood still beside her, the stilted and restful stance of a machine without a spirit to inhabit it. Corsair rested a hand on its back. It was quite small, as deer went.

She looked over the rag-tag band of Goblins. Their armor and weapons seemed more at place in a kitchen or a garden shed then they did on the battlefield, but the whole lot of them seemed a sight more civilized than the ambush that she and Brutus had 'dismantled' at the lumberyard.

"I'm Corsair," she said, by way of introduction to Gon Gobote, Boomer, Shanks, Iggy, and Hal. It seemed she would be working most closely with these fine goblemen (Nope. That didn't sound as good as it did in her head). "I think we can all appreciate someone trying to be a hero," she said, giving Gon Gobote a thin smile.

"And I don't know about Silver Witch, but that moniker works as well as any." She was conflicted by the name. On one hand the image of a witch conjured up cauldrons and cackling, but the addition of silver made it almost seem elusive and magical. Perhaps it would grow on her.

"Well, if it wasn't already obvious, I'm 'in', Brutus. So what's the plan? We're taking them South to the Gnoll village, but what can we expect along the way? Is the village occupied already?"

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"It is a name given by our brezeren in ze west." Gobote would explain. "Legend tells of mighty demonz zat kill goblin raiders wiz zeal and fury unlike any ozer. Ze Red Giant who wields thunder and lightning, very very frightening. And Ze Silver Witch, an emotionless monster with an army of metal!" He would motion to her robots.

"Those are some clever names," Brutus would reply with a chuckle. "As for the fastball, lets call them Pan, short for Panasonic eh?" He would waggle a brow getting the joke out of the way before getting down to business.

"According to our intelligence." He would turn to the red scarved goblin. "The village was abandoned for some reason or another. No-one has seen hide or hair of a Gnoll in or out of there in several weeks." The goblin, who seemed to understand what they were saying at least nodded along excitedly. "They think it's the perfect place to set up shop under society's nose while they try to integrate. Most people don't like to fuck with Gnoll camps outright so they can build up and secure themselves while earning the trust of our Honeyhomies."

It seemed much too easy, which is why he'd called her in the first place. Things like this needed someone pragmatic like Corsair, who could point out the various flaws and potential problems in plans.

@Corsair

 

[Corsair]

Corsair studied him, looking for a hint of a joke on his green lips.

She didn't know what to make of the story.

They'd killed a handful of goblins in self-defense and now their whole species knew about them? Did they have nicknames for anyone they'd ever fought? And who had been feeding them these tales in the first place! When she and Brutus had fought the goblins in the logging camp it had been an isolated incident, and she was pretty sure that none of them had survived the encounter to spread a tale of disaster.

Something about this whole situation didn't sit right with her.

"I see. Would you excuse me one moment?" she asked, and moved close to Brutus, stretching up onto her toes to whisper into his ear at a frequency only he could hear. "I feel like I'm missing something here. Why do these goblins think we're these terrible monsters? Is this some strange game logic or have you been telling them tall tales?"

"Besides, why do they want us helping them if we're known as great killers of their kind? Just what kind of trap are we walking into?" An abandoned gnoll camp? Legendary goblin killers being hired to side with their prey? Even to Corsair this reeked of something rotten.

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"Apparently." Brutus would quip back "While you've been off finding missing stars and gathering machine parts I've been kicking more Goblin ass than you can shake a stick at. Someone must have survived to tell a story about me, and I guess you got tacked along for the tale. As for Gon and co..." He would turn back to them and smile.

"They want to be peaceful apparently, three quarters of their clan is women and children and they're afraid of raiders. Asking us for help warding off other goblin clans is like hiring the boogey man, or John Wick. Plus..." he would motion to a gaggle of green toddlers playing with a small leather ball. "They're kinda cute and I feel exceptionally guilty for the mass amounts of Green Slaughter I've partaken in. If we're getting hoodwinked, it's probably in that they're not being honest with that's going on in that village and besides..." He would shoot her a cheeky grin. "We're team Gundame, what could possibly go wrong?"

@Corsair

 

[Corsair]

"Ah yes. Your solo adventures. That tracks," Corsair said, tapping her chin. "I hope that a fearsome reputation is all you've been giving me." It was almost a joke, but Corsair was certainly more relaxed now.

It was flattering, in a way. Being hired from legendary status, and scaring off other goblins purely from existence. "Boogeyman. I see. Well, let's not disappoint."

Corsair tapped the back of John, her new deer and brilliant pathfinder. Her steel fingers easily found the buttons under his slick, silvery skin, and she set a heading for their destination: the Gnoll village to the South.

She settled Fujitsu into John's antlers, giving the spider simple commands to set off alarm calls if it sensed any hostile creatures nearby.

Then, with a sharp whistle, they set off, heading down from the meeting glade and immediately into overgrown forest. The stench of natural decomposition, wet, and moss was strong, though Corsair only made a cursory note of the increase in water moisture.

She climbed over a massive roots, smearing her clothes with greenery that would be a pain to wash out later. "Gon Gobote, does your clan have any history with these Gnolls?"

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"As if I would ever allow myself to sully your good name." He replied shooting her a sideways glance. "Team Gundame always wins. Especially when we're fighting side by side." He would watch as John would take point with Fujitsu on its antlers, ready to go apeshit at the first sign of trouble. Pan would skitter onto his shoulder, ready and alert for the first sign of trouble as well.

"Perzonally? No." Gobote would explain as they walked. "But zhey have been a pain in many green asses over ze years. Many goblins try to go south, make foothold, many a goblin eaten by gnolls."

"And they just all up and fucked off?" Brutus would ask raising an eyebrow.

"My scouts say zhey have not seen a Yeen leave zhe place in at least two weeks." Gon would reply, hobbling over a bundle of roots.

"You...never saw anything leave?" He would ask, raising an eyebrow as he stepped easily over the roots.

"Nope! Tricky Yeens have not been seen in weeks zho, no clue how."

A cold tremor ran down the giants spine as he turned to Corsair. "That cannot be good, right?"

@Corsair