Izzy Chapter 14: Scrumming It (Patreon)

[New Class available: Goblin Scrum Boss.

Goblin Scrum Boss: A group of goblins, properly called a scrum, is a chaotic mess at the best of times. Without a Scrum Boss or higher tier chief to keep everyone moving in the same direction, any scrum is likely to soon break apart into an expanding cloud of unfocused curiosity, general mischief, and casual malice. As the scrum is the basic unit of any goblin warband, the Scrum Boss is also a capable fighter and tactician.]

Izzy had taken the class without hesitation. She had a guilty feeling that she should have asked Mash first — her obligatory companion could be annoying, but she seemed pretty smart — but when she saw the class she’d just known that she wanted it. It was a leader class, and she wanted to be a leader!

With a new Class at Level 1 she got a Class Skill, since one was a major Level. She also got to pick a new Non-Class Skill, since her new total Level was 8, which was also a major Level. It was good to be Izzy!

Oh, and Mash would probably have Leveled, too! She’d have to ask when she got an opportunity. She couldn't exactly start talking to her sort-of-friendly ghost in front of the kids; they were looking at her funny as it was.

Anyway, for her own skills she had a whole bunch to choose from.

[Unlocked Skills for Class: Goblin Scrum Boss:

Leadership

Cat Herding

Scrum Fighting

Traps

Scrapping

Throwing

Bows

Slings

Spears

Knives

Axes]

It was odd to see Leadership and Scrapping there, since she already had both as Non-Class Skills. Focusing on either told her that if she took it as a Class Skill she’d be able to pick something to replace it, which might be nice if there was something she really wanted. But she was pretty sure that her Class Skills were as strong as how many Levels she had in that Class, while Non-Class Skills were as strong as all her Levels, so…

She looked at the kids. They were fighting again, Squirrel was gnawing on Crack’s shin, and Howl was missing.

She’d need all the Leadership she could get. Maybe Cat Herding, too.

[Cat Herding: Goblins and children, like most unruly animals, are notoriously difficult to keep moving in one direction, or doing one thing, for long. Cat Herding provides a passive, stacking bonus to attempts to direct creatures that are resistant to direction, whether through their nature or individual personality.]

But… eh. She had her staff, and Mash’s memories told Izzy that a good whacking stick was usually enough. She applied that stick now, at least until the biting stopped, then took a look at the rest of the Skills. All the weapons Skills were self-explanatory, as was Traps. Boring, but useful. Knives was even a serious contender, considering her Spiderfang. But Scrum Fighting? Scrum Fighting interested her.

[Scrum Fighting: A lone goblin is a dead goblin, but a scrum of goblins is a force to be reckoned with. When used innately, Scrum Fighting grants a Level-based passive bonus to the combat abilities of any goblins you command, with the effect on any single goblin decreasing slightly as the size of your scrum grows. Effects are greater when ganging up on individually larger and more powerful opponents, or when retreating and regrouping.]

Now that sounded like something really useful! She had no intention of ever being alone again, nor did she doubt that they’d be getting into a lot of fights. And if she understood it right, Scrum Fighting would make the kids more likely to win and survive those fights.

Yeah. Easy choice.

“Scrum Fighting!” she said, full of confidence, and the kids all stared like she’d gone mad. “Got anything to say? I’m Leveling up!” She waved her staff at them, and they all quickly looked away. “That’s what I thought.”

Did you just pick a Skill without even asking me?

Mash didn't sound angry, or even annoyed. She sounded hurt. It made Izzy feel a little bad, to be honest. But next up were the Non-Class Skills, and those… she should really talk to Mash about those. There were too many to choose from, and a lot of them sounded useful and interesting. Not like Dancing, but still.

Yeah, she’d talk to Mash about it. That would probably make the ghost happy. Everybody wanted to feel useful, right? “You all stay here,” she told the kids. “I need to pick a Skill, and I’m going to go away a bit and do some thinking.”

“Shaman Mash, did you really become a Boss?” Buttercup asked, picking at her toenails and not making eye-contact as she talked.

“Yep!”

“So… do we call you Shaman Mash or Boss Mash, now? 

Ooo, Boss Mash! I like the sound of that!

“Call me Boss Mash!” Izzy said immediately. She didn’t really care herself, so it wouldn’t hurt to do what Mash wanted. And while the spirit didn’t say anything, there was a kind of pleased hum in the same place where Izzy usually heard her.

“All right. Now don’t go anywhere!” she ordered the kids, and set off upstream to talk to Mash. She could see the fairies all hanging out among the leaves of a nearby tree. “Hey, Caj!” she called. “Did you see Howl anywhere?”

“The gobbo that wandered off, I guess? Aye, the lass is around.”

“Thanks!” That was good enough. The kids were mostly feral, but they weren’t stupid enough to wander off somewhere.

“So,” she said softly once she’d put some good distance between herself and the kids. “I need to pick a Skill, and there’s lots to pick from. And if I understand it right it’ll be a while until we get another Non-Class Skill, right?”

Not until Level 13, yeah. Though you can grab Leadership the next time you get a Level in Scrum Boss if there’s something you really need.

“But that would make Leadership weaker, right?”

Yeah, it would. So only do that if there’s another Skill you really can’t wait for.

“So, you’re the clever advisor. What do I need?”

Good question. If it was just us I’d say maybe… I think you should have a general Skill like Scrapping, but for shooting weapons.

“Literally Shooting, yeah.”

Right. But since you’re with the kids now you should be supporting them more than fighting yourself. You’re the Boss, right? Same with crafting or gathering or anything like that. You can help out with all that stuff, but you shouldn’t waste Skills on it.

“So, something that helps me lead? Or something that helps me not get hurt?”

Exactly! You can’t get more Skills later if you’re dead, and if everyone else eats it you’ll probably be right behind them. And I don’t want my body to die, either. So, you know, something to stop that happening. And it should be something that helps us now and in the next few days.

“Mm-hmm… can you see what I can choose from?”

I can’t, no.

“Okay. We’ll do it the hard way.”

The hard way was Izzy reading every option in her list, and Mash stopping her when they got to something interesting. Administration was an early option, though according to Mash it probably wouldn’t be very useful with only five kids to order around. It also sounded extremely boring. Bartering could be useful, but only in the long run. Same with Diplomacy. Ingenuity was a real contender, and went on their short-list. It would help Izzy come up with creative ideas, and they could both see lots of situations where that might come in handy. Then there was Negotiation. They didn’t think that the gnolls would want to talk, but it might be worth a try.

There were a couple of other options after that. In the end, though, they settled on Sneaking. One of its big selling points was that as long as Izzy was leading a scrum, they would all get some benefit from the Skill. She would be better able to direct her scrum on how not to be seen or heard, and where and how to set up a hidden camp. Sneaking would help them avoid gnolls and humans and anything else that might want to kill or capture them. It would help them set up ambushes, and maybe sneak into their camps and escape undetected. And if worse came to worst, it would help Izzy herself get out alive. Not her first choice, but a good option to have.

“All right, squiggles, gimme Sneaking!” she said softly, and the world changed. Well, not really, but the way she saw it did, if only very subtly. As muscle memory and reflexes settled in, so did knowledge, and from one moment to the next she gained a whole lot of insight into how she should plan routes to different places while making as little noise as possible and avoid being seen from different directions, and where to hide depending on what she was hiding from and where it was. She’d thought that she was decently sneaky before — all goblins were, to some degree — but now she knew how little she'd known.

“Wow, you talk to the squiggles? That’s weird.”

Izzy jumped with a startled squeak. The voice had come from right behind her, and she came down facing that way her staff in a… not a fighting stance, exactly, but very much ready to whack or viciously poke whoever had interrupted her musing.

Howl was sitting there, plum on the ground, watching Izzy with a big grin on her face.

“Were you talking to them the whole time or are you all kinds of crazy?” Howl continued curiously. “‘cause just talking like someone's answering you is pretty crazy.”

Izzy scowled and bopped her on the head with her staff.

“Ow! What's that for?!” Howl whined, so Izzy poked her in the chest, making her fall over backwards.

“That's for sneaking up on me and calling me crazy!” Izzy declared with all the righteousness she could muster.

Howl rubbed her head and muttered, “You're the one walked up here while I was sitting. I just didn't say anything. Not my fault you didn't see me.”

She was not sitting there when we got here!

Mash's voice in Izzy's head was indignant, and Izzy bent over the gal. “No you weren’t!”

“Yeah, I—! Okay, I was behind the bush there, but its not like you were quiet or anything. You mumble loud!”

She’s a Level 3 Goblin Huntress. She’s probably got Sneaking as a Class Skill.

“That's why we didn't see her!” Izzy exclaimed. Howl stared at her. Izzy stared back.

“You are crazy!” Howl whispered. Izzy was about to deny it, or at least to bop her on the head again, but a huge smile split the gal’s face and she burst with questions. “What's it like? You got voices you're talking to, right? How many? Are they different people? Have you always had them or did you snap after the humans attacked? What do you talk about? Are they— Ow!”

Izzy bopped her. Not hard, just enough to shut her up. “It’s only one!” she hissed. “You know the ritual? It worked! Just not… The spirit didn't go into the bird, it went into me!”

Nice save.

The half confession, half lie came smoothly. Mash’s tone was less than impressed, but Howl’s mouth formed a perfect O, her eyes huge with excitement.

“You're your own what's-it? Familary?”

“Familiar. And kind of? I have a spirit stuck to me, helping me out. She’s smart, too. Has good ideas.”

You think so? That's… thanks!

“That’s so wicked! I want a spirit in my head, too! Can you do that? Put a spirit in my head?”

“Uh, maybe?”

No! Absolutely not! You’re not using my tribe as glorified vinelings for your sisters!”

“But maybe not. I dunno how it happened. Something went really wrong with the ritual, you know? We could try, but maybe you’d just, you know, die.”

“Oh.” Howl looked horribly dejected for about a second, then shrugged. “Let me know if you figure it out?”

“I’m the boss,” Izzy said, face scrunching with annoyance. “I’ll let you know if I wanna. But yeah, probably.”

“Okay!”

“Are you going to keep your mouth shut about this?”

“Ah… not for long. Sorry.”

She’s not called Howl for no reason. I think her name used to be Beaver or something when she was little, but she can never keep her mouth shut.

Izzy sighed and scratched her head. “At least you’re honest.” She held her staff out, using it to help Howl to her feet. And when she thought about it, she should be honest, too, before Howl was honest for her. It wasn’t like she had anything to be ashamed of. And her Summary was shaping up nicely.

[Summary for Mistral, Unbound Aura (Goblin vessel)

Classes:

Goblin Shaman (7)

Goblin Scrum Boss (1)

Total Class Levels: 8

Directions:

Goblin

Mana: 230/230 (+9)

Skills from Goblin Shaman:

Plant Magic

Ritual Magic

Contingency Casting

Wind Magic

Skills from Goblin Scrum Boss:

Scrum Fighting

Non-Class Skills:

Survival

Scrapping

Leadership

Dancing

Sneaking

Spells Known:

From Plant Magic:

Healing Roots

Create Vineling

Bramble Growth

Quests:

A Lone Goblin Is A Dead Goblin]

She didn’t let the fact that the pride she felt in being a Scrum Boss came entirely from Mash’s memories bother her.

“Let’s get back,” she told Howl. “I’m gonna tell the others.”