Goblin Court Jukebox

Tonight we played Goblin Court by BESW, a drift of Lasers & Feelings that imagines the group as fae goblin visitors at a human court. The castle of his court has lots of secret passages and a mage’s tower that adds intrigue, but the court suspects that a spy has infiltrated their number. We are Rhea an inquisitive artistic goblin who hopes to get kissed, Aglet a gregarious animal loving goblin seeking to make friends, Enki an inventive goblin tailor who also wants friends, and Finster a blunt goblin mechanic who hopes to share secrets. The Queen has commanded us to use our magic to secretly deliver a message to a powerful but tiny dragon named Amethyst who lives far from the court. She hopes that this will impress her lover, Count Deere, but unbeknownst to us, a mechanical bard opposes our mission.

We learn of our mission when Aglet returns to the goblin quarters with our instructions from the Queen. Finster begins to collect maps and plan their route, while Aglet recommends which of her equestrian friends might accompany us. The group decides that each of us should present the dragon with a gift. Next the Queen asks Rhea to paint her lover without being noticed before our departure. Working incognito, Rhea manages to pull off a quick watercolor sketch of Count Deere, but the likeness isn’t very true; in fact, in the painting he strongly resembles another lord of the court…. While we have time, Enki delivers a new dress to Princess Anna and her lady-in-waiting. While they like the dress, they ask Enki to festoon it with more froufrou spangles so it draws more attention when the Princess enters a room.

We finally get out on the road toward the dragon’s lair. On the first night camping, we’re awoken by a loud noise and see a large metal box rolling into our campsite on large treads with a grill in the front. We don’t initially react, but then the sounds coming from the box change and we’re writhing in pain as it becomes a piercing scream that cuts into our brains. After briefly trying to bury our heads, we use our magical pebbles to communicate a plan to retreat and regroup, which we do with only a few tumbles and falls along the way. We decide we must disable the weapon, so we return to our camp and while Aglet, Enki, and Rhea distract the mechanical box, Finster, whose ears have been sewn shut, opens up the box and gums up the works, so the piercing sound stops. In the silence, the box began to speak, explaining that he is a cursed bard, transformed into this mechanical monster and that if they deliver the message to Amethyst, the dragon will destroy his village to please Count Deere, who holds a grudge against his people. We promise not to deliver the message, but how do we make the Queen believe that we have?