Scupper Shroomgut's page

Scupper's great, great, great, great, grandnan founded the Shroomgut clan well before the longshanks resettled the vale at the base of The Mountain that Went Boom!. Drawn to the area as the forest regrew itself in the mineral rich volcanic soil coating the corpse of the previous forest. The powerful goblin matron built a dynasty on the abundant mushrooms, toadstools, and numerous other fungi that thrived in the woods of Darkmoon Vale. Nana Shroomgut's Gut Busting Mind Melting Chili was a favorite among the region's scattered clans and kin. Goblin warrior's would bulk up on the stuff before important trials and battles as it often left them in a such a numbed state pain was no deterrent. Goblin jujucasters and holy rollers would feast upon it in hopes of finding glorious inspiration. But most just ate it because Nana Shroomgut made sure a bit of the highly addictive Prune Boot Shroom was included in every batch. It was a prosperous and happy time for Scupper's Shroomgut ancestors. Then the longshanks moved in.

The founding of Falcon's Hollow was a disaster for the local goblin clans. As was so often the case one of the first actions by the settlers was to either enslave or drive off any goblinkin found within a three days walk of the town. Usually bribing mercenary adventurers to do the growing village's dirty work. If they weren't driven away or killed outright, the continuous logging of the forest insured their way of life would soon come to an end. The clans occasionally fought back, but that almost always ended in disaster. More importantly, the recipe for Nana's Gut Busting, Mind Melting Chili was lost when the clan's Matron was unexpectedly eaten by a hungry forest drake. The Shroomguts seemed destined for extinction.

But an ever resourceful people, the new Nana Shroomgut (for every clan Matron was known as Nana in order to keep anyone from forgetting her name) berated the male folk into proving they could make themselves useful to the longshanks. If they could do that, then maybe the clans could survive.

Amazingly, the goblins succeeded. Their natural curiosity and affinity for machinery meant that many had a knack for keeping the massive steam powered equipment that is the heart and soul of the Lumber Consortium's timber mills running. In fact, they even occasionally came up with an actual improvement that increased production. In addition, they worked cheap, ate most anything, and rarely complained when injured. In fact, some even took pride in such grim occurances, for gruesome injuries were just something goblin-kind had adapted too long, long ago.

And so over time, rather than killing the remaining few clans off, the Shroomguts, Frogswatters, and Yellowbacks still living around Falcon's Hollow were offered homes and lives near the mills. Of course, most folks would actually say they were coaxed and coerced into hovel-like 'workcamps' where they became solely dependent on the meager livelihoods offered by the three major families of the town and the shareholders of the Lumber Consortium.

For several years the goblin chiefs, matrons, and wise ones of the clans had been able to eek out a reasonably pleasant existence by the standards of their kind. Occasionally they could even play the three families off each other well enough to increase pay at the mills or more meat into the cookpots. But when two of the three families fell, leaving only the Kreed's in charge, well even the occasional goblin took notice of the downturn in survival rates and upticks in lost limbs, hungry bellies, and growing persecution by the rest of the townsfolk who thought the mill jobs should go to proper longshank folk.

Scupper Shroomgut grew up working in the mill. As soon as he could crawl about and squirt an oil can he was sent into the gears with the other short stuffs to keep the constantly churning machines well oiled and running smoothly. By the time he was full grown, three of his fellow creche mates were dead and two others were missing at least one limb all due to accidents in the mills.

Scupper knew it was only a matter of time before he ended up the same way. And something was different about this young goblin. A true descendant of the ancient original Nana whose powerful herbal and shroom cooking once filled the bellies and opened the minds of every goblin in the vale. Not interested in ending his days with one arm and a wooden leg, Scupper did something few goblins ever do. He picked up a book. The tome was a tattered, torn, and mildewed bit of trash tossed upon the town midden, but for Scupper the blood stained copy of One Hundred and One Alchemical Potions and Conjurations for the Budget Conscious by A.S Jasper was a life changing treasure. Or at least it would be.

Scupper couldn't read a word of the book. But the pictures of massive fire bombs and miracle healing elixirs or billowing clouds of spook gas set his imagination ablaze. If only he could learn to create such things. Maybe he could even rediscover the recipe for Nana's Gut Busting, Mind Melting Chili and bring back the glory and pride of his clan and people. The possibilities seemed endless, except for his lack of reading skills. He tried following a few of the diagrams but decided to stop experimenting when he blew the back wall off the supply shed he'd been using as his "secret laboratory."

But he didn't give up completely. And as she does every so often, Lady Fate decided to annoy her immortal brothers and sisters and nudged the world slightly off its gods intended course. Seeing the little goblin's predicament, she reached out and twitched her fingers across a few strands of the world weave. And so it was that one day while Scupper sat outside of Roots and Remedies staring moon-eyed at the half dozen blooded-stained pictures in his book that Laurel Grebe took notice. Curious about the goblin's curiosity, she began talking to him and his dreams of being a master alchemist so he could find ways to protect his clan or heal them when they got clipped by the massive saw blades, or caught in the gears and belts, or seared by the boilers.

Taking pity upon the little creature and his kindred, Laurel decided to teach Scupper how to read and write and measure things and to calculate how many spoons in a thimble or mugs to a jug. For many days and passing moons, the goblin came to the back of Laurel's shop for his lessons. To her surprise, he proved an adept student and before long was able to reading the formulas in his book and even putting a few to the test. One or two with varying degrees of success.

Soon enough a small part of his dream was coming true. Scupper was able to brew an elixir that quickly healed minor wounds, and in the case of major injuries, could prevent death or help someone recover more quickly. Like any good goblin, he also tinkered with a variety of explosive devices. Initially thinking the fire bombs might be a quick and effective way of catching, killing, and cooking a rat for dinner, his devices ended up being a bit more popular with rebels and other criminal elements who wished to send a message to friend or foe.

Word of his healing successes both good started to get round certain elements of town, especially those who preferred not to seek out the services of Lady Cirthana or Laurel for whatever reasons. These were often the same folk who occasionally purchased one of his other products. All in all, his newly earned abilities have earned him a bit of respect among some, and perhaps scrutiny from others such as the sheriff or the town's true overlords, the Kreed's.

But he cares little for politics and instead focuses his true energies on seeking out more ways to mix his alchemical ingredients for other uses. And most importantly, to try and rediscover Nana's ancient chili recipe.