O Captain, My Captain

The party searches their stolen ship and finds the only survivor hiding in a barrel. Captain Chaste Tools emerges pleading for his life, begging that they spare him to return to his many wives. He goes on at length until Stirfry and Cordelia consider killing him just to shut him up. Prolapse, still in control of Frederick’s body, asks Goatse to find de Bonesby to borrow his sleep spell to quiet Chaste down. While the party manages to convince the captain, we follow Frederick inside his own mind.

Frederick has take his spells from his lab and tunneled out while the goblins are still looking for him. He is followed by the mysterious shadow, which when prompted to help, transforms his tunneling spoon into a better defined one. He finally reaches his memories, where he is chased by a hunter and his two-headed hound that resembles his family members. Frederick is dressed as a fox and flees them while the shadow turns into an actual fox and bites the hound to drive it back. Frederick finds himself inserted into past memories at his former academy and reliving his father Otto de Bonesby’s scoldings while the shadow takes the form of his manservant Wurster. When Frederick asked him to leave the manor and Otto refuses, Frederick’s memory changes. He remembers his butler arriving and handing him a spellbook, where every page reads “Kill father.” Frederick casts a spell that blows him up into a mess of skin, flesh, fats and bones. Wurster advises him to study and grow stronger before Frederick sees that something is wrong. He turns to find Wurster in his burned down library of arcane knowledge, berating him and demanding that he rebuild it. Wurster grows until he nearly fills the room, threatening Frederick to become a perfect vessel until the goblins tear a new door into the wall and wave for him to escape with them.

Frederick hides out with the goblins in one of their carved out tunnels. Prolapse and Goates assure him that they don’t want to take over his body, but just to feel alive again. Frederick puts aside their differences and they run towards the controls of the body together. The creature resembling Wurster floats after them as they struggle against an escalator driving them back, but Goatse shoves his hands into the workings of the machine. It becomes blocked up on his limbs as they take the chance to run ahead. Frederick reaches the controls, but Wurster easily unlocks the elaborate gate. Seeing that the creature seeks order and that their numbers are their main advantage, Frederick takes the goblins and slams them together to form a gate of goblin flesh. Wurster is stumped by the bizarre solution and swears to learn a way around it. Frederick says he may see him in Hell as the goblins begin to expand. They assimilate with the control room, ready to coordinate with Frederick rather than compete.

The party arrives at Brian Doyle Falls as Frederick awakens, speaking as de Bonesby but using the goblins’ voice. They find the entire town engulfed in a giant gelatinous cube and the mayor of Sephesda making a speech in front of it. He reveals a memorial wall, showing all those who died as a result of the cube. Bellow goes to it and finds the names of his family there. When he looks dejected, he hears a voice whisper that there are people alive inside the cube and that there is a way in. Bellow says that he’s interested.