Goblin Quest - Devil Went Down to Goochville

They crept into the bones of the world. Gooch, Gakk, and Xmoek, the Bayside Stranglers, descended into the secluded cave where Hunclay allegedly kept other mysteries and horrors. The air down there was old, sour with dust and dried blood, and something else—something worse, like the smell of a nightmare from somewhere in the deepest of the dark.   They found it waiting: a spider-thing, dead but moving, legs like bone knives clicking on stone, eyes cold and bright with hate. A monstrosity from the Dominion of the Black, summoned and dispatched by Hunclay when he couldn’t control the beast. It guarded its treasure like a dragon tending its hoard. The goblins didn’t hesitate. They tore it apart with claws, bombs, and elemental flames until it collapsed into a heap of twitching limbs.   Four chests. Three were heavy with the jingle of old money bundled in tidy packets. The fourth was larger than the others, locked with brass and magic. Inside: packets of enhanced dust of darkness, a scroll of permanency sealed in mithral, and a darkwood case holding books. Ancient, brittle. Three were written in Osiriani star-charts, maps of constellations long forgotten. The fourth was darker, etched in Aklo and another tongue not meant to be spoken.   They left the cave and returned to the manor. A debt to be paid—out of honour? Hatred for the longshanks? Maphae, the creature from the Plane of Shadow, waited behind her prison of light. The Stranglers shattered the spellwork holding her, and in gratitude, she handed Gakk her gloves—delicate things woven for hands that could dance through traps like smoke through keyholes.   But Xmoek… Xmoek had a fresh hatred for humans. He scratched through the summoning circle that held the final prisoner—Chririt, the insectile devil with a voice like a broken bell. In return, Chririt tried to kill the goblins. The devil bug played his part well. He whined, begged, and tempted the one he thought he could manipulate—Gooch. He told Gooch he could be more. A leader, maybe. Maybe even more than that. All he had to do was kill the others, and Chririt would be his best friend.   Then Chririt struck his best friend.   That was his mistake.   Because Gooch wasn’t in the mood for games. Not anymore. With a scream that echoed off the walls like a murder confession, Gooch lunged and tore Chririt apart with tooth and fury. The devil screeched and slithered back to Hell with half his face missing, a gift from Gooch.   Their job done, they returned to the Baroness—five thousand gold in reward. A great deal of gold for a great deal of blood spilled. Fair is far.   Word began to spread. Hunclay’s manor, with all its secrets, would be auctioned off in a month. The Bayside Stranglers were on the guest list.   Meanwhile, Xmoek handed Hunclay's spell books to Anagrit, the quiet witch with ink-stained fingers. She copied scroll after scroll. And then, without a word, she vanished. Left town. Gone like smoke.   And somewhere beneath it all, something still stirs.