Backstory
Klernt came from a tribe of crazed, swamp dwelling, mushroom cultivating, goblins. They wallowed in the mud of their damp and dark caves, feasting on the "sacred" mushrooms they've learned how to grow. The mushroom harvest brought a time of peace, albeit a short one. This allowed some of the more intelligent goblins to have moments of clarity, in which they learned their mushrooms also had potent electrical properties. So much so, that if thrown with enough force, they would explode into a shower of burning sparks. The goblins loved this, especially since the light show came at the exact time of the harvest and great feast.
The goblins began to revere mushrooms, and the more devout ones of the tribe went so far as to let them be cultivated on their own bodies. These became the "leaders" and shamans of the tribe, usually also being the most violent and insane members, almost definitely from overconsumption and further bonding with the mushrooms.
Klernt doesn't remember exactly what happened, but he does remember that when he came to, his batch of mushrooms was different. He heard the screaming– the cacophonous wailing of hundreds of goblins cheering at the sights of the exploding mushrooms and the crackling electricity. Klernt was bewildered by what was going on around him, but he immediately understood that these foolish goblins around him had no idea what power they had control of. He quickly finished his mushrooms and joined in on the festivities, so as to not make any of the other goblins suspicious of him. As the night died down, he knew that this peace wouldn't last long. The fighting would come the next morning, and he didn’t want to be around for it.
Klernt snuck off into the swamp in the dead of night. He found a small cave to call his own, far away from his old home. Many years passed, and Klernt slowly became accustomed to his newfound "sentience." With his enhanced mind, he began tinkering. At first, it was just simple tools and machines made out of pieces of scrap metal he found in the swamp. As he builds his mechanisms, he remembers the mushrooms from his home. The power!
Klernt began to plan. He needed to get some of his old tribe’s mushrooms to cultivate his own. His old tribe would never let anyone take their holy mushrooms from them though. People had tried before and... it wasn't pretty. Klernt prepared to leave, keeping his supplies in a hidden spot not far from his old home. He watched the entrance to the tribe’s territory. He only needed one mushroom – that should have been easy. He walked in, pretending to be a “normal” goblin. He knew it was the time of the harvest, and he could hear the cheering.
Good, he thought, they won’t even notice me.
As Klernt began grabbing mushrooms to take with him, he heard a shrill cry from behind him.
"HERETIC!!!"
Klernt didn’t even look. He just ran. He knew all he can do now is run.
He holed up in his new home, far away from the swamps, in a deep and winding cave. His mushrooms were growing wonderfully, so he began to experiment. He was still indulging in his own harvest and feasts, but instead of maddening light shows, Klernt used the moments of clarity they provided to think and build. His cave was soon laced with traps that he created to pair with the power of the mushrooms. Metal grates laid across the floor with mushrooms dangling above, ready to fall onto intruders and electrocute entire stretches of the tunnel. Ramshackle cannons, held together by dreams and rust, were ready to be fired into the cavern’s entrances. Their ammo was a special metal casing that held crackling liquified mushroom goop. Klernt was ready for when his old horde was inevitably drawn to his cave and horde of mushrooms.
Days passed without danger, which let Klernt experiment more and more. One day while digging into his cavern walls, he found a gem– not just any gem though. This gem was prismatic– changing colors. He had never seen a gem like this before in his life, and he wonders: what if this is what I’ve been missing?
He rushed back to his lab with the gem in tow. Klernt gathered one of his large glass tubes and filled it with water before grinding up some of his dried mushrooms and adding the slurry to the tube. He added the crystal and the water began to shimmer. The crystal changed colors rapidly, and the tube began to hum.
"That's it!" he exclaimed and quickly ran over to his "crab tank," He slotted the tube into the top of it, and the machine roared to life. Klernt nearly has a heart attack, but not from his new creation. One of his traps went off, the sound echoed down the cavern tunnels. They finally came.
Klernt quickly gathered his things. He didn’t know how to control this new contraption, but he desperately willed for it to follow him, and it seemed to understand. He heard the screaming of crazed goblins being fried– violently crackling. The smell of his goblin barbeque was intense. He rushed out his door and prepared his cannons to fire. They were the last things he needed to cover his escape.
He looked up and saw the fetid horde scrambling over each other at the choke point. In that moment of clarity, he fired. The chamber fell silent, but the distant screams reminded him that it wasn’t over. He had to go. Now. He ran out of the back of his cave through the escape tunnel he'd been digging for this moment. The backup goblins arrive, but Klernt is gone– on the run once again.
