Zoz the Tinkerer

Race: Orc

Class: Tinker (Closest D&D equivalent - lvl 5 Gunslinger Fighter)

Strength - 14, Dexterity - 16, Constitution - 14, Intelligence - 16, Wisdom - 10, Charisma - 8

Saving throws: Dexterity, Intellect

Proficiencies: Athletics, Nature, History, Investigation, Perception, Tinker's tools, Alchemist's supplies.

Feats: Piercer

Rocket turned out to be in surprisingly good shape. The design had numerous flaws but fixing them wasn't a big hurdle. Draining the explosive liquid wasn't a challenge either. The most troublesome part was attaching a rudder to the machine. Thankfully I've got a small crew of goblin craftsmen of varying fields, two gnome inventors, and one dwarf arms smith.

Those from our ship had worked with me long enough to let me call shots but the alliance folk had some doubts. One of the gnomes was especially argumentative. Quoting Gelbin Mekkatorque's recently updated "Principles of Engineering Safety" in barely accented gnomish made him shut up quickly.

"Heh! That's our boy Zoz for ya!" Twize of course could not leave something like this without a comment. Other goblins began laughing at the bewildered Alliance tinker at the same time she did. It always felt good having guys baking me up on something. Kank though did not have patience for a time waste of any kind so we continued the work.

The end result was a crudely assembled rudder controlled by a sturdy lever. Turning the vehicle was assigned to me as the strongest guy with the necessary knowledge. There wasn't any way to test how good of a control our modification would provide, so I prayed that I would be able to compensate during the flight.

This whole endeavor was beginning to feel a lot less worthwhile with every second I thought about it. Truth be told, I am a coward at heart. I wouldn't have been a simple peon for the better half of my time in the Horde if it wasn't the case. But if there was a time in my life when I needed to risk, I felt it was during that moment. After all, it was my idea and my chance to finally shine. There was a certain kind of personal pride involved when it came to making the plan go through, even if my knees were shaking in the process.

"Fire!" After the Kank's command, cannonballs, smaller rockets, and burning barrels were launched at the energy wall. They did nothing, of course, but the smokescreen provided made up for the fact.

A portion of metal had to be removed and the explosive liquid needed to be drained from the rocket's body so that our strike squad could be seated in there. I was put closer to the tail of the resulting metal boat. Everyone else had to be crammed into the remaining space, including Helor, Kank, Folker, Elyrin, some human priest, and a death knight. This choice of people mostly boiled down to balancing ranged firepower, defensive magic, healing, and some muscle in close quarters.

"Are you ready?" I said while adjusting my grip on the lever.

Elyrin and the priest shielded us with two layers of magical barriers. Blue and golden light combined created weightless armor that granted a sense of security much greater than something purely physical could ever achieve. At least it was the case for normal people. The demon hunter and the undead warrior had to endure quite a bit of pain when the Light touched them, even if either one tried to not show it.

"Ready!" After hearing the confirmation of both spellcasters I gave Twize the thumbs up. She lit up the fuse.

We flew right through the ceiling crack without any problem - the rocket had already tiled at the right angle so I did not have to adjust there. The challenge came after as I was making a bow-shaped turn towards our destination. When our ride began to flip over I pulled the cord connected to the catapulting mechanism below us.

The death knight casted a spell of slow falling on all of us while rocked and a full crate worth of smoke bombs were thrown all over the place. When we landed in the midst of gray fog Helor was the one who led us zigzagging in between squads of blinded and panicking fish people.

When we exited the smoke two things became apparent. First, we found the device powering this gigantic barrier. Otherwise, I don't know why else on Azeroth there would be a huge big crystal installed into the wall 30 or something feet above the ground. Second, our arrival was of course expected since our magic shielding was quickly popped by the rain of arrows the moment we became seen.

A line of naga women were standing inside the crystal's recess. One sorceress among them had created a wall of water that protected both them and the cristall. Archers were leaning out of it between the shots which wasn't good. Even worse news: there was a naga brute below. A 3-meter-tall lizard tore off a flimsy wood-and-rope ladder connected to the archer's platform and began to move toward us. Things weren't looking that bright for my future career.

Kank and Folker ran to intercept the monster while Elyrin tried to launch a spell towards the archer line. It fell apart mid-casting. Naga sorceress showed a gloating smile. I tried to shoot at her but the rifle bullet was veered off course by water.

Meanwhile, our warriors were able to draw some of the brute's blood but not without receiving some damage themselves. I saw Folker getting his head whacked so hard that his feet were embedded into the stone floor. A spider web of cracks was around him and a sickeningly loud crunch was heard from under the armor yet the man continued swinging. I saw Kank slicing the monster with the speed of a whirlwind while dodging every attack with trained precision.

Seeing these men made me jealous. There were true warriors - something that I wasn't and something that I never really hoped to be.

The priest came to their aid and summoned a yellow-flamed comet that went through Folker and the brute. Human was healed by it but the reptile writhed in pain from scorching burns. Then the comet returned like a boomerang through the same path and with the same results.

Helor, after seeing the success of my marksmanship, decided to not use his bow. Instead, he cast one of his nastier spells. From what the blood elf told me, I understood that it digs inside a person's heart in search of a weakness. It can be lust, greed, longing for love, or a memory of someone precious lost to tragedy. Long story short, the spell causes a victim enthralled by an illusion to go towards the caster. An affected one sees an image of what they desire to get the most, ignoring danger of any kind in the process. With that in mind, one can see why two of the naga would be slithering through the water barrier instead of shooting at us. One of them had enough willpower to snap out of it right before the edge. The second one, though, continued going forward. All in all, Helor's spell again proved to be very lethal and very creepy which doesn't bother my horned friend as much as it should.

The death knight that was running towards the wall all this time used the opportunity to shoot a wave of cold towards the water wall. That one archer that was still standing in it got trapped in a big icy barrier and began screaming.

Since arrows stopped going our way we decided to divert our attention to the monster nearby. It took the 7 of us no more than 6 seconds to finish it off.

Then all of a sudden a beam of lightning hit both the death knight and the priest in one swift motion. The former one fell on the ground unmoving, the latter one became chalk.

"Marlene!" Folker runs towards the fallen undead.

Where the naga archer had been frozen, only a snake's lower half was present. Through a steaming hole in the ice, we could see the same sharp-toothed grin.

Elyrin immediately tried to retaliate with another glowing sphere of blue magic but the naga only widened her smile. That happened right before the snake got run over by the spell alongside some of her sisters. The subordinates were turned into paste but the sorceress survived with two of her limbs missing, which only gave her a second of looking bewildered at the night elf before having her head popped like a balloon with Arcane Blast, if I remember that name correctly.

At that moment I felt like I missed something very crucial but I didn't have time to think about what that is.

The crystal was wide open and already had a few big cracks in it. I asked the Spirits for guidance and threw a grenade inside one of them. The explosion of magic that resulted from the toss took care of the remaining naga.

The triumphant roars coming from the direction of the door meant that the barrier was gone.

xxx

When Helor finished helping the death knight woman the smoke was almost dispersed completely. We could finally see the battlefield.

Once we left this Marlene girl in the hands of a proper healer we finally joined the rest of the forces in the fight which was basically over at that point. Naga and murlocs alike clustered around the stone table as they were effectively surrounded.

"Alright, reptiles! That's your last chance! Give up and we'll show mercy!" Kank gave his demands.

At that very moment, the glow from a crystal on the table began to intensify. Tentacles of blue arcane energy came from it, illuminating runes on the building's walls upon touch.

"You soft-skin fool! I'm the one who must utter those words!" A naga with snakes on her head began cackling triumphantly. Judging by expensive jewelry and general demeanor, she was the leader. "If you surrender now, I'll grant you the privilege of being our slaves, you…Ahhhhhgh"

And then she was pierced with throwing darts from behind by one of her subordinates, the same guy who a second later…TRANSFORMED INTO A TIGER!?

Author's note

Explanation of mind games between naga mage and Elyrin: naga used Subtle Spell to make her Counterspell undetectable in the 1st round (in this homebrew version of the game it is possible to counterspell someone doing that if you win a roll of Insight against their Deception); in the 2nd round she cast Detect magic on herself to make it possible to see Elyrin casting even if the latter one used Subtle spell, just in case; in the 3nd round the naga sorceress hid behind frozen ally to make her Lightning bolt hidden from everyone's eyes; after that she thought that Elyrin didn't know how to use Subtle spell because the elf didn't use it to hide her attack; Elyrin however predicted that and used subtle Counterspell to counterspell opponent's Counterspell; in-universe Elyrin made her opponent lower her guard but in-game DM gave her an inspiration point for the clever idea which resulted in a successful roll.

Marlene used Rime's binding ice to freeze the Wall of water.

Helor used the modified Seduction ability of his inner succubus. It's a crossbreed between Command spell and Charm person. A target can reroll a saving throw against the spell if it encounters any kind of dangerous terrain in its path but if it fails it has to continue going regardless.

The priest used Atonement which I homebrewed into a channeled divinity that heals allies hit by cleric's radiant damage spells instead of hurting. The attack was made with Divine Star.