Eventua

The Helium Frightful

The formation of a plan began to crack, the earth itself cutting through Krita's thoughts as the awakened beast roared and the world seemed to tumble out of control far quicker than he'd hoped for.

The earth sundered, the pillars folding and collapsing, the sun itself seemingly overwhelmed as the great serpent rose and the folding of the shadows forced the peaceful Dozing to awaken with an ancient, alien fury. The waddling thing, suddenly brought to its senses and panicking, side-stepped and awkwardly dodged its way around the chaos.

The Bobblings clung for dear life, a few of their kind with weaker arms falling and being crushed with equal certainty, the ground becoming stained with the muck of splattered eggs.

But Krita did not cower. Krita did not allow his fear to cloud his judgement, the ringing in his cap not preventing his will, his spirit, from finding the pace of the situation. Eyes narrowing, he watched as the stranger with a triangle for a face charged down the incline, screaming something about 'turning it on'.

Another voice, nearly lost amongst the mayhem, cried out for batteries. 'Anything that can hold electricity'?

"Golby the Biggs?"

He rubbed his grabbers together, the wind rushing through his scarf as he grabbed hold of the railing with his left hand, the waddling thing's panicked rampage proving more and more unstable with every step. The other giants, now reacting and scattering in their own ways to the unfolding chaos, were clearly distracted.

Was this his moment?

He sent a brief call through the community, a chirp that rang through the crowded waddling thing. As one the community nodded, rummaging through the chaos of the waddling thing, through their rooms and chambers.

"Come on, gibbit! Krita needs the Shocking Thing!"

"Right-o, right-o...!" the others mumbled in unison.

With a sudden heave, the tiny battery - essentially a bright-red potato hooked up to a light-bulb - flew through the air. Krita smiled, a quick thumbs up to his family, and as with one breath he leapt from the railing, snatching the battery and cushioning it against himself, hitting the ground with a soft and inaudible roll. Like a freshly baked muffin dropped at a picnic he came to a steady rest, and then, with only enough hesitation to pose dramatically, he charged into the chaos.

Agility was not his strong suit, but any giant could tell you that a Bobbling on a mission was a Bobbling in a hurry. With the spirit of a hero, Krita's stumpy legs carried his soft, delicious body across the field, dodging and weaving around the plummeting chaos.

The Bobblings would hold fast in his absence, the command simple - escape, and survive. Krita, No-Excuses-For-Realsies would give his life to stop this madness if need be.

...

First he just had to figure out what needed to be turned on.

The Helium Frightful

I'm planning to write up my next post either tomorrow or Thursday

Assuming there's no other posts between now and then, it's time for Krita to do what Krita does best

The Helium Frightful

POSTED.

Also apologies to @Girlie1Bomba that Krita failed to notice Lucky, he's *way* too distracted by the Whispered Day who stands out way more as 'a big scary dumb thing that will probably eat us all and wouldn't even know we taste bad??'

That said, I'm curious how good everyone else's sense of smell is? Bobblings 'special speech' is very difficult for 'biggs' to learn because it's not vocal and therefore does not make a good basis for abstract communication with non-Bobblings. That said, someone could easily 'get the feel' of what it means or implies with enough exposure.

...

[EDIT] Also @Mokley, is there a local community of Bobblings in Dozing? I would *assume* so since it's a relatively peaceful and out of the way spot.

The Helium Frightful

The breeze was calming and carefree against the light of the sun, and for just a moment, Krita wondered if he could finish his quest right then and there. Dozing was a calm and rest-easy sort of place after all, a ruin to the failure of giants everywhere, and it put a soft grin on Krita's face.

Plenty of grass for the wandering beast that Krita's community had named their waddling thing, and soft soil for digging new holes. Everyone knew holes were the secret to a strong community, because within them was both the power of death and life. With each thunderous step through this happily broken place, Krita's mind was torn.

"Settle here? Keep going? Krita's community really smells bad, mmmmmm...! But Golby the Biggs is expecting Bobblings for his crew?? Krita is many things, but Krita isn't rude or dishonest, that would be just the worst."

The chittering smell of Krita's right-hand Bobbling, who Krita liked to call Right-Hand Bobbling for that exact reason, caught the leader off-guard. He hopped forwards, just a little, his stumpy beige limbs making a soft 'patter' against the metal flooring the community had installed over their carrier's head. With a sneer he carefully tried to save face, spinning around on the spot in such a way that the red scarf he always wore began to blow in the breeze (something Golby had once told him via the community's HOBO would make him look heroic and kingly).

Right-Hand Bobbling made a soft 'ooh' noise, and Krita was pleased.

"Krita the Best Boss Ever, No-Excuses-For-Realsies, the watchers have been smelling bad. It's upsetting the eggs. Two eggs just wilted."

Krita paused in his dramatic pose, the temporary halo caused by his especially shiny cap vanishing as he looked at Right-Hand right in the eyes. Right-Hand awkwardly shuffled backwards, skinny grabbers held close to his cylinder of a torso.

He never liked giving Krita bad news, because it always made Krita sad.

"Krita thought Krita told the nesters to be careful where nesters put the eggs? Krita picked the watchers for watching because watching means smelling bad so Krita's community don't get eaten even once more than needed? The eggs are important, Right-Hand! Krita's community needs to look after the eggs!"

"Right-Hand knows it No-Excuses-For-Realsies, but Krita's community has been walking for days with no sign of Golby the Biggs and the promised ship, thanks?? Too much stress and no room on the waddling thing so there's too many eggs and too many Bobblings and it smells really bad everywhere, No-Excuses-For-Realsies! All the community is asking for is a week off, so maybe Krita can maybe just tell Golby the Biggs to build the crew another time, thanks?? Please, No-Excuses-For-Realsies...?"

Krita tapped his chin, a handsome flap of meat that accentuated his charmingly spherical frog-face. With scarf billowing in the mild breeze, he had to confess that Right-Hand Bobbling had a point (though he would never admit it out loud).

They had been travelling non-stop for days, and the feedback from the rest of the community had been exceptionally less-positive than normal. Rations were running low, the rate of eggs eventually becoming egged was way too high, and with only one carrot left for their ride there were fears that they'd be forced to veer wildly off-course if it had to go looking for its own food.

That or walk, and Krita had grown used to striding across the world on a giant machine-beast of his own discovery, even if they had stolen it using their carrots. Which they had also stolen.

All in all, it was an awful situation, and Dozing was such a lovely place to doze...

But then Krita smelt it. Saw it. Felt it.

What had panicked the watchers, and what everyone else would be panicking about as well as soon as they could distinguish the scent amidst the noise. Just out of view besides his perch atop the waddling thing, just beyond a particularly conveniently shaped piece of rock that Krita would probably have put down to divine intervention if Bobblings were inclined to believe in gods beyond their own mind-blowing capacity for following simple instructions that made them the true inheritors of the world.

"REST THE WADDLING THING! REST IT, SO SAYS KRITA!" he screamed in the quiet language of his kind, and the entire community stopped their chattering and stinking with immediate effect. To a non-Bobbling, of course, the sound would be practically inaudible from any notable distance, but to the Bobblings it was really quite stunning.

The carrot team reared the carrot, and with awkward disappointment they failed to stop their carriage from effortlessly snatching it up to eat. It tended not to walk around for a while when it ate, though, so Krita was thankful.

He had bought them time, and maybe that would be enough to save their lives.

For there, just out of sight of the main body of the community's noble steed, in a wide open clearing, stood a pair of terrible giants. Krita desperately held in his breath, afraid of even daring to move for fear that they might be exposed.

"What... what is it Krita?"

"Right-Hand Bobbling, it's the biggest and most monstrous biggs any Bobbling has ever seen, like an ugly bug thing, except it probably wouldn't even taste good?? Krita is happy Krita discovered it and also Krita is preparing two dramatic speeches, one in case the waddling thing spends enough time eating for Krita to think of a clever and daring plan or Golby the Biggs shows up."

Right-Hand gulped, grabbers shaking.

"And, No-Excuses-For-Realsies, the other one?"

"Well, Right-Hand, Krita needs Right-Hand to pass on the message for Krita's community to prepare to run or burrow for every single life and egg as quietly as possible, because if the big dumb waddling thing does something big and dumb and loud or Krita's community does something not big but also dumb and loud, Krita's speech will be about how brave and dumb and fun every Bobbling was and hopes that the survivors find a new king who is the Second Best Boss Ever, No-Excuses-For-Realsies, to go and make the special Bobbling Kingdom in the special peaceful place, just like Krita promised, okay?"

...

Right-Hand just nodded, waddling off as fast as his stumps would let him to warn the others, and Krita stroked his chin.

The odds were not in his favour, but he had the beginnings of a plan...

The Helium Frightful

@Mokley Thanks, I've posted Krita's character sheet on the character page with some notable edits and additions to match the things you suggested, if there's anything you're unsure of/unhappy with then please let me know and I will edit it immediately.

The 'waddling thing' doesn't have an image, yet, but it's probably one of these with the brain of a donkey.

The Helium Frightful

Krita and Krita's Community ('Bobblings')

Krita and Krita's Community ('Bobblings')

WRITE YOUR NAME AND WHAT YOU'D LIKE TO BE CALLED.
Krita is Krita. These are Krita's community, yes. The biggs call us 'Bobblings', but that's not the right word. Close enough, though.

HOW OLD ARE YOU? A LIFE STAGE IS FINE IF YOU DON'T KNOW.
MMMMmmm...! Krita is Krita. Grown? Not an egg. Not egged. Just Krita, so that's fine.

HOW WOULD I RECOGNIZE YOU IF I'VE NEVER SEEN YOU BEFORE?
So, Krita thinks that is a bad picture, Krita isn't in it. Not even Krita's community! But close enough. Been told Krita needs to wear this red scarf on Krita's head and this whistle around Krita's neck, so the biggs can work out who Krita is.
Main difference between Krita and the biggs is the fact that the biggs is big and Bobblings is not-big. Krita would need to stand on about five other Bobblings to be about as tall as one bigg, which is sad really. Krita is much smarter than the biggs! Krita doesn't waste so much time fightin' other communities, after all.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE RIGHT NOW?
Krita and Krita's community survive on the road - some biggs call them 'HOBObblings' which Krita thinks is rude as anything, thanks for that - but Krita's secret HOBO friend Golby the Biggs offered Krita's community a place on the ship! Cleaning and fixing and cooking, mostly, though Krita doesn't appreciate the fact that other biggs keep asking Krita to use Krita's community as a food source, no way! Krita's community tastes bad, anyway. Like mouldy cake.

WHY?
Krita isn't sure when, but way back when Krita realized that Krita could speak the speech of the biggs, which was very strange. Most in Krita's community can only speak their special Bobbling speech, and biggs just give them orders. But Krita was special!
Why? Krita doesn't know, and neither do any of the others. But it's okay, Golby the Biggs was very kind in his messages and didn't send anyone to eat Krita and Krita's community, even when hungry. Krita's island home was dying, so Krita offered to help Golby the Biggs on his biggs quest, which is perhaps a little stereotypical of a Bobbling, but Krita would remind you that Krita is not like other Bobblings and Bobblings isn't even the correct term anyway, thanks.

WHAT WOULD YOU RATHER BE DOING?
Krita is unsure. Golby the Biggs says that Krita needs to "Make his own path" which sounds dangerous and awkward, and where would all of Krita's community go? Krita's community has been wandering for donkeys years on the back of this funny-looking waddling thing but it's kind of uncomfortable and there's way too many Bobblings all stuck together, honestly it smells way too much, thanks a lot waddling thing. Krita's community calls the waddling thing waddling thing because it's a thing that waddles, right?
Mainly Krita and Krita's community would just like to find somewhere peaceful and safe, and hope that if Golby the Biggs can build a special peaceful biggs kingdom somewhere out on an island in the boonies or whatever, it will have a peaceful corner for a special Bobbling Kingdom without biggs to bother.

... Krita would like Krita's crown to be light-weight and comfy, and ideally red.

That, and at least three waddling things so Krita doesn't keep needing to smell the other members of Krita's community for days on end without even one bath when Krita's community are travelling, thanks.

WHAT'S SOMETHING YOU'RE GOOD AT, THAT YOU'RE PROUD OF? IT CAN BE SOMETHING STUPID, THAT'S OKAY.
Krita is proud of being able to talk to biggs and the fact that the others in Krita's community really look up to Krita like a big brother or a king or something. Krita is uncertain why Bobblings from other communities also choose to listen to Krita so quickly and so eagerly, but Krita isn't going to argue about it.
Other than that, Krita can count all the way to ten by remembering to count Krita's limbs sequentially and 'holding some over' each time Krita runs out of limbs. Most in Krita's community struggle with that but can count way higher than ten by grouping up together and letting Krita count them. Krita's great at maths.

WHAT'S SOMETHING YOU SUCK AT, THAT IMPACTS YOUR DAILY LIFE?
Krita is mainly upset that the biggs generally just see Krita and Krita's community as a resource to be bossed around and/or eaten, but other than that Krita is mainly annoyed that a group of young biggs are strong enough to beat up Krita's whole community without even all of both their arms working. It's awful, thanks.

WHAT'S SOMETHING YOU LOVE THAT PEOPLE WOULD PROBABLY JUDGE YOU FOR?
Ketchup on sausages, and speaking the speech of the biggs.
Bobblings aren't supposed to like the same food as biggs, it makes the biggs uncomfortable - especially when it's red and meaty?? Same thing if Krita speaks in the speech of the biggs. Makes the biggs wonder what else the biggs have in common with Bobblings.

WHY DO YOU FEEL LONELY?
Krita is in an odd place, because Krita struggles to understand or agree with the biggs "as equals" and the others in Krita's community don't treat Krita like other Bobblings, Krita's community mainly follow orders and give positive feedback, Krita's community don't even use one secret Bobbling swear to Krita when they follow Krita's orders.
... Most biggs don't realize that if biggs could understand Bobbling speech the biggs would ask Krita's community to take a shower and rethink things.

DESCRIBE YOUR PARENTS, CARETAKERS, OR WHATEVER WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR FEEDING YOU.
Other Bobblings, that's always the way of it. Krita's community have always looked after Krita, ever since Krita was an egg. When Krita turns into muck and the muck turns into a bunch of new eggs, Krita's community will probably look after those eggs too, though Krita will be long gone.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THEM?
Krita appreciates how hard working Krita's community is. Krita appreciates all Bobblings and deeply wishes that the biggs wouldn't treat them so badly or insist on eating them. They don't even taste good, not even with ketchup?? Thanks??

WHERE DO YOU FIND LOVE AND COMFORT NOW? HINT: THE ANSWER IS NEVER NOWHERE.
Golby the Biggs is very eager to meet Krita and Krita's community so he's probably okay, and honestly, Krita and Krita's community still always look out for each other. That's the way of it, but Krita's community have also been looking after the waddling thing for a while because it carries the eggs and doesn't eat them unless Krita's community lets it, which only happened once and the Bobblings were very annoyed at the waddling thing and would have totally beaten it up if they were even slightly good at beating things up and the waddling thing acknowledged Krita's community rather than just following the carrots Krita's community have on a bunch of sticks. But it's okay, Krita forgives them.
Krita's community is also always curious to meet new strangers that promise not to eat Bobblings and don't do it even a little bit, Krita is curious to meet the strangers who will pass through the ship called Ship run by Krita and Krita's community and maybe Golby the Biggs sometimes and will be happy to offer safe passage and warm meals (not made from Bobblings, thanks), though Krita has made it clear to Krita's community that most of the biggs will prefer to call the ship Helium Frightful, which Krita's community (literally) swear up and down is just completely the worst, thanks. Krita's community smells really bad when Krita's community talk about it too much.

WHY ARE YOU DIFFERENT FROM EVERYBODY ELSE?
Krita feels this question is frustrating to answer, because Krita is a little ashamed to say that Krita is mainly unique for being a Bobbling that can talk to biggs and wanting more out of life than finding a hole, laying eggs, farming mushrooms and not being eaten more than once.
Partly because mould is way easier to grow onboard a ship.

WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING?
Peace and quiet and Krita's own personal waddling thing that actually acknowledges Krita. Krita's community has been wandering a long time and have been eaten way too many times, it's awful, thanks.

DO YOU TRUST ME?
Krita has trusted Golby for months despite not meeting him, Krita would probably trust Golby till the day Krita turns into muck. Krita isn't sure why Krita feels this way, but Krita is literally the smartest Bobbling in the world, so Krita's community trust Krita on this fact and it can't possibly end badly.

----
OOC: Give a non-spoilery synopsis of a short adventure plot that would be personally meaningful to your character.
Hmm...

Well, Krita's origins put him (her? they? Bobblings don't really have genders, but will stick with 'him' for simplicity's sake) as a particular oddity amongst his kind. A truly sapient Bobbling able to communicate with both humans and Bobblings, yet able to command their presence?
The Bobblings are clearly of human origin - see also; their body shape, ability to understand human speech, and willingness to follow orders with little to no coercion - but are a mystery to the wider world.
Discovering an abandoned mining shaft, they find it to be overgrown with mysterious mushrooms that resemble the 'caps' of Bobblings, but the caps soon begin to grow blades and become hostile. These 'violent' Bobblings are clearly trying to protect something and do not respond to Krita, so...

Who created them? What are they protecting?
Something unusual. Something old. Something with the power to create living things, and something with the mindset to control them.

The Helium Frightful

Okay, sooo...!

The first (hopefully only?) version of the form is complete on the previous post.

Please let me know if you have any queries or conundrums before it's finished...!

The Helium Frightful

Glad to hear you all like them, I will write up a sheet soon.

I was thinking that the 'Inhabitants' (maybe need a different name?) living onboard the ship maybe have a community of fifty to a hundred or so, but so long as they're not all rounded up and eaten/killed in one go they can (somehow??) reproduce quickly enough to restore that number with minimal handwaving.

Krita him(her?)self is irreplacable to the captain though (since without Krita the others are liable to either grow out of control or leave at the next harbour and, even if they stay, they can't be relied on to act with the same level of unity and skill that they do under Krita's command) and so wears a red scarf and a whistle at all times.

Meanwhile, the communities of Inhabitants in other places/towns/landmarks are likewise fairly small - normally not more than a hundred, maybe two or three hundred in a really big city - but tend to likewise remain about the same short of all dying in quick succession. That said, there aren't communities of them *everywhere* - I'm thinking that perhaps each episode/adventure, @Mokley could discuss with the relevant/key players whether there should be [X] number of communities of Inhabitants in a given place.

There's also the aspect that they're really not that dangerous? They're not very agile (though they can run fairly quickly) and even a small child could probably fight three or four of them at once with relatively little difficulty. Useful helpers and engineers (potentially), not so much helpful warriors.

----

Mark 01. Character Sheet - Krita and Krita's Community (the Bobblings)

WRITE YOUR NAME AND WHAT YOU'D LIKE TO BE CALLED.
Krita is Krita. These are Krita's community, yes. We work on the ship. The biggs call us 'Bobblings', but that's not the right word. Close enough, though.

HOW OLD ARE YOU? A LIFE STAGE IS FINE IF YOU DON'T KNOW.
MMMMmmm...! Krita is Krita. Grown? Not an egg. Not egged. Just Krita, so that's fine.

HOW WOULD I RECOGNIZE YOU IF I'VE NEVER SEEN YOU BEFORE?
So, Krita thinks that is a bad picture, Krita isn't in it. Not even Krita's community! But close enough. Been told Krita needs to wear this red scarf on Krita's head and this whistle around Krita's neck, so the biggs can work out who Krita is.
Main difference between Krita and the biggs is the fact that the biggs is big and Krita is not-big. Krita would need to stand on about five other Bobblings to be about as tall as one bigg, which is sad really. Krita is much smarter than the biggs! Krita doesn't waste so much time fightin' other communities, after all.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE RIGHT NOW?
Krita and Krita's community help out on the ship! Cleaning and fixing and cooking, mostly, though Krita doesn't appreciate the fact that the biggs keep asking Krita to use Krita's community as a food source, no way! Krita's community tastes bad, anyway.

WHY?
Krita isn't sure when, but way back when Krita realized Krita could speak the speech of the biggs, which was very strange. Most in Krita's community can only speak their special Bobbling speech, and biggs just give them orders. But Krita was special!
Why? Krita doesn't know, and neither do any of the others. But it's okay, Golby the Biggs was very kind and didn't try to eat Krita and Krita's community, even when hungry. Krita's island home was dying, so Krita offered to help Golby the Biggs on his biggs quest, which is perhaps a little stereotypical of a Bobbling, but Krita would remind you that Krita is not like other Bobblings and Bobblings isn't even the correct term anyway, thanks.

WHAT WOULD YOU RATHER BE DOING?
Krita is unsure. Golby the Biggs says that Krita needs to "Make his own path" which sounds dangerous and awkward, and where would all of Krita's community go?
Mainly Krita and Krita's community would just like to find somewhere peaceful and safe, and hope that if Golby the Biggs can build a special peaceful biggs kingdom, it will have a peaceful corner for a special Bobbling Kingdom without biggs to bother.

... Krita would like Krita's crown to be light-weight and comfy, and ideally red.

WHAT'S SOMETHING YOU'RE GOOD AT, THAT YOU'RE PROUD OF? IT CAN BE SOMETHING STUPID, THAT'S OKAY.
Krita is proud of being able to talk to biggs and the fact that the others in Krita's community really look up to Krita like a big brother or a king or something. Krita is uncertain why Bobblings from other communities also choose to listen to Krita so quickly and so eagerly, but Krita isn't going to argue about it.
Other than that, Krita can count all the way to ten by remembering to count Krita's limbs sequentially and 'holding some over' each time Krita runs out of limbs.

WHAT'S SOMETHING YOU SUCK AT, THAT IMPACTS YOUR DAILY LIFE?
Krita is mainly upset that the biggs generally just see Krita and Krita's community as a resource to be bossed around and/or eaten, but other than that Krita is mainly annoyed that a group of young biggs are strong enough to beat up Krita's whole community without even both their arms working.

WHAT'S SOMETHING YOU LOVE THAT PEOPLE WOULD PROBABLY JUDGE YOU FOR?
Ketchup, and speaking the speech of the biggs.
Bobblings aren't supposed to like the same food as biggs, it makes the biggs uncomfortable. Same thing if Krita speaks in the speech of the biggs. Makes the biggs wonder what else the biggs have in common with Bobblings.

WHY DO YOU FEEL LONELY?
Krita is in an odd place, because Krita struggles to understand or agree with the biggs "as equals" and the others in Krita's community don't treat Krita like another Bobbling, Krita's community mainly follow orders and give positive feedback, Krita's community don't even use one secret Bobbling swear to Krita when they follow Krita's orders.
... Most biggs don't realize that if biggs could understand Bobbling speech the biggs would ask Krita's community to take a shower and rethink things.

DESCRIBE YOUR PARENTS, CARETAKERS, OR WHATEVER WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR FEEDING YOU.
Other Bobblings, that's always the way of it. Krita's community have always looked after Krita, ever since Krita was an egg. When Krita turns into muck and the muck turns into a bunch of new eggs, Krita's community will probably look after those eggs too, though Krita will be long gone.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THEM?
Krita appreciates how hard working Krita's community is. Krita appreciates all Bobblings and deeply wishes that the biggs wouldn't treat them so badly or insist on eating them.
They don't even taste good??

WHERE DO YOU FIND LOVE AND COMFORT NOW? HINT: THE ANSWER IS NEVER NOWHERE.
Golby the Biggs is good to Krita and Krita's community, and honestly, Krita and Krita's community still always look out for each other. That's the way of it.
Krita's community is also always curious to meet the strangers who pass through the ship called Property of Krita and Golby the Biggs and are happy to offer safe passage and warm meals, though Krita has made it clear to Krita's community that most of the biggs prefer to call the ship Helium Frightful, which Krita's community (literally) swear up and down is just completely the worst.

WHY ARE YOU DIFFERENT FROM EVERYBODY ELSE?
Krita feels this question is frustrating to answer, because Krita is a little ashamed to say that Krita is mainly unique for being a Bobbling that can talk to biggs and wanting more out of life than finding a hole, laying eggs, and farming mushrooms.
Partly because mould is way easier to grow onboard a ship.

WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING?
Peace and quiet.

DO YOU TRUST ME?
Krita has trusted Golby for months, Krita would probably trust Golby till the day Krita turns into muck.

----
OOC: Give a non-spoilery synopsis of a short adventure plot that would be personally meaningful to your character.
Hmm...

Well, Krita's origins put him (her? they? Bobblings don't really have genders, but will stick with 'him' for simplicity's sake) as a particular oddity amongst his kind. A truly sapient Bobbling able to communicate with both humans and Bobblings, yet able to command their presence?
The Bobblings are clearly of human origin - see also, their body shape, ability to understand human speech, and willingness to follow orders with little to no coercion - but are a mystery to the wider world.
Discovering an abandoned mining shaft, they find it to be overgrown with mysterious mushrooms that resemble the 'caps' of Bobblings, but the caps soon begin to grow blades and become hostile. These 'violent' Bobblings are clearly trying to protect something and do not respond to Krita, so...

Who created them? What are they protecting?
Something unusual. Something old. Something with the power to create living things, and something with the mindset to control them.

The Helium Frightful

SOOORRRTTT of tempted to give this a whirl?!

I was trying to think of some ideas and so far have mainly been caught up in the following...

Krita, the Inhabitants

Image, large

Scattered around the world are the mysterious mushroom-goblin... things known by various names. Chittering away in their peculiar, high pitched language, they seem to live in every hidden and secretive corner of the globe and never seem to run out of... people(??), though it's unsure to most exactly how sentient they are. They seem to express a range of basic emotions and can manipulate human technology with minimal training, however.

Often used as willing slave labour by the callous and opportunist, the 'Inhabitant' known as Krita is an unusual specimen, unremarkable in many ways... aside from an ability to speak english, and the ability to rally and command his fellows with an unrelenting charisma. Although he is no more than a foot tall and has the physical strength of a day old sponge cake, his ability to summon legions of his fellow small mushroom-goblin-cake compatriots can prove a fearsome sight.

...

Well, maybe *fearsome* isn't the right word.

Either way, Krita and his particular community work as engineers and maintenance workers on the ship, keeping all of the little nooks and crannies working okay.

Underwater Fire of their Eyes

Ehhh, I'm kind of on the fence about still taking part.