Once Sendi learned of the new quest, she hurried to the side of her companions. She didn’t know if they were to talk to or kill the gnomes, or some combination, but regardless it would be more fun than sitting around doing nothing.
The elders reply to Tina's instructions/questions with "The gnomes are always studying things too small to see. They laughed and warned us we would get sick if we didn't... what did they say... 'quatranine' or something like that. It was a strange word. They might know how to help us but they're too arrogant and isolated. We asked but they just shook their heads and said it served us right for not listening to them." One old naiad man looks particularly sad and adds "Thank you for the invitation but how are we to wash ourselves? The very water we live in is contaminated."
Well, you could find some new, clean water to wash with. Do you have any holy people among you? They can create water, and let me tell you, it tastes so good when it's that fresh."
Tina tries to nudge her "noble steed" towards the pool to leave, Just point us towards the gnomes, and we'll see what we can find out."
Snowball barely notices the nudge, but decides to jump into the shallows at the edge of the water anyway, getting herself and Tina completely soaked.
The elders shrug at Tina's suggestions, not having time to discuss them further as she and Snowball head back toward the water. "The gnomes live west of here in a small, wooded valley."
You decide to leave the cave and head back up through the water to join back with Bob (and whoever else stayed above water). With the naiads' directions, you prepare to head to where the gnomes live.
Snowball doesn't really pay attention to where the group is going and after about half an hour has already forgotten about the gnomes. She doesn't, however, forget to grab any and all meat she finds running around.
Tina tries to hold onto Snowball as she takes off towards the west, assuming that the little dragon knows where she's going, until some sort of woodland creature distracts her and she scuttles up a tree. Tina does a backflip to dismount, and asks the rest of the group, "Has anybody hunted gnomes before?"
Apparently, Snowball was the only one paying attention when the naiads gave directions and she leads the group straight to a little clearing where a lot of large trees have small doors set in their trunks. There are also some windows in the trunks. But right now, every door is shut, all the windows are curtained, and you don't see anything moving. Apparently, the gnome village is not thrilled to see you.
Snowball stops mid lunge, giving a squirrel precious seconds which it uses to escape.
She turns to Tina and cocks her head "We can hunt them? I thought we talk?"
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"Well, track them. Common is such an imprecise language. The word I was thinking of was Seluthinir, which is Sylvan for 'chase down a friend who has gone insane with after eating some bad moss, trapping them in a net until their brain returns to normal'. It's such an elegant language.
She looks around at the closed doors, Ahem, Gnomes? we would like to speak with you. We have some questions, on behalf of the Naiads.
An old, grumpy-looking gnome opens a window halfway up a tree trunk across the clearing and gripes "What do you what, strangers? Heh. And yer stranger than most!" The rest of the windows and doors remain tightly shut.
"We want... um... I forgot. Mold?" Snowball asks, turning to the others.
The Naiads suggested that you might know something about the mold that is affecting their water. We're from up in Last Hill, and want to prevent it from spreading any farther. If we could git rid of it entirely, that would be better yet."
The old gnome shakes his head at Tina and grunts "Bah! Those stupid naiads! We told them they'd have this problem if they kept visiting new places willy nilly! Oughta settle down and stay in one place! They deserve what's happening. Let it teach 'em a lesson!"
Most of the gnomes seem shocked to have a massive ooze oozing between their houses, barely fitting, but one young adult female gnome thinks back "Hello, Bob! How interesting it is to meet you! We didn't poison the water but we could fix it. Good luck convincing Pendergast though... He's a stubborn old coot and hates the Naiads."
"I hear you, but have you considered why the Naiads keep visiting new places? I agree that staying at home is comfortable, but sometimes one must travel.
She strokes her chin, This mold presents an existential threat to them. I doubt they will be able to learn their lesson if they are all dead. Is there anything we can do to convince you to help?
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As Tina talks, a few more heads poke out of tree-windows, listening to what she has to say. The old chief gnome yells at them "Don't you go getting ideas! I'll tell ya what to think!" The gnomes murmur quietly and the coffee turns back to Tina "Naw some of them will survive. They'll learn. Just the cost of their lesson. Brought it on themselves."
"I am Samalgee. I could fix the problem if someone besides Pendergast were in charge... I could call for a vote if I thought enough people would listen... It sounds like your friend is pretty convincing. Maybe she can get everyone to vote him out. Have her say something about how the treefalls last year wouldn't have been so bad if he'd listened to the engineers."
Tina floats to the ground, and bows deeply. I apologize, we haven't even introduced ourselves. I am Piedmontina Mumblethunder! The customary dancing lights swirl behind her as she announces herself. "These are my companions, Bob, Snowball, Goldslip, Sendi, Cindy, and Mr. Snuggles.
She continues, All we ask for is some sage advice. Surely a wise leader such as yourself knows the value of listening closely to trusted advisors. The Gnomish are renowned for their cleverness, and expertise. Any good leader knows that they need to heed the words of those experts, whether they be scientists, tradespeople, or engineers. Otherwise, they invite disaster.
She lets those words linger for a moment, before continuing, All we ask is for your expertise. The Naiads are desperate, and we seek to broker an agreement between you so that they may be saved.
The muttering of the other gnomes grows much louder when Piedmontina mentions the engineers. The leader tries to wave, then shout, them down but they won't hear of it. Finally, a middle-aged gnome with brown, curly hair walks out from her tree and announces "Our guests point out what we need to recognize for ourselves! Pendergast is no longer fit to lead!" The old gnome's face turns bright red at this and he sputters, apparently to mad to talk. The other gnomes begin chanting "A vote! A vote! A vote!" Several more trickle out of their homes. "But who will oppose Pendergast?" the female asks. Someone cries out "You do it, Samalgee!" The middle-aged female blushes then nods. "Alright! I will!" The adult gnomes quickly line up from youngest to oldest, with Pendergast at the oldest end and Samalgee in the middle. The children walk around the line, chattering and watching. Pendergast shouts out "If you vote for me, peace, and order, step forward! If you vote for Samalgee, chaos, overturn, and madness, step backward!" Several gnomes grumble objections to his phrasing but they begin voting, starting with Pendergast stepping forward. Steps forward and backward alternate down the line, with the older gnomes mostly forward and the younger ones stepping back more and more frequently. When a young adult gnome near the end of the line steps back, the gnomes begin clamoring, arguing, and celebrating. Apparently, they had been carefully counting and that marked the deciding vote.
Samalgee breaks free of congratulatory supporters and walks over to you. "We will help the Naiads. They will need to sun themselves in a dry spot for an hour every day to dry out and kill the fungus. It will be very uncomfortable but they need to do it if they know they are infected or not. We will send a couple of doctors to help supervise." Then she winks at you all. "And thank you. Which one is 'Bob'?" She looks at Sendi, then Snowball, then from Cindy to Goldslip.
"Bob's yer Uncle" Snowball clarifies.
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"Bob is not yer uncle, not anymore; Bob was Hat Bob but hat broke and then Bob became Jump Bob and Bob got big and fat and then Bob found a better hat and now Bob is Hat Bob again. Hi, I'm Bob and it is nice to meet you."
Huh. It clicks in Bob's head that he used the word "I".
That is strange.
Samalgee looks tremendously confused or amused by Bob's explanation but nods and smiles. "Wonderful to meet you as well. Now I have an awful amount of things to do but I will confer with some of our biologists and send them along with you shortly. Does that sound ok?"
"Now we hunt necro-polis?" Snowball asks auntie Tina.
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"Thank you for assisting, Samalgee. We will check in with the Naiads on our return trip. I'm have no doubt they will be most grateful. And if you ever find yourself in the vicinity of Last Hill, please feel encouraged to stop by. I'm sure your people will find many interesting objects of study in our libraries."
She turns to the rest of the group, And now, as Snowball has suggested, we must continue with our mission to defeat my brother, and protect all the world from his gross incompetence.
She begins floating gently in the direction of the Necropolis.
You check in on the Naiads, finding them grateful to hear assistance is on the way. Then you continue south toward the Necropolis of Charon. It takes several days but eventually, you are confident you are in the vicinity. Now if only you could find the entrance...
Tina looks around, "I know that I've been here before, but it's been so long. I haven't been home in millennia. It's not that I'm a negligent child, but with my brother, things have been tense for a while.
She takes a particularly long pull from her flask.
"Snowball smell zombie. We close, yeah?"
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Snowball smells around for where the odor is coming from, acting as Tina's bloodhound.
Snowball helps Tina out and together they find a few stone flagstones hidden under vegetation, leading them to a hillside in the valley where they uncover a large stone door sealed shut. Glyphs run across the top.
Charon's faithful find what they seek. All others find early death.
"Yay! Break door, Bob!" Snowball cheers.
Completely seriously, she adds "you break door, I break meat."
"Hmm. I have no idea what this means. Tina must have seen this kind of thing before, though, right? I know you're better than the door, Top-Hat-Bob, but wait just a little longer to prove it. Tina might learn something important from reading this before you smash it to smithereens."
Snowball sits bolt upright, appalled at auntie uncle Goldslip's good advice.
"No. Smashing is fun. Let's smash bad door!"
Tina looks at the door's writing, "I'm sure I used to know how to read this, but like I said, it's been a while since I've been this way. Probably just a standard 'go away, and let us rest in peace' message. All the good crypts and graveyards have them." She takes a long drag from her flask, "And they almost never have ability to back them up."
She looks around, trying to find some way in that might be quicker than letting Snowball and Top-Hat-Bob try to break down the door.
"Let's be on our good behavior, please? I don't want my parents thinking that I'm like my brother. I haven't brought many minions back home before, and I want them to be impressed by the quality of talent I can attract."
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Bob isn't well known for patience. From a distance of 30 feet, he "eyes" the evil door. "It's just you and me, door. I, Bob, have taken down many a door and you will not be the last one that I also take down!"
He starts the bashing door process by lifting a large stone telepathically and slamming it again the door like a giant throwing a boulder.
Tina does not find a secret way in. As Bob begins striking the door, three black rays emanate from the door targeting life forces at random. Bob is so big he is struck twice while another strikes Sendi but she resists the magic. Bob feels rather woozy and weaker than normal...
But now the door seems quiet...
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Bob's persistence and courage serve him well as he slams the door with rock after rock, eventually demolishing it and revealing a dark hallway that leads straight into the stone. Moving inside, you see doors on either side of the hallway.
"Yay!" Snowball shouts as Bob smashes down the door.
After the dust settles for a few moments, Snowball glids down the tunnel to the first door on the left.
"Hi, Snowball came here!" she says while pulling at the doorknob.
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Tina takes advantage of the fact that she doesn't actually use her lungs, in order to let out a supernaturally long sigh, as she rubs her temples.
She starts to float slowly into the hallway, and shouts Mom, Dad? I'm home. I brought minions. Sorry about the door. You can get Renfield to fix it, right?
Snowball opens the door and you see a room fulll of flaming skeletons, some of them truly massive! Behind them lies a treasure chest.
Snowball gasps. "Shiny!?"
She then hops forward and pelts the three closest skeletons with her icy breath.
Goldslip moves to see through the door and his eyes widen at the large number of flaming skeletons. He points in the room, and a burst of radiance afflicts the leading skeletons!