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Tink shrugs. "I do have access to spells that could help but I just topped off my spells for the day when I meditated before. We would have to wait till tomorrow." He looks at Rand. "I believe you forgot one, my boy. The chasm over there." He points to the north, where a pit heads down into darkness.
"We'll stay. I trust you." He winks. "Plus, if you set something off, I can probably help you."
Tink listens to the debate bemusedly. He knows that morlocks are almost exclusively evil and would, if they had the strength and opportunity, kill and eat everyone in the party. He's generally a live-and-let-live type, but Astrid is right: they've thrown in with the Ironfang Legion, who undeniably has "world domination" aspirations. That's about as far as live-and-let-live as you can get, and Tink has the strength to help stop it. That doesn't mean he thinks the party should subjugate all the hobgoblins and morlocks, just that they need to be knocked down a peg. He's not going to order Loiosh to bite the heads off any creatures that have surrendered. He follows the party down the southern corridor.
Tink pulls Loiosh away from the centipede (with only a little bit of coaxing) and joins Astrid. "See anything interesting?"
Tink unstatues Loiosh, then climbs into the saddle and casts heightened awareness on himself. He nods to the others. "Lead the way."
"We should definitely push on. I think the spider climb should last at least another twenty minutes. However, you two"--he gestures at Rand and Astrid--"smell bad. It obviously doesn't bother Loiosh, but anything down there will be able to smell you coming." It is at this moment that you notice he is not so subtly keeping his distance from the pair. "If I remember correctly, it should wear off in about ten minutes." He thinks for a moment, then holds a finger up in the most clichéd I-just-had-an-idea manner you've ever seen. "I'm doing okay on spells, but I can still meditate for more. That takes about ten minutes. What say we head down while we can still climb, and I'll meditate once we're down there. Far away from"--he clears his throat--"you two. No offense. By the time I'm done, the stinky situation should be cleared up and we can proceed."
Tink dismounts Loiosh, pats him on the flank, and shrinks him to a statue. Once everyone is ready, he wildshapes back into a gecko and heads down the chasm.
Tink looks at Rand and Astrid. "You both look a little under the weather, especially you, Rand." He pulls a few potions out of his pack. "These will help."
Tink stands up, brushes himself off, gives V's arm an apologetic squeeze, and looks dispassionately at Loiosh's... affectionate?... display. "It's probably best if you just let him finish. Who needs prestidigitation?"
Tink blinks at the insanity that he just witnessed. He calls down the hole, "Rand! RAND! Are you okay?!" Then he looks at the others and motions to the fleeing morlocks. "Are we chasing them?"
Tink's eyes grow wide at the new combatant, then wider when it snatches up Astrid as if she were a twig. He waves a hand and Astrid suddenly feels very slippery.
Tink quickly fires another spell at the creature. Behind the screen:
The creature does not become a house cat. Tink is disappointed. He spurs Loiosh on. "Kill it!"
Tink leans down to touch Rand on the shoulder, whispers an incantation, and Rand feels a rush of purification rush through him, as if he had had delay poison cast on him.
Tink shakes his head, clearing the vision he had of Rand falling to the poison. However, though Rand isn't out yet, he knows enough about poisons to see that it won't be long. He quickly sees that V has the destroyer well in hand, and implores Loiosh, "Back to Rand! Quickly!" He guides the allosaurus to the eastern wall of the chamber, then spurs him on to get a running start and jump over the chasm.
Tink sees Rand go down and suddenly realizes that maybe jumping to this side of the chasm was a bad move. Astrid is suddenly quite isolated. Fortunately for him, he can do plenty of damage from a distance. He repeats the same incantation he used on the destroyers and a column of holy fire engulfs creepers 1-4.
Tink hears the commotion in the chamber ahead, but doesn't see anything yet. He spurs Loiosh on and they both feel the radiation overtake their senses.
He doesn't know what just happened to them, but he knows it ain't good! "We shouldn't stay here longer than we have to!" He quickly surveys the battlefield and immediately ascertains the trouble that V is in. He raises his hand, cries "Have a little fire, scarecrow!" in Undercommon (though he isn't sure where he got that reference), and drops his hand down with a flourish. A column of holy fire erupts from above the destroyers and engulfs them in Tink's righteous fury.
"Loiosh, protect V!"
Tink smiles at Astrid and says, "That's what I'm here for!", before winking and riding off. Once in the northern room, he looks at the bubbling red liquid with obvious interest.
He leans over one of the basins, takes a sniff, and recoils. "Huh. Bloodbrain venom. Saps your strength and makes you stink for a solid ten minutes." He searches through his pack and eventually finds an empty vial, then carefully takes all that he can . "I dislike poison as a rule, but a better rule is that you never know when you might need something." He drops the full vial into his pack and smiles. "Where to now?"
Tink holds up his hands and grins. "I'm was custom-built as an 11th level druid. I am lousy with magical items." He winks at V. "You seem a smart fellow. I can't wait to see what creative uses you come up with for that thing." He pauses for a second, then looks back at Rand. "Wait. You just found stuff? No morlocks?" He looks at each of you in turn with an am-I-going-crazy look on his face. "Does that seem strange to anyone else? I was loud enough to wake the dead."
Tink looks at V and Astrid; they've know Rand longer than he has. "Has he been gone for a while? Should we check on him?"
Tink laughs and shrugs. "Oops! Let them come, right, Loiosh?" He enthusiastically pats the allosaur on the nape of his neck.
Tink nods and distributes the good stuff.
Tink takes out a wand and heals Loiosh up, then remounts him.
He holds up the wand to Rand and V. "Either of you need a hit?"
The elemental nods, begins speaking to Iuwlas, realizes again how loud he is in this form, and transforms back into a 3'2" gnome. He walks over to Iuwlas and repeats everything that was said in Undercommon.
A booming voice erupts from TINK!; it is so loud and deep that it shakes the entire room. (If everyone on this level didn't already know you were here, they do now.) He first says a few words in Undercommon to Iuwlas, then looks at Rand and V. "He is surrendering. I told him to stay where he is while I see if he killed our friend." It only takes a single step for him to reach the opening in the northeast corner of the room. The chamber shakes so violently that scree dislodges from the ceiling and walls and falls to the ground. TINK! stops, suddenly realizing that he weighs tens of tons. Rather than returning to his normal form, however, he simply melts into the stone floor. A split second later, you hear Astrid yelp in surprise from the chasm wall. TINK! re-emerges from the stone a few moments later, Astrid firmly grasped in one of his giant earthen hands. He places her gently on the floor, then ... well, if Rand and V hadn't ever seen an earth elemental wearing a smug grin, they can officially check it off their bucket lists. Then he tells Loiosh to come, and though it's clear he is trying to whisper (another first for everyone!), it comes out more like The walls shake again, and TINK! manages to look self-conscious.
Tink has seen enough of Astrid's talents to not immediately panic when she is swallowed by the darkness. In any case, there is nothing he can do for her now; this fight just became much more desperate, and they need to end it as quickly as possible. He knows Loiosh can't reach the morlock, so it's up to him. He concentrates for a brief moment, then positively erupts into a new form, growing tens of feet and thousands of pounds in an instant. In his place stands a huge earth elemental; and where 15' was plenty of distance for Iuwlas to put between himself and the others, it is not nearly enough for the monstrosity that now fills the majority of this chamber, its head scraping against the stone ceiling.
You don't f*!! with Tink's dinosaur. He spits curses at the morlock as his hands move in a complicated dance. He points at the wall where Iuwlas is perched, makes a fist, and yanks his arm backwards. A blast of air erupts from the wall, battering Iuwlas and threatening to toss him from the wall to the floor below.
Tink places Loiosh's figurine on the ground. "Should have done this sooner, but better late than never!" He utters a command word and Loiosh instantly returns to his normal size and consistency. Tink has a chuckle to himself at Iuwlas's surprise and calls over in Undercommon, "He's normally even bigger than this!" To Loiosh, he says, "Loiosh. Still hungry?"
Tink completes his meditation. As he comes back to the present moment, he notices that Loiosh has been eating more morlocks and shakes his head. "Are you quite done? It's time for the statue." Without waiting for the allosaur's protest, he touches Loiosh's flank and whispers under his breath. There is a sound of rushing air as a Loiosh is replaced with a small stone statue. Tink stows it in his pack, then pulls out the rod and gestures for the others to gather around. "Even with the rod, this spell will only last an hour, so we shouldn't dally down there in case we have to go deeper. Are you ready?" Once he has everyone's assent, he completes the spell. Miniscule barbs appear on everyone's palms, fingers, and boots. He looks up expectantly. "Well? Lead the way."
Tink looks apologetically at Rand, then says, "Well is the way to go." He goes to a corner of the chamber, pulls a straw mat from his pack, lays it on the floor, and sits on his knees, facing the wall. "I need ten minutes of meditation to prepare the spell. Please watch my back. Loiosh, quiet." Without another word, he closes his eyes and almost immediately falls into a trance.
Tink nods at the others. "I know that spell as well." He pulls out the extend metamagic rod and holds it up. "And with this, I can make it last quite a while." He drops his voice to a whisper and dramatically leans away from Loiosh. "Loiosh can go into the statue."
"Morlocks don't need ladders or elevators; they can climb the walls as easily as we walk on the ground. It would give this place a significant defensive advantage, but makes it hard to have guests over."
Tink laughs and claps his hands. "Well, that was bracing! You are quite the fighting force!" He seems completely unbothered that Loiosh is loudly and messily finishing his meal.
Tink is thoroughly enjoying the show, punctuating every punch, sword strike, and arrow hit with a hoot, a holler, or an "attaboy!" This group is impressively competent.
Tink thinks this party will handle the morlocks easily, so he saves his spells and continues to encourage Loiosh to make a snack of #1.
Tink decides to bide his time on spells, instead leading Loiosh into the fray and directing him to attack D3.
Tink nods his thanks to Astrid. Once Loiosh can see, Tink leans over and whispers in his ear, "Quiet."
Tink clears his throat. "I don't suppose you have one of those potions for Loiosh? He can't see in the dark."
Tink winks at V and Astrid, then touches Loiosh, closes his eyes, and whispers two separate incantations. The first causes the allosaur's claws to grow even more sharp and intimidating and the second shrinks him down to "only" 6 1/2 feet tall . Satisfied, Tink nods, then climbs into the impressive-looking saddle that I somehow haven't mentioned before now.
Right after Randall leaves on his reconnaissance mission, Tink gives Loiosh another pat. "I know you hate it, but you want to keep our new friends safe, right? You won't be able to tear the heads off of any morlocks if you don't fit through the corridors. Do you want to stay in this room by yourself?"
The moment Tink reaches solid ground, he morphs back into his normal form and unstatueizes Loiosh. He looks down the passage to the northwest, then looks at the enormous dinosaur next to him. He pats Loiosh on the flank and says, "This is no place for a dinosaur. May have to shrink you down, bud."
Tink grins at Astrid and, without a word, tosses Loiosh another hob hand (how many of those does he have??), statueizes him, polymorphs into a giant gecko, and begins climbing head-first down the well on the opposite wall from the ladder.
Tink rolls his eyes, holds up the pointer finger on his left hand, and says, "You know, sometimes I wish I had never bought us these rings." Following his gaze, you see an identical ring (though much, much larger) on one of Loiosh's ... fingers? Astrid immediately recognizes them as rings of eloquence.
Tink pulls out his lesser extend metamagic rod, then casts a spell on himself. His skin turns tough and bark-like. Then he walks up to Rand, says "You want in on this?", and casts it on him as well. He stows the rod and casts another spell on himself , then looks at the well. "Are we going down there? I'll need to statueize Loiosh."
Tink shrugs and places his hammer into the bowl. Gold doesn't mean too awful much to him anyway.
When the story reaches the third unoccupied and/or destroyed Chernesardo outpost, Tink holds up his hand. "All right, if you go on much longer, I'll go through the bleaching right here. I get the picture: hobs trying to take over the world. This lot seems capable enough; they can tell me the rest on the way. Where are we headed?"
Tink shushes Loiosh, reaches into his pack, and pulls out what looks (and smells) suspiciously like a severed hobgoblin hand. Loiosh's demeanor changes instantly; his eyes go wide and he plops down into a seated position, causing the ground beneath him to shake. Tink tosses the hand in the air and Loiosh catches it effortlessly in his mouth. As Loiosh swallows it without even chewing, Tink's hand glows briefly against his flank. Tink disappears in a whoosh of air rushing into the space he previously occupied. Tink now holds an impressively accurate Loiosh statuette, which he places in his pack. As Tink absentmindedly wipes hob hand blood on his trousers, he looks at Crawbert. "Let's go, but make it quick. Loiosh doesn't like it in there."
Tink sighs and nods. He gives Loiosh a pat on the flank. "We have to go inside for a while, champ. You know what that means."
Tink nods and smiles at each introduction, repeating each name under his breath. At Astrid's question, he shrugs. "Something about a hobgoblin uprising?" He looks around at the semi-repaired state of Longshadow. "By the looks of it, it's more than just an uprising. I owed Navah a favor, so here I am. Besides, it's been a while since I've resupplied."
Tink laughs as if it's the first time he's ever heard that particular joke. "And who are all of you?"
He shrugs. "It relaxes me. And from what you've told me, I need to be relaxed." He turns and seems to notice the party for the first time. "Ah!" He greets you with an exaggerated bow. "Ysbeoruwulfgieson Quicklight, at your service. You may call me Tink. And this handsome fellow is Loiosh. Say hi, Loiosh."
It suddenly becomes apparent why you didn't see the dinosaur's keeper; a tiny gnome steps out from behind one of its legs. He is clearly quite old: his face is covered in wrinkles (mostly concentrated around his eyes and mouth), he is completely bald, and his white beard drags along the ground at his feet. He takes a long drag on his pipe -- you catch the unmistakable odor of flayleaf -- and smiles at the mayor. "They told me I couldn't bring him through the gates. I didn't bring him through the gates. They didn't specify what I could do with him once I was through." |
