"So..." Fimbus says, the conversation seeming to have died down in his little group. "Anybody want to hear a story?" Nobody protests too loudly, so with a grin, the gnome draws his hand in arc above his head, letting bright red sparks fall from his fingers in a curtain. "Let me tell you the tale of my namesake!"
"Fimbus Leyron Aukits Macklerey Gimmons the First was a poor country gnome, living in a humble hole in a hill on the outskirts of the small kingdom of Medibaria." Fimble paints a scene of a green hill and tiny blue gnomes working a small plot of land. "He had a pretty little wife with whom he was very in love, and she with him. They had their holey home, a barely profitable garden, and a beautiful baby boy, named after his dad."
"One fateful day, the nation of Medibaria got into a conflict with its neighboring nation, Hendralia, and, as nations often do, they declared war on each other." The green hill transforms into a red knight on a horse with a huge head, the blue figures combine to create a gnomish peasant running from the mounted knight. "You all might have heard of it, happened about 200 years ago. Anyway, as an able-bodied male, my grandpa Fimbus was drafted into the army." The peasant stops, turns around, and dances under the legs of the knight's war steed. "In the war, this poor but extremely intelligent gnome faced such universal problems as racism, aristocratic arrogance, and 'height-ism'. Yet through some courageous deeds, young Fimbus eventually earned some command." The gnome in the illusion grabs the horse's reins, leaps up onto the saddle, and cuts off the knight's massive head. It flies into the air in slow motion and explodes in a tiny burst of red fireworks.
"My grandpa, with his squad of gnomish 'mini-men', as they were affectionately called, destroyed bridges, walls, and buildings of the enemy with remarkable efficiency and speed." The knight-slaying blue gnome is now mounted on the red horse, which has become a riding dog. Behind him, many identical gnomes on dogs ride. The gang charges under an illusory bridge, knocks out a few supports, and the bridge comes tumbling down into the glowing blue stream below it, creating little splashes of light. "Many men owe their lives to the mini-men, and the war was expeditious and victorious for the small kingdom. Fimbus was honored and glorified by the king, he received several medals for 'Courage in the Service of His Country' and 'Ingenuity and Excellence' and 'Expert Leadership'. His reputation among the people was that of a magnificent hero." The gnomes dismount their riding dogs and raise the lead gnome onto their shoulders. The dogs melt and turn into fireworks.
"I wish that were the end of my tale," Fimbus says, with a sad note in his voice, "But that day, an assassin from the enemy had infiltrated the capital to kill the king. The murderer confused the festivities as monarchial ceremonies and killed young Fimbus Leyron Aukits Macklerey Gimmons the First." The gnome being honored in the illusory scene suddenly goes limp as a red bolt shoots through his chest. The mob around him throws him into the air, where he floats, lifeless. A few feet away, the source of the killing red bolt is now noticed; a dark purple humanoid figure which had been hiding in Babette's hair now makes a run for it. The blue mob chases the purple figure in the air around your heads until the blue engulfs the purple. Tiny sparks of purple fly out of the swarming blue mass.
"The news eventually reached the pretty little wife." The blue mob settles down and turns into a green hill. The body of the blue gnome floats over to it, along with a bright golden chest, as two more gnomes made of blue light emerge from a hole in the hill. "She was devastated and not comforted at all by the vast fortune that was given to her for her husband's success in the military." The taller of the new gnomes sobs over the body and shoves aside the golden chest. It soars away and buries itself in Devlin Magruder's backpack, disappearing from sight. "She hid most of it away and continued her life in her humble hole in the hill on the outskirts of the small kingdom, raising her son to be as much like her beloved spouse as she could." The scene has a decidedly subdued hue to it now. As the mother gnome slowly works the plot of land, it fades away into nothing.
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
)
