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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Emperor Valerian" data-source="post: 1507576" data-attributes="member: 15043">The Strange Gnome“Missing?  How?” Shaun asked.“He *hic* fell in wid Klorphaxius’ rogues... da fake Thieves’ Guild.  Dey wanna usurp the real Thieves’ Guild... Dere was fightin’, and Pyrion got taken!”He needs to sober up some... then we can get the story out of him, Shaun sighed.Several hours later, Geoffrey found himself in front of the party... fully sobered up, and now very grumpy.“Where’s my wine, dammit!” the halfling barked.“Like I said, if you tell us everything, now that we can understand you, you’ll get some wine... the finest in the palace stocks,” Siabrey said matter of factly, while she rolled her eyes at Shaun.  I can’t believe we’re getting our information from this lush!“Fine.  There’s a gnome, named Pyrion.  YOU WRITING THAT DOWN!?” he snapped, fidgeting nervously.  When Elenya nodded, he continued.“He’s got a machine, a contraption of some kind, that can let people teleport across planes, with no magic.  Perfect for teleporting in and out of somewhere without being noticed.  Anyways.  He got captured by Klorphaxius.”“Klor-who?” Tess asked.“Klorphaxius... he’s a rich merchant in town, does shady dealings on the side.  He’s started up what he fancies as a real ‘Thieve’s Guild’ and he’s been trying to undermine the real one for some time.  He has a manor up in the rich side of town, but he’s never there... rumor has it he really lives down in the sewers.  Anyways, Pyrion was showing his wares to the lower elements of society, when Klorphaxius’ gangs took him and dragged him into the sewers to their lair.”“A rich merchant that has a secret sewer layer... that smells funny.  No pun intended,” Orion said.“And what the hells is a name like Klorphaxius?” Shaun asked.“Well,” Tess started tapping her foot on the ground in thought, “considering the Imperial mages haven’t made much progress on how we’d use magic to teleport to the Abyss unnoticed... we might want to talk to this Pyrion fellow.  Is there anything unusual about him that we should know about, halfling?” she looked up at Geoffrey.  “There’s an extra bourbon in it for you.”“He’s not all there in the head, y’know?” the halfling said grouchily, as Shaun handed him the first bottle of wine.  Geoffrey downed half of it in a swig, before continuing, “He fancies himself a demon hunter... he collects their heads.  He wanted to use the machine to go hunting in the Abyss... so if you all are thinking of jumping around Celestia or the Outlands, you might want to let him stop by the Abyss for a bit... it’ll take a bit off of his fee, no doubt.”A demon-hunter?  Really? Siabrey’s intrigued mind asked.  “Do you know where in the sewers he might be?  And are you willing to take us down to try and find him?”The halfling had already opened the bottle of bourbon next to him, and had guzzled part of it as well.  He smacked his lips, and with a grin said, “if I get more of that drink for my troubles, of course!”It was late-afternoon when the party, now dressed in battle armor, smelling salts under their noses, assembled along the river-side of the city, intent to slog into the sewers and try to find this Klorphaxius, Pyrion, or both.“Tess... the smelling salts aren’t quite working,” Lucius, who had insisted on coming with, complained.  He stumbled rather weakly through the slog, causing Siabrey to worry if he was really battle ready.  As nasties flowed around the party’s boots, Tess floated ahead, her feet dry and clean, to the chagrin of everyone else.The party slogged deeper and deeper, for what seemed to be hours (in reality, it was closer to maybe 45 minutes).  Scurries and scuttles were heard all the time, but only revealed themselves to be rats, or spiders.  Shaun continually warned the party to be on the lookout for oozes, which undoubtedly called parts of these massive sewers home.It was Tess who heard the last scuttles, and picked up that there was something different about them.  No soft squeaks came, indicating rats, and the scuttles sounded like only two legs, as opposed to eight.  She floated further ahead, and thought she heard a muffled curse.“Pyrion?” she whispered, just before the cave in front of her lit up.There was a great flash, for an instant, as a loud bang, like one of the fireworks the large cities used in celebrations.  For an instant, the sewer lit up as if daylight had come in, and rats stood about confused as the face of a small humanoid, a gnome, flashed momentarily.  As the blasting noise started to die, the light died back down, and Tess heard something small whiz by her ear, not like the noise an arrow made.  It was something smaller, and more compact.  The smell of smoke then assaulted her nose.“Pyrion!” she called a little louder,  “We are friends!  We are friends!  Do not fire spells at us!”“Forget asking,” Siabrey grumbled as she slogged past Tess towards where the gnome had momentarily appeared in the brief light, “I’m gonna stop him.”“Siabrey, be careful!” Tess shouted, as more curses, louder and more insistent, came up the dark sewer.  As Tess and the rest of the party rushed forward, they heard the noise of a brief scuffle, a muffled curse and a hiss from Siabrey of, “he bit me!”When their torchlight revealed the scene, Siabrey was holding the gnome roughly by both arms, growling at him, “Stop firing off magic at my friends, and I’ll let you go, okay?”“Let me... augh!  You are worse than those thugs!” the gnome struggled.  Tess approached, cautiously, to try and diplomatically resolve the stalemate.“Pyrion?” she asked gently, and the gnome spat his affirmative reply back at her.  “Listen... we’re friends.  We don’t want to hurt you... in fact we want to take up back topside.”“You want the machine too, I bet!  Robberies are what you’re going to use it for!” he snarled, struggling hard.“Actually, yes... we’d like to use your machine, but no, we’re not going to use it for robbery,” Tess said.  Considering he likes hunting demons...“We’re going to the Abyss,” she said bluntly, and rather quickly, Pyrion ceased his struggles.“The Abyss?” the slightly stunned gnome repeated, and Tess nodded her head.  He looked baffled and in shock for a few seconds, before suddenly shaking his head, his face darkening slightly.  “I’ll agree only if I can go with and keep trophies!”He’s a cocky little man! Siabrey wanted to laugh.  Doesn’t know what we’ll be facing down there, and he insists he has to go with so he can collect trophies... oh well... if it gets him to come along...“And you need to help me get revenge on that bastard Klorphaxius!  He trixed me!” Pyrion growled, crossing his arms as soon as Siabrey let him go. “Um... guys?” Tess asked questioningly, and quickly the group gathered for a huddle.  Shaun pointed out that Klorphaxius was a rival to the normal Thieves’ Guild, as well as a menace to society, so likely neither the Empire nor the thieves would be displeased if he suddenly disappeared.  With that in mind, a few minutes later, the party agreed to the demand.“We won’t be able to go after him today for you,” Tess said, “It is likely getting dark now.  Tomorrow, however, we will hunt him down for you.  Does that sound fair, Mr. Pyrion?”The gnome nodded in agreement.  “I won’t produce the machine until he’s been taken care of, and the bargain has been completed.  The machine will require specific destinations, though... and I cannot supply you with those for whatever this errand to the Abyss is for.”“We’ll get those, don’t worry,” Siabrey said, her voice trailing off as she looked at his waist.  Along a belt, the gnome had two of the most curious clubs she had ever seen... they had steel shafts, that went into a wooden head that bent forward, like some kind of miniature cane that was only as long as a human forearm.“Pardon me, Pyrion, but those are some interesting clubs you have,” her fighter instincts took over, demanding she ask the question.  “How do they work?  Do you strike with the wooden end forward or...”The gnome glanced as his belt, and laughed.  “No!  No no no... these are pistols!”  His eyes lit up, as a chance appeared for him to gab technology with someone.  “You see, you first make a mixture of pig manure, sulfur, and charcoal.  When properly mixed, it explodes!”“Like a bombard?” Siabrey asked, proud that she remembered the little tidbit the generals had told her days before.  The gnome grinned and nodded, despite the stench as the party slogged onwards.“Yes, these are like mini-bombards, for shooting at one person,” he leapt at the easier explanation, before diving into the mechanics of the operation of the device.“Um... pardon me, but is there anything we should know about this Klorphaxius?  How many thugs does he have?” Orion asked quietly.  Siabrey grinned in thanks at him for interrupting what easily could’ve turned into an hour or two lecture on the physics of gunpowder.“I wouldn’t worry about the thugs... worry about Klorphaxius,” the gnome responded.  “He’s not human as he seems... I found this out, part of the reason I was dragged down here.  I escaped only two days ago,” the gnome beamed at his own ingenuity.“How do you know it was two days ago?” Shaun asked, before the gnome produced a clockwork watch.  For the next hour, Shaun would be fascinated by it.  In the more immediate timeframe, Orion cleared his throat, and thusly prompted, Pryion continued.“Are you familiar with Emerald?” the gnome asked, and the party immediately stopped.Good god... that’s EMERALD the dragon down here? Tess wanted to groan.  Pyrion clearly deduced by the looks the party gave that they knew who Emerald was, and he grinned.“Klorphaxius is a rival of Emerald’s.  He wants that southern forest for his own... and he thinks by working inside the city, he can amass the funds to get an army to drive Emerald out,” Pyrion once again said with pride.  “He’s arrogant though, he talks when he thinks people are unconscious... when they really aren’t.”“So this, Klorphaxius... he’s a green dragon?  That masquerades as a human?” Siabrey said slowly, piecing things together.  If so, we certainly can’t fight him in these confines... he’ll kill us!“Yup... a greenie, through and through,” Pyrion said, as fresh air started to seep down towards the party’s nostrils.  The sewer exit was close.  “He’s got a temper ten times worse than Emerald’s though, I think.”</blockquote>

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