OOC: Kel used up some spell slots, but knowing what I know of him I'm going to assume that he would use a cure spell to save Horacios and move this thing along.
Kel places his hands on Horacios, restoring him. The color of the gnome returns to his face, and his eyes flutter open. Looking up at your party and hearing the sounds of battle to the east he asks, "It's not a bad dream, is it? We are really being attacked by gnolls, kobolds, and goblins aren't we?" Looking at your faces, he nods to himself and grabs Kel's arm. "Help me up, young elf. I'm not as spry as I used to be and we got some gnolls chasing to do."
Between you and Horacios, the sputtering attack on the last of the gnome defenses in the administration tunnels collapses. The battle could have gone either way, until the gnolls found themselves leaderless and being attacked now from both sides. Some get away, along with a few kobolds, but most die beneath your anger. The goblins appear to have fled when they took heavy casualties early on, their courage never being strong enough anyway after you killed their commander more than a week ago. The enemies of the gnomes have been crushed, and they will likely flourish in the power vacuum that you've created. But it will take a long time. Half the population of the gnome hills have been either killed or severely wounded.
The despair you feel is great, and becomes greater still when Horacios informs the settlement of the next piece of bad news after he tells it to Laughphray and you during a long meeting. "These creatures were sent here by a traitor. One of our own has been actively seeking our destruction. Astraughlay Kondeeistreigh, the Master Illusionist and my former teacher, has gone insane. I was informed of this by the DragonEye kobold leader, and although there were clues before this, I did not want to believe that a man we all respected could do something like this despite the crimes I've seen him perform."
"Many of you know the work that I and Astraughlay were working on in the old ruins to the south of here, but for our companions from Dorinth, I will elaborate. Astraughlay Kondeeistreigh took me and two other students as his aids while he searched for the location of an ancient elven structure three days south of here, along the crest of a hill near a large lake. My teacher was very excited at this opportunity to study a magical culture many years separated from our own. It took us a month of searching using clues from old texts, but when we did find the location, we found something that took our breath away. The structure is comprised mostly of a tall, stone platform with large, petrified trees forming an inpenetrable canopy. At the end of the platform stands an open dome with an circular pit that was once filled with magical flame. At the far end of the dome is a second level, where we found a curious sphere made with black glass and with swirling smoke inside. We also saw a stone chair with a strange, dome-like contraption and several small crystals laying in a stone alcove nearby. After months of research, we finally determined that the sphere and the chair were artifacts used by an ancient race of elves to bestow wisdom. Both the chair and the sphere had a slot to place the crystals, and we put them inside them. Astraughlay is not the bravest of gnomes, and nervously asked us which would like to sit in the chair and receive the wisdom of the ancients. Young Phylstray eagerly agreed. We... we thought he was going to gain something special... Instead the poor lad screamed as the dome moved over his head and the crystal pierced his brain, killing him painfully. Even more horribly, the crystal changed colors as the liquids in the brain were sucked away."
It takes Horacios a moment before he can continue again, although a stiff drink from a flask he has by his side helps. "In the next weeks, we discovered what went wrong. The crystals were meant to be used on the elven elders before their deaths. Their spirits would then be planted into the device with the black sphere, where they would be able to grant a vision of possible futures to those who watched the surface. The stronger the elder, the stronger and longer the visions. It was meant as one last gift from a dying elven elder to the people he served for so long. Phlystray's death was avoidable if he had only spent more time in study, and I fear this realization caused Astraughlay Kondeeistreigh to slowly become unhinged."
"The night we read about the true purpose of the crystals, the second apprentice, Morious, convinced Astraughlay to use the crystal that had killed the our friend on the black sphere. I stood outside the platform, taking notes on the magical field around the dome, while the other two took their observations of the sphere's surface. I know they saw something, for I heard both of them gasp even from where I was, near the pit. What I saw was also surprising, for after they placed the crystal, the pit lit aflame with a magical fire that burned so hot that I had to step away in fear. Shortly after that I heard Morious scream. I ran up the steps to find Astraughlay Kondeeistreigh over the apprentice's still body, a crystal buried deep in his chest."
"I don't know why, but I moved forward thinking I could still save him, when Astraughlay grabbed me by my shoulders and said, 'Leave him, Horacios! It is better this way. He doesn't have to suffer anymore. They don't have to suffer anymore. I know how to make it better. We'll kill them all fast before they do it. Before they kill them slowly and horribly. We can make it right by ending their lives quickly. Horacios, help me kill them.'"
"In fear and confusion I asked who 'they' were. He answered, 'We have to kill them all. Elves, gnolls, kobolds, goblins, humans, dwarves. All the races before the great sin occurs. By the gods, Horacios, you don't know what they are going to do! How could they! Damn them, but we can fix it. We can make it quick so they don't suffer. You can't stop it! Gods, Horacios, in every vision I watched Saleentra burn! They're still alive, Horacios, but I can see the elves burning and screaming for salvation. And their the lucky ones. Oh, gods... you don't believe me. You don't believe me and you won't trust me. I'm sorry, Horacios, but I'll make this painless.'"
Turning to the party, he continues. "With that, he cast his magic, but I somehow resisted his illusions and ran. I thought the madman would die out there without help, but he lives still and he almost got us all killed. You must stop him. We can reward you with gems, if that is what you want. And of course, we can replenish your equipment. If what I heard is to be believed, he learned necromancy from the kobold, and they turned that damned chair into a device to take zombies to control and later use the crystals for more divining. And Horacios undoubtedly is using some kind of enhancement to his illusion magic to make others see the future he thinks they want to see. I believe its the power of the sphere, and its making him powerful in both illusions and divination. It is likely he knows everything about you as is, and is likely he already considers you an enemy. You've killed his supporters except... we found an old flesh golem inside the structure. An ugly, bald brute. He didn't attack us when we came in to study, and Horacios was able to find a way to control it. If you must resort to brute force, best you have a plan."
