Gnome Alone

*Hired by*: Rosaria

*Mission Request*: Explore/free up the abandoned Diabolica strandbeest

*Rewards/Loot*: 1290gp

*Discovered Places*: Psi 3 Abbadon

*Caravan Allies*: Gromlo (antiquarian), Caliban (cook), "Bob" (alarm gnome)

*Monsters Encountered*: Chronalmental, Hellish gnomes, Drevagorun (abyssal lord), Hellhound, & Cacklers (Cack Squad)

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## Summary

After the Air Plane delay, the party eventually made their way back toward the Aardwolf in The Whorl. On the second day of travel, they ran into a strange time-manipulating cube monster in the desert; it displaced Aster in time while the rest of the party fought it off. She returned to the present once it died. The next day, the party found a wrecked strandbeest covered in fungus. They salvaged the metal and learned later it was likely destroyed by the Sporatorium faction. After the group arrived on the Aardwolf, Rosaria requested their help in exploring the Diabolica strandbeest that had been following them for days. They never attacked or got closer; it seemed as if the strandbeest was not being driven by *anyone*.

The Dziyiri Nakkar Consortium made their way onto the Diabolica's Psi 3 Abbadon. Aster smelled old and fresh blood right at the entry. Two pale gnomes covered in blood with white hair, black horns, and razor sharp teeth jumped out of the trash piles they were hiding in and attacked the group. Their bites were poisonous and they seemed feral, but not in the same way Aster sometimes went feral. They also were surprisingly somewhat impervious to fire. After dealing with the two hellish gnomes, the party continued to search the strandbeest. They found a regular junk gnome chained to the wall of the engine room. The gnome could only seem to say three phrases: "praise be", "Orias sees", and "words fail". With his limited vocabulary, the party resorted to asking the poor gnome "yes" or "no" questions. He seemed to understand Xeric and was even willing to act as a sort of alarm while the group continued to explore the strandbeest. They found the remains of the Captain Orias in the next room. Eira cast speak with dead and learned Orius was told by the Cabal of the Blind Eye to bind Drevagorun, an Abyssal Lord, on the bridge in order to receive gifts. It seemed that the "gifts" may be the infernal powers the hellish gnomes possessed.

Reaching the bridge, the party found Drevagorun along with hellhounds and cacklers have a large festive celebration around a large fire. Raxis tried to be diplomatic with the Abyssal Lord to avoid a massive fight, but once it was clear Drevagorun wasn't to be persuaded, Eira cast banishment, thus saving the party from his wrath. Eira kept to the hallway to avoid attacks and maintain concentration. C2 slowed the minions down by casting spike growth while Aster flew over the heads of the enemies slashing them as she went. Raxis, Arco, and C2 also acted as meat shields to protect Eira from being harmed. Eventually all the minions were destroyed and the party was able to inform Rosaria the strandbeest was free for her taking. They found a note in Abyssal and also rescued the chained gnome. Arco was able to translate the note and Aster recognized that the half-face symbol on the note was the same as the symbol on the silver signet ring they picked up from the ooze-woman. She also realized that the symbol might be related to the Aphotis moon that they just learned from the Ki-Rin. Eira tried to lesser restoration the poor gnome, but nothing changed. He showed interest in joining the party instead of staying with The Rust Bastion, so the party dubbed him "Bob" and he became their alarm gnome. His job is to shout "words fail" when there's danger and "Orias sees" if he notices anything interesting.