---
title: 00005 - gnomes
created: Tue, 25 Jul 2022 20:32:23 -0600
updated: Tue, 25 Jul 2022 20:32:23 -0600
syndicated: yes
public: yes
---
### 00005

> As the blahoblins were packing up, Inky persuades Waistcoat to sell a few small bottles of shoe polish, a roughly round piece of broken glass and scraps of cheesecloth from the mountain of debris previously on the ground. Inky rolls Do Anything 1 and rolls a 4.

Inky successfully persuades Waistcoat to sell a few baubles and trinkets with the first roll of the game!

They haggle back and forth a little bit, and Inky ends up paying a little more than they wanted to, but they get all the stuff they wanted. Yay commerce!

Having concluded business, the blahoblins pack up and disappear into the bushes toting their chair, cheese, and vat of polish.

The sound of mechanical droning and periodic explosions compel you forward to the dig site.

It is easy to find.

It is a large hole blasted deep into the ground. There are drills, and conveyor belts, earth moving machines, and all kinds of gadgets and gizmos, the purpose of which is not always readily apparent. And there is a zip line that seems to be the only way down to the bottom.

The site is absolutely teeming with gnomes. Diminutive humanoids with bright red noses and long, long ears, and long, nimble fingers. All gnomes are compulsive tinkerers and mechanics, and build fantastic contraptions. All gnomes are women, and are all highly explosive. Which makes their combustion powered machines extremely dangerous, both for themselves and for any unfortunate bystanders close enough to get caught in the blast.

A gnome in a white hat comes running up to you. "You there! Hey! Yes, you!"

"Are you the retrieval team? We've been expecting you! The whole dig is halted because we accidentally blasted into a whole nest of Kobits, and they won't let us get near to keep digging! They keep sabotaging our machines when we try!"

"They also stole the Ginnarak Crystal that we found! That thing could have powered such glorious new machines!" She pouts.

In the background, a gnome who had crawled half way into a coal bin in the side of some kind of excavator suddenly scrambles quickly out, smoking, and runs around in circles in a panic. Nearby gnomes dive out of the way as she erupts in a small ball of fire. The gnomes wait for the smoke to clear and then immediately return to working on the contraption.

The foreman continues talking to you as though nothing happened. She leads you over to the edge of the hole and points to the bottom.

"The entrance to their cave is right down there! The zip line is the second fastest way down."

WHAT DO YOU DO

[www](https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-07/msg00035.html)

