While discussing this and watching anxiously to see if the yellow cloud on the horizon might lift, the colonists were considerably startled to see what appeared to be an army of short, brown creatures stagger out of the smoke to fall almost lifeless at their feet.
The kindly people of Solamnia immediately went to the aid of the poor gnomes, and thus did the two races of people living on Sancrist meet.
The meeting of the gnomes and the knights turned out to be a friendly one. The Solamnic people had a high regard for four things: individual honor, the Code, the Measure, and technology. They were vastly impressed with the labor-saving devices the gnomes had invented at this time, which included the pulley, the shaft, the screw, and the gear.
It was during this first meeting that Mount Nevermind got its name as well.
The knights soon discovered that, while gnomes appeared to be related to the dwarves—being short and stocky—all similarity ended there. The gnomes were a skinny people with brown skin and pale white hair, highly nervous and hot-tempered. They spoke so rapidly that the knights at first thought they were speaking a foreign language. Instead, it turned out to be Common spoken at an accelerated pace. The reason for this became obvious when an elder made the mistake of asking the gnomes the name of their mountain.
Roughly translated, it went something like this: A Great, Huge, Tall Mound Made of Several Different Strata of Rock of Which We Have Identified Granite, Obsidian, Quartz With Traces of Other Rock We Are Still Working On, That Has Its Own Internal Heating System Which We Are Studying In Order to Copy Someday That Heats the Rock Up to Temperatures That Convert It Into Both Liquid and Gaseous States Which Occasionally Come to the Surface and Flow Down the Side of the Great, Huge, Tall Mound—
‘Nevermind,’ the elder said hastily.
Nevermind! The gnomes were impressed. To think that these humans could reduce something so gigantic and marvelous into something so simple was wonderful beyond belief. And so, the mountain was called Mount Nevermind from that day forth—to the vast relief of the gnomish Map-Makers Guild.
The knights on Sancrist and the gnomes lived in harmony after that, the knights bringing the gnomes any questions of a technological nature that needed solving, the gnomes providing a steady flood of new inventions.
When the dragon orb arrived, the knights needed to know how the thing worked. They gave it into the keeping of the gnomes, sending along two young knights to guard it. The thought that the orb might be magic did not occur to them.
5
Gnomeflingers
‘Now remember. No gnome living or dead ever in his life completed a sentence. The only way you get anywhere is to interrupt them. Don’t worry about being rude. They expect it.’
The old mage himself was interrupted by the appearance of a gnome dressed in long brown robes, who came up to them and bowed respectfully.
Tasslehoff studied the gnome with excited curiosity—the kender had never seen a gnome before, although old legends concerning the Graygem of Gargath indicated that the two races were distantly connected. Certainly there was something kenderish in the young gnome—his slender hands, eager expression, and sharp, bright eyes intent on observing everything. But here the resemblance ended. There was nothing of the kender’s easy-going manner. The gnome was nervous, serious, and businesslike.
‘Tasslehoff Burrfoot,’ said the kender politely, extending his hand. The gnome took Tas’s hand, peered at it intently, then finding nothing of interest—shook it limply. ‘And this—’ Tas started to introduce Fizban, but stropped when the gnome reached out and calmly took hold of the kender’s hoopak.
‘Ah...’ the gnome said, his eyes shining as he grasped the weapon. ‘Sendforamemberofthe WeaponsGuild—’
The guard at the ground-level entrance to the great mountain did not wait for the gnome to finish. Reaching up, he pulled a lever and a shriek sounded. Certain that a dragon had landed behind him, Tas whirled around, ready to defend himself.
‘Whistle,’ said Fizban. ‘Better get used to it.’
‘Whistle?’ repeated Tas, intrigued. ‘I never heard one like that before. Smoke comes out of it! How does it wor—Hey! Come back! Bring back my hoopak!’ he cried as his staff gent speeding down the corridor, carried by three eager gnomes.
‘Examinationroom,’said the gnome, ‘uponSkimbosh—’
‘What?’
‘Examination Room,’ Fizban translated. ‘I missed the rest. You really must speak slower,’ he said, shaking his staff at the gnome.
The gnome nodded, but his bright eyes were fixed on Fizban’s staff. Then, seeing it was just plain, slightly battered wood, the gnome returned his attention to the mage and kender.
‘Outsiders,’ he said. ‘I’Iltryand’member...I will try and remember, so do not worry because’—he now spoke slowly and distinctly—‘your weapon will not be harmed since we are merely going to render a drawing—’
‘Really,’ interrupted Tas, rather flattered. ‘I could give you a demonstration of how it works, if you like.’
The gnome’s eyes brightened. ‘Thatwouldbemuch—’
‘And now,’ interrupted the kender again, feeling pleased that he was learning to communicate, ‘what is your name?’
Fizban made a quick gesture, but too late.
‘Gnoshoshallamarionininillisyylphanitdisdisslishxdie—’
He paused to draw a breath.
‘Is that your name?’ Tas asked, astounded.
The gnome let his breath out. ‘Yes,’ he snapped, a bit disconcerted. ‘It’s my first name, and now if you’ll let me proceed—’
‘Wait!’ cried Fizban. ‘What do your friends call you?’
The gnome sucked in a breath again. ‘Gnoshoshallamarioninillis—’
‘What do the knights call you?’
‘Oh’—the gnome seemed downcast—‘Gnosh, if you—’
‘Thank you,’ snapped Fizban. ‘Now, Gnosh, we’re in rather a hurry. War going on and all that. As Lord Gunthar stated in his communique, we must see this dragon orb.’
Gnosh’s small, dark eyes glittered. His hands twisted nervously. ‘Of course, you may see the dragon orb since Lord Gunthar has requested it, but—if I might ask—what is your interest in the orb besides normal curi—?’
‘I am a magic-user—’ Fizban began.
‘Magicuser!’ the gnome stated, forgetting, in his excitement, to speak slowly. ‘Comethiswayimmediatelytothe Examination room sincethedragonorbwasrnadebymagicuser—’
Both Tas and Fizban blinked uncomprehendingly.
‘Oh, just come—’ the gnome said impatiently.
Before they quite knew what was happening, the gnome—still talking—hustled them through the mountain’s entrance, setting off an inordinate number of bells and whistles.
‘Examination Room?’ Tas said in an undertone to Fizban as they hurried after Gnosh. ‘What does that mean? They wouldn’t have hurt it, would they?’
‘I don’t think so,’ Fizban muttered, his bushy white eyebrows coming together in an ominous V-shape over his nose. ‘Gunthar sent knights to guard it, remember.’
‘Then what are you worried about?’ Tas asked.
‘The dragon orbs are strange things. Very powerful. My fear,’ said Fizban more to himself than to Tas, ‘is that they may try to use it!’
‘But the book I read in Tarsis said the orb could control dragons!’ Tas whispered. ‘Isn’t that good? I mean, the orbs aren’t evil, are they?’
‘Evil? Oh, no! Not evil.’ Fizban shook his head. ‘That’s the danger. They’re not good, not evil. They are not anything! Or perhaps I should say, they’re everything.’
Tas saw that he would probably never get a straight answer out of Fizban, whose mind was far away. In need of diversion, the kender turned his attention to their host.