Around us, the same thing happened to the others who had been injured the night before. There was a moment where everyone became oriented to what was happening, then turned to each other as if to ask what they should do.
“So, do you transform into a gnome now?” asked Griffrod.
“I don’t know,” he replied.
“If the potion didn’t work, I can try to remove the disease. The spell only works in the first three days after infection. There was nothing I could do for the gnomes, but it wouldn’t hurt to try now,” I approached the barely clothed gnome, who covered himself and knelt down, pushing his forehead toward me.
I placed my hand on his forehead and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. I let it out slowly and breathed steadily, reaching out to Pelor in my heart.
“Mighty Pelor, god of the sun, sustainer of life and scorcher of decay, remove the curse from this poor soul and turn him back to his true form.”
Glowing light rushed around and through me into the gnome, but as it passed I saw the sun disc again and heard sizzling in my mind. My eyes opened to see the gnome filled with light, which then dissipated. The vision came with understanding, and seeing the spell have no effect solidified it in my mind.
“Where is Alfar? Or Brutus?” I said loudly.
Others echoed their names until Alfar and Brutus arrived with Princess Floramore arriving from elsewhere. Neither Alfar nor Brutus had transformed.
“Oh, no. The lycanthropy fused with the gnomes, like Prince Pluffle said. Without the touch of the sun to burn away the gnomish part of the new disease, it still takes hold. Once you transform into a gnome, there’s nothing I can do except turn you to stone.” I directed the last of my words to the gnome.
“Princess, let’s get you back to the hollow,” Allandria said with haste, rushing to the princess and taking her hand. She ran off toward the tree hollow with Liara and Manalar behind them. Griffrod, Alfar, and Brutus stayed there with me.
“Can someone please throw some clothes on them?” A voice called from another cluster gathered around a gnome. The mutters of incantations filled the air, with spellcasters accommodating the request.
“Gather everyone, we don’t have long,” I commanded those around me, then pointed at the gnome. “Turn to stone, lose your head, or die a monster. Choose quickly.”
The gnome looked around in a panic then his eyes shifted and his mind quickly processed everything. He got onto one knee and placed his hands on the other.
“Stone!” He looked me in the eye and smiled as he took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and raised his chin up.
“Everyone mind your eyes. By the light of Pelor, god of the sun, be cleansed and may your soul find peace!” I stepped toward him, shield forward. A beam of light erupted from around me, as if through a veil. The sound of cracking erupted from the gnome in spurts. It lasted for only a few seconds and I ceased my spell. On one knee with a proud look on his face, he was a statue.
“Everyone spread out, we can’t let them turn,” I ordered. The group spread out, but Griffrod, Alfar and Brutus stayed with me. Some cried out in protest while others hurried the unturned mercenaries to cut off their heads. A few gnomes accompanied by mercenaries rushed to me waving their arms.
“Cleric! Cleric! Turn me to stone! I don’t want to die a beast!” One called.
A moment later, our worst fears came true. Those who had transformed to gnomes began crying out and writhing in pain. They grew larger and fur sprouted from their skin. Those around the gnomes scrambled to slaughter them quickly before they could transform. Few succeeded. Skirmishes erupted around us as weregnomes lashed out at the clusters of mercenaries surrounding them.
Weregnomes sprang forth and a disorganized battle erupted all around us. With no plan, the screams of unsuspecting adventurers being mauled alive filled the air. Then came the gnomes who had retired to their tents, bursting into the main communal area. In a matter of seconds we found ourselves in the midst of a chaotic storm of blood and fangs.
Our group of four charged the nearest weregnome between us and the hollow where the princess was hidden. The elves stood guard in front of the entrance, with Manalar shooting silver arrows at weregnomes in range. Alfar checked our flank and spotted a weregnome charging from behind.
“Spread out!” he boomed.
We all jumped away and turned to our flank ready to defend. The beast crashed into Griffrod and they fell to the ground. He jammed his arm, already stone-skinned, deep into the monster’s mouth. With an arm jammed down its throat, the beast panicked and tried to pull away, whimpering at Griffrod holding its tongue from within. Alfar swung his sword at its neck and severed its head. I helped Griffrod off the ground and we continued, charging into a pair of weregnome beasts attacking a trio with a healer surrounded by bodies. We helped them put down one weregnome but the other ran off.
I turned to take in the situation. It was not going well. Everything happened too suddenly and we were falling quickly.
“Retreat to the hollow! Everyone! Allandria, make it bigger on the inside!” I ordered. Allandria and the others retreated into the hollow, expanding the space inside so we could all fit. “Help the wounded! Help the wounded!”
I fired a beam of light and a pair of weregnomes pursuing a squad of adventurers overburdened carrying injured.
“I’ll cover them!” Brutus raced toward them. I put my faith in him and turned to other groups.
“Pelor, bless me with a weapon to assist my allies.” I swung my mace toward a group fighting a trio of weregnomes. A giant, magical mace erupted from it and crashed against one of the weregnomes, knocking it to the ground. I directed it to attack, then turned to another group.
We managed to bring everyone to the hollow, covering them as they dragged the injured into the tree hollow. Griffrod charged into the groups having the most trouble, swinging his ax and punching them square in the eye with his stone fists.
Brutus would support with spells. When Griffrod needed it most, a fireball would hit an attacking weregnome. Soon, Brutus was side-by-side in the midst of battle, throwing rose petals in the faces of weregnomes to put them to sleep.
Once we were all inside, those with spears and swords stayed at the entrance with Griffrod, holding them at the bottleneck. Griffrod would only intercede if one got close, holding it down while the others stabbed it and removed its head.
A few bodies piled up, and brutus used a giant magic hand to shove them out of the entrance. I healed those who had been injured. Liara’s potions helped me keep going when I was tired, and eventually all who made it back alive were well again. The others took turns holding the line against the beasts, who had become less aggressive, but we could hear scratching at the bark outside and they had begun to chip away at the entrance. Exhausted, Griffrod joined us next to Princess Floramore’s room.
“What are we going to do?” He plopped himself down.
“I guess we can try holding out until morning, see if they’ll all let themselves be executed,” Alfar said.
“Their instincts might take them far away from here and scatter them through the forest. Many here lack tracking skills and we’d have to hunt them all down tomorrow after being exhausted from tonight,” said Manalar.
“If the tree holds out. They might just tear our entrance open before morning. We need to figure out a plan,” Allandria said. Just then, Princess Floramore walked through the wall and knelt down with us. Startled, Allandria scolded her. “Princess! You should stay in that room.”
“I am. This is an illusion so I can see what’s going on and communicate with you,” she responded. “It is a spell passed down in my family.”
“Could you scout what’s going on outside for us? Tell us how the tree is faring, how many there are, where they are? Things like that?” I asked.
“Of course.” Princess Floramore’s illusion ran through our defenders and the wolves to the outside. The wolves scattered, then leapt to tackle her. Some wolves smashed into each other, while others bit and scratched at her. Her illusion left our view and returned, with the wolves still trying to eat her. For that brief time while she was gone, our defenses stood down and relaxed.
“They’ve destroyed the tree bark. We won’t last until morning,” said the princess.
“And the beasts?”
“I counted eleven. They’re all clawing at the bark or roaming the front, waiting for you to come out.”
“I count nineteen of us here, with half of us exhausted or low on mana. I’ve almost depleted my potions.” Liara placed two handfuls of potions in the middle of our circle.
“By the gods, we lost over a dozen men out there? It only took us a couple minutes to rush in here with the injured.” Alfar shook his head at the rapid slaughter. “How did we lose so few on the first night?”
“We were fortified and ready for battle,” Manalar pointed out. “A dozen of us spent the day tracking and traveling then we were caught off guard. Some of us were unarmed and without our weapons. I’m surprised we have as many as we do.”
“I can see how the situation got out of hand so quickly at Glitterfalls.” Alfar ran his hands through his brown hair in frustration.
Our forces were tired and depleted with most of the night still ahead, our shelter would not hold, and the healers and spellcasters were low on mana. I asked Brutus for a list of the spells he knows, and one of his spells gave me an idea.
He and I drank the last of the mana potions, then I sat and prayed while they prepared what they needed. Manalar extended the room vertically and created an opening so Brutus could see the beasts below. After ten minutes of prayer, the skies thundered and rain poured down raindrops the size of our heads from above. Undeterred, the beasts outside continued their relentless assault.
Once the rain began, Princess Floramore’s illusion hurried outside, running in circles around the clearing. The beasts chased and tried to tackle her, kicking up mud as they slid by and tried changing direction. Soon, they were completely caked in mud and swarming her illusion.
When the illusion disappeared, the beasts examined their surroundings, not understanding where she went. That was when Byron cast his spell, turning the mud around the weregnomes to stone. Some were sitting, others sniffing the air, but all were stuck to the ground.
The weregnomes began to howl into the sky. We carefully exited the tree’s hollow and surrounded them. We discussed how to kill them, but since they were completely immobilized, I recommended we let the sun god take them in the morning. Everyone agreed, and we stood guard around the weregnomes all night, until after the rain had passed. They stopped struggling out of exhaustion until light crept back into the forest and they bucked to flee their bindings. The princess fled back into the hovel while the rest of us waited with them.
Night melting away, the beasts all turned back into gnomes. Since they shrank slightly, they were naturally freed from their stone cages, some with a little help from those who had not been turned. We said our goodbyes, and in the time before the sun rose and turned them to stone, they left messages or items with us to deliver for them.
Glitterfalls did not forget the fallen. Many of the statues were placed in a hall of honor, remembering the event and the lessons learned from it.
However terrible a tragedy, what matters most is what can be learned to help the most people in the future. From this event, we learned how to cure a weregnome, and the gnomes learned what I have always known: No darkness shall escape the cleansing light of the sun god.