The Gay Gnome King Mystery

Back at the Rainbow Tree/Beacon Siegrane has gathered everyone around to discuss a game plan. Dabbledop tells Caldae that SHIMMER BLOOMS are incredibly rare (that's the name of the tree). Siegrane says they need to decide how they will deal with the invader, and what gadgets do the gnomes have that can be used as weapons? dabbledop pulls out a device from her side pouch and holds it up and it looks like a small copper ring with a handle and it has several golden runes that are glowong brightly. She explains that it is an AMPLIFYING GLASS that amplifies the output of the Beacon that brings our some of the inate magical properties of items and glows brightly in the presence of magic. She speculates that they could somehow use it as a weapon or as a trap.
 
Siegrane asks if anyone has any magical items available. Someone suggests using the magic mushrooms and Dabbledop says they could amplify the magical power of all the magical mushrooms at once and cause a massive explosion. Dabbledop asks where the Gnome Royalty has gone and are they safe? Has anyone seen them. One little gnome says over on the north cliffs they had seen them break into the throne room but they didn't see them and they probably were hiding in the bunker. Apparently the royalty is imperative to the gnomes existence.
 
Dabbledop says they need to find their way to the gnome workshop to find an amplifier for the amplifier? Marcus volunteers to sneak into the workshop and try to find the amplifier, Pip offers to assist. One of the gnomes is going to lead them to the workshop. Caldae decides to go with, but first wants to talk to Howdore. She asks Howdore to put the cylinder down, so he drops it unceremoniously. Caldae wants to try and break it open and hits it with her quarterstaff in order to release the fire flies that are trapped inside, however it has no effect on the cylinder. Fibblestop is annoyed and asks Caldae trying to break it, and that it is a perfectly good decoy. Pip points out the the orcs still think that this is the real Beacon and that it could come in useful. However, Caldae points out the the only person who can carry it is Howdore. Dabbledop suggests they have a gadget that might be able to take the weight of the Beacon.
 
The workshop party then make their way into the tunnels to look for the amplifier amplifier. Before they leave Siegrane gives them some of the mushroom he has gathered to use for the gnomes who have been injured. After going down the tunnels they end up finding two gnomish kings. They recognize Marcus as being of the Lord's Alliance and Marcus lets them know that they are here to help. Marcus tells them of their adventures so far and how they had fought of the orcs and the giant ogre and are searching for a way to finish off the rest of the enemies. Marcus asks what is wrong with the one gnome King who is in the bed. He's told that they aren't sure, and a few days ago he simply passed out and has been out of his mind ever since. Caldae thinks that suspiciously sounds like what happened to Droop and asks more questions. The gnomes say they remember a "shady fellow" who showed up a few days before the orcs showed up and the king hosted him for a dinner. He mentions an older fellow who was nobility on their way to Neverwinter but had been attacked by goblins who killed his whole entourage. Caldae asks if he seemed like a wizard, and quickly realizes that this person was probably GLASSTAFF the wizard.
 
The king then tells the party how to make their way to the workshop by using the lever down the hall and beyond the throne room. They pass into the throne room to find another few gnomes who are hiding out there. They tell them to go hide somewhere else, as they are likely to run into more orcs here. Marcus surmises that there are orcs on the other side of the door that has been barricaded with all the furniture in the room. He motions for the rest of the party to stay behind him as he tries to quietly open the door, but the furniture falling away makes a bunch of noise alerting a couple of orcs that were standing guard down the hallway. Marcus raises his sword, as Caldae flings a fireball through the doorway. Thus begins another battle with the orcs.
 
Marcus uses the door as a barricade/shield as the orcs swings their weapons at him, causing the weapons to be lodged in the door, instead of his face. Caldae has been badly wounded in the past few battles, so is in need of taking a healing potion to regain some of her health. Marcus kicks the other side of the door open and takes an opportunity attack on the orcs. His sword strikes true on both orcs causing them 10 damage. One of the orcs falling onto one knee as blood begins to bubble from between his lips. The other orc manages to free his axe from the door and then retreats back down the tunnel away from the party. Caldae manifests a ball of fire in her hand and lobs it at the orc as it runs away, but it misses him and he continues his retreat. Marcus tries to fire his crossbow at the orc, but he also misses due to the poor lighting in the tunnels. The party decides not to pursue the orc further and instead get back to finding the amplifier.
 
Dabbledop runs ahead of the party towards the workshop, and pauses briefly at the body of a dead gnome whom she identifies as a lab assistant. Entering the workshop we see a room packed full of gadgets and contraptions. Dabbledop suddenly cries out as she stands in front of a large contraption with levers, straps, and tubes with an empty space in the center where it appears the decoy cylinder used to rest before the orcs ripped it out of its home. Turning around Dabbledop seems to spot what they are looking for, a strange looking contraption, that she identifies as the amplifier amplifier. Suddenly, out of nowhere, stumbles an odd little chicken, clucking and running straight for Dabbledop, seeming to be her pet of some sort. The party takes the amplifier contraption and chicken, and heads back to the Rainbow tree.
 
Siegrane has fallen asleep under the tree and Pip has to wake him up. The party watches as Dabbledop works with with amplifier, tuning it to the Beacon tree. She says one person needs to aim it at the mushroom clusters and preferably the orcs should be as close to each other as possible too. Caldae asks Howdore to carry the cylinder to the edge of the waterfall but not throw it over. He seems confused, so Caldae says to give the cylinder to Marcus, who suggests they let it fall down the waterfall and the current will carry it to the area of the mushrooms. Nobody seems to be able to agree on a plan, but they need a distraction to get the orcs to gather in one place. They decide Pip will aim the amplifier at the mushrooms because he has the best aim due to his practice with the bow.
 
Beartolomew has been slaughtered by the orcs :(
 
Marcus, Caldae in Lynx form, and Ryder try to cause a diversion with the orcs and ogre to manipulate them into position for the amplifier. They are successful and the amplifier is able to blow up the entire mushroom farm and destroy the enemies. As the smoke dissipates, the party from their vantage point up on the 60 foot cliff can see all the dead bodies. The ogre has been completely disassembled like an orange peel. There is a creepy blob of limbs floating eerily in the water. On the far side of the waterfall there is movement and they see a large orc captain who is standing there with a gnome grasped by the hair in his hand. He shouts at the party, " The black spider will know of this. None of you will be safe." Then they see poor Ryders mangled body floating down the stream past them. RIP.
 
Marcus feels like a failure pile because he lost all of his men. He is afraid to return home a face his family. He feels he needs to atone for his failures.