Of landing and the crafts of gnomes

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 19272

Somewhere in the Shrecken mountains, not more than a day south of Mudspot, the entrance down to Chucky's home stood open, left so by Bert when he'd made his hasty departure with the injured gnome.
If you had been standing there at this moment you would hear a faint roaring sound in the distance. Looking in the direktion of the sound you would discover a dark spot against the blue skye, cirkling in an apparently random pattern, sometimes rising and diving.
As the sound grew stronger and it came closer you would see that it was actually two spots. The front one leaving a thin trail of smoke and the other one dangling after it. As they came even closer you would be able to hear two high pitched voices screaming.

"CAN YOU PLEASE STOP THIS SPINNING, I'M ABOUT TO LOSE MY BREAKFAST!" Chucky shouted.
"IMSORRYBUTITHINKTHELEFTRUDDERHASGOTTENSTUCK!" Flucky shouted back.
"THERE'S MY DOOR!" shouted Chucky. "CAN YOU TRY TO LAND?
"YESSIRNOPROBLEM" shouted Flucky. Flucky pulled a handle and the machine on his back instantly died. The two gnomes flew through the air in wide arc toward the ground.
"UPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUP!" Chucky shrieked.
"IMTRYINGTOJUSTKEEPYOURHELMETON!" Flucky shouted.
After several yanks on the ignition rope Flucky finally got the machine started again. The tips of Chucky's boots scraped against rock as thay pulled up in the last second.
"THEREYOUSEENONEEDTOWORRY"
"LOOK OUT FOR THE WALL!!!"
"OOOAAAHHHHH!"
They spiralled towards the rock wall just a few feet over the ground. Flucky struggled with the levers to his machine and managed to steer them towards the open door down to Chucky's home. They zipped through the opening and down the tunnel at a 100 km/h.

The roar from the machine echoed out from the entrance mixed with the screams of the gnomes. Then came several crashing sounds of glass, wood and stone being crushed. Finally there was a loud bang followed by silence.
Several seconds passed.
"That was close," said Flucky in a faint voice, and unusually slowly.
"That, cousin..." Chucky said, "...was nothing short of a miracle."

Some time later Chucky was reviewing his damaged workshop, his arm in a makeshift splint. The ruin state of the room didn't discourage him. Most gnomes saw the explosion of their laboratory as a natural part of the process rather than a setback.
He had already sent off Flucky to bring cousin Lucky. He had to get this place cleaned up till they returned so the three of them could get to work.

Lucky was a gnome of the old school, studying the arts of magic. Gnomes had always been skilled magicians, and often much more prone to experimenting than any other intelligent race, considdering creativity to have much higher value than functionality and safty. While this meant that they made many new discoveries it also meant that gnomes tended to be shortlived. At least in the shape they were born with.
Flucky was one of the leading technologists. When gnome kind met the human civilisation they had discovered a whole knew area of wonder, that of engineering. Many young gnomes started to study this new art instead of magic. Employing the same hazardous curiosity and frontier mentality that's the hallmark of gnomes they soon brought their craft to new hights that the humans hadn't even dreamt of.
Only lately had some gnomes, like Chucky, come up with the idea of combining the two lores and see what happenes. Having accsess to both areas of research these technomancers could effectively do twice the damage than any gnomes before them.

Chucky was sure they wouldn't be so easily defeated when he and his cousins combined their skills against the child creature.

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mr Qrygg

3/23/2002 5:38:44 PM

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