The Gnome is Taking No Chances

At first the gnome had simply intended to kill all three, but the failure of his weapon to work on Fred and Astra, together with their story, had created just enough doubt in his mind for him to delay that until he had investigated further.

Velus was already asleep, he saw. Fred and Astra were not unconscious yet, though their eyes were beginning to close, so he continued with his story. "I had been walking for roughly one quarter of the day when I came upon a small village, poor enough that the dragon had let it be. Most of the villages hereabouts were abandoned long ago, as a result of his raids. It occurred to me that, rather than hunting for myself, it might be easier to barter my magic potions for some meat. So I did. As for what the meat is, well..."

At that point he broke off, interrupted by a loud snore from Fred. He saw that Astra, too, was now asleep. His researches would be nowhere near complete when the pair of them recovered consciousness, Indeed, those researches might easily require days, or even weeks. So he needed to keep his guests under lock and key until such time as he was sure of just what their status was. He had suitable cells for that. There was also the risk that they might know some infernal magicks, however, so they would have to be prevented from casting any spells intended either to free themselves or to harm the gnome himself.

1. Gagging them and manacling their hands behind their backs should suffice.
2. He had a spell of his own that should do the job.
3. He smiled as he saw that his three guests' stomachs were already slightly distended. Purely for his own amusement, he had added an extra ingredient to their stew that would produce an enormous quantity of stomach gas that couldn't be expelled.

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