We woke to a curious noise. We exited the barn to find the village united in song. They were facing the sun, singing in the new day. We did not join in nor interrupt them, but listened to their lovely song. Dawn winged over the crowd, softly mimicking their tune. At the moment the sun burst over the horizon, Dawn and the crowd were enveloped in golden light. While it lasted only a few heartbeats, it was still an awesome sight. The light faded and the crowd parted. Dawn returned to us. She seemed slightly different, like something had been lifted from her. Alice must have asked, for she told us it was part of her growth process to "sing to the sun". This released some inner tension to allow her to make her own fire to complete her cycle into adulthood. The gnomes thanked us and Dawn for her addition to their morning ritual. Breakfast was eaten while we packed our things back on the horses. Many of the children followed us as we left. It was hard to grasp that many of them were old enough to be our parents and we were nearly half their ages. We put that out of our minds as we continued to Gowgornok.
At some point between the village we left and the next, we encountered a human male who appeared totally lost. He had no outward injuries, yet he walked like he was hurt. Even though we saw each other for several moments, he seemed startled when we spoke to him. We asked his name and his condition several times before he responded.
"I am Nathan. I am not sure if I am well or not. This is not where I went to sleep last night. Nor is it the time of year when I laid to rest. It was summer. I was at the farthest edge of my lord's orchard when night began to fall. Too far was it to get back home before full dark, so I went to the nearest work shed and went to sleep. When I awoke, I was very cold, in a cave of some kind, and all alone. I left the cave and have wandered for two days since."
We checked him for injuries, illness, and anything else that might account for such strangeness. Other than some marks that looked like he had been bitten, we could find nothing. We shared food, water, and a spare cloak as he rode with Sarah on her horse, with us to the next village. Cara sent word to the Gengan of our extra rider. We were met a ways outside of the village by armed gnomes. We assured Nathan that this was only a precaution and not anything personal. He was escorted elsewhere while we entered the village.
Here, too, the evidence of ogre attack was barely visible. The Gengan met us, a male of middle years, and asked about Nathan. Relaying our meeting, the Gengan came to understand why we did not view him as a threat. Their "tall house" was repaired so we put our things in there. We had a couple of hours before nightfall, so we wandered about the village. This one did not have as many children as the other, but many ran and giggled through the dirt streets, playing various games.
The sensation of danger hit us a mere breath before the first scream. We raced toward the sounds and sensations. We arrived to see Nathan with two gnomish swords, hacking through the village, wildly flailing at everyone and everything. However, he did not look the same as when we parted. His eyes were glowing red and his face was contorted into a mask of anger and madness. Lisa unsheathed Gluttony and charged at him. Even faced with a skilled fighter of his same size, Nathan did not change from his wild swinging. Lisa disarmed him quickly. Still, he swung his arms at her, Gluttony, and anything else nearby. He pushed Lisa into a stack of barrels, causing her to fall. Nathan continued to swing wildly. When an opportunity appeared, Set ran with all his speed and bowled Nathan over. As Nathan lay on the ground, Set parked his weight on top of Nathan's squirming form. Try as he may, Nathan could not wiggle free of Set's bulk. We seven encircled the still thrashing man. With the lightest of touches, we made him sleep. I told Set to keep him down as we figured out what had caused this. The marks that had looked like bites were now glowing and formed writing in a language unknown to us. The Gengan and our guides came over to assess the situation. Horbar saw the writing and went pale.
"I know that language. It is of the gray ones, the Duergar. It is a spell of some kind," he looked closely at the glowing marks, "Yes, it is a spell."
He began to tell us the words as he pointed to each mark. The spell, which would not activate until Nathan was in a gnome village, ordered him to kill everyone and destroy everything. As it was "dead" at the time we met and cloaked against detection, we were not blamed for not seeing it.
We seven erased the spell, which caused Nathan to stop twitching. Set helped the gnomes drag Nathan back to the place they had been holding him. Sarah went with them to help heal both his physical and mental wounds. The rest of us set about fixing everything he had broken or damaged. Fortunately, gnome quickness had prevented anyone from being hurt. Some of the children had to be comforted, crying that "all tall folk are mean". The funny thing was that the presence of Set, Bo, and Dawn proved to the children that we were not mean.
One child put it, "Mean people do not attract such pretties."
It took until dinner, but the children settled enough to sit with all of us at a very long table set in a building they referred to as the "guest hall".
We were almost finished when the children were hurried out. It was whispered to us that Nathan wanted to speak with all of us. After the last child was well away, Nathan was brought in under guard and in shackles. He emotions were a mess, but he was not evil.
"Dear people," he began softly, "I beg you to forgive me. With the spell removed, my memories have returned. The night I went to sleep in that shed, I was taken by strange dwarf-like creatures into a cave and deep underground. I lost track of the time as they beat me, tortured me, and starved me. After the marks healed, they began to treat me well, almost like royalty. A few nights ago, one touched me on the head. Next I knew, I was wandering around in the cold with nothing but the clothes I had when I was taken, with no memory of what had happened between the shed and this area. I did not know what the marks meant or why they did what they did. I can only hope no one was hurt. I submit to whatever punishment you decide to give me."
Nathan hung his head, thoroughly dejected and hopeless. He was taken to the furthest wall while we decided his fate. We contributed the fact he was telling the truth and everything he remembered. After some discussion, Nathan was called back to us.
The Gengan spoke, "Nathan, know that no one was hurt. What damage you did was easily repaired. We know you speak the truth. We do not blame you for anything that happened. Horbar read the marks and told us the spell laid upon you. Your ordeal was deliberate. They weakened you to make the spell more powerful and to affect you completely. Your memory loss was also a ploy to get us to take you into our village. They were, most likely, hoping you would stumble into Gowgornok. We have no punishment for you, Nathan. You are as much a victim of this conflict as we. A group of traders is expected shortly. You can travel with them back to your home or to a new life elsewhere."
Nathan fell to his knees as the guards removed the shackles. He knelt there numbly as his mind tried to process what had just occurred. We seven helped him to his feet. We walked him to the "tall house" and showed him where he could sleep. He lay there, staring at the ceiling while we got to bed. I don't know when he fell asleep, but I heard him snoring at one point in the night when Set's tail had whacked my leg and woke me.
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