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019 - The Room of Blooms

Snorri ran from the large warhouse, leaving the room of mushroom carts and goblin corpses behind. He quickly passed through the long, smooth hallway that linked the colonies two main sources of food production together. As well as the mushrooms, the other major component of the gnomish diet was plants. Carefully bred over generations to be able to grow in the damp, dark chambers of the colony, the gnomes had managed to grow all manner of fruits and vegetables in vast hydroponic systems. The warehouse Snorri now entered was one of the garden chambers. A damp, earthy scent filled his nostrils. As he crossed from the smooth metal of the hall into the chamber, he felt earth under his feet. The long stem of some vegetable Snorri did not recognise sprang up from the chamber floor in a forest of blue-flowered trees. Snorri darted from plant to plant, trying to stay as silent as possible as he made his way through the vast flower beds in the garden chambers. Snorri extended his senses around the chamber.

As he continued sneaking through the darkness, several yapping goblin voices came into view. “My golds on wizards, you know,” one was yapping to the group, mummerings of agreement rung out from somewhere beyond Snorris hiding place among the plants. “Who else is going to have this many flowers?” the first goblin continued, trying to explain his previous statements to his compatriots. “.. and that room the boss is holed up in too. It's got the big tank; it must be full of potions of something,” another of the goblins said, backing up the first. Snorri hoped hed be able to gain some valuable information from eavesdropping, but apparently the goblins were just as stupid as they looked. Although the gnomes were fully aware of magic, none had been able to harness it in recorded gnomish history.

Snorri peaked through the stems of the large plants and got a long, steady look at the goblins as they theorised amongst themselves. Seven of the creatures stood in two loosely organised ranks around the archway of the chamber's exit. Goblins were clearly uneasy, fearing whatever they took the potential wizards possible powers to be. The four goblins making up the front rank of the formation clutched long, pointed spears in their hands. The rear rank is made up of a trio of goblins armed with evil-looking shortbows. Snorri considered the goblins; had they chosen anywhere else in the chamber to stand, he would have been able to slip past them silently; however, the goblins were blocking Snorris path. He took a moment to think, still concealed in his hiding place.

Snorri had to act fast to maintain the element of surprise. He bound fourth from the floor bed with all his speed, spinning an Arracop as he came. Before the goblins had time to rearrange their defensive line to face him, Snorri Drew parreled with the rear rank of archers. He sent the blade fourth with such force that it peirced through the first goblin as it span to face him, catching the beast in the centre of the chest and puncturing straight through. The second goblin was readying his bow as the blade burst from his comrades back. The blade slice threw the second archers neck, continuing its journey of Neon Green Gore as it finally came to a stop with the third archers upper shoulder. Snorri pulled the blade back through the goblins, and the trio of goblin bows hit the floor with a clatter.

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Catching the blade, he dove back into the flower beds, leving the quartet of bewildered goblin spearmen in their chatotic repositioning. He slipped behind the stem of a large plant and listened. “Where did it go?” One of the spearmen was asking the others in a panic. The sounds of four goblins shuffling around echoed around the cave. “Only a wizard could do that," another of the goblins said. “Okay boys, I say we move forward, find it, and stick it.” one spearman offered. “No, I'm in charge, and I say we stick together. We stuck it all together at once; not even a wizard could survive that.” There was a general sense of agreement, and the group of goblins began to shuffle forward into the chamber's flower beds.

Snorri cricled them in the darkness. easily picking out the dull, damp crunches of the goblins footsteps on the earth. He began to spid an arracop around his hand. The sword let out a menacing whistle, and it got momentum. “Ere boys, you hear that?” asked one of the spearmen.

“Hear what?” asked another goblin impatiently. Arracop sailed through the air as Snorri released his grip on the chain. It sank to the rearmost spearmen’s back, and he dropped to his knees, clasping at his chest and letting out a gargling sound before Snorri recalled the spear and slipped back into the plants. “I TOLD YOU I HEARD SOMETHING.” The goblin, who had heard Snorris swine, yelled to the rest of the remaining goblin trio. “IT WAS THE WIZARD CASTING HIS SPELL,” it began to rant. He was quickly shooed by the other two goblins. “It will be here if you don't shut up... It could be anywhere,” one whispered angrily. “So shut it," the goblin finished. It was in vein. Snorri would have been able to locate the sound of the goblin’s footstep in even the most vast halls of the academy; to him, it mattered whether the goblins shouted or stayed silent; he would be able to hear them clearly either way.

Choosing to end the fight and cease his sneaking around, Snorri stepped to his feet and began to spin the arracop once more. as he faces the goblins. One of the spearmen excitedly tapped another on the back. gaining the third’s attention in the process. "It's that noise again, lads,” he whispered eagerly. “Its Casting ano-” The goblin never got to finish his sentence as Snorri had sent his sword shooting through the darkness. As the goblin had tried to warn its comrades of the oncoming threat, the sword had sunk deep into the goblin's belly. It dropped the spear, and Snorri pulled the sword back to him, catching it in a defensive grip as the remaining goblins came at him with roars.

The first spear missed its mark. sinking into the large stem of a strange blue-flowered plant. the second Snorri married. He closed in on its handle and rammed his sword forward in a wild thrust. The blade penetrates through the goblin somewhere in between its neck and shoulder. The creature let out a terrible cry of anguish. Snorri wrenched his blade free and kicked the goblin corpse to the ground. He sprang to face the remaining goblin. But the beast was gone. He left where it had become stuck to the large stem of the plant. Snorri sprinted to the chamber exit just in time to see the goblin run around a bend in the tunnel. He would warn the others who lay beyond. Things will not be so easy from now on.