Kali met the pair at the door and Oster presented the
gnome with a small package containing the herbs and
other items they had gathered from the wild. At his side he
had another, larger bundle. The human gave Kali a small,
almost embarrassed smile, but all eyes were on Archie,
who was gesticulating wildly.
“It was wonderful,” cried Archie, noticing Kali for the
first time. “The lad, er, the human Oster was magnificent 1
We were in the Smoking Vale two miles from here when
suddenly we startled a wyrm of some type. A true
monster, straight from the pits, with the legs of a pill-bug
and the hunger of a bear and fangs twice as long as my
arm.”
“It was a behir,” Oster said softly, his ears tinged with
red, “and a small one at that.”
Archie hurtled on without stopping to note the
interruption. “I would have been dinner on a plate, but
Oster – Oster the Brave – mind you, threw me out of the
way of certain death.”
“I, ah, knocked him over when I turned to run,” Oster
corrected, the glow spreading to his cheeks and increasing
in intensity with each moment.
“Then brave Oster, armed with only with a sharpened
rock, caught the beast’s attention. It lunged at him” And
here Archie did his best imitation of a serpent lunging
forward, such that some of the gathered gnomes backed up
a few paces. “And he pulled the side of the mountain
down on the beast, killing it!”
“I tried to scramble up the cliff out of its path, and
brought down an avalanche. Nearly buried us all.” Oster’s
voice had grown quiet now as he saw that most of the
gnomes liked Archie’s recollection of events better than
his.
Archie rolled on like a perpetual motion machine.
“The beast was mortally wounded, and tried to turn on us.
Oster took a mighty boulder and smashed it until it was no
more.”
“Well, I… It wasn’t that big of a … well … I guess …”
Oster shrugged his shoulders. Had he known that in
gnomish discussions silence meant agreement, he would
probably have protested his innocence of heroism a while
longer. But he did not know, so he did not protest – which
was as good as admitting it.
Archie motioned for the sack. “And we found all
manner of gems and magic in the creature’s lair.”
The gnomes naturally demanded to see the treasure,
and so Oster pulled from the larger bag one item after
another. Fistfuls of gems, long strings of pearls, and a set
of plate mail of a golden hue, topped by a wondrous helm
of similar color, ringed with gems. Finally he drew forth a
scabbard and a copper-colored blade from the bag.
News of Oster’s prowess (and his treasure) spread about
the community quickly, and a number of gnomes came to
surrender all over again to Oster (or rather, the Hero Oster,
as he was now known). Archie had to tell his tale a second
and a third time, and the hero’s mighty attacks became
mightier with every telling. Oster soon gave up trying to
correct all the minor differences between Archie’s version
and his, and seemed to enjoy the attention.
Oster gave the bulk of the jewels to Archie, and the
gem-stones to Kali. The mail, copper sword, and helm he
kept for himself, as they were all man-size, and Oster was
the only being currently awake in the community who
matched the description.
At the insistence of the gnomes, he put on the armor,
though he had to let out the chains on the side plates to
their maximum length. With the helm down over his face,
he looked like a clockwork figure or automaton, and the
name Oster the Clockwork Hero went down in many
journals that night.
It was only when Oster had finished displaying and
giving away his booty and Archie had finished describing
(for the fifth time) the masterful strokes that the
Clockwork Hero has delivered against the hordes of
serpent creatures that the trio went back into the house.
Oster let out a gasp of shock when he saw the drawing