A race to uncover how to reach Garl Glittergold or draw his attention before Steve’s soul is lost forever. --- ## **Hook: Steve’s Soul is Missing** She’s alive but **vacant**, sometimes **muttering in Gnomish** despite never speaking it before. A faint **golden shimmer** lingers around her. Through investigation or divine magic (_Legend Lore, Commune, or Detect Magic_), The party learns: - **Garl Glittergold** has **claimed Steve’s soul**. - The party must **either find a way to reach Garl** or **force him to notice them**. --- ## **Phase 1: Finding Those Who Still Follow Garl** To learn how to get to Garl, the party must **track down his remaining followers** in the Material Plane. ### **Potential Leads:** 1. **The Goldmask Tricksters**: A **secret guild of illusionists and pranksters** who still **revere Garl**. - To gain their help, the party must **prove their cleverness** by: - Pulling off an impressive **prank**. - Winning a **game of deception, riddles, or trade**. - They know **stories of how others have contacted Garl before**. 2. **A Gnome Merchant ("Tippy Goldhat")** : A traveling trader selling “lucky” charms and trinkets. - He won’t talk for free, he demands a trade or wager. - If convinced, he shares rumours of a hidden shrine to Garl. 3. **A Mad Gnome Hermit ("Periwinkle Jinglepot")** : Once a devoted cleric of Garl, but now cursed to forget everything except jokes. - Hidden inside his nonsense ramblings are clues to where Garl's influence remains strongest. - The party must piece together his broken memories to uncover a lost location tied to Garl. ### **Outcome of This Phase:** - The party either discovers how to physically reach a place where Garl’s presence is strongest - Or they learn how to force Garl to notice them (_via a legendary prank, wager). --- ## **Phase 2: Finding Garl’s Shrine Through the clues they’ve gathered, the party discovers a forgotten shrine to Garl hidden in an old gnome vault or abandoned gold mine. ### **Inside the Shrine, They Find:** - **A riddle-inscribed altar**: "I stand in stone, still and tall, Yet joy unlocks my hidden call. A face once stern, now bright with glee Tell me, traveller, what sets me free?" To activate the shrine, the party must make the statue Laugh Once completed, a golden shimmer fills the room, and the party feels Garl’s presence but they still need to convince him to interact directly. --- ## **Phase 3: Forcing Garl to Notice Them If the party cannot find a way to Garl’s shrine, they must draw his attention through an act so bold he cannot ignore them. ### **Ways to Get Garl’s Attention:** 1. **A Divine-Level Prank** - If the party pulls off a legendary prank, Garl may appear just for the laugh. 2. **A High-Stakes Gamble** - If the party wagers something amusing or valuable , Garl might take notice. 3. **Breaking His Rules** - If they: - outwit or trick his followers, - break a sacred gnomish custom, or - challenge his authority with a cunning deception, - Garl may appear to “correct” their mistake in the most chaotic way possible. ### **Outcome of This Phase:** - If successful, Garl manifests whether through a disguised form or a direct appearance - He laughs at their effort, but refuses to return Steve’s soul without a challenge. - This sets up the Three Games of Garl, where the party must win Steve’s soul back on Garl’s terms.