- Big Guy claims they simply went to bed, and the following morning Steve did not wake up - Orlan attempts to use Divine Intervention Revivify but there is no response - Before going to sleep, the last thing she said to Big Guy was "good night" - Steve is transferred to Ellette's room, where her body is frozen magically - At Steve and Big Guy's cottage, Orlan casts Detect Magic - finding a trace of magic inside the house - It feels like a faint giggle - This leads him to the bed where he can see ethereal specks of gold. Walking through them causes him to hear increased giggling - Others, who have not used Detect Magic, feel a strange tingling sensation moving through this aura - Ellette can sense something divine about the magic - Orlan feels this may be related to a trickster god - Big Guy mentions Garl Glittergold - the Gnomish god Steve often spoke about - Ellette uses Legend Lore to recall information about Glittergold, which reveals information that likely links him to Steve's death - She also receives a vision of Ieirithymbul - somewhere near the Sword Mountains - She returns to the keep, finding it on the map - It is a week's travel from the keep - We all travel to the base of the Sword Mountains - where Ellette receives another vision. This indicates that the entrance we seek is up in the mountain - It is heavily snowing on the mountain - Travelling up the mountain, we come across a freezing Kobold - He seems to be a merchant - Ellette heats his hands with a spell to steady his speech - He has been travelling from Waterdeep, doing trade with a nearby village. He identifies it as Ieirithymbul, a hidden village of Gnomes - where he has been trading for gold. There is apparently a password needed to enter the village - His name is Garfle - he heard about the village by listening in on Gnomes who were discussing it - He has a necklace made from his own teeth and a small statue of a crocodile made from the same materials which he wishes to trade - He says some Gnomes affiliated with this village wear golden masks - He has been in the mountains for three nights - Graxen can hear giggles coming from further up the mountain - Garfle saw one Gnome wearing a golden mask - who climbed up the mountain in the direction we are going - Proceeding onwards, we come to a clearing where there is no snow at all - with a rock wall - Garfle excitedly points to the ground, speaking of the magic that's keeping it clear of snow - He pulls out a stick with a rock attached and begins whacking at the rock wall - Ellette can sense illusion magic - she uses Dispell Magic, which reveals a door with no lock or handle - Telling jokes in front of the door begins to cause it to rumble - Qwimby opens it with "I'm bad at sex, last week I was booed by a peeping Tom" - Garfle storms ahead, determined - but is grasped by Big Guy - Entering the cave leads us into a large village - guarded at its gates by two Gnomes in golden masks emblazoned with smiles - They both brandish spears as we approach - Big Guy - who speaks Gnomish - requests entry - They demand honesty - which causes him to mention Garl Glittergold. They become agitated at the sight of Garfle - refering to him as protector of the evil ones - Ellette attempts to disuade Garfle from wishing to enter the village as it is extremely likely he will be killed - We convince Garfle to wait outside - promising to ask Garl to allow his entry - The guards remain standoffish - seeing Garfle and our group as being too close to their village. They continue to refer to the "evil ones" - One of the guards draws a line in the ground and demands that the kobold not cross it on penalty of death - Big Guy and Graxen convince Garfle to begin working on a new tooth necklace - which should distract him and keep him from attempting to cross the line - The guards laugh at the idea of Steve being Big Guy's wife, which enrages him. He barrells forward, attacking them both. Both of the guards are violently slaughtered - He fishes one of the gold masks from their remains and gives it to Garfle. He wears it as a hat - Qwimby opens the gates with the Warrior Pass Key - We enter the small, circular village - a large bonfire in the centre with houses surrounding it - A number of golden masked Gnomes gaze at us as we enter - Qwimby calls out for Garl Glittergold, with all the Gnomes pointing us in one direction - We follow the indicated path, finding a small mud hut of sticks and twigs. One gnome - without a mask - giggling and laughing to himself sits outside. He is frail, with a long beard - He claims to be disallowed from wearing the masks as he told too many jokes - He is Perrywingle Jinglepot - He asks "what has six legs, three eyes and a terrible sense of balance?" - The answer is "me neither but I saw one once and it was hilarious" - Ellette asks for Garl. Perrywingle gives a confusing answer that amounts to "if you want to find it, don't look for it" - Asking further questions just causes further seemingly nonsensical responses - He begins thumping himself in the head, pointing back towards the village and saying "shri entran" before turning into gold. This is followed by the sound of giggling - Back in the village, approximately 40 Gnomes in golden masks seem to stare unblinkingly at us - Orlan tells a joke, which has no effect on the villagers - Up a nearby stairway is a small doorway - crawling through the entrance brings us to a fork in a pathway - Qwimby chooses to go left, this brings us to an open area - There is a chest on one side and a statue of Garl on the other - Orlan senses faint magic in the area that seems as if it is being masked - Ellette casts Reduce on the statue of Garl (which had been taller than big guy) - shrinking it to the size of a regular humanoid. She attempts to break off its mustache, but is not strong enough - There is an inscription at the base "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" - Qwimby checks the nearby chest. Opening it reveals a large red balloon that knocks him to the ground - The chest then stands up, revealing itself to be a mimic that now bounces in place - Qwimby now has a clown face and curly red hair - The mimic then attacks - laughing at Qwimby - It mocks us all, chanting to itself having inflicted psychic damage - Qwimby attempts to speak, but the rest of the party can only hear clown horn squeaks - As the battle continues, Big Guy hears the voice of Steve within his head - Qwimby finishes the mimic with a blast of his dual pistols - The statue of Garl is now glowing gold - having returned to its original size - There is a presence in the room but it is not yet communicating - Orlan and Ellette use Dispell Magic, returning Big Guy and Qwimby's voices - Big Guy attempts to speak to the voice, asking for the return of Steve - but this gains no response - Attempting to wager with Garl prompts the voice to demand more - Graxen wagers his own life, while Big Guy wagers his Dragon Heart. Neither seem to entice Garl - but the talk of a wager does prompt him to appear, his form made of stars - He wagers all of us for Steve in a game of best two of out three. Should we win, we get Steve - but if he wins, he wins all of us - Qwimby agrees to play the first game - which will be of Garl's choosing. He picks "First to 100" - Qwimby loses the first game - causing his body to begin to glow gold as he hovers above the ground - Orlan challenges next, wishing to pay a game of Connect - Orlan manages to beat Garl in this game - Big Guy challenges next with a game of X's and O's - This, in itself, is a best of three. The first is tied, Big Guy loses the second - Graxen begins to light up, becoming gold as the game continues - The third game is tied, as is the forth - Big Guy wins the fifth game - which causes Ellette to glow in gold - Garl offers a different game as the final round - which Big Guy agrees to - Garl creates a deck of cards - and a game of High/Low - Big Guy ultimately wins this game - Garl summons a golden portal, before walking through. He returns with a small jar - containing a floating golden wisp. He drops it to the ground, it smashes - releasing the wisp. - With a click of his fingers, the rest of the group are released from their statuesque states