In late Estar, in the year 273, Sparky Tooter, Keeper of the Tintatorune
Secrets and stationed upon Avechna's Peak, entered the Serenwilde
Forest. He sought out one of the Spiritsingers Guild, he said, in order
to check up on the sundial that he had previously modified for them some
years ago. Eritheyl, the Keyll Arrane, answered his call and, after some
wandering, was able to take Sparky to the sundial.

The gnome quickly determined that examination alone would not be able to
ascertain the sundial's status, and he immediately set Eritheyl to the
task of gathering the three fragments of the Goddess Trialante's memory
crystal. This he did with the help of Kreon, Hadrian, Vasnier, and
Lehki, seeking out shards from Brother Hart, Gantoba the Sage of Song,
and the spirits of the curious sileni race.

Once assembled, the sundial played a segment of the scene recorded in
the crystal - a song of the Goddess'. At the sight of the soulful
performance, Sparky broke down, informing those present that he had
intended to steal a small device which powered the sundial in order to
pay back a loan taken in his younger years - however, when faced with
the beauty of Trialante's song, he could not bear to go through with his
subterfuge. Remaining circumspect about the whole affair, Sparky
informed the gathered Spiritsingers that 'they' were after the sundial
for the device within it, and that 'they' must not be allowed to have
it.

While the Spiritsingers complied, offering both the sundial and Sparky
himself asylum in their halls, 'they' quickly became apparent as the
infamous Aetherspace Gnafia, presumably up to their old tricks. They set
siege to the Serenwilde, sending small groups of dark-suited gnomes to
attack the citizens, perform reconnaissance, and even go so far as to
light the Wilde ablaze in an attempt to draw Sparky and the device out
of hiding. Thanks to the stalwart defense of the commune, each of the
Gnafia's efforts was for naught. Even when the despicable group sent a
horde of fiendish climbers to rappel into the Spiritsingers' treehouse,
they could not get close to the sundial.

Victory would be short-lived, however. Sparky soon after received a
missive from the Gnafia composed of pasted letters from various
publications, informing him that if he did not give them the device, his
sister Ellie's life was forfeit. Faced with little choice, Sparky was
forced to beg for the chance to save his sister's life, taking the
luxocapacitor from the sundial to give to the Gnafia despite his adamant
protestations moments before. Those assembled acquiesced, at length,
when Sparky promised that if they allowed him this, he would not only
find a way to get the luxocapacitor back, but also attempt to improve
the sundial's mechanics, playing more of the memory crystal.

So it was that a subdued and worried Sparky Tooter returned to Avechna's
Peak to meet with the Gnafia for the exchange - and which Gnafia
representative would appear, smirking, but one Doctor Xaviar Snapfuse!
Ever cool in the face of anger, the Doctor urged Sparky to give him the
luxocapacitor in exchange for the life of his sister, Ellie Tooter -
bound and captured just behind the nefarious scientist. Sparky, with
some trepidation, handed over the luxocapacitor, and Xaviar, his
henchmen, and the captive Ellie promptly vanished through one of
Xaviar's aetheric portals.

Serenwilde, baffled, turned to Sparky in a mixture of confusion and
indignation. Sparky asked for but a day to gather information as to the
Gnafia's whereabouts, and departed for a time. When he returned to the
Moonhart Mother a day later, as promised, he revealed that the Gnafia
had taken Ellie and the luxocapacitor to the Dramube Triangle, and
sought a crew to pursue them.

Lehki answered Sparky's call, gathering a crew and flying to the distant
aetherbubble. What confronted them was a horrible sight: Xaviar's ship,
the BondShredder, was making passes over the Triangle's surface, firing
its aethercannons at the sand itself. This caused the sand to fuse into
glass and shatter, making the surface of the bubble dangerous indeed.
Molten glass also splashed onto the native animals of the Triangle,
sending them into a pained rage. It was only through the efforts of
Raeri, Hadrian, and Eritheyl that the creatures were pacified, for only
the discordant notes of a bard's combat experties could shatter the
glass that so troubled the creatures.

The glass left from the creatures was streaked with a red, powdery
substance - when brought to Sparky, he revealed that it was red cognito
rock, among the rarest of all minerals, and that he could engineer a
method to forcibly board Xaviar's ship, if given enough. Thus, the
Serenwilde crew set out freeing the poor creatures from their plight,
while Sparky fashioned a device from the glass gathered. At length, a
raging Xaviar landed his ship and turned his turrets on those assembled.
Before he could fire, Sparky pounced, disrupting Xaviar's entry module
and allowing the Serenwilde crew to gain access to the BondShredder.

Once on the BondShredder, the group - so having formed a squad
appropriately named Glasswork - sheared through the lines of Gnafian
defense forces, making for the infuriated Doctor Snapfuse. When
attacked, Xaviar fell to his usual tactics, portalling all about the
ship and separating members from the main group. Though Eritheyl fell
victim to his insidious tactics, he was soon defeated, taking the
hostage Ellie and retreating to a point deeper in the BondShredder.

In a final twist, Ellie then berated Xaviar for the entire ship to hear
- not only was she never in danger, she revealed herself to be an
Underboss in the Gnafia, in fact outranked Xaviar. Her plan, though
complex, was to use the luxocapacitor to excavate the sand from the
Triangle, allowing access to the red cognito rock beneath, and thereby a
tidy profit and monopoly on the trade of the mineral. Their plans had
been ruined, however, and so they fled the ship in an escape pod,
leaving the intrepid heroes to their own devices.

Upon returning to the Serenwilde, Sparky held true to his promise, not
only returning the recaptured luxocapacitor to its rightful place in the
sundial, but augmenting it with some of the red cognito rock he had
acquired, allowing it to access another part of Trialante's memory
crystal. With that, he departed, mind whirling with the betrayal of his
sister and thoughts of what the Gnafia may be up to in the future.


Penned by My hand on the 21st of Urlachmar, in the year 273 CE.