D&D Journals [Cynde] Plague and Penitence

Day 276

Where do I begin?

Those beings I had heard approaching us previously (how long ago was that?) were Gnomes. They were clad in thick outfits and strange masks that seemed to make breathing more difficult for them, at least it sounded like it. I have no idea where they came from, but suddenly there were more than I could count. They swarmed like insects, but incredibly organized. Faster than I thought possible, they erected shelters and machines of some sort. The machines began extracting materials from the ground, including all the ash that now covered everything, casting what used to be a bright, colourful realm into darkness.

They seemed completely oblivious to us while they constructed the complex of domes nearby. Then they started lugging what looked like Goblins who were muzzled and fastened to boards into one of the domes. I was pleased that they understood how dangerous Goblins are, but I was a little disappointed they weren't just killing them outright.

Suddenly, a haggard woman named Augra appeared and Aria informed us that she was the one who sold Aria the ingredients she had put into the water buckets to cure Cora (who was still unconscious) and me of the Hive Mind. But then the woman said that Cora and I needed more pills and that they were 50 gold pieces each! Then she increased the price to 500!! And then she said the only cure I truly needed was some spoon. I suspected she wasn't right in the head...

But I was desperate. I wanted free of the Hive Mind. So, like a fool, I gave Augra all the gold in my possession for the spoon...and then she attacked me! I tried to fight her off, but before I was able, she scooped my eye out with the damned spoon!!!

I wailed but soon realized the voice in the back of my mind was gone. She shoved a pine cone into my empty socket to stem the bleeding as though everything was perfectly normal. I wasn't sure how to react. Either she was truly insane and just happened to actually cure me, or the Hive Mind simply wanted me to think I was cured.

Aria gave me some mushrooms to numb the pain, but it surprisingly took a lot for me to trust her. This whole thing has affected me in a way I do not like. It was quite easy to trust Aria back when we first met, and she has done nothing but try to help and care for us since then. But then she told me to trust that apothecary Augra, and I have suffered greatly under her advice. I am not sure I can trust her so easily anymore, and this saddens me greatly.

A Gnome approached us then and began asking if any of us had shown symptoms eerily similar to the Hive Mind. Aria explained that she had actually treated individuals who had presented such symptoms, and the Gnome became frantic. They told us we needed to stay put and not go near anyone else. That damned Augra slinked away then, and before we knew it, we were surrounded by Gnome guards brandishing halberds.

I tried to hide, but there was nowhere to go. Aria and Cora had disappeared and I was left alone with the other Elf. I thought he might actually be as crazy as Augra, because while the guards were ordering us to come with them, he kept repeating that he needed to eat at that exact moment because it was required for his religion. Only after the Gnomes became even more hostile did I realize he was trying to distract them from Aria, who had covered herself and Cora in her cloak of invisibility, obviously to protect Cora, who still hadn't awoken.

The guards advanced aggressively and I immediately surrendered. What else could I have done? I was still weak from the concoction Aria had given me, I was missing an eye, and there were so many of them! Unfortunately, the other Elf's efforts to prevent Aria and Cora from being discovered didn't quite work entirely. Although they remained unseen, they couldn't escape through the tight formation of the guards.

We were all taken into a small dome where they took my pack, stripped me naked, and covered me in powder. I was quick enough to hide my small pocket knife between my buttocks before they put me into some thin gown and took me to a larger dome filled with an assortment of other beings. The only ones I noticed were the Goblins, who were now free from their restraints.