by Demi Harper
Exodus of Gnomes
God Core #2
Demi Harper
Contents
God of Gnomes — The Story So Far
God of Gnomes — Abilities
Prologue
1. Double Sight
2. Whack a Mole-Rat
3. Hunter
4. The Menagerie
5. Thank You, Electric Mouse
6. The Grotto
7. All Hail the Spider God
8. Cold Feet
9. The Lair of the Enemy
10. Trust Nobody
11. Bacon Butties
12. Scavengers
13. Too Easy
14. From Any Direction
15. A Core Named Corey
16. Tremble
17. Filthy Betrayer
18. A Holy Box
19. Professor Knox
20. Just One
21. Burst Its Banks
22. Aloof
23. Hammer Smash
24. Exodus
25. Interlude
26. Going Overground
27. Wet Dreams
28. Freedom
29. Council
30. Gnomads
31. Kidnapped!
32. Kind of Monster
33. The Librarinth
34. Hoot-Hoots
35. Too Many Cooks
36. Risk and Reward
37. Fury Badger
38. Not Crying
39. Seed
40. Finger Flingers
41. Stay on Topic, Old Man
42. Mr. Stiff's Sword Sharpener
43. Gno Man's Land
44. Frogs
45. Out of the Woods
46. The Marsh Zolom
47. The Jaws of Death
48. Creature Intersection
49. Bear Necessities
50. The Crossing
51. Red Water
52. Uldrazir
53. Disciple
54. A Knife in the Netherdark
55. The Only Way is Up
56. Unscorched
57. Not Part of the Plan
58. Misconceptions
59. Cannot End
60. Gardos
61. Lila
62. Trogloraptor
63. Control
64. Let There Be Light
65. No Time
66. Enough
67. Epilogue
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God of Gnomes — The Story So Far
After a long period of oblivion, Corey awoke with no memory of his former life to find himself in a cave beneath the ground. Accompanying him was a sprite named Ket, who explained that he was now a God Core: a soul trapped within a gem and forever tethered to whatever denizens the universe had assigned it to protect. In this case, those denizens were gnomes—a fact that impressed Corey not one bit.
Ket hastily brought him up to speed on the basics of being a God Core, including the fact that he would only really be able to influence denizens who became ‘Faithful’—in other words, who trusted their new god enough to begin actively worshiping him. As a fledgling Core, he only had one Faithful denizen—the gnome who’d unearthed his gem from among the roots of a mushroom tree, and whom Corey had dubbed ‘Gneil’ when he subsequently fell to his knees in worship—and would have to work hard to help the gnome tribe flourish in order to gain their loyalty.
Instinctively rebelling against these obligations, Corey struggled to adapt to his new role. The Augmentary—a handy interface that superimposes extra information upon reality and allows God Cores to manage their resources—gave him access to god-like magical abilities, which would become more powerful with each god tier he Ascended to. After a rocky start, Corey resolved to embrace this path of power—not to help the gnomes, but rather as a means to eventually escape his new (and unwanted) responsibilities and return to his former life.
However, to Ascend, Corey first had to gain the Faith of more of his denizens, which meant ensuring the Grotto was safe from harm. One of his abilities—Creation—allowed him to make ‘god-born’ defenders by splicing existing creatures together. The first of these—a fox-squirrel hybrid called a forrel—became Corey’s avatar, whom Ket named Ris’kin.
The first sign of real trouble came when a raiding party of kobolds invaded the Grotto, catching the gnomes unawares and kidnapping several of them—including Gneil. Terrified of the possible consequences of losing his only worshiper, Corey sent Ris’kin beyond his Sphere of Influence, where she was able to overcome Gneil’s kidnapper and return the lone acolyte to the Grotto. Gneil’s rescue, along with Ris’kin’s majestic presence, finally inspired the Faith of more gnomes—including Granny, Gneil’s rather stern and difficult-to-please supervisor.
But the rest of the kobolds’ victims didn’t fare so well. Using the Observe ability, Corey was able to locate his missing denizens just in time to witness their brutal sacrifice at the altar of a crimson God Core. Gaining this knowledge was almost the death of Corey; his overuse of Observe consumed most of his mana, prompting a very distressed Ket to explain that if he allows his mana globes to empty, he will literally shatter.
Corey was further shaken when a sinister voice intruded telepathically upon his mind, introducing itself as the kobolds’ core, Grimrock, and threatening further violence should Corey dare resist him again. Fearing another attack, Corey focused on building up his god-born army and increasing his own strength by any means possible, eventually reaching a high enough god tier to unlock construction-based abilities. These enabled him to allocate professions to his Faithful gnomes and assign them to work on various new buildings within the settlement. The construction of proper homes and other amenities gained Corey even more worshipers—and, more importantly (to Corey), more powerful abilities.
His newfound confidence was shattered when another pack of raiding kobolds—much more numerous and aggressive than the first—entered his Sphere of Influence. Corey threw the full strength of his god-born against them until they finally retreated, but not before Ris’kin was killed by Grimrock’s monstrous avatar. In the aftermath, to make matters even worse, Ket fled the Grotto after Grimrock revealed Corey to have been a dark elf in his former life.
Racked with unexpected sorrow and guilt, Corey finally committed himself to becoming the god the gnomes needed. With no sprite, no avatar, and no time to waste, he nonetheless managed to rally his denizens to continue their efforts to make the Grotto defensible—a task made all the more crucial by the completion of the creche, which housed a number of infant and juvenile gnomes. In spite of Grimrock’s latest ultimatum—that Corey must admit defeat and allow the kobolds to continue taking a monthly tithe of gnomes for sacrifice or face complete annihilation of the tribe—Corey refused to admit defeat.
His reformed attitude and newfound protectiveness prompted Ket to return. The sprite apologized for her earlier harsh judgment of Corey and confessed that she had been the gnomes’ former Core—and that a failed Core becomes the sprite for whoever comes after. With renewed determination, Corey and Ket enacted a dangerous ritual that succeeded in resurrecting Ris’kin, much to the gnomes’ improved morale. With nothing left to do but await the kobolds’ return, Corey and his allies did everything within their power to make the gnomes combat-ready and prepare the Grotto for a battle.
Grimrock flung the full might of his kobold army against them, but Corey was ready. After a near-disa
strous deception that devastated most of Corey’s god-born in the initial assault, the gnomish warriors rallied to turn the tide of battle. With the timely assistance of three humans from the Adventurers’ Guild—Benin, a mage; Coll, a warrior; and Tiri, a scholar—they managed to drive the last remaining kobolds from the Grotto in a resounding, yet costly, victory.
Many brave gnomes lay dead on the blood-soaked battleground, and a grieving Corey decided enough was enough. He sent Ris’kin to accompany the three adventurers on their mission to destroy the wicked mind behind the kobolds’ invasion—Grimrock himself. But their intervention turned out to be unnecessary: when they arrived at the red Core’s lair, it was just in time to witness the few surviving kobolds turn against their god and shatter his Core themselves.
Though the gnomes still mourned their fallen brethren, Corey prepared himself to rebuild and move forward, and the humans departed with a promise that they would keep the Grotto’s existence a secret from the rapacious Adventurers’ Guild.
The Guildmaster, however, had other ideas…
God of Gnomes — Abilities
Insight
Tier 1 ability
All Cores have the innate ability to comprehend and store the blueprints of any non-intelligent life form that enters the Sphere of Influence.
Growth
Tier 2 ability
Mana-based
Enhances and accelerates the growth of vegetation, including fungi.
Creation
Tier 3 ability
Mana-based
Create god-born creatures by splicing the blueprints of identified life forms. (Corey can create up to five species at a time, to a maximum of thirty individual creatures.)
Observe
Tier 4 ability
Mana-based
Using a denizen as your target, extend your vision to see beyond your Sphere of Influence for a short time. This ability consumes a small amount of mana per second.
Scout
Tier 4 ability
Mana-based
Instruct denizens to leave your base in search of new resources.
Raid
Tier 4 ability
Mana-based
Instruct denizens to leave your base and attack a rival faction.
Divine Inspiration
Tier 5 ability
Inspire a truly Faithful denizen to attempt to perform a specific action (e.g. create an item).
Evolution
Tier 6 ability
Mana-based
Upgrade or evolve an existing life form. (Each evolution uses a Creation slot, reducing the number of creatures Corey can have in existence at the same time.)
Double Sight
Tier 8 ability
See through the eyes of your avatar, even outside of your Sphere of Influence. (Note: this does not allow for direct control of the avatar.)
Possession
Tier 8 ability
Mana-based
Assume direct control of a single denizen. (Constantly depletes mana. Only usable on denizens who are within the user’s Sphere of Influence.)
Prologue
The needle pricked his arm. A drop of darkness seeped into the tiny new hole in his flesh. When there was room for no more, the ink welled up on his skin’s surface, black liquid mingling with the watery crimson that had leaked from the wound since the procedure began.
Probably shouldn’t have drunk that pitcher of mead last night. He knew all about how alcohol thinned the blood; his familiar warned him about it every time, yet still he’d drunk more heavily than he was wont to the night before, as if to prove the creature wrong. As if to prove the world wrong.
As always, he’d failed.
Guildmaster Varnell watched his familiar, Limpit, wipe blood and ink from the tattoo area with a damp rag before continuing its steady progress with the hollow bone needle. When healed, this new mark would turn indigo like the others – another notch in his belt, so to speak. Seeing the collection expand usually made for an extremely satisfying reminder of his own prowess and ever-increasing power.
However, this particular trophy came with murkier connotations, since the conquest it marked had been entirely unintentional. It also had potentially deadly, far-reaching consequences.
The needle bit into a particularly sensitive spot and Varnell sucked in air through gritted teeth.
“Careful,” he growled at his familiar.
The creature clacked its mandibles, not looking up from its work. Limpit’s sharp fingertips dug into Varnell’s arm as it used two of its hands to stretch the skin it was tattooing. Varnell frowned. Had it ever needed to do that before? Was his skin growing looser? Wrinkling with the ravages of age?
To distract himself from that depressing line of thought, he said, “When we’re done here, I want you to check again that no evidence has been left behind. And be very thorough. We cannot be too cautious here. And beware impatience, for it is the enemy of discretion,” he added, though he struggled to heed his own words.
Two weeks. Two weeks since he’d caught that trio of upstarts sauntering away from a new Core – after absconding from the Guild against his direct orders, no less. That they’d failed to report to either him or the Arch-Academic in the intervening days only confirmed what he had suspected: they’d disobeyed his commands and destroyed his old ally Grimrock, then aligned themselves with this new purple Core. But had he hunted them down and punished their disobedience – nay, their treachery? No. No, he hadn’t. He’d done nothing.
Not that he had a choice in the matter. If past experience had taught him anything – and it had – it was that he should follow his patron’s instructions to the letter. Even when those instructions were to await further instructions. The inaction chafed; it was bad enough that his role as Guildmaster required him to spend most of his time in his tower office. The added frustration of being unable to send agents out to deal with those who’d wronged him made the waiting near unbearable.
Not that he had many agents left. He’d been forced to remove most of them over the years, cutting out the dead wood and trimming the loose ends until only one remained whom he could trust. Two, he corrected himself. Another had recently come back to him, damaged but still useful, and he’d sent them out once more with a final job to complete.
Even so, he knew the Arch-Academic would be sneering at his apparent indolence. Varnell felt his face flush with anger at the thought of the old toad's smug superiority. The man hadn't left the Academy in a decade for 'health reasons' – which Varnell suspected were related to the fact that the width of his doorframe could no longer accommodate him for egress – yet he saw fit to criticize Varnell’s leadership at every monthly council meeting. Which invariably left Varnell cursing the day the old king had decreed that the Adventurers' Guild and the Academy be merged, with their respective leaders sharing the responsibilities of co-rule.
He took a deep breath and let it out heavily through his nose, attempting to quell his inner turmoil. His patron cared little for his frustrations, and even less for mistakes. And things would go very badly for Varnell if that fell entity caught even the slightest hint that he’d failed him on that count already.
Suddenly paranoid, the Guildmaster twisted in his seat to ensure the mirror on the western wall remained safely covered. His elbow knocked the rickety stool beside him; it teetered sideways onto two legs and then righted itself, but not before the ink bottle toppled off the edge and smashed against the stone floor.
“Limpit, you dolt!” he cursed, swatting at the air near his misshapen familiar. It ducked its head in silent apology, though he sensed the emotional equivalent of an eyeroll from the creature as it scuttled over to the mess Varnell had made, deftly plucking shards of crystal from the spreading pool of ink.
In spite of his irritation, Varnell couldn’t help but admire the dexterity of its chitinous fingers, the appendages – along with the rest of its current form – granted by his own magic just a few years ago after he’d realized
he could no longer rely on his human subordinates. His patron had shown on many occasions that he was willing and able to use them to spy on Varnell, after all.
But not Limpit. Their Bond prevented that. Formed of desperation and then cultivated and nurtured over the following decades, the mage-familiar Bond between Varnell and Limpit defied interference. It was unbreakable. Limpit’s thoughts, its emotions – its very life and death – were inextricably intertwined with Varnell’s. The creature was completely faithful. Always had been, and always would be.
A whiff of burning flesh drew his attention back to the present, as did the sudden searing pain in the center of his chest that accompanied it. Familiarity did nothing to lessen the sensation – if anything, it grew more intense with every year that passed – and he gasped and clutched at the pendant embedded in the scarred skin above his breastbone. The heat of it contrasted jarringly with the icy dread now trickling down his spine.