Chapter 21 – City's End

Perfyume glared at the dead Trogg at her feet. Once they entered the tramway, their progress had been hampered by what seemed like an endless stream of insane Troggs. No sooner had they killed one, than another quickly replaced it.

"John, these things seem to be coming out of the woodwork. I'm starting to get worried that if we remain in this open area, we may soon get ambushed."

The dwarf grinned as he kept his eyes alert, "Aye, tha foul beasties seem ta be everywhere. We need ta find a more defensible path ta travel."

As they made their way along the abandoned tramway, they came across a walkway leading away from their path, "Well, lass. It's not as narrow as I'd like, but it's certainly better an gettin ambushed out here."

Perfyume nodded as they entered the walkway, "It can't be any worse than this place."

The walkway traveled around a very large room. Once filled with machinery, the massive shafts, gears and girders now lay in ruin filling the room nearly to the level of the walkway that ringed its entire mid-section. At the very bottom a sickly greenish glow could be seen giving it a molted look. Before John could comment on the strange glow down below, a large Trogg appeared and began staggering towards them. Obviously in pain and covered with a greenish tint, the Trogg was never the less, bent on attacking them.

Smokey was closest and rushed forward, immediately swiping the Trogg across the ribs with its massive paw. The Trogg screamed and turned towards the bear to retaliate, but was stopped as Perfyume shot off a shadow bolt and John used the rifle. The Trogg screamed again as it fell to the ground and died. A greenish mist began to rise off the Trogg's body and John pointed, "I don't like the looks of that, lass. We better not get too close."

Perfyume studied the mist as it began to fade, "It must have become infected like those gnomes we saw earlier. This one is like some kind of carrier. If it's killed, it probably can still spread the sickness by those fumes. We'll have to be real careful around these things."

John eyed the Trogg cautiously, "Aye, ya got that right, lass."

They continued to work their way along the walkway. An occasional Trogg would show itself only to be put down fairly easy. They soon came across a large archway going away from the catwalk and into the stone wall. Perfyume glanced at it for a moment, "I'm not sure what it is exactly, but it reminds me of something…."

John bent over and picked up a piece of wood. Shaped like a mug used to drink ale, it was badly damaged. John pointed to the writing, "Lass, kin ya read any o this. I think it's written in yer kinfolk's language."

Her eyes brightened a bit, "Sure, John. That shape means there is an inn nearby, and this writing means it was called "The Clean Zone."

John nodded his head towards the doorway, "Strange name fer an inn, lass. Still, ya think there might be any provisions down there? We could use a wee bit more water"

"It wouldn't hurt to take a look, John. But we should be on our toes. So far this has been nothing but one bad surprise after another."

"Aye, we'll take it nice an easy."

John then walked slowly inside the arch. Immediately to his right he could see a wide staircase and he quietly pointed it out to Perfyume. She nodded for him to continue and they carefully descended the steps. As they did, they began to notice the sound of soft whispers. John ordered Smokey to scout up ahead and the bruin took off down the stairs. They waited a couple of minutes and after hearing nothing of the bear's battle cry, continued to carefully make their way down the steps. A final turn and they were at the base of the stairs. Perfyume's eyes widened as they found themselves in a large, somewhat darkened chamber. Here and there were scattered a few gnomes, some going about doing their business and some standing around in small groups talking.

Perfyume grabbed her friend's arm, "John! This must be the safe house."

John nodded as he scanned the room, "Aye lass, but I'd have thought there would have been a bit more o yer wee kin than this."

"I hope so as well, John. This can't be all that remains of them."

Before John could respond, a middle aged looking gnome appeared in front of them, "Greetings travelers, and welcome to the Clean Zone. My name is Tink Sprocketwhistle, but you can call me Tink."

Perfyume giggled slightly and smiled at the gnome, "Pleased to meet you. My name is Perfyume, and this is my good friend, John."

Tink smiled, "Pleased to meet you as well. Tell me, my friends, what could possibly bring you to visit such a place as this. We don't usually get many visitors and the only ones that we do get are the ones trying to escape this foul place."

"I was hoping to find some of our kin here."

Tink sighed, "Well Perfyume, look about you here. This is pretty much all that remains of the once great city of Gnomeregan."

Perfyume's eyes widened, "Th-this is it?"

"Yes, Perfyume. I'm sorry, we're pretty much all that's left."

Perfyume looked down for a second before looking back at Tink, "I-I'd like to ask something of you, Tink."

Tink smiled warmly, as he motioned for a few others in the room to come closer, "Well now, I'll do what I can for you, Perfyume. I'm always happy to help a fellow gnome."

Perfyume blushed slightly, "I was not here when the city fell, Tink. Please, I need to know….What happened here?"

Tink's eyes widened as the gnomes that had gathered around the travelers whispered among themselves, "You don't know?"

Perfyume's eyes began to fill with tears, "Please Tink, tell me what happened…."

Tink took a hold of Perfyume's elbow and lead her and John to a nearby table. He motioned to them to sit down and then sat down himself. "I'm sorry, Perfyume, I didn't mean to upset you. It's just I've never before met a gnome that didn't know how Gnomeregan fell."

As Perfyume wiped the tears from her eyes, Tink paused and thought for a moment before beginning his story. "Several years ago and without warning, we were attacked from below by a huge army of Troggs. They poured into the city from the lower levels and began to attack everyone and everything around them. Our local militia fought bravely to defend the city, but we were hopelessly outnumbered. The Troggs eventually found the main power generator for the city. It operated on a completely new principal and produced a tremendous amount of power. It was also very dangerous if not handled with great care. The Troggs attacked and killed the technicians there and then began to attack the power generator itself. With no technicians, the generator quickly began to overheat. It soon reached critical temperatures and exploded. While the explosion did kill off hundreds of Troggs, the power plant was positioned directly below our manufacturing and engineering shops. People working there lost their lives as the blast ripped up though the lower floors and destroyed everything in its path. A great loss to us all, most of our great engineers and scientist also worked there and perished in that blast."

"We continued to fight against the Troggs for weeks, but it was becoming obvious that our militia and police units were losing ground to the invaders. Just when all seemed lost, Master Engineer Thermaplug approached the president with a plan. He wanted to flood the city's ventilation ducts with the radiated gasses from the destroyed power plant and kill the Troggs with the poison. As the situation became more urgent, he convinced the president the plan was sound and was given the go ahead to proceed."

Tink shook his head sadly, "It was a total disaster for our race, Perfyume."

"Instead of waiting for our people to escape to safe areas, the gas was released without warning. Thousands perished in the first few hours as the gas quickly overcame them. Most of those that didn't die right away became infected by the radiation sickness and turned into the nearly mindless gnomes you have no doubt seen roaming about the city. The radiation sickness poisons their minds as it eats the flesh from their bodies. They attack anything they see, including friends and family. The damage is permanent and death for them is the only release."

"What you see here, Perfyume, is all that remains of the once great city of Gnomeregan."

Tink walked over and stood next to John as he continued, "Our population was reduced to a tenth of what it once was and our people are now scattered across the lands."

Tink bowed respectfully towards John, "If it were not for the dwarves, we might have perished as a race."

Perfyume looked puzzled, "Why's that?"

Tink smiled, "You see, as the people fled the city, they found themselves out in the wilderness with barely the clothes on their backs. The dwarves took us in and gave any of us that wanted it, a home in the great city of Ironforge. The little gnomish community there eventually became known as Tinkertown and although it wasn't much, it served as a destination for the few remaining gnomes as a place to rest, recoup and plan for the future."

He gave John a smile before turning once again to Perfyume, "We owe much to the dwarves, young warlock."

Perfyume thought for a moment before looking at Tink, "With so few of us left, it's no wonder the city is still under siege. What we need is a large force of troops to eradicate the Troggs from here once and for all. Once that is done we can re-…."

Perfyume was interrupted by Tink, "No Perfyume. This city is lost forever. Even if we were to completely kill off all of the Troggs in the city, they are still swarming in the ground below us. They will eventually break though and return. Also, the radiation sickness is very dangerous. If any troops were to come here to fight, there is a good chance they too will become infected."

"Then…what are we to do?"

"There is only one thing we can do, Perfyume. Gnomeregan must be sealed from the outside world forever. The vents, doors and windows must all be closed and sealed shut so that nothing can get in…or out. Once that is done, we can concentrate on building a new city, free of the Troggs and as great as Gnomeregan ever was."

Perfyume nodded. As painful as it was to hear, the other gnome was right. Her beloved city had become a crypt that needed to be sealed shut. "Alright, what needs to be done?"

Tink smiled, "All of us here will be leaving soon after we gather up all of our books and records. However, I need to have this delivered as soon as possible to our president in Tinkertown.

He handed Perfyume an envelope and continued, "This details our plans to seal the city and tells him to expect our arrival in Ironforge very soon. I need it to get to him so that word can be sent to the rest of our kind."

Perfyume took the envelope and after placing it in her backpack turned to him and said, "I'll make sure he gets this as soon as we get to Ironforge."

Tink smiled, "Thank you Perfyume. With any luck, we will once again have a home to call our own."

John smiled at the gnome, "Laddie, are ya by chance goin ta use explosives ta seal tha entrances an vents?"

Tink nodded, "Yes, we have been acquiring some explosives a little at a time, but we are going to need quite a bit to do the job."

John reached into his pack and pulled out the carefully wrapped sticks of explosives he gotten from Perfyume. He handed the explosives to Tink, "We used one stick earlier ta take care of a Trogg tunnel entrance into the city. Ya might have felt it a few hours ago."

Tink stared at the dwarf in disbelief, "That was you?"

As John and Perfyume nodded, the gnome called one of the other gnomes over. "Meecha, take this over to the lab and check it out. Be careful. If what they say is true, we may have our answer."

As the gnome took the bundle and left, Tink smiled at his friends, "Thank you. With some good explosives ,we may soon get out of here."

"We're happy to help. But before we go, can you tell us the best and quickest way out of here? The way we came in is infested with Troggs."

John nodded, "Aye, tha foul beasties are swarmin all over up there."

The gnome thought for a minute, "The only other way I know of is across the Hall of Gears and up the ramps and into the tram station. From there, you just need to take the elevator up and you're outside."

John smiled, "Sounds good, lad. Just show us where this Hall of Gears place is an we'll be on our way."

The gnome chuckled a bit, "Why, its right out there, good dwarf.

Tink pointed towards an arched doorway. "Just make your way across that hall to the other side and hang a left."

Perfyume and John thanked Tink and said their good-byes to the rest of the gnomes before gathering up their stuff and heading out.

After waving to them, Perfyume turned to John, "This didn't turn out the way I had hoped, my friend. I came here wanting to save the city and its people, but instead I'm taking a letter to the President detailing what may well become the city's destruction."

"Aye, that's true, lass. But ya got ta the bottom of what was going on here. These folks are countin on us ta get that note ta the authorities and I think we should do what we can for em."

Perfyume nodded, "Don't worry, I have every intention of making this delivery. I'm just disappointed that we can't do more."

"Well lass, let's just do what we can, and then go on from there, eh?"

Perfyume smiled warmly, "You know, for a dwarf you come up with some pretty deep philosophy. And here I was thinking you were just another hunter that liked to dig in the ground."

John gave out a hearty laugh and patted his companion on the shoulder, "Well lass, I never thought of it as that. I just do what I think is right."

Perfyume giggled a bit, "Sounds good to me. Alright, let's see if we can find out way out of here."

They worked their way through the ruins of what was once the Hall of Gears. Broken machinery littered the ground and hampered their progress. At one point, John placed his hand in front of Perfyume and whispered, "Hold it right there, lass. I hear something up ahead. It sounded like voices, but I can't be sure."

Perfyume reached over and fondly petted Smokey, "Let's send these two to scout up ahead for us."

John sent the old bear up ahead just as Perfyume sent the demon to follow. They had just turned the corner around a large piece of machinery when they were greeted with a high pitched voice, "Perfyume!"