Gnomes Flying High

Procella, Ryke, Zaketh
A note to the reader. When reading any gnomish names (cities, people, ect), the “G” at the beginning of the word is always silent.
Procella, Ryke, & Zaketh find themselves in the coffee shop of the Great Bibiopolis on the dawn of a new day. The place has been set right side up once more, and Mortimer is so enthralled by an actual patron of his establishment that he will be absent for the rest of the narrative. The other three cozy around a table and get to discussing the events of the sunless grove. As the conversation reaches the fate of the enchanted apples, they are interrupted by a somewhat concerning thunderous crash coming from the building's peak. The reverberations are felt in the structure itself. All eyes of the concerned occupants of the Great Bibliopolis fall on Procella, Ryke, & Zaketh.
The three jump into action, ascending the tower floor by floor. When they are nearly at the summit of the building, Ryke hears what can only be described as muffled bickering coming from behind a closed door. He creeps forward and makes out two gnomish voices in a hushed argument. Ryke politely knocks and calls out a warm welcome. There’s an awkward silence, followed by a timid reply of the gnomish occupants.
Ryke opens the door, and the crew enters the vast chamber to the sight of utter destruction. Much of the east wall appears to have crumbled violently into the chamber. In the centre of the room, surrounded by debris, is a battle-scarred & bruised boat laying on its side. A large balloon is connected to the hull with a slew of rigging. At the bow of the skiff stand two gnomes, who look no better than their boat.
During a somewhat cryptic conversation, the crew learns that their new guests are Glingle, a pilot, and Gnunsbick, an engineer. They hail from the gnomish city of Gholm and are in somewhat of a bind. It turns out they are on a rescue mission for a downed gnomish ship, they were dispatched on the skiff to retrieve help. They ask for the crew’s help in repairing their skiff. Ryke needs no encouragement and eagerly assists the Gnunsbick in the repairs. Procella & Ryke continue to press Glingle for more details and a promise of compensation for the unintended remodelling to the building.
The proceedings are cut short as the skiff comes to life. The massive balloon inflates and lifts the skiff off the ground. Glingle & Gnunsbick leap onto the deck as it sails towards the opening. Procella, Ryke, & Zaketh are offered answers and compensation if they join them to help their stranded companions. Seeing Ryke already climbing abroad, Procella & Ryke follow.
Glingle steers the craft northeast while Gnunsbick & Ryke crank up the engine. The crew learn a Siren managed to sneak into an extremely well protected vault in Gholm, steal a box, and then escaped by jumping through a window onto the back of a sky whale. She then rode the sky whale into the clouds like it was second nature. The gnomes made quick pursuit in a sky ship but were waylaid by goblins in rickety sky vessels of their own.
The story breaks off as two flying buckets of junk, crewed by goblins, cruise at speed towards the skiff. Battle breaks out in the skies. The vessels trade bolts fired from mounted ballistas, while Glingle narrowly maneuvers the skiff to avoid being rammed. During the chaos, Ryke, Procella, & Zaketh commandeer one of the two flying junkers, but almost lose Ryke to the sky. Things aren’t so luck for the goblins, many of which are thrown from the decks to tumble to their inevitable end. As the battle ends, Gnunsbick removes a magical stone from a hatch in the goblin junker. He leaps back to the skiff as the junker tumbles towards the ground. Ryke pilots the remaining junker, and the two remaining vessels continue on their northeast heading.
Procella reopens the conversation with Glingle and learns that the gnomish & goblin ships spooked the sky whale during their skirmish. The sky whale reflexively struck out with its tail, causing both ships to make an emergency landing on the whale’s back. Many gnomes were killed or injured in the crash, and they could not move on the siren, as all of their forces were engaged in a battle of attrition with the remaining goblins. The conversation ends as the skiff breaks through the cloud layer revealing an enormous sky whale that was completely camouflaged from below, gliding along the clouds.
Before them, on the back of the sky whale, are two crashed ships laying on their sides. Occasional volleys of arrows arc between the ships. As the crew nears, both the goblins and the gnomes fire them upon the approaching boats. Glingle narrowly evades, but a ballista bolt hits Ryke’s new junker. The crew manages to signal the gnomes that they are all friendly, reducing the incoming fire and allowing them to land safely behind the cover of the downed gnomish frigate. Gnunsbick attempts to remove the magical stone from the goblin junker but is waylaid by Ryke, who wishes it for himself. Ryke is begrudgingly convinced to let the gnome recover the stone.
Glingle & Gnunsbick lead Zaketh, Ryke, & Procella into the gnomish frigate to meet with Major Gmeble. Along the way, they pass a grizzly scene of injured and dead gnomes. Major Gmeble, happy to see Glingle & Gnunsbick returning with aid, asks the crew to recover the stolen box from the siren. They cannot get past the goblins who’ve taken cover in their crashed ship and block their advance. The Major plans to launch an assault on the goblins to allow the crew to sneak past. After some shrewd bargaining, they offered the crew refurbishment of their broken tower & the magic item the siren used to break into the gnomish vault as reward, with the condition that they not use it against the gnomes in the future.
As the distraction begins, the crew sneaks past the goblins and approach two figures standing at the sky whale’s head. The siren woman at the reins, and a large goblin at her side. Ryke sneaks up on the goblin and charm him. The siren is not so fooled, but Zaketh pulls his dagger to envelop them both in darkness. An uneasy stalemate progresses as the siren vanishes from sight. Ryke learns from his now charmed large goblin friend, Gorgug, that he is the commander of the goblin forces, and the siren hired them to aid her in escape. Procella presses the siren to hand over the gnomish box while Zaketh attempts to close the distance using only audible clues. The siren pleads with the crew to let her go, that her people need the box, but freely admits that she stole it from the gnomes. She offers them the magical item she used to steal the box from the gnomes as payment for her escape. As she drops it onto the whale’s back, the crew quickly recognized it as the Dimensional Loop that fits into the Orrery of the Wanderer.
The siren, not waiting for a response, tries to sneak past Zaketh and flee, but Zaketh strikes out & grips her before she can escape. Darkness & invisibility fall. The siren hurt and trapped relents. In exchange for her freedom, she hands over the box. Once released, she leaps off the side of the sky whale, transforming into a bird as she falls, and is lost in the clouds.
The box recovered, Procella attempts to open it and learn its secrets. Despite all efforts, the box appears to have no opening. Eventually, the crew return to the gnomish frigate. Their new friend Gorgug calls a ceasefire, and the gnomes repair their frigate just enough to fly before the spell over Gorgug fades. Procella, Zaketh, & Ryke are returned to the Great Bibliopolis. Before departing, Gnunsbick invites Ryke to seek him out in Gholm if he finds himself out that way.
As the gnomes proceed home, the crew is left with several lingering questions. How do the gnomes have flying ships? Where did the goblins get flying ships? What was that strange box and why was it so important to the gnomes? Why did the siren need the box for her people? Why was the siren heading northeast towards the desert instead of to their homeland to the northwest? Where did the siren find the Dimensional Loop?