Following their conversation with Aqua and hearing more peculiar tales from Merumeru, the group resolved to seek out the copperpot gnome, a figure mentioned several times in their discussions. Their path led them through a cave shaft with water accumulating at the bottom. A damp chill lingered in the air, less intense than the frigid atmosphere of the temple but still present. They passed numerous wooden doors before arriving at a large double door, illuminated by a faint glow seeping from beneath.

 

Knock Knock.

 

“Hello, are you home Hester?” The nereid knocked on the bulky wooden door. “The lights are on so can we come in?  There are some people here who would like to meet you.”

 

An old gnome appeared behind the now-open door. “Aqua?  Oh you have others with you.  To what do I owe this visit?” He wore a red hat, had a big nose, and sported curly-toes shoes. “Anyway, come in, come in.”  The gnome led the people inside.

 

In the cave, walls adorned with luminescent moss, was the secluded laboratory of Professor Copperpot, a reclusive gnome. The entrance to this sanctum was marked by massive double doors, intricately carved from petrified oak, their surfaces etched with strange symbols. When these doors swung open, they revealed a world of wonder within.  In one corner, a miniature ecosystem thrived—a terrarium filled with minuscule forests, rivers, and tiny creatures that flitted about like fireflies. Oddly enough, in the corner there were some cages that held small-sized pigs.

 

Aqua pointed at the three visitors. “This is Alex, Fufi and  Merumeru. They were planning to do some spy work on the kingdom.  I thought you might be able to provide them with some information.”

 

“I mostly just sit here breeding these tiny creatures.”The gnome pointed to a microscope. “You know I was more of a researcher than anything else. I told you my story.  I spent most of my time in the mage tower and didn’t even notice when demons took control of the majority of the high nobility.  By the time I figured out something was amiss a geas was put on me to work on that stupid bird flu project.”

 

“You made bird flu?  I thought it was the demons.” Alex frowned. “Also, what were you doing working for a human king?  I thought this was a human kingdom?  You are the only gnome I’ve ever met.  Is there a gnome civilization somewhere?”

 

“I was exiled over a century ago.  I don’t know if the old strongholds still stand. The place I grew up was deep inside a mountain.” Hester answered the question. “As for bird flu, I did it under duress.  I have a class that lets me breed small lifeforms.  My ideas were not well received in gnomish conclaves so I pitched my research to humans.  That worked out well and we saved a lot of people from disease.  Everyone knew about the hero’s quest to defeat the demon queen.  But he had to travel to far off lands. I didn’t attend his send off when he boarded a boat at the capitol but some of my apprentices did and said it was a splendid sendoff.  Everyone understood that it would be some time before he came back and when years passed no one really thought about it.  Heroes never lose so even if it took a long time we just needed to be patient and have faith.”

 

Aqua gave a serious nod. “Yes, most people put their complete trust in the hero.”

 

“What happened next, Mister Copperpot?  It sounds like stuff went wrong and you ended up stuck.” Alex asked.

 

“Well, when under a geas, it is like you fall asleep and you wake up and memories flood you.  Aqua and her kin sank a ship we were on and fought the demons under water.  I remember drowning then and then waking up in a dank cave tied to a chair.  They figured out that the demons were going to take the bird flu virus and unleash it on another kingdom before they invaded. We did a little too good with the bird flu.  Having it only infect humans was quite the accomplishment.  I hate myself for that.  If I had even the slightest bit of agency I would have made it infect the demons.  That is my biggest regret.”  The old gnome’s expression looked pained. “Anyway, come in and see my lab.  It isn’t anything compared to the tower we used in the capitol but you are welcome in.  Can I interest you in some tea?”

 

“We just had some tea.  Alex is quite good at brewing it. You should have joined us.” Aqua gave the gnome a smile. “Besides, how long has it been since you went outside?”

 

“Outside?!” Hester paled.

 

“Is something wrong with outside?” Alex tilted her head.

 

“He’s been holed up in here for years.” Aqua explained.

 

Hester gulped. “I’m diligently doing important research.  Besided, some of the deep gnome-holds are so far away from the surface that my cousins there live their whole lives without stepping out under the stars.”

 

“So you’ve been here for years mooching off of the nereids?” Alex gave the shut-in gnome a condemning look.

 

“No no, far from it.  Behold, my latest creation, swine flu!” The gnome waddled quickly over to the pig pen.

 

“But it is just a few pigs.” Fufi tilted her head in confusion.

 

“No no, that is where you are wrong.  These are in fact former imps.” The gnome puffed out his chest proudly.  His small stature made it look a little silly.

 

“So you made a disease that turns imps into pigs?” Alex sorta got the idea of swine flu. “Why is there not an outbreak already?”

 

“Yes, but it is not ready yet.  I still need to breed some better strains.” The gnome lost some of his bluster.  “It works but it wouldn’t take off like bird flu does.”

 

“If it works, why not just infect some densely populated area and see what happens?” Alex pondered.  “Also, how did you get imps to test it on?”

 

The gnome looked at Aqua. “Well, the adventurer’s guild mostly sends desperate demons to the forested area to find stuff like 100 year old ginger.  Lower tiered demons don’t have a long life span so they are desperate to get anything that can help them increase their cultivation and evolve into a longer lived form.”  The gnome again regarded Aqua. 

 

Aqua took the hint and responded.  “Me and my cousins often capture ones that try to pass through the swamp.  Most imps can’t fly so unless there is a big group picking them off one at a time they tend to thin them out before long.  Also, like all demons unless a powerful leader is driving them they don’t work well together.  For an imp, another’s imp’s essence that is released upon their death is an acceptable source for cultivation.”

 

Alex considered this.  “Reminds me of something my grandpa used to say.  Evil’s greatest threat is not good people, it is other evil people that they associate with.  Sorta like those that live by the sword will die by the sword saying.”

 

“That is pretty deep.” Fufi’s tone sounded contemplative. “Your grandad sounds like a wise man.  Did he have to deal with many imps?”

“No no, there were no imps.  We never had anything like that in my town.” Alex waved her hands in front of her.

 

Hester cleared his throat. “Anyway, there are some milestones that have to be met for a disease to reach a certain level. You have to look at infection rate, the effectiveness of the strain, incubation time.”

 

“Yikes, how many imps have you experimented on?” Alex thought it must have been high to get enough demons sick to have statistics prepared. “I’m not sure what some of that stuff means.”

 

“I lost track after a hundred.  Like Aqua said, the lower level demons are really relentless in their effort to test the defenses here.” Hester patted the cage that held a pig. “Well infection rate is how many others the strain can infect.  On average it needs to be above one.  Do you follow?”

 

Alex nodded. “I think so. If less than one gets infected per each case it’ll die out on its own I think.”

 

“Yes, and effectiveness is how long it takes to fight off the disease.  We want them to transform enough that they are not considered a demon anymore.  Ideally, it will be completely pig but sometimes they end up with just imps that have tusks, curly tails and pig-like noses.  Are you familiar with bird flu?”

 

Alex nodded.  It started feeling like being back in school. “Um yeah.  It is a nasty disease.”

 

“Alex got it, but was okay.” Fufi, unhelpfully added.

 

“Well, humans that can fight off the bird flu too quickly don’t end up as harpies.  Their race changes to Avian.  For demons though, that sometimes counts as an evolution. You see the problem?  If the disease is not effective enough it would just be creating another type of tier two demons.”  The gnome frowned. “That would be helping them.  We don’t want that.”