"Gart and I slew many gnomes until they fled. Of the men, three remained, one with his left hand hacked off. The other two were wounded as well. It was then we discovered that a worse disaster had befallen us.
"Of the wizard, Darrow, there was no sign. In desperation we cast our search far about. Eventually, we did find him. He lay in a blind gully, pierced by many arrows, and the burned and blackened bodies of many times many rock-gnomes lay all about him. He had, apparently, purchased our lives with his own, drawing off the main body of the attack to himself. To our further dismay we discovered that his staff was gone, but there was no help for it.
"I ordered Gart to stay with the men, and I left to pursue the witch alone. I caught up with her not far from the black ship the next day, the eighteenth of our journey. Stealing upon her unawares, I knocked her senseless, gagged her, and bound her hand and foot. They, carrying my burden like a sack, I set out to rejoin Gart and the remaining men.
"There were many gnomes and goblins about, and it took me a full two days to find Gart again. The man who had lost his hand had died from loss of blood. Gart and the others had spent much of the time avoiding roving bands of gnomes and goblins.