Meet with this gnome.

"They don't uh... **** prisoners or anything like that, right?" you ask.

Linzeri makes you nervous with an uncomfortably long pause before responding. "Kobolds can, but I'm hoping that mine did not," she mutters as the two of you follow the kobold down a winding tunnel to another dimly lit room.

There, tied to a small table, is a small figure you recognize. She's dressed in black overalls, a white shirt, and she has goggles around her forehead. Her dark hair is tied back into a ponytail as well. Upon seeing you, her eyes light up with surprise and excitement, causing her to pull on her bindings as if she has temporarily forgotten her position. From all the way back in Brumberg, the odd gnome who lived in a cottage outside of town, the one who was providing Bibi with potions that masked her age, Dixby the gnome is here before you, though she doesn't seem quite as afraid as you'd expect one to be kidnapped by kobolds. She always was an eccentric alchemist though.

You quickly move to the ropes and begin undoing them. "What the hell are you doing here?" you ask.

"Ah. You know her?" Linzeri asks.

"Yeah. We met her in Brumberg. She's an alchemist."

"Colour me impressed. You're not even crying in fear, little gnome."

Free from her bindings, Dixby sits up and stretches her arms. "Well, before I was grabbed, I managed to drink down a potion that might have helped if nobody came." Then with a deep breath, she puckers her lips and blows upwards. From it, a mighty dragon's stream of fire scorches the ceiling of the cave, and causes the kobolds around her to reel back from the sudden light. For such flaming breath to emit from a tiny woman caught everyone by surprise.

After shielding your eyes, you look back to the gnome. "So, Dix. Why are you here?"

"To be honest, I was looking for you. Ever since your party came through, I felt so uncomfortable, like I could be having so much more fun. There's a world of test subjects out there, and I wasn't accomplishing anything in Brumberg anymore. So I decided that I'd make sure to keep in contact with Bibi, but I'd also make my way to where this so-called Demon King Kyle Warren resided. Just thinking about the kinds of potions I could create... the sort of people who'd be willing to try them out... Please, take me with you!"

Hm. I guess we don't have any kind of potion master at Castle Phoenix. We've got clothes, weapons, armour, but nothing to do with alchemy.

"I don't see why not," you reply. "Let's head back to the castle then, before it gets any later."

Just then, an older looking lizard steps into the room wielding a very ornate staff covered in feathers. He places an arm on his chest and bows before the presence of Linzeri. "My queen. I'm so happy to see you."

"You see me almost every day," she responds bluntly. "We'll be taking this captive off your hands now. Thanks for not torturing her. Kyle would have been pretty upset."

The kobold smiles. "S-So I was a good b-boy, right?"

"All right. We're leaving," you say.

"Please step on me as a reward, my lovely queen."

"I said we're leaving!"