Collaborative Pick-Gnome's-Own-Adventure

I've seen this done in a few forums before, and it's always lots of fun. I'm not sure if it's been done here before, but whatever... there's never too much entertainment!

The idea is simple: I post the starting picture -
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/4...enture1jj3.png

And the next person edits it in paint, or draws their own new one entirely which continues the story. I've made three possible branches - King Onus' Palace, Area 51, or that grotto off in the corner. Or you can ignore all of those and do something different.

There aren't any real rules, but obviously try to keep the storyline cohesive, no random cop-outs or dead-ends which makes it hard for the next poster to continue the story. It's also nice to write a little sentence or two explaining what your picture shows, to clarify things for the next person. The main character is the gnome, which you can draw as you'd like, but basically a green shirt, brown belt and pants, red hat, gray hair. He should appear in every picture. Pretty simple. He also has a sword.

Have fun!

Kinda felt sorry for this post - a bit too much hard work, though.

Anyhow,

The Gnome goes down the grotto, and is met by the following view:

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/453/gnomegs7.jpg

Does he

• Crawl down the tunnel marked with the strange rune?
• Safely cross the rickety bridge, going down the passage marked "TASTY GNOMES GO THIS WAY"?
• Lose his footing on the old, rotten bridge, plunging into the pit below? Or,
• Cowardly turn back?