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As they prepared to set out Sialea was suddenly concerned as Inlé held his stomach in pain. She wanted to help her friend but knew there was little she could do to help him. She wasn't trained in healing, that was Celen's job. Instead she tried to send comfort through the emotional bond and take away some of the bunny man's fear to help keep him calm.
After a few moments of silence from Celen she looked at him and asked, "Celen? Can you help him or do we need to fall back and return to the temple for aid?"
Inlé gets a lot on his face then begins looking around before realization hits, ”Thank you,” he says turning to Sialea.
The healer grimaces. "Inlé, it appears that a sort of russet-mould has made its way into your body. I fear it is beyond my ability to cure..."
The aasimar looks over at Sialea. "...but do you suppose the decontamination chamber from before would be able to cure him?"
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The bunnyman sighs at the diagnosis. "So that's how it ends then, okay. Fine. I'll try to take as many down with-wait, what was that about a decontamination chamber?" He starts, having begun his soliloquy while the Aasimar was still talking.
Sialea's eyes lit up at the mention of the decontamination chamber and she nodded saying, "Yes, that's a brilliant idea!" She frowned slightly in concern as she said, "If it works correctly. I don't know what it might do to you if it doesn't." Her expression shifted slightly again as she stood and began to pace thinking out loud, "I need to check the connections, make sure..." Her words continued in a mumble of technical jargon that made little sense to most anyone who heard it but the gist to those who did was it just needed to be check for faults and make sure the safeties were still in place before using it.
Her deliberations over Sia looked up at the group as if noticing they were still here and said, "If we're doing this now we'd best get it done. We do have a meeting with crazed cultists to keep afterall."
"Right!" Inlé readily agreed, sending a feeling of trust and thankfulness to the Lashunta through their bond.
"On the plus side my friend, if the machine... goes haywire and doesnt kill you I can fix that."
He added with a smile that said he was jesting to keep the mood light.
"Yes lets hurry, do not worry Inle, you will be fine im sure of it."
Edynn simply watches in both interest and concern, not really being able to provide much assistance.
”Okay!” Inlé brightly responds, eager to try the machine now.
The decontamination chamber in the observation wing is silent and powered down. It appears rebooting the habitat module has somewhat fixed its electrical discharge problem.
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Sialea was relieved to see that the area was no longer electrified and approached the decontamination chamber cautiously. Once she was sure it wouldn't start zapping them again she bent to her work on the device. Sia had her tools out and was double checkin everything she reasonably could to make sure it wouldn't kill her furry friend when activated and after some time decided it was as good as she could get it.
Sialea looked to Inlé and said, "Here we go, if this doesn't work I don't think there is anything more we'll be able to do for you down here Inlé, it's time to see if this works."
After about a minute of tinkering, Sia's efforts to fix the machine are rewarded--the network of tubes and nozzles hums to life with more stability than before.
The panel on the far wall lights up.
Inlé looks on silently at the machinery as Sialea goes about fixing it up. When she finishes he nods and puts on a smile. ”Right! Let’s do this!” he says as he heads over to where he needs to be.
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With a push of a button, the panel goes dark and the room's nozzles extend. There's a *WHIRRING* noise followed by a *hiss* as several jets of blue steam vent into the room.
When the steam hits Inlé's russet-stained fur, it gradually returns to its black lustre. His stomach & arms still feel unwell, but the mould appears to have been purged from his system.
His friends see the bunny's eye go wide and ears stiff as the hissing starts before the tiny saboteur is obscured by the blue steam.
Once it dissipates he looks himself over before hopping up and down. "Yay!" he weakly shouts.
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Relieved that Inlé came through the process apparently unharmed Sialea drops down to her knees and catches him during one of his hops, pulling him in close and hugging him tightly to her generous chest. Relief radiates through the emotional bond with everyone and she says, "I'm glad you're alright Inlé."
"Me too! Thanks for saving me." he happily responds in a muffled voice as he tries to hug Sialea back as she hugs/smothers him.
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"It is good to see you are indeed fine my friend."
He said with a grin, the picture of Sialea smuggering the Rabbit fellow was almost too amusing. The he remember they were also about to go speak to a cult. He couldnt think of any time that something like that ended well.
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A small smile curls the corner of Edynn's mouth, as her friends celebrate his return to health. The stray thought occurred to her that there were likely many people who would probably pay quite a bit to be where Inlé was at this particular moment.
Finally releasing Inlé, Sialea said, "Yes, we'd best get to meeting the cult. by the way, some of them may be on our side, at least one of the half-orcs is." She smiled sweetly, "I made a deal with him and told him if there were like minded cultists to have them either help or sit out of any fighting that may occur."
When the party returns to the engineering deck, they find it to be as noisy as it was before. They see the large Hackfoot standing watch over the elevator entrance as two other rabbit folk haul the carcasses of their dead guard animals away.
"You return!" The lop-eared giant spreads his arms wide again, his jury-rigged leathers stretching to accommodate his muscles.
Smoothing his fur out once he's back on the ground the small bunny man gives Sialea a nod of agreement.
~~~
"We do!" Inlé amicably responds to Hackfoot, watching the two other rabbit folk disappear.
Sialea nodded at Hackfoot and said, "yes, we said we would after all." She looked down at Inlé, "We'd have been here earlier but we had to treat Inlé for an infection he got from the tiny plant people we ran into yesterday." She smiled brightly, "Fortunately he's all better now."
"Yeah," Inlé quickly adds.
He managed a brief but silent smile. The size of that well bunnyman was more than impressive. He certainly didnt want to cross him considering how feirce Inle was.
Edynn simply nods
The massive rabbit-man turns around. "Follow me, then. Our leader wishes to speak with you."
Hackfoot leads the group through the northern rooms of the engineering deck, passing through the storage area and through a messily-kept lounge, its furniture comfortable-looking but with several surfaces dusted with broken glass and machine parts.
The half-orc from before, Ausk, follows the party in as Hackfoot passes by.
The rabbit-man leads the party to a large, circular room to the south of the lounge. A balcony runs around the edges of the domed chamber, the curved walls of which are covered in blinking lights and unidentifiable machinery. A few steps lead down from the balcony in the middle of the room. Just north of the steps sits a large machine with a pink glass-like tabletop-like structure, above which float semitransparent images of some sort. The balcony is wider on the south side of the stairs, where a strange statue stands that seems to have been cobbled together from broken machines into the shape of an upraised claw or talon. A mound of junk lies in a heap before the claw, while two smoking braziers burn softly to each side. To the east looms a pair of immense black metal doors framed by a rotating arch of pulsing red lights.
Standing before the statue, head bowed in prayer, is an ashen-skinned woman with violet hair. Her grey chain shirt clings to her torso, and a black spiked gauntlet covers her left arm. Half of her head sports an undercut hairstyle, with the rest of it spilling down to her back. Bright violet line-tattoos stretch from her temples above her brow and run along her exposed arms in geometric patterns. What looks like a glowing red crystal wand is held in her other hand, its grip like that of a metal crossbow.
She looks up at the party as they approach. "What have you brought me, Hackfoot?" She asks, her voice one of calm detachment.
"Prospective converts, High Priestess Meyanda. They seek knowledge, and perhaps... a purpose." The lop-eared rabbit bends the knee before her.
Edynn's eyes study the woman, taking in her obvious android nature.
Sialea was relieved that Ausk joined them and reached her mind out to him as she looked around at this sanctuary in interest.
She looked around in interest as they went at the piles of machines parts all aroudn them. Her eyes were caught by all of the lights and unidentifiable machines but of particular interest were the table with floating light structures above it and the big black doors with lights around the frame.
As they reached the priestess she recognize that she was likely the same as Edynn, and android, and sent her thoughts to her companion.
"Hello," Inlé simply says to Meyanda, before doing a double take and looking back and forth between her and Edynn.
He didnt say anything merely nodded along when Hackfoot introduced them.
Meyanda approaches Edynn first. "Greetings. Have you felt the call of the faithful, as I have?" She asks, her voice even & mechanical. "The True God speaks highly of those born of machines."
"And you?" She then approaches Inlé. "Do you seek a place of safety? The True God provides succour and sanctuary to those who would bear arms in His name."
Then she glances at Sialea & Celen, her eyes widening at first, then narrowing. "You two... your bearing is foreign to me. Why have you come here?"
"I rather make places safe," Inlé politely responds. He was curious what she meant by "born of machines" in regards to herself and Edynn, but she was addressing her so he wasn't about to butt in. He could always ask Edynn later.
Meyanda looks back at Inlé and purses her lips. "Regardless, none of you have answered my questions. The True God inspires awe, yes, but--"
There's a loud *GRINDING* sound that comes from the west. The android priestess looks up, her wand-like weapon pointed at the western entrance to the room. "What was that?"
"I am....curious." Edynn responds before being interrupted by the loud grinding noise.
Inlé's ears jerk to the sound, his ears standing erect as can be.
He opened his mouth to start to answer, fate however kept his tongue in check. It was probably a good thing the grinding noise took his attention.
Sialea focused on what she had just learned and mentally conveyed to her companions that only a few of the cultists were wlling to side with them or stay out of any fighting and was about to respond to teh android's question when the grinding sound came from the west. Sia's gave snapped nervously to the west to see what might be causing the noise and she considered what she knew of the machines to try and determine a cause.
The doors to the west are roughly torn open with an even louder noise that sets everyone's teeth on edge.
Stepping through the door is a tall, rust-coloured robot that resembles a human in full plate mail armour, the eye in the centre of its head made of burnished brass. It *clicks* several times as it takes in the central worship area, its iron fingers gripping what looks like a very sharp length of metal like a spear. Its eye begins to glow orange, and it snaps to attention.
Coming in behind it is another figure...
"Good work, Gearsman!" Sanvil Trett's voice bellows out as he enters the room behind the automaton, a sharp longsword at his side and a smug grin on his face. "A pity you had to tear up such a priceless piece of technology, but that's how it goes, I suppose."
The rabbit-men on either side of the destroyed doorway leap back and brandish axes made of scrap metal and leather strips, their ears quivering and their noses twitching like mad. Meyanda's eyes narrow at the intruders.
"Who is this one, to be so bold as to intrude upon the sanctum of the True God?" She growls in an unnerving mix of placidity and rage.
Completely unable to read the situation, Edynn, looks to her companions for an idea of how to react.
Inlé's shoulders slump. ... is this because we didn't buy that other thing from you?"
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Sialea looked at the man in surprise, how did he even get down here, let alone know a quicker way than they did. It was rather surprising and not in a good way. Sialea kept her guard up as she eyed the man warily and asked, "how did you find a faster way down here?"