Jorac is able to stop the machines from discharging! In examining them, he thinks they probably once served as sterilization machines for moving between the two sets of doors. Obviously whatever sterilization once existed is long gone though.
The doors lead further into the complex....
Chezwezl smacks his thigh. "Well done man! I always thought I was good and mechanisms, but I could learn a thing or two from you."
Looking into the door, he says. "Ready to delve deeper?"
The first set of doors is locked. Although the mechanism to the side of the door is colored red, one of your brown access cards actually works and the door swooshes open!
The air in the room seems to buzz and hum with energy. Strips of glowing rectangles light the room from above, while strange flickering windows line the east and west walls. A large glass-topped circular table sits in the middle of the room. To the north sits a large metal desk covered with blinking lights, while a humming pillar of purple-and-black metal stands nearby, its sides flashing with tendrils of violet energy. A single golden panel flashes with a soft but incessant light on the side of this pillar. A thick layer of dust coasts everything, diffusing the lights shining from the various surfaces, and many of the machines seem to be damaged, cracked, or otherwise ruined.
Mefindio begins to slowly move around the room, peering at the table and panels.
"What is it... a control? A source of magical... errr, technik energy? Looks like something a gnome would make. No offense, Mefindio."
Taran and Jorac clamber about the chamber, trying to figure out the meaning of the controls, Taran touches the flashing gold panel and room suddenly whirs and hums. A series of muffled clicking and buzzing sounds echo through the walls and a moment later, the circular table in the room flares to light, providing a three-dimensional projection of the habitat module on its surface. Numerous panels on the wall fill with static and the pillar or purple metal flashes and begins to pulsate.
After the system is rebooted, you are able to determine that many of the controls in this room, which likely once allowed fine-tuning and adjustments, no longer work.
"Hmmm? Yes, it's beautiful isn't it. Almost has to be gnomish." Chezwezl says absently, responding to Taran.
"Huh. Well, that was a liitle like breathing life into the dead I suppose. Ya' think the pillar has something to do with the Torch?" The dwarf's scowl is even more marked then normal.
Taran wanders over and stares at the hologram, hoping he can find something useful in its world-in-miniature, some undiscovered rooms or important looking location.
|
As she and her companions enter the room, Libri looks around in awe. "There is so much here that we could study... so much we could learn. Jorac, Taran...it is good that you know at least a little about the workings of these devices." Not daring to touch anything at the moment, Libri wanders through the room looking over everything. She turns at the sound of the machines coming to life and joins Taran at the table as the hologram appears, admiring the small world.
"This technology is incredible. Beautiful, indeed."
"Aye, I'm happy to come back and do so after we find our blasted missing friend Khonnir. Running out of places to look, at least."
|
Jorac joins Libri in the contemplation of the magnificence of technology. "I hear you. This symphony of eletricity, whirring of machines, lighted panels... it resonates within me, pure bliss. There's something godly there."
After a moment, he snaps out of his reverie, brought back to reality - and duty - by Taran's words. "You're right Taran, we need to find Master Khonnir. I expect we'll come back here to survey these machines after we've rescued my master."
Taran and Jorac, upon studying the hologram, note that there is a small cave in the northeast of the biodome/habitat area where the skeletons were.
"Hmm. There's a cave over yonder. You want to try there first? One place is as good as another, but might as well be methodical about our search. He could be anywhere."
Several strange shell fragments and its of bone lie scattered across the floor of this large chamber. Ancient cave paintings of four-armed humanoids and strange animals decorate the walls-but to the south, a particularly unusual depiction that looks like an oblong shape burning the sky above several kneeling four-armed figures dominates the prehistoric decor.
Amid the scattered remains are a few treasures: most of these are broken pieces of tribal artwork and jewelry, but one necklace made of amber-trapped insects of no recognizable species seems to be in surprisingly good shape.
Taran pockets the necklace for now.
"Looks like a painting of the Torch. Looks like the critters here were worshiping it instead of a proper god. Savages, I guess." Taran pronounces.
The eastern doors have a small black panel beside them and will not open at your touch like the other doors....
|
|
Jorac tries his access card. Barring that, he attempts to open it with his tools.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Jorac is not able to get the eastern doors to open. The northern doors seem open though:
A large metal table is surrounded by odd-looking chairs in this room. To the west, what appears to be a transparent wall looks out over the strange desert valley. Four pillars support the fifteen-foot-high ceiling, while dozens of crude images of a pickaxe made of a skull and bones have been painted onto the walls with some sort of ivory pigment along with several phrases in an unrecognizable language.
A strange alien inhabits this room-similar to the skeletons you fought earlier but undead in an entirely different way: it seems to have been zombified!
Jorac's spell bites into the undead alien but Libri's longsword doesn't break through its tough skin. The creature's four arms work in a whirlwind as it attacks Libri!
3 dmg
Taran moves in to help his beleaguered android ally on his short dwarven legs, invoking the blessing of the smith and fervently laying his hand upon her.
"You daft beast, what are you attacking us for!"
Chezwezl urges Trigger into the room, waiting for Jorac, before he gets in the way and swings at the zombie.
The alien lets out a few strange utterances that none of you understand. Jorac's ray misses this time and Chezwezl and Trigger likewise have trouble hitting it.
3 dmg
Libri misses again and the alien continues to speak in a undecipherable language as it hacks away at Libri, Mefindio, and Trigger!
3 dmg
"Yeah? And it has four arms. Ya' didn't notice that first Libri?" The stout dwarf swings a hammer at the multi-armed critter.
Jorac hits it with another ray but Taran and Libri discover that the zombified alien is still quite agile, ducking and weaving around their attacks!
4 dmg
Trigger lets out a loud, fearful whinny as she is struck by the creature!
Letting out a roar of anger, Chezwezl attacks the creature as Trigger stomps it!
Trigger's stomps don't seem to hurt it at all, even though one of them connects on its chest. Mefindio lands a blow that does hurt it though, although not as much as the force behind his blow should have.
The four-armed alien continues to chatter to itself as it attacks!
10 dmg
Jorac's ray hits the wall and Libri swings and misses!
10 dmg
Taran strikes again, with the fury of Torag!
Mefindio chews his lower lip as the creature proves resistant to his attacks, yet swings again.
Taran strikes, only doing a little bit of damage! Mefindio likewise lands a blow but finds the wound he leaves to be quite small. The alien retaliates with a whirl of blade and fist!
15 dmg
Taran grumbles as he sees his blade do minimal damage. He outright curses as Libri falls. He reaches out with a hand and tries to invoke Torag.
"Jorac! How do you know how to kill this thing!"
Chezwezl winces as he is hit by the creature, then cries out as Trigger is cut down. "Triiiiiiger! Nooooo!"
Managing to stay in the saddle and hold on, Mef swings again at the creature!
Jorac's spell misses again and Taran and Mefindio seem to have lost out on luck as well!
The alien groans out a long word; although none of you understand its foreign tongue, no Linguistics check is needed to tell that it is excited about the tasty brains before it!
15 dmg
Seething from the blow that felled his faithful mount, Mefindio swings his hook hammer once more.
Taran swings again with the holy touch, moving into a flank with Mefindio.
- positive energy, no save.