Leralt's power flows over the gnome, causing him to shudder. When Leralt speaks in Sylvan, the gnome's eyes narrow slightly, becoming almost feral. You can almost fancy you can see a strange rage bubbling up in those eyes.
Assuming Songan would like some sort of reply to his woodsy chatter, Krupt halts his upraised arm from descending on the now-grappled gnome. He keeps a wary eye on the little pale man, and glances through the doorway to ensure no others are coming to his aid.
"I'd trade words with the nice catman if I were you. It's preferable to most other alternatives," the good doctor mutters.
As the party attempts to subdue the gnome, Leralt's words seem to trigger a strange response in the small man. He snarls beneath Songan's hand and suddenly his skin seems to vibrate violently. The skin all over his body peels back as dozens of tiny metal spikes erupt from the gnome, injuring Songan for physical damage and electrical damage! The spikes produce a loud SNAP as they electrify, burning the catfolk's fur where his hans grasp the gnome. At the same time the gnome begins to emit a series of loud, rapid buzzing sounds that grate upon the ears of all around!
Krupt's eyes widen in surprise at the gnome's transformation and he swings his cane around in a wide arc.
Leralt takes the siren as if it were nothing, nothing was surprising him anymore on this island. He wondered if anything he encountered was normal, that would be a surprise. None the less he studies the gnome.
"What the-?"
Flinching at the sudden noise, Lena quickly shuts it out and focuses on the strange spiky gnome, hoping to gain some insight into what in the world it is or maybe a weakness
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Songan cries out in pain as the strange metal spikes suddenly erupt from the gnome's skin, then crackle with electricity that courses through his own body. Reflexively, he releases the grappled creature, but the damage had already been done.
The combination of that with the siren suddenly being emanated by the gnome was too much for the Catfolk to take, and his head suddenly spins, leaving him feeling woozy and light-headed. He collapses to one knee behind the gnome, clearly on the verge of retching.
Songan releases the gnome as the siren suddenly stops. The gnome's spikes instantly retract, returning the gnome to its pre-attack look. In heavily accented Common it snarls "Intruders! Intruders in the barracks, sector Alpha! Initiate defensive measures!"
Dr Krupt swings his cane at the gnome, but he has to pull the swing to avoid Songan and misses. Songan takes a knee as the siren's disconcerting noise overwhelms his senses momentarily.
Init:
21 Gnome
19 Lena
17 Catila
9 Dr Krupt
8 Songan
6 Leralt
"Sounds like we're going to have company"
In what seems like turnabout is fair play, Catila launches a ray of sound at the gnome-thing. The ray hits, and the gnome winces slightly, the first really human moment it has displayed.
Lena's crossbow bolt skips off the doorway, clattering into the room beyond. Leralt continues his study of the gnome, noting its expression of pain when the sonic ray hits it.
Init:
21 Gnome
19 Lena
17 Catila
9 Dr Krupt
8 Songan
6 Leralt
The gnome-thing backs away from the party, back into the small room it had come out of. The room it moves into is only 10 feet square, with a metallic desk and flat bed-like table. As it backs up, it hits the wall. Suddenly its limbs fold backwards, and it crabwalks up the wall, until it perches in the corner where the walls meet the ceiling. Once there it hisses if anyone comes near.
Inside the small room, there is a pneumatic hiss as a hatch opens in the ceiling. Out drops a strange insectile construct the size of a man, but with many legs and clacking scorpion-like claws. Where its mouth should be are two metal rods, between which arcs electricity. Having fallen to the ground, landing like a cat upon its feet, it raises its claws defensively and holds it position.
Leralt keeps looking at the new oddities, constructs closer to clockworks then golems he figured. He wondered why such advanced magic was not being used against the other groups. He pushes those thoughts aside and attempts to speak to the gnome creature again as it has yet to respond.
"Will you remain silent, you do not even know if we are your enemy. But at this rate we will be. So I guess you are a Bone Taker, attacking people and attempting to trick them with demonic illusions claiming to be a god. Setting drunken beast on villages. Then again if you have such constructs it makes me wonder why bother with such tactics."
Lena calls on the power of Abadar to punish those who have threatened those who do His holy work.
Cast bane on the robo-gnome and the electro-scorpion
When Leralt speaks, the gnome stares until he reaches Sylvan. In Sylvan, it replies: "We are the Vishcarii!(He pronouces it Vish-Car-Eye) You were warned to leave this island! You were given reason and opportunity! Leave! Leave this place, leave this island! You are not wanted here, you are not required! Your presence taints the balance! Go, go away!"
Lena takes up a defensive stance and calls upon the grace of Abadar to curse her enemies. A wave of disapproval falls upon the gnome and scorpion thing!
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Fighting off the wave of nausea, Songan replies to the gnome in Sylvan himself, glad to now have an avenue of communication with their apparent foes.
Getting to his feet, he takes up a defensive posture against both the beings, drawing his longsword and shield.
The gnome snarls. "We did not destroy your ship, invader! Seek your quarrel elsewhere!"
The gnome pauses, starts to speak, but a sudden THRUM, followed by a voice that echoes in all your heads stops him. When the voice begins speaking, he falls from the wall where he is perched onto the ground, lying prostrate and completely still. The spider-scorpion likewise seems to retract in on itself.
The voice stops and the scorpion immediately leaps straight up toward the ceiling, clinging to it as a hatch opens. It scuttles into the hatch and is out of sight as the hatch closes.
The gnome stands, his face a carefully dispassionate mask, and gestures toward the door. "You have been summoned. Please follow me. Your safety is guaranteed." He strides toward the door, clearly not pleased with this turn of events. He turns left out the door and approaches the other door, which opens as he approaches.
If you follow him, he seems to follow a central corridor that turns slightly right as you go, seemingly spiraling toward a central area. You pass metal corridors, more iris doors, and in one length of corridor, a line of windows looking upon a large open metal room. The room is filled with tables of varying sizes, upon which rest the carcasses of dead creatures. You spot deer, a young bulette much like the one you fought, large bears and a wyvern. All the bodies are dead and have been for some time. Metal arms move about the room on metal bases that flow across the floor as if on wheels. They seem to be systematically dismantling the dead creatures, separating bone from skin and flesh and organs. You can see piles of bones in the corners, stacked high and cleaned to a bleached white.
Finally you stop before a large iris door in the right side of the walled corridor. It hisses open and the gnome leads you into a semi-circular room with a single metal chair facing the door. He sits in the chair, and closes his eyes as thin metal tendrils erupt from the chair to sink into his skin. Behind him the metal wall becomes transparent as the gnome's eyes open. The transparent wall reveals a hideous sight: a gigantic spider-like creature with eight arachnid legs and a squid's eight tentacles erupting from the top of where the spider's head would be. Atop three of the tentacles are masses of eyes, which swivel and aim toward you. The creature is huge, at least 20 feet tall and as wide, and it seems to be floating in a pinkish fluid with several of the metal tendrils imbedded in its skin, attached to the walls around it.
When the gnome speaks, the voice is the same booming one from before.
Leralt takes it all in, getting a grasp of what they were dealing with.
"Well we were responding to a unprovoked attack on our settlement by the Bonetakers. We tracked them here. I would guess they did this on purpose to have us fight you and yours. No doubt to weaken or destroy one or both of us. We intended to make them pay for their latest crime. I would ask you what your business is here, I rather doubt this was your original home."
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Songan stares openly, agape at the...the..whatever-the-heck-it-was that was in front of the group right now. Some strange, otherwordly horror that he could scarcely wrap his humanoid brain around. He thought as hard as he could, hoping to come up with some shred, some miniscule piece of evidence from history that might tell him what exactly this thing is.
Krupt is utterly fascinated with the creature, taking the time to observe it and its containment while it speaks. When it asks about joining the collective, he glances sidelong at the rest of the group.
"I believe 'no' would be the safe answer. Between Abadar and the People we're already considerably entangled without considering snaring ourselves in a further alliance."
"Since it's been here so long, perhaps someone should ask it about the factions on the island. If these Bonetakers did not destroy the ship, then there are other power bases on this island as yet unknown to us...perhaps they even lured us here so one side or the other would be destroyed."
Too awestruck at the strange environment she found herself in and the even stranger creatures inhabiting it to formulate a proper response, Lena simply mouths
"Wha-?" as she stares up at the monstrous tentacled thing.
"Bonetakers... so are these the same who released the bullette on the town? Ask them how many more bones they need to finish the... repairs?"
The gnome again opens his mouth and the voice booms forth.
"Experiment? You mean the People? Why did you create a load of talking animals?"
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Songan raises his hands to his temples, rubbing them slowly as he draws in a deep breath. "So...let's recap. You are not responsible for what happened to our vessel. You have made contact with the Olo-tumbo...the..ambulatory fungi, as you call them. By 'Deep Ones', do you refer to the People? Large, sentient, mammalian quadrupeds? Or are they the experiments you referenced? If the People are the results of your experiments, who are the Deep Ones? It is you whom the People refer to as the Bone Takers? It was not one of you who fed the creature we call a bulette fermented fruit to inebriate it, then led it straight to the humanoid colony?" he asks, still rubbing his temples as he struggles to assimilate all the information.
"I wish to address you directly, but I have no name by which to call you. If you please, I am called Songan. I would like to know what I may address you as in the Common tongue."
After a response is given from the..whatever it is...Songan continues. "I believe we have gotten off on the wrong foot. It was not our intention to invade your realm...at least not in the sense of an outright attack. There was a trail, a very obvious one, that led from the rock that disguised the entrance to this place to just outside our colony. It was clear that someone had made the bulette that attacked us get drunk off of the fermented berries, then set it loose where it would almost certainly assault the colony. We followed that trail back to here and found the entrance to your..your...whatever this place is. If you are not responsible for that attack, let me be the first to apologize for making false assumptions and accusations against you. It would seem that there is perhaps another party in play here that sought to pit us against each other."
"Finally, something on this island that is initially reticent about killing us. Praise Abadar."
"Would you mind going into more detail about the deep ones and those who worship the one who is bound. I assume the ambulatory dead are undead as we call them. Would you also happen to have any expertise in biological manipulation?"
"So I assume then that the creatures we found growing under ground are your responsibility also?"
Lena thinks for a moment.
"If you and your... kind do not seek any violence towards our colony then let us come to some sort of agreement. You seem to have great knowledge of anatomy and biological forms, perhaps even surpassing our good Doctor here. If we were to agree to leave your 'hideout' alone, would you agree to help us in return?
There is a strange affliction among some of our colonists and I fear it may be beyond our abilities to heal. If we don't find a cure for this disease soon, our colony will face destruction. Might you posses some ability to counter this maladie?"
"What would happen to those who joined your collective? Would they come to any harm? Would they be bound to you?"
Leralt shakes his head, he expected as much.
"So your ability to cure disease is based off your absorbation of the subject. You can not create a cure based off information or knowledge?"
He thinks for a moment.
"Well at your current rate you will be done in 500 years. I wonder if your supply of bones increased would that time be shortened? After all we recently aquired a bulette skeleton. In fact I would say if our settlement was given time we would gather a great deal of bones as a by product of life. If you could aid us we could pay for that aid in bones. That is if you would be interested?"
The dead had no need of their bones. From his early observations it did not matter the type of bone. Bones from animals, enemies, and those that simply died of old age would serve. Not as if their was use or need of them by the settlers.
Krupt's eyebrows raise, looking sidelong at mage with something akin to approval. He takes the time to mutter:
"I applaud your initiative, Leralt. Just be sure you don't promise overmuch. The commoners can get violently sentimental over the disposal of their dead."
The gnome's head shakes as the voice takes on a regretful tone.
The gnome's arm lifts while the voice booms from him and the skin on his arm retracts. Something that resembles metal sand bubbles out from the gnome's arm and sits on the surface. It then retracts back into the arm and the skin recovers the wound, leaving no sign it was ever there.
From the moment she entered the incredible strange, amazing and fascinating underground facility, Catila has been almost overwhelmed into silence by sensory input and curiosity.
As the going's on only continue to get stranger and more interesting, she, very uncharacteristically for her, follows along completely silently. When they meet the alien creature her interest increases exponentially.
When the offer is made to join, she feels a strong calling in a deep part of herself, a pull of the fey and eternally curious of her blood. 'Imagine! The possibilities of being able to live for so long! With access to such information! The secrets and mysteries to be uncovered! And just look what they did for the People.' she thinks.
Out loud, before she can stop herself, after such a long silence she finally speaks and asks "What other benefits would there be to joining your Collective? And would the decision be a final, and irreversible one?"
With a sigh, the gnome slumps forward in his chair as the metal tendrils withdraw from him. The viewing window remains, but the voice that issues from the gnome is his own, but tired.
"I have been in the Collective for seven centuries, as were my parents and their parents before them. We cannot leave. While the creatures in my blood grant us long life, health and enhanced physical abilities, they also bond us to the Collective. Removing them is death for us. Still, it is not a bad life. I have learned much about the Collective and much about the workings of stone and rock. I study such things. We each have our hobbies, in addition to our duties." The pale gnome's Common is accented, as if he has not had to use it very much.
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Songan seems in awe of all the new things they are learning, his cat-like eyes wide with wonder. "I do not believe joining their Collective in our best interest, though a mutual non-aggression seems to have already been fostered as well as a trade agreement, as it were. Bringing deceased colonists here I am completely against...there are values and traditions that must be respected, even if they are not the most efficient way to deal with the situation. Things we slay in the wild, though, I've no qualms of bringing here. There is actually more advantage in our not joining the Collective, in that regard, as we would be able to range farther and secure specimens outside your normal sphere of influence. So...it is true that some of the Gnomes that are associated with the Collective escaped and still roam this island? Are they still bound to the Collective even if they ran away? If that is so, can they be tracked by you?"
"Further, in regard to the disease infecting us, I believe we have ascertained that it is of a magical nature, not a natural one. It will eventually kill us and turn us into the undead. We all are currently infected...this investigatory procedure that was mentioned is not terribly invasive or harmful, I would be willing to submit to an examination."
A thought suddenly occurs to him. "Did Surrek follow us into this chamber? Where is our little Ambassador?"
The gnome listens to you speak and nods slightly. "According to our histories, our people came to this island from the First World. Faced with a new land, some despaired and left to find death. Instead they came across this place and joined the Collective. We are their descendents. From what we know of the others, they fought in the angel/daemon war between a powerful fiend and the host of celestials. We know not what they fought over or why, but we know the last remaining angel used the power of the sacrifices of his brethren and the binding of the fiends to cast the island adrift in its own planar space. It returned to this plane recently, though we know not why or how. The other gnomes are not bound to us. We know nothing of their ways or their motives. We have come across their bones, as well as the bones of their kills. They kill in a savage way. And the bones... the bones show tooth marks. Even the bones of their own." The gnome shudders. "I apologize for attacking you before. You startled me and I thought you raiders after the technology here. We have encountered humans in the near past who assaulted this place and stole several of the collective. I thought you the same sort."
At his name, a small furry head pops up from Catila's pack. "Surrek is here. Surrek is happy to hide. Giant squid-spider make Surrek nervous!"
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Songan's ears perk up. "There were other humans here before us, this is true...they are all dead, to our knowledge. We were sent here to find out what happened to them and to try and re-establish the colony they were sent to build. We know that the person sent as the leader of that colony was heavily into black magic."
Songan goes on to describe the strange mural showing some sort of battle scene, with small humanoid figures fighting humanish figures with animal features who are all dancing around the feet of a gigantic creature with the body of a humanoid insect, with many serpentine heads and three rat-like tails, before continuing,"We also discovered a movanic deva bound by we assume the same person, whose name was, or is, Japheel. It is likely he is the same person who stole several of your Collective. Were they Gnomes that were taken? Or some other race?"
Catila smiles fondly and pats Surrek's head reassuringly as he pops up and expresses his concerns. Yet while she does seem to continue to pay attention to the conversation, her gaze seems slightly distracted, as if she is still pondering or considering something.
Leralt gave Songan a harsh look. You do not give away information more so to a being that is amoral. If the thing thought them a true threat it could well consider the safest course of action to kill them then and there.
"Songan due shut up, not only are you speaking on things that do not concern our host. But you are incorrect on a number of points. For example the disease is not purely magical or it would not be so hard to get rid of. It is made up of magical and biological components, you treat one without the other and you will only be reinfected. After all we have magical means to cure the disease but no means to stop it from reinfecting the cured. Also we are not certain or have any proof that the dead of this disease become undead."
Seeing as undead were the enemy of their host he was going to be clear on that subject.
"What we know is that the souls of the dead are taken by the one who is bound from what we have learned. We have yet to run into any undead ourselves and none have been found anywhere near the settlement site. For all we know the traitor simply used necromatic spells to create undead out of the bodies. Best not to speculate."
He comes on an idea.
"Would you happen to have come across any fiendish statue's? Could you also discribe these humans who stole from you and what they stole in detail?"
The gnome watches the disagreement between the party dispassionately. "Seven members of the Collective, all gnomes, were taken. As were two constructed defense drones of the sort you saw in my chamber, as well as a repair kit full of spare parts: fusion chambers, servos and replacement fuel cells. As for the disease I can take you to one who can help you." He stands, slowly and slightly wobbly. "Interfacing with Niiman drains my energy. His presence is... vast. As for statues, we have noted the location of several near this site, but our experts deemed them too unstable to move or experiment upon. We quarantined that area and avoid them during our sweeps. As for the humans, I can do better than describe them." He holds up his hand and once more the skin peels back. A cloud of the small silver dust floats up and resolves itself into a figure, even tinting slightly to provide you with a color image, if a bit washed out. The figure is thin, tall and bald. He stands in a commanding pose, wearing dark armor that seems to flow over his form. He holds a morningstar in his left hand and is gesturing with his right. After a moment, the dust reconfigures into several other figures. These are all wearing dark robes and iron skull masks that obscure their faces. They wield rods that glow at the tip with energy.
"These humans entered our facility and abducted the others. There were 12 of the robed ones and the leader. They used those rods to immobilize the members of the collective and to steal the drones. We do not know how much they understand of our technology, but three of those taken were technicians tasked with constructing more drones. The others were medical personnel. They did not seem to be chosen at random."
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Songan casts a sidelong glance toward Leralt. "Well if I'm speaking out of turn, it's certainly not intentional, but you can find a more polite way of telling me to hold my tongue. I disagree that these matters do not concern our host. Niiman has obviously been here a very long time and has had a much wider net than we have had up to this point. His capabilities are clearly vastly superior to our own; we would be no more a threat to him than a gnat would to us, that seems clear. It seems only logical to me that he may know something about what went on before we came here that could give us a hint as to our next move."
"Further, Tarquin himself is the one who told us that the sickness is what caused the dead to rise and attack the living. I do not think him an outright liar, and while it is possible his observations were in error, he and the People are also the only beings that have seemingly witnessed the transformation first-hand. I believe him to be a reliable eye-witness. He has done nothing to show himself untrustworthy."