Green escorts you out of the forest through the gate back to the town. It feels like ages ago that you were taken from here but maybe only an hour has passed. You make your way to the inn and find a very surprised Vaara.
"You've been gone for an hour! How did the investigation go at the harbor? I thought you wouldn't be back before dinner."
She says as she's cleaning a mug with a rag.
Nagbur sighs and shakes his head as he climbs up onto a chair. "More sneaky Green trickses!"
"Thank you, mister king! feel welcome to come visit my realm some time, okay?"
Ama goes after her allies, waving at all the fey as she steps through the portal.
------
"I have new stuff!" Ama declares to Vaara, showing her the nearly invisibly fairy robe she's now wearing over her clothes, and showing the tiara.
"I can't keep wearing these explorer's clothes, though... I need something more ladylike, which looks pretty beneath the robe."
"Axe? Axe!"
"An hour? That felt like a month!"
Almalik fixes Vaara with a withering glare.
"We were magicked away to a land of ungrateful fey people and book monsters that are uninterested with well-designed illusions. I'm probably fifty years old now or something. Is there anything to drink?"
She sets down the mug she was cleaning and fills it, just as several other mugs. She sets them on the table the group is sitting on. After setting everything down she looks at the robe and tiara Ama's wearing.
"Those look good. Turn around, let me see."
She nods appreciatively as she feels some of the fabric.
"Is there anything to drink?"
"And eat! Nagbur starving!"
Ama whirls around to sow her fairy robe off. "Why thank you!"
Vaara laughs and moves into the kitchen to fetch lunch.
"Yeah, yeah. Ama got golden robes of the fairy princess, and all we got were sticks. And some new scars. Still, those bone golems put up a good fight, didn't they, Axe? The slugs...well not so much." Idris shuddered as he remembered the feeling of the slugs popping like bags of pus as he hit them.
He grabbed a mug of ale and quaffed it in a single smooth motion, trying to shake the memory from his mind.
Almalik nods grimly to Idris. The Kelishite looks lean and haggard, and in a foul mood. He takes a long drink of ale.
"I'm not a damned charity. Those fey took advantage of our good nature. The next mewling fool who requires my considerable arcane abilities is going to have to pay up front."
"King did say he owe favor. Best things not always shiny." Fish offers his insight to Alamlik between bites of food. "Though Fish shiny and he come from dragons. So Shiny things good too."
"Hey where you going!" Nagbur says to Vaara's back. "Bring back food, Nagbur muchly starving!"
He growls in response to Almalik's remark. "Knew was big trouble soons Green be there. Fey be muchly tricky, muchly no worth trusting."
He noisily downs a slug of ale, then stares ahead for a few moments before looking at Ama. "Okay, Nagbur admit you be different. But you still muchly strange."
After a minute or two Vaara comes back with a couple of steaming plates. She sets one out for everyone.
"Don't underestimate favors."
She says chidingly to Almalik.
"One day you're glad you did him this one. You can't always use money to get what you want."
Nagbur waited patiently -- or at least, what passes for "patiently" for him, meaning he didn't snatch a plate out of Vaara's hands -- until the food was on the table. He dove into his meal with a ferocity driven by the passage of hours unfed, as he listened to the woman philosophically chide Almalik.
"This be true," he agreed around a mouthful of food, "but try sometimes and if can find, maybe get what you need."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Ama cocks her head as she looks at Nagbur.
Everyones takes a few days rest, the short war having drained everyone from their energy. After a few days one of the group walks over to the notice board and his eyes widen. The dwarves are back, again.
The notice
After seeing the work you have done on our hammer we ask one more favour. The reason we were in the village is because our mine was overrun with walking armoured things. We request that you clear our mines and we will reward you greatly for all that you have done for us.
"You guys see this notice about the dwarven caves? Sounds like fun. Go in, beat up on some things, take their stuff, get paid. It's almost like someone knows how much Axe and I like to beat up on things."
Almalik smiles, nodding once as he looks over the notice.
"Although I can't say I prefer their company, dwarves understand a business transaction. They asked us to clear these mines a long time ago, and I believe we're past due to get to work. Again, I'd prefer these people negotiate a price ahead of time because leverage is on our part, but I trust the dwarves to compensate us adequately. Let us off!"
Nagbur facepalms. "Idris excused cos he no be with us then. But Almalik, you no remember how muchly crazy and trouble those dwarfses be?"
"Least they not whiny about hammer this time." Fish says as he grabs his gear to follow the group out the door.
"Prolly just be whiny for something else," Nabgur grouses as he retrieves his backpack and weapons.
"NAGBUR DOING THIS UNDER PROTEST!" he yells at their receding backs, before sighing, shouldering his pack, and following.
After a long absence Ama enters the guild wearing a noble's dress made of fine, black silk and adorned with silver embroidery. She loosely wears her transparent faerie robe over it, and the crystal tiara sits on her head. From Ama's pointy elven ears hang two silver earrings adorned with yellow sapphires, and she wears a golden signet ring with the image of a blossoming tree on it.
"Sup?!" he enthusiastically greets you, then scrapes her throat and tries again.
"Ahum... I mean... How are you, my dear companions?" she asks a bit awkwardly, not entirely sure if that's how a polite person greets her friends.
"So, uh... we are to visit our dear friends the dwarves again?"
Ama frowns and shakes her head. "I think I'm using dear too much... The merchant I bought this dress from reacted a bit weird when I forced that into every sentence..."
You set out to the enchanted forest to meet your Dwarven friends. They made a request on the job board about their mine/city. They were chased out of their homes, their city overtaken by walking armored suits.
Upon arriving they seemed to know you were coming in advance and you are greeted with a party, which lasts late into the night. Laughter, beer and food are in abundance. Halfway during the party you are called to meet the chief. He sits on his elaborate throne/chair with his trusty hammer on his lap.
”I see you be here 't help us, again. You be greatly appreciated for it!”
He makes a small bow from his chair to show how much you are appreciated.
”It be about our mines an’ city. It be overrun, by big’n suits a armor. Be one day them army came’a walkin in. A human their chief. Strong magics and steel fists killed most of our kin… We be needin’ ya help to win it back!”
You hadn’t noticed before but the party seemed to have grown quiet during his speech and suddenly a huge cheer erupts for you.
The party goes on deep into the night and you all eventually fall to sleep, be it on the table or in a bed somewhere. In the morning you all wake, some of you in beds you don’t remember getting into, and find the king asleep in his makeshift throne. He groggily wakes up as you approach and gives you a map to the city, after which he waves you off before going back to sleep.
"Much better this time. Lots food and drink before we go." Fish says as he scampers out ahead of the group.
"It was a good... nice..."
Ama shakes her head and doesn't finish her sentence for a while, until she suddenly says, "It was a befitting welcome for a queen!"
You head out to the location mentioned on the map and get to a small Cliffside. In the side of the cliff is a square hole with a stone door in shambles at the base of it. Peering inside it’s very dark and the smell of abandonment hangs heavy in the air. You head inside and follow a stairway carved in the stone down. You are met by a breath-taking sight once the stairway ends. Light from holes at the top of the cavern reveal a small city. Every step you take echoes through the cave as you slowly and carefully make your way to the entrance of the building. You head down a flight of stairs once you have found the entrance and are now inside the magnificent dwarven made castle.
Idris let out a low whistle as he saw the underground city, then winced as he heard it echoing through the caverns.
"That's a pretty nice place for the dwarves to have just abandoned. Their foes must have been mighty indeed."
As they approached, he did his best to remain quiet, though the others didn't seem to move all that stealthily. He wondered if any of the others were going to have trouble seeing down here, once they got away from the light shafts.
"Axe!", Axe greets the dwarves, showing off his wide, toothy grin.
"Greetings! I am Axe, it is nice to meet your stoutitudes!"
Should we do a scouty thing? If you can make it where people can't see me, then I can fly around and look for stuffs!
Ama's not complaining about the lack of light and seems to see just fine, which is a bit peculiar for an elf. She doesn't mention it though, and nods in response to Axe. "Go forth and multiply!"
Nagbur nudges Almalik. "Hey," he says quietly, "what be best ways for fighting empty armor?"
You move down to the structure and find the front gate, a small wooden door, open. You head inside and notice the smooth stone walls and smoothly carved staircase. Though it looks very simple the craftsmanship is amazing. As you move further into the first room the smooth walls turn into carvings. Every wall and the ceiling seem to be intricately carved with pictures of all kinds. Even the floors have had a touch, having the look of tiles instead of smooth stone.
Idris moves forward and scans the first few rooms of the building. He notices two patrols when he peers around the corner. A wooden like construct is walking towards him and a steel like construct is moving away from him.
Idris moved back to the others, keeping his voice low as he explained what he saw.
"I saw two constructs, apparently walking some kind of guard pattern. I didn't stay long enough to see if it was a random patrol, or a fixed pattern. One was wood, the other steel or some other hard metal. I don't think the dwarves got kicked out by armored men, or anything like that. We're probably looking at an engineer of some sort, and an army of constructs. Damn. These things are usually pretty tough, like those bone golems we fought for the fey. They don't scare, you can't stun or knock them out, and mental magics won't work on them. The best practice I have seen is to concentrate all your attacks on a single one, and tear it apart. Then, move on to the next. Oh, and we've got one moving towards us, so prepare yourselves."
Axe listens to Idris, looks at his golden-hued weapon, then smiles back.
"Axe!", the large man readying his weapon.
Almalik casts a light spell on Axe's weapon and stalks into the cave with the rest of the group. He smiles to Nagbur.
"Glad to you asked, my tiny friend. You see it depends on the source of the animation. Of course, one should have adamantine weapons to cut through them - although hitting really hard does work. If they are constructs like golem, they may have resistance to magical spells of certain types which... complicates things. My best solution there is to use spells that affect their environment. A wooden construct would likely be resistant to fire, but it can be a crap shoot. Constructs and magic have a complicated relationship. For the rest of you - hit them and hit them hard as Idris says."
Almalik casts a mage armour on himself as he babbles.
"If we have a steel construct and then a wooden one, I'd recommend isolating and destroying the wooden one first. I wonder if they are sentient or they simply obey simple commands. We could outsmart them. I will also test to see if illusions work on them."
Fish nods in agreement with the plan. "Get wood first then metal."
Ama suppresses a yawn as Almalik talks, and draws her adamantine nodachi.
So we just have to cut them. Okay.
Everyone readies themselves and the wooden construct heavy steps grow closer. It turns the corner and immediately sees you.
You immediately see that this is no normal clockwork robot. This is a brawler, made to fight. They are fairly easy to hit but when you miss them they will quickly retaliate, trying to throw you to the floor with a sweep kick. Its attacks are considered magical and are able to knock people out for periods of time when they are not strong of health. The creature has magic resistance on top of its resistance against normal weapons. And on top of everything, they are sentient.
Idris moved up to the intersection and braced himself. As soon as the wooden construct appeared, he reached out and grabbed it, spinning it past himself and into the hallway.
“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world. ”
Almalik scowls as he spots the creatures.
"I've never seen a construct like this. Magic resistant, self-aware, and dangerous. I think our best bet is a swift, brutal attack. Beware their sweep kick - the way their clockwork functions shows that their attack patterns would be to knock you to the floor and then punch all your blood out."
Rather than joining the fight, Almalik readies an action to cast grease as soon as the steel construct appears to keep it at bay while the wooden construct is dealt with.
Ama sneaks into place and readies an attack versus the creature, waiting for Idris to do his switcheroo thingy.
The moment the robot moves past the corner Idris grabs it by an arm and swings it to his other side, creating a flanking position with Ama. Ama drives her blade home and creates a gash on the wooden armor.
Combat round 1:
- Ama
- Axe
- Fish
- Idris
- Almalik
- Red Robot
- Nagbur
In bold may act!
Not seeing the other robot immediately, and recognizing this one has no mouth Almalik tries another tactic. He snaps a wand into his hand from his quiver and quickly casts a spell. He whispers intently.
"Kill it quickly, I'm going to try to hide us."