Faenor spins his pistols and holsters them. Taking a quick inventory of the char marks on his trench coat, he sighs and follows Sylvia
Caladrel lingers in the room before following the others looking for anything of interest. He is simultaneously disturbed and intrigued by the mechanical beings they just encountered. He had never encountered such a creature before.
Seeing Caladriel pause, Feanor chides himself for not examining the constructs. He turns to examine the fallen machines
Faenor can see that these creations were designed as clockwork assistants, but they were hastily refitted with defensive capabilities, probably recently.
Faenor and Caladrel observe nothing else in this room, although Caladrel can still hear the babbling voices drifting indistinctly through the east wall.
Sylvia tries the next door and finds it unlocked. Beyond is a large laboratory. Alchemical apparati of every description abound on desks and tables around he perimeter. Bubbling solutions and preserved specimens that twitch spasmodically occupy shelves along with tools, reagents, and chemical components.
Another door occupies the same wall as the one you opened: the door to the adjoining office suite that you know to be Professor Hinzackle's.
In the center of the laboratory on a metal table is a specimen that the Professor almost certainly did not have University approval to create: a foul assemblage of human body parts, crudely sewn together and till evincing various signs of decay. The figure lies still upon the table.
Faenor grimaces
"these constructs were not meant to be guards or fighters. Someone suddenly felt the need to arm them
"Oh my Jolly! That's not right..." Jerry says staring at the remains on the table. "So the Professor was working with our missing Prof. Laveness..." He puts a hand on the wall staring aghast at the bits on the table, hoping they haven't found the missing woman, or at least part of her.
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Sylvia leans on Jerry, covering her nose and mouth with one hand. "Gods, that's just... I'll bet he didn't have approval from the Humanoid Subjects Research Committee for that." Her voice is muffled by the protective hand. "No wonder he had guards. He'd be arrested - or worse, lose tenure! - if they found this. But where did all the people go? Are they all in that one office? We should have left somebody to guard the other exit, Jerry."
While the others still examine the clockwork objects, she slips to Hinzakle's door and quietly puts an ear to it.
Nodding with gratitude at Sylvia's hand, he realises maybe her slightly flippant attitude is just a defence mechanism. 'Or maybe it's just that she puts a different emphasis on things.'
"Sorry about that, thought you fellows needed some help." He replies quietly knowing it was him that'd been guarding the other exit. However, he starts to move around the room putting out any bunsens or ethanol burners in case the reagents boil dry (all the while keeping away from the body parts).
"You don't suppose.... Professor Laveness?" he motions to the viscera on the table.
"Ugh, I hope not," Sylvia mouths to Jeremiah, looking somewhat horrified, ear still pressed to the door.
On the bright side, we'll probably need to cleanse this place with fire, and I'm really prepared for that.
Sylvia hears some movement beyond the next door - someone is moving about, but not necessarily speaking. The more distant cacophony of voices continues to drift from the room further through the suite.
As Jerry and Sylvia meander through the laboratory, the unbreathing figure on the table slowly begins to sit upright. Its dull eyes seem to look with purpose at all of you intruders.
"Folks we have a situation evolvin' heah" Faenor drawls in his laconic Elvish accent, pointing at the suddenly ambulatory corpse
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"Oh... oh dear." Sylvia moves behind Jerry and speaks to the thing on the table from there, waving one hand placatingly from behind the nobleman. "You... you should like back down and rest. You don't look so good. We're just passing through, be gone in half a tick."
You understand basic construct traits. This creature is slowed by cold and fire, while electricity will heal it. Contact with it could spread filth fever.
As the foul construct begins to move about, it eminates a horrific stench, which is all but insufferable.
The creature finally lumbers to its feet.
Faenor's eyes widen
"I recognize this heah dark sorcery! Use cold and fire! No electricity, for that'll heal it! Try not to touch it, it carries disease!"
The stench hits Feanor like a wave of evil
"Gods below that is foul!"
"Ohhhh noooooo..." Sylvia bends over and loses her lunch all over Jerry's shoes. "At least fire will help stop it," she coughs, wiping her mouth on her sleeve, "Fire is my specialty."
The unnatural stench overcomes Caladrel with nasuea. He feels his head begin to swim and barely holds down his lunch. "oh what I would give to inhale the natural scent of a skunk. Anything is better than this abomination."
At Faenor's warning the gentleman turns around and looks towards the bench; "Professor????" he asks, the tone a trifle querulous.
Followed by the splatter of spilt vegetable soup, which sounds bring him out of his horror and looking to his polished leather shoes; now covered with some unmentionable substance. "Sweetcorn?" he hazards.
"Ach, that stench is fouler than last summer's haggis!" Smitty moans as he retches ungracefully. As if to punish whatever so offended his nostrils, he aims his weapon and shoots the thing.
The creature is not even slowed by the bullet wound. It is clear that bullets are not likely to be of much use here. (DR 5/bludgeoning or slashing)
Trina approaches and hacks at it with her glaive to no avail.
Caladrel (sickened)
Jerry
Golem
Faenor (sickened)
Sylvia (sickened)
(End of round 1)
Smitty (sickened)
Trina
Feanor retches, a squirt of yellow bile hitting the floor. He raises Telperion and gasps a word
Tiquile!
Teiperion fires what looks to be its own stream of bile, but much more concentrated into a globular bullet shape that arcs towards the stinking horror
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"Ugh, tequila at a time like this?"
"Really... so bilious..." Jerry says with a shake of his head as he unsheathes his claymore, then moves forwards to do a low sweep at the stench-ridden creatures legs.
"Ugh, tequila at a time like this?"
FIFY
Caladrel begins chanting in Druidic. A creature begins to form.
Jerry slashes at the golem, hacking at its rotting flesh. The golem swings back at him with both arms.
Faenor sends his arcane acid arrow at the golem, striking it solidly and dissolving some of its sinew.
Sylvia (sickened)
(End of round 1)
Smitty (sickened)
Trina
Caladrel (sickened)
Jerry
Golem (takes 4 acid damage on Faenor's next turn)
Faenor (sickened)
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Despite her nausea, Sylvia steps away from Jerry and swiftly assembles a firebomb, angling her throw to hit the abomination and miss the sword-wielding nobleman.
"Oh gods, it smells even worse on fire!"
"Ugh! It's like someone lit a sick child's soiled swaddling on fire and tossed it into an orc troop's latrine!"
Faenor retches a bit more
Caladrel completes his conjugation. A stout wolf materializes on the other side of Jerry. It snarls at the golem and takes a bite of it in its powerful jaws.
, ,
As flames engulf the golem, it wails and thrashes its arms.
The summoned wolf gets a mouthful of rotting flesh, but the golem is too sturdy on its feet to be pulled down by the bite.
Smitty shoots at it again. The bullet strikes, but does not wound it much.
Trina hacks at it again with her glaive.
She cleaves into the abomination with her glaive and cuts it in two.
There is no time for celebration. The eastern door promptly swings open, as a wild-haired gnome in soiled academic robes hurls an incendiary bomb into the middle of the laboratory.
. The wolf is on fire and will take 1d6 damage per round until the flames are extinguished.
Splash damage against Sylvia, Jerry, and Trina is 6 fire. DC 15 Reflex save for half damage. (Explosive bomb had 10' radius, which is why you were all in range.)
Tiny globules of yellowish ooze pour past the Professor's feat and swarm about Sylvia. (Sylvia is entitled to an attack of opportunity when the ooze moved into her space.)
Faenor (sickened)
Sylvia (make AoO against ooze swarm) (sickened, distracted, needs to make 2 Reflex saves)
Smitty (sickened)
Trina
Caladrel (sickened)
Summoned wolf (on fire) (probably dead)
Jerry
Professor Hinzackle
Ooze swarm
"Ow! Dammit, I'm supposed to be burning, not burning!"
Distraction (Ex) A creature with this ability can nauseate the creatures that it damages. Any living creature that takes damage from a creature with the distraction ability is nauseated for 1 round; a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 creature's HD + creature's Con modifier) negates the effect.
"Professor! Professor Hinzackle! It's me, Sylvia. Please stop! We're here to help you."
Caladrel hustles over to Sylvia to heal her pulling his wand out of its belt loop. As he passes by the burning wolf he barks out some commands in Druidic.
The burning wolf charges through the yellow ooze, its celestial origin giving it resistance against the acid. The wolf takes a bite at the gnome and tries to pull it down.
, ,
Caladrel touches Sylvia with the wand to heal her.
Sylvia's bomb burns away some of the ooze swarm, but they are not destroyed.
The wolf nips at Hinzackle, but the gnome is surprisingly nimble.
Faenor whips his gun around and points it at the swarming ooze. a ray of blinding light springs forth
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Contorting his body to avoid the creatures blows, as the room descends into more craziness with gunshots, fire and magically appearing wolves! With barely a moments respite as the creature falls and the professor bursts into the room vials ablaze; causes Jerry to exclaim; "Are all alchemists crazy or is it required to get tenure?"
He thinks back to his own university days and concludes it's probably the former.
Faenor's fiery ray alarms all present with its intensity. It strikes the ooze globules solidly and they burn away, leaving only a harmless residue.
Smitty aims Bessie at the crazed professor and fires a shot.
Trina moves into position and adds jabs with her glaive to the attacks by the wolf.
Both of them fail to strike Hinzackle.
Jerry
Professor Hinzackle
Faenor
Sylvia
Smitty
Trina
Summoned Wolf
Caladrel
"...crazy or not...." Jerry says softly moving forwards into the doorway holding the zweihander like a golf club. Using his momentum he swings low trying to drive the gnomish professor with the flat of his blade.
Jerry strikes the professor with the flat of his blade. While hurt, the professor just grins widely in return. He steps back and takes a swig from a red flask. Then he quickly leans forward and spews a mouthful of fire at everyone close enough to him.
Faenor
Sylvia
Smitty
Trina
Summoned Wolf
Caladrel
Jerry
Professor Hinzackle
Faenor aims his gun at the nutty professor. This time a black ray spears out of the muzzle
Caladrel moves next to Jerry out of sight of the door and touches Jerry with his wand to heal him.
[dice=Fort save]1d20+6
Faenor's ray strikes the professor, leaving him fatigued. Meanwhile, Caladrel provides some healing to Jerry.
Sylvia
Smitty
Trina
Caladrel (posted)
Jerry
Professor Hinzackle (fatigued)
Faenor