|
Brayne sneaks into the large room...
This enormous gallery stretches beneath a high arched ceiling. A grand staircase rises to the north and a pair of mahogany doors stand to the south (that lead into entry hall) carved in a relief of one of Absalom’s countless sieges. At the room’s center, a gleaming collection of glass and metal—like some sort of abstract bird—rises upon a single steel support toward the ceiling. A number of glass cases lining the walls have been shattered, scattering strange devices and clockwork limbs amid the broken glass.
Seven bodies litter the floor; four in black robes and three dressed in respectable local fashions. A smoky haze still fills the air.
|
"We best be on high alert then, there's no knowing what is in store." Brayne says as he taps each person on the shoulder, imbuing them with the darkness from within him.
Unsure at what Kulga is doing, he mimics her anyway, taking a hankerchief from his bag. Brayne then casually browses through the dead bodies, looking for anything of interest that could be used. Similarly, he also scans the room for possible movements.
|
Before the party spreads out, Veres casts a quick spell, message on everyone, making sure they can quietly communicate even at great distances.
"I don't like the haze either. I'll cover you from here and then move up once you've checked the scene."
Veres slides her wand back in it's wrist sheath and then unlimbers her bow, quickly nocking an arrow. She watches the room for any movement other than her group.
|
|
"Haze? What about the dead bodies, am I the only one more worried about those? It could be the haze that killed them, or whatever killed them could have caused the haze, maybe?"
Garduk examines the bodies and the area around them for clues as to what happened, and wonders about the smoke. Despite his grumbling, he follows Kulga's lead and covers his face with a wet scrap of cloth.
|
|
Kulga notices scuffs on the tile floor, revealing something heavy was dragged from east to west.
The bodies seem to be a mix of museum employees and figures dressed in all black. You are unsure what may be causing the haze but it seems to be dissipating slowly.
As you move about, suddenly a voice from above yells down.
You get out of here, you silver slime freak!
|
|
With equal surprise, Veres says with great sincerity, "Yes! As my friend says, we are here to help. We recently ran afoul of robotic gearsman near the entrance and we were forced to dispatch them. You must have heard the battle. Are you injured? I can offer healing to you."
After a brief pause, she continues, "My name is Veres. Who might you be?"
|
|
Veres creeps into the room, inspecting the broken display cases and the general wreckage on the floor for any signs of the silver slime.
She looks to the others and shrugs questioningly, whispering to the team through the message magic, [small]Any sign of this silver slime she mentioned? I would expect it left some trail at least if it killed everyone here.[/small]
With a resigned sigh, Veres responds to the female voice, "I wish circumstances were better for meeting you Gerva. Do you need help getting down? As I said, we cleared the entrance, so it should be safe now."
When she gets close enough to the bodies to check them, she looks for burns or some other marks that might indicate cause of death.
Many questions swirl about in her mind, but she only asks one, "What exactly happened here?"
|
|
Other than signs that something heavy was dragged (that Kulga previously noticed) there is no sign of silver slime. Veres is to preoccupied with looking for signs of the slime that she can't comprehend how these people died.
Gerva responds Well we were confronting the thieves demanding our artifacts back, it was getting tense. Then the boy pushed the button on the crate, the slime came out of it fast and then it went inside him and then, well, he just went berserk!
Brayne makes his suggestion, but Garduk delays the body hitting, But neither he nor Veres can recall a single thing about silver slime.
|
|
I would guess he is, and I would look out if I were you! Gerva says before adding, Nigel Aldain and his accomplishes of courses and our precious technology of course. You don't support Aldain do you? Voice increasing slightly in anger.
Brayne pursues the room and finds displays of Numerian artifacts, everything from decommissioned weapons and appliances to damaged
robots, along with dozens of Numerian silverdisks, all neatly labeled with the staff’s best guess at their purpose. The center display to the east contains the blasted remains of some kind of strange crate. And there Brayne sees the ever so small trickle of silvery goo drips quietly from the largest remaining piece of the crate.
|
|
After noticing the slime, Brayne keeps quiet and backtracks his steps very carefully as he whispers, through message, his findings to the group under his breath. "There's some slime here... this could be where it originated from?"
Once back at the spot, Brayne feels confident to speak up, returning conversation again to the presumed Numerians. "We seek to find the truth of the matter! And will set things right, trust us to work things out."
|
|
Garduk is undecided about letting Gerva go sight unseen. Is she one of the black-clad invaders who shot Nigel? Will she attempt to finish him off once she leaves the Museum?
"One more question - are you going to kill Nigel Aldain if you see him outside? Someone already made a pretty good attempt at it. You may not think much of, but you should know that if he is killed, his family has enough wealth to hunt you down however far you run."
|
|
Veres reaches out a hand, touching Gerva lightly, and says with sincerity, "Before you go, I want you to know that I am glad you survived. It must have been terrible for you here, and I am sorry we weren't here sooner to help."
After a brief pause she says, "But we are here now, and we will try to avenge what happened to you. We expect to face more robots and other things meant to stop us as we move through this place, so please tell us what you can about how best to deal with Numerian artifacts and it's creations."
|
|
At Veres words Gerva stops for a moment, Well, robots are vulnerable to electricity, I suspect the silvery goo is as well. Here take these shock arrows and this as well. She hands Veres a quiver of arrows and a pistol.
She looks to her fallen comrades with tears in her eyes and then exits through the front doors.
|
|
At Veres words Gerva stops for a moment, Well, robots are vulnerable to electricity, I suspect the silvery goo is as well. Here take these shock arrows and this as well. She hands Veres a quiver of arrows and a pistol.
Having gracefully received the quiver, Veres offers a concerned smile, "Be safe Gerva. Meet us at the Dancing Sprite Inn after this is all over, and we can see about the return of any artifacts."
Turning back to her group she sighs as she says, "We've scoured this room as thoroughly as we can. It's time we moved our search elsewhere in this place."
Veres then heads to the eastern hallway, hugging the corner with her bow out and ready.
|
|
As Gerva exits, Brayne and Veres begin to search the lower level. Brayne finds that a double door blocks the way to the west; while another larger exhibit hall opens to the East. Veres takes a look to find this exhibit hall dedicated to historical curiosities, with the western half currently dedicated to Taldan military history and the eastern half displaying Osirian mummies and grave goods. The drag marks Kulga noticed seem to originate from in here.
|
|
Garduk looks at Brayne quizzically.
"A gun? Like those things they use in Alkenstar? This looks too small. What would I do with it?"
Garduk follows Kulga around the Osirian exhibit, reading all the descriptive plaques out loud and growling in annoyance when she drags him away from an exhibit before he is finished.
When Brayne points out the small amount of silver slime on the box, a startling grimace breaks across Garduk's scarred face.
"Hang on. I've been carrying this around since that time Kulga and I were in Bloodcove, with Oret and the dwarven paladins." Garduk reaches into his pack, and pulls out an empty stoppered vial.
"Let's bring Venture Captain Dreng a sample."
|
|
Kulga finds another room concealed by exhibits but finds the door is locked. Garduk carefully collects the residual silvery goo into his long treasured vial. And then explores the Osirian exhibit with Kulga. The best you can tell everything is still intact, but then you notice a small ornate sarcophagus that is obviously missing a lid, and wouldn't you know it the drag marks on the floor seem to start right there.
|
|
Brayne looks keen to open the door and explore every corner of this wonderful place, but waits till everyone is ready to do so. He catches up with Garduk, giving him a stern pat on the back as he completes the collection of the slimy substance. "Ah, that's why you are the brains. Always thinking one step ahead."
A little after, he catches up with Kulga. "So.. what's this then?"