WUlfram did his best to practice the etiquette that he had learned in Gendowyn's realm. He bowed and addressed the elder, "Greetings honored Serenar, my name is Wulfram. We have come here to the vault because of attacks on our homeland by the Ironfang Legion. They have seized control of the Onyx Citadel, and have been using it to open invasion routes into our lands."
Rogar marvels as they walk through the crystal caverns, "Aye. Ah've heard o' tha wonders o' tha great Earth Plane, but ta see it wi' my own eyes is somethin' else entirely. "
Rogar bows alongside Wulfram in greetings, and adds that, "We seek ta end their grip on all they hold, and ta chase them back ta where they came from. Do ye know o' anything tha' might aid us in our quest?"
”You know of the Iron Fangs of Azaersi? Vile creatures. They came pouring in through the Stone Road two years back. Must’ve cut down a hundred of my kinfolk before the Old Masters stepped in to stop them. Laid a lot of ’em out, but that Azaersi stepped in, all spinning blades and swearing. Didn’t figure you could kill an Old Master, but damned if she didn’t do it three times over. Only Ziguch escaped. The Fangs have been holed up in the citadel ever since—make some trips off the island for ore and gems or to fuss with the nexuses—but mostly keep to themselves up there.”
“Oh, see that’s one of the nice things about the vault, friend: it’s got a pile of geomantic nexuses. It’s old magic—funny stuff. Rebuild your home, make your home lucky, make everyone in your home sturdy as stone. Their snake lady has been rejiggering them into something new, though. Got the vault shaking sometimes; the vault don’t like whatever’s a-doing.
"I only know the location of one of the nexuses--the Shard Nexus, 'bout 20 miles south of here. We've been trying to shut it down, but we don't have the kind of magical know-how necessary to fiddle with that kind of power.
"We've tried to ask Master Ziguch the Seventh Facet, long may its name be known, for guidance. Lives in the hole now. When the Old Masters left, they stored a bunch of their things under this hill in the hole. It’s why we built here—good location, very auspicious. When Ziguch escaped the Iron Fangs, it came here to find items the Old Masters left behind. It used to pop out to tell us what to do, but I don’t reckon it was quite right the last time. Ain’t been seen for weeks now. We sent some messengers but they never came back. Mayhap you'll have better luck trying to talk to Ziguch.”
Wulfram asked the old pech, "Can you give us directions to the hole where Ziguch lives? We think that the geomantic nodes are powering some sort of trap mechanism or defense protecting the Onyx Citadel. We'll need to shut down the nexuses before we can enter the citadel and Kick out the Iron Fangs."
"The hole is through a hidden door here in Stonehome. It's this way--" Serenar begins, but a commotion from the entrance to the cavern interrupts him. Several pechs scurry out of the way as a being that resembles a towering human with skin of polished stone and glittering agate eyes enters. Beside him stands an even taller golem made of iron.
"Shaakhib! What are you doing here?" Serenar says with a scowl.
The tall man smirks. "I am here on behalf of the Ironfang Legion, to issue an ultimatum. You will renounce your loyalty to the Vault Keepers and pay the Legion a tithe of 1 ton of adamantine."
"That is far more than we have available!" Serenar protests.
Shaakhib shrugs. "That is not my problem. If you cannot pay up, then I will have no choice but to extreminate you."
Rogar spots the scrying sensor above Shaakhib, and narrows his eyes, stepping forward and making very certain that he can be seen by the scrying sensor, "And ah am here on behalf o' tha rest o' tha world, ta announce an ultimatum. Run. Far, far away, as far as yer leathery legs can take ya, and we migh' not pursue ya."
He starts summoning massive clouds of crystals around him, "Or, ye can take a very nice gift o' some very shiny crystals in yer thick skulls. Yer choice."
Wulfram told his companions, "Scrying sensor, we're being watched. This guy's an earth genie."
He grasped his spear and declared to Shaakhib, "You will leave these people alone, or suffer the consequences!"
Shaakib quirks a rocky eyebrow. "Hmm, I was not aware the pechs had recruited some foreign muscle to protect them. I suppose I will have to eradicate you first!"
Rogar shrugs, "Yeh can try."
His appearance rapidly crystallizes, his flesh-and-blood visage quickly being replaced, not by the typical granite statue he usually appeared as, but instead made of the brilliant crystals found all around them. Likewise, the metal shards he pelted Shaakib with were likewise crystalline in structure, and the endless torrent even included more than a few actual crystal shards in the barrage.
Wulfram also attacked the construct, fighting alongside Niko.
Eustoma pulls out her bow and sends an arrow flying at the genie. "Not a good plan my friend."
Sia dashes forward right next to Nik'o, and also attacks the construct.
Karla dispels the scrying sensor before sending Nik'o in to assault the golem. The big cat bears the construct down to the ground, where Sia tears at its legs. Wulfram stabs the golem three times, finishing it off!
Meanwhile, Eustoma strikes Shaakhib with an arow. Rogar fires several blasts at the shaitan, and while only one hits, its impact is enough to cause the genie to double over in pain. "Argh! This isn't over! You'll regret crossing the Ironfang Legion!" he declares before sinking effortlessly into the ground. Rogar moves to follow him, but the genie moves much more swiftly through the earth, quickly outpacing the dwarf and escaping.
Wulfram paused for a moment to catch his breath, then said, "Right, no time to lose. let's go and find Ziguch; Serenar, lead on!" He followed the pech to the hidden door.
Eustoma moves quickly to follow Karla and Wulfram. "Let's go." She scrambles toward the cavern as quickly as she can.
Serenar leads you to the back of the cavern in which Stonehome is located. There, he reveals a hidden door in the stone wall that opens into a large chamber. Swirling black-and-white sand covers the floor of this grand cavern. A large crystalline oval is set in the only worked surface of the cave: a smooth white wall at the eastern end. Paintings of stylized insects and tiny pechs cover the walls, depicting scenes of construction, planting, and worship.
Double doors are set in the wall of the far side of the cavern.
Serenar shrugs. "The ways of the Old Masters are inscrutable. The only advice I can give you is to use your best judgment. Good luck!"
Wulfram listened to Serenar. Great, it's up to us to guess how to approach the inscrutable Old Masters. Well, here goes.
He pushed open the doors and looked into the space beyond.
Beyond the crystalline doors is a ruined hall, its walls and floor carved from a strange white stone. The ceilings tower to a height of 30 feet, but a thick coating of sand and rubble covers portions of the floor. Domes in the ceiling glow brightly, providing illumination. Scattered upon steel tables are tools and laboratory equipment, though age has rendered most of them useless.
has rendered most of them useless. Treasure: Among the remains, some of the more exotic specimens are a calcified xorn (5,500 gp), a dragon’s tooth encased in protective resin (6,000 gp), a partially buried quartz tortoise shell (3,500 gp), and seven pickled earth mephits in jars (500 gp each). The laboratory paraphernalia that can be salvaged includes an adamantine drill (3,001 gp), an alchemist’s lab (200 gp), and a hammer of seismic assault.
This +3 impactUE warhammer deals 2d6 points of bludgeoning damage when it hits. As a swift action, the wielder can will the hammer’s crystalline head to grow jagged spikes, switching its damage type to piercing for a single blow. When the bearer confirms a critical hit with the hammer of seismic assault, a concussive blast emits from the hammer in a 10-foot-radius spread, causing a tremor to rip through the ground. Any creatures standing on the ground in this area with a CMD equal to or lower than the result of the confirmation roll are knocked prone. This damaged area is considered rough terrain for 10 minutes.
At the end of the hall, another crystal door opens onto a large chamber. Five cylindrical vats occupy most of the floor space in this chamber. One vat is full of olive liquid with a goblin-shaped void in the center. The remains of a sixth vat lie shattered on the floor.
A feral-looking hobgoblin is here, his body covered in bony growths and his teeth and nails razor-sharp. He growls upon spotting you. "I am Lieutenant Oktar of the Ironfang Legion! Who are you and what are you doing here?" he demands.
The hobgoblin relaxes his stance somewhat. "Shaakhib? What is he doing giving orders. You've come to help apprehend the xiomorn?"
Rogar stays silent, not trusting himself to betray anything.
Oktar grimaces. "We cornered the being further inside this complex, but it overpowered us. I only awoke a day ago after being trapped inside one of those tubes. The alchemical fluid... changed me somehow, mutated me. The science here is truly fascinating! I've been studying the lab to try to glean the xiomorn's secrets."
Wulfram let Karla do the talking; she was much better at deception than he was.
"I feel tougher than before. My skin has these armored patches across it now, and I've got these," Oktar says, gesturing to his jagged claws and teeth. "As for how I escaped, I woke up when the fluid in my tank drained away. I guess it was done with me, but the xiomorn hasn't come in to check on me. I haven't seen the other soldiers I command, save for one my goblins that I think is invisible now?" He gestures to the tank with the goblin-shaped void inside of it. "But he hasn't woken up."
Despite being caught by surprise, Oktar manages to leap clear of the pit as it opens up beneath him. "Treachery!" he snarls.
"Ah'm not sure this is really treachery, myself." Rogar shrugs, blasting the hobgoblin.
Oktar's mutated body withstands the force of Rogar's blasts, leaving him unharmed!
Eustoma lets loose with a a flurry of arrows from her Goblin Bane bow.
Sia moves forward to bite at the goblin.
Oktar resists Karla's attempt to blind him. Nik'o pounces but only manages to wound the hobgoblin with two claws. Eustoma's arrows all plink off Oktar's armored body, and he dodges Sia's bite.
The alchemist steps back, his wounds quickly healing as you watch. He hurls a bomb at Karla, grinning as it explodes!
Rogar quickly moves a portion of the crystals he began to gather in front of the explosion, the remaining fire not even making him blink. "Yer a slippery one, aren't ye?" he accuses the hobgoblin, bringing his rocks to bear.
Wulram moved up and stabbed at the hobgoblin.
Wulfram stabs the hobgoblin with his spear. Karla coats Oktar with more glitterdust, and this time, the alchemist is blinded by the lights. That leaves him easy prey for Nik'o, who bites and claws at him before Rogar finishes him off with a series of powerful blasts!