Simon lands one hit on Harighal, sickening him, while Terana finds a gap in his defenses as well. Ema and Victrix both miss.
Realizing that spellcasting will be a risky venture, Harighal sneers and transforms his hands into axes as he slices at Terana!
Terana fights back, hitting much harder than Harighal!
More swipes!
You hack, slash, and stab at Harighal, overwhelming his defenses. With the final blow, he dissolves into a steaming pile of ooze and sludge. The vivacious rose prism ioun stone is visible among his remains--the second stone of three needed to unlock passage to the Doomsday Stores.
Searching the rest of the testing wing, you find several other experiments. One features an aboleth's corpse trapped in stasis, with various probes and samples from its body on display. Another room features a planar gateway embedded within a dais, granting access to various destinations across the Great Beyond. You also come upon the immense clockwork controller that sends orders to all of the clockworks within the Compass. Destroying it should weaken any other clockwork constructs you come across. The final chamber in this wing is an energy collider.
You return to the Compass's central chamber. Two wings down, one more to go!
|
Simon shakes his head while examining the corpse of the aboleth and the gateway. "Did they bring doom on themselves by exploring where they shouldn't? Or were the aboleth always here?"
Simon shrugs and sighs. "Questions for another time, I suppose. Our path is clear, so let's depart."
Waiting for the gates to sync up, Simon prepares to jump into the third wing.
Terana shakes her head in agreement. "I suspect the corpse remains for study. Some things are not meant to be known in the end, knowledge is power but power corrupts. A lesson that we must learn. Only beauty lasts forever."
She seems melancholy, but as the gates open she visibly shakes herself and prepares for the battles to come.
"...or until it's broken. Which is more likely." Victrix sighs.
You move through the passage into the final wing of the Compass--the application wing. The hallway extends for eighty feet, with two sets of descending staircases, one on the east end and the other to the west. Dark, murky water engulfs the mouth of a set of stairs.
Descending into the water, you can see the hall branches off into three areas. A brass-etched sign over each door displays the respective titles of each connected chamber in ancient Azlanti: “Weapon Testing,” “Biological Appliance,” and “Detection Training.”
|
|
Simon groans when he sees the submerged stairs. "I thought we might be able to stay dry for a day."
Rather than change armor, Simon asks Valentin to cast Water Breathing on him and switches to Seaspike.
"These wings all sound unpleasant, but Detection Training seems the least unpleasant. Let's start there."
Victrix's mind briefly goes somewhere dirty when she reads the sign over the 'Biological Appliance' doorway, causing her to snicker immaturely.
This room expands into an impressive vista of an underwater city. Hundreds of resplendently dressed human figures walk the streets in great gaggles. Spires of impressive architecture soar high above the humans walking the streets. The entire scene is made unnerving by the presence of water, from floor to sky, which the meandering crowds seem unobstructed by.
Of course, Simon immediately deduces that the room is cloaked in illusions. He sees the room is actually bare stone, with an exit on the far side of the room.
Terana finds the room supremely creepy, but Simon has not let her down yet so she trusts him and follows him through the 'crowds'.
"Huh. Neat."
Victrix follows.
Ema was glad the mad Thassilonian was gone from this world, it would make thins so much easier on everyone. As they continued their explorations Ema looked at all they saw, some of it bringing nostalgic memories to her, others making her realize just how depraved her people could be. It was probably for the best that they were gone now.
As Simon led them through the chambers in pursuit of the final key Ema found her worry growing. Could things really be this easy, were they going to be able to complete this fight? She truly didn't know and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing as they walked through the illusion cloaked room.
As you cross the room, Simon notices several of the illusory people seem "off." Either their behavior or slight imperfections in their appearance mark them as something other than human. A few drift towards you, but Simon calls them out and when you attack them, they briefly transform into veiled masters before harmlessly vanishing.
You make it through the far door unharmed. An entirely submerged hall, roughly trapezoidal, stretches well over a hundred feet wide. Its angled north and south walls are metal grates rather than the stone of the rest of the facility. A short hallway in the southwest holds a large metal door, while a twin hallway in the northwest leads to what looks to be a ruined hallway. Facing the central exit to the east is an elevated pulpit, connected to twin staircases and resembling a balcony over the voluminous room.
Standing on the platform is a tall mechanical man with wings and four faces! He regards you imperiously. "Halt, mortals. My designation is Quatronicus. I am a yarakhut, a type of inevitable dedicated to preventing technologies from ending up in the hands of those deemed reckless or not ready to comprehend the power of such technologies. The Compass is my jurisdiction. What are your motives for exploring this facility?"
Ema stepped forward when they found the inevitable. The being was at least willing to speak with them first and that. It's concerns were quite valid and Ema couldn't help but agree as she said, "I agree with you, some knowledge is far too dangerous and should not be freed. Unfortunately it may be too late. One of the Veiled Masters has gotten into the secured weapons lab underneath the Compass and we need to get down there to stop it from using the weapon to tear apart the planes. We have to get through the failsafe first so we can reach it and hope we are in time."
Ema gave the being a serious look as she continued, "I am Emalliandra daughter of Aliandara by Jazradan and to my knowledge I am the last of my people that still live, it is my responsibility to stop this creature and I will stop it or die trying. I ask only that you let us pass to complete what we cam here before. Once we have won do you want us to destroy the weapon?"
"Yes," Quatronicus says. "Failing that, I must insist that you do not take any weapons or other items you discover in this facility to the outside world. That includes magical objects as well as technological ones." The being points a finger at the helmet Terana is wearing.
"If you agree to my terms, then I will allow you to proceed with your exploration unimpeded. Failure to comply will looked upon harshly."
Ema considered what the creature said and tried to recall what it was.
It's request was reasonable and Ema had no problem with acceding to it. She looked up at the closest set of eyes to her and met them and said, "I do not have a problem with this agreement. Much of what my people this world is not, or may never be, ready for. I cannot speak for everyone thought."
Ema turned and looked at the others and then asked, "Can you all agree to this stipulation? I believe it's request is reasonable and it would be a waste to fight if we don't have to."
Victrix shrugs. "Eh, works for me."
”You may proceed,” Quatronicus declares.
You move past the inevitable and through the shattered remains of a laboratory. A crack in the lab’s wall leads into a strange cove. Thick growths of crimson coral line the walls of this cavernous area. Several clumps of the same substance rise from the floor, like dulled spikes or stalagmites. The arrangement of the coral growths on the floor is roughly rectangular, giving the area the semblance of an arena. An exposed opening several dozen feet wide is visible along the back end of the cavern. Beyond the opening, the water seems to churn in constant motion.
A fiendish woman floats in the center of the room. She has glamorous scaled skin and a growth of braided hair resembling coral formations, with only the iconic Azlanti facial structure showing through. Her eyes are a stark red, continually weeping crimson tears into the water around her. She a bastard sword forged from magically enhanced glass, and a sparkling blue rhomboid ioun stone, the last of the three keys necessary to enter the Doomsday Stores, gently rotates around her alluring coral-wrapped head.
“I am General Rashimos, known as the Eastern Blade,” she says in Azlanti, her voice echoing off the chamber’s walls. ”I stood at the front of Azlant’s march on Arcadia, slaying the unenlightened and standing atop the heaped dead on the Shraedar Peninsula. My blade has sipped the blood of Thassilon’s armies and carved the flesh of veiled masters. With the death of my empire, I pledge myself to a more deserving patron, a patron whose silence demandsyour blood. I say this, so you know the name of she who ends your story.”
As she starts toward you, four fiendish water elementals appear in the corners of the chamber, eager to join the fight as well!
"...well, at least you're not another bloody ooze-thing." Victrix sighs before raising her axe and moving to smack the nearest monster.
The sight of the creature before them was more than a little disturbing. Ema just wish they didn't have to fight her. Unfortuantely that was not going to be an option it seemed. "Such a shame since the only one who would demand our blood is the Veiled Master we seek to stop. It's sad you have fallen so far as to side with those who caused our downfall."
Ema recognizes Rashimos has become some sort of aquatic half-fiend. She will be resistant to spells, as well as most energy types.
Victrix moves in to attack the nearest water elemental, landing a good hit. Rashimos begins casting a spell, but Ema swiftly counters it before it gets very far. Two of the fiendish elementals move to flank Victrix, while the other two attack Terana.
Valentin casts Heal, then moves up and touches Victrix.
Terana closes her own wounds with a touch and then moves confidently past the elementals to close in on the general.
"Face me in single combat then General. Unless you are afraid!"
Victrix lets her rage overtake her when Valentin restores her health, throwing herself into the fight and trying to rip apart the nearest elemental!
Ema had an idea to help make this fight much easier and she proceeded to put it into motion. She made sure she was close enough to reach all of the elemntals and then chanted and and pulled forth a bit of honeycomb from her component pouch. When she released the magic at the elementals she spoke in the aquan tongue, "She," she pointed to the fiend, "wants us to destroy you! Help us destroy her and I will find a way to send you home!"
Two of the water elementals resist Ema's suggestion, but the other two turn towards Rashimos, ready to aid you in the fight!
Terana dodges an opportunistic attack from the elemental as she moves in on Rashimos, slicing the fiendish woman with her glaive! Victrix swings her axe ineffectually as Simon protects her and Valentin heals her.
Rashimos meets Terana's challenge, declaring a smite of her own as she brings her bastard sword to bear! She strikes the paladin twice, though Terana's armor protects her from what might have been truly devastating strikes. Still, the gillman is barely able to maintain consciousness.
One elemental attacks Victrix twice, missing with both swings thanks to displacement. The one attacking Terana moves to pursue her, but it narrowly misses with its swing.
The two elementals that succumbed to Ema's suggestion swim up and attack Rashimos, but she manages to avoid their watery fists as well.
Victrix roars out of frustration and swings her axe some more!
Valentin Dimensional Hops to a position near Terana and casts Heal, hoping the elemental doesn't have another AoO.
With her team behind her Terana grins slightly maniacally and eels through the water which is her natural home.
You fight well General. She says telepathically. I am sorry this can only end in your death but it is the fate of those who fight alone.
Terana proves that the power of Shelyn far outclasses the power of Rashimos' abyssal patron, smiting her with several devastating strikes. As the half-fiend floats lifeless in the water, she turns to take out the elemental behind her. With two elementals still following Ema's suggestion to aid you, it's only a few moments later before you destroy the other enemy elemental and emerge from the battle victorious!
Now that you have acquird all three of the necessary ioun stone keys from the various wings of the Compass, you can proceed to the final section of the facility: the Doomsday Stores. To reach the Doomsday Stores, a single person must have each of the three ioun stone keys in her possession while interacting with the central plinth in the Convergence Hall. As long as she carries the keys, that person instinctively knows she can redirect the transportation array to access the facility’s depths, rather than just connecting to the surface entrance. Once the Doomsday Stores are accessed with the ioun stones, the lockdown effect on the transportation array will be overridden—the ioun stone keys will no longer be necessary to reach this location again.
The image of Jazradan appears before you once more. "Excellent. You have everything you need to access the Doomsday Stores. The time has finally come to stop Ochymua's vile plots. I will instruct you on how to disable the Synchrony Device that you may ensure it will not fall into the wrong hands." The Grand Arcanist tells you a series of levers to pull and crytsals to manipulate on the control panel that will deactivate the weapon safely.
"You should rest and prepare before you enter the Doomsday Stores. Be absolutely certain you are ready."
"We must press on." Terana says, shaking her head at the Grand Arcanist's suggestion as she swigs a couple of potions. "Beating the Veiled Master is the only thing that matters and if it has arrived before us then we must not give it any more time with the device!"
Ema was relieved they had everything they needed as they returned to the central chamber. She listened to what her father had to say and nodded as she agreed, "Yes, we should take the time to rest. There was the one room we came across that should suffice. If you all feel we need to leave and return we should leave the various things we have acquired here with the Inevitable we came across for safe keeping and then return for them when we are ready."
Victrix looks down at her blessed greataxe and puts it on her back.
"Right. Been saving this one." She draws her aberration-bane longsword and gives it a few swings.
"It's almost time for the end. Can't believe we've come this far..."
|
|
Simon stays quiet, a look of grim determination on his face.
After his daily preparations, he heads to the portal with the others. Once on the other side, and sure that they are momentarily safe, he motions the others to wait, sits down, and quaffs an extract of Arcane Eye to get an idea of the layout of the facility and any defenses.
Once you are prepared, you use the three unique ioun stones to activate the transport platform. The platform glows with power, and you find yourselves standing in another chamber. An octagonal depression rests in the center of this larger octagonal stone chamber. Each of the walls, save one, is sealed over with a slab of a material that resembles obsidian. The unobstructed passage out of the chamber is a long corridor that leads into a far larger area beyond.
A pair of clockwork soldiers stand guard near the entrance to the corridor. They raise their halberds, the ends of which burst into flames as they prepare to attack!
They move in and slash at Terana, but come up just short as her armor protects her!
Terana retaliates but she's clearly more concerned with the battle that she is sure lies ahead than the one right in front of her.
Victrix growls. "Oh for--OUT OF OUR WAY!"
Then she raises her sword and starts swinging!
Annoyed at the clockwork soldiers blocking their path forward Ema tore open a crack in space so she could step through and line the two up. Having done so she cast a spell and sent a bolt of electricity zipping from her hands to tear through the two automata.
The Ghaele she had called forth before they began pointed it's fingers at the automata and sent a pair of light beams lancing out at the most damaged of the two .
Then it quickly drew it greatsword and moved in to help take down the last of the clockwork soldiers.
Both clockworks prove nimble enough to dodge Ema's lightning bolt. Between all of your attacks, one of the constructs falls, while the other is damaged but still standing. It attacks Terana again, this time scoring two powerful strikes!
Victrix steps up and swings her sword at the last construct!