Passing the cages of animal skeletons, you enter another metal room.
Two strange machines sit to the north and south against the walls here, their faces appear similar to coils of metal tubes with several nozzle-like protrusions pointing into the room itself.
While examining the items he found Sneek calls out to Astra and Liz Ladies come, I found some weird looking items.
Chakos what happened to you, you looked somewhere else. While looking worried to Chakos.
Walking into the other room Sneek stops, crouches and looks around. What are those things? Also robots? Automatically his hand goes to his rapier, his body ready to spring in action when necessary.
Liz cautiously examines the tubes.
This seems to be some sort of shower? It doesn't seem to be working. I don't really know why such a thing would be right here. Liz gestures to the door. Shall we keep going?
So not a robot? Sneek relaxes and walks towards the eastern door while looking at the floor for any tracks. He puts his ear to the door and listens for sounds on the other side.
[ooc]@DemonMoose My survival skill while looking for tracks is 1 higher, do I find out more? I’ll use my heal and survival skills to try to find out which creature made these tracks, halfling, human or an unknown source.
I walk back to the others. Guys, I found some tracks going towards that door and behind it I hear some kind of wind blowing. Maybe that means we are outside? Weird isn’t it as we are underground.
"A shower? Like a spring rainfall? That doesn't make any sense."
This place does make little sense, perhaps the sound is from some part of these devices. Liz looks more unsure about the area. So many strange things were beginning to appear.
Well we might as well see what is behind the door. Li grips her club.
There is a strange, large stone sitting in the sand. Large holes dot the surface of this stone, with curved broken moon like pieces. It looks like a piece of coral or air-blasted stone. The wind noises seem to come from it.
Argug silently follows along with the others, eyes kept open for threat in this strange location.
"Fascinating!", Astra breathes out as the vast cavern spreads out before them. "To think...such an immense cavern inside Black Hill..." She looks around, trying to gauge the distances a little bit, and her eyes widen the more she looks around. "It's almost as if the entirety of Black Hill is hollow on the inside..." Whether she's speaking literally or metaphorically isn't entirely clear. "This leaves so much of Black Hill unsupported that it's astonishing the hill doesn't collapse in on itself...how does it stay together?" She's mostly just musing to herself, only half-aloud.
Liz gives the answer that is often given in such a situation. Magic. No doubt a wizard did it. Liz points at the stone. I guess that is the source of the noise. I have heard of stone that can be worn away easily by the elements, perhaps that is it.
Excited Sneek looks around for any hidden creatures or traps.
Not really thinking about how this cave came to be here, Sneek just accept its existence and is ready to explore it.
"I'm sure we're all impressed, but we're here for two reasons: the torch and the lost people. Anything here give a hint at either?"
Well Sneek saw tracks leading to the door so they must continue through here, let us keep following them.
Moving into the cavern while looking out for any obvious dangers.
The sand beneath Sneek's feet begins to fall away as he moves closer to the opening of the cavern and the large coral. Under the sand, Sneek feels it more difficult to move.
Stop, some kind of trap.
Seeing the black tar-like substance take hold off his feet Sneek calls out to Argug Big man, throw me a rope and pull me out, im stuck. He also tries to get free using his escape artist.
Sneek struggles against the quagmire of black tar, but his feet are stuck. You hear a cacophony of wind notes being blown from the rock, like an ocarina.
Sneek feels a tiny needle poke into his foot from beneath the sand.
With the ratfolk trapped, the creature reveals itself. A large mass of purple tentacles slithers out of the holes of the large coral stone. Wind blows from the unused holes, a melody of differing tones. Maybe a victory song for catching a rat in a trap.
1. Purple Tentacle Thing
2. Everyone
The purple tentacles swing at the ratfolk. As it makes grand strokes in the air, you notice that the sky is not a cave or a sky, but dark grey metal.
Sneek edges his body to avoid the first, but the other tentacle slaps him across the face.
Chakos will first take 5 HP of DMG, and Sneek will heal a similar amount from the Life Link.
Chakos will move forward and attempt to help Sneek break free. No idea what roll is needed.
----------------------
Ongoing Effects: Life Link (Sneek)
In that case, I guess I'd better charge on up there and help Sneek.
Argug moves over next to Sneek, grabs him around his little torso, and yanks the bugger out of the muck as hard as he can.
HP 11/11
AC 11/11/10
Effects
Hand of Apprentice:7/7
Seeing Sneek get grabbed by the creature, Liz casts Grease on him and suddenly his legs are all yucky, giving him +10 to escape.
Entrap (Ex or Su) The creature has an ability that restricts another creature's movement, usually with a physical attack such as ice, mud, lava, or webs. The target of an entrap attack must make a Fortitude save or become entangled for the listed duration. If a target is already entangled by this ability, a second entrap attack means the target must make a Fortitude save or become helpless for the listed duration. The save DCs are Constitution-based. A target made helpless by this ability is conscious but can take no physical actions (except attempting to break free) until the entrapping material is removed. The target can use spells with only verbal components or spell-like abilities if it can make a DC 20 concentration check. An entangled creature can make a Strength check (at the same DC as the entrap saving throw DC) as a full-round action to break free; the DC for a helpless creature is +5 greater than the saving throw DC. Destroying the entrapping material frees the creature.
After getting b&~#! slapped by the weird purple tentacle Sneek needs a moment to regain his composure. A warm glow comes over him, invigorating him. Still holding his buckler and rapier Sneek readies himself to strike the next tentacle that takes a swing at him.
Chakos charges towards the mass of tentacles...
and manages to push his feet against the blackish tar. His greataxe slams down on one of the errant tentacles, cutting it in half and spraying green blood in all directions.
Chakos dodges the rain of green ichor, but Sneek, unable to move, is drenched.
Argug pulls Sneek out of the muck, and moves him back onto sand. Bits of black slime remain stuck to the ratfolk's feet. A small tendril pulls itself out of Sneek's foot and back into the sand.
You hear Astra murmuring, "Is it a mollusk? Or some kind of desert squid? I wonder if it secreted that rock as a habitat or is using it as a borrowed, personal shelter. Perhaps its some kind of alien creature, or underground aberration. I've never seen anything quite like this in any books..."
The purple thing swings its tentacles at Chakos.
The first thick purple tentacle slams into him, knocking the air out of his lungs. Chakos feels something break inside. The second tentacle looks like its going to hit Chakos as well, but the first tentacle continues to travel and knocks the second tentacle away from its intended destination.
HP 11/11
AC 11/11/10
Effects
Hand of Apprentice:7/7
Liz sends her club flying out of her hand to strike the creature using Hand of The Apprentice
Penalties for firing into melee already added in
Next round she uses Jolt
Liz's club and electric shock strikes the creature. The mass of tentacles barely flinches from the wizard's onslaught. A blowing comes out of the white coral.
Argug takes a step closer to the thing, considering he was already pretty close to pull out Sneek, and kicks at it repeatedly.
Argug pummels the creature's shell and tentacles. Bits of tentacle, coral and green ichor spray in all directions.
The purple creature whistles as it dies. Looking at what is beneath the shell, you see more tentacles merged together in a blob. Small tentacles pierce through the sand beneath the shell like roots.
Moving a little further into the cavern you see...
At first glance, this cold cavern presents a strange and disconcerting vista-that of a desert valley under a starless, night sky. A stretch of sand covers the ground, a vista broken here and there by bits of strange, spiky shells or contorted, dead fronds that look like branches.
The desert space spreads about 100 feet or more to the north, east and south with upraised ridges scattered here and there. Surrounding this desert on all sides appears to be mountains.
This is a fascinating creature, we should get it out of it's shell and dissect it for study.
Liz is too busy poking the creature with a stick to notice anything else.
(+2 for a total of 14 if it's an alien, from Stargazer trait)
Astra kneels by the dead tentacles and shell, examining the body curiously. "I agree, Elizabeth. We can pick it up on our way back, assuming we will ever return, of course. A bizarre creature to be sure, almost like a land squid of some sort...", though she can't figure out much more than that of the tentacle beast. What she fails to notice about the remains, however, she makes up for in tracks. She moves from the corpse over to the trail of tracks leading eastwards, running her fingers next to the tracks to point them out to the others. "See here, the tracks are continuing eastwards..."
If Chakos is feeling up to it, let us continue.
No way to tell whose footprints they are. The smaller ones, though, look about the same size as Sneek's feet. And the larger ones are sized similarly to Argug's.
The creature is definitely alien. You believe it is a hunter, luring its prey towards it, the sticky quagmire, and then underground tendrils. Examining the marks on the ground around the shell, you can tell that these organisms can pick up their shell and move.
Let us follow the tracks.
Astra's spell actually heals me for 10, so I'm gtg.
Give me a bit and I'll try some of those rolls too.
"Indeed, let's follow these tracks, there's no telling what we'll find."
Argug nods at the others and begins to follow the others' lead for the tracks, as he is not exactly an expert tracker. He keeps his eyes open for trouble as he does.
After being completely covered in green goo Sneek tries to clean himself up a bit. He looks around the cave trying to see where they need to go next.
Seeing the others leave, following some kind of tracks Sneek takes his place in front of the group, looking around for possible threats and traps. While walking past the other he says Thanks for help with tentacles.
You travel deeper into the desert. After a short while, despite that there is no sun above you, the temperature is neither colder nor warmer than the underground cave.
You pass by a tall ridge in the center of the cavern. The tracks on the ground cut just south of the high area.
After a few seconds you feel an uneasy presence around you. The ground shakes and skeletal figures dig themselves out of the sands. Their alien bodies consist of four clawed arms and elongated skulls.
Chakos murmurs, "Kasatha ..." and suddenly an image flashes in your minds. However, these things have no flesh, or blood, or organs. The skeleton by Elizabeth's eyes glow with a faint green light.
1. Skeletons
2. Everyone
The skeletons move closer to you and swing their claws.
Chakos will 5' step down and left and attack the one on Astra.
HP 11/11
AC 15/15/14
Effects:Mage Armor(+4 AC 2 hours)
Hand of Apprentice:6/7
Liz 5' steps to the east, draws her scroll of Mage armor(move) and casts it.
+4 AC for 2 hours so AC 15