Isuma looks down at Jeji, her questioning glance apparent behind her goggles. "You have seen others like me? Alive? My race is called the Kasatha. Our world is far, far away and we lived long ago. We were not technologically advanced. No, those were the Androffan. They appear much as the humans of this world, but with far superior technology. When they first came to my world, they asked me to be an ambassador. I would study their technology and eventually take this knowledge back to my own world. This plan fell apart when we came across a dark part of the galaxy and the Androffans were attacked. In the chaos, I learned that I was not the only Kasathan that had gone with the Androffan. There were other Kasatha that were kept on display in other parts of the great ship. Unfortunately, I did not have time to rescue them. I found an escape pod and put myself in stasis."
"That was millennia ago. I was woken by the dark creatures that had attacked the Androffan. They had taken the ship, but it was a short-lived victory when the crippled ship fell to this planet. I escaped the dark ones and have wondered lost in this strange land for some time."
Isuma leads the kobolds to a mound of enormous half-buried boulders in the forest that form a small hidden cave from the space between the rocks.
"...no, not alive. I've seen...remains. Bones, with four arms, outside of this metal ship you speak of...I think."
Jeji grew silent as they walked. She was deep in thought. "Why...why did you help us? And where are we going?"
"Darkness," grunts Drahlneep. "It has a talon on our world. It is far...uh," he didn't want to say it: terrifying. "More...dangerous...than most. There was a time when I believed humans were the biggest threat to kobolds. If humans allied with The Darkness..." He lets the rest go unsaid. After a minute he asks if she is familiar with the Androffan language. "If the humans here are afraid of TEK magic, perhaps we can use it to our advantage."
Although the kobolds have plenty of headroom in the close quarters, the tall alien is cramped. Her head hangs even lower in sorrow. "I can never return home. It is lost to me in time and space. I have searched this world for any sign that my people or the Androffan remain. I have found nothing. Perhaps there is nothing left for me to do but try and fight the dark things that we brought here."
"I helped you because I have seen your kind before- enslaved by the Technic League in mines to the north. I could not help them then, but I wanted to try and help you. I would avoid the people of the village, they are not afraid of technology; they hate it. A vicious dwarf attacked me as soon as he saw my rifle, wounding me."
"Why are you here?"
"We need to do something for one of our family. I am not the best to explain. Why can you not go home? You don't think one of these vessels might be repaired?" Drahlneep regrets the question as soon as he asks it. If one of these star-faring ships could be repaired, the humans in the League would use it in their clumsy way and bring more of the Darkness here.
Thank you for you help, I am not sure we would have defeated the turtle without you. We seek an area of TEK under that town, perhaps some of what you seek is there as well? I'd be honored to venture with you.
The Kasathan shakes her head. "No, there is no other great ship that could make that journey. The Divinity and whoever I once was are no longer. I will die doing what I can against the Dark Ones. If you have located someplace that may hold unknown technology that I may use against my foe, I will help you investigate. Now perhaps we should rest."
Nothing occurs beyond a steady rain throughout the day and the next night is dark under a blanket of clouds; excellent cover for the kobolds and night-vision goggled Kasatha. The party carefully makes its way back over the wall and around the oily pond. Its silent waters remain undisturbed this time. A scree slope rises above the pond to the stony knob which is surrounded by the human settlement except for the desolate quarter nearest the polluted pond.
The kobolds consult with Casandalee once again about the location of the Aurora. Isuma watches with interest, but makes no comment. The oracle in the crystal says that it is under the overgrown portion of the slope on the right. Under cover of darkness, the kobolds enter the scraggly woods. Quickly, they spot an abandoned well.
"If our guide is correct, that well might get us close to this ship." Drahlneep thinks of their time in Torch and tells Isuma, "I...if you see monstrosities that used to be your people...they're not anymore. They're just not. You know things that could keep us alive down there. Panic and depression could get us all killed." Something in his tone suggests Drahlneep's words are more for himself than the multi-armed alien.
He checks his gear and nods to the others. "We need to make sure these TEK paranoid humans haven't placed any clumsy traps here."
Jeji, can you take a look at the well?
"Yes, yes. Of course."
Jeji nodded as she slowly crept forward towards the well.
Not far away is an overgrown house and half-collapsed barn. The well is not much more than a shored up hole with a heavy capstone on top sealing it from disturbance. The capstone is a slab of solid granite, 4 feet across and 1 foot thick. It has a rune carved on it, but Jeji, after approaching on creepy-claws, doesn't find any immediate hazards.
Hmm, there is a symbol of Erastil on there. Let me look at it with the sight, it might be magic. Detect Magic
Kricker finds that there is magic on the rune.
Kricker continues to stare at the magic rune to try to figure out what kind of magic is on there.
Kricker can't read the aura well enough to get a specific school.
Jeji, something is up here, but I can't figure out what. Can you see if you can disarm any possible trap?
"I didn't see any signs of traps but I can look again. It seems to just be a very big, very heavy door" she said as she slowly crept around the well.
Drahlneep leans close, not quite sure what he is looking for, but hopeful he might be able to help Jeji.
With Kricker's assurance that something is there, Jeji takes a second look and can sense that maybe there is some sort of magical trap. She manages to probe its extents without triggering it. She tells the others that she thinks that moving the stone will set off the trap. She may be able to disarm it, but it will be extremely difficult.
"There is magic on the stone? I do not understand." Isuma says.
Now that she at least had her suspicions about a trap confirmed, Jeji set about trying to disarm it.
Jeji does something over the rune and somehow her claws catch strands of spell matter. With dexterous and skillful manipulations, she is able to remove the arcane trap from the stone. Isuma looks impressed.
Remaining cautious, Kricker prays for great might and then to silence the stone. He easily shoves the great rock aside to reveal a pit beneath. The group peers into the darkness and find that the well descends about 30 feet and then through a jagged hole in a sheet of thick metal at the bottom.
With her curiosity overcoming her fear, Jeji asked "Do we have any rope? Or do you think you could lower me down with that rope gun thing?"
Kricker has a rope and tying it off on a nearby tree allows the group to descend to the bottom of the unfinished well. Peering through the gash in the metal floor, the kobolds see a small chamber below. The floor is covered to a depth of three inches with stagnant water that’s seeped in from the exposed earth. The west wall contains a bank of strange machinery and cracked or partially shattered glass panels. To the north, an open doorway beckons into another, larger room, but the door’s frame sparks periodically with tiny bolts of electricity.
Drahlneep winces when the door sparks. "Jeji? Do you think you could do something about that? I wish Perrik were here..."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Jeji, if you can't disable it, can we see if there is a control panel for it on the other side and I can try to shoot it?
Jeji gulped nervously. Lightning never interacted well with water, or maybe it did it too well. Either way, she knew it would hurt and possibly kill anyone not protected from it. She shrugged and climbed down, trying to muster her courage.
She scurried over to the west wall and peered around before she started to mess with the bank of strange machinery.
Warmed up on arcane auras, the more physical puzzle of the strange TEK proves little problem for Jeji. Despite her misgivings about standing calf deep in water, a few snipped metal threads deadens the door. The way ahead is safe.
The wide room beyond has a rounded desk in the center inset with banks of technological equipment. A single glass panel with a thin metal frame extends from a desk to the south; this panel slowly flashes with a softly pulsating white light. A few inches of standing water cover the southern portion of the room’s floor, but it does not reach up the slight slope to the northwest. Broken sliding doors lead west to a larger room.
This cavernous chamber is split into mazelike passages by tall stacks of dark, dusty machinery. The western side of this room is a jumble of stone, as from a catastrophic collapse. Three crushed tubes protrude from under the tumbled stone, each as wide as a wagon and capped with a circular metal plate. On the north side of this room, a shattered glass terrarium surrounded by technical equipment stands empty. To the south, more silent machinery looms amid workbenches scattered with technological parts and several large machines that bear restraints and metal skullcaps.
Casandalee makes a noise and once her screen is pulled clear to view the room, the face smiles. "You found it."
"Then tell us, Casandalee, what must we do next?" He makes no attempt to mask his suspicious tone. I will do what must be done for my people, Drahlneep thinks over and over again, searing the mantra into his brain.
"Reactivate the machinery." the woman in the screen says. Seeing the bewildered look on the kobolds' faces she frowns. Isuma steps to the center of the group. "I may be able to help. I received training in a variety of medical and production systems while I was held captive by your people." she says in a flat tone.
Casandalee frown and looks confused. "You were kept against your will? By me? I don't remember... I am sorry for any harm you suffered. Perhaps I can make amends some time, but first let us help our comrades in restoring their lost friend."
Isuma nods without comment and turns to inspect the equipment. After some time, she addresses the kobolds again. "I don't think that there has been too much damage. See if you can find some tools though while I start things up."
Jeji wasted no time in looking about for anything that she was unfamiliar with...or anything that she was familiar with. When it came to looking for tools, she wasn't exactly picky.
Kricker also steps up to check out what can be used among the rubble.
Jeji digs around the broken equipment and turns up a few pieces of possible tools that are obviously broken. Kricker has better luck as the stronger kobold is able to move a few of the larger chunks of rubble. He uncovers a small case of glass and metal canisters about the size of his hand from claw tip to wrist. Most are broken, but two remain intact. One has brown dust and the other gray dust inside. As they are picked up and examined, the dust stirs spinning around the capsule as if from an unseen wind. It settles back down after a moment.
Kricker shows the containers to Casandalee. Will this prove helpful?
"Nanite cannisters. Maybe, but tools would be of more immediate use. Check the rooms to the east."
"What type of tools? Like a hammer or pick? How does that help?" Drahlneep asks in aggravation as he activates his shield and creeps toward the door with his pistol at the ready.
"Mechanical tools like a sonic screwdriver, of course."
"Wait! I go first. It's my job" Jeji said as she rushed ahead of Drahlneep.
"I go first and you guys save me. That's how we work" Jeji gulped.
"I'm the bait" she whispered as she crept forward slowly.
Brave Jeji leads the way using the green card to open the northernmost door. It reveals... a closet. Most of the long deteriorated items within look useless, but three identical handheld objects with screens look promising. The next door clockwise around the room reveals a more promising scene. Workbenches and tools litter this room around an unusual forge. Alerting Isuma of the room brings an appreciative smile. Among the tools, the kobolds find two gun-like weapons: one holds a black nanite canister and the other is something new. The third room is wrecked and the final room appears to be a pantry with lots of goo tubes.
Isuma makes use of the tools from the workroom while the kobolds otherwise occupy themselves. It is likely that above, the light has again come to the surface world when Isuma brushes her double pair of hands and moves to a control panel. She taps screens and reads displays and a humming comes from one of the tubes. "The power is low, but I think it will work," she announces.
Casandalee requests that she be placed on the terminal and closes he eyes as bars of light race across her image and are mirrored on the machine's displays. Hissing and grinding comes from the tubes. Lights blink through out the maze of machines and something is definitely happening.
Kricker takes this opportunity to pray for the success of their efforts.
Isuma reviews the displays one more time, then steps back. She turns back to the kobolds. " There is little else to do now but wait and rest." The tall kasatha nods to Kricker, "And pray." She moves to a quieter corner of the workroom and lays down.
Casandslee's voice is heard from her resting spot on the condole. "Dont worry, I can watch while you sleep."
Let's take a look at these weapons as well.
Kricker inspects the new weapons. The first one obviously activates the nanite canisters though Casandalee wasn't really clear what thosr are exactly. The second one is clearly a weapon and Kricker quickly discerns that the pistol emits a ranged electrical shock.
"May I?" Jeji asked, inquiring about the pistol-like weapon.
All yours.