Drahlneep then sits down in the tent and begins checking his pistol to figure out what went wrong. Can't let that happen again, we might have had him this time!
Drahlneep gets to fixing his weapons leaving the others to secure the human captive. The unconscious woman is dressed in multi-colored silks and armed with a dagger. Her twin bracelets are magical. There is nothing in the tent except some basic camping gear and shattered glass that likely held potions that were destroyed in the assault. Kricker tends to his companions and then helps them bind the captive's hands and eyes.
Jeji or Perrik take the Bracers, they are probably some sort of armor.
Perrik mutters a pair of spells to analyze the bracers.
Perrik analyzes the items and finds that they are a set of bracers that provide a light protective forcefield for the wearer equivalent to leather armor.
The magus appears to have grabbed his spellbook, but Kricker uncovers a few sheaves of paper under a tossed bedroll. One page appears to be a rough map of the area, the other two are arcane. Perrik quickly determined that they are scrolls of levitation and nondetection.
After tinkering with his weapon and catching his breath, Drahlneep takes a moment to glance at the map, trying to see if he can make any sense out of it. "Maybe we can anticipate where the soft-scale is going and find an ambush spot."
Perrik examines the map carefully, looking for things the kobolds didn't know about, as well as indications of what the thinskins were interested in.
"Maybe we can trade the bracers. I trust the armor I can feel more." Jeji shrugged.
Jeji started looking around outside the tent, looking for tracks.
The map highlights two areas marked for further study: one seems to be a cave in the valley to the north and the other, some ruins in a swamp to the south. Jeji looks around for tracks, but doesn't notice much other than the disconcerting strengthening of the early morning light.
"Let's get back to shelter before it gets too bright. Kill the thinskin--we have the map, and that will be enough."
I agree.
If no kobold stops him, Kricker takes off the head of the mage with his chainsword and mounts it on the center pole of the tent.
The kobolds quickly kill the unconscious human and mount a gory warning for the human that ran away or any other creature that dares underestimate the Cyberfang Kobolds. They then begin to retrace their steps as the sun rises higher.
Perrik's reconstructed kobold eyes no longer bear their racial sensitivity to the light above, but the others find themselves squinting painfully under the overwhelming glare of the great light of the overground. Thankfully most of the route runs under a moderate tree canopy, but it is hardly thick enough for comfort or unhindered vision.
It is late in the day when the kobolds stagger exhausted into Issuma's hidden lair in the Machine Caves. Their ally is not there, but there is a little food left and the can rest comfortable with rock overhead.
"We need to rest. Who is still hurt, besides me?"
"Heading north seems safer for us, so the human probably went south." Drahlneep shrugs, not sure if his logic holds up. "I am fine, I think you and Kricker took the worst of it."
I can heal you up, Perrik.
The kobolds, natural and synthetic, rest and recover until the following evening. Assuma doesn't return, but as they make preparations for further exploration of the Scar, they hear a mechanical racket from the cave entrance.
Jeji startles at the racket and nearly jumps out of her skin. She readies a bomb and in one hand, draws her arc pistol with the other and begins to slowly make her way towards the entrance.
Kricker readies his Arc Rifle and follows after Jeji.
Drahlneep engages his shield ring and draws the laser pistol, keeping his eyes trained on Jeji and the spaces around her.
Jeji leads the way to the concealed entrance of Issuma's hideout and peers out from behind the boulder. She sees four metal humans, a pair of the tripod maintenance robots that were the first robots the kobolds ever encountered, and a hovering robot with a pair of tentacled claws. They are hauling chunks of metal alloy and junked mechanical gear into the scrap heaps of the Machine Caves and Jeji loses sight of them as they disappear down the wide passage ahead.
"Should we follow them?"
"Yes, they'll lead us right to the League and probably sky-treasure."
Drahlneep scans the ground looking for tracks belonging to non-robots.
Drahlneep sees no evidence of bipeds other than the metal humans.
We should be careful around the other inhabitants of our little cave system here. We don't want to unnecessarily stir a hornets nest in our only safe retreat in this valley.
After Drahlneep verifies that there were none other than the machines entering the Machine Cave, Kricker cautions against interference. The mechanical scavengers disappear into the depths of the mountain and the noise of their progress blends into the usual noises of the mysterious caves. Issuma appears soon after with a line of dangling fish and silently begs the kobolds follow her back into her hidden home. Inside she prepares the new rations while telling the kobolds that she delayed her return until the robot caravan had passed through so as to remain undisturbed. Then she asks whether the kobold band achieved their goal.
"We killed the female, but the male fled. We have their map, though."
Issuma nods. "May I see the map? I may be able to tell where he was headed."
Perrik hands it over.
Drahlneep is surprised that he is relieved to see the return of the off-worlder. He grunts and nods at her on her return before grinning a moment and walking over to examine the map again with her advice.
Issuma looks closely and makes a chuckling sound. "Well, I suppose the X's mark where they were bound. I know these places. Here, the northern spot in the mountain, this is the cave where I was held captive by the Dark Ones. The southern mark in the swamp, I have only seen it from a distance because it gives a sickly glow and the creatures around it are blighted. I thought it best to avoid it."
Well, lets try the Northern Cave then. Issuma, do you want to accompany us for this? There may be an opportunity for revenge against your captors.
Well, lets try the Northern Cave then. Issuma, do you want to accompany us for this? There may be an opportunity for revenge against your captors.
"Yes. I would avenge myself and the others they have used for their foul experiments. I am prepared if you are ready."
"Let us go, then. We have some distance to travel."
Not wanting to let the remaining Technic League slaver slip away, the warband heads out again, this time with Issuma leading the way to the horrible monsters from the void above this world. Issuma knows the valley well and the group travels quickly without incident to the rocky canyon at the northern end of the valley.
The tall Kasathan stops at a rough wall of the valley with swaths of green mold clinging to the broken surfaces. A few mold-encrusted trees and tangles of brambly undergrowth decorate the region. Issuma points out one particularly large patch, which nearly obscures a single cave entrance at the cliff base.
Kricker casts Resist Energy (electricity) on himself before we enter the cave. And then motions for Drahlneep to lead the way.
Issuma holds up on of her four hands as Kricker stirs the band into action. She silently peers around in them middle distance and then points out strange markings on the ground which look like they were made by a giant machine. "These tracks came from the Annihilators. There were two. We saw one destroyed at the Scar's entrance. Fortunately, I do not see the other. Let us enter quickly."
Drahlneep leads into a narrow passage covered in slimy algae. After a short way it widens into a small chamber. A set of six humanoid ribcages, stained red by ragged scraps of clinging meat and hanging from cords like a grisly row of unlit chandeliers, adorn the ceiling of this widened tunnel. The unmistakable odor of rotting flesh mingles with the fetid stink of the soupy swamp water covering the cave passage’s floor. The passage Y's ahead.
Either those are intended as a warning, or someone has a really grisly idea of interior decoration. In either case, looks like we can assume these caves are still actively maintained. Keep an eye out, Drahlneep one way looks much the same as the other. Lead on.
"How old are the tracks?" Perrik is unconcerned with the trophies, nor does the stench appear to bother him.
As Drahlneep steps forward, a moldy humanoid thing rises from the fetid water that is waist deep on the kobolds. And it keeps rising to nearly eight feet in height, totally blocking the way ahead.
Issuma, any idea what this thing is?