Any tension between Jolis and Richard evaporated, as both men looked knowingly at each other, trying hard to smirk, while their eyes giggled like adolescent boys.
As promised, the road to the research station is an easy one. The path stretches on for just a few miles, and it's still morning by the time you reach it. You can see the building long before you reach it. It's very similar in construction to the temple in Ruin Village, though smaller by a decent amount. There are also several windows lining the top floor, but there are wooden shutters closed over them. JLike the temple, this building also seems largely untouched by age, though moss and vines work their way up its surface.
The dirt path ends about 50 feet from the entrance, turning back to roots and grass in a perfect line, as if an invisible wall was impeding it. This is as far as the dryads were able to take it.
Well, this was unexpected. says Richard as he is unable to move past the barrier while the other do.
Stops and goes back, checks that Richard is indeed blocked from entering.
"looks like we are staying here"
Not necessarily Richard says. He realized that he may be able to trick the magic into reading him as a race that is native to the plane.
"Oh dear heavens, how can we go on without Richard's uplifting presence?" Lera asks flatly indicating the falsehood of her words.
"Oh dear heavens, how can we go on without Richard's uplifting presence?" Lera asks flatly indicating the falsehood of her words.
Oblivious to her sarcasm, he simply states It's unlikely you'd get very far.
Vitranna raises a single eyebrow, smirks a little, and points her spear in his general direction one-handed in a nonthreatening manner.
"So you haven't been lying about your world then Richard. Good to know I guess. I just assumed you were just a smart-ass AND partially-insane...now I know your just a smart-ass."
She then continues past to examine the building a little more closely.
"Or he was spawned from the deepest layer of the Abyss; a loathsome creature designed by The Rough Beast himself specifically to torture us. Or he can be an alien too."
"I guess you miss out on all the fun exploring, Richard. Sorry", apologized Jolis. "We'll tell you all about it when we come back".
It's better to be a smart-ass than a dumb-ass.
Vitranna ignores Richard's verbal barb and speculates out loud.
"Perhaps there is a way to shut off the field that prevents Mr. Groves from entering? Inside probably? You should be quite safe with Miya here until we can return Richard. Assuming we're not all killed by some fireball trap or hidden monster of course..."
"Alright", spoke Jolis, looking around for obvious dangers, "if you guys need help, make a ruckus and we'll come as soon as we are able."
Looking to the bard, skald, and witch, the big warrior said, "Well, let's go."
Grelda nods and leads the way into the station. Before they enter, she pauses to sing a glorious refrain, filling herself with a surge of hope.
The big warrior smiles as Grelda sings her hymn before entering the temple.
"That was nice", Jolis comments. "What does it mean?"
"It is an Orc saying. 'For those about to crush their foes, drink the marrow from their bones, and bathe in their hot life blood, we salute you.'" The skald gives Jolis a grin. "Hmm. It sounds better in the native tongue."
Jolis nods, "Had a feeling it was something like that. Well said."
A quick look of shock crosses Jolis face. Wait! I understood her both times, in Common AND Orc. I didn't know how to speak Orc before.
The big warrior looks down at his dryadic ring.
"I don't mean to be weird, but could you say something else in the language of your people? Something complex."
Grelda considers for a moment, then speaks a long stream of harsh syllables.
Jolis, to his own astonishment, repeated what Grelda said, word for word, in Taldane.
"By The Gods!! I think my dryad ring now allows me to understand any language! Wow!"
From the outside, you can't see any traps or hazards. From what you can see, the builders likely assumed the barrier would keep out most threats, and the heavy, stone double doors would stop the rest. With a strong shove, you all are able to force them open and step into the lab inside.
The floorplan is similar to the temple's, with a large, open area on the first floor, though there are no altars here. Judging by the furnishing, it was probably some sort of lounge or dining area for the researchers to rest. However, this floor doesn't have the same sort of protective enchantments as the others - most of the furniture has turned mildewed and rotten with age. On the floors above, everything is as pristine as the day it was left.
The second floor opens into a wide hall with several open doorways on either side. There are eight individual studies here, each one with a desk, a chair, a bookshelf, and a lantern. You get the feeling that these were less personal offices, and more communal work spaces.
The third floor is the lab itself, where the closed windows line the walls. Several strange and complex devices are spread throughout the room here. Many machines stretch from the floor to the ceiling, while others are small enough to fit easily in cases hanging from the wall. Most of the machines are quiet and still, but three that are still active catch your attention.
One is a sort of glass dome hanging upside down from the center of the ceiling. It pulses occasionally with white light, but it is far too dim to imagine it was intended as a source of illumination.
Below the glass dome, a ten foot tall, iron globe of the planet rests on a platform, rotating slowly. The bulk of it is made of interlacing lines that allow you to see it is hollow inside, with metal shapes taking the place of various land masses, floating in their appropriate places just inches away from the lattice.
You hear the third device before you see it. Shortly after entering the room, the sound of goblin chatter suddenly starts up behind you. And immediately after, a chillingly familiar voice follows. "Quiet down, you wastes of skin," Grin yells.
You turn around quickly, anticipating an encounter with the bugbear. Instead, you find yourself facing a row of five glass lenses encased in a silver box with a series of levers beneath it. Through one lens, you can see and hear Grin attempting to quite literally whip a platoon of goblins into fighting shape. The others are still dark.
Vitranna attempts to identify what may be creating the barrier and see if she can shut it off temporarily.
Richard looks over at Miya. Can you believe this? It's weird right? The scientist shakes his head and floats an idea to his bodyguard You'd figure that enslaved elementals being the bulk of the builders army that they would have some way for the barrier to identify 'friend' from foe.
You hear the third device before you see it. Shortly after entering the room, the sound of goblin chatter suddenly starts up behind you. And immediately after, a chillingly familiar voice follows. "Quiet down, you wastes of skin," Grin yells.
You turn around quickly, anticipating an encounter with the bugbear. Instead, you find yourself facing a row of five glass lenses encased in a silver box with a series of levers beneath it. Through one lens, you can see and hear Grin attempting to quite literally whip a platoon of goblins into fighting shape. The others are still dark.
Without thinking, Jolis draws his longsword in a flash. Realizing their no immediate danger, the big warrior sheaths his weapon.
"Huh. Weird. Is this some kind of scrying machine?"
Nodding at Jolis' easy observation, Vitranna agrees out loud.
"That would make sense if the arcanists that built this place were experimenting with the environment and creatures they brought here. Such magic is simple enough, and provides perfect safety for their observations. THIS could be very useful for us in observing our enemies and perhaps finding weaknesses in their organization or situation. Val? Grelda? See if you can figure out how the scrying machine works. I'm going to see if I can find a way to lower the shielding for Richard, or figuring out a way for him to bypass it. We will need his help here."
Richard looks over at Miya. Can you believe this? It's weird right? The scientist shakes his head and floats an idea to his bodyguard You'd figure that enslaved elementals being the bulk of the builders army that they would have some way for the barrier to identify 'friend' from foe.
She shrugs
"I would think a command word, of gesture, even a token of some kind for the overseers, seen it before. Once you have that you can get past I suspect."She looks over at the others.
"SEE OF THERE ARE ANY OLD DEAD GUYS WITH TOKENS ON THEM"
She call over
Grelda examines the device. She fiddles with the levers to see what happens!
Lera blanches at the mildewy furniture and unconsciously shuffles closer to Jolis. Once they reach the domed room, she loosens up.
She follows Vitranna's suggestion and examines the devices.
Viska takes the advice of his fellow vulpine and searches around for any tokens.
Richard looks at Miya. Do you think that I need to tell them to detect for magic...?
Vitranna: It takes a moment of study, but you are able to identify the glass dome on the ceiling as the source of the barrier outside. However, it also seems to be emitting a secondary effect. Somehow, it's been linked to the globe below it to create a much more powerful magical effect, the exact nature of which you cannot quite wrap your mind around. Whatever it is, you know it is something massive in scope.
Grelda: The controls are straightforward enough for Grelda to figure out fairly easily. Under each scrying glass, there are two small levers. One seems to be a simple on and off, while the other controls the volume - which you realize when you send Grin's voice booming the room several times louder than it had been before, and then quickly back down to a whisper.
Valeriya: As she watches Grelda fiddle with levers, it becomes clear that each of the scrying glasses has been attuned to a specific location. One mirror for every other research facility on the island. However, you also realize that these connections are designed to go both ways.
Viska: Sadly (or perhaps fortunately) there are no old dead guys with tokens in the building. As he noses about the facility, it seems that anyone who was here way back then left in quite a hurry, as none of them even bothered to clean up their messes!
Lera's eyes go wide as she realizes the two-way nature of the lenses. She hurriedly takes off her cloak and throws it over the lens that contains Grin.
"These are more than mirrors. They allow communication with the rest of the facilities. So if we can hear and see Grin..."
Whispering to be heard, but not further hopefully, Lirotha frowns.
"We need Richard for this. I will talk to him."
Richard looks at Vitranna for a short time. Well, first, I'd turn the 'mirror' off with the on/off switch. Second, the globe is likely a targeting system. I'd examine the globe much more closely, if I were you. Richard finally understood that they will need an army after all.
Nodding at Richard's advice, Vitranna returns and passes on the advice with a few whispers.
Just as Vitranna returns up the stairs, she can hear Grin shout before the glass is turned off. One of the chattering goblins has drawn her attention to the scrying glass.
"Run and fetch the witch! Tell her one of the pictures has gone-"
After pulling the lever, you can move Lera's cloak to one side and see that the screen has gone silent and dark. With one problem taken care of for the time being, you turn your attention back to the globe.
Richard's suspicions may have been partially correct, but he greatly underestimated the importance of this device. Upon closer inspection, you find magical links connecting the globe to nearly every other device in the room, though they appear faint from centuries of dormancy. This globe may well be the controller for every other machine you see.
"Everybody stand back! I'm going to try something."
Stepping up to the globe she attempts to manipulate the magics...
"Nine Hells! Can we please just get Richard in here somehow? This is what he's supposed to be good for." She takes her cloak back and reattaches it.
She sighs. "I guess I'll give it a try in the meantime."
Richard watches Vitranna disappear back into the station. He turns away from the invisible barrier and sits down cross-legged on the path. He looks out into the jungle and sighs. I'm starting to think that someone tuned the barrier to exclude me personally. I hate to say it, but I think that one of our island friends is a spy for the bad guys. It would have to be someone who knows how big a threat that I would pose.
Miya goes and stands next to him.
Some how unseen and from some hidden place she has taken out
a black Composite short bow and notched a black arrow into it.
Now holding it ready she Ready to pull it and shoot if neededs,
she too looks out into the foliage.
As Richard talks of him being singled out, she dose not like most would think him egotistical, no her paranoia meant she could see his point of view as very logical.
"Yes I can see that being so, I for one found that odd Fox worrying, there was something Demonic about it I swear. Such things can be used as eyes for others. If not it then any we have meet on our travels. Trust no-one 100% that is always the best way, not even me, even with a honnor contract in place, I could be compromised by magic or other means. We shall have safe words, that only you and I know, if any come in may form and say they are mean, ask them this"
She leans down and whispers in his ear
"Ask me, Do you like to dance? The true me will reply, Only with gods and kings."
Then she is back up and looking in around the space once more.
Richard leans in and whispers back...
looks a bit puzzled at the odd names but nods in agreement.
Vitranna and Valeriya study the globe together for some time. It appears that certain cross points of the iron bars can be touched to manipulate items around the room. It takes significant trial and error to find the right combination of presses to deactivate the barrier, but after about an hour of experimentation, the globe on the ceiling goes dim.
Outside, there is a brief shimmer in the air where the barrier stood before it disappears.
"Richard do you want to test it?"
Points to the way in.