"Is there something we want here? Or can we simply leave?" Abomentolor inquires, his eyes pointing to the door.
"I mean, if we can tell it won't follow, we can leave it as well."
This is going to be interesting Spugnoir as he awaits the delicate negotiation.
We come from Magnimar, a city outside this palace and seek Xin, who seems to have floated away in his confusion.
There has been something important in each of these rooms. I'm guessing something is being guarded behind that door. I would like to know what it might be if we are to risk leaving the demon here.
"<Oh yes, Xin. I haven't seen him in a while. I've never heard of this city, Magnimar. What is it like?>" the Marilith inquires from Spugnoir.
+9 wis +10 tears to win
A large city on the coast, almost got flooded when Xin's palace rose from the ocean. Hm...What is behind that door, and are you specifically guarding it?
"That is in Thassilon, right?" the demon asks. "Behind the door is the way to the upper part of the palace. Some workshop and an anteroom to Xin's throne room. I'm only making sure you don't take anything from this room." She waves her hand in a demoting gesture as if that was nothing special.
"But you are not considering leaving already, are you?"
Ardan talks to Atua, so she can translate "Ask it what the terms of it's binding are, and if it wants out of them..."
The language Atua speaks is nothing like tortured cats, rather it is lyrical, sonorous, and deeply moving. Even odder, everyone understand it, despite having no familiarity with the words she is using...
"Under what terms were you bound fiend, and would you have release from your binding?"
"<You are bound too? What a coincidence. Xin would have to release me, as there are no predefined conditions that end my contract.>"
Atua translates for the others, and then replies for herself:
"I am called, a servant of Pulura, not bound."
Ardan again, talks to Atua so she can translate: "But what does the contract require of it. For example, if it were hurled from this place back to the Abyss, would it be required to return to service here? Would it have to fight such an attempt to send it back where it belongs?"
"What exactly does this open ended contract require of you? For example, if you were banished back to the Abyss would it require you to work to return here and take up your post once more? Would you have to fight such an attempted banishment?"
"I didn't practice binding of powers like the lady here, but from the books I know that such a thing doesn't work. You need something more powerful like supressing magic itself to undo a binding. Rayhan elaborates.
"Making sure, no one steals from this chamber. You wouldn't be available for me, would you? Anyway, what's the price of your service?"
I'm afraid this is way out of my expertise.
Ask if they happen to know anything more about what lies beyond the next door or what lies in the chambers below the throne room back on the main floor. The ones that are now flooded.
Abomentolor would point out, that the first of Grergof's questions was already answered - if he understood more than half of this conversation. Everyone talking over the others in three different languages gives the gnome an headache.
Grergof replies that yes we know there is another level but just at a general level. Any detail or a map would be helpful.
As the marilith is - and was - bound to this room, she only knows what she heard about the place. Which isn't as detailed as some whould like.
About the lower level she tells that the bulk of Xin's construct army is found there.
"Making sure, no one steals from this chamber. You wouldn't be available for me, would you? Anyway, what's the price of your service?"
"It would take significant effort and time to break your binding, and I am afraid we have other business first. Given you're only required to protect this chamber from anyone stealing from it, do you mind if we just pass through? Assuming we succeed in our little errantry, we could perhaps discuss freeing you on our way back..."
"No, I'll keep you here for my entertainment."
That a declaration of hostilities?
"If fighting is part of the entertainment you want to provide..."
+4 (dex)+2 The Stargazer +4 familiar+2 luck
"I can do some interesting entertainment." Abomentolor proclaims and does some magic.
A wall appears, that cuts the demon off from the rest of the occupants of the room and the demon's side is filled with two dozen summoned lantern archons, that start firing their holy beams.
"I suggest we leave." Abomentolor tells.
I agree! Spugnoir heads to the door and gives it a look over for nasty traps.
The door is not trapped and not locked.
The marilith swats at the lantern archons with all her fancy swords like at annoying flies, but fails to notably affect them.
16 ranks+3 trained + 2 int+2 luck+10 tears to wine
Move people!
Grergof motions for the door and moves in that direction ready to go through it as soon as it is noted as safe to open.
Spugnoir opens the door and all can move through leaving the rather small room (compared to the large hall below).
A lengthy corridor leads into a workshop. Gears, levers, cogs, bars, and other construct components lie scattered haphazardly throughout this chamber, creating an uneven, shifting surface to stand on. Some of these components are barely larger than an inch, while the largest measure 10 feet in diameter. Crystal shelves are littered with thousands of molds and castings of intricately engraved armored plates and humanlike appendages, while heaps of shattered fragments of transparent crystal lie scattered everywhere. Runes flow like thick liquid along the crystal walls, casting strange shadows among the debris.
The runes on the walls coalesce into schematic-like glyphs displaying the disjointed form of a three-legged, four-armed spiderlike monstrosity built around a central crystal—the clockwork reliquary. As the sigils shift, piercing rays web out to other runic plans of clockwork soldiers on nearby walls, indicating that this central device or creature is intended to dominate or control the army. Finally, glyphic representations of a humanoid skeleton are shown fading into the clockwork’s central crystal, becoming encased within the facets.
Another vision hits the party. In a chamber lit by bright forge-fires, Xin labors alone. Rune-engraved gears and intricate armored plates of all shapes and sizes swirl in the space around the old king, the pieces floating into place with every fall of his rune-scarred hammer. With each new blow, the stooped and aging emperor hisses between clenched teeth. “Lies. Deceit. My outcast court spoils and rots with treachery, but not so my new children of metal from the skies!” Laying his hammer aside, Xin stands upright, his arcane susurrations forming glyphs of power that settle on the newly created clockwork soldier. With several twists of a key that seems carved roughly out of stone, Xin speaks again: “Rise, my servant. Take your place among your brothers.” The clockwork soldier stands, casting loyal, lifeless eyes down on its creator. Xin points a crooked finger, and a magical portal splits reality, revealing a thousand identical creations assembled beyond. Xin rests a heavy hand upon the anvil, breathing deeply with strain and exhaustion from countless hours of such creation, before picking up his hammer and striking hot metal once more.
Spugnoir is in awe of the massive treasure of clockwork components. This goes beyond mere coin, this chamber can bring new knowledge of golems and clockwork tot he world!
Ardan has his mind on business, and sweeps the rooms for enemies and threats...
16 ranks +3 trained +9 wis + 5 eyes of the eagle+2 luck+10 tears to wine
There is no threat, that already exists, but if Spugnoir is left to this workshop long enough, that could change...
Spugnoir rubs his hands together.I will need to start cataloging and see if Xin left behind an inventory. I'll present my findings and I'm sure I will be able to use this place. Yes! I'll show them all! They called me mad, mad!
Atua cocks a shapely eyebrow at Spugnoir's ranting and whispers in Gregof's ear "Do we need to melt this place?
Ardan starts studying the schematic glyphs of the clockwork reliquary, trying to understand what Xin has done, and perhaps find a weakness...
16 ranks+3 trained+ 2 Int+2 luck+10 tears to wine
16 ranks+3 trained+ 2 Int+2 luck+10 tears to wine
Ardan concludes from the pieces lying around and the vision that the construct was made of all seven starmetals and is empowered by a living soul, as there are components around that one would use for a magic jar.
Grergof whispers back:
He has been in workshops before and nothing went bad… so I think we can leave this place…. He glances at the glee in Spugnoir’s eyes For now…
Then loudly to everyone:
Mr. Spugnoir there will be time for all your experiments when the city is safe. What can you tell us of what Xin was doing here and anything about the Spider monstrosity that maybe controls everything?
Spugnoir starts pouring over the notes..
using Promethean Disciple
Spugnoir with his knowledge about constructs concludes, that Xin wanted to become one with the construct to command his construct army. But the original plan was to do so while being alive.
16 ranks+3 trained+ 2 Int+2 luck+10 tears to wine
"If he carries out his plan to merge with this construct of his, now that he is undead, that will render it vulnerable to positive energy."
There is a door opposite to the one you came in.
Well that is good to know…. If it merged with an undead then maybe my smites will be effective.
Shall we look at what is behind the other door?
"Well, I don't think going back the other way will get us anything but a fight with a demoness... But we should let Spugnoir check it for traps first."
Spugnoir finds no traps. The room behind the door might once have been an antechamber to the larger chamber beyond, but its walls are now shattered and crumbling, scorched black in places while still smoldering in others with the glowing embers from a dying fire. A smoky haze hangs low to the floor, and red-hot crystal shards pop and burst here and there on the walls, sending out tiny burning slivers in all directions. A twenty-foot-square slab of stone inscribed with glowing runes sits in the middle of the room’s floor, while sprawled to the west, where the fire damage seems to be the most recent, lies the blackened body of a forty-foot-tall giant dressed in exotic armor and clutching an immense sword.