Seventeen looks around, good everyone is here. "Well then, lets get our blessing and we can set off to find a cure for the Councillor. "
As the party makes its preparations a man approaches them . Hullo there. My name is Trett, Sanvril Trett. I have a proposition for you. My little birds told me that you need medicine of a certain type. I have it, I propose a trade. You take me into the ruins where I can make a map and study some of the artifacts, and I'll get you the item you need.
Being straight to the point, Guaire responds promptly to the first.
"Obviously you know more than what you're telling us. Speak up if you wish your side of a deal to come true."
Seventeen just sees a complication the party doesn't need. She waits for her companions to shoo the man away.
I know that I know more than you about what these items represent, and their worth. How long until the League hears about them? They will come here and destroy this town if word gets out. I'm offering help here. Take it or leave it. the man says, his lip curling in a sneer. It seems Guaire ticked him off.
Guaire turns his back at the man briefly and looks at the others, but he's got his arms crossed.
"By the way he's saying things, he might be a spy for them, that sounds like a passive threat to me."
"Didn't Khonnir say to get this man Trett to help him? I heard him faintly mentioning his name before we left. Also we don't know if we could find a cure down there at all, it would be better for Khonnir to be able to walk and talk on his own wouldn't you say?"
Mort sizes up Trett and then asks him. "So do you know Khonnir and if so how do you know him."
He's a friendly chap, helped me get a merchant's license to sell my wares here in town a couple years back.
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"Sir, I believe my friend here is correct, that you know more than you are willing to let on. Pardon his abrasiveness, but we have dealt with individuals thinking of the slurks already who had goals that were not in the best interest of our group or the town. And the description you gave could simply mean that he was in the room when you applied for your license and he was in a good mood. Would you care to elaborate more on your relationship with the Councillor? One can never be too careful in these times, as I'm sure you are well aware"
Jarreck says all of this politely and completely avoids confronting Sanvril about the veiled threat he made about involving the Technic League.
Quietly to Mort he mentions; "I believe the Councillor tried to tell us not to use the serum from Master Trett."
"Ah right, so that was it. I couldn't quite follow it as he murmured softly to you Omo and Seven." Mort replies to Jarreck.
Trett narrows his eyes I guess that means you do not take my offer. he stalks off unless someone stops him.
Seventeen shrugs saying, "People are so strange sometimes. Anyway we best be off."
Joram Kyte casts the spell of Water Breathing on the party. He says Thanks to the Bronze Lady, the Councillor is lucid once more this morning. It took several spells of restoration, but he can speak to you if you have any questions for him.
Kyte leads you into an inner room through several locked doors with guards posted, courtesy of Dolga Freddert. Inside the room Khonnir Baine and Val sit apparently enjoying breakfast.
Mort walks in and stays at a reasonable distance from Khonnir and Val, then scrapes his throat.
"Ahem. Morning Khonnir, morning Val. Khonnir might you have any idea as to where we could find a cure for you down where we found you?"
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Jarreck joins Mort in greeting the two after being ushered into Khonnir's recovery area.
"I hope the morning finds you in better spirits Councillor. Good morning to you as well Miss Val. Sorry, if this brings up issues best left alone; but we had a minor run in with Master Sanvril Trett this morning. Do you feel well enough to speak on this matter?"
Jarreck will not press Khonnir if he is not up to the discussion, so he waits for Khonnir to indicate a desire for him to continue.....
"Thank you sir I'll try to keep this brief. This morning Master Trett approached us indicating that he wished a trade. Medicine that you need for us taking him to the cavern and letting him map out the location. With a little minor questioning that indicate we believed he knew more than he wished to tell - he then resorted to mentioning that it would be very bad for the League to learn of this location. Before storming off when we asked about the nature of his relationship to you."
"Do you know sir what has him so riled up? And can you speak of it?"
Seventeen initially rushes in but becomes suddenly shy when she spots Val. After several party members have spoken to Councillor Baine, Seventeen walks over and says brightly, "It appears preparations are complete. Let's get you cured."
'There are many things I would like to ask, but now doesn't seem the time...'
Guaire lets the others do the talking. The councilor was looking slightly better, that was what mattered.
He kept an eye out for that suspicious Trett though.
Khonnir sits up straight in his bed and speaks with the party
Well, it seems that nanites have infested my body. Nanites act like any disease, but they aren't...they are something else. Magic will destroy them, but not as easily. I've heard of a few things, Hypoguns with white markings, Blue Vitality Serum those destroy nanites pretty effectively. Also, there was a Bio Lock in the caves, if restored to functionality then it could do the job also.
To Jarreck the Councillor says Hmm, Sanvril Trett, can't say I know the man very well. He did come to me once for papers to sell merchandise in the market. Sent him to Dolga, she handles trade. Beyond that, if he says he has medicine Khonnir shrugs Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't
At the mention of the League Khonnir says Yes. It would be very bad if the Technic League learned of this place.
"A powerhungry and corrupt lot they are, no doubt. They have the "king" as their puppet."
He looks questioningly at the others.
"To me it sounds like he'll be a source of trouble, he might even contact the league for certain now."
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"Yes, the league being here would be bad for everyone involved. Unfortunately we need to get you well as out first priority. And who knows Master Trett may have his own agenda in this matter as well. There is a non-functioning bio-lock not far into the facility. If I can get it operational that could solve your nanite issue. However there is also a good deal area we have not explored - area that might have the hypopgun you need, the one with the white markings."
"Finding one of those will keep you from having to re-enter the facility and the possibility of running into those constructs again."
"Ok, so we can go repair the bio-lock - maybe - and come back for you or we can continue our investigation. Councillor, your call, how long can you and the Temple hold this off using magic."
Joram Kyte, the Priest of Brigh, answers Each day I can cure most of the damage caused by the previous day's nanites. However, this cannot be our long term plan. Eventually Khonnir will die from this.
"Can you try to drive the nannites out with your magic while we return to the depths?"
Surprisingly gently for such a brusk person, Seventeen asks, "Yesterday you said you didn't trust Trett because he's not from Torch, do you still feel that way?"
She waits for his reply and then asks, "If we find this Bio Lock, would we be able to repair it? Unless we know what we're doing could it make matters worse... Would a mending spell work or perhaps that doesn't work with technological artifacts?"
Khonnir replies to Seven I said that? Well, I guess its good advice. Although there are a few folk from Torch that I wouldn't trust either.
Joram Kyte replies to Omo Yes, but his condition will continue to degrade. We must find some way to destroy the nanites, I've cast my spell to Remove Disease already, and it failed for today. I can try again tomorrow.
Khonnir responds to Seven's second question Well, I've not had much luck with the minor magicks when working with technological items, some of the Greater magicks work better. The Bio-Lock will need a power source, did you restore power?
Seventeen replies noncommittally, "Possibly, Jarreck did something that made a powerful light appear, does that count?"
Then she asks Joram Kyte, "Would Brigh have any Make Whole scrolls we could purchase?"
"I'd reckon it would. The question then, can we exploit it safely?"
Joram replies I have two of them available. You can have them as our thanks for helping the Councilor.
Seventeen accepts whatever he has to offer, saying somewhat woodenly "Please accept my thanks, if the temple ever needs help please ask."
'Did I do well there? He seemed to respond with generosity, and I don't think I upset him. Still, it's hard to tell, sometimes people just want you 'out of their hair' whatever that ridiculous phrase means. I must ask Counillor Baine about this when he is cured.'
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Jarreck cocks an eyebrow at Seven's less than enthusiastic response to the cleric's generous offer. But smiling continues on, thanking the cleric as well as verifying the earlier information.
"Thank you sir for the generous offer, and to make sure I understand. While the work you are doing on Councilor Baine is working, it will not last forever; but he should be ok for a few more days?"
"Omo has reset something in the ?control room? and we have looked at several other rooms in the complex; but as to power being restored to the entire place....well the sky forge is not working yet. So maybe not. That is something we shall have to look into further."
Khonnir replies to Jarreck Have you checked the Bio Lock?
"If not, there might be another in the parts where we haven't searched yet. That place had surprises for us, so why not?"
Khonnir replies to Jarreck Not really no. Poor Greg disabled the malfunctioning Bio Lock for us when we went through...and then the Robots got him.
The party equips itself and heads to the Black Hill Caves once again.
They make it undamaged and unmolested to the Bio-Lock, which is lit up, a result of Omo's earlier powering of the Habitat Dome.
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.
The party also notices something odd, the "Desert Habitat" is now lit up like it is daylight outside. Powerful lighting acts as a "sun" and heat lamps embedded in the ground keep the Habitat Dome a blistering 100F, contrasting the relative cool and dampness of the cave surrounding it.
"Ah...different scenery. Let's keep alert."
Guaire nodges an arrow, not yet pulling the bowstring.
Seventeen looks out into the habitat with interest, "The difference is remarkable, I wonder where all the energy to run this comes from."
1: Burning Hands, Technomancy, Vanish
"Yes it's a different scene entirely. I'm not sure if I like the change though. It's unnatural inside a cavern system."
"Guys....bad news. The bones of those 4 armed things we fought earlier...they're gone. Though there are tracks leading to the north of the "habitat dome".
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"Well, I guess the question is what drug them off, we went to the south east in the habitat before. I don't believe there has been any exploration to the north in the habitat by our group."
Motioning Omo closer...
"Omo, have you any better idea than I do about what these buttons do? It looks like it is powered up, and I imagine we could randomly push the buttons but that might not be the safest option available."
"We must be vigilant then. Many of the denizens of this system are territorial and some apparently wish us harm", says Seventeen lightly. 'Perhaps that purple haired woman will show her hand.'
Omo also has trouble figuring out the Bio Lock's usage. However between the two of you, you narrow the choices down to four possibilities.
Abruptly as ever, Seventeen states, "This is purely an exercise in logical thought and elimination of invalid or undesirable configurations. It seems you have made a good start, perhaps I can build on that, although I may need to cheat somewhat."
Seven's spell gives her the knowledge required to reboot the Bio-Lock into full functionality. It has the following statistics
All of these are of course, a technological effect not magical.