GM Rednal's Iron Gods (Inactive)

Game Master Rednal

Gameplay thread!

Dotting.

tick, tock, dotted

For much of your lives, you've lived in the town of Torch - so named for the brilliant violet flame that's burned atop Black Hill for over a century. It's always been a fairly small town, never quite satisfying your desires for archaeology or information on life amongst the stars. The most interesting moment was probably the arrival of your friend Eir - an android who'd wandered past Torch one day, repeating her name over and over. Showing a bit more boldness than some in town would have liked, you'd taken her in - and between Perem's magical healing and Brass' skill at tinkering with mechanical things, you'd managed to repair Eir enough for something she called an "Organic Oh Ess" to "Boot up" (although what good shoes had to do with this was unclear) and allow her to repair her own body over the course of a few days. She'd never forgotten that help, and had hung out with you ever since - oddly obedient to anything you told her to do, as you apparently had "Mid-Level Admin Access" despite the fact that the mayor would have laughed in your faces if you'd claimed to be part of the small town's bureaucracy. Weird girl, but loyal.

That said, the extra body wasn't anything to complain about... because the violet flame that has burned atop Black Hill for over a century has gone out, leaving a strangely seeping pit of rubble and bubbling fluids where the town's livelihood once glowed day and night.

Worse, ever since Councilor Khonnir Baine (one of Torch's more powerful wizards and a well-liked individual) went missing on his second expedition under Black Hill, the citizens of the nervous town have edged closer to outright panic. With their hands full handling the growing refuse and waste problems in town now that their primary disposal method is gone, the town council is eager to find out what happened to Khonnir and rescue him they've made public a reward of 4,000 gp to any group that can recover Khonnir's body; if he can be returned alive, they've promised to throw in the scroll of resurrection they've been holding on to in case they need to revive him. Interested parties were invited to speak to the council at Town Hall.

Khonnir Baine had discovered the signs of unusual traffic on the banks of Weeping Pond, and shortly thereafter, the submerged tunnel that provides access to several heretofore unknown tunnels under Black Hill. His emergence from the caves with a deactivated semi-humanoid automaton sparked worries that something strange might be going on in the caverns, but when he failed to return from his second expedition a few days ago, those worries turned to outright fear. Several other adventuring parties have gone missing in the caves, and Torch finds itself running short on new volunteers...

Rumors and Info Gathering: 2d20 ⇒ (17, 5) = 22

Also, in case it wasn't clear, Eir is basically going to be my mouthpiece and a helpful NPC ally. She is not a PC - GM or otherwise - and generally will not be involved in decision-making, but if you have questions or want more information on a subject before you pick a course of action, talking to her may help you learn stuff.

As interesting as clockwork wyverns were, Brass had to admit she was more interested in restoring the great flame. She had a few ideas for some metal work that required an awful lot of heat. For quite a long time. The Torch was ideal for her needs.

Plus, Khonnir was a decent person, ready to share whatever the town needed. He'd risked his life down under the hill, and hopefully, it wasn't lost. But even if it was, well, that's what the scroll was for.

So it seemed only fair that someone else tried to save him.

Sure, a bunch of other people hadn't come back either. That was probably a good suggestion that something bad was going on. But none of them had been Brass, and so logically, there was no guarantee Brass would not come back. Simple, really. Plus none of them had been carrying any of her inventions. Of course, that was because she hadn;t worked out how to get any of them work without one of the variety of power sources on her person or at any distance from her, but she'd solve that problem, too.

Eventually.

In the meantime, Brass headed for the Town Hall to see about getting the stuff to go find Khonnir.

People always brought odd ideas to the workshops, and there were lots of stories and untested hypotheses flying around lately. Spies certainly was an interesting one. Perem had a few they wanted to test - whether nice clothes would help Eir like the boots. Did different types of boots change anything, what is they both wore the same boots...

But that needed to wait. The stories of the councillor and the Black Hill and automatons. Someone needed to scout, question, observe and test the several proposals on what possibly dangerous things could be going on and unfortunate fates could have happened to councillor Khonnir.

All dressed up, mostly washed up, Perem headed to the Town Hall to see if she could be ready go...

The town's council technically had five members, but only one of them was present today - Dolga Freddert had been present for the founding of the town and had lived in it ever since (and her added longevity from being a dwarf had helped with that, as had the occasionally crushed monster skull courtesy of her infamous adamantine warhammer).

"You three..." she said, frowning slightly as she looked at you before suddenly brightening. "You willing to check the Black Hill Caves for us? I have no idea what's going on in there, and I reckon you're a bit tougher than the others. Still not sure what I think of those gadgets of yours..." she eyed Brass for a moment, "...but right now, I'll take any help we can get."

"If my defence, only one violates any major laws of reality as we understand them, but I'm hoping they prove useful. I have an idea for some new armour that could be useful." Brass beamed cheerfully. "But thank you for the vote of confidence. It's all the heavy lifting I do."

The scientist considered for a moment, and asked, "How much can you tell us about Khonnir's expedition? Obviously, the wizard led it himself. How many did he go with? How many supplies did they take?" She noticed no one was offering to resurrect any others, which might mean there weren't any others, or they weren't considered worth the expense.

And learning what Khonnir took the second time round would give them a hint what to expect.

Perem nodded to the councilor's question, "Here and happy to help!" the Cavalier said with a broad smile. She wasn't sure about tougher or gadgets or anything, but Perem knew about helping.

Hearing Brass's questions, Perem chirped up, "Is there any history of the Black Hills, or untested stories about them, from before Khonnir's first trip that could possibly explain any of the situation?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14

"Never explored much of the caves 'fore now, especially the new ones Khonnir discovered. The torch was occupying enough, given all the use we made of it." Dolga noted. "We know that the caves are inhabited by several enormous vermin and other scavengers, along with some strange humanoids who had the ability to blend into the shadows of the cave walls, and a nest of gremlins. Khonnir believed this indicated a deeper connection in the caves to the Darklands, but of more immediate interest was his discovery of a wall of solid metal deep in the caves. A wall made of a skymetal alloy called glaucite. He said it was like the kind we mine from the hills and surrounding plains, but formed into a structure with doors. It was near one of these doors that Khonnir found the broken automaton that he brought back after his first expedition."

"Darklands?" Brass whistled. "Well, that'll be challenging. And a wall of metal...difficult to imagine anyone scrapping up enough metal for that. But if it's underground, maybe it's old, and they got first dibs? Maybe we're just using up what they didn't need."

She tried to remember any useful information on the metal, in case they needed to get through it.

Knowledge (Engineering): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26

She also added, "Where's the entrance, by the way?"

Perem's dark eyes grew wide behind their goggles. "A whole metal wall? Whoa... she said quietly, "Sounds like we'll need to consider the supplies we take with us carefully..." Perem thought aloud, both because this was a challenging unknown situation...and because there may be interesting things to find and test and more.

"Everything? Mr Black can help carry it. We'll need rope, chalk, locks picks, spare ammunition, food, different food, I can make water but more water because water is good, tents, pen, paper, chalk, compass, maybe a bathtub, extra food, tools..." Brass paused a for a moment. "Maybe I should make a list?"

"The door is a little ways inside the new tunnels, apparently." Dolga explained. "Alas, we didn't get a map of the place. Speaking of supplies, though, I can give you a writ that'll let you take 20% off the normal prices in the stores. I can't ask our merchants to go any lower, but they want this resolved as much as anyone else."

Meanwhile, Eir stirred slightly at the idea of carrying things, looking at Brass' rather well-developed muscles. "I do not believe you need help with that..." she noted slowly. "But I can carry some supplies."

"We may need help...to take everything and possibly bring people or finds back. Paper and charcoal would be good for map and note making..." Perem considered, though not seeing much point in the bathtub but if Brass wanted to take one...

"Is there anything you think we need to take Eir?" Perem asked as their mind was still putting pieces together.

Brass held up one beefy arm, grinning. "I work out!" She considered, and added, "Mostly physics issues, engineering rations, torque, stuff like that. It's really the hammering that gives me the muscles." But she shrugged. "Still, the more of us carrying stuff, the less of a burden it will be."

Nodding the Councilwoman, Brass added, "20% is more than generous. We should be able to get more than enough stuff for that." She glanced at Eir, seeing if the odd little character had any ideas.

Eir's eyes flickered with inner light a few times as she thought. "Restoratives and camping supplies are probably the most important, in case we need to spend the night and returning to town would be inconvenient." she noted. "Without more information about its interior, I cannot adequately predict which tools would be useful. Given that, general-purpose toolkits are the most likely to see use, but it is probably best to travel light and ensure the tools do not slow us down. The caves are known to have infestations dangerous to people."

"Yes, infestations are bad..." Brass considered for a moment. "I suppose if that's everything it's time to hit the local stores and meet back at the entrance to this place." She looked around to see if anyone else had a better idea.

Perem listened quietly, nodding in agreement. "Shopping it is then" she said after a moment, turning back to the councilor, "I hope to be of help, thank you for the opportunity, I'll ensure we talk to you when we return..." Perem said dutifully as she turned to go...

Eir bowed to the old dwarven lady and followed the two of you out of the room.

Torch is a Large Town, with a base value of 2,400 GP for items and spellcasting up to 3rd. Potions, scrolls, etc. up to that point are generally available, as is most mundane gear.

Armed with a 20% discount and a fistful of coins, Brass hit the shops to get what she hoped they would need.

Perem followed after Brass to the shops. Perem already had most of the things she thought she could need -- at least within what she could afford. She did not have many coins left to her name. Checking in her back pack and beltpouch, Perem thought aloud quietly.

"I have ten torches & candles, a blanket & bedroll, some rope, a waterskin, a signal whistle, a cup, trail rations for about 5 days and my mess kit & cooking pot, bit of soap, flint and steel, and some chalk along with that stuff." she said, stuff referring to her holy symbols and spellbook along with her weapons. "I guess I should pick up some paper and charcoal too...what do you two think?" Perem asked, glancing up to the others.

Brass, all of those items are available. ^^

"You know yourself the best." Eir said after a moment of consideration. "Be sure it is not heavy enough to slow you down, though. I can carry some of it, too, since my suit augments my strength."

"I picked some up," Brass grinned. "But more never hurts." With all her materials squirreled away, she was ready to go find folks.

Perem nodded, considering, before deciding on getting another waterskin, ten pieces of parchment, and four pieces of charcoal. Just in case, just in case...

Once acquired, Perem put the waterskin in her bag, and the rest in her beltpouch so they would be easy to grab if she wanted to make interesting notes or drawings...or other more important things...

Perem told the others that she was ready to head.

Also quite available, Perem. ^^

As you got ready to head out, you were approached by Joram Kyte, a local priest. The entrance to the new caves was through Torch's Weeping Pond - and took you through a submerged tunnel some forty-five feet long or so. If you needed it, he was quite willing to cast an extended spell of Water Breathing, though you'd have to protect your things on your own somehow...

Brass nodded, loading anything that would be damaged into a waterproof sack she'd bought earlier. Then she put it inside the backpack. Not quite a Handy Haversack in terms of trans-dimensional damp prevention, but it should do the job. "Anyone else have anything delicate they don't want getting soggy?"

She definitely got the water breathing, too. 'Could swim' and 'could swim well enough to navigate an underwater passage' were two different skills.

Perem sighed at having not thought of that, "I have a few things...sorry..." Perem said awakrdly. She pulled out the parchment and charcoal first, followed by the soap - didn't want a bubbly bag, at least not right now - torches and bedding, book and trail mix. Apologizing again to Brass, she then thanked Kyte for his generosity.

Swimming...that was something the mechanists hadn't thought of...oh tick tocks.

Eir looked at the two of you for a moment, then focused internally. A moment later, armor spread outward from beneath her skin, almost like it was simply growing out of her body, until it formed her now-familiar protection. There was a definite covering over her mouth, too, and she nodded before following you two into the water.

Fortunately, the passage wasn't particularly complex to navigate, and the extended water breathing spell meant you could simply swim - or just pull yourselves along.

Ahead, dampness hangs in the air of this cave, condensing into heavy moisture on the slick, stone walls. The calm, dark waters wind around to the east up north, along a stony, soot-scarred beach. A five-foot-high ledge sporting several stalagmites rises to the east, beyond which a low-ceilinged cave beckons.

New map! You're in A1, and entered from the long, curvy water tunnel to the south.

Drying off and getting re-dressed, Brass glanced around the cave. "Homey," she declared. "A little damp, maybe a little basic, but other than the total lack of easy access and being part of a cave system that might link to a network full of dread nightmares, not too shabby."

Ignoring the obvious path, Brass looked at how much further the river went. She triggered a device on her left arm, which began to glow with a bright, cheerful light.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

At least the swim had not been as bad as Perem had feared. Drying off, Perem tilted her head and looked around at Brass's description of the soggy cave.

"If you say so... do you think you see better with that, compared to more typical lights?" Perem said curiously as she saw Brass's glowy-light-contraption.

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 10

Brass laughed. "In the dark, yeah. I can't see in the dark." She held it up. "It's pretty basic - a small spark of magic driving a mechanism to make electricity, which in turn forces power down a wire suspended in a certain gas - but it lets me see."

As Brass let up a light, several more glows could be seen... and three lantern beetles crawled out of the cracks, scuttling towards you in what looked like a rather hungry way.

"Warning. Hostiles detected." Eir said, her armor briefly pulsing as it was charged with energy.

Perem listened intently to Brass's explanation. "I brought torches and candles if you want or need to save power..." Perem stated, not particularly needing them most of the time but the bits seemed important basics for most.

Thoughts being pulled away from the shiny by Eir's warning, Perem turned to look at the beetles and readied her swords. Pondering it for a moment, Perem said, "I've heard stories of people who tame creatures like these..." obviously considering testing this. ...I don't know much about them though."

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 8

Perem has handle animal...but neither Brass nor Perem have Knowledge Nature which makes me wonder how Perem does such things XD

"Ditto," Brass replied, frowning and drawing her weapon. If it didn't have heavy duty mechanical parts she tended to not be overly interested. She really needed to do more on biology.

Init (Beetles): 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (14) + 0 = 14
Init (Brass): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Init (Perem): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

Before the two of you could do much else, the beetles darted forward, two nipping out at Brass and the last going for Perem.

Bite (Brass): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21 for Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 3
Bite (Brass): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21 for Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 4
Bite (Perem): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Crit Confirm: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 1 = 19 for Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 3
Crit Confirm: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

The two going for Brass were... startlingly accurate with their bites, actually, suddenly lunging forward in a moment she wasn't expecting them to and biting into both of her legs. Hard.

Well, that did not go as expected. o wo; Eir will generally go after the two of you and before enemies, by the way. She responds to the situation you create, rather than setting up something for you to follow.

That had...hurt. A lot. Bleeding heavily, Brass swung her heavy weapon in a vicious return strike at the bug that had bitten her before she feel over.

To Hit: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20
Damage: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

Stabilize (DC 11): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

Mr Black moved in to guard her as slumped, taking a swing at one of the bugs as he did.

To Hit: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Perem's eyes grew wide behind her goggles as she saw the damage done to Brass, "Brass! Oh my tick tocks...!!" she exclaimed as she moved closer. She had hoped not to need this so soon. Must save up for a healing wand or something...

With a sword in one hand, swinging loosely at the critters to scare them back, Perem reached the other out to heal Brass, the sounds of whirling mechanics filling Perem's ears...

Healing: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Somewhat impressively, despite her injuries, Brass managed to smash one of the beetles... and Mr. Black took care of another, its glowing body bits scattering across the ground under the force of the blow. Perem managed to send a jolt of healing in a moment later, even as Eir lashed out with a claw that popped out of her suit.

Claw (vs Beetle): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20 for Damage: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

The last beetle cracked apart... leaving the cavern rather safer, and slightly more lit than it had been when you'd first arrived.

"...No further hostiles detected in the immediate vicinity. Are you all right, Brass?" Eir asked, moving over.

"Owwww..." Brass groaned as she sat up. "Thank you, Perem. I feel like I was almost ganwed to death by giant beetles, but I'll be OK." Rising to her feet, she looked at the creatures. "If this is how they great all the guests here, I'll have to rethink my recommendation. Still, the light they produce is interesting...something in their diet, you think?" Brass prodded the closest one with a boot.

Perem shrugged, "Glad to hear it...hopefully we can find other interestings that aren't so hostile..." Perem said as the thoughts escaped her, as she started to slowly look around though her mind was pulled in by Brass's question, "Possibly their diet - we may find plants or something like that...or maybe naturally in their skin or..hmmm..."

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 6

The light seemed to be biological somehow - and wasn't dimming yet. The body bits might well remain lit until the chemicals finally finished reacting, if anyone was interested in using them as light sources. You didn't spot anything else of interest here, though, just the two passages heading further inside.

The map seems to be hiccuping, so...

Since Brass had all the light she needed, she headed for the first passage they had found and looked down it. Unless something like, say, giant glowing death bugs began swarming out she headed down it.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16

After considering the glowy body bits for a few moments, Perem followed after Brass down the drier looking path, looking around at the walls as she went...

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 5

The five-foot ledge up to the first passage was easy enough to climb. A collection of stalactites and stalagmites choke this low-ceilinged cavern, making it difficult to squeeze between them. Matching stalactites close in from the five-foot-high ceiling, giving the impression of a maw of needle-like teeth bearing down on one another. A dead half-ore sprawls on the ground near the cave's eastern entrance.

Sorry, the heat has been mildly awful and draining.

"That's not good." Bras moved over the body, examining it for any sign of life. If not that, then hopefully she could get some idea of what happened.

Perem followed carefully, keeping an eye on the point rocks. At the sight of the poor dead person, Perem cringed. "Not good at all, poor them..." the oracle said, their eyes pulling from them to look around the room while Brass made her checks.

I've been enjoying heavy lifting and moving during the heat here. 8D

The body had no signs at all of life - but one trained in the healing arts might be able to figure out some of what had happened, and one who actually paid attention to the local area might be able to identify the corpse.

"This is where I regret not knowing about the squishy mortal form again, isn't it?" Brass sighed. She didn't interact that much with the locals either, so she wasn't likely to recognise the bodies former owner.

Perem nodded, slightly sad, as the oracle took a closer look.

Heal: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14

"I don't recognize them, we can check with the Councilor when we get back or any others we find..."