"Heh, well played!", Kharax patting Richard on the back.
Ignoring the locked door for the moment, Richard slips back out into the central chamber and moves quickly to look through the northern door and the double doors. He whispers reports back to his companions for what he sees.
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First peeking through the northern door. The eastern portion of this room is a shambles of twisted metal and debris, leaving the western portion to serve as a combination bedroom and personal shrine. The small side room to the north once led to a flight of stairs that descended to the lower level, but this route has not yet been cleared. For now, it is used as a lavatory.
Sitting on a small table next to the cot is a small prayer book, it is filled primarily with prayers to Hellion. The journal is written in Orc.
With the journal discovered Richard quickly moves to the large set of double doors.
The north wall of this room is a tangle of ruins and debris, while in the center of the room stand four tall pillars with glowing bands of pale purple light pulsing along their sides.
The four pillars are actually immense banks of batteries used to store excess power for the excavator. These batteries are not portable, but they can be used to recharge devices attached to them. In all, 450 charges are stored in these batteries—using this stored energy to recharge a technological item is a full-round action that requires a power cable or another method of transferring
a charge. Unfortunately, transferring charges like this is inefficient because of the extreme age of the batteries—while the batteries aren’t quite timeworn themselves, transferring charges from the batteries to an object consumes 10 charges, regardless of how many charges are imparted. A pair of scrapyard robots—constructs patched together from numerous different robots into something that approaches a whole—stand guard over the batteries in this room.
Richard takes the prayer book. Though he can't read orc, he suspects Kharax might, and he has the magic needed to translate later regardless.
"Stay hidden in that passage for a minute. There is a central chamber that leads further into this complex, but it is guarded by two robots. I want to see how good their sensors are."
Still invisible, he attempts to slip past the two robots and check the far door.
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The pair of robots don't move a single circuit as Richard quickly navigates the room and quietly shifts around the pair.
A bitter stink of chemicals with an underlying reek of decaying flesh fills the air of this cavern. A platform of gray metal, worn smooth and free of dust, extends over a ten-foot-deep pit filled with rubble—strangely polished rubble. This room is where the cult disposes of the bodies of those Hellion deems unworthy or those it otherwise condemns to death.
Richard casts a spell to detect magic in the pit room. If anything is found, he will try to recover it before heading back past the robots (leaving both sets of doors wide open) and returning to the southern room to attempt picking the lock on the one unopened door there.
"Nothing but a waste pit past the robots. Coming back."
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Opening the room to the room of decaying flesh Richard nearly loses his lunch at the smell. Just at his feet as he opens the door stands a seemingly mundane puddle. A patch of moist stone reveals itself to be far more as a terrible pseudopod lashes out at him, feeling the vibrations on the ground.
Kharax (42/52)
Alpha (47/51)
Richard (47/51)
Lewdon (50/56)
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Mystery Ooze (DC 15 Knowledge Dungeoneering)
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Richard hustles away from the ooze before it can try and goo him!
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Richard recognizes the creature as a Gray ooze. Immune to cold and fire. They easily constrict their foes melting them and all of their equipment in acid.
Slinking their way through cold swamps and bleary marshlands, or sometimes even dungeons and caverns, gray oozes consume any organic materials they encounter. Despite its lack of intelligence, the gray ooze is a most problematic creature due to its transparency. While the ooze cannot easily climb walls or swim, its habit of lurking in the thick mud that lines the banks of marsh pools or lying in harmless-looking pools on dull-colored dungeon floors makes it dangerously easy to overlook and step on.
Some sages believe that the gray ooze is the result of a failed alchemical experiment, while others postulate that the first gray oozes spontaneously arose from a cesspit of magical detritus. Of course, these theories that gray oozes are not living organisms, but rather the alchemical result of an unfortunate mixture of rare caustic fluids and magical waste, are derided by many who dwell in areas plagued by the creatures but which do not have a long history of magical pollution.
Richard whispers as he moves away from the ooze.
"Ugh! I think I found one of the cobbler's dungeon toilets... and I think he left some kids at the pool!"
"That is disgusting. Are you in danger?" Alpha whispers back.
Kharax moves a bit closer to Richard, looking over the android's shoulder. "Things clear, buddy?", he whispers.
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The Gray Ooze continues to follow Richard through the Battery room. As the Ooze slowly slides past its path seems to attract the attention of the Scrapyard Robots which whirl to life and give chase.
Kharax (42/52)
Alpha (47/51)
Richard (47/51)
Lewdon (50/56)
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Gray Ooze
Scrapyard Robots
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Richard runs back into the southern room and quickly closes the door.
"Caught the attention of an ooze, but I think the robots will take care of it. Or it'll take care of them. Everyone follow the passage to the sourthen room."
Letting the robots and ooze do what they will Richard goes to pick the lock on the southern door.
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Richard quickly shuts the door. Within moments there are odd sounds on the opposite end as the ooze slams against it like a wet plop of mud.
The pair of robots clatter around in confusion before eventually returning back to guard their post.
Richard sets about to working on the locked door. After several moments he hears the familiar click and the door swings open. Another set of stairs leads down to a cavernous overlook.
A flight of metal stairs descends along the outer edge of a partially buried metal structure here. A door allows access into the structure from a landing below, while brilliant lights cast illumination out to the south, into a large, damp cave. Far below, a pool of foul green fluid bubbles and smokes.
It’s a 30-foot drop from the balcony here to the cave floor below. The stairs here once wound around the exterior of the excavator, but further access downward is blocked by debris.
Hellion manifests on the two monitors here, arrogantly warning you, “Turn back or die.”
Richard whispers, "Alpha, Lewdon, take out those monitors. I'll work on the door."
He then quickly checks the door and sees if it can be opened.
Alpha starts bashing monitors with his shield.
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As the monitors are destroyed every light in the compound goes out in an instant leaving the entire place in complete and utter darkness.
A tingling takes over your mind as Hellions voice continues throughout the complex in other nearby rooms.
"The intruders are nearby. You will fail me no more." The voice echos in the darkness.
You feel a powerful force strike out at your minds.
Alpha's circuitry allows him to ward off the powerful force.
"What was that?"
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With Lewdon being the only one having a bit of difficulty seeing in the darkness Richard opens the door and a swoosh of metal is heard through the air as Kharax swings his morningstar at Alpha.
The doorway reveals to all, but Lewdon an L-shaped hallway with three more doors.
Fully aware that his morningstar did no good against Alpha, a bright crackling light fills the darkness. It is almost blinding as a hand filled with raw electricity rushes at Alpha.
Kharax once again misses but the charge remains well in his hand illuminating the hallway.
"Kharax and Lewdon are both malfunctioning." Alpha states taking up a defensive stance, not wanting to hurt his allies.
"Must be another gift from Hellion. Keep on the defensive and I'll heal you if one of them lands a blow. Hopefully it wears off soon!"
Richard stays hidden just behind Alpha.
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Kharax begins to babble to himself incoherently as he shakes his head in confusion.
Kharax continues to miss as his mind persists and fights back against the urge to hurt his friends.
Little by little Kharax seems to come back to his senses....
...and seems to stay that way.......
......It looks as if it might finally be over......
....That is until his eyes flare with remorse and he slams his mornigstar into his own knee.
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"Everyone back in their right minds?"
Once it is clear that is the case, Richard takes out a scroll and uses it to heal Lewdon.
With his invisibility ending, Richard moves to check the next doors carefully.
He then moves to open the first door on the right.
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Inspecting the doors Richard finds no traps though the door to the left seems to be reinforced and locked requiring key card access. Lewdon continues to feel around in the immense darkness.
Opening the door to the right reveals a guardpost of sorts. As the group files in a large pile of rags leaps forth and tries to take advantage of the group in the pitch black dark. Though with the majority having dark vision circuitry the dark creepers don't stand a chance and one by one die in glorious flashes of bright light that quickly fades.
"First order of business when we're out of here, get Lewdon some sort of potion or visor to see in the dark."
After a minute examining the lock, Richard gives up and moves to the third door. "Third times a charm."
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The air of this large room is warm and stuffy, and buzzes with energy. Countless blinking lights, wriggling shapes, and unusual strings of writing scroll and wriggle across glass panels mounted on the walls, amid a dizzying array of buttons, switches, dials, wheels, levers, and other controls, the function of which one can only guess. Six immense pillars lined with glowing panels support the ceiling eleven feet above, and a circular platform to the east sits under a slowly rotating, semitransparent image of a curious contraption with long arms, one of which ends in what appears to be an immense, slowly spinning disk. Beyond this, two windows look out over a metal platform, which in turn looks out over an immense damp cavern lit by brilliant beams of light emanating from unseen sources below and above. Rubble clutters the room’s floor here and there, as if pieces of furniture were once affixed to the ground but had long since been torn free, while to the northeast, the room’s walls have buckled downward into a crumbled mass of devastation.
This immense room was the central control room for the excavator, a place where a crew of several men and women once operated the machine. The immense digging tool’s engines hum below the deck and within the walls, giving the place its soft, buzzing hum. The circular platform to the east is a holographic projection machine that’s identical to the one above. It currently shows a schematic of
the excavator. The image can be manipulated by hand, enabling a character to zoom in, rotate the image, and display the layout of its internal floor plans. Areas that are still buried register only as static on the image, but the locations of any living creatures within the excavator (including the party, unless they’re able to avoid detection from the Hellion monitors) are indicated by glowing green motes of light. The locations of robots are indicated as blue motes of light. The exterior caverns are not displayed, but the excavator’s digging wheel (area T3) is. At this location, a single large red mote of energy glows.
This room is always under guard by a dark slayer and a half-dozen orcs. Hellion manifests on the many monitors that ring this room’s walls, as well as above the holographic projector, which it rises above like a demonic titan. It immediately alerts any remaining defenders of the region to converge here.
"ALL TO THE COMMAND ROOM IMMEDIATELY!" Hellion roars as his image towers from above.
The orcs and Dark slayer draw their blades as they shift behind the massive pillars for protection.
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Dark Slayer
Orcs
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Alpha
Richard
Kharax
Lewdon
Alpha puts his shield up as he walks out to confront their foes.
"Sorry Lewdon, I keep forgetting about your eyes." Richard takes out a sunrod and activates it.
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Alpha moves into the room. His large imposing figure takes up a good portion as he assumes a defensive stance.
Richard digs through his pack and pulls out a sunrod, lighting it. The tip of the small rod lights like a torch.
Kharax begins to work on one of his far more complex spells as Alpha moves slightly out of his line of sight.
Lewdon moves beside Alpha, waiting any orc that moves his way. That is until the group begins to hear a horrifying noise coming from behind the eastern door. The unnerving roar of a chainsaw reverberates throughout the room. The sound of the chainsaw seems to have an obvious effect on the orcs as they begin hooting and hollering with glee.
"Going to die now. Kulgara carve them open!"
The orcs and slayer seem to hold back now that Kulgara is entering the fight. They stare happily at the eastern door, awaiting her arrival.
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Dark Slayer
Orcs
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Alpha
Richard
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Kulgara
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Kharax
Lewdon
Alpha steps and strikes the closest orc.
Richard grabs a scroll and casts bull's strength on Lewdon.
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Alpha rushes into the room and smashes a single orcs head into the pillar with his shield, knocking it unconscious in a single blow.
Richard grabs ahold of a scroll and increases Lewdon's strength through the force of magic.
Just as Richards spell completes a well muscled female orc appears from the southern door wielding a deadly looking chainsaw. She hefts the chainsaw with ease and twirls it around the room as she growls at Lewdon.
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Dark Slayer
Orcs
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Alpha
Richard
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Kulgara
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Kharax
Lewdon