|
Zandu frowns as the basin seems to malfunction, and quickly steps forward to see if he can help. "Looks broken" he says to Robyyn, who seems to be having problems figuring out what's going on. "Sometimes mechanical can influence magical, maybe I can help." His tool kit floats out of his vest pocket and into his hand, and he goes to work on the cracked basin, to see if he can fix anything.
Move and try to defuse the spirit with disable device
|
Kronas runs straight for the pool, the back of his hand resting on his forehead and truly hamming it up "Yes! Stranded... Lost... No hope for rescue!" he finally catches up to Lutronius and Robyyn "Help us, spirit. You're our only hope!" He leans back, wobbling on his feet, and hand still firmly on his head "Woe! Oh, woe..."
For planning, I can distract with bluff and diffuse with equally well with several other skills.
|
Menarul rushes in and slides into the spot left open by the rest of the group. He then takes a long moment to look at the runes around the edge of the basin and tries to correct some of the misshapen ones, a serenely happy look on his face.
Move to the basin and attempt a spell craft check.
Sorrina Westyr urgently projects her image to speak to every Pathfinder, and appears to be holding tightly to a steel ring near an alien device. “Everyone, brace yourselves. We have finished repairs of a strange craft on the bright side of the asteroid, and the engines will fire shortly, hopefully causing this rock to spin and even out the extreme temperatures. This may get a bit bumpy though in three…two…one... Hold on!”
A sudden jolt shakes the entire asteroid, sending anything unsecured reeling as the stars begin to spin overhead.
|
Robyyn and Menarul both rush forward and begin studying the magical runes, but neither one can make heads or tails of it. Artus and Zandu team up and go to work with their thieving tools, and although they hear a slight click as they tinker, the machine doesn't blow up. While the others work on deactivating it, Lutorinus and Kronas try to get the spirit's attention, and whatever the gnome says seems to work, though maybe not having the desired intention. A willowy lash reaches out from the spirit and leaves a long along his shoulder.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Sorrina Westyr urgently projects her image to speak to every Pathfinder, and appears to be holding tightly to a steel ring near an alien device. “Everyone, brace yourselves. We have finished repairs of a strange craft on the bright side of the asteroid, and the engines will fire shortly, hopefully causing this rock to spin and even out the extreme temperatures. This may get a bit bumpy though in three…two…one... Hold on!”
A sudden jolt shakes the entire asteroid, sending anything unsecured reeling as the stars begin to spin overhead.
As you work on diffusing the odd magical machine, you get the odd sensation that the whole room, starts to move a bit. Then you realize it's not the room, but the entire asteroid moving, as it begins to rotate. You can already sense the temperature outside beginning to warm a bit.
Sorrina Westyr’s projection appears once again to every Pathfinder. Behind her is a map of the Asteroid, Aucturn’s Tear, lit up with different colors around the different regions.
“Good news, everyone! Our tactical reports coming from the region known as Area F, ‘The Sea of Fire’, tell us that the entire region has been claimed and is now safe for travel! Keep going, Pathfinders!”
|
|
Sorrina Westyr’s projection appears once again to every Pathfinder. Behind her is a map of the Asteroid, Aucturn’s Tear, lit up with different colors around the different regions.
“Good news, everyone! Our tactical reports coming from the region known as Area F, ‘The Sea of Fire’, tell us that the entire region has been claimed and is now safe for travel! Keep going, Pathfinders!”
“More tactical reports have been flowing in to our Control Center,” Sorrina Westyr proclaims as her image appears once more to all of you. She points her wand at a now glowing region of the Asteroid. “We’ve cleared another region! Area D, The Frozen City has been claimed and is now safe for travel!”
|
|
After the sudden attack, Kronas decides it best to focus on deciphering the magical runes. Working with Menarul, the pair are able to make some sense of the mechanisms and how to stabilize it, though it's still all foreign to Robyyn. Lutorinus tries to tinker with the machine a bit, but is just as lost as the sylph. Artus tries a different tactic, trying to reason with the spirit to make their work easier, but instead it lashes out at him with a wispy tendril.
With Kronas's and Menaruls instructions however, the others manage to disable the device, the spirit suddenly stabilizes, and the hot white glow of the magical runes surrounding the basin fades.
The spirit speaks in a foreign language unlike any you have ever heard, but somehow, she knows you don't speak it, so she weaves a spell.
... And speaks in Common. Her voice echos as she speaks, "My ... saviors. The haze has been cleared, and now I see you are not here to harm me. I am... The Voice of Seven Songs, the voice of an oracle from home. Home? Home is Iovo?" She seems unsure of her history, yet she continues, her expression turning serious as she focuses on the now. "You are not safe here. There is grave danger ahead. You," she slowly raises her arm to point to Kronas, "Will witness a terrible, evil monster chasing you relentlessly... Yet you will not be able to touch it, nor harm it with your blades."
"And you," she eyes Robyyn. "You will be enveloped by a snake made of pure ice. I have seen it with my own mind."
In one of the corners of the shrine, you find an odd container, covered with more writing like you have never seen before. Inside you find several vials though, four potions of endure elements, two potions of cure light wounds, and a potion of remove disease.
|
|
“More tactical reports have been flowing in to our Control Center,” Sorrina Westyr proclaims as her image appears once more to all of you. She points her wand at a now glowing region of the Asteroid. “We’ve cleared another region! Area D, The Frozen City has been claimed and is now safe for travel!”
Not long after you've finished calming the spirit and the magical device, a senior Pathfinder agent enters the shrine. "The rest of the Frozen City has been secured and a passageway leading into the asteroid has been discovered. Finish up here and quickly make your way down into the subterranean structures below." The half-orc doesn't wait for a reply before leaving just as quickly as he entered.
|
Robyyn recoils when the spirit calls out a horrifying vision of his future. He shelves that image, though, and steps in closer to the spirit. A Pathfinder enters the room and says something about the quest and where this group should go, but the sylph isn't paying attention.
"Are you djinn?" he simply asks, studying the creature.
------------
|
|
The spirit flickers and seems puzzled by the question, "Djinn? No, no... I don't think so. One came here though, asking questions I did not have answers for."
While the spirit has a vaguely humanoid form, it's hard to make out exactly what it is, though it does slightly resemble the shattered frozen bodies you found outside. The spirit had mentioned Iovo as well, which you recall being an ancient planet within the solar system that had been destroyed long ago, along with its sister planet Damiar. The remains of the destroyed Twins now make up the Diaspora asteroid belt. You even recall hearing a tale of a gnome brought into the Society, who claimed of being abducted by tall, winged creatures he called sarcesians. No evidence was ever found though and it was dismissed as the ravings of a mad man.
|
|
Kronas jumps when the spirit's finger indicates him as the victim of a terrible game of tag, but quickly calms down If I can't touch it, then surely it can't touch me... He quickly snaps out of his train of thought and waves a friendly hand at the spirit "Hello spirit! I'm so glad you're not angry anymore..." He says while rubbing his sore shoulder, but before he can ask any questions, the Pathfinder enters and passes on his orders. Unsure what to do, Kronas spends a few minutes hopping to and fro, torn between wanting to chat with the spirit and follow orders.
|
|
With the spirit calmed, Lutorinus merely glares at it. Pitiful creature, how do you ever hope to achieve anything without control of your emotions? Pah!
"Ominous times indeed. Should either of you wish to submit to the Lord of Nine before it is too late, I will be more than happy to save your souls," he explains with a broad smile to Kronas and Robyyn. "If you don't pledge your allegiance soon, who knows what will happen if the Boneyard if nobody will speak up for you!"
With his offer for eternal safety made, he spins around and is greeted by a new Pathfinder agent. A hard glare meets the newcomer. Time for messages, but no time for real work?
"I have no reason to continue staying here. Below we go," he says as he moves to make his way to the subterranean area.
________
|
|
Menarul gives a smile of satisfaction as he finally grasps what the runes mean. He then starts muttering about the runes. "Ah, so this is in charge of keeping... And this is for... So this must be..." after a few moments of this he turns and starts to explain what the runes mean to anyone who will listen.
After the device stabilizes, Menarul looks around and notices the wounds on Kronas and Artus for the first time. Half wondering where the wounds came from and half mortified he hadn't noticed, he listens to the oracle, mostly missing the significance of its words. They don't look like crossbow wounds. We're they from the oracle? What if they had been killed? How could I have missed that? ...An ice worm? That should be just a small creature, right? Doesn't sound too bad.
Menarul takes up one of the potions of endure elements as the Pathfinder enters the room. Sliding the potion into an empty spot on his holster he heads to the door, wondering aloud, "Does this mean the genie in the tower has been rescued? I guess there's nothing more we can do up here then."
|
|
You all head back out into the city, to see it busy with activity. Pathfinders rush around, carrying supplies and messages bound for the various groups. You are directed towards a broken stone tower at the center of the city that resonates with an unnerving note as wind forcefully billows out as if it were some manner of alien pipe organ. Ice creeps around the entrance, and the howls of hunting predators ring through the surrounding structures.
The bodies of dead creatures litter the floor within, as you follow the one path that leads down into the depths of the earth, and into the darkness. The dampness and staleness in the air has you believe that a body of water must be nearby. Powerful gusts of warm air howl through the twisting tunnels of ice that stretch, and the passages turn upon themselves and end in sudden precipices. The footing is treacherous, and a step to either side drops into chasms clouded by freezing mist.
|
|
"Climb?" Kronas asks with horror, memories from his youth come flooding back to him... Kronas, dangling at the end of a rope while a grizzled adventurer yells at him to climb, the mean old man not letting Kronas play with the other initiates until he successfully climbed a few feet... Shaking himself out of it, he simply says "I think I'll let you go first, Artus." in an uncharacteristically understated manner.
________
|
|
Menarul takes extensive notes about and sketches of the various places the group encounters. As they start heading down in to the darkness, he pauses for a second, pulls out a wayfinder and says a short command word. As the wayfinder starts to glow he affixes it to his scarf and gets back to writing. When Artus asks about climbing he looks up and blinks a few times. "I can't climb very well in my armor, but I have read a few things about surviving underground. You should probably take the lead." he says as he puts his notebook away again.
________
|
|
Lutorinus seems to be quite pleased, smiling suddenly. Darkness, my only friend... He scowls intensely at Artus as he unceremoniously cuts his reunion short.
"Looks particularly deadly. Artus, you like to meet danger head on and are well equipped to do so! Please, be my guest," he says dryly, gesturing towards the path. Maybe that light will go out of if you happen to drop... that wayfinder.
________
|
|
Robyyn relishes the gusts of air that rush through the passages, holding out his arms to catch the wind. Once, when the gust is particularly strong, he allows it to catch and even lift him briefly before softly drifting back down to the passage floor.
When the footing becomes dangerous, he exerts more caution, looking from one side to another, and trying to determine where this path is ultimately leading.
------------
|
|
The half-elf proves to be a skilled climber, and deftly navigates the slippery tunnels and chasms, leading the party towards the bottom. As you approach the frozen reservoir below, everyone except for Kronas and Menarul see the shadow of a massive leviathan moving through the ice below.
|
|
The elderly sylph merely stares at the leviathan in wonder. Is this the snake that was foretold, or some other danger? Robyyn slowly draws a wand from where it's hung by his side, fingering the knurled handle to ensure he grabs the right one. He gently taps it against his side, activating its protective energy.
|
|
The huge snake, rising through the ice to engulf him, is more than the primed mind of Robyyn can bear. The spirit's vision did its work most effectively, sending the old sylph into a panic that leaves him streaking across the ice. He shows surprisingly better form than might be expected from someone of his age, springing forward with good speed and sure feet.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As the snake rushes by, Menarul gives a bark of exclamation. He then looks up and gives Kronas a sharp look. "Don't create illusions in a place like this! You'll scare people half to death. Look at how much you made Robyyn run!" he angrily berates the gnome as he puts his notebook and charcoal away.
|
|
Kronas sees something shiny on the floor and bends down to pick it up. By the time he looks up again, Robyyn has taken off through the darkness with surprising agility and Manarul is chastising him "Wha... I didn't do anything!" He says, looking genuinely hurt "I swear I didn't..." He sees that Robyyn is getting quite far away now and calls after him to slow down as he carefully follows "What happened?"
_______