Val nods, "I'm fine... And... Well, they kinda didn't, I just woke up to one trying to Deconstruct my bed... And then trying to deconstruct me... So I hid behind the barrels."
She looks at the robots.
"Robots." She says quite plainly, "From that thing below Black Mountain."
"I knew it. They're coming up from below, most definetely up to something nefarious. I wonder what they were intended to repair. Prob'ly something big and bad."
"These are indeed robots--though if they were salvaged from under the town, it would explain much about their condition." Sarona blinks, her analysis complete. "Their arms and legs, along with their damaged chassis, indicates to me that these were once designed for repairing damaged objects."
Fist looks around at the damage the robots caused and chuckles.
"hehe they have a funny way of repairing things. Guess they were just broke and got their instructions backwards."
Placing a palm to his head where the robot bashed him earlier fist groans slightly and then looks at Sarona.
"Hey, thanks for healing me in the fight. That thing hit me like it had a great club. Please, I could use a little more healing if you could manage it."
Sarona nods. "Of course."
She clutches her holy symbol. "Sacred Brigh, Whisper in the Bronze, allow your humble servant to help those who help me."
A bronze glow settles on everyone around her, and the distant *clanging* of metal on metal can be heard.
Fist smiles as hes healed almost back to perfect health.
"ahh thanks for that. I feel right as rain now....so this is the Foundry? Is their anything left to dink here or did the robots drink it all?"
Fist sais with a playful wink to Val.
Taz looks to the girl and asks "Val, did Khonnir leave any notes from exploration beneath the mountain? Any information we can gather could help us find him and bring him back."
She shakes her head at Taz, "None, I'm afraid, wish he did. He brought this notes with him."
She looks to Fist, "This is the storage room. And no, the robots drank none of it... Though, please, since I'm allowing you to stay in this building, I'd like for you guys to not drink all the ale. We'll kinda need that for when Khonnir gets home." she says, chuckling.
Deconstruct? Interesting word choice.
"Very well, I recommend we leave soon. The longer we wait, the slimmer the chance we find Khonnir in good health." Caimor places his longspear on his back and looks around. "We seem to be gathered and I'm assuming prepared. But who is that other halfling? And the boar? Are they coming with us?"
Fist chuckles along with Val and then grins up at Caimor.
"Caimors right we should get going. the sooner we leave the better khonnirs chances are. But dont worry when we get back ill only drink maybe a barrel or two."
He sais to Val as he collects himself getting ready to go.
While Fist waits for anyone else to get ready he will look through the mangled remains of the robots and collect a handful of spare parts that dont look to badly damaged like cogwheels and the like.
"Ehh, that reminds me." Kerin goes digging through his belt pockets "Where'd I... Heh!" He triumphantly pulls out a couple of grubby-looking parchments, handing them over to Sarona. "Here we are. I bought these just in case something like this was gonna happen. Merchant said a priest could use them to heal. Charged me through the nose, too."
Joseph bows towards Caimor, while sitting on the boar. its an awkward gesture. My name is Joseph and i am a shepherd from one of the outlying towns and this is Stumper, my trusty, well noisy boar...
CanIcomecanIcomecanIcome?Pleasepleaseplease???
"Sounds like it is time for us to get going."
Sarona pockets the scrolls Kerin gives her. "Thank you, Kerin."
She nods at Joseph. "I see no reason for you not to come along. If everyone is ready, we should speak with Father Kyte and see about entering the caves."
"I ain't gonna object to that.
Val watched.
"So, I'll be here if you guys need anything." she says, sitting down.
Later
You enter the cave after getting water breathing cast on each of you, so you can breath water for 8 hours. Dampness hangs in the air of this cave, condensing into heavy moisture on the slick, tone walls. The calm, dark waters wind around to the east up north, along a stony, soot-scarred beach. A five-foot-high ledge sporting sevral stalagites rise to the east, beyond which a low ceilinged cave beckons.
Tazwell tucks his lanterns and bowstrings into his waterproof bag, wades into the water, says "Here goes nothing ...", and follows Sarona into the tunnel.
Fist makes sure he has all of his equipment properly secured before diving into the water.
So i have to roll for Joseph and Stumper with an additional roll to push stumper into the water to go swimming/drowning (rolled before Stumpers swim check).
Note: -1 ACP on stumper, +1 to stumpers fort save from resistance cantrip and the +1 lucky time bonus :) Stumper will be using aid another on Josephs survival roll and finally the pig isnt climbing, so he will have to be hoisted up with a rope :)
7
More notes: Yay! My first nat 1 and 20 in the same post ^_^
So i will brave having something very bad happen to gain the hero point (lets see what happens ^_^)
I have to re-roll the handle animal roll, then use my adaptive luck after the fact for +2 to succeed the roll :p
Phew! A very mechanical post :)
Joseph was practically bounding up and down on top of his boar with excitement Yay! I gert to come! I get to come!
~~Later~~
Joseph, riding his boar, arrives with everyone else near the underwater cave. There everyone had water breathing cast on them (with no small amount of dis-trust from Stumper)
Uh oh. I forsee this causing problems in the future! they then proceeded to dissapear under the water. At Josephs turn, he had great difficulty convincing Stumper to get wet and even greater difficulty convincing the boar to breathe under water (Stumper: Nope. Not happinging, no-thank-you! Im not a fish!) but luckly Joseph had a carrot in his pack with which to entice the boar.
Then Joseph went under as well, but something seemed wrong... Terribly wrong...
~~Later later~~
Upon finally ariving in the cave the group was presented with a problem. Pigs dont climb...
So Joseph unslung the rope across Stumpers flanks and tied it around him, then bounded effortlessly up the cliff face with the trailing rope.
Hey guys, i am going to need some help hauling Stumper up, there is no way i am strong enough. He weighs more than i do!
I hope we can get back out afterwards... Joseph comments, looking at the submerged entrance from where they had come.
Fist will do his best to help pull up the riding boar onto the ledge.
"theirs a joke here about when pigs can fly but i can't think of it nnnggh."
To put it bluntly, Sarona is entirely out of her element when it comes to climbing and swimming. The swimming part she somehow managed to muddle through (despite the sheer weight of her gear slowing her down), but the climbing was starting to get a bit too much for her.
"O-oh dear..." She whimpers as she tries to get up the cliff. Climbing aptitude not considered in original design. Built for analysis and repair of items, not for terrain traversal. Will need to correct this imbalance as soon as possible.
Reaching down to help pull up sarona fist braces his feet and helps haul her up onto the ledge.
"up you go girl. Just find some footing and pull."
"I've got a rope, maybe we can hoist him up." Taz offers to lend a hand.
manages to not fall flat on her rear while climbing up the side of the building, thanks to Fist's assistance.
She is, however, sickened by her wade through the lake. This lasts for sixty seconds, during which she may do what she wishes.
To be frank, Fist, Tazwell, and Sarona all feel sickened for sixty seconds.
Tazewell, despite getting sick, notices the fotsteps of what, presumably, was the previous expedition. When he climbs the clifface, he falls flat on his rear. Everyone but Stumper and Tazwell makes it there. Kerin smells the distinct decay of Death in the air, as can anyone else who passed the DC 10 climb check.
Fist fights back the urge to throw up breathing deeply for a bit just to try and steady his stomach.
"ughh thats disgusting. ack ok ughh someone help me haul these two out of the water."
Fist groans unhappily as he attempts to help tazwell out of the water with the rest of the group followed by stumper.
"Something's died in here. Think we're going to get eaten?" Kerin makes small talk as he climbs the barrier. "Let's go find that sodding metal wall." He makes some room on the platform so that those climbing behind him have room to get up. "Just give a holler if you need 'elp. Got some rope around somewhere, I think."
Taz takes a minute to overcome the churning in his stomach.
"Give us a minute, the pig and I are going to need a hand up."
"It's pretty dark in here, anyone got a light?"
Stumper flying? Ive never seen him do so much as jump let alone fly. That will be the day!
Tho i think i did hear the one about electronics and water... says the country bumkin.
Joseph gives Fist the trailing end of the rope, which Fist immediately realizes is made of a fine silken weave.
Here, we can use this, and use it for the others who need help.
Once up and everyone is settled Joseph takes stock of his gear and casts light on stumpers harness/armor/saddle. A little shepherds magic. Let there be light! Here, Fist and Taz, have this. It will help your stomach. You too Sarona. Joseph hands them each a handful of spiced nuts.
Fist takes the handful of spiced nuts and shoves them into his mouth wanting the nauseating feeling to go away. Chewing and gulping them down fist makes use of the rope and does what he can to help others up.
Once Sarona is helped up, she immediately realizes there's something wrong with the water she just swam through. Her 'stomach' churns...
The message ***ERROR! ERROR! FOREIGN CONTAMINANTS DETECTED!*** appears before her eyes.
When Joseph offers her some spiced nuts, she takes them and reluctantly pops them into her mouth before sitting in a corner and curling up into a ball.
"Thanks... uuuugghhhh... my stomach..." She moans, her normally grey face turning an even paler grey.
You all manage to get over the cliff face this time.
Caimor moves on, drawing his rapier as a precaution. He is able to see in the dark and doesn't need to wait for Joseph's light, which is why he catches sight of the corpse first. His expression doesn't change, but he does approach it to begin inspection.
Kerin looks down at the very dead man. "Looks like he died ugly. Friend of yours?"
He stares at the corpse. "I figure the dead things we been smelling? They got him good. Probably still around here somewhere. Keep your noses open."
Once Sarona's stomach settles somewhat, she stands and shakily makes her way into the room behind Kerin.
Seeing the half-orc's corpse, she sighs and bows her head, both hands clasping her holy symbol of Brigh.
"Sacred Whisper, this poor soul has departed too soon, and deprived this world of innovations undiscovered. Guide this lost soul to your domain, and grant him a place within your grand design." She prays.
Now that Stumper is up on their level Joseph unties the rope from around him and looks through his soggy pack realizing about half of it is ruined.
Awww that sucks. What did you guys find over there?
Joseph then lets Stumper free to roam a bit to forage and joins the others.
Huh. Poor soul. Ive seen these before, they are whats known as an Orc. Generally savage and untamed, this one looks more civilized. Joseph informs them, as if the concept of a half-orc was a rare thing and needed explaining...
Fist holds his belly as he moves towards the rest of the group.
"Any idea what killed him?"
You identify the corpse as Parda, a popular brawler in town. She was one of those who traveled with several thugs into the cavern. Almost everyone called her friends, and many felt her falling in with the thugs was going to be her end- Turns out, they were right. She appears to have been stabbed, several times, by a short bladed weapon like a dagger.
It takes roughly thirty seconds for the boar to get into trouble. A dark cavern opens up here, it's twenty foot high ceiling thick with stalactites, a rocky shore overlooks a placid pool and stream, fed by a trickle of water leading from a narrow fissure to the north. A small garden of toadstools and dark mold grows along the banks. A grotesque blindheim stands, lying down, glaring at the boar with ire.
"Killed her," Caimor says. "She's Parda, a popular brawler in town. Traveled with several thugs into here and subsequently been stabbed several times by a short bladed weapon, possibly a dagger. Uncertain of the perpetrator or what she was doing lying here, however."
When his attention is called away by the boar and the blindheim, he reflexively sets about analyzing the new figure.
"That looks like trouble ..." Tazwell says.
Taz pulls out his bow and takes aim at the creature that is glaring at Stumper
Fist looks over at the thing that the pig found and narrows his eyes.
Stumper acknowledges the strange creature then goes back to his foraging, none too worried, heading to the toadstools.
Joseph was a good deal more worried
Oh dung... Stumper. Heel. trying to get the boar back without incident, and muttering "Please, please, please"
Hearing the command, Stumper abandons his search and starts to head back to Shepherd.
Sarona winces when Caimor reveals that the half-orc was actually a woman.
*ahem* "Sacred Whisper, this poor soul has departed too soon, and deprived this world of innovations undiscovered. Guide this lost soul to your domain, and grant her a place within your grand design." She prays again, feeling foolish.
When Stumper runs into some sort of creature, she moves and takes up a position behind Fist and clutches her holy symbol.
The blindheilm doesn't move. It bears a mark on it's hind, stating Pet. As it backs off, you see a corpse in the pool, half-eaten. It sits down, lying down. It doesn't appear to want you guys to enter it's area. Don't anger him.
Abilities:
Blinding Gaze (Ex) A blindheim's eyes emit bright light to a range of 30 feet. Any creature within the area must make a DC 13 Fortitude save or be blinded for 1 hour. Blindheims can see normally in the light generated by their eyes, which illuminates a 30-foot spread with bright light. Creatures with light blindness or light sensitivity take the normal penalties within 30 feet of a blindheim that is using its blinding gaze. A blindheim can activate or suppress this ability as a free action. This save DC is Constitution-based.
If you need more, just look at this. You've beat the DC by 23, so I figure it's good enough.
Blindheims are grotesque, frog-like creatures that dwell beneath the surface, subsisting on meals of fungi, rodents, and other underground creatures. They live in the darkest, dampest regions of cavernous sprawls, particularly enjoying underground bogs, lakes, rivers, and swamps. Although not aquatic, blindheims are excellent swimmers. They prefer to latch onto branches or rock outcroppings, where they maintain the high ground while in pursuit of food. They use the light from their eyes to attract prey, but go dark when larger creatures approach. A blindheim uses its blinding gaze to disorient both prey and possible threats, then deactivates its gaze to scuttle away in the dark if the threat is too great. In very large caverns inhabited by blindheims, distant areas often flicker from brightly lit to absolutely dark as the creatures feed and flee. Though of animal-level intelligence, blindheims are cunning enough to coordinate their hunting tactics with others of their kind, using one creature to act as a lookout and make hit-and-run attacks with its gaze until its fellows can arrive to help finish off the prey.
Blindheims can convey simple information through gestures and flashes of their lights, and tend to be rather silent in combat, adding an eerie element to battles with them. They cannot be taught to perform humanoid-appropriate labors and thus make poor slaves, though the duergar and drow sometimes use them as bait or distractions when raiding. Other races have been known to train these creatures as mobile light sources when going on long underground expeditions.
Stout and thick-skinned, a blindheim is just under 4 feet in height and weighs 150 pounds. A blindheim gives birth to small litters of three or four young. Though gestation can last up to a full year, it only takes about 4 years for a blindheim to mature and become self-reliant, at which point the creatures generally form broods that stick together, only striking out on their own if their brethren have perished. Blindheims can live for up to 25 years.
Seeing as there's apparently no immediate threat to their lives, Kerin kneels by the corpse, Parda, and starts rummaging through her stuff. Whoever stabbed her had probably taken her money, but Kerin was more looking for tokens to take back to her family or whatever.
"So, the thing in the next room. Anyone know what it is? Do we kill it or what?"
"A blindheim," Caimor remarks. "And a trained one at that. They've been used as mobile light sources in the past"
Once Stumper is safely back and within arms reach of Joseph, he pulls out his pipe, trying to dry it off and light it. Then, he begins to inform the group.
Ah yes. A Blindhelm. They are completely blind, and not native to this region. They are very smart for animals and make very loyal pets. Judging by the way he acted a moment ago, and my own training of Stumper i would say he is on guard duty... So... Do we have to go that way?
Joseph takes a puff from his pipe, believing and assured by his own propaganda (which was gleaned from a combination of visible facts, half remembered rumors, assumed conclusions and possibly an outright fabrication. Or two..)