"Dips on not touching the drum!" Poshment shouts. "Let's head up the stairs again, can't be too many more floors now!"
Heading up the stairs to the eight floor you find yourselves in another atrium. From what you saw outside you realise that there is only one floor above where you are. To the door to the east you can hear a leathery flapping noise. To the northwest and the northeast you can hear nothing.
"Uhhhhhh, we should probably check out the leather flaps first," Poshment suggests.
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Several shelves and desks run along the northern and western wall of this room, while in the centre stands a large contraption made of several concentric metal rings arrayed around a thin metal mesh in which is cradled a black ceramic bottle with a cork plugging its top.
Zimdoz you recognise that the strange contraption in the centre works as some form of turbine that would generate a spherical cage of wind to contain and manipulate air and vapour within the sphere. It is from this device that the leathery flapping appears to be coming from.
Poshment's breathing intensifies. "There a button I can push? Huh? Is there? TELL ME ZIMMY-BOY, WHERE'S THE BUTTOOOOON?!"
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The leathery flapping noise is starting to grow louder
Zimdoz looks at the thing, and blinks, his beady black eyes confused. "Um - this is a turbine that generates wind contain something within the sphere. It sounds like there's flapping coming from inside? Hold on ... Poshy-poo." He winks at Poshment, and then looks for a button.
"Though, if we press a button - are we letting something out or keeping something in?"
Zimdoz, you can see a creature with dull, red eyes, grasping claws, and leathery wings give a demonic aspect to this creature’s smoky form, within the turbine. It sees you and growls.
Alldur, you recognise the creature as a belker. They have some damage reduction against everything. They have the ability to transform themselves into smoke and move into an opponent's square which does not provoke.
Zimdoz looks at the others. He shrugs, ”I don’t know what we should do. Let it out to just kill it?” He itches behind his ear. ”Leave it there?”
'Killing it would take some doing. I'd hate for trying to take a turn for the worst.'
Poshment sticks out his tongue and waggles his fingers at the Belker. "Forget this thing, let's just try another door!"
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Leaving the Belker behind you open the next door. Several wooden barrels the size of a human stand upright against the north and east walls of this semi-triangular laboratory. Each barrel is capped with a wooden lid, its rim crusted with dried blood. A desk near one wall has notes scattered atop it, and strange, almost humanoid-shaped bloodstains adorn the floor in several spots.
'Well, this looks pleasant. Alldur says as he carefully scans the room for dangers.
Zimdoz does the same, looking for secret things.
Looking around the area you can see that this laboratory was used to study vampiric mists. Alldur and Zimdoz you can tell that the humanoid shaped bloodstains on the floor are the remains of four vampiric mists that were once kept here, it appears that the creatures starved to death.
"I don't like to wish death upon people, but are blood-sucking mists even people? Good riddance, I say!" Poshment says cheerfully. "What sicko wants to study them though? Yikes..." Shaking his head, he gently nudges Grezzag to head over to the next door.
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Zimdoz moves over to the door himself, and says to Poshment, "I mean I know all about these things - and yet - none of this makes sense. It's as if it were a madhouse here!" he squeaks.
Zimdoz checks it for traps before they enter.
This chamber is largely empty, save for a few strange metal barrels against the southern wall. Both barrels have jagged rents on their sides, as if some caustic material had melted a hole through them.
"Yeah! But like, the remains of a madhouse. Half the stuff is broken, busted, or gone nutty!" Poshment responds with a shiver.
"Zimmy and... Alldur, I'm sorry, your name just hasn't lent istelf to a nickname just yet. Nothing personal though, eh? Where was- Oh yeah! Unless something is in there that you want to take a closer look at, I say we keep this wagon moving!"
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On one of the barrels you find a partially burnt handwritten note, written by Furkas Xoud which reads as follows:
'Like clouds themselves, yet moving with a strange focused purpose I have not observed in baser swarms. If I could capture one of the worms that walk and determine how the transference of mind from one body to thousands is achieved perhaps one could do the same with a transference of mind from one body to millions. If I can secure control of bionanites as a host body in the same way my crawling guest controls the worms of his body, perhaps I can...."
"Eeek, now that's a creepy thought. Imagine if we all had the same mind!" Poshment shakes his head in disgust. Why would I stay so stylish and fashionable if I didn't have others to be more stylisher and fashionabler than? It'd be madness I say, MADNESS!
Several shelves and desks run along the northern and western wall of this room, there does not appear to be anything else here.
Zimdoz squeaks in behind Poshment and looks around.
Alldur wanders into the room as well and begins scanning with detect magic.
Nothing shows as magical in the room and it appears to have been deserted long ago.
This large chamber has a tall, conical roof. A tangled mass of whistling pipes run from the floor of the room through the ceiling. Coloured smoke issuing from this central core of pipes pervades the room, giving the place a hazy sheen. Tables throughout are covered with bubbling cauldrons, smoking alembics, and delicate mechanical contraptions. Three large tanks, filled with coloured fog stand on the north side of the room. Elsewhere , large metal bookshelves are crammed with books and papers. In the room are two metal creatures that look quite sophisticated. As they notice you they say
"Has Master Xoud extracted the android's lore yet? Does he require our aid?"
"Uhhhhhh..." Poshment gawks. "No, no aid for the Master Xoud!" He gives his allies a wide-eyed look that reads Blasty-blasty nowy-nowy pleasey-pleasey!
Zimdoz tries to figure out how powerful the things are.
Zimdoz you know that the creatures have hardness but that they are vulnerable to electricity. They do have some spellcasting abilities and their spells also do electricity and force damage as well as the spell effect.
The creatures seem to be getting impatient with you.
Poshment tries to push the Riot Suppressor Bot into the room. "If you're lucky, Grezzag won't forget who you're working for!" he says to the thing. Or, more accurately, to it's shin-equivalent.
Riot Suppressor Bot nods at Poshment, "acknowledged, small creature, this unit will suppress that riot." The bot charges into the room waving its warhammer and trying to crush the enemies.
"Please comply, master requires silence. Return to your homes."
Zimdoz says, "Ack! 'bot! You're so aggressive!" He scurries forward after quickly putting a smoldering ordnance into the dragon pistol, and readies to fire should either of the casters cast a spell.
The riot supressor moves across to attack but the apprentice manages to get out of the way.
Zimdoz then shoots striking the creature.
"I won't be outdone by a robot!" Grezzag promises, leaping into battle as well.
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Alldur draws a wand to his hand in the moment before all hell breaks loose.
Grezzag smashes his weapon into the nearest robot apprentice
The robot apprentice smashes into the riot robot. The second apprentice casts a spell at Zimdoz (Glitterdust - DC17)
Poshment pops off a channel in an effort to heal the bot, but only manages to wind up his allies!
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