In a way of not really answering his question, Ember just manages to squeak out "Toyboy" in between bouts of laughter.
Keldor dumps his load of sundries in a corner out of the way, and turns back to Ember as Hali makes her quick escape.
"'Toy-Boy?' Is that some new form of Automaton? I've heard of various Numerian constructs, but that one is new to me."
Reaching back over his shoulder, Keldor absentmindedly adjusts the hilt of his Elven Curve-Blade as it juts over his right shoulder.
"Of course I would love to see any Numerian machine, toy or otherwise, up close. That's one of the reasons I came here!"
Ember tries to stop laughing, but Keldor really isn't helping with that. "No, no. Not an Automaton. At least none that I know of. I suppose someone really bored and desperate may have made one like that though."
Ember manages to take a few deep breathes. "I guess we should get back to the discussion of heading out after Val's dad?"
Silvester sighs at Rasellia's speech, reaching back to adjust his ponytail. "Very well, my lady. If you wish to stay, we will stay. I shall do my best to defend you from whatever may come."
As the rest of the room quickly collapses into giggles and various shrieks of laughter, the young swordsman's face flushes with embarrassment and annoyance. "I am Lady Seraphaelis' bodyguard, and old friend," he says stiffly. "Nothing more."
Ember manages to reign in her mirth. "Uh huh." I bet the Lady has thoughts to the contrary of that. They always do...
"A bodyguard and a friend. No more. Thank you for telling me, Silvester Roland.", Basil registers his answer in total seriousness, before turning to the others:"It would seem some among us already retrieved what we need, which would allow us a first probing right away, if new information we learn makes that seem a desirable course of action. If anybody else needs anything they left in their place of residence, it might be prudent to fetch it now, rather than sequentially, and meet up in front of the Town Councils locale."
"I guess I should grab my backpack and toss some tools in it, just in case we find anything fun to tinker with. Can't pass up those sorts of chances. I should grab a sunrod or two from the shop too since torches won't well when wet."
Still grinning, though containing any remaining laughter, Ember heads off to her mom's shop at a quick pace, not wanting to keep up the group for long.
Keldor still looking confused, sits near his pile of stuff and sorts it all out again into neat piles and repacks his backpack for the journey while the other finish discussing things.
"Sunrods are a great idea Ember! Here's some more money to buy extra!"
Keldor easily hands over 10 more gold to buy 5 more sunrods if ember can find that many to buy.
The half-elf then begins pick lint and near-invisible detritus off his Kyonin-style parade armor. His family's ancient sigil easily seen upon the leather-worked shoulders: Two crossed arrows over a compass rose.
"Yes, yes, um, just friends..." Rasellia trails off, seeing that the conversation has moved. She hopes that she gave the right impression, she likes Silvester of course, but has always thought of him as a younger brother more than anything. Oh, we are going now? she thinks, noticing the sudden movement from Hali and Ember things certainly are 'all go' here. She begins to bustle around gathering her things, before realizing that she is already carrying everything she needs, what with her and Silvester having just arrived in town.
"Um, well, I suppose I am ready to go when everyone is. Yes. Um, when we are all ready." She lapses into silence, for a moment before sitting down. "Silvester," she says "I don't suppose you could see if there is any tea available. I might sit and read until we are ready to go." With that she opens a book who's cover reads 'Effects of Earthfall: A Collection of Analysis' and begins to quickly read it. I must try to relax she thinks, "I am certain everything will turn out fine.
Ember is able to scrounge the approximate amount of sunrods she has gold for by talking to the usual vendors in town and even a few traveling merchants.
With Hali and Ember's direction, you find the town hall easily, though oddly only one member of the council is available. Dolga Freddert, the town’s oldest councilor, was present at Torch’s founding over a century ago, and though her body has grown old in those 100 years, she remains alert and energetic.
Currently she's filling out a stack of paperwork when you arrive.
"If you're looking for Bazlundi Otterbie, they're currently working with Joram Kyte trying to fix the waste issue. Soceal Murgrave is nursing a splitting headache home, And Khonnir...."
She stops writing, and then looks up. Her tired face betrays her current state.
"Is there something you needed?" she asks, a glimpse of hope as she probes for the particular subject that would make her week.
Confidently, Keldor steps forward with a slute and announces, as if to invisible fanfare:
"We're here to help! We want to help find Khonnir Bane and get the Torch burning again!"
"He may a bit enthusiastic, but yeah, that's our plan Councilor Freddert. We had a talk with a Val about his destination and at least have a starting point in mind. I'm also pretty sure that we are all competent."
Wincing a little at Keldor's enthusiasm, Hali does at least show her courtesy with a half-effort bow at the waist. As far as her leg allows, anyway.
"Aye. That. Competent." She purposely emphasises every syllable of that word, snorting a little as she proceeds to pick her filing-encrusted nails with a freshly sharpened knife. "Already made our minds about it, Ms. Freddert—bleedin' insane, the lot of us—so anythin' you or yer papers can tell us, we'd be real appreciative to know. And I do mean anything. I'd check in with m' brothers' notes, but let's be honest; those two couldn't make glass with all the sand in Qadira."
She wipes the blade on a sleeve, still talking. "Real sorry t' hear 'bout Murgrave though. Been some nasty thing goin' round of late. Maybe all o' Torch's comin' out in sympathy. Am sure the council can spare a thought for the last bunch a' sods volunteerin' their lives though, eh?"
"They are correct. We intend to use our diverse set of skills supplemented by outside help to try and do what the other groups failed at. If we, too, should fail to return, you would probably be best advised to seal the entrance.", Basil adds.
She had already retrieved her Gear earlier, and stood ready with a backpack containing diverse necessities, and retrieved a chain shirt and a bandolier containing several alchemically made cartridges, wearing them both over her linen dress.
"Any information that would prevent that outcome would be much appreciated, if there's anything you can tell us in preparation."
There is visible relaxation of Dolga's shoulder's as she hears the news that you all intend on venturing to find Khonnir Bane.
"Of course, of course. I'd be happy to tell you anything that might help."
"The entrance to the caves is through an underwater tunnel in Weeping Pond. Khonnir noticed a large number of human footprints on the pond’s banks—he was there the day the fires went out testing the water to ensure it hadn’t suddenly grown more toxic—and he realized that a sizable group of people had entered the pond but had not emerged."
"Let me see...“Four teams in all, but only one came back to report what they found—Khonnir’s first expedition. Khonnir spoke at length with the council before going back in, and he confirmed what his group told us, despite how outlandish it sounded. The first team was a group of halfling adventurers, the second a group of local thugs and toughs, and the fourth a small adventuring party devoted to the worship of Brigh from
out of town. Khonnir’s team undertook the third and fifth expeditions under Black Hill, and it was on the fifth expedition—his second trip—that he went missing."
" “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.”
She pauses, wondering if she missed soemthing.
"Joram Kyte has agreed to cast water breathing on any group to aid in entering the caves—free of charge, of course. You can find him at the temple of Brigh or up at Crowfeather Palace when you’re ready to go.”
"A free casting of Water Breathing from Joram would indeed be very welcome. I was wondering how long I'd be able to hold my breath while swimming since I'm guessing my lungs are a bit smaller than my companions. The vermin and scavengers sound typical and what I'm sure we all expected to find in such a place. The strange humanoids are a bit more worrying, but not entirely unexpected since there has to be something weird going on to have kept Khonnir from returning."
"Most interesting is this wall of solid metal that you mentioned. No one would build just one random wall of solid metal under the mountain just for shits and giggles. Maybe there is an entire complex hidden under there just waiting for us to explore it?"
Ember seems very excited to get out there and begin exploring (and finding Khonnir of course.)
"Fascinating! People that can camouflage themselves? A metal wall of Glaucite? It's almost unbelievable! We should leave at once!"
Adjusting his pack, Keldor acts as if he's ready to leave on the spot!
"Thank you. It would seem anything in these caves, Khonnir was able to handle. I suspect he was intrigued by the Glaucite Wall and it's door, and tried to learn more during his second expedition. We are now aware of the dangers leading up to that point, but what lies beyond that glaucite roadblock remains a mystery, probably responsible for the fifth expeditions loss. We would probably be well-advised to secure the area leading up to it, establish a safe fall-back position.", Basil muses. It seemed that what the Council deemed important, they had been told. And the real danger, that is, whatever caused the 5th expedition to go missing, would be unknown by default.
One more thing came to mind, though:"The underwater Tunnel...how long is it? And how long would the spell last? It would not do to survive the dangers within the caves, only to end trapped in them for lack of an exit. If the Tunnel is too long, a simple dispelling of magic could trap us for prolonged times."
Hali gives Keldor a quick elbow before going back to picking her nails, mentally cataloging Dolga's exposition with a deepening frown. Ember and Basil's assessments gain a thoughtful nod—Hali's done her fair bit of glaucite smelting in her time, and she'd be a poor liar to say she didn't have an interest in it—but something clearly doesn't sit right with the engineer and when the conversation luls she loudly clears her throat.
"...Before the Torch went, no one's been reported goin' missin' that way I take it? Transients or the like?" Hali's nose scrunches, arms crossing and dagger bouncing against her bicep as she continues thinking aloud, "In any case, four lost expeditions and a 'sizeable' number a' unknowns gettin' lost don't exactly fill me with the greatest o' confidence...but alternatives ain't quite in high supply."
She sighs, blade still tapping against her sleeve as she offers up a wry smile. "Don't suppose the Council knows someone with a spare set o' picks layin' around? The lumberin' bastards took mine and all this talk o' underground doors is makin' me fingers itch."
"Ouch!"
Keldor looks at Hali when she elbows him, with the hurt look of a puppy wondering what he did wrong.
"Hali! I didn't..."
At that point Hali questions the Councilor and ignores Keldor's whispered protest. Of course, her conversation with the councilor immediately makes him forget his pain as his fascination with all things Numerian pulls him away from his personal reality. Again.
Never being able to withstand the look of a hurt puppy, Ember tries to console Keldor with a friendly pat on the back. However, due to their size difference, her aim is much lower than she intended...
Dolga listens as each of you reacts to the news she's laid out.
"You can explore all you'd like, but your main purpose is to find Khonnir. The water breathing spell is powerful enough to cover each of you for six hours, and if you are successful you will receive 4,000 gp."
She turns to Hali.
"Khonnir was the first to discover the underground tunnel, but we haven't had any reports of transients going missing. That is, no one reported them. I suppose its possible that could explain the footprints Khonnir mentioned...As for picks, you can probably find a trader around here. I'll even give you a writ for 20% off."
"We do intend to retrieve all of them. Including Khonnir, Drovan, the Gearalts and whoever else went on these expeditions. If you are confident enough in our success to offer such a substantial reward, you may want to be prepared, and order some new graves dug at the cemetary. It is unlikely that any remains we come across are in a state fit for display.", Basil responds cheerfully, ready to head out.
Hali gives Keldor a narrowed look—over-enthusiasm isn't a bad thing, per se—but Ember seems to be dealing with him well enough and the scavenger's attention quickly returns to Dolga.
"Yer do us a kindness, Councillor." Hali gives a second bow in thanks to Ms. Freddert's generosity, as if also ready to take her leave. Of course she barely manages to rise back to her full (if unimpressive) height before Basil's suggestion drives her face into her palm. It's not been a year since she buried her father, and a reminder that she's likely to be throwing the rest of the Gearalts in the ground does not prove a comforting thought. "Fer Bronze's sake, Bas, could ye not? Drovan hears y' callin' him dead and we'll all suffer for it."
Rasellia nods along as Dolga speaks. A wise old woman like her must have a great deal of wisdom to share, perhaps when we are done with this quest I will be able to come back and talk to her. Rasellia would like that, any chance to ask someone so clearly knowledgeable some questions is a good one in her mind. However as the councillor speaks her face quickly begins to drop from rapt interest to barely concealed fear.
So we will enter through a pool of water. Rasellia has never been a particularly good swimmer. There is also the fact that the pool could possibly be filled with toxic chemicals and acids. She knows full well that she has strong constitution, but willingly exposing herself to eldritch toxins is still a poor prospect.That is not to mention the mysterious group that vanished into it prompting this whole investigation. She tugs a lock of her hair in worry.
Five missing parties! she thinks in shock. She has known that some people had already gone missing, but five separate expeditions! All, from Dolga's description, had been experienced as well. If she had not already thouroughly made up her mind about this mission she would be tempted to withdraw, with her apologies of course. She swallows deeply and vows silently to soldier on, at least for a while.
Invisible people and gremlins! Rasselia feels a bit faint as Dolga casually mentions these threats. She has never even seriously hurt a person, let alone murdered anyone. Even if whoever is lurking down there is see-through they are still a person and she is not sure if she will be comfortable inflicting harm on them. She tries to take notes on the mission but finds her hands shaking too badly.
"Oh dear" she whispers, more to herself than anyone.
Her doubts are assuaged somewhat by being told that a water-breathing spell with be available but she only worries further at the mention of transients going missing. Silvester and her are transients, and despite the councillors reassurances that there have been no reports of such things, she cannot help but fret. She hopes that her talents and Silvester's blade will be enough to protect them both not only from the threats in the caves but anyone else who may wish to do them harm.
In her distracted state she pays no mind to the others talking amongst themselves, she can barely hear her own thoughts, let alone the others in the room. Although she is vaguely aware of Basil saying something embarrassing, and Ember doing something embarrassing.
Finally at the mention of four-thousand gold in payment she does not know what to think. That amount was but pocket change to her parents who often wasted more in a night paying for magical reagents and materials. However she had not actually brought much gold with her here to Numeria. It was her parents intention and her's that she would be on her own besides Silvester, and this included financial aid. Still she thinks what would I even spend gold on out here? With lodgings secured there was not much else she would need. I suppose I could save it in case anything comes up. Or maybe donate it to charity. This thought intrigues her and the first sentence that she says properly out-loud in some time is:
"Is there an organisation that could use monetary aid in exploring the ruins in town? Or um, a home for unfortunate halflings?
Dolga gives Basil a strange look and shifts away slightly, almost imperceptibly.
To Rasellia, she give s somber expression.
"Well, if the Torch doesn't light up again soon, then you can put that money into helping us all clear out. Without that supposedly ever-burning flame, this town will be dead in weeks...In the off chance you manage to fix the flame, there'll be another 4,000 gp reward."
Silvester hears the whisper coming from just behind him and to his left, and half-turns to look at Rasellia. Though he can't read the reasons for the fear, the emotion itself is more readable than he suspects his charge knows, and he tries to give her a reassuring half-smile before looking back at Dolga.
"We'll do our best," he affirms, glancing sideways at Basil with one raised eyebrow.
Hali looks a teeny bit offended at the offer of money in exchange for the relighting of the eponymous Torch, but quickly remembers that not all in their company are locals and mechanics, and gold is a more practical motivation than sheer defiance of fate.
"Am not sayin' I'm takin' donations, Ras," she says, amused that the noble and the Android have such rhymable synonyms, "but Ms. Freddert's got the right of it. Heck, just between me and Firesong 'ere, give it a couple weeks and we'll practically be one whole unfortunate Halfling ourselves." Though she tries to sound a little lighter about the whole thing, it's obvious Hali isn't much fond of the idea of her town turning into a corpse.
"Thank y' for yer time, Councillor." Hali gives a shallow salute, barely more than a couple fingers to the temple. "I'll see if we cannae get ye a proper report written on our return."
"Excellent! I've always wanted to go spelunking!"
The party makes a pass at the temple to receive their free casting of water being (and with written promise of payment). And with that, they dive beneath the surface of the pond locate the tunnel entrance, and swim. They arrive at the first shore, but it seems the water continues on...
[A1]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.
Before entering the water, Keldor hesitates.
Stepping back a little to get some space from everybody, he gets down on one knee. He then begins chanting in what
seems to be a combination of elvish and draconic while scatering some unknown powder in a circle around himself.
A minute later the air begins to feel different and the the space just behind Keldor suddenly and violently splits open,
revealing a dark ragged gash that seems to suck the air from the area for only a moment, while a nearly
seven foot tall clockwork golem-looking entity seemingly made of shiny metal steps through.
Standing up, Keldor and the entity seem to phase into one another and a symbol of a compass rose crossed by two arrows
blazes in green on the creature's forehead. While you can still vaguely see Keldor's outline through the entity's shell, it
still seems quite solid as well. Moving clock-work gears and small hisses of steam encompass the creature's form whether it moves or not.
Glowing red eyes and an echoing-hollow version of Keldor's voice emanates from the helmet-like head.
"May I introduce Gauntlet, my family Eidolon?"
Basil looks up from her gear for a moment to say "Hi, Gauntlet." before returning to her task at hand. She was efficient if not very social.
Basil had taken great care to make sure her weapon, all the powder, the bullets and pellets she intended to bring along were protected against the water. It was one vulnerability of her weapon, and with the battered condition it was in(she would have had time and knowledge, but not the resources necessary to fix it) she did not want to risk firing it with damp powder. Even if it would go off...
The fact her primary means of self-defense was wrapped in a waterskin, oiled cloth, and more layers of protection meant that her ability to fend off an assault after emerging from the water would be vastly limited. As a matter of efficiency, then, she stayed near the back of the group, while they remained in the water.
It seemed sensible, too, since she was slowest, unrolling a rope along their path, to allow for a faster exit later.
When they surfaced, Basil calmly watched what the others were doing. Did they intend to swim further inside, or try their luck here...remaining silent seemed relevant until they were on dry ground and ready for any dangers that lurked nearby.
With a sudden realization, Basil turned towards Keldor. If she manages to catch his attention, she will put a finger to her lips, emitting a very weak "Shhh..."-sound.
Hali pauses in her final checks to observe Keldor's ritual with a raised brow, hands autonomously checking each of her innumerable pockets for their contents as she readies to go—hammer, chisel, newly acquired picks; all rinsed in oil in what'll inevitably be a poor attempt to negate the pool's inherent corrosion.
On completion of his ritual, Hali just sort of...blinks, before shaking her head and muttering something in Hallit. While she's distinctly more progressive than her family's more traditional Kellid roots, the sight of a man seeming to embody a spirit (or certainly something like it, clockwork and all) draws more than a wince to her eye. She quickly gets over it though, and with a hand gripping the wrench in her pocket stares up at the reverberating golem-shell with a low, rising whistle.
"Sêr a gogoniant i ti, gwarcheidwad," she greets the Eidolon, kicking up the longspear she'd brought into an empty hand and turning to eye the waters. A moment later she flings herself into the pond, and with the weight of her gear quickly submerges beneath the surface.
On the other side, Hali washes up on the shore with a small chorus of coughs. The priest's spell might have kept the water from drowning them all, but it sure as all heck didn't do anything for the taste. Once the remnants of the fetid pool leave her lungs, she straightens herself out, kicks off the water draining from her leg brace and glances about the place, not at all impressed with their dank surroundings.
Ember bounces up and down all excitedly. "Oooohhh, that is so neat! Where do you get one of those? I'd like to get one too! Maybe it could even make me as big as you guys!"
She bounces forward and knocks on the armor/eidolon, most likely at thigh height, testing the hardness of it.
With his obvious humor dampened a bit by the Eidolon's strange voice, Keldor gently pokes the gnome.
"You wish! Knowing you, if you got an Eidolon, you would probably torture it to death dancing for money! Sorry Ember...this is a blood-line thing. Like sorcerers? I never actually asked for Gauntlet, but I got him anyway. I WAS training to be a warrior."
Keldor then moves to take the lead.
"Gauntlet can take some decent punishment, so let me go first."
Rasellia keeps her hands pressed to her chest to stop them shaking as she looks around the dank room. She shivers in the cool, she has stripped down to her shift in order to swim more easily but she moves her hands awkwardly trying to keep herself covered. There is nothing to be embarrassed about she tries to convince herself. Her shift does cover from her shoulders to her knees but she still feels awkward not wearing her dress. She takes her dress out of the oiled bag it is in and considers putting it back on even for just a minute before moving on when she is surprised by an enormous metal figure stepping into existence.
She almost turns and runs but instead stands still and breathes heavily as Keldor gives his explanation. She calms down slightly once it is clear that this is not another clockwork monstrosity come to kill her, but she still seems out of breath.
"You could have said you were going to do that" She says softly, but she knows that she should have expected strange powers from this group. Now that she has calmed down she begins to frantically scribble down notes about the mechanical figure after pulling her notebook from her bag. Whilst she decides to hold off on questions for now, the look in her eyes says that she will have plenty later.
Once she has finished her notes she says, in a voice made much happier by the promise of further research,
"Um, I suppose that we should begin to explore. I would prefer to walk further away from any threats, if that is alright. She does not mention her powers, but even without her being more effective at range she would rather stay away from any slavering beasts. "But Silvester is a masterful swordsman, perhaps he could join you at the front. What do you think Silvester?"
After saying this she surreptitiously slips behind a rock and puts her dress back on, it feels terrible over a damp shift but she is much more comfortable not showing off her calves. She does not look forward to changing back out of it when she needs to swim again.
Keldor shrugs his now massive shoulders and waves the swordsman forward with his massive shiny metal hand.
"I guess you and I are in front then master swardman? Ember? Got one of those sunrods handy? Let's get moving. No telling how far we actually have to go down here."
Keldor then moves slowly but further into cave, straining to see and hear any problems in advance.
Silvester strips off his armour and sword to swim, taking to the water in his tunic and trousers and emerging on the other side looking somewhat bedraggled. After drying his hair with his tabard and fixing it back in its ponytail, he takes a moment to light a torch from his pack before sitting on a rock to wriggle into his chain shirt and survey the surrounds, torch in one hand, sword in the other.
The appearance of Keldor's family friend unnerves him, but where Rasellia is overtly fretful and unnerved, he keeps his own distrust and apprehension hidden for the time being. After all, it would not behoove a 'master swordsman', as she'd described him, to show fear in the face of such a merely unusual thing. He wrings out his tabard before standing and slipping it over his head, belting it, and nodding. "Alright, let's move. I suggest we look around to the left first."
"Yup. Here you go Keldor." Ember passes a sunrod over to the eidolon covered Keldor.
Then Ember takes off her boots and strips down to her underthings in preparation for the swim. She shoves all her stuff into her bag and then pulls out a sunrod of her own to use.
She'll do her best to paddle alongside the others in the water, but still ends up being the last one out. Once back out on dry(ish) land, she will get her clothing back out her bag and toss it on hastily.
"Welp, let's get exploring." Ember will follow along with the group, staying behind Keldor.
With the others stepping on solid ground, Basil follows.
Only being armed with a special glove was a necessity brought about by water, but she definitely wanted to at least not enter unknown territory being an easy target.
As such, she wore both her tunic and the armor for the swim. The wet Linen clung to her, leaving a puddle on the floor, and doing little to hide her physical features - a responsibility gladly taken over by her Chain Shirt.
Kneeling down, some steps away from the water, facing the way deeper inside, she also went about unwrapping her equipment, retrieving her weapon and loading it with powder and pellets, then falling in line behind the 2 designated frontliners:"The explosive force propelling these forward will cause their trajectory to be unstable, spreading out as they exit my weapon and covering an angle in front of me. Do try and stay clear of potential fire lines, if you are able. Or utilize the time I need to reload if you must enter.", she explains to Silvester and Keldor.
The three of them never really fought together...the drone in Torch excluded. It wouldn't hurt to establish some basic knowledge about the utilized tactics.
"Oh, I don't think I asked before, but is anyone good with finding and following any tracks? Just because I'm low to the ground, doesn't mean I know what the hell I'm looking at."
Nodding at Basil Keldor waves a hand to reassure her, his echoing voice deeper than it originally was.
"Fascinating! I understand. I've heard a of a conjuration spell once that does something similar!"
Turning to Ember, Keldor seems sheepish, but it's hard to tell with his distorted voice.
"Tracking? Living in the wilderness? I never really got that far in my training. Sorry. Silvester?"