Fascinated by the strange material of the cards, Keldor attempts to guess their usefulness.
Wide eyed at these skulks, but attempting to show a tough face.
Reaching forward to grab one of the cards. "May I?"
"Sure seems like odd playing card. Weird material too!"Looks at silverdisks with a bit of a grin"Those, though, I know their use!"
Basil patiently waits until the others have taken a closer look at the cards, then, when one is passed to her, does so herself:"Whoever asked for them must have had a reason to do so. There is a good chance we will run into that reason ourselves, so we should probably hold on to them. Thank you for honoring your part of the deal! It is appreciated."
Turning to the new members, she continues:"How are you holding up, so far? Ready to proceed? If the darkness or narrow tunnels are inconveniencing to anybody, they should probably state so now, before we run into anything else that's hostile."
Dirissa doesn't seem particularly interested in the cards so much as the disks. Something about the material, the way it reflects light, seems to mesmerize her. She looks up from the silver disks at Basil's question. "No problems at all. A little wet though."
Gripping the hilt of his sword tight."I am doing good. The darkness is oddly comforting. Ready to continue into the unknown."
At this point Keldor nods with a smile.
"Let's get going...but give me a minute to get dressed appropriately? Just give me a little room here..."
With that Keldor begins a familiar chant to Basil.
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's met him before of course. Shall we continue?"
With a few steps Keldor/Gauntlet begins moving towards the exit.
Dirissa pokes her finger at the back of Keldor's leg to see if it touches the eidolon or goes through to touch Keldor.
Gripping his sword a little tighter while this metal creature appears, then absorbs/fuses/goes symbiotic with Keldor. As soon as Keldor's voice is heard Harg releases his grip.
"Well that is sure impressive"
Looking at this group. A brief look of doubt flashes across his face. "You all seem very ready and able! I hope I do not disappoint. Well no time like the present to proof I am more than a blacksmith with a few fancy tricks. Let us continue!"
"Hm. You are right, Keldor. I should probably explain beforehand, just in case."
Presenting her own weapon, Basil continues, pointing at parts and going through the motions:"This is a Blunderbuss. You my or may not be familiar with it, but I know some of our previous members were not. It is a category of weapon called 'Firearm'. I insert powder and ammunition, here and here. Then I point at hostiles with this end, and pull this trigger. My preferred kind of ammunition uses small metal shards, which are propelled by the powder explosion, and then fan out in a cone, injuring or killing everything in front of the opening. Try not to stand in front of my weapons opening. Also, I would appreciate if you would try and not block my line of fire. I may be too focused on a target and notice too late."
|
noticing what has been handed out, she takes one, looks it over and stashes it away unsure of what it is, though as everyone starts to move out, she checks her weapons one last time and makes her way following Harg and the others.
"Darkness? about time, I mean...no issue with it here, I rather find it like home trutfully"
We can go with...Keldor is an impressive 5'10' half-elf, so...with Gauntlet, he's about 6'4"? So you have him by a couple of inches, but not by bulk or weight. That may change as his Eidolon gains evolutions of course. And yes...he's solid to everybody else but me.
Keldor jerks his/Gauntlet's leg back from Dirissa's touch.
"Hey! That tickles!"
Takes a look at Basil's weapon.
"Wow. Did you build it yourself? Curious to see it in action. I tend to want to get up close, but I will attempt to not be in the way, when possible. Not sure I want to be getting hit by that."
Looking around, "Whats next?"
"These...people...gave us a direction to follow? For now we don't have much else to go on."
"I...don't know if I built it. Handling it comes natural, so I know I was familiar with it. I do have some plans for adaptations that will improve it's efficiency, though.", Basil muses, "Our intent was to perform a sweep around the outer perimeter of the cave system, then fill in any blanks inside that perimeter afterwards. Unless there is a reason to go with another course of action, I would suggest we proceed with the plan."
She laughs at tickling Keldor. "Fascinating. Like armor, but without diminishing the senses," she murmurs. She is also very impressed with the blunderbuss. "It's like a mini-dragon! You two are quite interesting allies."
She nods at the plan to check the perimeter. She pulls out her odd gnomish weapon. "Very well. Let us proceed."
|
|
"Starting with what we were asking is probably best, though if things alter it, then its no fault of ours, let us go" she pulls out her rapier, though keeping it at her side till needed
depending on what is around, Tathaniise will stealth best she can, obviously if there is nothing to stealth behind if wouldn't do any good
The immaculately dressed Halfling walks back in from outside, where he had previously gone to relieve himself.
"Ah, I see the heroes of the hour have arrived, and in my absence, no less. A pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Kell, and if you'll have me, I'm eager to join the expedition to look for Khonnir."
Dirissa gives the halfling a firm handshake and introduces herself. "Let's get moving. I don't want to leave folks down here longer than they have to be."
"Lead the way. I am ready to go."
Keldor, you don't really have a name for the material, but it is unlike much you've ever seen. It is light weight yet strong and if put to the test, most likely durable.
The group readies itself and passes the Skulks area. A smooth wall of dark gray metal bisects the cavern here, its expanse pitted and scorched but quite solid looking. A strange, circular opening pierces the wall five feet off the ground, allowing access to some sort of hallway on the other side.
Its easy enough to crawl inside and you find yourselves in the section of your journey.
The walls, door and ceiling of this slightly curved hallway are made of smooth dark gray metal. Panels of lighter material run along the ceiling eight feet above. To the north and south the tunnel is blocked by walls of metal junk and rubble, while open doorways yawn to the east and west.
Gauntlet/Keldor shrugs obviously.
"East or West?"
"Hold a moment."
Kell will cast detect magic then scan in each of the directions.
Basil takes a closer look at the dark grey metal the walls and ceiling seem to be made of:"Who built this? It's smooth. There was a lot of effort involved in cladding all this underground area with metal, but why?"
Looking down on the floor, she kneels down and starts scraping away the dirt, to see if there's also a layer of the metal underneath.
"In my experience some of the best things are in rubble, especially if not that many people have had a chance to go through it yet.
Harg looks through rubble.
Basil's examination of the ground reveal that beneath the soil is more of that strangely unique metal that covers the wall and ceilings.
Kell detects no magic, and currently there is no light in the vicinity. It is a complete darkness.
Having done his due diligence, Kell will cast Mage armor on himself and say "Well, nothing magical in any direction that I can see, other than what you folks might be carrying."
"Well, two of our ways are blocked, we came from a third direction, that leaves only one way forward", Basil comments as she heads further east, "Whoever constructed this went to the trouble of covering the ground and ceiling in the metal as well. There may be another floor above and/or below this level. Keldor, will you take Point?"
Not finding anything in the rubble (I assume). Touches walls."This is a lot of sky metal. So hard to work with. Who could do this?
Harg moves forward with sword in hand .
Dirissa can't help but marvel at the amount of skymetal used in this tunnel.
"I am fine, but who could use some light?
Harg casts Light on the first person who asks for it. Casting it on something they are carrying. "Just a little trick I learned in my free time. I hope its useful to you"
Dirissa lifts her hook hammer, now shining like a torch, and smiles. "Thanks, Harg."
"Roger Basil! I can do point. Everybody stay behind me and Gauntlet. If you need me to move for any reason just say so."
He then pulls a sunrod out of his pack 'through' Gauntlet and hands one of remaining sunrods to Dirissa.
"Use it as needed little lady."
Strangely enough he really tries not to sound condescending about how he says that, respect echoing somewhere in his voice.
Dirissa doesn't seem to take any offense. "Thank you, as well."
The group starts moving into the next room, slowly exploring the depths of these strange caves. Or are they ruins?
[B2] is similar to [B1], perhaps a bit narrower. There are two major difference though. Those of you who have seen the rampaging steel machine that started tearing up Khonnir's house recognize an identical unit here. It appears inert, though there is a light in its body indicating some sort of power thought. The second major difference is that unlike the first room, this one is heavily lit, bright strips of light illuminate the room on the ceiling, wall, and siding. Its uncanny, as if stepping from night, into day.
Keldor moves to investigate the construct much more closely.
"Facinating!"
Harg steps to the side, closer to the other door.
"Have you seen something like this before? What is it? Sure seems like a trap to me. These tunnel corridors are rather small."
Harg peaks through the next room. Looking for any movement, that could indicate an attack.
Dirissa giggles. "Of course, NOW, we have all the light we could possibly need. What is that thing?" she asks, pointing to the mechanical device that Keldor is examining.
Still examining the creature/device, Keldor speaks in broken sentences while he continues to investigate it.
"It is a construct made of separate parts that work together to move the device...like a clockwork golem...I think. We encountered one earlier that was going haywire in Khonnir's home...and we had to shut it down unfortunately."
"The light is...unlogical. Nothing that naturally dwells in such caves should need this amount of light to see - and the extensive use of skymetals to cover the walls, floor and ceiling seems a waste. I suspect whoever constructed this complex is insane."
Basil carefully watches the construct for signs of hostility, staying in a respectful distance to it.
Dirissa nods in agreement at Basil's analysis. "Hmm, is there a way to make sure it will not attack?"
Keldor seems lost in his investigation of the device. His attention fully on its construction and design...
Pulling sword out to prepare.
"If it does not work as intended, I plan on being ready"
"It doesn't look like the walls were covered so much as are made of skymetal. Look at the walls where they meet the doors. the doorjambs are also made of skymetal. I'm guessing the walls are skymetal through and through."
"I expected the skymetal to be a covering for a cheaper and more easily worked kind of metal underneath. I voiced my observation in a way not detailed enough. If you are right and it is massive skymetal, that only reinforces my point, though: No sane person would invest into construction of a hidden underground corridor made out of pure skymetal. It's hard enough to work with it as-is, and the cost would be exorbitant.", Basil responds to Kell, then waits for Keldors analysis.