A stretch of sand covers the ground, a vista broken here and there by bits of strange, spiky shells or contorted, dead fronds that look like branches. You see skeletons littering the floor
Dromer pauses to examine the scene from the doorway.
"This kind of looks like the Badlands where I grew up. But those bones..."
"Dromer, your... skin... thing... *moved*!"
"I like it here. It's a bit grim, but it's got a nice feeling of serenity. No technology of any kind, just the way I like it."
"Dromer, your... skin... thing... *moved*!"
Dromer blows a bang away from his face with a sort of audible sigh.
Yup. I knew it'd happen eventually. SOMEONE always inevitably points it out...
"Yeah. You don't need to remind me."
Dromer pulls up his lengthy hair to reveal a cancerous stretch of skin tracing down from his neck.
"My mom had a Desnan priest look at it when I was younger. I guess living around old technology and digging up artifacts exposes you to something they call radiation. For most people, it's harmless. For the unlucky, it's deadly. But the fates seem to favor me, and mine's not life-threatening. Although it certainly didn't earn me popular status in school."
Smith looks on dispassionately, not concerned about the tumor, instead looking afar.
"This chamber seems quite large, but there is a source of light in the distance. I believe that should be the next location we investigate."
Rooms with skeletons are boring. Tumors are way more interesting.
"Dromer, that is *awesome*! I figured you might have had a spasm or something but it looked like it moved on its own. Could be that this is one of those lumps that do things on their own. My ucle Dernic had one that he could let burp on command. Great hit with the kids."
"His skin-friend does not upset me. Simply part of the natural Alchemical options available to people such as himself."
Miranda motions to her own small, rocky friend. "No different from Tula here, really."
Attempting to deflect the topic of conversation, Dromer steps out into the arid expanse.
"I like your thinking, Smith. Let's go towards the shiny object."
"Its huge in here. I guess why Torch is on a hill now..."
Iantha looks around in awe.
As the group enters the arid landscape Dromer keeps up his stride with Forlen.
"When I was little, my dad got me a book about natural wonders from beyond the Inner Sea. I remember reading this one chapter about an island off the coast of Tian Xia. I guess over there they have a ton of trees, and it's so lush that entire communities of these little Kami creatures evolved to protect them. They don't have any machines over there, and the League is unheard of."
"But this," he says as he stares out at the desolation, "is all I've ever known."
"I'm guessing you're from somewhere... A little more wet. And probably more green? I don't suppose you could tell me a little bit about it. I always hope that there's more green in the world than what I've read about in books."
"Heh, sorry to disappoint you, Dromer," Forlen grins at him, "there isn't much green where I'm from. Like I said, it's pretty similar to here. A beautiful serenity to be sure, but it's still far from ideal. My tribe lives in a swamp in the eastern part of Ustalav. There's some green there, but it's mostly the lichen. It's not much of a living, but we manage. The history of our tribe is terribly convoluted; accounts vary from person to person. One says we were kicked out of normal society because of our shape-changing ways, his neighbor might say it's because of our unorthodox spirituality. And even those stories are muddy: I'm not sure if we venerated the toad first and moved to the swamp after we got exiled, or whether we had to live in the swamp and those were the first spirit animals we saw. Point is, they're pretty much the only thing that's thriving in there. Being unshackled from society has its advantages, but certainly also its disadvantages. It's a small community, and there's no real way of privacy."
Forlen retrieves Goliath from his satchel, puts him on the ground and watches him hop around.
"I mean, it's great to be in a community of like-minded people, but it can get claustrophobic after a while. That's why we regularly go across the border into Numeria and attack some League outposts. It's a coming-of-age ritual, teenagers are full of urges and wild thoughts, and this is a good moment to let everything go. I'm not sure when this ritual was brought into being, but our tribe's leaders blame our position on the rise of technology. We all used to live in the swamps until we became smarter and started building better houses. People became decadent and fought against nature, claiming land for their own and driving away the indigenous wildlife. Numeria's got lots of tribes who live among nature, and they've got the right idea. Roam around when necessary, never depending on your environment for longer than you need to. But the Technic League..."
Forlen picks up some of the shells and toys with them a bit.
"The League creates unliving things and make them work for them. They exploit people and use their fear against them, and the League enforces its power with these robots. That's where I come in. I was one of the best of my group at striking against the League, so I was sent out to fight against them. I know it's futile, as there's only one of me and loads of them, but at least it got me away from the tribe. Having such a great hunter is a waste of potential, and there really wasn't anything else for me to do. I can go back whenever I like, but I've gotten used to the freedom."
Forlen picks up Goliath and puts him away again.
"I think the tribe half expects me to fail, but I couldn't stay there. Big fish, small pond and all that. I am grateful to them for my youth, as I would've been an outcast anywhere else, but I have to admit it has warped my worldview a little. I am not sure how far I'll get in bringing the League down, but I know I'll try as hard as I can."
He looks over at Miranda's familiar and Smith.
I'm not sure how I feel about them. My entire upbringing I've been taught to hate them, but I don't see a reason why. They are clearly not how nature intended them to be, but they're still entitled to their own life. I just hope I have the willpower to keep on fighting. I want to at least have some stories to brag about before I go back home."
Forlen snaps out of his train of thought.
"Sorry I couldn't answer you more directly. There's certainly some beautiful places once you leave civilization, but my perception of the world may have been soured somewhat. I guess you've never been outside of this town?"
"Actually, Torch has only been my home for like the last year. I came from a small community, too. Just a few days walk from here. Most of us were Desnans. I guess you'd call it a commune. Didn't really even have a name. Free spirits."
Dromer squats down to examine one of the humanoid skeletons in more detail, distracting him momentarily from the conversation.
"Weird. I've seen a lot of bones in the desert. But never anything like this. I wonder who they were?"
He sets the bones back down and hops up to keep pace.
"Torch has been alright. It's weird how a bigger town can feel more stuffy than a small community, though. Mom seems to like it. She's Kellid, but left her tribe when she was young. Called her life primitive. And then she met my dad. She always talks about how she wanted to marry him after he explained that the mountains weren't built by gods."
Dromer flips his hair away from his face.
"I wish he could have been around to hear about this place. He'd probably want to take everything here and study it with a microscope. Best I can do now is dream about it for him."
Iantha follows the conversation from a distance. She feels sad for Dromer, but doesnt want to butt in.
"What do you guys think that light is up there?"
Smith replies "I am having trouble ascertaining its purpose at this distance. Therefore I suggest we continue our approach."
Smith continues toward the light.
|
From between your group and the light, you see two four-armed skeletons rise from the ground and come stumbling towards you. Knowing the races of the region, these shambling corpses were likely kasatha in their lives. Only one manages to get closes enough to be an immediate threat, but luckily it stops just short of the party as it gives an unending groan.
Initiative - Bold may act
Smith
Green
Dromer
Forlen
Iantha
Miranda
Red
Smith spreads out and wordlylessly points his staff at the red skeleton and fires off a pure ray of light.
"Wow! Now that's a laser beam!"
Miranda stays back behind her allies, as her spell repertoire doesn't include anything to deal with skeletons, at the moment.
|
|
As Smith shoots a beam of pure energy at the lead skeleton, you watch as it's entire body begins to crack, but it still stands. The rear skeleton's eyes begin to glow a bright green as it turns towards Smith and swings with one of its arms
As soon as it makes contact, it's empty sockets dim again, and you watch as the other skeleton's eyes glow the same bright green while it stops its steady groan.
Initiative - Bold may act
Dromer
Forlen
Iantha
Miranda
Red
Smith
Green
Forlen sees how Smith is toe-to-toe with the skeleton, and doesn't see it ending well.
"Don't worry, Smith! I've got this one!"
Forlen swings his quarterstaff two-handed at the skeleton's skull.
"At least I've got his attention now," Forlen yells back at the rest of the group, seeing his attack go wide.
Iantha tries to move into a better position, but her short legs prevent her from moving far.
"In the name of Brigh, be at peace!"
"Guess you and me both Forlen..."
Dromer moves to the opposite side of [red] from Iantha, drawing his Greatsword as he does so .
He then takes up a defensive posture as he strikes.
"Watch out for those claws! Standing next to them will get you into a world of hurt!"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
|
|
Iantha steps forward towards the nearest skeleton, as you hear an audible *whiff* of her Morningstar missing the cracked pile of bones. Luckily, Dromer follows her and, though this sharp blade doesn't do as much damage as you would expect, it's enough to cause the already damaged skeleton to crumple into dust. Forlen makes his way over to the last remaining skeleton, managing to take it out in one swing with his staff.
You make your way to the light, where you see what looks to be light coming through solid rock wall. Luckily, Iantha and Miranda easily see it as an illusion, and you all realize that it is a door with some sort of spell cast on it. Opening the door, you find yourselves in a room much like the last one before entering the desert area. Almost instantly after you leave the room, you turn back to see coils like before, only instead of expelling a mist, they malfunction and launch bolts of electrical energy around the room.
You see 3 sets of doors ahead of you, but without a map you don't know where they lead. The first set of doors has a slot that looks to require a card of some kind, but also looks damaged enough it could probably be forced open with some teamwork. Through the doors at the far end of the hall, directly in front of you, you can hear some clicking and scraping. You don't see a card slit, but the damaged door here also could likely be forced through. You aren't able to hear anything from the door at the hall's end on your right, but you can see yet another card slot, but this door is in good maintenance and looks sturdy enough to withstand any force you'd put into it. The whole area is brightly lit, and you can see this light system continues beyond the doors.
Sheathing his entirely-too-massive sword across his back, Dromer surveys the scene.
"I wonder if they were trapped here? When they were alive, I mean. That'd be a terrible way to go."
He does a cursory search of the area before proceeding towards the light.
Iantha shivers. "Dont say things like that Dromer, that is bad luck."
Iantha looks from door to door. "Hm... They all look alike. Try thecclosest one first?"
"Good idea, Iantha, let's work front to back. Dromer, let's try forcing that door. I'll apply steady pressure, you hit that door on its hinges."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Iantha spits in her paws, using her smal size to gain better purchase in the dents.
"Hinges?"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Smith keeps a lookout for danger while the door is forced open.
"Impressive Iantha."
|
|
Dromer doesn't see anything of note as you pass through the rest of the desert, only the light and an opening in the rock to the northeast
With three of you working, the door easily pushes open. The air in this room seems to buzz and hum with energy. Strips of glowing rectangles light the room from above, while strange flickering windows line the east and west walls. A large glasstopped circular table sits in the middle of the room. To the north sits a large metal desk covered with blinking lights, while a humming pillar of purple-and-black metal stands nearby, its sides flashing with tendrils of violet energy. A single golden panel flashes with a soft but incessant light on the side of this pillar. A thick layer of dust coats everything, diffusing the lights shining from the various surfaces, and many of the machines seem to be damaged, cracked, or otherwise ruined.
Visibly annoyed at the sight, Forlen squints his eyes and scans around to look for any threats.
"Seems empty and disused, but there's still power running through this chamber. I don't like it."
Dromer paces the room cautiously, but curiously.
"What is this place?"
*hatishoo*
The dust makes Iantha sneeze.
"Oooooooh, glowy rectangles!
Nothing jumping out and attacking them the moment they enter the room, Iantha looses some of her caution and enters, looking at the large metal desk with the flashy buttons.
Miranda scans the room for any technology she's familiar with, but has a momentary brain-fart and doesn't recognize a thing.
Smith comments "I advise caution. The effects of these buttons are unknown at this time."
Smith will cast detect magic
Dromer heeds the words of his companions at first, but his wonderment causes him to start peeking around eventually for something he understands.