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Gregory moves through the sleeping village with brutal efficiency, gliding from house to house like a ghost.
He finds men, women, and children, some tucked into tender embraces, all sleeping comfortably, and with ghastly ease, opens their throats whilst they sleep, sending them to the Boneyard without ever knowing how they died.
In the first three huts, he is able to dispatch the residents without any problems,
but in the 4th hut, a child opens its eyes just as his claws strike, gasping a soundless 'why?' through voiceless lips, before passing on.
Slightly shaken by this, in the 5th and final hut, Gregory is too slow to react when a young woman stirs in her sleep, and looks straight up into his face, just as he silences the man sleeping next to her!
She screams, waking the other residents of the dwelling, who shout in fear when they realise that their is a mechanical monster in their home, covered in blood.
"Overlord, protect us!", they beseech, before Gregory silences their plaintive cries, forever, leaving Gregory alone with his thoughts, to ponder the enormity of what he has just done.
Gregory shakes his head sadly, before whispering:
"It needed to be done.."
Still, he will never forget the child's plaintive look, or the cries of abject horror...
Quietly, he cleans the literal blood from his hands, before moving to explore the other path.
Gregory weighs up his options, before re-engaging his chameleonware, and heading towards the light.
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Following the path, Gregory finds himself in front of a moderately-sized bunker, now overgrown by the jungle.
However, an area has been cleared around it, and floodlights shed a harsh glare across it, painfully illuminating the entire area.
Two more triceratops-riding Lashunta patrol around the open area.
Not needing to be asked twice, Gregory pounces forward onto the closest Lashunta.
Gregory keeps up his frenzied assault!
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Gregory's first blow tears out the throat of the injured guard, and he then works his way downward through the corpse, ripping into the triceratops below.
The injured reptile lashes out at its tormentor...
...but is unable to land a blow.
The remaining guard then charges forward with his mount...
...but likewise meets with no success, simply tearing up the ground in front of him.
Round 2: Gregory(-), LG(-) T(-118,-)
Shaking stringy shards of meat from his claws, Gregory attempts to finish-off the injured triceratops.
Grinning toothily, Gregory shifts his attention to the last Lashunta.
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Gregory punches all four of his claws through the Lashunta's body, leaving it a bloody ruin, before biting its head clean off.
The thoroughly intimidated triceratops does its best to fight back, but its horns strike only empty air.
Suddenly, the door to the main building slides open smoothly, revealing a humanoid-deinonychus hybrid, clad in silvery metal armor, and wielding a dart gun in one hand, and a grenade in the other.
It grins, points the gun at Gregory, and fires!
Unfortunately, the dart simply bounces off Gregory's armor.
Round 4: Gregory(-), P(-), T(-)
Gregory snorts at the freak before him.
"I'll deal with you, shortly!"
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Although the dart did not damage, it provides enough of a distraction that only some of Gregory's attacks manage to strike the triceratops, which stubbornly refuses to drop.
It responds by trying to gore Gregory...
...but once again, pain, and fatigue render its attack impotent.
The dino hybrid fires a flurry of darts...
...but all bounce harmlessly off Gregory's shielding, much to its obvious annoyance.
Round 6: Gregory(-), P(-), T(-99)
"If that is the best that you can do, I am not worried."
Gregory attempts to finish-off the wounded dinosaur, so that he can turn his full attention to the hybrid.
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In another display of frightening violence, Gregory rips the injured triceratops apart.
The dino hybrid snorts, before replying in perfect Elven:
"Fool! I am the King of this jungle! No mere mortal can defeat me!"
Incredibly, he manages to make good on his bravado by hitting Gregory twice with his dart gun!
Round 7: Gregory(-8), P(-)
Gregory grins.
"Mere pin-pricks, old boy! Let me show you how to *really* do it..."
He then pounces!
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Gregory rips into the self-proclaimed jungle king, tearing strips from his (surprisingly tough) hide.
However, the creature seems to be able to absorb and incredible amount of punishment, because it remains standing!
Stepping back, it fires another volley of darts...
...before tossing the gun aside, and hissing, as it bares needle-sharp teeth.
Round 9: Gregory(-8), P(-149)
Gregory can't help but be a little impressed by the toughness of his foe, nodding in appreciation.
That does not, however, stop him from attempting to eviscerate the man.
Gregory snorts.
"So much for the King..."
He then restores his shields...
...gathers up his new loot, and then, after reactivating his chameleonware, heads inside the building.
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Inside the building, it is quiet as a tomb.
Unlike the vibrant life in the jungle outside, the inside of the building is sterile, clinical, and above all cold, with a thin layer of frost coating every surface. From the entrance vestibule, through the door to the left lies a large chamber, filled with refrigeration units, and dominated by an enormous glaucite tank. Through a door to the left, Gregory finds a series of smaller rooms.
In one of these, he finds a computer terminal, which provides clues as to this facility's original purpose - namely, cryogenic storage. However, it appears that over the last few decades, it has been converted to another purpose, and the computer has been used as a journal of sorts by a creature calling himself Geetan Prosser.
Apparently, Geetan was originally a Half-Elven Technic League Captain, who happened upon this facility several (human) generations ago. Intrigued by what he discovered here regarding 'pure' Castrovelian Elven stock, he thawed out one of the Lashunta, who immediately attacked him, but in the process provided him with a blessing, which brought him closer to true Elven purity. He then revived the other Lashunta held in the stasis facility, and declared himself their leader, and the Habitat Pod his 'Garden'.
A generation later, another Technic League exploration party happened upon the Habitat Pod, and Geetan brutally slaugtered them. However, in the process, Geetan brought himself to the attention of Unity, an entity that Geetan views with both fear, and awe.
Apparently, Unity saw the potential of some of the fruit products of the 'Garden' to be converted into something called 'ion fuel', and tasked Geetan to provide it for him, in exchange for *not* being brutally slaughtered.
Since then, Geetan has been steadily stockpiling this fuel for Unity, but not without the occasional sly dig at his blackmailer - apparently, Geetan destroyed a group of robots, and stole a pile of technological items, which he sank into the lake to the east in an air-tight container.
In addition to this rather interesting pile of information, Gregory also discovers the chamber that Geetan was using as a nest, which is decked-out with a large variety of strange Lashuntan trophies and curios, consisting of a variety of masks, statuettes, and scrolls, worth a total of 6250gp to an interested buyer.
What an idiot.
Gregory flicks through the information on the computer, collects up the Lashuntan curios, and then travels back to the main chamber, and the rather large tank of fuel.
With a grin, he delicately drills a small hole into the side of the tank, then retreats from the room, stopping only to prime an arc grenade, then roll it carefully up against the tank, before running like hell.
Nodding in satisfaction, Gregory heads back out to the main path, and follows it east, (hopefully) towards the lake where Geetan sank his illicit prize.
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The path ends after about 500' at a small, moss-covered building surrounded by stagnant pools of water, at the edge of a broad lake, which steams slightly.
As Gregory nears the edge of the lake, two huge, three-eyed frog-like creature rear up on powerful hind legs, each thrashing around two pairs of rubbery (and extremely muscular) tentacles. One, slightly larger than the other, roars a challenge at Gregory!
Round 1: Gregory(-), AF (-), MF (-)
"Ah! This looks like it could be fun!"
Roaring a counter-challenge, Gregory pounces on the big one!
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Gregory pounces upon the alpha female, ripping into its rubbery flesh.
The beast seems more irritated than alarmed, but Gregory is gratified to see that the electricity conducted by his attacks does seem to have slowed the beast, which only manages a single bite attack...
The other one then surges forward, lashing out with its teeth and tentacles, before attempting to latch on with its tongue.
However, the lesser beast only manages a single successful tentacle slap.
Round 2: Gregory(-22), AF (-177), MF (-)
Gritting his teeth, Gregory continues to rip into the big female.
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Gregory burrows into the flank of the big female, exposing its heart, before tearing open the arch of its aorta.
It spasms wildly for a few moments, before going still.
The male, incensed by the death of its mate, flails wildly...
...roaring in defiance when it manages to land a blow with one of its tentacles, which wraps around Gregory's shield, and starts to squeeze.
Round 3: Gregory(-43), MF (-)
"Damn it, I really need to do something about that..."
With a sigh, Gregory unleashes his full fury upon the male!
Gritting his teeth, Gregory continues to rip into the big female.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Gregory attempts to finish-off the remaining beast!
With a sigh of relief, Gregory restores his shielding...
...before moving to inspect the building.
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Closer inspection reveals that this small building is some kind of pumping station, designed to shift large volumes of fresh water between regions of the Silver Mount.
Of more direct interest, however, is the lift in one corner of the room, which has a single (still active) call sign on it - 'Recreation Deck'.
Huh.
Taking note of the lift for later, Gregory moves to retrieve Geetan's stash.
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Hidden beneath the murky waters of the lake, Gregory easily finds a sealed crate containing a range of interesting technological items:
A White Scatterlight Suit, Flash Grenade (3), a glass chess set (worth 500gp), a hand-held device with a circular screen, from the rim of which extend three flexible wires, tipped by small dishes...
...Cylex (6), a hand-held device reminiscent of a gun lacking a barrel...
...and a memory crystal...
Gregory nods appreciatively as he goes through his new finds.
"That's quite a nice little haul!"
He then scoops up his new loot, and heads for the lift to the Recreation Deck.
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The lift has another Access Card Reader, which responds to Gregory's Green Access Card.
After a few minutes of quite humming, the doors open to reveal a 20' x 20' chamber.
Riding in the lift is a surreal experience. not unlike slow teleportation (at least from Gregory's perspective), for when the doors re-open again, he is in a completely different area - a wide, pseudo-circular room filled with pumping machinery, over-looking a small pond, bordered by an overgrown garden.
Lush vegetation and springtime blossoms decorate this overgrown park. Benches and a gilded fountain adorn a wide patio by the entrance. To the south, near a series of cascading pools, twisting shoots of red- and orange-leafed plants strangle their way through the green vegetation.
Gregory surprises himself by recognising the dangerous plants for what they truly are!
I guess that explains why no-one has done any gardening recently...
He then pounces forward onto the closest one!
Gregory attempts to finish-off the injured plant before the other two can converge upon him.
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In a shower of sap, bark, and pollen, Gregory renders the injured plant inert.
The other two then converge upon Gregory, lashing out with fanged maws, even as they release clouds of captivating pollen (which have no effect thanks to Gregory's Life Bubble).
Sadly, the vines prove to be just as ineffective when it comes to piercing Gregory's shielding.
Round 2: Gregory(-), VV (-,-)
Not skipping a beat, Gregory continues his symphony of destruction, targeting the next hapless plant in line.
Gregory frowns.
"You, I will turn into toilet paper!"
He then attempts to render the injured plant into pulp.
Scenting victory, Gregory attempts to finish-off the injured plant.