Gregory takes his time searching the room, waiting to regain his confidence, and restore his shielding, before heading through the single door to the northwest.
|
The walls of this chamber are battered and dented, and flickering lights on the ceiling give the room a phantasmagoric cast. A mound of rubble sits heaped to the north, while numerous strange containers lie in haphazard piles throughout the chamber. A pair of desks with chairs are placed to the south.
Three more ratfolk and another half-orc stand in this room, and seem utterly unsurprised by Gregory's appearance.
Round 1: Gregory, Scrappers, Fanatic
Remembering what happened last time, Gregory makes a bee-line for the ratfolk.
|
|
Gregory leaps forward, and drops one of the ratfolk with a quick slash of his claws, and a devastating bite.
The remaining two step back, and fire crossbow bolts...
...filling the air with the sound of wailing banshees, and incidentally causing a small wound.
The half-orc then steps forward...
...but does not manage to achieve anything, other than cracking the junk he is using as a weapon.
Round 2: Gregory(-5), Scrappers, Fanatic
This time, Gregory manages to ignore the screaming.
He continues to press his attack upon the ratfolk.
|
|
Gregory only manages to slightly wound one of the ratfolk.
That one steps back, stoops to pick-up a special bolt from the fallen ratfolk, and then loads it into its crossbow.
The other one moves into a flanking position with the half-orc...
...providing just enough of a distraction to enable the half-orc to hit.
Round 3: Gregory(-13), Scrappers, Fanatic
I'll probably regret this...
Gregory goes after the ratfolk that is flanking him.
Once again, Gregory ignores the screaming.
He then savages the ratfolk flanking him.
|
|
Horrifically injured, the ratfolk nevertheless manages a final swing...
..before falling over.
The remaining ratfolk then moves into the flanking position to aid the half-orc.
However, neither manages to get through Gregory's defences (although the half-orc comes quite close!).
Round 5: Gregory(-13), Scrappers, Fanatic
Gregory tries to finish-off the injured ratfolk.
Gregory continues to press his advantage.
Gregory seems to be quite off his game, utterly incapable of hitting.
"Die, damn you!"
Free from other distractions, Gregory focuses all of his attention upon the half-orc.
|
|
The half-orc, empowered by rage, manages to make a final, impotent swing, which clangs off Gregory's armor, before falling unconscious.
A search of this (and the adjoining room, which is also open) turns up the following:
...and a battered locker that the previous occupants of the room were clearly attempting to break open.
Gregory restores his shielding...
...and then carefully, taking his time, attempts to pry open the locker.
|
|
Gregory (barely) manages to coax the container open.
Inside, he finds a few unusual items:
A two-handed gun, with an adamantine spike protruding from the barrel.
A smooth plastic-and-metal sphere, with a button on one side.
A small, pod-shaped device
Two batteries, and 24 silverdisks.
"Huh. An auto-grapnel."
Gregory scratches his head.
"No idea what this is. Perhaps Baine will know."
"Ah, an emergency beacon. It looks a bit dodgy, though..."
Crating up his discoveries, Gregory goes through the single door to the southwest in the room where he first encountered the ratfolk.
|
|
That door leads to a 5' by 5' corridor, and another door
A balcony runs around the edges of this domed chamber, the curved walls of which are covered in blinking lights and unidentifiable machinery. A few steps lead down from this balcony in the middle of the room. just north of these steps sits a large machine with a pink glass tabletop-like surface above which float semitransparent images of some sort. The balcony is wider on the south side of the stairs, where a strange statue stands that seems to have been cobbled together from broken machines into
the shape of an upraised claw or talon. A mound of junk lies in a heap before the claw, while two smoking braziers burn softly to each side. To the east looms a pair of immense black metal doors framed by a rotating arch of pulsing red lights.
As soon as the door opens, a horned, winged humanoid, with skin like slate, covered in broken sheets of metal, rears up and extends its wings in an obvious challenge.
It then flies through the air, and attempts to gore Gregory!
Round 1: G, Gregory(-6)
Gregory winces, as he realises that he has no realistic way to harm the creature.
"Whoops! My mistake..."
He then withdraws from the room.
Gregory decides to try his luck on the southeastern single door in the first chamber.
|
|
This door opens easily to Gregory's Brown Access Card, and leads to another curving corridor, with a single door at the end.
This room buzzes and hums with the sound of machinery. A long track of moving leather-like material rotates along a metal framework in the middle of the room. The eastern end of this device is connected to a looming metal machine fitted with thrashing and twitching armatures and blinking lights. Panels on the wall flash with strange writing and images of metallic constructs. To the west, a second track of leather, this one smeared with blood, churns through an opening in the wall to a room beyond. The entire place has an air of entropy to it-with missing parts, flashing sparks, and periodic discordant sounds of metal scraping against
metal revealing how damaged the room's machinery is.
Two repair drones do their best to repair the damage, but it is clear that fixing this place is beyond them.
Relieved that the drones are not immediately hostile, Gregory tries to 'reprogram' them to be slightly more friendly.
Figuring that the door to the northwest will lead back to the gargoyle, Gregory fixes the deficit in his shielding...
...and then heads through the door to the west.
|
|
An immense machine looms to the south in this room, its upper portion obscured by tangles of hanging cables and cords. The device looks something like an enormous oven, its front open with a rotating belt of green leathery material connecting to a wide metal table. Metal desks with flashing lights sit to the east, while a second rotating belt of leather moves through an opening in the east wall Two dead half-orcs lie at the base of this second belt.
Standing over them is an imposing humanoid robot, with a single glowing red eye in the centre of its forehead.
It utters something in the same strange, clipped language that has been present elsewhere in the complex, and then the mace in its right hand starts crackling with electricity.
The robot strides forward, and takes a swing at Gregory with its mace.
When it hits, Gregory feels slightly disoriented.
Round 1: G, Gregory(-7)
Gregory responds by lashing out as hard as he can...
...but quickly realises that this isn't going to work, when he barely scratches the construct.
Gregory continues to attack.
Sensing a familiar pattern, Gregory decides to back off.
Gregory heads back to Torch, to acquire some much-needed equipment.
Before heading back in to tango with the Gearsman, Gregory rubs the oil over his weapons, and then casts one of the scrolls, causing his body to crackle with electricity.
Gregory responds, violently.
Feeling much more confident this time around, Gregory continues his attack!
"Damnation!"
Gregory attacks in pure frustration.
With a sigh, Gregory resigns himself to a long and tedious fight.