Whilst most of the group find themselves unable to do more than move towards the new threat, Ravboom fires… the Boomrav spews smoke and fire once more… amidst the cacophony, the closest of the lizard-creatures stumbles with bright crimson blood running down its leg – but the wound doesn’t fell the creature…
...the less said about Solie's crossbow skills, the better...
As Biggun lumbers around, the creatures raises their rifles and, with a series of clicking noises, another salvo of thorns is fired at the group… unsurprisingly, targeting the big shouty threat with the bloodied chain…
…the creatures seem to have stopped demanding that the ‘prisoners return to their cells’ – instead, concentrating on trying to kill them instead.
"It sound like they not using boom powder, they sound like using gears and springs in guns, make clicking sound before firing, no boom, no smoke..." Ravboom comments, watching the guns in action, figuring out how to use them already. He fires again...
...and the bullet slams dead center into the chest of the already wounded lizard, adding to the blood flowing down his body and puddling on the floor.
...this time, wounded for a third time, the 'lizard' stumbles... and then collapses...
Globlob, now getting over his fascination about the weapons, fwips an arrow at the last standing lizard creature.
With only one of the lizard-things left, Relas deftly squeezes past Blekk and moves up to their foe. Hoping to put an end to things, he snaps at the creature's leg with his jaws.
Biggun, swinging wildly, misses with his chain but it is of little matter...
thunk... thunk.. thunk...
...in quick succession, three bolts slam into the chest of the prison guard - falling forwards, it is dead even before Relas' jaws crunch around its neck...
The rooms that the creatures were guarding are distinct from each other… the one directly to the east is another large room with cylinders dotted around its perimeter… the panels have been removed and, apparently, the occupants taken from the cylinders and euthanized - eight humanoid bodies, none of them quite human in their features, are scattered around the chamber… each one with a single puncture wound at the base of its skull…
To the north-east, the second room that the guards came from, the chamber is much smaller – near empty, the only notable feature being the two cylinders housed across the northern wall… it is immediately obvious that these cylinders are different from those seen before, they show no sign of being fluid-filled… indeed they are furnished with a lightly padded seat and a single tube that dangles from the roof (rather than the two tubes that are seen in the other cylinders)…
Ravboom immediately gathers up all the guns from the creatures, and sets out to disassemble one of them in the most well lit area possible, muttering about 'air pressure', 'gears', 'gas' and 'recharge'.
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Biggun walked over to one of the fallen things and dipped his finer into a pool of blood. Giving it a taste, he quickly spat it back out and grumbled, "Bah, not even good to eat. Biggun need snack. walking back to the other room, he started digging through the bodies, trying to find something edible.
Blekk follows Biggun, shrinking in size as he does so. "Was nice while it lasted...oh well. Blekk kinda hungry too, you sure it not good?" He tastes the blood as well and makes a face. "Ugh. Should've taken you at your word."
He also looks through the bodies.
"Hmmm, I would guess those tubes provide some kind of sustenance, the same way as they did when we were in our 'chambers'?", Andretta visibly shudders at the thought. In the other room, Andretta crouches over the slain humanoids - she is lost in thought for a moment before turning to the group, "I don't recognise any of these races... I am fairly sure that they are not of my world? Are they maybe from yours?"
Examining the bodies, the most interesting item appears to be the weapons that they were using to fire at Biggun and the others... The weapons are bizarre, constructed from some form of ivory-white substance, they have no obvious strings or springs for firing projectiles... nor do they appear to require the gunpowder that the BoomRav requires. There are, scattered between the fallen lizard-like creatures, four of these weapons... each loaded with six spurs.
A further examination of the creatures reveals two hand-sized metal cylinders... these were, as far as could be seen, used to open the doors of the chambers when the group were attacked.
Globlob frowns and scurries forward to poke and prod at the bodies of these lizardmen. He similarly lifts an arm and drops it again, then peers into their mouths, and finally sniffs all across it. They do seem terribly familiar, despite apparently being from a different planet.
"Give me few minutes, Boomrav out of powder, no more boom boom. Need figure out if can make up something from these..."
- the euthanised humanoids are similar to the Longshanks that are spread across Varisia but, as far as you can tell, from the enlarged cranium, the fanged mouths and the mottled skin, they do not appear to be totally human.
Despite his best efforts, Ravboom is unable to find where the gunpowder for the alien weapon goes… and, somewhat bizarrely, the ‘gun’ appears to be made… or grown… from the same strange resin material that the thorn projectiles are made from – there is no sign of any metal anywhere in the weapon’s construction…
Blekk faces the door and makes a scary face, holding his claws aloft while he hopes his mutagen doesn't run out anytime soon.
Globlob nibbles on one of his grimy claws as he follows Solie and Palo, peering back over his shoulder. "The dead longshanks like our longshanks but more... Different," he offers helpfully, "Maybe they from another place. Maybe we find more in here!" He hefts his bow with an arrow nocked and takes a deep breath in preparation. Every good fight deserves a good song, of course.
With a, not entirely convincing, display of decisiveness, Palomia takes one of the metal cylinders that were being used by the hostile aliens and, striding past the door in the central column, holds it up to the green disk next to the western door. The disk flashes several times and then, accompanied by a disconcertingly loud creaking noise, the door slides open…
The stone chamber beyond the door is lit by a glowing metal panel bolted to the ceiling. Eight metallic cylinders, each with transparent hatches stand in the four corners of the room – vague humanoid shapes can be observed through the thick liquid film that fills the cells. There are no other exits apparent within the room.
"Hmm. More bha gras, maybe? Hope they nice."
Blekk grabs the other cylinder. "Interesting. Guess these are like keys? Why not just use stick as key? Works well enough in my village. Or rocks, throw through window and boom! Make your own door."
Ravboom smacks Blekk on the back of the head. "No windows, dummy. We underground. Can't throw rock through window that not there. If use stick, anyone can make new stick. Cylinder look hard to make, harder to get past lock if no hole to pick."
Ravboom dumps the 'guns' on the floor. "Useless, all internal stuff, funky springy bit inside, can't remove. No better than crossbow, worse. If anyone want, go for it. Useless for salvaging parts."
Blekk smacks Rav. "Don't see any rocks around here either, do you? Looks like we're stuck with dumb cylinders."
Globlob grunts to himself as he peers into one of the large hatches. "Unless we break these out, there nothing here. We go back to middle room," he announces, before moving to lead the way back out. Who cares about those creatures stuck in these tanks, anyway?
Ravboom eyes the tubes. "We come back and let them out when we know it safe do so. Might be enemies, might be friends, might just be pissed off." He looks around. "Anyone know how to open them or just smash when time comes?"
"Smashing seems easy. Opening...probably less easy."
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At the mention of smashing the cylinders, Biggun decided to do what he did best and walked up to the nearest device. Giving his chain a couple of practice swings, he reared back and lashed out. Unfortunately, in his excitement, the tip of his chain barely scratched the strange surface before slamming into the floor.
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Solie cackled wildly as an overenthusiastic Biggun made his swing at the pods. When he missed, she approached and smooshed her face against the clear hatch. "Maybe these ones gnomies. Or gobbies. OR SUN WORSHIPPERS?!"
She tapped on the glass before skittering away to head back towards the central door. Maybe that one would have even more pods. Maybe she could make an army of pod people! MAYBE THE POD PEOPLE HAD MORE SUNS LIKE ANDRETTA!! She'd find them. She'd find every sun. No one was going to hide theirs suns from Solie!
There is little more to discover within this chamber, the humanoid shapes within the cylinders suspended in the murky liquid are near motionless within their strange housings... until, taking his advice from the relative newcomer, Biggun smashes his chain against a randomly selected cylinder - the shock causes the fluid within the cylinder to move… and, when Solie takes a peek, the figure within the cylinder is suddenly carried forwards by the sloshing liquid - floating close enough to the 'window' for the crazed gnome to see what it is. The inhabitant of the cylinder is not a goblin… nor a gnome… nor even a SUN WORSHIPPER (were Solie to know what such a being might look like)… instead, it appears to be a hobgoblin - with tubes fed into its nose and mouth, its eyes are wide open and its unmoving hands appear to be clutching at the tube inserted into its throat.
...it takes a few moments, after the initial shock, to realise that the hobgoblin's eyes are focussed on a point in the middle distance and that it hasn't 'seen' Solie...
"Wait, sun worshippers aren't a different race..." Relas begins, but then sighs as Solie races ahead back to the central column. He rises to his feet and begins to pad along after her. "Hey Biggun, how'd you meet Solie again? She seems very uh...unique, even for a gno-, er gob-, er...gnomlin?"
Leaving the room with the apparently dormant cylinders behind, Palomia returns to the central column within the main chamber… offering up the metal cylinder against the green disk, she causes the doors to spontaneously creak open - releasing a gush of stale air as they do so.
Beyond the opened door, a 10 feet by 10 feet shaft leads vertically upwards… and downwards… both directions disappearing into absolute darkness. Green fibrous material lines the wall whilst, hanging down the centre of the shaft, a thick, vine-like cable runs the visible length of the shaft… a tentative examination of the fibrous material suggests that it may be quite feasible to climb the internal walls of the shaft.
Although it is far more organic than Ravboom might ever have seen, this shaft - especially with the presence of the central 'cable' - seems to be some type of lift shaft...
Ravboom frowns. "No may be safe climb. If like shafts back home, be little room that go up and down on cable..." He points to the vine in the center. "You climb in, someone come down in little room, splat against the wall! Lost two brothers that way." He looks thoughtful. "Or maybe was one brother and one sister, never was sure about Gleeful." He shrugs. "Anyway, may not be, shafts back home no made of plants. But something should keep in mind."
Globlob purses his lips and sticks his head into the lift shaft, peering down one way and then up the other. If he can see nothing in either direction then he does his best to listen. Just in case there is a moving little room.
Ravboom begins looking around the door frame. "Little room come with pull lever back home. Or if someone in room pull lever inside. Look around for lever or something else to make room come." He begins examining around the door to see if there's anything unusual that isn't at the other doors.
"If only we had someone in the room already...they could just pull lever there and bring room to us. Oh well."