Enrathe grunts with pain and presses his clenched hand over the injury to apply some pressure. Faint pinpricks of numbness radiated from the wound, pumping down to his fingertips with the beating of his heart. Eyes narrowed at the slain... thing, he circled around it, clearly not trusting that it was truly slain.
"There's no point in staying here. This thing is definitely not what left the blood stains, so someone else is definitely ahead of us," Harrash suggests confidently.
"The stains lead to this room, though. There must be some clues here as to what happened!"
Skivven begins searching the room for... something that might explain what happened.
"Fine, if you're staying anyway..." Harrash snorts, and stops to look around the room with Skivven.
The Kasatha makes his way over to the bloody mess on the table and tries to piece together what it used to be.
Trem joins Enrathe next to the table. "Is it... Is it still alive?" Not knowing what is underneath, he tries to get a peek.
Skivven observes the table and sees that it is covered by a sheet, stained with old blood. The table seems to sense his approach as several arms at the side come to life. They are skeletal in construction, but instead of hands, the metal arms end in various sharp tools. Spark fly out of control panels and the tools come to life. Skivven backs out of their reach and they relax, folding back against the side of the table.
Enrathe observes the smoking heap of metal. It appears to have been some kind of artificial life form. He gets flashes of foggy memories that point to it being designed to work on biological tissue, and he seems to recall being put under various tools and drugs at the hands of the robot and its masters. It doesn't not seem to still be functional.
Arrenopos approaches their new, strange companion.
"That thing appeared to sting you. Are you OK? Such things usually carry poison or drugs."
The alien grimaces beneath his scarf, reminded of the weakness radiating up his arms that he had been attempting to ignore this entire time.
"Just some numbness," he reassures what he thinks is his human companion. "I will survive. But thank you."
Harrash is taken aback by the flying tools. "What the heck did those tools just do?" he shouts.
It appears that the tools are built into the table. They extend whenever someone gets close to the table and retract when the area around the table is empty. Harrash thinks that they were designed as instruments to assist in torture and mutilation.
Enrathe could emphasize with that assessment as he had been under the burning lights of similar tables more than once.
"These are beds that are quite hard to sleep in," the Kasatha quips with a more-than-slight air of bitterness fueled by his previous experiences.
"I wonder what controls it? Maybe there is some way to turn it off?"
Skivven looks at the table curiously.
The table appears to draw power from the dungeon itself, as if some force gives life to the flameless lights and other wonders that fill each room. He doesn't see a way to turn the bed off.
"These look like torturing tools. I bet Enrathe knows a thing or two about these things," Harrash notes tactlessly.
The only way out of the room is the way you came in. Once back in the T-shaped hallway, there are four doors that you have yet to go down. The northern door was where you encountered Little Akiton. The experimentation room was the door you just came out of on the Eastern Wall. There is a door at the end of the southern hallway and three doors in the western hallway.
Harrash enters into the door immediately to the right without another thought.
"Come on, no reason to stand around here."
Enrathe follows along, nursing his wound with still-numb fingers, loathe to let someone just haphazardly wander into danger without him.
"Um, Enrathe? If ah... If you would like, I can heal some of those wounds." Trem uses his healing hex to mend some of the new member's wounds. He then follows Harrash, hoping that the half-elf hasn't triggered any traps.
"Before we go, let's try and resolve the bloodstain mystery..." says Skivven as he looks around.
Skivvem gets close to the blopd soaked bed, ignoring the whirrling blades and flying sparks. There are no straps or other restraints, so whoever was experimented on had to be immobilized some other, possibly even unconscious. There is no body or blood trail, so they must have been cleaned up and moved somewhere else.
"Hmmm... No way to tell where they went, whoever was here. I hope they're okay. If they stopped bleeding, that might be good... or bad."
"Which way now?"
Skivven looks out in the hallway for any signs on the doors that might indicate what lies within.
Arrenopos winces a Skivven gets uncomfortably close to the moving arms and blades. He then looks around for any indications for which way the trail they've been following continues.
"Can anyone tell which way the trail goes?"
There is no way to tell which way the trail goes
Harrash looks for any sign as to which direction someone might have gone away from the bloodstains.
Harrash can't make out any new tracks leading to or from the room.
Enrathe and Harrash lead the party to the next door, clockwise. They open the room up to find a well lit chamber with a row of beds against the far wall. The opposing wall is lined with glowing screens and metallic desks. Blood spatters cover the floor and matresses. A device the size of a large bed sits against the eastern wall. It is being watched by a pair of robots. One of the robots resembles the one you just defeated. The other one is designed more hardily. It hovers in the air with a pair of thick, clawed arms hanging beneath its frame. A thin, barrel like appendage descends from what could be called its stomach. As the door opens, the robots turn their attention from the casket like container to you.
Arrenopos, Enrathe, and Harrash are up.
Arrenopos moves up to the new style robot, sensing it may be the bigger threat, and attacks cautiously.
However, his defensive style causes him to miss.
AC-20
hp- 14/18
status- fighting defensively
"So you're the ones who were torturing people, huh?" Harrash snorts in disgust. He runs up opposite Arrenopos and hits the robot as hard as he can with his longsword.
[ooc]Harrash, I think that should have been +8 on the attack. +5 for your sword, +1 for attacking a robot, and +2 from flanking should be a +8.[/oc]
Harrash rushes forward toward the mechanical monstrosity. He swings his blade toward its body in an arc and makes direct contact with its outer shell. But he is surprised to find that his blade is stopped dead by the metal.
Enrathe takes a shot step around the corner into the room to get a clear angle and quickly assesses the situation. The numbness still lingering in his fingers, he opts to strike from afar and takes aim at the foe that his fellows had NOT targeted. It would be easier to get a clear shot without his comrades dancing around it in melee combat.
Spinning on his heel for momentum, he whips all four of his balanced axes at the metal beast, which slice through the air with a menacing screech from the grooves carved into the sides.
The axes, whether they strike their target or not, curiously hook through the air back towards him thanks to the skilled spin and angles that his practiced hands flung them with. Muscle memory died hard, it seemed.
Enrathe's axes ricochet off the robot's metal body with all the threat and fierceness of a child's ball being bouncing against a wall.
The robot lashes out with it's powerful arms against the closer party members while the barrel like protrusion swivels to face the alien axe thrower.
Arrenopos side steps one arm while Harrash brings up his shield to block the other. Meanwhile, the tip of the barrel lights up and fires an invisible ball. The only clue is a wave of shimmering air that flies towards Enrathe. He ducks behind the edge of the doorway and feels tremors surging through the wall, but he is okay.
The medical drone strikes the closest target, Harrash, with the needled hand coming from the center of its chest.
But the attack lacks the force to puncture his armor.
Everyone go!
Seeing his beloved axes bounce harmlessly off of his target, he drops them on the ground and takes a roundabout way of approaching his target, giving him time to draw all four of his hammers and attempt to plant one in the closest thing it has to a temple.
Enrathe's hammer smashes down onto the robot's head, but the blow still seems to have no effect.
Trem tries to identify why the weapons of the rest of the group aren't doing any damage. He walks into the room and gets a closer look of the robots. While there he also uses his only offensive spell to help out. "Darrnig shintss" The words feel strange to him. He knew the spell, he just never really used his magic in this way before.
Seeing that his previous tactics were ineffective, Harrash steps back and sprays acid at the robot.
Violet flames burst from Trem's hands and engulf the robot, but as the fire diminishes, it remains unharmed. Trem suddenly realizes what the party is fighting. This is called a collector robot. They can be programmed to gather anything from materials to sentient beings. The collector robot has special sensors that allow it to see in conditions of low light and darkness. It also has the ability to adapt its reflexes and tracking protocols to the terrain, making it the perfect reconnaissance drone. It is equipped with powerful claws for grasping its targets. The barrel appendage is a type of firearms that renders the target unconscious without harming it. But its most impressive feature is the armor that makes it resistant to nearly all forms of mundane and magical attacks. Only adamantine weapons can easily penetrate the outer shell.
Harrash's acid blast misses wildly.
"Oh dear, oh dear. This isn't good at all," says the little ratfolk as he scurries into the room.
He takes a shot at the heavy robot, but the shot glances off the creature's armor.
"Maybe we should fall back? I don't think we can hurt it and I'd rather not be its captive!"
"I can hardly dent them either," Harrash agrees. Is there some way to barricade them inside here?"[/b] He looks around for any heavy objects, and whether all doors can be shut before them.
"Is there any reason we have to stay here? If not withdraw from the room and see if we can shut the door."
Hearing that his weapon is ineffective, Arrenopos continues to fight defensively to keep the robot distracted while the others leave.
AC-20
hp- 14/18
status- fighting defensively
Enrage grits his teeth in frustration. He would never be able to put a mark on these things, no matter what weapon he used.
You all hear sounds coming from the casket-like container the robots seem to be guarding. The noise resembles a banging from the inside along with a muffled shout of pain and fear.
The collector robot continues to try at disabling the party.
The medical robot swipes at Trem to attempt to inject him with the strange serum in its syringe covered hand.
Trem dodges the attack.
Harrash stops trying to run once he hears the muffled shout. "I have a feeling that Khonnir, or someone who came with him, is in that casket." He continues to swing his sword from a distance, this time not intending to hit the robot, but trying to lure it away from the casket. "Could one of you try to cut the casket open, if I manage to get them away from it?"
"There's something in there! O boy, here goes..."
Skivven darts forwards, trying to get between the two robots into the corner.
He then snaps a quick look at the casket.
"Let's see now... a button marked 'OPEN' would be ideal..."
To keep the pressure up, Enrathe attacks with one of his hammers to distract it from his furry friend.
He then takes a step northwest back to where he dropped his axes, drops the hammer in his primary hand, and picks an axe up to replace it.
Skivven is able to duck under the blow from the collector, but he is caught by the Medical Drone. It inject him with the serum in its fingers. It doesn't seem to work well on ratfolk as he is able to shake off its effects. He reaches for the largest button he can fond and the lid to the casket pops open.
Inside, you see a human man dressed in shreddes rags of cloth. He has long black hair and a slender frame. His body is covered in blood and stiched wounds. His legs are crippled by the injuries and he can only speak in gibberish. He cringes against the floor of the container and shields his eyes from the light. Despite the mask of the dessication, those who know him well can see the visage of Khonnir Baine.
Enrathe is unable to grab the collector's attention.
"Ow! Hey, watch it!" yells Skivven.
"Oh, brother, this fellow isn't having a good day," Skivven says as he looks at the man in the coffin. "What were they doing to him?"