Balon's eyes widen in shock at the sudden realization of the power source. Trying to appear calm, he casts about himself, looking for a likely origin point. Mentally, he communicates what he learns with Callidus. You can even tell them you came up with it yourself, friend, the voice in his comrade's head says, in an attempt at humor. I won't tell.
I don't know if Perception falls under speed or intellect in Numenera, but for whatever it is, I'll expend Effort.
1d20
All you can perceive is that the source of the disruption is close, very close but trying to pinpoint it is as difficult as standing in a burning building and pointing to the spot that the fired started.
Balon will cast Ward on himself then, preparing himself for whatever happens next.
"We're right on", Callidus is only able to get a few words out at a time, " .. top of whatever", shuts his eyes and grimaces, ".. is causing the disturbance ...". He was going to say in the Numenera but that seemed like too much work.
"So... do we need to dig?"
"We need to look around- or convince one of these people to give us information."
We should move quickly. That was most unsettling.
While the group is talking about options, you see two men that are bleeding from their noses/ears/eyes begin to attack each other. The younger of the two quickly gains and advantage and then uses his teeth to rip the throat out of the older man. The other villagers look on but no one interferes.
Suddenly a older women dressed in the robes of a profitable merchant begins to stab herself repeatedly with a dagger while yelling out "SOMEONE STOP THE VOICE IN MY HEAD". She soon falls to the ground.
"Amadeus my good man, I think your idea of moving quickly has some merit," Balon says, panic rising in his voice. "Let's vacate these premises eh?"
Nasir walks toward the most elaborate or otherwise important looking house of steel and stone.
"Maybe their priest or headman is in here? We must be right on top of whatever caused this..."
Amadeus nods and sounds the hasty tactical retreat.
Sounds to me like we need to focus on finding the source as fast as possible. We shouldn't stay in the affected area too long.
"Well, we should evacuate, but this is also the place we must go eventually..."
Nasir walks toward the most elaborate or otherwise important looking house of steel and stone.
"Maybe their priest or headman is in here? We must be right on top of whatever caused this..."
There is a large stone circular building that dominates the center of town. There are wooden doors to the interior of the building at each of the cardinal points of the compass. All those doors are closed.
"That looks promising ... ", Callidus says as he heads for the structure, "Let's get this done ..."
Balon looks around nervously. He feels like someone he can't see is holding a gun to his head constantly.
Nasir checks the wooden door to see if it's unlocked. If it's locked, he bangs on the door.
"HEY! WE'RE HERE TO STOP THIS CRAZY DRIT! OPEN THE DOOR!"
Amadeus will step in front of Balon and Callidus with his shield up.
You two be ready to do your thing if he turns out violent.
Balon looks wan and pale. No traces of his previous bravado here. He nods in assent at Amadeus.
Nasir checks the wooden door to see if it's unlocked. If it's locked, he bangs on the door.
"HEY! WE'RE HERE TO STOP THIS CRAZY DRIT! OPEN THE DOOR!"
The door opens easily allowing you to enter an antechamber of the large building. As you enter you notice a blond haired man frantically searching through overturned furniture. At the sound of you entering he spins around and then seeing you're not in the grip of the peculiar madness that's gripping the town visibly relaxes.
Who are you and what are you doing here?
"WE'LL be asking the questions. Who are you and what the hell is wrong with this town?" stress colors Balon's voice as he attempts to sound intimidating.
"WE'LL be asking the questions. Who are you and what the hell is wrong with this town?" stress colors Balon's voice as he attempts to sound intimidating.
[dice=Trained]1d20
My name is Cahill. I am the Assistant Maegester of The Peaks. You really have to talk to Maegester Yeiran. Come back later and maybe you can see him. Cahill backs away from the intimidating Balon and edges towards the door to the inner sanctum.
"Hold it!" Balon shouts, pointing his finger imperiously at the cringing man. "The town's gone nuts, there's a buildup of energy in the numenera the likes of which I have never seen, and you're trying to pass the buck? Where's your spine, man? Fetch Yeiran for us now, if you're to be of no further use yourself!"
"Hold it!" Balon shouts, pointing his finger imperiously at the cringing man. "The town's gone nuts, there's a buildup of energy in the numenera the likes of which I have never seen, and you're trying to pass the buck? Where's your spine, man? Fetch Yeiran for us now, if you're to be of no further use yourself!"
Yes, fetch...uh...good idea...wait here... Cahill pulls a key out of pocket, unlocks the door, slips through and shuts it behind him. You all hear a loud click as he locks the door behind him.
Balon slaps his forehead with his palm, recognizing the man's duplicity immediately - and too late.
Firing an Onslaught at the door.
The power of your mental onslaught makes a minuscule scratch on the surface of the door.
Damn, should have recognized that immediately.
If Balon doesn't destroy the door, Amadeus will try with the sword he got from Nasir's fallen rival.
While Amadeus tries to break in the door, Nasir looks through the furniture where Cahill was searching.
Search:
Damn, should have recognized that immediately.
If Balon doesn't destroy the door, Amadeus will try with the sword he got from Nasir's fallen rival.[dice=Trained in Breaking things]1d20
The door makes a loud pinging sounds when struck by the sword. A small bit of material is chipped off the door. However, even as you watch the chip seems to fill in leaving the door unharmed.
Nasir's search of the office reveals a list of names. The names are grouped into 2 bunches, one listed as being in favor of raising the dead and one group opposed. You see that Yeiran's name is at the top of the first list (favors raising the dead).
"They've got to come out sometime..." Galahad says quietly.
Callidus studies the door to see if it has any weaknesses, or to at least understand how it repairs itself.
Intellect with Edge + Trained
"Hmmph. Reanimators. That might be why everyone's going nuts."
Nasir folds the list and stows it.
"Don't suppose any of you have tools to pick the lock?"
Callidus studies the door to see if it has any weaknesses, or to at least understand how it repairs itself.
Intellect with Edge + Trained
[dice=Understand Function or Power]1d20
It's definitely an advanced piece of technology and likely beyond your abilities to damage. In addition the walls to the inner sanctum seem to be made of the same material. However, the lock seems a much simpler piece of technology and looks to have been added to the door at some point replacing the original locking mechanism.
To summarize, you stand in a room where one door leads back outside to the madness and the other leads into the inner sanctum. Unfortunately the door to the sanctum appears to be made of a synthetic material that is beyond your abilities to damage. Luckily though the lock is just a standard lock that could be picked or destroyed (hint, hint).
Nasir attempts to pick the lock.
Speed roll with effort? Or Intellect with effort?
Nasir attempts to pick the lock.
Speed roll with effort? Or Intellect with effort?
1d20
Nasir fiddles with the lock using various objects found in the office. He's not quite able to pick the lock but is able to expose the locking bolt to view where it is vulnerable to being cut or pried loose.
pickpocketing, trained, not sure if applicable.
Callidus offers tools to anyone who needs them ...
"Hmm. Alright, Amadeus: think you can bust that bolt?
"I could blast it with another Onslaught," Balon offers, looking a little sheepish.
Save your shots for anyone trying to shoot at us. I can break this thing and when I do they won't be happy, I'll bet.
trained in breaking.
Save your shots for anyone trying to shoot at us. I can break this thing and when I do they won't be happy, I'll bet.
[dice=Might]1d20 trained in breaking.
Amadeus does a perfect job of snapping the bolt of cleanly. In fact, his effort was so good that he managed to remove the entire bolt assembly in one piece (worth 3 shins).
On the other side of the door you find a perfectly normal looking office with a few neat desks and chairs. At first look, there appears to be no other exits from the room. However, there is also no sign of Cahill.
At first look, eh? I don't trust first looks.
"That lying snake won't escape so easily," Balon mutters to himself.
-2 int from pool
At first look, eh? I don't trust first looks.
"That lying snake won't escape so easily," Balon mutters to himself.
[dice=Effort, Int to spot hidden escape routes]1d20
-2 int from pool
You notice that the room seems particularly cold in its very center—an area about 5 feet (1.5 m) square where the temperature drops dramatically. When you step on the area the floor echoes as if it were hollow.
Balon taps his foot on that tile a few times, making sure the banging echoes can be heard by all. He narrows his eyes in thought as he regards the unusual cold. "Callidus," he asks, "what do you make of this? I believe there may be numenera at work here. It would certainly escape the bastard's quick escape."
Callidus attempts to understand the workings of the "hatch" ...
Trained
Callidus attempts to understand the workings of the "hatch" ...
[dice=Understand function/operation]1d20 Trained
Crawling around on the floor near the cold area, Callidus finds a small red button that he feels would operate the trap door in the floor.
Is Balon still standing on it? :)
Is Balon still standing on it? :)
Yep
I move off hastily to allow Callidus room to work.
Callidus mumbles, "damn" then louder, "Fire in the hole!" .... And pushes the button.
Once Callidus pushes the button a circular hole in the floor opens. A set of circular stairs leads down into the darkness below. You feel cold air flowing up from the opening. The landing at the bottom of the stairs appears to be about 30 feet below the office. The landing is lit by a faint blue glow. From the top of the stairs you are unable to tell what the source of the blue light is.