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As the party moves out of the target area, the dart trap acquires the few stragglers who cant quite clear its range in time.
The first dart goes wild of Zavubak as he makes his way out of the targetting radius, however the 2nd dart makes a clean shot at the stationary Korad, who is already well prepared for the blow.
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Zavubak relaxes and releases his tightly gripped claws, letting his anger go as he unfolds his hands. "It seems there are a lot more traps here than I had anticipated. I will be more careful moving forward." Still in a great deal of pain from the taser, Zavubak looks at his injured body and then looks towards the party, possibly suggesting that he could use some healing.
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The three corpses have nothing of value other than a few mundane daggers and quarterstaves between them.
Investigating the lid of the chest reveals glowing blue script which says: "The prize lies within! Test your mettle against ours!"
The inside of the chest is empty except for a parchment note that reads: "Congratulations, you have passed the trial! This amulet is your prize; present it to Venture-Captain Valsin as proof of your success!"
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Just through the archway, there is an odd sort of discontinuity between the passageways and the chamber ahead. Twice as wide as it is long, this large, oval chamber is illuminated with a murky radiance by dimly glowing overhead crystals. The room is bare of furnishings, just an open space with a dozen semicircular alcoves around the perimeter. Mechanical horrors identical to those outside occupy a number of these alcoves, but none of the automatons seem active, and some have even fallen over. A door stands in the center of the northern wall.
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Myrd takes out another wand and taps Zavubak with it, slowly the wounds of the half-orc close. While the wounds close Zavubak has the feeling of a thousand needles, slowly pricking into his skin while he has the taste of ashes in his mouth...
"Shouldn't we report back to the venture captain that something went horribly wrong here?"
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"Definitely, Myrd. As soon as we'll know what happened here. Since we're already here."
Kiddir goes further on the trail. In one hand he holds the captured dagger and the other resting on the shoulder his huge sword, as if he hadn't chosen what weapons to beat the enemy.
Then he stops and turns to the tengu.
"By the way! You've offered first to talk before fighting. Didn't work out?"
His husky voice sounds mockingly, but with absolutely no joy. He did not seem joking on a friend but rather he finds further confirmation of his life position. Rather harsh and sometimes even cruel position, apparently.
Without waiting for an answer, he moves on carefully looking for any signs of danger, strange sounds and so on.
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"I thank you," Zavubak nods at the tengu as his wounds begin to close up.
"These machines.. I have never fought something that does not bleed." The half-orc sounds confused, puzzled at how best to handle the automatons should they show up again.
He follows behind Kiddir, also keeping his eyes peeling for traps and anything that looks odd.
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A flight of metal stairs descends through a corridor sheathed in the same brick-red metal. The corridor seems in better repair than most, with no missing panels and functional overhead lighting. The stairs end at a door to the north, while two narrow arches open on either side of the hall.
From inside the room you hear movement, followed by a pair of voices. The first states clearly a somewhat monotone clearly male voice "Stay where you are, come any closer and we will defend ourselves."
The second, in a higher but gruff female voice adds "What sort of a deathtrap did you set for us?"
From the entryway you can't see them, but you can tell they are fairly close, just down the stairwell and to the left.
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The female voice calls out "You were attacked too? By that mechanical beast? Is it gone?"
The male then continues "Keep a leash on your attack dog and you may come in. I prefer to discuss the matter face to face. You are here, you are alive, therefore I can surmise that the machine has been stopped or commanded to halt. Given the commotion from a minute ago, I am willing to take your word that the former is true."
Myrd, you can tell that they certainly don't seem to react positively to Zavubak's threats, but are more than happy to speak with you and figure out what's going on.
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A tall human wearing dark leather armor sporting what appears to be strange tattoos in the form of blueish lines down his face rises to meet you "I am Meleren. This is my associate Shechera." he says as he motions to a similarly armored human female. "What is your business?"
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"We are explorers, investigating this fortress and writing down what we find to publish for the greater good, how did you get past that construct without being wounded?"
Myrd turns to his fellow pathfinders "Come on guys, you can clearly see that these two humans are not related to those constructs in any way. See, we can solve this in a friendly manner."
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The room appears to be clear and empty other than backpacks that appear to belong to Meleren and Shechera.
Meleren and Shechera stand up for a moment and point to a set of darkened bandages and gaps in their armor before Shechera responds. "We sure didn't get out unharmed... We came here... six of us. Only 3 of us survived the onslaught, although I haven't seen our leader since."
Meleren seems to relax a bit and continues in more detail. "As she said, there were six of us. We come from a group. The Blood-Red Raiders led by Harlo the Tooth, a half-orc who was with us earlier. We saw a group of people enter the Red Redoubt yesterday, and assumed they were our rivals hiding their treasures. As they left they had set up a series of traps and puzzles. We navigated the traps and solved their simple test, only to find that there was no treasure and that it was a course laid out to test recruits, with this trinket as a token to prove success. While I was inspecting the chest, something reactivated within the Red Redoubt, and a loud noise and gust of air knocked us off of our feet as the wall of the chamber opened up to reveal the large chamber you just passed through. That is where that mechanical horror came from, and that is where the automatically firing shocking trap came from also. We tried to defend ourselves, but three of our gang were slain. Harlo fled back the way we entered and we haven't seen him since. Shechera and I fled into this chamber hoping to rest, recover, and heal our wounds before trying to find a way out. Although I must admit, I have always had a strange sense guiding me to this place."
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"Hmph." Zavubak remembers the dead half-orc he had seen just a few moments ago. His guard drops somewhat. "I regret to inform you that your leader has been slaughtered. I am not sure how or by who, but we saw him there, covered in lacerations, not breathing." He paces for a few steps, then stops. He knocks on the wall a few times. "I know not what is going on here, but it seems the danger here is very real following this reactivation you speak of..."
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Meleren nods. "Yes, I agree... the danger is very real and I'm not sure that I want to leave this place in our condition. Even then, this could represent a threat to our hideout..." He trails off as Shechera cuts in. "Yeah, we use these tunnels and if machines like this are gonna march around we gotta know."
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Korad is watching the walls more warily now, as if at any moment, weapons could at any moment reveal traps on any wall, floor, or ceiling. He is able to take his mind off of the looming threat enough to distract himself with negotiations.
[b]"Well, we are happy to remove threats in the area, however we may need that trinket you have found. I would wish to suggest trade or some other compensation for it."[b]
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Omar brings up the rear of the group and listens to the exchange.
"It is lamentable your leader and comrades have fallen to these golem-creatures. We should at least make sure none are still missing and recover their bodies if possible...for next of kin and proper burial. We do not want a necromancer to happen in and take them for other purposes.
Omar looks around at the room and takes some notes on the size and shape and designs.
Looking at the pair, and exchanging glances with his teammates, he continues.
"We were not here on a rescue mission specifically, but I can offer some minor healing. We do not have a proper healer in our group, so this will have to do."
Unless others object, he will stow his notes and pull out his CLW wand and tap them each once.
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Zavubak doesn't object to Omar's healing of the humans, but watches closely as their wounds close. The half-elf is quick to help those he just met... I hope that his trust is not his downfall.
"Your hideout? You mean to tell us you setup a hideout in the middle of an obstacle course?" Something seems off about their story...
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Shechera laughs and says "More like someone set up an obstacle course at the entry to our hideout... Well... more like we often use these tunnels to conduct our... business away from prying eyes."
Meleren shrugs at Myrd. "I'm a little hazy on the details myself. I'm not from around here though. How about you folks?"
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Shechera laughs again "Plans? Heh... our sordid lot doesn't have much use for plans. Nobody goes into these tunnels much so they're a good place to divvy up our stashes or rally the crew. Thanks for the healin by the way... not used to having people actually care about our well being."
Meleren nods appreciatively, but remains silently contemplative. After a minute or so he takes the trinket off of his neck and hands it to Korad. "It's of no value to us anyways. And you are good people."
Meleren: 3
Shechera: 1
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Zavubak recaps for the half-elf. "We came here to run through a trial, but it seems like this place is now somehow... Alive. We're looking to figure out exactly how. The others want to take these humans along, and I don't know why. We are not here for charity. Hmph." The bloodrager scoffs at what's unfolded in front of him. "What exactly is their business, anyway? Thievery?" He asks the question in such a way that it sounds more like a declaration.
"Well, I'm not going to hold us up. As long as Yagi keeps an eye on them, we may move forward."
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Meleren answers "Erm, yes. Thievery basically. Not my ideal profession but better than what I had before. As for what we're looking for... isn't it your gang that always says Explore, Report, Cooperate?" He takes his indicated position, draws his morningstar, and prepares for whatever is ahead.
Shechera scowls at him, and falls in line.
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The monotony of red steel ends in this octagonal chamber. Red metal looms in the background, but is accented by gleaming chrome panels and tables set against every wall. A round table stands upon a plinth in the center of the room. Bronze and brass levers and dials occupy all these surfaces, along with flat bits of glass, some lit, some dark. Beyond the central table, a wide red metal pillar with a door in its southern face stretches from floor to ceiling. More doors open off the south, east, and west walls.
As the door is opened, 4 smouldering skeletons begin to turn towards the noise and suddenly burst into a bright flame. Each of them are humanoid, but obviously not human skeletons and they all wear a pair strange metal gauntlets.
One of the skeletons is particularly quick to act and moves forward to punch Kidir with it's strange gauntlet.
Despite not being in full battle stance, Kiddir is able to avoid the opening strike.
Green Skeleton
Korad, Yagi
Yellow Skeleton
Omar, Meleren
Blue Skeleton
Shechera, Zavubak, Myrd
Red Skeleton
Kiddir, Yiel
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Omar observes the strange skeletons.
"These are unlike anything I have seen before but have heard rumors...
These creatures are infused with energy known as plasma.
It is a referred to in Numerian texts as acting like electricity but burning like fire, and was used
in strange weapons discovered at archeological sites in the area. ."
He wields his nadochi and begins his raging war chant.
Inspired Rage (Su) At 1st level, affected allies gain a +2 morale bonus to Strength and Constitution and a +1 morale bonus on Will saving throws, but also take a –1 penalty to AC. While under the effects of inspired rage, allies other than the skald cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except Acrobatics, Fly, Intimidate, and Ride) or any ability that requires patience or concentration.
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