Sevroth, with a small retinue of Hawks comes to a stop. She grins at the group. Well you certainly know how to kick over a hornet's nest. One ruled by a demon. I ain't ever seen Scrapwall as shook up as it is now.
Dinvaya nods Whatever Hellion is, it has lost many footsoldiers and one champion, but it has other, more powerful minions at its beck and call and they will respond to what has happened here. Either we flee or you must press your advantage while it's still unbalanced by your exploits.
Sevroth scowls at this I ain't fleeing.
Redtooth, with Whiskifiss and Spivel by her side, agrees. We tried to stand against Hellion and his Lords and Thralls and Smilers but we could not even hold on against his lackeys. She glances at the hooded figure standing next to Dinvaya for a second before looking away, focusing on Criek If it decides to unleash its full force then we'll all be swept away. She reaches out to grip Criek on the shoulder It has to be you and your friends to end this
"It wasn't as easy as that, was it?" asks Criek ruefully, and sighs: "No, obviously not."
To his companions, he continues. "I suppose we'd best go root Hellion out of its lair, then?" and nods towards the doors at the back of the stage. "It seems like that's where we've got to go -- it's the only place Hellion has left to hide?"
To the assembled leaders of Scrapwall, he offers, "If any of you wish to see Hellion's fall with your own eyes, you are welcome to accompany us...but if not, we'd ask that you hold a line out here -- keep the Lords from circling back and trapping us?"
Sharae, now that her hearing is fully back, can only smile at the knowledge that what is happening here is bringing a lasting change to this place... and for the better. Quietly, she slips new ammunition into her pistol... there is one thing more though, planning for what may yet come, and the likelihood that she will be fighting at close quarters, a better weapon would be useful. She asks, full of humility but hoping that the leaders of Scrapwall will see the worth, whether anyone has a rapier that they would be willing to lend to her, "Maybe I will wet it with the blood of Hellion..."
Sevroth nods at Sharae. Well you've been risking your necks for us for a solid week now feels like. Least we can do is give you a blade I figure.
She turns to one of the other Hawks and jerks her head. He takes off running to where the other Hawks are and, soon enough, a rapier with a belt and holster is found and brought to Sharae.
It ain't a great blade.. the leader of the Hawks says a bit apologetically but Dinvaya steps forward.
I believe I can take care of that the cleric says and takes out a scroll and some well made looking gears. She casts a spells that causes the gears to vanish and the rapier gleams with a fresh new bronze sheen and the hilt becomes decorated with a beautiful design of clockwork gears and springs.
Sharae recognizes that Dinvaya has cast Masterwork Transformation on the blade and it's now a fine weapon rather than the shoddy blade it was before.
Birgh would prefer if this was done by effort and skill, but I believe she will understand the need for haste in this case Dinvaya says.
And I can give you some more information Redtooth says Helskarg is dead and Meyanda is... missing... but other than those the current leader is an orc barbarian wielding a cruel chain sword named Kulgara, and ettin named Draigs, and rumours of a mysterious red monster of some sort.
There is also Nalakai, a cleric of Hellion Dinvaya adds. She looks at the other leaders of Scrapwall before turning back. Is there anything else we can do for you?
We'll keep any Lord for coming in that's certain Sevroth says firmly as Redtooth, finally relinquishing her hold on Criek's arm, nods in agreement.
"That sounds like a...truly terrifying lineup," says Criek, glancing anxiously at the doors before looking back to Redtooth. "But we'll do our best to come back in as few pieces as possible?"
Checking quickly to make sure all his weapons and supplies are in place, he nods to his companions. "Let's get it over with?"
Sharae measures the weight and feel of the rapier, with a few tentative slashes and stabs at the air, it is obvious that she has a natural affinity to the weapon...
She turns to the friends that she will leave behind, "We will prevail in this... but, if we do not..." she pauses for a moment - not wishing to dwell on the implications of her words, "you must act to cement your hold over this place. Hellion must not be allowed to regain a foothold - strike hard against the Lords of Rust whilst they are demoralised..."
And then, with an optimism that she genuinely feels, "But it will not come to that... As Helskarg fell, so shall the rest of Hellion's minions..."
...and, with that, she nods at Criek, "I'm ready".
While this is happening a few Raiders and Hawks are going over the hated Helskarg's corpse. There seems to be some discreet jostling over the goods which ceases when Redtooth and Sevroth glare at the scavengers. One of the Hawks though comes up. Found this thing. No use to'us but we figger you'll need it.
It's an access card coloured grey.
The little red haird gnome mops his brow with a hanky Well, I suppose we should get one with it. he says nervously.
With cheers resounding all around them the ratfolk, the human, the cat, the clockwork dog, and the gnome head onto the stage and to the metal door that leads into the stumpy metal tower that this end of the arena was built around. The access card works and the door slides back...
Beyond the group finds dull gray metal walls formaing a H shaped camber. Rectangular panels of flickering glass mounted at Sharae's height adorn the starmetal walls and bits of garbage and rotten food lie strewn across the floor.
The air is thick with the rank stench of unwashed bodies. There are two large chains on the walls. Presumably this is where the recently exploded ogres made their home.
Two sets of stairs on each side of the room lead downwards, at the other end is another door. Creik, with his sense of underground places recognizes that this is the locked door he saw from his earlier scouting.
As the group steps in Hellion's face appears on all the monitors.
YOU DARE COME INTO HELLION'S HOME? it demands. The voice emnates from the sides of the monitors. It's not as loud as the loudspeakers outside were but Hellion's voice still comes through with a buzzing undertone that is disconcerting.
"You call this place home? You have terrorised, dominated and watched as murder is committed in your name... this is no home, this is a battlefield - and, as Helskarg fell - and Meyanda before that", Sharae pauses to allow that thought to wash through Hellion's mind - that she knows of Meyanda's demise - and may even have had a hand in her end, "...so too shall you".
The Desnan considers blasting a hole in the monitors with her pistol - but somehow, that seems like a waste of resources... her rapier in one hand, and her pistol cold metal in the other, Sharae nods towards the stairs, "This way?"
As the demonic face glowers at Sharae, the group makes for the stairs. It is only then that Hellion spits out THE TRUE FOLLOWERS OF HELLION WILL RISE AND FLENSE THE FLESH FROM YOUR BONES! FEEL MY MIGHT! before vanishing as a terrible mist appears on the group. It's 20 foot span covering the entire room and everyone is harmed by the greasy dark miasma. It feels like evil and despair are weighing down the group's very souls.
Sharae and Anody are able to shrug off the worst of it but Criek takes the full brunt of the damage. Pinki yowls. He seems terribly hurt while the clockwork dog seems somewhat harmed.
Unholy blight Anody coughs out as the vile cloud dissapates.
Nearly vomiting as the mist descends, Sharae looks towards her friends - and seeing Criek struggle, she clutches her holy symbol...
...and then, thankful for Desna's mercy, she smiles.
Sharae's channelling of Desna's mercy brings everyone but Criek back up to full health. The mechanical dog on the other hand is not healed at all.
Pinki nuzzles Sharae thankfully as the harsh wounds caused by Hellion's spitefull spell fade completely away.
Criek groans and staggers as the sickly mist hit him. Rallying as Share channels, he suggests, [b]"Any idea how's it doing that, Anody? Can we disable it somehow?"[/ b]
He scans the walls of the room and the viewscreens for any kind of sensor that they could target.
Ah, an excellent question, which is the first step towards any true understanding. Good work Criek! Now this was quite obviously magic, assuming Hellion didn't install an artifact of some sort there are stories of beings who inhabit a structure so thoroughly....
Between Criek and Anody you can figure out that, since there isn't any magic signatures in the room anymore, Hellion was most probably channeling his magic through some object in the room and the monitors are the prime suspects.
Assuming Criek and Anody are not able to see any clear way to disable the monitors, Criek will lead the way down the stairs, watching for traps or additional monitoring devices.
Criek heads down the stairs and peeks out of the door into a large room lit by tracks of glowing panels of light set in the ceiling, ten feet above. To the west, the room ends in a ragged wall of rubble, rock, and twisted metal, while to the east, a ten-foot-diameter circular platform sits on the ground before a pair of large doors.
Rectangular panels of glass adorn the walls between crude paintings of a mechanical talon.
Assembled in the center of the room. Ub front of the circular platform is a well dressed orc dressed in armored clercial vestments with a cruel talon emblazoned prominently on the front. Around him are eight orcs and humans dressed in similar, though cruder fashion. They are all armed with spiked guantlets and shields.
They seem to be prepared for a fight.
But they don't see Criek.
Rushing into the room and closing the distance quickly towards the most intimidating looking of the orcs, Sharae jumps high and stabs downwards....
surprise round:
Criek throws up a hand to halt Sharae behind him as he takes in the room, then gives a finger countdown three...two...one... before launching a bomb at the leader, shouting "Orcs! Nine of them! Let's get them!" to his comrades.
round 1:
As Sharae rushes by him, he motions to the nearest pairs of minions to either side in turn -- "Dog! Pinki! Attack!" -- while drawing his bow and targeting whichever orcs in the central cluster survive Sharae's charge:
Sharae's stab catches the surprised orc leader by surprise, especially as it's followed up by a sudden bomb to his face by a previously hidden Criek. Finally an arrow slams into him causing him to topple back, dead before he even knew what was happening.
Criek's third shot goes awry, but the second hits one of the splashed acolytes in the throat, causing her to slump. There's only one orc left in the main central group of Hellion worshippers, who snarls and hits out at Sharae with a mailed fist.
He barely misses.
While this is happening Pinki dashes out and, yowling, leaps at the face of one of the minions. The result isn't pretty and the Orc goes down, unable to deal with the spitting ball of claw and fang that Pinki has become.
The human next yells out and holds up his gauntlet as evil energy channels out of him. Pinki's yowls go up a register as he makes clear he does not appreciate the damage this causes him. Though he doesn't look much worse off.
The dog meanwhile charges another group and clamps down on the leg of one of the minions and twists to bring her to the ground.
The orc next to the dog raises his gauntlet and channels evil energy himself which causes damage to both the dog and his comrade on the ground. This doesn't quite end her life though and she lashes out from the ground at the dog which just bounces off the dog's metal armor.
While this is going on Anody creeps up behind Criek and tries to Daze one of the minions from the last group with a comment Oh my, these ones seem dressed like acolytes. Decently armored too!
but his spell fails to take and the the two charge at the ranged death dealer that is Criek.
One of them misses badly but the other catches Criek across the face with a vicious punch that leaves a bloody gash down the ratfolk's cheek.
Reeling from the punch, Criek draws his sword and stabs desperately at one of the orcs in front of him.
Moving closer to the nearest orc, Sharae's rapier becomes a smear of silver in the air.... whistling as it strikes and sweeps, the blade is withdrawn as her pistol hisses with an explosion of ice...
Sharae whirls and the acolyte next to her finds his heart pierced by an unerringly inaccurate stab from Sharae's new weapon. In the same motion she flings out her other arm and fires a freezing blast from her pistol at the head of the acolyte Criek had hurt with his own stab. The acolyte falls over as well. Two kills in one motion.
Anody attempts to daze the second person attacking criek but fails to do so.
The dog chomps down on the prone acolyte it had brought down and the acolyte's yell of pain fades away as she dies.
Pinki bites and claws at his own remaining. His fangs are able to latch onto the acolyte's calves and bring him down to the ground.
The three acolytes left alive all raise their unholy symbols and from the cruel talons negative energy pusles forth. The one near Criek and Anody is weakly chanelled and they feel no worse off from the repulsive wave of energy.
The dog looks a little weaker and Pinki hisses at his own attacker as the foul power sweeps over them.
Even as two of the orcs succumb to her steel, Sharae vaults past falling bodies towards her companions - her eyes narrowed, her teeth gritted with concentration - she drives her blade, already wet with blood, at the orc next to the dog...
Criek steps back to make some space, dropping his sword to the ground to free his second hand for archery again, and sending a string of arrows into the orc in front of him --
Sharae rushes behind the orc attacking the clockword dog and stabs him in the back. The dog takes advantage of this to sink his bronze jaw deep into the orc, ending his life.
Criek steps back and swiftly sends three arrows into his own adversary, with a *thunk* *thunk* *thunk* sound all of them slam into the orc, ending her life.
Meanwhile Pinki takes full advantage of the tripped human and becomes a yowling, hissing ball of fury that bites and claws her into the great beyond.
Silence descends after the chaotic half second or so of activity. Criek is bleeding and hurt, as is the clockwork dog, both of them are carrying on the wounds from their earlier encounters. Sharae is untouched so far and Pinki is only slightly wounded.
As the group checks over themselves. Hellion appears in all his demonic glory, not from one of the monitors blinking on and off around this uncomfortable chapel, but from the circular platform in the middle of his room. By some artifice he is projecting his entire body as an image onto the platform rather than just his face on the flat screens as you've seen before.
The image looks around itself and snorts FOOLS. WEAKLINGS. THEY WERE UNDESERVING OF HELLION'S BLESSINGS.
Then it turns to you. YOU DARE DELVE FURTHER INTO MY DOMAIN? ALL MY FOLLOWERS ARE ON ALERT. ALL WOULD GIVE THEIR LIVES TO PROTECT MY GLORY. FLEE WHILE YOU STILL CAN FOOLS. PRAY THAT I CHOOSE NOT TO PURSUE YOU FOR THESE INSULTS TO MY NAME.
Pointedly turning her back on the image of Hellion, Sharae urges her companions to move closer...
Rapier and pistol still in hand, she wonders out aloud, "Which way friends? The doors this way", she motions towards the double doors to the east, "seem grandest... and this Hellion has little humility - this way maybe?"
Criek jerks a little as Hellion's hologram appears, then follows Sharae's cue and tries to ignore it.
"That must have been Hellion's cleric, Nalakai?" Criek suggests, indicating the lead orc. "Which means we've Kulgara left...plus whatever surprises Hellion has in store?"
He compares the grey access card to the one Helskarg carried -- presumably just Nalakai's copy of the front door key, but he scans the exits from this room quickly to see if any have slots for key cards.
"The double doors do seem the gaudiest, yes. Perhaps you should use Dinvaya's wand to repair the dog before we venture forward, though?"
I WILL NOT BE IGNORED! Hellion rages before raising its hands and causing a swirl of chaotic energies to burst forth and slam against the group in a cascading multicolored explosion of leaping and ricocheting energies as the image vanishes.
Oddly enough Sharae and Criek are completely unharmed by the attack but Anody and the animals are wounded.
Chaos Hammer? Anody squeaks as he recognizes the spell even as it hurts him.
Both the dog and the cat look particularly badly off.
As the energy of the spell subsides the double doors the party had been eying are thrown open and two robots come marching in and close in othe party members closest to the door which happen to be Pinki and Sharae. Before the party members can react the robots raise wicked looking saw blades that buzz into life and come down on the cleric and the cat.
The cat dodges out of the way adeptly, the cleric is not so lucky and a hard cut gets through the Desnans armor.
Oh dear! Scrapyard robots Anody squeaks out. Like other robots they don't stand up well to either electricity or precise attacks. They do have siginficant armored plating though. Quite shoddy construction however and they are slower than a well oiled machine would be. Oh my!
Anody explains the nature of the constructs attacking them.
"Pinki, get back!" calls Criek, hurling a bomb sizzling with electricity at the robot attacking the cat (and trusting Sharae to make her own choice about the risk in front of her!)
...if the robot doesn't topple, Criek will also back away from it, in hopes of staying out of its reach.
Criek's bomb hits the robot right in the face, it goes into convulsions as the electrical damage arcs through its entire structure. The damage is so great and the spasms so intense that it shakes itself to pieces right in front of their eyes.
Beyond the double doors Criek can see columns pulsing with purple light. There don't seem to be any other creatures.
Raising her pistol, Sharae steps backwards and fires... three times her pistol crackles with technologic energies...
All three of Sharae's shots hit. Each one individually doesn't seem to do much damage but altogether the attacks do seem to be getting through.
The robot dog advances into the space Share vacated and chomps at the robot. The bronze jaws of the clockwork dog only does minor damage to the robot.
The robot retaliates but its saw whiffs past the dog completely.
Pinki, as ordered, retreates behind Criek, hissing at the malformed hunks of scrap that hurt it.
"Take that, Hellion!" Criek squeaks gleefully as the robot disintegrates.
Noting with some dismay, though, his rapidly emptying bandolier of bombs -- and we haven't seen this Kulgara yet? -- the ratfolk pulls his longbow and adds his arrows to Sharae's bullets, trying to wear the other robot down,
Letting her pistol hand trail, Sharae steps forward with her rapier extended... twice, ducking and weaving, she stabs at the machine...
All three of Criek's arrows thunk into the clumsy robot, as do Sharae's two thrusts, the second of which penetrates deep into a loose joint of the poorly made construct.
The incessant attacks start to take their toll on the lone remaining enemy, the rotary saw it had been using to try and make its attacks drop off, something inside it seems to catch fire causing electrical sparks to start shooting out from the robot and travelling across its metal form.
The dog sinks its teeth back into the robot and manages to bring it down with a twist of its head. The machine brings its one remaining hand down on the dog from its prone position in an attempted slam. It misses again.
From there it's a matter of moments for Sharae and the dog to finish off the machine in its vulnerable position.
Everyone other than Criek sustained wounds from either the robot or Hellion's cowardly remote spell attack.
The room from where the robots emerged is empty of enemies, There are four columns pulsing purple. The north wall of the room is a tangle of ruins and debris.
My word Anody says This appears to be a battery storage unit.. uh.. a storehouse for the electrickal energies that power all of this marvelous technology. In fact I think we could recharge all of our devices with this!.. if we only we had a power cable. There seems to be quite a LOT of energy here.
Criek recognizes immediately what the Professor is talking about. Sharae is a little lost but she does realize her zero pistol could be filled up again from these columns.
From the first room they came down the group also notices a hidden door in the southwest corner of the room.
"Anything", Sharae turns her pistol over in her hands as Anody discusses the power that is available here, "that keeps this thing working..."
...and seeing the injuries of her friends, Sharae raises her symbol once more...
Catching his breath, and scritching Pinki behind the ears as Sharae heals the party, Criek responds skeptically - and with some disappointment - to Anody "Just a power supply? No Hellion? Where has it been projecting itself from, if not here?"
Once we answer that question we will probably find ourselves face to face with... whatever.. Hellion is Anody says nervously. Oh look there's a door from here.
Beyond the dorrs a bitter stink of chemicals with an underlying reek of decaying flesh fills the air. A platform of gray metal, worn smooth, and free of dust, extends over a ten foot deep pit filled with rubbe- strangely polished rubble.
Anody peers over the side into the pit and goes
Oh my, an ooze, an grey ooze if I'm not mistaken. Quite fascinating, you know that since they are hard to spot against dungeon floors quite a few adventurers report having.... ohmyitscomingtowardsme The little professor tosses one of his small bolts into the pit to satisfy the suddently active ooze and retreats out of the room. Nothing more to see there sadly!
To the south of the backup batters is another room and this opens into a simple, uncomfortable looking room decorated with images of mechanical claws reaching towards the sky. Several simple bedrolls, eight of them, lie on the floor. To the south is a locked door, to the east a small passageway loops back into the main hall through a secret door.
Leaving the locked door for the moment the group checks out the last remaining room, to the north.
The eastern portion of this room is a shambles of twisted metal and debris, leaving the western portion to serve as, what looks like a combination of a personal bedroom and a shrine to Hellion. The small room adjoining it seems like a private latrine
The only thing of interest in the main room here is a prayer book. Anody picks it up and leafs through it Ah orcish.. makes sense I suppose. The vision of Hellion. Glory to the Future by Consuming the Past is the title. My word but this is some dense writing. It'll take me quite some time to read through it.
The only way forward is the locked door. It is easily picked open by Criek and beyond a flight of metal stairs descends deeper.
"No doubt it will shed some light on the nature of Hellion once you muddle through it...if either 'light' or 'nature' are appropriate words to use here?" adds Criek as Anody looks over the book.
Surveying the rest of the gloomy chambers, he offers sadly, "And what does Hellion even offer its followers? A life of wonton cruelty without apparent wealth or even basic comforts, it seems. I'm not sure if that's more a testament to some allure of Hellion or the bleakness of any alternative in this place."
Once Sharae has mended the dog a bit and all are ready, he'll again take the lead, in slinking down the stairs to scout out what lies below.
This is no god worth following, Sharae silently offers thanks to the Starsong for her guidance and warmth... something that it seems Hellion surely does not offer in return for veneration... and quietly, with sword and pistol in hand, Sharae follows her friend down the staircase and deeper into Hellion's lair.
Sharae got some good stuff here
The lights in the area come from the monitors and recessed tube devices that are set into the metal walls themselves. The illumination has an artificial quality and certainly does not feel anything like the sun and the moon and the stars.
The lights in the area come from the monitors and recessed tube devices that are set into the metal walls themselves. The illumination has an artificial quality and certainly does not feel anything like the sun and the moon and the stars.
Sharae got some good stuff here
The light here is cold... not the same cold as the twinkling of the stars - more mechanical, soulless, dead... Sharae shivers slightly.
The metal stairs descend along the outer edge of a partially buried metal structure that Hellion's chapel turns out to have been built on top of. Criek follows this and finds a door to the north which will allow access into the structure one landing below. In front (east) a pile of debris prevents a further descent while to the south brilliant lights cast illumination onto a large damp cave. Far below (thirty feet or so) a pool of foul green fluid bubbles and smokes.
As he sees this Hellion's face reappears on two flanking monitors. The ratfolk's usually successful attempt at a stealthy approach having failed.
Turn back now or Die, blood filled puppet! it sneers and casts a spell on Criek before the image vanishes again.
Criek is able to shrug off... whatever the heck Hellion had attempted to do... but suddenly the lights on the side of the structure cut out leaving the underground cavern in darkness.
A scrabbling sound can be heard from the north. Something is coming!