If you're going Sharae then please take the tablet with you Anody pipes up from the tablet Laying these charges seems like work for someone experienced with Technology and I think I might be able to help.
From this distance Criek can barely see something bird like that seems to be moving around near the entrance.
Acknowledging the professor, Sharae straps the tablet to her belt, "Now I'll need the 'green stuff'... and the switch I think? Anything else? Criek? You'll keep an eye open for me?" As she makes sure that she has everything she will need, and the pistol to hand, she notes that the spell will only last for five minutes or so...
Sharae, with the power of Desna lifting her up gracefully in the night sky, ascends above the piles of junk that had accumulated to the sides of the squat structure that the giant dish rested on.
Sharae swivels the tablet around so that the professor can survey the dish. Even through the imperfect visual medium of the tablet the little Professor has no trouble ascertaining exactly where the green stuff should be placed.
If you take a look at the markings on the side of the package, you can see that the accurate term for this explosive is not 'green stuff', it is 'Cylex'. Though I do admit that I am a little uncertain at using my knowledge of architecture to ah, destroy something rather than repair or reinforce it. I really don't know what my father would say if he...
It is a matter of moments for Sharae to place it at the appropriate place, a central joint where the four legs of the dish come together to form a central arm from which the giant dish rises. Then she presses the switch into the side of the Cylex and holds the green button down until the light in the center of the switch flashes just as Redtooth said it would.
This is quite obviously of alien origin and built to recive trasnmitted signals. I do wonder why the power of Torch was being siphoned off to this place....
Silently sliding back through the night, Sharae scolds Anody again, "Sssshhhh... plenty of time to debate the actions of Meyanda when I'm not flying through the stars on a..." and she underlines the next words, "stealth mission". Minutes later, and back on the ground once more, Sharae nods to Criek, "It's done... shall we retire to a safe place and watch the fireworks?"
Assuming no hostile moves from the birdlike thing, or any other source, Criek will have been content to maintain his watchful position for Sharae's return.
"Yes, please!" he breathes in response to her question, and joining her in retreating back to collect Spivel from his own hiding place. "As much as I hate to invite trouble, we should probably investigate the Thrall's lair once we've blown the lid? If there's any evidence as to what their interest in Torch was, we don't want scavengers to disappear it?"
Firmly back on Terra Firma, Sharae smiles at Criek, "You're right of course... there may be some secret to uncover here. First sign of trouble though, we leave... and we blow this dish to a thousand pieces"
As the four of you approach the darkened entrance cautiously and start mounting the steps that lead into the interior, the bird like figure Criek had spied notices you and flaps out with a disgruntled croak. It's a vulture
It burps as it flaps off into the moonlit sky.
Casting Light on her starknife, Sharae beckons to Criek, "Shall we then?"
In one hand her starknife, glowing with a warm light, and in the other her pistol - Sharae watches the vulture disappear into the darkness, "Hmmmm, vultures are carrion birds... I think with everything we know, we should expect death and decay here..."
Sharae's intuition is proven right as the group ascends the walkway and approaches the shadowy entryway. The smell of rotting corpses assaults them long before, lit by the glow of the cleric's starknife, they see a half eaten corpse right inside the entryway. Is is vaguely human shaped but its limps are elongated to almost comical proportions. In one hand is clutched a small amulet of a cruel spiked gauntlet.
My word, that looks like a choker. Anody's voice comes from the tablet. It sounds strained Oh do be careful in there
To your left and to your right are closed doors, they look like they are made out of starmetal. In front of you a rickety looking walkway extends deeper into the underground area. These are most definitely not made of star metal.
The stench of rot and death is far stronger here. And on the walkway you can see more unmoving bodies. Some are of the same elongated proportions as the corpse you are standing over right now. Others are human sized and shaped.
"Whatever it is that happened here... it was a bloody affair", Sharae is cautious as she looks around the walkway...
There is no sign of movement that the cleric of the star Goddess can detect.
"From the smell, they've been dead for some time? Before the Smilers, at least."
Criek wrinkles his nose as he kneels to inspect the nearest corpse--a less eaten one, if possible--for any indication of its cause or timeline of death.
"Do you recognize the amulet that one was holding? Some kind of holy symbo, perhaps?"
Criek can tell, from the smell, and from the amount of maggots and such that are crawling in and out of the bodies that it's been a few weeks since everyone here died. Despite the amount of decomposition that the bodies have experienced it's still very apparent what happened.
Violence. Lead shot, burns, bludgeons, and blades, all manner of weaponry was brought to bear against these poor souls. Faded scorch marks and dried blood smears on the walls tell the same tale.
The human sized corpses reveal another surprise, these aren't humans. They're androids! Much like your old companions R99Y, they are beings that closely resemble humans but are instead constructs made from advanced technology. The Thralls weren't a commune of chokers and humans. They were a commune of chokers and androids!
As for the symbol, both of you have seen it many times in the past little while worn as amulets or stitched into the clothes of the Lords. It's the profane symbol of Hellion.
Oh my Anody's voice comes over the tablet.
It's a horrible scene even through the tablet's imperfect camera device and with the less than perfect illumation from Sharae's magical light.
"It seems that being servants of Hellion doesn't protect you from his judgement then? This is a poor thing... to leave the bodies to rot where they fell. When we bring the dish down, we should declare this place a tomb... no matter what they were and who they followed, they should be sent forwards on their journey". Not wishing to stay any longer than is necessary, Sharae turns to Criek, "Let's check behind these doors... if there is nothing to be learnt, we get out of here..."
"They were slaughtered...by the Lords? When the signal from Torch stopped, and they ceased to be useful?
...a moment ago I'd thought collapsing the dish an expedient weapon against a dangerous enemy, but, yes, now it seems we are entombing more Hellion's victims. I hope they'd consider it an improvement over their current indignity?" he concludes sadly, thinking of the half-eaten choker.
Sharae and Criek move first to the door north. Opening it you find more of what you found in the entryway, bodies of what are most likely Thralls of Hellion left twisted and unnaturally still where they were killed and stripped of all valuables. Small fetishes emblazoned with Hellion's symbol. Opening the door to the south you find an empty room made completely of some star metal. It seems like it was used as a holding pen.
The north room has a door heading deeper into the complex.
The south room has a passageway heading in the same direction.
Criek suggests the double doors off the north room as the next place to investigate. Before getting too far from the entrance, though, he instructs the hound (it's still with us?) to stay on the main catwalk and keep watch. "As quiet as this place is so far, I wouldn't want anything following us in."
The clockwork dog stays motionless near the entrance while Sharae and Criek and Pinki move through the doors to the north.
It leads to a passage and rooms that seem to have been living areas for the Thralls. The same thing that the two see in the other places they see here. The people that lived here seem to have been taken by surprise by whatever occurred and didn't seem to have even mounted any sort of defense. The tale the twisted bodies of the chokers and androids tell isn't one of a fight, it's one of a massacre. There are ways to head to the south from these living areas. Despite being hardened to the sight of death the two of you still have to struggle not to gag as you make your way through.
Sharae, the stench of death catching in the back of her throat, follows her companion into the awful place... Her pistol is in her hand as she watches, ever so vigilantly, for any sign of something untoward. "Whatever visited this carnage upon the Thralls may still be here... Keep your eyes open".
"The level of cruelty here -- incredible even by the standards we've seen elsewhere in Scrapwall!"
As they proceed, Criek surveys the living areas and other rooms, looking for any papers, tools, or effects that would give more clues about what the Thralls were doing in this place under the dish.
Criek doesn't see much other than the corpses. It seems like the place was looted pretty thoroughly after or during whatever event caused all of these people to die.
Pushing their way past one of the curtains in the living quarters Criek, Sharae, and Pinki find another small makeshift walkway connecting the two sides of the complex. It sways and creaks alarmingly as they cross but it seems secure enough and holds as they get to the other side.
Their they find a truly bizarre site as they come into the largest room in the complex. Right in the middle of it is a large pile of metal scrap. Here and there Sharae and Criek can see parts of it that look like shaped sculpts of very large curled fingers or knuckles, but mostly it is destroyed metal that is now arranged into something resembling a nest.
There is a small door heading north in the north eastern corner of the room but to their right, through an open door to the west Criek hears what sounds like a... whimper?
Lying near the door to the west is what looks like a laser pistol. It stands out as the rest of the complex is completely bereft of any weaponry, or any other technology for that matter.
At the sound, Criek holds up a finger to his lips and silently points towards the open door. After listening a moment for additional sounds, he creeps towards the door and peers around the edge, hoping to get a glimpse of whatever whimpered -- but keeps a hand near his bandolier, nerves on edge at the possibility of a trap.
Sharae, seeing the pistol - and noting the contrast with the looting that has happened elsewhere - is immediately suspicious. Whispering a prayer to Desna, she tries to determine whether the pistol is indeed bait...
Criek takes the lead, tracking the odd whimpering noises as they continue, interspersed by moans. It sounds like someone in a lot of distress to both him and Sharae.
The cleric is on heightened alert as well as she follows after her stealthy ratfolk friend but other than the sounds she doesn't detect any traps of any sort.
The passage is short and ends with a short flight of steps on one side and an open door on the other. The groans are louder here as Criek peeks in.
He sees a room that looks almost empty. There are no corpses here. Huddled in the far corner of it though is a humanoid figure lying face up. It is from here that the sounds of pain are coming.
Above the mouth of the figure on the ground Criek sees a truly hideous sight. He sees thin tendrils trail from the bottom of a misshappen ovoid about 3 feet long hovering over the tortured person. On its underside Criek can see a gray orb that resembles a bulging, lidless eye protruding out. It seems focused on the person underneath it as it extends one of its tendrils out to drip some liquid into the moaning person's mouth as it cries out softly again in pain.
Criek goggles at the scene, attempting to understand what this bizarre creature is, let alone what it is doing.
Criek cannot really tell what this monster is except to say that it is not of this world. As for the liquid the figure on the ground does not seem to do anything different before or after the liquid is dripped into it. The distress is at a constant level.
Appalled at what she sees, Sharae's trigger finger tenses slightly... but she pauses for a moment, what if attacking this creature puts the person's life in jeopardy?
Whispering that it wasn't right to just leave the captive there, Sharae moves further forwards... to get into shooting range if needs be... and also to see whether there is anything that can be done for the person...
It is Sharae's light, more than anything else that startles the shadowy creature. It zooms up from the corner of the room its in and rotates to face Sharae.
Who are you? Why do you come to my nest? Sharae hears the voice in her head. It sounds, and feels, as cold as the blackness of space.
It does not seem to notice Criek, but both of them can see how easily the being maneuvers. It's as if it's some sort of aberrant squid flying through the air as easily as a real squid swims through water.
Pinki starts to hiss and spit from behind Sharae when it notices the thing.
Quiet your fur thing. It is beneath my notice. You are not. Answer my question. Sharae hears the demanding voice in her head sending a sensation down her spine as if it's being squeezed by ice cold fingers.
Sharae speaks aloud so as to warn Criek that the 'thing' is communicating with her, "We heard tell of a great devastation that befell the people here... we wanted to know more..." Trying to reassure Pinki, Sharae picks it up and trails the feline over her shoulder...
Realising that this creature can read her thoughts, Sharae tries to keep the wider truth unspoken... focussing on the cat... and happier times...
Yes, many of these beings came, and killed the beings that were here already, the beings killed were surprised and begged and plead for their lives, when they left I made my nest in the open from the metal that was broken. It is my home now. Your fur thing wishes me harm. Do you wish me harm?
The thing hovers higher, closer to the ceiling, and it occurs to both of you how easily it might be able to disappear into the shadows if it darted about quicky enough. You can't tell how good it might be at opening doors though, the one to the north from this room is closed, the one you came in from is open.
Seeing the creature take notice of Sharae -- and be occupied in apparent conversation, Criek remains hidden and creeps through to observe the prone figure in the other room. A surviving Thrall? A later explorer?
Criek creeps forward, the figure on the ground looks terribly weak and her eyes are closed.
You can see the faint glow of circuitry and a shock of purple hair. This fits the description of Meyanda!
"I have no quarrel with you... and my fur thing is no threat to one such as yourself. Release your prisoner and we will turn around and go back the way that we came. If you wish to take this place as your home then I take no issue with that..." Already, Sharae is genuinely considering whether to turn around and leave - it is true, she has no reason to fight with whatever this is... Although, if its base existence is to do whatever it is doing to its suffering prisoner, then maybe she needs to end it here and today...
Prisoner? It is no Prisoner. I water it and it nourishes me with its thoughts. We are symbiotes. Maybe you would like to take its place?
"She is no symbiote... what enrichment does she feel? You know it... you can feel her pain. She is your prisoner", there is a rising anger in Sharae's mind... whoever this is, and whatever they had done, this was wrong...
All sensations are enrichment. Here let me show you the being says.
It feels perfect.
Then you notice, right at the edge of your vision that a part of the sky seems wrong. You focus. It's darker then it should be. Suddenly you start seeing other patches of inky blackness appear almost randomly across the sky. Once you notice them they start to merge into each other and escalate rapidly. Soon huge gobs of darkness spread as the stars seem to be... consumed... As you look the insanity of the pattern seems to become clear, a huge maw of blackness is absorbing all the stars right in front of you! You somehow becomes convinced that the maw has an eye of complete darkness floating in the middle and that the eye has become aware of you. That it's coming for you. You has to get away get away get AWAY!
Feeling Share go rigid Pinki panics and leaps off of her shoulder.
Sharae barely manages to hold on to her pistol as, images of the oncoming void filling her mind, she turns and flees!!!
Hearing Sharae cry out, Criek looks up from Meyanda to see his companion fleeing the room. He shrinks back into a corner, attempting to stay hidden and grasping a bomb in case the creature makes a move at him or attempts...whatever just happened to Sharae?!?
As soon as Sharae turns the corner her head clears and she stops running. This thing whatever it is seemed to have projected terror right in to her mind and the voice felt so cold
Criek you see the hovering thing make as if to follow Sharae. It's currently seven feet off the ground.
Seeing the thing start to follow Sharae -- to continue its apparent attack on her? -- Criek lets fly his bomb.
The frost bomb surprises the hovering monster but does not seem to harm it one bit. It rotates to where the explosion came from and finally sees Criek. [I]Another fur thing. But one with a mind. One who thinks cold can harm one who comes from the depths.[/ooc]
You hear in your head Criek.
Pinki starts to yowl.
Recovering now, the images of the void subsiding as she flees, Sharae hears Criek's bomb detonate... almost instinctively, she raises her pistol and fires...
The entity ignores Sharae entirely as the blast from her pistol shatters against it completely unfazed. instead it focuses on Criek
I can see what you are afraid of, Criieeeek it speaks into Criek's mind.