Upon hearing the cry of alarm from Ryan, JJ heads back and carefully inspects the floor.
"Over here was it? Lets see if I can jam the mechanism..."
He takes off his shield and puts down the lantern to free up a hand.
"Try tossing one of those sets of draws onto it and see if it still swings."
Ruben watches JJ work as he looks to interfere with the mechanism of the trap. For his own part, his skills with picks are more suited to locks than mechanics – though he would have no doubt he could turn his hand to anything should it come to it. Still, sometimes it isn’t worth putting your hand up first and he is more than happy to observe.
Once done, he prods at the trapdoor with his sword, then tentatively with one foot and then finally strides over it.
Nice job kid, you could make a good living with skills like that. Only if you operate on the right turf though. Trust me, that’s how I’ve stayed so pretty. he says with a grin, clapping JJ on the shoulder.
He cautiously moves into the next room, keenly aware of the dark corners and maze-like quality of the place.
It takes JJ a while to figure out how to jam the lid without springing the trap, but once he does, it is just ease to block the hinges. Once secured, the party has an easy time to cross at the other side and making use of the corresponding rods, to open the geared doors there.
Dead rats, burnt tindertwigs, and bits of brokenstone litter the floor of this room whose only furnishings include a cot against the northeast wall and a wooden chest bearing a dented lantern. The lantern is lit, but barely enough light escapes through its shutters to illuminate the room. Across from the round door in the west wall, a five-foot-diameter tunnel carves its way east into darkness.
The wooden chest is open and totally empty.
Rubble and splintered furniture fills this dark, ten-foot-high room. Most of the detritus lies heaped between a pair of five-foot-diameter tunnels crudely carved into the west and northwest wafts. A wooden lever juts from an iron plate set into the east wall, near the door. The lever looks like it can slide up or down; it is currently in the "down" position.
Taking the tunnel to the north brings you to a featureless, thirty-foot-long hall connecting two round doors. The narrow, five-foot-diameter tunnel you came from breaches the middle of the south wall. Stone debris litters the floor near the tunnel's mouth.
The geared door to the west holds an I gnome glyph, which you can easily open with the corresponding rod.
The chamber ahead of the geared door is large and majestic. Marble staircases split the room into three levels: a rubble-strewn foyer to the east, a ten-foot-square marble landing, and an upper hall supported by two pillars sculpted to resemble petrified trees. Between the pillars rests a graven throne. An elderly gnome wearing a silver crown is slumped in the throne while holding a scepter, his soft snores echoing throughout the room. The thirty foot expanse of wall behind the throne is carved with frescoes depicting a complex array of gears. Another noteworthy feature is a cherubic gnome's face carved in bas-relief on the west wall of the landing.
Another tunnel at the southern wall deepens in the darkness. After a small check you observe this one is connected to one room already visited.
The geared doors in the room have an U to the north and N to the south.
While you are opening the I gate in the corridor, Maxim senses something odd in the stone of the northern wall. A closer inspection reveals another spinning stone secret door.
"Shouldn't we get that skulk out of the pit. Get him buried so he doesn't haunt the place."
Looking round at the hardened faces around him he quickly adds
"And recover his equipment. Surely that would be worth a sun or two."
-=-=-=-=-=- Throne room -=-=-=-=-=-=-
JJ peers at the gnome on the throne.
"Is he an illusion? He can't be real can he?"
Upon use of detect magic and the good appraising skills of the group JJ understands the trap is very dangerous and probably not worth the couple of golds the equipment costs.
As you approach the sleeping gnome it suddenly starts saying in Common "If you wish an audience with the king, place your finest coin in my mouth"
As the group continues to make amazing headway throughout the complex, Marigold makes sure to stick close to the others but otherwise doesn't seem to be in a very talkative mood - whether due to nervousness or weariness, it's uncertain.
But the room with the sleeping gnome is another story entirely. She stares incredulously and then looks back at the others. "I...I don't know? Surely some sort of m-magical effect though..." she replies to JJ. As the group approaches, she squeaks with surprise when the gnome speaks to them in Common.
"O-oh my! It is magical, it h-has to be!" she gasps. "B-but what sort of coin? W-would one of ours w-work or d-did the gnomes use a different currency?"
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Finest coin, is that literal? Ruben asks perplexed. Seems a weird tradition. We've got Suns. he shrugs, reaching into his own pocket and for a moment debating whether to use one of the fake coins he employed for his grifts.
Best not. he thinks. Just in case
Sitting down hard to avoid the trap only hurts Ryan's pride, warning the others before stepping out of the way while JJ secures the mechanism.
He'll borrow the appropriate rod and lock the door to J15, having stepped into the passageway enough to see it likely was the continuation of the tunnel they were in before. "Can't have them sneaking in behind us. In front of us is plenty."
following the others into the great hall with the gnome king, he admires the architecture of the room before casting detect magic. Doubtful that the king was real after seeing the garden but also curious as to what else the master illusionist that created the room may have hid.
Ryan successfully closes the geared door barring the pass to any other enemy on that side.
As he casts the spell, he finds the gnome detects as having a moderate magical aura.
The aura is indubitably an illusion aura.
"Let's see what he tells us.."
JJ carefully advances up the floor, looking out for any pits or other hazards that might open up.
Once in front of the gnome he pops out a gold coin and places it in the gnomes mouth.
"What is the best way to get to the stolen children?"
A visual inspection makes JJ rely the platform is secure. Thus he steps over it approaching the throne.
As JJ places the gold coin in the gnome's mouth, it instantly disappears. Nothing else happens.
Intrigued by the coin disappearance, the group most probably carefully inspects the throne. An exhaustive inspection reveals a secret compartment in the trhone's armrest. When you open it the gnome king mumbles in Common the following words in his sleep:
"Betrayed we are by our own magic,
One by one, we fade away—
Jzadirune's lost! Oh, how tragic!
We curse the vanishing day."
The secret compartment in the throne's armrest contains a bed of 126 gp and two 5-inch-long steel rods, each with an engraved rune at one end and notches carved into the other. The rods are keys for the "N" and "E" gear doors, respectively.
Maxim spits a glob of tobacco into the pit aiming for the skulk corpse as JJ voices concerns of the restless dead.
"Dead or risen, that pit's best place for it. Ain't comin' back Surabar... leastways not for a while har!"
The dwarven gun-mage smiles in appreciation at the Gnomish magicks, breaking into a grin when the coin and keys are discovered;
"Them crafty wee gnomiz! Hiding stuff in plain sight whilst distracting us with mirages and phantasms..."
Maxim assists in liberating the coin then nods back toward spinning secret door uncovered earlier;
"Time to explore further eh?"
After picking up the new treasure, Maxim makes the secret door to spin, crossing to the other side.
There, small mounds of rubble fill the ten-foot-high, twenty-foot-square chamber. Most of the detritus is piled near a roughly hewn, five-foot-diameter tunnel bored into the west wall. Three wooden chests sit in the middle of the floor. The chests' lids are carved and painted with anthropomorphic figures resembling a badger, a fox, and a rabbit respectively. The smashed remains of three padlocks lie strewn around the chests. A wooden lever juts from an iron plate set into the south wall. The lever looks like it can slide up or down, and is currently in the "down" position.
The rabbit chest contains an unremarkable-looking gray bag. The other two chests lie open and empty.
Following the western tunnel you reach a new oddly shaped chamber, with metal wreckage and broken gears lying strewn about it. Standing in the middle of the room is the half-built metal framework of a four-legged, five-foot-tall construct with one arm ending in a spiked wedge. Its other arm is nowhere to be seen. Gear doors are set into the north and south walls. Near the northern, a roughly hewn tunnels lead into darkness, similarly to the one you came from in the southern wall. Webs fill the corners of the room.
A half-finished, nonfunctional pulverizer automaton stands in the middle of the room.
As you enter the room, one skulk bolts through the north tunnel heading into the darkness where he disappears.
Sifting through the debris you can find the smashed remains of two work tables, several metal springs and gears, a metal pincer claw, and bits of armor plating.
The room holds little of value, however.
"Huh...I guess in Jzadirune's heyday the coin trick would've actually s-summoned the king, or someone who'd take you to him," Marigold comments as the secret compartment is revealed. "It's a s-shame what h-happened here..."
As the chests are discovered to be largely empty, the halfling shakes her head. "Guess those skulks got here f-first. That bag p-probably had coins in it."
"There! D-did you see him?" she gasps as the skulk bolts into the northern tunnel. She immediately feels a tightening in her chest but attempts to fight back the anxiety as she waits to see if the others want to pursue or not.
You're probably right, Doc. Ruben says, using his other nickname for Marigold. I guess pauper or king, both come runnin' when coin's offered.
Wait! Take this slow an' steady. We saw what happened to Brokenhill when he split from the group. This is their turf, and they'll know every twist an' turn an' like as not lead us into one of those pits.
Maxim picks over the bones of the chests with his dagger. Scowling the wizard lifts the grey bag as Marigold suggests the bag once housed a fortune of coin;
"Uh-Huh. Could be lil' lady could be..."
His interest piqued the gun-mage conjures an enchantment and scans the area.
:
As he does the blond dwarf jerks his head nonchalantly toward the level:
"Surely I ain't the only one wondering what that'll do if we flip it to up..?"
As the skulk bolts, Maxim nods at Ruben's words;
"Heed LaChance's wise words folks... Skulkers and Creepers lurk at every turn... best we stay close, stay sharp and hit hard..."
:
When Maxim casts the detect magic spell the bag does not have any special aura, but as he focuses on the spell he suddenly realizes of two things.
First, beneath a very thin layer the second chest emits a faint illusion aura. Dismounting the false bottom, you find a finely wrought silver bracelet worth 25 gp, a small pouch containing three citrines worth 50 gp each, and a tiny glass vial containing a fine powder. To his own surprise, the dust is a left dosis of dust of illusion.
Second, despite its magic aura is hidden, the bag is a bag of holding of type I.
Carefully advancing through the northern tunnel, you find out the tunnel forks to left and right. There seems to be sounds to the right from the skulk. Like if he was jumping or doing some other kind of noisy movements.
Ryan seconds Maxim's desire to know what the lever affects. "The first likely is for the portcullis, yet what is this one for? Perhaps we should try it..Everyone ready?" With no dissension he'll flip the lever upward
"They know we're here and they seem to have the upper hand when they want them, Don't rush off into a trap of their making." We should check to see what they may have left in their rush to leave.
JJ smiles at the gnomish illusion and pats it on the head before leaving.
"You're right. I am curious."
JJ inspects the leaver to see if he can work out what it does
"We should be careful. I wouldn't put it past him trying to lead us into a trap... They know this warren, and we don't "
He still seems inclined to take the right hand path.
"I wonder why they tunneled past the door, rather than just opening it? Maybe they didn't have a key? Sounds like of like a difficult way to do it though."
As Ryan and Maxim express curiosity about the lever, Marigold doesn't offer any objects but she does looks around cautiously as it is flipped. "Maybe it opens another d-door?"
The halfling looks relieved when it becomes clear that her companions have no desire to rush off after the skulk. "G-good idea," she agrees, "s-slow and steady wins the race."
Turning to JJ, she adds, "That's p-probably why...they c-couldn't find all the keys or they wouldn't use the ones they had."
As you activate the lever, you feel some mechanism at the other side of the wall, on the ground, to change.
As JJ exposes his theory you realize all the doors here were totally closed when you arrived, and all the ones you have opened are left open.
While you decide what to do about the skulk, with only JJ clearly supporting a visit, some of you peer through the corner of the left tunnel to see what lies ahead.
Smashed tables and chairs litter the floor of this room. Hundreds of tiny wooden and metal gear mechanisms spill from sundered crates, and a fourfoot-high mound of stone rubble fills the northwest corner. Mounted to the twenty-foot-high ceiling are two large wooden fans strung with cobwebs. The fans are connected to some gears and rope belts that cross the ceiling and disappear into the wall on either side of the eastern exit. In the middle of the room stands something draped in a large gray sheet.The shrouded object is roughly five feet tall, five feet wide, and irregular in shape.
Concealed beneath the sheet there is another human-sized machine that looks something like a four-legged, metal lobster with spiked wedges instead of claws. Instead of a head, it has a round opening at the top of its body. It is very similar to the one you found in the invisibility room, and it is also quite damaged, as if it was under repair.
Embossed on the surface of the construct some of you understand the the command words in Gnome for activating and deactivating the automaton ("thrymbryl" and "myglym," respectively).
JJ seems unconcerened about not heading into the dark tunnel with a hidden opponent in front of him. He joins the others and peers under the sheet and then inside the machine.
"I wonder if this also has a gem in its core. We should check out that other one we found too."
----
As you unveil the creature nothing happens. A closer look at it reveals it also holds a gem. It does take a bit of an effort but you are able with some work to retrieve the gem from its core.
Maxim appraising skills are enough to tell the gem is a deep blue spinel worth 500gp.
As you have a look to the corridor at the east, you observe set into the north and south walls are six ten-foot-deep niches filled with dust and cobwebs.
Some of the niches contain elaborate, gear-covered contraptions. A makeshift wall composed of wooden planks and braces blocks the eastern end of the hall.
Four of the niches contain gear driven generators for the ceiling fans in side areas. Rope belts connected to each generator disappear through holes in the ceiling of each niche. Each of the generator has a lever attached.
The western generators have had several gears removed from them and seem no longer functional.
Maxim and Kikinnin immediately feel something amiss at the northeast and southeast niches. Checking them carefully reveal two spinning stone secret doors.
Maxim gathers together the treasure items, grinning as he does;
"Quite the haul already eh? Always knew the gnomiz we're crafty... sharp eyes in future folks... won't pay to miss this stuff!"
As the others prise the gemstone prize from the lobster like automaton, Maxim examines the construct attempting to discern more of its workings;
:
"Wonder what makes you tick my mechanical friend?"
Whilst the others investigate the strange robotic contraption, Ruben simply keeps his eyes peeled for that pesky Skulk.
Maxims checks the construct carefully, it seems some type of drilling automaton. The head part seems able to perform a powerful stunning shriek, while the drilling parts are able to burrow tunnels and attack enemies.
On the side you find the command words in Gnome for activating and deactivating the automaton ("thrymbryl" and "myglym," respectively).
The unit seems damaged though and removing the core spinel has surely not made any further good.
Meanwhile Ruben guards the entry tunnel but fortunately seems the fleeing skulk has left to no return.
"Seems a sh-shame that we c-can't use these things against the skulks like that o-one creature did with us earlier," Marigold muses aloud. "But even I can t-tell that most of these things need major repairs to g-get them working again."
"T-they sure are neat though, even b-broken," she adds as she curiously inspects some of the broken machinery. "I wonder w-what the fans were for?"
"For the heat maybe?" Ryan offers "With enough things going on down here, and enough gnomes it would probably get quite warm."
Ryan will inspect the new tunnels unless one of the other want to check the secret passage first.
"Let's take that tunnel north suggests JJ."
"It would be interesting to see how far they tunneled north of the old city. That might even show us some other hidden rooms that we would otherwise miss."
Kikinnin contents himself with more roasted chickpeas, while the others make a more intensive search of the place. He keeps his ears open, inhaling some protein, a little too quickly. He coughs for most of the stroll, a shard of meal tickling the back of his throat. Every time he begins to say something in answer to the others' exploration, he stifles a cough, which only makes it worse.
He follows close behind those willing to point a way forward. The secret doors look interesting, but he gladly moves along with JJ, fleshing out the most northern parts of their map.
You carefully follow the northern tunnels which silently twist to one direction and another until the light opens to another larger chamber out the tunnels.
Small desks have been arranged in three concentric semicircles facing the south wall of this fifteen-foot high octagonal room. Chalkboards set in stone frames along the three southernmost walls bear faded equations and formulas wore from the pass of time. A web-shrouded lectern stands in front of them, facing the desks. A pile of stony rubble spills from the mouth of the five-foot-diameter tunnel from where you have come.
On the eastern door an I glyph is depicted on the center of another geared room.
You find nothing valuable in the desks or board after a full search of the room, but it takes your attention the west wall is also spinning. Understanding it shall complete the rooms puzzle, you probably decide to check there first.
A thick mist fills the chamber, obscuring all sight, even that one of the dwarfs, beyond five feet.
Despite the thickness of the mist, Marigold, JJ, Ruben and Ryan overhear the unmistakable sound of vermin living at the other room!
You know centipedes can climb and see in the darkness. Despite they are not very strong, they are also poisonous, affecting the victims dexterity.
This thick smoke could only be dispersed after some seconds by a strong wind like that one of a gust of wind spell.
JJ steps forward, his sword at the read.
"Lets have them come to us..."
He readies an attack against the first of the creatures to come into the main room.
Can't see a damned thing...
Ruben brings his blade up, ready to thrust it into anything that comes near.
Unable to see much farther than a foot or two, Marigold trembles with fear as her keen hearing picks up the sounds of something scuttling very close by. However she tries to be summon up what courage she has, calling out, "ઓછામાં ઓછા તે skulks જેમ અવાજ નથી..." She was pretty certain of this - the skulks wouldn't have made any noise at all until they'd stuck a knife in someone's kidney, if past experience was any indication.
Holding her position, she reflexively reaches out to her nearest companion - Maxim - and mutters a few words. "આસ્થાપૂર્વક આ મદદ કરશે!"
Not trusting her ability to maneuver around in the dark, Marigold continues to keep her position as the sounds of movement and combat begin to break out - in front of her, from the sounds of it. She focuses and repeats her strange muttering, this time imbuing herself with a small bit of insight.
"At least it doesn't sound like skulks..."
"Hopefully this will help!"
When the centipedes realize about the light just arrived to their lair, they quickly and mindlessly charge against the fool bearers.
All of a sudden a group of centipedes charge out of the smoke running with their uncountable legs towards the party stand. JJ and Ruben quickly react smashing two of them, while Marigold casts guiding spells on her and Maxim.
The surviving two centipedes attack with their mouth at Ryan and Kikinnin respectively.
But the readied adventurers easily dodge the vermin. You are nevertheless surprised by the giant size of the centipedes. Most of you have probably never seen something like that!
AC = 18, Shield up
HP = 16/16
Weapon Equipped = Dwarven Greataxe
Condition(s) = None
The hits keep on coming, as the black-beard lurches into semi-blindness with the smoke limiting his sight. He was starting to take his darkvision for granted until now. It's a good wake up, being reminded that there are always ways of losing things you'd otherwise depend upon.
He nods in approval as Ruben and JJ take out two. He tries to do something to contribute to their continued survival.
"There we go! That felt proper-planted! Let's see if we can't keep that up!"
"Nope! Looks like I've got some more practice ahead of me."
Round 1
As the vermin scuttle forth and the sound of combat ensues, Maxim hefts his pick, and buoyed by Marigold's boon readies an attack should anything crawl too close or come at them from the dark:
"Damn Skulkers, then Creepers now Crawlies! Holler if you kill any! We're ready back here so tread careful!"
:
:
With the sound of many legs coming from the other room, Ryan takes a moment to cast Guidance on himself while calling out to the others "Troubles coming"
Deflecting the creatures attack with his shield when they burst forth he brings his mace to bear on the monstrosity.
yet once again the swing is wide of the mark.
Though Marigold is still unable to see what exactly is attacking, she can guess from the sounds that it must be insects of some sort. Weapon in hand, she braces herself to swing at anything hostile that might approach although she hopes that the others have things under control.
Round 2
Maxim, like Marigold continues to stand ready... pick poised...
JJ steps up to the last centipete and tries to chop off its head.
The blow is a good one, and bits of insect go everywhere.
"I wonder what is causing that mist?" he asks hoping that someone will have a bright idea.
As the centipedes approach, Kikinnin chops the head of one of them. A viscous dark green liquid splashing all over the floor tiles.
Maxim and Marigold prepare in the back, while supporting their comrades while Ryan distracts the remaining centipede just enough for JJ to cut by half the disgusting vermin.
With the centipedes gone, it takes a while to examine the room among the mist, but you are able to do it with a bit of patience. A thin carpet of stone rubble covers the floor, with mounds of shattered rock piled in nearby corners. Built into the walls are rows of stone shelves—perhaps bookshelves, although there are no books on them. A ladder leans against the northwest wall. An ominous silhouette in the middle of the room turns out to be a harmless wooden lectern.
The ladder allows one to reach the topmost shelves, just below the 15-foot-highceiling. Both the shelves and the lectern are bare.
Two main paths of exploration remain. To the east through the I door, or to the south through the secret doors.
Kikinnin nods to the others, addressing the 'I' door in the current room. "Feels like we'll join back up with our other investigations here in a bit. It'll be good to know the extent of the complex."
He stands by the 'I' door, and waits attentively to what may lie behind it.
Ruben pokes gingerly at the disgusting, bulbous corpse of the oversized centipede.
Urrgghhh.... that's some bug... To Hell with this place. he adds grimly.
Let's get out of here as soon as we can. Up or down I don't care, I just have no truck with massive insects like that. he jerks his thumb over his shoulder.
Go for it, axeman. he says to Kikinnin as the dwarf looks to open the door marked I
JJ peers around the room, trying to work out what causes the mist.
"Is the mist a magical illusion like so much of this place?" he asks those more knowledgeable in such things.
After a quick search of the room he returns to the "I" door and stands ready for whatever may be on the other side.
Ryan retrieves Master Ghelves map and compares it with the rooms they have been traveling thru. "Kikinnian, good call, were getting close to the other area we were searching but there is a big section to the south we have not passed through yet. We're to move on without checking the other room?"
Ryan is ok with moving on if everyone else chooses to progress.
Marigold peers at the map for a moment. "If we g-go the way Kikinnin says, we should b-bridge the gap back to the room Ruben found with the forges," she observes. "Let's d-do that first and then b-backtrack to the secret door. It looks like that will fill in the gaps here in the middle and t-take us back towards that m-main room."
As you place the rod in the geared door, the wood starts to crack and the old piece moves to the side spinning and letting a lighted chamber to appear in front of your eyes.
As you enter the enormous chamber you observe the ceiling soars to a height of forty-five feet at its peak. Two great marble pillars support wooden balconies fifteen feet above the chamber's west and east wings. Two iron wrought spiral staircases—located in the southwest and southeast corners—connect the balconies to the ground floor.
The furnishings on the ground level suggest some sort of assembly area. Desks occupy much of the area, although a few boxes and crates fill various corners and nooks. An eight-foot-diameter wooden gear hangs from the ceiling at the north end of the chamber, suspended by a pair of great iron chains. A bright light burns in the hollow center of the huge gear, illuminating a large mosaic of interconnected gears painstakingly painted on the ceiling and walls of the room. The singular light casts many shadows throughout the chamber, and the faint sound of clattering gears resonates from somewhere not too far away.
The sounds seem product of a permanency ghost sound while the light seems a continual flame cast on the topmost gear.
Lurking on the shadows of the ceiling of the eastern balcony, JJ and Ruben see a pallid, slimy, worm-like creature the size of a human, its mouth a sickening tangle of tentacles and hooked jaws. The creature opens its tentacles menacingly and starts crawling through the ceiling towards you!
The creature is an aberration of the underground called grick. It has darkvision an scent, and can attack with all his 4 tentacles to his victims. It is usually straight in its tactics, hoping for his strong DR 10/magic defense to protect him.
Without doubt, the dark creepers, uncapable of defeat such a monster, closed the corridors to confine it here.
"It's a Grik! This place is full of terrors! Only magic can hurt it! Pull back!" calls out JJ
"દૂર ચલાવો, માત્ર જાદુ તે નુકસાન કરી શકે છે"
"Run away, only magic can hurt it"
Realizing that only the bard and the wizard has a show against the foe, JJ backs towards the door, getting ready to close it once everyone has retreated.