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Mustachio nods his approval of the vote, but acts as if it is all his idea.
"Listen here, me crew. We surely be wantin to brave the black ooze of the fissure, because that boulder is simply too big to budge! And if we try, might we not be more likely ta turn the wee dwarves inside ta dwarf jelly? And sure, that be tastin good with peanut butter, but I'm tryin ta cut back."
#LEE! Gross!
#LEE! Mustachio eats dwarves confirmed!!!
Nim watches Kiv move into the black ooze, then says "I know I don't usually think before I act, but could someone with a grasp of, you know, science, examine this stuff to see if it's dangerous? Oil, Black Blood of the Earth, that sort of thing?"
Nim realizes that no matter what the answer is, she's going to have to enter it anyway. With a shrug she checks her environmental seals and jumps in.
This is what I get for trying to help, thinks Nim.
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"Perhaps we could separate into rescue teams. I am confident the dwarves and I can remediate the boulder and brace the main entrance. Though some help for lifting and moving heavy items would be useful. " AMOSU speaks quickly, realizing the teams inclination to action, "The second team could traverse the fission and . They would act as first aid and potentially a strike team if this is another goblin incursion."
AMOSU ponders for a moment, "This would create multiple dramatic moments, a perilous fissure with unknown threats ahead and a potentially crushed android..." Remember, pretend the film crew isn't there..."... Er... Present multiple avenues for a successful rescue, a daring first response team and with a rallied dwarven community rescuing their friends and family." AMOSU glances at the film crew and Wazasha.
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"Yarr harr harr! Android, good idea! I like the cut o yer gib, have I told you that yet? Yes? Well, I like it so much that I am going ta say it again! Dramatic moments! Dwarves in despair! Fearful o bein' jelly! Let's dive down into the briny breach, my hearties! Fear not, for your Capn' goes with ye!"
Mustachio looks for a way down into the fissure that would not involve getting his clothes dirty.
AMOSU inspects the black oozing substance and quickly deduces that its some kind of synthetic lubricant, similar to what would be found in a mechanical engine or hydraulic system. He knows its not directly harmful to the touch, but that its almost impossible to remove from clothing or skin.
To get through the fissure, it'll take some careful climbing to avoid getting the oily fluid all over you.
Kiv and Nim head straight into the fissure, with Kiv managing to get through the gap quite adeptly and Nim taking a plunge right into the oily goop at the bottom. While Nim isn't injured by her fall, the oil gets all over her armor...
Now totally oil-coated, Nim wades her way through the bottom of the fissure and climbs up the far wall (inside the temple) to rejoin Kiv.
At the sight of the two Starfinders gamely tackling the fissure, the real-time ticker erupts into a excited barrage of messages both disparaging and encouraging! A cluster of tiny flying camera drones are released by the camera crew and zoom through the fissure to join the two Starfinders inside the temple.
----
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AMOSU returns to Ylga, "We need to access the temple quickly, I can develop a plan to remove the boulder. Can you coordinate your fellows to comply with my directions?"
AMOSU takes stock of the supplies the dwarves have, as well as the rubble and materials near by. "With luck we can have this in place quickly enough that we can support my team inside the temple in short order." AMOSU quickly lays out a plan to utilize any beams or supports dislodged by the collapse to build a brace and lift in entrance to the temple by the majority of the dwarves, while that's being done a small group will take lubricate from the fissure and grease a path for the boulder to slide to safe portion of the cavern, once both are in place AMOSU and the strongest of the dwarves with ease the boulder onto the slicked path as the other dwarves put the brace/lift into place.
AMOSU whispers a quick prayer to Triune, "By the Drift and the Three minds joined, let my calculations be true.", then to Ylga, "If your people have a means of prayer in times like this, I would encourage it. Any help is welcome." With that AMOSU works with Ylga on the plan...
Nim is thinking about how she'll never get this oil off the armor, and flashes back to her flight suit, currently sitting neatly folded in her dressing room. She's already picturing Zo! doing a camera cut to it sitting there, along with a voice-over commentary that if she had just brought it along she could change and have no mobility issues.
Nim is also wondering if the oil immersion will affect her weapons, and if so the best way to clean them when she's out of this.
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Do they ever STOP TALKING? We may as well send in a holo-drone to announce our presence. Stealth could still be an option... Kiv slowly shakes her head with resignation as the camera drones zip passed her. Thanks for that Zo! Very nice timing.
Still the operative feels she may have surprise on any possible combatants inside.
Nim is also wondering if the oil immersion will affect her weapons, and if so the best way to clean them when she's out of this.
Nim reckons that her weapons will function OK, even as oily as they are, but it's clear they'll need a good cleaning afterward!
Although Mustachio has a close call, the rest of the group (barring AMOSU) manage to get through the fissure without any unfortunate slips and falls. At the same time, AMOSU organizes the dwarves using its knowledge of aklo and insights into physics and material science! With a hastily prepared lever and plenty of elbow grease, the boulder is shifted just far enough for AMOSU to squeeze their way inward.
As they enter, they catch a final glimpse of a disapproving ticker board decrying the "super lame cop-out".
----
The fissure breaks through into what looks like it must have been a storage room of some kind before all this chaos. Now, smithing supplies and stacks of some kind of mushroom-based food have tumbled into the black ooze. A set of carefully carved stone steps lead upward and to the south.
Kiv leads the way up the steps, stealthily. As she turns the corner, the room she spots up ahead (to the west of her) seems to also be a storage room for dry goods. She can hear cries for help in dwarven from up ahead, and judging on their volume, they're probably in the next room over.
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She signals to the team to join her as she follows the cries of the injured. once again, the timing of this event seems more than a coincidence. I wonder what caused the fissure to open at this exact moment. Still, this couls also be a trap set by the goblins as a prelude to an invasion. With baton in one hand and her pistol held low in the other, Kiv slides into the chaos.
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AMOSU readies its Pulsecaster and checks its axe is handy, "Ylga, is there anything we should know about the temple or Priest Holsin? Is he able to converse in Aklo?"
After Ylga finishes, AMOSU contacts the team over the comms letting them know its accessing the temple and that the entrance is partially clear. It moves into the temple cautiously, rifle at the ready.
Aazanar and Kiv slip ahead stealthily, with the rest of the party trailing behind more noisily. As Aazanar turns the corner, his attention is drawn immediately to the source of the cries for help. A dwarf, pinned under a heavy pile of rubble! Though little of the dwarf is visible, you can see a wisp of white beard and the trailing corner of a cloth robe.
The rubble looks heavy, but not beyond the abilities of the team of you to lift.
Otherwise, it seems the room was until recently a hall of worship, with carved pillars, a crude mural showing dwarves forging and using weapons, and a tall arch around the entrance to the south. Where the arch has crumbled, a leaking metal pipe lies exposed behind it, bearing startling similarity to the metal within the access passageways you were traveling through earlier.
Kiv and Aazanar both also hear goopy splashing sounds coming from one of the chambers ahead, though their actual source is not within view.
----
Back at the boulder, Ylga responds with "He knows Aklo better than I. The temple is simply our place of worship. If it weren't such an emergency, I'd ask you to treat it with respect... but lives are at risk!"
Nim falls face first on the ground. She then gets up and says "You all go ahead of me. I may be here a while"
A creature can walk within or through the area of grease at half normal speed with a successful DC 10 Acrobatics check. Failure means the creature can’t move that round and must then succeed at a Reflex save or fall prone, while failure by 5 or more means it falls prone (see the Acrobatics skill for details).
Mustachio and Aazanar reach the trapped dwarf and begin trying to heave off the rubble pinning him in place. As they work at it, the rest of the group approach more slowly and cautiously (or with more slipping in Nim's case). As the two in the lead work, you all suddenly notice that those goopy sounds from earlier are a lot closer. You look up at the northern entrance to the room and a trio of grey-black oozes are crawling forwards towards your group! They extend pseudopods up into the air as if searching for food.
Just as they arrive, so does AMOSU, having navigated their way into the temple from the front entrance!
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The appearance of the oozes takes the party by surprise. Two of them stay in the northern doorway and sling globs of sizzling grey liquid at Mustachio and AMOSU. The globs smash against the stone floors far from their intended targets. At the same time, the last of the oozes advances to Aazanar and tries to slam into him... but the lashunta is far too quick on his feet to be caught!
||||INITIATIVE||||
Oozes
Nim (grease)
Kiv
Faraeon
Aazanar
AMOSU
Mustachio
Everyone is up
I'd assumed that given the mention of sounds from the other room I should roll, in the event whatever it was attacked as we entered. Who knew blob creatures were polite and would wait for their meals to enter the room?
Nim will move in front of Kiv, between her and the blobs. (if someone could place me there on the map it'd be appreciated, as I'm having issues doing so: probably another sign my phone is dying.). She then opens up with the flamethrower, feeling all of them will be hit in the cone of flame, and the stone construction of the wall meaning the right edge of the cone will just bounce and roll over on the blobs on the right.
Kiv takes aim at the nearest ooze, and boom! takes out of chunk of the greyish mass. As she does, a spray of acid spurts out of the ooze to rain upon an adjacent square.
Nim follows up with a blast from her flamethrower that toasts all three of the oozes, and AMOSU delivers an accurate shot at the greenish tinted one. Unfortunately, Mustachio's rifle shot narrowly misses.
AMOSU and Nim recognize that these as Autonomous Synth Fluids, a type of technological ooze. They are typically used for maintenance of unmanned facilities, capable of melting down scrap with their acid and bringing it back to a central area for manufacturing. They're capable of throwing acid at a distance and are able to move fairly quickly across the ground, walls, ceilings and even through water. They're resistant to acid and immune to a variety of things.
||||INITIATIVE||||
Purple Ooze (-12 HP - off target)
Green Ooze (-10 HP - get 'em applied)
Yellow Ooze (-5 HP)
Nim (grease)
Kiv
Faraeon
Aazanar
AMOSU
Mustachio
Bolded folks are still up in round 1.
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Faraeon rushes forward and wall-runs over the stairs, then launches himself over Sgt. Nim. "Heads up, Sarge," he shouts as he vaults over the unusually tall halfling. Or was she a short human? He'll figure it out later.
Wanting a bit more distance between himself and those nasty looking oozes, Faraeon turns and finds a good firing position beside AMOSU, who had rejoined the team from the temple's previously blocked entrance. "Good to see you, AMOSU! Shall we fry some oozes?" He raises his static arc pistol and lets off a round at the greenish ooze the captain had pointed out.
Faraeon's blast of electricity overwhelms the green-ish ooze. It vibrates for a moment before losing cohesion entirely and splashing into a puddle on the ground. Aazanar follows up with a jump towards the yellowish ooze, manifesting his solar weapon as he moves.
The yellow ooze is reduced to a sorry puddle as well! The final ooze (purple) swings a pseudopod around in a circle and strikes Aazanar lightly on his unarmored arm.
||||INITIATIVE||||
Purple Ooze (-12 HP)
Nim (grease)
Kiv
Faraeon
Aazanar (-4 hp)
AMOSU
Mustachio
Everyone Up!
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AMOSU strides into the room, rifle trained on the remaining ooze. "Greetings friend Faraeon. I encountered no difficulties rejoining the group. Did the team encounter any challenges prior to this?" AMOSU surveys the pile of rubble, "Have we been able to assess the well-being of Holsin?"
AMOSU fires at the remaining ooze...
AMOSU shouts out in Aklo (then in a normal tone in Common), "Priest Holsin, we have been sent by Ylga to aid you. If you are able to respond, please let us know if you are injured. If not, know we will attend to you once all threats are removed."
Nim moves back five feet, so Faraeon won't be caught in the blast from her flamethrower, and opens up again.
The important thing, thinks Nim, is that I don't have to pay for the ammo I waste with the flamethrower.
Shots from Kiv and Mustachio puncture through the last ooze, splattering grey acid across the wall behind it. The damage proves to be too much and the synth fluid loses cohesion. Within seconds it's nothing more than a puddle on the floor.
A pained voice speaks up in Aklo from the pile of rubble. "Ylga sent you?" He sounds a little concerned, perhaps due to the choice of language. "A piece of masonry almost knocked me out when it fell. I've been hurt worse before, but I can't move."
Now that the oozes have been dealt with, it doesn't take long to shift enough of the fallen rubble away to pull the trapped dwarf free. Once the largest chunk is no longer pinning his arms and chest, he assists with the effort and then clambers to his feet with a grunt. "Thank you, whoever you are. And lets get out of here before the rest of the place thinks to cave in." He leads the way back to the boulder and makes his way out, the rest of you in tow.
-----
Outside, Priest Holsin reunites with the rest of the dwarves, exchanging a round of hugs as a cheer goes up. In short order, the remaining injured dwarves are freed from the collapsed structures and the settlement is evacuated. As if to punctuate the successful escape, a final massive chunk of stone dislodges from the ceiling and crushes a house.
The dwarves go quiet as they finally have a calm moment to survey the carnage. As they do, Ylga makes her way over to your group and bows gratefully. In Aklo, she says "Thank you, all of you. Our village may be destroyed by Torag's displeasure, but Priest Holsin is alive and well. We'll move on and rebuild. We've done it before and we'll do it as many times as we need to before the Quest for Sky is done."
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AMOSU peers across the group of dwarves… ”Can any of the other dwarves understand Aklo? Or perhaps we can speak privately? I wish to speak frankly with you, but fear that some of what we say can be disconcerting to the others...” AMOSU waits for Holsin and Ylga to respond (and either continues in Aklo, or moves to a private area).
”I think it may be useful for our team to understand the Quest for the Sky better. We can lead you safely to the surface, by the path that brought us to you. But there are things about the surface that I believe you should understand.” AMOSU takes a moment to be as thoughtful, and non-traumatizing as possible, adding in common to the team… ”I believe we should inform the dwarves of their current circumstances now, as best and gently as we can, to avoid shock once they fully realize they are on a moon, that Torag may be gone, and that a great deal of time has passed around them.” AMOSU looks slightly perplexed before continuing in common, ”I am not skilled in such matters, and fear I would cause more mental damage than I would prevent…”
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" Harr yarr yarr, indeed the poor blokes are both dazed and confused. I could certainly give it a shot, if I but could warm up the old translator again... Let me give er the old sailor's try..."
Mustachio pulls out the Tetrad Translator and attempts to attune it to dwarven. He gestures for Ylga to speak into it. After some calibration, the light turns green on the control panel, indicating it is ready to go.
Mustachio clears his throat and speaks into the translator.
"Ahem ahem. This be Cap'n Mustache, cap'n o this crew of merry men. Know ye this, dwarves, Golarian be gone and dead for many a long year now."
The translator spits out in dwarven: Captain Mustache. Golarian be dead long tim.
Mustachio continues.
"If ye try to get to the surface air, it is akin to walkin' on the bottom o the ocean, and will surely suck the air out o yer lungs and ye would be dwarf jelly before ye can spit. Mmmm...jelly."
It translates: "Air is like ocean. You will die. Mmmm...jelly."
And then Mustachio says,"Come wid us and we will show you the wonders o Absalom Station, and ye can meet other dwarves who can explain the whole thing better than good ol Cap'n Mustache. Trust me."
Translation: Come with us to Absalom Station. Meet dwarves. Trust good old Captain Mustache.
"I have nothing worthwhile to contribute," says Nim in Terran. "But I never actually have gotten to use Terran before, so I figured I'd see if you know it, and would prefer to speak in it."
While most of the dwarves seem to know little more than Dwarven, both Ylga and Holsin brighten at Nim's words in Terran. Holsin rumbles out in the same language "Ah, the tongue of the earth. We have something else in common with our saviors."
The assembled group of dwarves have a far more pronounced reaction to Mustachio's awkwardly translated speech in dwarven. Audible gasps of horror follow the claims that Golarion is dead, and the concern only gets more intense after the claims about the air above are relayed. The revelations prove too much for many of the dwarves, who simply sit down and put their heads in their hands. The rest of Mustachio's message is lost as many of the dwarves are lost to anguish.
That is, until Priest Holsin steps in. He speaks in dwarven, but Ylga translates to Aklo for you all.
"Do not despair sisters and brothers, for as Torag showed his displeasure in the form of this crisis, he also offers hope for the future. These messengers bear magic and knowledge. They bring this terrible news to us, but they also bring us hope to finally complete our Quest! I see this as a sign that Torag wishes us to follow them. Please. Search for your inner strength and seize it. We must strike while the iron is hot!"
While Holsin continues with mentions of the orc attacks and ongoing tremors, Ylga turns to your group and speaks. "If you know of a way for us to reach the surface, however terrible the surface of Golarion has become, then we should follow you. After all, with our village destroyed and the orcs trying to finish us off, now is the best time to move quickly."
----
All while this exchange is going on, the tiny camera drones that followed you through the temple return to the undead camera crew. The crew-members catch them and plug them back into their equipment, then bring out the larger cameras to get some dynamic shots of the Starfinder team and the dwarven drama in action.
The production team raises the ticker board again to provide updated messages from the viewers.
---
#LEE! Whoa, Nim kicked butt in there.
#LEE! Hot and greasy!
#LEE! EWW Gross.
#LEE! Anyone else thinking Mustachio isn't a real pirate? He hasn't called on Besmara once.
#LEE! Lol, you thought he was a real pirate.
#LEE! Talking talking. So boring. I can't understand...
#LEE! Turn subs on anon.
#LEE! WOW
#LEE! Do we want these dwarves on the Station? They're so oooold.
#LEE! They got to save them tho!
#LEE! Where did Kiv go? I want to see more of her!
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Kiv had just finished finished storing her gear when Governor Goatee started to needlessly destroy the dwarves reality. Reckless dolt! He could have started a riot. He couldn't think this through? If the cleric has some sort of magic, it could be mean there is a possibility of the old gods still existing. Now, any information we glean is tainted. He probably never even considered that fact that these dwarves, if truly from Golarion, had to get here some how. Did a portal bring them here? If so, perhaps a way to return? Half-cocked nova seeker! The sooner this is over the better.
Dwarves exchange glances at Faraeon's bold announcement. Ylga (through AMOSU or Nim) responds to Faraeon with "First the surface of Golarion has been destroyed, and now to the stars? This is too much for my kin to take in so quickly. This morning all we had was the Quest for Sky and the stories of the great old dwarven citadels. Now..." She shakes her head.
"But no matter how unsure we are, it seems it might be now or never for my band."
The dwarves, coming to terms with the plan, begin gathering what belongings they've salvaged from their village. The couple dozen of them assemble in a defensible set of ranks and look towards your team for guidance.
All the while, the undead camera crew is zooming in to worried dwarven faces to catch the gravity of this event.
"Do you want us to go deal with the . . . 'orcs' that have been harrassing you more as of late? I got the impression from Ylga you had an inkling where they laired, and I think it might be best to deal with them now. I don't like the idea of them finding us and doing hit-and-run tactics on us as we escort your village out of here."
Mom and dad are once again proven idiots, thinks Nim. Mock me for taking a correspondence course in Terran, because it was "worthless." Fools.
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AMOSU also consults with Holsin and Ylga as they prepare, "It is understandable that much of what we say is difficult to believe, let alone understand." It does what it can to help them with any efforts to leave. "Perhaps there is something we could do help your people prepare for this transition, ease them into a new world?"
AMOSU also considers Nim's concern. It shares its thoughts with the group and the dwarves, "This is also valid, if the goblins... Orcs... Continue to assault the dwarves it could place us all at more risk than is necessary." Speaking again to Ylga and Holsin, "Do you have any idea what the orcs... Goblins... May want, or how did the conflict begin?"
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Mustachio continues to use the translator, "Follow me, me hearties. Good old Cap'n Mustache can lead you out of this place!"
Translation: Follow my heart! Captain Mustache can lead!"
But Mustachio pauses when the orcs are mentioned. "It is true. We should kill these monsters first. It is what all good pirates...er... Starfinders...would do! Yarr!"
The translator accidently picks it up: True, kill monsters. It is what pirates do. Yarr!