The excavator, badly beaten down and nearing total destruction, unleashes another series of attacks, this time at Koro.
Slam 1, miss.
, Slam 2, miss.
, Drill 1, miss.
, Drill 2, miss.
However, due to the damage it's sustained, it's unable to land a single blow.
Lehkazeran dives down, landing opposite of Nephre and next to Koro.
Channeling his anger, he launches in to a series of overhanded hammer blows.
"To the entrance then? Or do we fight an unending string of guardians? I say: inside. Maybe they'll be something with blood in there..."
"My immolation bombs should do some decent damage to the thing, and it moves slow as hell anyway. Someone come with me to the tomb entrance and see if we can't find a way in. We've got a job to do instead of just playing with the toys."
Dymer decides that two immolation bombs going on should be enough to help his crew finish off the excavator - and tells the team such - so he makes a mad sprint for the tomb, basically crossing his fingers that there are no traps between the group and the tomb. With his Haste-enhanced speed, he makes it to the tomb in what might as well be the blink of an eye.
As he reaches the tomb door (assuming nothing stops his movement), Dymer stops to catch his breath and examines the door for anything that might stand out as a means to open it.
|
Seeing the other goblin take off, Ozzie immediately did the same. Dymer's instincts were always on point.
He winced as he took a quick inventory. That walking chunk of metal was sturdier than he expected, and he was left with less than half of his bombs. He'd have to ration them.
Ozzie approached, looking for cover, while scanning for the other team.
|
|
"As much as I'd like to stay here and deal with our pursuers, but we have a job to complete, and time is of the essence. We can deal with these guys later."
With the Excavator dealt with, Koro will Ghost Step over to the entrance of the tomb and attempt to gain entry and provide safe passage to the team. He will, of course, check for traps.
Ozzie and Koro both easily spot the cunningly contrived poison needle trap before anybody accidentally sets it off. Thankfully, the old man is able to disable the needle safely.
However, there's still the lock to deal with: This intricately crafted clockwork lock consists of three interconnected locking mechanisms: an inner lock nested within a central lock, which is in turn embedded
within an exterior lock. These nested locks must be opened in order; the
central lock is inaccessible until the exterior lock is opened, and the inner lock can’t be reached until the central lock is unlocked.
"Leaving it to me? Fine, then," Nephre cackles, as she continues beating the excavator.
"Can you all find us a way into the tomb? We can finish this, can't we Nephre?"
Lehkazeran smiled, showing a mouth full of teeth.
Koro's devastating attacks finally destroy the excavator, and thankfully there's no explosion this time.
Nephre snorts. "Boring," she comments, before turning and walking towards the door.
Where Dr. Craven once stood is now a roiling mass of muscle with a humanoid shape. This huge creature bellows in anger and joy. He looks to the monk with an enthusiastic dedication and charges with glee.
Bash then gives Iko a angry look. (A look that says you may be next)
Koro successfully detects and bypasses the poison needle trap. However, due to the complexity of the nested locks, it's going to take him some time to unlock them.
As the old man busies himself with unlocking the tomb, the rest of the party can clearly hear the sounds of several huge, winged metallic creatures coming nearer and nearer. You're able to count five of them, and they are closing in fast.
Finally, Koro is able to pick the locks. Now, it's just a matter of opening the massive doors.
Dymer pats Koro on the back as the look of concentration on his face turns into satisfaction at the successful pick and then moves into place to help push the doors open before the (presumably) construct reinforcements arrive.
"If we can't get this open, I can try to Ghost Step or Gaseous Form through. Would rather save the extracts though, if possible."
|
|
"Alright everybody. This door is pretty heavy so we're all going to need to push together!"
As the team gathers around him, Koro closes his eyes and exhales. As he does, he focuses his psionic powers into his physical body, forcibly increasing the strength of his muscles beyond their natural limits.
To the casual observer, the old man who had previously seemed fairly average in build, suddenly looked like an Olympic power-lifter as his muscles bulged and toned themselves.
"On my mark. 3. 2. 1. PUSH!" Koro yells, as he and the others give it all they've got.
Over the collective, Koro will mention that as soon as they get in, they have to close the door behind them, no matter what. With enemies quickly approaching and who knows what on the other side, it's better to keep their backs to a wall. Plus, it's not like he can maintain this level of strength for long.
Scrivener's shot misses it's mark as the cleric's defenses protect him from the sniper's attack.
However, the monk is not so lucky, as the raging howling Bash slams into him, tackling him to the ground.
Some of Nephre's tattoos glow as she adds her strength to the team.
The group manages to get the door open just in time, as five massive clockwork dragons land about a hundred from their position. The door slams shut behind them, cutting them off from the outside.
This room contains a low stone table bearing a delicate metal model of Mutalib’s vault. As Mutalib expected his own descendants to be exploring his tomb, he wanted to make sure to orient them appropriately without providing too many hints as to the wonders and dangers they would face.
Nephre cackles as the doors shut. "Looks like we'll have some real fun waiting for us when we're done in here!"
She looks the model over briefly, committing the general shape to memory before she quickly gets bored with it. "Now, what's in this next room here?" She looks down the hall to the south.
|
|
Ozzie whips out a pad of paper, and start taking notes about the shape of the room and building materials, looking for anything interesting, or out of place.
Looking, at Koro, he absently projected,
"Let me know if you see any vents or mechanisms. Demyr and I can get into some unusual places, if it calls for it."
|
|
Koro will take a moment to rest, and as he does so, he lets off a tremendous amount of steam, his body slowly deflating from it's previously muslebound state to his more normal unimposing musculature.
Despite his heavy breathing, Koro will still take a gander around the area, making sure to look for any possible traps. He'll also stay on the defensive, recovering his martial focus at his earliest convenience.
You are fairly certain this room, and the one next to it are safe enough to rest within in order to recover any spent resources.
You are fairly certain this room, and the one next to it are safe enough to rest within in order to recover any spent resources.
Your keen eyes spot a cleverly hidden secret compartment at the base of the table the model is built on.
You are fairly certain this room, and the one next to it are safe enough to rest within in order to recover any spent resources.
Your keen eyes spot a cleverly hidden secret compartment at the base of the table the model is built on. You're also able to spot the magic rune trap.
|
|
Koro will make a mental profile of the flying mechanical monstrosities that were chasing them in an attempt to figure out what those creatures were based off of the sounds the were making.
He will also warn his party about the Explosive Runes trap and, when he's fully recovered from his exhaustion, will attempt to disable the trap.
Lehkazeran looks around quickly, not particularly impressed with the tomb just yet, though he does perk up as Koro attempts to fiddle with the trap, keeping a healthy distance back, as Koro's trapsmithing is yet unproven.
<We're inside the tomb,> he thinks over the telepathic link to the other team.
The warrior that rushed Nikolsi unleashes a flurry of strikes at his foe.
Atk 1, possible crit.
Crit confirmed for
Haste attack for
Atk 2 for
Atk 3 for
Atk 1, off hand for two weapon rend.
Atk 2, off hand for
Nephre paces impatiently as the others rest and look around. "Anything in here you don't care if I punch?" she asks after... about fifteen seconds.
Dymer catches his breath as he takes in the first chamber of the vault. First things first, "Does anybody need healing, or rest? It didn't look like anybody was severely wounded by the constructs outside, but I'd like to make sure."
If not, Dymer will take a look around rooms 2 and 3 and see if there is anything of value aside from the model itself.
Not confirmed
Koro successfully disables the explosive trap, revealing a trio small injector guns.. Each gun has small dial in the middle of a half red, half blue circle.
In the lower room, Dymer finds two bookcases flanking this room on the east and west. Each is tightly packed with books that have tantalizing titles such as Secrets of the Clockworker’s Trade, Lost Lore of Alkenstar, and Ninety-Nine Critical Schematics.
Dymer uses his innate abilities to cast Cure Light Wounds on Ozzie until Ozzie indicates that he's back to full strength before moving into the next room. When he walks in, Dymer's eyes light up at the potential trove of knowledge. He takes a quick survey of the books whose titles he can read, moves to the bookcase he deems most valuable, does a quick search for traps, and then (if no traps are found) starts shoveling books off of the bookcase into his Bag of Holding, to be sorted at a later date.
The mage casts a spell to protect himself from the attack of the sniper. .
The priest meanwhile casts a spell, growing to immense proportions, his muscles rippling as he his bulk expands to a truly 30massive size. . He then strides towards Nikolsi, brandishing his awesome sword before him.
"We were looking for blueprints, right? Don't see any here. Let's keep moving," Nephre says.
This is a greater form of mythic Bullet Ward
Nikolsi takes a fast step to get behind one of the Sun Falcons, and then starts swinging his quarterstaff around like the expert he is.