Armaund and Arlo go back and forth with Stove-horror, Arlo is hit for another 48 points of damage and finally Armaund destroys the thing with a burst of dragon fire.
The porcelain dolls are distressed but heed Arlo and Armaund's warning to stay where they are. Meanwhile, slowly and painful, <Shimmer> pulls the massive shapeless horror into a demiplane and then casts it loose into the multiverse (to join many other nameless entities already floating between planes). Minna gives a sigh of relief and sits down crying.
So the house is cleared and can be searched. First, looking out the window, the area outside appears something like a prosperous suburban neighborhood except for bizarre disproportion - a shoe the size of a house in one lot, a miniature city in another lots, etc. What half-chaos looks like. What do with the dolls?
Upstairs you find a tiny chest where the original bodies of the dolls have been hidden. You can begin researching how to restore the souls to these bodies in magical suspended animation.
The party now has the problem of setting an ambush for whoever is bringing in the dimensional material.
Terexaltherin slumps in exhaustion from the draining effort of supporting <Shimmer>.
After a moment he musters the energy to ask, Minna, are you okay? I wanted to ask... will this send a warning to him? An alarm or something that someone's messed with his stuff?
He rests a bit longer, then stands, spreads his wings, and takes off to look around the house.
Arlo uses 3 uses of Lay on Hands on himself. "Fu<king stove! Armaund? You alright? I fu<king hate this place!"
Once <Shimmer> pulls the massive shapeless horror into a demiplane and then casts it loose into the multiverse (to join many other nameless entities already floating between planes), Rollo claps his hands in appreciation and praise for the little fella.
Shimmer, you are simply amazing! Terex, you did quite well, although you do look a bit pale.
Upstairs you find a tiny chest where the original bodies of the dolls have been hidden. You can begin researching how to restore the souls to these bodies in magical suspended animation.
Rollo has tears running down his face as he views the original bodies of the dolls. The Sage's face then turns red with anger at the atrocities perpetrated by the Dark Traders here. He begins to gather arcane energies to learn more and to help them.
The party now has the problem of setting an ambush for whoever is bringing in the dimensional material.
Rollo can cast Mirage Arcana in conjunction with Minor Image to allow for the place to seem the same.
Gift powers down her defense shields and looks around, when the bodies are found, She takes out the small girl doll. Her soul departed but the AI of her mind print intact.
"Rollo before you end the larger dolls I can do as me and Mina did here, make an Engram copy of their minds and have the as a seed for an AI. They would have some kind of life"
When Terex asks about an alarm, she thinks, "It's possible. At the same time, Fentor would move from project, losing interest in one as he took up the next. I don't know if he'd worry about an alarm but we should still be ready."
Once Rollo finds the physical bodies of the girl and two women, he and Minna are able to restore the people as Gift creates an AI version of the minds to run the dolls.
Then it is time to prepare the ambush. Armaund says "We want to allow the cargo through but to contaminate it with our solution and then grab the entities doing transporting. Two ways I can think of; We could lurk and contaminate the stuff secretly or we could just grab the entities first and transport the contaminated cargo ourselves. Which seems better - or other ideas"
Once restored, the women and the girl leave to stay with a neighbor with everything happening in the house and ask you not to be too long.
She sits and works on one of the heads of the Doll, encoding in the new AI.
::"I will be done in about half an hour, then we are good to go, Minia are you done making that last power unit?"::
Once done she stands and sends the Dolls off to act their parts.
::"Done here, whats next"::
Well, let's hope whoever's transporting this stuff doesn't have any warning, Terexaltherin 'says'.
The others can feel his relief as the souls of the three people are restored to their bodies. At least that's one thing we're able to fix... he comments.
He thinks over Armaund's question. We should go back to the transportation area and look things over. If we don't know how to pass it along to the target location we definitely can't nab them until after they've sent the material--so probably we'll be looking at contaminating it without their knowledge then grabbing them after they've sent things along. So we'll want a delayed trap...
We can recreate the same trap that keep whatshisname from popping in and out. My illusions will allow us the time to spring it.
So, the party restores the house to the appearance of exactly as it was (and it's mostly restored in fact). And then waits... and waits. After about a day and a half, suddenly, two figures, roughly humanoid, dressed in white cloaks and masks, enter. They are invisible and also have their faces covered by masks and hands covered by gloves (Armaund positioned himself so his dragon senses are scanning the entire house but being invisible, it seems they approached the house unnoticed). One figure, in Aklo, "Looks OK, let's give the all-clear" the other figure says "I'm not sure, I'd like to check this place thoroughly, make sure the dolls are working" the first says "Time's limited, we've got to make this quick, then move the material through" Their voices are soft and high.
Terexaltherin is also hiding, using his "don't notice me" field to reinforce his natural skills with stealth. When Armaund notifies him that they have invisible company he cautiously makes his way over.
While he can't penetrate their invisibility, like Armaund the smaller dragon can sense their presence when he's nearby.
Good thing you got those AI's installed in the dolls, he telepathically comments to Gift. We just need to fool these two and the target should fall into our trap.
::"well they are as good as me and Menia can make"::
So they're perfect, then, Arlo smiled through the mindlink.
So the two figures debate quickly and decide to scan the house quickly and then return if it's safe. They begin looking around, talking to the dolls and glancing in the "playroom".
The dwarf quietly draws The Arlosword, ready to attack.
She sits in the basement with Minea.
::"My new left eye, yes that's Hexqil when he is not out and about. I spent my downtime with mum and we worked on using my internal nanites for miniaturization. Hence my spy bots now being the size of tiny little spiders."::
She held out her hand and a tiny spide formed.
::"My body now makes them to order, so if one gets lost it's no big deal. Just make another. I placed a few around the house to keep eight eyes on things. That's the feed we are now getting over our team's net. Well, they do seem to be a suspicious bunch."::
She goes back to talking to Minea,
::"Thinking it's time I upped the body frame to a full adult, Mom said 6' is a good size, and fill out the frame. I asked my new partner and she is all for it. But I told her I'm keeping the family looks. white hair and all that"::
Minea talked about her looks and then went into clothing.
and so it went them talking v the TP net.
The invisible, clocked figures look around but after the first minute get distracted squabbling and then agree the house is safe. They then exit and return in a group of six of similar "appearance" (still invisible), the two originals, two pushing a small cart with a chest on it (more or less a chest with wheel), and two more apparently as guards. The first two lead, then the two with the chest and then the guards. They head to the playroom and give the word-of-power which activates the shrinking magic to get into the playroom.
Armaund sends ::We don't know if this is the entire gang, so it would be use important to capture or interrogate them, I think
::"Interrogation, what do we want to know, I can try and hack one of them":: She sends
Rollo and Shimmer quietly place the net over the house once the pirate people arrive with the goods.
When the group of six nears the house, Terexaltherin uses his wand of invisibility and then refreshes his dispersion to give himself a double-layer of magical stealth. He then positions himself just within the playroom, making sure he himself is shrunk down.
Let's wait until after we've contaminated the cargo and they've sent it on. I don't want any chance of them giving us wrong coordinates or something. We can grab them on the way back out. he says in response to Gift's question.
He allows the shrinking magic to take hold on the group and their cart, quietly climbing up into the cart and hiding himself while the shrinking is taking place.
That done he carefully checks the chest for alarms or traps.
Sneaking into the cart, Terex is able surreptitiously place the dimensional contaminant into the cargo (which is a glowing, writhing blue substance insight the chest). The figures reach the transport house and begin the preparations to send the material forward.
When Rollo receives the all clear from Terex, the Sage suspends the barrier for only the cargo.
We got questions for these folks.
(Also), Gift can tell that Minna is still a bit upset by the reappearance of Fentor but she's something of an expert at clothes design and can actually create elaborate dresses, gowns and other clothing from scraps of cloth seeming in an instant, so she dives into showing Gift ideas. On the other hand, she's not an expert in design so Gift will need to guide her to what she wants (gnome aesthetics tends to the complex and bizarre).
So, the contaminated materials are placed in the transport hexagram on the floor of the buildings and the cloaked figure activate the fetishes needed to allow to transport. Then, after ten to fifteen minutes, (you presume) a focus on the other end transports it to Sigil and then Rollo once again closes the barrier. The plan seems a success.
From the breadbox in the kitchen, Armaund sends. ::Let's hope that's a success. How shall we take them? Perhaps Gift's mental power could get us the most information. We should be cautious. I can sense them but I'm not sure what they are. Humans? Constructs? Demons?..."
::"Does not matter most of the time, if electromagnetic signals make the mind I can normally hack it. I'll have a go"::
She did not need to be close to them she could use her spypots to ziro in on one.
The network feels her pushing her mind into that of one of the transporters. She is not genital as she does this, she needs to get in fast to stop it from showing any outward signs it has been hacked. One in she starts to strip it of information.
Terexaltherin watches until the material has been transported, then stealthily makes his way to a good ambush point, should it be needed.
We need to find out where they're getting the material from, first of all, he says in response to Gift's question. The more of this chain we can destroy the better.
Gift begins probing the mind of one the figures who first entered the house. The first thing she finds out is that they obtain the material by impersonating miners and officials where the dimensional material mined - these entities are apparently similar to (improved) doppelgangers.
Meanwhile, the figures leave the transporter area and give the signal to end the dimensional effect.
Gift was sitting still now in full dive mode. the world around her faded, it was the one big drawback when doing this kind of thing, it displaced one's own mind while you were diving. She focused on the Facedancer. Pushing and taking over, it was hers, its mind was a little confusing at 1st. It had layers of copied personalities. But under it was the controlling mind. It was there that she found what she was looking for. She kept the brain dive from Hexqills mind-net but once she had found the memories she played them out for the others to see. Organic memories were always highly encoded it was more of a series of images/feelings/smells/sounds but there it was this organic and the others had obtained the material by impersonating miners and officials on a plane where the dimensional material was mined.
::"I can try and find dive for another thing, but one at most, or we start to run the risk of it knowing what has been done. I need time to pull out and cover my tracks."::
Terexaltherin... does not authorize them to return to their normal size.
Get ready, they're about to figure out something's up, he warns the others. Gift, if you can pull anything about how they communicate with the rest of this whole smuggling operation, particularly with any other infiltrators among the miners, that's probably our next most important point to go after.
The six figures have stepped out of the barn used for plane shifting. When they then attempt to shift large and fail, the leader shouts - "something is very wrong, flee to the small door" and at that point they sprout bat wings and begin to fly towards the mouse-sized door next to the main exit to the play room.
In the kitchen, Armaund jumps out of the breadbox and comes flying towards the playroom... ::Let us hope Rollo's barrier will prevent communication...
::”Too late, I’m pulling out, I do not want to be in here if he gets hurt”::
And he just brakes the connection.
Rollo grins at the fleeing bandits. The Sorcerer cast Wall of Ice to block their potential exit. He then Quicken cast Hieghtened Slow Will DC 24 on them!
Terexaltherin returns himself to normal size and draws his scorching ray wand, taking to the air behind the fleeing beings.
This will end better for you if you surrender, he broadcasts to them. But you can test our combat abilities if you'd rather. Somehow his mental 'voice' carries with the thought the certainty that it would end in death for them.
Give me the work, Arlo broadcasts.
With the entire party looming enormous above them, the white hooded figure alight on the ground, become visible and throw-up their hands, revealing a rag-tag group of humanoids, "We surrender, what do you want?" cries the apparent leader.
Gift stands,
::"Knock it off! show your true form"::
Terexaltherin narrows his eyes. This is too easy. We'd better keep a careful eye on them, he states to the rest of the party.
Then he turns his thoughts to the captured group. We want information, and it had best be the truth. How many other groups are you working with to smuggle this material? How do you communicate with them? How do you arrange the transportation on the other end? His mental tone somehow carries with it the sensation of stinger piercing through flesh.
Dusting herself off, she ports the ones down below to the space where the others are.
::"As the Dragon said, tell us what you know and stop hiding."::
The humanoids shift to a more shapeless form, seemingly their true form...
Rollo grins at the bootleggers.
We represent parties that own parties like whom you work for. We would enjoy knowing everything that pertains to these shipments. Terex will question you and you will answer truthfully. This is not a test.
Blue keeps his hand pointed in their direction, ready to open fire if need be. ::Do what thee lady says.::
Once they are obviously defeated, the figures spills their information.
The creatures name themselves Tarnuviens. The leader is named Tar-en and the others have similar names. Their from a civilization that has slowly dying over eons with mimics and doppelgangers of their sort having replaced those of fixed form almost entirely and with the mimics slowly dying off themselves through the lack of a key nutrient.
This group of Tarnuviens used an ancient spell to summon a patron to gift them a large amount of the nutrient and this shadowy patron demanded that they infiltrate the mines of the Transplanar Consortium and transport the Xonox material to this transport barn. Their patron gave them detailed information on the mines and how to operate the transport barn. They only know how to operate the dimensional effects of the house but don't know it's origins.
Their main way of infiltrating the mines was through their shape shifting and memory stealing abilities. Their "patron" appeared as a shadowy, robed person, sometimes a skeletal face showing under the hood.
Armaund says, "We could return to Sigil, both to heal Terex and to bring this group to the headquarters of the Transplanar Consortium. Getting their attention in Sigil might be easier than in strange world."
Our course is quite clear. Development of a plan to allow these Tarnuviens to procure their own supply of key nutrient. Plus we get to stick it in the faces of the Dark Traders....again.
The dhampir smiles.
Yes, clearly helping them be independant is the right course of action... if they're telling the truth, Terexaltherin states to the party. We should take them with us back to Sigil and see if anyone else in the Organization has a lead on what they need. If they're telling the truth and they're willing, they could be good allies.
Turning his attention back to the Tarnuviens, he says, This patron of yours has been using the material you've smuggled to conquer and kill. What would you say if we offered a way to be free of your dependence on them?
Trapped and shrunk in on the floor of the house's playroom, the Tarnuviens nod, perhaps a bit listlessly, "We are your prisoners, to go from that to obtaining the nutrient without this thievery would be a remarkable turn-around and naturally we'd agree. But we must wait to what exactly your offer turns out to be."
Armaund comments, "Yes, it seems we should return to Sigil but we need to deal with this house, we shouldn't let it easily used in the future. What's the plan there? Also Minna, what's the story of this Fentor who created this trap?"
Terexaltherin thinks over what he'd seen of the house and the enchantments on it. Could he leave things such that it would reject attempts to use it as a transport location in the future?
It would be possible to drain the plane-shifting magic of the house/barn configuration. The problem is that this would result in the area's natural resistance to plane-shifting reasserting itself. It might be possible to shift the party out of the area at the same time as the magic was drained but a failure would mean the party would have to go some distance to (hopefully) find a less plane-shift resistant area. How far, you're not sure - somewhere between 1 and 100 miles, probably.
In response to Armaund, Minna says, "The Dark Traders are likely offering Fentor some sort of resources in the fashion of these creature. His strange glove-and-eyepiece artifact seems to demand more and more of something to accomplish it's magic. He's extremely intelligent and constantly sifting the multiverse for things to things complete his weird projects..."