Yeah, I see that. I wonder if this was built by the people of Acarvan. Terexaltherin ponders for a moment without sharing his thoughts. Well, it's probably best to knock then, right? Maybe we can figure out a way to deal with those worms by working with those who made this, which should help the issues with this plane.
Upon Terex "knocking", you feel, through <Shimmer>, a dimensional vibration around and after a short period, a medium-size figure in simple gray, hooded, woolen robe appears a bit in front (or to one side) of the party as you stand on the stone floor of the shaft. They have the basic form of a Tarnuvien but seems more solid and fully formed than the "Head Librarian" whose appearance vaguely wavers as you look him.
In a high, slightly feminine voice, they say "Who are you knocks on our gate after these many years? I am Duwei Kulamber, I felt a prophesy that those offering hope for our people would arrive soon - I risked much to answer your greeting and I hope I acted correctly. Describe yourselves? What brings you here to risk the wrath of the monsters outside?"
Gift has been keeping track of the warms, by mens of her drones and her HUD.
::"Deumira! If you want to show us what you can do, then work with us. These warms have to be stopped. They are Orga not Mecha, so that falls in your area of skill. Me and Minia will help, but we need to know if they have a weakness."::
Rollo bows to Duwei Kulamber.
We represent an Organization that has come to this world in the hopes of finding out more of the Tarnuvien peoples. We are invested in helping the survors relocate and wish to find out how to stabilize them.
Rollo then waves in the general direction of the approaching Worms.
My companions can deal with them if they begin to interfere with our mission. Are they your guardians or just roaming monstrosities?
If those worms are what we think they are, we are also enemies of those who placed them here, Terexaltherin adds. This is not our first encounter with such things.
Armaund on the side channel:: No disrespect to Deumira but these entities are no doubt extreme aberrations of the natural order. If they get closer, my inclination is to see how well they do against fire but better to wait for now.
Duwei says to Rollo: "These worms are our 'guardians' only in the sense that we have been under siege from them for a generation. and then to Terex, she bows, tensing slightly and says "Yes, enemies of the worms. My dream-prophesy fulfilled. What are your names? And do you wear you true forms? My people are sensitive to any pretense given our world."
To which Armaund replies: "My name is Armaund - I am not in my original form. I could assume that form but it would be somewhat awkward, since I am quite large but if it is necessary..." and he assumes his form as an enormous iron dragon, on hind-legs taking half the area of the shaft as which point Duwei gasps and then turns to the others, "And what of the rest of you?"
Gift looks at him a voice comes from her mech-siut, its Hexqil.
"When you Ask Do you wear your true forms that one is hard for us because where your You is a singular point of organic consciousness. Ours is a distributed gestalt of self-aware synthetic intelligences, that has a number of task-relevant hosts."
She then turns to Minia
::"Minia fancy making some IEDs for the warms to intersect?"::
Rollo grins. The dhampir's elongated incisors displayed.
Rollo Qantas, magic specialist at your service. This is my true form. I suggest that we remove these beings to a more deserted plane. Terex, ask Shimmer if we three can safely transplant them elsewhere.
I am Terexaltherin, and yes, this is how I really look. Most people on other worlds cannot change forms so easily.
While he keeps everyone in his communication, it's clear his next thought is directed at Rollo. It's probably not going to be easy. With the damage that's already been done to the plane <Shimmer> doesn't have as much to work with, especially since we don't want to cause more harm. We really need to find some better portable energy sources for them.
The little dragon focuses his thoughts on <Shimmer> So what *could* you do about these worms? They must have some dimensional magic of their own...
<Shimmer> is leery, even frightened by the worms. It can sense that the creatures have an ability suck in any kind of dimensional material, whether the substance of a plane or the power of thing manipulating planar energy. The lines of planar force coming from this mountain are all that's holding them in check. Perhaps if <Shimmer> had a huge source of energy, it could challenge the worms.
Minna quickly concocts a bomb that resembles a dark red pulsing crystal ball. "Not comparable to dragon fire but we could see what it does."
Duwei Kulamber shifts a bit back and forth, perhaps a bit annoyed at not having the groups full attention but trying to make the best of things. "Yes, you are travelers from beyond, come to aid us. You should speak to my comrades inside the hidden complex. If can destroy these pests, certainly but you will need more than physical force, such is their hold on this world. If you could scatter them for the moment, it could be convenient but not necessary - they cannot approach beyond a certain distance to us. I must speak with the guardian for a moment" after thirty second of (apparently) telepathic conversation, she says "You may enter if you are will, the dragon can assume his more convenient form"
"Well if we are going to take the warms down, we are going to need more than my laser and a few spells. I say let's head in there and see if they have something we can use to take them down. I wish I still had my ship, could have laid down an artillery barrage or two"
She brings up a screen in front of her that shows the location of the warms.
Armaund assumes the form of a bluff human trader, straightening his jacket and looking slightly embarrassed... The party then feels the typical disorientation of entering a portal... You find yourself in a softly, magically lit stone corridor facing a group of Tarnuviens, some dress similarly to Duwei Kulamber, others with arms and armor and in a more military regalia.
The person heading introduces herself as Dina Mulender - "It is very rare to have anyone come to this fortress - it has been at least a century since it was even sought out and it is well defended. Duwei claims you are enemies of the worms and we have decided to take the risk of allowing you into our safe point. You may tell me now what you think is relevant if you wish. But we will have a council in three hours and you will have to repeat yourself then. Meanwhile you may rest" After you say what you wish, she shows you to a rest area. As she takes you to the rest area, you notice out a window that this demi includes an outdoors with pleasant pools, waterfalls, some crops growing, all lit by a soft glow (no visible sun). .
After you rest or explore the fortress a little, you are taken to a fairly austere council area where Dina Mulender, Duwie and several others sit in a semi-circle facing you. Dina opens. "I understand you enemies of the worm. My people have battled these creatures for nearly a thousand years since my Oblen Navien first divined their nature and created a system to restrain them. Still, their baleful influence seems to have subtly spread over the world, leaving us the only opposition. What can you tell us about them and what is you motivation here?"
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Gift took back all but 4 of her Drones. She left them to record what the warms get up. With the known limit that only personal equipment seems to work plane to plane. She hoped they would keep working while she was in the demi-plane. Then she stepped throw. Once in the stone corridor, she studded the military regalia of those waiting for them.
As Dina Mulender spoke she kept her own counsel.
Letting the others outline the group's objectives.
Once they had done with the niceties she went to her offered room. Stipped off all her kit, until she was standing naked, well almost. Her holographic skin shifted the pigment in her skin to represent a bathing suit. Then without hesitation, she headed outside to the pools and waterfalls. She jumped in and sank like a stone. Then used flight to drift underwater enjoying the pleasant coolness.
Terexaltherin waits until the council to say much.
These worms are employed by a group of... I suppose you might call them world-looters, he explains. They are dangerous indeed, and we've defeated them in the past only with the help of very large power sources. But we haven't had the advantage of a place defended from them like this before. What worries me is that usually the presence of these worms indicates the presence of agents of our enemies. Though it's possible they have simply left the worms here and now wait for them to do their work, we should be wary of unexpected interference.
That said, these worms seem slightly different than others we've encountered. Have they changed during the time they've been here?
(One of Tarnuviens accompanying the party mentions this place is known as Kolsaneosha - "the fortress of Kolsan".) And Gift finds the warm ponds and watery areas of Kolsaneosha be remarkable - warm, fresh and filled with colorful sea life.
When the party meets with the committee and Terex explains the situation, Dina Mulender seems ... if no happy, at least satisfied. "First let me explain. This area you see, hidden from all eyes, is the work of our founder, Kolsan, a visionary who understood the menace that these worms represent to our race and to the universe into. For centuries, we have strengthened the web of the world through our magic and our spiritual practice even as these creatures ate at it." She stops, clearly feeling a bit vindicated. "During this time, the twenty worms who are began shrank to five but grew greatly in size. They regenerate fiercely so physical force is not sufficient. Their baleful effect on the cities is visible, making people formless and degenerate." She stops again and thinks, "Agents behind the worms? That is worrisome and something to deal with. We will attempt to aid however you wish. Do you have more questions?"
Gift sent to the group.
::"Grow in size and regenerate fiercely. Humm there may be a way to use the worm's strengths against them. But we would need a sample of one. Need some of its flesh for analysis."::
Rollo enters the portal eyes wide open. The Sage enjoys the magical energies and mentally notes anything different or even strange.
Once through, the dhampir greets Dina Mulender with his usual smile.
Rollo Qantas of The Organization. We are here to save your race. Any questions?
He grins.
When the dhampir witnesses Gift's transformation, his vampiric blue eyes glow.
Luckily, your parents aren't around, young lady.
The dhampir joins her in the refreshing pool, although he wears a modest bathing suit.
At the council meeting, the Sage is fully dressed and reports to them everything that they know.
She smiles at Rollo,
"Your old enuff to be a great geat grandfather you old perv"
But she says this with a smile, for all her looks as a replicant android Gift is still less than three years old.
At the meeting she dose not have her Mech suit on but just Tech Clothing
Minna asks if it is possible to learn about the mechanism this group uses to protect against the worms and Dina Mulender shows the party an area where they do a combination of ritual, prayer and the weaving of a strange kind delicate plant threads - this takes a got portion of the fortress dwellers' time. The party is able to take detailed notes and then the group reconvenes.
Armaund notes "Obtained a specimen for analysis seems like as good a plan as ever. If any Dark Traders agents notice something, as long as we stay hidden ourselves, we might get them to reveal something of themselves. I'd be willing to swoop down and grab some of the things but we should formulate a plan with yourselves provide some backup."
"We can place the IED in my tech-suit and send that in, that would damage one and lets us have a chance of getting a sample"
She offers
"The Suit will probably be destroyed but is near guaranteed to get in close"
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Terexaltherin examines the rituals and magic that the inhabitants of Kolsaneosha use to ward off the worms with interest, seeing if there's anything he can learn from them, or any way they could be used to temporarily restrain a worm.
Do the worms come to one anothers' defense when attacked? he asks Dina Mulender. If not getting the required sample will be less risky. If it is... we'll have to be fast. Get in, hit it hard, grab a sample and get out. Even without worrying about the others we'll need speed on our side. Let's see... have you got some teleportation or the like, Gift or Rollo?
The magic of Kolsaneosha would indeed quite useful as a means of defending a given plane and it's a remarkable discovery. Terex is able to make a detailed study of process involved. You need both a committed group and significant magic but it still seems like something that could be a great aid to the organization.
Dina Mulender consults her group concerning the behavior of the worms. After some research, their judgment is the worms tend to stay close together but don't seem to cooperate otherwise otherwise.
Lyra could see but her eyes would not move. They have locked ahead of her. Staring across the main hup room at the databanks flickering light. She could see glass between her and them. Her mind raced, she had seen Arlo and Gift off. Then spends a few days sorting the house before the call came to come here. She had been looking for a door that lead from Sigil to a tech plane. Her hunter hand found one and had come to teel here about it. She took the key for a fair price and jumped onto the ship. There was no one there or so she had thought, then darkness and now this. Her eyes were open but could not move, then someone came into her line of vision. The shape was out of focus but she knew it well. It was her, or someone who looked like her.
"Arrr, you back with us, how nice."
The voice was her own, but this one dripped disdain and contempt.
"I hope you are comfortable in there. Android bodes have limited scenes so I am told. I can see why you switched out to flesh. But I digress. I bet your wondering what is going on. Well my dear Lady Fitzroy-Brighthammer it seems your two infant sons are in great demand. As such they are the kind of commodity me and my organization like. The profitable kind and your wee sons are worth a stack. And someone has paid that price so here I am to collect."
Lyar raged but the body would not move.
"O I bet you are willing yourself to reach and strangle me. but alas you're locked in there. Have no fear about your husband some of my team will place replicants with full minds here to keep him company.
The form moved out of sight.
[b]"Once i hand over this copy and skudle-pip away, try not to get so upset, by by now"
Then she was alone again, in a world of anger and frustration.
All she could hope for is that whoever was doing this made a mistake.
If we can teleport in and hit one spot on a worm with everything we have, we should be able to dart in and grab a sample before retreating as we came, Terexaltherin repeats. Then we can compare the sample to previous encounters and see if there might be a weakness here we can exploit in them.
"Yes I can get us in and out"
Inside Kolsaneosha, Minna constructs a small mechanical bird which could be used to take bite out of the worms and so a sample. She comments, "We can send several attacks at one, some for distraction and some for samples, feint at the head and attack at the tail"
And after whatever other preparations, the party assembles at the top of the cubic mountain, looks out over the landscape and begins the effort. The worms have retreated to about ten miles away. Armaund volunteers to serve as a flying platform. The plan is everyone uses their own methods to attack and gain samples, Gift can teleport a group near a tail and should be able get people in and out in a round but the worms are eerie and might have surprises.
...
Meanwhile back in Sigil, Bethai senses the party and transports Strandel to a nearby rock.
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Still feeling Bethia's kisses on his mouth and neck, Strandel the Sublime was teleported across space and time to meet up with his new teammates. Upon appearing on a desolate rock, the satyr readjusted his kilt, cast prestidigitation on himself to make himself more presentable (and remove any evidence of Bethia's farewells).
"Greetings!" The blonde satyr said with a winning smile. "My name is Strandel the Sublime, Bard extraordinaire! Complements of Bethia and Cordelia, my fellow teammates! Worm problems, I hear?"
The being before you looks like this, but with bright blonde hair, almost as if he glows. Strandel is wearing a forest green cloak with matching kilt, a bronze medallion on his neck, and engraved silver headband below another bejeweled mithril headband. He came with a strange stained-glass looking longsword on his hip with various shades of red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. A small folded piece of felt is sticking out of his swordbelt. A masterwork set of panpipes hang by a leather cord on his neck.
Before a word is out of his mouth Gift had her shields up and her suit is pointing its weapon at him.
::"He has no mental protection up, want to probe around his mind?"::
She sent to the team but not Strandel
Before a word is out of his mouth Gift had her shields up and her suit is pointing its weapon at him.
The satyr jumps off the rock and takes a few steps closer to young lady with the armor and what looks like a gun.
"Hmm." Strandel says, examining the weapon closely. "Is that some kind of pistol, Georgeous? I've never seen anything like it. Where do the bullets go?"
Terexaltherin sends the newcomer a telepathic sigh. Couldn't they *warn* us when they're about to send some more support? he complains.
Almost simultaneously he replies to Gift. Let's test for recognition of the usual signs and countersigns, first. That's what they're for.
Armaund smiles when the satyr appears. "Why I believe the Organization imagined that for this drain and somewhat lifeless plane, what was needed was a lover of life. I'd wager Ari had a hand in the decision. Still, it prove correct. Now, however indeed we have worm problems but current we wish to merely get a sample of them. Have you ideas, Strandel? I think the plan at the moment is 'each try in their own way, then teleport out quick'"
On the mountain containing Kolsaneosha, the air is high, thin and desiccating, the worms are small and in the distance but their squirming is noticeable and a little disturbing.
She lowers his weapon.
::"Harmless then, and as Armaund says a seduction."::
"Welcome to the gang pretty boy and before you try anything, your not my type."
For a moment she thought about her last girlfriend but pushed the thoughts out of her mind.
She went to Miana,
::"When you're ready we can start the attack run."::
Armaund smiles when the satyr appears. "Why I believe the Organization imagined that for this drain and somewhat lifeless plane, what was needed was a lover of life. I'd wager Ari had a hand in the decision. Still, it prove correct. Now, however indeed we have worm problems but current we wish to merely get a sample of them. Have you ideas, Strandel? I think the plan at the moment is 'each try in their own way, then teleport out quick'"
On the mountain containing Kolsaneosha, the air is high, thin and desiccating, the worms are small and in the distance but their squirming is noticeable and a little disturbing.
Strandel gives the larger dragon a bow, as like recognizes like.
"Hmm." The satyr thinks aloud as he looks into the distance to see the river of worms. "I'm afraid I cannot teleport. But I can call a dire bat to swoop down and grab some worms. I'll have to get closer to make sure I can recover the sample before the summoned creature returns to his plane of origin.""Welcome to the gang pretty boy and before you try anything, your not my type."
Strandel turns to the smaller dragon and let out a small laugh. "She thinks I'm pretty!" The satyr whispered conspiratorially.
Did you really not read anything about us before you came? Terexaltherin replies to Strandel alone, telepathic voice tinged with disappointment.
Widening out his messaging to the whole group, he 'says', I probably don't have any attacks sufficient to pierce these things' defenses, but I can use my telekinesis to grab samples from what the rest of you knock off.
"Alright. Looks like we're carving up some worm", Strandel said making a face of disgust. "Sounds delicious."
Gift ports out of her suit, powering up it's auto AI, and she sends it on in to attack one of the worms on the left. The placing a hand on Minias IED she ports that just in front of another worm on the right.
Last, of all, she ports a cluster of her spy bots in, left right, and front. Each to take a tiny sample of it if they can.
She sends to the PSI-hive-net
::"Show time team"::
Rollo smiles at Strandel.
Nice initial mission, right. Fishing with worms.
The Sage then studies the worms as he speaks.
I could just Charm one and we can take samples peacefully. I just need to get within 55' of one. Armaund, perhaps you could herd one to a secluded area and I can be waiting for it.
Rollo will cast Mislead while waiting for the Worm's arrival.
The Sage will then cast Charm Monster once it is within 55' of image decoy.
Heightened Charm Monster Will DC 24
So, the specimen gathering begins...
Armaund takes the party the ten miles down the mountainside and along the foothills to near the worms, slowing the last 1000' to allow people jump off where they wish. He then approaches the left worm and wheels in the air, daring it to approach - when he gets within 80' feet, the thing leaps at him like a spring, it's mouth opening impossibly wide, 30' or 40' feet wide, wide enough to swallow even the gargantuan dragon. But simultaneously, Armaund breathes his cone of white-hot fire full onto the thing, burning off the "head" and 20' of 100'/150' creature - which only somewhat slows it a bit, the abdomen staying opening to attack. Still, with dumb luck, the thing's strike goes a bit wide and Armaund tale slaps it away as he flies up. The other worms are converging to your location. The first were is regenerating rapidly.
During this time the suit attacks and misses - the IED does a bit of damage to the thing, however. Minna's bird thing is not able to collect anything this round. And as Rollo gets closer, he feels it's mind is just not going to be accessible so he get do something else.
Between the IED and the dragon fire, there a bit of worm-flesh on the ground in places. Anything moving the flesh away should roll acrobatics.
Strandel effortlessly flips off the flying dragon safely. The bard watches the other impressive attacks not produce any results, until he notices the worm flesh on the ground.
"Hey! I think I see some worm bits! I'm going for it!"
The satyr rushes forward to collect the disgusting bits of worm flesh.
Flying through the air himself, the Sorcerer frowns as they get closer to the Worms. Realizing that they are not susceptible to mind-affecting magic, the Sage attempts another option.
He casts Slow of the lead Worm instead.
The slow seems to effect the worm for only a round as the worm somehow shakes off the spell and Rollo feels an odd rebound effect - but this is enough for Strandel to dodge the enormous oncoming worms and move a short distance away, where Armaund swoops down and carries him away. and then the party is able to teleport to safety.
Gift smiles as Strandel tummples
"Finally someone who knows how to move."
And she jumps off Armaund.
She calls over her suit TPS into it and jumps up, flying down covering fire as she flies away.
Then when they are all back she says.
"Nice moves Strandel, seems you may have what it takes after all. You want in on our hive-Hub, makes working as a team faster."
::"Talk to your head like this"::
Then to everyone
::"Now for the worm. We need a lab any idea who has one?"::
Then when they are all back she says.
"Nice moves Strandel, seems you may have what it takes after all. You want in on our hive-Hub, makes working as a team faster."
::"Talk to your head like this"::
Then to everyone
::"Now for the worm. We need a lab any idea who has one?"::
Strandel visibly winces. ::Ouch! I forgot how much I hated hiveminds. But it's value can't be understated. So I'll get used to it.
A bit of warning, though: my mind is a filthy wh0re."::::"Bethia was back in the Dimensional Machinery. Maybe there's a lab we can use there?"::
Terexaltherin goes for a sample as well with his telekinesis, using his small size to get as close as he needs to unnoticed.
Once back from sample collection, the little dragon notes, I should really add some measurement equipment to my library... at the least I can help with some comparisons to the records there. I'm pretty sure I got most of the Organization information loaded onto the computers Gift helped me install.
Coordinating with his echo he helps to compare observations to historical information on the worms.
The satyr attempts to look over the pseudodragon's shoulder. "Computers? Bethia said something about those things. Like, really fancy machines that hold information, she said. I don't know."
Terex and Minna are able to isolate the samples in several flasks and attempt to analyze them using basic magical awareness - detect magic. Just on first blush, they find the creature is imbued with dimensional magic and that it's biology feeds on the particular substance of a given plane - for this reason, removing it from this plane for any period would damage it and make further analysis more difficult. One more intuition is that it seems "designed" to use some weakness of this plane (and the web coming from Kolsaneosha is hindering it).
But to learn more, a larger laboratory or other means to grow the thing and see it in action would be needed, though that also implies some danger.
Once back at Kolsaneosha to study the samples of the Worm, Rollo realizes that it was designed to use some weakness from this plane.
The Sage attempts to find the flaw in the design to exploit it.
Back at Kolsaneosha, while Rollo studies the worm samples, Strandel mingles among the other members of the party, making small talk, especially with Minna.
The satyr attempts to look over the pseudodragon's shoulder. "Computers? Bethia said something about those things. Like, really fancy machines that hold information, she said. I don't know."
"Yes devices that take raw data in the form of written media and indexes and correlate it. But does not interpret it, that would need and agent AI and that's a little dangares to just leave laying around."