Shandra continues to work on the same one!
I think I've repaired it!
The fighting woman's words prove correct as magical energy begins flowing back into the actuator and it starts to move.
Ezren mutters some things about the fuse's parentage and tries again on the east.
Ezren begins making headway.
Yanko continues to push against the structure as good as he can.
The way to the actuator is clear and its mechanisms begin to move unimpeded, save for the forces applied by the two stuck actuators to the east and west.
HATCH 'N A PLAN! Round Three Begins
Emmanuel
Ezren
Shandra
Snarlfist
Valeros
Yanko
"Two down, two to go." Manny whistles. "Uh, where to, next?"
Manny refuses to allow the fuse to go to disuse.
HATCH 'N A PLAN! Round Three Begins
Emmanuel
Ezren
Shandra
Snarlfist
Valeros
Yanko
Neither Snarlfist nor Shandra are able to make headway.
HATCH 'N A PLAN! Round Three Cont'd
Emmanuel
Ezren
Shandra
Snarlfist
Valeros
Yanko
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Being a bit out of breath from the unusual heavy lifting Yanko just did, he wipes his forehead and pushes up the glasses on his nose.
He looks around and watches the various successes of his fellow agents, before he decides to walk over to the western actuator. Shaking his head slightly he tries to figure out how to tackle the obstacle, even though he is far from understanding the engineering that went into this piece of machinery.
Ezren gives it another go on the eastern fuse.
Valeros shrugs. ”I can’t figure out the rest of these”, he says. ”I’ll keep watch”
With that, he unslings his shield, and looks around at the surrounding area.
Ezren gives it another go on the eastern fuse.
The fixed fuse does its job and the actuator begins to vibrate.
Manny will wait for Ezren to continue fixing the actuator. If he fails, Manny will try to work on the East side. Otherwise he will go west and try to guess about the western actuator.
Aaaand he screws things up.
Emmanuel drops one of the fuses amidst the rubble and debris.
He looks around and watches the various successes of his fellow agents, before he decides to walk over to the western actuator. Shaking his head slightly he tries to figure out how to tackle the obstacle, even though he is far from understanding the engineering that went into this piece of machinery.
A second fuse is dropped.
Valeros shrugs. ”I can’t figure out the rest of these”, he says. ”I’ll keep watch”
With that, he unslings his shield, and looks around at the surrounding area.
Mitch notices the countdown reaches its conclusion with the hatch still unopened. He fears a faint hissing sound emanating from somewhere nearby, perhaps even from within the earth below.
Though the countdown has concluded, the actuators still appear to function. It is not long before the party manages to find the two dropped fuses and delicately put them back into place.
With the deal finally complete, the actuators are free to move and slowly open the hatch.
The hatchway opens atop a spiral staircase, which descends down into a sparkling clean, underground workshop. The complex is well-lit by bright recessed lights that shine through a hazy fog that permeates the space.
Descending the staircase, you readily reach the bottom when one of the doors in the complex opens wide, revealing a granite cave, every inch of which has been polished until it sparkles.
Within the room is a wood-like construct, joined by pair of small, boxy constructs with clockwork mechanisms, rolling tank treads instead of feet, and “faces” consisting of metal jaws akin to bear traps surrounded with light sensors.
Map of area and pictures of the constructs now available on Slides.
The three constructs turn their attention towards you, their demeanor akin to that of an exterminator preparing to deal with an infestation!
The wood-like construct waits patiently to be approached.
RUMBLE UNDERGROUND! Round One Begins!
Valeros
Construct (green)
Construct (red)
Yanko
Emmanuel Hollysmith
Snarlfist
Construct (blue)
Shandra
Ezren
”The natives are restless!”, Valeros shouts. He elbows past Shandra, and high-tails it toward the open door, drawing his sword.
One of smaller constructs , as if standing sentry, waits for the Pathfinders to approach.
RUMBLE UNDERGROUND! Round One Cont'd!
Valeros
Yanko
Emmanuel Hollysmith
Snarlfist
Construct (green)
Construct (red)
Construct (blue)
Shandra
Ezren
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"Uh... hello? Ma'am?" Manny calls out to the initial voice. "We're gonna have to smash your stuff. Sorry."
He strums his lute and starts walking downstairs. "Alright, look alive, it's time to take on security."
Manny Inspires Courage among his allies, and tries to make it a Lingering Composition.
Manny gets to the bottom of the stairs, his whip ready.
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A bright purple flash glares up in Yanko’s eyes as he spreads his arms wide and begins to mumble. ”Bones in the ground; lingering souls; let me be your guide.” Dust particles begin to circle around him and tiny fragment of what seems to be tiny bits of bones become miraculously unearthed and join the macabre dance around him. Yanko continues to raise his arms slowly above his head, still chanting the incantation.
”I bestow upon you the gift of a second life. Be born again. Twice-Born.” The ritual reaches its climax and the winds swirling around him, carrying the bits of dirt and bone become more forceful by the second. With a loud clap, Yanko’s hands finally meet above his head and the swirling cloud of dust and bones implodes without a sound. A blink of an eye later a gruesome looking rotten corpse stands in the polished cave of this weird basement.
”He belongs to me.” Yanko says casually though slightly out of breath. ”If you can, try not to enter the room while he’s in there, or at least give him some space. I’m about to blow him up in a second.”
The slow-moving zombie turns his head towards the bear-trap automaton with the blue light. A rotten, purple tongue lolls out of his mouth while the jaw hangs slightly ajar. With its beefy arms it takes a clumsy strike at the construct.
;
The zombie's undead fist fails to connect with the small construct.
With a clear infestation manifesting before it, the targeted construct attempts to deal with the undead quickly.
The second small construct joins in the attack.
The larger, wood-like construct approaches the zombie and lashes it with an electrowhip!
The sizzling, smoking remains of the zombie fall to the ground.
The wood-like automaton moves into a defensive position near the open door.
RUMBLE UNDERGROUND! Round One Cont'd/Round Two Begins!
Shandra
Ezren
Valeros
Yanko
Zombie -51 HP
Emmanuel Hollysmith
Snarlfist
Construct (green)
Construct (red)
Construct (blue)
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Manny frowns as the zombie arises, but he keeps quiet. The undead does serve a role: melee will get you pinned and fried unless you're careful.
Manny Strides downstairs, his lute still pushing towards victory. He gets right behind Valeros. He can handle his booze, he's terrible at picking up ladies but man he is very careful at hitting things with his sword.
"Hey Valeros. Is that a Magic Weapon? If not I can make it so!"
”She’s got a little, but not much”, Valeros replies. ”If you want to dress her up nice, be my guest!”
Valeros grins at the sword. ”Come on, Loretta”, he says. ”Let’s go dancing!”
He steps into the room, following up on Shandra’s initial foray. He takes a swing with the sword, and throws a left hook with his shield.
Manny magics Valeros' blade.
Shandra moves then moves and strikes!
With an unexpected rapidity, the wood-like construct lashes out at the fighter as she enters into the room!
RUMBLE UNDERGROUND! Round One Cont'd/Round Two Cont'd!
Ezren
Valeros
Yanko
Emmanuel Hollysmith
Snarlfist
Construct (green)
Construct (red) -36+ HP
Construct (blue)
Shandra -15 HP
Manny magics Valeros' blade.
Shandra moves then moves and strikes!With an unexpected rapidity, the wood-like construct lashes out at the fighter as she enters into the room!
[dice=Attack of Opportunity, Strike (electrowhip) (disarm, finesse, magical, reach 10 feet, trip)]1d20+12
[dice=Damage electricity]1d10+6Despite being zapped, Shandra manages to slice deep into the frame of the small construct .
Valeros then enters the room and obliterates what remains of it!
Snarlfist slips between foes , trying to take out thered construct.
RUMBLE UNDERGROUND! Round One Cont'd/Round Two Cont'd!
Ezren
Valeros
Yanko
Emmanuel Hollysmith
Snarlfist
Construct (green)
Construct (red) -36+ HP
Construct (blue)
Shandra -15 HP
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Yanko's only reaction is a scoff as he watches his zombie be shred to pieces in mere seconds. "Ridiculous." He says and pushes his glasses up his nose.
With a flick of his wrist the body of the zombie turns to ashen flakes, looking like burned paper. The black particles accelerate towards Yanko’s outstretched hand where they enter his body through his palms. Immediately the veins running up his arm towards his neck and head turn black and purple. With grimace he shakes his head as his eyes turn completely black for a second before they remain red and bloodshot.
He then proceeds to run deep into the cavern ahead to get a better view on the remaining constructs.
Ezren slowly catches up to the younger pathfinders. Once the enemies are in view he points his staff at the northernmost construct and fires a ray towards it.
The hobgoblin growl and demeanor gives the construct pause even as Snarlfist lashes at the wood-like being.
Ezren arrives in the room, but the construct easily avoids the wizard's magical ray.
The construct turns its attention towards a nearby Pathfinder.
It zeroes in on the injured one.
The fighter falls prone!
The smaller, snapping construct approaches another Pathfinder.
RUMBLE UNDERGROUND! Round Two Cont'd/Round Three Begins!
Shandra -31 HP
Ezren -
Valeros
Yanko
Emmanuel Hollysmith
Snarlfist
Construct (green) -12 HP
Construct (blue)
”Hey, no cutting in!”, Valeros snaps at the construct. ”Get your own date!”
He slashes with his sword, and follows up with the shield, pushing it back a bit, and giving himself enough room for a thrust.
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Manny Strides up and reaches a hand out to Shandra. "Hey, let me help you up. Soothe your wounds, too."
Manny's helpful hand heals damage. And he's in range of that blue construct, too. Assuming Valeros didn't smash it to pieces.
.
”Hey, no cutting in!”, Valeros snaps at the construct. ”Get your own date!”
He slashes with his sword, and follows up with the shield, pushing it back a bit, and giving himself enough room for a thrust.
Valeros' repeated blows demolishes the diminutive construct.
Shandra stands up and steps next to the construct.
If you have healing I would obliged. she says before striking the creature with one of her saber.
After Emmanule heals her she says Thanks!
As she rises to her feet, the construct cracks his whip towards the Pathfinder.
Shandra chips away a fair-sized chunk of the wood-like construct!
"Watch for that whip!" yells Snarlfist as he carefully ducks under it and gets in position.
The hobgoblin fails to connect.
RUMBLE UNDERGROUND! Round Two Cont'd/Round Three Cont'd!
Ezren -
Valeros
Yanko
Emmanuel Hollysmith
Snarlfist
Construct (green) -32 HP
Construct (blue) -34 HP
Shandra -13 HP
Yanko looks at the remaining construct. Not sure if this thing, can hear us, let alone understand, but it is worth a try.
”Drop the weapon. NOW!” Yanko is not necessarily shouting bit his commanding voice is echoing through the chamber and it is hard to make out its origin.
Unlike many constructs, the wooden-like creature is not mindless and Yanko's words give it a moment of pause.
But only for a moment!
RUMBLE UNDERGROUND! Round Two Cont'd/Round Three Cont'd!
Ezren
Valeros
Yanko
Emmanuel Hollysmith
Snarlfist
Construct (green) -32 HP
Shandra -13 HP
Ezren looks down at his staff after missing his first spell. Can't seem to get anything right on the first try today. He points it at the final enemy and gives it another go and then conjures up a shield just in case.
Ezren's ray finds its mark, chilling the construct's solid form.
Scanning its targets, the construct decides to focus on the injured Pathfinder.
However, the fighter proves to be challenging to hit!
RUMBLE UNDERGROUND! Round Three Cont'd/Round Four Begins!
Shandra -13 HP
Ezren
Valeros
Yanko
Emmanuel Hollysmith
Snarlfist
Construct (green) -40 HP
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Emmanuel laughs. "Alright, we rock. One more oversized rat trap to smash." He cheers and Inspires Courage within his allies for a bit longer.
Then he Steps into the doorway and takes a curious look at the whip the construct is holding. "Heh. Drop it." He cracks his own whip at the construct and tries to disarm it.
"Ladies, gents and all the rest love strong grips. Gotta keep up!"
Shandra and Snarlfist attack in a coordinated assault.
Whether it was the initial strike by the half-elf fighter or that of the hobgoblin rogue makes no difference. For when the deeds are done, the last of the constructs lies in pieces upon the floor.
Among its pieces, you find an intact archaic wayfinder.
Other the doors that remain in the underground facility, only one appears capable of being opened.
The wayfinder has a safety mechanism that appears designed to prevent accidental conflicts between undercover agents under the effects of magical compulsion.
Valeros is about to high-five Manny, but sheathes his sword first. ”That could’ve been bad”, he chuckles.
He hefts one of the panels, to see how tough they would be to carry out.