Round 4, Init 19
Rhoreen tries again to malign the nearest foe (if there is still one up).
HP: 14/14
AC: 12/12/10
Lay on Cats: 0/1 used
Rod of Regret: 0/3 used
Open spell slots:
Left Hand: nothing
Right Hand: nothing
Sage Advice: (0/10 used)
:
[ dice]1d20+2[/dice] ranged to hit;
[ dice]1d4-1[/dice] blunt damage
She casts a very simple spell at Arturo.
”I can do it myself!!”
[ dice]1d8+1[/dice] CLW
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Round 4
Zzvkgrogk retreats further and reloads the Device. As he passes Chaance he mutters, ”’ doesn’t sound anything like ‘Sizzle’... and it’s echoing in here. Your ears, as well as your jaw must be broken!”
Shield
Heightened Awareness
True Strike
Hits: 9/13
AC 16, touch 14 (+3 dex, +1 racial), flat-footed 13 (+2 armor, +1 racial)
Laser Pistol Charges: 10/10
Brown nanite hypogun charges: 7/10
Wand of Cure LIght Wounds: 50/50
Batteries (Charged): 2 / 3
Batteries (Uncharged): 1
Ruha waits, guarding off strikes from the bony claws, learning the pace the skeleton attacks. These things were nothing like kasatha. They had none of the grace and coordination. None of the martial tradition. But... she couldn't deny the skeletal structure. Ancient, truly ancient ancestors, maybe.
She strikes in with an open palm in retaliation, then takes a step back.
While Zzvkgrogk retreats loading his gun and Rhoreen brings very bad luck to the skeletons. In the brisk of an instant, Yambul reduces to pieces the one in front of him with a mighty swing, while Chaance's blunt arrow and Rūha's direct punch to the skull destroys the last monstrosity.
You look to the darkness for more waves of undead, but fortunately, none come, at least for now... The silence returns to the desert. Impossible to tell how large this place is.
Ahead, you see a large dune to the east, while the tracks of the previous expedition follow the southern side of that same dune. To the southeast, you can still see a glint of light.
Rhoreen pauses for a moment, then moves up to look around more.
Perception
”Well, I don’t see anymore. <*sound*>, can you heal yourself with our new wands?” Rhoreen looks at Zzvkgrogk and makes a sound like a honeyed hams falling off a holiday platter and onto the dog.
When it looks safe, she will quickly examine the bodies for more cards, electronics, or valuables, and then be ready to follow others along the path, or towards the north to see how large the area is.
Yambul waits for any loot to be found on these ancient skeletons. Then he says, "Let's focus on Baine. The trail leads this way, and so that's where we should go. When we find him and his companions, we can return to check out the north and the south, and the whole place. It's keen."
Yambul follows the tracks, hoping the others join him.
””Well, I don’t see anymore. <*sound*>, can you heal yourself with our new wands?”
Zzvkgrogk croaks. ”I don’t know. Let’s see.”
He looks down a the wand frowning. "Just barely... does it need batteries too?" he wonders aloud.
He enters the fog of war and sets sights on the trail looking ahead with his darkvision.
He climbs the Dune and tries again.
Shield
Heightened Awareness
True Strike
Hits: 9/13
AC 16, touch 14 (+3 dex, +1 racial), flat-footed 13 (+2 armor, +1 racial)
Laser Pistol Charges: 10/10
Brown nanite hypogun charges: 7/10
Wand of Cure LIght Wounds: 49/50
Batteries (Charged): 2 / 3
Batteries (Uncharged): 1
Hits: 13/13
AC 16, touch 14 (+3 dex, +1 racial), flat-footed 13 (+2 armor, +1 racial)
Laser Pistol Charges: 10/10
Brown nanite hypogun charges: 7/10
Wand of Cure LIght Wounds: 49/50
Batteries (Charged): 2 / 3
Batteries (Uncharged): 1
Rūha breathes out through the vents of her mask, relaxing her stance and almost immediately leaning down to inspect the skull of the skeleton she just smashed. An unpleasant sight and a worrying one... but there wouldn't be many answers among the bones. That part would require some kind of records. Given what the group had seen so far, maybe this place had a functional set of terminals, or at least some equivalent.
She notices the others already moving on ahead. "I think..." She wonders for a moment if there was any meaning in burying these long deceased individuals. "Never mind, lets go."
She follows the tracks with the rest, keeping her eyes roving and her ears straining for any other surprises.
Zzvkgrogk pauses in his reconnaissance dunetop, observing Rūha's behavior toward the animated Rūha skeletons.
"Erm? Never mind? What? Please, tell us. What are you thinking?"
Chaance rubs her boot through the sand, enjoying the patterns it creates, while listening to the kasatha begin to ruminate over the undead kin laying at their collective feet. She keeps an eye out for blunt arrows that missed their mark, in case she can retrieve them. All two of them.
When Yambul takes to tracking, Chaance moves quickly in line, assisting the cook in following the prints.
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Rhoreen looks over at Zzvkgrogk, then at Ruha. She pulls up a bone, looking at it.
"You know, Ruha, these bones show previous damage," Rhoreen confidently points to previous combat marks. "Might be that we should bury or burn or scatter or bless these bones so they do not harm us on the way out. They seem to be coming back to life by some power at some point."
"Does anyone have a shovel? Holy water?" Rhoreen asks, her backpack already full of useless alchemical supplies.
"It'll take all our water breathing time to bury them by hand. At least at any depth. Will scattering their bones be enough? Won't that just piss them off?"
Yambul doesn't know how all this works, but he's eager to move on. So if instructed, he'll quickly, but perhaps a little haphazardly, scatter their vanquished foes.
Indeed the marks pointed out by Rhoreen makes you think these undead are rejuvenating. Coming back from destruction. There must be a reason that tormented them in their death, and solving this might put an end to this rejuvenation.
Barring that, only putting the bones to bath under the beams of the rising Sun, should put an end to this ethernal cycle.
Chaance manages to recover from the sand the two blunt arrows that failed the mark.
The elf has an easy time following the tracks left by the previous expeditions. Eventually the path turns south east and takes you to the source of the light.
A crisp glow of light shines from the northern wall of this cavern, although no obvious source of the light is apparent.
The tracks go directly against the northeast wall from where the light is coming.
"Ya, hrm. Can we burn the bones?" asks the Ratfolk.
Rhoreen, lacking both survival and Know (religion), is very unhelpful at the moment, but not intentionally so.
"I know we can burn the bones, but I'm not sure it will be helpful. It's too bad we haven't seen a pit or something to scatter them into."
Yambul waits to hear what Rūha or Chaance might know about religion and those bones before proceeding on.
Rūha ponders, then says "I will take them with me. If they are pulling back together over and over, some curse is anchoring the negative energy that powers them to this world. Something stronger than just simple undeath. In that case, either we dispel that curse or we expose the bones to the light of day." She wonders if their cursed nature has anything to do with the world they found themselves on, but doesn't comment out loud. Instead she says "I'll bring them back to the surface. Until then, we should keep going."
Once in the tunnel, she walks over to the northern wall and peers at it, her eyes narrowing.
If you have a large bag, you can pick up and carry perhaps a couple of bone sets as a heavy load, because such a volume is not easy to carry. Of course, you can do multiple trips or build some tool similar to a cart to help you out.
Rūha looks at the wall and sees the light rays are going through directly from the back of the wall towards you as if the wall was not solid.
Rhoreen looks at the lights and wall with a quirked head, trying to puzzle it out.
”Is that an illusion? Can we walk through it?”
Attempts to scan the wall with detect magic show there is no magical aura in here.
The talk about illusions remembers you the strange devices on top of the previous doors, that Zzvkgrogk said could project an image. Those were not working though. Someone had interest to make appear this place as a closed tunnel, probably just as the other one before. Enclosing whatever was here in this desert habitat.
"Is that an illusion? Can we walk through it?"
Zzvkgrogk looks up at her and nods. "Yes. I mean, no! I mean, sort of illusionistish. It is a non-magical hologram -- a projection. And... one should be able to just walk through."
He moves ahead to test his theory.
"I will take them with me. If they are pulling back together over and over, some curse is anchoring the negative energy that powers them to this world. Something stronger than just simple undeath. In that case, either we dispel that curse or we expose the bones to the light of day. I'll bring them back to the surface. Until then, we should keep going."
Chaance looks around the kasatha, while they all inspect the bones. "Why don't you just take their left legs for now? Easier to carry, and they'll have to hop if they want to pursue us." The elf tucks a femur alongside her quiver, in cooperation.
When it's clear where they're headed, Chaance follows at the rear, keeping an eye out for any new threats marching across the sands, as they deal with false images at the front.
Yambul adds, ”I too seem to be nearly encumbered… so I don’t think I can help you much now, Rūha. When we depart, I will gladly bring the dead to the surface, carrying all I can. Several trips if necessary. We should plan for it and make sure we have enough water breathing.”
vs DC 15
Yambul follows the footsteps up to Zzvkgrogk and watches him disappear through the wall (presumably).
”Hey!” he shouts after him, and charges through the wall as well…
Both Zzvkgrogk and Yambul go through the wall that is no wall.
This metal room is brightly lit by glowing panels in the ceiling above. To the left and right, complex machines consisting of spiral tubes and nozzles twitch and hum.
You notice the sterilizers in this room are malfunctioning, electricity is crackling and risks to blasts everyone in the area.
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Rhoreen thinks the idea of taking the left femurs from the skeletons has legs, and will even carry one as a show of 'esprit de corps(e)'.
* * *
Rhoreen follows Zzvkgrogk through, after Yambul.
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Zzvkgrogk’s eyes open wide when he enters the room, and and groans.:
”The sterilizers in this room are malfunctioning! Stay well away from the crackling! Far, far away maybe, this could blow. Let me see if I can stabalize it.”
He hands his gun to Rūha.
”Please hold my device, I don’t want it near here in case…” he looks over his shoulder at the crackling, ”you know. It’ll just make things worse.”
Zzvkgrogk waits for all to back out of the room if they wish, the goes to work.
Shield
Heightened Awareness
True Strike
Hits: 9/13
AC 16, touch 14 (+3 dex, +1 racial), flat-footed 13 (+2 armor, +1 racial)
Laser Pistol Charges: 10/10
Brown nanite hypogun charges: 7/10
Wand of Cure LIght Wounds: 49/50
Batteries (Charged): 2 / 3
Batteries (Uncharged): 1
Ruha takes inventory of the bones and is disappointed to see that there's simply too many to handle at once. When Yambul suggests coming back for them on the way out, she nods "It seems that will be our most effective approach. I could carry a few immediately, but it would not achieve much in any case. Just..." She takes one of her remaining javelins and sticks it point-end-up in the sand, then takes a minute to heave some sand over the bones. "I hope the skulks don't come along and take any of them."
-----
After following the rest of the group through the holographic wall, she stops short of approaching the sterilizers. While Zzvkgrogk handles disabling them, she stands as far back as she can while still watching the proceedings. She holds the laser pistol behind her.
"Sterilizers..." She ponders the construction that the group had seen thus far and then adds "Equipment for getting things clean. I wonder what the builders of this place were using it for. Was it the desert that they wished to keep uncontaminated? Or was it the rest of this place."
Regretfully, as Zzvkgrogk puts his tool on the sparkling device, there is a short-circuit as some wires that should be kept from each other contact through the tool. The rafolk is blasted back by the sudden electrical discharge.
If Zzvkgrogk keeps going with it, he eventually suffers another accidental short-circuit, but at some point manages to disconnect the malfunctioning unit.
Opening the doors ahead, show a corridor that leads to a door and to the mouth of another side corridor.
Zzvkgrogk pauses after forcibly disengaging himself from the circuit.
His body still abuzz, he pauses to heal himself while the room fills with the scent of burning fur.
He is positively giddy that batteries are not needed for the Wand and anyone still in the chamber witnesses him do a little dance in situ.
He pauses to heal himself again.
"Finished. Wow, that was more difficult that I expected it would be," he explains through singed whiskers. "There was some unnecessary contact made, but we should be good now."
He retrieves his Device from the graceful Rūha. "Thank you for keeping it safe!"
Shield
Heightened Awareness
True Strike
Hits: 13/13
AC 16, touch 14 (+3 dex, +1 racial), flat-footed 13 (+2 armor, +1 racial)
Laser Pistol Charges: 10/10
Brown nanite hypogun charges: 7/10
Wand of Cure LIght Wounds: 46/50
Batteries (Charged): 2 / 3
Batteries (Uncharged): 1
"Ouch!" Yambul commiserates. "All your hair is standing up. That looks uncomfortable."
When the poor fried rat has settled and is ready to proceed, Yambul heads down the hall. He keeps his brightly lit ioun stone in case the darkness returns. He also has his falchion out in case the skeletons do too.
As Yambul moves forward, you find more door sets.
Rhoreen follows along after Zzvkgrogk has been tended to.
"That's one way to learn about things," Rhoreen offers one the issue is dealt with. She examines the device after the ratling is done with it, trying to piece together what it might mean and do. She was learning, slowly, she was sure of it. This expedition, so far, had been a bounty in new experiences and new ideas, and her mind was chewing up the possibilities.
"Sorry, did we try this door here?" Rhoreen points to a set of double doors that she wasn't sure were checked.
She will examine the doors to see if they have been opened recently or if there is anything unusual about them.
Perception
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"All your hair is standing up. That looks uncomfortable."
Zzvkgrogk points to the metal handle of the door, and a tiny tiny arc of electricity extends from his claw to the door handle.
CRRRAAACK! It is unusually loud for such a tiny spark. Zzvkgrogk’s fur falls back into place.
”It’s not the voltage that will kill you, it’s the current. Though, the voltage can pack quite the wallop. I don’t recommend it.” He looks at the circuit thoughtfully. I wonder if I could have harnessed that to charge the battery…
He follows Yambul and the others through the corridor.
”Sorry, did we try this door here?"
Zzvkgrogk reverses a few steps to see what he can see.
Shield
Heightened Awareness
True Strike
Hits: 12/13
AC 16, touch 14 (+3 dex, +1 racial), flat-footed 13 (+2 armor, +1 racial)
Laser Pistol Charges: 10/10
Brown nanite hypogun charges: 7/10
Wand of Cure LIght Wounds: 46/50
Batteries (Charged): 2 / 3
Batteries (Uncharged): 1
Rūha pats Zzvkgrogk's fur. "Uncomfortable is one way to say it. You take electrocution surprisingly well. Or rather, as well as anyone can take it. Thank you for taking on all the risk for us." She peers at the first set of doors, checking to either side in case there are any key card scanners. If there are, once Rhor is done with her inspection she tries the brown card that she's holding on to.
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The ratfolk is blasted back by the sudden electrical discharge... he eventually suffers another accidental short-circuit...
"All your hair is standing up. That looks uncomfortable."
Chaance nods, watching the ratfolk recuperate from the electrical encounter. "Well, if your device won't garner you the nickname, you certainly have, Sizzle."
The elf continues to allow the others to take the risks while they lead on.
Yambul comes back around the corner to the doors he passed. Not wanting to push his way up front (how rude!) he lines up behind Rūha, ready to charge in when the doors open should hostiles be found.
Rhoreen makes room for any way-too-polite members who wish to bully up and open the door, after she’s checked that its safe.
Yambul nods to Rhoreen, walks up, and opens the door (if possible and if Rūha hasn't already.)
The advances of the party are halted by a set of doors. But if one door was not enough of a halting opponent, they have to face three sets of doors. After a careful examination, Rūha ventures to test the brown card pressing it against a side gray panel in the same way as Sanvil Trett did back in the market. The doors slide to the sides disappearing into the walls and revealing a large room.
The air in this room seems to buzz and hum with energy. Strips of glowing rectangles light the room from above, while strange flickering windows line the east and west walls. A large glass-topped circular table sits in the middle of the room. To the north sits a large metal desk covered with blinking lights, while a humming pillar of purple-and-black metal stands nearby, its sides flashing with tendrils of violet energy. A single golden panel flashes with a soft but incessant light on the side of this pillar. A thick layer of dust coats everything, diffusing the lights shining from the various surfaces, and many of the machines seem to be damaged, cracked, or otherwise ruined.
A few seconds later, and without any intervention, the door closes leaving outside anyone who did not venture to step into the room. A gray panel like the one outside is also found in this side of the room though.
Zzvkgrogk slips into the room and heads for the sofl glow of the steadily flashing yellow light, getting as close as needed to make any patterns on it out unless his fur begins to stand on end again. He stops where ever he is if his fur stands on end and backs out of the room.
Scratching his head in apparent hyperfocus, he doesn’t even notice the door shut behind them.
I wish I had some peanut brittle. Peanut brittle always helps me think…
Shield
Heightened Awareness
True Strike
Hits: 12/13
AC 16, touch 14 (+3 dex, +1 racial), flat-footed 13 (+2 armor, +1 racial)
Laser Pistol Charges: 10/10
Brown nanite hypogun charges: 7/10
Wand of Cure LIght Wounds: 46/50
Batteries (Charged): 2 / 3
Batteries (Uncharged): 1
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"Ack! The door closed!" Rhoreen alerts Zzvkgrogk. "Is this a trap?!" Rhoreen scrambles for the panel and tries to activate it.
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"Power..." Rūha murmurs in surprise as she takes in the pillar and its associated machines. "It looks very much unstable though. Either that, or the creators of this device had a flair for the dramatic." She gives the pillar a wide berth and taps the surface of the glass table. If that doesn't produce a reaction, she steps over to the flickering windows and lightly taps their surfaces with a finger as other hands brush dust off horizontal surfaces in search of a more old-fashioned interface.
If she's not able to get a reaction from the machines with her inexpert probing, she looks over a shoulder at Zvvkgrogk "What do you think?"
When she hears Rhor's voice, she calmly responds "Quite unlikely. This looks like it was a functional location, not an inherently defensively-minded one."
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Zzvkgrogk looks up at Rūha, admiring the way she seems to know what to do with the ruined equipment.
"What do you think?"
He shrugs. "You wouldn't happen to have any peanut brittle, would you?" I wonder if the aliens who owned this starship drank any ginger beer...
"Ack! The door closed!" Rhoreen alerts Zzvkgrogk. "Is this a trap?!"
Zzvkgrogk peers past Rūha and looks over at the door. "No, no, I don't think so. Just reuse the card in the card slot," he calmly explains pointing to the gray panel.
You do think this is a control area. One of these buttons must be able to power on the desert module and all the dark areas before.
The yellow panel reads Turn on
As soon as Rūha starts to touch here and there, the windows flash and symbols in Androffan fade in writing the following entries in a list in that language:
- Media
- Inbox
- Spam
- Location
The concepts might be completely unknown to you, but the letters are clear for the ones of you who can read Androffan even if they have no sense to you.
Know (Engineering)
”This seems to be some sort of control area, not a trap….so, yeah, your idea should work,” Rhoreen will try the red card to get the door to open. ”As such, you might be able to find a way to control the lights in the desert area.”
Zzvkgrogk tries a brown card in the door to open it in the event Chaance was locked out before she had a chaance to enter and the red card does not work.
”Yes, Rūha is correct, this is a control room! Hey, Chaance, there is a not so friendly almost irritating flashy panel with stuff on it, can you interpret any of this?”
Chaance’s interpretation only raises more questions for the Ratfolk. He looks at the violet tendrils emanating from the purple and black pillar. ”It looks unstable, do you think if we followed the instructions, the purple flame would come back, or will the mountain explode and take everything with it?”
I knew I should have learned ‘expeditious retreat’.
He walks over to the “Location” touch window, and touches it hoping to get more words.
Shield
Heightened Awareness
True Strike
Hits: 12/13
AC 16, touch 14 (+3 dex, +1 racial), flat-footed 13 (+2 armor, +1 racial)
Laser Pistol Charges: 10/10
Brown nanite hypogun charges: 7/10
Wand of Cure LIght Wounds: 46/50
Batteries (Charged): 2 / 3
Batteries (Uncharged): 1
Yambul would have strode... stridden? ...walked in with the first group in order to protect those who may need such protection.
Once there though, all the technology just confuses him. He checks the room, hopeful for danger, but when none is found, he hovers by the doors to stay out of the way - but not too close to the doors as they make him uneasy.
The brown card works again opening the doors, that after a few seconds will automatically close once more.
As Zzvkgrogk touches the Location area of the window, the letters fade and suddenly you can see spheres appearing in the window with a background full of white dots like stars. While the chart is labelled "Unknown uncharted system", you all recognize the largest central sphere like the Sun that appears in your skies everyday. Those with the stargazer also do recognize the other spheres as some figures visible sometimes at night among the stars and is able to give the names of these figures.
The third sphere from the Sun is flashing. This sphere is the only one a stargazer has not seen in the night sky.
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Rhoreen blinks as the door opens, then again when it closes. She does catch a bit of the new display, but it doesn't make too much sense to her...yet.
"What does that mean, <*sound*>?" Rhoreen asks Zzvkgrogk while making a sound like a diamond being passed through the intestines of flatulent otyugh.