Kneepuncher's first strike against Green hits, but the second attack misses. Green, amazingly, is still up, though the zombie looks like a stiff breeze will knock it over.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Maxamas
Srurdez
Teka
Zargothrax
Daata
Kneepuncher
Braiiiins
Red
Yellow
Green (-98, Get 'Em)
|
Teka moves across the room and and tries to deal a finishing shot to the zombie Kneepuncher is fighting.
At the other edge of the room Teka holds out her laser pistol and offers it to Maxamas, "You are doing very well with your shots Maxamas, but I think the weapon might be better in your hands at the moment than mine. I suspect this poor souls won't be as resistant to lasers as they are bullets."
Maxamas shoots the Yellow Zombie, doing 25 damage once the Zombie's DR has absorbed part of the damage. Teka finishes the Green Zombie, and then hands Maxamas her gun.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Maxamas
Srurdez
Teka
Zargothrax
Daata
Kneepuncher
Braiiiins
Red
Yellow (-25)
Green (DEAD)
Zarg misses with his jolting surge, and steps back cautiously.
Click. Whirr.
Srurdez and Daata focus fire on Yellow, though Srurdez misses.
Both Red and Yellow stumble forward, moaning.
"Braiiiiiiiins."
Neither is able to attack because they had to move this turn.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Maxamas
Srurdez
Teka
Zargothrax
Daata
Kneepuncher
Braiiiins
Red
Yellow (-53, Get 'em)
Green (DEAD)
Teka and Daata continue attacking the Yellow zombie, which is barely staying up.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Maxamas
Srurdez
Teka
Zargothrax
Daata
Kneepuncher
Braiiiins
Red
Yellow (-94, Get 'em)
Green (DEAD)
Maxamas strikes Red and makes it flatfooted, so Red loses his Attack of Opportunity. Then Zarg gives it a shocking high five! Meanwhile, Kneepuncher takes out Yellow!
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Maxamas
Srurdez
Teka
Zargothrax
Daata
Kneepuncher
Braiiiins
Red (-37)
Yellow (DEAD)
Green (DEAD)
Click. Whirr.
Srurdez puts get 'em on Red, and then misses himself.
Combat Expertise Intimidate vs (15+CR*1.5):
Sintered Greataxe /w Get'Em:
Slashing:
Expertise Damage:
And it is the zombies turn!
Red hits the Lizard Wizard and makes Zarg flat-footed.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Maxamas
Srurdez
Teka
Zargothrax (-16)
Daata
Kneepuncher
Braiiiins
Red (-37, Get' em)
Yellow (DEAD)
Green (DEAD)
|
|
"Alright, we almost have this. Don't fret Zargothrax, one little blade is nothing. We can beat them back just like the other two."
As Teka tries to cheer on the group she fires another pair of shots as she moves into a better position.
She still is very put off by the zombie's movements though, she isn't able to land her shot again.
Agents exploring the below-ground level of the ruins to the north successfully negotiated with the passage’s guardian and unlocked the passageway down.
Teka and Zarg both miss, but Daata and his drone strike true!
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Maxamas
Srurdez
Teka
Zargothrax (-16)
Daata
Kneepuncher
Braiiiins
Red (-79, Get' em)
Yellow (DEAD)
Green (DEAD)
Click. Whirr.
All three Starfinders concentrate their attacks on removing the zombie threat.
vs. EAC
(force, magic, operative; critical knockdown)
Combat Expertise Intimidate vs (15+CR*1.5):
Sintered Greataxe /w Get'Em:
Slashing:
Expertise Damage:
After defeating the zombies, you can study the bodies. They are all fresh corpses, but with equipment that looks ancient. The zombies all carry compass-like magical devices.
The door to the north leads to a hallway. The other rooms branching off from the hall contain nothing of interest, but a large door standing at the east side of the hall opens to a semi-circular chamber curving around an inner room. As you arrive, you see other Starfinder teams converging on the area.
|
Charli finds you and hands you all your choice of tea. "Do any of you need supplies or a chance to rest? If so, I can find you rest space or the supplies you need!"
Then she consults her holographic clipboard. "Fitch is looking for a number of Starfinders for a mission as soon as you're ready to go!"
Fitch gathers a group of Starfinders after the teams return to the surface with their findings. “Well!” she exclaims. “Now that the pillars have been properly arranged -- and thank you for that by the way -- they've opened an entrance to the ruins below.” Her whiskers twitch in excitement. “Your task is to explore this passage and see where it leads. Our intelligence indicates there are some strange readings coming from the central area of the lower ruins, so we're hoping to find a way there.”
Fitch peers at you. "Be cautious. No splitting the party, and stay in contact as you explore. Good luck!"
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
You descend the steps beneath the disk at the middle of the Singing Pillars. At the base of the steps, three sets of corridors branch off into the distance, stretching on seemingly endlessly. The right corridor is in good repair, with indistinct figures flickering into view just at the corners of vision, while the painted walls of the center hall are worn and faded, and the walls of the left passage appear to be barely standing and woven through with plants.
|
"Zombies! What'll they think of next?"
~~~
"Okie dokie... we can go down below now! Whoohoo! Was mighty proud 'o our work on that puzzle, time ta see what's innit!"
He looks at the 3 halls and points to the left, then center, then right, then back to the right... "Eenie meenie miney moe, catch a Jinsul by its toe, if he hollers rip it free and shoot that Jinsul in the knee!"
He finds himself pointing at the left most passage at the end of the rhyme.
"Dis way?"
|
"The folks were killed by ghouls, no more than an hour or two ago. But these compasses they wear...these are from the pre-Gap Pathfinder Society!" Daata's normally monotonous voice carries a faint inflection of excitement as he pockets the relics.
***
The izalguun nods to the vesk. "Mum always said left is right when exploring new places."
|
|
Teka is less certain of the age of the bodies, but does agree with Daata's analysis of the compasses. "Unless my senses deceive me I agree with Daata. Those are relics before the Gap."
***
When presented the option of paths, Teka concurs with her allies, "It is wise to listen to your elders. Lets head to the left."
The halls branch and shift as you move through them, changing in appearance between newly carved stone, stone worn with age and many footsteps, and a state where there is no stone at all. Instead, the floor beneath your feet is carpeted with springy plant life undercut with glowing circuitry.
You hear a distant, low-pitched female voice call out, "Felise? Felise? Where are..."
It trails off into nothing, and then you hear another, higher-pitched, female voice shriek, "Heraxia, the dogs! Beware the--"
The voice is cut off abruptly as the distant baying of hounds can be heard before slowly fading away.
Aaaarooooooo..."
Then the noises stop, and you're abruptly at another three-way part in the path.
|
|
Teka stops as she crane her head for the voices, taking only a few steps as she tries to find the source.
"I can't tell where they are coming from, should we follow the advice and continue left?"
She takes another look at the tunnels and notes, "these paths seem confused and disjointed. Could this be like the last chamber we fought in?"
You start to head left again. Once again, the hallway around you shifts constantly from new stone to worn stone to the springy plants and circuitry.
The voices return. "you? Felise!"
"...dogs!"
"oooooooooooo! AAaarooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"
And once again, there are three branching paths. You're starting to feel a little déjà vu.
Click. Whirr.
Kneepuncher and Daaata are certain that this is the third time they have been to this intersection.
As you realize that you have passed this intersection multiple times, you think you may be caught in a time loop. To navigate the halls, you can attempt Computers checks to calculate routes while adjusting for the temporal anomalies, Mysticism checks to sense the rifts in the flow of time, or Survival checks to locate the passages most similar to your current time.
|
|
"Fur the last time ah ain't Felise!"
Zarg pauses and shakes his head like he's trying to clear his mind of something. "Uh... yer right... we have been here before... Time really must be messed up. Specially if yer tellin me those zombies died just a few hours ago last millenium."
He whips out his datapad and begins figuring out a better path by writing a quick script to aggregate which wordle is posted in any given room as he paces.
Zarg's wordle code helps you avoid some of the paths you visited before, but time is still feeling jumbled. The voices continue to echo through the area as the paths warp.
"Arrrrrroooooooooooo!"
"No, I'm not doing the time warp ag---"
"...hear me?"
|
|
"Oh, that is why. I certainly don't appretiate being forced to run around in a maze like this. I don't have the energy to waste poking around."
Teka also pulls out her datapad and proceeds to start adding the passages throughout. Along the way she programming a script to detect and account for the temporal anomalies.
Teka earns another navigation success as she builds her own script, trying to account for temporal anomalies.
Ghostly visions fly by. Hundreds of people wearing archaic gear, and carrying wayfinders tromp by, replaced a vision of yourselves from just a few seconds ago staring at the three way split in the intersection in consternation. A dragonkin wandering alone in a complex, shouting for someone though a rift in a wall. Lastly, a tall human wearing a long knitted scarf, and shaking his head before entering a tiny blue room.
And the voices continue: "...for me!"
"Do you--?"
"Blast. When are we?"
"Aaaaaaaarrrrrrooooooooo!"
Kinbara works on the data from Kneepuncher's HUD.
You can still hear the two female voices and faint baying of hounds, but the sounds are getting softer.
"Wait..."
"Dogs!"
"Heraxia, do you--?"
"Aaaaaroooooo!"
Click. Whirr.
Working together, you settle the temporal energies. And with one last tiny "Arrooooooo!" the sounds fade away and the hallway solidifies into solid worn stone. There is but a single path before you, culminating in a door.