HP 107/136
AC 27
Fort +19 (juggernaut), Ref +17, Will +15 (bravery)
Hero points: 2
Ammo: 42 rounds, stoneskin 18 mins.
Effects:
"Not so f@%@ing tough now, are you?" Royken growls as he continues to whale away on the undead.
Tired and angry, Eva keeps striking the undead. The longer it takes to destroy them, the more angry and frustrated she becomes.
Lora sends more healing into Eva, while keeping her magical inspiration going in hopes of inspiring her friends to destroy this annoyting crocokelton.
Bleach continues to zap the crocodiles with lightning.
Bleach zaps both skeletons, then Eva destroys the most damaged one with ac critical hit! Royken lands a blow on the remaining skeleton, which retaliates by biting both the dwarf and Eva!
"Won't drop already?"
HP 91/136
AC 27
Fort +19 (juggernaut), Ref +17, Will +15 (bravery)
Hero points: 2
Ammo: 42 rounds, stoneskin 18 mins.
Effects:
Royken just growls in agreement, continuing to bash it, before shoving it away and then moving 15 feet back himself.
"Bly'gha" Lora says as she rapidly reloads "IF you ever decide to create an undead army, I believe these should be your template."
Eva and Royken's powerful attacks finish off the final skeleton! It collapses in a heap of broken bones and twisted metal, and the halls fall silent again.
Royken growls as he kicks the bones away, looking around as Lora and Eva tend to healing all their latest wounds. This is almost over, and then Mugland will pay!
Lora sings her songs while using a cloth to clean away blood and bits of flesh. The eagerness to move on, to catch that horrid ass, is evident in her eyes, but if they catch up but are wounded too much they will lose, and Lovelass will live.
After spending some time healing up, you continue through the dam's lowest level. The tunnels finally lead to a cramped space filled with an impossibly complex array of gears and cogs. Taking your time, you are able to carefully traverse the room to get to the far side and enter the pump chamber.
Six massive mechanical pistons, each ten feet wide, push up and down along the periphery of this room, filling the area with rushing gasps of air. An enormous gear in the center of the room interlocks with a network of smaller gears, which connect to the base of each piston pump. Gory viscera, chunks of bone, and mechanical contraptions cover the surface of the great gear, rotating in a circle like a macabre museum display.
A dhampir stands on the central gear, dressed in dapper finery. This must be the necromancer Parsus. Beside them is a horrific construct with a metallic and spider-like body, which holds aloft a large central glass vat surrounded by a dozen or more smaller, head-sized glass vats. Each vat is filled with embalming fluid in which floats a gruesome severed head!
Parsus scowls as you draw near. "Envious cretins. Come to steal my hard work, have you? You cannot have it! My genius innovations belong to me alone!" The necromancer reaches for a slide pistol as the construct begins to scurry towards you!
Lora places a hand on her well formed him and smirks "Steal? Good sir, we've already stolen, just don't look behind you and all the rest will be gone."
Whether he looks or not, a slim shadow of a cloaked figure with a wicked knife (a thiefy as a thief would look) attempts to stab him in the back.
Lora diverts Parsus's attention behind them long enough to create an illusory creature. The illusion scores a critical hit, and Parsus recoils, clutching their chest, though no wound is visible.
"Argh! You will pay for that, charlatan!" the dhampir curses. They fire their slide pistol at the illusion, causing it to disperse. They then cast a spell, attempting to trap the bard within a ghostly iron maiden!
Meanwhile, the construct ejects one of its preserved-head jars at your group! It shatters as it hits the floor, releasing its pent-up mental anguish! The construct then skitters forward to get into melee with Eva and Royken, necrotic embalming fluid and body parts sloshing out of its central vat and onto them!
Success: The creature takes 2d8 mental damage and 2d8 negative damage.
Failure: The creature takes 4d8 mental damage and 4d8 negative damage. The discharged mental anguish released from the preserved head causes the creature to become confused for 1 round.
Critical Failure: The creature takes 8d8 mental and 8d8 negative damage. The discharged mental anguish released from the preserved head causes the creature to become confused for 2 rounds.
Success: The creature takes 1d8 mental damage and 1d8 negative damage.
Failure: The creature takes 2d8 mental damage and 2d8 negative damage.
Critical Failure: The creature takes 4d8 mental and 4d8 negative damage. If the creature is alive, the preserved body parts sense the presence of a living creature and cling to it, causing the creature to become clumsy 2 for 1 round.
A confused Bleach staggers under the mental anguish and wildly launches a ray of frost at the ceiling. Whoever he actually intended to hit will forever remain a mystery.
HP 76/136
AC 27
Fort +19 (juggernaut), Ref +17, Will +15 (bravery)
Hero points: 2
Ammo: 42 rounds
Effects: confused 1 round
Royken shakes his head, confused about what's going on. "Enough of the f++@ing puns!" he growls, lashing out at the bard.
Lora gets dragged into a ghostly iron maiden, which slams shut on the pretty bard, silencing her endless prattle.
For a second, before she manages to pry open the coffin, kicking and screaming, even biting (something that truly looks unsanitary so she will need to brush later).
As she makes it to relative safety, Royken bashes her in the face with the butt of his rifle. "What in the ever loving F~&$ is wrong with you!!" she yells at him.
WIth holes in her body, her brain hurting, and now her nose is gushing blood, she mumbles "F~*% you, Royken Slatehound, f+#+ you." it seems like the pun comment has hurt her worse than anything.
Lora almost falls to her knees as she is overwhelmed by necromantic and mental charges. She grits her teeth, focusing her mind amid the pain and focusing entirely at the necromancer. "You f++@ing..."
Eva beelines for him, punching twice!
Eva rushes at Parsus, missing with the first attack but connecting with the second. Bleach's ray of frost goes wide, but Royken manages to bash Lora good before the bard heals herself.
Parsus claws at Eva, then casts a spell and reaches out for the inventor with a vampiric touch.
The construct attacks Royken with its bladed limbs!
Eva barely stands after Parsus attack and spell. She heals herself with her burning medicine, then cranks her arm to deliver a powerful blow at the mage.
HP 76/136
AC 27
Fort +19 (juggernaut), Ref +17, Will +15 (bravery)
Hero points: 2
Ammo: 42 rounds
Effects:
Royken snarls as he realizes Lora's puns aren't that bad -- they're certainly not as sharp as this things claws.
"Sorry," he mutters, before turning his attention to the mostrosity with a glare. Unfortunately, his head's still a little loopy and he swings wildly.
Lora's hurt anger softens a little and she nods in acceptance of the apology. But instead of puns, she shifts her magic into a light tune about a town burning a necrophiliac named Parsus (which she might be making up on the spot)
Reeling from what just happened, Bleach tries to recollect himself by focusing on the issue at hand - the brain-carrying construct, and how to deal with it.
Eva heals herself and punches Parsus again. Bleach recognizes the construct as a cranium preserver. Cranium preservers serve necromancers as walking laboratories for undead. He knows that they are weak to both electricity and positive damage
Royken's efforts to demoralize and hit the construct prove fruitless. Lora heals Eva some more.
"Death take you!" Parsus curses as they repeat their claw and vampiric touch combo on Eva!
The slowed cranium preserver slashes at Royken again.
Eva fills she is in a losing battle, becoming bruised and bruised. She can't back down however, even if she raises her shield, hoping to have at least another opportunity to strike again.
Lora pours more and more healing into Eva, trying desperately to keep her standing.
With sweat on her brow she is starting to consider suggesting they all run, and run fast, but somehow she keeps up her horrid little song.
Bleach pulls a skeletal mage from Urgathoa's closet and places it near the Cranium Preserver. He instructs the mage to cast a lightning bolt on both of their foes, if possible.
HP 32/136
AC 27
Fort +19 (juggernaut), Ref +17, Will +15 (bravery)
Hero points: 2
Ammo: 42 rounds
Effects:
Also looking much worse for the wear, Royken rushes to help Eva, hoping they can finish off this necromancer before becoming his latest subjects.
"Give it up or you're going to end up deader than this f~**ing brain thing," he growls. He charges over, slamming his gun into Parsus.
The construct takes the lightning blast full force, while Parsus avoids some of it. Eva punches Parsus twice more, leaving the dhampir bloodied and bruised. Royken demoralizes the necromancer before suddenly charging them, bashing them with his gun's stock!
Parsus groans and staggers back a few steps, holding their wounds. They raise a hand. "You are tougher than I anticipated. I have no desire to throw my life away," the dhampir says calmly. "Spare my life, and I pledge to help you defeat Anjelique Loveless. I will also abandon my plans here in Alkenstar and return to Geb, troubling you no further. Will you accept my truce?"
Royken growls, but nods. "Daemonic hell. F%++ing fight for nothing, then," he agrees.
Still, he wasn't sure he could take much more of it, so he's not truly that upset at the surrender.
Lora who is mad, still thinks stopping this is worth it, but she looks to their own necromancer who may or may not think this is a good idea. "Bly'gha, what do you think?" she asks.
Removing the necromancer from the equation is akin to removing a single drop of water from the ocean. In Geb, magic-users of his ilk are plentiful and when one falls, two more stand up. "He is of more use to us alive than dead ... and perhaps if we see this through alive, he can return to Geb and deliver a letter to my mother dearest."
Parsus gives you a grateful bow. "Thank you. I will tell you, then, that Deputy Loveless is planning to use a huge load of pyronite to demolish Alken Falls. The shieldmarshal hopes to use the resulting turmoil to place herself at the head of a shieldmarshal army. Me and my Nexian counterpart, Ibrium, would also benefit from this outcome, since leveling the massive waterfall would expedite trade for both Geb and Nex, and we'd each stand to make a tidy profit from our sponsors across the borders. Or, at the very least," Parsus muses, "we’d get to see exactly what this pyronite can really do.
"At any rate, if you want to stop Loveless, you should head her off farther up the Ustradi, before she reaches Alkenstar. Loveless and Ibrium are currently aboard a riverboat called the Gearsmoke, which is loaded with pyronite and set to arrive in Alkenstar within the next few days. I contributed to the effort by creating three clockwork keys, each of which corresponds to one clockwork pyronite bomb somewhere on the Gearsmoke. Once armed, a clockwork bomb can’t be disabled without first inserting the corresponding key. Deputy Loveless also has a remote detonator that she can use to trigger all three bombs as a last resort. I will give you one clockwork key. Ibrium and Loveless have the other two keys."
Eva crosses her arms. "Who crafted the remote detonator?" She asks. "You? If so, I'm in the mood of creating another one, perhaps taking advantage of this same key which is already somewhat connected to one of the bombs."
"F#%& me!" Royken says. He'd hoped they'd be able to finally put an end to this here and now, but no such luck. He looks at the others. "I don't know how we're going to catch up to her, but I'm not letting her f&#@ing blow up my city!"
”Creating the detonator involved many days of delicate work,” Parsus explains calmly. ”You don’t have that sort of time to spare if you want to stop Loveless.”
"Right, what can you tell us about this boat? It seems that instead of facing her and your partner, we could perhaps load a raft with explosives and set it in a way for her boat to collide with it."
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While the others discuss the finer details of how Loveless is about to blow up Alkenstar, Bleach calls Hadi to him and gets the cat to help him with writing a (short) letter to his mother dearest. Hadi sports opposable thumbs, and while that's something most books on familiars warn you about, in that you shouldn't do it for reasons that need no explaining, there are moments when it pays off.
"Mind giving this to Priestess Ghan'ivach? Or to at least ensure it reaches the Cathedral of Epiphenomena in Mechitar once you get back to Geb?"
It's been a while since I last wrote you, mother. Had you a pulse, being reminded of my goodbye letter to you might send your blood pressure through the roof. Alas. The truth, however, is that I am now at peace with my past. The distance between us and the events that have transpired since have placed a lot of intricate details of our relationship in context.
I know now that you wanted only the best for me, a 'best' that only those who unlive and breathe in Geb can comprehend and understand. Know that I have found the best version of myself here and that perhaps one day I will come home to visit. No, I am still firmly opposed to the idea of embracing undeath, and yes, the implications of that decision are clear.
Still, my skill at wizardry has reached levels I could have never dreamed of. I can safely say that few, if any, of my former Ebon Mausoleum peers can match me now in an arcane contest or duel. I have found drive and purpose, and this will help me to get even better than I am right now. This, I know, will please you. And even after all that has happened, I do wish that my existence and the things I do, give cause for your still heart to draw what blood flows through your veins to it and for the briefest of moments, fill you with motherly warmth.
Until we meet again.
May the blood of the living taste sweet now and forever,
Your son
Bly'gha
ps - I know that my continued access to Urgathoa's closet is thanks to you. That what binds us remains.
Parsus tells you that the Gearsmoke used to be a cargo ship, but several years ago a group of Nexian financiers retrofitted it into a luxury river cruiser. Since then, the vessel has proved enormously popular with Alkenstar’s wealthiest aristocrats and business entrepreneurs as well as travelers and foreign dignitaries, all of whom use the river excursion to escape the heat and smog of the city.
There will be many travelers and dignitaries aboard the ship. Blowing it up prematurely would cause a lot of unnecessary deaths--"If that sort of thing concerns you," Parsus notes drolly.
There isn't much more the necromancer can tell you. If allowed to depart, they quickly gather their things and leave, true to their word.
It's probably time to check in with Foebe Dunsmith and tell her what you've learned...
Once you have rested and brought Foebe up to speed, the dwarf pulls up the route of the Gearsmoke. "At the moment, the boat could be anywhere on the Ustradi River. But it’s scheduled to stop at a high-class tavern called the Bridgehouse in Martel tomorrow afternoon."
The Bridgehouse is a large tavern and warehouse built on the side of the bridge that crosses over the Ustradi River in Martel. The Gearsmoke stops there to pick up wealthy clients staying in town. Passengers board by way of a lift attached to a crane that hangs over the boat.
Although you could potentially fly or swim onto the boat, Foebe cautions against this approach. You need to stay undercover long enough to explore the entire ship and locate the bombs, so stealth is key. Loveless’s most skilled cronies will be aboard the ship, and they’ll certainly be on the lookout for trouble. Foebe advises you to infiltrate the Bridgehouse and either convince some of the guests there to give you their boarding tickets (allowing you to pose as rich passengers) or stow away in the cargo as it’s loaded from the warehouse to the ship. Once aboard, the you can take your time locating the bombs and bomb keys before confronting Loveless.
"This is certainly a desperate attempt of her, so we should be extra careful." She explains the others.
"Loveless is aboard a ship loaded with Pyronite. There is nowhere else she could be in order to incriminate her more, either as an accomplice of the whole thing, or as the uttermost incompetent marshal of being in the same boat as such a missive load."
"No matter what, I believe we should spread the truth about it. Should we fail, the region around the falls needs to be evacuated and this also ensures that no matter what Loveless will take the fall for it." She says. "If people are told, before the event, that Loveless intends to blow the falls and this occurs, there is no way for her to weasel her way out of this."
Royken growls in assent, thinking Eva's got the right plan. Then he scowls at Lora.
"Don't think you're f!#@ing dressing me up in a doppelganger suit," he mutters. "We're going in with the cargo!"
"You would look lovely in a suit, Roykin, but I'll see what I can do." the once secrets merchant still has some pull in society, so she contacts this person and that count, until she manages to get each of them on board.
Roykin is staff, manual labor is always needed in any party. Lora is the date of an old handsy noble who will probably fall asleep as soon as he sits. Bleach is a traveling scholar provided a ticket to mingle and tell interesting facts to bored guests. And Eva is on contract to make sure the engine stays in working order.
"You know what, you can dress me, Lora. If it were up to me, I'd just pick a boring grey robe and hide myself, but that's probably not what your average rich passenger would look like. Hrm, I do recommend giving me something with long sleeves. The sight of all those scars might upset people, and draw unwanted attention. And perhaps a hat."
Lora brightens like a lamp in the night at the prospect of dressing Bleach. "Bright colors, far from the average colors one would think a necromancer would wear. A bright blue, with silver embellishments. And a pointy hat!"
Once you have finished making your preparations, you head to Martel. The settlement of Martel holds most of Alkenstar’s material wealth. Located halfway between Alkenstar and the Gunworks, the small city is centered around two immense buildings joined together by a series of metal and stone bridges. Attached to one of the larger bridges is a tavern called the Bridgehouse, frequented by wealthy clientele visiting Martel to check on their vaults. Rather than being built atop the bridge, the Bridgehouse juts out over the water from the side, supported by a grid of thick beams and steel bars.
It only takes Lora a few hours of wheeling and dealing to secure boarding tickets for the Gearsmoke. You prepare your disguises as the river boat pulls up to the Bridgehouse in the midafternoon. With a squeal of gears and chugging of clockwork engines, the boat comes to a halt directly below the tavern. Two crew members and four shieldmarshals ascend a lift from the Gearsmoke into the Bridgehouse. They instruct passengers to form an orderly line and present their tickets as the shieldmarshals peer closely at the guests.
Even though he's not actually wearing anything but his now-usual plate mail, Royken can't help tugging at his collar, as the illusionary troglodyte-suit seems to tighten around his throat. He tries not to glower as he boards, but fails miserably.
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Bleach silently mouths the words 'a pointy hat'. Were mistakes made? Possibly.
The wizard 'undoes' the pointy hat suggestion, but when the nerves kick in at the sight of the shieldmarshals overseeing the ticket checks, Bleach starts to panic. He stammers when asked to show his ticket and it isn't until he realizes that yes, indeed, he ought to be wearing a bright pointy hat and he makes it so through magic - for his ticket originally belonged to a mage - that the crew let him through.