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Colin let out an involuntarily gasp as the ray hit, suddenly everything felt heavy and his knees threatened to buckle. His bow now too heavy to draw clattered to the floor. He fumbled with his alchemy kit, pulling out a pair of test tubes , one with a red label and one with a blue. He uncorked both, poured one into the other and threw the lot at the menacing blue rune. The unstable mixture detonated with a loud BANG!
The runes where an enigma to Colin, but they certainly seemed dangerous! Calling out to his friends, he asked "What do we do? Fight back? Or try backing away from them?!"
Following Brimble's lead, Colin sent an equally ill-judged arrow vaguely in the direction of the zapper above Xira. It clattered harmlessly off the wall.
If allowed to take 10 on the Kn Engineering checks: Despite the sweltering heat, Colin lingered, fascinated by the machinery. He studied the signs on the large number of knobs and observed where things where plumbed and slowly the mechanics behind what he was observing started to make sense. "Look here" he said to noone in particular, "Many of these dials are pressure gauges, I'm not sure what the units are but 5 is clearly the ideal value on the scale. Right now everything is reading zero. This system won't do anything unless pressurized, but not too much!" He then pointed out several runes in particular, "But see this rune here, here and here? That denotes lightning, it's a different system it seems and a different scale, with the ideal range between 90 and 100. I can only assume going above that would be bad... Quite possibly very bad!"
Suitably rebuked by the professor, Colin frowned as he looked at the furnaces. He wasn't entirely sure what to expect from dwarven work but it wasn't this! He didn't have the faintest idea how it worked and was too scared to ask.
A flicker of a frown crossed Colin's face when Xira mentioned the professor. He muttered, "I can ask, but he's probably doing something fightfully important..." Steeling himself, Colin carefully pulled the book out of his pack and he sent it a mental query ::Professor do you have any advice? We're concerned the chains on this body are hazardous and we're not sure how best to dispose of it.::
"If not fire, perhaps an alchemical solution could dissolve the body?" mused Colin. He thought about whether they had the resources needed for that, a strong lye solution or something of that sort.
Colin filed in after the others, he muttered "Good shot argatha!" He peered around the room before examining the remains. "Oh look! Under all that grime. these chains appear to be precious metal, how unusual! I wonder if they could be enchanted?"
Colin was surprised when it sounded like his arrow hit, and alarmed when the thing moved towards them making threats. Reflexively he fired off another shot. He was worried about hitting one of his friends so his aim was conservative, he'd rather miss than hurt someone.
Unable to see anything, Colin rushed forward, but the billowing clouds of smoke stung his eyes and burned his nose so he stopped short of rushing through. He still couldn't see anything and his alchemical creations were likely too dangerous to use here and possibly useless against such a foe, so he reached for his bow and nocked an arrow, searching for a target. Readied attack if an enemy becomes visible:
Feeling uncomfortable and jittery with the tension, Colin finds his heart racing. He looks this way and that, but with no obvious foe there's little he can do.
Colin moved towards the center of the group and paused, all he could hear was the pounding of his heart. Turning to the others he asked in a whisper, "Is it moving? Can anyone hear anything?"
Colin heads for the corridor and blinks uncertainty, he turns back to his companions and says, "What to do?! Fight fire with water? There is a room called Waters of Toragg, could our salvation be in there?"
With a feeling of mounting dread, Colin backs away following the others out the door. He yells a question, "Anyone know what that thing is? I'm guessing we can't kill it with fire?" As he spoke a part of his mind thought of Forgewise, could they be dealing with some other less friendly planar creature?
Noting Em draw her sword, Colin whispered "Is something amiss?"
"whether we are due for luck, the furnace will be off, and there will be no need for protective gear of any kind." Colin wasn't sure about this and he replied, "I would be interested to check, but whoever opens the door really ought to be in protective gear just in case. I wish the courageous could be more helpful with advice, I know if I ask I'll probably get my head bitten off."
Colin looks at the bench, touches it, feels it flex. He notices the wheels and a surprised, "Oh!" escapes his lips. Breathlessly he tells the others, "This uh bench isn't really a bench, see the machinery there? Those wheels turn and this uh, I guess you could call it a belt, moves, carrying whatever its on top of it along for the ride!"
Colin piped up saying, "Unless they speak Undercommon... The Professor has set various reading exercises, mostly in Dwarven of course, but some are in Undercommon too. My uh pronunciation will likely be rather stilted you understand because I've never actually met anyone who speaks that language."
Colin tried not to winced at The Professor's tone and he shares what he learned. Colin agreed with Raka, "Yes it could be anywhere, but I suspect it's going to tie I to the furnace somehow. It needs energy and the furnace seems to be the logical source." Colin listened to what Em had to say and he pointed out, "Going up is something I think we'll have to do, but there's no guarantee that up leads outside. Besides I think we should investigate the furnace and try to power things up." Colin's motivation for this was as much academic curiosity as any practical concern. The dwarf tech was awesome and he wanted to see it in action.
Colin inspects the inside of the elevator shaft, marvelling at the very idea. He peers at any controls or components inside the shaft (such as cables or the like) wondering how the system is supposed to work. He looks to see if there's any obvious damage, and he wonders if it's simply not powered up.
He then risks asking the rather cranky Professor how the elevator works asking, ::What are the operating principles of this elevator? Is it in working order? If not, is it something that could be fixed and are we capable of fixing it?::
Colin's expression as he communed with The Professor changed from curiosity to a wince. Looking like he'd been chewing on lemons, Colin told Brimble, "No. Apparently the dwarf-gold power threads are gold, well an alloy of gold at least." With a deep sigh, he added, "I did learn one thing, this whole complex was built to study Arkhorianite. I have no specifics but The Professor described it as exceptional. I think it safe to say the GMC among others would do anything to possess something like that."
Colin found Xira's comment distressing but he nodded grimly, "You're probably right. Guess I need to toughen up..." When Brimble spoke. Colin nodded, "That is a good theory Brimble, let's see if The Professor agrees."
Colin asked to see the vial Phantrel found and remarked, "Oh! Silver sheen! It's a kind of paste you can coat weapons with if you're unfortunate enough to need to fight lycanthropes or other nasties vulnerable to silver. Only a temporary solution mind."
When Phantrel mentioned the furnace among other things Colin replied, "Speaking of the furnace we ought to inspect that at some point." The dollhouse representation of Thurznchakh was remarkable, and Colin inspected it closely, fascinated. He wondered at the different levels and decided to consult The Professor. He sent a mental pulse towards the book ::We've found a remarkable model of Thurznchakh, we can see many Strata from iron up to Arkhorianite. Do these levels represent a social hierarchy? Also I don't believe I've heard of Arkhorianite before, does it have any interesting properties?::
Curiosity made Colin look inside but the dwarven homeliness of the made made him feel uncomfortable as if they where trespassing. He spoke up saying, "Agreed the bed looks comfortable, but it feels like the family that lived here just stepped out and could come back at any time. I feel like we're prying..."
Upon learning of the damage to the trap and what happened to Brimble, Colin frowned, "Poor Brimble. It seems like it's only a matter of time before we come into direct conflict with these goblins, we need to be ready." He busied himself with his alchemy kit, making sure he knew exactly where the various vials where just in case.
Colin isn't sure what to make of this, the idea of somebody sneaking around isn't entirely surprising but neither is it comforting...
"You got anything that explodes big - good amount of noise and damage in all directions?" Colin replied jovially "I'm actually halfway through making a vial of what The Professor describes as alchemist's fire. More of a whoomph than a bang, but handy in a pinch!"
Colin was surprised by The Professor's voice when it responded after an uncomfortably long period. Still the book's plan seemed plausible, "Hmm The Professor informs me there are various reagents that have mild reactions with the metals used here that if applied in aqueous solution would leave a patina that would cover up all these scratches and tool marks... I think this would help complete the disguise." Colin got busy right away, mixing tiny amounts of odd looking reagents inside equally tiny test tubes from his alchemy kit. There where various strange smells and the occasional puff of oddly colored smoke as he worked. After a while Colin called for a damp rag which he used to smear a concoction into the damaged areas of metal.
When The Professor was silent in response to his question, Colin sighed inwardly wondering if he'd somehow offended it. The plan was the best they had, certainly it was safer than trying to reach deep water, so he watched the proceedings with curiosity.
”You think they’ll be safe here?” "Possibly. Nothing we can do is perfect, but I wonder if there's something we can do to make the hole harder to discover?" mused Colin. Perhaps there was something that could be done, but Colin was coming up with blanks.
On a whim he decided to consult with The Professor, he explained what they where doing and asked ::Can you suggest any improvements to this plan?::
"I uh, I'll come with you." replied Colin, although something in the back of his mind noted that he wasn't the most observant of people.
"How we would propel such a craft is another." "Oars of some sort seems like the simplest option," replied Colin, "The effort needed to construct a raft really depends on what's available, but I expect we're talking multiple days at best here unless we're lucky enough to find a lot of wood planks and nails. So yes, let's go exploring."
After they laboriouriously make their way back upstairs, Colin muses "I wonder if we could fabricate our own boat, or more likely a raft? We'd need sheet metal and some way of welding it together. I know there's a forge here but I've no idea how to operate that. I've read that rivets can work too, but we'd need some sort of caulking to prevent leaks. Mmm needs some thought!" Colin considers all the various materials, supplied and barrels and so on he's seen and considers if something can be cobbled together. It would need to displace enough water to carry most of all of the party and the box for the courageous along with rope. Some sort of twin hulled design might be best for stability, he did not want to go swimming!
Colin peers in the direction Phantrel mentioned and tries to figure out if it seems suitable or if modifications would be necessary. It would need to large enough to carry at least one person, possible two or three and the box containing the courageous. They'd likely need oars or some other way of moving it.
"If anyone has a long roll of string, we can measure it out and tie a weight to the end then drop it into the water." "That seems like a perfectly fine idea to me, the only thing to worry about is it getting snagged on something on the way down. Oh and if one of you could enchant it with a summoned light spell that might be useful." When they find the water is shallow, Colin sighs "I guess we could do with a raft or something..." He looks around to see if anything could be modified to suit, he also thinks of the things he's seen in the levels they'd explored. Whatever it was wouldn't need to be wooden, it would just need to displace more water than it weighed.
Drawn in by morbid curiosity, Colin winced as he saw first hand the results of his handy work. The stench of burnt rat hang in the air, the reek of burnt hair mixed with a meaty smell that in other circumstances would have set his mouth watering. Replying to Phantrel, Colin gasped, "Er. Yes I'm um, er, fine..." Looking a little green around the hills Colin retreated to an area where he didn't have to see and smell what he'd done.
At this revelation, Colin quipped "I guess I must have made some rat-be-gone, after all..."
With his head mostly clear after escaping the madding swarm, Colin stalked back into the room, vials in hand ready to mix! When he got there though, there was no swarm to be seen, only the stench of singed rat remained. Sounding a little deflated he asked, "Oh! Where'd they go?"
As the clawing, biting and incessantly chittering rats swarm all over him, Colin freaks out, crying "Aaaaah! GET OFF ME!" He flails about ineffectually, trying to drag himself out of the rat sea.
Colin frowns before saying under his breath, "Or, I could try the other reaction type The Professor showed me, the one he described as increasingly brisant!" Suddenly excited he selected two vials from his kit and cried, "Folks, prepare yourselves this will be LOUD!"
With an expression like a naughty schoolboy on a dare, he gingerly poured the contents of one vial into the other. There was strong color change as the dark liquids flared with orange light. He then lobbed it like a hot potato into the middle of the rats! There was a sudden painfully loud BOOM!
Colin replied "Working on it Xira, one more day and I'll have synthesised a batch. In comes in bottle form, with a good throw it'll smash and burst into flame upon impact. Something any of us can use, but don't be too close when it goes off..."
"Though that seems to be happening a lot lately." "Must be something in the water..." quipped Colin's before adding "In a way it feels like we've been blessed, to think our little group might never have really gotten to know each other if things had gone differently." Listening into the conversation about how to store the courageous, Colin added, "I wonder if The Professor has an opinion here. I don't know if long term water immersion is problematic for or if we need to construct some sort of protective box." The Professor: Fetching the remarkable book from his pack, Colin reached out with his mind, ::Professor, I don't know if you've been following along but Forgewise has left and there is a tribe of goblins exploring the area, not to mention the GMC who if they had an inkling of the Courageous' existence here would move heaven and earth to obtain them. We need to move the Courageous to a secure location, but where? One idea is to consign them to the water, that would complicate discovery by malign forces but could long term water immersion damage them? Are there any better alternatives?::
"I'm glad for Forgewise, but I still sorrow that I can't thank him or wish him farewell in turn." Colin knew Xira meant well they all did, but as something of an introvert found himself empathising with Forgewise in a way most others probably wouldn't. Without thinking about it he blurted out suddenly, "I uhh. I think he would have found the parting too much to bear, especially after being on his own for so many years."
Colin had forgotten entirely about Brimble in his enthusiasm for his work, suddenly feeling guilty he said, "Oh dear... Do we need to mount a search? We do need to explore the rest of this complex."
When he eventually woke up Colin felt a deep sense of unease, the muffled boom worried him, sounds like that didn't generally happen on their own. Remembering the conversation about goblin-be-gone, he started working on a small batch. He opened The Professor and navigated to a relevant lesson before starting. Soon he had various bits of glassware set up and he set about dissolving various funny smelling (and flammable!) substances in naptha.
If anyone asks what he's up to he says, "Making some goblin-be-gone. Funny it takes several days to make, at least with the equipment I have here, but only seconds to use."
"About ten feet." Colin replied dryly to Em before addressing Xira's question with a certain relish "The Professor revealed to me a several concoctions that could be described as goblin-be-gone. One involved naptha, a gelling agent and saltpeter to make it hard to extinguish. Designed to deflagrate, I'll make a batch later. The other is intended to detonate and is far too unstable to make in advance."
After finally catching up, Colin said "Thank goodness you're all right Brimble!" Colin paced as he thought about the situation, the more he thought about it, the more alarmed he got. He said, "Unless I'm much mistaken we've just inadvertently started a war. I agree we should explore this area fully and prepare for a possible attack, double watches, traps etc."
Colin raced around the bend in the corridor and in the gloom he could just about make out what seemed to be a goblin fighting Brimble. His hands strayed to his alchemy kit, but he thought, 'I've never tried the reactions The Professor showed me, they sound violent. What if the concoction sent shrapnel flying, I might hurt someone I didn't intend to... I should really have grabbed my bow.'
With loud noises disturbing his sleep, Colin sat bolt upright in a cold sweat as he demanded, "What? What's going on?!" But then he heard Xira's shout and all doubt was erased. With sudden resolution he snatched up his alchemy kit and raced out the door. The professor had filled his mind with information about certain volatile reactions, knowledge that frightened and excited him in equal amounts.
It was only through increments that Colin realized he was dreaming. He was alone with only the professor the most taciturn of the courageous for company, in a vast, cavernous laboratory, the air thick with the scent of volatile chemicals and ancient, damp stone. His alchemist's tools are laid out before him, but the liquids in his beakers and retorts refuse to settle, swirling with chaotic, unsettling colors. Every surface is cold and clammy to the touch, like the dead heart of a mountain. Perturbed and feeling like he was being watched by unseen eyes, Colin risked asking the professor again, "Remind me why did the stoneborne leave?" He immediately sense annoyance from the book, it wouldn't talk to him, but Verrik's words seemed even now to echo in the chamber, words filling him with some obscure dread, 'It was a gamble... a gamble... a gamble...' In his sleep Colin thrashed around before sinking back into a deep slumber.
Colin was tired but he found it hard to sleep, his mind was a-buzz with too many things. He decided he'd read a little before turning in, so he retrieved the professor from his pack and queued up on of the lectures, for a little light reading. After a while, he was getting too tired to concentrate and he told the others, "I'm going to risk one of these beds, wake me up in a few hours and I'll take a watch." With that he was soon fast asleep.
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