Author: Antony Nicklin

Session 95

29th Faurilden, 10:10am

The party sits at the Engineering portal, watching Thorfus direct one of the monkeys through the Pathogen labs. He reports seeing the one group of creatures get shocked in response to breaking the window, though the others seem unable to damage the window at all. The monkey is now at the edge of his range however, leaving us unable to see more.

We pause to consider the next move, wondering about the defences, and whether a third portal could dial in at all whilst we held this connection open. Thorfus moves closer to the portal on our side to extend his range, allowing the monkey to look around the nearby corners. Doing so seems to trigger the lighting in the area to turn on, although it appears flickery, indicating possible power problems.

To the east, the corridor turns north east,  with a door sitting in the middle of the north-west wall, appearing to be locked. The south-east wall is still entirely glass holding back the ten oozing humanoids we can see, and there appears to be an electrical hoist sometimes visible beneath their feet. Behind them, another glass wall reveals another corridor, and a pair of door beside them.

Chuq asks for a closer look at the creatures, and the monkey reveals them to be seemingly naked humans, or perhaps elves, of both sexes. Thier skin is rubbery and gives way quite easily, as evidenced by thier blows and whenever they collide, and it seems that whatever the bone structure they may have would be dislocated by our standards. They seem quite mindless, only intent on getting through the glass.

Thorfus directs the monkey to continue down the corridor, it first turning north, then north-west, as if circling the portal room. The lights seem to follow the monkey, activating ahead of it and deactivating behind. Another glass room to the north-east is devoid of occupants, though there is another electrical hoist present.

Whilst this is going on, Chuq sends Socrates through the portal to triangulate his location with Finkleworm. On return, the owl relays that Finklemur believes that we are closer than our previous location, and potentially able to arrive within a day. We tell him to start digging, though Socrates says the wizard is distracted, and apparently having trouble perceiving time. As far as we can tell, when the owl returns, there has been no ill effects of being on the other side.

As the monkey continues round, another glass chamber to the north-west is revealed, this time filled with humanoids covered in fungal growths. The lights coming on seem to waken them, and like the others they press forward and begin beating on the glass.

Continuing the circuit, the monkey passes yet more windowless locked doors. The south-west room now however is empty beyond its cracked glass. There are no signs that the doors or hoist within have been used, but the monkey’s senses show picked up nothing of the bony creature’s egress. We guess they went south.

The south-most room still holds the four necrotic humanoids, some sitting, some standing, and completely reactionless despite the door remaining open this entire time.

Whilst we consider what to do next, Edan question Kalgunn on what he thinks of the creatures in the facility. The sword-dwarf guesses that the four in the southern room are dwarven researchers who succumbed to disease at some point, unlike the others which were obviously test subjects, though he doesn’t know much more than that, as it wasn’t his area. Razumin was the administrator of the facility, and he doesn’t really know where his office would be, except that the facility has layered defenses and it would be undoubtedly be beyond them.

Agreeing to keep scouting as best we can, and potentially find more suits, we close the door to the south, and move to check each of the cardinal rooms. The east reveals a 60ft long hallway with nine doors some locked and some unlocked. Thorfus has the monkey check the closest room to the north, revealing a familiar looking set of residential quarters.

Closing the area and heading north reveals a square room with a tall ceiling that also contains a balcony, with familiar furniture to the southern room. Three infected creatures react as the doors open from up on the balcony, two rubbermen and one bony creature. The leap off of the balcony, the bony creature falling badly, and charge forwards, but the monkey is able to shut the door in thier faces. As it retreats however, the door quickly reopens, so Thorfus has the monkey retreat back south around to the west.

He opens the western ‘airlock’ to the portal, and steps through. The banging from before starts up from the one-way glass on the south-eastern wall. The three creatures charge down the corridor, stopping at the doorway, seemingly aware in someway. The bony creature seems restless even, and eventually moves out of view, but none of them want to enter the room. As the monkey watches, it can see the remnants of white cloth that may be similar to the robes from the bioforge.

Thorfus has the monkey reach for the button, which elicits a slight recoil from the creatures, speaking of some intelligence. He presses it, and the door closes, causing the metal globes to hum louder momentarily and scan the monkey, before the mist is released once again. After a moment, the door to the portal room enters.

Inspecting the slag piles reveals them to be made up of various metals, some precious, and Thorfus has the monkey drag them into the portal room, as some of it may be retrieval and worth something. He repeats this for the north and eastern ‘airlocks’.

Once done, the monkey is sent back through the south again, once more getting sprayed. Entering the corridor, he runs right back into the creatures again, so it retreats and presses the button again.

It seems we are trapped, so with the helmets from the enviromental suits and Chuq’s natural resistance, the two dwarves and the monk head through the portal. We ready up in the south room with ranged weapons. We get misted, and there is nothing there when the door opens, but with a shout, Axel draws the bony creature back to the door. It is met with arrows and daggers, and Axel’s second shot is able to bring it down.

As it falls, one of the rubbermen appears. Chuq sets his spear for a charge, whilst Axel and Thorfus continue to fire, though thier arrows seems to bounce off, seemingly harmlessly. Thorfus also has the monkey charge and attack the creature. The rubberman ignores the monkey and instead leans down and lifts the bony creature, then throws it at the pedestal as if trying to hit the button.

It misses luckily, and Axel retaliates with a well-placed firebomb, the oil splashing over both creatures. They recoil, their flesh melting slightly. Thorfus charges in alongside his monkey, and his sword manages to hurt the second creature, and we all move up into melee. We kill the one and hurt the other, but it steps back away from the door. We follow it out, continuing to draw ichor from it with every blow.

The creature falls back even further, hitting the button to the southern room and retreating within. Rather than follow it into the four creatures within, we elect to continue shooting it, which forces it to hide. The monkey gives chase, attacking it in the corner of the room, and the rotting creatures finally react, surrounding and attacking the tiny automaton.

It gets dismantled by a rain of rotten blows, so after another firebomb is tossed into the room, Chuq closes the door and Thorfus locks it. Thorfus turns around and pushes the rubberman corpse into the airlock, pushing the button with a ten-foot pole and incinerating the two corpses.

After that, we decide to head north to the room with the balcony. As we pass, Chuq’s ESP picks up a mess of confusion, hunger and the desire to destroy. In the north room, we decide to head through the door to the east, which opens into a hallway. The hallway curves around to the north, heading up some stairs and into a smaller room with double doors to the north and south. The tops of each wall have moving murals of double helixes combining and recombining.

In the centre of the room, a hologram shows a creature with a polyhedral head, cyclindrical body and six stringy tails, though there is no obvious projection point.

We check the southern door, revealing the now empty balcony, and lock the door, then repeat the action with the western door after confirming a corresponding staircase. The north double door is next, where Chuq senses a presence he describes as ‘a lot of crazy’.

Leaving that for now, we head down the west stairs, seeing the fungal creatures beyond a glass wall at the bottom. We decide to check the second door at the base of the stairs, which is locked. Chuq still senses crazy, and we can’t hear anything over the ambient humming. After a second of considering the facility’s layout, Axel realises the door opens directly into the creature’s pen.

We head back out into the circling corridor and try the door on the north-west interior wall. We hear nothing, and opening it reveals the other side of the mirrored walls of the ‘airlocks’. Several displays show the views from the domes, as well as access listings, noting the monkey’s usages of the doors. A pedestal holds a holographic display.

We check the pedestal, which displays some unknown language made up of odd icons, which at best we recognise a commonly recurring symbol that looks like an eyeball. Chuq mentally relays the symbols to Edan who confers with Kalgunn, who says it’s malfunctioning in some fashion. He recommends use of a PAS key, and in doing so, the pedestal flips over to Ancient Dwarven instead, with the following options.

-Review Readouts of Recent Beings in Cleansing Chamber

-Security Footage

-Manual Activation of Defences

-Door Lock

The logs correspond to the north and west airlocks, which mainly show the access of the monkey at several points, then the unauthorised access of a number of non-dwarven entities, which were destroyed, then more entries of passing dwarves. Both airlocks are the same roughly in logs, but northern has six dwarves enter the facility before the monkey but after the non-dwarves.

We head out to check the logs in what we presume are other rooms in the ring, stopping only to check the western door first. Scouting with the circlet, Thorfus picks up eight large automaton presences below us, which are four armed, treaded automatons plugged into the walls.

Thorfus takes control of one and sends it east, entering a long hallway with large number of various types of the humanoid creatures within. They retreat at the sight of the automaton, although Thorfus cannot detect any weapons on it. Checking with the automaton, it reveals itself as a ‘grappling unit’, designed to grab test subjects. We instantly begin planning how best to utilise it to our advantage.

Meanwhile, the Grappler is sent west, revealing the hall surrounds the central bay. Thorfus directs it to the south-west hoist, though it cannot get out of the pen there, so it gets redirected to the north-east hoist, where we can open the door safely, though there we realise it is too wide to get through the door.

We decide to test its grappling abilities, sending it down into the creatures below, and manage to catch one of the rubber creatures. We have the Grappler bring it up to us, and Chuq suggests testing thier odd intelligence by attempting to communicate with it. It recognises Thorfus’ Ancient Dwarven, but that seems only to focus its anger. Realising we’ll get nothing from it, Thorfus apologises and ends its life.

Session 93

20th Faurilden, 7:00am

We return to the party, haggling over our spoils with Marchmain, opting only to not sell the solitary pearl, as Axel and Edan believe it might work as a spell component.

Of particular note is his reaction to the information reliquaries, appearing almost excited. We feign ignorance at thier contents, only knowing what they were due our experiences in Midmark. He even presses us to reveal the names of who we might’ve sold the Midmark ones to in the past. We don’t, out of professional courtesy, but eventually sell them for 500 gold each to the eager dwarf.

We hint that we might have an ‘eyewitness’ for seeing the Naga leaving the Lower City, and will be returning to the city ‘officially’. We check in on Idony in the mean time, though nothing has happened in regards to Jagger.

The Sleeping Collossus is the next stop, and Thorfus is greeted quite happily by several of the guards. Svelnid is quite happy to see us, and sits down to talk to us about Vargan. She has a guest who arrived last night, sleeping upstairs after a trip from Midmark, asking after ‘Baldric’s Boys’. She noted he had a grey cloak.

He gets woken up and sent to us. It is indeed a young man in a grey cloak, Vane Pottak, sent to by Perette. He double-checks our identities by asking how we first met Perette. We ask a little about Vargen, which has apparently had some monetary boon that is being poured into building up the city’s fortifications.

He mentions an accident has happened, and it has cost Desric his life. Some explosion destroyed his entire shop and home, and he was here to see if we knew anything.

The next piece of news is a bit more sensitive, regarding Alain Grell. During his raid on Seabreeze, he specifically targeted the home of a Midmark Naval Officer, gaining the plans to a secret base on Curmidden. Said secret base was being used to test a new propulsion system for thier ships, and he destroyed it and stole the technology.

They emplore us to assist in tracking him down before he can cause too much more damage or give away the secrets and advantages of the technology, originally designed to stave of the Empire.

We discuss our options at length, Axel at least desiring greatly to go and chase down the younger Grell for his crimes, but eventually decide it may be far too much trouble trying to leave and come back, to say nothing of what the Silver Throne could do in our absence. We do have some leeway in time to deal with him though. The navy is pursuing him anyway, and it will take time to return our answer to any way, as the grey cloak is heading to Xenilum’Khel first.

We then fill the greycloak in on events from our side, the dark elves in Newton, and the Dark King to the north. Jager and the slavery ring, and how we have a potential ally that could provide for enough information for a raid on his property. Chuq takes the time to ask after his Grand Master, Master Dain and others of his order. Also the murder of Katin Alerio.

We spend the rest of the day poring over the plans for the Warrior, Monkey and Undying automatons, teaching the non-Ancient Dwarven speaking members also, allowing us to better combat them in the future.

We set watch that night, giving Thorfus’ clan men time to rest. Chuq and Pons take the first watch, and Chuq approaches Pons with the idea of becoming a full time henchman.

The next morning, we see Vane off of the mountain, then head up to the city entrance. There’s a dwarf militiaman sitting one of the bridges. He seems to be looking for Belroar, whom we haven’t seen for a little while, apparently still quite upset with him. Chuq’s ESP suggests the dwarf is looking to rough him up a little.

We’re greeted further up by Doree and four of Thorfus’ cousins, who are the assigned accompaniment for our trip down. Edan sends off the message to Ryker. Thorfus’ cousins introduce themselves as Glorimdur, Ginmonlim, Nadreat and Krargaeth. It’s a little awkward, one announces that his cousin the other ‘Lord Ironhand’, sends his greetings.

Down below, Ryker is attacked by one of the monkeys, still under Thorfus’ orders to grab any metal from anybody moving below. He tries to fend it off with his morningstar, eventually managing to send it away with a Command spell of ‘Sort’.

Back with the party, Thorfus begs off a little to pull on the circlet, and Chuq sends Pons to cause a distraction, who decides to ‘find’ Naga tracks. Whilst we look for measuring sticks we don’t have in the cart, Ryker runs into the hall calling for help.

After a pointed look at Doree. Thorfus meets him, and they begin the agreed up on discussion. The bluff seems to be working. After Ryker pretends to faint, Doree has him woken up and begins questioning him. Ryker begins telling him the story he told us of what happened in Newton and how he came to be underground.

Doree still seems to be skeptical that the naga has truly left, but announces we should take Ryker up to the surface and speak to Hakuun. Ryker at least is inordinately pleased to be back on the surface. Naturally our quick return and the new human cleric sets the mountain abuzz with rumours, and we’re quickly brought to Marchmain and Hakuun.

After some discussion, although the dwarves are disappointed at not having a trophy, they know that there is not much to be done since the naga has obviously left the lower city. Ryker is obviously telling the truth, and is also a cleric of the Ark, he has some weight to what he says. The Ironhands in the room reluctantly agree with the idea, as it makes too much sense.

Marchmain manages to convince Hakuun that the militia are no longer needed on the mountain, and they decide to finally leave. We decide to put Ryker up in our estate so he can readjust to the surface. Doree sends messages off to the Xenilum’Khel embassy and the Ark in Midmark.

The Ironhands leave grumbling, but obviously still don’t trust Thorfus one bit. They all but spit in his face though, and reveal they only supported us due to the other Ironhand clan’s dealings at the Lonely Isle.

All in all the plan was a success though, we got rid of the pressure of the militia on our necks, and resecured our rights to exploring the Lower City. The plan now is to wait a week to hear back from the Ark, allow Pons to train up and generally prepare to go back down into the City.

Session 90

6:40pm, 18th Faurilden

We spend a long time standing around asking Kalgunn questions and musing over the things we learn.

Revelations as to the PEPs origins have us go into a little test with Axel’s suit regarding the Voltaic Converter, but there doesn’t seem to be a safe way to do so and the danger is too high. It would be possible in this area, but the dead PEPs are just that, as we need power in the battery to even activate the Converter. Worst case is that the battery is destroyed, rendering the armour unusable. Realistically, the wearer would be unharmed, but it has been 2000 years, and the Converter is only just an emergency option. The next subject is the portals, and how we can possibly alter the connections, access new keys, and potentially even Xen’Teler.

We ask Kalgunn about the scrying mask. He asks in return if the network was still in operation, blanketing the planet, though we only have access to view locations in Curabel. We ask if it is possible to repair it at all, and he banters back about skill and such. We do learn however that the mask, and others like it, connect to multiple orbital relays.

Next, Edan relays an image of our portal keys, and we ask if it is possible to modify the key so we can access other portals on Meidia. He tells us that this is the standard key, which makes sense why we can’t access the special labs.

Feeling that he had answered enough questions, Kalgunn announces he would like to confirm the situation for himself, and does so with startling alacrity.

 “Fact One: You or one of your companions – possibly an Ironhand or Rhom’Khul dwarf — carries a Possibility Sword with limited charges and a Control Circlet of indeterminate (but not platinum) authority.”

“Fact Two: You or one of your companions fears being dominated by someone possessing a Control Circlet of greater power; it is also likely that this same threat has a force of Undying Warriors in his service.”

“Fact Three: Despite your limited knowledge of my people’s empire, including the Crystal Tower itself, you know of Marchmain Sivis even though he died with his greatest construction a long time ago.”

“Fact Four: Although by your own admission it has been millennia since XenoTel was destroyed, you think there may be some way to restore him and you fear this possibility.”

“Fact Five: Xen’Khel’s secret lab was tasked with reverse-engineering the Dragon Emperor’s Consort’s weapon in order to restore Xen’Teler.”

“Conclusion: Your group of grave-robbing friends has done very well for itself – so well, that you have come to the attention of someone much better versed in dwarven technology than anyone alive has the right to be. Marchmain Sivis would fit that description incredibly well, but he should be dust now given Xen’Teler’s destruction at Heaven’s Fall. However, you also specified it is approximately two millennia since the rebellion … which is … an interesting date, to say the least. It leads me to believe that perhaps XenoTel’s demise was reported in error, even if he was severely wounded during the rebellion. If so, it would make sense that Marchmain Sivis would be chosen to be the agent of XenoTel’s restoration since the Architect’s failure with the Crystal Tower marked his downfall. He would, quite logically, focus his attention on the labs of Xen’Khel where the last of my people’s engineers were working on the weapon that brought about that downfall – labs that have apparently lain untouched since the rebellion by your admission.”

“So, how accurate are my extrapolations? Please keep in mind that I am working from a data set that has been deliberately (if amateurishly) limited on purpose to obscure the truth of the situation.”

We then ask what Kalgunn’s opinion of Marchmain is. He says he is not surprised that Marchmain would’ve chosen as XenoTel’s agent for restoration, but also that he didn’t earn his position entirely on his own merits, more who he married, even if he was an engineer of some talent, it was oestentatious, as evidenced by the tower, which had a crucial weakness.

As to his continued existence, that would support the idea of XenoTel’s demise being misreported, though his body at the time would likely be lost. He also did not recognise the Marchmain we know, though would be able to verify that with a short conversation with Marchmain, as he was known for his honeyed words.

Kalgunn reveals that XenoTel had the ability to recreate bodies for dwarves, and it would be possible to retrieve his essence from the sword and return it to a body of his choosing. XenoTel also had the ability to ‘recall’ a person perfectly. (This is would explain the Thorfus clones Chuq witnessed in the dreamscape).

We ask about the 22,000 mile distance to the nearest location for PEPs. He explains that the fastest way of getting there would be by ship, and not by ocean, but by going straight up. The only faster way would’ve been the Crystal Tower.

When asked his feelings on Marchmain restoring XenoTel, he answers that it wouldn’t really affect him overly much, as he wasn’t one of the favoured, and would have very little information of use to XenoTel about the current time.

He asks more about the current date. Our answer of the current dating scheme of 525 after the Imperial Occupation is useless to him, though we have to inform him a little of the islands history, as it made no sense that the Emperor would occupy, as he was a native himself.

Thorfus checks the Bioforge Warden’s information cube to help ascertain the true date, as he sees some 2000 years passing as auspicious. If Marchmain is working to restore XenoTel, then it’s odd that nothing has been done, or has succeeded up until now. We begin to wonder if there is a time a limit, and if this tied into the Dragon Emperor and his consort at all.

Araquiel is able to to confirm that it has been 2000 years since the Rebellion, give or take a decade. His people viewed the Empire’s occupation as a transient threat, and that the Devilfish’s primary concern was continuing to make sure all traces of the Ancient Dwarven Empire remained destroyed and buried. Araquiel himself was unhappy when the Dragon Emperor originally left Curabel, as there was still work to be done regarding the dwarves.

Oddly, this gives us another pattern, whereupon every 1000 years since Heaven’s Fall, the Dragon Empire as returned in someway to Curabel, though it’s hard to draw intentions from the actions of the Emperor.

The mission of XenoTel was to colonise the planet, and we ALL  come from there, implying that all races do. Xen’Teler, is simultaneously a place and the thing that resides there, and he would like to return if given the chance.

We decide to be a little more transparent with the sword, and explain how we came to meet Marchmain and the task he presented us with. Kalgunn can help us with that, but perhaps we shouldn’t hand the sphere over to Marchmain, as there ‘won’t be any glory left over for us’. He agrees with Axel’s distrust of Marchmain, but obviously takes pleasure in denying any glory to him.

The sphere we seek is reportedly an antidote to repair the damage done to XenoTel, the second problem would be reaching Xen’Teler to utilise it, though if Marchmain has indeed returned there must be some way of reaching it, despite the Tower’s fall. It becomes apparent, that by whoever’s hand XenoTel would return, it would mean bad news for the non-dwarven peoples of Meidia.

Kalgunn himself seems in favour of that, being of an older time where the dwarves were the higher race, but largely seems out for his own ends.

It comes down to what our party believes and desires. Originally, the idea was to destroy the sphere, as we believed XenoTel was merely an evil deity, but now it seems there is a promise of glory and power, but at the cost of the world and freedoms as we know them.

Personally, I think this solidifies my desires. The Ancient Dwarves were a powerful and technological wonder, and the proliferation of that ability would be amazing, but I am a modern dwarf, and everything aspect of the my ancestors society I have witnessed thus far has appalled me. I have never been a religious dwarf, I believe in the power of my axe-arm and a good sack of gold. I have lived my life seeking adventure beyond the walls of Xenilum’Khel, amongst not only dwarves, but humans, elves and other races.

My goal, and I think Chuq for certain stands with me, is to continue to prevent the return of Xeno’Tel.

The party continues to talk and debate for hours, even over dinner, and eventually beds down for the night. We experiment for some time with the fortress bracers, eventually realising we can just ask Kalgunn what they were. He reveals that they were a gift he received. If you touch the letters on them, they activate for ten minutes, then will not work again for a day. They are designed to protect you, but at the cost of being able to hurt others.

We ask about the other items from the chest. The box contains his father’s bones and detects lies. The circlet with the gems blocks ESP. The braided circlet belonged to Kalgunn the younger, which he used to improve his coordination. The yellow potion is some kind of metamorphosis potion. The black cards are as we thought, are Personal Account Cards, and with passcode allow access to the owner’s personal hoard, which works via trans-spatial energy. The golden brooches are a pair, and work as communications devices, without the weakness of the mental circlets.

The party beds down for the night, setting a customary watch, which is uneventful. We proceed to finishing our exploration of this area, heading north in the eastern wing. The first door we came to seems to be a games room of some kind, with round tables and holograms. A number of games lie around, as well as coins and gemstones. We gather up everything, our pockets and carts becoming rather full.

The door at the top of the room opens into what appears to be a shower room with a small pool or bath at the rear. The water is crystal clear, and a humanoid creature is lying next to the pool. It is headless, but with dark skin. Something is in the water below it, looking to be a round stone on a chain, similar to our keys. There is an empty water skin next to the body, but no sign of its head. Oddest of all, the body appears to be at best a week old, though battered.

Chuq is able to fish the key out of the pool with his spear, and as we examine it to our elation, it is marked with the letters a,d,c,f,g and x! Going through his belongings, we get some more currency and stones. Chuq is also able to replace his sun-damaged dark-elven gear with new stuff. Asking the automatons about the corpse reveals he arrived five days ago, alone, and was processed as extraneous meat.

We head further up the corridor. Thorfus picks up an automaton to the north, doing nothing but waiting in darkness. The door opens to a hallway, with doors to the east and north. The first room is L shaped, holding a bed, a footlocker, a bureau and another door. The bureau hold rotten clothes, some gold and some jewellry. The footlocker hold more rotten clothes and jewels. The door is just a restroom.

The next room is locked, and Chuq can hear a loud drumming noise that disappears when the door opened. Within is a similar room and items, with more gold and jewels. Chuq has an idea and fetches Pons to check for secret areas within the room, but is met with little more than jokes.

The north-most room holds the presence Thorfus found earlier. It is revealed that the automaton within is similar to the chef-types we previously found, except optimised for cleaning. It asks if there any cleaning to be done, and has not been used since the rebellion at least. It once shared the room, a utility closet, with a security automaton, but it has been gone a long time.

Back in the main corridor, the last door head south. It is a smaller 10′ by 10′ room, with a panel of five buttons, b1, b2, f, f1, f2. Clearly an electrical hoist. Kalgunn explains that they would lead to the engineer’s personal chambers. Each floor would hold two suites similar to the ones we had just been in.