the Jester
Legend
Alkor scans the horizon, his sharp eyes taking in every feature of the ruined cityscape ahead. “Whatever that flying thing was, it's out of the sky now,” he tells his companions.
“Good,” grunts Lupark. Orza shoulders her spear and the three companions proceed towards the ruined city. Before long the ruined shells of buildings are to either side as they walk down the decaying avenue.
“That's the building,” says Orza. “I can sense him.” She hesitates for a moment, then adds, “He's still a ways off, though.”
Alkor shrugs. “Whatever you say,” he tells the deva. “It's your mission. I'm just here to help.”
Lupark snorts. The three companions head into the ruined building, and within it they find a series of passages that lead downward to a strange metal roadway.
Karlinden, Orza thinks, I'm coming.
***
CRASH!
Kane rebounds from the sealed door, landing on his butt with a loud “Oof!” With a grunt, he gets up and brushes himself off.
“Nope,” he says, “we aren't going to be able to force it.”
Shifty pulls out his thieves' picks. “I guess it's my turn, then.” He moves over to the door and sets to work, but there is no visible lock to work with, nor does the door have any obvious mechanisms that he can attack.
Karl, meanwhile, examines the damaged control panel. I suspect that when Shifty and the dog-man fought atop the control panel, something got tweaked or broken. Unfortunately, there's no way to tell what happened or how to reverse it. Those gauges... the indicators are in the red, and they weren't when we entered this place. And there are no labels for me to try to interpret.
“I can't get this,” Shifty says, frustrated. He stands up and puts his tools away, paces around the room.
Shar sighs. “Well, if there's danger from something here, I bet it's that armor or the chamber that it's in. It's full of that weird crystal. We can at least get back into the inner chamber; that way there is another wall between us and that room.”
“Good idea,” Shifty nods.
The party retreats to the inner chamber and closes the door.
“What now?” asks Lithieln.
There is no other way out of the place, so the party comes to the uncomfortable decision that they have to wait. “Well, we were in the middle of sleeping when those dogs attacked us,” Kane says with a shrug.
“If you can go to sleep at a time like this, go right ahead,” retorts Sepia.
The barbarian is already laying down with his head on his backpack. He chuckles. “When you have been a mercenary, you can sleep through anything.” He closes his eyes. “Even with a demon like you watching.”
“So we just wait,” Karl sighs.
It really isn't a question, and there really isn't much else to say.
Eventually, most of the party does drop off into sleep. They are tired; they need it. With their rest interrupted by the canus, every hour of sleep that they can get now is precious. There is always at least one person awake to keep watch, but for the most part, the party sleeps for four or five more hours.
Once they have woken, the party readies for combat and throws the door to the outer chamber open again. Fearing a radioactive hell, the party instead finds the outer door open and the indicators back down out of the red.
“It would seem,” Shar says, “that we have successfully waited it out. What are we going to do now? That's the weapon that the Double Javelins want- I'd bet on it. We know where it is; they have a good idea of where it is.”
“One of those canus had a ritual book,” Karl declares. “The ritual in it will bind someone to that armor, but I think it's permanent.”
“That's not so bad,” Lithieln comments.
“I mean you wouldn't be able to get out of it, ever.”
“Oh,” she says, “that's not so cool after all.”
“My point is,” the Magus Incarnum continues, “we could use that ritual to bind someone to the armor before they do, if we had a volunteer.”
“Why do we need a volunteer?” Shifty asks ironically. “We can always conscript.”
“I don't think we want a resentful conscript in that thing,” Karl replies. “That could lead to some ugly situations.”
“We'll have to think about it,” the gnome says. “Do you think those canus were connected to the Double Javelins?”
“It seems like an awfully big coincidence if they aren't,” Shar muses.
***
The metal road continues on past the small complex of rooms that holds the armor. “I wonder what is at the end,” mutters Karl.
“That's a very good question.” With that, Shar leads the way further down the road, its weird hieroglyphs graven everywhere. They follow the road along. It is elevated on great pylons, and for several miles more they continue down the path before breaking for a meal. While the others set up the food, Lithieln and Shifty scout ahead.
They come back almost an hour later, shaken and covered in translucent goop. “What happened?” exclaims Shar.
“Gelatinous cube,” answers Lithieln with a shiver.
***
The echoes of the party's footsteps ring around them as they continue down the roadway. It is eerie, empty; there is a sense of vastness in the tunnels all around them. The passage goes on for several more miles before, finally, there is a change.
And what a change it is.
Ahead, the roadway is twisted and broken. Illuminated by the party's sunrods, the scene looks almost like some great giant twisted and pulled on either end of the roadway until the metal stretched and broke. Viciously sharp scalloped edges and spear-like strands of cabling, revealed where the interior structure of the road has been opened to view, poke out of the warped ends. The far side of the road no longer stands- it has bent and collapsed, and- strangest of all- something is... harvesting the metal.
Small, insect-like machines the size of small dogs swarm over the portion of the road that has fallen to the floor of the vast chamber, gleaming copper in the light of the sunrod, their mandibles cutting sheets of metal free. An ant-like line of the strange constructs is carrying the metal away, but the party's light doesn't reveal where to.
“What the hell are those things?” wonders Lithieln aloud.
“Clockwork horrors,” says Karl.
Next Time: Our heroes delve into the realm of the horrors!
“Good,” grunts Lupark. Orza shoulders her spear and the three companions proceed towards the ruined city. Before long the ruined shells of buildings are to either side as they walk down the decaying avenue.
“That's the building,” says Orza. “I can sense him.” She hesitates for a moment, then adds, “He's still a ways off, though.”
Alkor shrugs. “Whatever you say,” he tells the deva. “It's your mission. I'm just here to help.”
Lupark snorts. The three companions head into the ruined building, and within it they find a series of passages that lead downward to a strange metal roadway.
Karlinden, Orza thinks, I'm coming.
***
CRASH!
Kane rebounds from the sealed door, landing on his butt with a loud “Oof!” With a grunt, he gets up and brushes himself off.
“Nope,” he says, “we aren't going to be able to force it.”
Shifty pulls out his thieves' picks. “I guess it's my turn, then.” He moves over to the door and sets to work, but there is no visible lock to work with, nor does the door have any obvious mechanisms that he can attack.
Karl, meanwhile, examines the damaged control panel. I suspect that when Shifty and the dog-man fought atop the control panel, something got tweaked or broken. Unfortunately, there's no way to tell what happened or how to reverse it. Those gauges... the indicators are in the red, and they weren't when we entered this place. And there are no labels for me to try to interpret.
“I can't get this,” Shifty says, frustrated. He stands up and puts his tools away, paces around the room.
Shar sighs. “Well, if there's danger from something here, I bet it's that armor or the chamber that it's in. It's full of that weird crystal. We can at least get back into the inner chamber; that way there is another wall between us and that room.”
“Good idea,” Shifty nods.
The party retreats to the inner chamber and closes the door.
“What now?” asks Lithieln.
There is no other way out of the place, so the party comes to the uncomfortable decision that they have to wait. “Well, we were in the middle of sleeping when those dogs attacked us,” Kane says with a shrug.
“If you can go to sleep at a time like this, go right ahead,” retorts Sepia.
The barbarian is already laying down with his head on his backpack. He chuckles. “When you have been a mercenary, you can sleep through anything.” He closes his eyes. “Even with a demon like you watching.”
“So we just wait,” Karl sighs.
It really isn't a question, and there really isn't much else to say.
Eventually, most of the party does drop off into sleep. They are tired; they need it. With their rest interrupted by the canus, every hour of sleep that they can get now is precious. There is always at least one person awake to keep watch, but for the most part, the party sleeps for four or five more hours.
Once they have woken, the party readies for combat and throws the door to the outer chamber open again. Fearing a radioactive hell, the party instead finds the outer door open and the indicators back down out of the red.
“It would seem,” Shar says, “that we have successfully waited it out. What are we going to do now? That's the weapon that the Double Javelins want- I'd bet on it. We know where it is; they have a good idea of where it is.”
“One of those canus had a ritual book,” Karl declares. “The ritual in it will bind someone to that armor, but I think it's permanent.”
“That's not so bad,” Lithieln comments.
“I mean you wouldn't be able to get out of it, ever.”
“Oh,” she says, “that's not so cool after all.”
“My point is,” the Magus Incarnum continues, “we could use that ritual to bind someone to the armor before they do, if we had a volunteer.”
“Why do we need a volunteer?” Shifty asks ironically. “We can always conscript.”
“I don't think we want a resentful conscript in that thing,” Karl replies. “That could lead to some ugly situations.”
“We'll have to think about it,” the gnome says. “Do you think those canus were connected to the Double Javelins?”
“It seems like an awfully big coincidence if they aren't,” Shar muses.
***
The metal road continues on past the small complex of rooms that holds the armor. “I wonder what is at the end,” mutters Karl.
“That's a very good question.” With that, Shar leads the way further down the road, its weird hieroglyphs graven everywhere. They follow the road along. It is elevated on great pylons, and for several miles more they continue down the path before breaking for a meal. While the others set up the food, Lithieln and Shifty scout ahead.
They come back almost an hour later, shaken and covered in translucent goop. “What happened?” exclaims Shar.
“Gelatinous cube,” answers Lithieln with a shiver.
***
The echoes of the party's footsteps ring around them as they continue down the roadway. It is eerie, empty; there is a sense of vastness in the tunnels all around them. The passage goes on for several more miles before, finally, there is a change.
And what a change it is.
Ahead, the roadway is twisted and broken. Illuminated by the party's sunrods, the scene looks almost like some great giant twisted and pulled on either end of the roadway until the metal stretched and broke. Viciously sharp scalloped edges and spear-like strands of cabling, revealed where the interior structure of the road has been opened to view, poke out of the warped ends. The far side of the road no longer stands- it has bent and collapsed, and- strangest of all- something is... harvesting the metal.
Small, insect-like machines the size of small dogs swarm over the portion of the road that has fallen to the floor of the vast chamber, gleaming copper in the light of the sunrod, their mandibles cutting sheets of metal free. An ant-like line of the strange constructs is carrying the metal away, but the party's light doesn't reveal where to.
“What the hell are those things?” wonders Lithieln aloud.
“Clockwork horrors,” says Karl.
Next Time: Our heroes delve into the realm of the horrors!