Heart of Artifice: Part I--Engineered Enigma

[Rystil Arden]

(OOC: This thread is for the Artificer adventure Heart of Artifice--so far we have Anvuss, Aethelus, and Kharas on their way. This first part might be really short, but I decided to break it up into two parts anyway to give a natural place to split threads)

*The woman breathes a sigh of relief when you are all out of the tavern, her whole body loosening up and showing signs of being more relaxed--it seems that she is a bit shy and freezes up around large groups of people with all those eyes on her. With only three, though, she is more at ease.*

*She leads you down and around, circling through the towers and crosswalks of Sharn, while explaining in a steadier voice:*

"Thank you all for helping me. I think my daughter is in danger, and I'm sure the construct creature had something to do with it. I'll show you when we get back to my home."

*Sharn is a huge city, and it takes some time to reach her home, which is a plain and tiny little place, though if she actually owns it as it seems, it probably cost her a relatively large amount, considering real-estate costs in Sharn.*

"Here it is. I know the comforts are not much, but...please make yourself at home. You're here to help me, so if there is anything I can get you to make you more comfortable--refreshments, cushions, anything, please just ask."

*She leads you inside the place. It is small and cramped, but cozy, with little flourishes and signs of care and dedication that make it seem even a bit homey, at least to those who get that sort of feeling--probably not Anvuss.*

*She leads the Artificers into another tiny adjoining room, where you see the construct--or what is left of it. It seems to be entwined by a rope in a very unlikely and complex way and then bashed to dented pieces by a heavy blunt object. What is left on the floor are mainly chunks of metal and little gears and mechanical pieces, and it is almost impossible to make anything of it from a distance and without further inspection.*

 

[Patlin]

"Might I begin by thoroughly examining the construct and its surroundings?"

Unless stopped, Anvuss will laboriously (taking 20) search the construct and surrounding area, looking for anything of interest but particularly any writing, symbols or marks that might help put the construct in context. Any sort of makers mark, secret compartment or control mechanism, and a determination as to what broke the creature and whether it is repairable would all be of interest.

 

[Rystil Arden]

(OOC: That'll only be a 28 though, right?)

"By all means," the woman replies with a decisive nod.

*Anvuss does see pieces of a symbol on the shards of a fractured and dented piece of metal. Given time and crafting skill, he could probably figure out how the pieces fit together to get the symbol together the right way. There don't seem to be any secret compartments or control mechanisms, at least that he can find. The creature seems to have become entangled inextricably in the rope, somehow, and then smashed to pieces by a heavy blunt object. His thorough examination cannot give him any more specifics to that, though in this case, perhaps questioning the possible witness might help.*

 

[Patlin]

ooc: 28 is pretty respectable at level 2, or so I thought. If someone wants to make an aid another roll, though, that'd be great. +8 is my recollection, though I'm on my phone at the moment and cannot check myself... the character sheet is hard to navigate on the little screen.

 

[Rystil Arden]

(OOC: 28 is certainly not shabby. I just needed to make sure it wasn't 30 or above )

 

[Patlin]

"Did anyone see what happened? Was the rope animated rope in some way?"

Anvuss tries to get an idea of what sort of constuct it is, including size, general shape and basic purpose. Is it some sort of homonculus, or some type of warforged?

 

[Patlin]

(OOC: 28 is certainly not shabby. I just needed to make sure it wasn't 30 or above )

ooc: Hmmm. Really sounds like an aid another roll would be worthwhile. Hint, hint!

 

[Rystil Arden]

"Oh, yes, right. I animated the rope to snare it, and then I beat it with a hot poker until it broke," the woman explains sheepishly.

*Though it is only pieces now, Anvuss thinks it doesn't really look like a Warforged at all. Some of the sheetlike fragments might have been pieces of wings? The amount of material would only really be enough for about a halfling-sized construct, rather than human-sized.*

(OOC: That's all he gets from just an unomodified search--is there any skill, infusion, etc he has that he would like to use to get more of those answers from the last post? Craft, Knowledge, etc?)

 

[Rystil Arden]

ooc: Hmmm. Really sounds like an aid another roll would be worthwhile. Hint, hint!

(OOC: I took a look. Anvuss's +8 is the best in the group. Thus, even if Gwyd's Lyrander Artificer joins up and they all aid Anvuss, it will be possible to beat DC 30 but not DC 35)

 

[Patlin]

Anvuss, not surprisingly given his name, has some skill in blacksmithing. He'll use that knowledge to see if he can reconstruct the symbols enough to read them. He won't use infusions unless all less resource intensive methods are exhausted.