Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Pour" data-source="post: 6124665" data-attributes="member: 59411">I encouraged checks for the alien corpse, the machine, and the ceiling strands. I wasn't willing to give the connections away, but their high rolls did earn them clues and suppositions as to what some of these things could do. That was enough to get their imaginations going and soon we had some pretty fantastic and wild speculation between a few of the more cerebral characters (and the players who like the weird element). Combined with a little trial-and-error, we had a fun second half of the session:Firstly, some background, and I apologize for the lore dump but it really does provide the context.While the alien machine was interesting, there was no immediate urgency to decipher its secrets. No one knew what it was and there was a clear exit blocked by just a few, taught, glistening strands (contact poison, everyone assumed). However, a few PCs weren't in such a rush and the archdruid of all people, the one least at home in the Siege and usually a passive observer during these speculative jaunts, recognized clear depictions of dead world trees scattered throughout the cyber-tapestry. This holds special significance to our archdruid, who was chosen by Yggdrasil the World Tree (foremost of primal spirits) to become the Lord Archdruid and basically lead the efforts in restoring Balance. In terms of the larger setting, their solar system is the last remnant of life in the entire universe. In order to spark new solar systems, or creations, two ingredients are needed. First is a star. Despite their sun being the last star in existence, the party had uncovered previously that, in healthy worlds, rare beings called Star Children are born, with the power to ignite new stars as emergent sun deities when joined with the second necessary ingredient, a world tree (which is the magical equivalent of gravity and natural laws to bind worlds and provide the primordial ingredients for life). Two, a boy and a girl, exist in the current day, the latter being the infant daughter of a late party member and the assassin's niece.Now the archdruid's patron has been missing for some time, off sowing the universe with dormant world seeds in wait of a star. There has been no word and even the other primal spirits have lost all trace of him. However, upon closer look, the archdruid saw the exact positioning of his mentor and friend, far out near the edge of the depicted universe. Perhaps he could contact him, go to him, or even bring him back if he is lost through the use of this machine. Not to complicated this summary even further, but through a series of events which includes the return of the wayward star elves who brought with them a juvenile world tree from their adopted world, the possibility is open for Yggdrasil being replaced. Though our archdruid is loath to entertain the idea, certain Ythlords (Old Ones) have already infiltrated the worlds and could poison it so utterly he would be forced to accept the new world tree simply to bolster an already floundering Nature. Phew, still with me? Okay.So the impetus was there to figure the device out. The warlock, since returned from Orcus with the swordmage and assassin, used a last sight ritual to see through the corpse's eyes for about two minutes prior to its demise. She saw a control panel currently hidden beneath its now-fused flesh, which it operated, then aimed for somewhere in the center of the ceiling. A white beam fired from the end of the scope, but something black spewed back, a liquid stream which hit the creature full in the chest. In moments, it was being liquefied from the inside out, and melted onto the machine. Sparks flew, and something smoky gray and spherical shot from the barrel and became lost in the tangle of circuitry (which back then held many more illuminated strands). With a high attack interpreted as surgical precision, the ardent used her lightning bolt to remove enough of the corpse's chest to reveal a control panel. A quartz mold of the alien's huge, tentacled hand was surrounded by twelve symbols, which the druid noticed correlated with sections of the woven ceiling. One or two of the PCs had abilities which allowed them to read and understand 'any' language, and the druid identified the twelve symbols as an alien zodiac correlating to constellations. He had pretty free reign to create the symbols as needed with minimal guidance on my part. They realized four zodiac symbols could be slid into the palm of the imprint, what the ardent suspected were coordinates in space and time, but what others suspected were coordinates for three-dimensional space and an origin point (cue Stargate music). The angel, wanting to explore the halls beyond the threshold for clues as to the nature of the device, severed one of the twelve glistening strands like harp-string barring her way. Suddenly a whole swath of ceiling came undone and fell to the ground. After a moment's held breath, nothing bad happened. The portion of ceiling (determined by a d12) did not contain the knots depicting their solar system, nor was it hanging above any PC's head. She was reprimanded for her impatience before the ardent sent a probing eye beyond the strands to examine the beginnings of a circular hallway ringing the Starcellar, complete with two sealed double doors. The psion, passing a joint skill/ability check of Arcana and Dexterity, managed to rejoin the severed strand and restore the loom through a sustain minor usage of her telekinesis. However she would not be able to hold it forever. The warlock began work on a ten minute make whole ritual, hoping her efforts would prove fruitful. I'd note that sometimes the players get, well, I wouldn't call it lazy, or meta-y, but they do ask me now and then things like "Will make whole fix the strands?" to which I would always reply, "Only one way to find out."The angel wanted to cut more strands until the sphere fell out, but the others didn't want to risk damaging the device any more than it already had been. The angel had a feeling they were opting for the 'hard way', even as the ardent began scanning the strands with her mind in search of the orb. Instead of sensing, as she anticipated, a nest of circuitry, she glimpse vast deadways, catacombs spanning the cosmos, ruins of world upon world upon world, and the destitute and dried up rivers of uncounted underworlds and toppled heaps of hundreds of heavens and hells. She noticed, too, a few scattered beings, wretched and solitary, hiding amidst the devastation, lost souls, vestiges of ancient powers, orphaned servitors, who could really say. It seemed the ceiling was either a perfect depiction of the universe, down to microscopic detail, OR it was some sort of overlay which allowed for pinpoint viewing (and maybe transporting?). Weathering the glimpses as they passed in and out, the ardent managed to move enough circuitry aside to glimpse the rounded polish of the orb. However, in order to disperse so much of the ceiling, the ardent was held to a sustain move action to keep the orb exposed. It also forced her, due to the nature of her power, to remain within 5 squares. If something went wrong, she'd be right there.With the warlock's make whole ritual complete, and successful, the psion was freed to fly up and investigate the orb further. The assassin had climbed up the walls and thought about fishing through the circuitry, but the archdruid thought it more prudent to test the glistening secretion first. He sent vines and sprigs up into the tapestry ahead of the assassin, which promptly shriveled up and turned to dust by the time they hit the floor. The assassin understandable climbed back down with a few, choice words. Yet the psion had a phasing ability and, before anyone could protest further, plunged her arm into the circuits and wrapped her hand around the orb (which allowed her to hold it without passing through). Oh, and her ghostly arm didn't wither and turn to dust, either.Now last session, the angel had learned the last creature through the portal was some resurrected divinity of the ancient past turned into a lesser exarch in the Exgod's service. There had been no sign of such a thing, and yet, as the psion began to pry the orb out (passing, if you can believe, a Strength check!) it turned in her grip to reveal a narrow, black slit. The deadly liquid coating the circuits began to thicken into slime and drip in generous amounts throughout the chamber, forcing the PCs to reposition. The archdruid, who along with the ardent has a passive perception I believe in the low 40's, noticed the circuitry beginning to move in very snake-like ways, shifting and drawing around the orb's position. Suddenly, a massive, black, medusa-like head burst forth from the weave. The psion, still clutching the orb, was in fact gripping the eye of a giant, disembodied head (the other already missing). The lore of the seminary and a campaign blog post from a few weeks back revealed this to be, at the very least, a vestige of the Mother of Beasts, Lyth, one of the Merciless pantheon of the prior solar system. At the very worst, this WAS Lyth, in which case they were now facing an angry goddess in a small chamber with instant-death slime raining overhead. Luck was with the party and they all rolled ahead of her in initiative, in due course managing to drive her back into the circuitry, until the warlock, using her vampiric gaze, overwhelmed Lyth and pushed her quite a few squares back, enough for her to vanish from sight (and ending the encounter, though they were wary for a good time after that knowing I just love a good jump scare hehe). This brought about a second flurry of speculation on the planetary orbs, the device, and just what this portion of the Siege was meant for- if it was actually part of the Exgod's Siege at all. The architecture was different here, more alien tomb than demonic bastion. That aside, a number of prevailing theories, none confirmed as of yet, offered the following possibilities, all of which made me proud of the group for just how deep they were thinking this through. I'll leave you with the cliffhanger I gave them:Of all their theories, I liked the idea that the ship runs on divine power. After all, one of the orbs turned out to be Lyth's eye (though given the sort of dimensional displacement between the strands and visions of the actual places, its possible the orb wasn't REALLY her eye, but more the catalyst which allowed her manifestation). This led to the notion this device was actually some sort of snare or tractor beam meant to pinpoint vulnerable divinities on the overhead tapestry and capture them in energy spheres. These aliens were, in fact, hunters of a sort, following in the wake of Yth devestation and harvesting the remnants as fuel for their own civilization. What the warlock saw in her last moments ritual was a hunt gone bad, and Lyth, far more dangerous than she appeared, striking back. In that scenario, the warlock may have seen the beginning of the end of the entire alien civilization. And if Lyth endured, suddenly more credence is given to the notion the Merciless may lurk in these sublevels...</blockquote>

Verification