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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lars Frehse" data-source="post: 843390" data-attributes="member: 1674">A clever device- part 4 of 4The moment the automatons sprang to life, Jan charged forward, his bastardsword raised high over his head. He hacked at one of the hammerers and sparks flew where his sword hit the iron body. Then, however, the automaton swang his giant hammer at him and suddenly Jan realized that he had charged ahead on his own and that his friends were still several yards behind him.As three of the automatons swung their giant hammers at the lonely paladin, pummeling him bad and denting his steelarmor as if it was nothing more than a can made of tin, one of the turret-shaped golems stepped ahead and uttered a deep, thundering booming shockwave, hitting Ben, who had just summoned a flame blade, throwing him back a few feet.The remaining four golems started to move, about to shoot at the stragglers and hit the Paladin, but suddenly, they stopped in mid-movement, as if uncertain of what to do next. Meanwhile Niklas attacked the turret-golem that had attacked Ben while Trepat helped with his arrows and Ben struggled forward in order to heal the heavily injured Paladin.As they fought, the automatons continued to act inconsistiently- one moment they would strike or attack with full force, moving around to get into battle, and on the next they would stop acting in mid movement, even if their foe was standing right in front of them. Then, apparently randomly, they sprang back into action, continuing where they had stopped several seconds before only to stop moving a few moments later.Nonetheless it was a tough battle. The golems used their hammers with a force that could shatter the strongest stones or metals, let alone flesh and bones and the walking turrets repeatedly knocked the wind out of Trepat's lungs with their sonic attack, keeping him too stunned to fight back most of the time. When they weren't shooting, they used their drills to stab at the adventurers.Just when Ben was done taking care of Jan, who succeeded in destroying two automatons, which shattered into motionless scraps, he had to run over to Niklas who took care of the turrets in attempt to help Trepat. Then, Trepat and Jan seemed to have things under control and Ben ran back. Trepat hadn't gotten back up after one especially vicious sonic attack and was now laying on the floor.Sighing with relief as he saw that his friend was unconcious but still alive, Ben used his magic to revive Trepat. Now the elf shot arrows charged with electricity at the golems and Ben charged them with his flame-blade. The tide of the battle turned now, and the friends defeated the last of the golems. Each of them was wounded, but they all ignored their pain for the moment since they were still facing the dilemma that they were trapped.Niklas cautiosly poked his glaive at the forcefield in the floor, but it was blocked as solidly as if he had hit the wall. Just as he was about to thrust with more strength, he wheeled around as he heard a voice behind asking:"Why have you come here?"While they had concentrated on the opening through which they had come, a human had walked down the spiral staircase in the middle of the hall and was now standing ten feet high and facing them. He looked like a man in his fifties with well combed black hair that was greying at the temples, and he was dressed in a leathery robe of redish-brown. Instead of a hand, his left arm ended in a slightly oversized lobster-claw and he looked at the intruders expectantly.Niklas was the first to speak:" Kwalish, I presume?"The man nodded and his dark voice was more puzzled than menacing :" That's right.Now, tell me, what are you doing here?""We came here to look for the fabled apparatus of Kwalish, sir.", Ben said."Ah! Well, "fabled" sounds good to me... But first I have to know: where do you come from and what do you need it for?".They told him about their quest and once they had mentioned that they came from Mithril he broke a smile: "Very well then! I have already figured that you couldn't be so bad, given that you have a paladin of Corean with you..."He waved his claw and the shimmering forcefields disappeared:" In that case I am sorry you were attacked by my creations, but I really didn't expect any visitors and I had been busy myself. If you like, you may rest in my chambers upstairs, and tomorrow I will lead you to the apparatus. I have parked it somewhere outside and it has been a while, but I am sure I will find it again. You can have it to visit the keeper of secrets if you promise to bring it back when you are done"They thanked him and after he had assured them that it would be the least he could do, he lead them upstairs into his living chambers. Here the floors were covered with soft rugs and the rooms were furnished with pieces of furniture from all over Ghelspad without any consideration of composition of style or color. For example, a heavy Albadian bench stood next to a light and intricately decorated Shelzarian cabinet which was filled with roughly crafted mugs from Darakeene.Once they had settled down in a room with cushion covered floor Kwalish answered all their questions. He had originally come here to settle down with the original inhabitants of this underwater city. They were called "Kuo Toas" and according to the half-crustacean archmage they were "nasty people" but they had offered him a deal that had allowed him to work on his automatons and other inventions.Ten years after he had settled down and shortly after the blood-monsoon, Pisceans attacked the city. He had offered the Kuo Toas to seek refuge in his towers, but they were eager to fight and in the process all of them, including children and the old, were killed. Some pisceans had entered the towers, but he had "persuaded" them to stay away.Then he had reanimated some of the dead in order to take care of menial tasks around the towers and settled down for his research again. Ever since then, noone had come to visit him, and he had even forgotten about the password and the automatons."And what is the password?", Niklas asked.Kwalish shrugged: "I don't know anymore. I bet I have it written down somewhere, though. But I think it is time to go to sleep now. You may settle down anywhere in this level. But please don't go any further up, since there are some experiments there which could prove fatal for you."With that he waved them goodbye with his claw and went through the door. Finally alone, Jan said:" He seems like a nice enough fellow"."Yeah", Ben said, "and still he almost had us killed. I think we should stay together tonight, lest we stumble over another of his forgotten inventions.".</blockquote>

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