NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="gideonpepys" data-source="post: 7102977" data-attributes="member: 79141">Session 11 (134) - Part Four: Tinker Oddcog's Magma EmporiumAt Pemberton’s command, Tinker opened fire with an erratic autocannon mounted on one arm.  Everyone scurried for cover behind the pillars. Rush was already airborne.  Mechanical arms on an assembly line swiped at him but he kept out of reach and headed south, through a pair of double doors, clearly searching for the real Tinker.  Gupta kept an eye on Lya who appeared to be cautiously scanning the cavern.  Lya made surreptitious eye contact with Merton, shook her head as if signalling something to him and then, aware of Gupta’s scrutiny, attempted to pocket something that had been pinned to her lapel.  It was her gatecrasher charm. Gupta paused for thought and decided that the platforms must not exist in the Bleak Gate, but the lava probably did.The terrain between them and Tinker was cluttered with debris, intersected by fast-moving conveyor belts and threatened by mechanical arms.  Now Tinker fired a ticking, flashing object that landed in the clearest area.  Korrigan and Rumdoom picked their way towards the high platform, ducking behind pillars as they went, while Leon used misty step to get close to the crazy gnome.A huge shape moved in the steam to the south-east.  A booming voice with a metallic but feminine edge declaimed, “Fear not, father! I shall drive these intruders back into the sea!” A dragon! The first many of them had ever seen.  This one had a prosthetic left wing and forearm and a glowing, mechanical eye.  “Be careful, Terakalir,” said Pemberton.  “Keep out of reach of the…” His warning came too late and in any case was lost in the roar of flame that scoured Lya and Gupta.  They shrank back, but the eager Terakalir had flown too low.  “…golem!” said Pemberton.  Conquo broke cover and leapt upon her, grabbing her by the neck.  She responded with a blast of searing light that did not harm the golem much, but saw Lya staggering away blinded, into the arms of Merton.  Then Conquo and Terakalir began to wrestle on the edge of the lava pit.  Terakalir tore into Conquo with her metal arm, rending his armour and throwing him away.  At once she took to the air again and Tinker gave another command to his machines:  This one redirected the terrible beam, striking Conquo with full force.Still brachiating, Rush emerged at speed from a second southern entrance.  “Empty room full of rubbish and <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />!” he reported.By now, Leon had reached the flight of steps. Tinker stomped down towards him in his steam suit. Rumdoom leapt to his defence and went toe-to-toe with the construct.  Conquo joined him, escaping the beam.  Terakalir flew down and used her breath weapon again, careful to avoid hitting Tinker.  Then she swiped at Conquo as he tried to get up the stairs in pursuit of Rush.  The golem was badly damaged even before Tinker redirected the force beam to strike him and defend the stairs.  Tired of his antics, Leon cast the curse of mouthless muttering to stop the gnome from talking to his engines.  Terakalir landed and attacked Leon and Rumdoom.Now his enemies were close, Pemberton grew desperate.  “That’s it.  If you fools persist, I’ll kill the gnome myself.”  This only seemed to encourage Rush, who made a beeline straight for him. “I warn you,” Pemberton continued, drawing a pocket knife and moving back towards the door behind him.  “One more step and he’s dead.”  A shot rang out and tore through Pemberton’s throat.  This entire time, Uru had been stealthily positioning himself to take a shot with a vendetta bullet he had crafted with the name ‘Gradiax’. The industrialist dropped to his knees, still talking.  Sadly, this was only a duplicant!  “Why, I do declare, that is entirely unsporting.”Rush was through the upper doors and into the room beyond.  Uru walked through the Bleak Gate to appear in the room behind him.  In a room littered with schematics (at a table surrounded by entertainingly posed blank duplicants) Tinker Oddcog lay on a gurney, in the same predicament as the captured soldiers, save that he also clutched his Godmind Urn. Rush stowed his rods, grabbed Tinker and headed straight back out of the room.  “I got the little bastard!” he said. At once, across the far side of the chamber, Lya somehow heard him.  She lay a hand on Merton, drew out a fragile glass item from her belt pouch and shattered it, teleporting them to the upper platform, where they braced themselves to guard Rush.  Lya drew her wicked rapier, and her carbine leapt from its holster on her back to hover beside her.  Korrigan transformed into a Bolt of Avilona and arrived to challenge them.  As Rush raced back towards the exit, Uru shot out a thick strand of webbing, catching him and Tinker and gluing them to the spot.Down below, Tinker’s duplicant began to shudder, and lost control of the steam suit.  Realising her friend Tinker was now in jeopardy, Terakalir cried out his name and took to the air, but not before Rumdoom clipped her with a solid blow from his hammer.  This caused her to malfunction, blasting fire down on all below her as she arced across the chamber to land near Korrigan and Merton.Leon appeared on the upper platform too and with a gesture, rescued Conquo from the beam of light, planting him in front of Lya and Merton.  This accidentally interposed the golem between Leon and the first shot of Lya’s dancing storm carbine, which was aiming for the tiefling.  Conquo reeled again, undoing much of the healing power of Leon’s bardic spell.The steam suit was now entirely inert. Rumdoom dashed past it, up the stairs and straight through the hideous magical beam!  If only Lemon had packed his sunglasses, not his umbrella!Lya ran into the schematics room. Korrigan pursued her.  Lya’s carbine opened fire on Uru who was forced to retreat before its crackling, aelectric energy.  Leon appeared in the chamber behind her.  Adept in close combat, she struck both Korrigan and Leon with her gnawing rapier.  It drew tiefling blood and Leon’s vengeful fire reproached her, only for the greater fire of the Jierre Boodline to excoriate him in return. Merton kept the others at bay with his sonic staff, even Terakalir, who swiped at him and missed.  “All is lost!” cried Pemberton, still talking despite the bullet in his throat.  “Save yourself, daughter!” Terakalir ignored him and fought to reach Tinker.From down below, Gupta relied on the sharp perception of dragons to be heard above the din. She asked Terakalir a Question: “Have you come to rely too much on your prosthetic limbs?”  Terakalir hesitated.Lya turned and saw an opportunity:  Her carbine opened fire on Conquo.  The golem was already badly damaged, his armour torn and in some places melted.  The aelectrical bolt struck him squarely and he fell. The light of his golem heart went out.  Korrigan knew he was dead before he hit the ground.Into the opening sprang Rush.  With a string of liberating profanities, he tore himself free of the webbing, dashed past Merton and the static forms of Pemberton, Terakalir and Conquo, raised Tinker aloft in his arms as he reached the guard rail, and pitched him over into the lava below.  “I <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />ing hate gnomes!” he cried as the flames consumed his victim.(Where was the Godmind Urn?  Did Tinker take it with him into the lava?!?)Terakalir snapped back into action at that moment and, with a scream of hatred, lunged for Rush. But Merton struck her a heavy blow with his sonic staff before she could reach his partner and her left limb buckled and cracked.  With a whispered incantation, the dragon disappeared in a cloud of flames and steam.“Do not die for that lunatic!” yelled Pemberton, desperately.  “Save yourself, Terakalir!”In the fraction of a moment after that, Lya spoke into a small stone imbedded in the cuff of her glove. “Mission accomplished. Extraction team – get us out of here.”End of Session</blockquote>

Verification