Chapter 7: The Castle U.S.S. Enterprise

[SpinwardMarch]

Tullia

She looks at Moniqua and quietly says, Moniqua, I am pleased that not all of Garamond has been lost. Welcome, belatedly, to our humble group.

Then she takes in her surroundings. The strange ability to stand upright on a slanted surface surprised her, but as nothing yet has tried to kill her, she shugs. After the wizard's tower, this seems very empty and still.

[Inferno]

Castle U.S.S. Enterprise, The Barren Wasteland
Forbidden Island of Xygax the Mad Wizard, Land of One Thousand Towers
Day Four. Night. March 28th, 912 CY
Clear, warm, dry







On the brink of starvation, the desperate explorers of Forbidden Island reluctantly enter the astounding Castle U.S.S. Enterprise.

An inexplicable fluctuation suddenly shifts their orientation and impossibly, they can walk the steep incline of the battlement-disc with ease! The bizarre transfer renders Maskelyn seasick.

With a pre-cataclysmic hymn, Adrock conjures divine light that reveals a vast steel chamber devoid of contents or features. The adventurers' footfalls echo in the hollow emptiness and they discover another rip in the thick iron: a five foot diameter hole in the southern wall. Beyond it lies only darkness.


Actions?!



Map Detail:



Map:






PC Status:

• Fiefo LeBratt: Rat-Man Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 26/26
  Hans the Shrewd: Mole-Man Cleric/Thief 2/2: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 16/16, Spells: 4/4 1st level
  Jack: Wolf-Man Cleric 3: Move: 12", AC: 2, HP: 25/25, Spells: 4/4 1st level, 1/1 2nd level
  Ko-Nan: Human Barbarian 2: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 32/32
  L.L. Adrock: Half-Elf Cleric/Magic-User 2/1: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 8/8, Spells: 4/5 1st lvl
  Maskelyn: Gnome Illusionist 3: Move: 9", AC: 7, HP: 14/14, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
  Moniqua: Robot Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 32/32
  Tullia Galena: Half-Elf Ranger 3: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 31/31

PC Magic:

• Light (Adrock): Duration: 79 rounds.

Player Resources:

• End of the World (game description)
  Strange New World (maps and realms)
  Memory Tapes (the story so far)
  Viewscreen (the story so far in images)

[Urson]

Maskelyn
Maskelyn stays with the group, studying the walls and floor around him. He's mostly just trying to be wary for trouble- but he's also trying to figure out what this room was.

[wolfpack]

Adrock shines his light through the hole and looks into the next room

[ravenn4544]

Ko-Nan's orientation rapidly changes - and he attacks the darkness with his axe of destruction! "What devilry is this!?!" His eyes dart from side to side watching every direction - knuckles white on the haft. He stands ready to fight!

[Yrkoon]

Hans the Shrewd

Hans is eager to better understand the nature and contents of the vast room. He circumnavigates it, delicately investigating whatever catches his eye.

He moves softly as he does so.

[SpinwardMarch]

Tullia

She is cautiously moving to the hole in the wall, all the time listening. The huge edifice seems deserted, well, maybe. Some part of it still must be working, since her orientation with the floor is "normal." It seems less nasty than the tower, so far.

This hall is apparently empty, let us see what is in the next room. And she follows Adrock towards the hole.

[Captain Kinkajou]

Moniqua

Moniqua protectively follows Tullia and Adrock over towards the hole. Her posture and movements suggest she is both ready for action and endeavouring to be stealthy, but a whine of servos accompanies her every motion and her heavy metal feet make dull clanking noises on the hard floor beneath. The robot is not built for sneaking.

< ROOM = EMPTY. FUNCTION UNKNOWN. SCANNING FOR THREATS. >

As she approaches the hole in the wall, she remains to the left of Adrock and Tullia. She notices a white, chalky residue on the wall.

< WHITE, CHALKY RESIDUE DETECTED. SCANNING. UNKNOWN SUBSTANCE. THREAT ASSESSMENT LOW. >

She reaches out and touches it. A small amount crumbles between her metal fingers.

< ANALYSING... ANALYSIS COMPLETE. HIGH PROBABILITY UNKNOWN SUBSTANCE = CALCIUM CARBONATE = CaCO3. >

She wonders what it's doing there.

< ACCESSING DATA BANKS. SEARCHING. CALCIUM CARBONATE. >

< MATCH FOUND. ENTRY CALCIUM CARBONATE. WIDELY USED AS ANTACID TO RELIEVE HEARTBURN, ACID INDIGESTION, AND UPSET STOMACH. REMAINING DATA CORRUPTED >

< ASSESSMENT COMPLETE. ROOM FUNCTION = ANTACID STORAGE COMPARTMENT. SIZE SUGGESTS HIGH PROBABILITY OCCUPANTS OF STRUCTURE SUFFER OR SUFFERED FROM SEVERE ACID INDIGESTION. >

[ChubbyPixie]

Fiefo skitters lithely up to the side of the hole in the wall and peers into it when the light is projected through. The crosshairs in his newly augmented eye scan and rescan, attempting to pick out detail.

Anxious and miserable, as always, he wishes there were some relief for the sourness in his stomach, but knows there is no help for him. He was born to suffer.

[Scott308]

Jack

The wolf-man will investigate what else is in the room.

[Inferno]

Castle U.S.S. Enterprise, The Barren Wasteland
Forbidden Island of Xygax the Mad Wizard, Land of One Thousand Towers
Day Four. Night. March 28th, 912 CY
Clear, warm, dry






A coin-sized light in the palm of Adrock's hand pierces the darkness.

In the shadows, Hans investigates the smooth features of the empty chamber. By feel, he discovers thin parallel seams running along the northern wall. And Ko-Nan, released from the sinister grip of some fell sorcery, readies his ax for battle!

The rest of the adventurers edge closer to the illuminated gash in the iron wall. There, Jack finds large claw marks ripped into the steel. From the direction of the bent jagged edges of the hole, Maskelyn surmises that something has cleaved its way into Castle U.S.S. Enterprise.

Tullia hears nothing emanating from the ragged aperture. Adrock shines his sacred radiance through the gap in the sundered wall and their view is filled with strange foliage as if from some otherworldly jungle!




Actions?!



Map Detail:


Map:






PC Status:

• Fiefo LeBratt: Rat-Man Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 26/26
  Hans the Shrewd: Mole-Man Cleric/Thief 2/2: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 16/16, Spells: 4/4 1st level
  Jack: Wolf-Man Cleric 3: Move: 12", AC: 2, HP: 25/25, Spells: 4/4 1st level, 1/1 2nd level
  Ko-Nan: Human Barbarian 2: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 32/32
  L.L. Adrock: Half-Elf Cleric/Magic-User 2/1: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 8/8, Spells: 4/5 1st lvl
  Maskelyn: Gnome Illusionist 3: Move: 9", AC: 7, HP: 14/14, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
  Moniqua: Robot Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 32/32
  Tullia Galena: Half-Elf Ranger 3: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 31/31

PC Magic:

• Light (Adrock): Duration: 78 rounds.

Player Resources:

• End of the World (game description)
  Strange New World (maps and realms)
  Memory Tapes (the story so far)
  Viewscreen (the story so far in images)

[Urson]

Maskelyn
Maskelyn peeks between the legs of some of the taller folks, studying the garish foliage.

[ravenn4544]

Ko-Nan continues to watch all directions at once. Watching the party peer into the broken wall, he calls out in a course whisper, "What do you see!?!"

[wolfpack]

It is as if a jungle has grown inside the structure in complete darkness!

[Yrkoon]

Hans the Shrewd

Hans examines the far wall. Squinting, he assesses the possible purpose the mysterious lines once served.

"Four horizontal seams, approximately 35 feet long, each an inch apart. Hmm."

He is not intelligent enough to guess at their function, but he is wise enough not to probe them with his thieves' tools. Rather, he extends a wrinkled, clawed hand and lightly glides it along one of them for a short distance. That such imperfection should exist in an otherwise immaculately smooth chamber troubled him. Could a blemish such as this be a design feature rather than a flaw?

Upon hearing Adrock's sudden mention of plant life, Hans spins and scurries over to the jagged aperture. He is too short to see over his companions, so he asks, "Does yonder chamber hold any flowers?"

[Scott308]

Jack

The plants are...incredible! I have never seen such strange looking plantlife before. Jack rummages around in his backpack before pulling out his well-thumbed copy of the Cub Scout Handbook. Flipping through the pages, he mutters, I think these odd plants would be a good place to start working on my botany badge. Looking up suddenly, he reminds everyone the plants are not the only thing they found here. Something big and powerful clawed into the castle. I don't know how long ago this happened, but it is possible it was recently and whatever it was might still be here.

[Captain Kinkajou]

Moniqua

Remaining close to < FRIEND TULLIA > and ready to protect her and the others if called upon, Moniqua notes the large claw marks torn into the metal of the wall.

< SCANNING... ASSESSING STRUCTURAL DAMAGE... CORRELATING INPUT DATA... EXTRAPOLATING PROBABLE SIZE OF CREATURE... DATA CORRUPTED. SIZE EXTRAPOLATION ALGORITHMS OFFLINE. THREAT ASSESSMENT INCOMPLETE. PARTIAL THREAT ASSESSMENT = HIGH. THREAT PROXIMITY = UNKNOWN. PROCEED WITH CAUTION. ALERT STATE = HEIGHTENED. >

In what is an oddly human mannerism for a robot, she flexes her metal fingers around the grip of her spiked mace and hefts her shield into a more protective position.

"< FRIENDS, I RECOMMEND WE PROCEED WITH CAUTION >" she suggests.

[Inferno]

Castle U.S.S. Enterprise, The Barren Wasteland
Forbidden Island of Xygax the Mad Wizard, Land of One Thousand Towers
Day Four. Night. March 28th, 912 CY








The explorers of the strange citadel step through the hole in the sundered wall and enter the exotic unrecognizable foliage of some alien forest!

Weird flora looms overheads and higher still soars a ceiling; so tall, vast and featureless that it seems like an optical illusion. Adrock's is the only light as they push through the bizarre plantlife and come out onto a smooth path that had seemingly been cut from one monolithic stone.

It is stained with dried blood. Bones and skulls, picked clean, are scattered about. Among them are shreds of leather and cloth that seem similar to that worn by the barbaric, civilized gorillas that Adrock, Fiefo, Ko-Nan, Maskelyn and Tullia encountered on the beachhead three days ago.



Except this fabric is green, not violet.


Actions?!



Map Detail:

Lighter areas are visible. All else is from memory.

Map:






PC Status:

• Fiefo LeBratt: Rat-Man Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 26/26
  Hans the Shrewd: Mole-Man Cleric/Thief 2/2: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 16/16, Spells: 4/4 1st level
  Jack: Wolf-Man Cleric 3: Move: 12", AC: 2, HP: 25/25, Spells: 4/4 1st level, 1/1 2nd level
  Ko-Nan: Human Barbarian 2: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 32/32
  L.L. Adrock: Half-Elf Cleric/Magic-User 2/1: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 8/8, Spells: 4/5 1st lvl, Light spell
  Maskelyn: Gnome Illusionist 3: Move: 9", AC: 7, HP: 14/14, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
  Moniqua: Robot Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 32/32
  Tullia Galena: Half-Elf Ranger 3: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 31/31

PC Magic:

• Light (Adrock): Duration: 77 rounds.

Player Resources:

• End of the World (game description)
  Strange New World (maps and realms)
  Memory Tapes (the story so far)
  Viewscreen (the story so far in images)

[wolfpack]

L.L. Adrock:

This should not be possible, such a jungle inside a structure, almost as if it is an illusion.

[Urson]

Maskelyn

You're right, Doc. But it seems real enough.

He pauses, looking at the scattered bones. He sniffs deeply, looking for any odd odors. I hate ta say this, Doc- I think maybe these plants are eatin' people. 'Feed me seemore'. Let's get back!

As soon as he can, Maskelyn will hustle his Gnome ass back into the empty chamber.