Expedition to the Barrier Peaks - Chapter One

[Hotgoblin]

Groyn pokes his head further into the room and asks, Since this dispenser thing is broken, is there some other way of get'n a card or wearing something that shows we have that level access? Just check' of course! Thank you for your time.

[Pulpatoon]

The Ravenous Gryev rubs his belly, looking a little woozy. Holding up the bottle, he says, "S'gotta kick."

Save vs. Poison (11) [1d20] = 12

[greyarea]

Asherrion will enter the room and investigate the desk and box.

Getafix will take a look at the books.

[OGRE MAGE]

Fingal will check out both rooms quickly. Not at all concerned about the books, he pays the most attention to the desk and the nightstand.

If nothing of note can be found, he searches for secret compartments in both.

F/R Traps (45) [1d100] = 91

He looks over the skeleton in hopes of finding its credentials or possibly even another access card.

I bet the goatman would love to be in here to have a go at this one. All these dead guys lying around makes me think that there might be something bad in the air in this shiny metal tomb.

If he finds nothing of interest, he rejoins the others still waiting out in the hallway.

[ChubbyPixie]

Wrenly the Brown, Human MU

Unable to contain himself any longer, Wrenly asks the question that's been burning in his mind. "Excuse me Madame, I don't wish to be rude, but in my last post our... magic boxes were manned by... ah... Pixies. What manner of creature are you, if I may be so bold? Oh and what is it that powers your automatons around here? Is it lightning, as I suspect?" He looks to Candiasis and nods. "I'm very curious."

[ChubbyPixie]

Brother Puddington, Human Cleric

Brother Puddington continues to scan the room for magic.

[Grognardsw]

"blah-glahgh-humph!" Gryev suddenly projectile vomits, almost hitting Swilbosh. Up comes bits of froggoth and vile bile that smells. The barbarian's iron stomach apparently couldn't take the unknown liquid, but at least Gryev isn't dead.

Fingal and Asherrion search for secret compartments in the rooms but find none. The desk has pieces of dazzlingly white and smooth parchment with dense unknown script. There are featherless quills which magically produce ink. A few large maps show many small white dots scattered across a black background, with lines and numbers intersecting. There is a 3" transparent block of glass with a petrified scorpion in it. Perhaps a magical prison for the creature? The metal box on the desk has a black glass screen and board with small lettered buttons.

One of the desk drawers is locked.

Getafix the druid examines the books, marveling at their uniform design. The covers are not skins but a hard type of paper that is like a board. The white parchment is strikingly uniform, cut at the edges, and written in a close, dense script that is hard to believe any human hand could so consistently produce. The druid suspects magic. The writing is unknown. Some books have complex line drawings of unknown contraptions.

The other room with the bed and skeleton also has no secret compartments Fingal and Asherrion can find. The skeleton half-sprawled on the bed has remnants of a frilly night gown. The nightstand has dried and dessicated food bits of some sort and an empty brown glass bottle with faded label. The bureau has strange exotic clothing for both man and woman, including one that looks like a uniform for a man. Inside one draw is a metal box about 3"x5" with an orange and red button on the lower half and a round grill in the upper half.



After praying for divine sense to detect magic, Brother Puddington has been concentrating on the chamber and silver woman. Remarkably neither radiate magic. The only thing magical in the room are his fellow adventurers' enchanted weapons and items.

In response to Guido the cleric's request for a security detail, the silver woman says, "I will request a security robot take your report and investigate the area of your altercation."

The silver woman answers Wrenly, using arcane terminology that the wizard finds hard to follow. "I am a passenger services robot, designatee #3269. "Genral equipment and computer systems are powered by energy generated by the ship's secondary power core, which in turn is maintained via surge capacitors from the main engine. My power, like other robots, is derived from ion batteries that may last upwards of 30 days depending on level of activity."

Turning to the dwarf Groyn and satyr Porphyry, the silver woman says, "It will be possible to issue you black cards denoting passenger status. But those access cards are within this console, which is currently malfunctioning. Perhaps if you return tomorrow, ship's maintenance will have fixed the issue."

[Pulpatoon]

The Ravenous Gryev wipes his mouth and looks at his splattered vomit. Woozily, he says, "Stomach empty. Let's kill sumpthin'."

[Pulpatoon]

Porphyry sighs in exasperation at the robot's narrow conceptual range. Still, one last attempt: "Service robot, any ship on any voyage is in a position of peril, and must be prepared to accommodate catastrophic losses among its crew. Redundancies and alternate command paths are essential for operation and survival in these cases. We are currently experiencing such a case. Command, other than myself, is unresponsive and therefore unable to function. Technical assistance is unresponsive and therefore unable to function. There are protocols for such dire contingency, aren't there?

"This is the situation you must accept: Existing command, that is to say, myself, must be accepted. For this, cards are required. The cards are in this cabinet and the cabinet is not functional. Technical assistance is unavailable. Therefore, you must make use of such resources as are available to open it. Namely, myself and my staff. It is your duty to allow us to open this cabinet by any means. Failure to do so is to be negligent in your duties, and to put the survival of the ship, its crew, and passengers in the gravest danger."

[AleBelly]

"Wrap it up, Billy" sneers Candy to Porphyry. "We're exposed out here. I'm gonna zap her if you keep yappin' ." She continues to watch the hall nervously.

[tkrexx]

Guido cocks his head slightly with a weak smile at Porphyry's words. I was going to say that, he tells the silver Lady, pointing at Porphyry.

[ChubbyPixie]

"Ah" says Wrenly a fixed smile on his face, "...just as I thought." He glances at the others to see if anyone understood what the robot woman said.

[ChubbyPixie]

Brother Puddington scowls. "No magic here. None at all. What do you make of it?" Never seen the like," he says to Guido in low tones.

[OGRE MAGE]

Fingal fiddles with the locked drawer, popping it open with ease. He reaches in and pulls out another confusing device.

This looks a little like one of those small boxes on the desks. You know, the ones with the dark viewing glass. Maybe this is a portable version?

He looks at what the druid has recovered from the bedroom.

That uniform might come in handy if we ever have need for fooling more of those ro-bots.

Fingal hands the strange device out through the hole in the door, letting one of the more learned in the group do the ciphering. He then climbs back into the hallway himself.

I think we need to go and find the others now.

[Zhym]

I think we need to go and find the others now.

"Good idea," agrees Andover. "Also, now that we have a red card, I would like to see what is behind the door the security ro-bots would not let us past."

[Grognardsw]

Fingal fiddles with the locked drawer, popping it open with ease. He reaches in and pulls out another confusing device.

This looks a little like one of those small boxes on the desks. You know, the ones with the dark viewing glass. Maybe this is a portable version?

[OGRE MAGE]

Fingal

Here you go, Andy. Any idea what this thing does?

The greasy thief again hands the strange device he has found over to the party's unofficial leader, hoping that he has some idea what the thing might do.

Is that a button there on the........handle?

Fingal stores his prized red colored card back into his pouch for safe keeping. He then begins moving further east down the hallway, keeping the party in full view and searching for more colored doors on his way to find the others.

[Zhym]

"I have no idea what this does," says Andover. "It could be an entertainment device, a back massager, or a potato-masher, for all I know."

"Perhaps before fiddling with the device, we should return and talk to the ro-bots? They probably know what this thing is supposed to do. If we are very lucky, they might even tell us how to work it."

Are there any intelligence bonuses to trying to figure out how things work?

[tkrexx]

Guido shrugs at Brother Puddington's question. This is all magic to me, possibly a kind of magic that repels detection, he whispers.

[AleBelly]

Wulfhart's confusion deepens. He steps to the doorway, bow still in hand. "Is the silver witch being...bad? Should I shoot her?" He seems to be asking Candidiasis, but looks to others in the party too.