Chapter 24 - The Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, part 1

[badams30]

Grimes - Fighter

Grimes follows Furuk. "I say we go NORTH with Furuk here." Grimes keeps Wave at the ready, right next to Furuk.

[spanningtree]

Dieter - Mage

To Algrim's comment: Yes, perhaps this is some kind of mining facility... but you'd think we'd see traces of ore residue everywhere. Scratching his butt: These halls appear to be human height. Strange...

Working with Furuk: The lock, assuming that is what it is, does appear to be magic of some kind. He will produce the combat cartridge and see if the opening looks like it could accept it.

[tumblingdice]

Castinus, human thief

Castinus watches with interest as his friends try to insert the Combat cartridge.

If it doesn't work the first time, try blowing on it.

[greyarea]

Furuk advances, with Dieter and the others following close behind, joining Castinus at the apex of the north hall. Oddly, the first door to the left in the north hall, while otherwise being the same as the other doors, does not have a slot. Instead there is a solid glass-like square, not unlike the one next to the double doors leading into this place. Furuk touches the glass (which lights briefly) and the door opens, sliding into the wall.



Within this room are a number of brightly colored boxes, some with dark glass panels and others with strange apparatus bolted to the upper surface. Pictures on the boxes show human-like creatures holding ornate rods that shoot magic missiles or lightning bolts at fantastic enemies. Others show starlit skies with metal bats swooping after one another. The boxes also have a variety of slots, colored rivets, knobs, and short levers on their front or top surfaces.



The light from the pictures on the boxes give this room a strange and ever-changing, multi-colored glow feeling and the floor and corners are quite dark in relation to the lit, glass panels.


Actions?

Hit points and marching order
Grimes 69/69
--Dandy 40/40 < Cure Light Wounds x7,Bless, Hold Personx2, Find Traps, Augury, Silence 15'r,Glyph of Warding, Remove Curse, Dispel Magic, Speak With the Dead,Protection from Evil 10' radius, Cure serious woundsx3,Raise dead,plane shift >
Castinus 39/39
--Furuk 78/78
Ulster 62/62 < Animal Companion, Entangle x2, Faerie Fire, Pass Without Trace, Speak with Animals x2, Barkskin, Charm Person or Mammal, Cure Light Wounds, Heat Metal, Obscuring Mist, Stumble, Warp Wood, Call Lightning, Hold Animal, Insect Swarm, Plant Growth, Stone Shape, Protection from Electricity, Repel Vermin, Speak with Plants, Summon Animal I, Animal Growth, Summon Animal II, Wall of Fire, Conjure Fire Elemental, Control Weather, Transmute Metal to Wood >
Dieter 42/42 < Magic Missile x 2, Otiluke's Smoky Sphere, Sleep, Auditory Illusion, Continual Light, Flaming Sphere, Stinking Cloud , Fireball, Monster Summoning I, Slow, Charm Monster, Evard's Black Tentacles, Rary's Mnemonic Enhancer, Monster Summoning III , Otiluke's Radiant Sphere, Teleport >
--Algrim 70/70

[Zhym]

Ulster eyes the blinky boxes warily, waiting to see if any of them attack. "Now that really isn't natural," he says.

Anyone have a roll of quarters?

[tumblingdice]

Castinus - human thief

What strange magic powers these devices, the thief wonders aloud. Gingerly, he approaches the closest box, the one with the pyramid of squares. He watches in fascination as a tiny round creature with a large snout bounces around the squares, changing their colors, all while avoiding a cascade of descending red balls. He recoils in surprise when the creature collides with a purple snake, then lets forth a string of what he imagines to be obscenities.

No quarters. The machines take only tokens. I think we were supposed to have bought some back in Bissel.

[Zhym]

Just as well. If the arcade has Star Wars we'd never leave.

[greyarea]

[quote="tumblingdice"]Castinus - human thief

What strange magic powers these devices, the thief wonders aloud. Gingerly, he approaches the closest box, the one with the pyramid of squares. He watches in fascination as a tiny round creature with a large snout bounces around the squares, changing their colors, all while avoiding a cascade of descending red balls. He recoils in surprise when the creature collides with a purple snake, then lets forth a string of what he imagines to be obscenities.
/quote]

read languages 80% [1d100] = 37
He peers more closely and discovers that it isn't obscenities but merely an older, cruder form of Orcish.

[GreyWolfVT]

An orcade?

Algrim "What by Moradin's hairy arse is this damned place?"

[spanningtree]

Dieter - Mage

Dieter does a detect magic with his eye.

Gads, never seen the like... incredible. After watching some of the whatever they ares for a bit he will search the room the best he can w/o toughing anything.

[merias]

Dandy scratches his head, transfixed by a repeating display of a knight on a flying ostrich trying to ram other flying ostriches, who then turn into eggs.

"I never seen such a place as this," Dandy says, pointing at the display. "I'm not sure I'd like ta visit, neither."

[greyarea]

Dieter's eye detects no magic.

The DM chuckles at excellent references.

[badams30]

Grimes - Fighter

Grimes stays toward the door, gazing at these odd devices with a suspicious eye. He says quietly "Dieter, what manner of sorcery is this?" He shakes his head, never taking his eyes off the strange machines. "Let's keep moving, men... we are on a tight schedule, eh?"

[tumblingdice]

Castinus - human thief

Castinus continues to stare, eyes transfixed, at the drama playing out on the screen in front of him. He is especially intrigued by two additional purple antagonists, who appear to be moving from wall to wall, instead of platform to platform.

Ugh! They're going the wrong way.

The thief eventually realizes that he's watching the same sequence over and over again, and loses interest. He'll wander over to the door in the northwest corner, and see what can be seen.

[spanningtree]

Dieter - Mage

Frowning a bit in response to Grimes: A bit strange but I detect no magic here. I would have thought differently. Perhaps this is a kind of magic I cannot detect. Let's check another room.

[GreyWolfVT]

Algrim backing out of the room eyeing the odd boxes then turning to look away from them the dwarf says "Magic er not lets leave this strange room and keep movin' yeah?"

[greyarea]

Castinus checks the door in the far side. It too has no slot but only the glass square, which opens the door when the thief touches it.



Within there are some metal cabinets which, when opened contain only bits of metal wire encased in a colored substance, some small metal spiky objects that look like nails but are not, various straight bits of metal with designed cut into the ends that don't have the strange amber-like handles, and other bits of a similar nature. Neither Castinus nor the rest can make heads or tails of the equipment.

Actions?

Hit points and marching order
Grimes 69/69
--Dandy 40/40 < Cure Light Wounds x7,Bless, Hold Personx2, Find Traps, Augury, Silence 15'r,Glyph of Warding, Remove Curse, Dispel Magic, Speak With the Dead,Protection from Evil 10' radius, Cure serious woundsx3,Raise dead,plane shift >
Castinus 39/39
--Furuk 78/78
Ulster 62/62 < Animal Companion, Entangle x2, Faerie Fire, Pass Without Trace, Speak with Animals x2, Barkskin, Charm Person or Mammal, Cure Light Wounds, Heat Metal, Obscuring Mist, Stumble, Warp Wood, Call Lightning, Hold Animal, Insect Swarm, Plant Growth, Stone Shape, Protection from Electricity, Repel Vermin, Speak with Plants, Summon Animal I, Animal Growth, Summon Animal II, Wall of Fire, Conjure Fire Elemental, Control Weather, Transmute Metal to Wood >
Dieter 42/42 < Magic Missile x 2, Otiluke's Smoky Sphere, Sleep, Auditory Illusion, Continual Light, Flaming Sphere, Stinking Cloud , Fireball, Monster Summoning I, Slow, Charm Monster, Evard's Black Tentacles, Rary's Mnemonic Enhancer, Monster Summoning III , Otiluke's Radiant Sphere, Teleport >
--Algrim 70/70

[GreyWolfVT]

Algrim "Ah workshop with tools I guess." the dwarf comments with a shrug and look of confusion.

[spanningtree]

Dieter - Mage

Dieter will perform a search of the room.

[greyarea]

Dieter finds nothing of interest searching the room, discounting the colored boxes with their glowing glass, of course.

Some of the colored boxes have sticks (occasionally with little balls at the end, occasionally with red buttons) and rows of buttons underneath the glowing glass. Touching the sticks and buttons has no effect, except to replay the scene on the glass. There are slots that might accept a dirk or other slim object on all boxes, it seems.

Two boxes have apparatus connected via a grey rope-like thing to the colored boxes. It's glowing glass depicts an humanoid looking at you in the middle of a street of an odd town in a desert, it seems. The humanoid appears to be clutching a wand-like device as if ready to pull it out and cast a spell with it.

A few boxes you appear to be able to sit down in, as the glowing glass is within the box, which is partly open. The buttons and fiddley bits there are numerous and mystifying.

More than a few boxes are inoperable: the sides broken into and contents removed, it appears. Dieter has to be careful to avoid broken glass in these parts. These boxes do not appear to have the glowing glass bits, as if they are of different make entirely. A few have what appear to be dangling claws, some have wheels (broken) with paintings of fruit and other images on them that seem to have fit within the boxes in some way. One looks like it was once a miniature gladiator arena with little statues of humanoids on rods, although no telling how it worked -- the parts are dissembled and it appears that major bits are broken or missing.

Actions?

Hit points and marching order
Grimes 69/69
--Dandy 40/40 < Cure Light Wounds x7,Bless, Hold Personx2, Find Traps, Augury, Silence 15'r,Glyph of Warding, Remove Curse, Dispel Magic, Speak With the Dead,Protection from Evil 10' radius, Cure serious woundsx3,Raise dead,plane shift >
Castinus 39/39
--Furuk 78/78
Ulster 62/62 < Animal Companion, Entangle x2, Faerie Fire, Pass Without Trace, Speak with Animals x2, Barkskin, Charm Person or Mammal, Cure Light Wounds, Heat Metal, Obscuring Mist, Stumble, Warp Wood, Call Lightning, Hold Animal, Insect Swarm, Plant Growth, Stone Shape, Protection from Electricity, Repel Vermin, Speak with Plants, Summon Animal I, Animal Growth, Summon Animal II, Wall of Fire, Conjure Fire Elemental, Control Weather, Transmute Metal to Wood >
Dieter 42/42 < Magic Missile x 2, Otiluke's Smoky Sphere, Sleep, Auditory Illusion, Continual Light, Flaming Sphere, Stinking Cloud , Fireball, Monster Summoning I, Slow, Charm Monster, Evard's Black Tentacles, Rary's Mnemonic Enhancer, Monster Summoning III , Otiluke's Radiant Sphere, Teleport >
--Algrim 70/70