Chapter 5: Subterrane of the Cyborgs

[Starbeard]

Jeojand

"Most splendid! Tell me, cyborgian friend: who has constructed you? Are you the products of the mechanical trashbins from above, or someone else?"

[ChubbyPixie]

Fiefo, for the second time today, feels that life may not be just a slogging trudge through the muck until the sweet release of death. Maybe he and Jeojand could be friends? Best friends? The whole cat/rat thing makes it seem improbable, but today has been full of surprises...

Proceeding carefully, he will exmine the bones for any kind of booby-trap style trickery before attempting to uncover and dislodge the source of the golden scintillation.

[Urson]

Maskelyn

The gnome half- listens to the discussion between the mage and the techno-zombie. He prods and pokes at one of the pods.

I wonder, he says to no-one in particular, If these can be pushed around to block the openings, so we can have a barricade between us and whatever may be out there while we sleep?

[Inferno]

Beneath the Dead Wizard's Skyscraper
Forbidden Island of Xygax the Wizard, Land of One Thousand Towers
Day Three. Midday, March 27th, 912 CY




Deep beneath the dead wizard's skyscraper, Chaka steps on the floor just east of the pitfall and its trap door opens again, revealing only darkness below. The curious young ape-boy ties a rope around his waist, and Tullia lowers him down, through the open pit, and into a large white room, unlit except for Chaka's flickering torchlight. (Room 17)

Directly beneath him is an open-topped, corroded metal cage hanging 20 feet above the floor by chains from the ceiling. Anyone falling through the trap door would plummet 25 feet down before crashing into that cage! Other than the cage, this chamber holds only two doors.

Meanwhile, after the eerie beings of flesh and iron are massacred in their sorcerous sleep, Maskelyn tests the giant eggs of the sacred fonts and finds them completely immovable.

Garamond transmits a binary information packet to the clockwork corpse: "Do you have a repair facility for use, once you have collected spare parts?"



"...No... We... repair...selves..." Garamond's fellow cyborg moans.

Fiefo detects no dangers among the pile of human bones. He gingerly picks through them finding golden coins scattered among the bones, minted by a nation he does not recognize.

Jeojand's bewitched friend sees this and groans in an eerie approximation of human speech: "...we could not be bothered... separating useless, soft metal... from the valuable bones..."

Jeojand says, "Most splendid! Tell me, cyborgian friend: who has constructed you? Are you the products of the mechanical trashbins from above, or someone else?"

"...Xygax..." the patchwork thing croaks in its distant, inhuman monotone. "...Xygax created us... Xygax created all..."



This is not the first time the adventurers have heard rumors of Xygax, nor the dead wizard's name uttered within this skyscraper.


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 10 feet. X = Dead.





PC Status:

• Chaka: Ape-Boy Thief 3: Move: 12"(6"), AC: 6, HP: 3/17
  Fiefo LeBratt: Rat-Man Fighter 2: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 13/20
  Garamond Antiqua: Cyborg 2: Move: 12", AC: 8, HP: 11/20
  Jeojand: Cat-Man Magic-User 2: Move: 6", AC: 7, HP: 2/10, Spells: 0/2 1st lvl
  Ko-Nan: Human Barbarian 2: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 5/32
  L.L. Adrock: Half-Elf Cleric/Magic-User 2/1: Move: 9", AC: 2, HP: 7/8, Spells: 0/5 1st lvl
  Maskelyn: Gnome Illusionist 2: Move: 9", AC: 8, HP: 7/10, Spells: 0/2 1st lvl
  Tullia Galena: Half-Elf Ranger 2: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 16/24

PC Magic:

• Friends (Jeojand): Duration: 1 round

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]

Tell me this do you know the whereabouts of the legendary Dur-a-Kel battery.

[ChubbyPixie]

Unable to resist a shiny thing, Fiefo collects the coins from amongst the bones. Maybe Jeojand would like some of these, he thinks absently to himself. Afterwards, he will poke around the walls and corners of the room, looking for any other items of interest.

[SpinwardMarch]

Tullia

Chaka, is there anything interesting down there? Getting the report back of the room's (lack) of contents, she decides that investigating it now is not worth getting separated from the rest of the party. I'm going to haul you back up, and we will figure out how to get back to the other room.

[ravenn4544]

Ko-Nan glares at the conversation occurring, "Why do you let this aberration live? Destroy it before it destroys us!!"

[OGRE MAGE]

Chaka calls back up to Tullia.

“Yes! Pull Chaka up now! Chaka not like being down in big room all alone!”

At the top of the trapdoor, and with the rope still tied around him, Chaka climbs across the walls, back to the west end of the opening, and up into the hallway on that side.

He squats there and nonchalantly motions for the ranger to jump the distance and follow him back to the others.

[Urson]

Maskelyn
The Gnome continues half-listening to the interrogation. He opens an untouched Egg, and studies the inside,keeping his hands behind his back. Is there any indication that the green goop ever overflows the "font"? Any sort of a high-water line on the walls? He's still looking for a location that can be secured, so people can rest.

[SpinwardMarch]

Tullia

She looks at the trap door opening, to judge whether she can make the jump. She will tie the rope around her waist, and hopes for the best. Here I go, Chaka. After backing up a little, she will run, and attempt to jump over the trap door.


I assume there will be some kind of a roll for this.

[Inferno]

Beneath the Dead Wizard's Skyscraper
Forbidden Island of Xygax the Wizard, Land of One Thousand Towers
Day Three. Midday, March 27th, 912 CY





Tullia the halfelven ranger hauls Chaka up through the trap door and the young ape-boy scrambles to safety on its western side.

Meanwhile, at the site of the cyborg slaughter, Adrock asks its last survivor: "Tell me this. Do you know the whereabouts of the legendary Dur-a-Kel battery?"



The half-human horror groans "...No..."

Ko-Nan the barbarian fumes, "Why do you let this aberration live? Destroy it before it destroys us!!"

Fiefo finds over a hundred ignored golden coins amongst the treasured human remains. Maskelyn examines the contents of a holy font and finds no green water line within the sacred bowl.

Jeojand asks the thing of skin and steel: "You say Xygax is your creator? And just what do you believe Xygax to be?"

The half-human creature groans: "...Xygax is... the God of All... He is... The Dungeon Master."

Then suddenly... BOOM!

A deafening sound comes from the octagonal chamber!

The adventurers recognize it immediately! It is the sound of the gigantic inverted iron pyramid crashing back into place atop the spiral stairs!






Then the doors to the octagonal room slide shut and the tiny sparks of light in their doorframes change from green to red.


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 10 feet. X = Dead.
Lit areas are visible. All else is from memory.





PC Status:

• Chaka: Ape-Boy Thief 3: Move: 12"(6"), AC: 6, HP: 3/17
  Fiefo LeBratt: Rat-Man Fighter 2: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 13/20
  Garamond Antiqua: Cyborg 2: Move: 12", AC: 8, HP: 11/20
  Jeojand: Cat-Man Magic-User 2: Move: 6", AC: 7, HP: 2/10, Spells: 0/2 1st lvl
  Ko-Nan: Human Barbarian 2: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 5/32
  L.L. Adrock: Half-Elf Cleric/Magic-User 2/1: Move: 9", AC: 2, HP: 7/8, Spells: 0/5 1st lvl
  Maskelyn: Gnome Illusionist 2: Move: 9", AC: 8, HP: 7/10, Spells: 0/2 1st lvl
  Tullia Galena: Half-Elf Ranger 2: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 16/24

PC Magic:

• None currently.

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)

[ChubbyPixie]

Fiefo hurriedly gathers up the coins and stuffs them in his bag.

[SpinwardMarch]

Tullia

Upon seeing the door close, Well, s**t. Now how do we get back to the others? She starts looking closely at the corridor that Chaka and she are now stuck in.

[Urson]

Maskelyn

Uh-oh... dis don't look good, Doc. Maskelyn leaves the egg and heads for the door- searching for pressure plates or writing on the doorframe.

[OGRE MAGE]

Chaka jumps from the booming noise, staring back at Tullia with wide eyes.

"Chaka check door. Maybe it still open."

The ape-boy makes his way to the closed door to see if walking up close to it will slide it open again.

If it doesn't, he rejoins the ranger at the pit and looks back down inside to see if anything in there has changed as well.

[wolfpack]

LL looks an konan

Go ahead and finish it off, we have more important matters now

[ravenn4544]

Ko-Nan smashes the remaining magic infested robot creature.

Attack: THACO (20): [1d20+1] = 2+1 = 3 / Damage: (S/M: [2d4+1] = 6+1 = 7 / L: [3d4+1] = 9+1 = 10)

[Inferno]

Beneath the Dead Wizard's Skyscraper
Forbidden Island of Xygax the Wizard, Land of One Thousand Towers
Day Three. Midday, March 27th, 912 CY







"...Xygax is... the God of All...
"He is... The Dungeon Master." the unnerving patchwork creature groans.

Nearby, Fiefo pockets coins found among the pile of human bones. He notes each is newly minted, and engraved with only three words in the common tongue of the Land of One Thousand Towers:
"one gold piece"

Maskelyn walks through pools of blood, oil and coolant fluid and examines the newly shut white door. Unknown to the rodent-like gnome, Chaka also investigates a different, identical, newly-shut door. Neither adventurer finds a way to open them.



Chaka lopes back toward Tullia and peers down into the unlit chamber beneath the trapdoor. He sees only darkness. The trapdoor begins to close again. Tullia searches the empty corridor but nothing is discovered.

Adrock tells Ko-Nan to kill the last surviving machine organism. Only too happy to comply, the barbarian swings his great axe but the hybrid horror evades its deadly arc.

Then Jeojand's beguiling enchantment fades. Fiefo and Ko-Nan feel less enamored of him, and Adrock and Maskelyn less irritated by him.

Suddenly, the macabre thing of flesh and iron undergoes a dramatic change of aspect. Then it intones, "...fresh parts..."
Perhaps recognizing what has happened, it slashes at Jeojand with its sharpened shard of steel, missing the feline by a whisker.


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 10 feet. X = Dead. Lit areas are visible. All else is from memory.


Non-required Reading (rolls and rulings):

C8 attacks Ko-Nan? (1), Jeojand? (2), Adrock? (3): [1d3] = 2. To hit: [1d20] = 6, damage: [1d6+1] = 2+1 = 3 Attacks Jeojand and misses.

PC Status:

• Chaka: Ape-Boy Thief 3: Move: 12"(6"), AC: 6, HP: 3/17
  Fiefo LeBratt: Rat-Man Fighter 2: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 13/20
  Garamond Antiqua: Cyborg 2: Move: 12", AC: 8, HP: 11/20
  Jeojand: Cat-Man Magic-User 2: Move: 6", AC: 7, HP: 2/10, Spells: 0/2 1st lvl
  Ko-Nan: Human Barbarian 2: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 5/32
  L.L. Adrock: Half-Elf Cleric/Magic-User 2/1: Move: 9", AC: 2, HP: 7/8, Spells: 0/5 1st lvl
  Maskelyn: Gnome Illusionist 2: Move: 9", AC: 8, HP: 7/10, Spells: 0/2 1st lvl
  Tullia Galena: Half-Elf Ranger 2: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 16/24

PC Magic:

• None currently.

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)

[ravenn4544]

Ko-Nan attacks with a howl. "Witness!!! You can't trust cowardly magic!!"

Attack: THACO (20): [1d20+1] = 18+1 = 19 / Damage: (S/M: [2d4+1] = 6+1 = 7 / L: [3d4+1] = 9+1 = 10)