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

[ChubbyPixie]

Fiefo will approach the set of doors immediately to the party's left. Leaning on his fork, he eyes them up and down for any indication of how they might open or where they might lead.

"They should put pictures on these things so you know what's inside," he says squinting suspiciously.

[Yrkoon]

Hans the Shrewd

Hans thanks Ko-Nan profusely for the comestibles.

He waddles over to the first door on the left and listens.



Hear noise: 15%
Some DMs prefer rolling listening checks themselves.

[Scott308]

Jack

The cleric will approach the door at the far end of the room, listening for any noises beyond.

[Inferno]

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








Ko-Nan warily watches the surviving gigantic denizens of the iron-bound jungle as he, Moniqua and Tullia stand guard.

The rest of the adventurers fan out, searching the vast chamber of the gods.

Fiefo and Hans approach the first portal on the left and, all of a sudden, it opens by itself! Each door slides directly into its adjacent wall! Beyond lies a lit, curving corridor of more doors.



Adrock finds all the tables empty.

Jack listens at the furthest door and his keen wolf ears hear nothing.

Maskelyn searches counter-clockwise and suddenly, a door in his immediate proximity swooshes open to reveal a strange, lit chamber!



Within, a table of diadems and God's Eyes faces a low platform whose floor and ceiling are patterned with circles. Set into its far wall are two more shut doors.

The explorers of the astonishing, inexplicable realm report their discoveries to their fellow adventurers.


Actions?!


Map Detail:



Map:

Lighter areas were visible this round. All else is from memory. X = dead.





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: 17/25, 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: 3/5 1st lvl, Light spell
  Maskelyn: Gnome Illusionist 3: Move: 9", AC: 7, HP: 8/14, Spells: 1/2 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: 27 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]

Adrock excitably heads over to the table with the gods eyes and pattern circles.

Most obviously a puzzle of the gods, left by the Kirk for those who are worthy to solve.

He studies the instruments trying to decipher a pattern and then attempts to solve it.

[SpinwardMarch]

Tullia

Observing the magically opening doors, she remarks, "Be careful of the doors. They seem to sense us when we get near them."

She is going to scan the room just as she would a forest (or that damned wizard's tower). If this were a castle, this might be a sitting room for the nobles. So far, this space seems devoid of inhabitants; this is a good thing. Then she will move to the outer wall near the two closest tables to have a defensible position. With everyone else poking around, someone needs to be guarding their backs. After watching this for a while, she gets annoyed with the inefficiency of the search.

Hey, folks, we need to be more organized in searching this... building. Randomly opening doors is going to get you killed. Let's make a plan. She waves the group over near the tables. We have enough people to create two search parties within this room, one on the outer wall and one on the inner wall. Pay attention to what you see, but don't go messing around. Just look and then together we can figure out where to go from there. And watch those doors.

[Urson]

Maskelyn
Maskelyn sees the Gods Eyes in this new room, and is ready to investigate- then he is struck by an idea
He heads back into the Jungle Room, collecting any of the small tile/block things still on the table. Once he has these, he'll join Tullia.

[Yrkoon]

Hans the Shrewd

Hans marvels at the kaleidoscopic passageway before him. Its psychedelic, vibrant splashes of colour are nothing like the drab palette of the warrens of his clan. He observes the effect of the prismatic lights on his newly-chic ivory armour and ruminates on how it accents its contours, markedly improving its allure.

"The look in 913 this'll be!"

He barely hears Tullia's barked warning as he turns his hands over, contemplating their newly vibrant glaze.

[Captain Kinkajou]

Moniqua

Impassively, Moniqua remains where she is, watching as Maskelyn, Adrock and Jack excitedly run around poking into various things. Continuing to scan the area for danger, and at the ready to protect, she approves when < FRIEND=TULLIA > endeavours to instill some order to the chaos.

< SCANNING. NO IMMEDIATE THREATS DETECTED. CAUTION ADVISED. COMBAT SYSTEMS READY TO ENGAGE. >

[Scott308]

Jack

Well, not all the doors open when you get close to them, says the Cub Scout, gesturing to the one in front of him. But it's a good idea to have a little more focus and caution as we explore this strange place. He heads over to Tullia.

[ravenn4544]

Ko-Nan remains on watch - leery to dabble in the inner workings of another wizard's castle such as this.

[Inferno]

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






The explorers of the astonishing citadel-ship of the gods make strange new discoveries.

Adrock eagerly descends upon the new God's Eye table. The learned historian-priest begins working to solve its mystifying puzzle.

Hans the Shrewd stands motionless and the doors swoosh shut before him.

Maskelyn collects the three square blocks near the God's Eye where the angelic vision of St. James Kirk Douglas spoke to them. The rodent-like gnome cannot identify what the blocks are made of. He joins Jack at Tullia's defensive position while Fiefo, Ko-Nan and Moniqua stand guard.


Actions?!


Map Detail:

Lighter areas are visible. All else is from memory. X = dead.

Map:



Behind the DM Screen:

Adrock works on puzzle for 1 minute:
[1d10] = 7

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: 17/25, 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: 3/5 1st lvl, Light spell
  Maskelyn: Gnome Illusionist 3: Move: 9", AC: 7, HP: 8/14, Spells: 1/2 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: 27 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)

[ChubbyPixie]

Fiefo gets bored, wanders over to the puzzle room and steps inside.

"What's it do?" he asks, looking to the circles. It's hard to tell if he really cares or not. He's maybe a little less mopey than usual?

[wolfpack]

I think I know how to solve the puzzle. You must move the 3 squares in a specific order to a specific height.

Adrock reaches into his pack and pulls out the steel box and removes the black sphere of Tee Em Zee

Oh great and powerful Tee Em Zee

8ball.jpg (28.45 KiB) Viewed 949 times

With that he puts the sphere away and begins to push up the 3 red levers

[Urson]

Maskelyn
Maskelyn tucks the blocks into his pocket, unsure what to do with them now. He searches the area with the tables, going so far as to move the furniture, in case something valuable was lost underneath.

[Yrkoon]

Hans the Shrewd

Hans scurries back to the safety of the group. He catches sight of the raised platform in the 'puzzle room' and admires its clean lines and shining discs.

"A stage for a demigoddess!" he squeaks, gesturing for Moniqua to take her place there.

[ravenn4544]

Ko-nan watches and waits for the inevitable fatal trap to be strung by the wizard that must inhabit this fell place.

[Scott308]

Jack

Joining those investigating this new puzzle room, Jack walks over to the platform. Looking at the circles on the floor, he will look up to the ceiling directly above the circles. If everything looks solid and sturdy, with no apparent threat of anything falling from the ceiling, he will step onto one of the circles.

[SpinwardMarch]

Tullia

She is continuing to stand guard, listening for anything out of the ordinary (monsters, etc.). She has noticed Jack going back towards the "puzzle room" and hopes he doesn't do anything stupid.

Good grief, so everyone is going to wander off again, without forming a search plan or deciding where we are going? (She is a Ranger, after all.)

She fears this place will be a repeat of the wizard's tower disaster. Oh, dear.

[Captain Kinkajou]

Moniqua

From her position out in the corridor, Moniqua does not like the look of the technology in the "Puzzle room". She searches her memory banks for possible matches.

< IMAGE RECOGNITION ENABLED. SEARCHING... >

< POSSIBLE MATCHES FOUND ...

• SHOWER=A CUBICLE THAT SPRAYS PEOPLE WITH WATER TO WASH THEM.
• MICROWAVE OVEN=A COMPARTMENT INSIDE WHICH ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES COOK FOOD.
• INCINERATOR=AN APPARATUS FOR BURNING WASTE MATERIAL TO ASH.
• DISCO=A CLUB OR PARTY WHERE PEOPLE DANCE.

>

The statuesque robot has little comprehension of what these things are but they all sound highly dangerous and vaguely terrifying. Meddling with them is certainly poorly aligned with their mission objectives.

< MISSION = GET TO SOMEWHERE SAFER FOR ALL OF US >

Moniqua understands < FRIEND=TULLIA's > concern and, while remaining on guard, obediently moves closer to < FRIEND=TULLIA's > position by the tables.

< SCANNING. NO IMMEDIATE THREATS DETECTED. CAUTION ADVISED. COMBAT SYSTEMS READY TO ENGAGE. >

"< FRIEND=TULLIA, THIS SYSTEM IS READY TO RECEIVE INPUT. MY CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT SUGGESTS IT WOILD BE OPTIMAL TO EMPLOY BAYESIAN SEARCH THEORY AND CONSTRUCT A PROBABILITY DENSITY FUNCTION DESCRIBING THE LIKELIHOOD OF FINDING OUR SEARCH OBJECT IN ANY GIVEN LOCATION, HOWEVER MY DATA BANKS ARE CORRUPTED AND I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DO THAT. DO YOU KNOW HOW TO DO THAT? >" she asks innocently.