Chapter 11: The Parallax Reality

[Urson]

Maskelyn
Maskelyn follows, Wait for baby!!

[SilverBen]

Finver flails his arms while tumbling through the wormhole. He tries to catch hold of anything solid to slow his descent, praying there is more water or something else to break his fall before the others coming crushing down upon him from above.

wormhole.jpg (392.42 KiB) Viewed 577 times

[Inferno]

The City of the Sleestaks, Deep Beneath the Forbidden Zone
The Island of Xygax the Wizard, Land of One Thousand Towers
Day Eleven. Morning? April 6th, 912 CY








"Attention. Your wristwatch has malfunctioned. This entryway is temporary and will disappear in 20 seconds. 19. 18..."

The adventurers, Ambrose and the Altrusian elder plunge through the cobalt gate again!

Once more the glowing portal ends in a cave ceiling from which the heroes crash to the cavern floor! (2hp damage to Connak. 4hp damage to everyone else!) The impact renders Connak and Maskelyn unconscious!

Reunited with Finver, they realize they've returned to the same empty cavern that the bracelet brought them to before! (area 21) The cobalt gate disappears and the strange golden bracelet falls from the cave roof to the ground.

By the alien crystalline witchlights, they see the pool that leads to the submerged tunnel, and the City of the Sleestaks.




From the walls still hang the ugly banners.





And through the bizarre spectacle-lenses of true seeing, the banners still take on another appearance entirely.




To the east, the natural tunnel mouth still leads into mysterious darkness!


Actions?!


Map Detail:

One square = 10 feet. Lighter areas are visible. All else is from memory.
PCs are purple. Altrusians are orange. Ambrose is brown.

Map:


Behind the DM Screen:

Falling damage: [1d6]=4

PC Status:

Connak: Cat-Man Fighter/Thief 2/3: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 0/19
Draupadi: Human Cleric 4: Move: 9", AC: 2, HP: 15/34, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl, 4/4 2nd lvl
Fiefo LeBratt: Rat-Man Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 7/26
Finver Karstlander: Dwarven Fighter 3: Move 6", AC: 2(1), HP: 9/31
Ko-Nan: Human Barbarian 3: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 10/39
Maskelyn: Gnome Illusionist 3: Move: 9", AC: 7, HP: -1/14, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
Mungo: Mole-Man Cleric 4: Move: 9", AC: 7, HP: 5/34, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl, 4/4 2nd lvl, Lantern

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)

[jemmus]

Mungo tries to figure out what happens. With one paw he makes something like a flat floor, then into a hole. He puts a claw of the other paw through the hole, as if falling to a lower floor. Then does the same floor and hole gestures, and repeats. The holes put us back in the same place, he announces, rather unhelpfully. Or maybe we went backward in time. The only way to know would be to go back to that shelf and see if we have to battle sand eels again. An interesting experiment, but maybe not very productive.

First things first, before anything else goes crazy and we have some time. He goes to Maskelyn's prone body. By the prophets Verne and Wells, I call forth the good and curative and fixative power of The Professor. He places his paws on the gnome Maskelyn. Then does the same with Connak. He goes back and forth between them, appraising each's condition. I'll save one for an emergency, he announces. It might be a long time before we can rest again. By the way, do you think taking this powered bracelet thing along with us is a good idea? I'm thinking maybe not. Dropping through holes back to here at random times might not be productive. Maybe some Sleestaks randomly dropping here would? If the wondrous gizmo is busted, maybe it could put them into what we call an infinite loop of dropping and busting butt?

Cure Light Wounds.
Maskelyn [1d8]=7
Connak [1d8]=5
Maskelyn [1d8]=7
Connak [1d8]=6

[SilverBen]

Finver arises gingerly, briefly emitting groans of pain from the fall. He immediately notices the Cat-Man and Gnome are motionless, and quickly understands they are in serious condition. He hobbles over to where the gnome lies to assess his injuries and administer any helpful care. He hurries to Connak and repeats his assessment.

He lifts his head and addresses the Altrusian, "Pardon my memory, but I don't recall yer name or where yer from. One thing we know is Altrusians are becomin' scarce 'round here fer some reason and we want ta help. It started when we met an Altrusian named Enath in the city across tha lake. We got the sense he needed our help and was very concerned he would be tha last generation of Altrusians. The Sleestaks locked us up at night but we started ta think they didn't have the best intentions fer us. So, we escaped and we were fleein' past yer prison cell. We knew from first glance we needed ta help ya ta freedom too. But now, two of our friends are on death's door because we're tryin' ta help yer race survive. Do ya know where we are, how ta escape, or how ta find some valuable equipment that'll help our friends survive?"

[Rex]

Draupadi

Draupadi checks herself over. "We can't keep doing that."

[Inferno]

DM:

By Mungo's sacred blessings, Connak and Maskelyn awaken! (+11hp and +14hp respectively)

[ChubbyPixie]

Fiefo sits up, looks around at the familiar cavern and stands up, creakily, straightening his now bent and periodically sparking cybernetic tail. I can't take much more of this, he thinks.

"I can't take much more of this," he says. Then, turning to face east: "I wonder what's over there? Maybe it's a way out of this dump..." He limps over to check out the unexplored passage.

[ravenn4544]

Ko-Nan also will lend first aid where he can to those in dire need. He too investigates the eastern portion of the tunnel to kill what is likely the next thing to try and devour them.

[Urson]

Maskelyn
Maskelyn shakes his head and sits up, then stands to look around at their surroundings.

He looks up. OK, Doc- we get it. You want us here for something. We'll find it- we're not Fudds, you know.

[SilverBen]

Finver leaps up as Maskelyn awakens and begins dancing around in joy! He hurries to Mungo, grasps the Mole-man's cheeks in his palms and kisses each cheek in turn.

[jemmus]

Mungo
The dwarf's bearded face and the mole-man's bristly snout meet in a couple of hairy collisions. Luckily they're around the same height, so it doesn't take much dexterity for Finver to make that happen. Mungo smiles. Ah shucks. Just doing my job, Finver.

He says to the ranty Altrusian, Sir, I would also be interesting in hearing the answer to Mr. Finver's question. And I have a couple of my own: Why are some of the Sleestaks regular Sleestaks, and others like undead things? And what do those "Obey" banners mean? Who's obeying who? Or whom?

Then to the group. That bracelet gizmo saved us from the fight in the showroom. (By the way, we showed those Sleestanks a thing or two, didn't we?) But this dropping through holes to this place is getting annoying. Should we ditch it or take it with us?

[Urson]

Maskelyn
I love having a hole to jump into when we're in deep trouble. Keep it- just remember what it does, and where it leads.

[Rex]

Draupadi

"I agree, we should keep it. It saved us once, it may again."

[jemmus]

Mungo picks it up and sees if he can figure out how to operate it. Or prevent it from malfunctioning again. Alright, I got it. Don't let me forget to ditch it as soon as we get out of Sleestak land. We don't want to drop through a hole into this dump again.

Intelligence 9 [1d20]=1

[SilverBen]

Finver adds, "Ya, just don't mess with it until we're all ready ta jump through again." as he rubs his injuries. Finver hobbles off towards the east a few steps to explore the exit. Is anything perceptible through infravision?

[redwarrior]

connak climbs to his feet, feeling much more alive. I agree, it is better to have an escape hole and just try not to use it.

On vacation for another week, please move forward if I’m the lag.

[Inferno]

The City of the Sleestaks, Deep Beneath the Forbidden Zone
The Island of Xygax the Wizard, Land of One Thousand Towers
Day Eleven. Morning? April 6th, 912 CY








The Altrusian elder answers Finver's queries with sorrow, "Yes, somehow the wise and serene Altrusian race is devolving into the barbaric, degenerate Sleestaks... in one generation.
"Alas, I know not these caverns, nor a way to escape them beyond the manner in which we entered."

Mungo asks, "Why are some of the Sleestaks regular Sleestaks, and others like undead things? And what do those "Obey" banners mean? Who's obeying who? Or whom?"

The elder replies, "You speak of the unseen puppet-masters that have secretly enslaved the Altrusians and the Sleestaks! Their origins are a mystery but these subliminal banners are among their insidious weapons of subjugation."

With his insulated gloves, Mungo carefully retrieves the alien bracelet and, against the advice of his companions, experiments with it! Miraculously, the priest of Verne and Wells is not suddenly consumed by a cobalt portal.

Ko-Nan sees to everyone's injuries (+1hp each)

Then the post-apocalyptic barbarian joins Fiefo and Finver in investigating the eastern tunnel mouth. Unlike last time, what lies beyond is no longer shrouded in darkness! (area 22)

Within a vast cavern looms strange, mysterious engines of a bizarre sorcery that is neither Altrusian nor Sleestak!




Actions?!


Map Detail:

One square = 10 feet. Lighter areas are visible. All else is from memory.
PCs are purple. Altrusians are orange. Ambrose is brown.

Map:






PC Status:

Connak: Cat-Man Fighter/Thief 2/3: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 12/19
Draupadi: Human Cleric 4: Move: 9", AC: 2, HP: 16/34, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl, 4/4 2nd lvl
Fiefo LeBratt: Rat-Man Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 8/26
Finver Karstlander: Dwarven Fighter 3: Move 6", AC: 2(1), HP: 10/31
Ko-Nan: Human Barbarian 3: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 11/39
Maskelyn: Gnome Illusionist 3: Move: 9", AC: 7, HP: 14/14, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
Mungo: Mole-Man Cleric 4: Move: 9", AC: 7, HP: 6/34, Spells: 1/5 1st lvl, 4/4 2nd lvl, Lantern

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)

[Rex]

Draupadi

Draupadi moves over to explore with the others, looking at the machinery.

Has she ever seen anything like it before?

[jemmus]

Thank you for your answer, sir Mungo says to the Altrusian. He joins the others at the entrance to the machine room. Wow! More advanced gadgetry! He approaches the machinery, curious about its functions. But is prudent enough to leave it alone. My theory is that these super gizmos belong to the unseen puppet-masters our orange friend told us of. Perhaps is we destroyed them or disrupted their function, their control over the Altrusians and Sleestaks would end. But then what?
Would the Sleestaks become nice guys? Would Altrusians start having Altrusian babies again? We don't know. Well, I don't know. But I'd guess this nice gadgetry is up to no good.
Destroying it might not do anything, but it probably couldn't hurt.