Chapter 5: Subterrane of the Cyborgs

[SpinwardMarch]

Tullia

I don't want to meet the birds that layed those eggs. She looks at the eggs more closely. The shell seems to have an indentation at the black lines. Maybe these things have doors? Garamond, do you know what these egg things are?

[Urson]

Maskelyn

The gnome gently touches one of the eggs, well away from the oval. Perhaps they are some sort of.... storage? He steps back, hoping he hasn't triggered another trap like the one that smashed Chaka.

Was there any notable sensation from the egg? Vibration, cold, heat, whatever??

[Pulpatoon]

Garamond: "Containers? Could my model-mates be stored in these? Was I in one of these when you found me?"

It scoots along the path to one of the eggs and knocks on it gently with it's pincer grip. "Hello? Biblio-bot?"

[OGRE MAGE]

In his weakened condition, Chaka nervously jumps back from the sliding door, allowing the others to investigate the huge eggs.

He moves to the next door to see if it opens in the same way. If it doesn't, he checks it over as best he can.

"Chaka not like disappearing doors."

[ChubbyPixie]

Fiefo, blushing inexplicably and, due to his fur, inconspicuously, snaps back to reality. He’s flustered. For one moment, the first time in his hard-scrabble life, he was transported outside of his miserable existence. He almost doesn’t know what to do with himself, having just had this vista opened to him. “Is that what literature was like?” he says quietly to no one.

[ravenn4544]

Ko-nan continues to rest until he needs to move.

[wolfpack]

LL approaches one of the eggs and runs his finger along the oval etching.

My assumption is this is some kind of opening, almost like they are sarcophagus

[Starbeard]

Jeojand silently prowls through the path between the eggs and examines the far door, listening for what might be beyond.

[Pulpatoon]

Garamond: "Sarcophagus? Let's see, I think I have a reference indexed away somewhere about sarcophagi...

"'“Her secret cleft was a field of wheat after the harvest, a field neatly furrowed; it was a nest, a pomegranate, an arrowhead, a rune. It was a shadow. It was moss on the smooth white stone of a sarcophagus. There was an orchid within that moss, and there was a drop of dew upon the orchid. It had the breath of moss-beds, of the deep seas, of the abyss, of scrimshaw and blue glass, of cold iron; she had the sex of rain forests, the ibis and the scarab; she had the sex of mirrors and candles, of the hot, careful winds that stroke the veldt, the winds that taste of clay and seed and blood; the winds that dreamed of tawny, lean animals.”'

"Was that helpful? Your feedback ensures that my index is helpful and up-to-date."

[wolfpack]

LL claps his hands

most excellent, it reminds me of a great ballad of the lost era.

I don't want anybody else, when I think about you I touch myself.

[Inferno]

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







Chaka retreats from the strange chamber of enormous eggs and creeps toward the eastern door. It too whooshes open, disappearing into the adjacent wall, revealing a 5' wide hallway that extends straight into darkness.

Adrock and Maskelyn carefully touch two of the giant eggs, finding them smooth, hard, and cool to the touch. Garamond knocks upon one's surface, calling out. There is no reply.

Careful not to let his proximity trigger the northernmost door of the egg chamber, Jeojand pauses and listens. His sharp feline ears hear nothing emanating from beyond it.

Adrock runs his finger along one massive egg's etched line and suddenly, the oval swings open like a doorway!



The egg is hollow! Its interior is illuminated by a small, oval witch light, beneath which resides a glossy white ceremonial font, perhaps for baptisms or other religious sacraments. Within the font is a thick, bright green liquid.

Above and to the right of the font is a silver handle set into the gigantic egg's inner shell. From the ceiling of the egg protrudes a strange silver cylinder, pointing downward.


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 10 feet.





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: 20/20
  Garamond Antiqua: Cyborg 2: Move: 12", AC: 8, HP: 20/20
  Jeojand: Cat-Man Magic-User 2: Move: 6", AC: 7, HP: 2/10, Spells: 2/2 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: 1/5 1st lvl
  Maskelyn: Gnome Illusionist 2: Move: 9", AC: 8, HP: 7/10, Spells: 1/2 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)

[SpinwardMarch]

Tullia

She peers over the group examining the open "egg," and begins to giggle. The top of that bowl looks like something from an outhouse!



Oh, dear, porta-potties! Baptismal fount indeed.

[Pulpatoon]

Garamond: "I feel certain I should have a reference to these, but I can't seem to access it. My index really needs updating."
Garamond methodically opens one egg after another, hoping to jog his memory.

[Urson]

Maskelyn

Once the egg has been opened, and he is sure there's no immediate threat, Maskelyn enters the room. I was afraid there would be some sort of deadly beast or machine inside. I'm glad to see I was wrong.

Inferno: What's that symbol in the lower left hand part of the room? Or is that just leftovers from whatever map you've borrowed?

[ChubbyPixie]

It's close, but Fiefo ultimately decides against dipping his finger in and sampling this new green liquid.

In an effort to resist being overwhelmed by the strange, unfamiliar, weak-in-the-knee feeling roused by the robot skeleton's ongoing recitation, he approaches where Chaka stands in front of the now opened eastern door and peers intently into the darkness to see if his infravision will reveal anything.

[wolfpack]

LL will enter the egg and pull the handle

[ravenn4544]

Ko-nan rests and watches with skeptical eyes the party's exploration of the unusual features of the tower...

[Starbeard]

Jeojand, now curious about these private baptismal sanctuaries, enters the pod and attempts to fiddle with the silver cylinder in the ceiling. Does it move or twist?

[OGRE MAGE]

Chaka takes a few steps inside the newfound hallway, checking for traps as he moves.

He sees Fiefo come up from behind him.

"Chaka wonder if this door close again once we walk through."

[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







Fiefo LaBratt resists the urge to touch the green liquid inside the low font. He joins Chaka at the eastern door and peers into the dark corridor with his rodent eyes, seeing no warmth ahead in the shadows.

Chaka carefully scans the floor beyond the door and finds no hidden traps waiting in the first five feet.

Garamond methodically opens every egg, finding each interior to be identical, right down to the strange emerald holy water.

Relieved, Maskelyn says, "I was afraid there would be some sort of deadly beast or machine inside. I'm glad to see I was wrong."

Meanwhile, Adrock and Jeojand enter the first egg. The curious catman fiddles with the silver pipe in the ceiling and manages to move it only slightly. Adrock pulls the silver handle on the wall and suddenly green liquid, the same color as that in the font, sprays down from the pipe in the ceiling!



The viscous slime coats Jeojand and Adrock! In astonishment they watch it wriggle and writhe, crawling upon their exposed skin! The gelatinous ooze is alive! They feel it changing them! Its very contact is triggering a startling transformation!


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 10 feet.





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: 20/20
  Garamond Antiqua: Cyborg 2: Move: 12", AC: 8, HP: 20/20
  Jeojand: Cat-Man Magic-User 2: Move: 6", AC: 7, HP: 2/10, Spells: 2/2 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: 1/5 1st lvl
  Maskelyn: Gnome Illusionist 2: Move: 9", AC: 8, HP: 7/10, Spells: 1/2 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)