The adventurers woke up outside the strange metal cave and entered into a short discussion about what to do. Perhaps they could have gone to seek additional help from the nearby Lizardfolk tribes, but their captive Thargdar noted that to go through the mountains would be a half a day's walk. With a minimum day turnaround, the vikings decided to forge ahead immediately and go back into the dungeon.
After clearing through the poisonous gas, they immediately ran into the guard station. Here, several robots were stationed. Two dragonborn worked on a mysterious mechanism in the back of the room. Advance scouts Hermiad and Mendas recognized their labor as the reassembly of one of the crab robots they had met outside! Most likely the robot was too large to just walk into the room, and it was being built here... but was not built yet. The vikings did quick counsel and sprang on the automatic sentries!
Everyone with a ranged attack ran in and nailed the unluckiest Dragonborn technician in the world. Bartix used his Odin's Ball (like a fireball, but lightning damage) to hit the guy and nearly all the other robots, but only did damage to the tech and the walker. Hermaid put two arrows in the dude too. Oddny and Mendas came in to the room too, and got charged by one of the robots.
The combat progressed rather quickly. I used a new type of robot which was basically a Mad Slasher progressed to Level 5. He could attack everyone adjacent to him, and got the chance to hit three vikings once or twice. After that, though, the adventures cleared away, with Oddny keeping the Slasher in place, and Edgar doing the same for the Hammerer.
As soon as they were able to, the Dragonborn threw down their hydro-spanners and ran into the hallway. Hermiad gave chase on his turn and did the Ranger Buzzsaw. This dropped the damaged guy, but the other was stabbed but not killed. He risked an opportunity attack next turn to flee down the hallway. Hermiad let him go reluctantly and returned to fight the robots... who were quickly mopped up.
After a Short Rest, the group set out tracking the escaped dragonborn. There weren't tracks, per say, but Hermiad had stabbed the guy and he was leaking blood. The trail went to the mid-ship blast doors and stopped. The vikings got the code from their captive (the third one, the Dragonborn soldier) and opened the door! Beyond it the blood trail stopped after a few feat... it seemed as though he had been met by someone that had staunched the wound. It was difficult to tell where they had gone on this hard, unyielding metal floor. The vikings looked at their drawn map and decided to go to the Storage Center to Treasure Up!
This smaller circular room measures 30 feet in diameter. A raised metal dais 5 feet high and 15 feet in diameter fills most of the room. On top of the dais are a number of metal crates. Also on the dais are several grimy sacks, which look out of place in comparison to the many clean and shiny boxes.
Nigel looked over Mendas's shoulder, and exclaimed, "My precious sacks! So much more grimy then I remember!" He explained that he had kept his gear during his flight in these containers, and he expected to be much more useful with his Alchemist Wand. The party was a bit hesitant to give arms to an Albion, but Rurik had already given him a crossbow, so why not. They did, however, fail to reunite Nigel with his 2000 gold.
The rest of the boxes were filled with more treasure, mostly force-field type things mounted as collars. Of note were two Displacer collars, which could protect the user by teleporting them a short distance. Remember that, it could be important!
Next the party went next door into the Biogarden, as it looked pretty neat on the map.
As you enter this area, you see something quite unexpected – a forest! You can barely make out the presence of metal walls lining this huge circular chamber, which is completely filled with dark, sinister plants that hang ominously over you. Tall, wild black grass covers the ground you walk upon. A dirt path leads to a murky pond near the center of this dimly lit chamber, and then leads to another door on the other side. A grove of blackened trees surrounds the pond. Bizarre fruits hang from the branches, some dark purple, some orange, and some lavender in color.
The fruit was tentatively fed to the Dragonborn prisoner, who licked his lips and thanked them kindly. The rest of the party followed suit, and found:
The dark purple fruits stay fresh for months, and can be used as trail rations since they spoil so slowly.
The orange fruits provide a temporary one-hour bonus of +1 to Strength when eaten.
The lavender fruits provide a similar temporary +1 bonus to Constitution.
Eating additional fruits does not provide a cumulative effect.
The prisoner explained that the orange and lavender fruits would spoil in a day off the vine. Edgar therefore took 23 for his knapsack. Taking a load off, the party checked out their map and noticed they were near a place called WARDYN. "It's like the brain of the ship, you might think of it as the little god in your head," the prisoner tried to explain. This nearly got him killed for the crime of pretentiousness, but Hermiad staid his own hand. As the prisoner explained, destroying WARDYN would make the operation of the ship impossible, as well as many other higher functions. Also, he complained that WARDYN had been made a bit too user friendly, and would answer questions even from alien primitives. The group decided like it would be worth a look.
They saw a mammoth chamber before them, with the hulking mass of WARDYN in the back. Three sentry towers swept the ground in front of them with light, and platforms around the computer held Dragonborn troopers with rifles. The main door had a lot of ground to cover before reaching the computer, but several other doors on the side could offer easier access.
This rectangular chamber has four sliding doors and measures 70 feet long and 50 feet wide. At the center of the chamber is a huge crystal sphere 20 feet in diameter reaching almost to the ceiling. Murky orange-red gas swirls wildly inside the sphere. Holding the giant sphere stationary is a skeletal framework of metallic supports. This framework springs forth from a metal dais in the floor, which is covered with small flashing lights, switches, buttons, and knobs.
Three slender metal poles are spaced evenly in front of the sphere. Each of the
poles is 10 feet tall and has a great light fixed to its top. These lights sweep the floor, narrowing and widening their focus as they go.
The party hatched their plan:
Hermiad would come out the right-hand door and charge one of the sentry station. It would attack him and allow him to teleport up to the platform.
Edgar would do the same thing on the left-hand door and teleport up to the left platform.
Mendas would also be on the left, sneaking behind the platform and climbing up to help Edgar kill the dragonborn and robots.
Oddny would charge the right-most sentry station.
Bartix would attack the left-most sentry station, lying prone behind one of the computer stations along the wall.
Varin would cast Hunger of Hadar on the center sentry station, maintaining it throughout the battle. This would essentially shut it down... it couldn't move and wouldn't have line of site.
So that's several great moves, and SPOILERS, it pretty much worked. Hermiad and Edgar took down their opposing forces, two Dragonborn and a Hammerer-bot. It cost them, though, they were both low on hit points.
The dragonborn were designed to shoot from a distance, and the platforms didn't give them room to manuever. The hammerers tried to push the vikings off the platform, but could never get it to work. Mendas helped Edgar mop up, but Hermiad did pretty well on his own. At the end of the fight, Hermiad pushed the last remaining Dragonborn off the platform onto Edgar's blade. Well done!
As the last of your enemies falls, the gases inside the giant crystal sphere begin to flicker and swirl even more wildly than before. The lights flickering at the base of the crystal dim, then suddenly brighten, nearly blinding you. Almost impossibly, the crystal begins to speak to you in low, rumbling tones that echo throughout the chamber.
“I am WARDYN,” it says in the Dragonic tongue. “How may I be of service to you?”
We'll pick up from there next game!
CASUALTIES:
1 Walker Robot
3 Hammerer Robots
2 Slasher Robots
1 Dragonborn Recon
4 Dragonborn Specialists
3 Laser Platforms
1 comment:
Hey, are the spiky things talons or horns?
Horns, mostly.
Although there's a few talons scattered in there as well.
LOVE the recaps. (And the great photos, too!) Keep 'em coming.
-Mike Ferguson
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