The mood is dark in the town of Torch. The streets are lined with growing piles of garbage, the air carries the smell of filth, and the faces of the people betray an uncertainty for the future of the town and the people's livelihoods now that their namesake has gone out. The ever-popular Foundry Tavern near the town's singular entrance is closed, its proprietor missing, and strange rumors greet you as you move through the streets. [Private to Brokam: "You’ve heard of androids, right? There are a few of them living here in town, but they’re mostly harmless. Right?"][Private to Cain: "Old Mylan Radli’s not really a worshiper of Pharasma—he’s a worshiper of Zyphus, and he’s just biding his time before the graveyard’s full so he can raise up an army of the undead!"][Private to Ix Tlacoatl: "Wonder what happened to that good-looking woman with the purple hair? Doesn’t anyone else find it strange that she showed up a few days before the torch went out, and that no one’s seen her since?"][Private to Rakkar Aleed: "All these weird headaches folks have been having lately? I bet they’re being caused by someone tampering with Crowfeather Palace. I’ve been drinking only rainwater and I’ve not had a headache yet!"][Private to Sesla Lento: "The Technic League’s not pleased with the situation, and I hear the Black Sovereign himself is heading to town in a few weeks to find out what’s been going on down here!"] But what doesn't seem to be mere rumor is that there has been another call for people to delve under Black Hill to solve the mystery of the Extinguished Torch and find the previous expeditions and that anyone brave enough should meet at the Town Hall at midday.

    As midday nears, a few brave souls begin to gather and loiter in the open square in front of the Town Hall--a large granite building with steel supports, a sloped, slate-tiled roof, and a watch tower extending from its northern facing where a single, bored guard keeps an eye on the town's eastern streets. As they arrive, a guard posted outside the hall's large double-doors nods in greeting but bids them to wait in the square while the council holds a private meeting.

Just pausing here for the obligatory character introductions
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:38, Tue 22 June 2021.

Rakkar seemed very much a product of his environment as he moved along the decaying streets.

The Ratfolk was clad in brown robes, loose and airy where they were not held down by the straps of his backpack or the cartridge belt that was slung from shoulder to hip. Even his head was loosely wrapped in an intricately woven headscarf.

One had to look with a purpose to spot the carved grip of the pistol protruding at an angle from within the shifting robes, or the fact that he was wearing armor beneath it all.

In time Rakkar found himself at the swaure itself, and he lingered nearer to the alleyways than the square proper, occasionally glancing up and around at the other arrivals or lightly sniffing the air as he waited.

Having collected what supplies he could for the task ahead, Cain heads for the Town hall to see who else has answered the call. Working with strangers is not something he is looking forward to, but his chances of survival would improve by having someone to hide behind if things get ugly. As they certainly will.

On his way there he keeps his eyes and ears open, and so overhears a rumour of the graveyard keeper being a secret worshipper of Zyphus. He discards it as babbling of fools. A follower of a Grim Harvester that managed to fool the whole town is not likely to be caught by some random idiot. And even if he did, that gossiper would be dead before he could spread the story. And besides, a gravekeeper? That's just too damn obvious a cover.

Arriving at the square, he finds a quite corner while he waits, and as he does, he observes who else was lured here by the notice.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:07, Wed 23 June 2021.

It was rarely intimidating when one was covered in flour.

Ix didn't seem to care, using one hand to dust himself clean of flour. He was taller then some, a finger shy of 6ft. But like the stump of a great tree, where he wasn't tall he was wide. His exposed torso was like hard clay, just as brown-red with a subtle vibrancy. If one were to look close enough, they could also see the fine lines of circuit-esque tattoos.

One can imagine many would look closely; it is an impressive physique, after all.

It was the only skin visible besides his right hand, as the rest of him was covered in one way or another by lamellar armor. A strange design, as far as the perceivable purpose of armor went. His lower half still held the trappings of hide pants with fringes, and a hand axe hanging from his waist was pristine and clean. Notably, a few chips adorned the edge. His hair was as black as river stones, two long temple-anchored braids trailing down his chest, long feathers sprouting from the back. For an android to echo so much of a more...*ahem*...rural way of living was certainly a statement. There was no shame in the man's eyes for doing so.

At least, one would think so, since there was no face to be seen.

The mask that covered Ix's face was leather, made of burned maple brown and smoky black. The filigree burnt in were bold and tribal. The eye holes designed sharp enough to cut through common sense, because it certainly seemed out of place. It was even more so to those who hadn't seen the buff baker before.

Funnily enough, that wasn't even the strangest thing about his appearance.

Both of his arms were tightly wrapped completely in gray linens. The right arm had the bulges that came with bouldery muscles, and the other was...less so. There were gaps in the elbow, a sort of edged design where his palm was. There was still flour there too, which Ix - having walked a notable distance from the bakery he was freelancing at - finally managed to clap off.

One could expect that temporary employment as a baker's assistant wasn't the most promising path to prestige or payment, but Ix found the work noble on a spiritual level. The way one weighted the flour, measured the yeast, worked the dough to release its chains of glutens; all of this was reassuringly analytical. Less art. More science. It provided just enough for him to sleep in the woods and eat a hot meal. Close enough to the nature he called his home, close enough to survive now that his Mapa was no longer with him.

He was well adapted to them wandering off, up to a couple months at a time, foraging and gathering and finder new materials for him to work with. It'd been nearly a year. Ix was becoming...lonely.

A fresh start, he mentally mused, full well knowing that there was no such thing. The statement itself was misused for the unchanging paths of fate that others found themselves in. It seemed the city was beginning to get to him. The smell already had.

Trash and filth were nothing like the natural rawness of droppings and mold. It was artificial, produced, served no purpose lined up in the streets as supposed to the life-offering growth of fecal fungus. Ix always believed the city's food culture would have been best served with more herbs, less meat. His theory seemed to hold up for now.

He made his way to the center of the square, juuust off from the center, and stood with arms folded. He turned about to look, completely unaware of how eye contact worked and didn't as he scanned the crowd. There was a man there in the square already, and from what he could glance, they had fur on their face.

How unusual thought the android.

He let his gaze linger a little too long before moving on.

He heard those observers talking earlier; the half-elf in the corner certainly didn't have purple hair, so there missing person was still missing as far as he could see. Perhaps it would be another issue addressed by the council.

He brushed off another patch of flour from his arm, the "better" one. There was no vanity in such a task; only the idea that everything had its place.

Like his was in the square.

Brokam arrived at the Hall perhaps five minutes before noon, having been fortunate enough to quickly find someone willing to point a traveler in the right direction. A quick word with the door guard, and he leaned against the side of the building, waiting for the meeting to end. He occupied himself in the meantime by double checking the vials on his bandoleers, and reading from a thick book of alchemical formulae, written dwarven script.

Sesla moved through the streets with a torch made from motes of starlight. The woman was dressed in furs and hides which spoke to the seasoned adventurer of their untested newness.


"Greetings all" she offered with a slight bow of her head as she looked over the impressive personages of those assembled.

Before long the Town Hall's double doors open and a little over a dozen people pour out. While most of these people are guards in leather armor and with a short sword on their hips, denoted by a simple patch depicting a purple flame stitched on their breasts, others are simple laborers with filthy clothes and hands and two in particular stand out: a middle-aged woman with raven black hair and fresh purple robes over a green tunic or dress and simple but likely expensive jewelry and an elderly man in a heavy, chainmail tunic under a thick leather apron brimming and weighed down with various tools stuffed in many pockets and through many loops and with a miniature, porcelain-and-brass clockwork mask hanging at his hip.[Private to Cain: You recognize these two as councilors Bazlundi Otterbie and Joram Kyte.] The distinguished pair give the gathered brave souls a quick appraisal, the woman with a bit more judgement in her eyes, before splitting up, each with a contingent of men, the woman down the western road and the man down the northern.

As the mixed party passes and departs, the guard at the doorway nods to a few of his fellow guardsmen and then turns to the brave souls and asks for, "Just a moment, please," before heading into the building. And, as promised, only a moment later he emerges and nods to the bunch, announcing, "The ... council will see you now." A bit of amusement crosses the guard's face as he gestures within and as those gathered enter they soon see why. After passing by a steel door to the left with a barred window revealing a few guards eating around a small table, they enter a fairly large room with a raised dais on the far end upon which sits a long and somewhat rounded table with fives seats facing the rest of the room which contains a number of scattered chairs. Sitting at the center of the five chairs, flanked by a stepping stool on one side of the chair and an impressive warhammer resting on it's head on the other is a stout, elderly, dwarven woman wearing a fine, blue robe a bit faded with age over simple grey tunic and pants and scratching away at a parchment with a thick quill and a look of intense focus on her eyes. There seems to be no one else on this council.

As the brave souls enter the room the dwarven woman sets the quill to the side, near its inkwell, and smiles warmly at the new arrivals. She gestures for them to come nearer and greets them simply in her wizened but strong voice, "Hello! I am Councilor Dolga Freddert; are you the volunteers looking to help us find our missing councilor?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:26, Thu 24 June 2021.

Brokam didn't recognize the older couple who exited the building, but nonetheless nodded politely to them as he closed his book and secured it once more on the lariat on his belt before following the small crowd of others into the town hall.

"I am here about the bulletin, yes," he said as he approached the table and bowed his head as a sign of respect. "I am Brokam, alchemist and healer. I believe my talents would be of use down below."

"That is so council Freddert, so much has been whispered by the stars." Sesla said as she pointed up sharply. Sesla's hide armor had merely a single patch which showed its newness and her shield, which she was unaccustomed to wielding, found its way immediately to the ground, prompted up against her leg as she continued to speak.

"Would there be any reconnaissance or rumor as to what is going on down there?" The woman ventured to ask the dwarf.

Cain is glad someone else is taking the initiative in asking questions. He is wondering why haven't the guards already dealt with whatever the problem was, and concludes that whatever it was, it must be very dangerous indeed if the council would rather throw volunteers at it than risk guardsmen. But for now he waits at the rear of the group to hear what the councilwoman has to say.

"Greetings Councilor" the Ratfolk bowed reflexively at the waist, just a little, before he continued.

"I am Rakkar Aleed, and yes, I have heard about this task. I am interested, like these other worthy souls, to recover your missing compatriot..." His voice was typical for his kind, accented, and he loosened the folds of his head covering as he spoke to reveal more if his face.

"But the notice left much unsaid. What are you offering in return?" he asked with the air of someone who might just walk away if the reward was not sufficient.

After a skeptical look at the ratfolk, the dwarven councilor picks up her quill again, dips it in ink, and begins to scribble on the parchment as she speaks aloud, "Misters Aleed and Brokam ... and company." She sets down the quill again and answers the rodent's question first, "Aye, we've had to work quickly while pressed with other new matters, but we've pulled together 4,000 gold pieces to offer the ones who can recover Councilor Baine. If he's still alive when you bring him back we'll also give you the Scroll of Resurrection we obtained for him." She then turns to the girl to answer her question, "Four teams in all have gone into the caves and only one has returned to report--Khonnir's first. Khonnir spoke at length with the council before going back in, and he confirmed what his group told us, despite how outlandish it sounded. The caves are inhabited by several enormous vermin and other scavengers, along with some strange humanoids who had the ability to blend into the shadows of the cave walls, and a nest of gremlins. Khonnir believed this indicated a deeper connection in the caves to the Darklands, but of more immediate interest was his discovery of a wall of solid metal deep in the caves. A wall made of a skymetal alloy called glaucite. He said it was like the kind we mine from the hills and surrounding plains, but formed into a structure with doors. It was near one of these doors that Khonnir found the broken, metal man that he brought back after his first expedition.”
This message was last updated by the player at 02:39, Sat 26 June 2021.

Brokam nodded along thoughtfully, his eyes widening, not in greed but in undisguised surprise when the reward was laid before them. Such a powerful object procured for the sake of one man, he must be dearly loved by his people indeed.

Of course, such a reward was secondary to him, of greater concern was the missing man himself, and the creatures that dwelled below. He scratched his chin, wracking his brains for a clue as to what creatures the Councillor Freddert was referring to.

"I am willing to go down below in search, regardless of reward, but do you have any more details on the creatures below? Perhaps a more detailed description?" he asked almost absently, still deep in thought.

ooc: 21:50, Today: Brokam rolled 28 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 20.  K. Nature(try and identify the creatures being described).

Ix listened to the introductions as he came into the room, looking to match faces to voices. The councilors themselves seemed to have more room to talk than they did, but the questions asked were appropriate. The ratfolk of reward (so it is a ratfolk), the "star-speaker" of the situation (Oh, they have a shield too).

He hadn't gotten a chance to introduce himself to the councilors left. So he would have to wait his turn.

He listened with intense curiosity; had Mapa gone to find them? They'd been rather fond of Baine, but were they fool enough to descend the depths to find him? It was unfortunate that the answer was so undefinable. Mapa had been prone to their flights of instinct.

As the councilor spoke, Ix remained unmoving. Too unmoving. His arms were crossed, and he stood just ahead of the silver-haired lad. It wasn't lost on him how they too didn't speak

"...broken, metal man..."

Now those were the words that rang out most to Ix. Broken? Metal? Man? None of those words, as much as he may have been called them, belonged together. It didn't sound natural. It didn't sound like it belonged. But there it was again, that warm sense he labeled the "whiskey" from the way it coursed along his skin. It burned in a way, but like whiskey, it was intoxicating.

This protocol was still a new thing to him; it worried him, but seemed to lead him on in the right direction.

Oh, wait, the councilor was done talking now.

"Ix Tlacoatl."

There.

His voice was thick, his own name filling every space in his mouth. There was the lowest hum present in his tone. Most would probably deem the timing with which he said his name, and the silence that followed, as nothing short of awkward. Perhaps it was a memo Ix happened to miss on his way through life.

Unlike this alchemist, Ix preferred the promise of payment. Though if he could help find Khonnir, he maybe could find his Mapa.

Ix missed his Mapa.

[Private to GM: I doubt I did, but did anything come of my Know Local 10 roll to know who the purple-haired individual was or anything else about the rumor?]

Sesla turned as Ix spoke, there was something interesting about the man that her main could not place-not yet at least. The woman banished her torch of gathered starlight and placed the piton which had served her as a torch so faithful into her pack.

"Yes, clockwork creatures. I have seen this too..." Sesla mused outload. "We will go below." Sesla said. The oracle turned and looked around sheepishly after a moment of thought.

"...although we may not have all reached that conclusion yet." hte oracle said as if the words contain so form of explanation and apology.

Now that they have heard the whole story, Cain speaks up with fake enthusiasm. "So, of the four groups that went down there, only Khonnir's came back, and even he was not so lucky the second time. Sounds great, shall we start on it now?

"I'm afraid I can't be of better help with exactly what critters Khonnir found in there ... but you could have a look at the metal man he brought out? It's still at the Foundry Tavern, and his daughter Val has volunteered the tavern to house any expeditions." As Dolga speaks she picks up the quill once again and begins to scribble again, this time slowly and in thought as she tries to spell out the android's name. After Selsa speaks she explains, "Well, it's not clockwork exactly. It's more like those Gearsmen the League uses, but .. skinnier?" The councilor then grins at Cain's eagerness but tilts her head as she cautions, "Don't get too far ahead of yourself! You'll probably want to visit Councilor Joram Kyte before you head out--he's agreed to cast a spell of Water Breathing on any group to help get into the caves. You can usually find him at the temple of Brigh or up at
Crowfeather Palace when you’re ready to go."
[Private to Ix Tlacoatl: Sorry, I must have missed that. No, you don't know anything about a purple-haired woman.]
This message was last edited by the player at 02:20, Sun 27 June 2021.

"Four thousand..." Rakkar repeated  with a hint of surprise or perhaps disbelief. One did not need to be particularly gifted to see how such a sum might be split among the survivors.

He listened with obvious interest at the continued introductions, the authority with which some spoke of the dangers to be found within. The Ratfolk seemed to warm to the group as the talk went on, before the Councilor once again chained in.

"Will he now? That is very generous of him..." he looked to the others. "Shall we go and find this Councilor Kyte then?" He asked, before once again looking to the Dwarf. "Many thanks." He bowed a little. "I think that you will be pleased with this group. No common thugs these."

Sesla nodded to the Ratkin.

"Indeed, perhaps our metal man might provide for us some insight into these mysterious circumstances. So perhaps a visit to the Foundry before we venture off to see Councilor Kyte for his blessing?

I am Sesla by the way, Sesla Lento"
This message was last edited by the player at 11:08, Sun 27 June 2021.

Well, that Cain certainly seems excited.

It really didn't make sense to Ix. As they just said, only one team came back. So why was he so eager? Mapa had always said that humans were always dependably unpredictable. Ix, for one, was not excited.

The idea of the Tecnic League's creations always made Ix angry. Those soul-less statues made too many think he was one of them. The conflation was frustrating, but nothing that couldn't be over come by their disassembly. But going to see this "metal man" could be insightful. When else would he get the opportunity to see one of these false idols so closely?

"I think that you will be pleased with this group. No common thugs these."

Ix huffed. He wondered if they were thugs. He was a warrior! Yet even Ix knew that they would accomplish more as a team. Thugs or otherwise.

"T'ank you, Councilor. We shall continue on the re-com-men-ded procedures forth-with. I will prezume t'is meeting so-li-di-fies my verbal consent to t'is unwritten contract."

"I would agree, Sesla. T'e metal man should be our first pri-or-i-ty as a contracted entity. However, for maximum o-per-a-tive cohesion, we will need to know," Ix turns and points his wrapped arm to the corner, "what alias t'at silver-haired half-elf will go by."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:30, Sun 27 June 2021.

Cain makes a show of looking over his shoulder in case another silver haired half elf is standing behind him before answering. "If it is my name you wish to know, it is Cain. I am... an acquittance of the missing wizard Khonnir."

He frowns to the councilwoman. "I was not aware we needed to dive to get to the caves bellow. If that is the case, a water breathing spell will be very useful to get in, but how are we going to get back out once that runs out? Or is just parts of the cave that are flooded?"

I'm fine with us examining the robot or whatever it is before grabbing the water breathing spell and starting the quest.

Brokam sat back as the others discussed things, nodding along to show he was still listening to the conversation. Internally, he was running through the possibilities. It was unfortunate that Councillor Freddert was unable to provide a better description, aptitude at stealth below ground made for a long list of creatures, to put it mildly.

He was shaken from his contemplation, however, when the conversation turned to talk of visiting the metal man and the necessity of swimming. "I am of course eager to see to this metal man, but I believe Cain makes a good point. If we require the aid of magic to enter the caves, how are we to leave them? How did the last expidition return?"

"The only expedition to return did so in under a few hours," Dolga answers, "But Khonnir did believe a strong swimmer could make it through without magic. The entrance is below the Weeping Pond, the source of the Seven Tears River which runs through town. It's foul water there." She then nods to both Sesla and Cain as they give their names, taking to the quill again to write them down, and then pulling out another parchment and copying the names down once again before picking it up to blow on the ink and then hold it out for someone to take, "You'll want to take this with you, too. It'll get you twenty percent off on any gear you need to purchase."
This message was last updated by the player at 17:29, Mon 28 June 2021.

"T'is will do," Ix says after Cain reveals their name.

Foul Water. The android presumed it was another sad side effect of mankind's makings. He loved swimming, and found fresh water to be good for the skin and soul. His enthusiasm was tempered by the prospect of his gear's weight, and the relative lack of waterproofed pouches. Guess a new pack was in order.

Ix steps forward to accept the paper from Dolga's hand, looking over the paper impossibly slowly. In fact, he simply reads the paper several times, but his eyes seem unmoving.

"T'is factors in t'e ne-ces-si-ty of room and board?"

The parchment reads simply: "This writ entitles Rakar Alede, Broccam, Ix Louwcotle, Sesla Lento, and Kane, to a discount of Twenty Percent on gear needed for the rescue of Councilor Khonnir Baine."

"I'm sure Miss Murgrave or Mister Maust would honor it--not many people paying for rooms with the torch out--but Val Baine was offering to put up any expeditions at the Foundry Tavern."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:40, Tue 29 June 2021.

Ix hardly let Dolga finish before he held the paper to her face. His other hand pointed to his last name.

"T'is is er-ro-ne-ous. Ix Tlacoatl." He was loud, the hum behind his voice resonating. There was no anger there, but his volume made pronouncing the last name no easier. "Proper spelling is T-elle-ah-cuh-oh-ah-t-elle. Tlacoatl. Like peaceful lapping of slow water snake."

Dolga leans back and lays a hand on the warhammer resting to her side as the android rudely shoves the write back in her face. She looks to the others, questioning whether they were also as unstable as this one, but after a moment's thought she replies diplomatically, "I'm afraid I don't know those letters, mister, but the writ will get you a discount all the same."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:45, Tue 29 June 2021.

"A strong swimmer could make it through, he believed. Hmm, not exactly reassuring, those words. But perhaps we can find Khonnir before the spell runs out. Shall we head out?" Cain asks the party.

Ok, so we check out the robot at the Foundry, do a last minute shopping if we have any cash left (Cain is so broke he can barely pay attention), get the water breathing spell and then go cave diving? Any other ideas?

With business concluded at the Town Hall, the brave souls head out to have a look at this metal man recovered by Khonnir Baine with Cain, who is most familiar with the streets, leading the way and Rakkar and Sesla, the slower of the bunch, trailing behind. As they cross the bridge over the Seven Tears River they recognize two of the guards who had been with the council before them standing bored, watching over the river banks to the north and south, and as they pass the market they see only a few stalls open with desperate and bored merchants hoping for customers to come by--the normal bustle and noise that would be found here replaced by a sad silence and calm. Until, as the brave souls near Khonnir Baine's Tavern, Foundry, and Residence, a sudden scream of terror and a series of crashes from just beyond the nearest building splits the silence.
Link back to this game
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:58, Wed 30 June 2021.

"Oh, now what?" Cain asks in exasperation before moving forward. He does not really rush in to help so much as creep up to the corner of the building to see what's going on.

Moving to the corner to see what's between the two buildings.

Brokam had walked quietly with the group, taking in his surroundings to try and familiarize himself with his new surroundings. As they approached the Foundry and heard the screaming however, he jolted in surprise before looking to the others. "Sounds like some kind of fight. Maybe our metal man was not quite so broken as everyone thought," he said, drawing a mace from his hip and heading towards the noise with no further hesitation.

Sesla breaks into a run as well, hustling to see what might be the cause of the scream.

"I'm afraid I don't know those letters, mister, but the writ will get you a discount all the same."

Names, to Ix, were important. They differentiated individualized existence. They clarified his agency as a person. Despite his lack of flesh and blood, he knew his soul to be real no matter what others may have thought. It was a distinction far different than those foul alloy apparatuses.

In the end Ix scowled, but acquiesced with a grunt and a nod while remaining oblivious to the danger he put himself in. He did, however, say under his breath, "I am not mister. I am Ix."

If they said the writ would do, he would have to take their word for it. It was a first step in developing both trust and a professional working relationship. Mapa had always said his communicative skills "dramatically need a complete overhaul from everything above and including the foundation", so he tried his best to improve. At least he was talking now, to city folk at that.

He did think such a lack of precision was unbecoming of a member of the council.

---

Ix walked with a sure-footed gait; each step measured, aligned, purposeful. This Cain seemed to be a familiar enough denizen, though since such was the case, why did they seem so evasive about their name? Were they shy? He'd presumed the Ratfolk would have much more to be shy about; humans did have a way of being easily disturbed by others that didn't look like them.

At least Brokam and Sesla didn't seem scared. Yet.

Then came the crashing, the screaming.

"Sounds like some kind of fight. Maybe our metal man was not quite so broken as everyone thought,"

Ix had slipped his shield from off his back. Brokam's belief was not lost on him, and he raced forward. He wondered if Cain was scared as they crept, but the thought didn't slow his sprint.

Cain moves cautiously to get a look between the two buildings he knows to be the tavern and foundry to take a look down the alley between and towards the residence, but sees no signs of danger, although the crashing and now a sound of splintering wood continues. The ratfolk Rakkar scurries along behind the half-elf, peaking around the taller man's legs and down the alleyway as well. Meanwhile, Brokam the Alchemist hurries the other way along the wall of the nearest building while the Ix the tribal android sprints in the same direction but has to skid to a halt along dirt road as the residence comes into view. It is difficult to see what the commotion is through the windows on this sunny day, but the commotion continues within the building and SOMETHING is moving behind the southeastern window. Meanwhile, Sesla seems to have been confused by the sudden events and moves to follow Cain, some distance behind.
Link back to this game
[Private to Sesla Lento: I went ahead and staggered you on this first round of quasi-combat, per your curse, rather than later on.]

Brokam's pace was hurried but ultimately calm as he approached building, heading for a window to try and get a better view of what was happening before he barged inside. He looked to the android, Ix it had named itself, and nodded toward the door. "Be ready for trouble, friend, near the door," he said before peering through the glass of the window.

Once Brokam has approached the window and cupped his hands up to block the bright sunlight from flooding his eyes and casting reflections on the glass, he can see within a monstrous-looking spider/centaur type of being with three asymmetric legs made of gears and metallic rope of some sort wrapped in metal plates and a humanoid though bulbous and hunchback torso also made up of metal plates. It's metal-plated, humanoid arms end in four-fingered hands and it's metallic head extends almost straight out of it's large torso with a single, glowing eye in the center of what would otherwise be a face. At the moment it seems unaware of the peeping alchemist and in the process of tearing an interior door violently from its hinges.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:45, Thu 01 July 2021.

Ix kept pace with Brokam, compartmentalizing his thoughts just long enough to wonder: what was the potioneerscientist(?) going to do in this situation? A bandoleer of juices and medicines didn't seem to be particularly helpful. Maybe they got thirsty, or they worked at an apothecary. Mapa always had a way with those reag-

"Be ready for trouble, friend, near the door,"

"My name is not fr-ohh," Ix says, trying to catch a passing glimpse inside as he tries to open the door.

Perception 15; moving to open the door.

Brokam's eyes widened as he beheld the machine, mind racing as he pulled away, reaching for a vial resting in the pack slung over his shoulder and drinking it, a subtle glow suffusing his body as he did so.

"I was right, the metal man is active and seems to be attacking someone, we need to hurry!" he shouted to Ix, hoping the others had heard him as well as he approached and tried the door himself. He wasn't certain if they could stop this thing, or what precisely it was, but damned if he was going to do nothing.

ooc: Drinking my Shield extract, which confers onto myself a +4 shield bonus to AC for one minute, then moving to the door.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:12, Fri 02 July 2021.

Sesla looks through the window in horror as the, the-thing, rips a door from its frame. The splintering sound of wood, unmoors her from reality as a piecing whine resounds that the periphery of her senses.

Conflict was the natural state of things-not peace.

Sesla felt the world fall away as the Great Gears of the cosmos, crafted from starlight grind and spin up a kaleidoscope of possibility before her mind's eye. Multiple overlapping possibilities an probabilities force themselves into being within Sesla's limited headspace.

The oracle groans and falls to a knee, overwhelmed by the sudden psychic pressure.


If it is okay, I would like to use Sasla's Flash of Insight ability to "roll" a 20 on Knowledge (Engineering) check to ID the robot. I think that places me at 25 (+3 from Knowledge: Engineering +2 from Stargazer

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)

Flash of Insight (Su)
Once per day as an immediate action, you can peer into an occluded visual spectrum of possible futures, gaining insight that allows you to select the exact result of one die roll before the roll is made.

---

"Great, just great." Cain hurries towards where he heard Brokam shout, looking for a way inside the building along the way.

I'm a bit unclear which building is this happening in. The SE one? If yes, is that another door right next to us? If yes again (and it's not the door currently being turned into splinters by the robot) can Cain check if we can get in that way?

As Brokam peers through the residence's window, Ix moves quickly to the nearby doorway and Cain and Rakkar hustle through the alleyway to converge on it from the south. Sesla brings up the rear, sprinting across the roadway to the open alleyway where she is forced to change direction. The scream heard earlier has stopped, but a load crack is heard by all as Brokam sees the creature tear the door free and toss it aside before disappearing further into the house.
Edit: Link back to this game
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:59, Fri 02 July 2021.

Ix attempts to throw open the door, clearly unarmed with naught but a shield not quite as big but nearly as round.

"Ex-cuse me," he booms. It's not yelling, exactly, but it might as well have been called such. The volume of his voice simply adjusted much louder.

Of course, there was less need, since the sound of screaming stopped.

Ix rushes in to see what the sound is stemming from, still unaware of the danger ahead.

As Ix throws open the door and rushes into the room beyond he spots the metal man, the spider-legged hunchback with features alien even to him. Brokam, after quaffing a potion, enters the residence right behind the android and sees the creature clearly for the first time. The metal beast notes their arrival, turning to look at them with it's single, blue-burning eye, but otherwise pays them no heed and instead turns back to the closed door to its west and begins to tear it down as well, forcing its metal fingers through the seams near its frame, splintering and crushing wood like parchment. Meanwhile, south of the building, Cain closes the rest of the distance to the residence and quickly opens the doorway into a hall which he knows accesses Khonnir and Val's rooms to the north and the den to the east, but soon he spots the metal fingers of Khonnir's 'metal man' force their way through that eastern door and begin to crush it. Rakkar continues to scurry along, barely keeping pace with Cain, and Selsa sprints through the alleyway to catch up, comping to a halt at the building's wall just on the other side of the sounds of splintering wood.
Link back to this game
I wouldn't normally only give 24 hours to respond, but I get the feeling 'getting there' was just wearing a bit thin for some of you.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:09, Sun 04 July 2021.

Pausing only to cast what protection magic he can, Cain tries the door in front of him. He is still not sure what they are getting themselves into, and does not like that one bit.

Mage Armor up. Trying the doors to the north-north-west.

As Brokam entered the building, he took a moment to properly assess the machine and its position before drawing a syringe full of a dull red substance from his pouch. "The creature is damaged, aim for the joints or else use electricity. Try to lure it from the door if possible," he said to Ix before injecting himself, veins and muscles bulging and skin graying and thickening as he did so.

A wordless snarl escaped his throat as some part of the intelligence left Brokam's eyes as he tossed aside the now empty syringe, advancing on the mechanical beast after Ix, mace gripped tightly.

ooc: For my standard action, I'm using my mutagen. For the next ten minutes I enjoy the benefits of a +2 natural armor bonus to AC as well as a +4 alchemical bonus to strength, while suffering a -2 penalty to intelligence. Following that, I will use my move action to get within melee range of the robot after Ix has done so.

Also, sorry if I missed this, but has initiative been rolled, and if so, what is the order?

Despite his leather mask, Ix's confusion was evident.

His fabricated muscles froze as he drank in the carnage. Ripped doors and metal parts. A single, abnormal eye glowing with strange luminescence. The screams of someone scared beyond the barrier. The last thing didn't concern him as much; all barriers were meant to be broken.

"The creature is damaged, aim for the joints or else use electricity. Try to lure it-"

"Mon-stro-si-ty!"

Ix yells, charging forward with his shield stretched in front of him. His feet slapped against the floor, his wrapped arm dipped toward the axe at his waist. Just before he collides with the creature, his arm swings up, hoping to catch the creature right in the eye.

Charging
16 Atk
6 Dmg (B)

-2 AC (16 AC total)

Sesla moves closer to the creature and looking over the creature expects that the group might have a better advantage if they were attacking the creature while it was prone. The Oracle points at it and commands. "Fall"


Command Spell, Will DC: 15
https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/c/command/

This message was last edited by the player at 13:01, Wed 07 July 2021.

Cain casts a protective spell and steps into the building's hallway to throw open another door, this one into Khonnir's private room which appears to be empty aside from his bed and a modest desk in the corner.

In the next room, while Brokam takes some drugs that seems to push him into some kind of rage, the android Ix rushes forward at the strange construct and delivers an uppercut which would floor most men, but instead, after the loud metal-on-metal *clang* rings through the interior of the stone building, the construct is hardly phased and simply turns to look with a blank stare at the android, its glowing blue eye shifting to a fiery red.

On the other side of the partially collapsed door, the small rodent Rakkar squeezes by Cain's legs and rushes into the hall, straight up to the broken door, and pulls out worn pistol. He reaches over the remains of the door and presses the muzzle of his weapon against the creature's 'belly' and pulls the trigger. The explosive *BANG* is deafening and prolonged with echoes within the confined stone rooms and the smell of spent black powder quickly fills the air, but the bullet seems to leave not even a scratch before it ricochets back at, and barely missed, the rodent. The lead round bounces a few more times off the stone walls, endangering Cain as well, before finally bouncing weakly across the floor.

Finally, Sesla enters the door behind Cain and simply points at the creature and commands it to fall, as if it would listen to her. [Private to Sesla Lento: It made the save with a 16. You recognize this monstrosity as a type of robot, which you have heard of before. They are generally weak to electricity and lucky strikes but exceedingly durable in general--although this one seems to be less armored and even missing several plates.]

After a moment's hesitation, glancing strangely in the direction of Sesla, the creature seems to shout with a breathless, stilted voice and in clearly defined tones but a strange language, [Language unknown: "Eiecne entandlin!<om>wil! Hatoreest neosri <intac> ntiesstheome'verher firat ic<itntac>nelath!"] It the lurches forward at Ix, swinging wildly with one of it's arms, but even off-balance as he is, the android is able to raise his shield in time to absorb the blow.

The partially destroyed door can be attacked through, providing cover (+4 AC), but also prevents Attacks of Opportunity. It can be opened with a Move Action.

Link back to this game

Shocked by the failure of his firearm to even scratch the beast and the fact that he nearly shot HIMSELF with the ricochet, the ratfolk does the only smart thing in this situation: scurrying right back out the door and away from this mess.

Sesla moves up to where Rakkar was to keep the creature hedge "It is vulnerable to electricity" Sesla said as she walked forward holding her shield high.

Flinching as a bullet ricochets over his head, Cain draws his sword and then hesitates. With others already engaged in melee he sees no opening to help in any way. "Capital. If only we had any way to make use of that vulnerability."

I got nothing. The other side is clogged as well, and attacking from range in melee, through soft cover and then cover from the doors is just pointless. So I'll just hang back and take Sesla's place should she need to pull back.

It seemed this thing had no enjoyment of getting punched in the face.

The red glow from the thing's washed over Ix's mask like a dawn of fury. He shunned the light by ducking behind his wooden shield just as he felt the thing's angry swing towards him.

*KKRAK!*

The blow made Ix stumble. The blow made Ix furious.

The blow made Ix focused. He focused back on the sliver of time, when his companions called for strategems of elemental and entangling assaults. The android had none of the first, but perhaps that second thing...

He took in a deep breath - his false lungs filling like any other - and made his move before the air left his mouth.

Ix slapped at his chest once before dipping lower behind his shield. Then he...jumped back. Away from the thing.

As he landed, he set his feet into a steady stance. His shield fell away from his covered face, and he pointed his odd, wrapped fist towards the creature.

"O-pe-ra-tion joint lock-"

In an explosion of gray linen and static air, Ix's arm burst and unraveled. His hand splitting apart at the fingers into a series of fine chains. These chains spun around each other, towards the evil machine and wrapping about its limbs like spider's silk.

"-has been comple-"

5ft step back
Ranged touch attack 14. No damage, but grappled condition. Hoping to pull creature from corner...next turn.
Failed grapple CMB.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:23, Thu 08 July 2021.

Brokam waited with coiled tension for an opening to attack the creature, and no sooner had Ix stepped back to launch his strange metal strands than he had stepped forward to fill the gap, bringing his mace up and swinging down hard, seeking to cave in the machine's head, generally a universal weak spot, but in his drug fueled rage aimed poorly, the heavy blow bouncing harmlessly off an armor plate.

ooc: 5ft step forward towards the metal man, followed by an attack action. Natural one means I automatically miss.

As the ratfolk runs off, the Kellid Oracle Sesla moves in to take his place, holding her shield up in a defensive posture. In the next room Ix steps back and points his arm at the creature, firing some kind of grappling hook at it. The shot connects, but the hook itself fails to find any purchase and instead falls to the ground, trailed by the limp chain that connects it back to the android's wrapped limb. Brokam the alchemist steps in to take a swing at the beast but misses wildly--possibly for his own good as the robot remains solely focused on Ix. It surges forward, ignoring the alchemist and charging at the android.

The robot is making an overrun attempt against Brokam, set on Bull Rushing Ix. Brokam will get an AoO and choose whether to attempt to stop the robot or let it pass. If he lets it pass or fails his attempt to stop the robot, Ix will then get an AoO before the robot attempts it's bull rush.

Through the haze of the mutagen, a spark of intelligence still shined in Brokam's eyes as he sidestepped, letting the machine continue its charge out of the corner towards Ix, seizing the opportunity to attack the thing while it was distracted, which unfortunately went wide in his rush to avoid the machine's charge.

ooc: sidestepping and letting the robot pass, and making my AoO as it does so. The result of my roll is yet another natural one, and another automatic miss.

Also, for ease of tracking, I believe four rounds have passed, leaving six rounds of duration for my Shield Extract.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:46, Sat 10 July 2021.

While Brokam manages to hit nothing but air again as he sidesteps the creature's charge, perhaps due to the drugs, Ix kicks out with the heel of his foot as it nears. The opposing forces meet hard, Ix's heel sinking into the metal man's chest as the plates which form it cave in and sending the enemy back to the narrow hallway from whence it came. The creature announces once again in a voice occasionally split by grating noises almost like rain or spilling grain, [Language unknown: "Ithamenot diacio!<rea>outra! Simiio urnath <ul> andundlesoulbutoer ort eiin<nceameure>oultrales!"]

New Round
Link back to this game

Sesla points her finger sharply to the ground and commands the robot to fall before her once more. Convinced that proximity would remedy her earlier failure.


Sesla steps away from the creature allowing Cain and opportunity to attack after she issues her Command.

Seeing his opening, Cain steps in as well, though he is not sure what good a sword will do against something made completely out of metal.

Move to where Sesla was and attack, for all the good that did.
14:15, Today: Cain rolled 7,4 using 1d20+4,1d8 with rolls of 3,4.  Attack, Damage.

Oh. That's what he can do.

It only just dawned on the android what the alchemist's concoctions could create. They were monstrous, muscled, and perhaps a touch mad. It was the sort of horror that Ix could see rather than feel. It was a good thing they were on his side.

His mind clicked back to the battle at hand. That scoundrel's sword slipped around the thing's frame, finding no purchase with the edge. The strange woman as well appeared compelled to command the creature. The ratman was nowhere to be seen. Suffice it to say, Ix's faith in their collective sanity waned. To add, there was no way for him to reach around Beastkam's frame in the small hallway. At least he could bring himself back together, to prevent further liability.

The fine chains of his arm retracted back, slidding back Brokam's thickened legs. The high-pitched whine of a winch reverberated in his half-arm. Forearm, then wrist, then palm, then fingers cinched back into place with metallic clicks, reforming the newly-revealed iron arm. He stepped back again, his fully formed iron arm now reaching back to wrap around the haft of a javelin.

He'd capitalize on an opening, he'd wait for his moment to bring this foul creation down.


Standard: Retract arm
Move: 5ft step back, drawing javelin.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:55, Tue 13 July 2021.

Sesla commands the robot once again to prostrate itself before her, and this time it seems to have an effect as it turns to look back at the woman and pulls away from her, as if cowering.

Quickly Cain moves in, replacing the Kellid as she backs away, and thrusts at the metal man with his dueling blade, but is forced to awkwardly twist his wrist to get through the remains of the door and fails to meet steel with ... whatever composes this enemy.

While Ix retracts the chains coming from his strange arm, Brokam, realizing that this metal man seems to be intent on attacking Ix, the only of the brave souls to have injured it, decides to draw the metal man out and steps away from it after swinging wildly, once again, with his mace.

The robot, finally, does as the woman commanded and throws itself to the ground. Even though it now lays splayed out on the floor it does not give up on its assault on the android, grabbing out with both hands at the stones of the floor and walls to pull itself forward.

Link back to this game

"Bloody hell!" Cain curses as he yanks what is left of the obstructing doors open. He steps forward and again swings his sword at the construct.

Move action to open the door, 5' step forward to flank and attacking.

08:15, Today: Cain rolled 24,5 using 1d20+6,1d8 with rolls of 18,5.  Flanking (Attack, Damage).

Sesla, Ix thought, Does she know this thing will not ob-!

The robot fell!

Ix dropped his javelin and...well, for the briefest of instances, he glanced up to Sesla. One did not need to see behind his mask to note his surprise. Ix did, however, allow himself a secret smile before raising his arm and crashing it down onto the fallen foe.

08:56, Today: Ix Tlacoatl rolled 18,8 using d20+7,d6+4 with rolls of 11,4.  Attack/Damage (+2 added for Flanking).

As Brokam stepped aside for Ix to take his position, the rage flared up again, resentful for a lack of catharsis. He fingered a vial full of a murky yellow fluid briefly but seemed to think better of it, opting instead to maneuver as best he could to strike at the downed machine around the corner.

ooc:Attacking with my mace, I finally achieve something other than a natural 1, a 20. Assuming this hits, the damage is 8 nonmagical bludgeoning.

In a flurry of action as the party rushes in and bears down on the prone metal creature--Cain slipping his dueling blade beneath one of its armored plates and into more sensitive, intricately patterned 'innards' and Ix and Brokam each dropping heavy, crushing blows on its back. A serious of hisses and pops emanate from the robot, arcs of static jump through its exposed insides, and the smell of something burning quickly fills the air as it twitches in its death throes before the light of its cyclopean eye slowly fades and its form is left little more than a statuesque husk, frozen in the midst of its crawling. With the sounds and focus of battle now fading Cain spots to his side, within the storage room from which the metal beast first escaped, the blonde-haired head of Khonnir's adopted daughter Val peaking out from under a table. Her eyes light up as she recognizes the half-elf and with the agility only children possess she quickly crawls from her hiding place and rushes across the room to throw her arms around his waist in an embrace and exclaims, "Cain! You saved me!"

"Bwah?!" Cain exclaims in surprise as the girl throws her arms around him. "Saved...? Right, I did save you. Wait, is this the machine Khonnir found under the hill?" He asks the girl as he tries to gently dislodge her off himself. "What the hell was he thinking, leaving something like that alone with you? You'd think by now he would know how dangerous this junk he deals in can be, even when it appears dead."

Brokam breathed hard, adrenaline falling even as the mutagen coursed through his veins as the machine sputtered and "died". When he saw the flurry of movement from the corner of his eye his drug fueled instincts began to kick in and he raised his mace in preparation for a new foe, only to drop it when his mind processed what he was seeing was nothing more than a frightened child.

Slowly, he returned the weapon to his belt and, mindful of his frightening appearance, held back as he spoke, softly as his rasping voice would allow. "Are you hurt little girl? I can help if you are," he said, kneeling down to her eye level as he did.

"It was dead and he wasn't supposed to be away for so long..." the young girl explains, her face now showing sadness on top of the mix of other intense emotions she's experienced just recently. She reels back a bit as she turns her attention to the somewhat frightening-looking Brokam, but she recovers quickly and shakes her head at him, wiping a tear from her eye before it escapes as she answers, "N-no, I'm fine. It just scared me when it jumped to life and started tearing things up. I just came in to get more blankets..." She looks between the brave souls gathered and praises them, "Thank you all for coming to help me. Are you Cain's friends?"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:45, Sat 17 July 2021.

Even as he reached down to holster his javelin, Ix never looked away from the sputtering creature. He kept his shield at the ready long after the little girl revealed herself. It shouldn't have been up in the first place, from what they were told. Who knows if it was, once again, feigning its "death."

Certainly death was something it could never do. Hence why its destruction was necessary.

"Thank you all for coming to help me. Are you Cain's friends?"

Ix brought his foot down - hard - on the machination's alien eye before stowing away his shield. There was a grimness to the way he moved, his posture relaxed in shape yet taut with tension.

"We are Cain's cohort in an ongoing in-ves-ti-ga-tion." Unlike Brokam, Ix stood tall, still wary of the thing on the ground. The 'whiskey protocol' died down, but he still felt the burn of hatred for its existence. "Why did you come here to get blankets? Do you not have ac-com-mo-da-tions outside of this building?"

Ix's masked head tilted, like a crow making its mark on a shiny object.

"Did your presence bring this foul thing to bear?"

[Private to GM: I'm sure my Sense Motive of 3 will reveal all.]
This message was last edited by the player at 18:51, Sat 17 July 2021.

"Hmm." Cain pokes the fallen metal construct with a tip of his shoe. "Hmm? Oh, yes, these are my friends. Long bonds of friendship between us." He answers absentmindedly.

He turns towards the party. "You know, for something made entirely out of metal this thing went down surprisingly easy. I'd feel better if we made sure it can't wake up again while we are off looking for Khonnir. Val, has the old geezer said to you anything about what we can expect under the hill?"

Brokam had resigned himself to the girl flinching, but nodded approvingly when she confirmed she was unharmed. When she asked if they were friends of Cain, he shrugged. “We work together, yes.”

That said to pacify the girl’s curiosity, he rose to his feet and looked to Cain. “Like I said, it was already damaged. I doubt we’ll be so lucky as to fight another weakened one. Disassembling this,” He said, nudging the smoking pipe of scrap with his foot, “Shouldn’t take too long though, if you insist.”

The inanimate metal beast offers no resistance as Ix stomps on its 'head' and with a creaking of metal and the sound of softer things snapping the rounded extremity is now very much bowl-shaped.

The girl grimaces at the violence and seems confused by the android's question shortly after, explaining as best she can, "The blankets are for the cots in the tavern. I'm going to host anyone who goes looking for my dad ... Mrs. Freddert said I could. Maybe I woke it up, I don't know ... I was in here for a minute digging out the blankets before it attacked."

She then looks at Cain for a moment, at first uncertain who he means by 'old geezer,' but realizing he's speaking of Khonnir, she shakes her head and answers, "He didn't tell me much, but he had a long meeting with the council about it."

The girl then stoops down to gather the blankets scattered on the floor of the storage room and suggests as the party discusses the fate of the remains, "Maybe Father Kyte would look after it? As long as it's not here..."

Ix gave his iron arm a shake. It seemed the latest upgrade would need some work. He'd also need some linens to wrap it back up. Some townfolks still felt uneasy about prosthetics. At least that's what Mapa had told him. He missed them...and his real arm.

Cain did have a point about the...thing. It would be dangerous to have it around, to have it pose a liability to the lives of the town. Somebody certainly should watch it, but they had to do a better job of making sure it would go down.

As his compatriots spoke, Ix casually reached down. His grips of iron and false flesh wrapped about the remnants of a torso as he silently dragged the wreckage back down the hallway. His mask bobbed side to side as he adjusted his weight, unaffected by the scraping of the creation's corpse being pulled across the wood floor.

Once Ix stopped in the largest open space, he stood over the creature, cupped his fists together over his head...

There was no words, no madness, only method as he began to break the creature asunder.

Will drag this thing into NE room.
Feel free to try and stop Ix, but otherwise...
11:57, Today: Ix Tlacoatl rolled 21 using 1d20+7 ((14)) Sunder.
He will continue to sunder this thing until there's nothing left OBO.

Sesla looked on almost as neutral as Ix. Dead with dead, for creatures of flesh and blood or for creatures of metal and sparks.

Magic could bridge that gap between life and whatever happened next but such things was rarely accidental. So then what happened here?

Sesla pondered to herself while the others spoke. What had been the catalyst? Perhaps no death then, but a slumber? Sesla recoiled as her hand flew up and over her mouth as Ix sundered the machine.

"I do not think that was hardly necessary."

Cain has no objections to dismantling the machine before proceeding. While that is going on he plans on searching Khonnir's workshop for any clues as to what they might find under the hill, as well as anything useful that could help them there. Not like Khonnir would complain if they used something of his to rescue him after all. And if they did not rescue him, well, he won't be around to complain anyway.

We came here to examine the metal man, but with no engineering knowledge Cain is of no use for that. So I'll just search the place for anything interesting (or magical). Not really expecting to find anything, it's way too soon in the story. DM can roll perception or whatever for Cain in case it's needed.

Ix gets to work dismantling the creature: tearing away loose metal plates, ripping out bundles of colored string which appear to be very fine metal wrapped in very sturdy wax, and smashing up innards of clockwork-like moving parts and frail but hard colored and patterned sheets of something almost the consistency of wood but pock-marked with tiny rectangular and cylindrical attachments. Eventually, there is a knock at the opened doorway to the east as a few town guards show up to peak inside and ask, "Everything alright here? We heard a scream and a bang."

As Cain asks to examine Khonnir's workshop, Val shrugs and leads him to Khonnir's room where the drawers of the mage's writing table houses parchments of half-finished spells, formulae, and a few basic observations of the metal man--including one that describes fine Andorffan script that might suggest the robot's purpose was to repair damaged technological systems. Afterwards she leads Cain to the Foundry Tavern's foundry in the eastern building of Baine's holdings which holds two forges, now cold, and a corner workbench with various chemicals which the mage used to mix his bombs but no more clues. With some hope in her eyes, the young Val looks to Cain and suggests, "If you want to help find my dad, the council is looking to put together another expedition into the Black Hill. I think they're offering a reward, too."

Full map of the Foundry Tavern:
https://db4sgowjqfwig.cloudfro...9/Foundry_Tavern.png

Cain gives up his search in frustration. "Bah. I expected nothing and I am still disappointed. We just came from the Town Hall and the Council did not have much more to tell us either. Val, you have the honor of meeting the latest batch of heroes our wise leaders are blindly throwing at the problem in a vague hope it will somehow fix itself. And speaking of fixing this mess..."

I got nothing more here. Should we get the water breathing spell and get this show on the road? Or does anyone has any other ideas?

Sesla loked around the tavern as well. After Cain spoke she nodded.

"That makes sense." Sesla said after nodding. She smiled at Val in that way that implied that they would do their best to find her dad and then she left the Tavern.

"Everything alright here? We heard a scream and a bang."

With his leg raised in mid-stomp, Ix looked to the guards, then to the pieces, then to the guards.

"Everyt'ing iz fine, gentle-folk."

*KTAK!* Ix's foot smashed something that he presumed would not work again anytime soon, then swept the pieces away with his foot.

"All has been made right," Ix dusts off his hands, "And all t'at was wrong haz been unmade. Now, if you will ex-cuse me." He gives another part a solid kick across the room has he follows the rest of his group to the foundry.

"Oh." By the time he catches up, Sesla was practically turning back out. Guess there was nothing more there to look for...but he was sure they missed something. Still, not like he would find it. The way of sheltered people had not always been his own.

"Sesla," Ix took up a pace in the woman's wake. "How did you...make t'at mal-for-ma-tion...obey your command?" The woman had been so casual about it, and such power would be essential on their journey.

Happy to roll on with the crew to get that water breathing jawn.

Sesla looked over to Ix. She smiled and she considered what she would say. There really wasn't much to say but living off the streets as long as she had caused a great penchant for drama to grow within her.

"Is it not enough to know that it is within my power to do so?" Sasla said through a coy teasing smirk

"Is it not enough to know that it is within my power to do so?"

Sesla couldn't have known how much the android's face contorted. His masked head was remarkably still as he stuttered his steps. The question practically appeared in front of his eyes. He didn't know how to look away, around it, through it.

"I..."

The mask dipped low, then slowly back up. The iron-armed armsman wasn't exactly tall at just under 18 hands high, but it was obvious how he regarded her from toes to the top of her head. It shouldn't have been such a confounding question, and Ix wasn't a fool. Yet some inquiries weren't to be regard as simple as suggestions, or merely as mentions.

"I...I t'ink I'm...juuuzt curious...about t'e combative ca-pa-bi-li-tiez of my..."

A metal finger scratched at his head.

"...companions...huh..."

Was Ix trying to convince himself as much as Sesla?

His head was lowered as he slipped into introversion.

As they searched over the house, Brokam’s body gradually returned to its normal shape as the mutagen ran its course, and though he eyed the chemicals and bombs curiously as he looked through Khonnir’s notes, he nodded in agreement with Cain.

“Yes, the longer we linger, the slimmer our chances of recovering the entire expedition become,” He said before looking to Val.“ I promise you, we will do everything we can to return Khonnir back home.”

Ooc: not certain if this was already rolled or not, but I’ve rolled perception to leaf through Khonnir’s notes on his desk, looking for anything relating to his last expedition, with a result of 24.

"One of the secret secrets of the universe has been revealed to me. I glimpsed pieces of it by watching the stars; those great cosmic gears and learned that sentient beings, like you, aren't that different from creatures like me. Not really anyway. Sesla said.

Not wanting Ix to feel uncomfortable.

In complexity and scope we are all just different types of machines Sesla shrugged matter of factly before you yelled back into the Tavern.

"Oy, you lot coming?"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:59, Wed 28 July 2021.

"That's great!" Val remarks with excitement in her eyes, "If anyone can find my dad, I'm sure you can! And if you need to rest, I'm making up some cots in the tavern for you and your friends."
[Private to Brokam: There is nothing more to be found among Khonnir's notes.]
The guards look between each other and Ix, uncertain if they should trust the mask-wearing, wild-man android, but once Val arrives to explain what had happened a pair of the men remain to clean up the metallic gore while another runs off to inform Councilor Kyte at the Temple of Brigh. Once the party is ready to depart, they follow after the guard in the same direction--only to cross paths with him again as he exits the compound and they arrive. The temple consists of two buildings, a magic shop to the left or north and a larger workshop to the right or south linked by a domed portico, almost resembling a gazebo, which is decorated by several bronze wind chimes and clockwork statues.

Passing through the southern doorway which the party saw the guard exit from, they find a large, open-floored room littered with crafting tables and a mind-boggling variety of tools hanging from the walls. On the southern wall is a large, clockwork-and-porcelain feminine sculpture likely depicting Brigh, the Goddess of Invention, behind a small table and bench which likely serves as an altar. Working at a table on the eastern side of the room, tinkering with some device currently broken down into a number of parts strewn across his table, is the same elderly man in a heavy apron the group had seen earlier leaving the Town Hall.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:43, Thu 29 July 2021.

Looking up from his work as the group enters, the old man offers a warm smile before introducing himself, "Ah, you must be the new expedition! Mister Aleed and Company? I am Joram, cleric of Brigh."--he gestures towards the statue at the southern wall--"Mister Xander told me what you did for Khonnir's daughter--thank goodness you were there! I've sent him to bring the contraption here; I'll be sure to see it properly dismantled."

What does she mean, sentient beings?

Granted, everyone was a sentient being. But something in the way she said it... was she implying...?

In complexity and scope we are all just different types of machines.

A stillness suffused Ix's stance. He'd be subjected enough already to such generalization. It was a reason he kept his iron arm unnoticeable. It was a reason he had avoided humans as long as he had, with only Mapa's lifelong prodding moving him to experience their excessive thinking and lazy compartmentalization. However, humans were the least predictable, speaking their minds without being straightforward, and in this he learned that, sometimes, he had to contain his temper.

After a long pause he added softly, but forcefully, "No. I am no-thing like a machine." It was obvious Sesla's words set him like a too-tight screw. It was his own fault; he should have known better than to ask. It seemed knowing she had such a power had been more than enough. It was her belief that ended up being too much for him.

Ix strode in silence after that. Moment to moment, Ix grew increasingly unsure of the company he kept. He missed Mapa.

Aleed?

The mask turned side to side. Ah. They were referring to the ratman. The coward.

Ix himself thought he'd done a good job himself "dismantling" their foe, but he would not complain of further destruction. Even if it was in such a place as this one, very unlike the Gray Master. Maybe if more of their followers lived among them, the secrets of their situations would have been revealed. Of course he would never say these things aloud. Mapa had always forbid him to do so for as long as he could remember.

But here, this temple, that statue...something about it rubbed him the wrong way. Perhaps not wrong. Just not what he would consider normal. Ix folded his arms, as though limiting the exposure of the environment to his iron limb.

He would definitely let someone else lead this discussion.

If Sesla was concerned about Ix perception she didn't show it. She walked in silence and seemed to find it to be sweet to her ears. When they finally reached Joram she spoke up first.

"Dolga Freddert mentioned that you might be the person to speak with if we need to get into the 'hill. Something about a spell to breathe water?" Sesla said as she looked over Joram.

"Um-hum." Cain backs Sesla up. "I don't suppose you also have any scrolls or potions you could lend to us and that would provide us with air, even if just for a few moments? In case we need to return after your spell runs out? For some strange reason, councilwoman's reassurances that Khonnir - a person that markedly failed to return from his second expedition - believed that a strong swimmer could make it back without magic failed to reassure me. Funny that."

Can't hurt to ask. I'd buy some if I had any cash.

"Yes, yes, of course," the old man affirms and nods to Sesla, but soon frowns at Cain's question as he gives it some thought. After a moment he shakes his head and explains, "I don't have anything of the sort to give out nor the time to sit down for a day and make one. Without the torch the town's comin' apart at the seams and it's all I can do to keep Crowfeather runnin' without people dumpin' their waste in the river!"--the old man waves the device he's currently tinkering with for emphasis before setting it aside and pulling out a rod from his apron and giving it a small wave as he explains, "The water breathing will last for six hours. Mister Baine's first expedition only took a few hours. My advice is you just don't plan to stay in there any longer than that. If you do, we'll have to start looking for others to go in." He sighs and bows his head a bit, rubbing his forehead with his free hand before acknowledging, "I know it sounds harsh, but no one has any doubt about the dangers in there. We can't blindly hold out hope for expeditions that don't return in that time. And we can't just do nothing as the town dies."

"Ah, well." Cain resigns himself to what can't be helped. "We'll just have to cross that bridge when and if we come to it then."

Can't think of anything else Cain could do to prepare, so I suppose whenever others are ready we can get this started.

Brokam had held his tongue on the way, and allowed the others to handle the questions as he did simple inventories and double checked his supplies, seeing that he would soon need them. He was a little surprised by the lack of long term planning Kyre revealed, but there was nothing to be done about it. Seeing the conversation winding down, he cleared his throat to get a bit of attention from the old man, and spoke.
“Before we go, do you think you could spare a waterproof sack of some kind? I’d rather not get the torches and other delicate supplies wet.”

"At least that I think I can help with..." the old priest trails off in thought as he begins to dig about the many drawers of the workshop, retrieving all the basic adventuring gear the party might need.

Waterproof bags fall under the mundane adventuring minutiae I'd rather not track between 4+ character sheets.

"O-kay, Joh-ram."

Ix's voice rolled into the conversational space with little heed to adjusting for an indoor environment.

"We will take t'is ex-pe-di-tion-ary equipment," Ix gathers the adventuring equipment (he needs) with a force just below fully, "And make our way to t'waters edge. You will work your magicks on us when we are closer, hm?" Ix certainly wouldn't be so foolish as to threaten Joram, but his curt tone carried the weight of an unspoken expectation.

"Every minute counts. E-spe-ci-a-lly when it comes to saving-"

His mask was pointedly facing Selsa.

"-People...And. Not. Machines."

With a dull twinkle of the eye, that coy smirk that she had adopted before returned, perhaps it was a tell of some sort? She bent over to look at Crowfeather and the other odds and ends in various stages of completion.

"Do we have a problem Ix?" Sasla said as she looked over Joram's workshop. Traveling with her hands firmly behind her back had prevented her from touching anything, thus far at least.

Councilor Kyte frowns at Ix's veiled demand after he has already volunteered so much to the endeavor and soon shakes his head in dismissal and reasons, "A few minutes out of six hours will hardly make any difference." And without wasting any more time, encouraged to shoo off the strange, masked android, the old man steps forward into the gathered party and offers a prayer to his goddess while holding the rod aloft and clasping the clockwork mask which hangs clasped to his apron, "Bronze Lady, The Whisper in Bronze, grant these few your aid in their endeavor to return to us your favored Khonnir Baine and to reignite the flame which drives our industry." He then releases the mask and reaches out to lay his hand on each of the party's shoulders and soon a strange but subtle feeling grows within the lungs of each.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:56, Mon 02 Aug 2021.

"Well then, let us not waste any time." Cain says as he stuffs whatever gear might be damaged by water in the offered bag.

"Do we have a problem Ix?"

"Yes. We do." Ix stuffs his sensitive gear into the provided waterproof bag with his iron arm, this time pointedly not looking at Sesla before adding, "With a missing Khonnir...and machines."

Apparently, passive aggressiveness was within the rotation of Ix's abilities.

Whatever boiled aura Ix had cooled into a simmer as Joram began to pray. It was due less to the respect for this deity, more to the duty. As the prayer came to a close, he nodded his head in thanks. Then he realized Joram's refusal to accompany them. Did they not care about every minute in finding their fellow brethren?

Well, that was the way with humans, wasn't it?

"Well then, let us not waste any time."

Ix nods again, proceeding to their location with a lengthened stride.

Brokam accepted the packs with a grateful nod, and began to fill his with torches after carefully, near reverently placing a thick leather bound book inside. He placed his hand over his chest after Joram cast his spell, feeling the urge to cough but knowing it would do nothing.
“Yes, not time to waste,” he said in agreement with Cain, though he did look sideways at Ix as he set off. Something was clearly agitating the Android, but finding out what would have to wait. For now, they had a deal to keep and men to rescue.

Sesla transitioned the things that might be bothered by water and left the rest. Yes, time was certainly of the essence. She nowed stiffly to Joram. "There is no chance that you would let me borrow that rod, is there?" Sesla said with a wink before turning to begin to hustle out of Joram's place of worship.

Joram frowns and shakes his head, more sorrowful than disapproving, as the rod's ability to extend his Water Breathing magic would be just as beneficial to the next expedition...