Zorden shrugged at Morin's suggestion regarding the cards but couldn't figure out any reason not to go along with it, so he picked his own card and followed suit.

In regards to moving on he looked to Sesla, who he assumed had a finite amount of resources in regards to her magic.  "Feeling up to pushing forward, or would it be better to make sure we've got our pathways here figured out and call it a day?"  He asked.

"Khonnir may be short of time, but the contingencies in place should allow us the luxury of making sure we also don't die trying to get to him."  Zorden pointed out.

Kalasha hangs back as the others speak with the skulk, ever-ready to loose her blade from her back holster to smite these evil grey-skins and fully aware that she wouldn't be able to keep her distaste for them and their actions from coloring her dealings with them should she speak up. More than a few times she flinches as the gnome speaks, wishing he would show the same restraint as her, but as everything turns out amicably in the end she quietly offers her thanks to Abadar and preaches for anyone who might listen, "As Abadar teaches and so it is, honored trade can bring enemies together for the good of each and even turn wicked hearts to good ends." With their dealings done and talk now turning to how to proceed, the Paladin dutifully insists, "We weren't hired to clear out slimes and molds, and unlike saving these people from gremlins it wouldn't do any good--especially not for Baine."

"Wait, we're assuming Khonnir isn't dead already?"  Morin asked, surprised and a little amused at Cain's reasoning.  "I thought you guys were just lying to the kid when you said that!  I mean...I know he's your friend, Cain, and I don't mean to be rude.  But the guy's deader than Aroden.  We're on a mission to rescue his chewed up bones."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:20, Thu 23 Dec 2021.

"Sure, there's a good chance he is dead already. But it's also possible he is just injured or stuck in here somewhere until he bleeds out or runs out of supplies. We don't really know, but the mission is to search for him and not exterminate every random pest we come across in these caves." Cain responds to Morin.

"Oh, and one more thing, if an extra incentive is needed for us to try our best to find Khonnir still alive. Our ever so wise elders have already prepared an actual scroll of resurrection for him. But, should we recover him alive, they have promised to add said scroll to our reward. A scroll that is, I dare say, considerably more valuable than the actual promised reward in gold. Just something to consider."

Going with this for roleplaying reasons, but I'm fine with whatever the rest of the party decides on.

The discussion on whether or not to press on seems pretty split until a silent glance from Sesla makes it clear that the party will make their way deeper into the caves. The party heads south into the skulk's makeshift home and east towards the smooth wall of dark gray metal which bisects the cavern, its expanse pitted and scorched but quite solid looking. The strange circular opening pierces the wall five feet off the ground, allowing access to some sort of hallway on the other side. Kalasha, taking point, hops up and grabs the edge of the opening to, with some effort, haul herself and her heavy armor into the hall. She starts suddenly and grabs for her greatsword at the sight of something beyond, but after some pause turns back to offer her hand to help the others climb up.

The walls, floor and ceiling of this slightly curved hallway are made of smooth, dark gray metal. Panels of lighter material run along the ceiling eight feet above. To the north and south the tunnel is blocked by walls of metal junk and rubble, while an open doorway yawns to the east and reveals what caused Kalasha to jump--a metal man nearly identical to the one which trashed Baine's home except that this one has a full compliment of four legs, appears to be in much better repair with no exposed innards, and stands on its own to the side in the hallway. And also unlike the first metal man, this one seems benign for the moment--its single eye glows with blue light but it does not react to your presence. Beyond the metal man and the hallway those with better-than-human vision can make out three more of these large, circular doors passing through two metal rooms and ending at a rock wall with a tunnel that turns north and out of sight.
Group 0 Map Updated
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:33, Sat 25 Dec 2021.

After Zorden was pulled up through the doorway, with his own attempts to aid his ascent being laughingly ineffective, he cautiously pulled out his weapon.

He eyed the metal humanoid warily as he softly said, "Well, time to see if Morin was right."

Given that the group had no way to go but forward they would have to pass by the machine no matter what.

Morin looked around the metal ruins excitedly.  He still didn't really see the hurry; it's not like Khonnir Baine was going to become MORE dead.  But the amateur archaeologist in him was thrilled at the chance to investigate ancient Androffan ruins firsthand.

At Zorden's statement, Morin nodded eagerly and stepped up to the machine man.  Time to see if his theory was correct.  The bard made sure his ID card was in plain sight, and threw his arms out wide.  "METAL MAN!"  He called out, before realizing his mistake and switching to somewhat broken Androffan.  "[Metal Man!  I am your masters!  Identify yourself, you!]"

OOC: 09:20, Today: Morin Matzylford rolled 19 using 1d20+2 with rolls of 17.  knowledge eng to identify Robot.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:21, Sat 25 Dec 2021.

The metal man ... or drider? ... pays no heed to Morin's command and continues to stare at the wall.
[Private to Morin Matzylford: Morin recognizes this as one of the not-exactly-magical golem-like beings known to guard many ruins in Numeria called 'robots' in Androffan. Judging by its design it seems to be built primarily to repair other devices but would still be a dangerous foe to combat. At the moment, judging by subtly blinking lights along the frame, it seems to be in a state of slowly recharging.]

Morin looked over the centaur machine for a moment, before nodding to himself.  "It's a robot.  They're like...a sort of nonmagical golem?  This one is made to fix devices.  Judging by those blinking lights on it's body, I think it's...charging itself up for something?"

Morin took the ID card off of his lapel and reached up, waving the card in front of the robot's face.  "[Obey me!  Follow me!  Habitat K-4 Access Level 1!  State...designation?  Emergency activation?  Oh my god, look over there!]"  He took out one of the silverdisks Sef had given the party.  ["Repair this."]

Assuming none of his commands had any more effect than his previous attempt, Morin turned to look at Sesla.  "Hey Ses, I hear you were able to do some mind-magic on the other one of these you ran into.  Got any tricks that would be useful here?  A repair bot would be real useful around in a place like this, but if we can't get it to do what we want...well, there's already a few too many dangerous things waiting along our way out, if you know what I mean."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:44, Sat 25 Dec 2021.

While Morin pestered the metal machine, Zorden decided to ignore it for now.  Instead he chose to walk forward into the next room to see if they could safely pass by it which was more important in his mind, then trying to communicate with them.

"Well, at least it's not trying to murder us. Yet. So your theory about these cards may be true. Either that or this one is not attacking anyone anyway. I'd prefer we leave it alone, unless it decides to "repair" us." Cain comments on Morin's efforts and follows after Zorden, keeping the metal construct in sight at all times.

[Language unknown: "A ver sanainratill sanie olne'acansa."] The shrill but monotone voice of the metal golem suddenly emits seemingly from its chest as it turns its head to look directly at the gnome. Then, after a moment of silence, the head pivots again to return to staring straight ahead.

Zorden and Cain pass the arguing robot and gnome and into the next room. The northern wall of this otherwise empty metal room is a tangle of what look to have once been strange cages of some sort. Tangled amid the metal ribs of these cages are ribs of a more organic nature—the ancient bones of some sort of alien creature. Smaller mounds of rubble lie against the opposite wall. Along the southern wall is a closed doorway, smaller than the others and rectangular with rounded corners. Besides this doorway, and all the others doorways for that matter, is a light grey panel only slightly protruding from the Numerian steel wall. The panels are a lighter grey than the walls and smoother and more reflective, of a material more similar to the strips on the ceilings or even the cards given by Sef.

Wanting to stay near the front but still cautious of the mostly silent guardian, Kalasha passes by it but stays close by.
Group 0 Map Updated

Morin immediately broke into a shit-eating grin.  It talked to him!  Sure, the robot was basically telling him to fuck off, but hey, it was a start!  Morin got told to fuck off all the time, and it had never stopped him before.

He nodded enthusiastically at the metal man, while doing his best to be charming in a dead language he barely knew.  It was possible the machine was too stupid to be reasoned with, but it was a good sign that the thing could talk. [Language unknown: "Lalo.  As tin ilenpohe set dinardons'ounrut.  Eefi een larticestwhilin?  Th ta ich, n miek wiiv sonbe wi toonheng theta.  Li inssek t tinen o?

Is...K osalul n esshatand p setconthoureant!  Arse ei onsoveour?  Usalng a allticrat litio bleivence.  Nt vorshence."]

The fact the bot spoke was a surprise.

The fact that Morin seemed capable of annoying both real and artificial people with his nattering was less so.

Zorden kept an ear open, listening for sounds of the machine deciding to quiet the gnome in a more forceful manner.  At the same time he approached the door along the south wall and investigated the small door and strange panel.

Reaching out he attempted to see if he could reason how to open the door, perhaps by manipulating the panel, perhaps by using the strange cards they'd been given.

While Zorden examines the door to the south and Morin annoys the machine, Cain quietly approaches the open door to the east to take a peek in the corridor beyond. He figures it's more likely the missing party went that way.

Moving 10' to the east to see what's in the next room.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:50, Mon 27 Dec 2021.

The robot continues to stare forward, ignoring the talkative gnome, thought the blue light of its singular eye seems to dim slightly as if it were slowly loosing its will to live...

Zorden examines the doorway and the nearby panel, but no amount of fiddling with them gets the door to open. He does, however, get the door itself to budge slightly upward before shifting back down and feels someone much stronger than himself might be able to force it open. (DC 25)

Cain moves up against the eastern wall and peeks around the corner. The light from Morin's Servant's torch is dim at this distance and doesn't reach around the corners very well, but with his elven eyes Cain can see two strange machines sit to the north and south against the walls of this small room. Their faces appear similar to coils of metal tubes with several nozzle-like protrusions pointing into the room itself. Inside the room, on the walls near these machines, are additional light-grey panels similar to the ones adjacent to each doorway but of a slightly different shape.

Zorden stood back and evaluated the door for a moment.  He then turned to Kalasha.  "I don't know if this is worth opening, but I think it's possible if you were to give it a good upward pull.  I'm certainly never going to manage it."  He told her, leaving the choice of giving it a try, or prioritizing potentially moving onward up to her.

Being of no help with opening a stuck door, Cain focuses instead on the room to the east. Distrustful of those nozzles, he looks around for what may be trigger for a trap.

DM can roll perception if needed. I'm thinking this is either a trap or a decontamination room. Or just a shower, I guess.

Cain continues to look over the next room, but can't find and tripwires, pressure plates, or other mechanisms that might activate a trap.

Kalasha backs away from the silent guardian cautiously to investigate the door for Zorden. She pushes upward on the door for a minute before pulling a crowbar from her backpack and wedging it under the door. With the bit of leverage and a great deal of effort the heavy numerian steel door begins to lift into the frame with a loud creak.

Alerted, the until now passive robot flares to life, the subtle blue light if its central eye shifting quickly to a fiery red, and stomps through the hallway and right up to Kalasha with a shrill, alien shout, [Language unknown: "Atiwasredhas ainwasstihis! Thastirom!"]

Combat Begins. Everyone except Kalasha has won initiative and may act.
Group 0 Map Updated.

14:27, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 16,28,13,18,12,13 using d20+6,d20+9,d20+3,d20+7,d20+1,d20+2 with rolls of 10,19,10,11,11,11.  Initiative Cain, Morin, Sesla, Zorden, Kalasha, Bot.

"Lookout!" Cain gives a warning as he draws his sword and closes in on the construct. He vividly remembers the fight back in town, and that was against a damaged robot.

Draw weapon, move one square up-left, then one square down-left to hopefully provide Kalasha with flanking without eating an AoO in the process.

Zorden raised his weapon and fired on the machine.  Even with having to take care to avoid accidentally hitting Kalasha, the metal man was a much larger target than the gremlins had been.  Which Zorden assumed would make such a task easier.


Zorden rolled 7,5 using 1d20+2,1d12 with rolls of 5,5.  Attack, (Potential) Damage

Included is the -4 penalty to avoid Kalasha

Morin leapt back in surprise as the robot reared to life, then sighed.  [Private to group Androffan: "Alright, have it your way,"] he grumbled, as he pulled out his lasso.  "Looks like opening that door really pushed it's buttons.  Since it couldn't just recharge quietly in a corner, it looks like we'll have to supply it with some battery."

"Oh, uh, a battery is a thing that recharges tech."  He explained, realizing that one wouldn't really work for most people without his education.  "It's also a synonym for assault!"

STANDARD: Inspire Courage (3 rounds remaining)
MOVE: Draw Lasso

The blast of Zorden's musket reverberates painfully between the numerian steel walls of these strange rooms, but that is all the damage it does as Zorden's caution to not hit his allies sends the bullet slamming into a nearby wall--interestingly with no ricochet or visible damage to the wall. Once everyone has regained their senses after the blast Cain repositions, Morin begins awkward jokes, and Sesla marches forward to shout at the metal man, "Fall!" The seemingly enraged construct pauses suddenly in its advance on Kalasha and turns and tilts its head to look at the woman, as if confused, but in an instant its four legs give out--splaying out in opposite directions and dropping the robot's hunched torso to the floor. The predicament doesn't stop the robot from trying to carry out its duties, but it does make it quite difficult--the robot swings futiley at Kalasha, its arms not long enough to reach her from the ground. Kalasha, conversely and despite being caught off-guard by robot's attack, is quick to retrieve her great blade and bring it down hard on the foe's shoulder--sending sparks and bits of metal scattering about the area(19 Damage!).
New Round, Everyone Up
Group 0 Map Updated

00:05, Today: Dungeon Master, on behalf of Kalasha Roadsworn, rolled 14,18 using d20+6,2d6+6 with rolls of 8,6,6.
00:01, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 4,8 using d20+2,1d4+6 with rolls of 2,2.  Bot Attack/Damage v Kalasha.
23:50, Yesterday: Dungeon Master rolled 14 using 1d20 with rolls of 14.  Bot Will Save v Command.
[Private to GM: Cain: Full HP, -1 Spell
Kalasha: -2 HP
Morin: Full HP, -3 Spells
Sesla: -5 HP, -2 Spells (1 this round)
Zorden: Full HP, -3 Bullets (1 this round)
Robot: -14 HP, Prone (-14 HP this round)]

Zorden frowned and reloaded his weapon.

At least it looked like Kalasha had the advantage on the thing now.

"Yeah!" Morin yelled encouragingly. "Kick his ass, guys!"

He kept his lasso ready, but between the chaos of melee and the robot's low profile, actually throwing it would be a pretty futile gesture.

FREE: 5' step closer, maintain inspire courage (2 rounds remaining)
STANDARD: Ready lasso attack if robot stands up.