The creature points to the hole in the floor and the darkness it contains.  "The threat is below, at least while there is light."

Mhari, regards the hole and then gestures to his two companion, "Discussion, In-private."  And he purposefully walks well away from the Mismatched legged spider-creature.  Still within sight but well out of earshot.

Then whispering in a low voice he turns his back to the creature to face Alberic and Zalbane, "Ok, I'm all for helping these people... if they are truly the ones being attacked and killed, But...that said, we have only this one... "being's" word on it, so let's not be jumping to any conclusions here!  We still have not met any of the creatures 'it' claims are living here, we have no evidence from our searches of any actual battle that may or may not have taken place here.  For all we know this creature has been attacking the residents and they are hiding from it!  So let's go into this understanding we are not taking any side until we have some more solid evidence?  We will not attack first, we try dialogue and communication ~ FIRST!  I'm not going to be responsible for consigning the future residents of our new Clave to an endless war with local inhabitants due to some snap-decision and over eagerness on our part!"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:27, Tue 17 Aug 2021.

Alberic nods. "The same thought had occurred to me. Ask questions first, shoot later, eh?"

"Agreed. No need to jump into violence if it's not warranted.  Now, let's see if we can get a rope in place for us to climb down there," Zalbane says with a nod.  She'll take her rope from her pack and try to find someplace to tie it off so they have a line down the hole they can descend.

As the party looks for a place to anchor a rope, they notice that the multi-limbed creature was no longer in sight.  Their retreat had been as good as silent.

Zalbane is able to find a suitable fissure where one wall meets the floor where a climbing rope can be reliably secured with a spike.

Rope secured, and their erstwhile host gone, Zalbane, with her glowing crystal around her neck, will climb down the rope and hopefully secure the tunnel for the others.  She takes a carefully look around, listening closely as she descends, wanting to know if anything was going to leap (or ooze) out and bite at her...

Alberic watches as Zalbane descends, peering down into the hole after her. He douses his pipe and places it in his pocket - a sure sign that he is concentrating on the moment, and ready to react should there be any of sign of trouble...

OOC: Alberic has no missile weapons, so his plan is to use his Trigger Iotum Ray ability if something suddenly attacks. Hopefully it won't come to that!

Mhari starts but Zalbane is down the rope before he can intercede... so he shrugs and reaches to grip the rope.

Then his eyes flash with lightning... and with unnatural speed and grace he slides down the rope to lightly bounce a foot off the top of Zlabane's head and land in a combat stance 5 paces ahead of her ready to intercept any revealed hostiles STORMHEART drawn and in hand, transparent-plastic shield on his off-hand arm... leaving a trail of lightning in his wake.

Obstacle Running (Cost: 1 '3' Spd, Spd~Edge -2)

The decent into the first of the underground levels, however careful or bold, is uneventful.  A tunnel stretches to the east, or perhaps it was a hallway in some bygone age.  Regardless, the walls seem even and well constructed, as does the ceiling.  The floor is dusty and rubble-strewn.  There are no lights, though.  In the flickering lights sparking from Stormhart, the remnants of what may be humanoid footprints can just barely be made out, although their age is impossible to tell.

Zalbane's eyes are not impeded by any level of darkness or light, and besides, she has her glowing crystal around her neck to illuminate the space.  She points at the footprints and mimes following them.  If Mhari wishes to take point, she will let him, though with the uncertain light levels, she is willing to go first so that they are less likely to be ambushed.  Though not a trained fighter as Mhari was, Zalbane was still very tough.

Alberic cheerfully puffs out a ring of orange smoke from his pipe and gestures Mhari to go down ahead of him. "After you!"

Mhari's acrobatic leap is quite flashy (literally and figuratively).  The tunnels (former hallways?) here are dark and narrow.  There are occasion impressions of what might have once been doors.  Some look long-ago pried open.  Others seem fused to their surroundings by age, if they are actually doors.  They could be some sort of architectural detail or even an unfamiliar device, now forgotten and (hopefully?) defunct.

The only sounds are of the trio's steps and voices.

Mhari nods without question and takes point in the search of the many underground rooms and hallways.. STORMHEART and shield at the ready...
This message was last edited by the player at 17:44, Sun 19 Sept 2021.

As the trio spent the rest of the day exploring and trying to map out the first sub-surface level of the structure, they noted a number of things.  First was the glass, which was found in a number of of the outer walls.  Great roots grew along it at various points on the other side and occasionally small tunnels were seen.  Clearly, it was of durable make, and if it could be safely salvaged, could likely be put to good use or traded.

There were many rooms and hallways down here, not all of which seemed to lead anywhere.  Perhaps this was once dwellings of some sort, but shattered bits of material were difficult to make heads or tails of.  The searching did yield a few bits of Azure Steel (3 units) from a smaller room crammed with metal casings that seemed to have been pilfered long ago.  The steel was in a cabinet built into the wall, partially concealed.  In another part of the building, set in what appeared to be a decorative pose, the party found a long device with a narrow metal tube.  Other pieces, small, many in number, were found in nearby boxes marked with a depiction of the device.  Alberic was certain it was one of the numenera, but it did not immediately make its purpose known.

OOC: Roll 1d6+2 for the artifact level, and then Understanding Numenera at that difficulty to identify it.

What the group did not find at all was any inhabitation.  Apart from some insects and other small critters, this level of the ruins seemed to be deserted.  However, there were several places where paths to the further depths were found.  Sometimes, these seemed intentional to the original construction, stairs or plummeting shafts behind heavy doors.  Two others seemed to be more recent, broken through the floor with makeshift ladders or rocky ramps built to allow access.  Nowhere on this level was there a path to the surface, except the point the party entered and another broken access in the southwest corner, well-covered by webbing.

Retreating to safety for the night, the group is able to find a sheltered grove with a soft bed of needles on the ground.  It is fairly safe and defensible, and there is no disturbance over the dark hours.

As they are preparing in the morning, Alberic gets an odd sensation, shortly followed by a greenish, transparent hologram of Buojrez in his vision.  The hologram speaks, and he hears words in her voice, although no one else seems to be able to hear it.  “It is Buojrez. This message is to warn you of dangerous spores on your route back to the clave. They will be active for another five, perhaps six days. You cannot return that way unless you have a means to neutralize them. Approach from another direction is recommended.Other than that all is well. I saved the children, killed a monster, and found treasures. Be safe.”

Alberic studied the long device with great interest. Then with even greater interest, using a light from his left arm to study it, holding it up to his left - artificial - eye. Finally, he studied it with frustration, puffing furiously on his pipe and launching clouds of flavoured smoke into the air, which mingled with the smell of warm solder that was beginning to come off him.

Finally, he lowered the object sheepishly and offered it to Mhari or Zhalbane. "No idea what it does. Or how you work it, I'm afraid."

08:26, Today: Alberic rolled 5 using 1d6+2.  Artefact Level.
08:28, Today: Alberic rolled 3 using 1d20.  Understanding Numenera (No Skill or Assets, 3 Levels of Effort) - costs 7 Intellect - 3 Edge = 4 Intellect. Lowers TN to 6, I think?

And even with those odds, Alberic still fails! xD

Mhari shrugged and walked over to look at the odd tubular device.  Picking it up he handled it looking to see if the tube was hollow or seemed to have some hand-held purpose ~ other than a fancy club. On a whim he positioned himself so both ends of the tube were not pointing at anyone or anything that the group would not want damaged and he called upon the Lightning within, to send a charge of electricity through it to see if the artifact was simply lacking power?

21:20, Today: Mhari 'Stormbolt' rolled 18 using 1d20.  Understanding Numenera? – 18
This message was last edited by the player at 01:22, Wed 06 Oct 2021.

"Well, it seems either this conflicting group is deeper in the complex, or behind the webbing.  Probably deeper, or perhaps... Perhaps not able to be seen by us?" Zalbane says slowly, not liking the implications of that last thought.

Of the piece of numenera they had found, Zalbane will give it a look over with her lit crystal as Mhari examines it as well.  "Perhaps we just need to look at the different angle?"

OOC: 03:48, Today: Zalbane rolled 14 using 1d20.  Understanding Numenera (T, 1E).

Of the message Buojrez had sent, Zalbane looks concerned.  "I'm glad the clave is safe, but it looks like we may need to consider some anti-spore measures if these things are common about here!"

"Now, shall we try a lower level?  I am game if you are."

The idea of it's purpose tickles along the edge of Zalbane's thoughts without settling, a mild frustration, but not surprising.  Although Mhari's shock does little but add decorative scoring to the tube of the device, his familiarity with a variety of weapons helps him to ferret out the device's true nature.

Slugspitter, Mass Increasing: With a quiet sound like a puff of air, this device fires a tiny slug of metal with a range of 200 ft.  Since the slug increases its mass as it travels, it inflicts damage equal to the artifact level +4.  (Level 5, so 9 damage; medium ranged weapon)

This device is a rapid-fire weapon, and thus can be used with the Spray or Arc Spray abilities that some glaives and jacks have, but each "round of ammo" used or each additional target selected requires an additional depletion roll.

Depletion 1d20

With practice and perhaps a bit of tinkering from Nalla or Alberic, he may be able to alter the device's ammunition to accept electrical charges as the base destructive force, although the mass-increasing effect seems an immutable aspect of the technology.


A dry, if cloudy day dawns near the ruins.  There is more to explore.

OOC: Do you intend to fully map out/salvage a floor before descending?  Or are there triggers which might alter your course to a quicker route downward?  How many days do you intend to stay away from the clave?  This is the start of your third day away.

Also, there were 24 units of parts found in the salvage, too.  I forgot that earlier.

Mhari beams with utter delight at figuring out the artifact's function and obtaining the powerful weapon.  He will indeed work with Alberic in experimenting with the artifact to add purely for decoration and convenience a wooden carved stock and grip to hold the weapon like a bowless crossbow 'long-arm' for aiming. Also, so a sling can be attached to holes in the attached wooden stock and not the artifact potentially damaging it.  He will clean his carbon scoring off the artifact and spend time cleaning and shining the artifact.



At length he will ask Alberic if it might be possible to craft a detachable, by screw clamps, an extended and rifled barrel to the artifact to add more accuracy and potentially range to the projectiles the Slugspitter fires?  Understanding that such a barrel addition would need to be short and not too long least the weapons mass increasing power deform the barrel addition.

He also tests firing single shots to see if he can come up with a standard shaped slug most agreeable to the weapon's use.  Then perhaps a pattern for Wrights to follow so more similar ammo can be crafted.

Needless to say.. discovering all the capabilities of the Mass Blaster Slugspitter is a fascinating puzzle for the Glaive while the Wright's do their work cataloguing the ruins.


As an after-thought, Mhari thinks it best we carefully and thoroughly map out/salvage the entire floor before descending to a lower level... something about the spider-creature's story seems suspicious and he feels the party should act cautiously.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:19, Sat 09 Oct 2021.

If this lower floor is the same size as the first subterranean level, it would likely take about a day to fully explore it.  The darkness was more complete, the echoes in the hallways more eerie.  The silence, when they stopped to listen, seemed more complete, but also ... artificially overwhelming.  They should have heard SOMETHING from another floor from time to time, right?

OOC: What are you looking for, specifically, and what skills, Effort, etc. might apply to those activities?

The silence has Mhari supicious... there are NO Signs of ANY habitation, fled refugees or even recent battle...whatever the 'spider-like robot told them is clearly not even the half-truth.

But he will search the walls of the underground complex tapping them with Stormheart's blade to test for hollow sounds of hidden or conceal chambers.  He will also visually search for tracks that might give some clue if other creatures have moved in these empty hallways or the presence of sliding walls or hidden doors from floor or ceiling scratches.

Ooc: This game does not give you an easy way to get a list skills to use.  So General Tracking and Perception rolls I'd guess.

Mhari seeks to find any tracks or sings of passage or even habitation looking for either refuse that might have been discarded or footprints in the dust to follow.  Tracking if there any signs that might lead to some clues as to what is actually going on here...

00:25, Today: Mhari 'Stormbolt' rolled 15 using 1d20.  Tracking w/Effort-1 [cost 3pt Int, -2E; total 1pt INT]. – 15 {Diff: lv 6 - Intimidating}


~ I hate double posting but wanted to get this show rolling.

Mhari's investigation does, in fact, bear fruit.  Most of the halls here seem abandoned and dusty, with an odd pattern of wide ripples in the detritus covering the floor.  However, near one of the remote holes, a passage downward, there is a clear impression of multiple footprints leading into and out of the hole.  The track of the footprints just ... ends.  It is cut off mid-print, vanishing into the "undisturbed" dust and grit.  And beside the footprints, what might be a set of small wheel tracks.  These, too, cut off at the same line, and end near the hole.

Mhari picks up the tracks  looking at them perplexed, THEN it finally hits him, "Dan Cooper!"

Standing he will turn to his companions, "Remember him, Dan Cooper?  How when he arrived he reported vanishing from his time/world in a flash of light to appear in a room with some strange table with crystals, which when he touched it dropped him with another flash of light into a cave-like room?  Remember the Serpent creatures we fought on your arrival how they were trying to capture Dan Cooper ~ how they vanished into a-a ... hole in the air?  THAT is what these tracks I'll bet represent.  I think these creatures the Spider-like construct refereed to, the 'Relentless attackers' were these same Serpent Creatures!  Those creatures must possess some tech artifacts {whatever it is} to open these 'holes in the air' and it is being used in similar fashion here. Which is why the tracks so suddenly vanish.  I'm conjecturing that there is some extra-dimensional space or abode here, that coexists but may not be cotermious or visible within our reality only able to interact with our dimension when those 'holes in the air' are opened allowing access.  Remember how Dan had somehow developed an ability to ~ was it phase through things or shift between places, likely from exposure to whatever he interacted with on his arrival.. how the Serpent Creatures were so desperate to capture him? We Know those lizard creatures were not beasts but possible alien  maybe even extra-dimensional entities as they were clearly using language to communicate even though we could not understand their hisses and growls."

He ponders aloud hand on chin, "...I wonder if Dan Cooper could 'see' these portal where the 'holes in air' open?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:30, Mon 01 Nov 2021.

"By the Iron Wind! You're right!" Alberic nearly lets his pipe drop from his mouth as he listens in fascination, narrowly clamping it back between his teeth in the nick of time. "Dan's phasing ability only seemed to happen when he first arrived, though. It seemed to wear off after a while."

He glances around. "Still, if we think  that our friendly serpents are coming from this direction... at least that gives us an indication of where we should be watchful."