Session One Hundred and Sixty-Two Summary (Graveyard of Empires: After the Fall)

Session 162, December 6 2023

Introduction

We continue at 3:40PM on the 16th of Anurilden (00.000.08.14 on the Apocalypse Clock) with the party exploring the Main Residence area of Gharaz'Khel despite the sickening trans-spatial energy that blankets the area. On the basis of the barely coherent ramblings of mouths trapped within a gargantuan gibbering mouther near the mysterious accelerator, the group hopes to find one of the facility's overseers and his or her shutdown key among these residences. Will the party succeed in this search? Is the second key also nearby? What will happen if they do turn off the generator? Does any of this help them with the Infected Monster in Feldmark? Find out next time; or not.

Larry's Summary

Go down to open doorways and look to the right/North first. There are a couple of tables like in the cafeteria attached to the floor with metallic machines built in and a few doors. Their lights are green.

It almost looks like a forge, with hoods above the tables, like chimneys, but is odd.

There seem to be a lot of spoons and skewers.

The room to the South is similar but is "normal." Two long tables with benches on both sides. It appears to be a feasting hall.

There are a is a door that is green.

Velkin uses the beeper and it is pretty quick in the hallway with no significant difference in the rooms.

Thorfus scans for automatons and there are none.

Someone seemed to walk out of the cross section, a bit taller than Glompus, humanoid?

Thorfus scouts ahead due to being invisible. Looking to the South, there are a lot of doors. There are no creatures. There is dust, but there are no tracks.

Thorfus does notice that passage to North and continuing to the west is not dusty. There is no dust, but to the South there is.

Thorfus sees a dwarf heading around a corner to the West in the South hallway. Some sort of uniform that is very colorful, bright red with silver. Perhaps a sash or shoulder boards.

Glompus looks for tracks in the hallway to the South. Glompus sees no tracks. The dust is less than that going to the East.

Velkin listens and hears the usual hum from the walls.

Velkin uses the beeper to the North is much higher beeping and is red, other diretions are orange and similar to back to the East.

Thorfus moves ahead to the other intersection to peek to the South, then the North.

Doors on both sides, 4 before an intersection.

The doors have both red and green.

Thorfus sees the dwarf at a door to the South appearing to knock on a door then heading in. There is no sound of the knock due to the distance, then steps in , it is unclear what color the light on the door is, or if it was open.

There is no dust in the hallways in all directions.

Thorfus offers to get close enough to check the door the dwarf used.

Velkin goes to a red door and unlocks and opens it. Thorfus peeks in. It is a 10x10 room with a raised platform with what was probably a bed, a metallic foot locker, and a wood shelving unit to the right of the bed. It is thick with dust. There is a skeleton on the bed platform.

Druul has all the other that are visible get in the room, while Thorfus is watching to the South and around, just in case. He is concerned the dwarf he saw is a ghost or other undead.

Glompus searched the body.

Druul notices boxes on the shelves. Velkin sort of opens and they fall apart resulting in wood and dust. Another playing card with the Silverthrone and a gold stone (lenticular key) and 36 PP.

Druul and Glompus go to the next door and it is green. They notice there are no doors in the next section past the cross passage. There are books on the shelves. Kauri touches one and it crumbles at the edge. Laying it on the floor, the cover breaks, and it looks like dwarven. Kauri starts to read, it looks like a security protocol, version 3. Turning the page crumbles.

The next page is expected behavior of residence and notations of common problems in close quarters in a facility without families.

Velkin undoes the hinges on the chest and prepares to open it. Prix steps out in the hallways. Velkin gives her a neutralize poison, just in case. Velkin checks it for traps.

Glompus tries to pry open the chest in the room he and Druul are in. It pops right open, it isn't even locked. There is clothing in it. The clothing was pretty bright and red when fresh and new. Glompus digs through and feels something underneath the clothing. It is rectangular and it is not a playing card like thing. It has a clip and some sort of broach attached to the playing card rectangle, and text in ancient dwarven and a picture with a box of lines. Kauri says it says "Security Personnel." Kauri says that doesn't look what I saw in the hologram. Kauri says, "I'm giving up on this (book)." dusts himself off as he gets up off the floor.

Velkin carefully lifts the top off. The front was not locked or latched, so it comes right off. It seems to be clothing, faded red. All it has is clothing and a pair of boots.

Thorfus is looking in all directions. Prixithalma is there to be safe from Velkin's craziness. Once to the North at the first intersection, it looks like he has a tablet scratching notes on a tablet, looking in all directions, then he looks up, and just takes off running to the West, around the corner.

Thorfus moves quickly to the next N/S intersection, looking around frantically, and runs further to the West.

The others compare notes about what they found. Prix thinks it is kind of a key, we might be able to use it on some of the machinery, if it is still working.

They surmise the dwarves were segregated by job and perhaps this section was security.

Thorfus runs trying to keep the dwarf in sight and he waves something and enters a door.

The others follow and Velkin checks North and South at each intersection. Velkin sees a dwarf that walks down and turns the corner right before the block without corners.

Glompus follows towards the stomping, Prix follows Glompus.

Thorfus mentions the door and moves to check and the others follow and the door is red.

Velkin and Druul see doors on the cross passages and the beeper shows red.

Thorfus unlocks and opens the door. It feels like something is in our face and all the track lighting goes out.

Druul pulls out his continual light coin. The door is now open. Druul and Velkin head back.

Thorfus does not see any heat signatures. Thorfus takes out his continual light coin. Bed, footlocker, and bookshelf. Thorfus closes the door and locks it to see what happens.

Velkin and Drull feel like they ran into something rubbery. Druul feels all his extremities are tingly and mouth opens slackly and feels like he doesn't have control of his body. Velkin feels similar but retains control of his body. Druul takes 7 points of damage and Velkin 5.

Velkin tries to grab Druul and drag away from here. At the next intersection, they run into something gunky. 4 points to Druul and 5 to Velkin. Velkin tries to shadow step out of it.

Prix asks now what? and Thorfus suggests rejoining the others since they tell him they spotted a amother dwarf. At the intersection there is one light to the South. Beyond that is Velkin and Drull. They are just standing at the intersection.

Druul looks like he is half laying down. 5 more damage to Druul and 5 more to Velkin.

Kauri says that they don't look good.

As Thorfus moves up, it appears that the light is moving away and there is a waveryness to the air as it moves.

2 more damage to Druul and 4 to Velkin. they are still the light is moving towards them. It looks light some of their clothing is starting to dissolve.

Glompus slings a stone and nothing happens.

Thorfus grabs the handaxe off of Glompus and zaps it. It lights up and there is some sort of gelatinous material. The coin glows extra for a moment, but the thing seems intact.

Druul dissolves for 5 more HP and Velkin for 3 more.

Glompus grappling hook hits and the rope dissolves.

Thorfus charges and cuts deep and a bit of frost appears, freeing the grappling hook.

Kauri and Prixithalma magic missile. Kauri's missiles completely disintegrate it and the coin falls.

Prix aims at the other cube. 6 points damage to Druul and 4 to Velkin.

Prix's shoulder is grabbed by something. She is there and looks much weaker. She turns to look behind her and shouts out a warning. Behind her is the dwarf letting go of her shoulder and his face is twisted up in anger.

Glompus picks up the axe to help save Druul and Velkin.

Thorfus thows the Winter King's sword, destroying the other cube. Glompus slips in the slime. Druul and Velkin are soaked but no longer held.

Prix casts magic missile at the evil dwarf and Kauri casts blood magic lightning bolt, bouncing it off the walls of the 10 foot passage. Lightning courses through this being and it dissipates into a mist the disappears. A little rectangular broach thing falls where the dwarf was standing.

The stun stick, book of songs, crossbow, and chainmail of Druul have disintegrated. Velkin's continual light coin, pouch with all the gems including gems, and letter opener.

Thorfus gives Druul his cure serious potion.

Druul's chainmail falls from him, but it can be repaired.

Druul and Velkin each drink another healing potion.

Prix says "Chief of Security" as she holds up the card.

Druul had practiced the songs enough that he mostly remembers them, and if he writes them down soon, he will remember them.

Glompus tries the gold pass key and it works.

Before we head out Thorfus and Glompus check the door the first dwarf entered. It is red. There is a dwarf sitting cross-legged all over there is writing in what looks like blood. It is similar to ancient dwarven. The dwarf looks up at you and says in ancient dwarven. What is this. It asks if I am real. Where is my jailer? A scary looking dwarf used to be head of security. He captured me after we sabotaged the generator. So you were working with Prixithalma, that may be overstating it. How are you alive and still able to talk. I'm trapped in my afterlife, the former head of security was a firm believer in punishment. According to him an eternity in jail made sense. He nods at the writing across the threshold. As you can imagine, it has been a really long time.

It's been a really long time and we stopped the armada, a few months ago. We call it the ancient dwarven empire fell. So Prixithalma's plan worked. Sort of?

Prix walks over and explains it to Prix and the others walk around and join up.

Prix looks in and greets him and thanks him. It did work, mostly. Your part worked, the Crystal Tower fell... DVLs. All is news to him.

Well, I'm glad that I haven't been sitting here for no reason at all and that some good came of it, and you finished the work we began. Now, if you'd be so kind, I'd really like to meet my rest.

Is there a way out besides the river? A way out of the facility? On the reservoir level the tunnels we would close off the water flow on one of the reservoirs and walk out. There is also a cargo lift from the research area in animal testing directly to the surface above.

You can't shut off all the reservoirs and all the gates, it would be catastrophic, without water running it would fail in a spectacular fashion. There would be a crater of large size, a few miles. Less than ten miles.

Why is there so much transpatial energy without DVLs? The generator should be full of them. The accelerator on the research level is still be running. What does it do? It splits DVLS. you start with 2 and end of up with 4, they get smaller. The process generates transpatial energy.

If the generator is still running they are sucked down into it. All DVLs if the generator explodes should be destroyed.

How did you sabotage it? The maintenance level. Most was done by automata, and we corrupted their routines and routed power from generator back into the generator and it sent a toxic cloud through the facility and it seems to be wearing off slightly. It wasn't supposed to be a suicide mission, but with lockdown there was no way out.

Velkin asks for how long can one last, orange is normal. You weaken quickly. If a high concentration area, you could die within minutes. the suits will mostly protect us.

There was no pathogen research here, I knew they did something like that here.

Do you know if there would be a way to charge DVL powered items, it sounds like outside this facility are not bound, but leaving the area outside this area, I don't know.

The generator will such DVLs in. It reaches to at least the accelerator level.

There is something down there that is like a DVL except much more powerful than any we used in our enchantments in the ancient days. It is down near the generator. The creatures in the walls speak of it too.

The generator level. My jailer would talk of it occasionally, the Master of Revels?

What did he say? He was not as well balanced as myself. He became erratic except for his assistance that I suffer. He would babble about it for hours. He called the Master of Revels Jubilex, I think. The creatures all talk of it too. They speak of the Jubilee/Jubilex.

Do you know what the Jubilee is? the head of security talked about it a lot in the last several months I would say. All the creatures crawling through the walls talk about it, some kind of event. I don't imagine it is a very pleasant one.

If we stop the water how long until it explodes? The way we left it, twenty minutes max? Can we extend the effect to give us more time. It would require the core reactor control area and undo some of what the automatons did. You could ease up the overload. You would need the overseer's keys for that.

Do you know where they are. Yes, over the years, yes, they both died. The Core overseer abandoned his post and returned to his residence in Block C I think he died there. The only over overseer was the Reservoir Overseer, he went down and tried to go back up, overcome by the transspatial energy. I believe the animals under testing took his body. I believe they were worshipping him or his remains. They are very strange. These monkey creatures have strange powers of the mind. They are not friendly and have their own rules and ways of doing things. They are intelligent. They are subject to the rule of the Master of Revels.

They would not let me out either. One did speak to me once though. It wanted to know who I was and if there were any more of the old masters, maybe 30 years ago. What did it mean, dwarves? I suppose so, it didn't know anything about the outside world. When I had no information to offer, it left wiyhout relaxing me.

The most talkative are these rat creatures. They can be repetitive, and have enough time, you can get quite a bit out of them.

The lift doesn't get to the core, the shaft below research is blocked. Either find a way through the shaft or the maintenance level through the lower level of the accelerator complex.

Kauri takes notes on procedure to alter. Use two keys and adjust levels to lower the energy throughput and changing the actual conduits in the maintenance area creating the feedback loop of energy. Must fix the cables before altering the controls. You cold have up to a day before it goes critical.

Will it go critical at some point if nothing is done? Perhaps, maybe that is the Jubilee.

The automatons self destructed so they couldn't be used to repair things.

He offers us his card and PIN with a few thousand platinum.

The PIN number is 7543. The card is in my residence. My residence is in Block D room 3-7 third intersection 7th room, take a right.

He is surprised, elves, gnomes, dwarves, adn dragons work together? Yes, if we don't

His name is: Armmek, Tygus Armmek

Core Overseer: Baerrak

Reservoir Overseer: Thymund

Can the generator be slowed to a normal level of operation and reduce the unsafe levels of transpatial energy.

With the accelerator operating for so long, maybe go more than ten miles away.

The ancient dwarven is some sort of binding glyph. Kauri writes it down. Some blood is fresher than others and re-applied periodically. The Head of Security would find other creatures to re-invigorate the binding.

Do you know what sort of undead creature he became? We're ghosts, I think.

The cubes were not part of the original design. They've been here a couple hundred years, there might be more.

(Larry suggested to wait until next week for Alex to be here, in case there is some question Kauri wants to ask, or something he wants to do.)