Session Seventy-Four (Graveyard of Empires Summary)
And in keeping with my trend of last minute summaries… (NB: I actually had 75% of this done by Sunday, I just didn’t have chance to finish it through work and sleep)
Session 74 Summary
We were back in that octagonal room, all crammed in, hirelings, cart and all. It seemed brighter now, no doubt in part to the massive haul of magical weapons we had… procured. It looked pretty much as we left it, the southern doors still held open by Finklemur’s magic. Chuq hadn’t heard anything but the incessant background humming, and I had took the lead in my armour, letting the magic in the helmet scan the area for threats.
What was different however was the smell, as I was told. Apparently the chlorine smell from the west had now spread into this area. Grip and Fang had instantly followed the source to the west door, so I headed over to investigate whilst Thorfus ensured our rear was clear and closed the portal behind us. Something had in fact changed, the door-control panel had turned red, but looking through I could see no other change or any threats.
We discuss our bearings, deciding to prioritise the northern passage first and wake up some more potential allies. As we do so, the sound of heavy breathing becomes apparent, and we realise it’s the voice laughing at us.
“I thought you might return, you swaggering fools. Proud of your stolen copper key no doubt, and anticipating an easy victory over one of your betters. Pride, especially unearned, leads to the fall though. And even for slaves have forgotten that to live is to serve, and all other traitors. Rot among the restless dead you have called for, there is a fitting end for those rotting with disobedience on the inside.”
I come all over with the desire to swagger across the room, despite the difficulty to do so in my suit, and announce to the room, “Damn right, I’m swaggering.”
Either way, the voice says nothing more, and the breathing sounds disappear. Desric remarks that the voice may not be all there. Entirely possible, since the voice may not have properly slept in it’s time residing over the installation, unlike Desric. There is also the potential for it to be an Overseer, but I feel that the breathing would rule it out.
Chuq takes a moment to reach out with the ESP senses of the golden skullcap, circling the room. West, he senses something, possibly ancient dwarven, broken and fuzzy. North is empty. East he finds the sense of anger, unintelligent and wild. Finally to the south, he picks up the something recognisable, a modern mind in mild pain, heading in our direction. We draw weapons and approach the southern corridor. Infravision picks out a humanoid shape by the other door, with a roughly elven build.
It hides when I point it out to the others, so I head down the corridor. Trying to be non-threatening, I poke my head out and wave. Chuq calls out that it’s safe, and we see a half elf appear from the darkness. He’s clad in green-tanned leather clothing, good travelling gear, topped off with a red hat, worn jauntily over a long, braided platinum hair. He’s got a sword and backpack, and decently equipped. For all appearances, an adventurer, especially since it’s likely he’s come from the direction of the Skarnwode.
Questioning him, we discover he had indeed come that way, travelling through the Aramark Village. He has come all the way from Curanost, and a University there. Sensing that we aren’t looking to kill him, he gets very excitable, getting quite close to examine my armour until Thorfus’ sword interposes itself.
The half-elf is Edan, and he came here based on tales of displaced dwarven artifacts he read about in a book. He obviously isn’t sure exactly where he is, especially since the portal isn’t mentioned in any book, even asking if it’s our home. Apparently he discovered the portal on the advice of a half-orc, undoubtedly Uthruk.
We take the time to introduce ourselves, as he hasn’t heard of the Starchy Boyz, which is probably for the best. As we’re both exploring the ruins, he decides to join us as we carry on through. Since Chuq is probably using the skullcap to search the half-elf’s thoughts, I feel we can trust him to join us for now. Chuq lays down the realities of the location pretty quickly, pointing out the undead dwarves skulking around in the tunnels below, and their level of threat. I’m sure Edan thinks that there are three thousand, year-old dwarves below, rather than three, thousand year old dwarves.
As if this place wasn’t horrifying enough…
We decide to pair Edan up with Zelena for now, for mutual protection and to keep any eye on him. Harnath definitely taught us a lesson there.
Heading north, we cycle through the northern corridor and enter the cells area. It has remained undisturbed since we were last there. Thorfus and Chuq head over to one of the pedestals and begin checking on the entombed prisoners, predominately humans and elves, but also including a couple of lizardmen, all currently desynchronised. There is also the ogre we left synchronised since our last visit. They begin discussing our options with Derich, the humans are the priority, and following that the elves, though communication might prove tricky as they were brought here from abroad. The lizardmen will have to be unfortunately left, they suffered at the hands of the dwarves, but communication would be all but impossible. The ogre, who is hurt, angry and hungry according to Chuq, gets desynchronised to save him a slow death.
Whilst Derich heads down to the doorways, myself and Thorfus remain hidden up in the observation room, so as not to spook the freed prisoners. Cell by cell, the five humans are released. The first pair are obviously friend’s of his, Shuqayr and Guarinus greeting him with a hug. The other three are Hardi, Blaise and Apoline.
They are obviously wary in greeting us, but the Starchy Boyz are obviously mostly human, and I make sure to take off my helmet, keeping my arms well away from my weapons as they are brought up. Derich apparently tells them we are ‘traitors’ to the our ancestor’s regime, branded for sympathising with the other races the dwarves captured and enslaved. I am completely fine with that explanation. Naturally there is still a language barrier, and they lack Derich’s grasp of ancient dwarven and more modern languages. We make sure to clothe them as best we can, providing the old rebel’s armour and several large sacks to help their dignity. We also provide food and water, and some basic weapons, which we have surprisingly little of.
Incredibly, for the second group, it has only been a matter of hours since they had been captured in an ill-fated infiltration attempt, sometime a year after the Crystal Tower fell, after Heaven’s Fall. Comparatively, Derich’s men had been there at least a week after Heaven’s Fall, long enough to have spent recreation time with the other prisoner’s outside of their cells.
Derich is also shocked to learn that the Dragon Emperor’s First Consort, whom he believed to have perished in Heaven’s Fall, had in fact survived and been captured by the dwarves. The First Consort was the one responsible for overthrowing and imprisoning Xena’Tel, allowing the current Xen’Tellar to come to power. The First Consort was also a Great Red Dragon.
After this, we free the elves, Derich going down this time with Edan as the humans said they could not speak to each other. Edan manages to speak to them, with some differing in dialects and a certain archaic lilt to the other elves’ speech. The elves are completely unaware of the war against the dwarves, having being abducted by chance from the continent by ‘metal men from the sky’. They initially even mistake Edan for their captor, but reveal they have been their for ‘many months’ from their perspective, let out occasionally to mingle with the other prisoners and play with ‘simple child’s toys’.
Most surprisingly they believe magic is not real, thinking it trickery. It seems ancient elves lack the magical prowess of their more modern kin, being more warrior tribesmen. It is only when Edan launches a magic missile at the wall do they understand, and are shocked and fearful, but see the benefits as Edan tries to explain it. They remark our group is a very odd tribe.
The main elf’s name is Sumnah. He asks to borrow a bow, and Thorfus gifts his to the elf as it often goes unused.
We consider trying the copper key on the portal to the north, and from what we can assume, it opens into another temple, likely on the mainland where the elves are from, but decide to wait until this area is clear. We do notice however, that with several cells now synced and not drawing power, the power in the area has stabilised.
The prisoner’s rescued and somewhat clothed, the party heads back through the portal room to the western wing, being as paranoid and cautious as we ever are. The western door’s switch is broken, seemingly damaged by Haranth’s wrath. At first, Chuq is going to shadow-step passed and open it from the other side, but we realise we can pry the panel from the wall and ‘pick the lock’, by messing with the wires behind it. Chuq, Edan and Pons all struggle to get it to work however, and Chuq has to shadow-step anyway, using my massive shadow to do so. He is able to unlock the door on the other side, and it is spiked open. The code works as usual to open the second door, and it is similarly spiked.
The area beyond looks undisturbed from how we left it, but Belroar reveals that something big, with booted feet, has passed through into the security office and back again. The dogs communicate with Chuq an odd scent to whatever it was, only able to classify it as ‘bad’ and that it ‘burns’, and we equate that to the chlorine smell. Whatever it was is obviously the source, so we follow the scent up to a door. Our scouts are unable to hear anything beyond over the background humming.
Chuq hacks this door as well, and it opens into a large marble room. Three metallic shutters cover the western wall, and a desk and throne face us from in front of them. Two automatons flank the desk, and upon the from is the shocked visage of an enormous mound of flesh and metal, vaguely humanoid. It looks like a homonculus of metal and at least three different kinds of flesh, and it’s breathing is laboured, drawn through a mask and series of vents placed around it’s neck that is also expelling green fumes.
The gasping breaths mark the creature as undoubtedly the speaker we have heard throughout the facility. I want to pin it and demand answers, but Chuq opens up with some thrown daggers, and other members of the party follow this up with arrows and Jaeger, so I simply move into the room and prepare to charge. Thorfus has the room to get in close however, and throws himself at the monstrosity, leaping onto the desk to fight.
What follows is a brief and messy combat. I rush in to the fight, and the creature breathes noxious green gas all over us. Only myself and Thorfus are able to resist succumbing to it’s overpowering effects, but it still leaves us with hazy vision and short of breath.
It speaks here, calling us ‘race traitors’ and promising us death. This thing is a dwarf? It’s as big as an ogre!
It breathes out yet another cloud, and once more us dwarves resist. Chuq, Talon and Barmyr however, who came to back us up, fall prey to it and collapse. It is at this point the automatons, which were previously inactive, wake up and simply crush the two hireling’s skulls.
There’s a noticeable pause in the violence at the point, and then I think we all saw red. I briefly remember screaming for someone to save Chuq before he can suffer the same fate, and Belroar rescues the beleaguered monk. The rest of the party, rescued prisoners included, charge in to combat the automatons.
Thorfus takes an arrow in the mess that follows, and after we have rained blows upon the creature for some time with seemingly little effect, he flips the switch on his sword and executes it with extreme prejudice, inflicting what must be a dozen wounds in a second. After that, the party makes short work of the automatons.
As the dust settles so does a feeling of grief. It’s never nice to lose a member of our group. Barmyr was the last of the Mercers that joined us after the adventure into the Kobold’s warren. Talon was as brave and strong as he was boastful, and it seemed such an ignominious end for a man who survived so much.
Chuq is thankfully safe, and Derich is clearing out his lungs with the air bladder, but it seems the Starchy Boyz may have won a bittersweet victory here.