After our journey through the canyon and desert we stood facing the closed gates of a singular dungeon. The etire structure was clearly ancient, slowly being swallowed by the desert. It was a wonder that the doors were out of the sand at all. A large room welcomed us into the dungeon. In an alcove to the far right we found a mysterious swirling vortex. It had an eerie interplanar feel about it, so we decided to test it by throwing all matter of stuff in there. In the name of science.
Our studies found that inanimate objects would return, though brittle and with much lower density. Animals thrown into the vortex would be truned into machine simulacra, almost capable of performing as their organic cousins once did. After satisfying our curiosity we set about exploring the place further. There was a railing covered in slime. The slime was very reactive upon contact, but with cunning use of mage hand and mason jars we captured some of it. For now we left the railing untouched.
Opposite to the vortex we found a wynding staircase guarded by a statue. We recalled similar statues from the quest through the old dwarven mines. With some apprehension Yolo made his way up the stairs. After wynding his way up he stairs, close to the final door he heard a creaking in the walls. Wanting to depart from the stairs quickly he made for the door. He battered down the door the same time a metal statue broke throughthe wall behind him. Yolo lead the statue on a chase throughthe hall above and downthe stairs where grungar crushed the metal machination.
With the way free the party proceeded up the stairs. There we entered into a chamber housing a great engine. The engine was guarded by a host of undead priests and paladins. They bode us to stay away from the machine. We spotted a hallway next to our entrance and a ladder upwards next to the machine. Fearing what an undead intelligent enough to have a conversation, albeit a short one, we headed down the corridor. The locked door at the end of the hallway lead into a comfortable sitting room. An unnatural fire crackeled happily in the hearth. The walls covered in bookshelves made the place feel comfortable. Along a wall stood a one handed man, he seemed to be both owner and target of our six fingered compass. He introduced himself as the artificer of the hated pretender and gracously accepted our gift of his hand. In return he lend us the help of his ghoulish thralls to fight the priests and paladins outside. Not being too comfotable with the unsavory nature of either sidew e were happy for the combat and immediately backstabbed the ghouls. The one handed man was unhappy about that, but whatever we feared from him was cut short by Grungars sword slicing right through the man. Our actions earned us the trust of the intelligent undead by the machine, and thereby passage to the next level.
Before venturing onward we looted the single handed bandit's rooms. There we found another tablet of the dread machine. Next to it Dougal found a transparent orb , gazing into it he lost hs mind for a spell. He beheld a vision of a lone traveller in the desert. Sensing Dougals ephemeral presence the wanderer turned and asked, "What is my name?"
Dougal found that Benjamin befitted the traveller in the desert.
"Yes, Benjamin, that is may name" agreed the hated pretender.
Having answered a question Dougal saw it fit to ask "And where arey you travelling, Benjamin?"
"I ... I don't know. I was looking for seeking Alice. She lifes in the swamps i think."
And so Dougal emerged from his reverie with news for the group: The hated pretender is called Benjamin, and he is heading for the Blue land marsh to find the woman called Alice.
After this revelation we moved on to the chamber above the engine. This crowded storage room had a wall made entirely of glass. It overlooked a great hall. The hall housed a massive machine, the dungeons namesake. A door to the left opened onto a landing leading down i to the machine room. Curious about the poweful arcane forces at work here Dougal quested forward. On the landing he found a small shrine. Where you would expect a statue to your god, saint, spirit, orther deific creature there stood a cylinder of gold. It was machined and preserved with inhuman precision, clearly defining the unit volume and weight. Dougal could not resist picking it up. Sir Boring rescued Dougal from the expected trap, and Molly healedthe two.
Venturing into the depths of the machine room we found an access hatch on the face of the machine. A set of stairs opposite to the machine lead downwards. The wall by the machine was made of steel and covered in alchemical symbols. Dougal pinched the Iron and Mercury symbols, effecting a transformation of the wall into liquid. The liquid dissapeard through grating in the floor opening the way to a hidden door ....
No comments:
Post a Comment