[written by Phil, player of Bartholomew Pettibone, about an expedition that occurred now some months ago--and earning Bart 100 xp per level]
From the Journals of Bartholomew Pettibone, of the House Pettibone
A Purveyor of Enchanting Sorcery
04 December 2021
Decks and Halls of Ru'un
It has been many months since we left Kilik (a klackon warrior), alone and hidden, deep in the bowels of the 6th House. The time had come for us to retrieve poor Kilik and remove her to a place of better comfort, and where friends could help assuage the pains of their loss. As such, I gathered to me a rather large party of barbarian adventurers (and hired hands), nine of us in total, and we embarked onto Arngier's boat (the name of which escapes me), and we traveled first to the Ocean's Throat Cave – to Fort Doghouse. There we were met with howls and much barking and yipping, as the renyu living in that place were excited to see their benefactor, Durham, once again. There was also much rejoicing to be reunited with Pako and Seven-Toes (who now accompanies Dehuada) – both former members of the Wasgo tribe.
From the Doghouse we made our way to the Green Doors, and once inside I introduced our newcomers (Lord Althis, Arngier, and Dehuada) to Raoden, who was busy studying with Bob. Once we had all embarked into Bob, I explained a bit about the use of the translation pads – that they were the means by which we could be secretly moved into the basement rooms of the sealed 6th House. Gan was sent through first, as Kilik was quite familiar with him, and we suspected he could help keep Kilik calm as we appeared. After Gan seemed to disintegrate in a bright flash of light, the newcomers became somewhat apprehensive about using the translation pads. I suspect that my giggling may have been a bit off-putting. And I suppose I did question (under my breath) if I was using the device correctly. After Avin, Hey-Jo, and Durham conceded to be translated through, the others decided to follow, and finally Raoden took over and sent me through.
I arrived instantly to the hidden basement of the 6th House to find everyone fine and hale, with Gan and Kilik in animated discussion. Kilik was somewhat aggrieved that we had left her here, alone, for so long and with no word, and it took Gan (using soothing words) to convince her of our apologies and concern for her safety. She was also seriously concerned that Gan and I had returned with so many additional strangers. It was a tremendous oversight of mine that we failed to bring mold beer and fungal treats for her enjoyment. I will make this up to Kilik soon – however, I fear that some of my future actions (to be noted later) have made me an unreliable associate to her (and that is putting it mildly).
After several minutes of confusing discussion with Kilik – apparently I had mixed up some of my earlier historical readings, she threw up her several arms in exasperation. Although Kilik did not advise it, she was willing to wait as we made an expedition under the wall of zortrium, and into the halls Kilik claimed lay beyond. So we climbed down into the pit the klackon workers had made, hunched ourselves down, and made our way through a low passage that soon opened up above us into a dark hollow.
Gan tossed up a grapple and a rope, made it fast, and we climbed quietly into a small room above. The thickness of zortrium that we climbed through was indeed astounding. The accounts by Kilik and others of the 6th House were not exaggerations – there is certainly enough zortrium present to make any single Great House richer than the entire League of Ten Cities! However, it is my educated opinion that the zortrium is not so much a vein of metal, but a protective shell surrounding a vast underground complex. What we found inside gave me pause to consider an intermixing of magic and technology found aboard Bob, within several crypts of the Necropolis, within the mines of the Denyan Isles, and inside the Tower Invincible. I believe a greater history lies all around us, and we are deeply ignorant of it.
We wandered through several curved halls, passing many closed doors to our left and right. A stair was located, leading up and down, and we decided to go up. As we attained the next level, we came immediately upon a strange circular room with several handle-like protrusions sticking out from the wall at intervals within – all at about waist height. The function of this room eludes us still.
It was observed by several of us that all of the doors we passed or opened were similar to what are aboard Bob, with touch-stone opening panels. However, it was also noted that there seemed to be no energy ensorceled into these panels, and they all required brute force to open them. We also saw signs where the klackon workers had explored in the past, and noted several locations where the walls, floor, and ceiling has been pocked, blackened, and pitted by what might have been high-energy blasts – such as what emanates from our staff weapons, and Lord Althis' fire-magic.
At one point, during our initial explorations, we heard noises that indicated several doors farther along the hallway were being forcibly opened. We feared discovery and concealed ourselves, hoping that who- or what-ever might pass us by. And indeed “it” did – a ru'un! We suspected the ru'un had been set upon a patrol (much like the one we encountered on the Denyan Islands), and we decided to follow it – at a good distance. I made my mark upon the walls as we progressed (BP--->) indicating our direction of travel.
We soon came upon doors that were alive with energy and functional, and that had upon them certain symbols that I had seen within the Tower Invincible. I was certain that these symbols were a warning of danger, particularly warning about “poisonous light”. At this point I made use of my newly acquired arcane knowledge – allowing me to ascertain the meaning of unfamiliar languages. Indeed, the symbols warned of entering past the doors without protective gear, and that we should limit our time within.
Lord Althis and Durham had both brought with them the special suits recovered from the Tower, and Gan had his protective armor. With protective gear on, those three entered beyond and found what seemed to be a congregational chamber, with personal lockers and shelves, and an additional three protective suits. No particular danger appeared to be within this room and the rest of us entered. Hey-Jo immediately began rummaging through the lockers and dumping contents into sacks and bags, while myself, Arngier, and Dehuada donned the three additional suits. Using my arcane sight I was able to decipher several more symbols and meanings near other doors. Some seemed only to be living quarters (with names and numbers nearby), one indicated that we were on “deck 7” (was this a buried ship?!), one appeared to be a type of “scriptorium”, and another warned of danger and something called “Propulsion Reactor”. These things must be discussed with Bob, perhaps they can be of help deciphering their significance.
We sent those who had no protective gear back out and away, while those of us protected by our suits entered into the “scriptorium” to investigate. Three strange desks, or pedestals were in the room, each with their own magic mirror worked into the tops – and along the wall were several other magic mirrors. We had seen a few others earlier, but all were black, dead, and inoperative. However, these inside the “scriptorium”, had some semblance of energy and life within – albeit very faint. I remarked that indicators showed energy levels for various systems, none of which I understood, but that I could tell most of which were very low and colored red. A schematic on one of the wall mirrors showed many “decks”, with all of the lower ones limned in red, and only a few of the uppermost gleaming green. Also, I spotted what appeared to be a long list of names and accompanying titles – many, many names – along with assigned duties, visible on another schematic. All of the names were blinking red. I fear that they may be the names of the original inhabitants/creators of this “Complex”, and that they may all now be dead. There were hundreds of names. Perhaps this was a fortress?
I attempted to interact with one of the mirrors on the scriptorium pedestals but was thwarted by the necessity of providing a correct shibboleth. Several times, when discussing items and events with Bob, their spirit has made mention that without the proper shibboleth, they could not answer or proceed further. I suspect that Erga Ta'Keon, and perhaps others, have imprinted a special shibboleth upon these devices, and without them, their voluminous knowledge is locked away from us.
While we were engrossed in our investigations, a ru'un came upon us. As we were trapped, with no escape at hand, we enjoined it in battle. Before it came upon us I was able to place an arcane bonding on Gan's sword, giving it the ability to strike harder and deeper, and Durham prepared Sunforger for melee. Dehuada, Arngier, and Althis worked one of the tables off its pedestal and laid it as a barrier across the entrance. When the ru'un made its appearance, Durham loosed Sunforger, and the mighty hammer flew directly into the great red eye of the beast. However, an energy field surrounded the ru'un, much like my shield belt does for me, and while the hammer struck true and cracked the red eye, much of its force was diminished by the energy field. Dehuada and Arngier attempted attacks, and they failed to penetrate the shield. I energized my own shield-belt, and drew “Striker”, preparing for the worst. Gan, I noticed, calmly stood his ground, eyeing the ru'un with studied determination, his blade was held steady by both hands and pointed at the red eye.
The beast struck out toward Arngier with one of its several limbs, and missed. I watched as Gan deliberately – and slowly – pressed the point of the Red Sword of Arslan against the energy field surrounding the ru'un. I could see the determination in his eyes, his muscles tensing, and then he suddenly lunged forward with all of his might and the sword pushed completely through the ru'un! As Gan pulled his sword free, we were assailed by the shrill sound of metal scraping on metal, with ichor and sparks of fire spilling from the gash he had produced. Althis leaped in, closing with the beast, and attempted to douse it with wine – unfortunately, this had no effect. My attacks with Striker also did little to no damage – alas, my weakness lies in the martial arts.
The fight went on, with Arngier slashing with his dark demon-wrought halberd, Gan continuing to study the beast and punching his sword clean through it in apparent weak spots, Durham attempting to douse the thing with oil (sadly ineffective as well), and Althis delivering more wine. Yet even as Gan and Arngier were delivering devastatingly crushing blows, the ru'un continued to fight on. Arngier was incapacitated and fell to the floor (paralyzed?), and Durham had most of his sense of feeling turned into prickly needles. We began to fear the ru'un could not be defeated, when a humanoid figure, clad all over in golden armor, entered the fray, coming from behind the door labeled “Propulsion Reactor”.
From this golden form came a booming voice, in several languages, that ordered us to cease our actions, and asking under what authority we had entered into this location. Having studied some of the old klackon writings, I answered that Erga Chondrias had sent us, and this seemed to halt the newcomer. But only for a moment. The original ru'un had stopped its attack after the Golden Man appeared; however, Gan kept his sword at guard, and continued to study the thing with his cold stare. After a moment, the Golden Man exclaimed that Chondrias held no sway here, and in its one hand a sword appeared (literally!), and in its other a smallish crossbow. Gan then pushed his sword through and into the original ru'un once again! Three times he had now impaled the thing, yet it remained functional! At once, I pulled the strange device Sesel had given me, pointed it at the ru'un, and depressed its touchstone. All semblance of life-force left the ru'un, and it settled onto the ground, inert.
However, the Golden Man advanced and pressed the attack anew! Althis was lightly damaged, Arngier remained limp upon the floor, and the rest of us threw ourselves against the Golden Man. Hearing the clamor of our fight, Avin, Hey-Jo, and the two renyu finally joined in our melee. In short order, and with judicious use of rope and bolas, Althis and Avin were able to render the Golden Man inert upon the floor. Hey-Jo attempted to drop the fellow into arcane slumber, but to no avail. However, once it had been dropped by the ropes and bolas, Durham and Gan pounded it senseless, and in so doing we realized that this was no man, but a cleverly created ru'un – a golem of sorts!
The power cell of the first ru'un was quickly removed, ensuring that it was “dead”. The head of that beast, with its red eye, was removed and placed within Avin's bag. As well, Durham began dismantling the Golden Man, and placing its pieces (head, arms, legs, etc.) into the bag.
We prepared to depart, certain that our presence had been noticed, and hearing that the Golden Man had called out for assistance. We feared that other ru'un might soon fall upon us. However, before leaving, Hey-Jo worked the touch-stones, and opened the “Propulsion Reactor” door – from whence the Golden Man had come. Inside we saw a room filled with machinery, many active magic mirrors, and several dozen small ru'un flitting all about – busy at various tasks. The ceiling was high and see-through, but opaque, and on that upper floor we could see the shadowy form of a taller, thin humanoid. The small ru'un did not seem to take note of us, and I reached into the arcane to meld my vision with what the tall, shadowy figure was focusing on.
I pushed my sight into theirs for a short time, seeing through their eyes. The vision was odd, most definitely different from what I have experienced through the eyes of ru'un, klackons, men, and k'zin. However I could tell that its focus was on a set of particular magic mirrors, and was in some way controlling, or assisting the numerous small ru'un complete their tasks. I suspect that the figure may have been either Chondrias, or Ta'Keon – or another of their kind.
At this point, we did indeed feel that it was time to depart. We had knowledge, we had pilfered a significant amount of material, and we were, all of us, alive. Fortunately, Arngier had only been temporarily incapacitated. We gathered all that we had, and fled quickly out to rejoin Kilik – and upon our retreat we were lucky enough to avoid and evade what was most likely a third large ru'un, come to investigate the loss of its two companions.
Once reunited with Kilik, Gan spoke to her of the fight with the first ru'un, using the klackon fighting technique he had been taught recently. Kilik was quite excited and congratulated Gan on his technique. However, try as we might, it was impossible to get Kilik to agree to accompany us to Sesel's Iqta. In the end, I was forced to lay Kilik into a deep, arcane slumber, relieve her of her weapons, and use the translation pad to send her and my comrades back to Bob. We also took the time to move a good portion of the zortrium ingots that had been “mined” by the klackons (and ingots of other metals) through the pad to Bob, under the direction of Durham. After everyone had been transported back to Bob, Raoden transported me back. The ingots were stored in the work-forge room, Kilik was provided a soft bed and secure quarters, and most of our party made their way back to Fort Doghouse. I suspect a feast was prepared there by the occupying Wasgo – in honor of Durham, Dehuada, Pako, and Seven-Toes, and that they eventually returned to Cothon-Gadeed upon Arngier's ship. However, Gan and I remained aboard Bob, within the pen. I have several months of study laid out before me, and wish not to be disturbed, and Gan has other, personal business to attend to.
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