High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois #101 | Mindflayers and Mecha Ninjas (Part 1)

Episode Date: February 8, 2021

Quill and Lucius are trapped in a room with some Mindflayers in this Metal Gear dungeon! Support the High Rollers and get early access to podcast episodes (and more) on our Patreon: www.patreon.com/HighRollers Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pickaxe. crispy jalapenos, and a super tasty sweet and spicy sauce. You'll wish this spectacle of flavor never ended. Try the new Firecracker McCrispy today at participating McDonald's restaurants. Shop Best Buy's ultimate smartphone sale today. Get a Best Buy gift card of up to $200 on select phone activations with major carriers. Visit your nearest Best Buy store today. Terms and conditions apply. Welcome back to Erois. Last time, our party of heroes are currently investigating mysterious floating keep and weapons facility Shadow Song Pinnacle, a hidden base of operations for the Cloud Barons,

or are they Wind Barons, Sky Pirates who are now working with Calus Valkyrian and his empire. After discovering areas of the facility are magically sealed and need special keystones to access, the party fought against a priest and gunsmith, Reverend Ocelan, in his forge. A quick and brutal battle ensued, with the party victorious, but many resources spent in doing so, and the party acquired the

Reverend's Keystone. Heading to the main tower of the facility, the party discovered a magical elevator with the lower floors inaccessible with their current keystone. Whilst the rest of the party investigated side rooms and some rather unsettling noises and smells, Lucius and his sister Edea head to a smaller building on the far side of the facility. They hear strange music in their minds and gather the others. Moonstar is sent on ahead to scout, but doesn't return. Lucius, Nova and Aayla followla follow trying to locate her and something tries to

influence their minds nova succumbs and states she needs to find the commander and begins trying to make her way into a room sentry and quill rush to her aid but at their approach alerts four horrific durgar machine hybrids and a battle ensues. Nova breaks free of the charm but still enters the strange chamber to investigate where a telekinetic force seizes her and pulls her into the room. A mysterious figure appears to hover behind her in a strange mask. Moonstar also appears and begins fighting against the party. Lucius and Quill move to save nova and moon star as nova teleports away and lucius's cone of cold reveals two more strange figures that were hiding in the room with invisibility now a wall of force has blocked quill lucius and moon star from the others

as the battle continues and that is where we begin that's a nice full-on recap of what happened last time, I feel. Very detailed, yes. We are going straight into it. We are already in initiative with a fresh new combat round. Also, an improved version of the map that I very quickly drew last week. So, to kind of give you the visual description, the walls and the corridors of this chamber are like sculpted stone. Like somebody has sculpted the stone in this organic, intestinal, kind of gross alien way.

They resemble more like these organs rather than actual stone corridors. There is a large door, like a kind of rotating round sphincter door that seals the chamber. But there is also now a giant wall of force that is blocking off the room where Quill, Lucius, Moonstar, and the three assumed mind flayers are located as they hover kind of gently off the ground in these long trailing robes with these strange masks kind of around their faces. Sentry, who has grown into a giant size,

is blocking the corridor and a thin wall of ice is basically between her and the last of these Durgar machine hybrids. Ayla and Nova are on a stairway that leads back up to the outside of the main facility. And we begin with Lucius, Varian, Elowen,

Elinasto. And this wall of force has just been thrown up. It was thrown up like the last round, basically. It's behind you, cutting you off. You can't really see it, but you sense that this magical barrier has been erected. I'm going to turn around. And these three figures,

two of them are currently kind of, like, seem to be blinded by something Moonstar did, but one of them is definitely focused on the three of you in front. I've got that wonderful I-can't-'t move thing, but I'm going to go next to Moonstar here, if possible, and I'm going to do a second cone of cold

while shouting, we need to get out of here quickly, there's some sort of force blocking us. And... On it! Okay. Could you give me a constitution saving throw of 17 please 17 I can indeed

17 they have advantage on saving throws against spells which I didn't do last time the first one is a pass because it was a natural 20 oh the next one is a fail with an 11, and then the third one is a dirty

20, so a success. Two successes, one failure. Two half damages then. And the other one is 43, so it's 21, I guess. Round it down. 21, yes, to the two that successfully saved against it

the third one in the very middle of the chamber, the Cone of Cold turns it into an icy stat to go on before I do this can I also Dicromancy one of them as well with 8 points which one would you like to Dicromancy? 9 points, sorry

top, middle or bottom? top Which one would you like to dichromancy? Nine points, sorry. Top, middle, or bottom? Top. Top one? For nine points, you said? Yes, please. So, as this cone of coldness, you kind of project this cone of icy frost that encapsulates this huge section of the room,

covering it in rime. The three figures that are stood there, the one in the middle is completely frozen. It's flash frozen solid as you kill them, basically. They are just turned to ice. The other two managed to kind of either kind of throw their arms in front of them or kind of turn away that they take the brunt of the cold. Their masks frost over

and they crack and break and you can see these slimy tentacles drip down from their bulbous alien heads as they are revealed to indeed be mind flayers. Nice. That's my

go other than yeah, no bonus action, so please continue. Okay. So, the we next go to Nova Vija. The Wall of Force does not

drop. This is probably not going to work, but Oh, I do need to make concentration checks for them, though, I think. Because I believe Wall of Force is concentration. It is. So, the first one, success. In fact, actually, one succeeds, one fails.

And the Wall of Force, however, remains. Okay. Okay. I would like to nip around the corner. Excuse me, excuse me, coming through. And cast Arcane Gate. I would like one wall to be directly in front of me on the stairs

Actually, hold on the first bit is was it turning feet? So I want to watch the one that's in the room with them Yeah This Facing I've drawn it on the map. I want it to be facing so that the portal, to enter the portal it's facing Lucius, Moonstar

and Quill and then the back of it is facing the Mind Flayers. So at the moment Lucius and that can pass through it if they go into it but Mind Flayers would have to go round to go through it. So it is one-sided. Yeah, it says on it that it's one-sided okay so yeah it says on it that's one-sided okay we'll indicate that with like a kind of arrow sticking out a bit like this

so yeah okay so the side facing lucius minstar and quill um is currently facing towards them um but the others see it uh anything else on your turnover the others. Anything else on your turn, Nova? This is probably going to fail somehow, but that's all I've got right now. Okay. Some mind flayers go. One of them is blinded, one of them is

not. And the first, the one who is not blinded is going to drift over to the side like this. So Nova, Sentry Aayla, one of them just passes to the side and you can't see them anymore. They just disappear from your view. And then this kind of wave of psychic energy is going to shoot forward in a cone.

It's going to catch all three of Lucius, Quill, and Moonstar. And that is going to be an intelligence saving throw, please. I will make one for Moonstar that is a failure for Moonstar three oh six that's a check is that definitely correct

oh yeah that's just a check oh it's still plus two anyway so it's the same roll I have some bad news this is more for Kim, Ayla and Century because they're going to have to come and help you 6, 10 18

that is 22 psychic damage and you are all stunned for 1 minute you may repeat the saving throw at the end of each turn for a minute ok I also need to do you may repeat the saving throw at the end of each turn. For a minute? Okay.

I also need to do double concentration checks. What's that? Nine. Well, stunned, Tom. Does it end? Oh, no. Yep. Stunned, you can still make them. Yep.

Oh, okay. Okay, so I'll lose my healing aura for the nine and you know what i'll just lose both why not why not even your uh your spectral form doesn't manage to hold on to one of these uh concentrations as your brain is just overwhelmed This kind of intense ringing in your ears. This almost deafening cacophonic orchestral music. This alien choir just deafening you and you're just reeling, not quite sure of what's going on.

All three of you. Oh, man. Okay. That's his action. The other one will stumble. I'm going to roll a d8 because he's currently blinded. One, two, three, four. He kind of stumble. I'm going to roll a D8 because he's currently blinded. One, two, three, four. He kind of stumbles around this desk

and kind of moves in a direction, and then his form becomes incredibly blurry as if his form is all shifted and difficult to tell precisely where he is. He's going to cast a blur on himself. That is their turn. With one of them dead, that's all they can do. Kilek, you are stunned.

You may make a saving throw at the end of your turn. Intelligent saving throw. Okay. Let's see. Big boy, natural 20. Indeed it was. Indeed it was. Well called.

That was a big boy. He did. Big boy. God. He wished it was indeed it was well called he did a big boy god he wished so you kind of like you just managed to focus your senses you kind of the the kind of words of hesper your knowledge your power kind of ekes through and you managed to kind of shake out of this this intense music and snap back to your senses but that is the end of your turn, Keyleth.

Oh, full turn. Yeah, it's the end of the turn. You make the saving throw. Stunned is basically you do nothing. Ayla. Hello. Hello. Okay, I'm going to...

just pop through this little portal beside me. Yep. There. Come out. So that's like... You would... You'd have to basically move past. You'd have to go 5, 10 to there.

You'd have to... You can't end in the same space as an ally. So that's that. 5, 10, 15 of your movement, basically, to step through. And then 15, 20. I would like to rage and smash this thing in the face, please. Yes, I thought you would.

Recklessly. Recklessly. Yep, that's bad news bears. Pre-manned, pre-manned. So, where am I? Bad news bears. Pre-mant. Pre-mant. So. Where am I? Okay. 17 and a 14.

So 17 plus 13 to hit. Oh my god, 30. That's going to hit and I can't shield it. So, yep. Roll the damage on that one because I have to check for concentration so if you can do the damage per attack that'd be great sure that is can't even shield it

19 damage on the hammer oh my god 19 damage on the hammer concentration check that's a failure the wall of force drops. Awesome. Score. I hit him again.

Strikes this creature in the head and just the shimmering barrier just and then you swing a second time. 15 is my highest, so 15 plus 13. Can we hit? Can't stop it.

I can do nothing. Oh, same damage again. 19. I rolled an 8 again. So 19 damage on the hammer. You crush his skull. You crush his skull in. So with this second blow, you bring the Howling Tempest down as this big bulbous brain

just collapses in on itself as the body's slammed into the ground. Disgusting. And I don't have anywhere for my little zap to go, so I'm just going to chill for now. Chill. Yeah. On the other side of the ice wall,

you just hear this one lone Durgar. He's coming. He's going to make an attack against this wall of ice, which has very little hit points left. Misses with the drill. The psychic scream deals 2d6 land damage. As long as I roll average, I do. The last wall of ice breaks,

turning into a cloud of uh icy kind of frost um uh and then he will basically he can't step through it um because century is blocking the way but he just charges towards the nearest thing that he can see which is century's giant form and then he ends his turn so at the start of his turn the the cloud will deal damage to him uh did you uh no that's not concentration for wall of vice i don't think so no it's uh just there now because it goes up and then it's just there and then it goes away yeah cool uh sentry uh so does my held up it's like frost covered uh did you you hold an action to attack if you got through to me? I was holding a sunbeam, yeah.

Oh. Do you have another use of sunbeam? Because you used that against the reverend. It's charges, isn't it? Is it like, it's like five charges? It is charges. Yeah, it's five charges, yeah. Because you used it last week.

Did you have enough charges left? I should have enough charges left, yeah. Because I haven't used it once. Okay, cool. All right, well, this one guy, the ice breaks down as he screams, and this kind of horrific, like, Durgar with his grey skin and white hair, but, like, parts of him have been replaced by machines. He has, like, all these, like, iron straps around his neck and arms

with drills that have, like, drilled into his flesh. Just comes out these mad eyes like stanley kubrick's his eyes are being held open he's just like he stands through and then you just iron a man beam uh him in the in the face i could get him out of the way he fails um don't roll damage he had five hit points left What do I have to do? He fails. Don't roll damage. He had five hit points left. It just evaporates him. This pure light sunbeam just channels down this corridor,

penetrating through all the misty frost that has been summoned by these walls of ice before, and you just disintegrate him into ashes as it's just and you do get a sense that maybe that's actually a bit of a relief for that poor Durgar in this torturous existence.

And yeah, he is dead now. Anything else, Sentry? Because that was a held action, so it's your turn. Yeah. So I shall, I think I'll move into the room. So excuse me. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25. Remember, you can't end if you're overlapping.

Okay, cool. Yeah, you kind of squeeze through the door like... You could have done. You squeeze through the door like Lady Dimistriku from Resident Evil. You kind of... Nine feet tall, yeah. Tall, century lady.

Okay, Mark. All right, calm down. Can I... Can I bonus action Misty Step the rest of the way to this Mind Flayer here? Yes. Yes, you can. And and then that was a held action yeah and then uh do the old one two smackery on this boy please sure so same thing if you can do each attack separately just because i can track uh concentrations and stuff all righty and also you might just like the other thing is it's good to roll attack separately because if you kill somebody you can then like move and attack somebody else in in other combats

obviously not this one but uh so that's a 15 for the first one ah that would hit but this mind flay and a reaction throws up like a barrier of force he's to shield spell and it's just like deflect the first attack. Like, ah! It's just like, ah! Crush! Isn't this guy also blurred as well? He is blurred as well, so that would have been a disadvantage actually. So you can

make the next attack, but just remember disadvantage. That's my fault. Thank you, ChrisDrop. You get a DM gold star. So 25 on the second one. Is that with disadvantage? Yeah. So that's your lowest with disadvantage is 25. She rolled a 15 out of 17.

She's got it. You hit. Even with the shield spell. Her Majesty's Rose probably just breaks through his feeble spell. Oh, man. So I'm'm gonna do this at a level let's see what we've got left level two divine smite i think so that's okay 48 i believe okay bonk oh that's 4d4 don't worry that's me doing the wrong thing there we go that's 4d4, don't worry. That's me picking the wrong thing. There we go, that's more like it. 21 plus 5, 26, plus a d4, plus 2d4.

26, 27, 28, 29, 30. 31 damage. 31 damage. You skewer him like a roast. Her Majesty's Rose just rips through his chest. The point of this enlarged sword sticks out of his back as you kind of lift him up off the ground temporarily, and then it just slides off

as you pull the blade back, and he just flumps to the ground, dead. All three of the mind flayers are now dead. Wow. I mean, you hit them with two cones of cold, a full barbarian assault, and then sentry, which

you know, sentry is nothing to stiff at either. I expected something to fail, but no. It all went perfectly. I thought this stuff was going to be a lot worse. I mean, nobody got to strange with it. Don't worry.

I will point out, one of them was at half health from last week, and two of them had taken some damage from last week and two of them had taken some damage already because of the Kona Cold and some of the other spells so they weren't at full health these guys didn't look physically very strong they relied on tricks and hiding

and dominates and stuff like that which you guys resisted they tried dominate person on three people and I think you all saved against it so, oh no, Quill removed it from lucius and moon star so that's right yeah yeah big place fuck out of here big place so yeah these guys just drop to the ground um their bodies kind of just slump um and it's kind of wet you can see this kind of thick purple blood spreading out um and yeah you are left alone with the commander's room

you can see there is a door that leads off to the side, which is where Moonstar came from. She's kind of holding her head and just kind of coming out of the stun after about a minute. Um, you can see that there are statues. What happened? They hit me with this mind stuff. How long was I stunned for?

It seems like, was it like two, three minutes? They were all there and then they weren't. A few seconds. Seconds? Sorry, they're gone. I don't know myself. I had the same thing. What about the girl guys?

They are very dead. Very dead. Incredibly dead. So very dead. Sentry did a thing with their chest again. They're very dead. Very dead. Incredibly dead. So very dead. Sentry did a thing with their chest again. So dead. But Lucius, that ice was great. The ice kept them out for so long, and it was amazing. It really helped.

You can also see Lucius, Edea, a lot of her body is covered in the ice from your own spell because you did hit her with the Cone of Cold as well. And she's limping. She's definitely pretty badly hurt at this point. I'm so sorry to have hit you with my abilities there. I saw no other option at the time. I didn't know what was going on. Yes, well, I might be able to.

Let's see. Look through my spell book here. What have I got? If not, I can provide it. I have a few potions, if need be, but I have a healing potion I can take. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. 18 healing.

The level three cure. 18. Picks her above half HP. Yeah, she seems to get her strength back as Quill's magic kind of coalesces over her. Thank you, Keyleg. Yes, I'm feeling a lot better now. Just sapped a lot of my energy.

I remember coming down the stairs to scout ahead and then this music just filled my mind. I had to remember something about a commander and then I don't really remember what happened after that. Yes, the same happened to Nova. They must have powerful psychic abilities of some kind, but what is going on in this place? That music, by the way, has stopped.

That music has completely stopped. Yeah. As soon as the last mind flayer died, the music stopped. Experiments on Durga, these creatures that can control people's minds. What is happening here?

Can I have a search around the room while they're talking? Sure. Yeah. Do you want to search around this room or the side room? This room specifically for now that we're in okay to see if there's anything of this room alo when you begin looking around it's actually quite barren uh there are four statues of these mind flayer like creatures in the corners looks like they've been sculpted out of the walls themselves uh there is a desk um in the very middle um again sculpted from stone there's no uh schematics or drawers or anything like that on there the only thing you can find is a big onyx um kind of skull uh and it's kind of humanoid in

shape but there are engravings on it like a like an anatomical like a medical skull you can see that like um there are lines engraved and strange alien script written on it um with all sorts of like lines and diagrams and things like that it's made of pure onyx so it's probably worth a fair amount of money on its own um there are also four paintings um very crude, abstract, quite horrific, like, well, just creepy. They're broad strokes kind of almost depicting like a very bizarre world of like purple mountains and rolling pink skies with more of these kind of alien-like figures.

I mean, all of you except Adaya have seen Mind Flayers, I think, before when you were out in Astral Sea in the Astral Space but they're not you don't find them on Aramis like these creatures are not native to this world the only other thing is behind the desk there is a

sculpted emblem in the wall and it is an emblem you have seen before which is of Zarkira great yes Nova the wall and it is an emblem you have seen before which is of zarkira right yes nova um the paintings do they this is this you're gonna roll your eyes and um you're gonna go back to rosewood yeah do they look similar to the paintings of the prince in um no no not the same world those were like they were beautiful paintings the paintings of the prince in Rose Hall? No, no. Not the same world.

Those were like, they were beautiful paintings, like works of art, like these gorgeous portraits, somebody with a real talent. These are abstract, like really bold, broad strokes, haunting. They're very Cthulhu-esque. If I was to describe them as kind of uh lovecraftian you know those kind of paintings whereas the ones from before look like renaissance paintings um but they just depicted a more if anything nova with your experiment with your kind of knowledge of the astral plane improved since rose hall you would suspect that the paintings you saw in rose hall depicted another planet

and the likewise these paintings here depict a different planet as well, like a different world. You know, maybe, you know, in another version of D&D, the kind of these worlds would represent like the prince was probably more something like the Feywild. And these worlds here would maybe be more like the Underdark, but they are separate worlds in Erois. I never understand modern art. But yeah, you don't find any schematics or anything Ayla.

Not in this room anyway. Good to know. I think we need to leave. I think we can also definitely say that Democles is in league with Starbane because Starbane used mind flayers in the Great War. Yeah, they were part of the Court of Shadows.

There is another room here that Moonstar came out of. We should probably check there. There's also the direction the Durgar came from. You didn't see actually what was further down that corridor. Yep. Right. Is the Zarkira symbol, is it something that could come off of that

or is it very much engraved into the stone? Okay, that's fine. Like the corridor and even this very room, it looks like somebody has magically sculpted the stone and kind of created it. Like they've pulled it out of the stone and shaped it from the very walls itself. In fact, the only freestanding things in this chamber

is the onyx skull on the desk and the four paintings. Those are the only things which can actually be kind of um removed and taken off and stuff no but you want an onyx skull thing i wouldn't say no um i'll put it in the bag fascinating i'd like to study it it's probably worth about 500 gold nova when you start looking at it old Nova when you start looking at it. The weight and size of it. I wonder if it's worth taking some of these paintings just as proof that there was something

alien here? I don't know. Do you have a bag of holding or a handy sack? You have a Hewitt's handy sack, right? Have a sack. Yeah. The paintings won't fit. So unlike the bag of holding, the backpack has a limited space where you can fit things in. The skull will go in, but the paintings won't fit. So unlike the bag of holding, the backpack has a limited space where you can fit things in. The skull will go in, but the paintings are pretty big

and so wide you couldn't shove them down, basically. Even if you cut it and rolled it. If you cut it out and rolled it up, you could then store those in there, yes, but you wouldn't be able to take the frames, these kind of wood frames. Lucius, when you step through into this side room um you see a kind of smaller chamber and it's not it's alien and a little bit intimidating and unnatural but you're not quite sure what you're

looking at it seems to be you would almost describe it as like uh maybe a bed but it's a diagonal, uh, to the wall. Um, there are strange glass tanks on either side filled with this kind of violet liquid. And there is like this metal skull cap that sits, uh, on the top of the head. If somebody was laying in the bed on the other side, there appears to be this giant stone sculpted mind flayer face but its head is actually made of glass and inside there is this brain just kind of pulsing just like I don't like this at all

look at this in here and I'll beckon everyone to come over I mean how much worse can it be than the stuff that... Oh, wow! Oh, that's... It's a brain. That's a whole dang brain.

It looks still alive. It's pulsing and... Don't go near it. Don't touch it. I don't know what it is. Should we destroy it? What do we do with it? Release me.

That's a hard pass. No pod this way. And I'll back up. Back to the moon star. Okay. What if this thing does what these other things do? I'm worried it might start playing a song or something and then we're all

ugh, you know? Kill it! It could be a trick. Knowledge. You can give knowledge. I do like knowledge. However, that does sound like a gambit to get me over there, so he can take over my brain, and then my brain is his brain. I don't listen to it, Claire.

I am a prisoner. Release me. Okay. Anyone else want to take a look at this whole airsync? Kim, you're muted. Moonstar, you heard the music as well, right? And the commander, and it pulled you this way. That's the last thing I remember is the music as well, right? And the commander, and it pulled you this way. That's the last thing I remember is the music

and then a need, an urge to find the commander. That's the last thing I remember. I'm sorry. I felt the same thing too. This must be the commander. Well, possibly. I can't... well possibly I can't I wonder how much commanding

something that's in there could do maybe it's a servant of one of the three that we already killed maybe they were using it somehow to make that music you came out of the room unscathed well You came out of the room unscathed.

Well, I firmly believe that those three things to be my master, I wouldn't call me unscathed, unharmed perhaps, but... That's, yeah, sorry, poor choice of words. When Lucius attacked, I was convinced he was an enemy that I had to fight that is dangerous this didn't feel like charm magic I it was something more than that I think whatever that thing is

I think it did something to me we can't allow that to take over our minds we need to stop it from doing that again I am trapped would you not release me We need to stop it from doing that again. What's your name? I'm going to call from the doorway. I'm not going in.

I'm calling from the doorway. It's not a name though, is it? thinks. I am knowledge. I am secrets. It's not a name, though, is it? You are creepy. Names are for the living. Names are for beings of flesh. I am knowledge. I am greater.

Release me. My secrets can be yours. Who does your knowledge benefit? Knowledge benefits all. That's a good answer, damn it. Release me. Who brought you here?

Any questions? I will answer if you release me. You'll answer now. Release me. I must be free. No. I don't trust you. None of us do.

And they won't let me do it. Answer the question. And maybe... Maybe... We can't trust it by zantis a three-minded sentence we don't we don't know what this is we don't know what it could be messenger ring guys i'm not actually going to the jar. I'm trying to get information. Could you stop? Xantis, the three-minded! Please be careful. We've got no idea what a Xantis is.

No. I'd rather think it's the three that Aayla just... smooshed into the ground. The thing that Aayla's licking off her boot. It's pretty gross. What knowledge do you seek? I know of your world, of your kind. Eons of knowledge, of law.

All of it. Yours. Release me. The good news is, if it knows it, then I can just use the eye and find out. And then we just leave and never look at the thing ever again. Or destroy it or whatever. The knowledge I seek is what weapons they are making here and what they're doing with them.

Release me and I will tell you. No deal. Come to me and speak with me alone. No. And no secrets for you. And you hear this just insane shriek that's just, like, emanating from this room. This thing is getting pissed. freak that's just like emanating from this room this thing is getting pissed and it's just like this like oh it's like a like a chalkboard like a nails on a chalkboard in your mind um and it stops

oh oh um well are we leaving it all you want there's more things that way. We should probably actually go look at that. Others will come. I will have freedom. And then you will be mine. Definitely not speaking to the brain anymore then. Enjoy your tank.

Shut the door. Walk away. Raise me. And then you just, yeah, you. I truly think that that's remaining alive is just going to allow others to fall victim to it. Much like Moons Darno.

But we have more pressing matters. That thing isn't going anywhere. Let's find the schematics and maybe some explosives. We can roll some of their own devices in there and destroy it that way. We just gotta get the info that we need

to go back to Gus Taman to tell them what's going down and then send the troops in. Grenade the weird squishy brain that tries to talk to us because generally things that try to talk to us like this, not good. Never usually good.

So, yeah, I'm all for the grenade plan. Grenade? I'm assuming she meets one of the explosives. The bomb. I've never heard that before. The bombs. The things you throw. I don't see how that could aid anyone. It's a bomb. Anyway. It's a bomb. Anyway, over that way

is where, I mean, I thought we had a pretty good grasp of the weapons they were making here. Giant mechanical things, but now they're fusing the mechanical things with body things. I don't know the words. Nova? You're better at this, Nia.

It was like under the water, right? With the orcs? What? Sorry. You remember those aquatic but Nova, you're better than this. It was like under the water, right? With the orcs and those horrible... You remember those aquatic mutants? Very well-remembered, Century. Yeah. Yeah, there is... As Century says that, there is definitely like... This thing is more like combining Magitek with people,

but you remember the agents of Zarkira have experimented on living things before like um yeah like that was the work of zarkira followers not necessarily callous they they were in the the valkyrian empire but they were underlings of zarkira specifically um and the same thing here um zarkira likes to meddle this has got her all over it it's immoral so whatever this is it's wrong let's find out essentially your giant

form will probably run off like nice see if we can get some evidence we can actually take back with us yeah i get out alive so i'll move down this corridor yeah when you get to the staircase lucius um are you going to head down from where the duergar came from or are you going to head up the stairs down the are you going to head down the corridor yeah okay um it doesn't take you long the corridor extends a

little bit further and then you come to um a series of jail cells um very obviously jail cells that's set into the stone walls the stone here becomes more traditional like you've seen in the rest of the keep and there are these thick iron bars and inside these cells you in fact as you begin walking down the corridor a voice starts calling out to you you just kind of hear a

hi is anyone there is someone there someone drew away those dergar are you are you here to help us hello uh yeah i do not think that they can hear you captain well surely someone's gonna be coming down this way somebody drew those dergars away right come on we just gotta get our hopes up just be quiet i've had enough of your peppy attitude you can hear like this conversation echoing down the stone yeah i'll keep crying i see if you can

reach that lever sure i'll stand in front of the kit of the is it definitely does it look like an airship crew so when you get in there and you look over you can see uh so there's a couple of sites you see that split onto two sides right on one side of the jail uh appeared to be a dwarven airship crew uh they wear the colors of gold throne so they have these like gold tabards uh big leather boots with like these spiked wheels on the backs of them big cowboy hats um they look a little bit uh kind of uh roughed up one of them has managed to uh has got like a short piece of what looks to be woven hair and you can see that a lot of the dwarves have shaved their beards and braided their hair together and he's trying to loop this tiny bit of like hair rope over a lever to try and pull it down um so they've all got like

these short beards the the one one guy uh they've all done it so they've kind of got like maybe like you know seven foot of rope but it's really flimsy and every time he pulls on it the hair just breaks apart and he's just winds it back in on the other side in a separate cell, you see three figures. One appears to be an ember elf, so one of these kind of almost pure obsidian stone-like skin elves, completely bald, no hair whatsoever, but they have gemstones embedded instead. And this one has almost like metal links attached

to give them a semblance of hair uh that kind of spills down uh there's also with them uh you see a beast folk uh specifically a rabbit like sanna was um so a big pair of kind of like cream colored ears um she seems much shorter than sanna was um a little bit plumper um and she's kind of, you know, dressed maybe as like a navigator. You can see kind of like a kind of more scholarly look to her. Big pair of glasses. And she's kind of like sticking her neck out and trying to hear what's going on. Next to her is another Arakokra, a very vibrantly colored parrot Arakokra

who wears an eye patch and is dressed like a very stereotypical pirate even with a wooden leg um does he have a tiny human pirate on his shoulder he doesn't have a tiny human pirate no he doesn't um but yeah when they hear your boots, the dwarf captain, who you can see is very clearly stands out. He has these kind of epaulets on his jacket, almost like a little military uniform. And he takes his hat off and he's like,

Howdy, who? Are you here to rescue us? Are you a rescue party? What's going on? Hello. Those things dead? Oh, yeah, they're gone. They kind of mostly killed themselves. They all start cheering and like, Hello? Those things dead? Oh, yeah, they're gone.

They kind of mostly killed themselves. They all start cheering and like, Yeah! Kind of a stealth thing. Well, it was. It's not anymore. We've made a lot of noise. It's fine.

But yeah, we're trying to find out what's happening here and go back to Gusthaven. It seems that our rescuers have arrived. We're trying to find out what's happening here and go back to Gusthaven. It seems that our rescuers have arrived. Well, we'll be more than happy to tell you whatever you need to know in exchange for our freedom. This is the Ember Elf who kind of stands for it. Again, they're kind of wrapped up in all these gorgeous silks. They're a little bit dirty, but you can see them kind of covered in these silks. No weapons or anything um but they are kind of like leaning up against the bars looking out uh the beast folk lady kind of bounces up and she's just like oh oh thanks siana thanks siana i'm so glad that someone's here to rescue us

oh i thought i'd never get to see the borough again um the pirate kind of the the parrot uh looks in your direction the parrot at krakoka and with his one good eye he kind of hobbles over. Ah! Aye? Good? Good stuff. Ah, okay. I mean, well, yeah, we are definitely willing to help and save, but I mean, the things

in the other room, they had control over mines and things, and I guess some preliminary questions first. The dwarves that left, were they with you guys? Oh, I've never seen dwarves like them before. They're not from Goldthrone or anywhere around here that I've seen, like that gray skin and strange hair, and they've got weird powers.

I've never seen a dwarf like them. They're not with us, that's for sure. They've been taking airship crews for a long time now. Some of them they take up to the tower. Some of them they've just killed, the ones that tried to fight back or escape. I think we're one of the more recent captures. Our ship, we're on our way to Goldthrone, and it was boarded by those uh sky pirates

then wind barons or whatever cloud barons whatever they're called one of the two we were yeah we were hijacked and uh they took our ship took our supplies flew us here and then threw us in this cell and uh well those uh those things the things with the masks i don't know what they are but they've taken a few of the others not from my crew but the crew before us the folks who were with the fellas over there he nods his head to the bar folk and the the ember elf and the

the aracocra and they took their captain and well we didn't see him again I'm sorry to hear that maybe a few days a week hard to tell no sunlight no real schedule of what's going on those things those machine dwarves as creatures they would bring us food from time to time some bread and biscuits and water but uh really hard to tell if that was to any regular schedule or Would you be willing to

testify if we were to bring you to council or Well, sure. Of course. Yes, of course. Yes, absolutely. Thank you. We're trying to stop what's going on here and potential threats to cities and civilians as a whole.

And your input would be very valuable. Well, that's well, that's first of all, good to hear. And great to know we've got big damn heroes like a group of you on our side. But I mean, yeah, we honestly I don't think we're going to be much help right now we've not eaten much and we're not in any condition to fight but we can holler down and wait until you've got somewhere safe for us to go

or something like that that's the best I'm afraid we don't have much information apart from we were dragged here and then thrown in these cells but if there's anything we can do I just believe be honest and tell your case We were dragged here and then thrown in these cells, but if there's anything we can do... I just believe be honest and tell your case as it was, who captured you, why, when. Any sort of detail would help our case with exposing what's going on here.

If you could remain here for now while we scope out the rest of this facility, we'll come get you when the time is right and it's safe to do so. Do you get us out of these cells? Because just in case something happens and we need to make a break for it, I'd rather not be trapped inside. I'm sure we could do something. Get us out of the cells if you don't mind, fellas. Yes, so long as you remain down here for now.

Lucius, I don't know if... Think we can do that, eh? We may be able to send them back now, and, I mean, we could definitely use a quick rest before we break into that tower. That seems like the main... True. I could send...

I mean, I don't know if you've already caused a ruckus if you've already caused a ruckus I had to get my voice right for a second there if you've already caused a ruckus these folks I know that they don't mess around they've been pretty they've been pretty on top of things when they captured us

if they see any sign that somebody's come and gone I think that they'll probably try and pack up. And, well, certainly if it was me, I'd be hightailing it out of here. I wouldn't stick around if I knew people have been ruffling around under bridges. All right. Well, let's waste no more time then.

Just get us out. That'd be great. Aayla, Sentry, do you mind? No, not at all. My pleasure. It's just that lever. We can't reach it. Oh, simply a lever. I'll pull it right now.

Nova just pulls the lever. Yeah, you hear this heavy kind of like, clunk, clunk, and then the gate, he swings open. He's like, we're free. We're free, boys. Come on. Oh, well, and he comes up and he's like, yeah, free! We're free, boys! Come on! Oh, well, and he comes up and he's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, sorry. Servon and Dwarf, we don't do quiet very well. He comes up

and he grabs your hand, Lucius, and he shakes it. Well, Captain Dallas Orgrin, pleasure to meet you, sir, and thank you so much. And he goes around and he shakes everybody's hand. This is my crew. Man, well, listen. Whatever happens, much and he goes around he shakes everybody's hand this is my crew uh man well listen whatever happens if you can get us wherever you can get us i'll make sure that the dagos trading company

repays you for everything you've done i'm one of their finest captains mr arville he'll uh he'll make sure he'll pay you know mr dagus we're best friends with Arvel. We know him well. How is he? Yeah. Bless my stars. How about that? That's phenomenal to hear. Have you seen him recently? Is he okay? Is he eating enough?

Maybe a month or so ago. We've been trading, traveling around. He didn't want us to go on this journey. He said that with all the news of sky piracy, it was too dangerous. But I know that he's been saving. He's been doing something with the business, saving up huge amounts of gold. And so I thought we got to try and get him some sales in, you know, try and keep the business going. So we thought we'd make one last trip.

And that's when they grabbed us, of course. It was always very astute. Well, it's good to absolutely and i'm i'm glad to know that he has such powerful friends i mean if you see him uh if you see him before i do you tell him that you saved dallas algren and he's more than grateful and uh i've got a little something for you if i can if i can get back to my ship uh it should still be down in the docks below but i think they they left all of my gear it's uh in a in a sealed box but i'd like to give you something as a little thank you if i can get to it we'll try and escort you back to your airship yes either that or we can teleportation circle right back to gold throne now not gold throne gust haven

um it would be useful for you to be there for when we get back and also for you to not be here while there's guards looking around we don't want them to see you also of course i mean we can wait here as long as we're not trapped we can make a run for it if we have to i'm happy

for us to wait here and maybe we can salvage some weapons or something from somewhere. That corridor down there where it gets a little strange and moist. Yeah, yeah. Avoid that, please, at all costs. All right. If you hear voices in your head, ignore them. Walk away, please.

Yeah, there was music when they first brought us down here but when we came into the cells it kind of died off yeah sorry about that quite nice music but don't listen to it if you hear it again mind control i would imagine not my dear fellows i had some sort of mind effect i can imagine yes absolutely avoid it. Who would fall for that? I'm afraid that my companions and I are not as wealthy as the Dagos Trading Company, but I would like to formally offer my thanks as well on behalf of myself. I am Vedalyn Zarbeth, and this is my companion, Arena Goodtail of the Borough Folk. And this is our fine first mate, Squawk McKenzie.

Hi. Pleasure. Quite the pleasure. Squawk. Squawk McKenzie. Yeah, same Squawk McKenzie. Quite following our Cochrane naming conventions, but

I'll take it. He's a pirate. Chose me own name, didn't I, when I started serving. Didn't want no family name. Folks used to call me Squark. Liked it. And then me old captain was called Mackenzie. What do you mean? Why Squark?

Ah, you one of them family boys, eh? Probably messenger guild, eh? Didn't want no lame one-legged bird in their one-legged, one-eyed bird in their guild, so I Didn't want no lame one-legged bird in their one-legged, one-eyed bird in their guild, so I made my own path, I did. Oh, yeah, no. I align

with that more than you'd probably realise. Anyway, if we hold up here and for a little while, and then I guess you guys stay here, stay silent stay stealthy and we go into the tower and finish this

whole thing, find some some scriptures so we can actually take back to Gusthaven The borough folk woman will kind of like look, she kind of looks at you and she's like, I don't want to be a bother, you've done so much good stuff to save us, you don't happen to have any food on you that isn't dry biscuits and water do you

no vegetables or fruits or you could oh marvelous thank you so much and she looks up at century and is like kind of hopping on her little feet a little bit. I'll cast create food and water in the area. What does it create? So it's like a long dining table, like it would be in Solvin, with like candelabras and like just a really lovely lavish dining table

full of lovely looking food and goblets of wine and stuff. All of them. They're all just like, they're like, and they just start like, going to town. You also left a seat for yourself,

Sentry. There's no food on this plate. It's perfect. Just a warm one. Let's have a quick bite to eat before we move on. Let's all sit down for a bit. Yeah. How many creatures can it feed out of interest? Does it have any limitations?

It just says it creates 45 pounds of food and 30 gallons of water on the ground or in containers within range. Enough to sustain 15 humanoids or five steeds for 24 hours. Wow. So 15 humanoids. So one, two, three, four, five of you,

six with Moonstar. And then there's probably just enough for everybody right and like century probably won't eat so actually it's less moon star doesn't need she's just like i'm fine i don't need food um and so like all like the others are just kind of like i'm shoveling in the mouth the dwarves and the the arena the borough folk especially um squawk doesn't particularly seem that bothered. He maybe picks up some nuts and eats those. The ember elf doesn't eat anything. Yeah.

Please, don't worry yourselves with compensation or anything like that. If we're honest, we didn't expect anyone to be rescued here, but it's a we're thankful that we came across you. My boy, it would, it would be an insult to my captain's honor if I didn't repay

you for rescuing me and my crew. Well, I... Please. I wouldn't want to step on respect and tradition. Fair enough. Well, if I can... If we can make it down to my ship, down at the bottom in the docks, or if I can make my way

to a civilized place where i can take out some of the the trading company's money i will make sure that you are fairly compensated good sir uh now are you not introduced yourselves by the way i don't know if you you wish to or if you've got business you need to be getting on or ah apologies uh so i am captain lucius viren elo and alastor this is our salute here look well fellow captain i didn't realize i was in the company he properly like offers a a fist like a hand to lucius like i haven't been uh commanding it for long so i haven't earned the respect however duty these fine people with me have earned the respect. Still, it's a fine duty. These fine people with me have earned the respect. Please, introduce

yourselves. Who first? Quill! Quartermaster Quill. Oh, Quartermaster Quill. Yes, this is our salute. Quartermaster Quill of the Storm Chasers. That's the ship name and crew name. Oi, the Storm Chasers,

right? Very nice, very nice. Quad master, very respectable. Very respectable. And we'll go clockwise, so we'll go sentry, etc. I'm sentry, Sentinel Prime. Lovely to meet you. I think Arena the Borafolk with her mouth full of food is shaking your hand.

She's like, that was so wonderful to meet you, sentry. Thank you so much. I was hoping to meet you too. No, it's not a problem. It's not your hand thank you so much i was going to be you too no it's not a problem it's not a problem eat as much as you need to get as much strength as you need it's magical that's why it tastes strange sorry i don't care um i'm i'm i'm i'm nova vija um what am i i'm the engineer oh'm the engineer. I look after the engines and make sure they don't blow up. Apart from that one time that they did blow up. But never mind, I know what happened there.

Hi. A pleasure to meet you, Miss Vija. The veteran, the Emperor of, just nods their head sort of in your direction. Of absolute pleasure. And who are you, my dear? Looking towards Ayla. Ayla, hi. And who are you, my dear? Looking towards Ayla. Ayla, hi.

Good to meet you. Ayla, pleasure. Absolute pleasure. Thank you so much. Again, we can only say thank you so many times, but we really appreciate your help. If you're going to continue, you know, if you're going to go up there and give it to these bastards,

then you give them to hell and high water from all of us. See what you can do. We'll be waiting here. So when you're ready, we'll come and fetch you. Have you taken care of... I saw when we were coming in, there's the kind of courtyard. Are there any other guards we should be careful of? Or is there any place that maybe we can find some weapons

or something like that? Oh, I mean, some of the guards in the courtyard... There's weapons in the crates. There's weapons all over the place. Yeah, the crates are in the courtyard. Those crates, they're so... They're heavily secured. There's no way

we could make our way into any of them. You'd have to be... Well, you'd have to be as strong as a dragon or something to get inside one of those things. That's all security, officer. Well, goodness me, I mean, sure, if you can open up one of them for us, we'll grab

the firearms and stuff inside one of those, but I didn't want to trouble you with such what seemed like an impossible task. There's also probably still some bodies of guards in the L-shaped building where we took them out.

There's probably still weapons in there, too. That's not... I remember a big tower, but there's another building except the tower. Across the way. Yeah, there's a big tower. Alright. Okay. Alright. Barnsy, Kub Yeah, there's a few. All right. Okay. All right. Barnsy, Kubo, you two are the quietest.

Maybe once we've eaten, you two try and sneak over, see what you can grab and bring it back. Meanwhile, we'll try and maybe dig out some of these bars and try and get something rudimentary. Maybe try and figure out a way to defend ourselves in here. Maybe drag a couple of those crates from upstairs. Form a barrier or some cover

if we need it. Good thinking. Sure thing, Captain. No problem. Are any of you spellcasters able to communicate over long distances, just in case something happens that we need to be aware of while we're out there? Not particularly long distances. I know

the ability to send a message cantrip, but I'm afraid that anything Greater than a few hundred feet is a little beyond by means I'm afraid Such magic is is quite a rarity Okay, yeah remember you guys are high level like a third level spell is not something that anybody could just cast. Even an airship crew. These guys aren't even, they don't have levels, right? They're like commoners or like guards, you know.

These guys have probably got like five hit points and, you know, knowing a first level spell is like, oh, he knows a first level spell. Magic. You know. You know, okay, alright. to the best.

Okay, all right. You're doomed. Pleb. Fucking judgy McJudgy face over here. I'm afraid without my spell components or some sort of focus, I won't be able to do much, I'm afraid. Oh, my. Has it been a whole hour of short resting already?

We must be off. It has not been. You can take a short rest, but this does not mean a rest. This whole time. And not one bouncing happened. Food was so short rest-y. If you guys want to take a short rest, you can take a short resty. If you guys want to take a short rest, you can take a short rest, but this

has not been a short rest thus far. Would you like to spend one hour in here? I've got some dice I can roll. The only thing I would worry about is those dice pertain to how conscious some of the unconscious guards are going to be.

Yeah, we can't stop. Put those eyebrows down. Put those eyebrows down. Alright, so what's the plan? We have to keep moving and we must head to the tower because that's the only clearance we have now.

The highest clearance. Okay. You didn't search the mindflayer bodies, did you? Yes. Someone had a look around. And you said you were going to tell us what was on them later. We searched the room.

You searched the room, yeah. We could go and search the mindflayer bodies on the way out. They might have a little token. Yeah, actually, that's a very good idea. They would have clearance levels, wouldn't they? Search the Mind Flayers. They do have a keystone on them, yes. They have one between the three of them, and it is a level four keystone, I believe.

Wow, that was a good idea to go back there, Rayla. That was well done. So wise recently. I don't know how you're doing it. I was just looking for money, honestly. I don't know. That was like, that was a genuine me kind of going, did I talk over somebody saying they wanted to search?

Like, do I remember somebody saying they wanted to search? And then, yeah. Yeah, that's fine. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, you did talk over us. It's actually quite disrespectful, so I'm glad you... Yeah, I've heard. All of us at the same time were like,

can we loot Lion? Kill Chris Trott in the next encounter. Great. Also, it's Trott's birthday, so he gets preferential I loot that body treatment. I thought it was tough. Level 5.

Might actually be really good. Someone's 13 somewhere in the world. 112th. Anyway, yeah. So what's the plan? Tower. Back to the courtyard. Yes.

Okay. You guys make your way back. There is no sign of any guards becoming conscious. You make your way back to the tower and you see the same thing you had before. The two side rooms that you had started exploring and then were like nope uh and left and then this lift this kind of uh pulley chain based elevator um the the runes the the floors below still marked by a level five um key elven elven rune um but the three floors above

uh you can access with the keystones you currently have um sorry two floors above because this is i've been working in american terms but this is the first floor and then second and third um so there's two floors above you yeah yeah start of the bomb and now we're here okay um do we want to check out these side rooms at all me and alo we heard some noises from this side and and century and nova they heard something from that side or you said you smell something i mean i think that probably it was wrong that the bad people are going to be the highest right highest up i just don't want people to get behind us and eventually get to the you know the the crew business what was that ship called? You didn't tell us.

Just prisoners. Is the day gone? Either way, let's just... I say we keep moving. Alright. Well, you have T2 and T3. Tower 2 and Tower 3.

You're currently on Tower 1. And then there is B1, B2, and t3 tower 2 and tower 3 you're currently on tower 1 and then there is b1 b2 and b3 below you i just wanted to oh my gosh make it end there's too many i can't decide yeah t2 well you can't access the b1 b2 and b3 yet anyway you don't have a keystone of five or above you want to go straight to the top? Yeah. Oh, is that the top? It's at tier three. Yeah, that's the top. Tier three. Yeah, I was doing American trot,

so it was like you're currently on first floor. That's the entryway. And then second and third are like the ones above you. I was being American, yeah. Gotcha. This is a British stream. What is the clearance? Is it clearance level four for the top of the tower?

Yes, yeah. It's clearance level 4. No, I think it was 3, because I think you could have accessed it before, because you had a level 3. Oh, what if we just restart the description of this lift? I have no idea where we are. Right, okay. Are you serious?

Yes, I'm serious. I've got no idea what floor we're on. Okay, so, in the tower, you have gone in through this double doors. There are these two side rooms, and then at the end of the corridor, there's this, like, pulley lift system, right? On the lift, there is a round dais. There are three stones marking three levels below you, and then there are two levels above you,

and then there's an entry for this floor. So there's, like, three above, or three, one, two, three, you're on one, and then there's a an entry for this floor so there's like three above or three one two three you're on one and then there's one two three below um you the the floors above you need a level three keystone to access the ones below you need a level five keystone to access so t2 is the floor above us right chris trot once again yes I was using American terms so imagine that you are on first floor yes T2 is above you and then

T3 is the top yes I was giving them British names yes we want to go up one floor so you just want to go up to the next floor not to the very top no yes so Lucius touches the stone for the next level above No! Okay. Yes. All right. I want this to end.

So Lucius touches the stone for the next level above. And all of that confusion happens in Lucius's brain as he's like, So is this the top? You tap the keystone against the second floor, which is the floor above the chains begin pulling up and you go into like a stone shaft that goes through the center of the

tower. After a little while it's hard to tell if how high up this is because you can't really gauge how quickly this lift is moving but it's very smooth it's obviously clearly aided by magic

when you come to a stop before the doors open some elvish script appears on the dais it says warning ethereum refinery protective gear required

oh oh we don't have that Ethereum refinery. Protective gear required. Oh. We don't have that. Wait. No. Not right now. Ethereum refinery, yes. And then there is like a little bottom.

Yeah, and I think Lucius would probably know this, and maybe Nova would as well, having worked on like the engines. So when Ethereum, the raw component of Ethereum, this magical resource that's gathered by the Sky Cities, to process it into things like metals and usable products, it needs to be refined. And that is a noxious process. It is a toxic process. So often people have to...

Now, it's not going to instantly kill you, but Lucius, you've heard that it's poisonous, that it can kill you if you're exposed to it for a it's poisonous that it can it can kill you if you're exposed to it for a long time um and it has unusual effects on um magic as well because ethereum empowers magic so the refining process can can do the same thing um in your in the uh in the ellenasto factories like when you would have the ethereum refined there is a very strict no spell casting rule on the refinery floor like it is a if you cast magic you could really do some bad stuff um so there's no magic casting it's like lighting a match in a fireworks factory kind of yeah i say we check out

the top floor and then maybe we can find some protective gear. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I'm not going in there. I don't know if you remember, but when we were looking for contractors in Gusthaven and we visited that factory and what equipment they were wearing.

Yes, we need something like that. Yeah. Okay. Alright, so you want to tap the third floor and go up one more? Yes. Yes, we need something like that. Yeah. Okay. Cool. All right, so you want to tap the third floor and go up one more? Yes. Okay. You tap the third one, and again, the lift begins to rise. Not sure how long for.

The smooth kind of scraping of chains is the only noise around you. And then eventually, you reach the top. The Elvish script appears again on the dais and it says third floor research and development. And the doors open. This is the one. This time. This is the one.

You guys find yourself in a small chamber. There is a door that leads out and appears to lead out into a kind of open space around you. I haven't put your characters on here yet. I will do so now. Oh, this looks like a boss room. All rooms are boss rooms.

That's true. This is a boss-ass room. There's toilets in the corner. This boss-ass room. So I didn't do... I would have done the, like, line stuff so you can't see what's going on, but I didn't quite have time to do it today. That's fine.

So pretend you can't see into the rooms that you have not explored into. I trust you to be good. I can't see that toilet over there. That's fine. Johnny. Smell it, though. Yeah.

These guys don't flush. What? You know they're villains when they don't flush. Give that info for the hearing. Democles? You definitely deserve to die. You've manufactured weapons. You don't flush.

You don't flush. You just don't flush. Flush. When the doors open. They don't flush. You just don't flush. Flush. When the doors open... They must die. When the doors open, you can't hear anything. There's just kind of like the sound of silence. And then you definitely...

Would you hear that? I would. I think that as the doors open, you pause for a second. What is everyone doing? Let's begin skulking around and see what we can find. Start at the south?

Work our way around? Sure. Okay. Stealth checks if you're moving quietly. Hoats. Or goats. Century's going to choke really hard. Natural 20. 23. What a waste.

It's not bad by century. Not the worst. 14. 14 sucks. 14. The lowest I've seen is Kevin. You lost a natural 20. Good boy. What are the words? 19. 12 sucks. Yeah. 14. Lowest I've seen is 7. You lost a natural 20.

Yeah, but she got, what was that, 12? Got a 12, yeah. Okay. So you begin stepping out. Maybe move your guys like where you would want to move. Give yourself like a round of movement. Okay. So you see this big open

space. There are these three pillars. You see a pillar immediately around you. You see another pillar to the side. You can see a couple of doors leading off to various different bits. And then the tower seems to continue. The room seems to continue behind

the room that houses the elevator. As you begin moving over, a couple of things. So, Lucius, you move up to this door in the lower left-hand side and you begin kind of sneaking your way. And you can hear a kind of... coming from inside the room, like a groaning sound. Sentry and Quill and Aayla, you begin looking over various crates. You can see that there appears to be some food kind of stored here,

but also some elements of used up raw materials. You can kind of see like slagged crystals that have like melted and becomes of used and spent up um pieces of metal that have broken or cracked um or kind of shoved into a container to be taken away uh there are also crates most of the crates seem to be empty ready to be loaded with something but they are all mostly empty uh nova moving up um you begin heading towards another part of the room where you can see another door leading to a room to the north um you can hear maybe what sounds like somebody moving around in there like footsteps um and then as you're all kind of like moving around mo Moonstar will probably kind of stick close to the elevator for now.

You hear a very, very muffled coming from a room in the bottom right, the one closest to Ayla at the moment. You hear a kind of like And that is where we're going to take a break. Oh shit! Okay. It's a break. Oh, shit! Oh, okay.

It's break time. Oh, no. Now I'm scared. My stomach! Now I'm getting scared. Now I'm getting scared. I watched that wonderful film Doom last night, which was about R&D departments experimenting on things

and now I have ideas. Didn't go very well, did it?