Our last couple of sessions have been short for different reasons, so here's another double report post.
The Calcifer Shrine, Second Delve
After camping for the night, during which Thomas recovers from his bout of flux (player returns), the party makes ready to reenter the ancient forge. Flint's player is absent this time, so the young chemist decides to stand guard at the campsite while the others explore. Thomas takes Flint's suit of ancient armor and lights up a fresh torch, and the party ventures once more through the great aldsteel doors.
The halls of the forge are quieter now that the oil gremlins' lair (7) has been thoroughly burnt. Xerxes and Tree show Thomas through the chamber of ice (5) before the group decides to take another crack at the reinforced door in the southeast (6) now that the pressure has been restored to the machinery in chamber 4. This time, the turning of the wheel engages the mechanism, and the door hinges open before them. A blast of heat emerges, even more intense than the rest of the place; Thomas and Tree are grateful for their suits, and Xerxes for his time in the smithy back in Roa.
The chamber beyond appears to be a smelter; molten metal pours from crucibles into ingot molds that disappear into recesses in the walls, moving on rolling belts. From the ceiling, a great blast of flame fills the space, shooting from a broken conduit. Thomas decides to brave it, counting on the ancient suit to protect him, and his risk is rewarded; he hardly feels the flames through the material. A bank of machinery with another turn-wheel stands on the west wall, while the door to the north bears another. Thomas tries the door, opening up a quicker way back to the entrance, and then the machinery. The flames blasting from above cease. From far off within the shrine, the party hears a great grinding of some other mechanism stirring to life.
They decide to check back in on the room they lit on fire first. Chamber 7 is now mostly cleansed of oil, only soot left; no gremlins jump out to attack. The south door is more aldsteel, not as heavily reinforced as the ones in and out of the smelter room, but still mechanically locked. Thomas remembers Flint explaining that aldsteel is supposedly indestructible except by itself, and remembers his great knife, made of the same stuff. He takes a shot at forcing the pins out of the door hinges with the knife. It works; the door falls from its frame with a mighty clang.
Chamber 8 is dominated by storage shelves. Searching, the party finds a dozen finished ingots of aldsteel, ready for working by arts now lost to common knowledge; a decorative jar holding 800 motes of Dust; and a pair of head-sized metallic canisters, both marked with alarming red sigils that conjure to mind images of explosions. Thomas, curious, tries to take the top off one of the canisters; it pops up to reveal a steadily blinking light, the canister starting to beep rhythmically.
Thomas: I grab the other canister and run!
Xerxes: Me too!
Tree: Uh, that's metagaming. I've never seen a blinking light or heard a rhythmic beeping in my life, I have no idea what it means.
Thomas grabs Tree with his free arm just in time to haul him from the room before everything explodes.
Ears ringing, the party ventures back into the storeroom to scoop up the scattered Dust from the now-shattered jar and collect the aldsteel ingots. Feeling flush, they next head for the great forge chamber (3) to see what all the noise is about.
As they enter, they find the flaming beasts standing watch as the great nested rings surrounding the altar grind into motion. They revolve around one another, lights shimmering and sparking on their inner surfaces, seeming to seek some precise alignment. Finally, just as they seem to be approaching the right configuration...they grind back to a halt, the lights dying.
The flaming beasts stand there for a moment, perplexed, before throwing their heads back and letting out echoing howls. Before the explorers' eyes, they merge, the fire of their forms twisting together into a single body, upright and humanoid. Standing before them, it bows. Then, with a final flash of flame, it vanishes. Around the delvers, the heat of the forge begins to cool, the lights filling the chamber fading...and the aura surrounding the sword floating over the altar disappears, the blade clattering down.
Tree rushes up to seize the blade immediately. As he holds it aloft, he can feel it humming with power. He quickly wraps it in his cloak to keep it safe.
The three aren't quite sure what to think of the display. Did they fail to repair the forge? Are they still missing some piece of the puzzle, or is it simply impossible? Without answers, they're left with little to do but depart, with plenty of proof for Monastery Burner in hand.
The Get Rich and Become God Method
As Thomas, Xerxes, and Tree leave the forge to rejoin Flint back in camp, the group takes stock of its situation and realizes some things. They're now carrying quite a bit of money, more than two years' common wages between the four of them in Dust alone, plus some valuable treasure (including a door of solid aldsteel currently off its hinges, a fortune in the making, though they don't have a practical way of getting that down from the mountains by themselves). They could do what they promised to Monastery Burner, bring her the proof she wanted and join the Black Dogs...or not.
Thomas asks Flint what the bandits are to him; Flint says they're nothing more than a means to an end. Thomas turns to the group with another question: what do they want out of life? They could put their newfound wealth toward a peaceful retirement, but Thomas has been thinking about this Lord Raedric they've been hearing so much about, and he doesn't like the sound of him much.
Tree ponders the sword wrapped in his lap. "You said we were pit slaves," he says to Flint. "What's the opposite of a pit slave?"
Flint thinks it over. "Well...a god, I suppose."
Tree nods. "I like the sound of that."
A plan is formed, or at least the start of one. First, back to Velm to resupply and sell off some of the loot. From there, the Salt Way should take the group to Kyther, where Raedric waits. The group briefly considers trying to hide the entrance to the forge somehow--that aldsteel door is still here waiting for them--but decides it's not worth the trouble, hoping Monastery Burner will just assume they died when they don't come back. With nothing else holding them here, the four pack their bags, load up the cart, and begin their descent from the mountains.
Valit
As clouds blow in and it starts to rain, Tree has the first warning of danger approaching, a shadow passing overhead.
He tries to throw himself clear as something dives out of the air toward him, but too slow; the beast sinks its claws into his shoulders.
Valit: Airborne predators that hunt in flocks, bearing prey skyward with their powerful talons. With wingspans that can reach eight feet, they're more than capable of attacking humans, and won't hesitate to do so when hungry. HD 1, AC unarmored, bite 1d6 or grab (victim saves or is lifted), morale 7. No. appearing: 1d6+3.
Before the party can react, Tree is borne fifty feet into the air. Two more of the creatures dive down, one going for Thomas, the other for Xerxes, while two more circle above. The party loses initiative.
Thomas tries to get out of the way, but he's not fast enough either, and follows Tree into the air. Xerxes has a different idea, reaching for the pouch of sand he used to carry around the smithy to put out fires. With a quick throw, he's blinded the beast heading for him, avoiding its grasp.
Tree, struggling in the grip of the first beast, does the only thing he can think of: he draws his new sword. The blade sings in a perfect arc, cleaving the creature in half without slowing down. As he falls, Tree desperately grabs onto one half of the thing and tries to break his fall with it.
It does him no good. He lands with a bent neck.
The blinded valit launches itself clumsily at Xerxes, enraged. He strikes at it with his hammer, but the creature moves erratically.
Xerxes falls with a torn throat.
Thomas struggles to wrestle free of the beast hoisting him, reaching for a coil of potter's wire on his belt and desperately trying to get it around the creature's throat. He's too slow. Hoping to save his friend, Flint throws his spear at the valit. His aim is good, piercing its wings...and sending Thomas back to the ground.
Thomas lands head-first.
The two valit remaining above dive for Flint. Left unarmed, he sees only one option. One more vial of burning blue fluid, his last, streaks toward the closer of the two fliers. His throwing arm saves him again, the splash catching them both. He ducks aside before the flaming bodies land on him.
The last valit, still blinded, flaps away clumsily in a hasty retreat.
Flint looks around. He's the only one left standing.
He hurries to Xerxes, checks. No pulse.
He rushes to Thomas. Nothing to save.
He sprints to Tree. His neck is broken. He's breathing. He can be saved...but Flint is no doctor. He has no treatment supplies.
There's nothing he can do but watch as Tree breathes his last.
Alone on the mountainside, a soot-streaked boy stands surrounded by three dead men he was just beginning to know, and all their dreams of a changed world.
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