You Can Cock a Bow, Cock an Arm
In a blood-stained cavern, the party finds a malfunctioning Dwendalian automaton and a strange illithid. A battle ensues. They meet a new ally, Vurvus, and receive help for their journey.
Session 48
The group exits the blood nether, via a small portal that appears and opens into an underground cavern. It's a mine shaft that's at least a hundred feet to the open sky, with scaffolding stairs on one side, and cargo elevator pulleys on the other. Looking up, the sky is dark and gray; sounds of distant rain but the mine shaft is dry. We see blood trail after Kra'naelen activates Mirrorlight Harbinger and it leads to a dust-covered humanoid. We determine the whole "body" is metallic while Yahnist notes the blood is dried.
Maltheo moves forward for a close-up investigation and reveals that what we thought of at first being a body in a suit of armor, turns out to be armor without a body. The head is dented & bashed in. The torso has no legs or arms. Painted on the chest of the armor is a silver owl on a crown: the Dwendalian crest. Both eyes are lighting up in green, with one at full brightness and the other flickering.
A broken automated message plays:
Dear civilians: this area isn't safe please stay close to me so I can be your protector until rescuers arrive. In the unlikely event of my malfunctioning, please find cover and remain calm until you are rescued.
No one seems to have seen an automaton like this before. Maltheo asks it if it's functioning properly, but it just repeats its message. We do see, though, that it has been commissioned for the Dwendalian Empire by Darrington Industries.
Prophet hears thoughts from one of the automaton's separated limbs. This mind is unlike anything before. Not words or colors or feelings... just washes of sensations and flashes. Maltheo pokes one of the separated arms; it twitches... it might even be holding something. At that moment, the "mind" Prophet is feeling suddenly seems to be coming from all over the place instead of just the arm. Maltheo picks up the arm and the hand opens. There's a very large eye with a yellow-green iris. Prophet realizes now where the thoughts are coming from.
At that moment, what appear to be four miners in maroon colored work shirts and thick black canvas overalls arrive, two wielding pick-axes and two others wielding chains. They all have the same yellow-green glowing eyes. They're accompanied by a half-Elf wearing a breast plate; a typical Dwendalian guard appearance.
A burst of magical energy spews forth from the eye in the hand of the arm Maltheo is holding, and stuns three of the librarians.
Combat begins! (4 miners, 1 soldier, 1 illithid)
Cass understands the magic flying around is "Psyonics" from an arcana check. Prophet feels a mind spike trying to break his concentration, coming with a feeling of disgust. Cass lifts the elevator by enlarging its counterweight, and the doors pop open. A creature with purple-blue skin and no hair, with long pointed eyes and pure black alien-looking toad skin is there. It has no mouth, and instead four long tentacles from chin to chest. Upon dying, Prophet feels anger and disappointment from the illithid.
The magical barrier closing off the shaft to the sky dissipates, and descending from the sky is some sort of sea elf or triton. Something aquatic in appearance wearing robes of blue and green, brandishing a spectral sword. It's made of what appears to be broken glass with fractals and prisms. "Fear not civilians, I am here to rescue you all!" The uniform is that of the Quandrix school of thought from within the Soltryce Academy, located in Rexxentrum. He reveals his name to be Vurvus as he sheathes his sword. (Righteous brand?) He had heard the distress beacon from the destroyed automaton and is part of effort to come save the miners.
Maltheo tells him we weren't expecting to be arriving here, but we had traveled by arcane means. Vurvus apologizes for the automaton's ineffectiveness. "Most miners were able to escape when these creatures appeared. I thought it would be efficient but I guess... it wasn't."
We find two things on the illithid's corpse — a pouch of raw pieces of platinum. (80gp in value). And the other thing is interesting to Briya, saying faintly, "That's Fire Ashari clothing." We take a token from the clothing.
Maltheo removes Prophet's symbol from his chest and accordingly, Prophet disguises himself very well.
Vurvus walks to elevator and Creates a repaired version of the device. Here in this mine is the only place in the Empire that has platinum mining... in fact, a vast network of mines. We're east of Deastock, the closest town, within the Zemni Fields, which is where most of the Empire's wealth comes from. The ore veins are so rich that the mine is far from depleted. Cass reveals all of this from a history check. Part of the Empire's typical propaganda, is that at some point the Empire had to assimilate the Julous Dominion, because of their dark reliance on blood magic. But... that's only half true. Part of the assimilation was to also make sure to get the mines.
Insighting Vurvus reveals that he seems to be speaking truly. He is a rescuer. We all take the repaired elevator to the surface, and find a small encampment of his companion troops. Kra'naelen asks if they've seen the Fire Ashari nearby. Vurvus knows who they are, but hasn't seen them nearby. We tell him we're heading to the Kamordah region, so he points us northward; it's a few days travel to town. As thanks for defeating the monsters invading the mines, he gives us a cart with horses to help us on our way.