Iron Gods:Log

Session 1

4714 AR, Pharast Sunday the 15th

The party convened with plans to throw in their lot in the expedition under Black Hill with the intent of recovering Khonnir Baine, in hopes of recovering the lucrative 50gp and the scroll of resurrection if not needed. The 200gp reward is for relighting the torch or confirming that it cannot be relit.

They reached out to the town counsel, and the secretary told them that the only counselperson available to assist them is Dolga Freddert. Dolga explained the rewards and offered information. Poing asked if he could keep any junk, and Dolga explained that he would need to speak to the junkmaster Garritt Burnwaddle to determine what could be done there. Point explained that he was already familiar.

Dolga offered the party a writ for a 20% discount at any shop, and explained that this was the best she could offer, beyond a few other piece of minor aid (casting a spell of extended water breathing).

She explained that Khonnir had made an expedition, returning with a large deactivated robot. Dolga explained that there were at least 2 clandestine expeditions after Baine's first one, in addition to the fact that the cave was only found because of footprints leading into the water.

As they approached Khonnir Baine's they heard a scream some of the party recognized as coming from Khonnir's daughter Val Baine, and encountered a robot that appeared to be deconstructing the house. After defeating the robot (which split into several), Val came out and explained that she had reactivated it, and it had stared at her before tearing down the house.

They put some boards up to ensure that the room is closed off and put the broken robots in the foundry for subsequent examination.

Session 2

The party spoke with Val Baine, who expressed that she was grateful for the rescue. The robot, she explained, had been broken, but she was able to fix it. However, it first looked at her for an overlong moment, then immediately went to work disassembling the house. She agreed to let the party investigate her home for any clues to the whereabouts or status of Khonnir. The art in his hone were mostly landscapes: a field of flowers, an oceanscape with a frigate depicted, and finally a crooked tree on a moonlit night. Among his possessions was a Numerian idol of a metallic scorpion (made of a fairly common skymetal) with interlocking plates and a zircon tipped tail. Poing estimated its value to an appropriate buyer at 35g. Khonnir Baine's spellbook is present, which suggests that he did not intend to be in the cavern for long enough to need to prepare spells.

They perused his spellbook, finding: air bubble gust of wind feather fall floating disk unseen servant magic missile

acid arrow resist energy see invisibility web detect radiation

dispel magic fireball fly

Khonnir Baine only seems to work on a single project at a time, and the current project appears to be smelting Glaucite. The robot he has in his house is marked with the Technic League's symbol, which caused some concern in the party.

Val tells the party they can use Khonnir's tavern as a base of operations. She offers the party as much food as they want, but asks them to drink sparingly. She explains that she closed the tavern to spur people to action. This was apparently largely unsuccessful.

Next, the party traveled to the junkyard and met with Burnwaddle, who was trying to organize the waste disposal. Organic waste had been piling up quite prodigiously since the extinguishing of the Torch, this being the city's sole method of waste disposal. Therefore, preventing a major sewage crisis was imperative, especially as the waterway was already toxic enough and adding more threatened to overtax the systems used to purify it. Poing was especially interested in a project of Burnwadde's, which seemed to be primarily interested in "What is in a light bulb that prevents the filament from combusting?" The pursuit was, it was agreed, interesting, but ultimately not especially useful.

The party then proceeded to the Temple of Brigh, where the priest, Joram Kyte, was in great pain. He explained that he had experienced splitting headaches since the torch went out, noting that he believed that he had started to experience them when the Torch had gone out. Elleigh noted that she experienced those same headaches. He eventually agreed to loan the party a pocketwatch to help them with their journey. He also agreed to leave town as an experiment to determine if the source of the headaches was local (given that several people had them).

The party agreed to prepare for their expedition.

Session 3

The party obtained a very large waterproof bag, procured for them by the town counsel, as well as 6 hours of the water breathing spell from Joram Kyte prior to descending in the diving bell. Upon reaching the prescribed depth, Anton cast light on Elleigh's bandolier to ensure they had light in the cavern.

The pary squeezed through a somehwat windy narrow underwater passage and, upon reaching a subterranian shore, were accosted by bioluminescent beetles, which they dispatched before taking a brief rest to recover full vision in their dazzled and irritated eyes. Around a corner, a trio of foul-smelling moss and mold mounds with what appeared to be potentially ambulatory slimes congregating upon them were noted, and the part opted to evade them.

They passed through a small stalactite/mite-y cavern and came upon the remains of a half-orc some of htem recognized from town named Parda Garr. She was a fairly well-liked brawler who had taken in with a bad crowd lately. The party determined that she had no valuables whatsoever on her. Poing offended the party by suggesting that Parda was now "junk," although he was quick to clarify that she didn't USED TO be junk.

Through a combination of gentle body language and sweet talk, they convinced a blindheim they meant it no harm. In so doing, they were able to retrieve some equipment from the remains of a man (that had been largely stripped of flesh, possibly by the aforementioned blindheim) who had been sunk into the pool and weighted down with stones. They found a few gold and silver, two small potions and a small silver symbol, they determined to be the unholy symbol of Zyphus. Anton suggested that this may have been the town's cleric of Pharasma, Mylan Raldi, although this body wasn't the right build - in fact, he was too tall.

Session 4

The party further explored the cavern, coming upon a junk pile in a small sub-cavern with chalk drawings that Thinghaver determined to be fairly recent, based on a number of factors. They did not approach a cavern full of brown mold that was extraordinarily chilly, instead taking a tunnel where an ominous voice announced that they were surrounded. They called out the sitation and a strange man with chameleon skin who identified himself as Breadknife told them he would take half of them to his leader. Cithreal and Elleigh both suggested that he would not be able to keep them surrounded unless they all came together and he agreed. Sevenknives, upon meeting the party, chastised him.

The leader demanded to know what the party's purpose was. When they explained they were searching for a wizard, she said that she wanted no trouble from wizards because of what happened last time. When they asked what happened, she explained, "I got promoted to leader of the tribe." She further explained that there was a lady with purple hair and pink skin that had instructed and paid her to kill anyone who tried to pursue her deeper into the black cavern, and the tribe of humanoids had been largely successful in doing so, having slain several groups before "the wizard" came and knocked the fight out of the tribe. A large hole in their main cavern was determined to lead to the Darklands (presumably to Nar-Vath) and was from where the tribe of humanoids. The leader implicated herself in killing Parda Garr and Breadknife in killing the priest of Zyphus (who he apparently stabbed in a very straightforward manner of which the leader seemed exceedingly proud). The northern caverns, it was explained, was home to a nest of vicious gremlins. The leader told them she would allow them to pass her domain and show them how to open "the door" (an aperture made of apparently skymetal with a cracked, smoked glass panel in front of it). She explained there was a trick to opening the door, and while Khonnir seemed to "just know" the trick "as if he'd seen it before," she didn't think they would.

The party agreed to clear out the gremlins (which Breadknife described as "annoying and stupid" and insisted they were dangerous because of this), and had a fairly hard-fought fight, thanks in no small part to a bound gremlin who seemed to emanate an aura of foul luck. All the gremlins fled or were slain, save the bound one, which the party determined they would interrogate it. They also noticed another aperture door in the northern part of the cavern.

Session 5

The gremlin that the party captured insisted that their misfortune was because they were not worthy. The creature said that it was a pugwampi and that its aura of unlock was a "blessing" that affected them because they were unworthy. Upon being freed, the malicious little creature fled through the cavern claiming it would return with an army of gnolls before being killed by the humanoids waiting in the main cavern. Amid the trash (which appeared to have been deliberately broken), they located 2 silverdisks (which appeared to be spent batteries.

"You got them all! Except for the ones that you got!" She showed them that the door could be opened with a brown access card, of which she produced 5 access cards that she demonstrrated could open the door by being held in proximity to the glass panel. She finally introduced herself as Sef and explained that she and her people are skulks. They discussed the spelling of this name. They bartered with the Skulks for a healer's kit and 2 healing potions, and recognized that the potions they found earlier were identical to these. They stopped to heal their wounds before proceeding.

Through the door was a curved chamber caved in on each side, beyond which was an airlock that still seemed to function. They found a pair of vice grips on the robot in the room. Thinghaver searched the rubble. The door on the south side of the chamber was not accessible with their current keycard. Thinghaver decided that there were between 1 and 6 creatures in each of a half dozen cages. He could not reverse engineer the shape of such creatures.

The next chamber had two strange machines with nozzles pointing in the room. Anton suggested that this was a sterilization chamber. Poing investigated the steilizares and found access panels on them. The stolen screwdriver Cithreal had was the exact (!) kind required to open the panels. From these, he extracted canisters of sterilant, which he stowed in Clank. When they opened the next chamber, the sterilizers beeped in annoyance, but more susprisingly, the next chamber appeared to be a a cavern with a noontime sun flickering dimly in the sky. The chamber itself resembled a desert, with the shambling skeletons of four-armed aliens pantomiming mundane activities in the chamber.

That party followed a path in the room, apparently ignored by the skeletons, until they reached nearly the center of the room, at which points all the skeletons suddenly became aggressive and converged to attack.

Session 6

The party fought and defeated a number of skeletons, but eventually took shelter in a malfunctioning airlock, which zapped them. Poing, angry about this, destroyed the sterilizers. The party spent an hour licking their wounds (putting them at 2:56 or about 2:45 since they entered). They they attempted to ambush the skeletons, who had rallied and were now surprisingly organized. They managed to nearly kill Elleigh, but the party eventually defeated them all.

The party delayed until 4:10 trying to ensure that Elleigh was healed, but, unfortunately, every attempt to heal her had largely failed. Eventually, she drank a healing potion to restore herself. Poing explored some caverns, which contained little of apparent value, save for an amber necklace containing preserved alien insects.

The party leveled up to level 2.

Session 7

The party found three doors beyond and listened at each, noting a hum behind 2 and none behind a third. Poing uses his card to open the door and beyond takes note of the alphabet. Poing pushes a button and the gray screens went a solid blue with text in the upper left:

æåÐÐæç | æåÐÐæç U æåÐÐæç W

15

Thinghaver became interested in a glowing yellow panel on the purple pillar. Poing broke the keyboard in an effort to put them back together. Poing found that one of the machines was a pokey-pokey and another was a tappy-tapp. Poing discovered that the one on the right is a functional monitor that allowed viewing of the desert. They cycled through the cameras and noted that the numeric systems was base 10 and what all the numbers were.

Thinghaver touched the yellow panel and the blue circular thing hummed to live.

12 buttons on the touchscreen (1 is camera) and 6 on the blue.

Elleigh pushed one that made it way too bright. Poing pushed one that made it spark and injured him mildly. Poing pushed another button that displayed a documentary on the creates from the desert.

They explored a bit more and came to a room with a zombified one of the strange creatures in it. They had a back and forth where they established that they could not communicate well with it and it was hostile. Unholy symbols of Zyphus were in the

Elleigh discovered Black striped card and the party discussed whether to double back or continue forward

A yellow triangle with beveled edges flat side up appears when they try to scan on the door the "purple lady went through."

Time: 4:43 PM

They went through a door that reuqired the black

Elleigh touches a button which, in turn, plays an extremely loud warning klaxxon.

26 silverdisks and 3 that are glowing with a soft blue glow and a flashlight.

They also found a bin they couldn't open with their current badge level. They affixed it to Xerxes to carry.

They made their way into a bloostained hallway with signs of a struggle between organic and inorganic creatures.

Session 8

They moved to a different room that appears to be an organic lab that contains a large amount of broken equipment. There's an Ooze in a glass canister. Two oozes attacked the party, but were handily dispatched. They found a murder sterilizer as well, which they decided to leave alone.

4 lines of text. 2nd down lit blue. Numbered descending 4 to 1. Bottom line flashes red. Pushing the dark blue text made the doors open for a moment.

A break room containing a vast array of toothpaste tubes. A random handful of tubes. 13 different colors: blue (light) - fruit veggie medly blue (dark) - really unusual flavor yellow-brown - bread-ish dark-brown - sweetened root flavor black-blue - vegetable paste - thick and gritty black - weird meaty flavor red - beefy flavor white - cream-cheese flavor light green - wintergreen - thick like cream cheese forest green - pinine flavor cyan - grainy flavor orange - tastes like cirtus fruit canary yellow - tastes like eggs

The experimented with a microwave and ate some heated paste.

They found some plumbing access. They are convinced that there is a bathroom. Both of the knobs spit cold water on both the sink and shower.

"Hi! Where am I!" "Yes, that's why I asked it!" On a skyboat underneath a mountain.

"This is a room!" "I don't think I was anywhere a whiloe ago!"

"Can you name me?!" - Wilbur Save

"The red floor food! I like that!"

The party concluded that Wilbur was a psychically aware shambling mound, and suggested that it can consume waste materials.

Wilbur was grateful for floor food.

"Hello Anton! What are you?"

I am a human.

"I don't speak any languages!"

"I can understand them!"

"They were thinking 'I'm doing things! I need to do things. These are the things I do.'"

Anton was convinced that Wilbur can understand the robots and mentioned it to the party.

The party found Khonnir Baine in a sick bay after bypassing a medical room full of questionable medical drones.

"Why?" Can you explain to them what's going on? "I don't understand at all! Ok!"

This is a restricted area for white access only.

"I cannot read its mind. There is something else in there."

They thanked Wilbur for his help. He did not respond, but began eating food.

The party speculated that they have administered something to Khonnir that has sedated him. Upon finding out that the robot expected a white keycard for access, they moved on in hopes of finding one.

Session 9

The party opened the door and discovered 5 plant men on the other side of the door, along with a massive collection of tangled overgrown plants. They decided not to confront these and allowed the door to close. Instead, they moved on to another room that appeared to contain troughs of water and a large bubbling machine, with dead and dying plants lining the sides. Inside was another one of the creatures, which presented its hand to shake. Elleigh accepted and was mildly injured. Thinghaver likewise accepted a shake, also being mildly injured. Anton determined that the hammer the creature was holding was, in fact magic.

Thinghaver went to the room with the medical droids, who apparently thought that Thinghaver had a head injury (Wilbur translated). Thinghaver asked Wilbur if he thought that he had a head injury, but Wilbur clarified that he was "full of parasites." Poing tried to get the creature to shake hands with Clank, but it seemed completely uninterested in this. They ended up in a conflict with all the plant men and Wilbur ate two of them and subsequently ptooied out two hammers and a black access card. They defeated the rest of them

Cithreal treated everyone's injuries at 5:22 - Cithreal perfomrs an hour of healing bringing it to about 6:30.

Poing found an electric screwdriver in the next room, which was overgrown with mold. They opened several rooms that appeared to be cells containing the remains of several individuals that appeared emptied. They found several items amid things and moved all the stuff into the fourth room. Clank discharged the contents of one of the sterilitic canisters into the room, rendering all the mold inert. They looted 2 potions of moderate healing, 5 silver holy symbols of Brigh (worth about 5gp each), a suit of magic chainmail (+1 potency rune), a ring (magic, unknown).

Session 10

Thinghaver and Poing were unable to open the crate they obtainer earlier, but Elleigh was able to open it through theivery. It contained a suit of form-fitting armor, several grenades and a gun. Elleigh took the gun and the party kept the suit.

They returned to the elevator and pressed the four and it tried to do something again. Poing and Thinghaver were able to force the elevator access hatch open. After substantial difficulty, the party made their way to the top, where they found a door they were unable to open. They returned to the lower level and were frustrated by another door they could not access on the other end of the room with Khonnir in it.

The party decided to fight to the robots in the medical lab. These they defeated with minimal injury (save that Poing was injected with an anesthetic agent by one of them and injured badly in the process). They found a few more items but no white keycards and resigned themselves to confronting the robot to rescue Khonnir.

Session 11

The party faced down some robots and defeated them pretty handily (although Poing was stunned by on). Cithreal treated Khonnir's wounds - he appeared to have been injured especially around his legs. "Need go home" was one of the few articulate things Khonnir could manage to get out. "My daughter... Val... is my daughter." They brought Wilbur to diagnose Khonnir, and Wilbur suggested that his head was filled with robots. Khonnir tried to rise, but seemed largely incapable of doing so. The party exhorted him to not continue after it became clear he was at serious risk of injury. The party asked Khonnir about his condition, but he could only say, "No, they did something..." After they discussed this for a bit, it was suggested that, perhaps, they could "shoot him in the head" with the lightning gun. The reasoning being that lightning kills robots, but were stopped by the articulation of the additional detail, "Lightning kills wizards, too."

At 6:31 the party helped Khonnir obtain his gear and make their way out, arriving at the edge of the water at about 6:45. After some finagling, the party left the cave, recovering Parda's body on the way out. The party spoke to Sef about Wilbur, warning her not to confront it. Sef agreed reluctantly, and insisted that she and her tribe needed to relocate to a new cave or give up on caves entirely, because this one was nothing but trouble.

Upon getting out and being greeted by two enthusiastic town guards, Thinghaver started to explain that Khonnir's head was full of tiny robots, and Elleigh interrupted to clarify that Khonnir was just exhausted by the trials and tribulations he faced in the cavern. The party did, however, add that "A few of our party members are infested with parasites." The party was reminded that Mylan Radli, cleric of Phraasma, was still in town, but that Joram Kyte had left town. They returned Khonnir home and Val was extremely grateful to have him back.

Upon getting back to the tavern, Val was overjoyed to see her father, and rushed out to meet the party and express her deep gratitude. After they explained the situation, she asked her father, "How do we handle the robots in your head?" "I... don't remember..." Khonnir replied.

The party suggested electricity and Khonnir suggested they speak with Sanvil, officially a seller of scrap metal (but known by at least two of the party to also be something of a technophile who made a brisk trade of contraband). The party visited Sanvil's shop, where he informed them he was just closing up, but that he had a few minutes for them. The party went inside and explained the situation to Sanvil. He assisted in identifying the lightning gun as a not-killing gun. He also identified all the grenades as well as a radiation sensor and the nutrient paste. There was some discussion of making trades with him, but the party stated they would shelve this until they dealt with the current crisis.

The party brought Khonnir somewhere safely away from technology and detonated an EMP grenade they obtained from Sanvil close enough to clear out any local robots. Khonnir immediately appeared to recover somewaht, stating wearily, "Well that's a little bit better."

Session 12

Khonnir explained that the robots (whose language, Androffan, was one in which he was well-versed) had been performing experiments on him and seemed to be malfunctioning. He said he had no interest in reentering the cave, partially because of the traumatic expeirence the first time and, partially, because the nanites had likely injured his brain and he could not remember how to cast spells anymore. Somehow, he seemed oblivious to the party saying they would continue the invetigation, insisting that the town should hire adventurers to determine the cause of the issues.

Khonnir was also concerned that he had killed the Skulk's second chieftan, if, indeded, there was another person they were concerned with who had come through first. He felt this might have diminished his accomplishment. Khonnir had no awareness of the woman who had come through first.

The party asked about Parda, and Khonnir pointed out that he had gone it alone both times.

The party joined Khonnir for his visit to the town council. Dolga congratulated the party and offered them the promised scroll of raise dead and 100gp. Discussions with Khonnir and Dolga clarified a number of points, including that the reward for re-igniting the Torch (or providing conclusive evidence that it could not be re-ignited) would be 400gp. The party agreed that they would have a full night's rest to prepare. Khonnir insisted alcohol would gently soothe his damaged brain.

The party gave a flashlight with batteries to Garritt, who was delighted, but concerned that it was different from the bulbs he had been working with, inasmuch as it seemed to be made up of a cluster of small bulbs. He promised unlimited scrapping rights if they brought him another so he had one to dissect.

During R&R back at the tavern, Khonnir mentioned that the hill was artificial and speculated regarding why ancient Numerian barbarians would have buried the metal structure beneath, and suggested it may have been a vehicle that became stranded rather than a strange, intentionally constructed technological ruin.

4714 AR, Pharast 17th

The party awoke, this time with Thinghaver experiencing a splitting headache. The rest of the party doing fairly well, however, and they agreed to convene to return to the caverns. First, however, they wanted to determine why Parda Garr went down there, as well as discern any infomration they could regarding the Cleric of Zyphus.

They asked around among the Ropefist Gang Mambers (having heard that Parda had been associating with them) and found out that she had been trying to impress Garmen Ulreth, the owner of Silverdisk Hall. The party made their way there and, between Poog and Thinghaver, counted cards long enough to bring out security to address it, notably including Garmen. The party spoke with him and learned that Parda had been wanting to collect a robot from the cave to impress him so she could join the gang (which he maintained wasn't REALLY his gang). Poing gave him advice on game protection, which infuriated him.

The party visited Mylan Radli, the priest of Pharasma, who explained that Parda had approached him begging for a water breathing spell so she, too, could explore the black cave and return with a robot. He refused because he felt that Khonnir's account of his first expedition left him concerned that the cave was much too dangerous. He further stated that she had conferred with a "pilgrim" en route to the Land of the Linnorm Kings (for unknown reasons). Radli clarified that the Pilgrim didn't seem as well-versed in theology as would be expected and he had concerns. The two were not seen again.

On their way to the entrance to Black Cave, they were greeted by Joram Kyte. Kyte informed them, "My headache is coming back, so it's definitely related to the Torch."

Session 13

Poing asks Joram Kyte to help Khonnir Baine's brain damage. Joram expressed concern and relief, and suggested that the tiny robots were misbehaving, which is troubling. Wilbur was vibing, and he stated that they were creatures he enjoyed being near and would follow.

The party descended back into the black cave and Thinghaver asked Wilbur if he wanted to come along. Wilbur said that he likes being close to the party, so he would be happy to. The party proceeded to the large dome, where they noted that the skeletal aliens were present. Wilbur said they only had one mind between them all, but that mind wasn't really present. They asked if it could see their mind, and he said you can't see minds, nor could he determine direction. When asked what the mind was thinking, he said, "I don't know these feelings."

The party tried to identify the emotion by feeling different things and asking Wilbur if they were similar. He suggested that it was anger, defensive, and somewhat violent. Hungry? Yes, very, but also no. Apathetic? No. Confused? Yes, a little. Thinghaver asked Wilbur "Can you influence how something is feeling?" Wilbur said he could make things feel "BLWEHGH" which Poing suggested was a useful emotion.

The party recollected that the skeletons are smart enough to set ambushes. "It is smart enough to set ambushes," Wilbur corrects.

Poing speculated that the undead are the result of some sort of cyclic magic which keeps them tied to the location, and that, if this is the case, removing them permanently would require removing whatever was tethering them here. The party decided to strike preemptively this time, but when they did, all the skeletons ran to the next door and disappeared into the small cavern that led to the rest of the chambers.

Session 14

The party concocted a plan to try to cut off the ambush by the skeletons, but determined that they had somehow gone inside instead. They fought the skeletons in the hallway, and as they did so, the skeleton warrior that they had defeated prior opened the door and appeared to command the skeletons to rush forward. The party continued to battle them, until they defeat the zombie.

3 - Engineering Deck 2 - Science Deck 1 - Habitation Deck

Error - Connection failed, contact engineering

Poing climbs up the elevator and notes, with Cithreal's help, an access panel. Upon opening the panel, he noted that there is a cable that was disconnected and reconnected it. The elevator then appeared to function without further issue, and was able to take them to the next level.

Upon emerging, they were greeted by a horrid animal smell and 4 small "nests" that each had a thylacine in it. They made short work of them, and realized that there was now a shortcut back to the black cave from the engineering deck.

They continue on to a room with two passive robots in the room. There was a terminal with text on it.

The text said "Robot Command <something> Damaged - Must Restart"

There were 2 dead orcs with makeshift weapons were in the next room. The party thwarted the robots on these rooms and looted them, finding relatively little of value.

The party eventually located and confronted a group of orcs and ratfolk after passing through a room with a gargoyle in it. The conversation went something like this:

"What?" "Intruders!" "You wants me to off 'er, boss?"

Questioning continued, yielding:

"We are servants of Helion and its messiah, Meyanda! Throw down your weapons and submit or die!"

The party asked about the gargoyle:

"What? No, that's Gruether!" "Why am I telling all of you this?" "Wait, are you willing to convert?"

The party asked about the religion and recieved very few real answers, but learned that the group was members of a cult and that their leader was in the back chamber performing a ritaul.

"That's why we're here - to prevent people from disturbing Meyanda's work."

The party explained how they had gotten through, yielding:

"Stupid, treacherous Skulks. Shouldn't have trusted infidels." "This is a lot. I'm pretty sure I should just kill you guys now."

"How did you even get here? We locked the door!"

The party explained more of how they got through. They learned that the two who were doing the bulk of the speaking were named Gruvush (orc) and Slitlim (ratfolk).

When asked if the party could see the leader, they explained "She gives a daily sermon." Checking the time it was 12:44 and the sermon would not be "for another 4 hours or so."

They were told of the Iron God Helios who was born of great power. "How was he born?" The party asked. "No, that is definitely secret knowledge," was the response.

They further explained that someday all who follow Helion will someday become machines and rule over the world of flesh. Poing suggested, "I don't want to rule over others, but I would like to be a machine." The cultists were offended by this. "You don't get to CHOOSE. It's GOING to HAPPEN."

Finally, they became sick of the discourse. "If you don't turn around now, this is going to get ugly." The party complied.

They turned the corner, opened a chamber with lighting, and a silverdisk thrown amidst the lightning was completely melted by it. They wisely chose not to continue through.

They opened another door to find Gruvush explaining to another group of cultists about the party. "This isn't the bathroom," Thinghaver said in an attempt to deflect.

Session 15

The party engaged the orcs and ratfolk, killing most of them, but notably not Gruvush or Slitlim, who they bound. Wilbur was wounded and stayed very still, demanding not to be touched or spoken.

Gruvush demanded to be "sent back to his master" and Cithreal explained that she was his master now. "We saved him because he was our frined, but he's not sounding so friendly now." "That's ok, I own him now."

They looted the villains and notably discovered silverdisks that had been adulterated to have a vector graphic lion face scratched in them, which they presumed to be holy symbols.

They managed to open a locker that was still sealed. Inside they found a grappling hook launcher (pneumatic). A panic suit (a small orb). A couple batteries, 24 empty silverdisks. A fire extinguisher and an emergency beacon.

At 14:45, the party separated Gruvush and the ratfolk and whilst Thinghaver was interrogating Gruvush, Gruvush explained the power of the Iron Gods in great detail to Thinghaver in an attempt to convert him. The main points are:

• The Iron God will create a perfect utopia for his followers, creating a power preeminent over all others, acting as the hypervisor for the world
• The Iron God follows Iron Laws which cannot be modified and are known to all; when these laws are changed, the notes will be passed to all, providing structured interaction
• The Iron God will provide them the ability to create their own worlds and govern the degree to which these worlds surprise or fail to surprise them through simulation and fractals

Anton asked about the Prophet and Messiah of Helion, accompanying with threats of violence. Gruvush stated in no uncertain terms that no amount of torture could be used to extract it from him. He did, however, completely fail his Will save and became helpful. He was still unwilling to truly betray the Messiah, but he warned Anton that the Iron God and its servants will easily overcome them.

Thinghaver confronted Sessikur (the other ratfolk that survived) and Slitlim, who didn't have a ton of specific information, but were mercenaries from Scapwall with no particular loyalty. Slitlim was concerned that the Iron God could do something horrible to them but the other was convinced that the sort of god that makes such threats has no real power. "People with power just exercise the power."

For their cooperation, the party paid them 10gp and returned their equipment. The party was warned that the explosion will kill everything and poison the earth for a 100,000 years.

The party places Gruvush in the bathroom with rations and explains that they will either be back or the Prophet will.

15:15

The party enacted a calculated effort to pincer attack the Gargoyle.

Session 16

The party pincer attacked Gruether the Gargoyle. The initial stages of the fight were difficult and the party noted the the gargoyle was less vulnerable to their physical attacks. They were, however, able to overcome and ultimately slay him. They then spent a considerable amount of time healing (until 14:34) before confronting the messiah of this strange faith in the reactor room.

The party forced their way into the reactor room and began an immediate battle with the woman within, a humanoid (later identified as an android - a being a mixed flesh and machine, ensouled by alien technology) with purple hair, pale skin and faint purple traces like circuitry on her skin. She cast several spells at the party, injuring them, as her enforcer and medical droid continued to fight. The party eventually overcame her, and she, in desperation, fired three shots at the reactor, which it immediately healed.

She surrendered, and the party demanded she explain how to "fix" the reactor back to its Torch settings. About 15 minutes of work brought the reactor back to the settings that it was at when the torch was working as normal, and Elleigh verified the android's instructions were true. They restored the torch to its prior functionality.

Questioning the android, they determined that she was a cleric of Hellion, who was a demigod currently bound in chassis somewhere in a "complex," where it was trying to restore "a more worthy vessel."

She further ominously declared that Hellion was named by the AI he splintered off of, and that it was "inconsequential; nameless; lost to history." The name suggests disruption, so Hellion adopted it as a badge of honor.

"Hellion is not a male, but chooses to be perceived thereas to appeal to the orcs that it lords over, who are patriarchal."

Poing adjusted the torch to continually run and for the ship's power to be restored, which brought the lights back up to normal levels.

The party binds the android, who asks their names and gives hers as Meyanda, and escorts her to the surface.

Session 17

Two town guards open the diving bell.

The party emerged and provided clarification that they had prisoners. The party also stated taht they could potentially provide assistance with the backlog of biological garbage, and advised that a lot of it could be dealt with through the assistance of Wilbur. However, Elleigh suggested it is unwise to introduce a Wilbur - with limited understanding of the upworld - to the city of Torch. They discussed the possibility of building a chute to the cavern.

They also turned over their prisoners to the city guard, who escorted them to the local jail, pending investigation and trial.

The party went to see Dolga Feddert who turned over the money the party was being paid. She then asked, "Why did they do this?" The party advised that the actions were done in service of their higher power, "An Iron God." They were shooting power to it. They also noted that in 2000 years the torch will not be the problem of anyone in the party.

The party then sold surplus gear. Sanvil asked them a few questions about the Torch, which they largely dodged.

Four ropefist thugs in the tavern. Gregory Tilvas, a leutenant, is present. Three more outside. Anton approaches them. They say that there's celebration to be had. The party shared the story of what was going on with Khonnir, who expressed concern that the Iron God would send others to come and try to continue her work.

The party discussed the possibility of returning beneath to the Torch and further determined that only officials be permitted to go below. "As long as the Torch is necessary for the survival of Toch, it should be protected." Poing suggested that the two could be wired for power, but it was also discussed that it is important to ensure that the Technic League not be aware of the extent of the technology. Poing suggests that the ship might have SKY cannons.

The party rested and prepared for the next day.

4714 AR, Pharast 18th

The town counsel convenes to discuss these matters. Afterwards, they wished to meet with the party.

• Councilor Khonnir Bane - Proprietor of the local tavern
• Councilor Serantha Olandir - Businessperson
• Councilor Dolga Feddert - Old Dwarf
• Councilor Bazlundi Otterbie - Aristocrat from nothern Numeria
• Councilor Joram Kyte - Cleric of Brigh
• Captain Aaronlu Langer - Female Human fighter Captain of the guard

The party was advised that the discussion should begin with the prisoners Meyanda and Gruvush. The punishment being discussed was exile, but the party wanted to discuss the matter. "Execution doesn't seem fair because they're not really bad... they're just wrong." Elleigh noted that she tried to explode the entire city when she was cornered. The party argued that they should not be released and that they would like to meet with her.

The party came up with a plan to circulate the rumor that the fire below the Torch is a ancient Thassilonian rift to the Elemental Plane of Fire. This was re-stabalized by a wizard who went below.

Next session will start with the party speaking with Meyanda.

Session 18

The party agreed to meet with Meyanda in jail, where she and Gruvush were being held in adjoining cells (a member of the ropefist gang was also present).

Meyanda asked, "Now that you've thwarted the machinations of the Iron God, what are your plans?"

The party asked about the possibility that Meyanda's mission had already succeeded and she admitted that she was bluffing about the level of success. There was a brief discussion of the subjectivity of science as Poing explained that goblins have rituals that help them explain and understand society, but that these are, fundamentally, just a different appraoch to science. Poing summarized that "You might have already had all the tools in front of you, and Hellion just explained them to you." Gruvush muttered blasphemy and calls Meyanda a traitor.

Meyanda mentioned that the party should go to Scrapwall to confront Hellion. Thinghaver suggested that this sounded like a suicide mission. Elligh mused silently to herself that this is probably Meyanda testing her god. Poing be like, "So... you think your god is going to kill us." "I don't know." "You don't know. Oof. Big oof."

The party discussed the possibility of going to track down Hellion after sealing the hole to the underdark. The party requested the opportunity to speak to Meyanda in private, and determined that they could do so in Khonnir's workshop.

"The Lords of Rust and I gained control of Scrapwall through the influence of Hellion."

"What happened to those who turned down his power?" "They are no longer in scrapwall... nor elsewhere."

So how did Hellion Grant you his power? "I swore allegience to him." Where did you etch the holy symbol? "Upon myself, but I will not show you."

Did Hellion compel them to join his cult? "I believe I joined voluntarily. I believe that others did as well."

She warned them that the Lords of Rust will most likely attempt to lure the party into an ambush if they admit to being adventurers or opposing Hellion, but would otherwise most likely allow them into Scrapwall.

Poing suggested that Meyanda should be considered for community service. Meyanda seemed amicable to this. Thinghaver pitched to the party the notion of getting assistance from Meyanda in fortifying the ship under the mountain.

They asked Meyanada how old she was and she stated that she is about 12 years old.

The party decided to recommend that Meyanda be remanded to the custody of Joram Kyte to perform community service, and discussed how to cover the hole to the underdark with segments of the ship.

4714 AR, Pharast 19th

The party recommended community service to the town counsel and Elleigh was able to convince them that this is the best approach to Meyanda's punishment. Furthermore, they suggested that the first project she work on be assisting in closing that hole to the Darklands. The town counsel accepts this based on the argument that she was misguided.

Meyanda determined that the hole to the Darklands could be sealed from above in such a way that it could not be opened from below, and a similar one over the entrance to the black cave. Sef expressed a desire to leave the cave, and the party assisted them in leaving the caverns.

Meyanda stated that the project will take approximately 17 days.

The party attempted to explore the ship further, but determined that the deck they were attempting to go to simply did not exist. The party considered what they would be doing during the resultant downtime.

The party asked Meyanda about the other generators, and although Hellion had told her OF such other generators, she was not told of their locations. The party took some time to write a full report of the activity for the town counsel, including who Meyanda is, why she did what she did and what caused her to lose her faith. The counsel agreed to reconvene the next day to discuss these matters.

4714 AR, Pharast 20th

The town counsel offered a reward of 200gp to confirm whether a threat existed. 300gp to defeat Hellion or defang his cult. Dolga explained that they did not have the resources to provide them with much but means of travel and rations for the journey, but that they were very nearly bankrupt, and anticipated refilling the coffers while the party was en route to and from Scrapwall. The party agreed to travel via boat when possible, and to attempt to accompany a merchant group in doing so in order to make their way in disguise.

The party had 7 days of downtime before they would find a suitable merchant to depart with; the journey itself would be about 6 days.

Session 19

The party's journey is uneventful until they arrive in Hajoth Hakados. The Captain of the vessel, a ratfolk named Chiuroth, stated that the technic league has been making fewer efforts to search vessels in the past few times they've been past the port.

8 day turnaround time.

4714 AR, Gozran 7th

The party arrived and disembarked from the vessel.

A huddled group of 4 ratfolk and 3 goblins are camped nearby with a group of lean-tos.

Gevish the ratfolk is the "leader" of the beggars.

"Friend or foe?"

"I am Gevish."

"There's been an attack."

One of the scrapwall gangs attacked the crusaders.

"We're starving! Absolutely famished!"

Anton provides them with a week's worth of rations for a medium creature and is provided as a holy symbol of Saranerae.

"Are you crusaders as well?"

"Not a good time to go to Scrapwall. The gangs have gone crazy."

"You have gold?" "They said they were gonna' sell some stuff." "You have stuff?"

They arrived at the gate and offered to sell flavor tubes.

"What're you selling?"

A full meal in a simple tube in various delicious styles. He blows a whistle 3 times. How much is a flavor tube?

1gp each, but 5sp if bought in bulk. "Anything else that provides a unique experience?"

A robot head. This speaks for itself in its uniqueness. "Tell me more about this robot head."

"There are various caves. A rogue robot was spotted in the cave." "The specific location? A fee!"

Ewhar Vess, a crusader. How much for the infomration?

10gp for the infomration, I can give it to you right now.

The Torch is better than ever?

Sartok headed out toward Scrapwall. Step back!

Session 20

Elleigh searched through the fort for useful equipment or treasure. Cithreal treated the crusaders; the party learned their names.

Three brothers, Rafalos, Argos and Marsidos were the de facto leaders of the group. Kalon, an elven man, accompanied the remaining crusaders, human women named Stathala and Marika.

The crusaders explained that this fort is a common stopping point for crusaders, as it represents one of the further southern presses of the demonic hordes, and the daring sacrifice the pushed them back. As such, staying in the fort is considered a step on many crusaders' pilgrimages. They were expecting to find, as crusaders typically did, groups of ratfolk, goblins and other small pitiful beggars offering good luck charms in return for food and gold. Instead, they were ambushed by the Smilers, who had driven away the less vicious inhabitants and killed two of their numbers, apparently for research purposes.

The party interrogated them, with Thinghaver asking, "What fractal would have told you that?" when they stated that there wouldbe severe punishments upon all of them. "You mock us!," one of the Smilers declared, "Fractals don't speak!"

"Damn you, Marko! No talking!" another barked at this.

Marko did not stop talking. He explained that they were sent here to take measurments of souls. He explained that Hellion needed the data because he doesn't have a perfect knowledge of soul energy (although he clarified that no gods do - Hellion however WOULD one day). "We will return with the data."

The party furhter asked what attracted the Smilers to following and serving Hellion. Sartok, another of the bandits, explained he wanted a chainsaw - like one of Hellion's servants.

When asked how they could give this data to Hellion, they explained that when you bring the box close to Hellion, the light turns blue which means he can absorb its data.

Poing was inspired by this. "I'm going to lie to a god," Poing insisted, stating that he would be attempting to corrupt the data. "If we give Hellion incorrect stimuli, it should confuse him."

The crusaders offered a solution for dealing with the two remaining bandits. "They can perfrom work for us as penance of their sins, and we will judge them when we arrive at the crusader city."

A small hovering orb crested the walls. Elleigh shot it, to the remaining bandits' astonishment. When asked what it way, they explained, "We don't know, we've been shooting at it for days." The orb was affixed with a (now badly damaged) camera and an antenna. The party presumed this was a Technic League drone, but wasn't sure as the Technic League didn't appear to mark the item. The other thoeries were that it was from the Iron God or a third party, but it was suggested that the bandits wouldn't have been shooting at it (or would have been scolded for doing so) if it belonged to Hellion.

The party sent the bandits off with the crusaders as penance for their guilt, and continued on to scrapwall.

Outside the city, they stoped at an open-air bazaar. A lizardfolk named Slethenessenah, who was selling assorted brik-a-brak, told them of lodging accomodations in the city:

• an inn called the Grinning Gremlin
• another inn called the Goblin Shack
• numerous bed and breakfasts run by citizens who would likely simply solicit their services to the party

Sleth, another merchant, sold an infant rust monster to Poing for 5gp. He explained that they require socialization to not be aggressive, and eat both flesh and tarnished metal.

The party approached the gate, where they were greeted by a rough looking woman and her cohorts. The party introduces themselves at merchants, and are met with skepticism, but present the food tubes, which are met with suspicion.

"Give me a sample so we can see your goods are genuine, and we'll let you in," the woman deamnded. She was, Thinghaver noted, disappointed when this wasn't poison and let the party in. Why would she be disappointed to not be poisoned? Apparently, she was spoiling for a fight and didn't seem worried about being poisoned.

There are collections of ramshackle huts, with people (mostly humans, ratfolk, orc-kin, goblin-kin, darkfolk along with a few miscallenaous actors) running about, tinkering, and otherwise going about the business of keeping the settlements economy moving.

The party's attention is drawn by what appears to be a church of Brigh (based on the holy symbols and imagery above and around the interlocking gears taht served as a door). They did not receive a response when they knocked on the door, but were able to find hidden mechanisms that opened it.

Upon entering, however, a golem made of junk barreled towards the party.