Chariots of the Godless

[Quila Oris (John M.)]

“That might just be their version of a portal or door,” Quila notes, gesturing to the thin membrane. “Can you verify Eslyk?”

[DM Bob]

The weapon does not respond to the question. But when Hurk attempts to grasp it, the tiny little "feet" leap into action and head for the membrane, which lifts as it approaches. While it has not passed that threshold, you get a peek beyond the film to see what looks to be a room opening up to your right. You can see the left wall has niches with thin crystal covering them like a nobleman's window. You see two or three right now, but will you react to the lightning bug weapon's exodus?

[Attilius]

Eyes wide and stuck in the back of the train, HurK exclaims "GO! GO! GO!"

[Quila Oris (John M.)]

Quila shoves against Ande to hurry her and the kes’trekel along.

[Skrye [AC3; 48/48HP]]

- Eslyk continues, checking for traps - "For as much as I love shiny stuff, I try not to get lured into a trap. You should do the same" - looking at the membranous courtain and beyond - <"We don't look for harm, just looking for questions and searching our curiosity"> - in halfling, as she looks for any loosen piece of shiny and resistent material on her way

[OOC: By shiny and resistent material I mean metal. Shall I roll F/R Traps again?]

[DM Bob]

No metal to be seen, no need to search for traps as you hurry through the membrane/door.

The room is still the same height as the previous corridor and there's a bit more to take in. To your left, 6 niches in total are seen with the odd fancy glass or crystal panels. To the right across the room 4 niches with the same style panes are seen: a pair each flanking another membrane door. There is also another membrane directly across from you, but not quite centered, a bit to the right.

When I say room though, it has no hard edges or corners like that of a typical construction. It looks more organic and rounded, as if you stand in a cavity in a large body or carcass.

The panels are mostly splattered with blood and viscera, except for one that is slightly open to the right, furthest from the membrane door and closest to the side you enter.

The weapon animal or lightning bug or mini-Thing (as it looks a tad like the shapeshifter from the movie of the same name) bolts quickly across the room and past the membrane to your right, which opens briefly and then shuts leaving you in this room alone.

You think.

To the center of the room, ten glass jars sit in two rows. I take something back. There *is* metal in this room, but it is in the form of the brackets or a lantern-like construction around these jars. Within the jars? Nine of them contain small brains and some sort of cloudy liquid. The lid to the tenth is open, but contains no cerebrum... but does have the same fluid within. They have a thickish base, a few small colored gems or crystals of green, red & amber set into the burnished grey metal, as well as a few indents or perhaps buttons.

[Attilius]

The quarter giant moves to a bare wall with nothing to break to lean against.
"Running wands, a blood bath and a missing brain? Time for some answers. I'm going to wake the crewman here. Get your tongues/mindlink ready..."

Once the crew nod their readiness, HurK will pull the little halfling out of his toga, gently lay him on the floor. He'll then pull out his water skin and splash some clean water on his face.
"Efurth, wake up..." he says softly

[Skrye [AC3; 48/48HP]]

- Eslyk looks if any symbol in the big glassed cabinets matches another symbol somewhere else in the room, also if there is any marks printed anywhere

[OOC: Are any of these metal brackets easily gathered? Or these - or what these attached to - are wielded/stuck/stack to the surface?]

[Niachi]

Niachi piles in with the others, grunting at the new levels of fuckery before them. He checks for the quality of shadows in this space and if needed, he improves them with his lightstone. Without bothering with concealment, calls to his patrons with a single word

“meow”

casting Cat’s Grace on himself, duration 7 hours…
(Dex increased to 20)

[Quila Oris (John M.)]

Walking into the oval space Quila is even more impressed by the way all of this seems, 'grown', for a lack of a better way to conceptualize all of it.
Seeing the lightning weapon run off, and several of the party run and do their things, she centers herself quickly to dispel the annoyance she feels at the chaos in such dangerous circumstances. Her centering praxis makes her note mentally that all of these folks were vetted and have proven themselves as able. She feels the tension glide off of her shoulders before long.

Looking at the niches with the fancy glasses or panes, can she make out whether the viscera and blood are on the inside of those panes? She will gauge how big the contents of the niche could be. Could these niches fit a halfling like the one we encountered? Does Quile even see some shapes behind those glass coverings?

She will then try to make sense of the contraption in the middle of the room. Her gut (no pun intended) tells her that the ten jars are somehow connected to the niches. Do the brains inside the liquid look hale? Or are they more like dead matter?

(OOC: I will use my kit ability again to make sense of this device/item. It allows me to identify the general purpose and function of ancient magical items, tomes, or texts, just as a bard. I've got a 35% chance for that, rolled an 18.
Also, if there is anything remotely resembling a language or pictorial or sign system involved, I also have a 51% chance to understand that as Read Languages. Rolled a 4.)

[DM Bob]

Eslyk sees the metal is worked much differently than shes ever seen before. Too clean, too smooth, not worn, rusted or pitted. The seams are fine and each "lantern" is identical.

Hurk manages to awake Efurth. He comes to slowly, and looks at the group of you with abject horror.

This might have to do with the mangled bodies of halflings that are seen behind the crystal windows. Quila first sees the bisected skull of a tiny ancient, sans brain. Suppressing the urge to vomit, you determine that they've been recently removed from the little women and men and placed within those containers. The niches hold the tiny frames closely, perhaps only two feet across each and a tad taller than a halfling stands.

Looking closer at the glass jars, she notices a twinkle within the green gems on each used container. The one without a brain has a twinkle to the amber stone. You think that this is a system to alert if something is functioning - but without writing to decipher, this is the best she can learn of their intent.

[Attilius]

Aug 31, 2023 11:27:11 GMT -12 DM Bob said:

Hurk manages to awake Efurth. He comes to slowly, and looks at the group of you with abject horror.

he let's out a sigh of relief "Take it easy, you're safe and among friends from the city of New Kurn on the surface of Athas. You killed that monster with your lightning rod before it killed you unfortunately. We raised you from the dead and brought you back inside your ship. I'm HurK..." he says slowly and reassuredly as he sees the PTSD on the little man.

[Quila Oris (John M.)]

Quila will cast a Tongues from scroll and translate if necessary here, but before she does she will walk to Niachi and ask "Do you perhaps have the chance to cast a Tongues spell, or can only our druid do that?"

To the rest she will say, "I think it best to assume there is someone on the loose here with bad intentions. These fellow halfling were murdered and got their grey matter removed for some bizarre experiment. To find out what happened we might try annd speak with the dead anew or otherwise find out who attacked them. This is not the work of the creature that killed Efurth, it would not have had the required dexterity and fine hand-eye coordination required for this," Quila makes a sweeping gesture with her right hand indicating the glass jars with the brains.

[AthasianLaborer]

"Chat'cho, I will cover you while you question the dead, if you should return to perch again, please do so on my rear, I plan on staying prepared herein" she says as she produces her bow and nocks an arrow. 

I am declaring here that Ande is keeping her bow in hand with an arrow pre-nocked and ready to be drawn and loosed.  She also still has 1/3/2 slots left, stashing heals unless the consensus decides we need the slot spent elsewise.

Combat medic bird go!

[Coden Rokos (Jesse H.)]

Coden moves to examine the metal in more detail, even briefly running his hand over some of the exposed surface. His head tilts sideways slightly but it's hard to understand his impression of what he senses.