Post by hubertbartels on Oct 22, 2017 14:45:41 GMT -5
The party looked down into the depths below. Valder turned back and searched the dwarven workings and turned up rope and rope ladders. With the aid of the ladders, they were able to descend to the 'floor' on the room. It became apparent that the party was looking at a ship fragment that had landed on it's top and slid into a canyon and that everything was at a 90 degree angle.
In the piles of debris that had ended up at the bottom of the room, they found silverdiscs, skill chips, 2 more flashlights with no charge and a white e-pick.
Descending into the next room, the party found two massive gravition generators. The room was braced with large crossbeams, making descent easier. It was soon apparent that these generators would require a massive amount of work and power to ever run again. The floor of this room was covered with tools and parts from the shelves and lockers that had sprung open.
The next room was dominated by the huge machine that took up most of the 'floor' space. Along the sides of the room were large numbers of mannequins, all resembling a neutered, idealized man. They were all cast in a reddish grey alloy. Six of the mannequins or mammets were missing - their restraining bars pried apart. The device in the center of the room had an opening for a mammet - as well as a slot for one of the tubes found earlier.
At the bottom of the room were eight bodies - six with no injuries other than a star-shaped burn on their forehead - and two that had been ripped apart with laser gun fire. The laser pistol, completely discharged, also lay here. In addition, there were more tubes on the floor - some with a milky white fluid inside, others empty. Littering the floor were almost a thousand silverdiscs, all burned out as if overloaded. Nearby, there was a broken gun device that appeared to have been smashed. It could hold a tube.
Examining the bodies closer, one of the party turned up a letter. The letter was from Dr. Cutler to Dr. Renik,
telling him that Dr. Cutler examined the tube and that it was a LCU - Lifeforce Containment Unit - and could be used to trap the soul of a person. The metal that the tube was made of is a Skymetal alloy of Djezet and Adamantine - a rare metal has magic enhancing properties. It was rumored to block the reality-warping rays of the fabled Extinction Wave Device, mentioned in an old journal article.
Using a Lifeforce Validator, the party found near the tubes, one of the tubes was tested. After turning the thing on, a voice came from the device's speakers. The voice was from a goatherder from the thorp that had been wiped out earlier. It told how Dr. Renik and his group came into the throp, tied everyone up and then, one by one, led them outside to have their souls removed. The goatherder overheard them saying that they needed subjects to test the machine -and another remarking that soon, they would be immortal!
The party examined the machine to see if they could put the goatherder's soul back into a body - but Renik's group had used all the power. In fact, there was only enough power for six mammets, causing a fight that lead to two of Renik's people being shot and killed.
Gathering up the LCUs, the party tested each in the device, testing if the person wanted to die or wait for a solution. Some of the voices were already driven insane and had to be terminated. The remainder were gathered up to be taken to Father Joram at the church of Brigh.
Back at Torch, there was a few days before the caravan to Scrapwall was ready to depart. Quincy Logan and Valder decided to hunt down Dr. Baranaby Cutler and learn more about the mammets and the strange reddish alloy.
In the piles of debris that had ended up at the bottom of the room, they found silverdiscs, skill chips, 2 more flashlights with no charge and a white e-pick.
Descending into the next room, the party found two massive gravition generators. The room was braced with large crossbeams, making descent easier. It was soon apparent that these generators would require a massive amount of work and power to ever run again. The floor of this room was covered with tools and parts from the shelves and lockers that had sprung open.
The next room was dominated by the huge machine that took up most of the 'floor' space. Along the sides of the room were large numbers of mannequins, all resembling a neutered, idealized man. They were all cast in a reddish grey alloy. Six of the mannequins or mammets were missing - their restraining bars pried apart. The device in the center of the room had an opening for a mammet - as well as a slot for one of the tubes found earlier.
At the bottom of the room were eight bodies - six with no injuries other than a star-shaped burn on their forehead - and two that had been ripped apart with laser gun fire. The laser pistol, completely discharged, also lay here. In addition, there were more tubes on the floor - some with a milky white fluid inside, others empty. Littering the floor were almost a thousand silverdiscs, all burned out as if overloaded. Nearby, there was a broken gun device that appeared to have been smashed. It could hold a tube.
Examining the bodies closer, one of the party turned up a letter. The letter was from Dr. Cutler to Dr. Renik,
telling him that Dr. Cutler examined the tube and that it was a LCU - Lifeforce Containment Unit - and could be used to trap the soul of a person. The metal that the tube was made of is a Skymetal alloy of Djezet and Adamantine - a rare metal has magic enhancing properties. It was rumored to block the reality-warping rays of the fabled Extinction Wave Device, mentioned in an old journal article.
Using a Lifeforce Validator, the party found near the tubes, one of the tubes was tested. After turning the thing on, a voice came from the device's speakers. The voice was from a goatherder from the thorp that had been wiped out earlier. It told how Dr. Renik and his group came into the throp, tied everyone up and then, one by one, led them outside to have their souls removed. The goatherder overheard them saying that they needed subjects to test the machine -and another remarking that soon, they would be immortal!
The party examined the machine to see if they could put the goatherder's soul back into a body - but Renik's group had used all the power. In fact, there was only enough power for six mammets, causing a fight that lead to two of Renik's people being shot and killed.
Gathering up the LCUs, the party tested each in the device, testing if the person wanted to die or wait for a solution. Some of the voices were already driven insane and had to be terminated. The remainder were gathered up to be taken to Father Joram at the church of Brigh.
Back at Torch, there was a few days before the caravan to Scrapwall was ready to depart. Quincy Logan and Valder decided to hunt down Dr. Baranaby Cutler and learn more about the mammets and the strange reddish alloy.