One of my players at the table, the newest, had the opportunity to shine this meeting and I for one was very glad. He's generally a quiet guy but when he was given the chance to be front and center in this meeting and time, it was so rewarding for me as the DM to give him his time in the sun
Follows:
So the group took the long trek back up the stairs, spanning the gap once more with 2 of the desk tops, leading Knox and the other animals all the way to the 1st level again. Once up here we took Edgar’s words to heart and going through the tool box, Dizzy pulled out a chisel, some leather scraps, a small hammer, a wire bush, and a few drops of oil. He treated the 8 visible screw heads under the panel with some taps and lubricant, wired off the obvious rust, and then he proceeded to unscrew them one at a time. It was slow and laborious – the screws had not been moved for the last century plus. This was going to take some time.
Meanwhile we wanted to take a look at the boiler and steam engine. Connal went down the steps and then up and rungs and we looked over the machinery. The fire box was scraped free of remaining ash and would hold 60 to 80 lbs of wood. The boiler was pretty big; we guessed it was about 50 gallons. He came back over.
Dizzy had gotten the panel off one at a time, Shim and Wilhelm helped, they tilted it back and let years of dust and crud run out of it. A thin metal sheet manual slid out as well. We read it over and identified the controls. The 4 levers would retract and extend the gantry, the 2nd one would lower and raise it, the 3rd would slow down and speed up the engine, and the last would maximum and minimally apply the brakes. Each lever had 7 possible positions. The 3 buttons would raise the platform, turn the engine off or on, and lower the platform. The last two controls would adjust the platform’s pitch and yaw along all 4 axis.
We wanted to extend the gantry. No reason for Connal or anyone to make that 6’ plus jump. So Dizzy went down to the gantry and Wilhelm worked the controls extending it. It needed to be lifted and jogged forward in many places, the Randari Orcs did a number on it, but we managed to get it fully extended and maneuver the turn so it made the platform. A few of us went back to the office and brought back wooden slats from the kiosks and desks, and Dizzy proceeded to cut them so they would slot into place, giving us a proper bridge to cross.
Once on the lift Connal was still going to have to make a jump to the other side. The thought was that the dwarves would not have set it up like this, so on direction; the monk looked over the eastern side of the platform and found two handles sticking out over the side near the base. He pulled them and extended a 3’ wide platform! Nice. He kept lifting and sliding it out until it easily made it to the lift area. Ok – Now we are cooking.
As for the fire box, that we could do with a number of wooden items from the entrance hall. There was a pilot area that we found with a fill slot for oil. And finally the boiler itself was going to need water. We settled on Create water but there was nowhere that we could create it, keep it in one place, and then ferry it over there to fill it. Eventually Wilhelm suggested that he could animate the water – but would need 32 gallons of it at the minimum for the spell to work.
That was going to be 3 create water spells – and we’d still have to give in 2 water skins. The Lift Area was pretty big and if Wilhelm acted fast enough, he could gather the water before it spilled out and over the side of the pit. But we’d need another caster. Dizzy wrote a Create spell and when done, explained to Eoghan exactly what he had to do. So 2 of us cast the spell, and Connal tossed 2 water skins with the tops off into the growing and spreading pile and then before it could run out and off, Wilhelm called to Frey and…FOOHP! It all slammed together into a fat and wobbly 4 and a half foot tall man shaped amorphous water form.
He led it to the gantry and Connal went first with lots of wood, followed by the elemental and then Wilhelm. It crossed to the platform, then stepped down to the bridge, and then finally over to the lift machinery. He had the elemental pull itself up to the top of the fill pipe, and then coaxed it to relax and slowly fold itself up and fall/fill the pipe – until we had 32 gallons of water in the boiler. Job well done!
We filled the fire box with wood, large and smaller pieces, dosed it with some oil and wood shavings. Then Connal opened the pilot box, crumbled up some paper stuffed it in, and filled the spigot above it with oil. He then lit the pilot area until it sparked and stayed lit. Once we saw that tendrils of smoke and fire were getting to the fire box, he crossed out of the area, pulled the bridge back under the lift, crossed the gantry and we waited.
It was decided that Wilhelm would stay and operate the machinery, and Shim wrote out all the directions for him with some small corrections as noted by Dizzy. Once done the party waited until we could see the fire box was merrily burning from our side. The gnome hit the druid with an invisibility spell and admonished him that if he did anything aggressive, the spell would fail. So sitting down, Wilhelm took a deep breath and stabbed the start/stop button. There was a whine and a few chugs.. then nothing. Did it again, more whine, more chugs…and then the engine caught and began the thrub and bang. The party was on the platform fast, Wilhelm retracted the gantry, and then rose the engine up 1 rank, and lowered the brake. The platform dropped a few feet and then he stopped it. The smoke was getting thick across the way and looking up, Eoghan muttered that whatever chimney or flue was up there, was long blocked.
And we heard drums. Lots of drums from below. Wilhelm released more of the brake, and stabbed the down button again. The platform was dropping maybe a foot every 3 seconds and he deduced this was not going to be enough. So he pushed the engine up higher and there was a loud BANG – and fire shot out of the fire box and from the engine top but the machine sounded smoother and the platform dropped faster. He pushed the brake up from 5 to 2 and could see from the dial the platform was dropping maybe 1 foot and a half each second. The smoke was very thick across the way and was up to the 25’ ceiling, and now over the hole, and was slowly spreading to the dock area.
Fuck it. With Shim still talking to him in his head, he told them to get ready, Dizzy clenching his butt cheeks, and he shoved the engine speed up from 4 … to 1. And again there was another BANG and red fire was seen through the smoke. The boiler was whistling and the entire thing seemed to free fall. Speed was now 5 feet per second and the dial marking depth was spinning up. The group was hanging on and the lift lowered. Somewhere around the 2nd level and dropping they saw 6…10..14…17 figures looking like leather clad long haired fat dwarves with stone tomahawks racing up the stairs hooting and hollering. Shim let Wilhelm know and the druid was watching the dial with care. The smoke had now gotten into the lift control room and was making it difficult to see.
He slowly engaged the braking flywheel and watched the speed slow and slow as the marking for the 3rd floor crept up. He shuttered the engine down to the lowest speed as the platform hit the 3rd level and then stabbed the engine off as the strange dwarves hit the 1st floor area and began to fan out. They were leaping and chanting and hooting and hollering. At least 3 made it to the room and the invisible druid ran to the corner where one of them heard his move (didn’t see him), but took a chance and hurled a stone hatchet there. It quivered IN the wall (stone in stone?!?!) but missed Wilhelm who was crouched low and holding his mouth closed.
Meanwhile the group waited as Connal leapt off the platform and ran to the gantry on this level. It was much better than the 1st floor and he was able to extend it all the way for us to get off. We checked the area out – another loading area and then the hall narrowed a bit – at least 17 different sleeping pallets and rough beds were here – messy and disorganized. We could faintly hear water in the distance. Eoghan had the group ready but quiet – Shim was in touch with Wilhelm above.
The dwarf creatures were not dwarves that we were used to. 4 and a half feet tall, they were bald on the tops of their head, a ring of hair around their skull, easily a foot long and limp. Skin was reddish brown, shoulders stooped ,chest shallow, and had large distended bellies. Wearing leather armor stitched crudely together with bone pieces threaded through the shoulders, arms, and chest. They also spoke a language we did not come close to understanding. As they were slapping and pounding around, a new figure arrived on scene and he was commanding.
6 and a half feet tall, skin black as pitch from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head – only eyes and teeth were white. He had an open chested elk hide armor and sported a shield of wood and stretched leather with some turtle shells adorning the edges filled with stones. He too had a large flint knapped axe and looked around with some scowling and concern. The dwarves were deferential to the dark warrior who was pointing and gesturing. He did glance at Wilhelm’ invisible body and smirked but said nothing. The druid then slid down the slope out of the room to the main floor and stayed low in the corner of the lift area. The dark brother spoke loud to attract the hooting dwarves…and then took a deep breath…sucking in ALL of the smoke from everywhere…including the fire from the fire box at the lift machine.
He then smiled to them all in the area and made some proclamations. They all looked over where the lift was and then down the pit. The dark warrior pointed that way and the dwarves all drew their hatchets, slapped their bellies like drums, and ran to the steps and then DOWN the pit – to find the lift…and whoever might have been on it. Shim got all this from a frantic Wilhelm who let the rest of the group know they need to get somewhere safe and now – 17 dwarves coming in fast. 4 minutes tops.
The dark brother then turned to where Wilhelm was crouched, sort of looking at or near him and began trying to talk to him. In many different languages. Eventually stumbling on Common. Wilhelm’s heart beat a bit faster at this and the dark brother smiled. “Come and let me see you. Why do you hide? Not very brave. Your noises have offended me and I have come to address you. Come out and speak with me!”
Wilhelm said nothing.
Eventually the dark warrior grew tired of it and said that he was going to see what was sent below and maybe their screams and noises would be a cure for his cowardice. Wilhelm was bothered and as the dark warrior went down the steps he went to the edge of the stairs, looked down, and then called on Frey for a Flaming sphere – and sent the 6’ bowling ball careening down the steps to hit the dark brother in the back, setting him on fire – just as his invisibility guttered out.
He turned and ran.
The rest of the party went down the hall past the nest area and the passage split here – we could keep going east but the passage came to stairs down – but there were no stairs there. It was a 20’ drop to water below. Fuck that. Going south was a short passage with a closed door on the right side and then a large open chamber. Door it was. And it was stuck closed – hard jammed in place – and would need to be forced. Eoghan threw his body at the door but it held in place. Need help!
Hearing echoes above, Shim aimed as high as he could and cast darkness on the pit stairs above –blocking 30’ of it. Then Connal grabbed the gnome and they ran down the corridor to the rest of the party as Dizzy was helping Eoghan force the door open. It was a 20’x20’ dwarven toilet. Stone benches and seats. Holes. Oh yeah. This was good. And we could hear the dwarves getting real close. Damn it – everyone into the bathroom!
Upstairs the black warrior was laughing as he breathed in and absorbed the fire. “Back stabber! You have no honor! How dare you!” He then spat the fire into his hand and HURLED it to the top – and Wilhelm could not get out of the way in time – and took 9 damage from his own returned fire. The black warrior was closing up the stairs and Shim was in his head yelling that the dwarves were coming. And he ran to the wall calling to Frey for aid…and melded into the stone wall, running in 3 good feet before stopping – cutting off communication with Shim and the sound outside the stone was very muted.
The black warrior was PISSED. “Coward! Where are you?! Attack ME, ME?!?! Hastez?!? From behind and then run and hide! I will remember your scent! I will remember you! I will teach you the error of your way , Coward! You can run! But I will find you in time!” Wilhelm checked his spell and knew he had 50 minutes time in the stone – and he didn’t want to miss a second of it.
The group poured into the lavatory but the door didn’t close right. So again, we had to throw 2 of us at the portal 4 times as the dwarves got VERY close, before it scraped finally and slammed shut – 15 seconds before the dwarves arrived. Eoghan and Connal were motioning everyone to be silent as the dwarves ran about all over the place. They were excited and noisy. Shim let the group know he lost contact with Wilhelm and shared what he could of the meld spell and the fight with the black warrior.
Speaking of, we assumed it was him who arrived as we could hear another voice, different that the dwarves, deep and commanding. Instructing them to look about we imagined. Eventually we could hear many bodies grunting and some splashing, we guessed they were going over the lip and down the area where the stairs no longer were – maybe looking for us that way. Not knowing how long they’d be gone, Eoghan wanted us to remain here and not move at all and wait – not to miss a second of it.
Wilhelm stayed melded, counting off time as he waited. It was over 40 minutes and he was preparing for getting out and getting down the stairs to his friends. As for the rest of the party, after maybe 40 minutes, they could hear the strange dwarves coming back through the water and climbing back up with some effort. They were talking to each other and their voices carried for a while, but they did not hear the deeper voice of the leader person (dark warrior?). It sounded like some of them were staying behind and others their voices were fading as they made their way to the stairs in an effort to go up. Eoghan was able to guess 5 or so were staying behind, meaning 10 or more were heading up. To the druid eventually. And Shim could still not get him through the telepathic amulet.
At the 50th minute, Wilhelm unmolded from the stone and looked around. The dark warrior was not here. Being visible now he made his way slowly across the room to the pit but for some reason looked up – and beheld a spiked gargantuan Lolthian spider 25’ above on the ceiling and watching him with eager care. Damn it. Not wanting to get into any fight with it and still suffering from Hastez’ fire attack earlier, Wilhelm called to Frey and made himself invisible to animals. Which the spider certainly was.
It hissed and dropped to the ground racing to where he “was”, while he ran south to the gantry to hide underneath it. As it was flailing around, Shim finally was able to contact him and let him know that there were a number of those dwarves coming.
And they did. 12 of them. They looked at the spider and it looked at them – and the battle was joined. Hatchets flashed, bodies crumpled, blood flew. Wilhelm stayed hidden in the shadows below the loading platform. Eventually the spider was killed – but not before it killed 7 of the fat dwarves. The remaining 5 bound wounds, looked at the remains of their friends…and then fell on them laughing and snarling. Guts were torn open and hearts and livers ripped free and eaten.
Ropy entrails littered the floor and skulls were split open. Brains were scooped out and eaten with rabid glee. They smeared blood on their faces and skins, danced in the viscera, and stuffed themselves like gluttonous animals while Wilhelm stayed VERY quiet under the gantry. Eventually they grew bloated and weary. Leaving their companions behind, their guts distended and huge, they waddled north to find some place to sleep off their meal. Once they were gone he crawled out and looked over the abattoir of the place, shuddered, and then hit the stairs making his way down.
It was scary doing this alone. Every groan, every noise, every stray breeze had Wilhelm on edge. He made it to the gap in the stairs and used the desk boards to clear it, stacking it again on the other side. He kept going down and when getting to the 2nd level (DM: Rando Monster Check: 1 in 6. Dice result: 1! No shit!) he had to stop since 20 feet away in the loading area was a 12’ tall 3 ton wooly headed nimbus glowing white fire eyed tremendous…Buffalo.
It stared at Wilhelm who was rooted in fear. He had no chance to run down the steps before the buffalo would be upon him. It looked at him with a studied disdain. Concerned, Wilhelm called to Frey to allow him to talk to animals. And he could understand the Buffalo! It was waiting for this…man…to either run or attack it. Since man are simple creatures with fear and anger in their hearts. Then when Wilhelm spoke and Buffalo was surprised he could talk. To him, man is the one creature not connected to the great wheel and therefore not one of the first people and cannot talk to animals.
They spoke for a short while about cosmology and beliefs. Wilhelm was firm in his convictions and promised they were trying to find a way to open the portals and send them back to the Happy Hunting Grounds. He countered every man argument but asserting he was an elf – and they have a connection to nature. Buffalo was willing to give Wilhelm the benefit of the doubt and allowed him to pass. He did tell him that he was marked by the fires of Hastez, the Black Brother. His counterpart, Hastel, the Red Brother and him often try to assault Buffalo now and again.
If he wanted to survive the next encounter with the Black Brother, he should seek out the Inserrat – cold loving creatures who make their home in the waters of the 3rd level. Engage with them and they should be able to help Wilhelm out. He thanked Buffalo and moved on. Near the bottom of the stairs was a 6’ gap he could not cross so he had to use another spell, this time Spider Climb. Then he made it down to the 3rd floor and hid again at the gantry here. He could faintly see the 5 cannibalistic Dwarves and when Shim contacted him, he let them know he was here.
Eoghan and Connal were talking about opening the door out of the bathroom and bringing the fight to the dwarves. Firemonth the 6th, 10:35 PM, and we had been up for about 9 and a half hours.
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