The Planewalkers' Journies

[Jak Snide]

Kongunvir nodded. "She's right, sound will carry far down here. Unless these things are deaf they'll know we're coming. If we're lucky they'll send out a group to investigate, but lying in wait for that might just give them more time to prepare their defences." He looked over the group quickly. "Do any of you have experience with scouting?"

[Besyanteo]

Phelan perked up.

"I'm pretty good at that. I can scout ahead. And I'm faster than the rest of you, so I can go back and forth if I have to and still be useful!"

[Kelne]

"I can do scouting, no trouble," Asp said confidently, moving up to join Phelan. This was another of those kender articles of faith - If there was any wandering ahead of the group getting into trouble to be done, a kender would volunteer for it.

[Shinigori V2]

Squatting and running after Phelan on all fours. As she caught up to him, she spoke quietly, but a little pointedly. "Cats are better at being unseen than wolves are. I'll go, you hang back here."

[Besyanteo]

The gray wolf, trotting along the ice tunnel, looked at Shawn incredulously before replying:

"You are orange, white and black in an ice cave."

[Shinigori V2]

"Oh, yeah." Shawn continued after him, closing her eyes as she ran for just a brief instant. Her colors changed a moment later to that of a white tiger. "Better?" She asked, with more than a little smugness.

[Besyanteo]

It might or might not surprise Shawn to see Phelan, rather than being irritated by her smugness, nodded and slowed his pace. He slowed to a stop to avoid falling in the slick environment and continuing ahead out of control. When he came to a stop, he turned around and ran back to the main group.

[Kelne]

Asp, by contrast, carried right along with Shawn. Sitting back and waiting for reports just wasn't his style, and besides, he'd spoken up first, so technically, Shawn was accompanying him.

[Idran1701]

Plane of Ice - Remorhaz Tunnels
Shawn and Asp

The two slip ahead as quietly as they can manage through the tunnel, with Shawn soon pulling ahead of Asp. The perfect 90-degree turn at the far end merely proves further that this was no natural production of the remorhaz that once dwelled here, and the tunnel stretches further on for at least 200 feet before opening up. Shawn, with her extra speed, is of course the first to see what stands on the far side of the tunnel, though Asp manages to catch up hardly a minute later.

Spoiler:

Beyond is a large, wide room, mostly rectangular but for protrusions in the far corners, resembling piles of blocks of ice. At the left wall, two copies of the icy constructs stand, apparently assembling more of their kind. Piles of raw material stand nearby - pieces of wood, pre-cut components of metal and stone, and even bone and sinew, pieced together slowly into empty icy shells. At the right wall, another construct performs similarly on a trio of white-furred foxes, working with the precision of a skilled surgeon as it replaces natural organs with clockwork components. Along the far wall, two more constructs work at component production, though unlike their icy brethren, the shells of these are wholly metallic, gleaming skins of copper sparkling in the dim light. Another artifical tunnel stands between the two, stretching even deeper into this massive plateau. In the center of the room, appearing to direct the workers, is a single silvery-shelled construct. In place of an electrical probe, it has what appears to be a thin silver tube, but otherwise it appears identical in form, its front-mounted eye-gem a glittering green.

The worker constructs look too caught up in their various tasks to have even noticed Shawn and Asp. The silvery foreman type, however, does look to be keeping a close eye on the tunnel. Yet still, it also doesn't look to have spotted either of the two. However, if nothing else, it does seem to be at a heightened state of awareness; perhaps it did hear the combat after all, or perhaps it's simply especially wary.

---

Phelan, Kongunvir, and Magpie

While the scouts check ahead, the rest of the party waits back. The remains of the constructs slowly tick out the last of their life; as the gears finally stop, the internals seem to suddenly spill out, loose cogs and axles spilling from the broken armored shells. Unlike the ones before, these are only half composed of ice, it appears. Of the other half, some appear to be made of the same ivory as the small gear Asp had found, while other parts can be seen to be made of wood and stone. They even spot two small cogs made of what looks like silver mixed in with the rest.

---

Also, just to make it clear, on the far side of the tunnel where the scouts are, with how deep in the plateau it is, it's dim lighting conditions. Those without low-light vision or darkvision will have a little trouble seeing. On the near side, it's still normal lighting.

[Jak Snide]

Kongunvir had watched the "life" tick out of the creatures with interest. He'd never seen anything quite like them. The knowledge that they could be fought and killed had banished any residual uneasiness and, once they'd fallen apart, he stooped down to collect a few samples.

"Any idea what these things are?" he asked absently as he stashed the mechanical pieces into a pouch. "They don't seem too smart. I'm guessing someone's pulling their strings."

(Kongunvir is attempting to gleam some insight about how the machines work, particularly when it comes to taking them apart. I'm not sure what skill, if any, would be used for that.)

[Kelne]

Asp looked out at the various constructs with absolute fascination. Presumably these metallic ones were the ordinary types, and the others had been built with what was to hand. Which kind of ruled out the constructs being natives. Where had they come from in that case, he wondered? Was there a portal to elsewhere somewhere in the glacier, or were they frozen remnants of an earlier age, incautiously thawed out by the curious? He could try asking the silver one - it was probably a bit smarter than the others - but he didn't think it would answer, aside perhaps from the usual 'seize them' command.

Catching Shawn's eye, he nodded back towards the tunnel and quietly headed back the way they'd come in order to report their findings to the others.

[Shinigori V2]

With Asp heading back, Shawn stays low, keeping an eye on the Foreman, trying to see if there's any sort of pattern to his supervision, or if he's just keeping an eye on the tunnel indefinitely.

[Idran1701]

Plane of Ice - Remorhaz Tunnels
Asp, Phelan, Magpie, and Kongunvir

Kongunvir examines the components remaining from the destroyed constructs; they look to have been precisely machined, carved with greater precision than one might think even possible for ice. Further, they seem strengthened in some way, only barely melting from the heat from his body, though obviously they can melt given the result from Asp's fireball yesterday. Unfortunately, though, Kongunvir can't make heads nor tails of the workings of the creature. Clockwork is simply beyond his expertise.

While he looks over the remnants, Asp returns from scouting, without Shawn. Florence watches with concern, but waits for Asp to speak up before she lets her worry overtake her.

---

Shawn

Spoiler:

There's no pattern immediately apparent; indeed, he seems to be paying a great deal of attention to the tunnel, watching for the first sign of anyone or anything. Perhaps its vigilance will drop with enough time, but for now it's quite wary.

---

Knowledge(Engineering) to find anything out about the constructs, which unfortunately Kongunvir doesn't have.

[Besyanteo]

Phelan sat with the others, his tail flicking and his eyes ever on the tunnel where Shawn and Asp had gone, waiting for their return. He paid no heed to the dying and, more recently, dead constructs. All that mattered was getting further along. Sitting still was, therefore, somewhat difficult for him.

[ChristianC]

Magpie had stood still for a moment, watching the constructs and, significantly, watching Kongunvir examining one of them.

Once he finished, she knelt down herself, letting her carved hand run over the smooth ice, watching with narrow points of light and studying them herself to see if she could discover anything.

[Kelne]

"Well, there's another six clock-things in the next chamber," Asp said, "Some of them are made of metal too, instead of ice, including this silver one which looks like a leader type. It's sort of on guard, but the rest are busy making more of themselves and converting foxes into clockwork."

[Jak Snide]

Kongunvir didn't look particularly pleased that his hunch had been correct. "Any sign of the people they took?"

[Idran1701]

Plane of Ice - Remorhaz Tunnels
Asp, Phelan, Magpie, and Kongunvir

Magpie looks over the gears left by the constructs. Unfortunately, even with her greater engineering knowledge, she is unable to determine any details of their workings.

---

Magpie's trained, but your skill check wasn't high enough, unfortunately.

[ChristianC]

"I do not understand the method this creature is constructed from." Magpie confessed as she stood, looking at the tunnel from which Asp had returned from.

"What of Shawn? Does she remain hidden? If there are other constructs here, it is imperative we proceed with haste. They may be attempting to do the same to humans as they do with the animals..." she glanced at Phelan and added, somewhat weakly, "Which should not be implied that they have succeeded yet, or even tried. We do not know."

[Jak Snide]

"Do we have any way of taking out the leader before the others notice? Are they bunched up close enough for another one of your fiery spells to work?"

[Kelne]

"Shawn's just keeping an eye on them," Asp said, "No sign of the people yet. They're probably deeper in. Maybe with whoever's in charge. We'll just have to keep at it until we find them." Asp considered tactics for a moment, "They're pretty spread out. I might get three of them, but no more. I should be able to pin the leader down though. Leave it to me."

[Jak Snide]

Kongunvir nodded. "Surprise is our best option. If you need us to hold back and keep quiet while you work your magic then just say so."

[Besyanteo]

Phelan's tail fell and his ears went flat at mention of foxes being converted into machine parts. Even before Magpie spoke, it was clear that he had an idea what that could imply about the people who had gone missing so far. He whined, but otherwise kept quiet while the others talked strategy.

[ChristianC]

Magpie knelt down next to Phelan and gave him another careful hug and scratched him behind his ears a little.

"I will do my best to help your friend, Phelan."

Standing up, she looked over to the tunnel that Asp had come from and nodded grimly.

"The metallic creations may be more difficult to deal with. Be prepared that we may suffer wounds during our fight, casualties may likewise occur. Unless we can manage to harm them without revealing our position."

[Idran1701]

Just to confirm, it sounds like everyone's going to hang back a bit to let Asp get a first spell off, and then head in afterwards? If this is what people have in mind, okay, just wanted to double-check on it before I GM.

[Idran1701]

Two things:

First, here's the battle mat. Sorry it's a little sketchy compared to usual. People go ahead and post where you are in the tunnel when Asp acts, and Kelne, post where Asp is putting his fireball. I've already got Shawn on the map, but if she's moving when Asp gets there, let me know for that too. Once I've got everyone's location, or after about a day, I'll start combat for real.

Second, since everyone's here now and can see the room, here's the description from before that Shawn and Asp got:

Beyond is a large, wide room, mostly rectangular but for protrusions in the far corners, resembling piles of blocks of ice. At the left wall, two copies of the icy constructs stand, apparently assembling more of their kind. Piles of raw material stand nearby - pieces of wood, pre-cut components of metal and stone, and even bone and sinew, pieced together slowly into empty icy shells. At the right wall, another construct performs similarly on a trio of white-furred foxes, working with the precision of a skilled surgeon as it replaces natural organs with clockwork components. Along the far wall, two more constructs work at component production, though unlike their icy brethren, the shells of these are wholly metallic, gleaming skins of copper sparkling in the dim light. Another artifical tunnel stands between the two, stretching even deeper into this massive plateau. In the center of the room, appearing to direct the workers, is a single silvery-shelled construct. In place of an electrical probe, it has what appears to be a thin silver tube, but otherwise it appears identical in form, its front-mounted eye-gem a glittering green.

[ChristianC]

Magpie approached as stealthily as she could, making sure to stay in the front, but not being in the way of Asp and his firey ball of doom...



[Not entirely sure where this would be, but assume next to Shawn]

[Jak Snide]

Kongunvir crept along the tunnel, doing his best to keep the bands of his armour from scraping across each other and wishing that the halfling would hurry up and cast whatever magic he had in store. The leader and its unique appendage had caught his eye. Tubes had a limited number of uses and, given that this one was grafted onto a limb that usually wielded a weapon, he had a fair idea of what this one's was.

(Getting as close as he can without giving the game away. Letting Asp get his spell off is of paramount importance however.)

[Besyanteo]

Phelan would creep in behind kongunvir, keeping his head down so as to be able to see the scene from in between his legs. He had every intention of catching the constructs off guard when the inevitably surged forward to attack the group, and the friendly dwarf should provide him ample cover.

(if possible, preparing a sneak attack action while lying in wait)

[Kelne]

Asp was by no means a one-trick mage, and had plans other than a possibly unreliable fireball. Instead, he popped out of the tunnel, waved at the leader construct and cast a web spell at it.

(aiming to tie up the leader, and possibly C1 as well, if the web will reach.)

[Idran1701]

While Asp's soft chanting does seem to alert the apparent leader, Asp casts his spell into the center of the room before they can react. He conjures a mass of thick spiderwebs that adhere to the leader, though the coppery construct manages to avoid enough of the manifesting strands to keep from being held firm.

Florence steps forwards into the room, stepping to the silvery construct's side and slamming it with a solid right hook and leaving a small dent in its carapace. One of the icy constructs breaks off after her, striking at her with its saw; a clumsy attack that she easily manages to bend away from. The silver being, meanwhile, rips free of the webs with a twist, stepping to the side and following the lead of the other with its own saw, making a deep cut into her shoulder. On the far side of the room, one of the copper constructs holds its position, watching the party cautiously.

Sorry about the delay, didn't have my stuff on my laptop. Anyway!

Battle Mat

Initiative

Florence: 22
Ice 1: 19
Silver 1: 19
Copper 2: 13
Phelan: 12
Asp: 9
Ice 2: 6
Shawn: 6
Magpie: 6
Copper 1: 5
Ice 3: 5
Kongunvir:2

Round 0
Asp casts Web, snaring Silver 1. Copper 1 passes its Reflex save to avoid the effect.

Round 1
Florence moves to H7 and attacks Silver 1, hitting for 7 damage.
Ice 1 moves to H6 and attacks Florence, missing.
Silver 1 passes its CMC to get out of the webs and moves to I7, attacking Florence. It hits for 7 damage.
Copper 2 delays.

[ChristianC]

Magpie spared no time, but set off towards the copper creatures with her green blade drawn. Just as before, there was a disconcerting silence to the way she moved, sounded. No breathing, saying nothing, and her steps were far too light for that massive body of hers. She rounded the corner as if on a dime, the momentum making flakes of snow fly as the adamantium-parts of her boots dug into the ice with each step. Her green blade seemed to almost pulsate with sickening light, the light becoming stronger the closer she got to her enemies. Small runes and inscriptions came alight as well, burning bright green, almost white, as she crashed through a handful of webbing, not enough to stop her, but hopefully catching the copper constructs half-unguarded.

Already before she was in front of them, she had been raising her blade and as soon as she stopped in her tracks her entire upper body swung with the blade in a cleave, a faint trail of green following in the wake of the blade.

[Move to F11, Cleave on C1 and C2]

[Kelne]

Asp, seeing an opportunity to test out a toy, slipped forward into the room and leveled his lesser rod of wonder at the icy construct to his right. No telling what the result would be, but he was sure he could recover if it was bad.

[Shinigori V2]

For the moment, Shawn just lies in wait, like a predator waiting for prey. In theory, one would be passing by her position, and she'd be able to pounce on it.

[Idran1701]

Plane of Ice - Remorhaz Tunnels
Round 1

Darting forward, Phelan moves into position to strike at the back of one of Florence's foes, scoring a good surprise hit against it. Just after, Asp steps forward, wielding his chaotic rod of wonder for the first time. Unfortunately, it works to some ill effect, its magical energies coalescing around Asp into a thin hemisphere of ice about two inches thick, just barely giving even his head room. Two inches isn't much, luckily, but he'll still have to knock a hole through it to do any useful spellcasting.

Ignoring the new icy addition to the battlefield, one of the constructs steps up to Phelan, striking him from behind itself. It scores a deep cut in the wolf's undefended thigh, but not one he can't take. Meanwhile, Shawn prepares for her own strike, waiting for one of the constructs to come within striking range.

Magpie slips forwards towards the two metallic constructs, intent on ending them quick. The webs pose more of a problem than she anticipated, unfortunately, snaring her blade as easily as anything else. She rips it free with a sudden jerk, but it was still enough to throw off her strike. One of Magpie's foes charges its probe, but strikes wood rather than metal; while the charge maintains, Magpie finds no damage from it. The erstwhile surgeon reaches her side, but finds little more success with its saw. While Magpie dodges the blade, the second of the two metallic constructs begins to cut through the webs, attempting to form an escape route. Magpie strikes back but finds no purchase; luckily, its blade proves little effective against the sticky strands, and it soon finds itself solidly ensnared in their grip.

---

Battle Mat

Initiative

Florence: 22
Ice 1: 19
Silver 1: 19
Copper 2: 13
Phelan: 12
Asp: 9
Ice 2: 6
Shawn: 6
Magpie: 6
Copper 1: 5
Ice 3: 5
Kongunvir:2

Round 1
Phelan moves to H5 and attacks Ice 1, hitting for 3 damage plus 4 sneak attack damage.
Asp moves to I8 and uses the lesser rod of wonder on Ice 3. 77 - The wielder is surrounded by a hemisphere of ice for 4 rounds.
Ice 2 moves to H4 and attacks Phelan, getting a critical hit for 10 damage.
Shawn readies an action.
Magpie moves to F11, and attacks Copper 1. She misses.
Copper 1 attacks Magpie with shocking grasp. It misses.
Ice 3 moves to F12 and attacks Magpie. It misses.
Copper 2 attempts to escape. Magpie gets an attack of opportunity, and misses. Copper 2 fails its CMB check and becomes grappled in E9.

[Jak Snide]

Kongunvir grumbled at the icy obstacle in his path, cutting him off from assisting Florence and Phelan. He turned his attentions to Magpie instead and moved to assist the construct.

(Active Assault to take an immediate 5-foot step to I9 then move to G12 via I10. Once in melee he'll make a standard attack against the ice-thing attacking Magpie.)

[Kelne]

Well, this was less than ideal. Here he was, stuck in a dome of ice while mayhem raged around him. On the other hand, here he was safe from retaliation. Either he could taunt the enemy with impunity or the enemy, in getting its revenge, would bust him out. Truly a win-win situation.

"Hey, you! The ill-conceived design of a drunken gnome!" he addressed the silver construct, "You over-specialised, under-performing pile of junk! You mismatched cog in a shoddily constructed machine! I've seen toasters with more character than you!" Granted, the only toasters he'd ever seen were gnome-built, and possessed oodles of character by definition (though but a small functionality to size ratio), but why pick holes in his insults when he could quite literally thumb his nose at the target of his tirade?

[ChristianC]

Magpie's face turned into a slight frown as she realized she'd missed both opportunities to strike her enemies. But with one of the copper-construct stuck, she aimed her next blow at the one in front of her. Using the momentum of her previous miss, she performs a half-spin and strikes at the thing once more.

[Attack C1]

[Besyanteo]

Phelan will try to finish his current target before moving to meet the new threat; Florence could probably use the help.

(Standard attack Ice1)

[Idran1701]

Plane of Ice - Remorhaz Tunnels
Round 1-2

Kongunvir heads up to give Magpie some help, but the construct's a bit too speedy for the somewhat plodding dwarf, darting around his axe blow. Meanwhile, on the other half of the room, Florence hammers the silver construct with near-superhuman speed. It does its best to dodge, but the final punch makes contact, leaving another dent in its armor. One of its lesser brethren strikes back, but Florence easily curves out of the way.

While the ensnared copper construct fails to make any progress at cutting itself free, the silver construct strikes back at Florence, and another cut now spans her midsection. With attention focused on Florence, Phelan strikes again at the frozen creature between them, ripping at a joint and pulling one of its segmented legs free from its body. Meanwhile, Asp decides this is a good time to draw the leader's attention, sending a barrage of kender jibes towards it. They indeed seem to have some effect, as the creature barrels at full speed towards Asp and through the ice that poses no barrier to its metal frame. Asp doesn't fare quite as well as he's smashed against and through the far side of the mystical hemisphere, his rod almost slipping from his grasp. Florence and Shawn are both ready for this, however, and while Florence leaves a third mark across its side, Shawn scurries up over the dome and behind the creature, tearing into its gearwork through the now-bent armor plating. It collapses under their assault with little more than a twitch.

Back on the far side of the room, Magpie again strikes at the copper construct, but the web still poses an annoying barrier to her blade. It strikes back at her, this time making contact with its electrified probe and sending a jolt through her frame that forces her eyes to shine with a green glow that briefly pierces the darkness. While the surgical drone fails to cut through Kongunvir's armor, this construct tries to succeed where its companion failed, but finds no better success, stuck alongside it just before the tunnel out.

---

Round 1
Kongunvir uses Active Assault to move to I9, moves to G12, and attacks Ice 3. He misses.

Round 2
Florence uses Flurry of Blows on Silver 1. She hits once for 8 damage.
Ice 1 attacks Florence, missing.
Silver 1 attacks Florence, hitting for 3 damage.
Copper 2 tries to free itself from the web, and fails its CMB check.
Phelan attacks Ice 1. He hits for 4 damage plus 6 sneak attack damage.
Asp taunts Silver 1. Silver bull rushes Asp, hitting and shoving Asp through the ice wall to I9. Asp takes 3 damage. Florence makes an AoO, and hits for 9 damage. Shawn acts, moving to I7 and attacking Silver 1. She hits for 1 damage plus 10 sneak attack damage. Silver 1 is defeated.
Ice 2 attacks Phelan. It hits for 8 damage.
Magpie attacks Copper 1. She misses.
Copper 1 attacks Magpie with Shocking Grasp, hitting for 7 damage. It attempts to escape, and becomes snared in the web at E8.
Ice 3 attacks Kongunvir, and misses.

Battle Mat

Initiative

Florence: 22
Ice 1: 19
Silver 1: 19
Copper 2: 13
Phelan: 12
Asp: 9
Shawn: 9
Ice 2: 6
Magpie: 6
Copper 1: 5
Ice 3: 5
Kongunvir:2