Chapter 11: The Parallax Reality

[SilverBen]

Finver approaches the iron door with caution behind his raised shield. He listens intently for any recognizable noises that would reveal what lies behind the door: mechanical buzzing, sorcerous humming, commanding voices, active footsteps, or even the often overheard elongated snoring.

[ravenn4544]

Ko-nan listens at the southern tunnel for anything lurking in the dark.

[redwarrior]

Connak, seeing the others scouting out a bit, will keep his ears open to the conversations going on, as he does an inspection of the room. Upon hearing of the Iron door, he will move forward to check for noises on the other side, then for traps, and finally to see if it is locked and/or can be picked. It seems a safe bet that this is probably the right way to go, but he will hold off OPENING the door until the group has decided that we're going that way, and not the other branch.

[Inferno]

The City of the Sleestaks, Deep Beneath the Forbidden Zone
The Island of Xygax the Wizard, Land of One Thousand Towers
Day Eleven. Morning? April 6th, 912 CY








Connak and Finver listen at the strange iron door set into the rock. It bears the ancient indecipherable hieroglyphs of Earth That Was. The catman finds neither booby traps nor keyholes. Faintly, he and the dwarf hear male voices speaking on the other side, but cannot understand their words.

Behind them, Ko-Nan the barbarian listens at the southern tunnel and hears a distant trickling of water echoing up the rough-hewn shaft.

Further back, Draupadi, Maskelyn and Mungo examine the sorcery-engine vats for a means to sabotage them and their heinous cargo. Draupadi and Mungo cannot comprehend the arcane machines. Maskelyn believes the glass walls of the vats might be two inches thick. The gnarled gnome asked the Wandering Master, "Not meaning to be rude, Doc- but how often do you Altrusians lay eggs?"

"Every year," comes the answer.

Fiefo pads alone into the winding northeastern tunnel and discovers a second iron door!




Actions?!


Map Detail:

One square = 10 feet. Lighter areas are visible. All else is from memory.
PCs are purple. Altrusians are orange. Ambrose is brown.





PC Status:

Connak: Cat-Man Fighter/Thief 2/3: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 12/19
Draupadi: Human Cleric 4: Move: 9", AC: 2, HP: 16/34, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl, 4/4 2nd lvl
Fiefo LeBratt: Rat-Man Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 8/26
Finver Karstlander: Dwarven Fighter 3: Move 6", AC: 2(1), HP: 10/31
Ko-Nan: Human Barbarian 3: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 11/39
Maskelyn: Gnome Illusionist 3: Move: 9", AC: 7, HP: 14/14, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
Mungo: Mole-Man Cleric 4: Move: 9", AC: 7, HP: 6/34, Spells: 1/5 1st lvl, 4/4 2nd lvl, Lantern

PC Magic:

None currently.

Player Resources:

End of the World (game description)
Strange New World (maps and realms)
Memory Tapes (the story so far)
Viewscreen (the story so far in images)

[Urson]

Maskelyn
Maskelyn frowns. Two inches of glass is going to take a lot of breaking- IF it's glass, and not something stronger.
How long after she hatches before an Altrusian lady can lay her own eggs?

He glances up- Hey, Mungo Mole: Got any idea what it would take to collapse the roof here? I'm guessin' a gazillion tons of stone would fix this machine good and proper.

[Rex]

Draupadi

"Maybe someone stronger then me could break the glass with my mace?"

[ravenn4544]

Ko-Nan will sit tight and rest while the others examine their areas.

[redwarrior]

Draupadi

"Maybe someone stronger then me could break the glass with my mace?"

Connak's willing to give it a try - low exceptional str, if it's what the party wants to do. The voices on the other side might open this door for us with the noise that makes...

[Rex]

That is what I was thinking, I would prefer to have an escape option for when we start breaking things but we may not get that option.

[jemmus]

Mungo gives up on trying to find a technical way to shut down the tanks. Despite his fascination with science, gadgets and gizmos, the fact is, he's just not very smart. Fiefo, it could be that there's a stress spot in the the roof's structure, that if hit with just one tap of this forge hammer, would cause the weight of the whole thing to collapse on itself. But then, rather glumly, The problem is, we don't how to find it. Or, if we could shut off a pipe's valve here, pressure would build up and cause an explosion that destroys everything. But we don't know how to do that either. Or if the apparatus has a self-destruct switch, we could find it and throw it.

He throws out a couple more theories, before saying, even more glumly, But there's just not enough time for the research and experimentation. This Sleestak city always has another door or tunnel with something waiting at the other end. I'm going to join Finver and Connak at that door.

[SilverBen]

As Mungo approaches, Finver turns to to the Mole-Man and silently signals him with his hands to gather the party. He whispers to Ko-nan, "Our party is spread too thin ta go on any attack. We got ta regroup before we go through this door. Let's meet up with the others.

[Inferno]

The City of the Sleestaks, Deep Beneath the Forbidden Zone
The Island of Xygax the Wizard, Land of One Thousand Towers
Day Eleven. Morning? April 6th, 912 CY








In secret caves beyond the City of the Sleestaks, the adventurers discover strange, identical doors at the ends of two different tunnels.

Enraged at the diabolical defilement of his race and its destiny, the Wandering Master stops answering Maskelyn's indelicate queries into the reproductive habits of his people.

Connak, Draupadi and Maskelyn confer on what havoc they can cause.

Excited by the vast sorcery-engines and the mysteries they conceal, Mungo the steampunk priest needs time to experiment and test - time they do not have right now. He joins Finver the dwarf and Connak the catman at the easternmost door.

There, Finver requests that they gather their forces before entering one of the bizarre portals.


Actions?!


Map Detail:

One square = 10 feet. Lighter areas are visible. All else is from memory.
PCs are purple. Altrusians are orange. Ambrose is brown.





PC Status:

Connak: Cat-Man Fighter/Thief 2/3: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 12/19
Draupadi: Human Cleric 4: Move: 9", AC: 2, HP: 16/34, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl, 4/4 2nd lvl
Fiefo LeBratt: Rat-Man Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 8/26
Finver Karstlander: Dwarven Fighter 3: Move 6", AC: 2(1), HP: 10/31
Ko-Nan: Human Barbarian 3: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 11/39
Maskelyn: Gnome Illusionist 3: Move: 9", AC: 7, HP: 14/14, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
Mungo: Mole-Man Cleric 4: Move: 9", AC: 7, HP: 6/34, Spells: 1/5 1st lvl, 4/4 2nd lvl, Lantern

PC Magic:

None currently.

Player Resources:

End of the World (game description)
Strange New World (maps and realms)
Memory Tapes (the story so far)
Viewscreen (the story so far in images)

[jemmus]

Mungo gestures with his thick leather forge gloves to and urgently lip-synchs to everyone, We have to over to Finver and that door! Code Red, something is about to try to kill us once again! He then runs as fast as his short legs will carry him to the mouth of the tunnel he say last saw Fiefo disappear into. Fiefo! Are you alive?
If so, get back here, rodent-man! Fiefo? Fiefo?

[SilverBen]

Finver suggests a plan, "Look fellas, if we can get this door open, we got ta be ready fer what's inside ta be guardin' that gherkin nursery. We also got ta be ready fer an alarm ta sound and bring more guards. I say we first try ta make our way in and take care of any guards. Failin' that, we fall back fightin' to tha large area over the bank. Got any better suggestions? If not, then Mungo, I'll ask ya ta pass the plan along ta tha others and follow yer direction usin' yer lantern." If no other suggestions are offered, he'll turn to the door to figure out how it opens and wait for Mungo's signal.

[Rex]

Draupadi

Draupadi moves over to the others, mace at the ready.

[ChubbyPixie]

After staring at it for some time, Fiefo finally realizes he will never outwit the northeastern door.

He circles back along the corridor. When he runs into Mungo coming the other way, he gestures back over his shoulder and says "Door. Probably leads to a fungus that takes over your mind or a creature that wants to wear your skin or something...." He then scampers back to the starting area to let the others know.

[Urson]

Maskelyn
Unashamed to ask rude questions, Maskelyn is a bit put off that the Altrusian doesn't answer. Seeing that most of the others are headed for the southern door, he joins them. He studies the doorframe, looking for indications of how to open it.

[redwarrior]

Connak gets his scimitar ready, following the group, and will prepare for combat or opening the door, as the party desires.

[SilverBen]

Finver studies Mungo and awaits the signal to coordinate their entry. When the mole-man raises his lantern, the dwarf opens the door and rushes in first with shield raised.

[ravenn4544]

Ko-Nan stands ready guarding the rear while the rest of the group work through what is likely another foul remnant of the accursed wizard.