Post by Admin on Feb 7, 2014 2:25:31 GMT
While a split second passes for the party, for Alicia and Azreal, it feels of an eternity. They hover within some white void, devoid of air and warmth but sustaining them by unknown means. Words begin forming from a nonexistent speaker, a language with Alicia recognizes as a rare dialect of Aklo. Each word is pronounced in the wrong ways, as if the speaker was unused to verbal communications. Each concept jumping into her head feels like a violation of nature itself.
"You...oppose..me...yet...serve," the voice says. "Continue...for...rebirth...comes...Continue...serving..."
As quickly as it begins, the voice ends, leaving her bewildered. The other party has no memory of such events.
---
The next thing the party realizes is that they're standing in a cave of some kind. Near the rear of the group are the wooden cages loaded with rust monsters from earlier. Water forms a damp pool an inch or so deep around the base of a druidic shrine, and light cascades in from an opening in the cavern roof. There is a small passage leading off to the side, but they have no idea where the cardinal directions are.
"Hey, someone came through!" shouts a guard in the corner of the room. Two men in green uniforms, identical to the ones the party saw on the scrying machine, aim rifles at them. Two more sentries, a woman and man, emerge. One has a shotgun and the other has a longbow. All are trained on them. Jiao raises his own weapon, threatening to pull the trigger.
"Stand down," Brandon says, emerging from the crowd. The guards immediately obey. "I've retrieved two more shrines, brought allies, and I need to talk with the Doctor immediately."
Immediately, their weapons are lowered.
"Sorry, Archdruid Brandon," the shotgunner apologizes. "He's in the study."
"At ease, Sergeant," Brandon says. "Now, carry those cages to the holding area."
"Yes, sir!" the soldier salutes. The others carry the rust monster cages away.
"Where on Newton are we?" Jiao asks. "If this is Newton."
"Our underground stronghold," Brandon replies. "This is Sentry Hill, highest point on the western half of the island. Follow me."
The party follows behind him as they are lead through the tunnel. Part of it was obviously a natural cave, but it was recently carved and excavated from the looks of it. At the end of the tunnel comes dancing yellow light from a gas lantern. The party walks through a hallway branching into other caverns, each with a ramshackle wooden door, but stops near the center. They open the door, and are bathed in white light from a strange bulb hanging upside down on a wire. There are all manner of scientific, alchemical, and arcane equipment on various tables around the room, as well as maps, books, and notebooks. There is very little order to the madness. In the center of the room, a man in a white coat stands reading a filthy notebook. His clean shaven face is rounded and skin is pale, with brown hair cut close to his skin. Glasses hang on his long nose. On his his are a brace of revolvers almost identical to Jiao's, while a rifle with a lever of some kind near the trigger is slung over his back. On his shoulder is a patch reading "23rd Vermont."
---
[Knowledge (planes) roll=14 for Alicia, Spellcraft roll=18 for Psychlis.]
Alicia and Psychlis do notice something amongst the messy laboratory. There are glass flasks with alchemical names on them, and small amounts of the substance inside. For example, a small amount of potassium nitrate sits in a flask. There are small summoning circles directly around each flask. The flasks with stones and solids have slight variants of an earth elemental summon, while those with liquids have unique water elemental summon variants for each liquid. It appears as though the man has some method of directly conjuring specific chemical and alchemical substances using variants of elemental summon spells. Psychlis imagines they'd be very useful for manufacturing or producing many things without much industry or supply lines.
--
"Dr. Atticus Baines," Brandon says. "I'm back."
The scientist walks towards him, and throws his arms around the druid. "Glad you could made it," Baines says. "How's the Vice President of our Republic?"
"Busy making alliances," Brandon says. "How is my Commander in Chief?"
"We control the western half of the island, and we've consolidated our gains in the wilderness and Republic City," Baines says. "But I'm concerned. They're holing up around the factory in the eastern part of town, but they've been getting reinforcements from outside-"
"Wait, who?" Jiao says. "You're the leader of this place?" He turns to Brandon. "And you're one as well?"
"Meaningless titles, I'm afraid," Brandon says. "Our enemy launched a coup and killed our previous leaders, so the chains of command fell to us."
"Just who is your enemy?" Jiao asks.
Baines walks towards the wall, and flips a chalkboard over. There are two black and white portraits, each of a different man. One has a thin, gaunt face and wears a black rounded hat with a wide rim, as well as a black suit of some kind, while the other one is a wild-eyed unshaven man dressed in insect carapaces and old leather. Leath recalls these faces from his vision. The man in the top hat was clutching the sphere, if he recalls correctly.
"This is Mordred, former Archdruid of this land," Baines says about the ragged madman. "He became a fallen druid, a defiler, after he had some strange vision that convinced him to revel in decay and death instead of protecting life."
He pauses for a moment, and then spits.
"Robert Ewing, the robber baron of Trenton," Baines points to the man in the hat. "The man who arrived on this island with me three years ago. An arms dealer who sold to both sides of a war that divided our land, and advocate of child labor. We had no idea where we were, but the druids granted us sanctuary to start our republic. He launched the coup that started this war, with Mordred as his enforcer."
"So, Ewing and Mordred lead your enemies?" Jiao asked. "But where are you from? Your clothes are unlike any I've ever seen, eastern or western."
"Yes, and there is a reason for that," Baines says. "Ewing and I emerged from the future, or a possible one. I had the displeasure of addressing him at a victory gala, and the next thing we realized, we stood in the center of a stone circle with druids around us."
"We're still not quite sure what happened," Brandon says. "But we believe it to be due to the orbs. Unlike the rest of you, Baines comes from a world like our own, but devoid of magic and non-human races. His own people developed vast knowledge of machinery as a result, but it was extremely harmful to the natural world."
"And my people discriminated against humans with different skin colors, even holding some in slavery," Baines says. "So, I tried forming the Republic with the help of the druids and villagers on the island, so that we may avoid the mistakes that were made."
"But what of your technology?" Jiao asks. "These firearms are far more advanced than any in my homeland."
"It required burning of coal to produce steam, from which it powered an engine," Baines explained. "But the druids showed us alternatives, by combining our technology with elementals. I must say, it exceeds all of my expectations. We've even found out how to manufacture technological items without a large industrial base, a necessity for our war."
Jiao shrugs. "But doesn't your enemy have the same technology?"
"While it's true the enemy controls a weapons factory," Baines says. "He's using enslaved child workers as shields, so we cannot simply bombard the factory. We've lacked the resources to break his position. Hopefully, you will change that."
"Now, Ewing has the sphere," Brandon says. "I want to pay all of you to help pry it from his cold, dead hands. Are you interested?"
"You...oppose..me...yet...serve," the voice says. "Continue...for...rebirth...comes...Continue...serving..."
As quickly as it begins, the voice ends, leaving her bewildered. The other party has no memory of such events.
---
The next thing the party realizes is that they're standing in a cave of some kind. Near the rear of the group are the wooden cages loaded with rust monsters from earlier. Water forms a damp pool an inch or so deep around the base of a druidic shrine, and light cascades in from an opening in the cavern roof. There is a small passage leading off to the side, but they have no idea where the cardinal directions are.
"Hey, someone came through!" shouts a guard in the corner of the room. Two men in green uniforms, identical to the ones the party saw on the scrying machine, aim rifles at them. Two more sentries, a woman and man, emerge. One has a shotgun and the other has a longbow. All are trained on them. Jiao raises his own weapon, threatening to pull the trigger.
"Stand down," Brandon says, emerging from the crowd. The guards immediately obey. "I've retrieved two more shrines, brought allies, and I need to talk with the Doctor immediately."
Immediately, their weapons are lowered.
"Sorry, Archdruid Brandon," the shotgunner apologizes. "He's in the study."
"At ease, Sergeant," Brandon says. "Now, carry those cages to the holding area."
"Yes, sir!" the soldier salutes. The others carry the rust monster cages away.
"Where on Newton are we?" Jiao asks. "If this is Newton."
"Our underground stronghold," Brandon replies. "This is Sentry Hill, highest point on the western half of the island. Follow me."
The party follows behind him as they are lead through the tunnel. Part of it was obviously a natural cave, but it was recently carved and excavated from the looks of it. At the end of the tunnel comes dancing yellow light from a gas lantern. The party walks through a hallway branching into other caverns, each with a ramshackle wooden door, but stops near the center. They open the door, and are bathed in white light from a strange bulb hanging upside down on a wire. There are all manner of scientific, alchemical, and arcane equipment on various tables around the room, as well as maps, books, and notebooks. There is very little order to the madness. In the center of the room, a man in a white coat stands reading a filthy notebook. His clean shaven face is rounded and skin is pale, with brown hair cut close to his skin. Glasses hang on his long nose. On his his are a brace of revolvers almost identical to Jiao's, while a rifle with a lever of some kind near the trigger is slung over his back. On his shoulder is a patch reading "23rd Vermont."
---
[Knowledge (planes) roll=14 for Alicia, Spellcraft roll=18 for Psychlis.]
Alicia and Psychlis do notice something amongst the messy laboratory. There are glass flasks with alchemical names on them, and small amounts of the substance inside. For example, a small amount of potassium nitrate sits in a flask. There are small summoning circles directly around each flask. The flasks with stones and solids have slight variants of an earth elemental summon, while those with liquids have unique water elemental summon variants for each liquid. It appears as though the man has some method of directly conjuring specific chemical and alchemical substances using variants of elemental summon spells. Psychlis imagines they'd be very useful for manufacturing or producing many things without much industry or supply lines.
--
"Dr. Atticus Baines," Brandon says. "I'm back."
The scientist walks towards him, and throws his arms around the druid. "Glad you could made it," Baines says. "How's the Vice President of our Republic?"
"Busy making alliances," Brandon says. "How is my Commander in Chief?"
"We control the western half of the island, and we've consolidated our gains in the wilderness and Republic City," Baines says. "But I'm concerned. They're holing up around the factory in the eastern part of town, but they've been getting reinforcements from outside-"
"Wait, who?" Jiao says. "You're the leader of this place?" He turns to Brandon. "And you're one as well?"
"Meaningless titles, I'm afraid," Brandon says. "Our enemy launched a coup and killed our previous leaders, so the chains of command fell to us."
"Just who is your enemy?" Jiao asks.
Baines walks towards the wall, and flips a chalkboard over. There are two black and white portraits, each of a different man. One has a thin, gaunt face and wears a black rounded hat with a wide rim, as well as a black suit of some kind, while the other one is a wild-eyed unshaven man dressed in insect carapaces and old leather. Leath recalls these faces from his vision. The man in the top hat was clutching the sphere, if he recalls correctly.
"This is Mordred, former Archdruid of this land," Baines says about the ragged madman. "He became a fallen druid, a defiler, after he had some strange vision that convinced him to revel in decay and death instead of protecting life."
He pauses for a moment, and then spits.
"Robert Ewing, the robber baron of Trenton," Baines points to the man in the hat. "The man who arrived on this island with me three years ago. An arms dealer who sold to both sides of a war that divided our land, and advocate of child labor. We had no idea where we were, but the druids granted us sanctuary to start our republic. He launched the coup that started this war, with Mordred as his enforcer."
"So, Ewing and Mordred lead your enemies?" Jiao asked. "But where are you from? Your clothes are unlike any I've ever seen, eastern or western."
"Yes, and there is a reason for that," Baines says. "Ewing and I emerged from the future, or a possible one. I had the displeasure of addressing him at a victory gala, and the next thing we realized, we stood in the center of a stone circle with druids around us."
"We're still not quite sure what happened," Brandon says. "But we believe it to be due to the orbs. Unlike the rest of you, Baines comes from a world like our own, but devoid of magic and non-human races. His own people developed vast knowledge of machinery as a result, but it was extremely harmful to the natural world."
"And my people discriminated against humans with different skin colors, even holding some in slavery," Baines says. "So, I tried forming the Republic with the help of the druids and villagers on the island, so that we may avoid the mistakes that were made."
"But what of your technology?" Jiao asks. "These firearms are far more advanced than any in my homeland."
"It required burning of coal to produce steam, from which it powered an engine," Baines explained. "But the druids showed us alternatives, by combining our technology with elementals. I must say, it exceeds all of my expectations. We've even found out how to manufacture technological items without a large industrial base, a necessity for our war."
Jiao shrugs. "But doesn't your enemy have the same technology?"
"While it's true the enemy controls a weapons factory," Baines says. "He's using enslaved child workers as shields, so we cannot simply bombard the factory. We've lacked the resources to break his position. Hopefully, you will change that."
"Now, Ewing has the sphere," Brandon says. "I want to pay all of you to help pry it from his cold, dead hands. Are you interested?"