S2 Week 2 - "Man vs. Machine"

(Alina and Rolith once again were busy this week, but will be joining our party next week, at long last! Huzzah! Unfortunately, Galanoth is very busy on Mondays now, and can no longer join us. Sadface!)

Our heroes had a new mission: retrieve a power core from one of the monstrous Deepforged Striders and return it to Xavier using a magical stasis chamber. Certainly not an easy task! Meanwhile, combat programming had begun on Book, the party's Warforged servant; he would be ready for combat in a few days time.

The Thalassian wasteland, poisoned by Deepforged exhaust.

Our heroes set off in the early morning, braving the treacherous twists and turns of the seaside cliffs, thereby avoiding the poisonous exhaust lingering in the inland valleys and the Deepforged patrols along the highlands. There were some close calls, but our heroes navigated the seaside tunnels with relative ease.

Upon exiting the tunnels, the party spotted a peculiar site at a nearby rocky outcropping: a repeating flash of light, as if someone was trying to signal them! Fernal, Erwise, and Mootan chugged a few potions of invisibility and made a mad dash across the wastes, down a conical hill toward the cover from which the signal was originating. Suddenly, a metal screech peirced the skies; they're potions had worn off and a Deepforged Strider was lumbering over the hillside after them!

After an impressive display of athletic prowess (or maybe abject horror caused by the beast following them) our heroes darted into the rocky outcropping, just narrowly escaping a blast from the Strider's deathray. They lost conciousness from the concussive blast, but awakened a short time later inside what seemed to be some kind of subterranean military base... the last remants of the Thalassian military.

A young lass named Moira informed them that it was she that signaled them, and regretably acknowledged that it was because of this selfless act that Base 13, where they were now stationed, had been compromised and was under attack! After being lead to the war room, our heroes learned that Moira's father, none other than the Thalassian General himself, was planning a full frontal attack on the emergence zone known as "The Deepforge." Using a devestating new bomb developed by Goblin engineers, the General planned to punch a hole in the mysterious eldritch force field surrounding the ruins, thereby allowing human troops to arm more explosive ordinance within the forge itself. It was a risky plan that required a very dangerous task beforehand: finding and disabling a conduit feeding energy to the force field.

The ruins of Brineshire, now infamously known as "The Deepforge."

Erwise, (more or less) putting his differences with Thalassia behind him, and Fernal, swiftly silencing Mootan's prophetic babble, volunteered for the perilous mission, and were provided with a small platoon of Thalassian soldiers to aid them.

In a rickety submersible, the team set off to the nearest accessible generator conduit, precariously located within a hive of Deepforged killing-machines, the Reavers. The structure itself was a horrific site to behold, with bizarre alien architecture cruelly mimicking that of natural insect hives. Mootan, now unsure of his prophecy, began to fear the worst for his allies.

The first encounter with the Reavers proved intense; becoming bloodied around these creatures provoked a devastating scythe attack, slicing deep into any nearby party members. Although Erwise was knocked unconcious during the fight, Fernal was able to destract the Reavers for long enough for Mootan to put Erwise back into the fight, with the Thalassian platoon providing aid all the while.

Who knows what unspeakable terror awaits them further in the hive?