S2 Week 4 (Part 1) - "I suppose that the Elemental Chaos counts as cover..."

The party stood in awe. The chamber before them, with a high vaulted ceiling ending in an open oculus at its apex, was shrouded with poisonous green exhaust. Through the deadly mist, a phosphorescent glow and mechanical hum sent a beam of energy spiraling skyward. Their objective, the Eldritch Field Generator, lay directly ahead of him...

... and it was alive!

Suddenly, it became all too clear that the Deepforged where using a half-creature, half-machine race of aberrant horrors as a source of power for both their force fields... and their portal technology.

Before the party could act, a crackling zone of energy appeared at the feet of Fernal, Erwise, and Book. Fernal resisted the strange swirling energy, but Book and Erwise were sucked into an unstable portal! They were flung into the Elemental Chaos, swirling with bursting fire and hazardous debris caused by the unpredictable nature of the constantly fluctuating plane. They both tried to dodge out of the way of oncoming meteroids, but each of the heroes were struck, and Book was critically injured.

Meanwhile, Lia and Mootan were engaged by two Deepforged Constructs, sent to guard the Eldritch Field Generator. The hulking sets of armor could take quite a beating, and used the power of magnetism to draw damage away from the party's intended target. Fernal, in turn, distracted the Constructs, allowing the more vulnerable spellcasters to move away relatively unscathed.

Book and Erwise were then violently ejected from another portal, returning them to their realm of existance. Erwise immediately took a chameleon-like stance, using the enshrouding fog to strike the Eldritch Field Generator and then move to safety.

(It was a funny rules conversation, actually. Went a little something like this:

Me: "OK, you exit the Elemental Chaos. You're once again in the chamber where you started."
Cysero: "Erwise activates 'Chameleon' to gain stealth!"
Me: "You can't do that. You have to already have cover before using that ability."
Cysero: "Well... it's not like he could see me. I was in the Elemental Chaos!"
Me: "I... suppose that the Elemental Chaos counts as cover.")

Book still remained stationary on the ground and the Eldritch Field Generator closed in, preparing to once again launch the Warforged into the Elemental Chaos. But the slashes from Book and Erwise had taken their toll; the creature's portal malfunctioned (critical fail!), sending itself wailing into the Elemental Chaos and vanquishing it permenantly!

The celebration was short lived, however. The Hive of Deepforged Reavers was on full alert, and were closing in fast!

The party escapes The Hive and returns to the relative saftey of Base 13.

Scrambling down the winding hallway, Erwise found the final Thalassian patrolman, who had bravely held off the encroaching Reavers for hours as the party pressed onward. The soldier selfless offered to buy them just a few more minutes to escape (which likely would have spelled a nasty end for him... as we was looking a little worse for ware), but Fernal had other plans. Grabbing the exhausted Thalassian by his collar, Fernal heroicly took the injured soldier under his arm, and continued escaping with the rest of the party.

However, the Thalassian patrolman was the only thing holding the Reaver swarm back! The horde of vicous machines poured from the now unguarded oculus, taking a few swipes at Erwise along the way. The party quickly ducked into the final stretch of hallway, causing many of the Reavers to stumble and crash into each other. This gave Erwise just enough time to activate the door, and swiftly close it after the party had passed through (natural 20 on lockpicking... not that he needed it!). The Reavers crashed into the now closed hallway, causing several of them to short circuit and explode.

The final door was sealed, the party was safe, and they all piled into the waiting submarine. The return to Base 13 was a happy one, and the party, the Thalassian bombadiers, and the Thalassian foot soldiers all prepared for the final assault on the now-weakened Deepforged base.

(To be continued...)