IRON GODS: Technic Revolution

[Hattish Thing]

IRON GODS: Fires of Creation

It had been several weeks since a top secret missive arrived at a small Technic League outpost located closest to the supposedly insignificant town of Torch. It took less than three hours for the ever-efficient Technic League management to assemble a small team of valued operatives and a Technic Captain well-suited for the job, and almost as quickly as the missive had arrived from Starfall, the capital of Numeria, the team had been sent on their way. The weeks of travel it'd taken to finally arrive at the small, relatively unheard of town had been uneventful, for most of the days had been spent walking, only stopping for meals and rest, or to deal with the occasional confrontation with some of Numeria's more disagreeable wildlife. Whatever mission the team had been assigned to seemed to be a very important one, and very little details seemed to have been given to the Technic Captain assigned to the team, Jeneva Vasser. To make matters even more ominous, the stern, contemplative Captain shared even less with the group than what she was told, apparently having been forbidden to explain the exact details of the mission beyond the obvious, along with a cryptic phrase. "The Torch has gone out."

The journey was by no means easy, or pleasant, and Jeneva was especially quiet during the trip, even towards Eris, her lover.

But, it passed in time.

The Technic Team arrived within the small town in the dead of night, Jeneva having instructed the group to wait until nightfall before going about their mission. Guards had hardly posed much of a problem for the veteran Captain and her crew, and though one or two guards may have had to be knocked out before the team continued onward to accomplish the mission they'd been tasked with, it was a small cost to pay.

No one could know the Technic League was here.

Before the mission had ever began, Jeneva had explained a few things about the town, memories of her mission briefing came to mind as the team entered the town. Torch has long enjoyed a singular claim to prosperity—a violet flame that burns atop Black Hill in the heart of the town. This flame burns incredibly hot, and while it’s usually the size of a bonfire, several times a year the fires spew up into the heavens in a brilliant beam of purple violence. These eruptions are presaged by about an hour of soft rumbling, giving nearby smiths a chance to retreat before the fires can consume them. At all other times, the violet energies allow for the smelting of all manner of skymetal. Torch is one of the only locations where skymetal can be worked with relative ease outside of Starfall, and its entire economy has risen around these purple flames, with traveling smiths coming from across Avistan to pay for the opportunity to work with them. Of course, Torch needs all the visiting trade and coin it can gather, for while the town’s distance from Starfall, the capital of Numeria, makes it inconvenient for the Technic League to maintain a permanent presence here, the taxes and tariffs it charges the Numerian town on a monthly basis are significant. The town prospers, but the bulk of its income does not belong to it. Which is why, she had explained, when the "Torch" went out, it became the Technic League's business.

But there was something more to this mission...

Jeneva immediately lead the team to a large pool of black water, the pond glimmering under the moonlight. After silently passing out single-use air filters to navigate the pond's depths, the Technic Captain went on to explain that beneath the pond rested a secret cavern, that eventually lead to a system of caves that the team was tasked to investigate while in town, before any other official business was to be carried out.

The swim through the caverns was an easy one, and simple. No citizens of Torch had ever even known they were there.

However, during the swim through the transitional cave systems to the larger caverns ahead, something horrible had happened. It was so sudden, there was nothing that could have been done. It started out with a shaking, vibrations heard even under the water. Then, there was a sound like the great thunderclap of a titan, and the underwater caves began to collapse in on themselves. It had been an earthquake of some kind. The team was pushed, mostly unharmed, forward into a small beach-like area, dimly lit by large, violently green mushrooms growing along the walls. As each party member steps onto the beach, no doubt taking time to recover from the near-death experience, they get a good view of the surrounding area, the large green mushrooms still providing ample light, even in this outcropping. Dampness hangs in the air of this cave, condensing into heavy moisture on the slick, stone walls. The calm, dark waters wind around to the east up north, along the stony, soot-scarred beach. A five-foot high ledge sporting several stalagmites rises to the east, beyond which a low-ceilinged cave beckons.

Looking back where you each came from, you can now see only a wall of stone, and beneath it lies Jeneva, her legs from the thighs down having been completely pinned beneath the heavy rocks. Her weapon lies broken and busted beside her, and the Technic Captain cries out in terrible pain.

--

What now?

[Frosty]

Rika Ashtear, natural gadgeteer

Truth be told, Rika had been quite annoyed when she wasn't told any of the mission details. The only thing she knew, that the Torch was out, was maddeningly vague. It's not like Torch Hill's violet flames would just go OUT right? Still, she gets no answers no matter how many times she asks, so she fumes silently. When the group is handed the air filters, the Kellid girl brightens up. Finally, something interesting! Well, she hadn't bargained on just HOW interesting! The earthquake was sudden, was with all earthquakes, and Rika barely managed to avoid being crushed. Her strange, crystalline floating prism even helped pulled her along out of the way of some obstacles. Now, sputtering, she counts her lucky blessings and whispers thanks to Drigh.

Then, the captain's screams are heard. "Shiela, sentry mode! Watch for anything dangerous and sound the alarm if you see detect danger." Rushing over to Jeneva, Rika tries to lift the rocks, but likely to no avail, as RIka's muscles are horribly weak compared to that of her tribesmen. "Someone HELP me with these! We gotta get the rocks off of Jeneva!"

[TheMiningDwarf]

So, the torch had finally given it's last shuddering breath. The thought had been on Ivran's mind the entire duration of the trip. He'd outlived something as old and important as the torch of Torch. It was a somber thought. It made him feel old as well. He had barely spoken to his companions the entire duration of the trip. What was the point? Either Death or the hands of Fate would conspire to separate them before long. If they proven themselves more than slightly useful then perhaps they would be worthy of a word of his praise.

When his captain handed his the strange mask he took it without a word. He watched what she did with it and copied her. Not willing to admit that in all his years he had never seen such a thing. Say what you would about these Technic League folk they always did have some interesting toys. A device that one breathe underwater as if they were a fish? There was a spell for that surely. Mentally he made a note to research just such a spell when he had the time. Unfortunately it didn't look like he would have such time for quite awhile.

The captain's bellows of pain were the first sounds that greeted upon rising out of the water. As if the frigid waters hadn't been bracing enough, nothing got his heart racing like a good scream and the captain certainly had the lungs for it. Then one of his fellow team members, a human woman in the flower of her youth shouted, although the sound of her voice palled in comparison to the way the captain's cries reverberated off the cave walls. Jeneva? Who? Ah, of course, the captain. Get the rocks off her legs she said. Wouldn't that hurt more than help if the rocks were pressing down on her wounds and keeping her blood from rushing out? Ivran wasn't sure. Well there was only one way to find out for certain. Hopefully she wouldn't die here, if she died they'd have to wing it. And he would rather carry her broken body himself than do that. In the worst case scenario he had been saving a vial of devil blood for such and occasion, what little good it would do for bones turned to splinters it could help keep her from bleeding out onto the cave floor.

Ivran shook the water out of his ears before he went to his fellows' side and started to help move the rubble.

[Desril]

Eris Marr

The journey had been quiet for Eris. Far too quiet. Torch was out of the way and ultimately insigificant, so it bothered her that this mission was being carried out with so little ease, especially from Jeneva. The captain did try to maintain an air of propriety when they were on missions together, but that rarely stopped pillow talk, and yet here, she'd been cold and unreceptive to Eris' probing.

So the suli had relaxed her guard perhaps too much when they began exploring the cave system. The people of Torch had no idea it was down here, and though she didn't know their mission, she assumed it couldn't be too dangerous. It's hard to predict earthquakes, however, and it took every effort to shield herself from falling rocks, so much so that she wasn't able to see what became of the others until well after the shaking stopped.

"'Eva! Hold on, we'll get you out!"

Looking around for any way to make a lever to lift her captain out from under the stone, Eris tries not to think about the alternative option already forming in her mind. "One of you knows healing magic, right? Tend to her while I try to find a way."

[Prehysterical]

She should have been excited to go somewhere new. So why did it feel like if she had hair, it would be standing up on the back of her neck?

The lack of information given to Arra worried her greatly. Still, Gilli had said that she needed to be useful if she was to take advantage of the League's protection. And so now here she was, her scarf-embroidered armor soaked clean through and trapped in a cave. Her dark skin blended in with the darkness, but her golden eyes made her location perfectly clear. At Eris's question, Arra rushes forward to help. "I do!" Placing one of her many hands on the captain's chest, Arra allows soft light and warmth to flow into the woman's body.

Spoiler: Cure Light Wounds

Show

(1d8+1)[7]

[Hattish Thing]

Beneath the Black Hill - Caves:

Dust falls from the cavern's high ceiling, and large, unstable-looking cracks have appeared in several of the thick rock walls. Now that the deafening sound of the earthquake's fury has faded, an eerie, almost oppressive silence seems to fill the damp, uncomfortable cave, the only obvious sound coming from the Technic Captain's whimpering and the rhythmic drip of water falling from the many stalactites hanging from the top of the cavern. The somewhat constricting chamber is dimly lit by several very large, green mushrooms growing here and there, their sickly tinted light somehow managing to appear unhealthy. Even the fungal life within the cavern appeared hostile.

Perhaps this was all a mistake.

The Technic Captain groans beneath the bulky, and painfully cumbersome looking boulders that have pinned her down, gazing up at the others for only a few seconds before the incredible pain ripping through her body forces her head down again. She's clawing at the floor, having chipped several nails in her mad attempt to pull herself free of the rubble fastening her to the cold ground. Jeneva doesn't seem to be able to say very much at the moment, for the stubborn woman appears to be attempting to fight back the pain despite the clear evidence that it was all too much for her. As Rika comes close and begins to try and pull some of the smaller rocks away, she hisses and cries out through the agony, a feverish look in her light gray eyes. "D-Don'.... Don't ****ing... You'll c-collapse the whole d-da-! Ahghhh.... Don't!" It's clear that even the slightest movement of the boulders pinning her down caused her great pain.

However, when Arra comes close and rests one of her alien hands upon Jeneva's chest, sending magical warmth pulsing through her body, the Technic Captain's clawing at the floor stops, and the woman starts breathing a bit more regularly.

She spends a moment gathering strength, before speaking through the pain yet again. "Ugh... Th-thanks. Just... give me a moment and I think... Ahhgh. What the hell was that..."

"Is everyone alright? Eris? Are you okay?"

---

(Make a Perception Check, all.)

Those who make more than a DC 20 Perception, read the spoiler below.

Spoiler: DC 20 Perception:

Show

In the distance, a bizarre low humming can be heard, almost as if a great pulsing creature was rumbling deep under the Black Hill caves. Every once in a while, the droning increases in volume, causing the dark tinted waters you swam through to ripple quietly. The sound seems to be vaguely metallic, but it's unlike anything you've ever heard before.

[Frosty]

Rika

The Kellid woman frowns as the captain screams out in pain. She was about to use her own magics when Arra, one of the wierder members of the team, looks-wise. As the captain breathes easier, so does Rika. This gives her a bit more time to study the rocks carefully. "The rest of us are at most a bit bruised up, captain. Hold on, I think if we prop up these rocks here and here, we can then dig here and get you out relatively safely..." She points to the spots she is talking about.

[Desril]

Eris

Eris frowns as she approaches Jeneva and kneels down next to her, "I'm fine, Eva, I'm not hurt. We're all fine except you, and I'll figure out a way to get yout out." In truth, she'd already thought of a way, she just wasn't sure it was the best option yet. At Rika's suggestion of moving the rocks, she looks toward the other woman, "Are you sure you can do it without bringing more of them down? Or is there a risk of collapse if we try? Because there is another option," she says before turning back to Jeneva, "But I'm not sure you'll like it."

[Frosty]

"I...I'm reasonably sure, but nothing is 100%. What is your solution, Eris?" asks the summoner as she misses completely whatever it is that is hard to spot.

[Desril]

Eris

Looking serious, Eris glances from her weapon to Jeneva and her legs. She sounds tense when she finally speaks up, as if trying to decide between doing something distasteful but necessary or making a sacrifice. "Between the magic and technology that the League has access to...regrowing or replacing your legs might be the safest option, Eva..."

[TheMiningDwarf]

Ivran attention was drawn away from his task of moving the rocks when he heard the suggestion of amputation. He stood upright, standing between the Eres and their captain halfway beneath the rubble. "I'm certain we can get her out from under here without resorting to anything so drastic." Ivran says confidently. "Just follow my lead and for everyone's sake be careful." He'll go back to moving rocks. When he reaches one that he can't move on his own he'll say. "Come on! You don't want her to lose her legs do you?" Not that he particularly cared one way or the other whether she kept her legs but it was clear they did. If anything it would be interesting to study a spell for regrowing limbs but he had a feeling that such a thing was far out of his depth. That, and it was always nice to prove himself more intelligent than his peers.

[Prehysterical]

For lack of anything better to do, Arra comes over and helps the man. She wonders aloud, "Earthquakes are unheard of in this region and this one seemed to only affect this small area... but it was not caused by magic, as far as I can tell. Could this rumbling have something to do with the Torch building?"

Spoiler: Strength

Show

(1d20+2)[13]

[Frosty]

Rika

"Well, Captain? What's your preference?" Rika will try to help move rocks if Eva doesn't object to the plan. Of course, as physically weak as she is, she doesn't expect to be of much help.

Spoiler

Show

Str check: (1d20-1)[11]

[Hattish Thing]

Beneath the Black Hill - Caves:

As the room settles down and the final bits of dirt and rock dislodged from the ceiling fall to the ground and shatter, the area seems to grow eerily silent, as if something was off somehow. Indeed, the silence felt a bit ominous. Jeneva breaks the silence every few seconds with a bitter cry of agony, mustering up the strength to think clearly and respond to her team.

The captain turns her head back and winces, gritting her teeth as the movement sends spasms of pain rippling up her spine. She takes a better look at the area where the rocks had pinned her down, quickly assessing the situation with a distant, calculating expression on her face. She had a mission to do, one that was far more important than her pain, or even her lover's pain. It had to be. It always had to be. Whether or not her legs were severed by Eris' plasma blade or the boulders were pulled off of her, the rubble had crippled her.

She wouldn't be able to stand properly, let alone complete the mission.

Jeneva groans and turns back to face forward, resting for a few seconds before reaching out for Eris and weakly responding, a resigned tone to her voice. "Eris, I..." She frowns deeply before looking away, tears forming in her eyes. How could this have happened? This wasn't supposed to go like this.

What would happen when the League found out...

She couldn't let her lover see her weakness, not now, not on the job. Jeneva continues, with a more professional manner of speech paired with her words. "I c-can't allow my injuries to h-hold back the... agh, ***." A few of the smaller boulders shift, and she howls in pain. "I can't hold back th-the team." She takes a moment to breathe in deeply, debating whether or not to continue. She shouldn't reveal sensitive mission information to such a lowly group of Leaguers, but she couldn't very well accompany them on their mission now.

After much inner conflict, Jeneva scowls before whispering the details of her mission. "I should explain. W-we're not here just to check up on T-torch. The town itself isn't inherently valuable. However, our informant, Sanvil T-trett has apparently discovered some sort of technological ruin buried under... ****!" Another few seconds of gritting her teeth, before she forces her way through it by will alone. "Under B-black hill. It's connected to these caves, a councilman, Khonnir or something... He went m-missing a few days ago, down here, after removing some k-kind of heavily damaged robot from the ruins."

"We're t-to investigate the ruins and report back. S-sanvil is already somewhere beyond, waiting for us. We've r-reason to believe he's encountered some trouble along the way though."

"Oh, by the gods... it hurts."

"Eris, j-just... Just please make it stop."

[Desril]

Eris

Nodding Grimly, Eris looks at Arra, silently telling her to get ready with the strongest healing magic she has available before moving into position. She's careful to keep the hand holding her blade out of Jeneva's sight as she kneels down, looking at her lover while slowly positioning the hilt of the blade so that it's ready for a swift strike.

"Grab her hands...as soon as she's free, pull her out. Because I swear to every god that will listen, if she doesn't get out of here alive, none of you will." Her voice deadly serious, Eris waits only long enough for everyone to get ready before activating her blade and doing what must be done to free her lover, cleanly slicing through the meat and bone connecting her to her legs and cauterizing the wound in one fell slash.

[Prehysterical]

Arra wastes absolutely no time in grabbing the captain's arms with one pair of hands and readying healing magic with the other. She does have the presence of mind to let the captain bite down on a strap of her backpack before the blade comes slicing down. Once the stroke falls, Arra pulls her away and places her healing hands on the captain.

Spoiler: Mechanics

Show

Perception: (1d20+5)[23]
Cure Light Wounds: (1d8+1)[4]

[TheMiningDwarf]

As the blade came down the captains screams reached a cresendo, the smell of burning flesh rose into his nostrils. Ivran recoiled at the display of violence. Not that he would hesitate to bash in an enemies' head in combat. But here and now there had been a better way. She didn't need to lose her legs. It was pointlessly barbaric to lop them off now. He looked up at the offending swordswoman, her face wracked with pain though not of the physical variety. Clearly the two had a deeper relationship than just comrades. Then why cut off your lovers limbs?

Ivran rose to his feet putting a few paces between himself and the emotionally distraught woman with the strange blade of light and heat as he could. Just in case before speaking his mind. He looked at the stumps were a strong pair of legs had once been, there was enough blood he couldn't tell what was fresh and what wasn't. "Is she, going to be okay?" He asked the groups healerr, more out of a morbid curiosity than concern.

[Frosty]

Rika

Rika sighs. "This is not how I imagined our mission to start. Captain, you can drape yourself over Sheila as we travel, although she'll need to put you down gentle if a fight breaks out." The young woman recalls her blue floating crystal prism, who hovers next to the captain.

[Hattish Thing]

Beneath the Black Hill - Caves:

As her lover activates her plasma sword, Jeneva turns her head to the side, not wanting to see the shimmering weapon's glowing blade before it descends upon her. She grits her teeth for a few seconds before sighing deeply, reaching desperately for Arra's backpack strap as the Technic League Captain prepares for the pain she's about to experience.

Eris slashes her sword downwards, and with a shower of sparks the plasma blade slices straight through Jeneva's lower legs, humming loudly as it burns into the cold stone floor before the blade is retracted once more. Jeneva cries out in muffled anguish, digging her broken nails into the ground for the few seconds of agonizing pain she was forced to endure.

Finally, her arm goes limp.

--

With bloody fingers and a plethora of cuts and bruises on her battered body, Jeneva claws her way forward, eager to get as far away from the rock wall as possible. She's weak, very weak, however the automatic cauterization from the wound preventing much bleeding from occuring, and Arra's powerful healing magic kept the slice from pushing the Technic Captain into unconsciousness.

Though she cannot stand, she does twist and turn until she lies on her back, groaning as she does so. She looks back at the bloody rock wall she was trapped under, grimacing as she notices her heavily burnt stumps below. She almost seems as if she was about to cry, but quickly shakes the idea of showing weakness in front of her team away. She had to be strong, for them. "Eris, t-thank you, please don't feel..." Her eyes glance down at her severed legs once more, her voice trailing off. "And you, Arra. I d-don't think I'd be awake right now to congratulate you if you hadn't done all you did."

"I'm proud... ughh.... of all of you."

She's breathing hard, obviously still pretty sore and uncomfortable after her ordeal. Jeneva slumps up, taking a better look at her surroundings. "Rika, my backpack. There's a blanket in there, and probably enough wood t-to construct a makeshift sled until we can get out of here. There h-has to be another way out."

--

For several moments, Rika and the others gather materials and construct the sled with relative ease. It wasn't very impressive, but it'd do the job well enough. Now, with Jeneva mostly secure for the moment and the room having grown fairly stable, perhaps some exploration is due.

[Frosty]

Rika

Rika, being relatively frail of body, is not the idea choice pulling the led. Luckily, Eris already volunteered. "Sheila, we're heaving north to explore to explore along the water bank. Stay 10 ft ahead of me and 20 ft in the air to scan for hostiles."

[Desril]

Eris

While the others go about setting up the sled and scanning the area, Eris stays by Jeneva's side, standing guard against anything that looks even remotely dangerous. As the commander talks, however, the suli merely listens quietly until she's sure the others aren't looking. "You're going to be ok 'Eva. The League's tech can patch you right up. It'll be like that time I didn't wait until you got out of your armor, ya know?" Trying to stay cheery in grim situations wasn't something she was particularly used to, but given the lack of an immediate enemy and the desire to comfort her lover, she still did her best.

Turning to the others, "Well, have you found a path yet?"

[TheMiningDwarf]

Constructing the sled was simple. It was unrefined, but so long as it held the quality of the construction was unimportant. What was important however was the truth of the purpose of their mission. An Android? Here? In, or rather under, Torch? It was too good to be true. Despite all of the tech that he'd seen in his life Ivran still had precious little contact with fully fledged Androids. Perhaps he'd get lucky and he'd even be able to perform an autopsy...

Outwardly Ivran limited his enthusiasm. He walked deeper into the mouth of the cave peering down into it. "It would seem that we have no alternatives. Since swimming back out is no longer an option." especially not with the captain's dead weight... he added in his thoughts. Ivran will continue onwards into the cave, lingering only if no one follows him in, but why would they do that?