You’re not quite sure how things have escalated so quickly.
One minute you’ve decided to do something about Torch’s problems, the next you are surrounded by like-minded individuals, people of all types: adventurers who have heard of the town’s plight, or townsfolk themselves, and have formed a group at the Town Hall. Wooden desks, wooden floors and a banner of the town's purple flame are what you see.
In front of you is Dolga Freddert, a dwarven aristocrat, one of the five councilors of Torch. It’s been a few days since all the trouble started.
She looks at all of you, assessing you with sharp eyes while stroking the adamantine warhammer on her lap, and snorts. With a loud voice she announces to the crowd,
"Well, well, well. What have we here? Another group of adventurers to try their luck at fixing our town. If it were up to me, I’d go solve the problem myself, but," she looks at all the empty desks beside hers, "everyone is either missing or unavailable, leaving me to do all the leading."
"The main thing, of course, is to find Khonnir Baine and bring him back alive. There’s 4000 gp in it for you. If you can also rekindle the flame, well, I’ll throw in another 4000 gp. Any questions?"
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A large bald man with adorable dimples and broad smile is the first to voulenter, he approaches the dwarf woman and addresses her in a deep voice, "I am Derlin, I offer my blade. My faith has moved me to this town for this purpose. By her healing flame I'll See Khonnir Bain back in his shop and rekindle the flame as well." the handsome man says. He wears a large curved blade on his back and is armored in an exotic mix-match of mirrored steel plates fastened together by leather and hide straps.
"Who will come with me friends? A magnificent place such as this and an upstanding citizen like Bain is surely worthy of our time!" the statuesque foreigner bellows in a tilted common accent.
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A largish man comes forward, right after the bald one proclaims his interest. He has a large shield on his back, some daggers arrayed on his belt and some vials poking out from a pouch. The leather armor he wears is a little ragged and you can make out intricate tattoo's on his right arm.
"The name's Bran and of course I'll help. Khonnir has to be alive and we will find him." Bran says. Bran paused for a moment to about to say that the money would be unnecessary but then remembered about the bar he broke last week....and the week after that....and that man's healing bills....might be better to accept the money. Khonnir would probably view it as him trying to get his life back together. It would probably be better to accept the money, yeah.
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Something - no, someone - emerges from beneath a desk. Their skin is black and red, webbed with weeping fissures. They have no hair, and their ears and nose are short, scarred stubs, but they bare their overbite in an approximation of a smile. "I!" they say, bowing and then falling to the floor in a somersault in front of Derlin. They climb back up the Sarenite, who gets a whiff of rotten fish. "Fire help act. None watch act without because I'm Burnt One."
They look at Dolga, smile suddenly gone. "Burnt One has been given much. They must help now."
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Derlin smiles, welcoming all help! His makes no mention of any offending smells though the dazzling display of acrobatics does cause him to nod in appreciation of Burnt One's display. "I expected nothing less from our staunch guardsman or the local dare-devil! Who else amongst you has blood of heroes?" the foreign missionary bellows,deep voice filled with an inner flame. Did I mention dimples?
Dolga snorts.
"It looks like you're forming a group of troublemakers to go down into those caves," the dwarf says. "You better not bring back any. Especially, not you Bran, or you Auehda."
"We want people that help the town, not make it worse."
She looks through a sheaf of papers hurriedly, signs them with quick flourishes and growls, "Blast this, Gods-be-darned paperwork!" By the size of the mound, it looks like it will take her all day.
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Councilor Freddert, i have personal reasons to go searching for Khonnir, as some others here like Bran. Nodding to Bran. I´ll also look into that thing with the flame. Waited long enough for a chance to study it directly. Who knows, perhaps i can make myself a name by relighting it. His expression grows strange, eyes glowing with anticipation, yet still clearly worried about the fate of Khonnir, he rubs his hands together.
Can we go or do we need to wait for you finishing that? Pointing at the papermountain.
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A young women by the door raises her hand. "Oh! I can help! I like to help. I mean not with everything but with good things."
She moves to the front of the assembly. Trying not to step on anyone as she goes. Looking at the other adventures and Dolga.
"So... What are we doing?" She says bright eyed with a smile.
Auehda smiles back at the woman. "Make fire!"
"Fire? Fire? I like fire. It gets hot though. Why are we making fire?" Val looks at Auehda, smiling.
"Oh. My name is Val, by the way, or rather Valtyra Brightsong. But most people call me Val."
Dolga sighs and rubs her temple.
"You may go, Ibuki. If you have no questions for me, then good luck. You'll certainly need it. I'll be here, filling out all these papers."
The townsfolk gathered in the Town Hall filter out of the room after seeing the latest batch of adventurers to attempt to solve Torch's crises. Dolga no longer pays attention to you and scribbles even faster at the different papers.
Extinguished Torch: The violet flame that has burned atop Black Hill for over a century has gone out, leaving a strangely seeping pit of rubble and bubbling fluids where the town's livelihood once glowed day and night.
Missing Councilor: Ever since Councilor Khonnir Baine, one of Torch's more powerful wizards and a well-liked individual, went missing on his second expedition under Black Hill, the citizens of the nervous town have edged closer to outright panic. With their hands full handling the growing refuse and waste problems in town now that their primary disposal method is gone, the town council is eager to find out what happened to Khonnir and rescue him they've made public a reward of 4,000 gp to any group that can recover Khonnir's body.
Black Hill Caves: Khonnir Baine discovered the signs of unusual traffic on the banks of Weeping Pond, and shortly thereafter, the submerged tunnel that provides access to several heretofore unknown tunnels under Black Hill. His emergence from the caves with a deactivated semi-humanoid automaton sparked worries that something strange might be going on in the caverns, but when he failed to return from his second expedition a few days ago, those worries turned to outright fear. Several other adventuring parties have gone missing in the caves, and Torch finds itself running short on new volunteers.
As the group slowly follows the citizens leaving the building, Bran says, "Well, we can gather some information or head straight to caves under Balck Hill. Only person I know who may know anything though is Khonnir's daughter...."
Ibuki remains seated untill the townsfolk left and then joins Bran.
Might as well start there. Might be we find out something new, something we oversaw so far. Might be best we get some supplies and gear suited for going down there too first. Want at least some light with us i gather.
Val moves up' "Light? Oh i can do light!" She says with a smile to Ibuki.
"Lets go find this guy!"
Bran and Ibuiki lead you to Khonnir’s place.
You head west from the Town Hall, cross the bridge (north atop the large hill is normally where the purple flame shoots up) and find yourselves at the Foundry Tavern, where Khonnir lives. East of the tavern is a foundry, hence the name, that Khonnir rents out to smiths shaping skymetal. Slightly north of the two buildings is Khonnir’s residence.
The tavern itself is usually busy and filled with merriment as it is a popular place to hangout, however it seems closed today. The foundry is also closed as there is no smoke billowing from its chimney. Bran and Ibuki know that Val closed both after her father’s disappearance.
Before you can get any closer to the three buildings, you hear a loud crash from the northern stone building and a female scream. You see a young Kellid girl dressed in machinist’s clothing fallen on the ground, looking up at a metal construct . It whirls its four metal arms and appears to be getting closer to her…
1. Broken Robot
2. Everyone
The metal construct shudders violently as it moves towards Val Baine. Electricity runs along exposed circuits, wires and metal. It whirls its arms at Val but doesn't hit her.
Torch 1 Foundry Tavern
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Auehda gasps. Junkmetal moving! They point at the automaton, flame coruscating around the already-charred digit, and grunt as a dart of fire shoots towards their target's chest.
Drawing their club, Auehda runs after the flame.
Auehda's fire strikes the metal creature in the chest. Wires, metal and circuitry becomes blackened and small tendrils of smoke billow out from its central frame.
Val scrambles on her hands and crawls backwards about 10 feet. She takes out a metal object from her mechanic's suit and throws it at the robot, but it only bounces off its metal frame.
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Bran mutters under his breath, "Damn it, what did she get into now." Bran charges the construct and attempts to stop the machine with a low kick to one of it's legs.
Ibuki moves 15 feet north east to better see the thing and mumbles some arcane words.
Bran charges across the battlefield, and kicks at one of the construct's three feet. He manages to knock the foot completely off, sending it crashing into the window of Khonnir Baine's house.
The robot shifts its body and manages to keep itself upright.
You may ask two questions.
As soon as Ibuki casts his magic, the robot stops twirling its arms.
"Ibuki and... Bran? What are you two doing here?" Val says. Then she glances back at the robot in front of her.
"I swear, it wasn't me! I did try to fix it, but nothing I did worked. You have to believe me."
Her face is a mess of tears, oil and loose hair.
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Charging across the floor Derlin takes a massive two-handed swing at the...thing! At the last second his blade turns aside to deliver a non-lethal blow.
"Get away from the girl!" the large bald olive-skinned man bellows at the offending...thing!
Derlin swings his falchion, using the flat of the blade to strike the construct. The sound of metal rings out and the drone shakes. It points its red central eye at Derlin, and it glows with a brighter intensity. An artificial voice escapes from its center, slightly obscured by the sound of electricity sparking along the drone's body.
The repair drone continues to speak in another language. Lights flash and it begins to move its body again.
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Derlin translates quickly for those gathered,
In Androffan and then in common to tranlate;
"We have the required authorization, white?"
Only in common,
"It's an artifact, with some sort of programming or... sentience?. Please, let's try to subdue it or not destroy it ok? All life has a purpose, if this is life..."
"Its saying something about contacting 'the Divinity Staff'? What is that? It wants some sort of authorization!" the translating archeologist continues to babble.
Valtyra draws her mace walking between the robot and the girl.
"Are you ok?" She asks Val over her sholder.
"I'm scared," Val says to Valtyra. "It shouldn't be moving at all! Val's face is pale as though she has seen a ghost.
The construct swings one of its arms at Bran.
Bran deflects the slow metal arm with his hand.
Where did you learn that langauge? Ibuki looks amazed and puzzled. Clearly he didn´t expect Devlin to speak an ancient and alien tongue. It only lasts for seconds though. He rushes to Val.
Why do i instantly believe you did not do that. Smiling. You look dashing though.
Repeating the arcane phrase from before he holds out a hand to help Val get up.
Bran pulls out his shield and yells at Derlin over the cacophony of the fight, "Unless you have some way of getting this thing to shut off, it's probably better to just scrap it and figure out something to salvage it later."
Bran lays into it with his shield and places himself between the machine and Val/Ibuki if possible.
Burnt One draws more flame from their reserves and expels another bolt, aiming at the junk-monster's leg. They run up to Val. "Hurt?"
"Just stay behind me. We will protect you." Valtyra says to Val. She watches the fight seeing if anyone is hurt.
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Derlin takes another mighty subduing strike after sliding a couple feet to take up a flanking position with Bran.
"I'm a Serenite Archeologist. My masters taught me their tongue before sending me here to dig for artifacts - mostly to read any engravings or printed words but I speak it's ancient language. Please, do not misconstrue knowledge for malevolence my dashing friend. We are all here for virtuous purposes." the exotic warrior says.
The construct stops moving again after being hit with Ibuki's magic. Bran backhands the machine with his shield, breaking off another of its arms. A bolt of fire flies from Auehda's hands and strikes the metal creature in the leg. It blackens the metal.
When Derlin slashes the creature with his falchion, he turns the blade so that the dull end slams into the creature's central eye. A crack forms on the lens and the light fades. The repair drone's body sinks lower in a crouch and its arms and hands point downward.
Burnt One stands with Valtyra between the monster and Val, watching closely in case the thing gets back up. They watch Derlin, then approach to look as well. "Can I help?"
Derlin cannot tell if it is destroyed or disabled.
Val looks flustered. Her cheeks are burning red. She wipes away the hair, grease and tears from her face with the back of her hand.
"Well, I was trying to fix it, but nothing I did worked. Dad was missing, so I thought maybe it could tell me clues about what happened to him. I tried everything to fix it. I noticed that the batteries in the power core were broken, so I tried to pull them out. I used grippers, grease, oil, I even tried to smash them with my hammer, but nothing worked."
She raises her hands up and sighs.
"So I went to the kitchen to make a sandwich. Then it just started breaking things in the house, so I told it to stop. I threw a wrench at it. Then it started chasing me."
"All I know is, that drone didn't have power.
Auehda believes the metal creature is still "alive," but "unconscious."
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"Still living." Burnt One raps on the scorch marks in the center of the thing's chest. "It sleeps, Derlin."
"What to do before it's awake?" they ask, looking to Val and the rest of the "adventurers."
"It's okay, um, Derlin."
Val looks up at Derlin with wide blue eyes.
"It wasn't alive. It is just a machine. A tool. They don't have souls."
"How could it just come to life? What was your father working on?" She asks Val. Looking to see if anyone is hurt.
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"It's only disabled then? And just a tool?" the missionary asks, "Is there somewhere we can lock this thing up Val? Perhaps some heavy rope or chain to bind it. We should secure this somewhere and set out to find Khonnir right away. He may hold the key to unlocking this mystery?" Derlin asks a'loud.
"Burnt One, you have my thanks."
"I don't know how it activated. Even if someone had some kind of remote control, this construct didn't have energy."
She sighs, looking around and wondering if any of you understand what she is saying.
"You believe me, right Ibuki? Anyway, dad was trying to figure out why the torch went out. So he took a group of people and went underneath Black Hill through the recently discovered passage beneath Weeping Pond. He came back with this robot, then left again and he hasn't come home yet..."
Val motions to the Foundry. "I think there's some rope in the Foundry. Ibuki and Bran know their way around. I closed the Foundry and the Tavern down ever since dad left. You can store it there. If you all are looking for my father, please use the Tavern as a base of operations. There are rooms for sleeping and we have some food there. Just don't drink the alcohol without paying, we might be running low on supplies."
Burnt One tries to look empathetic as Val explains, but really can't understand what the woman is trying to explain. "It got power? Like magic?" They look up at the torch. "I need to light the fire too. Just go into pond?"
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"Beneath the Weeping Pond is it? We should head there right away. Could you tell us how to get to the discovered passage? What do you all think, the sooner we get down there the better our odds of bringing back Khonnir and his companions I think." Derlin asks, sweeping his eyes across the gathered company.
"Val would you mind staying here in case he comes back while we're gone searching for him? Stranger things have happened and I'd hate for him to come back to find you missing as well as a locked up malfunctioning artifact in some closet." the archeologist asks the young girl.
"We hold tool first. Then go." Burnt One watched when Val showed where the Foundry was, and remembers now. They go there to look for rope.