Chapter 2: Expedition to Farsky

Three months have passed since the Iron Wind revealed the beacons below the floating islands of Tarshu. After the party returned from their investigation, the townsfolk received the news about the ‘the Junction’ with enthusiasm. Many saw potential in such a machine, although a vocal minority vehemently opposed it. The town, under the leadership of Mayor Hashia, commissioned a study of the Junction to figure out how it works, what its limitations are, and to assess the danger it posed.

Unfortunately, others were also drawn to the beacons. Marauders from the wastes began arriving within weeks, attacking the Junction site. Tarshu mobilized a defence force and fortified the site, surrounding it with a synth palisade and patrolling from the skies on Krem beetles. But, the Marauders still come, hellbent on the Junction’s destruction.

Despite promising findings by the ground team, the increasing trouble has soured public opinion on the Junction. An opportunistic leader, Councillor Triban Gnol has gained the public’s ear, promising to destroy the Junction forever and return Tarshu to the ‘old ways.’ Tensions rise as an election draws near.

A sliver of hope has appeared. Everyone knows the tale Tarshu’s lost island, Farsky. Long before Tarshu, wandering monks discovered an observatory on the floating islands, and learned to use its numenera to predict the future with uncanny accuracy. As people from far and wide came to consult with these oracles, a town grew around the site on the other floating islands. Guided by the oracles, the town flourished. It was the oracles that directed the people of Tarshu to domesticate the Krem beetles, for example. Eventually, the monks of Farsky set the island further adrift into the sky to get a better look at the heavens. Communication between Farsky and Tarshu dwindled and eventually stopped, but on a clear day, you can still see the Farsky island high above the world.

And so, it was proposed that Tarshu send a team of explorers to Farsky. Too high to reach by Krem, the team would employ the Junction to get there, and ask the oracles for guidance on whether they should continue to use the Junction, or bury it forever.

Lucina has spent the past three months with her hand in many different places. She's been dividing her time between fighting marauders and working on behalf of her long-time friend Hashia to secure her position as mayor.

Being extremely interested in the Numenera Aduan would spend quite a bit of time studying at the Junction, trying to learn all its properties and seeing if he can find another item to fill out his stash. While taking breaks from below he would have used his powers to help fight off the marauders and do whatever else he could to improve his abilities.

The only time Desoto has spent away from research work on the Junction has been to work on his personal building projects and getting on Mick's nerves.

Being the "jack" of all trades, Myrage has spent the past three months helping in various places. Mainly, he's been assisting in the defense against marauders, seeing if he can help any of the Wright's in their tasks, and, perhaps his favorite, crafting illusions and weaving tales in his own form of one-man plays, or maybe more appropriate, "puppet" shows, to keep up morale around town.

Hashia is much beloved by her people. She takes the time to get to know everyone, treats then respectfully, and ensures everyone is cared for.

These are not the best qualities in times of strife.

It was with a certain amount of politeness that the rumors started, that the call for a better leader, a general, began. It is a hard thing to scheme against a friend. It would have been harder if she was their enemy.

Hashia walks through the streets, noticing a new tension. A coldness? No. More like a dismissiveness.

What has Hashia being doing? Losing her town.

Despite the turmoil that Tarshu has experienced, the first expedition's members have only grown in stature.

All admire Lucina's bravery and tactical awareness; even Triban Gnol's campaign does not speak ill of her. "Lucina's Charge" has become a favourite drinking song, especially among Haisha's supporters, detailing her bravery in routing the Marauders from a dangerous forward position. Politically, her pro Junction stance has been a bulwark against Triban Gnol's fearmongering, but as more of Tarshu's citizens die in the Junction's defence, more are turning a deaf ear to her speeches.

Savvion has departed into the wilderness on a scouting mission to discover the reasons behind the Marauders' attacks. Nobody's heard from him in weeks.

Meanwhile, Desoto and Mick have been working tirelessly on the Junction, discovering many secrets of its operation. Desoto has been the target of Triban Gnol's smear campaign, who is trying to convince everyone that his recklessness will bring about disaster. This tactic has been especially powerful since he's never around to defend himself. However, the Wrights' incredible progress and undeniably successful tests have given Haisha plenty of ammo to defend his work.

Myrage has become a true town hero in this challenging time. Although admired for his bravery and appreciated for his technical assistance, Tarshu loves him for helping keep the town together. His performances are one of the few places where people of both sides of the Junction debate still gather. Whether Myrage's audience is laughing or crying, they do it together as one people, and for that Myrage is loved by all.

And then there is Haisha. Triban Gnol did not only call her vision of Tarshu called into question, but also her character and her leadership. Friends and supporters grow fewer every day, while Gnol's campaign grows in stature. It is always easier to blame and tear things down than it is to nurture them and build them up. And yet, many remain loyal to her and her vision. She is still much beloved by many in the town who despise Gnol's tactics and message. Many still think of her as a hero and would give their lives for her.

That is why this new mission, dubbed the Farsky Expedition, is so important. The oracles are held in high esteem even though they have not been seen for a century. Their reading is likely the only guaranteed way to settle Tarshu's dilemma.

Despite the early morning departure of the Farsky Expedition, people line the streets of Tarshu to send the expedition off. It is a momentous occasion to return to Tarshu's lost island, reinforcing the value of the Junction in the eyes of many, a real masterstroke in Haisha's campaign. The team (sans Mick, who is making the final preparations for the Junction's use) strides through the town and down the rope bridges, making their way down the sides of the canyon to the Junction site.

On your way down the canyon, the expedition spies a clutch of Marauders moving across a trail leading beasts of burden toward the Junction. You count six of them. They are a far way off, and you will easily outpace them to the Junction, but you are also in a position to set an ambush for them and take them unawares.

How do you wish to proceed?

What you know about the Marauders

---

The Marauders have wandered the plains that surround the canyon over which Tarshu sits for as long as anyone can remember. These aggressive, merciless fighters make travelling to and from Tarshu dangerous. Although they never attack Tarshu itself, they make it necessary for caravans to employ a large complement of guards when leaving the town, and prey on any that do not take adequate precautions. They are famed for their long staves which can fire a single, deadly energy blast from long range and also serve as a lethal melee weapon.

Underneath the masks are filthy, pale people who are covered head-to-toe in strange symbols tattooed on their skin in faintly-glowing blue ink. They seem to understand the Tarshu tongue, but what they speak between themselves is unknown. Although stories made to scare children paint the Marauders as savages and cannibals, nobody knows much about them.

Stats: From fighting them, you have a good idea of the typical Marauder, which I will simulate by providing you with a summary of their typical stats.

Level 3; Speed Defense as Level 4 due to their agility || 2 Armor|| 9 Hits
Armed with an energy staff that fires a single, long-range blast (like a heavy crossbow), and can be used at melee range for four (like a spear).

"It looks like we'll make it to the Junction with time to spare. We can set booby traps and stuff!" Desoto is already finger-sketching in the air his planned maze of tripwires to trigger cunningly placed iotum detonations. "I'd love to get my hands on one of those staves."

"Booby traps, huh? I was thinkin' of tryin' to spooked 'em, but that'll work too," Myrage replies as he looks off into the distance. "Trip wires maybe?"

"Very good, let us be at that then. On the way, let me tell you a story..."

Hashia weaves a story of an elaborate ambush prank by a childhood friend on a bully, involving a bucket, a string, and a fearsome but ultimately not very dangerous weasel. Result: Party trained in setting up an Ambush.

You realize that you'll lose contact for too long to effectively ambush the Marauders if you head to the Fort first, so you scramble down into the canyon directly on an intercept vector. With Hashia's weasel-in-a-bucket story fresh in your minds, you spot some good cover in a ruins between you and the pack of Marauders.

You slide down a sand embankment and into a position behind a ruin, the wreckage of some behemoth metal structure of a bygone age. You find yourself on the sandy canyon surrounded by huge chunks of metal debris, rocky outcroppings, and dust-strewn wind.You have a few minutes lead time to prepare your ambush! Describe your preparation and roll a demanding task (TN 9). Some ideas include creating a simple trap (intellect), climb up to some high ground (might), find some good cover to hide behind (speed). You are all trained in this task due to Hashia's story, which might stack with other related skills. You may spend effort on this task as usual.

If everyone succeeds on these tasks, you will automatically win initiative and each gain an asset on all your first attack rolls. Otherwise we will roll initiative as normal.

Lucina figures that it may be a good choice to keep range on the enemies, since her group will likely be outnumbered. She climbs up to a rocky outcropping with some cover.

Desoto sets up a simple but devious trap involving a tripwire rigged to topple precariously positioned debris onto the marauders' heads.

Then he scampers for a good hiding spot.

Hashia examines the area, and decides to hide behind a rock from the side, preparing to use one if her cyphers to separate the group into halves.

Round One

Your ambush is interrupted by a high-pitch whine. A black sphere crowned with a blinking, ice-blue light zips through the ruins and halts on a dime at the epicentre of your preparations. Before you can act, the blinking intensifies and explodes out into a wave of force, knocking you all down and upending the ambush.

As you pick yourselves up, the Marauders round the ruins. Abandoning their pack animals and they break into two groups. Three kneel down and take aim with their war staves, covering the other three to charge forward, their war staves held like spears and their throats warbling in an inhuman war cry!.

Lucina tries to dive out of the way of the attack. Once she's avoided the blast, she pivots back toward their foes and stabs brutally at one of them.

Hashia's skin in encompassed by a network of energy, flashing dangerously. Her visible skin underneath the net looks pink and thin. She loads her sling and flings a rock at one of those by Eunbyeol.

Eunbyeol appears in a flash of light, spoiling the Marauders' counter-ambush. She leaves a deep gash in on of the Marauders. Lucina manages to parry the incoming blast with a deft maneuver of her sword, sending it into the side of the nearby ruins. With her blade still glowing hot, she trades blows with the charging Marauders. Haisha envelopes herself in an energy shield and harries an approaching Marauder with her sling, forcing them to dodge. Aduan takes one of the energy blasts full-on.

Desoto ducks, and attempts to manually trigger one of his traps to either take some of the marauders out or at least provide a distraction.

Myrage hops back up from the ground and draws his crossbow to fire a shot at one of the marauders at short range, preferably the one that just got gashed.

The energy blast whizzes by Desoto a little to close for comfort, but impacts harmlessly on the ruins behind him. He pulls on one of his traps sending a pile of metal debris cascading down from the side of one of the ruins, distracting one of the Marauders. Myrage retaliates but his arrow goes.

The three marauders who advanced now thrust their spears at Lucina and Myrage, snarling viciously. The distracted Marauder turns to take a swipe at Desoto when he realizes he triggered the trap (TN 6 defence roll). Two of three Marauders that Eunbyeol surprised turn to fight her. The injured one stumbles backward, clutching their wound and retreating to the other group. ROUND 2

---

Group 1 (engaged with Eunbyeol)
Marauder 1: 9/9
Marauder 2: 9/9

Group 2 (engaged with Aduan, Desoto, Hashia, Lucina, and Myrage,
Marauder 3: 4/9
Marauder 4: 9/9
Marauder 5: 9/9
Marauder 6: 9/9

Hashia fires her wrist mounted projector at the four Eunbyeol is engaged with.

She'll aim it behind them, and attempt to get as many as she can in the blast radius without damaging her own group.Edit: Minor effect: Ensure that it doesn't damage own party but get the marauders.

Lucina moves quickly, trying to avoid the incoming attack. She's not quite quick enough and takes a nasty cut on her side.

"Aiieeeeeeee!"

Eunbyeol pulls her arms in tightly as she half-steps back, then twists forward to dodge the marauders' blades, and mutters something mostly unintelligible under her breath. The lights that float around her speed up, and a distinct humming sound is accompanied by the smell of ozone.

"Try that again, why don't you?" she asks the nearest one with a grin.

Aduan casts Onslaught against the minds of two of the ranged attackers.

The party recovers quickly from their initial back-step.

Hashia's detonator fills the air with silence as repulses everything in its range, devastating the nearby Marauders. Lucina wastes no time with the pain of her injury and strikes back with a lethal blow, impaling the enemy on her sword. Eunbyeol deftly sidesteps her attackers, then activates her luminous shield, sending waves of doubt through the Marauders' minds. Another Marauder blocks Desoto's darts with an armoured gauntlet. Myrage disappears, causing his adversary to startle. He searches around desperately for the invisible foe. Aduan tears into the Marauder's psyches. It is too much for one, who falls dead. The other grips his helmet and stumbles backward in pain.

In the face of such power and technology, the Marauders immediately break off the attack and head for the cover of the ruins. A warhorn sounds from above; it seems as though Hashia's detonator has alerted the town's defence force. You see a squadron of beetle riders scrambling, diving off of the floating islands above you and heading your way.

Two dead Marauders remain clad in black armour and gas masks. Their sticks lie in the drit, one of which still has a ranged charge.

Hashia halfheartedly heaves a hefty stone at them, to keep them honest. But she does not pursue. "Fools. Such waste of life."

Not being a cruel person, Myrage simply mocks them instead of attacking them whilst they abscond.

"And don't come back, ya?!"

"We did it, Stuffy!" Eunbyeol gives her plushie ravage bear a high five, then turns to Hashia. "Sorry it took me so long to get here! I was chasing a burglar on the other side of everything."

Lucina grabs her bow and nocks an arrow as she watches the marauders flee, but doesn't fire any arrows.

Hashia gives Eunbyeol a quick hug. "Glad you could come; looks like we needed you."

Aduan steps over to one of the Marauder bodies and picks up the stick. "Really need to figure out how this thing works." He steps back to the others but doesn't mess with the power stick. "Need to get to a controlled environment so I can test this thing out."

"Things are getting bad, Hashia. This trip... There's people saying that you shouldn't have come." Eunbyeol sounds worried, but her tone suddenly shifts to a brighter one. "I'm here to help you prove them wrong!"

Lucina gives Eunbyeol a quick hug as well, "Good timing!" she says, "They're all dead wrong and we'll make sure they realize it, don't you worry."

Hashia lowers her chin a touch. "I couldn't watch it all slide away any longer. Besides, if they can do better, we all prosper, right? This way we'll find out sooner."

She points at the entrance. "Okay, ladies, show me this tech I've been hearing so much about. I don't fancy running into those marauders when they realize how much they have to gain."

As Aduan takes the staff from the Marauder's cold, dead hands, the creature lurches and grabs hold of him. It removes its gas mask, revealing a woman with striking skin colourations that all Marauders bear. She spits a curse in Aduan's face as she dies, then slumps down into the drit. Aduan acquires the two Marauder staves, one charged and one uncharged. These aren't the first Marauder staves Tarshu has acquired, but nobody has figured out how the Marauders charge them (yet).

The Krem Beetle squadron lands at your location, the captain making sure you're alright before taking to the air again. Three split off to reconnoitre the Marauders, while the remaining 4 hover nearby and escort you to the Junction. Within an hour you arrive at the beacon, which is now surrounded by a hardened synth palisade. Guard towers rise above, manned by archers. Above it all, a flag flies from the now-unlit beacon that reads in big, bold letters Fort Slurge.

As you pass through the gates, the defenders of Fort Slurge give the group a rousing cheer. These folks defend the Junction because they believe in the Junction, and are among Hashia's strongest supporters.

You step inside, and pass by the now-familiar placard, behind perfectly blended glass, that states:You ride the platform, which now has a built-in speed limiter (despite Desoto's protests), deep into the earth. You stride through the ambient lit halls and arrive at the Junction. Mick is making the final adjustments.

"Alright, she's all warmed up and the telemetries are holding stable. Here's the oculator."

Mick hands over a metallic pyramid with protruding lenses and a leather carrying strap.

"The oculator will allow you to record the Oracles' verdict so we can settle this once and for all. But, you know, it's been seventy years since we've seen them so just in case, you should be prepared for the possibility that you'll have to operate the observatory yourselves. You know, in case they're all dead or something."

Hashia greets the defenders, touching hands and asking after their families' well being. She mentions the marauders to them, and asks them to be vigilant.

On the trip down, her warm veneer vanishes, and she prepares for the worst.

"Thank you, Mick," she says taking the device. She repeats the operation instructions back to him. "Who knows what we'll find. Perhaps endless slurges?"

"Let's hope not," Lucina says, "Those things were awful..."

Aduan still carries the Marauders' weapons with him, his mind racing with the input of all the new knowledge now facing him.

Mick fires up the Junction and sends you to your stations, each taking a place in the cage apparatus. The massive screen suddenly sparks alive and after some adjustments, it displays an island high in the sky. Mick adjusts some dials and the island magnifies; you see an old stone bridge attached to a stark, stone building topped with domed structure.Another deft manipulation of the instrument panel and the vast screen displays the bridge itself.

"Okay, I think that's about as good as it gets. Safe journey!"

And with that the caged mechanism silently and gracefully moves the set of cages through the screen, the screen sparkling harmlessly as solid matter passes through it.

You emerge on the other side of the screen and climb out of your cages onto the stone bridge. The air is cool and thin, and sharp wind whips at your clothes. Your ears pop as you adjust to the new altitude. Looking back, you see that from this side the screen is a suspended, gleaming rectangle. The apparatus begins retreating back to the Junction, and from within you hear Mick call to you.

"Okay, we'll have to recharge the batteries, should have your exit back up and running in four to six hours! Stay safe, have fun!"

The rectangle fades and is soon gone as if it had never existed. Behind you, the bridge leads to ruin and drops off into sea of clouds. Ahead is a large pair of double doors. They are metallic and completely smooth, with no handles. Ingraved across the two doors are a grid of one-inch squares arranged in a wave-like pattern.What you would like to do?

"I saw a pattern like that once, running across the display of a piece of tech that played some music."

"It still exists. Good news there." after stepping out of the cage, she checks to make sure everybody made it. Suddenly, she looks up eyes darting all around. She's heard the story of the giant bird.

"Music? Can you sing that?"

"Well, the pattern I saw was different, but it was the same kind of pattern, I think." Desoto says, peering at the engraving. "The music I heard sounded like this though..." Desoto tries to whistle the tune he heard all those years ago.

As you begin to sing, the pattern on the door begins to change. The pattern shifts and sways, the squares seamlessly retreat and emerge to create new waves that dance along to Desoto's tune. The gridded wave begin to glow, soon becoming so bright that looking directly at it is uncomfortable. The door itself vibrates in harmony with Desoto's song, singing haunting reciprocation. After a minute of whistling the door's physical form fades into a field of blue and orange energy, pulsing along to the beat. Through the field, you see a stair the leads upward into darkness.

"Huh. I didn't expect that to work!"

As soon as you stop whistling the door immediately rebounds back to being solid metal solid. There is a loud 'crack' as the air molecules in that space are suddenly displaced, sending echoes dancing across the ancient stone.

"Wow. Something wants you to KEEP singing. Unexpected."

"Go ahead and sing," Lucina says against her better judgment, "While the door is open, we can go through. I'll lead the way in."

As she draws her sword (just in case), she thinks, "Well, let me go in first to make sure that it can be opened from the inside. Never know with this old tech."

Myrage draws his hwhip, but keeps it coiled in his hand, ready to follow behind Lucina.

"Ah man, too bad I never learned how to whistle, ja? Otherwise, I'd probably join ya, Desoto!"

"Yeah, okay." Desoto licks his lips and resumes whistling.

Shrugging his shoulders Aduan steps near the door as if to feel the texture of the magic as the door begins to dissolve.

As Desoto begins to whistle again, the door reacts exactly as it did before, phasing into the electromagnetic spectrum. As you pass through, your interaction with the energy field curls off harmless petals of energy that blow away in the wind.

The interior is dark and still. The wind doesn't pass through the barrier, and the world grows quiet without it thrashing about. The air is heavy and stagnant and smells of decay. As Desoto's tune ends, the doors return to solid matter, and you are plunged into complete darkness.

While you are standing about and in mid-conversation while figuring out what to do with the lights, all sound suddenly ceases. Your own voice, tapping and stamping on the floor, nothing.

Desoto fishes a glowglobe out of his pack. "What do we do now? he mouths.

The light illuminates up the stairs and into the room above. Golden reflections dance in the glowglobe's pale light through the entrance.

Hashia shrugs and points at the stairs. She shifts her grip on her weapons and moves toward it, looking around every few steps in case something might be sneaking up on her. I'm not paranoid, I'm not!

Before they stepped past the Barrier, Myrage started babbling a story about a game he used to play, but grew confused when the silence dropped on them like a bag of bricks.

You stride up the stairs and come to a large, circular foyer, illuminated only by your glowglobe. The center is dominated by small, lifeless tree, and the walls are covered in hundreds of lifelike golden hands, each on reaching out as if trying to grab things from you. Some of them hold the tattered remains of hooded cloaks that have deteriorated over time, and another of the hands holds a long staff made of white wood and inlaid with silver veins. An fist-sized multifaceted metallic orb is suspended at the end of the staff.

There is an exit that leads further into the observatory, which branches both east and west. To the south, directly across from the foyer, there is another door marked with a gridded wave. No light comes from either direction, and no sound.

Lucina steps up to the tree to see if it was once alive or if it's a piece of technology from a past world.

After a brief moment of confusion, Eunbyeol begins silently babbling to herself about something. She points at various objects that apparently take her interest, but why that might be, is unclear as she's making no effort to actually make her gestures mean anything

Lucina examines the lifeless tree. The bare branches have the feel of real wood, though they are now dry and brittle. It is situated in soil pot that is inset in the ground and flush with the stone floor.

Myrage looks at the staff held in one of the golden hands. He attempts to look over it first before trying to pry it from its grip.

The lifelike golden hand reveals no secrets. It proves to be supremely unyielding, not letting go of the staff no matter how hard you pull.

Does the statue itself rotate? Eunbyeol pushes on it to find out.

There is no statue, but rather hundreds of golden hands protrude from the round wall of the circular room.

Suddenly sound fills your ears once more, for no apparent reason. The sound of your own heartbeat, the swish of your clothes as you walk, and the sound of your boots clicking on the cold stone floor all return to you.

In addition to Eunbyeol's voice you hear some additional noises:

To the right is the faint sound of a distant creature. The noise is difficult to distinguish; it might be snoring or sobbing, but it is raspy and rhythmic, like breathing.

To the left, the faint sound of calm music plays. You make out metallic chimes, low chanting, and twangy sitar chords

Myrage cocks his head in both directions, cupping a hand to each ear to try and hear them better, but just hears what he hears.

"'Ey, sound!" he says in an inside voice to not be overly loud. "I'mma thinkin' I might check out that breathing sound first. Anyone wanna come?"

"Weird breathing? Yeah, that's not going to turn it horrible." Hashia follows Myrage.

Lucina nods, "I think that's the best choice to start with."

Aduan stared about the large chamber at all the puzzles trying to put some sense to them. The return of sound brought him out of his reverie.

"-- and that's why the chip machine didn't notice the elephant. Oh. I can hear again." Eunbyeol will stay with the group. She's unbalanced, not stupid. "Can someone explain why we're going toward the creepy death breathing instead of the nice chimes?"

The group takes a right from the room of golden hands and down the stone passageway toward the rasping noising. Moments after walking into the right passageway, the calm music from the left passageway cuts out completely. You can still hear your own voices and footsteps, however.

As you walk down the passageway, it comes to a sharp bend. Beyond the turn, you find a circular room, smaller than the first. It appears it was once a garden but whatever plants were here are long dead. Dominating the space is a bipedal construct hunched over what appears to be an old well. The rasping sound is coming from it. As you enter the space, it rises and speaks in a flat, monotone voice.

"Farsky guests must present ID at all times. Display your ID immediately."

Hashia steps forward, presenting herself as clearly the leader. "Please take us to your leader. We wish to discuss our identification status, and it is of utmost secrecy."

The construct takes a few moments to process Hashia's commands. Its singular ocular lens seems to focus and refocus for a time.

As it speaks, a red light flashes where its nose might be if it were a human "I shall escort you immediately to the gatehouse to obtain your ID."

It strides forward, extending its arms wide, and sending its tentacle-like fingers even wider in an attempt to corral you back into the passageway from which you came.

"Failure to comply will be met with force." it drones, its red light flashing in the dim light. The thing moves with deadly grace.

"Excellent, hope it isn't filled with slurges, right?" She laughs, but catches the others with a sharp eye.

Lucina follows quietly, watching carefully for any signs of other danger.

"Creepy death breathing equals possible death, check. Where's the gatehouse, creepy death breather?"

Myrage stays a bit quiet, not wanting to set the moving machina off and go killer. He quietly moves back down the passage with the other's.

The robot turns its head to Eunbyeol. Its eye lens focuses and refocuses on your face.

"The gatehouse is outside. You may call me Clarice."

It continues to push you back to the intersection

Aduan frowns not understanding why he can't determine anything about the chamber. He doesn't seem to get a sense of anything. But, he follows the others nonetheless.

This whole thing is making Lucina a bit nervous, but she figures that she's not the best one to determine the group's course. She looks to Hashia and raises an eyebrow as if to say, Is this alright?

Hashia says in a low voice, "I don't think we should leave the compound, so don't follow it out. Best be prepared for an inconvenient reaction."

Myrage gets that "oh great" look on his face as he over hears Hasia and Lucina.

Clarice responds to Eunbyeol's question in its monotone voice, its red light flashing: "You are mistaken."

The construct steers the group slowly, gracefully into the circular room of golden hands. It stands in the doorway and again speaks in its monotone voice.

"Open the door to the outside. Sing a song."

"Oh wise Clarice, there is nothing outside. We came in this way." Hashia plants her feet.

"SING YOUR SONG."

Aduan looks at Desoto and nods. "Whistle that tune again."

Desoto obliges, whistling his tune.

The doors phase from reality as Desoto's tune catches the wind. The construct named Clarice drops its guard at this point and steps towards the doorway, its grace replaced with halting, uncertain steps. It stares out along the bridge and sees the crumbled ruins of the drop off. Reaching the door, it simply stares, its lens continuously focusing and refocusing.

"How long since your last visitor, Clarice?" Hashia asks gently, uncertain how responsive this creature is.

"I thiiiiiink we have an ~ERROR~..."

Clarice withdraws from the door, and drones a reply:

"It has been 22,841 days since the last visit. If there is no gatehouse, there can be no IDs. Therefore, nobody may be admitted. Leave, now. You have 10 seconds to comply."

Clarice moves into an aggressive stance.

Hashia's outer layer of skin turns into an energy barrier. "We are from Tarshu, Clarice, and I am the mayor. I order you by the power of my office to stand down and allow us entry. "

"Hey, deathbreather, I think you have that backwards..." Eunbyeol does a spinning motion with her outstretched forefinger. "If there's no gatehouse then that means they decided IDs weren't needed anymore. They probably told you and you forgot. It was sixty years ago, after all. Why would you try to go against your masters like this?"

Fascinated by the automaton, Desoto taps curiously on Clarice's armor. The wright is clearly oblivious to the present danger.

Lucina doesn't make any moves, but her grip on her sword tightens and she prepares herself for a battle.

The room suddenly is enveloped in soundlessness. If Desoto was still singing, the door suddenly phases solid. Clarice's red light continues to flash, indicating it is speaking, but of course, none of you can hear it. Moments later, it attacks!

Clarice is a level 5 foe! Roll initiative! Those that roll higher than 15 can act immediately. Battlefield Features: If you like, you can use these features on your turn in some creative way! It may grant a bonus or have an interesting effect.

Silence Field - prevents all noise and noise-based attacks / senses
Wall of Golden Hands - Hundreds of golden hands are grasping inward from the circular wall
Doorway - Requires an action to open by singing a song, and can be closed without an action at any time (currently not operational due to silence field)
Hallways - Hallways lead to the right (back to Clarice's dead garden and well) and to the left (unknown source of groovy music).

Hashia has expected this to turn sour.

Lucina prepares to fight, grateful that she had her sword in hand.

Lucina darts forward and takes a stab at Clarice, not wanting the thing to have a chance to fight back.

In the silence, the outline of glowing white hexagons form and multiple through the space between Lucinda and Clarice.

GM INSTRUSION!

Naat, if you as a coauthor of this story think this sounds cool, gain 1 xp and give 1 xp to another player and it shall come to pass and Clarice negates the hit with her energy shield. If you don't think it's cool, you can pay 1xp and it shall not come to pass.

Lucina's eyes widen for a moment before she dances back with a determined look on her face, "She has some sort of barrier!"

Your lips move but no sound escapes...

Myrage lets out a stream of muted curses and he pulls out his hwhip!

"An energy shield! That's so cool!"

Initiative, with effort.

In the mysterious silence, the construct's graceful movements are even more deadly. It lashes out with its long arms at Lucina and Desoto, electricity arcing from its finger tips.

Clarice is a level 5 foe!Battlefield Features: If you like, you can use these features on your turn in some creative way! It may grant a bonus or have an interesting effect.

Silence Field - prevents all noise and noise-based attacks / senses
Wall of Golden Hands - Hundreds of golden hands are grasping inward from the circular wall
Doorway - Requires an action to open by singing a song, and can be closed without an action at any time (currently not operational due to silence field)
Hallways - Hallways lead to the right (back to Clarice's dead garden and well) and to the left (unknown source of groovy music).

As Lucina set Clarice up, Hashia tries to take advantage of the distraction to lash out at the robot. "I'd hoped to talk this out, Clarice."Hashia grits her teeth as the pain washes over her.

.

Lucina tries to dodge out of the way of Clarice's attack

Hashia's energy blast blows a chunk of synth plating off of Clarice's arm.

Myrage winds up his arm and lashes out with his hwhip, aiming for the machina's legs to attempt to trip it!

Badly wounded, Desoto staggers away from the rampaging robot.

Clarice falls down as Myrage manages to snake his whip around one of its legs and pull it out from under it! Eunbyeol's attack drone attacks with murderous intent but fails to hit the mark as Clarice writhes on the floor.

Without warning, the sound returns in the room. Clarice's voice fills the room:

"... not in compliance with security protocols ... "

ROUND 2

---

Initiiative:

1. Lucina
2. Clarice
3. Everybody else

Clarice is a level 5 foe!Battlefield Features: If you like, you can use these features on your turn in some creative way! It may grant a bonus or have an interesting effect.

Silence Field - Currently off! Doors will now work, as well as other things requiring voice and sound.
Wall of Golden Hands - Hundreds of golden hands are grasping inward from the circular wall
Doorway - Requires an action to open by singing a song, and can be closed instantly at any time (currently not operational due to silence field)
Hallways - Hallways lead to the right (back to Clarice's dead garden and well) and to the left (unknown source of groovy music).

Lucina recovers from the construct's brutal attack and dashes back in to attack, stabbing once more at the enemy.

Clarice tries to shove Aduan into the wall. Aduan falls backward and is caught by the golden hands. They wrap around his limbs in a surprisingly gentle but unbreakable grip. Aduan manages to keep on leg and one arm free.

Clarice then whirls around and strikes at Lucina!

Lucina takes another nasty hit and then fights defensively, trying to catch her breath.

Hashia summons another layer of energy, conferring more skin to the strange network. She then takes aim and launches it at Clarice, concentrating on striking well.

Seeing the hands grasp Aduan, Myrage gets an idea! He's gonna take a few steps back before taking a running start to jump and try to plant both feet on the machina's chassis and kick back off of it to try and push it into the hands.

Clarice sidestep Hashia's energy blast. Aduan calls out to Clarice and while it is distracted, Myrage barrels into it feet first, sending it into the wall of golden hands. They wrap around its limbs immediately, holding the robot tight.

Clarice continues to drone on about breeching security protocols, but is now stuck and cannot attack you at present. You can finish it off with the Eunbyol's drone, which will not miss a stationary target.

Also, Aduan is now stuck on the wall.

"It'd be cool if we could reprogram Clarice, have it guard the Junction or the workshop!"

"Think we can shut her down, put her into rest mode, as a start?"

"I can try."

Clarice rebuff your attempts to access its wiring.

"Freakin' machina, man," Myrage exclaims after the scuff. "I feel fearful though, seein' as how all those plants were dead." He turns to Clarice and asks, "Aside from us, when was the last time you saw another livin' bein'?"

Clarice keeps speaking the same line about security protocols over and over again. It's like it's thrown an infinite loop and can't get out.

Meanwhile, Desoto pulls out his bag of tools, a spanner accidentally falls from the satchel and into the palm of a golden hand. However, the hand easily relenquishes the spanner when Desoto touches it. This is the first time you've seen the golden hands let go of anything.

"Eh? I thought these things never let go?" Recalling that Myrage tried pulling on the staff with no success, Desoto touches it lightly just like he did the spanner.

Desoto touches the hand with the staff. It does not let go. If he taps it, pushes it, caresses it, squeezes it, or any other gentle action nothing happens.

If Desoto repeats the spanner experiment, he will find that after Desoto drops the spanner into the golden hand, it will adroitly catch it out of the air, and then surrender it without issue after Desoto touches it or the spanner.

"The hands return things to the hand that put the thing there. Presumably the hand that owns it." Desoto hands the spanner to one of the others. "You try."

Hashia attempts to verify Desoto's theory, and puts the spanner into a hand, let's go, and then attempts to take it back.

Hashia confirms Desoto's hypothesis and retrieves the spanner she gives to the golden hand.

"So who put Aduan there, huh? Only they can get him out."

"That would be big dumb over there who's stuck now too." She points to Clarice who is, for some reason, repeating the last two seconds of protocol warning she was giving when she hit the wall. Eunbyeol tilts her head, then looks at Aduan. "Ooookay. So that's a loop." Aduan is repeating the same facial expression over and over again as well. "We can probably worry about him later."

The party came across a decrepit record player playing in the chamber, though Desoto may describe what else was discovered in the chamber.

The room is one big music box. In the center is a pair of mechanical dancers moving jerkily in time to the warped music from the broken down player. One of the dancers eerily resembles Lucina.

Lucina attempts to think about what in the hell could be going on here, but her past prior to her adult life is a fog of disconnected memories and images that make little sense. She shivers as she feels a wave of strange emotions wash over her. Suddenly her mind is filled with song - a more accurate and complete version of what's coming from the room.

Lucina enters the room carefully and begins humming the actual tune that's supposed to be playing. After several tense moments, the music in the chamber begins to adjust to her tune and the dancers movements change to something more fluid along with it. Once she's done humming after a few minutes, the song playing in the room and the accompanied dance are beautiful.

Lucina is shocked and turns to the others, shaking her head in confusion.

Hashia, what happens once the music and dancing is fixed?

The dancers slow and stop, then begin to dance backwards. The music at first also reverses, but the dancers speed up, and the song becomes an indistinguishable hiss of noise. The dancers spin and twirl dizzyingly, blurring. The hiss grows louder, and then it all stops with a loud gong. Where two dancers stand, there are twelve. They begin moving forward, pantomiming a story.

Edda, what tale do they tell?

The twelve begin their journey. Each in it's own space, but following the same unseen guide. Each dance differs slightly, but all are related.

The first is forceful, like the charging rams of the mountains. Fire blazes in its eyes and movements. The second stands powerfully, its movements strong and sure; rooted to the very bones of the world. The third is ephemeral, like the dancing winds, it dances as if in a mirror facing itself in reflection. The fourth moves fluidly, its dance reacting to the movements of the others.

The other eight move in similar fashion. One forceful and fiery, next strong and grounded, next flighty and ethereal, then fluid and buoyant. Each tells it's own story in an ever moving wheel. All of them pointing to the Sun.

You feel the weight of ages upon you. This dance is older than ages; older than aeons. You don't know its beginning and you feel that it will continue even when the world itself is dust.