Session 2: The Ruin

OOLIN glided to the water's edge to get a closer look at the exposed golden synth. Even from the short distance away, she could see that it was made of some type of golden, hexagonal plates joined together with an amber-colored substance. Tuning her senses to the nanites in the area, she picked out that they had been excited at some point within the past month. A bit surprised, OOLIN could still feel them humming with a subtle energy.

Crash squatted next to a fallen tree and took a gander of the area. Judging by the overall shape of the treefall that he could see, he guessed that the hill before them didn't use to be there. His attention was halted however by something gleaming in the nearby shadows.

Zandoran stood protectively near Ythrinda and took in his surroundings. The water was moving very quickly at this point, and he worried about his charge getting too close to it. Come to think of it, all the upturned soil in the area seemed to be heavy with water and generally unstable. And with the myriad of trees in varying stages of falling, he started to grow a bit alarmed at the natural danger that seemed to surround them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mig and Zippo circle the hill in opposite directions. The surrounding hillside is covered in downed trees, upturned soil, and dirt-caked rocks, making their journey harder than they had perhaps anticipated.

As he worked his way around the perimeter, Zippo found an abandoned campsite, marked by a cold fire-ring and a few fallen logs.

Traveling in the opposite direction, Mig found other places where the golden plates were visible. One especially large section of exposed synth had obviously been smashed open from the outside. From what he could tell, the walls inside were made of the same type of material and composition as the exterior.

Crash poked through the brush and uncovered two metallic insects the size of pigeons. Each of the insects had a small needle-like appendage below its two red eyes as well as a nasty-looking stinger on the opposite end. The golden insects had been smashed by some sort of blunt object and lay inert, the wings of one of them all but torn off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Zippo looked over the abandoned campsite, he gathered that it hadn't been used in a couple of weeks, and even when it had been used, it was probably only by a couple of people. There wasn't any indication that it had been left in a hurry. Going over the site, he thought he was only going to find a few castaway bits of rope and kindling when he saw a patch of white cloth peeking out of the dirt on the fringes of the camp.

As Crash looked around, he couldn't tell where they had come from, though considering they were winged, it was possible they flew or fell here. After handing them over to Ythrinda, she closely examined them and saw that though they were certainly mechanical in nature, they had also once been living. Some sort of biomechanical creature. The stinger was needle-sharp and looked like it might have been used to inject venom into whatever it had stung. The whole wings on the one creature looked like they might be strong enough to support the weight of a person, and she tinkered with the two creatures for a moment and was able to cobble together a cypher.Zandoran kept his eyes and ears peeled for any unnatural activity in the forest around them, but other than the gurgling stream and the birds singing around them, everything was quiet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mig and OOLIN peered into the opening and saw that a smooth-walled tunnel extended into the darkness. It was large enough for a person to walk upright, and two people could almost walk side by side through it. Turning from the opening, Mig continued making his way around the hillock and found the small campsite where Zippo was tugging at something embedded in the ground.Zippo reached down and tugged on the cloth, partially pulling it from the earth and revealing a hastily-buried body.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peering into the darkness, OOLIN could see that the tunnel extended a half-dozen paces then made a sharp right. Beyond that, she couldn't make anything out, though the more she stared, the more she was convinced there was a faint, soft glow emanating from around the corner. The interior of the tunnel was made of the same material as the exterior: interlocking hexagonal-shaped plates, most golden, some black, all bound together by an amber-colored substance.

Zippo reached down and tugged on the cloth, partially pulling it from the earth and revealing a hastily-buried body. He tugged a bit harder, and the body slid partially from the grave. There were a number of lumps under the man's clothing, and the shirt Zippo was pulling at tore loose. Bounding free from their hiding place, five laaks sprung out at Zippo.

Mig arrived in time to see Zippo jump back, effectively batting down the creatures as they vainly sought to sink their little fangs into his flesh.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OOLIN crept forward and emerged in a hexagonal room that was softly lit by the golden pieces that helped make up the floor, walls, and ceilings. Three doorways were on the far side of the room, each with hallways extending further into the structure.

Initiative

As the words "enemies in the woods" leave Ythindra's lips Zandoran hears Zippo's cry of surprise... Zandoran sighs For its it not written "Speak of the devil and he shall appear" he then takes off running towards the sound of alarm

The lizard-like creatures climbed over and around each other in their frantic race for fresh meat.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OOLIN tries to poke her head down the hallway to the right and hits it against something solid. The hallway appears to extend uninterrupted before her, but the passage is blocked by something unseen at its entrance. The hallway appears to open into another room in the distance, but it's too far away to be sure, though a stronger light is definitely coming from that direction.

Upon arriving at the conflict Zandoran takes a moment to center himself and then launches into the battle with a series of deadly kicks towards the Laak...

Zippo backpedaled, kicking away the small creatures, but one of them was able to sink its fangs into his leg, where it hung on even as Zippo attempted to free himself from it.One of the creatures Zippo kicked at was tossed up into the air, and Mig batted it away with his staff. There was a pair of satisfying crunches: one from when the staff made contact and the other when the laak flew into the trunk of a nearby tree. It fell to the ground dead.

Zandoran also set about with his feet, kicking and stomping at the small green creatures. Bones broke under his use of deadly force and droplets of violet blood spattered about them.Ythrinda ran through the forest toward the shouting but kept getting caught by wayward branches and brambles, delaying her approach.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To an outside observer, it might have seemed like OOLIN was miming out motions in the air, but as she ran her hand along the smooth invisible surface, she was able to understand that this was likely some sort of door. And as a door, there's certainly a latch of some sort nearby. Tracing the barrier to its edges, she found a very small alcove in the seam between two hexagonal plates. Inserting her fingers, she could make out some sort of lever.

Zippo backs further back, then noticing Crash heading for the creature on his foot. "Heel boy! Heel!"

As soon as he notice his foot still being attached, he tries to grab for the laak and toss it through the air. "Catch!"

Crash dove at Zippo's thrashing leg, but hit nothing but air before getting a mouthful of dirt as he hit the ground. Focusing on the creature gnawing on him, Zippo hopped on one leg, grabbing for the laak. He got his hand around it and gave a hard yank, tearing it free and half its jaw in the process. It writhed wildly in his hand, spattering him with droplets of blood and squealing loudly as it tried to bite the hand holding it.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OOLIN fumbled around with the latch and felt it move under her fingers, but it seemed to require a specific pattern of movement to open the door. After jiggling with it for a few moments, the lever abruptly jerked back to its starting location, jamming OOLIN's fingers in the process.