Session Ninety (Graveyard of Empires Summary)
Session 90
6:40pm, 18th Faurilden
We spend a long time standing around asking Kalgunn questions and musing over the things we learn.
Revelations as to the PEPs origins have us go into a little test with Axel’s suit regarding the Voltaic Converter, but there doesn’t seem to be a safe way to do so and the danger is too high. It would be possible in this area, but the dead PEPs are just that, as we need power in the battery to even activate the Converter. Worst case is that the battery is destroyed, rendering the armour unusable. Realistically, the wearer would be unharmed, but it has been 2000 years, and the Converter is only just an emergency option. The next subject is the portals, and how we can possibly alter the connections, access new keys, and potentially even Xen’Teler.
We ask Kalgunn about the scrying mask. He asks in return if the network was still in operation, blanketing the planet, though we only have access to view locations in Curabel. We ask if it is possible to repair it at all, and he banters back about skill and such. We do learn however that the mask, and others like it, connect to multiple orbital relays.
Next, Edan relays an image of our portal keys, and we ask if it is possible to modify the key so we can access other portals on Meidia. He tells us that this is the standard key, which makes sense why we can’t access the special labs.
Feeling that he had answered enough questions, Kalgunn announces he would like to confirm the situation for himself, and does so with startling alacrity.
“Fact One: You or one of your companions – possibly an Ironhand or Rhom’Khul dwarf — carries a Possibility Sword with limited charges and a Control Circlet of indeterminate (but not platinum) authority.”
“Fact Two: You or one of your companions fears being dominated by someone possessing a Control Circlet of greater power; it is also likely that this same threat has a force of Undying Warriors in his service.”
“Fact Three: Despite your limited knowledge of my people’s empire, including the Crystal Tower itself, you know of Marchmain Sivis even though he died with his greatest construction a long time ago.”
“Fact Four: Although by your own admission it has been millennia since XenoTel was destroyed, you think there may be some way to restore him and you fear this possibility.”
“Fact Five: Xen’Khel’s secret lab was tasked with reverse-engineering the Dragon Emperor’s Consort’s weapon in order to restore Xen’Teler.”
“Conclusion: Your group of grave-robbing friends has done very well for itself – so well, that you have come to the attention of someone much better versed in dwarven technology than anyone alive has the right to be. Marchmain Sivis would fit that description incredibly well, but he should be dust now given Xen’Teler’s destruction at Heaven’s Fall. However, you also specified it is approximately two millennia since the rebellion … which is … an interesting date, to say the least. It leads me to believe that perhaps XenoTel’s demise was reported in error, even if he was severely wounded during the rebellion. If so, it would make sense that Marchmain Sivis would be chosen to be the agent of XenoTel’s restoration since the Architect’s failure with the Crystal Tower marked his downfall. He would, quite logically, focus his attention on the labs of Xen’Khel where the last of my people’s engineers were working on the weapon that brought about that downfall – labs that have apparently lain untouched since the rebellion by your admission.”
“So, how accurate are my extrapolations? Please keep in mind that I am working from a data set that has been deliberately (if amateurishly) limited on purpose to obscure the truth of the situation.”
We then ask what Kalgunn’s opinion of Marchmain is. He says he is not surprised that Marchmain would’ve chosen as XenoTel’s agent for restoration, but also that he didn’t earn his position entirely on his own merits, more who he married, even if he was an engineer of some talent, it was oestentatious, as evidenced by the tower, which had a crucial weakness.
As to his continued existence, that would support the idea of XenoTel’s demise being misreported, though his body at the time would likely be lost. He also did not recognise the Marchmain we know, though would be able to verify that with a short conversation with Marchmain, as he was known for his honeyed words.
Kalgunn reveals that XenoTel had the ability to recreate bodies for dwarves, and it would be possible to retrieve his essence from the sword and return it to a body of his choosing. XenoTel also had the ability to ‘recall’ a person perfectly. (This is would explain the Thorfus clones Chuq witnessed in the dreamscape).
We ask about the 22,000 mile distance to the nearest location for PEPs. He explains that the fastest way of getting there would be by ship, and not by ocean, but by going straight up. The only faster way would’ve been the Crystal Tower.
When asked his feelings on Marchmain restoring XenoTel, he answers that it wouldn’t really affect him overly much, as he wasn’t one of the favoured, and would have very little information of use to XenoTel about the current time.
He asks more about the current date. Our answer of the current dating scheme of 525 after the Imperial Occupation is useless to him, though we have to inform him a little of the islands history, as it made no sense that the Emperor would occupy, as he was a native himself.
Thorfus checks the Bioforge Warden’s information cube to help ascertain the true date, as he sees some 2000 years passing as auspicious. If Marchmain is working to restore XenoTel, then it’s odd that nothing has been done, or has succeeded up until now. We begin to wonder if there is a time a limit, and if this tied into the Dragon Emperor and his consort at all.
Araquiel is able to to confirm that it has been 2000 years since the Rebellion, give or take a decade. His people viewed the Empire’s occupation as a transient threat, and that the Devilfish’s primary concern was continuing to make sure all traces of the Ancient Dwarven Empire remained destroyed and buried. Araquiel himself was unhappy when the Dragon Emperor originally left Curabel, as there was still work to be done regarding the dwarves.
Oddly, this gives us another pattern, whereupon every 1000 years since Heaven’s Fall, the Dragon Empire as returned in someway to Curabel, though it’s hard to draw intentions from the actions of the Emperor.
The mission of XenoTel was to colonise the planet, and we ALL come from there, implying that all races do. Xen’Teler, is simultaneously a place and the thing that resides there, and he would like to return if given the chance.
We decide to be a little more transparent with the sword, and explain how we came to meet Marchmain and the task he presented us with. Kalgunn can help us with that, but perhaps we shouldn’t hand the sphere over to Marchmain, as there ‘won’t be any glory left over for us’. He agrees with Axel’s distrust of Marchmain, but obviously takes pleasure in denying any glory to him.
The sphere we seek is reportedly an antidote to repair the damage done to XenoTel, the second problem would be reaching Xen’Teler to utilise it, though if Marchmain has indeed returned there must be some way of reaching it, despite the Tower’s fall. It becomes apparent, that by whoever’s hand XenoTel would return, it would mean bad news for the non-dwarven peoples of Meidia.
Kalgunn himself seems in favour of that, being of an older time where the dwarves were the higher race, but largely seems out for his own ends.
It comes down to what our party believes and desires. Originally, the idea was to destroy the sphere, as we believed XenoTel was merely an evil deity, but now it seems there is a promise of glory and power, but at the cost of the world and freedoms as we know them.
Personally, I think this solidifies my desires. The Ancient Dwarves were a powerful and technological wonder, and the proliferation of that ability would be amazing, but I am a modern dwarf, and everything aspect of the my ancestors society I have witnessed thus far has appalled me. I have never been a religious dwarf, I believe in the power of my axe-arm and a good sack of gold. I have lived my life seeking adventure beyond the walls of Xenilum’Khel, amongst not only dwarves, but humans, elves and other races.
My goal, and I think Chuq for certain stands with me, is to continue to prevent the return of Xeno’Tel.
The party continues to talk and debate for hours, even over dinner, and eventually beds down for the night. We experiment for some time with the fortress bracers, eventually realising we can just ask Kalgunn what they were. He reveals that they were a gift he received. If you touch the letters on them, they activate for ten minutes, then will not work again for a day. They are designed to protect you, but at the cost of being able to hurt others.
We ask about the other items from the chest. The box contains his father’s bones and detects lies. The circlet with the gems blocks ESP. The braided circlet belonged to Kalgunn the younger, which he used to improve his coordination. The yellow potion is some kind of metamorphosis potion. The black cards are as we thought, are Personal Account Cards, and with passcode allow access to the owner’s personal hoard, which works via trans-spatial energy. The golden brooches are a pair, and work as communications devices, without the weakness of the mental circlets.
The party beds down for the night, setting a customary watch, which is uneventful. We proceed to finishing our exploration of this area, heading north in the eastern wing. The first door we came to seems to be a games room of some kind, with round tables and holograms. A number of games lie around, as well as coins and gemstones. We gather up everything, our pockets and carts becoming rather full.
The door at the top of the room opens into what appears to be a shower room with a small pool or bath at the rear. The water is crystal clear, and a humanoid creature is lying next to the pool. It is headless, but with dark skin. Something is in the water below it, looking to be a round stone on a chain, similar to our keys. There is an empty water skin next to the body, but no sign of its head. Oddest of all, the body appears to be at best a week old, though battered.
Chuq is able to fish the key out of the pool with his spear, and as we examine it to our elation, it is marked with the letters a,d,c,f,g and x! Going through his belongings, we get some more currency and stones. Chuq is also able to replace his sun-damaged dark-elven gear with new stuff. Asking the automatons about the corpse reveals he arrived five days ago, alone, and was processed as extraneous meat.
We head further up the corridor. Thorfus picks up an automaton to the north, doing nothing but waiting in darkness. The door opens to a hallway, with doors to the east and north. The first room is L shaped, holding a bed, a footlocker, a bureau and another door. The bureau hold rotten clothes, some gold and some jewellry. The footlocker hold more rotten clothes and jewels. The door is just a restroom.
The next room is locked, and Chuq can hear a loud drumming noise that disappears when the door opened. Within is a similar room and items, with more gold and jewels. Chuq has an idea and fetches Pons to check for secret areas within the room, but is met with little more than jokes.
The north-most room holds the presence Thorfus found earlier. It is revealed that the automaton within is similar to the chef-types we previously found, except optimised for cleaning. It asks if there any cleaning to be done, and has not been used since the rebellion at least. It once shared the room, a utility closet, with a security automaton, but it has been gone a long time.
Back in the main corridor, the last door head south. It is a smaller 10′ by 10′ room, with a panel of five buttons, b1, b2, f, f1, f2. Clearly an electrical hoist. Kalgunn explains that they would lead to the engineer’s personal chambers. Each floor would hold two suites similar to the ones we had just been in.