Session Two Hundred and Three (Graveyard of Empires Summary)
SESSION 203 – May 17, 2018
We hear a noise on the other side of the door that leads to the tram station, and as it walks away Rallion opens the door. We see two automatons that look like the bodies of dwarven warriors, but one arm appears to be a stick, and the cube is just floating in the air. They stop and when we don’t move, do in the door.
Before going to the galleria which is green, Rallion goes to try his key onthe door the automata used. As he steps next to it a voice gives the procedure to disarm, knock 3 times, and prostrate oneself if an audience is desited with Jax.
Rallion braves this meeting. Rallion is asked if he is part of a group, if he is from Curabel, and if he is with Silverthrone. Rallion answers truthfully to each, Yes, Yes, and No. He is then invited in and finds a very odd “conjoined twins” that is an old man who is hairless, and covered with ink from tattoos, and whose head have ioun stones circling them. Both seem to take turns talking to Rallion as if different parts of Jax’s personality are in each body. Is this a “natural” conjoined set of twins, or an experiment gone awry, or a curse? He asks if I have heard of him, and I have not. He was once master to Aldus Runnelbrook who did not stay with him long, so he is easily 600 years old.
Jax tells Rallion that Marchmain made a deal to stay out of each other’s way. Jax believes Marchmain is dead since he was so foolish to bring the disease, and our only opposition will be the infected. Most are still on the surface. He wizard locked the doors to the trams to prevent so many infected from bothering him. We cleared out the bioforge area we explored, speeding up his own efforts. He is not worried about Xen Khel or the armada, and is not interested in helping us. He requires tribute for transiting his realm, for returning for out sub, and for giving us directions to the space ship. If we succeed in saving the world, he expects us to tell the world about him. He plans to take his rightful place as ruler of the world, and will let us (was that only Rallion and Kauri?) live for meeting him and paying the tribute.
Jax wanted to meet all of us, but only Kauri was game to meet him when Rallion delivered the tribute.
While Rallion was talking with Jax, Kauri and Alys, with direction from Kalgun, put the voicebox in Axel.
Rallion returns and mentions Jax’s demand of tribute to let us pass freely, and he wants good stuff to research and sell. So we unload the information cubes and other magic items that are less useful to us, including the cursed gauntlets. Rallion asked if cursed items would suit him, and he said yes, as long as not all items were cursed. We also gave some valuable gems and gold to lighten out load.
The items we gave are: (18 all together)
Geosync info cube
Decsync info cube
Kalgun’s desync research info cube
Bioforging info cube
Marchmain’s crystal technology info cube
Engineering bay info cube from ship we found with replicator
Schematics for colossai info cube
Blank undying cube
Stun Stick
Inquisitor Mask
Gauntlets of fumbling (Magic Gauntlets +3/+6)
Ambergis – 8 flasks
Edan’s Flaming Leather hat (unique)
20 – 1,000 GP gems. (Rallion gave up his gems as he can’t use them if he is dead.)
10,000 gp
Shield Gauntlets – from Nash – burnt out
Scroll Explosive Runes
Manual of Iron Golems (We don’t have the time before the end of the world to use this, nor the money to do it.)
We heal completely using up remaining cure light spells. We rest enough for Kauri to learn double the spells as he decided to let the DVL expand his mind (re-write it). This afforded another round of cure light wounds, 5 each for Nash and Lambertus, which brought us all to full health, and allowed time to have each learn all their first level spells again. By morning, Nash was able to see shapes through his new eye. He is keeping it covered with an eye patch.
Laris maintained 1 knock in each crystal and 1 in memory. He used one so we could get on the tram, and another to get us off.
When we got to the other side of the tram, it was many miles, we don’t know just how fast we travelled, but the blurring of the tunnel was gut-wrenching. There were also thuds as the smears of infected were knocked down. It was mostly wriggling body parts or wriggling torsos.
At the other end of the tram, we found a station similar to the one we left, but rotated 180 degrees. The doors to N, E, and W were barricaded, and the one to the north has four dwarves in damaged new style power armor. They ignored us until the door to the tram opened. They approached and we fought. As we only opened one door it limited our abilities to attack eachother. Lambertus cast prayer, and Nash cast bless. We knocked one down, who had about 60 HP. Laris prepared to cast his last knock on the other side of the tram so we could flank the infected. We have about 16 minutes until the tram leaves.