Session Eighty-Three Summary (Graveyard of Empires: After the Fall)
Session 83, February 23 2022
Introduction
We continue at 1:20PM on the 4th of Denrilden (00.000.09.27 on the Apocalypse Clock) with Jardin having flown across Curmidden and reached the eastern coast in a deserted area. Having spotted some hill giants near a large automaton, Velkin leaves the sleeping black dragon to investigate. The remainder of the party still waits inside the web portal, having returned from their business in Malgrim ...
Larry's Summary
Velkin entered the automaton and it was empty. He then waited til nightfall to open the portal and get the book.
The giants processed to the automaton for a celebration, so Velkin went to their village and found a palisade and three buildings. The palisade curved in front of a hill. Velkin went around and over the hill and found that there was an entrance to an ancient dwarven ore processing facility.
We found most of a set of books and the index from the site Administrator, Dervus Karn, a mathematician who developed a way to bind DVLs without Xenotel. We found a key that we later learned opens the nanocarbon bound book.
Kauri could read the books, but the letters were used as symbols that didn't make sense.
Bortham said that the writing is similar to those used by his people to bind DVLs to items. His blade has such symbols all over it, but are too small to see. He can't read or understand it himself.
We also found come more platinum pieces and several nanocarbon tools and a cart we decided to use to hold all the books.
Velkin then created a distraction by setting the vat of the giant's alcohol in one of the storage huts on fire to draw away the giants.
He then went back to the automaton and let us out to move the machine to get at the book and found that the key fit it's lock. We then put two more large nanocarbon machines and 4 square batteries and 3 triangle batteries into the portal.
Kauri reviewed the book and those in the portal started lugging the books and the nanocarbon to the embassy in Malgrim.
Velkin returned to Jardin who wondered where Velkin was. Velkin tells him of our little adventure and Jardin keeps watch while Velkin sleeps.
Velkin Scrolls 50 - Session 83
1:20pm, Denrilden 4
00.00000.09.27 Apocalypse Clock
Rain’s stopped, yay.
These piles of junk aren’t for a one person move. I’ll have to wait for dark to safely bring help from the web.
I talk with a brilliantly colored blue bird and learn there are weird things in the water, giants and big bugs around. 2 out of 3, I’ll pass on the weird things in the water if I can. I trade some food for him to do some lookout duty for me while I explore the automaton and see if I can get the book out and search the junk piles.
There are a number of dwarven items here, a lot were powered. And some batteries. While exploring, there’s a horrendous squawking coming from the north. I hid in the trees… there’s a flock of hundreds of the Web Birds, Ajax reminded me of their name, that fly over. Greyish black, long sharp beaks and reddish eyes… nasty looking things.
I try entering the automaton via a door on it’s chest, but can’t get it open and settle for crawling in through it’s mouth. It’s tight in there.
The machine is dead, no power, no occupants. I note where there are areas of gauges and such. There’s a really complex, elegant mechanism at a door on the bottom area where the sand’s come into the thing. I leave it alone for now and head back out, find a place to relax and wait for a bit after dark. If those sentries return, I don’t want to be surprised. About 20min after sunset, there’s a drunken giant party coming down the path, they set up for a grand ole time with the whole village it looks like and I head back up the way they came, avoiding a larger giant, dressed in a ‘fancy’ cloak with a mask that looks kinda like the automaton’s face hurrying toward the party site.
At their … camp… there’s a couple giants left to hang out and guard the place, I avoid them and head down what looks to be a dwarven tunnel leading into the hillside where their palisade also encloses 3 buildings.
It’s a pretty long walk down a spiraling ramp to what looks like is a processing station for mining something. I open the portal so the rest of the party can come play in the dark underground dwarven site.
There are numerous hallways spoking out from the central area and a space under the machines with stone grinding rollers covered with nanocarbon ‘teeth’ with hoppers below. We find a silvery powder, but nothing that’s readily identifiable.
The giant’s wrecked the place, but there was a fight a long time ago from the looks of it. And likely dragonfire causing the death of a number of dwarves in the lower part underneath the grinders.
Mathmetician, Dervus Karn the Administrator of this place who conducted secret research. He was at Xhen Khel working with a lead scientist there, not named. Calgon Kauri wonders.. He’s obviously resenting being sent away from Xhen Khel. He’s studying an alternative means controlling DVL’s instead of relying on Xeno Tel. Having something to do with Mathematics. These volumes are more of a record of his experimentation’s mainly failures. Towards the end, he seems more excited and has some success. He’s managed to bind a DVL without Xeno Tel’s control. We figure this out from a shelf full of research note books 1-50 with 36 volumes present including 1 and 50 and notes about a nanocarbon bound book with his final formulas in it. The one in the pile at the automaton. We also find a key under a drawer in a desk, we’re guessing it’s for the book. The high level gist of the research is really intriguing, binding DVL magic through the use of mathematical formulas.
Borthan, he saw in the books we brought out. His people have similar magic. He doesn’t understand it. The holy men, the ones who step between worlds use incantations that look very simliar. There are other races that can do simliar. Those that we call the Silence, at least the ones who live in the world he comes from, they can travel between the dimensions. At least the ones who understand these ways. He doesn’t understand it, just recognizes the symbols. It’s used for making the sword he carries. These magics works on it while it’s being forged. They’re too small to see, but the numbers are there. You need special objects to see it as he caresses the blade. It feels smooth, but it’s covered in writing that allows you to cut through the skin between worlds. There was a bound DVL to the sword, then they enact the formula. They had formula makers and also DVL binders. Enchanters.
With everything in the portal including the party, I make my way back up the tunnel and check out the buildings. One of the two giants is sleeping, two building are storehouses for what passes for giant food, and another is a brewery of sorts with a bunch of alcohol in jars, jugs and a vat in the center. I set a torch on the side of the vat with a trail of alcohol for it to burn down to, and head toward the automaton. About halfway there, there’s a big kaboom. I guess it worked! And I move to the side as a whole village of hill giants stumble back to their village. I wonder if either of the two there survived, and if they’ll get blamed for it…
We get to the automaton and load up pretty much everything there, leaving trash, but taking anything worth taking into the portal to be transferred to the Embassy.
Main things moved into the web portal to be taken to Malgrim: Evidence of suspected dragonfire killing a number of dwarves. Leather satchel full of nanocarbon tools for the machinery down here plus 8 tools and a set of allen wrenches, a wafer thin platinum medallion with finely punched rectangular holes in it, 70pp, Purplish shards, 5 large and 5 small pieces, 4 square batteries, and 7 triangular batteries, a suit of non functioning power armor, some staves and swords, 36/50 volumes of research notes 1 and 50 present. 3 large pieces of nanocarbon and a trolley to carry stuff on.
Dervus Karn’s Fantastic Formulas: A nanocarbon bound locked book and it’s key. Written in a silvery ink. There’s breaks in the formulas, but even Kauri can’t make heads or tails of it. Borthan’s familiar with the premise, and told us all he knows.