“There be something foul in the air to the north,” Kildo said, snorting and wrinkling his nose.
“We should go north to investigate to ensure nothing attacks our rear,” Kai responded and began to travel down the corridor.
Following the path, Kildo noted it sloped downward. It turned and headed back westward into a roughly oval room. The ground was rough, and it took a moment to realize it wasn’t rocks, but the floor was covered with bones with skulls mixed in. Humanoid, they were clean without any meat on them. They hadn’t been gnawed, but some were crushed.
“Yup. That’s what I be smelling,” Kildo said, covering his nose.
Guo Gan proceeded to enter, but Kai held out his arm to stop the monk. “I want to ensure there are no surprises in the room.” The paladin closed his eyes and began chanting. Several minutes passed before opening them. “No undead.”
“Or magic for that matter,” Scomatch huffed after ritually casting, Detect Magic.
Proceeding carefully through the room, bone fragments crunched under Kildo’s feet. There was a western exit across the way, which was partially obscured by bones and the cave’s natural darkness. The dwarf felt the pathway begin to slope upwards and turn north. Up ahead was a larger cavern. In the middle was a large pool of mud. Bubbles popped on the surface. A small river of the muck flowed westwards. There were six creatures giggling and flying around the mud pit and dipping in and out. They were a cross between a small, winged imp with the head of a mosquito and a long, thin proboscis, all sculpted out of two elements: earth and water. They were mud mephits and turned as the party approached. They darted angrily toward them.
Instinctually, Kai thrust with Wave as the elemental creatures swarmed and he clipped one.
The room then ignited in fire as Scomatch cast, Fireball. The mephits were engulfed. The one Kai just struck exploded in dried dirt clogs, which harmless peppered Kai and Guo Gan. The mud mephits looked crusty and dried out, and their flight was hampered.
Using Qiekamis like a bat, Guo Gan swung his quarterstaff and struck one next to Kai. The monk brought the other end around and bashed a second one. Both disintegrated into stinging dirt as the monk covered his eyes, avoiding any effect of the flying debris.
Lunging with Wave, Kai caught a mephit in midair. It broke into two pieces and fell. The dried cracks in the other mud mephits' bodies began to ooze mud. Their flight became faster as Kai missed thrusting his trident at the buzzing elementals.
Swinging at a mud mephit like a fly, Kildo’s war hammer crunched into one of the buzzing creatures. It exploded in a torrent of mud. The thick sludge covered both himself and Scomatch.
“What the f…” Scomatch bellowed, wiping and throwing mud from his hands.
“Apologies,” Kildo responded, flinging the muck from his beard.
The last remaining mephit belched viscid mud across the front of Guo Gan.
Scomatch cast, Acid Splash. The flying elemental dodged the spell.
Wiping the gummy muck from his eyes, Guo Gan swung Qiekamis downward and smashed the mud mephit to the ground. It twitched for a moment before it ceased.
The immediate area went quiet, except for the occasional popping of the mud pit in the middle of the room. Outstretching his hand, Kildo noted it wasn’t hot. He then saw Guo Gan flip over the river to the other side. Waving off the acrobatic monk and his showing off, Kildo glanced, and there was a small path around the mud pool, which hugged the cave wall. He, Kai, and Scomatch used and led to a larger cavern on the other side. The shadows revealed a western exit. Traveling down a short tunnel, it branched. It continued west, which sloped downwards, while a northern route sloped upwards. Kildo continued westward, but noted Kai and Guo Gan moved north. Snorting, he peered into the darkness to get a sense of the slant when he heard the sounds of battle and Kai yelling. Running, he saw the strangest contraptions in his fifty-plus years of life.
The first was a clockwork horror, which looked like a mechanical spider. Its body was two feet in diameter, with its four legs twice that long. On the front of the head was a red crystal, which likely allowed it to see. Two metal arms stretch out with a golden, circular buzz-saw blade. There was an audible ‘whine’ as they revved up and began to spin at a high rate of speed.
The second was also a mechanical, but humanoid contraption. It was a stone defender, as it had large stone slabs affixed to both of its arms to serve as shields. A thick, brass design was at the top of each to strengthen it.
Kai and Guo Gan were stuck in a choke point in the cavern by the mechanisms, which led to a larger room beyond. The clockwork horror slashed with its blades, slicing across Kai’s front armor.
A glowing one-foot ball of emerald acid from Scomatch formed above the two automatons. It burst, covering both with the sizzling liquid. A metallic smell carried in the air.
Thrusting with Wave, the trident’s prongs tore into the weakened metal. It collapsed as its’ form continued to melt into a scrap pile. Another clockwork horror emerged from a darkened corner and scampered with frightening speed. Its spider-like legs scattered the debris of its former comrade.
Guo Gan lunged with his quarterstaff. The machine dodged. Bringing the other end up and bashing down, it was intercepted by one of the stone defender’s shields.
Stuck outside the room in the corridor, Kildo cast, Toll the Dead. The stone defender’s shields blocked the sound waves of the dolorous bells.
Buzzsaws spinning, the clockwork horror slashed at Guo Gan. The monk weaved to either side of the blades.
The stone defender advanced on Kai. Smashing his two heavy stone shields like musical symbols, Kai was caught between them as they crunched into his armor.
A sudden ringing noise filled the two machines as Scomatch cast, Shatter. The clockwork horror’s metal reverberated violently as its form fell apart into iron scrap.
While the halfling mage sculpted his spell around the party, Kai was too close. Shaking his head to clear it from the ringing, he lunged, wide to the left and then wide to the right, missing the stone defender.
Seeing the paladin struggle, Kildo shouted, “Kai, be hitting the one in the middle!” Chanting, he cast, Toll the Dead. Concentrating on the triton, the contraption took the cantrip’s full effect. Still seeing a wobbling Kai, he moved up to make himself a target and help distract the machine.
Jabbing with Qiekamis, Guo Gan’s quarterstaff tip struck the stone defender on the chin. Its head shot up, stopped, and bobbed. A massive spring barely kept it connected. Its metal form stopped, sunk in on itself, as its spring-attached head rolled around useless.
“Be checking them corners,” Kildo said as the party entered the contraption’s room. The cavern was oval with a mud pool in the middle, and an occasional bubble popped. Thirteen stone sarcophagi lined the room around the circumference. They were all open and empty. He noted they were not enough to fill the bone room they passed previously.
“Human coffins? What are these doing on this far-flung asteroid?” Kai said, but more out loud.
“Human? These be dwarf tombs,” Kildo said as he wiped the dust from a nameplate and noted the dwarven name.
“Why are they so large?”
“Don’t ye want your body to have some space for all eternity?”
“Do their names or surnames mean anything to you?” Guo Gan asked.
Going from coffin to coffin and reading each inscription, Kildo shook his head no.
Exiting the cemetery to the northwest, the pathways went west into a long cavern and into darkness. The north path seemed to open up. Kai chose the northern route. Entering a massive oval room, there were six evenly, but roughly carved pillars going down the room's length. There was a small exit to the south with an eastern passageway, which Kildo noted it sloped downwards. The room was utterly silent and vacant. The party continued moving down the easterly passageway. They traveled a short distance before it emptied into a much larger cavern. Stepping stones were laid in a path and level with the ground. The group stayed on the rocks.
Entering and as their light revealed its secrets, there were six massive pillars with an altar at the far end. There a massive stone statue of a bestial visage holding a massive brazier in its lap, sat. Their light gave it a reddish-orange skinned appearance. Its huge, horned head hosted a gaped mouth filled with shark-like teeth. It had a fiery, slanting, unblinking left eye. However, upon closer inspection, it was an enormous gemstone. In the right eye socket, if there was a precious gem, it was long gone and now empty.
Standing in front of it were two large humanoid statues made of stone. Grinding began as their heads turned to the party. They then heard rumblings from the pillars surrounding them. Shadows moved.
They were coming.
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