Game 8: The Plight of Mr. Pump

Bob, Brickface, Graf, and Taka have escaped. Rufus and Altus saw them take to the hills with their own eyes. Hammond, however, was a different story. He had locked the townsfolk in the town hall to burn, set a trap on the water&power plant, and then seemingly vanished into thin air. The Guard of Blackwater fortress did a sweep, but they found no sign of him. The party gathered by the town hall. The last areas in the fortress to be searched were nearby; Carlana's house (for which permission was required to even enter), and Rufus' house (which had been too close to the town hall fire to search previously). The town hall fire was now down to a half-hearted smoulder, and Rufus' house had survived unscathed.

Altus, Enbel & Echo enter Carlana's house with her permission and do not find Hammond - but do find a note that indicates that he had been there:

Dearest Carlana,

You're not worth killing. Your pathetic leadership is what has allowed this to happen. Enjoy rotting in this tomb that you have built for yourself, and all your people that remain here with you. Shame - a kobold is your best asset... but not for long.

Love,

Hammond.

They then check Rufus' house, and find nothing. Tep, standing outside with some of the Guard, notices a glint of light from under Rufus' porch. He tells the others, and on inspection it turns out to be a trap - what looks like a bomb set to fire shrapnel up through the wooden porch. The group manage to disable it before it does any harm - it had obviously been intended for Rufus.

There follows a discussion on the best course to take following the recent events. Rufus and Erik agree to look at #8, and suggest that the others go to the Save Point to see if they can find any information on the operation of #8. Tep offers to come with them, a show of friendship after the consideration shown him by the party, and Altus in particular. He says that he would do well to repay their respect, since Altus saved his life. Tep tells his daughter to do what she feels is best. She decides to go home, and 5 of the gnome guard offer to escort her back. Tep, stamping his authority on the situation, turns to the guards and says:

Tep: " Very well, but if any harm comes to her, I know where you live, and I have broken in before..."

They leave for the Save Point - Tep, Echo, Enbel, and Altus. On the way, Echo stops by the bomb-rigged door they had earlier disposed of outside the fortress, and left a pictogram trying to explain to their illiterate imp friend Clomp that the bomb on the door would cause an explosive and painful death. They continue onwards to the Save Point. When they get there, the door is open. As they pass through, a metal divider - a portcullis - smashes down, sealing Echo, Altus and Enbel inside, and Tep outside. From behind, Tep hears someone approach.

Hammond: "I always have to clean up Bob's messes"

Tep: "When I'm done with you, Bob will have to clean up your mess. That is - the mess that is you"

They begin to fight. The others, trapped inside, attempt to raise the portcullis - but they can't do it by force, and they can't find a switch. Then, their attention is turned sharply towards their own well being as a trio of kobolds stride into the room, menace gleaming in their dark eyes. Although taken initially by surprise, Altus, Echo and Enbel turned the tide in a short period of time - aided by the fact that they have now seen a number of battles together, and are ever more adaptable to each others style. At the same time, Tep fought in a pitched battle that he never looked like losing. Hammond's arrogance had led him clearly to bite off more than he could chew. Despite Tep's usual diplomatic and calm (for a goblin at least) demeanour - he fought fiercely, and true to his word he finished Hammond on the ground, stomping his head and body into a bloody unrecognisable pulp long after the life had left his body.

After the battle ends, they find the switch to open the portcullis. The 4 step into the facility, careful to walk around the kobold bodies and the smoky wreck of a fight which had involved thrown furniture, fire, and one notable oil drum explosion. They comb through the facility, which seems to have been ransacked since the party were last there. A room which seemed equipped for holding magic artifacts was left empty of anything it may have contained. Realisation dawned on the original 3 that the kobolds had likely used #7 to lure them out of the Save Point in order to get at the artifacts. But why hadn't they just killed them while they were in stasis?

Making their way into a control room, they find a small book - Module #8 - what you need to know. It seemed to be divided equally in content between advertisement and actual scientific data. It seemed to be a proposal for the introduction of 'living constructs' into use in Save Points. It pointed out the usefulness of having 'human intelligence' on hand to help, in case anything went wrong with the AI of the other modules. It proposed use of a living construct as Module #8 in every save point. It was signed off by the proposer of the idea - Teksin Rockefeller - the mayor of Firestrong from the time when the 3 went into stasis. Before they had time to finish reading through the book they were surrounded by more kobolds. Younglings - like their initial battle at the door, but in greater than double their numbers this time.

The only way out was through the door they had come through, which was heavily guarded. They had come downstairs to get to this room, so there were no windows - just a huge steel box around them, and the knowledge that they would have to fight to escape or else die in this tin-can tomb. They take the battle to the kobolds with the resolve which can only come with do-or-die situations. Altus hangs back to cast a ritual. His telepathy allowed him to sense a nearby rodent, and his ritual allowed him to send that rodent with a worded message to a nearby ally. Of course, the nearest ally was Clomp.

Clomp, it's Altus.

Dead gnome in save point.

Also lots of animals.

Help us kill some kobolds there, they're yours.

Also - you can eat this rat.

At about this time, the party collectively notice a number of different colour patterns on the floor - at about the same time they notice 2 sealed booths with kobolds, and 1 of them flips a switch causing the red areas on the floor to gush out flame. So red for fire - not very inventive, and easy to remember. Tep uses ice magic to coat the floor with a slippery icy top, hindering his enemies, but not having any effect on his movement. Another blast from the fire floor melts part of it away. Echo, showing her usual disregard for pain and danger, pursues kobolds meticulously while ignoring the floor patterns completely. She is hit by fire, and electrocuted numerous times, but all the while her foes drop one by one, and she moves on. Tep stays mobile, dancing back and forth on the areas of the floor still caked by ice- landing hits on one, then another, then seemingly cart-wheeling across the room impossibly to strike another. Enbel busies herself with kobolds that stand between her and the booth closest to her. She manages to muscle through the crowd and get inside a booth. This seemed to begin to turn the fight in the party's favour. For his part, Altus found a large piece of ground devoid of colour (and therefore of traps), and held the line, viciously defending against any who ran at him. All the while, he could feel the presence of impish minds approaching ever closer.

Clomp appears through the console behind Altus, with 2 of his impish cohort. At this point Altus cedes the safe ground and runs forward into battle with his imp-tourage. The kobolds' courage is flagging and when the party commandeer the second booth, victory seems a foregone conclusion. A lever is pressed opening a huge pit, and a kobold falls in and is trapped. After all the other kobolds are dispatched, Clomp and the other 2 imps open this pit, jump down and finish the kobold, exiting the pit covered in viscera, and slightly wild-eyed.

Altus thanked them for coming so quickly to assist. They finish reading the #8 book, and from this discern that special tablets are used to give #8 its organic power. A quick search and they find a huge bag of these pills. They then decide to make their way back to the Blackwater fortress. For once, the short journey through the once-town of Firestrong passes without an attack - but not without incident. The imps, having taken their leave when the party were searching for the pills, are gathered near to the bomb-door. They lure a goat onto the door, which explodes. The imps celebrate, giving each other meaningful looks, high fives, and generally making noises of satisfied achievement. They then start scavenging the pieces of goat-shrapnel nearby, and eating it. Some of them have pieces of the goat actually land on them, or very near, so they savage it and look for seconds. The party are amused and impressed by their ingenuity.

They meet Rufus and Erik inside the front gate. Tep decides to take his leave, and head back to the goblins before his warmonger brother gets the wrong idea and raises an army against the fortress. Altus puts a tablet in #8's mouth. Rufus asks Enbel for her emberflare moss - a magical moss which will burn endlessly without being consumed. Between himself and Erik, they have retuned #8's mechanical components to run on steampower. With the emberflare moss, this will never require more fuel - just an occasional top up of water to allow for any loss through #8. As the water comes to a bubble, Rufus closes the chestplate on Mr. Pump. Lucidity returns to #8's eyes.

#8/Pump: "Where is Carlana, I'm ready for this meeting!"

*End of Game 8*