Having slain Big Boss in the Kobold lair the gang finds themselves in the middle of Kobold celebration. Questionable food and a very potent but dubious beverage are served round as the Kobolds revel. Only Sidron with his Hobgoblin heritage dares brave the strong drink and finds it to be dangerously stout, he also finds a human fingernail floating in his cup. After the celebration the Kobold lieutenant (in defacto command until Bhe can take charge of the Kobolds) nervously ushers the gang back out into the Modron tunnels. As they leave the cut a deal and buy one of the Kobold’s many Rust Monsters from them for 20GP. Loading it up they begin to push forward deeper into the Modron sewers.
The Curios Company decides to rest for the night near the end of Kobold section of the Modron tunnels, they make what camp they can and set up their standard watch rotation. Magnus perturbed by all the filth around him refuses to get any shut-eye and as the night wears on becomes ill, a result of the filthy stick that pierced his foot in the Kobold trap. Every watch that night either catches sight of a single Modron creeping closer to get a better look at the party or hears the faint sounds of metallic feet attempting to sneak around the tunnel ahead of, and oddly behind them from time to time as well. At one point a feverish Magnus sends his clockwork homunculous, “Bug”, down the tunnel to investigate. Bug finds a metal flower, perfectly formed with no markings at all of how it was produced. During the final watch of the night, a watch kept by Gax and Torrik, Torrik vanishes in a puff of dark smoke that leaves a single raven’s feather behind. Both Gax and Magnus witness this and after a quick discussion the gang decide to press on. They are hopeful he will rejoin them again like he did in the future.
Pressing forward that morning the party soon comes to an image marked conspicuously onto the floor of the passageway in front of them. Its a simple drawing of a single Monodrone extending a flower towards seven simple humanoid figures. “It wants to be our friend!” Gax exclaims and yells down the tunnel ahead of them, “Hellllooooooo mr Modron!”
Seconds pass then a hail from further ahead returns to them, “eeeeeoooooo Ener Meedooo,” a tinny voice calls back. After several exchanges a Mondodrone approaches the gang cautiously. They see that it has swirls and patterns on the surface of its body, smeared on with dirt, mud, and whatever else it could find in the sewers of NorthWood. After a few bungles (one where Wolrf poked the Modron with the butt of his Javelin causing it to run away) Sidron is able to communicate utilizing Comprehend languages and simple drawings on the sewer floor. As all this is happening it becomes more and more apparent that whatever sickness Magnus has contracted… it’s worsening.
After a long exchange the party is able to deduce that this Monodrone is defective, that while it believes in the beauty of order it also sees this plane of existence as being beautiful even though it is disordered. It manages to explain that there is a rift between the planes and that part of a Modrone device is extending into this dimension. It’s producing Modrons to accomplish the will of Primus: Order above all else. The defective Modron explains that it can shut off the part of the device that is extending into this plane, but it will need 30 seconds to complete the procedure. Understanding that if left unchecked the Modrons will eventually move top-side to re-order NorthWood and the world beyond the gang decides to assist the defective Monodrone in shutting down the device.
Having gained their assistance the Monodrone leads them forward, soon stopping and performing a mysterious set of movements on the sewer wall that cause a section to open up and reveal other tunnels behind. The Curios Company follow their new “friend” and after several hours of traveling through these back-tunnels, with many turns and opening of new passages, sometimes waiting for long periods of time as the Monodrone listens to the wall ahead before opening it. They arrive at their destination, Removing a small thin slab from the wall to use as a peep hole of sorts the Monodrone shows the party a view into a large rectangular room. Several Modron sewer tunnels pull out of this room but the largest feature that dominates one end of the chamber is the Modron device. Like the corner of house pushed into the room at an odd angle the device pierces into this plane of existence. Built of panels and gears that move and shift, every minute and a half a panel will slide back and a fresh new Monodrone will stride forth and make it’s way down one of the tunnels. Around the edges of the device the very fabric of the Material Plane is stretched and torn, a sort of shimmering vibrating edge that hurts the eyes and the mind to look at press against the device where it is pushed through.
After a short discussion the gang decides to take the plunge and just leap into action. The defective Monodrone pulls away a section of the wall creating an opening large enough for one person at a time to enter, it’s 15′ above the floor of the great room they peer into. Wolrf leaps into the chamber, landing with a thud that draws the attention of the Monodrone guards who were posted out of sight in the tunnels. The defective Mondorone flits past Wolrf and plants face first into the device, as it does the panels shift and move and the Modron’s front half recesses into the device, sort of plugging into it. The rest of the gang erupt forth and chaos begins! Alerted Monodrones quickly dispatched, some of their remains forming into Duodrones as the defective Modron continues to work to shut down the device. A bright flash, nearly blindingly bright, erupts from the device as some of it’s panels shift and relocate…
And that is where we leave off this week! Tune in next week to see how the gang fares against the now alerted Modrons!
TOTMrpg 