The leader of the group, a kobold in orange robes with a copious tattoos, and a strange armored right arm, points towards the door into the laboratory, where the screaming comes from. "Turen is waiting in there. Follow me."

One kobold comes nearer to the bars, staring fascinated at this sudden occurrence. Is this another hallucination brought on by starvation? Perhaps, the kobold thinks, he has finally snapped. His weathered hands clutch at the bars, and he observes silently.

As the undead menagerie passes by, a kobold skull on the flail-wielder's belt swings loosely, twine binding it there. One eye socket is covered by a red dragon's scale. The other has a red flame within it, and it seems to go wide as it sees the observer. A voice like groaning iron about to snap rings out from the skull as its jaw swings open.

"What're you looking at, scaleface?"

(Previous Thread: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/15650988/)

>>15729206
Oh hey!
I thought you weren't running Kobold Sorceror Quest tonight!

Anyway, let's get in, see how Turen is doing. Hopefully, the CCCP soldiers will have been able to fan out and gather up any more technical documents while Mynthar was out.

>>15729451

(I just got a hella late start, that's all.)

You enter into the laboratory, the undead kobolds shortly behind you. Within, you can see Turen, his disguise expired, holding the surgical weapon in one corner of the room, with one of the prisoners on the table, screaming loudly as though in intense pain. As they see you come in, Turen stops the weapon, and waves to the prisoner. The prisoner stops screaming shortly thereafter, sitting up and coughing a bit, before laughing. "Wow, that was good."

"Yes, very convincing." Turen agrees, looking over to you and the others. "I see the cavalry has arrived. Just in time too, my last disguise just ran out."

The prisoners recoil somewhat from the skeletal warriors, one plunking down the bag of holding filled with equipment. Seeming uncertain, the prisoners look over to you, and then after an assuring nod, limp forwards to help themselves to the weaponry and armament.

The red-skinned kobold limps over to you, papers clutched in both his good hand and the mechanical mockery attached in place of his left arm. "I think these bits are the diagrams of our..." He looks over at the metal frame, grimacing. "-Replacements. There could be a few more. Let me armor up and then I'll keep looking."

>>15729697
"Good. Take what you can. We're going to light up this place."
Call over the CCCP soldiers, and start handing out the alchemist's fire.
"Alright, boys, time to remember your demolitions training. We've got six levels to go through before we're clear of here, so don't hit the superstructure. Concentrate on lab equipment and anything you can't carry. If it looks expensive and we can't take it, make sure that no one can."

Turn to our undead friends, then.
"Here's the plan: while these soldiers get ready to burn everything here, we're going to start releasing the prisoners. Then, we've got six floors of ruffians, thugs, and n'er-do-wells to fight through before we get out of here. Now, does that sound like fun to you gents?"

"Good. Take what you can. We're going to light up this place." You say, looking over the stack of papers.

Flipping through it, you see a large number of schematics, including the ones for the very kobold who handed you the papers. You can see that he was meant to have more extreme replacements over just the one leg and arm, as the removal of several toes indicates. You roll them up, securing them in a small pouch in your robes.

>>15729761

You wait until the soldiers have finished armoring themselves, most leaving the metal replacements unprotected. The kobold missing his left forearm seems to have found a handle-less blade, and he grins sadistically as he plugs it into the metal hole in his arm with a click.

"Alright, boys, time to remember your demolitions training. We've got six levels to go through before we're clear of here, so don't hit the superstructure. Concentrate on lab equipment and anything you can't carry. If it looks expensive and we can't take it, make sure that no one can."

"Yessir!" They say, each raising their right hand to their chest in a salute.

You turn to the undead, some of whom are examining a linegun with careful interest.

"Here's the plan: while these soldiers get ready to burn everything here, we're going to start releasing the prisoners. Then, we've got six floors of ruffians, thugs, and n'er-do-wells to fight through before we get out of here. Now, does that sound like fun to you gents?"

The skeletons laugh rowdily, their teeth clattering together as they raise their weapons.

"Bring 'em on! I'll chew through their intestines until I hit spine, then use that to floss!" Ghurken cackles, his eye flaring in excitement.

The larger kobold, covered in muscles, looks over at you with a questioning glance. "What should I do... Mr...?"

>>15729853
"Name's Kolp. Best thing right now is probably helping me release the prisoners. Then, we've got some Cave Fang thugs to fight through."

We've still got the cell keys, right?
Let's go back out to the cells and start releasing prisoners. Tell them to stay quiet as we unlock the cells.
Ask the old guys (undead tavernkeepers/dragonslayers) to get ready at the stairs that go up to the next level.
We're going to go up once the prisoners on this level are released, and the alchemist's fire is ready to go.

Oh, and can we rig up a time delay for the alchemist's fire? Give us a bit of a head start before this facility starts filling up with fire and smoke.

"Name's Kolp. Best thing right now is probably helping me release the prisoners. Then, we've got some Cave Fang thugs to fight through."

"Cave Fang." He says slowly, and flexes his arms. You can hear the joints in them pop loudly.

"Seems like he's got the idea." The purple-eyed skeleton says. "And he's got enough muscle for the lot of us."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Asks Lanon, "flexing" one of his skeletal arms. "I'm just as fit as I was twenty years ago!"

"If I could, I would bury my head in my hands in disappointment with you." Ghurken hisses at his progeny, swaying back and forth.

You give a few more directions, and the soldiers work with Turen to begin rigging up a fuse. The few other soldiers from the CCCP that you free are still whole, and though they seem weak, each grabs a gun and armor from the pile you brought along. The skeletons and the monstrous kobold wait at the edge of the stairs tensely as the soldiers place the alchemist's fire.

"Alright, we have about five minutes before this starts to burn." Turen says to you. "Mr. Tarthis might have given us longer, but I did the best I could." He points back to a few big machines. "Those have some flammable gases in them, so we may have some collapsing once they start to trigger. Fortunately, the third floor up is reinforced, so it serves like a second foundation."

"In other words, we have to get up to the third floor in five minutes or so." One of the skeletons says.

"Yes." Turen says, readying a match in one hand. "Now that my boring explanation is out of the way, should I trigger this?"

>>15730109
Make sure that all of the prisoners have been freed.
"Everyone ready? We go up, start fighting through. As soon as everyone else is up on the fifth level and we're on our way to the fourth, then light it Turen.
"That should give us and the weakened prisoners time to get up to the third floor.
"Let's go!"

>>15730157

(lol, I knew I forgot something. No, you leave them to burn, clearly.)

The prisoners wait behind your group, clutching weaponry and waiting impatiently.

"Everyone ready? We go up, start fighting through. As soon as everyone else is up on the fifth level and we're on our way to the fourth, then light it Turen."

"Got it. Call down when you're ready." Turen says.

"That should give us and the weakened prisoners time to get up to the third floor." You say to them, motioning onward.

"Let's go!"

The clattering of bones and jeering from the grand-daddy of all boneheads echoes through the ladder shaft as you press on.

>>15730550
Welp, let's see how this goes. Undead gramps in front, followed behind by CCCP soldiers with lineguns.
As we direct people, Mynthar should take a quick glance through any side rooms to find documents of interest or prototypes.

The skeletal troupe swarms up the ladder, and you hear some of the gang members shriek as they come up from below.

"It's the doctor's experiments, they've come back from the dead for revenge!" One shouts.

>>15730574

The spearwielder leaps from the passageway, the polearm spinning above his head as he dives down on one, the spear sliding through the kobold like clay.

You look around amidst the sounds of battle. One room you hadn't seen during your first time through glows with a dim red light, off in one corner.

>>15730630
Swarm up after them. Can't let the old guys get all the glory.
Gesture to the CCCP soldiers: "Follow me, lads! Can't let the gramps have all the glory!"
Get up there, secure the ladder, and start getting the prisoners up.

>>15730648
Okay, once the ladder is secured and the prisoners have started coming up, and the old guys are backed up by the CCCP soldiers (tell the soldiers which way to get to the next ladder), grab one of the soldiers and investigate the glowing room.

>>15730666

"Follow me, lads! Can't let the gramps have all the glory!" You call down to the soldiers, who climb up as best they can, the able-bodied helping the injured as they rise.

They chase the few guards down the main hallway, the skeletons moving with unnatural grace to flank the group as your soldiers unleash hell on the captors.

>>15730679

You direct your soldiers down the passage, towards the gunfire, and head into the red-lit room.

Within that room, you can see a few kobolds in red-lit tubes, floating. They appear to be breathing very slowly, and have bright red liquid channeled into them. There is a gallon container of the liquid nearby half-full.

>>15730938
Find a way to disengage the system and free the Kobolds. If there doesn't appear to be a quick way, smash the glass.

>>15730959
Agreed with this, but also try to get a sample of the red liquid.

>>15730959

You look at the tube, finding a drainage switch on one side. You point to the one on the other tube, and the soldier helps as best he can. His one functioning arm does the work of your two, and the warm water in the tank streams out onto the ground.

The two kobolds emanate an amazing heat, and you find the tube a simple matter to open with a quick smash.

The kobolds on the interior are unconscious.

"Hey! Hey wake up!" The soldier says to his, grabbing him with his good hand and slapping him with his metal, unfunctioning hand.

>>15731042
Do we know any basic shock spells that won't kill them? Just enough to get them alert.

If not, try to get some help from the others to help carry them up a floor; we're on the clock.

Also, thanks for the thread, OP. I'm heading to bed.

>>15731042
See if we can put some of this red stuff into a vial for later analysis.

Shake the unconcious kobold some.
"Come on, wake up!"

And with that, I'm out for a few hours.

>>15731051
>>15731052

You jolt one awake with the barest amount of static. The kobold gains consciousness, and you can feel a huge wave of heat come off of him.

"Ahh! Hot! Hot!" The soldier shouts, and you can see his metal hand melt into a liquid, the entire remnant of the thing burning up his limb. You move over quickly and provide him with a spell to resist the heat, which you admit seems like a good idea. The two kobolds generate such an intense heat that the water on the ground starts to steam.

"What happened? What's going on?" The kobold you awoke says, looking at his hands. "Why is my skin such a weird color?"

"You too?" The other kobold says, indicating his own reddish scales. "I was green... I've been green my whole life." He reaches over to the glass, and it turns red and quickly melts into slag. The kobold recoils, jumping back from it. "Ah! Wh-what's going on? Why did that happen?"

"Oh gods, what did they do to us?" The kobold you freed says, clenching his fists. You feel the heat in the air increase, and the kobold's eyes glow red. "What did they do?"

The glass around you starts to glow, and you feel a choking heat in the room. You begin casting a spell to protect yourself before you even begin thinking about anything else.

"Calm down. You're making this whole room heat up." You say to them, hoping to appeal to their logic. "We're here to help you get out of here, but we can't have you burning anyone else."

"Lighting someone's hand on fire tends to make them quite a bit less likely act friendly towards you." The soldier mutters, looking at the melted stub of his left arm. "Not that I could use it for anything, but it's the thought that counts, right?"

The kobold nearest you relaxes, his eyes dimming as he does so. "I- I don't know what happened. They had us go through all these tests, and if we didn't comply, they said they would hurt the others."

"Well, they did anyway." The soldier grumbles, looking at his metal limbs again.

"Hey, we're trying to calm them down, not rile them up." You say to him.

The other kobold looks over at you, fear in his eyes. "I just want out. Out of this place. I don't want to be a conduit or whatever."

"Conduit?" You respond, thinking for a moment. It reminds you of something you're heard before. "Well, never mind that. Grab that stuff they were pumping into you and let's get out of here."

"Dragon's blood." The kobold you rescued says, looking down into the stuff.

"What?" The soldier asks.

The kobold you awakened spits into the container, his spit lighting on fire once it makes contact with the air, and the container burning for a brief moment. "They were filling us with dragon's blood."

>>15731994
>They were filling us with dragon's blood.
"Of all the...Where in the Nine Hells did they get more dragon's blood? I thought they were all driven off of this continent.
"No matter. Stay calm, and let's get you out of here."

Grab up more of the dragon's blood, then. Stuff is great as a magical reagent, after all.
Then let's see if our little undead force has been able to fight their way to the next level.

>>15732749

"Of all the...Where in the Nine Hells did they get more dragon's blood? I thought they were all driven off of this continent." You ask, hoping one of them might remember something. The kobolds remain silent.

"No matter. Stay calm, and let's get you out of here." You say to them, motioning on into the prison hallway.

The skeletal fighters have all smashed through their enemies, the gang members laid low and arranged in a pile.

"Time to burn, you no good ingrates! Let's see how they like your candy asses in HELL!" Ghurken screeches at them, swaying wildly on his short tether.

"You OK, grand-grandpa?" The skeleton with the flail, whose belt Ghurken is hanging from, asks him.

"I'm having a grand old time! Normally, I just get to yell at you all. But now, I have all these new kids to scream at. I thought that one was going to wet himself." The skull answers, sneering at one of the wounded kobolds.

>>15734420
"Alright, let's get going up to the next floor.
"As soon as you secure the ladder, I'll have Turen light the fuse."

Did we actually capture prisoners? Huh, didn't expect that to be a problem. Now what should we do with them?

>>15734607

"Alright, let's get going up to the next floor." You say to the skeletons, who quickly begin climbing as you free the past of the prisoners, and look over some of your own. Quite a few of the gang members survive, a handful appear to have surrendered, while two lie hissing on the ground, clutching stumps where their right arms used to be. The soldiers with you don't appear to be capable of carrying anyone out, but the prisoners might. The enraged glares they give the fallen kobolds, however, show that mercy is beyond them.
"As soon as you secure the ladder, I'll have Turen light the fuse."

>>15734763
Welp.
Guess we're leaving those Cave Fangs behind.

As soon as the undead have cleared the ladder, run back and tell Turen to light the fuse, then run back here.
The soldiers and prisoners should be enough to keep these wounded Cave Fangs from trying anything.

>>15734912

Unable to think of a way to transport them, you decide on abandoning them. Most would die of their wounds before they could be treated anyway.

You run back and shout down the ladder for Turen to light the fuse as you hear a jeering battlecry from up the ladder. Turen's hand is up at the top after a few seconds, the rest of him not far behind.

"I'm glad you talked me into that, sir." He says, securing the hand back on his wrist.

The two of you head up another floor to stiffer opposition. A few prisoners have been wounded in the struggle. The flail-wielding kobolds are pounding away at a couple of guards who have grabbed shields, while the lower ceiling here prevents the greatsword wielders from doing much of anything.

You see one guard nearly cry as Ghurken calls his mother several things Turen probably shouldn't hear, and then has his foot crushed into a pulp while he's distracted, his cry of pain punctuating the cacophony of battle.

You see another, similar room off to one side, this one with a calm white light pouring from it.

>>15735032
Grab Turen, examine the glowing room.

>>15735032
Let's go check the room out while the battle continues.

>>15735081
>>15735186

You help Turen up, and rush over to the other room. This room is much colder, and you can see two more kobolds, their skin pale as salt, contained in similar tubes, with hoses running over their bodies. A number of crystals frame the walls of this room as well.

"We have to hurry, sir. I think we've got about 3 and a half minutes." Turen says, looking about anxiously.

>>15735332
Shut off the system; hopefully the control layout is similar to the previous room, so this will be quicker.

After that, if they're unconscious, give them a little jolt to wake them. Then, don't touch them; we can't have our guards becoming stiffs.

>>15735357
Agreed, and have Turen take some of the crystals as samples.

>>15735357

You shut down the systems, taking you both about a minute. The people seem much more alert, and their eyes open quickly, each one looking around quietly.

"I wasn't sure I would wake up." One says, his voice nearly a whisper. The room grows a bit less cool.

You find it easier to take these people out of the room, as despite their drowsiness they are cooperative. The tank of white blood near them emanates the same deep cold.

The scene once you get to the top of the ladder is a more tenuous one, with the skeletons squaring off with a number of Cave Fang soldiers wearing metal armor and masks, who seem far more competent than the others.

>>15735386

Turen chips a few off before you leave as well.

>>15735554
Make sure that Turen gets a sample of that blood.
While he does that, fire off a Magic Missiles spell at the lead armored Cave Fang.

can our lineguns punch through their armor?

>>15735618

You zap into one, and despite the force of the missiles, he stays up.

The armor they wear deflects several rounds as your men pump shot after shot into the fray, and you note that it appears reinforced.

One, emotionally crippled by Ghurken's jeers, falls to the ground as a spear plunges through his leg. He grasps the spear, pushing himself up it, and continues fighting the now disarmed skeleton.

>>15735686
Okay, what about the spell Ball Lightning? Do we know it? Or even better, Chain Lightning!
These guys are wearing metal armor, let's see how they like being hit by electricity.

>>15735686
We wouldn't know any single-target mental attacks, would we? Because if we do, then start picking apart their line.

Also, go with what >>15735618 said and get that blood sample. We're only on the fourth floor, so we have a little bit of time for us to make it to the third before the bottom half probably collapses.

>>15735834
If I recall our current level right, we're a 13th or 14th level sorcerer with the Blue Draconic Bloodline (Pathfinder 3.5).
There's a few single-target mind-affecting spells, but I think it more efficient to use a multi-target spell.

>>15735830
>>15735834

Blegh. I was going to say that Turen grabbed it. Well, he did. He has the thing hanging down lower while he climbs one-handed.

You charm one of the soldiers, who turns and looks confused. You wave him over to one side, and he stands looking stupified as you charm a few more of his allies.

"Hey, quit fighting my friends!" He says, looking over as the number grows smaller and smaller.

One of the guards has his helmet knocked off as you release a lightning bolt on him, and a blue-scaled kobold glares back at you hatefully from beneath it.

>>15736133
Keep up the confusion in the ranks; hopefully they'll falter soon.

Also, how much longer do we have until the explosion, approximately?

>>15736302

Probably about a minute.

You zap the kobold once again, and he hisses, obviously in some pain but not nearly as impacted as you had hoped. His mouth crackles with lightning of its own, and a line of blue lightning careens into you, your arm absorbing the energy.

As you struggle, the skull of Ghurken glares at that particular foe as the skeleton holding him squares off, and the kobold shudders, his eyes rolling back in his head as he faints.

"Oh, well that's not so bad." One of the charmed soldiers says. "Shall we carry him out, sir?"

You look around. The rest of the soldiers are laying down arms.

"Oh." You say, somewhat surprised.

>>15736386
More lackeys? Yes please.

He appears to have some Dragon-blood in him as well. It may be worth our while to have him back in OUR laboratory for research.

"Oh...uh...sure faithful soldiers." Smile.

>>15736386
OP_will_surely_deliver.jpg

>>15736475

"Oh...uh...sure faithful soldiers." You say, smiling. The soldiers pick up their fellows, including the one who had a spear through one thigh.

As you get situated on the next floor, the structure shakes with a low roar as you feel the ground beneath your feet heat up.

"Come on! Drop your charges and keep going!" The red-scaled soldier shouts to his fellows, rolling a flask of the fire into a corner.

This floor has no guards to be seen. A number of the kobolds here seem either very tired or starved. They hustle as best they can, looking fearfully at the inferno near the ladder.

You make it up to the last floor below the ground floor, seeing a number of guards all positioned tightly together, in a sort of last stand.

Just as you crack your knuckles, you hear a loud slam from the ladder, and see the other skeletal warriors come sliding down the shaft, howling and whooping madly as they rush into the group. The guards, though many in number, are no match for the elite undead warriors and your faithful troops.

Here, you can see one more room, shedding a purplish-black light.

>>15737027
Check the room out with Turen. If it's like the other rooms:
-turn off the system
-shock to wake the prisoners, if necessary
-try not to touch them
-get samples of the dragon blood and any other materials present
-rejoin the fight

>>15737071

In this room, you do see something unlike the others.

The light being shed is from a huge transluscent crystal. The edges of the crystal shine with purplish-black energy. Within the crystal is a creature you believe is from the surface: A lizardman with black scales and bright green eyes. The exception is that he also has a set of four angular horns and bat-like wings. He appears restrained by the crystal growth, but conscious.

A small lockbox is connected to the crystal. You know from its appearance that this would be something a trapsmith would be able to easily work out. Unfortunately, only you and Turen are here.

"Sir, can you see that faint field around the crystal?" Turen asks you.

"No, I can't." You say, looking at him strangely. "What do you see?"

"It's a flexible, moving field. I can see it with my duralumin eye, but not the organic one." Turen says, closing one eye and squinting. "It appears to be reinforcing the crystal's structure. Something similar to spell turning, I suspect. Maybe not as severe."

You confirm with a quick scan yourself. Whatever this is, you haven't seen a spell used in this manner. Except...

"Turen, I think I know what this is." You say, second guessing yourself. The lizardman stares out at you, curious.

"What is it?" Turen asks, after a few seconds of silence.

You put your right hand on it, and feel the palm stick, like iron to a magnet. "In miner's terms, a really, really big ioun crystal."

Turen is silent for a moment, looking it over. The only words you hear out of him are a whisper. "Gods, it really is."

"Excuse me." You hear, muffled, in accented draconic, from the lizardman within the crystal. "Are you going to admire my prison or help me out of it?"

>>15737434
"Right, right. It's just...do you know the rarity of such a huge crystal if it's natural? And the implications if it's synthetic?"

Should we just try casting Knock on the lockbox?
We don't exactly have too much time here.

>>15737483
We should at least try to find out what it is before we go and free it. It's obviously draconic in nature, so we need a little more assurance if we're gonna go freeing it.

"Time is short. Who are you, and why should I free you from your obviously sturdy prison?"

>>15737483
>>15737682

"Right, right. It's just...do you know the rarity of such a huge crystal if it's natural? And the implications if it's synthetic?" You say to Turen as you pop open the box. On the interior, you see a mess of switches and mechanics, churning even as you open the box. You feel a bit sick to your stomach as you realize this may take longer than you have.

"Time is short. Who are you, and why should I free you from your obviously sturdy prison?"

"I am Slam'lok. I am son to a powerful lizardman chief, and a mighty warrior." He looks around at the crystal surrounding him. "My body's energy is stored in this crystal, by that machine." He nods at the box. "If you free me, I will serve you for the rest of my days."

>>15737939
If Slam'lok is indeed who he says he is, does that mean he or his tribe are well known? Does his name ring any bells?

Considering our options, we may just have to use Shatter or something equivalent since there's no way in hell that we're gonna manage to extract this crystal in time.

When we free him, say: "Don't make me regret it. I do not take kindly to being crossed..."

Point to the ruckus in the hallway.

"As you can probably tell."

>>15737982

You don't know this lizardman or his tribe. You never cared much for surface politics.

The churning mass of gears is too much for right now. You consider breaking the crystal with a shattering spell, but something that size might separate into sharper shards, and judging from where the lizardman is, you can tell that it would be unsafe to do so. Still, if you only have so much time.

"Wait... How do they feed you?" Turen asks the lizardman.

"Part of the crystal reshapes due to something in that box." Slam'lok says, looking down. "They feed me by making a window. There's a vent underneath here, but they keep my hands inside the crystal so that I can't get out."

"Don't make me regret freeing you. I do not take kindly to being crossed..." You point back into the hallway. "As you can probably tell."

"It does seem like you're in quite the hurry. I wouldn't ask if I wasn't sure my life depended on it." The lizardman answers, and you're not sure if he's being sarcastic or serious.

>>15738100
Okay.
Cast Fox's Cunning on Mynthar. That should help in trying to decipher the lockbox mechanisms.
That's all I can think of for now.

>>15738100
Let's take a look at whatever is inside the box.

>>15738145
>>15738120

You chant a spell to increase the effectiveness of your memorization techniques, and take a look inside the box.

The gears each flow into one another seamlessly, bits of cord and glue around what appears to be a green metal core. You recognize it as starmetal, a magically resonant metal that you encountered when you were imprisoned by the drow. Their devil allies enjoyed experimenting with the stuff, to the point of dunking whole devils alive into boiling vats of the stuff.

Regardless, you can tell that the starmetal is the core of this material, affecting the ioun ore. By itself, the core would be worth a great deal.

Then, you and Turen see them. A set of four tiny crystals, down behind the core. Turen reaches in, and flips over the core.

"The design's somewhat common amongst traps, for easy maintenance. This might be repurposed from something like that." He posits, tapping his chin.

The crystals are arranged adjacent to one another, with two in a hemicircle split so that one side faces you, and another side faces away. Within that, there are two more hemicircles next to one another, forming a circle split down the middle vertically. Each appears to be capable of being depressed or moved to an extent.

Turen sighs. "I'm not sure this is going to be easy. We don't know how these switches interact, or even what angle we're viewing them from in relation to the crystal. Detaching it will likely just render the thing inoperable."

"It reshaped quickly when they did. Just one press for the window." Slam'lok says, trying his best to be helpful.

>>15738265
Since it's not horribly complicated, can we disable it?

>>15738376
Try pressing one of the crystals to see how it interacts with the others.
We don't have much time.

>>15738376
Try moving one of the pieces up.

>>15738403

You could. But this is mainly a control box. Disabling it would mean you'd have no way of moving the crystal.

>>15738416
>>15738420

You try pushing the furthest piece outwards. You can see the crystal's back side move up, the prisoner's back exposed to the air. The crystal overall seems fatter.

>>15738578
Fiddle with the pieces until we see some sort of pattern.

>>15738578
Try moving the closest piece outwards after moving the farthest piece back to its original position.

>>15738609
>>15738624

You find the center pieces are now able to be moved, after a bit of experimenting. You could also press down on the pieces if you like.

You move the back piece back to its original position, the back side of the crystal closing down and the front raising up. The lizardman takes a breath of fresh air.

>>15738741
Is the opening now large enough for the lizardman to get out?
If not, use a Reduce Person spell to make Slam'lok small enough to fit out through the opening.

Once he's out, let's remove the core and take it with us.

>>15738759
Not a bad idea, anon, considering we don't have time to solve it.

>>15738759
>>15738790

You reach in smiling to yourself, as you cast a spell you used in your youth to get into, and out of quite a lot of trouble. Hopefully, with this, the lizardman should slip out.

The lizardman looks at you quizzically with his sunken-in, green eyes, and you each wait for a few seconds. Nothing happens.

"What? Why didn't that work?!" You say, aggravated that your solution failed. "That should've worked!"

You, the lizardman, and Turen all look at one another for a long moment. The lizardman twitches his wings, and looks uncomfortably at where his draconic horns scrape against the crystal.

"Counts as a dragon." You and Turen say simultaneously, each with a deep sigh.

>>15738838
Oh you and your meta jokes. :3

How much time have we wasted? If we have less than two minutes left on the clock, we're playing Russian roulette with the sphere.

>>15738838
Argh...wait: is the opening large enough that Mynthar could reach in and touch Slam'lok?
Do so, then cast Dimension Door. The short-range teleport should be enough to get him out of there.

>>15738872

You've spent about two minutes. The bomb has already gone off, and you are one floor below the top floor. The floor below you doesn't feel as hot as the third floor's did, but when that alchemist's fire goes off that will change quickly.

>>15738876

You reach in, feeling the tingle of the magical radiation on your arm. "Alright, this should work a bit better." You attempt a teleport no more than ten feet in distance, along with the lizardman. You see the location like one in a mirror, and you feel your feet touch the spot before you are flung back to where you were.

"From this end, you disappeared for a brief second, then came right back." Turen suggests. "The crystal must be interfering with it somehow."

>>15738927
Spin that puzzle and spin it good!

>>15738927
Alright, try the closest crystal in the lockbox, try moving it outwards. Then move the two inner crystals towards the farthest crystal in the back.

>>15738963

You spin the disc around and around on the swivel, and accomplish absolutely nothing. Turen snickers.

>>15738987

The crystals are already in that position. Tweaking their position on the disc does nothing.

>>15739127
Try moving the inner crystals down.
If that doesn't work, try the same with the nearest outer crystal.

>>15739154

Move them down as in move them towards you or press them down?

>>15739191
Press them down.

>>15739220

You can see the lower parts of the crystal moving downwards as you begin to press on the center pieces. They sink in steadily, and you hear the lizardman suddenly grunt as though in pain.

>>15739265
Stop and see what's wrong.

>>15739275
If he still can't get out, try raising the inner crystals up; maybe that'll get the crystal prison to collect upwards and allow the prisoner out.

>>15739281
>>15739275

"What's wrong?" You ask him.

"It's constricting around my wrists." He says, glaring at his prison with contempt.

You pull the inner crystals up, and after a point this seems to have a similar effect.

>>15739360
Argh...why didn't I think of this before: Get the Cave Fang thugs we mentally controlled, and ask them how this thing works, and to release the prisoner.

>>15739393

You pull one of the cave fang thugs in, and ask him to explain it to you.

"Oh no, you don't want to let him out. He'll kill us if he gets the chance." The guard says, looking at the lizardman with a cautious glance.

"Well, we have to let him out of here, or he'll die when the building collapses." You say to the guard.

"But... He'll kill us." The guard reiterates. "We have to make sure he can't hurt us."

"I'll make sure he doesn't hurt you." You say to the kobold, pointing at the lizardman. "Now how do we get him out?"

"Well, you could always just press down on those two." He points at the two you pressed and pulled on earlier. "That's what I'd do."

>>15739551
Do what he recommends.

>>15739551
"But what about his wrists. They seem to contract on them.
"Slam'lok, can you move your arms at all? Maybe if you move your wrists up..."

>>15739598

You hesitate for a moment, then press down on the crystals. They get to the point of roughly half depression, with the crystal forming a kind of hemisphere beneath the bars. The lizardman hisses in pain again as you do so.

The button feels as though it's somewhat stuck, but you might be able to completely depress it if you apply enough force.

"But what about his wrists. They seem to contract on them." You ask the guard. He shrugs.

"Slam'lok, can you move your arms at all? Maybe if you move your wrists up..." You ask him.

"I haven't been able to move them at all." He says, gritting his teeth.

>>15739630
"Alright, Slam'lok. This is going to hurt."
Completely depress the crystals all the way.

>>15739630
Do what >>15739611 recommended and ask the guards if they know of a way to disengage the wrist locks.

>>15739718

You have asked one guard. He said that HE would press down both buttons in the center. He also expressed fear of the lizardman attacking him.

>>15739551

>>15739751
Go and address the other Cave Fang thugs; ask how to disengage the wrist locks and the crystal prison.

>>15739761

Most of them seem to know who you're trying to get free, and express displeasure at the thought of him free.

One says that the warden is the one who is normally there at feeding time for the lizardman. Another, when you tell him of the previous guard's idea to free the lizardman, seconds the plan.

>>15739787
"Sorry Slam'lok; this may hurt a bit..." Then, try to reassure him. "If anything breaks, we'll fix it up, good as new...maybe even better."

>>15739798
I got nothing else.
We're low on time, and we don't have much choice.
"Slam'lok, just to warn you, the price of freedom may be high; you might lose your hands. But hey, at least, we live in world where magic can grow them back, right?"
And push down on those indicated crystals to open the prison.

>>15739798
>>15739903

"Slam'lok, just to warn you, the price of freedom may be high; you might lose your hands. But hey, at least, we live in world where magic can grow them back, right?" You say to him, you fingers hovering over the switches.

"I understand." Slam'lok says, gritting his teeth. "As long as I'm free, that's all that matters."

Turen turns a bit pale, and he turns away. You let the lizardman brace himself, then press down on the buttons with most of your body weight. As you do so, the button continues to have no give. You press down harder, and you can hear the telltale sound of bone cracking as you continue to press the switch, and the lizardman's pained hiss escalates into a choking, unearthly scream as you hear a sickening crunch, the spots in the crystal where the lizardman's hands were flattening and running red with blood. The lizardman cries out in agony from the floor, still imprisoned by the skin of his wrists, and goes to stand up. You feel a chill run up your spine, knowing that you had done this to him, and you turn away as a loud rip runs through the room, the lizardman on the ground once again, screaming in unbelievable pain.

You feel as though you're going to vomit. As you turn around to try and find some medical supplies, the kobold guard slaps you on the shoulder.

"See? He's free, and now he can't hurt us! Perfect, right?"

>>15740066
Sickening, but necessary.

Let's try to alleviate his pain the best we can, then get the hell out of dodge.

>>15740066
"Yeah, except if you say that loud enough, he's liable to tackle you to the ground and bite your throat out. Why would you even tempt fate that way?"

>>15740066
Quietly but urgently whisper to the thug:
"Quiet! He doesn't have his hands, but he's still got his fangs!"

If we have a Wand of Cure Wounds, use it to stabilize Slam'lok. Push down our bile. We were a soldier once, and we survived the tortures of the Rosenkratz; we're made of sterner stuff.
"Alright, let's get out of here! Fortunately for you, the Alloyed Brotherhood is quite a bit more pious than we are, so we might be able to find a scroll of Regeneration."

>>15740151
>>15740152

"Yeah, except if you say that loud enough, he's liable to tackle you to the ground and bite your throat out. Why would you even tempt fate that way?" You say to the guard. The lizardman rises, his voice resonating around the small room as his eyes lock on the kobold.

"You mock me? You call this perfect?"

The kobold seems horribly put on the spot. "No! No I was just saying to my friend here that-"

The lizardman, who you now realize is quite a bit larger than you thought, pins the kobold to the ground with one foot after stepping on his face.

"I should do as he says. It's your fault my hands are gone!" The lizardman hisses, smoking acid dripping from his maw.

"No! Please- I- I just don't want to die!" The kobold cries out.

Your hand shakes as you take out your wand. Not just what has happened, but something else is causing you to quake in fear. The memories of your torture? The sickening feeling in the pit of your stomach? These contribute, but as the lizardman hisses, you feel a kind of primal horror tear at your gut.

You heal him, and some of the feeling fades. The flesh around his wrists knits somewhat with the first application, leaving two huge red scabs at the ends of his arms.

>>15740268
"You can have revenge later. And, if you're bound to your word, continue with our escape."

>>15740268
"Damnation, Slam'lok! We don't have time for this! The explosives will detonate any second now!"

>>15740300
"When we get someplace safer, we'll fix those." Show him our arm. "It isn't all too bad...at the end of the day..."

Uh oh...guys, we might have a problem here.
We've got a dragonborn here, and out there we've got a bunch of undead dragon slayers.

>>15740308
>>15740312
>>15740401

"Damnation, Slam'lok! We don't have time for this! The explosives will detonate any second now!" You shout at him, despite your heart going at about a mile a minute.

He looks at you dangerously, hatred still quite visible in his eyes. "They did things to me, to the others. They don't deserve to live."

"When we get someplace safer, we'll fix those." You say to him, holding up your right arm, clicking the fingers together. "The Alloyed Brotherhood is quite a bit more pious than we are, so we might be able to find a scroll of Regeneration. Regardless, we need to get out of here five minutes ago!"

"Then I won't take long." The lizardman hisses, pushing his foot down on the kobold's much smaller jaw. "Just give me ten seconds."

"He- help..." The cave fang guard whimpers.

Turen watches, frozen in shock at the scene.

>>15740488
"Slam'lok, do you want to waste your time on a minion, or do you want to go after the ones who ordered this done to you?
"Now come on! You want to kill them all, fine! But do it later!
"Turen! Get going, boy! Those fuses were cut too short!"

>>15740488
"We don't HAVE ten seconds! Kill him later, we need to move right NOW!"

>>15740488
"Did you not swear your life to me in exchange for your freedom? If care to honor that arrangement now, remove your foot from his head, or gods help me..."

>>15740504

"Turen! Get going, boy! Those fuses were cut too short!" You say to him. His leg starts to move, but in the end he just seems stuck. You curse inwardly.

(Randomly determined response, since as you all so kindly pointed out YOU DON'T HAVE TEN SECONDS!)

>>15740531

You stifle your rage, and look down (well, up) your nose at the slavering lizardman.

"Did you not swear your life to me in exchange for your freedom?" You ask him, and the lizardman's gaze crosses yours again for a tense moment, and you wonder if he will turn on you. "If you care to honor that arrangement now, remove your foot from his head, or gods help me..."

A low hiss comes from the lizardman as he steps off of the kobold's head a bit harder than was necessary. "I did." He says simply, his voice harsh and strained.

He walks out past Turen, up to the passageway where the others have already begun climbing for the next level.

Turen exhales, his face relaxing as he looks over at you. "Well done, sir." He pulls the soldier up, who thanks you at least five times before you make your way up the ladder.

>>15740641
Say to the thug, "Don't make me regret this."

Once we're topside, check to see how the battle is going.

>>15740641
The major problems are done with; let's get the hell out of here.

Once we return to the front, start blasting away with whatever spells are needed.

>>15740669

"Don't make me regret this." You say to the thug.

"Oh , you won't! You saved my life, man! You showed me the light!" The kobold rants, looking back as the fire starts to creep upwards.

"Yeah, we'll get a real close view of it if we don't get a move on!" You say, pulling him up with you.

The warden has surrendered, looking over at the lot of your group, the skeletons holding their weapons at the ready near him, each one standing on a fallen foe. The warden squeals as he sees you. "Please! Please have mercy master necromancer! My bones are weak! I'll do anything!"

The lizardman looks over at him hatefully, but instead turns his gaze to you. The skeleton's attentions seem turned to him and any other Cave Fang who still move. One of them speaks.

"Mr. Kolp, some of these brigands have gathered outside of the warehouse. No more than a handful, but they seem competent warriors."

>>15741078
"We must meet them on the field or be consumed by the flames. Step lively and move out!"

>>15741078
Point to the Warden: "You. There are uses for you yet."

Then turn to the undead tavernkeepers/dragonslayers, and the CCCP soldiers, and Slam'lok.
"Alright, let's get this done. Time for a little fireworks show."

Get line-of-sight on the Cave Fangs outside, and hit them with a 2 fireballs, a Chain Lightning, and a Delayed Blast Fireball. Hit them hard and fast, from range.

>>15741104
>>15741140

"We must meet them on the field or be consumed by the flames. Step lively and move out!" You say to the soldiers. They form up as best they can, those missing hands asking for the help of their fellows in reloading their weapons.

As the soldiers ready up, you point at the warden. "You. There are uses for you yet."

As soon as your people are done and the prisoners freed, you can see a bright orange light flickering fromt he ladder shaft. "Alright, let's get this done. Time for a little fireworks show." You say, fading into invisibility as you step outside.

>>15741291
Ready for blasting....

>>15741291
Eagerly awaiting the explosions. And the lightning. And the more explosions.

>>15741330

The cave fang troops stand outside, tengu firearms clutched in hand. A mass of brown and black, each on one knee to stabilize their aim. They have their guns aimed right at you. None of them fire. None of them even know you're there.

Suddenly, a faint red light flies down into the midst of them, and they pause, looking at it in confusion.

"What's that?"

"I dunno, an ember from the building?"

"Then why is it still shin-"

Flames erupt from the ground, a second explosion shortly thereafter sending many more burning to the ground. Several of them open fire, a few bullets coming close to your position. You waste no time, with a blast of lightning in your right hand and a fireball in your left, you incinerate the remaining foes, save one. One is left coughing on the ground, his body writhing as he aims at you with a single pistol. The gun cracks, and the bullet whizzes not an inch from your neck into the wall. He drops the gun, clutching his chest and gasping.

The skeletons come out of the building first.

"Aww, that it? You sons of bitches didn't have the decency to wait to be killed!" Ghurken shouts.

>>15741330
Gonna need sauce on that, anon.

>>15741522
Colbert Report; hell if I know which episode.

>>15741502
Now that everyone's outside, let's stick to the shadows and return to the Inn.

>>15741592
Also, I'm heading to bed OP. See you on Sunday for Gargoyle Quest.

>>15741592

You drop your invisibility, and lead the group of prisoners and undead off into the secret passageway about a half-hour's walk from your position.

The scene back at the Dragon's Belly is one of chaos. A huge room full of people, most terrified of the undead but glad to be free and alive, and a few cave fang members who seem unsure as to what their exact reason for being here is.

"Now, I don't want to seem like I'm being... outraged, here." Farnad says, looking around the now nearly cramped room. "But I thought you were getting soldiers? A small group of soldiers? This is..." He points a cave fang who is crossing his legs and wiggling to a far door in the room. He throws his hands up in the air. "You brought the damn gang here! And half the prison!"

"All of the prison, actually." Turen says.

>>15741646

Friday.

It is on Friday.

>>15741703

Also it may be late.