Session 22: Pruning the Dimensional Growth Report
General Summary
Previously
After traveling through various dimensional slices (jungle, epic storage, Wonderland and the ghoul kingdom), the party is relieved to find themselves back in the moonbase, in front of the door to the Depositorium. Behind them, the shimmering figure of Martin is barely visible through the haze of dimensional barriers, but they are unable to communicate with him.
Their goals are to retrieve the Planar Phase Stabilization Device the Electric Monk told them about (so they can take it into the rift and try to save Agaddon), and to re-enable the planar safeties to stop the dimensional disturbances here, which Martin the AI asked them to do.
The Depositorium
The door opens easily to their touch, and they step inside a large chamber. The chamber is a large octagonal room, with several other doors and chambers leading off it. The middle of the chamber is occupied by a series of consoles, each covered with an array of switches, glowing and beeping displays, buttons, etc., of unknown purpose and high complexity. Floating above the consoles, is a semi-translucent image of what appears to be a map or schematic of some kind.
Scrolls of some sort of shiny paper are visible under one of the consoles. The doors to several of the side chambers are open, and the chambers are filled with stacks of hundreds of red-gold metallic bricks that are faintly glowing.
A creature of some kind, with a human body but a flat screen for a head (which displays the face of a human, middle aged woman), is in one of the side chambers as the party enters. She is waving some sort of tool over one of the stacks, and ignores the party for a moment as she completes the motion, examines some sort of display, and then turns to greet the party. Oddly, in a movement the party can't quite follow, the tool in her hand twists and moves to become a creature on her shoulder, with the body of a bird, and small tablet for a head which displays the head of a bird.
The figure says: "Welcome to the Depositorium. I was not expecting visitors. What do you seek?" The party, taken by surprise, eventually explains that they are here for the planar stabilization device, as well as to re-engage the dimensional safeties. The figure agrees that they can take the stabilization device, but refuses to allow them to re-engage the safeties. When asked why, the figure eventually explains that she has been here for a long time, tending to the condensed dimensions almost as a gardener. She is a Brax, and serving her masters, the Overlords of Sekulan--beings of vast complexity from a distant dimension, where the Brax grow dimensions for the feeding of the Overlords. These hothouse dimensions will be a welcome treat for them, once the dimensions "bloom" and the Overlords come to consume them. The party is (understandably) horrified, and eventually combat breaks out, as Jessa heads for the console, and Windellian threatens to burn a pile of dimensions. At this, the figure moves in a direction the party cannot perceive, and then they are attacked by multiple claws and mouths appearing as if out of thin area (as the figure has moved to a higher dimension, and shapeshifted into a hyperdimensional tiger).
The battle is bloody, highlighted by the hypertiger calling Windellian's bluff to "burn" the dimensions with his Fireball. The entire party, and the creature, hold their breath for a moment as he follows through and casts his blast--until the flames dissipate without affecting the bricks. Ultimately, the battle (as well as the hypertiger) is cut short by Jessa (with Windy C's aid) successfully re-engaging the dimensional safeties. The remaining claws and head are severed, dropping to the ground, and the glow of the bricks containing the collapsed dimensions fades.
As the safeties re-engage, Martin's hologram appears, thanks the party for their efforts, congratulates them for their success...and then starts to freak out at the mess the combat left in the research station. After trying to calm him down, the party decides to get the hell out of there, grabbing what they can (including the planar stabilization device, but en route Zayer grabs the scrolls from under the console, Hunter manages to grab what appears to be a rifle and a protection belt, and Windy C grabs a brass-looking contraption that he believes he saw on his future/alternate self as they were leaving Wonderland).
Reaching the shuttle, Rylan is VERY GLAD to see them. Zayer had asked Martin to talk to Rylan, so they could leanr more about what has been happening here, the history, etc. Martin did so, via video chat (since Rylan refused to open the door, as instructed), though Rylan didn't get much useful for the two days the party was gone (their time apparently distorted in the other dimensions). He learned far more about cleaning protocols and techniques on the base. Meanwhile, the droids have polished the outside of the shuttle to a high sheen, and Rylan has kept talking them out of dissembling the shuttle to clean it more thoroughly.
Piling in, Martin dismissively lefts them leave, depressurizing the hangar bay, and guiding the ship out. Once the ship's controls are working again, and party quickly plots a course to rendezvous with the Surprise. When they arrive, they find a tense standoff between the goblins and the humans, which Ralgir explains was over a disagreement on the proper lyrics to a goblin sea shanty called "The Lobster's Wife". (It is about a goblin girl looking for love. This goblin tries to drown herself at the seashore, but instead meets a lobster, and falls in love with it. She takes this lobster home to meet her family. As any good goblin family would do, they mistake the lobster for a meal. Goblins have their own "proper" versions, but they are even more fantastical, and usually end with the girl setting the ocean on fire.).
The party asks BN Sue to sort out the crew, as they head back to Paraxis. Ralgir reports that things have been mostly quiet. Some hiccups on the helm as Zreestrarm and the Kzinti Vantale have split the shifts. Goblins are still eating Syllix spawn occasionally, but the Syllix don't seem to upset about it. Something about "culling the weak".
Onward to the Great Runestorm
The daylong journey passes uneventfully and the party returns to Grantz, where Rylan is happy to be back on solid ground. As they spend a day recovering, the group reviews the options the monk suggested:
- After the party retrieved the device, the monk told them they should travel to the former site of Agaddon, within the great runestorm. The party could fly and land directly near the edge of the runestorm. Alternatively, to give the runestorm a wider berth, the party could land farther away, or even at the top of an ancient space elevator ("a very, very, very tall tower") that the people of the current age call "The Beanstalk". It is a few days journey on foot away from the edge of the Runestorm, and with the instability that the Runestorm causes around it, in both magic and technological devices, the party might consider that route.
- Either way, once the party reaches the edge of the Runestorm, the monk strongly recommends they travel on foot, for what might be a few days within the storm. The monk believes that any active magical or technological flying craft (whether the party's ship, or the shuttle) is likely to interact badly with the Runestorm.
The party decides to take the shuttle, leaving the Surprise and the crew here under Ralgir's command (such as it is). Before leaving, they thank Rylan for his help, and give him a token of their appreciation, one of the minor bits of technology they recovered from the moonbase. After that, they depart, with the intention of flying directly to the runestorm, and landing just outside of it, to minimize travel time and potential complications. As we end the session, the shuttle is approaching the area of the runestorm--and the engines start to fail...
