Session 11 Report

General Summary

The team began fighting their way through the servitors. The combat was brutal but in the end the ancient creatures could not keep up with the well trained group. As the last servitor fell, Pious felt odd, stricken even. He looked down at himself as his skin crawled, literally, like it was reshaping himself. He held in his hand the dagger they had found so long ago in the abandoned tunnels of the red cages but the small almost dull looking dagger that it once was had become a memory. It was polished to a mirror sheen of chrome and was elongated to the size of a gladius now. Razor sharp and giving off incandescence that seems to have lit it from within.
Pious grappled with the blade in a battle of wills as eldritch whispers reached into his brain making all manner of promises that were hard to turn down. The two were locked in invisible mortal combat as Pious fought for his very soul. Mere seconds passed in reality while the two seemed to struggle inwardly for hours. The toll on Pious was great both mentally and physically but in the end the now completely different looking Pious threw down the demon blade and vowed never to pick it back up again. It lodged itself into the stone floor like it were made out of a more malleable material and there it waited to be noticed again. Patient and ever unphased for time would eventually see it restored and time meant nothing to creatures that had existed since the beginning of the universe.
The rest of the party stared, aghast at Pious. The unsightly scars from his savage upbringing were gone, the pox marks from feral world diseases no longer marred his flesh. The gnarled and badly fused sockets that his augmentic arms attached to were smooth and flowed seamlessly into the metal making it look almost natural and his face was now chiseled and handsome. Miria was taken aback and her heart fluttered like the first time the word of the Emperor filled it with his holiness.
Miria stood close to Pious making a bit of a fool of herself as she stared intently at the newly created Adonis and giggled a bit like a young girl trying to get the attention of a boy she liked. Pious did his best to ignore her and refocus her attention on the large steel door built to look like it was oak wood. Nearby the door to the right was a servitor placed into the wall to specifically open or shut the door. For the moment it remained closed. It was possible the team would have been able to blast their way in with some melta charges but they opted to try and deal with the venerable servitor. The markings on his skull indicate this position was considered an honor and that he had served the Haarlock family in life as well before becoming the tormented looking android in front of them.
As the group approached the servitor stated, "access denied until the scion of House Haarlock opens the way. The team looked at the forgotten servitor with a sense of pity and then Miria spoke up.
"House is the scion identified?"
"Please present your hand for blood analysis” the creature answered back as a small cup about the size to place your thumb extended from within the servitor's housing. A small metallic spike could be seen within the cup, clearly indicating that one must prick their thumb on the spike in order for the servitor to complete its intended function.
With very little hesitation or discussion from the group Miria stepped forward and depressed her thumb onto the spike. A small jolt or pain and the sharp tang of acid in her mouth was the only discomfort she felt. Once the small collection cup was filled the specimen collector snapped back into the body of the servitor it had protruded from. "Processing" was all the servitor stated.
Many minutes passed and Magdala was able to rejoin the group, gingerly stepping over the bodies of the servitors that had been felled in or to reach their position. Ennaeus and Pious filled him in on what he had missed while he had been away with Lady Melua all the while Miria paced back and forth restlessly. Time still marched on as the clock struck again leaving the group with a renewed sense of urgency. When they prompted the servitor for a progress report or update on the sample analysis it only responded with "processing" and so they waited on.
Just as they were about to start inventorying grenades to blow the door and the glacially slow servitor along with it the seemingly dead man turned computer spoke up. "Identity confirmed". "Lady Miria Mildritha Scarx Haarlock, scion of House Haarlock". "Access to the theatre of clocks granted."
With that revelation granted the giant doors swung open and they had arrived. The theatre of clocks at long last and there in the center of the room was the Steel clock. Aptly named. As the party approached the clock they noticed up above on one of the many balconies that overlooked this part of the great library was the now almost familiar shadowed outline of 'The Widower' it gave a terrible bellow and then darted off further into the depths of the library stacks.
Miria signaled the door servitor to seal the doors hoping to trap the creature but it was already in the library near the clock and was exactly where it meant to be. Things were about to get messy.

Campaign

Maladies of a Fractal Empire

Protagonists

Miria Mildritha Scarx Haarlock

Magdala

Saint Pius the Fourth

Report Date

11 Mar 2024