Zanna jumps a little and takes a call from Ferin on his vibrative stone of farspeech. All ok? All ok. Scram and Tango incoming. Zanna scribes a drop zone on the floor with his chalk of portaling and yanks the balance of Alpha into Warbis Sparkcoil’s underground island laboratory complex. Scram and Tango received, out.
Ssatschia and Nala catch everyone up on the adventure thus far. Warbis Sparkcoil is constructing a terrible new weapon to wipe out life on the island. Sparkcoil, the weapon, or both will most likely be found down those stairs to the north. There are several unexplored doors on the current level as well. Snory and Moth check out a side passage that seems to be a prison. Hearing moans from inside, Scram reduces a cell door off its hinges. An emaciated and generally unwell human, introducing himself as Gyyonyyathyyun, accepts Moth’s ration of vienna hash browns and answers charismatic Tango’s many questions.
Farmer Gyyonyyathyyun was abducted from his family to find himself one of many experimental subjects of the crazy head gnome in charge, Dr. Sparkcoil. Subjects were secured to tables and methodically exposed to electricity. Sparkcoil himself usually performed the life force siphoning sessions from his office just off the apparatus room. The laboratory doors are activated by staff using blank cards, about the size of a three dragon ante card. Once subjects have reached the apparent end of their involuntary contribution, they pass through the formidable doors at the end of the prison hallway never to return.
Zanna liberates Gyyonyyathyyun to return to his family farm or whatever. The party returns to Sparkcoil’s office seeking one of the door key cards so that Scram’s prodigious talents are not exhausted shrinking all the doors in the complex. Nala bootpicks open the door in the back of Sparkcoil’s office into a dark closet.
Lurking assassin Gibbrevar misses his one opportunity to get the drop on Nala. A procession of damage unloads on Gibbrevar who yields unconditionally at the sight of Nala’s looming greatsword. Nala demands any and all nearby door key cards. Gibbrevar persuasively claims absolutely no idea where a door key card might be found.
Snory invites Gibbrevar to open the safe under Sparkcoil’s desk which Gibbrevar obligingly does … with his door key card. Ssatschia pins Gibbrevar to the wall threateningly. Oh, you mean THIS door key card. Joker Scram deorganizes a couple of Sparkcoil’s “Q” volumes. Snory, Moth, and Ssatschia empty out the safe, taking a wind up toy and valuable gems [100 gp]. The closet contains displays of some unique Sparkcoil possessions including an irresistible, chained, leather-bound, restless tome that ends up in Snory’s haversack. Scram ransacks some lockers and amasses a very small fortune in shiny objects [33 sp] and disintegrating keys [0 sp].
With sticky fingers satiated, the party heads down the stairs guided by insider Gibbrevar and his all-access door key card. Tango remains behind to narratively ensure the humane liberation of all remaining prisoners, thorough collection of all remaining valuables, and careful exploration of all remaining areas.
Through a set of heavy blast doors below, Ssatschia wastes no time passing through a decontamination area and right into the enormous MechaGnome silo where an army of gnome technologists tend to the MechaGnome from mezzanines equipped with electromechanically operated steamwork consoles.
Joy sparking Scram helps himself to the closest console and mashes every button. MechaGnome’s right arm twitches and thrashes but Scram cannot quite get it to flip the bird, as the Kenku kids say. A gnome mage firebolts Scram off the console.
Nala forces Gibbrevar to point out Sparkcoil, but Sparkcoil is not among the gnomes all ducking for safety behind the equipment as the MechaGnome begins to rattle and hum to life.
Ssatschia runs down a gnome priest and fatally inflicts wounds on him. The gnome mage, unnerved by the brutally instantaneous destruction of his priest buddy, mistily steps away from Ssatschia and right into Nala’s tumbling handaxe.
The surrounded gnome mage will never give up Sparkcoil, but her loyalty suddenly seems immaterial when the MechaGnome loudly, if unnecessarily, announces it is “out of here” and smashes up through the silo ceiling. Falling rubble crushes Snory, Ssatschia, and Moth. Scram, generating showers of sparks from the overbuttoned consoles, makes note of the ankle door hatches on the departing MechaGnome.