subplotkudzu | Emirikol, Part III scene 14

Facing the usual problems of traveling through sea caves, the trio find a few others, including a series of razor edged clockwork driven traps apparently set to kill the small lizards that skitter through the moss and mushrooms that proliferate in the damp rock. Finding another branch and correctly deducing that the one to the right will lead them to the pirates they opt for the one to the left in an attempt to make sure that they will not be surprised by some other unforeseen threat when they do engage the aquatic scoundrels in combat. The selected passage shows some sign of occasional passage, ending in a chamber that contained, in order of discovery, a mass of natural pillars, stalagmites and stalactites, a hinged box holding a collection of dead lizards, a sinkhole obscured by a film of salt doubtless left behind by the last seasonal flooding, some piles of detritus that Cybele identifies as the waste of a serpent and said serpents - a pair of sea vipers whose length was half again the height of a man, but whose sense of self preservation caused them to retreat in the face of eldritch bursts and a solid whack from Hiram's wooden sword. It was clear that someone had been using the trapped lizards as food for the serpents, but whether the serpents were just pets, a way to dispose of enemies or guardians of something our heroes could not locate in their brief search was not clear.

Their safety from behind apparently assured our heroes return to the passage that must, by process of elimination, lead to the pirates. With well practiced strides hour heroes traverse down the tunnel, once again with Hiram taking the lead, Dietrich back him up and Cybele making all the noise. Still, even with her feet unerringly hitting some stones that skitter down the slope, their approach goes unnoticed, but the trio is halted by an ominous, looming shadow at the point where the passage branched out into the cave that opened to the sea - a giant crab!

Freezing in position are heroes are able to discern that the crab is likewise immobile. A closer looks reveals that the lower half of the crab was made of wood, while the upper half is metal, rusted to appear the crustaceans usual reddish brown. The joints are lovingly articulated, and the legs flair outward, ending with broad, oarlike bases.

"The Pirates have a mecha crab?" Dietrich whispers.

"Johann's brother must have been really skilled." Cybele replies.

Hiram cranes his neck to look over the clockwork crustacean, locating a quartet of pirates engaged in some sort of discussion by a pair of rowboats pulled into the cave. The noble threesome wait as they learn to filter out the background sounds of the sea to make out snatches of the pirates words. Their focus, it appears, is on their boredom, and how they must wait for high tide before the sea is high enough to reach the cave; at that time the pirates pretending to be fishermen in the city will return, letting the two swap guard duty of the treasure cache while slowly working the stolen goods into the local black market. The group argues at length as to which of them will have to claim which of the items they had stolen through blood and threats from their rightful owners, and eventually it is clear that random listening will yield no additional information.

Unwilling to listen to their boastful, brainless blather any longer, Dietrich offers up a quick prayer to the overseeing spirit of the emperor and inches forward. Caution tempers with audacity in his plan as he silently undoes the catches to the driver's compartment of the clockwork crab and, with surprising rapidity, teases out the likely uses for the controls. Slipping in and locking himself into the beast he activates the primary spring, driving the mechanical monster towards the unsuspecting pirates! For all of their apparent ineptness the pirates had been diligent in their oling of the mechanism to protect it from the briny spray, and it moved forward greased silence, taking all save one of the pirates by complete surprise!

The most aware of the pirates started to yell a warning, only to be struck square in the forehead by a bolt from Hiram's crossbow. Inside the beast Dietrich engaged the right claw, which shot forward and, with an understated snap, split one of the pirate's torsos clear in twain. A third pirate was felled by a blast of eldritch power that snaked across the room and stopped his heart mid beat. The fourth, so totally overwhelmed, barely had time to surrender as the leftward claw moved to engulf him. Within a score of heartbeats, the forces of the republic stood triumphant!

(GM Note: Tom spent an Honor Point to get a temporary +20 on his Move Silently to pull off stealing the mecha crab. I let him make another roll at -20 to sneak up on them in the giant clockwork automaton. He rolled a natural 20, easily surprising the pirates! He was even able to add his Sneak Attack bonus to the crab strike. This is EXACTLY why I put Honor Points in the game.)

Quickly disarming their stunned prisoner, the group makes a quick essay of the items in the room: crates of the finest cotton clothing, a crystal decanter and table set, a bejeweled bracelet, some sacks of coinage and a quartet of paintings by the lesser master Dechau - a Halfling native to the lands around Emirikol centuries ago. Hiram is able to identify the artist (Dave: Another 20!) and even provide a brief history of his work, starting with the lighter landscapes of the Rheel valley and, in his middle age, moving to darker, more ominous paintings of the seawall swamps to the west. On his 40th birthday he invited his friends to join him for a feast in the swamp, at which he got drunk, declaimed that this was his kingdom and then was unexpected eaten by a crocodile. "Fitting, really" Hiram adds.

To be continued