Episode 10

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Plot Summary
A few days later, the party rested after the battle in rooms appointed to them by Queen Sleekrun. Nitsuj is attempting to gain access to the library in the Peak level of Copperforge. Ora has disappeared. Tenoch had arrived in the city before the other to drop off the sunburned Danny to a healer. He’s been taking odd jobs waiting for the others to arrive.

Sylence Dewgong is a gnome viscount beneath Lord Elb Gabber. He is the lord’s fixer. The Lord tells him that the Queen is keeping a secret from the people in the city. All he knows is that someone overheard someone else say “things are escalating and it must be done now.”  He's checked all the levels and hasn’t found a single thing. Gabber sends Sylence to find Tenoch and Bubo, with whom he has worked before.

Bubo is sloshed in the Tequila Mockingbird. Tenoch enters and spots him. Bubo regales him with the story about fighting the robots. Tenoch asks about the whereabouts of Ora and Nitsuj and an update about the negotiations. Bubo is too drunk, so Tenoch takes him back to his room to sober him up. Two hours later, Bubo wakes up and explains that they rescued the queen’s daughter and successfully negotiated the deal.

As they exit the room to go pick up Bubo’s shortswords from Klaxxon, they are met by Sylence. He wants them to follow him back to Lord Gabber, but Tenoch instead flicks his top hat off his head. Sylence casts heat metal on Tenoch’s armor, burning him and Flibbit. Sylence explains himself and escorts them to the Gearhead. Klaxxon gives Bubo a box which contains two rods with a button on the end. He tests them out and his shortswords pop out of them: the “springy sticks.”  Impressed, Bubo hangs them from a gold chain around his neck. Tenoch gives him his greataxe to enchant, but instead of paying, offers to give him exposure. Klaxxon responds that he will do the job for free if Tenoch can spread his name to Quarry within 4 months.

Sylence uses his special key to take a direct tube to Gabber’s office. It is lavishly furnished with paintings, rugs, and furniture. Bubo  accidentally destroys a priceless Quai artifact. Lord Gabber lets it slide due to Bubo’s past work for him. Tenoch confronts Gabber about taking in Kord before he could help him with the Black Cloaks. Gabber offers them a job: find out the Queen’s secrets. He thinks the Queen is planning a war in league with Governor Syle and Raufel. Bubo tries to explain the Sahlite situation, but Gabber wants more information. They both agree for 1000g and a residence in Copperforge. He directs them to the Prison, the Dungeon, and the Deep and gives them a key. Sylence will come with them.

To get to the Deep, they need to go through the Prison and the Dungeon. The prisoner guards are on the take and let them in. Bubo asks a passing prisoner if he knows Kord and finds out that Kord is on the south side of the disc. Kord is doing okay but is loud. Tenoch convinces Sylence that they need to bring Kord with them and they head to find Kord. They convince Kord to help them in exchange for shortening his sentence. They get a guard to open Kord’s cell. He lets them know that Big Tom is in Copperforge, laying low.

As they approach the entrance to the Dungeon, they are spotted by a guard. Tenoch chases him down. Despite Sylence’s efforts to bribe him, he blows his whistle to alert the other guards. The party hurries into the dungeon, taking the guard with them. They disarm him and take off his armor. The room is pitch dark and barren. Gabber uses this tunnel for smuggling, one branch goes all the way to the Steamhook dwarves. To the west they hear unnatural sounds. To the northwest they hear voices.

They head toward the voice, but as Tenoch makes too much noise, a voice calls out to them. They see a large group of people coming toward them, a variety of races. A minotaur speaks with them and they ask him if anyone has heard about the Queen’s plan. He refuses and when Tenoch insists, the minotaur punches him. Sylence mentions he works for Gabber and the minotaur changes his tune. His name is Meno. He tells them that the west tunnel has been full of machinery, soldiers, and Klaxxon himself. Bubo mouths off and Minnow punches him too.

Meno is the leader of the Forgotten, those who have been sent to the dungeon. He agrees to help them scout the machinery. He gives Tenoch pumice to put in his hooves to be more stealthy. The work has been going on for months. Tenoch gives the gnome to Meno. Meno gives them a final warning about the monsters and undead that haunt the dungeon.

After a short rest, they head west. There is a fifteen foot wide ravine filled with water that they need to cross. Bubo checks it out, putting his finger in, which causes the water to animate and attack him. A white-haired dwarf comes from the Forgotten camp to assist them (Iroh character drop), blowing fire at the water weird. Bubo and Tenoch get pulled under water, but are able to free themselves. Iroh uses his fire breath to collapse the ceiling on it. Tenoch is able to finish the water weird off with his ax.

They continue down the tunnel. They hear the soldiers talking ahead. They see thousands of war machines and weapons being built as far as they can see. Sylence spies that there are foremen who control the machines from a transformer module. The party debates how best to destroy the operation. Tencoh remembers he has a glowing green gem, which Sylence identifies as holding a water elemental inside. Bubo sees that each console has a green glowing light that is protected. Once vulnerable, a direct hit would destroy it.

Flibbit slips off of Tenoch and sneaks over to a module to try to peel back the metal. Tenoch and Sylence turn invisible. Dumeril is sent to make a distraction, ripping off a grounding rod, which causes a massive explosion. Tenoch, Sylence, and Flibbit are able to remove the shielding on thirteen consoles before Bubo is spotted by a gnomish soldier and shocked. Tenoch picks the soldier up and smashes him into a transformer. The gnome is burned from the inside out and explodes.

As Bubo attempts to shoot an arrow at the nearest transformer, one of his swords awakens (Gilbert Gottfried character drop) and starts screaming. The sound attracts a basilisk which turns a gnome to stone (monster drop) and charges the party. Dumeril is able to destroy a console, which causes a chain reaction to the other twelve, igniting them all. A hundred gnomes are killed. The basilisk takes massive damage from the explosion, but gets close enough to turn Kord into stone. Sylence is able to finish it off.

Bubo grabs an injured gnome to interrogate. Sylence grabs some manuals. They pickup Kord and retreat to the Forgotten’s cavern.

Fun Moments
Danny has to pee in the middle of the show, so the PCs hold an impromptu Q and A.

When Uncle Iroh says that he doesn’t have a great restoration spell to help Kord, Tenoch says he’s useless. Iroh, flustered, says that he’s the dragon of the west and sieged Ba Sing Se. Tenoch says, "but yeah, how’s your son doing?" Danny calls Art a fucking monster.