[IC] Keratia: Tales of the Arisen One

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

Sylvia nodded and answered Pylia, "Right! Let's see what happens then," She then put on the ring. As she did so, she watched the robot's eyes to see if they would light up. She asked out loud towards the robot, "OK, can you hear me buddy?" She found that she was almost holding her breath in anticipation to see what would happen now that the ring was on her finger and the heart was in the robot's chest.

[Lucius Cypher]

As you slip on the ring you suddenly have a flash of visions. You see a squat, ugly child crying in a muddy corner in a dark room before a door opens revealing light and a gentle silhouette. The vision changes to two young men sparing each other in an open field using wooden swords, before they suddenly grow older, wearing military like uniforms and using real swords. Then it changes once more, now the two young men are in full plate armor, standing side by side as they fought against evil looking foes armed with terrible looking weapons and vicious armor. Just as they jump into battle the scene changes. The ugly child, now and older and frankly not very flattering man laid on a bed, his arm missing and his head wrapped in bandages. A woman approached holding a red stone in one hand and a knife in another. The final vision shows a mysterious yellow armored robot standing on a cliff side overlooking g a grand city.

All of this happened in less than a second. As for the machine a whirling noise could be heard from his body as steam hissed from the strange vents on his back. His joints creaked and groaned as he started to move. His eyes began to glow red as he stood up, grasping the axe in his hand. He looked directly at you, almost sinister. And then the lights turn green.

However there was no time for introductions. Just as soon as the mysterious machine awoken, you could see one of the rocks begin to crack and shift. Plus anf Shortfang moves to a defensive position as they saw a large, hulking ogre rise from underneath the stone. However he surely was not alive, with rotting flesh and puss seemed wounds that have never healed. The brute lifted the boulder he wielded over his head with frightful ease, threatening to use it to crush the adventurers. He roared at the party as Pylia snarled back. “Zombie ogre!”

Roll initiative!

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

Before Sylvia even realized it, she was overwhelmed with visions of...a man's life. Before her very own eyes. This...This was how the robot came to be! From man to machine, she witnessed the life pass by until finally it ended on the robot before her now. When her vision returned to normal, she watched as the robot stood up with red, sinister eyes, before they clicked to green. Before she could say anything though, she saw it.

The stones moved, and something big and really ugly and scary appeared from underneath it. She readied her bo-staff as Pylia called out in warning. A zombie ogre?! She spoke to the robot quickly, knowing they might need his help, "Sorry bud, but help us fight that zombie ogre!" She felt bad for asking for its help so soon, since he just woke up, but there wasn't much time and that thing looked really strong.

Initiative!

16

[Lucius Cypher]

The robot hefted it's axe in both hands as it looked from you towards the zombie ogre. It moved slowly forward towards the ogre, with very solid and deliberate steps as it brushes pass Pylia and Shortfang who watched with some awe as the mechanical being made some sort of unidentifiable gibberish sound. But whatever it was saying caused his axe to become wrapped in some sort of sonic energy as he swung right into the gut of the zombie ogre with an upwards swing. You'd remember seeing Ferric preform a similar attack against that hobgoblin he split in twain when you first saved him. But somehow this machine did more than just that; not only did his axe cleave a very clean and massive hole through the zombie ogre, but a sonic boom occurred, shocking the body of the ogre back a bit, as well as a bright flash of light exploded from the point of impact. Yet despite how much damage the robot just did to the ogre, to the point that it's guts were spilling out onto the floor, the ogre was still standing and didn't even seem in pain. If zombies could even feel pain.

Rolls and Info

Initiatives:
Robot Buddy (31/31) = 19
Sylvia (14/15) = 16
Pylia (17/17) = 14
Shortfang (20/20) = 10
Zombie Ogre (27/85) = 4

Robot Buddy casts Thunderous Smite.
Robot Buddy Attack vs Zombie Ogre = Nat 20
Critical Hit = 15
Crit Divine Smite vs Undead = 26
Thunderous Crit = 18

Zombie Ogre Strength Save = 18

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

Sylvia watched the robot, stunned in shock as well, and her jaw just dropped when she witnessed the robot practically cleaved a hole in the zombie ogre. It was a lot like watching Ferric cleave the hobgoblin, and yet, it was clearly a stronger attack! And yet, the ogre was still standing! If possible that would have made Sylvia's jaw drop even more so.

Sylvia managed to close her gaping jaw and shake herself out of the stupor, and spoke up "Oh right! We gotta help our robot buddy!" She then charged into the fray with her bo-staff. She struck the ogre with her staff, despite knowing that her staff probably wasn't going to do as much damage as the robot's axe did. After that, she attempted to strike the ogre with a roundhouse kick.

Sylvia attacks!

Quarterstaff Attack: 22
Unarmed Strike: 8

Quarterstaff Damage: 11
Unarmed Strike Damage: 6

[Lucius Cypher]

After the robot’s impressive blow, you rush in and take advantage of the monster’s momentary stun, cracking the zombie across the face with your staff and throwing g a solid round house into the monster’s knee. Unfortunate just as the beast buckled, Pylia’s sacred flame smashed right into the boulder instead of the zombie’s head, foiling her attack. But that didn’t stop Shortfang who fired and arrow right into the ogre’s jaw before he bounced up to it and stabbed the beast right in the armpit, straight to the heart. “Pew! Stinky!”

But it wasn’t over for the ogre just yet. Despite all of the damage, he was able to remain standing, and he was about to drop that giant boulder into you! But Shortfang wasn’t going to let that happen. “NO YOU DONT!” In a surge of draconic fury Shortfang pulled his blade out from the pits of the undead, climbing up his back and stabbing his sword through its neck. Hanging on from there Shortfang tossed his unloaded crossbow aside as he drew the bandit’s shortsword and hacked the blade into the ogre’s neck. “FALL!” The little guy roared as he pulled the ogre backwards. Thanks to his poor posture and being very top heavy, even a little guy like Shortfang could mess with the ogre’s balance as he fell over. Shortfang was able to then pull his blades out from the ogre just in time to decapitate it, and the monster’s own giant rock crushed him into a disgusting red paste. Shortfang quickly turned his back as he was splashed with ogre gore. Fortunately for you the robot extended his rather broad axe in front of you to shield you and your outfit from the same splash of blood.

Rolls and Info

Initiatives:
Robot Buddy (31/31) = 19
Sylvia (14/15) = 16
Pylia (17/17) = 14
Shortfang (20/20) = 10
Zombie Ogre (Dead) = 4

Ogre Dex Save = 16

Shortfang’s Crossbow vs Zombie Ogre = 23/12
Crossbow Damage = 7

Off-Hand Shortsword vs Zombie Ogre = 24/19
Shortsword Damage = 3

Undead Fortitude DC 8 = 15

Shortfang’s Shortsword vs Zombie Ogre = 13/16
Shortsword Damage = 7

Off-Hand Scimitar = 22/10
Scimitar Damage = 6

The Zombie Ogre is dead! Again!

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

Sylvia could only watch as Shortfang struck, only for the ogre to remain standing. Her eyes widened in fear as she saw that it was lifting a boulder and it was about to use it to crush her! Thankfully, Shortfang struck once again, and killed the ogre, causing the boulder to crush it into paste instead. She gasped as the blood splashed her way, but her vision and the blood was blocked by the broad axe. She looked to see that it was the robot who was shielding her and her outfit from the blood.

Once everything was over, and it seemed as though they weren't going to get attacked again, she first looked to Shortfang and gratefully said, "Nice work, Shortfang! You really saved me right there, thanks!"

She then looked to the robot buddy, and she said to him, "Thanks to you, we all got out of that mess without a scratch! Thanks for your help!" The ogre didn't even have the chance to do anything! It was almost scary how strong this robot seemed.

She then asked the robot, "Do you have a name? Can you talk?"

[Lucius Cypher]

Pylia went over to Shortfang and helped clean the blood off of him with a cloth as the robot simply looked at you. He pointed at your ring, then pointed towards his head. Still no words. Shortfang was still smelly with blood but he at least wasn’t drentched anymore. “Ugh. Shortfang stinky!” Pylia covered her mouth as she tried to stay upwind from Shortfang. “I think that should be everything. We found this... Robot, so maybe he could help us. He is obviously strong and hasn’t done anything to harm us. I heard him say something but it sounded more like a noise than words, unless that’s just a language I don’t know. It certainly doesn’t sound like a language I know.”

The robot remained silent, but otherwise would follow your commands and come with you out of the cave should you choose to leave. Much like Shortfang the robot is also quite dirty and his axe looked in dire need of repair. It was a surprise it managed to even stay in one piece after that devastating blow. “Hmm. Needs name. Boss, what we call robot?”

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

Sylvia guessed that he couldn't talk after all. When he pointed at the ring, she wondered if the robot knew that she saw the visions of its life. She looked at the ring and then to him, and she wondered out loud, "You use the ring to communicate, maybe...?"

She then looked to Shortfang and she couldn't help but chuckle after he made his comment about how he smelled now. She added, "Good thing there's a river nearby!" After Pylia made her comment, Sylvia thought about it, and she commented "From what I heard back home, that could have been binary notation: A mathematical code of ones and zeroes used to write data such as instructions for a machine. I think the older machines back home made that noise or similar noises when processing those instructions,"

She then commented, snapping herself out of the thoughts of home before they could even begin again, "Oh! Let's get out of here and head back to Ferric and Mica. We should talk more somewhere safer than here,"

She led the way out and when Shortfang asked what they should call it, Sylvia immediately thought of the silly names she could give the robot, and she had to suppress her laughter and a smile,

C3PO...
R2D2...
Terminator 2.0...
Wheatley...
Bender...
Doty...

"Buddy! Let's just call him Buddy for now," She answered, stopping the train of thought before she could even think of choosing one of those names.

She then looked to the robot as they walked on, "Unless you already have a name you'd rather have us call you by?"

[Lucius Cypher]

The robot simply shrugged. Pylia smirked seeing this. “Well, it seems like he can at least emote. I was worried that he wouldn’t be able to do any form of communication. You do understand us right?” The robot nods. Now that he was active for a bit longer, he seemed more responsive. The walk out of the cave was fortunately peaceful, though it did startle Pylia and Shortfang when the door suddenly closed behind them. “Scary.” Shortfang commented. Soon they would cross the spot at the river that would lead up to the camp, and it was here that Shortfang started taking off his gear and armor. “Shortfang take bath. Cold bath!” Pylia looked to you and motioned. “We might want to do the same. If nothing else, I can use this opportunity to clean out stuff and maybe get some dirt off Buddy. Wouldn’t want the others to think we picked up a vagabond warrior.”

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

Sylvia jumped startled as well when the door closed behind them as well. She agreed with Shortfang, "Oh yeah..." As she looked at the door, she couldn't help but think. More questions started popping up. Why was Buddy in that place? And the person who made that place used 'Open Sesame' as the key to open the door into that place. Who built that place? Did they know about her world? And...did they know that she would be coming here...?

There were so many questions, that Sylvia had to stop herself before she ended up in a mental spiral of unanswered questions. Thankfully Shortfang and Pylia's suggestions of taking a bath distracted her from them.

At first, Sylvia wanted to agree, but then she realized some things. They were out in the open, she would have to be naked for a bath, and she wasn't sure if she could take a bath with the water walking ring on. With that realization, her face blushed red with embarrassment. She answered Pylia, "Sounds like a great idea, Pylia. I'll...wait for you guys. I'm...not really comfortable with bathing out in the open,"

[Lucius Cypher]

Shortfang had already jumped into the river and was quickly washing himself up, his teeth chattering from the cold water. Pylia seemed confused at first before slowly realizing what you might mean. “Oh! Right of course! Forgive me I... I’m so used to being by myself, I didn’t really think about... That.” Thinking quickly Pylia had an idea. “In fact, if you want some privacy and a more comfortable bath, we could head back to the camp and get the tent. I can rig it into a sort of private room for you, and if you really want I could heat up some water for you too. If you don’t mind waiting of course.”

In the duration of you and Pylia talking, Shortfang crawled out, shaking the water off of him as he dragged his armor back in to clean. Sneaking a peek you could see his naked... Nothing. He looked rather bare down there. Maybe that was just how kobolds were. In fact now that you think about it you don’t remember seeing him ever wear pants. “Brrrrrr! Wash quick, warm by fire!” Buddy remained quiet and just watched everyone.

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

Sylvia waved the apology with smile and answered, "It's alright. Don't worry about it," She blinked at the offer, and thought about it. Pylia could do that? She answered Pylia, "If it's not too much trouble, I'd be grateful! I don't mind waiting at all," Come to think of it, Sylvia doubted that she actually had a proper bath since she got to Keratia! She probably smelled to high heaven, and her hair felt greasy just thinking about it. It was not a good feeling.

She didn't want to sneak a peek at Shortfang, but she was relieved to find nothing there. She then looked to Pylia, wanting to see what she would want to do before heading back to camp. She asked her, "I can stand guard here, if you still want to wash up?"

[Lucius Cypher]

“That’s fine, I have to head back to the camp to get a brush anyways. I don’t think I can just scratch out... Whatever is on Buddy.” The robot indeed looked rather rusted and dirty. “Just stay here for a moment 8 shouldn’t be gone for long.” Pylia soon headed back to the camp to grab the extra things. Not long after Shortfang was done washing up and had gathered all his belongings in a bundle. Teeth still chattering he looked at you. “G-g-g-gunna go n-n-now to f-fire! See ya b-b-boss!”

After Shortfang left it was just you and Buddy. He simply stood there by the edge of the river, looking at you as if expecting you to say something.

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

Sylvia nodded and answered Pylia, "OK. We'll be here," When Shortfang mentioned that he was gonna go to the fire, she answered, "OK. Go on ahead, you earned it. See you at camp," Soon it was just her and Buddy. She looked to him and noticed that he was looking at her expecting her to say something. Now that she thought about it, there were some questions, and maybe Buddy can answer them if she could phrase them right.

She decided to try and start with an ice breaker question to break the silence, "So, uh...Happy to be up and running again?"

[Lucius Cypher]

Buddy nods as he tests the articulation in his hands again. The move he moved them, the more you could see that he was in a dire need of some maintenance. Rust and dirt fell from his fingers and he seemed to have some difficulty manipulating individual joints. He was strong, but not very agile it seemed. He motioned towards the camp. Then he pointed towards himself and then the river. He tilted his head as if he had asked a question.

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

Sylvia smiled a bit at the nod, and she commented, “That’s good,” She watched as he tested his fingers and noted how he was not very agile, and probably needed maintenance. Sylvia didn’t consider herself as a mechanic, especially considering that she doesn’t really know how Buddy’s mechanical body worked. When he pointed as a question, Sylvia had a guess as to what he was asking, and she answered as best as she could, “Oh! We’re waiting for Pylia to come back with a brush. She’s gonna get that rust and whatever else is on you off, and it’s easier to do it here where we have access to water,”

She then asked out of curiosity, “...Hmmm...I don’t suppose you can write? We can get you a journal to help you communicate,”

[Lucius Cypher]

Buddy nodded, looking around and finding a stick. He used it to write something in the mud. It was very slow and his handwriting as well as spelling could use some work. ”Helo am ur budy” He wrote down. Next in the mud he scribbled something else before his stick broke. ”Dont rmembr much no nam” Crushing the stick in his hand Buddy reached for a different one. It was by then that Pylia had returned with the tent and a large metal pot. “I’m back! Oh is Buddy collecting sticks? I’ll need them to heat up the water.”

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

Sylvia watched as Buddy took a stick and wrote in the mud. She couldn't help but smile a bit at the first sentence. Sure, the grammar and spelling could use some work, but it was still a good start. She did feel bad for Buddy since he wrote that he couldn't remember much. She answered Buddy, "Oh, I see..." Before she could continue, Pylia returned.

She smiled at Pylia and she answered her, "Actually, Buddy was just talking. Well, not talking, but writing! Said he doesn't remember much of his past,"

[Lucius Cypher]

“Ah, that’s right he could write couldn’t he?” Pylia says as she sets up a sort of shower curtain for you. “Buddy, could you help me gather some dry sticks for a fire?” Buddy nodded and walked away for a bit to gather the sticks. Pylia had a bit of tinder she used to start a small fire, but they’d need more to heat up the pot of river water. Once she was set up all she needed was to wait for Buddy to come back. “So... That dream you had, it was about Buddy?”