Testing the Limits
| MIN LEVEL | START LOCATION | START REQUIREMENTS |
|---|---|---|
| 968 | Karthak (Seastone Court) (2, 8) | SK XII Medallion (Complete Making an Impression) |
InformationNote:
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DetailsJamesina knocks on the massive gates to the Citadel. To your astonishment, they open. You draw your weapon and step in front of the impetuous Seer. You walk through the gates and come face to face with a Commander in full dress uniform. The Commander raises his hand, 'That is far enough, what are you doing here?' You see that the Commander is alone. You step aside and Jamesina greets the Commander. 'Sir, we are here from SK Acquisitions, we have a Contract to make sure no corruptive influence has spread to the Seastone Keep. Here is our proof that we are Hunters.' The Commander takes the Medallion and inspects it, 'I see you have had quite a few successful... Contracts. I also note that you did not kill any of our Initiates. I was impressed, I was more impressed when I received word that you did the same at the North Gate. I assumed you were assassins out to destabilize Karthak, I am pleased that I am wrong.' He hands the Medallion back to you, 'What is this “corruption” you speak of?' Jamesina blinks slowly at the Commander. You nearly laugh at the blatant fluttering of her eyelashes. Then you see the dumb look on the Commanders face and realize that more is occurring here than is apparent. 'The Undead are rising within the City and the Mounted Legionaries are conducting a Suppression Order on the populous. The Karthak Legionaries seem to be under some spell so we have been sent here to make sure you have been spared the touch of evil.' The Commander laughs, 'A Suppression Order and undead walking the streets of Karthak!' He then goes quiet for a moment, 'Mind you I have not received word from anyone in three days. I also like the way you handle yourself. But really, I don't see how any corruption of evil could come here. We have... resources here that would deal with all such threats. But there has been a nagging fear that we are not putting enough emphasis on the Martial component of training.' He points at you, 'Promise me that you will not take a life.' You nod slowly, not sure what is happening. The Commander smiles a crooked grin, 'Excellent, then we can do each other both a favor. I will let you into the Citadel and you can – do as you wish. You will face resistance at every step. But if you succeed in your contract, that means our training of our Soldiers is not as stringent as we require.' He looks at Jamesina, 'Do we have a deal?', she nods subserviently. 'Yes sir.' He then nods happily to himself, 'Excellent, carry on.' And stalks away. Jamesina whispers, 'Meet me at the bottom of the Lighthouse.' The center of the wide courtyard is dominated by a tall lighthouse. As you walk past the door of the Lighthouse you see a huge Minotaur Golem glaring at you. You get the distinct impression that if you get any closer to the Lighthouse, the Golem will crush you. You hurry past and within the Lighthouses shadow, you find Jamesina stares up at the structure in awe. The Seer turns to look at you. A smug smirk slowly crawls across her face, 'I simply thought I'd try the “being underestimated” trick you pointed out that I had. I must say it is far more effective that I would have thought. I looked into Commander Mustaine's upper mind and saw his most pressing concerns. He has just had an argument where he thinks the Sentries depend to much on what he calls Wizz-Bang. He feels that nobody is listening to him as he's old. Then we walk in and defeat everyone we meet. He wants us to prove him right. Just don't kill anyone and we're fine.' 'I simply laid a charm on him to augment his arrogance, he has such vast reserves of that particular characteristic that I almost chocked on it.' She looks up at the Lighthouse behind her. 'Why is it so tall? I understand that it needs to be tall. But does it have to be that big?' You give her a hard look, and ask her what it is she wants done. Jamesina bites her lower lip, 'Ummm Mustaine wants us to test out his troops effectiveness. I guess we should at least try to help him. After all he didn't execute us, which he should have done.' She mutters under her breath, runes swirl around her delicate hands for a moment then vanish, and re-appear around a Combat Golem. She walks up to it and closes her eyes. 'Ummm... Oh I see... Yes...' She opens her eyes and snaps her fingers. The swirl of runes shatter and the Combat Golem is torn to shreds in an instant. Delighted Jamesina turns to see your horrified face. 'Oh – I was only seeing how it was made. Don't worry, I can't do that to a real person.' Then a thought starts to form in her mind, 'Well at least I don't think so... But anyway, I think I can make them better for the Commander. I just need you to modify a component within the Golem.' She digs in her cloth bag and brings out a quill and parchment scroll. After a few moments she hands to parchment to you. 'Come back when you have built this.' Jamesina is still staring at the massive lighthouse when you get back, 'Have you made the Clockwork Gyroscope?' She takes it in her delicate hands, 'This is well made Hunter. I have heard that balance is very important when you are fighting. With this, the Golems will be much surer on their feet and give the initiates a better fight. Or at least the one we add this to will!' She walks up to the wreckage of the Golem that she tore apart, and places the Gyroscope in the pile, taking out the old component. 'Now we just need to wait a bit.' You watch in fascination as the small brass parts of the Golem start to come together. It takes a while for the small parts to realign, but the process sped up remarkably as the limbs came together. Jamesina smiles at you, 'We should leave our mark on it, it's our work after all.' Just before the face plate snaps into place, she lifts it and carves a large SK on the forehead with her Enchanted Knife. The letters blaze for an instant, then fades. She lets it go and with a series of quiet clicks the Golem starts to rise. Jamesina takes you by the arm, 'We should back off, I don't want it attacking us. After all it's for the Initiates to play with.' You both step back and the SK Golem sways on it's feet for a moment. Then it strides away with a cat-like grace. An Initiate confidently readies for combat, the Golem feints, then immediately sidesteps the initiates counter attack and slams a metal fist into his ribs. The initiate crumples and the Golem strides on. Jamesina stands staring at the Library. A frown crosses her pretty face, 'It's such a nice place. But there is an underlying malice to the area. I don't understand it.' Then a small imp-like creature suddenly crawls out between the Libraries flagstones and throws a ball of water at the Seer. She dodges it and the Spirit vanishes from sight. Jamesina thumbs through a book as she waits for you, 'Have you managed to light the Scrying Rune?' She puts the book carefully back on the shelf next to her. 'Well this is an odd flame. The vast majority seems to be an Affinity Component. But that makes no sense. This is obviously an evil spirit, but an affinity can only be part of a constructed spirit.' You look confused at her. 'A Golem is made out of metal parts, you can do the same with energies and the right magics. Make a Spirit, I mean. It's more complex to set up, but once it's done you can have a portal or similar object pumping out Spirits for as long as the source has energy. I have never seen a malicious Spirit with this much affinity. Why would you want a horde of Malicious Spirits running around your Library?' 'To give your Initiates a challenge. To make sure that they have a reason to hone their skills or be humiliated by Spiteful Imps. You would be amazed how arrogant most Initiates actually are, focuses the mind beautifully.' The voice comes from the door behind you. A tall man walks in dressed in the robes of a priest. 'My Name is Gathcon, I have just received word that two Hunters have been allowed access into all area of Seastone Keep. An unusual training exercise, but one which I must say I thoroughly approve of. So what can I do for you?' Jamesina gives a confused look at the Priest, 'You choose to have these Imps running around your Library?' Gathcon nods, 'Yes, we have a large Crystal that we can unlock with a Rune. The Motes then spring from the Jan Kath Crystal and the Initiates then destroy the little wretches. If they fail the Motes make their life a misery. The Initiates also get used to the presence of Evil as they cannot leave if there is a Mote in the Library. So the Initiates learn their Skills very quickly. The Crystal's light goes out once all the Motes are dealt with. It's a very elegant system. I wish I had thought of it.' Jamesina bites her lower lip, 'I see, so this Jan Kath Crystal has been here for how long?' The Priest tuts as a Mote tries to steal his belt. He blasts it with a searing light without even thinking about it. 'Oh – sorry. The Crystal has been here for about 3 Centuries. So it's a fairly recent addition to the Keep in relation to other parts of the Castle.' The Seer squints at you, 'That Priest was not kidding about the noise.' The machine is massive, but you don't really see what it does. On a clip board by a mug of hot tea you see a piece of parchment. The Parchment shows the machine in detail, but not what it is connected to. Maybe if you re-drew the drawings you could figure it out. After you made the Thumping Diagram you thought you would figure out what it does. But the drawings made no sense. You then think maybe if you could get the Diagram for another of the Machines, it would become clear. It was not hard to find the machine with the noise it was making. Like the other machine, you hope that there might be Drawing for it. After all it needs to be maintained like any other machine. You quickly find the scroll trapped under a large cog. The Crashing Diagram did not shed any light on what the purpose of the machine actually was. The guess that the final machine will have the final part of the mystery. You are beginning to regret even bothering to find out what these things do. But you figure you have come this far. You might as well see it to the end. Your heart sinks as you find a battered Scroll under a large spanner. This has to be the final part of the puzzle. You find Jamesina almost on her knees due to the noise. You have to tap her on her shoulder before she knows you are there. 'You found out if there is anything amiss in the area?' She looks at the drawings. Then she frowns, 'These are the drawings of the machines in the Furnace Room?' You nod. 'But they do not connect to anything. The machines just make a noise.' She then looks at you with wide eyes. 'If that’s true then the Lighthouse is not powered by the Furnace Room at all. Then the question is – what is powering the Light House!' Jamesina rubs her temples gently, 'The quiet is sooo good.' She smiles back at you, 'I have decided that you have done enough work to warrant another reward, give me your Medallion' After notching it Jamesina hands it back to you, 'I know that the Contract is not strictly complete but you have been working so hard I think it would only be fair to give you a reward. I am breaking the rules here but as Director I can do that.' 'You reward will be found in Vault 7. We will have a chat to the Minotaur Golem when you get back.' You enter the familiar chamber. A short statue with a wide friendly face and long beard smiles at you. 'Well Hunter, I take it you want your reward? He hands you a large object wrapped in a rough cloth. You carefully unwrap the cloth, and smile down at the polished shield. The statue gives a hearty laugh, 'It looks good on you Hunter. May success follow you on your way.' |
