RQG 146 - Organic Matter

## Summary

Hamid and Skraak explore the enormous room and find some interesting paperwork, although Shoin just really wants them to sit at a table. Azu, Cel and Zolf reunite with Hamid and Skraak, and they all proceed to fight some blobs.

Hamid suddenly becomes hard of hearing, Azu grows a comfort beard, Cel gets a hug, Zolf conducts himself quite well, and Shoin makes a peace offering.

## Synopsis

**Hamid and Skraak**

Hamid is up on the walkway in the circular domed room, sneaking around the walkway in the direction of the pipe organ. He makes it to the end of the walkway above the study portion of the room, and from this position he can see two large bulkhead doors leading into te room, one on each side of the kitchen area. Furthermore, he notices that the gloomy figure sitting at the table appears to be male, and has their hands steepled together with their head resting upon them. They appear to be wearing a blank white full-faced mask. There are a number of cables running from the back of the chair to the pipe organ. The figure is not moving, but Hamid is too far away to discern whether or not they are alive.

The walkway Hamid is on is about 25 feet above the floor of the room, and there is a ladder leading from the walkway to the floor. Another ladder is on the exact opposite side of the room at the other end of the walkway. Hamid climbs down the ladder stealthily. When he reaches the ground floor, he takes out the potion of greater invisibility and holds it in his hand as he proceeds to sneak up on the figure from behind until he is about 20 feet away. Unfortunately, it is still too hard to make out any additional details on the figure.

There is a hum of power coming from the cables that run from the chair to the pipe organ behind them. The pipe organ looks like it was designed to perhaps make potions instead of a music. There is a keyboard which mostly consists of keys labeled with alchemical symbols, while most of the piping is filled with different kinds of fluids and powders. It is deliberately built to look like a pipe organ, but probably isn't one.

Hamid hesitates and then sneaks up to right behind the figure, holding the potion of invisibility ready on his lips. He peers around the side of the chair, and sees that there is an enormous cable plucked into the base of the figure's neck, running into the chair. Additionally, the figure is wearing clerical robes. The white mask they are wearing is quite cheap, similar to a paper party mask. The steepled hands are mummified and glued together, as are their elbows.

Hamid drops his stealth and gestures at Skraak to come over as he puts his potion of greater invisibility away. When he does so, the speakers in the room click on and Shoin's voice fills the room, sounding intrigued and surprised at seeing them.

**Azu, Cel and Zolf**

The rest of the group have prepped before opening the golden door. Cel used their mutagen potion to beastmorph into a bat-like creature, allowing them to fly and have darkvision, while also looking terrifying. Meanwhile, Azu has grown an ironbeard and drank the potion of bull's strength. They open the door, and they see another glass tunnel with a plush, slightly battered carpet running along the floor and big, burnished brass handrails on the side. It curves down, circling around a very large glass dome about 100 feet wide. The tunnel leads in a helix around the dome down to a ground-floor entrance into the dome. The party also notice that a significant amount of infrastructure extends to beneath the dome into the seabed itself.

The party check for traps in the tunnel, but do not find any, and they continue to run down the tunnel towards the dome. As they head down, they notice that bubbles are coming up from the seabed around the building. Cel assumes it is built on a hydrothermal vent system to power the building. At the end of the glass tunnel is another bulkhead door with a glass porthole, through which they can see a large pair of oak wooden doors. They check the door for traps, and notice one. Cel easily disables the trap, which appears to have been a very simple one that was meant to cause a trivial electric shock.

They open the door and are now facing the large wooden door behind it. The door is inlaid with an image of Shoin, who looks like a saint as he is stood with raised hands surrounded by adoring throngs of people who all look very dim. They open the door, and on the other side is another bulkhead door. They check again for traps on this door, but find nothing.

**Hamid and Skraak**

Hamid is ignoring Shoin's questions and is investigating the corpse. He takes out a handkerchief and places it over the front of the corpse's face. He sees that the corpse still has a dagger in a sheath and another empty leather loop that might have carried a mace or something similar. The figure appears to be wearing clerical robes with the iconography of Poseidon on it. Hamid extracts the dagger from the sheath and takes it.

Shoin is continuing to talk to Hamid, and is noticeably doing so in English instead of Japanese. He tells Hamid there is a seat set for him and that he should feel free to sit down, as he's expecting the rest of the party to join soon so they can start the proper games. Hamid uses the handkerchief to gently take the mask of the figure's face, revealing a desiccated corpse underneath with no eyes and no tongue. In the mean time, Skraak has managed to climb down the ladder and join Hamid.

Hamid explores the chairs, giving them all a thorough look, and notices that one is built for a dwarf, one for someone the size of Azu, and one for someone the size of Cel. It looks like the chairs are removable and made of metal, and currently bolted to the floor. As Hamid explores the table, Shoin encourages him to take a look, but when Hamid starts to explore the rest of the room, Shoin becomes agitated, demanding that Hamid go back to the table and sit down.

Hamid goes to the study and looks through all the paperwork there. He notices that a lot of it seems to pertain to the simulacrum. There are plans on how to make use of the power source that was being trialed elsewhere, and a large amount of the plans have to do with fluidics and liquid dynamics. Although some of it has to do with the mechanics of movement of the simulacrum, there is also a lot more going on in them than Hamid can understand. He notices that a lot of the plans have an 'insert power source here' instruction but do not actually contain the plans for the power source itself. Additionally, some of the paperwork goes into the layout of humanoids, and seems to be closer to describing the circulatory nervous system than having to do with hydraulics. It all looks a lot more organic than Hamid is used to seeing for these kind of machines. Additionally, all the fluidics shown in the plans appear to be blue.

**BREAK**

As Hamid is looking through the plans and stuffing them into his bag of holding, the voice grows more and more irate. Hamid casts an acid splash at one of the speakers, destroying it, and this causes Shoin to become even more angry.

   He threatens to flood the room if Hamid doesn't comply and sit at the table. Hamid sighs loudly and continues picking up paperwork, and Shoin instructs Skraak to make Hamid sit at the table. Skraak gives Shoin a rude gesture, and Hamid laughs and compliments them. Shoin again threatens to flood the place, and Hamid finally starts talking to him. Hamid tells Shoin that the game isn't ready yet until his friends show up, but Shoin tells him he can play the game now.

They go back and forth arguing, until there is an ominous groaning of machinery underneath the floor and some gurgling. Hamid sighs, picks up the last bits of paperwork, and moves over to the table, moving away from the clearly halfling seat. He looks around at the chairs and asks Shoin to clarify the game, unsure of which chair to sit in, and the arguing continues.

**Azu, Cel and Zolf + Hamid and Skraak**

As Azu, Cel and Zolf are stood behind the bulkhead door they can hear the arguing on the other side. They open the door, entering the room between the kitchen and bedroom segment. They see Hamid standing near the table, arguing with Shoin, with a slightly frustrated look on his face although he's wearing a slight grin. Shoin grows so frustrated that the corpse sitting at the table suddenly explodes into a fiery mess, leaving the chair empty. Shoin again instructs Hamid to sit in his chair, but Hamid tells Shoin that he's now created even more choices by emptying the corpse's seat. The fluid inside the cylinders on either side of the pipe organ begins to boil.

Hamid notices the group and greets them enthusiastically, relieved to see them. Zolf asks what is going on, and Cel flies over to Hamid and hugs him. Shoin's voice comes across the speakers as he tries to greet the rest of the party according to a script, but he has lost his train of thought in his frustration with Hamid and he tells everyone to sit at the table. Zolf tells him to shut up. Shoin threatens to flood the room, but Zolf is not impressed. Shoin then threatens to flood the room with acid, and the speakers shut off.

Hamid points out the alchemical pipe organ to Cel, who flies over to examine it. In the meantime, Hamid goes to hug Azu and Zolf, who tell him it's good to see him and they're glad he's alright. Cel investigates the pipe organ, noticing that it is an incredibly complex manufacturing set-up. There appear to be two outlets, one within the room and one for somewhere else. They also notice that it is less efficient than it could be, built in such a way that it will look very flashy. Additionally, there appears to be a lot more going on with the organ than just being a station for manufacturing potions, but a lot of it they do not understand.

Cel plugs the outlet beside the keyboard with a cork. They notice that the cylinders on either side of the pipe organ are almost boiling over, frothing. Hamid shouts at Skraak to get back on the walkway. The rest of the party notice Skraak, and Cel flies over to give them a hug. Skraak, terrified by Cel's visage, tries to attack them with their injection spear. Hamid explains that it's Cel, and Skraak asks what happened to them. Cel explains that their current form makes them stronger, and they both growl at each other.

Zolf suggests to leave the room before Shoin drowns them in acid. The speakers burst into life again, and Shoin tells them to sit at the table and to play the game. Cel flies over to the other outlet on the pipe organ and smashes it. Azu hears a splosh behind her, and she turns around as she hears more sploshes. Everyone hears the drips, and they notice large drops falling from the very top of the dome, from nozzles on the support struts. Where the drops land, they do not splash. The drops are about the size of a fist and are luminous green, similar to the cylinders beside the organ.

Zolf heads towards the other door to open it, and Hamid also sprints towards it. All the blobs begin moving towards the nearest people. Zolf tries to open the door, telling the party to bottleneck the blobs, but the door is locked and electrified, shocking Zolf (16 damage). Azu kills the two blobs closest to Zolf with her axe, as more blobs rain down from above and being moving towards people. Hamid casts magic missile at the nearest blob, killing it, and then sends the remaining missile at the one closest to Cel, killing that one as well. Cel kills two of the closest blobs to them with their crossbow, and then flies up and towards Skraak. Zolf moves to be between blobs and people and casts bless.

Azu kills another blob with her axe, and even more blobs rain down from above and begin moving towards people. One of the blobs reaches Skraak and climbs on top of them. Hamid casts magic missile at the blob on top of Skraak, killing it. He then tells Skraak to not let the blobs touch them, and to hit the blobs with their spear. Cel shoots the blob closest to Skraak, killing it, and then flies over towards the stairs. Skraak runs towards the stairs they originally climbed down.

Suddenly, all the liquid inside the frothing cylinders starts draining instantaneously into the pipe organ, and the figure that was looming over the keyboard starts extracting itself from the organ. As it reaches its full height, the party realize the figure is not only built into the pipe organ, but that it is the pipe organ itself, and that bits start detaching from it. It's made of wood and metal, and has large amounts of fluid chambers built into it. As the head clunks into place they can see it has large glowing red eyes and what appears to be a glass orb with a brain inside.

## Quotes

"The party is still currently split. We have Hamid chilling out in what's definitely not a large ominous space filled with boss. And the rest of them aren't opening a golden door that potentially leads into a large ominous room filled with boss."
―**Alex, in the episode introduction.**

**Bryn**: "I look in all directions simultaneously according to Pathfinder rules."
**Lydia**: "I'm made of eyes!"
**Alex**: "It's just all characters are beholders, there's halfing-beholders, there's *[unintelligible]*-beholders..."
**Zolf**: "The old eye-halo!"
**Alex**: "So using your eye-stalks, canonically -- everyone has eye-stalks, we just don't talk about it."
**Ben**: "Well, it's just normal."
**Alex**: "That's the thing, why would you mention it?"
―Discussing game mechanics.

**Helen**: "How much money has he spent on this?!"
**Ben**: "...We're in an underwater base."
**Helen**: "Yeah..."
**Ben**: "He's got underwater base money!"
**Alex**: "Doesn't have moon base money, it *is* a recession."
**Bryn**: "A moon base? *In this economy?*"
―Shoin's underwater base is lucrative.

**Alex**: "You are now immediately behind the chair of the figure. I do not require a perception check, you are within 5 feet."
**Ben**: ""I stroke his cheek" - Stealth check!"
**Bryn**: "The thing is, if at this point I was Sasha, what I would just do is reach and take away any weapons he was holding."
**Alex**: "Yeah, sleight of hand!"
**Bryn**: "But I'm NOT Sasha."
**Helen**: "Aww... but she would be proud."
**Lydia**: "You hear in whatever plane that she's in now, there's a rippling in the [force]."
―Hamid sneaks up on the dead cleric.

"I'm going to jump back to Hamid, because it's time for everyone to find out how mushy time got while Hamid was lost. So, as you look around you see the corpses of the party underneath the table. No, I'm kidding."
―**Alex**

**Shoin**: "Wh - Sit- sit at the table, I’ve gone to *great lengths*, I -- shut up- - come on!" (*Hamid acid blasts one of the speakers.*) "If you do that one more time, there will be *repercussions young man!* Okay? I - Shut u- Oh my God shut up! I- I will flood this place! And I have no problem doing that, all right? Don’t make me flood it."
**Hamid**: (*Sighs theatrically and continues picking up paperwork*)
**Shoin**: "You, minion! Make him sit at the table!"
**Skraak**: (*Makes extremely rude kobold gesture*)
**Hamid, laughing heartily**: "Good work, Skraak!"
**Shoin**: "*Ooohoohohhh*…. Very well! So, last chance. You can either play the game, or I can just flood the entire room."
**Hamid**: "So you can hear me if I talk, can you?"
**Shoin**: "...Little louder please?"
**Hamid**: "So you can hear me if I talk, can you?"
**Shoin**: "Oh, oh yes. Oh yes. I know all, see all and hear all!"
**Hamid**: "I mean, we can’t start the game until everyone gets here, so I’m just making busy in the meantime. Don’t mind me! Be with you in - in- in a little while, yeah?"
**Shoin**: "Make busy over at the table!"
**Hamid**: "Ehm…. in a minute! In a minute. Just give me a minute!"
**Shoin**: "NO! I want you to do it NOW!"
**Hamid**: "No, we’re not ready yet!"
**Shoin**: "You -- shut up, shut up!"
**Hamid**: "The game, isn’t, ready."
**Shoin**: "The game IS ready, you will sit down RIGHT NOW! Do it! Sit down!"
**Hamid**: "There’s no other players here."
**Shoin**: "Yes there is, there is one already there!"
**Hamid**: "No, that’s a corpse."
**Shoin**: "A corpse can play the game!"
**Hamid**: "I mean, that’s not a very good game if a corpse can play it."
**Shoin**: "How do you know-you’ve-not-played-it-you’ve-gotta-sit-at-the-table!"
**Hamid**: "No, it’s a terrible game."
**Shoin**: "YOU’RE a terrible game! Sit at the table!"
**Hamid**: "I don’t play any - "
**Shoin**: "Sit at the table!"
**Hamid**: "- I don’t play any games with corpses"
**Shoin**: "Sit at the table! Sit at the table!"
**Hamid**: "Look, look, just -"
**Bryn**: "I just hold up a finger and then go back."
**Shoin, angry**: "Oohoohooohooh!" (*Ominous machinery groaning starts below the floor*)
**Shoin**: "Last - last warning! You will do what you are told and you will sit at that table!"
**Hamid**: (*Sighs and grabs last bit of paperwork and walks to the table, ignoring the halfling chair*) "So, can you just - I - I’m a bit unclear about this game--"
**Shoin**: "It’s that one! That one there!"
**Hamid**: "This - This one? This one?"
**Shoin**: "No, it’s the other one!"
**Hamid**: "No, no, you meant this one?"
**Shoin**: (*Yells in frustration*)
**Hamid**: "You can’t - you don’t seem to want to point - you really have to have a better way of indicating which chair is mine?"
―Hamid stalls for time and irritates Shoin.

**Alex**: "And you see Hamid - Could you describe Hamid’s expression before I describe the voice?"
**Helen, giggling**: "…. Shit-eating. "
**Everyone**: (*laughs*)
**Bryn**: "Slightly frustrated, but yeah, a bit of the - a bit of a grin of - of ‘this is silly, but I’m winning’."
―Hamid does his best to irritate Shoin.

**Shoin**: "It’s the SMALL CHAIR! For a small person!"
**Hamid**: "Oh! This chair’s quite small."
**Shoin**: "It’s the small - It’s the smallest chair!"
**Hamid**: "This - I mean this one’s cleary quite big-"
**Shoin**: "You can shut up -- all right! I - Argh -"
**Hamid**: "But this one is quite small?"
**Shoin**: "Will everyone just stop talking! Oh f - FINEEE! Fine! Oh my god. *Fine!* *(The corpse explodes in a fiery mess, leaving behind an empty chair)* Look what you made me do! NOW SIT IN A CHAIR!"
**Hamid**: "The- the empty one?"
**Shoin**: "SIT IN THE *SMALL!!!* CHAIR!!!!"
**Hamid**: "The empt-- You just made another chair empty! Now there’s even more choices!"
―Shoin explodes the body of the cleric.

"Shoin, shut up, we’ve already heard you losing your rag at Hamid. How do you think you’re gonna deal with four of us if you can’t control one halfling?"
―**Zolf**

**Bryn**: "I hug Azu and Zolf."
**Helen**: "Absolutely, yes. Literally, I was about to say, while Cel’s doing that..."
**Ben**: "Hug back."
**Zolf**: "’s good to see ya."
**Hamid**: "You too."
**Azu**: "I’m so glad you’re alright."
―Hamid is reunited with the rest of the party.

**Bryn**: "What happens to the one that occupied Skraak's space?"
**Helen**: "I hope he doesn't get blobbed..."
**Alex**: "It *immediately* starts trying to blob it!"
**Lydia and Helen**: "Noooo!"
―Skraak is attacked by the blobs.

**Alex**: "Is alive! Is now King of the Blobs!"
**Lydia**: "Okay, I shoot it again!"
**Alex**: "All the blobs begin bowing non-mechanically at their king."
―A blob gets hit twice but is still alive.
## Dice rolls and Mechanics

* Hamid Stealth check to sneak on the walkways: 24
* Hamid Perception check for the room: 21
* Hamid Stealth check to make it down the ladder: 24
* Hamid Stealth check to get a better view on the figure: 23
* Hamid Perception check to study the figure: 17
* Hamid Stealth check to get behind the figure: 32
* Perception check for traps in the corridor: 23 (Azu), 15 (Cel), 25 (Zolf)
* Perception check for traps on the door: 15 (Azu), Natural 20 (Cel), 15 (Zolf)
* Cel Disable Device check to disable the trap: 24
* Perception check for traps on the door: 14 (Azu), Natural 20 (Zolf)
* Hamid Perception check to search through the paperwork: 17
* Hamid attack roll to cast acid splash on the speaker: 22
* Hamid Will save to resist Cel's fear effect: ? (succeeds)
* Cel Knowledge (alchemy) check on the pipe organ: 23
* Cel Knowledge (engineering) check on the pipe organ: 17
* Perception check: 16 (Azu), 27 (Cel), 16 (Hamid), 18 (Zolf)
* Zolf Reflex save to avoid damage from the electrified door: 9 (16 damage)

## Combat breakdown

**Ongoing effects:**

* Cel: Drinks their mutagen. They gain +2 AC, their charisma takes a -2 penalty and their constitution gains a +4 bonus, making their new max hp 59. They gain bat wings (fly speed of 30ft), darkvision, +2 on Intimidate, two claw attacks, and a bite attack.
* Azu: Ironbeard, +1 to AC, and bull's strength, +4 to Strength.

**Initiative:** Zolf (22), Azu (16), Blobs, Hamid (nat 1; 9), Cel (nat 1; 5), Skraak

**Surprise Round**

* All the blobs on the floor move at once, homing in towards the nearest people. There are more blobs mid-drop.

**Round 1**

* Zolf: Suggests to bottle-neck the blobs and tries to open the second door leading out of the room. The door is electrified, shocking Zolf: 16 damage. The door is locked, so Zolf tells everyone that his plan is not going to work.
* Azu: Attacks two blobs next to Zolf with Cleave: 16 (26 damage, it explodes), nat 20 (nat 1 to fail to confirm crit; 9 damage, is dead)
* Blobs: All move 10 feet towards the nearest people. Six more blobs fall on the floor, mostly of them land around the edges of the room.
* Hamid: Backs away from the nearest blob, and casts magic missile. The first two target the closest blob: 4 + 3 damage (is dead). The next two missiles hit one of the blobs next to Cel: 5 + 2 damage (is dead).
* Cel: Shoots the closest blob: 19 (7 damage, is dead). They then target another blob: 12 (15 damage, is dead). They attack the third blob that is nearest to them: 6 (doesn’t hit). Cel then flies 10ft up and then 20 feet towards Skraak.

**Round 2**

* Zolf: Moves forward, putting himself between blobs and people, and casts bless (he and allies within 50 ft gets +1 to attacks and saves against fear effects).
* Azu: Attacks another blob: 24 (doesn't roll for damage, as Azu's minimum damage already explodes it)
* Blobs: Move 10 feet towards the nearest people. One reaches Skraak and climbs on top of them. Six more blobs drop into the room from above.
* Hamid: Backs off again, and casts magic missile. The first two aim at the blob on Skraak: 5 damage. The third one also aims at that blob: 3 damage (is dead). The fourth magic missile aims at the next blob closest to Skraak: 2 damage. Hamid tells Skraak to stay away from the blobs, and that they should hit the blobs with their spear.
* Cel: Shoots 2 bolts at the blob near Skraak: 19 (3 damage), 21 (4 damage, is dead). They then fly toward the stairs.
* Skraak runs towards the ladder they originally climbed down, and reaches it.
* The cylinders on either side of the organ go from frothing to instantly draining into the piping, and the giant figure inside the pipe organ begins to extricate itself from it.

## Trivia

* The blobs are possibly a customised sanguine ooze swarm.