The Drow War Book Two. The Dying Of - RoseRed

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Factory Floor A: Sheet Rolling and Panel
Beating
This enormous chamber is filled with the din of metal
pounding on metal. Immense machines are laid end to
end in two rows, with stunted grey figures working on
them. The figures feed hot metal into hoppers, which
send it to be rolled into sheets between gargantuan
rollers and hammered into shape by devices like
constructs gone mad, with mallet-like limbs rising and
falling incessantly. The products that come clanging off
the production belt are like pieces of metal shell, ready
to be assembled into a hull. The fragments are all too
familiar to you.
Standing behind the duergar, keeping careful watch,
are several drow guards. Everyone here seems highlystrung,
as if they are nervous about something important
that is about to happen. There is an observation
platform above one end of the room.
There are 20 duergar craftsmen-at-arms and four elite
drow guards here. The duergar wear metal helmets
stuffed with cloth to protect their ears. This gives them
a –4 penalty on all Listen checks and a –2 penalty on
all Spot checks. In addition, all Listen checks made
here are at a –4 circumstance penalty because of the
background noise.
The Machinery: The first time any of the Player
Characters examines one of the machines, the Games
Master should read them the following:
You notice that there is a strange object mounted on
the machine, like a glass bell jar filled with mist and
tiny electrical bolts. It looks as if someone has bottled
a thundercloud. Whether this is a power source,
some kind of magical brain, a defence mechanism or
something even more sinister, you cannot tell.
Lightning Jars: Smashing a lightning jar causes a
detonation of electrical energy in a 30-foot-radius
spread. This deals 25d6 electrical damage to all creatures
in the area of effect, with a Reflex saving throw (DC
23) allowed for half damage. The safe removal of a
lightning jar requires a Disable Device check (DC 15).
Machinery Hazards: The machines are extremely
dangerous and can cause severe damage to characters
caught in them. Treat regions of machinery as if they
are trapped, with no Search check necessary to find the
trap. A Disable Device check can be made to shut the
machinery down. Creatures entering the machinery
squares, voluntarily or not, suffer the effects of the trap
each round:
• Rolling Machine: The rollers trap creatures and
crush them for 16d6 points of damage. A successful
Reflex saving throw (DC 20) avoids this.
• Hammering Machine: Each creature suffers 2d4
mallet attacks per round. Each attack is +18 melee
and deals 1d6+10 points of bludgeoning damage.
• Shearing Machine: A huge blade descends to slice
off segments of sprue. Single melee attack, +20
melee, damage 4d6+14 slashing.
Factory Floor B: Component Casting
This chamber is awash with heat, and the ceiling ripples
with grisly light from many furnaces. At the eastern end
of the room, cucurbits are brimming with molten iron.
These are periodically tilted, allowing white-hot metal
to flow hissing into moulds. The duergar working here
are hard at work casting flywheels, joint sections, cogs
and small odd components that you cannot identify.
At the western end of the room, duergar sit at benches
filing away at the fresh-cast pieces. Drow guards stand
watching with fearful expressions, as if they expect
something to explode at any moment. There is an
observation platform above one end of the room.
There are 24 duergar craftsmen-at-arms here, along
with three elite drow guards and one war-mage.
Machinery Hazards: The cucurbits of molten iron
are only dangerous if a creature should happen to fall
in them, or if the iron is spilled out. Treat the iron as
lava (see the DMG). A creature adjacent to a cucurbit
can tip the iron out (as a full-round action) by pulling a
lever. This sends a wave of molten iron spilling out in
a 30-foot spread. Creatures in the path of the iron must
make Reflex saving throws (DC 15) or be washed over
by the molten iron and be considered totally immersed
for one round.
Factory Floor C: Riveting and Assembly
A low rattling sound fills this room as a conveyor
belt, apparently made from worn leather, moves halfassembled
Ironclad components from one duergar
craftsman to the next. The grey dwarves grab the pieces
off the belt, hammer rivets into place, tighten bolts and
join seams with molten solder. The pieces that roll off
the end of the production line into huge woven baskets
are clearly recognisable as Ironclad legs, pincers and
hull segments. This is not wholesome craftsmanship
– this is some mechanised nightmare.
Ibon Presno Gonzalez (order #73006) 8