Death from Above

As Arowe creeps stealthily up the final flight of stone steps, he cautiously peeps around the last curve and over the stone threshold. He’s not a fool though and he’s not willing to just rush in alone, without at least taking a few moments to assess the scene before him.

There's no door blocking his entry but, besides the wreckage of a large mechanical hound on the floor, there appears to be no other defences in this room at all. Sir Briefadel had obviously run out of pre-prepared plans at this point and was forced to fight the automaton directly. Parts of the bronze and steel creature are scattered all over the flag-stoned floor and its head and four legs have been cleaved from its mangled body.

Only a sparking, two-foot tall steel rod, partially emerging from its circular bronze track, still seems to be pointlessly and blindly moving. It wasn’t completely a one-way battle though, as there’s blood all-over the jaws of the mechanical defender. Red Human blood.

As the rangy Arowe fully enters the new level, one of the dismembered hound’s glowing, mechanical eyes follows his movement and on further inspection, he recognises the beginnings of some recent repair work. Still, the immobile metal beast is of no threat, beyond that of being a trip hazard. Other than the bronze rail, stumpy rod and destroyed metal dog, there are two more doors on the curved wall opposite. Two identical doors leading somehow out of the tower, with another of the simple stone Gnomes mounted on a plinth above and between them. It's hewn in a sort of shrugging, finger-pointing pose, indicating the two options. Although initially seemingly identical, the door on the right has already been broken through and then roughly repaired. On testing though, they both remain locked and Arowe can hear the summoned rats scrabbling around behind them both.

The preternaturally sensitive Arowe though, is old enough to know, that the little stone Gnome statuette on the wall is a misdirection. By merely offering two choices, it strongly implies that those are the only choices available. An obvious Gnomish, tricksy-dicksy misdirection to fool gullible Humans.

While the rest of his rag-tag band of teammates shuffle in, one or two at a time, Arowe exploits his fine Elven senses and searches for another exit hidden in the room; a third option. And before the last straggler finds their way into, the smallish, now crowded room, he spots it. Not along the walls but up in the ceiling, a good six feet over his head. A small, two foot square, hidden hatch leading to yet another level directly above them!

The question then becomes, how to open it? A wooden pole perhaps but that wouldn’t facilitate him actually getting up there. It's too high to jump, so to gain access, he’ll need to be lifted up... Again.

Doberman and Fortu, being by far the strongest, are the obvious choices but, despite Arowe’s striking six-foot Elven frame, Doberman’s roundish body is still too short to make up the twelve-foot span needed from floor to hatch. Standing, instead on Fortu’s broad shoulders and further supported, triangle-like by Doberman and Henshaw, the athletic but slender Arowe reaches up and pushes with all his might. The hatch above however, doesn’t budge. It’s either locked or just too heavy for Arowe to shift alone.

It's the much stronger and heavily armoured Fortu, from under Arowe’s feet, who offers a slightly different option.

“If you can, just brace yourself straight and I’ll raise myself up on my toes. Once the hatch seal breaks, shove it back out of the way.”

Arowe is slightly embarrassed when this ploy proves successful but, as his keen Elven eyes adjust to the darkness above, he sees four rows of small hanging creatures. And then, even as he watches, in a slightly delayed fashion, their crystal-like eyes blink on like tiny red, then orange, then green lights.

More automatons!

Rows of Mechanical ‘bats’ hanging upside-down. Bronze bodied bats with leathery wings, needle noses and bizarre glass bulb bottoms.

With an ominous click, the bottom rung of four detach themselves from the rafter they were hanging from and drop down toward the hatch, even as the startled Arowe instinctively slides hastily down off of Fortu's back.

Thankfully, although these mechanical Gnomish creations are much smaller than the ones they'd previously fought, they still struggle to get through the open hatch due to poor cooperation and their wide, bronze rodded, leather wings. Flailing and scrabbling over each-other, two manage to find their way out.

Falling as much as flying, one misses the currently unarmed but heavily armoured Fortu but the other one succeeds in stabbing Arowe in the neck with its hollow, needle-nose. Despite the smallness of the weapon, Arowe is shocked by the sudden and inexplicable loss of blood as it’s literally sucked out of him under a vacuum. His knees weaken for a moment before he’s able to pry the blood-filled thing off.

Everyone joins the fight, with Rifkin urging them all on with his inspiring melodies, but every second, more and more of the wicked, clumsily flapping, mechanical creatures escape from the overhead hatch until the air is filled with them!