Seeing the iron trees, Ironmiaden is immediately interested, despite the trees being used as meat hooks for the damned to be feasted upon by bloodthirsty stirges. The Tormentor lazily strafes left and near the treeline until it is within 50ft and Ironmiaden can get a closer look.
Seeing that there are no hostiles stalking close (with the 14 perception) IM looks to the 'forest' floor trying to observe any scraps of iron that might be retrievable
Corlith gives his pack one last suspicious look, before giving up on finding the source of the voice for now.
"Not the most hospitable of places to rest, but I fear anything we do to drive off those creatures will attract the attention of potentially worse denizens of this place", he says as he looks at the stirges.
He counts the number of Stirges and writhing knights to see what they are dealing with.
Reed looks at IM, who appears to have ignored his question about how to use the soul coins to make the vehicles move. So he sticks it in his pocket for now.
"So what are we looking for on this hill? A castle? " Reed asks Lulu. "Would think it's better to drive up, no?"
Reed decides he better get IM's attention again.
He pulls out the soul coin and waves it in front of IM's face.
"Hey, any idea how these work? Otherwise we're down to one vehicle."
IM distracted by the iron shakes their head to regain focus, "Ahhh, I... I'm... yes! There should be a slot which delivers the coin to the soul compression chamber which are then ignited by the hellspark-plugs. I should check, but have an idea for the general area for the slot, do you have the coin?" They climb down and start searching the inner working of the machine, following relevant pipes to their inevitable exit and trying to locate the receptacle for the coinage.
Reed rolls the coin across his knuckles and then helps IM look for the slot the coin is supposed to go into.
While he does that, he does keep an eye on the stirges.
"Do you think they only like the taste of what's up on the trees?" Reed asks concerned that if they get too close, the stirges will come at them instead.
"As far as I am aware, we are only here to find a safe place to rest. It seems like those creatures are satisfied with an easy meal. Hopefully they will ignore us. We should be vigilant though", Corlith replies.
If the path to the top of the hill is wide enough for vehicles, he will agree with Reed's sentiment that they should drive up. He is also interested to see if there is any other route to the top of the hill, and whether it is a good defensible place to stop to rest.
Virro is concerned as well that the creatures will want a different taste to dine on, saying “Perhaps somewhere away from the stirges… awful beasts. We could move away a bit to make sure we are clear from them.”
"I could test their hostility." Ironmiaden offers "They seem to feast on blood and as we are all aware from seeing my inner workings, I do not possess any."
"And would that prove anything? If they don't attack you as you have no blood, that doesn't mean they wouldn't attack one of us", Corlith ponders.
As he looks at the writhing bodies of the knights, he feels a spark of his former compassion return.
"It may not be the most sensible thing to do, but I feel we should try and free those knights from their misery", he adds a little unsurely. That would attract the ire of the stirges for certain.
”Thanks, Lu,” Reed says. He then turns to look at the group. “So Lu’s saying that there’s a citadel up the hill past this pretty little display and that we need to get there.”
Reed looks over at the stirges and bobs his head a little.
”I think we’re going to have to kill a bunch of them. So we try and sneak past and deal with whichever ones come at us or just get it over with now?”
"smart enough" Ironmaiden ponders the idea, looking over to the stirges and surmises that perhaps not, "their apparent predilection for blood may out weight their hostility toward humanoid shaped creatures... You are correct the test would not have an outcome that would 100% conclude their motives."
Turning back to the Tormentor, IronMaiden handily finds the correct slot and is able to deposit the soul coin offered by Reed, the Tormentor roars to life, but the IronMaiden does not mount the vehicle just yet.
"This may seem... What is the word... Callous? But this specific situation could be beneficial. Our vicinity to the iron trees seems to be a deterrent to outside hostiles, and the stirges themselves are preoccupied with their knights, should we wish to rest whilst keeping watch this is statistically best place we have seen since leaving the hags area. If you wish to free the souls of the knights in torment then we could do that, but in the meantime it is impossible for them to become more dead... When that time approaches, our vehicles will eliminate our ability to sneak, it seems if we wish to continue upon them a fight is inevitable"
"Is there a way to lock the vehicles, to stop anyone else coming upon them and simply taking them? I wouldn't want to leave them and find they are gone when we return", Corlith replies to Ironmaiden. "Not that the new one will fit along the path anyway, and the Tormentor is not big enough to carry us all, so it seems we must leave them anyway".
"As for whether we rest here or not, that is up to those who feel the need".
He turns to Lulu, "Is the sword at the citadel? Or is that just along the way?"
While the discussion about the mechanics of protecting the vehicles from theft carries on, Reed climbs back up into the Demon Grinder and into the wrecking ball seat and closes his eyes to get some rest.
"Ok, so the sword is at the citadel", Corlith says after Lulu replies into his mind.
Noticing Reed go and sit down in the Demon Grinder, he looks out at the stirges, wondering if they can just pick them off from a distance. They might not even know it is happening if they are discreet. He contemplates driving a spike into one their minds to see how the flock reacts.
Virro also climbs back in and picks up the harpoon, looks down at the ones remaining and considers the iron spiked tree. “There are too many, likely. We should just go around this and make our way to the citadel, driving as far as we can. I don’t know if there is anywhere we can hide the vehicles, anyone who comes along could take them. Perhaps we can remove all of the soul coins so they would have no fuel. These blood sucking things would likely turn on us if we attack them…I don’t think I can sleep knowing they are waiting to suck us dry like big mosquitoes if we sleep…”
Corlith wanders to within 60ft of the closest stirge, if he isn't close enough already, speaks a word of magic as discreetly as possible and attempts to tear its mind. From this distance he hopes the rest of the flock won't even notice him, and he would certainly be unlucky were they to attribute what happened to him.
Action: Cast Mind Sliver - DC17 Int Save or take 3 [psychic] damage and subtract 1d4 from their next saving throw
IronMaiden pulls the tormentor around making a bit of a vehicle wall for cover just before corlith moves off. If the group are to rest then there is likely a more efficient defence plan but this would have to do. They then perch upon the highest point of the vehicles sitting cross legged with the revealing lantern sitting on their knee, lighting up any creatures who may approach the group invisibly. The IronMaiden powers down slightly, remaining still as a statue as they watch over the group and the surrounding area, keeping an eye on corlith as he creeps off a little way, the blue flame within the suit dimmed for the time being.
The stirge that Corlith targets, does indeed feel the sting of the intrusion of it's puny mind, but it just stalls him briefly in midair, then it continues to fly towards another body before heading back up the hill.
As the rest of you have been watching this macabre scene for awhile, trying to figure out what to do, you start noticing that the stirges get fat sucking the blood out of one of the speared bodies, then fly towards the top of the hill, disappearing. Then they appear to fly down the hill skinny again. Whether it is the same ones or different ones, it is too difficult to tell.
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Seeing the iron trees, Ironmiaden is immediately interested, despite the trees being used as meat hooks for the damned to be feasted upon by bloodthirsty stirges. The Tormentor lazily strafes left and near the treeline until it is within 50ft and Ironmiaden can get a closer look.
Seeing that there are no hostiles stalking close (with the 14 perception) IM looks to the 'forest' floor trying to observe any scraps of iron that might be retrievable
Corlith gives his pack one last suspicious look, before giving up on finding the source of the voice for now.
"Not the most hospitable of places to rest, but I fear anything we do to drive off those creatures will attract the attention of potentially worse denizens of this place", he says as he looks at the stirges.
He counts the number of Stirges and writhing knights to see what they are dealing with.
Reed looks at IM, who appears to have ignored his question about how to use the soul coins to make the vehicles move. So he sticks it in his pocket for now.
"So what are we looking for on this hill? A castle? " Reed asks Lulu. "Would think it's better to drive up, no?"
Reed decides he better get IM's attention again.
He pulls out the soul coin and waves it in front of IM's face.
"Hey, any idea how these work? Otherwise we're down to one vehicle."
IM distracted by the iron shakes their head to regain focus, "Ahhh, I... I'm... yes! There should be a slot which delivers the coin to the soul compression chamber which are then ignited by the hellspark-plugs. I should check, but have an idea for the general area for the slot, do you have the coin?" They climb down and start searching the inner working of the machine, following relevant pipes to their inevitable exit and trying to locate the receptacle for the coinage.
Reed rolls the coin across his knuckles and then helps IM look for the slot the coin is supposed to go into.
While he does that, he does keep an eye on the stirges.
"Do you think they only like the taste of what's up on the trees?" Reed asks concerned that if they get too close, the stirges will come at them instead.
"As far as I am aware, we are only here to find a safe place to rest. It seems like those creatures are satisfied with an easy meal. Hopefully they will ignore us. We should be vigilant though", Corlith replies.
If the path to the top of the hill is wide enough for vehicles, he will agree with Reed's sentiment that they should drive up. He is also interested to see if there is any other route to the top of the hill, and whether it is a good defensible place to stop to rest.
Virro is concerned as well that the creatures will want a different taste to dine on, saying “Perhaps somewhere away from the stirges… awful beasts. We could move away a bit to make sure we are clear from them.”
"I could test their hostility." Ironmiaden offers "They seem to feast on blood and as we are all aware from seeing my inner workings, I do not possess any."
Reed looks over at IM and smiles.
"Yeah, but are they smart enough to know that?"
"And would that prove anything? If they don't attack you as you have no blood, that doesn't mean they wouldn't attack one of us", Corlith ponders.
As he looks at the writhing bodies of the knights, he feels a spark of his former compassion return.
"It may not be the most sensible thing to do, but I feel we should try and free those knights from their misery", he adds a little unsurely. That would attract the ire of the stirges for certain.
Reed waves over at Lulu.
”Thanks, Lu,” Reed says. He then turns to look at the group. “So Lu’s saying that there’s a citadel up the hill past this pretty little display and that we need to get there.”
Reed looks over at the stirges and bobs his head a little.
”I think we’re going to have to kill a bunch of them. So we try and sneak past and deal with whichever ones come at us or just get it over with now?”
"smart enough" Ironmaiden ponders the idea, looking over to the stirges and surmises that perhaps not, "their apparent predilection for blood may out weight their hostility toward humanoid shaped creatures... You are correct the test would not have an outcome that would 100% conclude their motives."
Turning back to the Tormentor, IronMaiden handily finds the correct slot and is able to deposit the soul coin offered by Reed, the Tormentor roars to life, but the IronMaiden does not mount the vehicle just yet.
"This may seem... What is the word... Callous? But this specific situation could be beneficial. Our vicinity to the iron trees seems to be a deterrent to outside hostiles, and the stirges themselves are preoccupied with their knights, should we wish to rest whilst keeping watch this is statistically best place we have seen since leaving the hags area. If you wish to free the souls of the knights in torment then we could do that, but in the meantime it is impossible for them to become more dead... When that time approaches, our vehicles will eliminate our ability to sneak, it seems if we wish to continue upon them a fight is inevitable"
"Is there a way to lock the vehicles, to stop anyone else coming upon them and simply taking them? I wouldn't want to leave them and find they are gone when we return", Corlith replies to Ironmaiden. "Not that the new one will fit along the path anyway, and the Tormentor is not big enough to carry us all, so it seems we must leave them anyway".
"As for whether we rest here or not, that is up to those who feel the need".
He turns to Lulu, "Is the sword at the citadel? Or is that just along the way?"
While the discussion about the mechanics of protecting the vehicles from theft carries on, Reed climbs back up into the Demon Grinder and into the wrecking ball seat and closes his eyes to get some rest.
"Ok, so the sword is at the citadel", Corlith says after Lulu replies into his mind.
Noticing Reed go and sit down in the Demon Grinder, he looks out at the stirges, wondering if they can just pick them off from a distance. They might not even know it is happening if they are discreet. He contemplates driving a spike into one their minds to see how the flock reacts.
Virro also climbs back in and picks up the harpoon, looks down at the ones remaining and considers the iron spiked tree. “There are too many, likely. We should just go around this and make our way to the citadel, driving as far as we can. I don’t know if there is anywhere we can hide the vehicles, anyone who comes along could take them. Perhaps we can remove all of the soul coins so they would have no fuel. These blood sucking things would likely turn on us if we attack them…I don’t think I can sleep knowing they are waiting to suck us dry like big mosquitoes if we sleep…”
Reed opens his eyes and looks over at Virro.
“IM doesn’t sleep. They can keep watch.”
Corlith wanders to within 60ft of the closest stirge, if he isn't close enough already, speaks a word of magic as discreetly as possible and attempts to tear its mind. From this distance he hopes the rest of the flock won't even notice him, and he would certainly be unlucky were they to attribute what happened to him.
Action: Cast Mind Sliver - DC17 Int Save or take 3 [psychic] damage and subtract 1d4 from their next saving throw
IronMaiden pulls the tormentor around making a bit of a vehicle wall for cover just before corlith moves off. If the group are to rest then there is likely a more efficient defence plan but this would have to do. They then perch upon the highest point of the vehicles sitting cross legged with the revealing lantern sitting on their knee, lighting up any creatures who may approach the group invisibly. The IronMaiden powers down slightly, remaining still as a statue as they watch over the group and the surrounding area, keeping an eye on corlith as he creeps off a little way, the blue flame within the suit dimmed for the time being.
The stirge that Corlith targets, does indeed feel the sting of the intrusion of it's puny mind, but it just stalls him briefly in midair, then it continues to fly towards another body before heading back up the hill.
As the rest of you have been watching this macabre scene for awhile, trying to figure out what to do, you start noticing that the stirges get fat sucking the blood out of one of the speared bodies, then fly towards the top of the hill, disappearing. Then they appear to fly down the hill skinny again. Whether it is the same ones or different ones, it is too difficult to tell.