Sidequest Saturday (Lands of Ludolog): Retrieve the Ship!

Retrieve the shipAfter defeating Queen Medusa, the Archon King introduces the party to a short, funny looking little man wearing an orange cap. “This, my friends, is Marcus. I think you will find him very interesting, and believe that he can help you get your ship back and return home.” With that, he and his entourage take to the skies and leave you in the care of this peculiar mustachioed fellow.

Marcus pulls out a very large toolbox—so large, in fact, that you briefly wonder where it came from. He starts to rummage through it, pulling out pipes, wrenches, and other odd items, three of which he gives to you.

  • A shield has a shovel on the front that allows the wielder to move and create tunnels at a rate of 30 feet per round within Ludolog, the 2-Bit Dimension (as augmented mythic burrow and haste; CL 15th).
  • A strange contraption that has a long hose with a small bellows on one end. The hose can be directed at a blokar or fyookie and used to kill them; the wielder throws the hose as a ranged touch attack at one of the beasts within 30 feet as a standard action, stunning it on a hit (DC 24 Fortitude negates). After a single pump the creature is automatically stunned, and with 3 more pumps it dies (a pump is a standard action). If more than one round passes between pumping actions, the hose detaches and the blokar or fyookie returns to normal. This device must be wielded with two hands.
  • The third item is a burrowing ghost mine.

2-bit shieldMarcus leads the party a small ways and stops next to a flower, pointing to a shaft that leads downwards. “Down there you should be able to recover your vessel. The denizens of The Dig have taken it and in order to get it back, you’ll have to find at least two of those there glitched boulders. Tunnel under those things and the vaults will spit the ship out—for a while, at least. Don’t worry about falling, and don’t be surprised when things get less distinct or look stranger than normal. The oldest part of The Dig is extremely old, after all.”

 

SPECIAL MECHANICS

  • Creatures within The Dig may move up, down, backwards, and forwards at their base speed as though it were fly (perfect) so long as this movement is taken in open tunnels. While digging a passage in The Dig, a creature’s speed is capped at 30 feet per round.
  • There are three glitched boulders in each level of The Dig. Tunneling under a boulder causes it to drop one round later (see the trap description here). When two glitched boulders drop, an item appears at the base of the passage where the PCs first entered The Dig. The first four items are pristine xyrx crystals, and the fifth is the party’s airship (which can be boarded immediately).
  • Each tunnel contains a blokar or fyookie (and each level has a maximum of two each). They move towards and attack any PC if there is a line of effect. Otherwise, one of them activates their Ghost Form whenever a “color barrier” in The Dig is tunnelled through, at which point it proceeds toward the nearest PC. The last blokar or fyookie on the map (after the remainder are destroyed) tries to escape, using its ghost form or the nearest tunnel to flee to the surface.

 

Leaving Ludolog
Once the party has managed to retrieve the ship, the new xyrx crystals can be installed into the vessel; it immediately returns to life, causing the world to stretch sideways as a large vortex appears before the PCs, sucking the craft and the party into it! As the ship hurtles across dimensions once more, anyone that makes a DC 18 Perception check can see Aventyr at the far end of the planar tunnel, slowly growing larger and more distinct.

Just before exiting the vortex, however, a large alabaster wing smashes into the ship, causing it to list to one side and spin out of control. A huge dragon flies by, dragging in tow an army of undead that ride on tendrils of pure energy. It shrieks a cry that sounds familiar to you before spreading its wings and plunging into an otherworldy rift with his armed retinue.

The airship plummets towards the ground and at the last second, the vessel brings its spin under control and makes a very hard landing, creating a 100 foot long trench as it grinds to a halt. A quick check verifies that the xyrx crystals are completely expended, and to make matters worse, a mob of undead is rapidly shambling towards the crippled ship!

 

fyookieBlokar and Fyookie          CR 13
XP 25,600
CE Medium aberration
Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +20

DEFENSE
AC 10, touch 10, flat-footed 10
hp 69 (11d10)
Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +8
Immune magic, weapon damage
Weaknesses vulnerable to air pumped into its body

OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft.
Melee (Blokar) +12 melee touch (instadeath)
Ranged (Fyookie) +12 ranged touch (instadeath, range 15 ft.)

STATISTICS
Str 10, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10
Base Atk +8; CMB +8; CMD 18
Feats Improved Initiative, Improved Unarmed Strike (Blokar), Precise Shot (Fyookie)
Skills Perception +18, Stealth +20 (in ghost form)
Languages telepathy 30 ft.

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Ghost Form (Su) A fyookie or blokar can turn incorporeal at will. While incorporeal, the creature may move through solid earth at a speed of 20 feet per round. While in this form the creature may not attack other creatures. Dismissing ghost form is a swift action.
Ludolog Immunities (Ex) Blokar and fyookie are immune to magic (as a golem). A blokar or fyookie ignores any attacks the deal less than 50 bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage but if one of these creatures would normally be required to save against massive damage from an attack, it deflates and dies if it fails the save (otherwise, it ignores the attack as normal).
Variable XP (Ex) Depending upon where in The Dig a blokar or fyookie is encountered, it may be worth more experience. Increase the effective CR of these creatures by one if encountered on the third level and by two if encountered in the fourth (bottom) level.

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