The volcanic soil of the Valley of Steam meant that the greenery that survived there also thrived there. Despite being abandoned more recently than Ageneon’s War, these buildings might as well have been relics of the Anarchy. The growth was so pronounced in spots that Alvec half considered burning his way through it. The only problem is that he'd have to coat the log buildings with chemicals to make them resist the fire. It would take more time than he had to lose on the project. Instead, the lot of them hacked their way through the underbrush. The combination of moisture in the air and temperatures had meant that the locks on the building had rusted almost entirely through. It was far faster for them to break them than to bother trying to properly unlock them. No one in the party was strong enough physically to break them easily, nor did anyone's gear lend itself well to the task.
Mavec took a spare rod of iron in his possession and used it a little like a crowbar till the locks snapped under the added pressure. The hinges on the doors had to be oiled before they would even move. The cabins, thankfully, weren't compromised. While the environment had done a number on the moving parts, the rest of the wooden frame remained safe. They found no hint of what the expedition had been sent to study inside these basic buildings. No papers, maps, brochures, scrolls, or the like were in sight. When they packed up shop, every bit of parchment and ink had been removed, yet they had left so much actual equipment here. Mavec noted this and filed it under the "talk to Alvec" pile. It was hard to imagine them leaving so much raw material but being so particular about the findings. In a supposedly failed venture like this, he'd have expected to find a lot of documentation on the project.
Instead, he found boxes of parts designed for working with advanced clockwork. Not exactly what they had expected to find, but it certainly would close the gap on the entry fee. Looking it over, accounting for the mild damage from the elements, he'd bet he could sell it back to the academy for somewhere near five or six thousand, and that was only the contents of this single small section of these buildings.
Alvec had broken into another one of the buildings and found precisely what he was looking for. Enchanted clothing and a quick glance over them with his expertise were enough to key in on the fire resistance. Something crunched under his boots. Broken glass, no stains on the wood, nothing to denote any liquids had been inside of them. He grabbed the longest piece he could gingerly and examined it with the same style of forensic arcana. It was enchanted; it was pretty clear he was looking at a broken air bottle. Had they been doing extensive searching underwater or in low-oxygen spaces? It was possible; perhaps there had been more of them. Or maybe this was the only one that had just been broken in the move. The combination of the two items made it look as if they were perhaps interested in something located in the geysers.
It didn't really matter all that much. Whatever they were looking for, they had either found or hadn't many years ago. Speculating about it with so little evidence was a waste of their limited remaining time. Even though the deadline would be tight, Alvec knew in his heart that Bait wouldn't be convinced to leave until he had his cheese goo from the geysers. If they didn't hurry and get that over with, it wouldn't matter that they'd found a means of paying for the entry fee into the Festival of Blades.
"We got stuff? We go get cheese ingredient now!" Bait eagerly demanded as he stomped into the room Alvec was in.
"Yeah, just another few minutes. We have to secure enough stuff to get us that entry fee," Alvec said, taking stock of the number of enchanted suits of clothing. None of it was designed for combat, so whatever they were here for was purely academic. He packed up all those still in good shape and headed out the door following Bait. Mavec was also already packed up. Echo was now carrying many metal parts, which only started to weigh the poor wolf down. He bore it well, though, as if it was his sacred duty.
Bait pulled out the map Krog had given him and began guiding the group further into the heart of the Valley of Steam. Thankfully, it appeared that it wouldn't be much further to journey. It was maybe another half hour or so before they arrived in a mostly open area, where the heat from the water radiated out in a near-toxic way. It wasn't soil but stone beneath their feet, with large yellow, green, and blue pools of steaming hot water. Geysers erupted from the ground at uneven intervals as well. Bait approached the largest of these lakes. If any of them was going to have the goop he needed, it would be the biggest one, of course. Goblin logic sound like that.
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As Bait scampered close to the water's edge, the ground shook, and the water stirred unnaturally. An unvarnished metal head emerged from the water. Illaria quickly drew her blade, and Naya followed suit only seconds later. Bait ran back while pulling out his musket.
"Mavec, is that what I think it is?" Alvec asked as the thing in question lumbered out of the water. It had a rather round mid-section, with janky arms and legs that were also clearly unfinished.
"That is a gods-damned clockwork mech," Mavec responded. It wasn't wielding any weaponry and was in a crude state of composition. It was clear that whoever had built this had no expertise, only basic knowledge, plenty of time, and sub-par materials. This was not academy standard, though it looked to have been constructed with academy parts. "Want the good news?" Mavec asked.
"What good news could you possibly have?" Naya asked.
"It doesn't even have a regular oversized weapon, which means it has no more exotic weaponry attached. Also, it's almost certainly weak to lightning, so hit it with every bit of electricity you can," Mavec shouted.
Naya smirked; that was good news. The spirits had answered her prayers, revealing to her a new use of their magic. She knew that if she called to them now, they would rain down thunder and lightning. With the storm clouds from the earlier rainstorm clinging to the sky, she knew she could coerce much stronger bolts of lightning.
"Is there any chance it could be friendly?" Illaria asked.
Mavec shook his head. "No, if it was triggered by proximity, it will most likely be hostile. If someone is piloting it, that brings up a bunch of other questions I don't have answers to."
The mech lumbered forward, taking a wide swing at Illaria. Its cart-sized fist was sluggish, and she quickly slid under it as she moved in to attack. Her blade struck the construct's right leg. This sort of a fight wasn't Illaria's speed; she was much better suited for fighting flesh and blood creatures; all this clockwork was a challenge. It's hard to damage a metal creature using a thin sword like a Wakizashi. Still, she struck the knee joint at just the right angle, severing a cable. Regrettably, cutting it alone wasn't enough to halt its movement.
Bait fired his musket, easily striking the rather large center of mass. His bullets faced the same issue as Illaria's blade; too much metal meant his rounds were only slamming minor dents into the thing's chest before tumbling uselessly to the ground. In times like this, Bait wishes he had portable cannon. Bigger boom maker, bigger hole, no care about metal.
Echo rushed in to provide support, but Naya stayed further back, chanting under her breath; she called out the spirits of the stormy sky and directed them at her foe. The mech attempted to dodge the lightning bolt, but it struck it unerringly. The lightning seemed particularly impactful as the joints spasmed and staggered forward. Mavec followed her up by doing pretty much the same. He held his arm outstretched and fired off a bolt of lightning from his hand. It arched high, crackling above Bait's head before striking the creature. The mech stumbled and went down on one knee as the electricity overwhelmed its circuitry momentarily. A hatch on the back of the creature popped open, and a red creature of roughly humanoid shape and height with batlike wings, long spindly horns, and carrying a double-bladed sword leaped out of it onto the ground in front of Illaria.
"I'll kill you all!" it shouted in a language only Alvec could understand.
"Why are you attacking us?" Alvec asked as he rushed in, gathering electricity in his hand; he quickly slapped it into the devil, who convulsed slightly as his skin charred a bit at the point of contact.
"You serve Kushang. I'll kill every servant of the golden traitor!" He swung his sword first at Illaria, who managed to parry the blade, knocking it off course. The Devil spun and drove his blade at Alvec, who batted it away with his buckler. "You're both quick; how troublesome," he said before letting out a low whistle. The mech stood back up and lumbered off towards Naya, Bait, and Mavec, who had thus far kept their distance.