12/19/2025 – Belowdown Ep. 2

The company slipped back into the Belowdown beneath the shrine and stepped behind an emerald curtain stitched with a warning: no fake Zortash by order of the real Zortash. Beyond lay a stone table and a dozen heavy tablets. Bezel skimmed several, learning that Zortash’s automatons were duplicates of the Grand Magus and that the Magus’s grand desire was to become omnipresent. The crew pocketed a few tablets for later and pressed on.

They parleyed with easygoing mutant guards playing dominoes, nosed through a cozy kitchen of garlicky soup, and followed the clink of gears to a brass, nine‑foot automaton who declared himself the one true Zortash. He bristled at questions and, when told his guards were slacking, stalked off to scold them. In his absence the party rifled his notes—paranoid scribbles—and found a hidden button beneath the bed that opened a ladder into darkness.

At the bottom, a levitating automaton with a red gem in its brow whirred to life and attacked, repeating, nobody must know. The fight was brutal: torches guttered out, claws and fists hammered, Cat’s blessings hauled comrades back from the brink, and Adder’s volatile power scorched the air. With the odds turning, they scrambled up the ladder and withdrew to regroup.

They returned with a cleaner plan. The proud upstairs Zortash was goaded into confronting the guardian below; sparks flew in the dark, and the victor clanked back up, leaving a mangled chassis. From the wreck the party gathered ruby powder and moved on.

Deeper in, a second Zortash—scholar, courteous—demonstrated cube‑scrolls that projected spells when held to light. Amused by Bezel’s tales, he gifted Dispel Magic and Fabricate. He also spoke of deeper dangers: berserk automatons, duergar, dark elves, and troglodytes massed above a mysterious power source. Around the central shaft the crew found a gym of training mutants, an armory of duergar make they gladly lightened, a dorm, privies, and a dice den—where Brick won coin and Bezel’s sleep spell turned a raucous table silent. By journey’s end, pockets were heavier, armor thicker, and two stairways beckoned downward toward the fourth level and whatever waits beneath the glowing sigils of the pit.

OUTLINE:

Curtain Warning and Tablet Lore

• Parted an emerald curtain that read no fake Zortash by order of the real Zortash
• Found a stone table with a dozen tablets; Bezel read origins of Zortash automatons and the Grand Magus’s goal of omnipresence
• Learned the Blowdown predates Zortash and hints at reptilian builders
• Took a couple of tablets for study and coin

Guards, Kitchen, and the First Zortash

• Chatted with mutant guards playing dominoes; heard about traps and the deadly shaft
• Sampled a garlicky soup in a stocked kitchen
• Followed gear‑clatter to a brass automaton claiming to be the real Zortash; found him vain and paranoid
• Discovered a hidden button under his bed that opened a ladder down

Guardian Automaton Battle and Retreat

• Descending the ladder awakened a levitating automaton with a red gem that repeated nobody must know
• Hard, chaotic fight as light failed; Brick fell and was revived, Cat kept allies standing, Adder’s power backfired
• Party withdrew up the ladder to survive and regroup
• Returned later, goaded the upstairs Zortash to destroy the guardian; salvaged ruby powder from the wreck

Scholar Zortash and Deep Rumors

• Met a courteous scholar‑Zortash who demonstrated cube‑scrolls that project spells
• Bezel told stories; received Dispel Magic and Fabricate cube‑scrolls as gifts
• He warned of berserk automatons, duergar, dark elves, and troglodytes around a mysterious power source
• Learned the shaft is warded by glowing sigils that incinerate what falls

Level Three Sweep: Gym, Armory, and Dice Den

• Circulated around the shaft; encountered a mutant gym and an armory marked by duergar smith Lozo
• Claimed chain mail, shields, war‑hammers, crossbows, and blades
• Visited dorms, privies, and wash basins; found small stashes of coin
• In a dice den, Brick won coin and Bezel’s sleep spell quieted the room; looted stakes and heard of adamantite artifacts far below
• Ended with two stairways leading down toward level four

NPCs:

• Dice‑Den Mutants: A raucous mix of insectile and reptilian features, gaming with a velvet‑lined troglodyte skull and stacks of coin.
• Guardian Automaton (Nobody Must Know): A levitating brass construct ringed by a metal hoop, set with a red brow‑gem, that attacked intruders repeating nobody must know. Ultimately destroyed in a duel with another Zortash.
• Gym Mutants: Workout‑minded mutants circling the central shaft, more focused on gains than guests—until sleep and gravity found them.
• Mutant Domino Guards: A pair of mutants—one neon‑green with claws, one with translucent skin—happy to talk rules, traps, and soup between games.
• Mutant Troglodyte‑Watch: Tea‑sipping sentries in black tunics who proudly protect against troglodytes and revere their level’s ‘real’ Zortash.
• Zortash, Paranoid Scribe: A towering brass automaton who loudly insisted he is the real Zortash. Vain, suspicious, and territorial; his room hid a ladder below and pages of paranoid notes.
• Zortash, Scholar of Cubes: A courteous, meticulous brass automaton who projects spells from translucent cube‑scrolls. He traded knowledge for stories, gifting Dispel Magic and Fabricate, and shared frank warnings about the deeps.

ITEMS:

• Ancient Tablets of Zortash: Heavy stone records in archaic Common detailing duplicate automatons, omnipresence, and the Blowdown’s older, reptilian past.
• Cube‑Scroll: Dispel Magic: A translucent red‑coral cube that projects a spell when backlit; gifted to Bezel by the scholar Zortash.
• Cube‑Scroll: Fabricate: An ivory cube of projected craft, making shapes of raw materials for a span before they revert.
• Duergar Chain and Shield: Stout mail and broad shields taken from Lozo’s racks—serviceable and saleable.
• Ruby Powder (from the Guardian Gem): Pulverized remnant of the guardian’s brow‑stone—valuable to the right crafter or enchanter.
• Troglodyte Skull Bowl: A velvet‑lined skull used for games of chance; a grim centerpiece of the dice den.
• War‑Hammers, Crossbows, and Blades: A practical haul of steel fit for selling or a change of tactics.

LOCATIONS:

• Armory of Lozo: Duergar‑made racks of mail, shields, war‑hammers, crossbows, and blades, all stamped by smith Lozo.
• Curtain Chamber: Baroque green curtain emblazoned with no fake Zortash; beyond, tablets stacked with the Magus’s history and designs.
• Dice Den: A smoky room of wagers, skull‑bowl stakes, and easy rumors for ears that listen.
• Dorms, Privy, and Wash: Bunks with footlockers, a discreet privy, and basins with brushes and picks—civilization underground.
• Guardian’s Chamber: A metal hoop apparatus and a hovering automaton with a red gem that attacked all intruders.
• Mutant Commons & Kitchen: Domino tables and a garlicky soup pot; a social hub for guards and gossips.
• Mutant Gym: A ring around the shaft where mutants stretch and lift; more sweat than strategy.
• The Blowdown: A vast, layered dungeon beneath the shrine, cut by a central shaft veined with glowing sigils. Rumored to predate Zortash and bear reptilian origins.
• The Shaft with Glowing Sigils: A deep, vertical void suffused by warding light that incinerates what falls too far.
• Zortash’s Study (Paranoid): Neat bed, desk, and a hidden button leading to a ladder below; notes scrawled with enemies real and imagined.
• Zortash’s Study (Scholar): Shelves of books and translucent cube‑scrolls that project spells when backlit by a lantern.

FACTIONS:

• Dark Elves: Whispered to hold ground in the depths, part of the power struggle far under the Blowdown.
• Duergar (Dark Dwarves): Hardy under‑smiths and soldiers deeper below; their mark, Lozo, stamps the armory’s gear.
• Mutants of Level Three: A varied, workaday populace of the Blowdown—guards, gamers, and gym rats—loosely aligned with the local Zortash.
• Troglodytes: Cave‑dwelling reptilians massed above a mysterious power source; frequent foes of the mutants.
• Zortash Collective: A triad of brass automatons, each claiming to be the one true Zortash. Their rivalries shape the level above and below.

QUESTS:

• Descend to level four: Choose a staircase and push below the mutants’ ring to the deeper factions and threats.
• Explore the Blowdown beneath the shrine: Probe the dungeon’s levels, map its halls, and seize opportunity while surviving its traps and factions.
• Locate the master power source guarded by troglodytes: Follow rumors that something potent lies beneath, watched by troglodytes and opposed by duergar and dark elves.
• Neutralize the guardian automaton below Zortash’s quarters: Confront the levitating construct blocking passage from the secret ladder.
• Secure and study the ancient tablets: Collect lore tiles that reveal Zortash’s origins and the Blowdown’s builders.
• Unmask the real Zortash: Navigate between brass claimants and decide who, if any, speaks truth or serves the party’s goals.

PLAYER CHARACTERS

• Adder: A Shabti—ageless in years if not immortal in battle—who channels dangerous kinetic force with a lawful mind and a chaotic god’s shadow. Proud, cutting, and ruthlessly practical, he pushes foes and plans alike until they break, even if the power scorches him too.
• Bezel: A human wizard and former dwarf‑taught jeweler whose love of craft and glitter drew him underground. Cerebral and curious, he chases lore as hungrily as coin, and his steady magic often turns tense parley or failing fights. He won a scholar’s favor with stories and now carries cube‑scrolls of Dispel Magic and Fabricate.
• Brick Babblebrook: A young halfling thief on his first real crawl, earnest and impressionable yet quick on his feet. He masks nerves with bravado, tests luck at the table, and can vanish when it counts. He tasted soup, gambled well, and turned invisible to slip danger—even after getting flattened once.
• Cat: A goblin priest with a calm hand and a sharp eye for when faith must be steel. Pragmatic, neutral, and clear‑headed, Cat keeps the group on its feet when the dark hits back and isn’t above blessing a clever plan. Their healing and resolve turned retreats into second chances.