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"Indeed. I hate to say it, but it looks like the western doorway is probably what we're looking for. Shall we?"

"Looks like we must," Manizei agrees, continuing to hold her musket ready.

The door to the east is opened, following the blood trail, and leads you into a large room with a table against the southern wall, bearing unusual stones and dirt samples. To the north, a line of metal desks with glowing panels and buttons is placed next to a large, humming device. The heart of this device appears to be some sort of flickering sphere of reddish-brown mud or dirt. Dust covers much of this room, save for a strangely clean swath between the doors (the one you just came in through, and one to the southeast,) which leads up to the strange humming device. The absence of blood in this room is odd as well.

What do you do?

"Think one of those cleaning robot things was in here?" Harskgun asks, keeping his dagger at the ready.

(Knowledge [Engineering]: 1d20+6 = 19 (trying to ID the humming thing))

Niles scans the room to see if anything else is out of place.

(Perception: 1d20+9= 17)

If it appears that nothing will immediately end him, he proceeds to look at the glowing panel.

(Knowledge (Engineering): 1d20+10+1d6= 30)

Bog-standard control panel. It appears to have once controlled what the two of you are able to identify as some sort of long-since-failed stasis chamber. As to what was being kept in stasis...

Movement is detected withing the spherical chamber at the center of the device, and you hear a voice in your heads.

"Hi! Who are you? Where am I? What is this place?"

"I...'m not sure exactly," Niles responds, trying to see if the control panel can give him any more information.

"Do you have a specific function?"

"Function? What's a function?"

The movement in the spherical chamber picks up, and it becomes apparent that what is attempting to communicate with you is not a machine, but rather the strange creature in the machine. A swollen, brainlike bulb encrusted with fungal shelves sqats atop several ropy legs. A wide mouth bisects the bulb's crown. The creature is looking about with unguarded fascination at the world around it, as if it had never seen any of it before.

After waiting for an extremely long time for a response that never came, the creature gets hungry. A loud, unsettling shriek fills the room as it attacks the party in search of food.

Roll initiative, and everyone needs to give me two Will saves.

(Initiative: 1d20+3 = 17)
(Will 1: 1d20+7 = 16)
(Will 2: 1d20+7 = 15)

(DM: Pass on both.)

(Initiative: 1d20+3= 8
Will 1: 1d20+9= 21
Will 2: 1d20+9= 16)

(DM: Pass on both.)

(As his controller is well past the deadline, Niles goes last and automatically fails both saves. He takes the following penalties:
* -2 penalty on attack rolls
*nauseated for 2 rounds
I don't want to do this, but I am tired of being stood up for no explained reason. I like to think I am a reasonable sort, but this is seriously trying my patience. I am sorry.)

Initiative order:
-Harskgun
-creature
-Manizei
-Niles

Go!

(Don't apologize. I dropped the ball.)
Niles suffers for his inaction.

Harskgun moves up a bit, draws a dagger, and throws it at the strange creature! And presumably misses.

(Attack: 1d20+7 = 11)
(Damage: 1d6+4 = 5 damage)

The creature charges at the dwarf and attempts to bite him. This, too, misses horribly.

The party is up!