Day 13.1: When Toys Go Bad

I decide we need to know what we are walking into at the toymaker’s shop, so set out to do a little investigating my way. 3 story building isolated from the rest with no sigils of protection on the shutters or doorways. Except for the front door, everything else has been bricked up on the first floor and heavy shutters seal shut entrances on the upper 2 floors. While watching, I see an exchange at the door. A particular knock gets the door to open. A small package adorned with a bow is presented and accepted. The creature giving the package seems ungainly and mechanical – movements both disturbing and familiar (A Construct?) I decide I need to meet back up with my companions.

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Seems Charles was also busy investigating his and my new tattoos. According to a high-level tattoo artist, our tattoos act as sigils carved into skin – a message not yet complete (that’s not foreboding at all!) Tattoo #1 has to do with travel between realms, while Tattoo #2 connects dreaming, nightmares, & forbidden knowledge. The techniques used demands a high level of skill to create and a mastery of understanding in tattoos 

[Who would have this kind of knowledge – would obviously take more than a normal lifespan to learn]

I give them the information that I gather at the shop and teach the knock code to Mutu who I figured will recreate it correctly. We decide investigation of the shop should be our next objective.

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The shop is much the same as it was when I left. The others scout around the building and I ask Mutu to boost me to the roof, giving me access to the upper shutters. I manage to pry one open and enter the building. While investigating the 2^nd floor, a creaky board gives me away and out pop grotesques mutant toy soldiers from a room at the far end of the hall. I managed to duck around a corner before they see me, just in time to hear the group barging in below 

(Why didn’t Mutu use the code knock? Or maybe he did?)

I come down the stair to assist and find them fighting the construct I glimpsed before, the sight of it better left in the shadows (and nightmares). It chants “Kill the Fleshlings” at Mutu. Fortunately for us, Mutu doesn’t listen and with Charles & Diana’s help they cleaned his clock while I eletri-fried him into oblivion. I tell them of the rooms upstairs and they investigate. Before I can warn them, Mutu opens the door to the mutant undead soldiers. Guess it’s soldier killing time.

“Tick Tock, Tick Tock gears in sync. Tick Tock, Tick Tock, darkness is on the brink.”

Burned/Fried/Beat, the group slowly takes the constructs down. They too have the ability to throw the paralizing darts. 

(Need to figure out how they create these needle darts. Might help the children if we can figure it out)

“Tick Tico, Tick, Tock, Charles you out of luck. Tick Tock, Tick Tock, Charles you suck.” (their rhyming leaves much to be desired. Geist would be appalled) 

We finally finish them off. The rest of the rooms are mainly empty, with a few coins (1g/5s) and a low level weapons room (Loot it all!).

Now what could be upstairs??