Quest Letter - Issue 4 - Kallio Chapter 4 (Patreon)

Chapter 4: The Base

Olga will magically clear the sand around the entrance to the underground base or players can do it themselves physically or with appropriate magic.

Almost everything inside of the base is in a state of decay. It has been abandoned for a long time, so nothing is salvageable unless directly stated.

All of the enemies are illusionary and disappear upon defeat.

It is also important to note that the enemies are tethered to the rooms where they are spawned. Therefore, if players leave and close the door they will not be pursued. Although the enemies are quite difficult in these encounters, a party can use line of sight to avoid much of the damage, or retreat to rest and heal. Enemy health does not reset, as the players learn in the first encounter when the enemies they face are still at half health despite being last battled many years prior.

See Appendix B for monster details and modifications.

A - You enter into a room with a half health gladiator and half health incubus (see Appendix B.) There are several skeletons littering the floor. There are pulsing red lights and a voice that repeats once every minute ‘Kallio is in lockdown. Defenses are activated. Authorized personal only.’ There is a vehicle under a force field that you can not pass through but you will take 1d4 damage (con save 12) for every second you press your hand against it. If the shield is later brought down, the vehicle is extremely damaged and will not start. Given time and sufficient artificer skill you think it could be repaired. Your pad does not work here, stating that you do not have the necessary security clearance. You will find several dented but working Kallio pads of the skeletons.

B - This room is full of cages, not unlike what you might use to transport an animal, but they are distinctly human and dwarf sized. There are some humanoid bones of the long dead. The area is guarded by a Night Hag. The door to the left (towards E) is locked and requires a DC 15 thieves tools check to open, but will also open after taking 20 damage. The door leading down is unlocked.

C - This area is full of dried up inks and a chair a person could be tied to. A DC 13 Arcana check will tell you that this is where inmates would come to get tattooed. The book on the table shows slight variations of a similar tattoo to counteract different types of magics, all feature the swirl symbol of The One.

D- This room houses some sort of magical batteries or generators that are powering the unnatural processes on Kallio. It is guarded by a Mage (modified, see Appendix B). If the batteries are damaged, they explode for 3d10 damage in a 20 foot radius. They have 60 health points each. Doors leading into this room are locked, but they are not locked leading out. The doors require a DC 15 lockpicking check, or you could open it by dealing 20 damage.

E- Here you find rooms stacked floor to ceiling with stasis pods. Some are empty. Some have skeletal remains inside. A few have beings that seem to still be alive inside. The pods don’t seem to have the control panels attached to them like the player’s pods did when they awoke. It is not immediately clear how to activate them.

F- This room is a medical lab. With a DC 15 investigation or arcana check you can deduce that both memory wipes and placement into stasis pods happens here. It is guarded by a Mage and a Night Hag (see Appendix B). A very large locked door leads out of the room. It requires a DC 30 lock picking check and it is immune to damage under 20 points. It also deals 1d4 lightning damage on failed lockpicking attempt on a failed DC 15 con save. The players can see the electricity on the door before trying to open it and a DC 10 arcana check will tell them it will retaliate if they fail their lockpicking. In this room 2 potions of healing and 1 potion of greater healing can be looted. This is an optional encounter, as it is possible to deactivate the security before clearing the room.

G- This is a kitchen. Any food that was once here is long since rotted away except for a few meal drinks in the cupboard. There is a very fancy coffee maker.

H- This is a lounge or rec room for the employees of the facility. There are some broken down tables and chairs, couches, and an old mostly working but very out of tune piano. There are plates still on the table but any food has rotted away. Players with good observation skills will deduce that this place was left in a hurry, as nothing is packed up or put away. It’s like they just bolted mid meal and never came back. There is a note on the table reading: All personnel of the Kallio Correctional Facility are required to evacuate immediately. Enable full security mode and return at once. The Facility has been compromised. Personal not returning within the 15 minute allotted evacuation time will be sealed inside.

I- This is a dormitory with four beds, tables and dressers. Again, everything was just sort of left where it was, including dirty laundry and a half read book. There is nothing of value in the room, however in one of the dresser drawers you will find a key labeled ‘Kallio Correctional Facility Key’ that will open all locked doors in the base.

J + K are bathrooms with no exceptional features.

L- is another stasis storage area identical to E.

M- This area is full of broken down boxes containing prisoner records. All of them have similar stories of people being convicted of being magical and sentenced to rehab in Kallio. Most are dated between 1776 and 1778. Time spent investigating (along with a generous DM) may even allow the players to find their own sentencing papers. You can also find Olga’s original sentencing papers in the boxes.

N- This area is a chapel of The One. Although similar to the chapel in the prisoner’s instances, there are no windows here and instead carvings of the four scenes.

★ The first carving portrays the familiar dwarf figure, The One, extending a mining pick to what seems to be a primitive tribal-looking dwarf kneeling at his feet.

★ The second carving shows The One instructing human and dwarf peasants in the art of smelting metal.

★ The third carving presents a disturbing scene of humans, dwarves, and elves in chains being led towards a portal, with The One pointing accusingly at them.

★ The final carving features The One with his arms outstretched above scenes of joyful people working in mines and forges. This area is guarded by two gladiators (see Appendix B.) This is also an optional fight, as players could take a different route to the control panel and disable the security.

O- This room is locked from both sides by heavy duty locks that require a DC30 lockpicking check, or the kallio facility key to open. The room features a control desk with various equipment. Some of the displays look very similar to the pad you have in your possession, others have levers, knobs and dials. The biggest feature of the room is the heavily guarded portal.

If attempting to turn off the defenses in combat, you must succeed on a DC 20 investigation check, and it will require 2 actions. Outside of combat you need a DC 15 investigation check, or no check at all if you read the guide book found in the drawers under the console.

The portal is guarded by a Gladiator, an Incubus, and a Mage (see Appendix B.)

In the corner of the room you see a young woman dressed in a simple black dress who seems to be unconscious but breathing and stable. You can revive her with a heal, a medicine check over 15, or by bringing her to Kallio city to let Olga attend to her.

If you investigate this room (no check needed) in a desk drawer you will find:

Kallio Guide Book

This 20 page instruction booklet with simple illustrations shows the new Kallio employee everything they need to know.

1.) Proper work attire.

2.) Regulations for keeping your dorm clean.

3.) Required chapel usage (all prisoners must be seen worshiping in the chapel before return to Devron.)

4.) What to do if a prisoner doubts The One (... it’s kill them.)

5.) How to reset an instance. Tip: You can kill everyone in an instance with a reset, this is a great time saver if you need to both terminate one group and reset it for another group.

6.) Which button sends a new group to a reset instance. This seems to be the only way to reactivate a prisoner from stasis.

7.) How to send the vehicle to pick them up.

8.) How to activate the portal and send them home.

9.) How to turn on and off the defense system.

10.) How to fill out the required paperwork.

11.) And most importantly how to use the standard issue coffee maker found on all ‘The One’ properties.

Level Up

Upon discovering the portal the players will advance to level 5