The underground city
Trynn was not a fan of underground small tunnels. He preferred open space where his acrobatic skills could be fully used. On the long descend behind the yuan-ti woman, he still couldn't understand how she could go so boldly without any light to guide her. When she finally signaled him to stop, though, he was far too excited at the prospect of an adventure to worry about the lack of light. As Boa got out of the old air vent, into an dark room, he could feel his heartbeat go faster, reaching a peak when the snake-lady whispered that they could follow.
The lantern's light revealed a small space whose walls were made of metal and modestly furnished like a bedroom. Of course, time had taken its toll on the place and everything was crumbling to dust. A broken door led to a passageway where the yuan-ti swiftly went, making no sound and keeping her pistol ready to fire. Trynn knew there was no way any of the place's old inhabitants could still be alive, but he knew from personal experience with vermin, that any sturdy open space would eventually be occupied by local fauna. Boa came back a few seconds later.
-Giant scorpions, said the snake-lady. A small family, we could take them on, but the shots fired could alarm others. They're in the next room, I think we could bypass them.
-Works for me, said Izzy who never liked creature with more than four limbs.
Trynn nodded as well. They silently passed the vermin-filled room, using the wall as a guide while the lantern's light was off. The young acrobat couldn't see them, but he could hear the clicking of their claws and the metallic ticking of the floor as they moved around. Once all three had passed and the yuan-ti declared the zone safe for light, the adopted siblings both let out a sigh.
The corridor soon opened on a massive round chamber, so big the lantern wasn't enough to light the whole place.
-Now, that looks like an old Gnome city, said Trynn with a smile. Any idea where we should go now?
-Finding the energy central would be ideal, said Boa who was well versed in technology. And don't forget: should we find a banner of the old city, we take it with us.
-Any idea why your boss wanted that? Asked Izzy, always curious of people.
-None, but if I hadn't agree to do it, he never would have let me take these guns with me.
-Hey, what's that? said Trynn as he noticed a small round symbol near the door they just came through.
-Looks like the gnomish rune for "light" replied the snake lady.
Never one to be too careful, the young man proceed to touch the symbol. It began to glow at once and soon, the whole space was illuminated. The three adventurers could quickly noticed that the room had many access, some of which had caved-in, and was devoid of any vermin. Their hearts still skipped a beat when they noticed two humanoid forms laying near the door to their left.
-Warforged, said Izzy. They were built as the ancient gnomes' foot soldiers. I guess even they couldn't survive such a long time underground.
-I won't complain, added the acrobat. Those guys did not look friendly. Which way do we go first? There's the passage guarded by the metal guys, the passage in front of it and the passage right next to it.
-I'd wager the way guarded is the most important, said Boa. So let's keep it for last.
Trynn rolled his eyes. The yuan-ti always liked to keep the best for last. So they went in the passage next to the guarded one, touching runes along the way to activate lights. They first came upon an armory were most of the weapon where badly damaged by time. None seemed to be magical either, so they pressed on to a massive round door. It was closed, but thanks to Boa's technical know-how and using a bit of magic-infused paint to restore erased runes, they managed to open it, revealing a room full of pools.
-What is that place? asked Trynn.
-I think it's the warforges, the magical machines to create warforged, said the yuan-ti as her eyes sparkled. Too bad they all seem too damaged to work anymore.
-How about this one? Asked Izzy, pointing to a pool that seemed to still be filled with a strange liquid. I think there is something inside.
-How about we let it there? Said Trynn who didn't like the idea of fighting a machine soldier from another age.
-The gnomes of this city were not known to be evil, said his adoptive sister. Maybe he could tell us information about this place. What do you think, Boa?
-Are you really asking me if we should re-activate an ancient living machine? said the snake lady with a smile.
-Two against one, dear brother.
Boa managed to restore most of the runes using her paint and a rune notebook he old boss had lent her. Trynn was nervous. The form in the pool looked quite massive and sturdy. He could also see a lot of metallic reflections. Whatever that thing was, it was build to last. After all, it had remained intact when all the other machine soldier had decayed. Maybe it was the strange liquid.
Boa finally finished her restoration and activate the pool. It began to glow with a bright light as the sound of old machinery rumbled all around them. After a while, the light went out and the bottom of the pool began to rise, the heavy armored warforged slowly emerging from his thousand years bath, his eyes shining with intelligent life.