14. The Reservoir

The PCs are here as part of Peerless' quest or have stumbled upon the place by accident as part of their exploration.

Peerless Doesn't Like Fish People

After the third or fourth such meeting, news of the PCs’ intrusion into the Grave of the Machines (and the Peerless Wheel in particular) spreads widely enough that Peerless develops a new strategy: offers the characters a chance to work together. That’s an unusual move; Peerless doesn’t normally believe in accepting help, but he makes a temporary exception for the PCs, offering them a chance to destroy Origin in the Reservoir. Peerless indicates that although the fluid in the Reservoir is special, in that even non-aquatic creatures can breathe it, the material is anathema to his instances. Peerless provides a direct route through the corridors of the Wheel to the access leading to the Reservoir Bridge, as well as an instance to serve as a guide to the bridge. In this case, Peerless provides PCs with a detonation of desiccation to use against his fishy enemies (Origin and her fishy spawn of neonates). The reward for destroying Origin the Progenitor - free passage throughout the wheel for the rest of your lives.

General Features of the Reservoir

It is essentially a massive tank half-filled with a special liquid that has several weird qualities the PCs probably never learn about, given the decrepit state of Luna Castellum. However, one quality is quickly apparent: creatures normally able to breathe only air can also breathe the liquid. Most characters will first encounter the Reservoir level via the rotating reservoir bridge (P15) described in the Peerless Wheel. Those who successfully make the leap (or otherwise arrive) land on the fixed docking bridge (R1).

Overview

The Reservoir is only half submersed; a good part of the tank is above the liquid level. Metallic surfaces rise above the liquid line, creating small islands where various strange growths have taken root. Several living (non-machine) creatures that escaped from a long-destroyed “menagerie” level have colonized these islands, as well as the liquid itself. One of these creatures is Origin. Reservoir Fluid: Characters probably come to this level with the knowledge that the liquid is breathable, thanks to Peerless. However, knowledge of the property doesn’t dampen a character’s autonomic responses. A character who dunks themselves in the liquid and attempts to take a breath must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened until they leave the liquid (or until they succeed on another save attempt if they are forced to stay submerged in the liquid). Air-breathers who acclimate to breathing the liquid can also speak while submerged, though understanding their speech through the liquid distortion requires a creature to be within 10 feet. The liquid has a related effect on creatures who normally breathe only underwater. After breathing the liquid for at least ten hours, a normally aquatic creature can then breathe air for several hours before having to return to the water. In other ways, the liquid has characteristics similar to those of water; each foot of movement costs 1 extra foot. Use the map to run this level (sidebar). Navigating the Reservoir: Once characters get the hang of breathing the Reservoir liquid, their exploration of the level is not hindered by constant rotation or similar overarching issues. Each time the characters spend more than an hour in one area, make a really loud noise or face some other difficulty (like falling from a height), decide whether to roll on (or choose from) the Grave of the Machines Random Encounters table. However, 1d4 neonates are always more likely to be encountered than any other result, so it’s almost always fine to make that substitution. As noted in each room description, some keyed areas are submerged (fully filled with liquid), while others are half drowned (half filled with liquid). Half-drowned areas are usually metallic islands that rise out of the #uid, providing places where characters can exit the liquid and explore “inland.” Salvaging in the Reservoir: Standard rules apply (link).