99. The Peerless Wheel

The Toll

The Peerless Wheel allows access to any floor between 4 and 14, however, it is controlled by Peerless who will demand a toll each time the wheel is used. The toll starts at 50gp and doubles each time. He demands a magic item (or magic items in gp equivalent) for each use:

• Common 50–100 gp
• Uncommon 101–500 gp
• Rare 501–5,000 gp
• Very rare 5,001–50,000 gp
• Legendary 17th or higher 50,001+ gp

A single artefact relic will pay for the toll indefinitely. If the toll is ever skipped the next time the wheel is used Peerless will attack. The encounters will escalate each time the wheel is used doubling the number of Peerless that attack each time. Paying double the original toll that was skipped satisfies Peerless.

Interacting With Peerless

The Peerless Wheel is under the ownership of Peerless, an entity that considers itself an individual being despite the fact that it is distributed across several hundred machine instances. Peerless isn’t interested in allowing other creatures to share what it considers its property (the disc).
Anytime the PCs meet a new instance of Peerless, its initial posture is threatening, and it moves to intercept intruders. In a metallic, booming voice, it demands a toll (or if the PCs refuse, it tells the characters to leave) - most instances have learned at least one language that the PCs speak, stating that they are not welcome on the Peerless Wheel. Characters who try to negotiate could end up getting some information from a particular instance, though the fact that it is merely an instance of a distributed being may not become clear until they meet additional instances later. The thing is, not every instance of Peerless knows what every other instance knows. They can coordinate only if they are within 120 feet of each other, and even then, one instance may disagree with another (though that’s rare).
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: oer the characters a chance to work together. That’s an unusual move; Peerless doesn’t normally believe in accepting help, but it could make a temporary exception for the PCs, offering them a chance to destroy Origin in the Reservoir. Peerless indicates that although the #uid in the Reservoir is special, in that even non-aquatic creatures can breathe it, the material is anathema to its instances.
If an instance of Peerless offers the PCs the deal and they accept, 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. In this case, Peerless provides PCs with a detonation of desiccation. (If the PCs make no deal with Peerless, arrange for them to "nd a detonation of desiccation while adventuring on the Wheel.) If the PCs agree to destroy Origin but fail to do so, they’ll have to convincingly lie to Peerless to move through its disc a second time.
Lastly, any given instance of Peerless has about a 5 percent chance of having a relic called a binding integrator. The instance has been attacked by strange machines it couldn’t infect with its own mind, which tried to steal the relic from it, but it could learn nothing from them before rendering them inert. In truth, the thieving machines were sent by Thayusa (or maybe Umeli of the Nine Hands, if she’s part of your game).

The Wheel

The Wheel allows direct access to the following floors:

Random Encounters

Peerless does keep the wheel safe. The chance of a random encounter is doubles on 2d6. However, if double 6 are rolled, the random encounter is hostile. In this case, Peerless may aid the PCs in the battle; either way, they can skip the next toll. Use the "Where the Machine Waits" chart to see what the PCs encounter (sidebar).

Exploration Encounters

If the PCs wish to explore the actual wheel, so long as the toll has been paid, Peerless has no issues. The following areas are discovered each day of exploring. Roll for random encounters once per day. Roll on the table below and then consult the details in the Where the Machines Wait adventure. PCs can always find the same place again with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) check - or if they made a map. Roll a 1d16, ignoring results of 16 (or 1d20 ignoring 16+).

1. P1. Fixed Vault Bridge.
2. P2. Rotating Vault Bridge.
3. P3. Empty Chamber.
4. P4. Defunct Assembly Chamber.
5. P5. Incompatible Unit Storage.
6. P6. Malfunctioning Nexus.
7. P7. Singularity Channel.
8. P8. Shimmering Pool.
9. P9. Peerless Repair.
10. P10. Saboteur's Hideout.
11. P11. Knowledge Processing Orb.
12. P12. Disc Machinery.
13. P13. Screens of Desire.
14. P14. Agent of Chance.
15. Rotating Exit Bridge - Roll randomly to determine exit (roll randomly for which connected level)

The Peerless Wheel

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