Into the Gray

#places/newflavem

The New Dawn hidden laboratory is difficult to locate, enter, and search. The entrance is buried under sand and it is protected by passwords and autonomous turrets and bots.

During our travel to find it we meet Sylvia, who assists us on our adventures to and from this laboratory.

We are warned the air may be poisonous but while we are there we suffer no ill effects.

“It’s the usual, dummy, the one you can’t forget” and “It’s what you want the door to do.” are partial clues about the password to the entrance. The password ends up being the corresponding numbers for OPEN (15, 16, 5, 14).

Discoveries

• A body 10 feet into the entrance rotting and covered in arrows

• A shelf with a gem labeled “Please do not use except in cases of emergency”

• The gem, paired with the instructions: “Light up, blind ‘em, and blind everyone.”

• Notes about the research being conducted here:

  • “Stop changing it. Stop with your notes. This is your last warning before disciplinary action.”
  • “Waiting on items from Perfrind, please don’t yell at me,“ along with documentation of materials and processes.
  • “This plan is insane, it’ll never work,“ with a star chart that labels from where to view the stars. A spot on the edge is circled.

• A lantern, which I later gift to April

• An orb, which Arachne takes

• The robot cores can store and divert energy

• A small bedroom with spoiled food and poor bedding

• Bracers, which Star eventually takes, with a note that reads “I’ve finally gotten them to work.”

• A component for my quarterstaff that extends it to 10 feet, with a note that reads “I think you can figure this one out for yourself, buddy.”

• A glowing shield that seems to float, which Elzara takes

• A portal through which Wash emerges (he may have been running around North), we burn and destroy this portal