Friday, 3 January 2020

d4 Ancient Robots That You Found in the Bowels of the Machine Dungeon



  1. A tall automaton shaped like a man is made of pink glass. Inside the glass there are hundreds of black bugs, buzzing around in the hollow spaces. The glass figure stands inert before a golden statue of a fly, its eyes made from hundreds of dazzling rubies. If you move to touch or take the statue, the automaton gently stops you, and attempts to communicate through deep buzzing vibrations of the insects within itself. 
  2. A squat black robot with thin legs and four upper arms is stacking stones in the dark. Two small pinpricks of red light glow where probably its face lies. It ignores you for the most part, even if you disturb its stones. After watching for a minute or two, you can see that it is creating a pyramid, which is almost complete...
  3. Two large brass wheels connected by a square axle rolls by. The axle has a tongue-like protrusion which it uses to lick things, seemingly scanning them for information. As you approach it spins around, and licks your hand if proffered. 
  4. You hear a noise on the ceiling—a robot is crawling above you. It looks like two steel crickets sandwiching a white wax cylinder, one cricket upside down crawling on the ceiling with its legs, and the other cricket hanging below, ready to land safely if disturbed. Intricate engravings have been made in the soft wax in between the two metal portions of its body.