Bommyknocker Press

A Leak in the Hole Factory, Pt. 2

A hole

This is a continuation of the dungeon I started during the Holes Blog Bandwagon: A Leak in the Hole Factory, Pt. 1. Don't sweat if you haven't read it, the premise is in the title and it should be enough to keep you moving.

I'd hoped to finish the dungeon in this post, but I'm getting bogged down with editing. I don't really know what the hell this dungeon is for, but I like it so far for its for being a brisk first-draft write. So I'm clearing the decks by posting Part 2 now. Part 3 will come down the line.


Treachery! Ostensibly summoned to support a striver's corporate ambitions, the imp Hadrisax Votense has set in motion her own summoning - that of the Master of Holes.

Now, not just the Hole Factory, but the whole city, is at risk of implosion.

Some NPCs

Bespinnia Maison

Works in the R&D Department of Hal's Holes. Employee of the Month, every month - until recently. She foolishly accepted help from the imp Hadrisax Votense, who taught her the secret to making the Menger Sponge, an infinite source of holes for the Manufactory.

Jom Bopo

A young upstart from the Finance Department who has applied Hole Technology to financial instruments. Employee of the Month for the last 3 months for his work on Superbankruptcy.

Hadrisax Votense

An Imp. Her magical powers are only of use to others - she can't lift so much as a paperclip for herself, without tempting someone else into doing it.

She can, however, perform "favours" for others. She is hampered by two facts: her favours have obvious and terrible downsides; and her personality is garbage. Only the foolish or desperate contract with her.

As a rule of thumb, any favour she offers should cause a downside d3 orders of magnitude greater than the problem they solve.

Trivial < Personal < Familial < Neighbourhood < Citywide < National < Global < Cosmic

Once encountered, Hadrisax Votense will follow the party around, popping out of random holes to comment, wheedle, or make fun of them throughout the dungeon.

Master of Holes

An elder imp. For a week each century, he can choose a hole that exists in the world, and step out of it to wreak mischief and destruction. His size and power are dependent on the size of the hole he steps from.

Unfortunately, the biggest holes are not typically where the action is - what use is stepping out of a black hole if you're in the middle of dead space?

What's Actually Going On Here?

Hadrisax Votense is planning to invite the Master of Holes into reality through the biggest hole she can possibly muster.

Put enough artificial holes together and they will coalesce into a baby black hole, perhaps big enough to swallow the contents of a room. It will grow incrementally with the addition of new holes. Combining all the holes in the factory would create a hole the size of a room, which would swallow the factory itself and most of the city block it is on.

The key to creating a REALLY big black hole is making it go supercritical - ensuring all the component holes coalesce at exactly the same time. The Hole Repellent Emitter Field in Hole Storage can create these conditions by preventing coalescence until it is overloaded, at which point all holes in the room will suddenly converge. The resulting implosion would create a city-size black hole that would eventually suck in everything for 100 miles around it. The really bad news is the malevolent elder imp who would then step out of it.

Jom Bopo has prevented disaster by throwing the lever in the Manufactory, routing newly manufactured holes away from Hole Storage, and towards Shipping, where they float away to cause problems downstream. He is nowhere to be seen.

Already the Master of Holes is lurking within a hole in Hole Storage. When it gets large enough he will walk through it.


Manufactory

(Cont. from Part 1)

Approaching the Hole Machine

Hadrisax Votense will pop out of a random hole if party members approach. Pointing at the lever which moves the conveyor belt from SHIPPING to HOLE STORAGE, she addresses them:

HEY! Do you think you could just pull that lever for me? Thanks.

Image from Mo Willems' Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. A pigeon saying, Hey, can I drive the bus?

Will suggest that the party clear up the mess by routing the conveyor belt back into Hole Storage.

It says STORAGE. As in, where they're MEANT to be?! Come on, it'll be fun! It will be an adventure! You're ADVENTURERS, right? I'll do you a favour!

The favour could be anything. Remember, Hadrisax Votense can make just about anything happen, the downsides will just be great. She will not make any effort to obscure the downsides.

A favour? ANYTHING. What do you want??

Will wheedle if rebuffed, and quickly lose the plot.

JUST PULL THE LEVER!!!

If rebuffed again, will rebuke the party. Claims that Master of Holes is inevitable, the party is too late, etc. etc.

OOOH you're gonna regret getting on my bad side! The Master of Holes is coming, and there's NO WAY you're gonna get rid of him! Sooner or later this place is GOING DOWN TO BLACK HOLE TOWN.

If the party agree to pull the lever, their favour will be granted. The Hole Machine will begin to feed new holes into Hole Storage, and an apocalyptic Black Hole Criticality Event will engulf the city and surrounding countryside within d6 hours.

Hole Storage

Racks of shelving hold cartons of stock, neatly categorised by type and size. Metal cartons are locked in place; removing a carton from a rack without the Warehouser Key will cause it to emit a walloping electric shock.

A panel by the door reads HOLE REPELLENT EMITTER FIELD. Beneath the sign a small green light globe flickers unsteadily.

A conveyor belt leads through a hatch in the wall into the Manufactory. A large pile of holes (still in their sleeves) has fallen through it. The conveyer belt is empty; the machine that would feed it has been redirected into SHIPPING.

Deployed holes polka-dot the room, held in perfect equidistance by the Hole Repellent Emitter Field.

Hole Repellent Emitter Field

A silver cone on the ceiling emits a field that causes holes to repel one another like magnets of the same polarity. There is a slight tug on your face as your nostrils try to crawl further apart, and it would be impossible to kiss in here even if the vibes were good.

Causing a Black Hole

The Emitter Field is beginning to struggle with the number of holes in the room. If it were switched off now, the room-sized black hole created would be big enough to swallow the entire factory.

#adventure #ashcan #blog bandwagon #gameable