The Strange
"We've logged a troubling rise in the number of Qinod Singularity manifestations lately. Unsurprisingly, we've also seen a population boom in Qinod constructs wandering the Periphery." —Uttatum-tum, on-site agent of the Quiet Cabal
The Qinod Singularity is a little-understood phenomenon that sometimes appears in Ruk as a blinding point of multicolored light. The Singularity sometimes expels remarkable artifacts and enigmatic constructs that are usually dangerous if interacted with, but not dealing with them on sight usually leads to greater grief at a later date.
No two constructs that emerge from the singularity are ever exactly alike, but Ruk researchers find that many of them fall into classes of similar entities, which they call testers and deconstructors.
Ruk researchers theorize that deconstructors are stockpiling energy and raw materials in preparation for building something grand. Some worry that the project might be to build a focus for the Qinod Singularity, making it a permanent portal, through which the Qinod builders might appear.
This machine entity is a 5-foot-diamteter (2 m) mass of metal alloy manipulation cables surrounding an inner solid central core of electronic eyes that can see every known (and possibly every unknown) frequency of the spectrum. In addition to manipulation cables for fine work such as plucking flower petals, a qinod tester also has at least two stronger manipulators that can pluck the arms out of the sockets of more robust test subjects like metamorphosized battle chrysalides.
Finally, the tester can extrude one or more beamed energy weapons and tranquilizer guns should subjects prove initially resistant to being dissected for study.
Motive: Unpredictable
Environment (Ruk | Weird Science): Almost anywhere in the Periphery or Veritex
Health 20
Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound (4 points)
Armor: 1
Movement: Immediate; short while flying
Modifications: Speed defense as level 5 due to interfering cable mass; all perception and tracking tasks as level 8.
Combat: A Qinod tester can fire up to two beamed energy weapons at the same target or at two different targets within long range. Instead of firing a beam weapon for damage, a Qinod attacks with a tranquilizer flechette at a target within short range. A target who fails a Speed defense roll against the flechette takes 2 points of damage and must succeed on a Might defense roll or be paralyzed for up to one minute (the victim can attempt a Might-based roll each round to try to shake off the paralysis).
The machine entity is extremely difficult to hide from, no matter themeans used to evade its vision. Once a Qinod tester finds tracks or catches a scent, it usually tracks its next test subjects to their location.
A Qinod tester carefully pulls apart dead or paralyzed victims if allowed the peace to do so, studying the results with great interest.
Interaction: Qinod testers never speak, and they usually don't do what PCs expect. A Qinod tester is just as likely to ignore PCs as attack them, especially if already involved in another test or observation.
Use: A tester is encountered in the Periphery while the PCs are on another task.
Loot: One or two weaponlike artifacts could be salvaged from the remains of a tester.
GM Intrusion: The weapon of a PC who makes a successful melee attack against the tester is caught in the creature's surrounding cables. The PC can abandon it or spend one or more actions attempting to pull it free with a successful Might-based roll.
A Qinod deconstructor shares many visual similarities with a tester but has a diameter of at least 20 feet (6 m). The larger size apparently comes with an appetite for power and destruction. Unlike a tester, a deconstructor seems mostly interested in wrecking, killing, and generally creating chaos.
Motive: Destruction
Environment (Ruk | Weird Science): Periphery of Ruk
Health 44
Damage Inflicted: Major wound (10 points)
Armor: 3
Movement: Short; long while flying
Modifications: Speed defense as level 7 due to size.
Combat: The touch of an unfurled cable, which the deconstructor can stretch to attack up to three targets within short range, sucks bioelectric energy from living beings and mechanical constructs alike. Sometimes a deconstructor preferentially attacks a PC's equipment, such as a weapon, armor, or another object. If successfully attacked, objects of level 8 or less are destroyed, and the owner is subject to 3 points of damage from flying shrapnel.
A deconstructor can fire one missile every hour at a target or location up to a mile away. When such a missile strikes, all creatures within short range of the impact take 15 points of damage (creatures caught in the blast who make a successful Speed defense roll suffer only 4 points of damage instead).
A Qinod deconstructor regenerates 2 points of damage every round, but in a round where it drains a target of bioelectric energy, it regenerates 10 points of damage instead. If a deconstructor's health is reduced to 0, the creature collapses, and its regeneration falls to a rate of 2 points per minute, unless an effort is made to scatter its large components so they do not touch.
Interaction: A deconstructor is indifferent to attempts to interact with it.
Use: A trio of deconstructors has moved from destroying to building something in the center of a grey forest in the Periphery. The PCs are tasked with scouting the location and reporting back what is going on.
Loot: One or two artifacts resembling weapons could be salvaged from the remains of a deconstructor.
GM Intrusion: The deconstructor wraps a cable around the PC's ankle, wrist, or torso just as the PC is about to make an attack.