After resting and recuperating, the party left the illusory forest and headed back north to the room where they had fought the floating jellyfish. There was another wall blocking the other exit to the room, and they broke it down to explore the northwest corner of the enclave. They found themselves in a corridor with several large machines. Jax pulled the lever on one of them, and the machine began to whirr and move, although they saw nothing happening nearby. Moving along, they came to a room in which another automaton was stationed, motionless. In the ceiling were a pair of fans, one of which was moving. the party realized that the machines in the hallway controlled these fans.
Under a large tarpaulin in the center of this room, they found a deactivated automaton in working condition. Written on it were some gnomish words that Erf identified as command words to control the automaton. He was right, although the automaton was limited in its capabilities. Erf climbed atop the automaton and ordered it to head into one of the tunnels it had already dug out. Following it, they came to a room filled with fog. Jax and Gandolf went back through the tunnel to the corridor with the fan machinery, and turned all of them on. By the time they got back to the foggy room, the fan was already working to disperse the mist. As it dissipated, the room was revealed to be an old library, now emptied of any valuables. It also held a quartet of enormous centipedes which attacked with ravenous hunger as the party explored. The centipedes were no match for the party's warriors, and no one was injured in the brief battle.
They returned to the automaton room and went down a flight of stairs; the automaton couldn't descend, so Erf deactivated it and left it behind. Following the stairs, they came to another 'Z' door, which opened easily with their key. Inside they found a workship for the construction of automatons, and a half-built automaton, long since abandoned and nonfunctional. But there was something else in this room, a creature that looked like a 'tall one' covered in rags. The creature tried to run past them into one of the automaton tunnels, but its way was blocked, and the battle was fierce. The creature was surprisingly tough, but it fell to Alexandria's axe. As it did, the rags that covered it suddenly separated from the tall one, gathered themselves together and flung themselves toward Jax. The paladin dodged the attack, and his bardiche cut into the mass of threads with razor sharpness. before long, the rags stopped moving.
Having explored almost the entire complex, the party returned to the forested room where they sought to enter the one area they had not yet encountered. An 'N' door blocked the way, but Erf was able to overcome it. He and Jax were once again the targets of the door's trap: a cloud of poisonous mist that made them dizzy, but both of them were able to hold their breaths and escape the cloud before it affected them any further.
Inside, the party saw empty weapon racks and a solitary chest, atop of which was a cage holding a rat. The rat squeaked excitedly as the party entered, and Ruphus observed that the rat was likely Keygan's nephew, captured and polymorphed into his current form. Eagerly, the party tried to take the cage, but as they approached the front of the chest split open into a toothy grin, addressing them in a blend of the Dwarven and Gnomish tongues. Erf, Arthur Morgan, and Yaervan were able to understand the talking chest (which Erf correctly identified as a mimic). After bribing the mimic with their remaining rations, Yaervan translated as Erf and Arthur Morgan conversed with the friendly creature. They learned that the 'tall ones' were called skulks, and were the ones who raided the surface for slaves, handing them off to hobgoblins working for a slaver named Kazmojen.
The skulks worked with the 'dark ones', the shadowy 'short ones' that the party had encountered in the enclave, under the direction of someone called Yuathyb. Ruphus identified Yuathyb as the tall, shadowy figure they had slain the day before. Finally, the mimic told them that he had once had a companion, a meaner, larger mimic that had been hired by Kazmojen to go down into the Malachite Fortress and guard the slaver's treasure. The talkative mimic also told the party that the way to the Malachite Fortress was just beyond the door behind him.
A quick discussion ensued, and the party agreed to take the nephew-rat back to the surface and report what they had discovered the Jenya. Hopefully, she would be able to break the enchantment on the young gnome-rat and return him to his proper form. After that, they would return and go down to the Malachite Fortress, continuing their search for the missing children whose lives hung in the balance.
As they began the return journey, Erf was finally able to unlock the mysterious book discovered under the theater stage. To his delight, it was a spellbook of gnomish design, and he eagerly perused its contents as he learned the new magics within. These new spells would serve him well in the unknown realm of the Malachite Fortress...
The next episode will be in two weeks' time. I hope you're enjoying the adventure!
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