Nothing really fits that description.
Only the everburning torch.
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Azdak picks up the Everburning Torch and marvels at it. "This is a lovely item for those of us who cannot see in the dark. The only drawback is that the enemy we are sneaking up upon can also see us approaching with it."
"So is this really Skeldon Miregold? I suppose delivering a message to a corpse is not really our mission. What do you think we should do now? Before we depart, I want to continue our investigation here and see if we can find a few items of note. It would also be nice to figure out what this guy was up to and why he is dead."
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** spoiler omitted ** This man does NOT match Miregold's description. The Andorans do recognize him though...
Holding the journal, Sumac corrects Azdak. This man was known as Mercra. We have yet to find Miregold. . The halfling looks over to Fel, Perhaps you should hold onto his journal. Maybe there is something of use to us there. He gently tosses the small book to the bard.
Looking to the others, the halfling asks Which door next? Lets go in order to the left.
The journal contains information relevant to the national interests of Andoran....
Azdak's hunch and Fel's reading align. Mercra was no henchmen, he was a seasoned Pathfinder doing what you'd call "research" on the lodge.
While Obyrn gives a thorough look over, he comes across nothing of note. The doll is just a doll. The organ, and organ.
Obyrn checks the door thoroughly
Sensing no traps, he opens the door. It opens to a well-stocked bookshelves line the perimeter of the room, surrounding a small, central area with four reading desks. A low partition separates two more desks, which face away from the center of the room, toward the shelves. Taken by surprise is a single form. The tall humanoid's pale brow and black, soulless eyes are all that can be seen above a black scarf wrapped around its face. He looks like he's been ransacking the room. He begins babbling and shouting in a language none of you understand. He tries to aid his exposition with hand signals.
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The small druid is first quite pleased to find a library (with hopes of finding some books on flora and fauna), but then is quite taken back by the strange humanoid.
The halfling holds his sling staff and palms a bullet from his pouch. He doesnt load it yet, not wanting to provoke an attack. Yet to secure peace, one must prepare for war.
untrained sense motive
Well Sumac, make a Knowledge (Local) check and I can tell you the species. But you don't see any REDACTED tentacles.
No one (as of yet) can tell WHAT the creature is, but Fel seems to gather the core of it's frantic attempt at communication.
You don't really perceive anything Obyrn. You can see light spilling out from the edges of the cracked door that are SO bright that whatever's beyond must be immensely powerful. No feeling of heat touches you though.
Fel manages to get his point across and the creature ducks behind something large and opaque as soon as Fel communicates.
you don't feel much on the situation in general.
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Hack shrugs, give the strange-eyed thingy a slightly suspicious look, and heads to the door.
If thar be no objections...ever forward!!
Hack puts his hand to the door, give enough pause for anyone who objetcs to voice it (and to get into a good position), and opens the door--ready to swing on enemies within, or without!
Burning, blinding light explodes from a large circular alcove in the northeast corner of the room. Within, an elaborate arrangement of mirrors, prisms, and similarly refractive materials stands carefully positioned by calipers, strings, and wires marking its precise settings. In the opposite corner dangles a three-dimensional mobile of various sized metal spheres. A complex frame surrounds the spheres. The length of the frame is etched with numbers. A broad work desk divides the two alcoves. The light floods so brightly that it burns the dwarf's eyes: . It's not easy but the stout dwarf squints enough to keep his vision.
Anyone else entering teh room must make a similar saves. Averting your eyes gives a bonus (and a penalty to stuff). Solidly covering them makes you blind, but immune to the effects of the machine.
Stellah manages to keep her vision (albeit with mild pain), but Orryn, you're blinded for the next rounds.
There are no sounds of combat, though Fel, you're pretty sure that Orryn let loose a couple of choice words when he entered the room.
The contraption is a complicated mess. You see notes on the desk that you could conceivably take elsewhere to read...
Fel, you pull the notes out and bring them back into the cluttered and filled room to examine them. The part of note (and the page it was opened to) reads:
Perhaps I’m just paranoid, but I feel the need to recount several queer goings on that occurred over the last week. On three separate occasions, when I returned to the excavation site, I discovered the sunrods in the device prematurely drained and the chamber bathed in thick, unnatural darkness. Initially, I’d thought there might be something wrong with the device, so I tried the same combinations upstairs on the prototype. Nothing happened, at least nothing resembling what was going on downstairs. Vitrios offered to stay onsite, to keep an eye on the device and see if he could track down the reason for its malfunctions. The next day, we found him unconscious, barely breathing—it seems he’d suffered some sort of vermin bite. My mistake to leave him down there alone. I’m not sure it was accidental. I’m still waiting for the alchemist’s report, but the symptoms looked similar to the effects of Black Smear poison. Zoathrius used to use a device called a spider-biter when he‘d knock off guards. It was a quick, snapping spike-thing, which he’d coat with the same toxins he’d polish his blades with. Poxing dark folk. If I could gut ‘em all… I keep telling myself he’s never getting away from that aboleth I left him with, but if he did, I’d be the first person he’d come looking for. Me and the aureolyte. By now, he must know I gave him up for the crystal. It has to be paranoia. There’s no way. Still, it’ll give me an excuse to throw a killswitch on the prototype just to be sure. Instead of the glimmer, coruscation, fulgor, taper, effulgence pattern I’m using to get the daylight effect, I’m going to switch the taper and coruscation sunrods, which should overload it, creating some seriously intense blinding light, but not enough to cause an explosion. The same patterns should also work on the main device. -Skeldon 4709
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Azdak looks over Fel's shoulder and whistles as he reads the note. "There is some powerful machine they are working with here that sounds very dangerous, but I am not yet clear what it does."
Azdak steps into the room to try and figure out what this contraption does.
"Dear Nethys, somebody turn off that blinding light!"
Azdak steps back and tries to determine what the mobile with the metal spheres does.
Azdak, it looks EXACTLY like it.
My apologies, I had a bit of an emergency today. I'm back.
Azdak successfully makes the switch, and Obryn (using the notes) manages to shut the machine off. The humanoid stops jumping and pointing. While you don't share a language, he does extend a hand to Fel (though he looks like he's already eyeing the rest of these rooms.)