Maruf thinks for a moment. "Well, I'll still come along. Better than going back home so I've got to do something. HYYYYYRRRUUUUCKKKK."
"I calculated as much."
"An even split would be more logical." Richard says offhand.
"As far as I know, the automaton is at Khonnir's place." The dwarf stares at the party for a moment. "Did you have anymore questions?"
"Think I'm good. If you fellas ain't got anythin' else, think we should check out Khonnir's place and take a look at that thing-a-ma-bob."
Deciding to pay a visit to Val, the party heads to the Foundry Tavern. As you approach, you hear a scream of terror come from the small stone house behind the tavern!
"Val!?" Drawing his rapier, Richard runs toward the back house.
"She is in peril." Alpha straps his shield on and follows Richard.
The party dashes toward the rear building and Ricahard throws open the door. Inside a narrow hall runs east to west, with a door in the the east end and two doors in the north wall.
Following the scream and the sound of crashing and mayhem leads the party to a room in the southeast corner of Khonnir’s home. As you approach the door, it bursts open an dout comes a metallic...creature?....mechanism? It moves with a jerky, staggering gait and begins to tear into the southern wall!
Inside the room, a woman screams again, "Help me!"
"Nyyyyeeeehhhhhhh! The Cobbler has to do everything, again!"
Maruf moves past the machine and gets behind it.
Maruf darts past the metal creature and turns, striking it!
The robot turns to retaliate against the tiefling, but its jerky movements causes it to miss!
"Whaaa?", questions Kharax as he sees Van avoiding the moving machine and Maruf immediately going after it.
With the larger, more melee abled party members engaging this thing, Kharax immediately runs over to Val, checking her for injuries. "Ya alright, miss?"
The Cobbler lets out a beastial roar and claws at the machine!
"Hold on Val, we're coming!" Richard calls, then realizes he was not built to face down robots. "Alpha, I think this is your specialty?"
Richard withdraws.
Maruf proves he has tough claws as he tears apart the robot. With his second blow, the automaton collapses into a pile of sparking rubbish!
Val rushes forward. "Brigh's blessing you showed up when you did! I owe you my gratitude!" She glances at your party. "Richard?...Alpha?, is that right. I think I've seen you around town, though I'm not sure I know you others. What brought you here?"
"First things first, miss; are you alright?", the half-orc removing his iron and wood mask.
Maruf gives another hefty snort and introduces himself, "Nyyeeehhhh! I'm the Cobbler. I'm just along with them to get the fire going again! Your dad's lost too, eh?"
Val nods. "Yes, yes, I'm fine." Hearing Maruf's answer, she turns. "Oh! Thank Brigh! I hope my father is ok and you get to him soon. I offer the tavern as a place to rest and use as a base of operations, as well as any food you need, in appreciation of you undertaking this task." She says, wiping a tear from her cheek.
"Thank you." Richard says, trying to offer a soothing smile. "Hopefully we won't be much of a burden and can find Khonnir soon."
Kneeling down at the robot, he begins to examine it. "Is this the thing your father brought back on his last expedition? Did he bring anything else back? Any notes?
"Why did it malfunction?"
Val shakes her head. "I don't anything about that...mechanical thing. First I ever saw one was when my father brought this to the house." She looks to Richard. "He took his journal with him, when he went back into the hill."
"So to find the wizard and the journal to get the fire going again we need to travel under the hill..... HYRRRRUUUCCCKKKKKK! Well, let's get going then!"
"Affirmative."
Richard nods in agreement. "Let's go find Joram Kyte for that water breathing spell." He pauses, and casts a concerned glance at the others. "That will cover the drowning part, but I must admit I am not a strong swimmer. In fact, I've never really been over my head in water before."
"Me either," Maruf adds. Baths, showers, ugh! Maruf shivers and gets a disgusted look on his face.
"Not a fan of rustin' my gear underwater myself, but looks like we're gonna hafta to get this done."
"I will stay here to defend Val until you return."
"Fine. Then I'm taking your share for finding the wizard and restarting the fire," slurps the Cobbler.
Val shakes her head at Alpha, putting a hand on the android's shoulder. "I'll be fine here. You should go with the others. If there is something....bad that has kept my father from returning, it will likely take all of your efforts."
Seeking out Joram, you find him at the temple of Brigh. He nods, as if he was expecting you and retrieves a rod, before casting the water breathing spells. "This rod extends spells. You should have about six hours with the ability to breath water. Mark your time carefully!" He says, then bids you good luck, uttering a short blessing from Brigh upon you.
Now prepared, the party heads to the Black Hill. Easily finding the Weeping Pond, you can see the the submerged entrance under the acrid smelling water.
"Bah! I'm drowning!" Maruf sucks in some of the tainted water. Baths! I hate baths!
Maruf crawls up on the other side of the tunnel coughing, sputtering, and hacking.
Kharax fares just as well as Maruf, hacking and coughing as he flounders his way across the water.
"What caused this water to be *hrp!* so foul?", he mutters out loud as he waits for the others to cross and inspecting his surroundings.
Despite his best efforts, he ends up trudging along through 'water'.
Richard steels himself and enters the acrid water, swiftly pulling himself through it.
This isn't as hard as I expected. I wonder if my previous incarnation knew how to swim...
Half trudging, half swimming through the chemical smelling water, the party navigates the narrow tunnel until the water becomes shallow and the passage opens into a cave.
Dampness hangs in the air of this cave, condensing into heavy moisture on the slick, stone walls. The calm, dark waters wind around to the east up north, along a stony, soot-scarred beach. A five-foot-high ledge sporting several stalagmites rises to the east, beyond which a low-ceilinged cave beckons.
Motioning to the others to remain quiet, Richard pads forward and peeks over the ledge, making sure to glance up at the ceiling as well. He had heard some of the less savory fellows in Torch suggest to 'look up before you creep' when doing certain jobs around the town.
Alpha gets himself onto dry non-rust inducing land and looks around.
The Cobbler follows Richard forward.
Kharax waits behind at Richard's command, taking the time to finish drying out his equipment before following the others.
Richard and the rest of the party edge forward, not very stealthily. To the east you see a collection of stalactites and stalagmites choke a low ceilinged cavern, making it difficult to squeeze between them. Matching stalactites close in from the five-foot-high ceiling, giving the impression of a maw of needlelike teeth bearing down on one another. A dead half-orc sprawls on the ground near the cave’s eastern entrance.
"Hope no one ain't claustrophobic!", chuckles Kharax as he moves to the body to inspect the cause of death of the deceased.
Maruf moves up to kick at the dead half-orc.
"Maruf, hold up one minute. Could be a trap killed him." Richard gestures to the half-orc, then points to the water leading deeper into the caves. "Let me look up there and see if it hooks around."
Kharax examins the body and finds that it is a female half-orc, but anything of value seems to have been scavanged off of her.
was a popular brawler in town, and that she was one of those who traveled with several thugs into the caverns.
Richard peers to the north and thinks that the water-filled tunnel continues to travel north, then bend to the east.
The Cobbler pokes at the body for a few moments but then simply grunts and stands up, ready to move on.
Sighing with remorse, Kharax fails to notice the cause of death. "This is Parda, a Torch brawler. Think I heard she went with the group of thugs in here."
"I remember Parda." Richard says, approaching the body and giving it a brief lookover. Unable to determine cause of death, he informs the group of his observations.
"The water tunnel continues. Should we use it, or stay on solid ground and squeeze through this area?"
"I hate water."