Badly hurt the worm burrows into the ground.
Combat is over!
Philton easily locates the catch to move the sliding wall of light stone.
Discarded gears, half-constructed machines, and other dilapidated technological wonders fill this isolated cavern. Alchemical apparatuses and complex tinkering tools cover the half-dozen shelves and workbenches lining the walls. Scattered papers with arcane scrawling fill what little
floor space is unoccupied by what could be described as unfinished works of mechanical art, including a largely complete brass humanoid construct lying in a heap in the chamber’s southern alcove.
A ratfolk covered with pustules looks up from his workbench.
The ratfolk looks pleasantly surprised.
"Greetings Human. I am Habblegash, I am a scholar from the Spagyric Halls and I am here for Research. This gug infestation you are talking about is quite recent and I really don't like it! I've set several traps, but the gugs haven't fallen prey to any of them."
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"A pleasure to meet you Habblegash. You will be pleased to know that we have dealt with the gug infestation. They attacked us and we swiftly dispatched them with the righteous Vengence they deserved. What is this research that you are conducting? Is it related to that construct that lies in the corner?"
"On a related note, you look unhealthy. I could try and help with that condition if you are willing for me to judge your worthiness?"
"A pleasure to meet you Habblegash. You will be pleased to know that we have dealt with the gug infestation. They attacked us and we swiftly dispatched them with the righteous Vengence they deserved. What is this research that you are conducting? Is it related to that construct that lies in the corner?"
"On a related note, you look unhealthy. I could try and help with that condition if you are willing for me to judge your worthiness?"
"You are very perceptive. I indeed am unwell. The mana wastes somehow mutated me and I suspect I'm close to a cure, but that two-headed freak below won't allow me to get my hands on some pure eidite. If you could get me a sample that would greatly help my research! Also those gugs are a major distraction."
Habblegash scratches his bandaged arm.
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"The gugs were more than a distraction, I hope we have dealt with them all... They should no longer be a distraction for you...
We found parts of the winch, if you need to get lower point of the mines why use them in the traps? My ears pop in an elevator. As a matter of fact I don't even like being this tall.
This Eidite you've mentioned can you not get a sample from a different mine?"
[dice=Tyranyx Sense Motive]1d20+20
Tyranyx recognizes certain behavior common to people suffering from substance abuse. The ratfolk is clearly addicted to something.
"Apologies but before we continue and agree to anythig, I must check for the taint of Evil."
Maxxuud concentrates and detects for the taint of Evil on the Ratfolk. He is ready for the Ratfolk to attack him when he does this but is not looking for a fight.
No traces of evil from the ratfolk
"The gugs were more than a distraction, I hope we have dealt with them all... They should no longer be a distraction for you...
We found parts of the winch, if you need to get lower point of the mines why use them in the traps? My ears pop in an elevator. As a matter of fact I don't even like being this tall.
This Eidite you've mentioned can you not get a sample from a different mine?"
"I hope you are not mistaken those gug made deadfall contraptions to my masterfully constructed poisonous pit traps?"
"I have actually never heard of Eidite before, but I overheard that two-headed freak mentioning it to his ogre minions. I'm afraid this is the only place where it is found!"
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"I do apologise, I thought you meant that you made all the traps. The pit traps were wonderful, it needed the skills of a Pathfinder to bypass them..." clearly vocalising some higher regard to Habblegash workmanship and ingenuity...
"You have mentioned this two headed freak twice now; is it a freak due to the nature of these mines or a natural aberration?" Philton scoffs at his oxymoron...
Maxxuud turns to his colleagues.
"Does anyone recognise this sickness?
"It's mana waste mutation. Everything that stays in the manawastes too long either dies or mutates. I guess a miracle or wish might cure it, but barring that proper research with enough of that weird element is probably the only option to find a cure."
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"We are heading further into this mine. If we come across any of this Eidite then we will collect it but without more information about the mineral, I cannot promise that we can give it to you."
"What brought you here in the first place, may I ask? And was that your companion?"
Maxxuud points at the fallen construct
"We are heading further into this mine. If we come across any of this Eidite then we will collect it but without more information about the mineral, I cannot promise that we can give it to you."
"What brought you here in the first place, may I ask? And was that your companion?"
Maxxuud points at the fallen construct.
"I'm a scientist. Initially, I went to the mana wastes to gain more knowledge about them, but after I contracted the mutation I'm mainly here to find a cure as I'm unable to return in this state."
"No, that construct wasn't my companion. I found it smashed to bits by gugs and I've tried to repair it, but I haven't had much success yet."
'You keep checking your pockets Habblegash, have you lost something?'
Tyranyx does her best to look concerned.
"Perhaps we can help you look for whatever it is you have lost whilst we search for your bit of eidite?"
Habblegash blushes.
"In earlier attempts to develop a cure I've created a substance I call 'Crush'. It didn't cure me, but it does give me an edge and I seem to have become dependant on it."
Upon hearing this news, Maxxuud steps further forward, looking Habblegash in the eyes.
"If you swear to seek Vengence upon this 'crush' that has given you this addiction by trying to avoid it in the future, I will try and cure you, ridding you of these dark urges that plague your body."
Habblegash nods.
Maxxuud uses his mercy.
Maxxuud is certain that if the addiciton was purely a physical need it would be gone now, but he suspects there is a psychological need that will almost certainly make Habblegash relapse as long as he isn't cured from his mutation.
"Take these. I won't need them any more!"
Habblegash empties his pockets and gives you 4 doses of Crush.
Type injury; Addiction moderate, Fortitude DC 20
Price 75 gp
Effect 1 hour; +1d4 alchemical bonus to Dex,
–2 penalty on saves against fear effects
Damage 1d4 Wis damage
The ratfolk also runs to the back of his lair to acquire some helpful concoctions for them, including four potions of eruptive pustules (Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic 218) stored in the chest next to his bed and four elixirs of ice breath (which act as elixirs of fire breath, but deal cold damage instead of fire). He also gives them a thick iron key. He’s not sure what the key is for, but one of his clockwork scouts found it in the tunnels recently.
He also tells you the locations of two of his secret caches (of which you found one already).
"Habblegash, we have used quite a few of our combined resources and would require a place to rest later. Could we possibly impose and rest here later?"
You are welcome to rest here, but it might be unwise to stay too long in the mana wastes or you might succumb to the mutation too!
Philton looks out towards the flooded cavern, "Do you happen to know what lies beyond?"
"I have not ventured into the flooded cavern, nor have my clockwork spies"
The other cache is stocked with various supplies that could prove useful in the mines, including two elixirs of hiding, three vials of silversheen, a bead of force, a jar of restorative ointment, and a rope of climbing.
Half of this sloped passage is submerged in water, the stagnant liquid getting steadily deeper farther west toward a barricaded tunnel. The ceiling at the western end of the passage hovers only five feet above the water line, and rotted wooden boxes and crates are stacked up in the northern corner of the flooded area.
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"Thank you Habblegash. The resources are most welcome. We may return if we need to rest and deem the risk worth the reward. If you have any further information about the inhabitants of these mines, or the layout, we would be grateful to you."
After Habblegash responds, Maxxuud will turn to address his companions...
"Come my friends. Let us continue to explore this place. We can start with that flooded cavern."
"Tyranyx, if you can cast ant haul on me, I am happy to carry over all the boxes and crates that are stacked up in the corner over there"
Maxxuud searches the crumbling, waterlogged containers to the north holding his breath while grappling with the sunken boxes. There appears to be little of value at first glace, but a few minutes of searching reveals one of the boxes to be more than it initially seems—the oblong crate is actually a folding boat.
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Maxxuud nods at Philton.
"Yes, we should check out that hole and see what is down there. I will head down first and report back to you all. I will swim back if I need help with anything but I should be able to carry what is down there back up."
Maxxuud strides with effortlessness along the bottom of the water and then dives down into the hole, viewing what is down there with his darkvision.
Halfway down the sinkhole are the skeletal remains of a human miner who presumably attempted to swim down the shaft to explore what lay beyond, only to accidentally wedge his foot in a narrow crack in the wall. Unable to free himself, the miner drowned and rotted in the watery environment.
His clothes long ago decomposed, and the only item of value he had on him, a lesser strand of prayer beads, sunk to the bottom of the shaft.
The shaft opens into a large cavern. The southern half of this small, damp cavern is submerged in water, and an underwater tunnel winds its way out of the cave from there. A now-barricaded tunnel appears to have once led northwest.
A long and metallic, serpentine construction resembling a mechanical eel with several paddle-like limbs lies motionless on the beach.
It's a clockwork leviathan.
With an enemy this hard to hit a subroutine is activated.
The creature steps away and tries to trip the paladin.
Maxxuud continues to pummel the construct, clicking his boots for an extra attack and power attacking at the same time as the rest.
All Maxxuud's attacks miss!
The creature breathes steam over the paladin
but Maxxuud evades.
As the constucts primary tactics are ineffective, a subroutine is activated.
The creature steps away and swings one of its peddles at Maxxuum's legs
Succes
Miss
Miss
The Clockwork creature attacks as Maxxuud gets up
It then steps further into the corner and attacks again
fail
succes
miss
The Clockwork creature attacks as Maxxuud gets up
miss
It then steps further into the corner and attacks again
fail
fail
succes!