The First Expedition: The Alchemist's Vault

Subeen and Elodie lead the fighting withdrawal to the courtyard while Elara, eyes ablaze with determination, surges ahead, her movements a blur of enchanted speed as she raced to safety. Trix remains behind, certain she can snatch that card!

The construct's glowing eye flickers as it swiftly evaluates the chaotic scene. In an instant, it locks onto the gap in the door. Without hesitation, it surges forward in a thunderous sprint, hammer raised mid-stride. The hammer swings down with terrifying force, crashing into the door with a deafening impact, determined to jar it loose—its only mission to seal the breach!

The mighty swing does the trick. The hammer knocks the door back onto its sliding track, and silent, hidden mechanisms pull it closed. Inside the room, Everything goes dark, except for the construct's red eye and the glowing card with the crossed swords on its chest. It turns to hunt Trix now that she is separated from the pack!

DESTROY INTRUDER

Trix's mage hand darts through the shifting gaps in the construct's armor, every second a gamble. She holds her breath, guiding the spectral fingers toward the silver card lodged in its chest. With a sharp twist, she wrenches it free.

The construct halts—frozen mid-swing.

Her pulse pounds in the silence. One heartbeat. Two. Three. Then, a shudder ripples through the metal giant. Slowly, it stirs again, but the menace is gone. Its steel hammer retracts with a metallic hiss, disappearing into the hidden compartment, its towering frame no longer a threat. The mechanical, monotone voice emerges from the construct once more:

TARGET ACQUISITION PENDING

After some intense battering, Subeen manages to bash the door open wide enough for the rest of the expedition to rejoin Trix, where they find her with the construct's silver card in her petite hands.

Trix and Elara note the card with the crossed swords is the same size as a playing card. The surface of the silver card is thoroughly tarnished, but the borders and reverse side are almost complete untarnished, having been protected by the slot the card was inserted in.

The construct is in relatively good condition, despite its advanced age and the humidity of the dungeon. Exposed metal is rusted, and its leather-bound joints and strapping are cracked and peeling. Yet, judging by its swift movements moments ago, the inner mechanisms driving its limbs seem to be in excellent shape. Currently, it is completely motionless. Even the red eye stares straight ahead.


Room details:
- The exit to the courtyard is once again open.
- Earl partially explored the hallway to the north, where he found the construct
- A blue glow is coming from the stairs to the east.
- The iron bar that barricades the door to the south can be removed with an action and a successful DC 15 athletics test.

Earl the cat creeps forward, his movements silent as the halls around him sink into near-total darkness, so thick that even his sharp feline eyes struggle to pierce it. His whiskers twitch as he senses the passage widening to the north, leading into a room where the air is heavy with the rank odor of decaying upholstery. The floor beneath his paws feels gritty, scattered with brittle, crumbling paper. From the south of this new chamber, just on the edge of his hearing, comes a faint, unsettling noise — distant, unnerving, as if something is being built or... unearthed.

Elara begins a ritual to Identify the constructs secrets. Upon its conclusion, she understands the construct's arcane mechanisms. The construct draws power from the ambient magical force radiating from the onyx stone. Arcane threads have been woven to give the mechanism a purpose - to protect the building from a target with merciless, lethal force. As you have surmised, the target is provided by inserting the command card. Without the card, it is powerless to act, but you can sense its destructive purpose seething within its nature at all times. The command card's size, metallic makeup, and inscription all seem to be part of the 'target' that it would designate. While it would be difficult, a mage of Elara's skill could unlock the formula, given sufficient time and resources.As Elara is finishing her examination, you hear sounds of feet padding across stone coming from the north hallway. Four strange creatures emerge from the darkness of the hall, squinting at the bright light of Elara's glowing staff.



They enter the room, slowly, cautiously. They make quiet noises back and forth that might be talking. One gestures to the corpse of the vine monster, while another gestures to the construct.