The First Expedition: The Alchemist's Vault

Trix vaults into the construct's back-mounted compartment, which results in a response from the construct that, despite its droning voice, has a tone of satisfaction to it.

COMMAND CARDS RETRIEVAL IN PROGRESS!

The doors to its compartment promptly slam shut, containing Trix inside the roomy cavity. Despite the dark, Trix's Darkvision catches on, and she quickly notices that there are small hinged windows on each wall. She feels the machine begin to sway, and the others watch as the construct marches toward the pod room with Trix inside.

The construct clunks and clambers through the hall into the fiery pod room, which still billows with black smoke as the fire continues to burn. It continues to chime about its progress.

COMMAND CARDS RETRIEVAL IN PROGRESS!

The construct ignores the fire, stepping through the burning vegetation as if unaware. The black smoke coming from the burning pods and vines is rising up to the higher levels, but still chokes the room.

Lady Elara sees no alchemical traps. The biggest barrier to safely following the construct is the smoke rising from the fires as the pod plants burn. She notices the smoke being sucked out through the cracks in the wall where the Repair construct was working (and now stands, inert). The cracks aren't big enough to allow much of the smoke to disperse, but if it could be widened, smashed open even, that could provide a pathway to clear the smoke. However, the solid limestone wall would require quite a feat of strength to smash down.

The cracked wall hold fast, even against Subeen's mighty strikes. If she had more time, she could eventually wear it down, but given the smoke, she might suffocate first. The repair construct watches idly as Subeen gives up.

Elodie and Subeen follow the construct carrying Trix, managing to stave off the negative effects of the smoke for now. The retrieval construct passes its inert guardian without comment, and climbs up the stairs. Following closely behind and staying low where the air is more breathable, it returns to the first room of the vault, where the smoke is slowly billowing out the wedged-open exit. Though this is helping keep the smoke from building up, the exit is not wide enough to really clear the air.

The construct walks down to the glowing blue barrier and strides directly though it, its glowing blue runes flaring as it does so. Once on the other side, it opens its cargo doors and attempts to fish Trix out with its tentacles. Trix finds herself in a library of sorts, with rows of book shelves and a stout reading desk, all of which are in an advanced state of decay. She can see now that there are two new command cards hanging on the hooks on the far wall, but the encroaching tentacles are absorbing her attention!

Trix deftly dodges the tentacles and tosses the cards in the air, sending the retrieval construct rushing after them, snapping them up. As it does this, Trix quickly locates a lever in the wall, and when she pulls it, the force field abruptly shuts off.

The construct places Trix's cards on hooks on the wall, underneath two new cards that were already hanging there:

* A Platinum card etched with a mushroom surrounded by vines.
* A Gold card etched with symbols of the four elements: earth, wind, fire, water.

The retrieval construct suddenly becomes aware of Trix's attempt to steal its command card. It grasps at its card protectively with its tentacles, and its runes suddenly surge with light as it charges up some kind of arcane defence mechanism.