Khessa smiles at the elemental and bows in respect and gratitude.

As the blonde arcane warrior raises again, she tells the others: "These crestures now understand we are not enemies... They advise us to go up the stairs in this workshop and speak with someone called 'Shanzezim'. An advice I think we should follow".

And with that, the tall adventuress goes upstairs...

Tristan:

”Fair enough,” says Tristan, starting to follow her up the stairs.

Turning around, he adds to Umberto, “Stay in the back with KJ here, Umberto, he will keep you safe.”  Tristan gestures at the Celestial Bison and gives him the ‘Guard/Protect’ command for the rescued scholar.

Ozus follows warily behind the others. "We ought to do so with caution. As far as we know, anyone here who isn't on our very short list of kidnapping victims could be responsible for the kidnappings in question. This 'Shanzezim' may be the creatures ally, but that does not mean they won't be our enemy."

Larry chuckles quietly.  "What makes you think this individual is an ally to the elementals?  More likely to be allied with the tormentors, or their boss, and probably associated with the kidnapping plot."

"Context clues genius," Ozus says sarcastically, absentmindedly fiddling with the smokey energy that seem to compose his magic, the embers glowing softly as they curl lazily around his fingers. "She said they didn't see us as enemies, you don't send friends to meet your tormenters, especially not just to have a chat."

"I must say, I speak some rather esoteric languages, but I've yet to learn how to speak... whatever it is those creatures speak." he says, addressing Khessa. "How is it you were able to understand them?"

"Yes, context clues.  That works both ways.  They see us undoing what their tormentors have been doing.  Suggests we might be trying to stop them.  Sending people looking to stop your tormentors to your tormentors makes sense, too.  But, hey.  Assume there are more people opposed to the kidnappers holed up in the kidnappers' lair.  That seems likely."

"Oh, Ozus, I don't know exactly what language those creatures spoke either (though it's reasonable to assume it was Primordial)" Khessa smiles at the other. "It was the ritual of knowledge and communication I performed before speaking to them that allowed me to understand the meaning of their words. It will also allow me to decipher any writings, should we find them. I will retain this ability for about an hour".

"Too bad the ritual does not allow, however, to speak or write in the unknown languages... it's like having access to the knowledge of all languages, but just ​​in a kind of... 'read only' mode... weird, isn't it?" the blonde arcane warrior observes, thoughtfully putting a finger to her lips "I've always wondered if it might be possible to develop a more complete and powerful form of this ritual, that doesn't have this limitation... But I've never had the time to apply myself to this idea consistently - and, to be honest," she laughs briefly to herself "I don't even know if I could... my magic is usually effective because I complement it with my combat techniques, not because I'm a sooo great wizard".

"However, if it's a ritual that you think might interest you," the tall adventuress offers "at the first moment of pause I can try to explain it to you. I know that not all of us magic-users have the same techniques for drawing on the power of the Weave... but if our two techniques were compatible, perhaps you could learn this ritual too".

Ozus rolls his eyes, but moves on from the argument. "Whatever you say prettyboy."

He chuckles at Khessa's speculation. "Perhaps there is a more complex version of the spell that allows for full literacy. And failing that, one can always fall back to learning language the old fashioned way. Though finding a teacher for something like abyssal, or primordial, might prove quite a challenge."

"I confess, I would not know if such a ritual were within my capability. My pursuits in the past have been more creative than academic, at least as far as I know. I have little knowledge regarding the intricacies of the Weave, and less choice when it comes to how my abilities manifest. I..." He hesitates. "I am reluctant to ask for anything specific. My power is a means to more ends than my own, and as such, tends to be more destructive than anything else. Any request for customization could be seen as an opportunity for those who provide said power to renegotiate our terms. I'd rather not increase my debt."

"I am sorry that you are forced into this kind of 'negotiation' to enjoy something as beautiful and useful as access to magic..." Khessa's blue eyes show empathy and understanding as they meet the other's "I hope that in the future you will be able to negotiate from a position of greater strength".

Meanwhile, if her footsteps have brought her to a door, the blonde arcane warrior without hesitation sends the Mage Hand to open it...

Rubble chokes the southeast corner of the room, leaving only a small gap near the uneven ceiling. Some of the rubble has been reassembled into a low table, which bears small clockwork components. A hulking, fish-headed creature wearing exquisite silk finery carefully examines the tiny parts.

It looks over its "shoulder" as you come into the room, disinterestedly. He turns back to tinkering with the parts as a deep, gravelly voice with a hint of the bubbly quality that the water elemental spoke with issues forth: Wut d'yoo wunt?

"Hi Shanzezim!" Khessa greets the other cheerfully "I'm Khessa, Khessa Cabbagefield! Nice to meet you!"

"You know, the elementals down there..." the blonde arcane warrior explains "It seems someone has been treating them badly and threatening them lately... Probably the same people who have been kidnapping people in the city here in Neverwinter recently... When the elementals realized that we are not friends with those bad people, they advised me to come to you. I guess you don't like them either, then? Maybe... we could work together to put an end to their schemes? There's something you can tell me about them?"

Larry hangs back from the door, waiting to see if Ozus' unexpected optimism would be proven correct, but ready for it not to be.

Shanzezim turns around more fully to get a better look at the group now. He eyes you up and down. Yoo are not wid dee cult den? Yoo doo nut look lak yoo are wid de cult. Dey are croo-el to de ellymentals down dere. Dey don' bodder me, but on'y becuzz dey are weak he chuckles, and turns back to his work while he talks. Dey habb a gnome down dere, lock-ed away...I habb nut met him yet.

Khessa smiles friendly and cheerful: "It's kind of you to inform us, Shanzezim! Did you know that we just freed him? His name is Umberto. But we expect there to be other prisoners too... Do you know anything about them?"

"And this 'Cult'..." the blonde arcane warrior tries to investigate further "Do you know anything more about them? Which god do they worship, perhaps? Or what their intentions are? Or how many Cultists are there, approximately?"

"Since they are too weak to bother you, you can speak without fear..." the tall adventuress concludes "In fact, you could even collaborate with us! Together, getting rid of them will be even easier! This way, no one will be cruel anymore... neither with elementals, nor with people!"

Tristan:

”Well-said, Khessa,” adds Tristan, coming forward a bit after checking to make sure the gnome mentioned is comfortable with KJ’s protection.

(Help action with Persuasion if needed)

Shanzezim shakes his head, chuckling some more. No, no, muss finish my work here, can't leeb dese guildhalls anyways. All de pards is here, de clock should only take a few more years. But take dis, as a token. Yoo land walkers aren't all bad id seems. He takes one of the small parts he's working with, and hands it to Khessa. Id's not a part of my clock, yoo may habb it. He thinks for another second, I don' know how many dere are, dey look all de same to me...but dere must be a lot. I don' know who dey serve or wut dey wunt eeder...but id muss be somebody evil. Nata one o' dem is nice. On'y know bout dis prissner 'cause he was here. Habben't seen any udders.

(The flywheel that Shanzezim gave you is magical, and has the same properties as a Stone of Good Luck (Luckstone)

"Thank you so much for the lovely gift, Shanzezim!" Khessa is delighted - first of all for the gesture itself, but even more so when she realizes the magical properties of the object "And I respect your choices; but may I ask why you 'can't leave these guildhalls'? Are you bound by some magical bond of some sort? And this clock you're working on... why is it so important? Are you so interested in accurately measuring the passage of time?"

Shanzezim looks over his parts as he answers. De Wadderclock Guild...dey used to control dese halls. He indicates the rubble in the corner of the room, which you can now see looks to be a collapsed passageway. Nudding back dere any more...dey been gone a long time now. We are bound here doe...but ids ok. I enjoy de work, putting dis back together. Should on'y take a liddle longer. I tell you what...yoo can give dem cultists a hard time wid dem pipes dat de guild left behind. Shanzezim describes how to use the room with all the wheels and pipes to maximize the water pressure, and tells you that the room to the west has a similar set of wheels. By maximizing the pressure in both rooms, you should be able to "Flood dem cultists and dey won' know wut hit dem" he says, slapping his knee with a hearty laugh.

Tristan:

"An efficient way to purge the cultists, though it could be equally devastating to the prisoners we wish to save.  Perhaps a departing maneuver once we have rescued the innocents?" suggests Tristan.

Khessa frantically notes in her spellbook the precious fragments of knowledge she has recently acquired, both those more pertinent to magic, such as the surprising functions of the benevolent clockmaker's gift, and the more scientific ones, such as the details on hydrodynamics and valves. And in the meantime, she is also satisfied to have finally found an explanation for the pipes: they were evidently used by the 'Watherclock Guild' of which Shanzezim was a member!

"I agree with you, completely, Tristan!" the blonde arcane warrior smiles "If only we can free the prisoners, then we can let the water finish the job for us! I really like this plan... even more for the way of retaliation towards those who are so cruelly oppressing the water elementals - there is a sense of poetic justice, in the fact that the punishment comes from the water itself".

"Thank you very much, Shanzezim" the tall adventuress gently places a hand on the other's shoulder. "You've been so kind and incredibly helpful. I'll consider you my friend from now on - and I hope we can meet again someday. Maybe when you've finished your watch I'll come back here to see it!"

And with that, Khessa takes her leave of the unusual clockmaker and heads back downstairs. When informed of the other locked door that was found, she suggests trying to open that one... in the hope that it contains another prisoner to be freed.