All That Glitters

OOC: Rico is up for continuing, since she hasn't used any of her spell slots. She's also fine if and when the group decides to hole up somewhere, since she use that time for crafting arrows and other things.

"I have 10 torches also. I'm good pressing on. If a battle does break out, feel free to let me take the brunt of it, I have most of my resources after our last short rest."

DM @ Rico: We can use the same logic for crafting torches as for arrows, referencing Woodworker's Tools in XGtE. So 5 per short rest, 20 per long rest. Each torch requires 1 wood item  in the crafting doc to craft - so most likely firewood or wood scraps.

Reward for finding the secret portal to the fourth level and rp with the drow: 350 XP

You head back to the pump room and inspect the corridors at the south end. The eastern one ends in a door after a few feet. The western one leads to two rooms.

The closer, larger room, is filled with dusty tables and cauldrons. Its stone hearth is cold. Piled atop the tables are alchemical tools and equipment, most of it ancient to the point of being unusable.

The smaller room to the far west seems to have been a kitchen. It contains an oven range, a washing basin, a hearth bearing a covered cook pot, and shelves filled with pots, pans, and cooking tools. None of these make the appearance of having been used recently. There is a door in the nortwestern corner.

Rico and Canti [Cook's utensils and alchemist's supplies]: The tools on display here are in severe disuse, although not completely fallen apart. You notice unclean pots, rusted ladles, dull knives. Some alchemical objects are also still in a useable state, although stained and dirty: 3 glass vials, 6 glass flasks and 2 crystal vials.

Rico starts cleaning the 3 glass vials, 6 glass flasks and 2 crystal vials. It's almost like magic how fast she cleans each one (cause it's the Artificer form of Prestidigitation). 

"Does anyone want these for collecting samples? I don't want to put these in the sack, because they would break when dropped. My backpack is full, but I could put them into Steel's backpack if no one else wants them "

The kenku shakes his head. He has enough to last and little strength to carry what's already present. He also steels himself to push on, as his remaining magic will be relegated largely to a damage-dealing role, though he elects to keep that to himself.

Canti smiles at her mechanical counterpart. "Let Steel hold onto them. They might come in handy later. Thanks for cleaning them up!"

As the others investigate the kitchen and workroom, Pisgah goes and takes a listen at the east door (using the horn). 

Perception roll of 9

OOC: vials and flasks added to Steel's backpack

Pisgah can't hear anything beyond this door, all is quiet.

But then, a sudden sound, within the kitchen. The lid of the large cooking pot flies upward as if propelled from within, crashes against the stone ceiling, then tumbles to the floor with a loud clatter. Chaos breaks loose.

Cooking utensils around Pisgah and Jaya come to life, throwing themselves at you!

Round 1
Initiative:
1. Canti, Nikkitch and Rico + Steel, surprised
2. Kitchenware & strange presence
3. Jaya, Pisgah and Halleth, surprised

Kitchen utensils 1 and 2 throw themserlves at Pisgah in a flurry:
Attack: 11, damage: 4 slashing
Attack: 20, damage: 8 bludgeoning

Kitchen utensils 3, 4 and 5 choose Jaya:
Attack: 19, damage: 6 bludgeoning
Attack: 18, damage: 4 slashing
Attack: 19, damage: 7 bludgeoning

A Strange Presence makes itself felt around the now lidless cooking pot. Small stones are swirling in the air, there is the faint sensation of moving air.
Pisgah feels a sudden force applied to his body, as if an invisible giant is trying to grip him and hurl him upward: Strength Save DC 14: on a failure, Pisgah is slammed against the ceiling and then drops back to the ground, taking 6 bludgeoning damage in the process and landing prone.

Round 2
Initiative:
1. Canti, Nikkitch and Rico + Steel < YOUR TURN
2. Kitchenware & Strange Presence
3. Jaya, Pisgah and Halleth

The Strange Presence is invisible, only barely audibe and produces little impact on its surroundings. [Passive Perception 15+] Pisgah and Jaya can guess the approximate location and could attack with disadvantage. The others would have to guess a location within the area marked with "?"

Pisgah succeeded on STR saving throw, roll 16.

Rico will send Steel to go help Yaya while she drops her sack of loot and salvage to draw her pistol and takes a couple of shots at kitchenware #4. She doesn't know if that will really do anything, but it's the best she can do at the moment. 

Attack 16 damage 10

Attack 10 (nat 1) miss

Steel moves up to tableware #4 if it's still active, otherwise #5 and tries to tear it apart with a Force-Empowered Rend

Attack: 10 Damage: 11

Nikkitch, not knowing what to think beyond 'limited spell selection,' opts for a defensive offense. He casts [Detect Magic] immediately, and moves South, hoping to see a trace of whatever appears to be attacking, parsing his arcane knowledge for anything that might fit what they currently face. Information is power after all, a concept all wizards can comprehend. 

[Arcana: 8 (and after all that strategic bs, too)]

"You don't see that every day!" Canti says, drawing her bow and shaking it into full size. Like a knight in a game of chess, she moves west 10 feet and south five feet to see better into the kitchen. She carefully aims at four separate utensils, firing quickly to try to pick them off before they can do much damage.

Attack at #4: 13 Damage: 5 

Attack at #5: 28 Damage: 9 

Action surge

Attack at #3: 12 Damage: 9 

Attack at #2: 26 Damage: 11 

A lopsided melody of *clonk*, *clank*, *clink* sounds as the bullets and arrows of Canti and Rico hammer into the assortment of floating metal implements. Due to their hardness, they are hard to hit properly. Steels fist sends #4 swirling in the air without doing any real damage and Cantis second shot bounces off #5. Her fourth shot hits especially hard, nailing #2 to the wall with a crunch, whereupon it lies still.

Nikkitch gets a feeling for the Strange Presence. His senses allow him to see the weak outline of illusory magic. The wizard knows that the weakness of this aura indicates that this thing can't be the product of an active spell. Rather, it seems to be invisible by nature. Like Pisgah and Jaya, Nikk can now target the presence with disadvantage rather than having to guess its location.

The kitchen utensil 1 continues attacking Pisgah:
Attack: 20, damage: 3 slashing

The kitchen utensils 3 and 5 throw themselves at Jaya:
Attack: 15, damage: 6 slashing
Attack: 16, damage: 8 slashing

The kitchen utensil 4 decides to try to stab Steel:
Attack: 22, damage: 7 slashing

The invisible presence moves to the middle of the room. Suddenly, Canti feels the crushing grip around her. Strength Save DC 14: on a failure, Canti is slammed against the ceiling and then drops back to the ground, taking 5 bludgeoning damage in the process and landing prone.

Halleth moves up to reinforce Steel and Jaya, swinging his mace at kitchenware #4. His movements are sluggish, but the power behind the swings palpable:
Attack: 22, damage: 12 bludeoning

The pan crashes to the ground, where it lies still. Upon this, Halleth draws back against the wall, in order to not stand in the way.

Round 2
Initiative:
1. Canti, Nikkitch and Rico + Steel
2. Kitchenware (3 & 5 damaged) & Strange Presence
3. Jaya, Pisgah and Halleth < YOUR TURN

Targeting the strange presence:
Jaya, Pisgah and Nikkitch can sense enough of it to target it with disadvantage
All others have a 25% chance to be able to target it with disadvantage. If you still want to attack it, you can simulate the chance with a 1d4 roll. On a 4, you guessed correctly.

Reaction to Riposte on #3’s attempt to hit me:

Longsword: 22, damage 9

Jaya will let loose with a powerful breath weapon, which “should” hit #3, #5, Invis, and maybe #1.

attack 1: Force Damage: DC 15 Dex, damage: fail 10, success 5

Second attack on what’s left, first #3, then #5, then Invis (16 is for disadvantage on invis).

attack 2: Longsword 20/16, damage 12

Will then move to the other side of 3, shouldn’t leave 3 & 5’s area to provoke.

Pisgah drops the pike from his left hand as he reaches up to draw [item]Greatsword[/] Big Bart from the back sheath. The first attack is against Utensil 1 with an attack roll of 22 for 14 damage. If Utensil 1 is either knocked down and inactive or is batted away then Pisgah will swing back and up toward the Invisible enemy. Attack roll of 22 (with disadvantage - rolled two 16's - Yay me!) for damage of 10. If possible, Pisgah will move to the east and then south to put himself in a flanking position on Utensil 5 with Jaya. As a bonus action, he uses one iteration of Blade Ward (for resistance to piercing, bludgeoning, and slashing damage).

RetCon: If Pisgah cannot get to a flanking position with Jaya on Utensil 5 he will stop just north of Utensil 5 and ready for the next attack.

Jayas sword shreds through the pots and pans and his breath weapon gives them the rest. A strike at the invisible presence is successful as well. There is some resistance, but not enough. The wind abates, the presence is no more.

Pisgah also makes short work of the utensil still remaining with him, knocking it to the floor.

Nothing remains moving. Out of Initiative.

Everyone gets 150 XP from this encounter.

Having heard nothing from the door in the NW corner of the kitchen, Pisgah goes to the door saying "I wonder what they were guarding?" and opens the door.