(@Grant: Lucas has the rod, and it would be in his backpack unless someone stepped forward mentioning they have a bag of holding it can be placed into instead. I would've said he ate it, but Lucas is still taking care not to reveal the fact that he's inhuman)

The party walks past the lizards to the double doors which Paul opens saying in a low voice - ‘after you gentlemen and I use the term loosely!’. The Svirfneblin is still at his desk scribbling down something but interestingly the demon is no longer in the pentagram. The Svirfneblin looks up briefly and says “did you find what you were looking for?’

And now ….?

Though the missing demon is noted, Lucas Saluc casually gestured for the others to keep going while he paused in step to address the Svirfneblin, observing if needed any customary greetings like earlier, before then curtly shakes his head and offhandedly waving a dismissive hand. "Far from it. Worst yet, I believe something far more troubling has happened that we need now tend to. But trouble yourself naught with our lot and carry on with your own work. And as always, may the Spider Queen smile upon your actions and... continued diligence." Saluc doesn't smile. He simply nodded one last time, and turned to catch up with the others, hopeful answer had been sufficient. 

-Deception: 31. 

The Svirfneblin merely grunts in reply as the party continues on through the next set of doors. They come to the final set of doors which Toruun had locked, unlock the doors and pass through to the corridor. The portal that brought them to the Underdark is just a bit down the corridor!

Corwyn:

Continuing to follow along, Corwyn keeps an eye out for trouble, but hopes to be able to walk out with no further trouble.

Again lack of clarity on my part. The party reaches the Portal without difficulty!

"Let's go through the portal then, and return to our safety. Saluc, you go first as you have the rod part." says Passoveloce in a voice that should only carry to the party members.

"Saluc" hardly lets Passoveloce finish the sentence before rushing forth ahead of the group and leaping into the portal. The words "Last one in-" out of the man being spoken before he vanishes through the portal. An act under other circumstances he might've been less apt to do, but scarcely spared the thought to warrant hesitation this time around with time being of the essence. For at any moment news of their escapades could yet reach the ears of the other cultist, and who knew how things would go from there!

Seeing Saluc disappear through the portal, Passoveloce follows.

Corwyn:

Following quickly, Corwyn intends to report on the planned drow incursion, hoping to save the poor villagers from extortion and worse.

The party members step through the portal. Obviously warned in some way the Lady Alustriel is there to greet them  “well …” she says 

Despite his true physiology making maintain balance something a novel thing, Lucas still stumbled a little upon exiting the portal. Seeing Lady Alustriel, the man is quick to straighten out his back and affect some form of a more dignified air, only to somewhat embarrassingly need to hop off to the side as the others filed there inside the chamber. "Eyy, Alu-er, sorry, uhm... Eh, whatever -- So listen. Our latest grocery shopping session was a success! Bad news is, ehh, some Deep Gnome village is gonna railed by cultist, but other than that, it was a pretty smooth operation." He says all nonchalant while pulling out the rod and stepping up to offer it to Lady Alustriel.

As Lucas goes to hand over the part of the Rod, Lady Alustriel says “no, no you keep it until you’ve got all the pieces - you may find it useful!. I‘m not surprises that followers of Lolth were raiding their neighbours. What was the name of the settlement and perhaps I can send a warning? Is there anything else I need to know about?”

Corwyn:

”The gnomes of Ruby Mine have fallen behind on their extortion payments and the drow intend to raid soon.  I did not get much more detail than that,” answers Corwyn.

"M'Lady" says Passoveloce, "I think mention was made that each part of the rod was able to reveal the location of the next. How do we get it to do that? After we have rested up a bit, I think we need to get going for the next piece." 

In response to Corwyn’s advice, Lady Alustriel says “I will see what I can do to warn them?”

In response to Passoveloce’s question, Lady Alustriel says “I’m not completely familiar with how it works, although I know those who might,  but I would suggest that the holder of the part simply concentrate on finding the next part. I can then ensure that the portal aligns with that!”

After Lady Alustriel finishes speaking, Toruun “I’ve discovered a few glitches in me armour and need to take it back to the workshop for some further development. I’d be thankin you to please send me back to my workshop.”

Lady Alustriel responds “that I can certainly do” and Toruun dissappears. She then turns to the rest of the party “is there anything else I can do for you?”

Corwyn:

”A few moments to rest and recover before we head back out would be most welcome,” responds Corwyn, “And I am tempted to reverse the ambush on the drow, even though I know the Rod takes precedence.  If for some reason it takes a significant amount of time to locate the next piece, I would be happy for the diversion.”

"Weeeellll, there's but one other thing that comes to mind. I hesitated to bring it up before as we were... at least from a certain perspective yet untested." Lucas scoffs. "But, having hopefully proven ourselves sufficiently capable and ever mindful of priorities, I'm hoping that perhaps we could ask fer a bit more support in these missions. 'specially since, our, uh-" He looks to where Torunn stood. "Resident gadgeteer and 'supplier' of supplementary magical artifice is likely gonna be on the bench fer quite some time I'd reckon." He explains.

"And as I understood it, you folks are quite the accomplished in various fields that would no doubt involve the procurement of so many of such devices, that I'd wager much of it must be practically gathering the proverbial dust at this point. So, if, uhh... ya wouldn't mind sharing a few of these that might further aid our joint venture at the very least, that would be most 'preciated. J-just this once, at the very least, with the understanding that anything borrowed would be of course returned or, eh, later purchased should we happen to acquire the funds during our future search for the rest of the mcguffins."

Passoveloce looks at Lucas and shakes his head in wonder at the waffliness of his request. Addressing Lady Alustriel, "If I can translate for you M'Lady, Lucas is asking if you have any items that may be useful to us as we continue this quest. Even more useful would be another adventurer to fill the gap left by Toruun's departure. Do you have anyone/anything in mind?"

Lucas side-eyes Passoveloce with a flat look and crosses his arms. "Hey there now! Don't demean her by translating what was already plain enough en-I mean-'common,'... yeah, common, but, yeah... Y-yeah, don't be doin' that just 'cause you have no taste for the eloquent delivery of requests. 'cause that's just rude." He states plainly, though not without stumbling a bit over his words around the midpoint. He then looks to Lady Alustriel and gives a slight bow. "Apologies, mam. That was a tidbit unprofessional on our part. But, uhm... Mr. Rude-nicky over there does bring up a fair point. But, if none are available at this time, then that's fair enough. These realms seem to be in constant danger of self-destructing, so it stands to reason that redirecting anyone helpful might be easier said than done."