Attack: 21 Damage: 10

With the first threat down, Lily turns her attention to the remaining ...thing... and sends yet another blast of eldritch energy streaking from her cane towards it! "Hah! Much easier than fighting rats in the sewers it seems!"

Emanuel would rush over and thrust his greatsword into the creature's chest. 

He then pulls it out, shedding shrapnel against the floor.

Action: Shortbow Attack: 24  Damage: 4 Piercing + 4 (Sneak Attack)

Movement: None  Bonus Action: None

J'Sahriel holds her position in the corner near the door and fires another successful (though likely largely ineffectual) shot from her shortbow.

Between everyone's efforts, it would appear that the creature is felled! Eman deals the final blow, bashing the creature back into obscurity. 

The cog ceases to vibrate and lands with an unceremonious thud onto the table beneath it. 

Trigger:

Bloody Spear looks completely shaken up as she hasn't lifted her blade up from the rumble of gears and metal on the ground. Anyone nearby can hear her repeatedly whisper to herself, "No. No. That's... no..."

If trained, make arcana checks now.

If trained, make history checks now.

(Arcana: 11, History: 18)

Jack of All Trades:

Arcana: 11
History: 13

"What is it? Are you alright?" Berlyn asks Bloody Spear concerned both for their new companion and the meaning of her mumblings.

Berlyn, you note that the cog is definitely the schema you are looking for. It must've activated those warforged-like beings to protect itself. It should be safe to handle now.

"T-Those... Things...." Is about all Bloody Spear is able to say.

Eman, read Trigger's spoiler. You know the same as him.

Marlowe continues to attempt to fulfill his mistress’ command to retrieve the schema and put it in the bag of holding. 

“They were certainly something,” she replies with a shake if her head. “Do you know anything about them?”

"May... Maybe they are just old animated suits of armor." Emanuel says to himself out loud, a look of confusion on his face.  "I mean, that's the only way... the only way..." He continues repeating himself.

J'Sahriel isn't trained in either Arcana or History, so no check for her.

Seeing that the metal creatures have fallen and don't appear to be standing back up, Jhess takes a moment to visually assess how everyone else is doing...noting that nearly everyone seems to be in at least a mild state of shock.

"Alright..." she says slowly as she looks about, "how is everyone?"

"They can't be animated... but they aren't warforged either," Bloody Spear shakes her head. She walks away from the pile of metal. Somehow, you know she would probably faint if it wasn't for her warforged fortitude.

"Sorry, miss," Bloody Spear tries to sound a bit more chipper. "It's just that, well, those things look like warforged, but they can't be. The oldest of us is 33 years old. That's as old as we get...  but this lab has been closed for centuries... so why..." And then she lost the plot again - "Why do those things exist?" She gestures vaguely toward the pile of scrap. "They even had ghlu-uurrhh-" It's not possible, but she almost sounded like she was about to throw up.

"Whoa! I didn’t even think of that...Very odd.” Berlyn ponders. “Maybe the professor knows more.” She racks her brain for any tales she might have heard either from her family or from her studies.

(was Marlowe able to retrieve the schema?)

Marlowe has deposited the schema into the bag of holding, but only just barely given the limitations of his strength.

"Let's get out of here. This adventure was far from pleasant and, to be honest I would like it done sooner than later." Emanuel says with a look of unease and eagerness on his face.

"It seems we have obtained what we came for plus something in a fancy case," Berlyn replies. "I don't have the ability to identify it yet and I'm not sure I can open it since it has some sort of warding spell on it. I suppose we can wait until we go above to figure that out." She looks at the others. "Do we want to see what else we can find down here? There are areas we have not explored. Is anyone hurt?"

(DM: Would any of the metal creatures' heads still be intact? With the ghulra visible?)

"I wouldn't mind poking about a bit more," J'Sahriel says in response to Berlyn's question before nervously glancing about the room at the metal scraps and vats.  "Just maybe not too much in this chamber."

Lily glances around the room, examining the piles of debris careful and pokes at them with her cane. "Would it be that hard to believe that House Cannith perhaps found some ancient formula to create the warforged and then replicated it? They investigate to make sure no one else knows about it and take steps to bury any evidence on the truth, then they claim they invented the process to get a monopoly over the war. Sounds like the typical Dragontouched house nonsense to me."

The heads of the 'warforged' are still in tact enough to see the ghurla. What bothers anyone who understands anything about Warforged physiology is that all these ghurla are the same. A circle with a cross in the center. Ghurla are supposed to be unique to each individual warforged. No two were ever alike. So this was quite odd indeed.

You all recall a yet unexplored hallway in the laboratory which you can explore if you so choose.

"Perhaps we should take some evidence of these things back with us?" J'Sahriel finally suggests, motioning towards the piles of scrap metal.  "Y'know, so the professor can take a look at them?  Seems to be right up his alley."

She then nods back toward the hallway they all just came through.  "And it might be a good idea to explore the rest of this lab before we leave...maybe we might find some more clues?"

(I'll post the rest of the lab when I get off work!)