Hallanann is listening to all of this intently and waiting to hear what this creature has to say in response to his co-adventurers' questions.

"Follow me." Xurxos says.  He leads you through the sanctuary and across into the kitchen. "I am not sure how to stop to machine.  I would help you, but as you can see, I have already been exposed to too much of this evil energy."  Xurxos pulls back the sleeves of his tunic so that you can see the extent of the mutant damage to his arms.  His right arm has been replaced by a cluster of fleshy, twitching tentacles, and his left shoulder is a hunched mass of tumors and bony spikes.

A large fireplace stands against one wall of this room, serving as the old temple’s one permanent source of heat; only ashes and cobwebs fill it now. A side table with a clay washbasin stands next to the hearth, and a longer table once used for food preparation is between the kitchen’s two windows. A stone stairway leads down into the cellar level.

"Down the stairs here you will find the machine."

"And that tells us nothing on how to stop it."  Lia complains. She looks at the book she was given earlier.  "She pages through it to see if there is anything of use in there.  "It may just be in our best interest to leave....."  She comes across the ritual bind sidereal servitor.  "What is this?" She asks, pointing to it.  "Will this bind this machine?" 

(The award for party scholar goes to Lia!)

True Ritual: Bind Sidereal
Servitor
2nd-level conjuration (arcane, true ritual)
Casting Time: 3 hours
Range: 300 feet
Components: V, S, M (hallucinatory herbs, a lens fashioned of black volcanic glass, and rare perfumes and incense) Duration: Until the servitor’s task is fulfilled, or it is dismissed by the caster

This ritual must be cast between sunset and sunrise, under a moonless sky with the stars visible. It requires drawing a circle 15 feet across, inside which the caster and other participants stand.

At the end of the ritual, a sidereal servitor appears outside the circle. You issue a command to the servitor, which it must be capable of performing within 100 feet of a point within range. Typical commands are “Protect the treasure in the cellar beneath my keep,” “Guard the door to my inner sanctum from all but me,” and “Attack anyone who trespasses in my house.” The servitor can also be commanded to only attack a single named enemy who comes within its territory, or even to build a structure (provided all necessary materials are available to the servitor within its territory).

If you issue a command to the servitor that it cannot fulfill within these parameters, it attacks you and fights until either it drops to 0 hit points or you are dead.

You can dismiss a sidereal servitor by speaking a ritual phrase of unbinding to it in a language it understands. You must be within 100 feet of the servitor to do this, and it must be able to hear you.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this ritual using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the range of the spell (but not the servitor’s territory) increases by 100 feet for each level above 2nd.

Hallanann looks over at what Lia is pointing to and asks, "So, does anyone have any hallucinatory herbs, a lens fashioned of black volcanic glass, and rare perfumes and incense?"

((So, this begs the questions: can any of those material components be replaced by using a spell casting focus? What is the current phase of the moon/weather conditions?))

(And who can cast the spell?  As a ritual, I do not believe Lia can actually cast it, unless you are allowing that here.)

"But that doesn't turn the machine off. We're more likely to find one of those down there, guarding it," Chikra says. "Can it be killed by someone other than the caster? How strong do these things tend to be?"

((DragonDemn, I would think that Hallanann could learn it, but I'm sure it would take some time.))

"Chikra," Hallanann responds, "if I understand this ritual correctly, and I very well may not, I believe we can use it to also dismiss a sidereal servitor as well as summon one."

Lia would hand the journal over once someone said they could learn it.  "I too got that impression from the little I could understand." She says.

"Well, 'owever the deed is doon," Vor says. "Let us persceed.  I do bes thinkin' we'r haven' t' deal with th' guardian, one way or t'other."  He looks to their 'host', "Do ye know 'ow t' deal wit th' guardian, other than choppin' 't up?"

"Well?  Did someone mention the Temple Well?" Xurxos asks.  "The well is located about a quarter mile to the north west of the temple."

“I don’t think reasoning with the guardian would work,” Krusk says to Vor, “so we will probably have to fight it. Also, should we all go to the guardian together or have some go and some stay and do the ritual?”

“I bes thinkin’,” Vor says. “If th’ machine bes turn’d off, would nae th’ same be true o’ the guardian? Or is I bes missin’ somethin’?”

"I think we'll be fighting something when we go down there," Chikra states. "Any chance, if it's magic, we can dispel it outright?"

(There was a ton of material for you to digest, so let me just try to straiten some things out that may not have been clear.  Xurxos has lead you to the top of the stairs that lead down to where the machine is located.  The key that Xurxos knows can turn the machine on, but is unsure if it will turn it off, was hidden in a well.)

You are currently in the kitchen, "room 4" on the bottom map. 

Maybe these maps will help in your decision of what to do next:

“I think we need the key to turn it off, since it can turn the machine on.” Krusk says. “I don’t think we can turn it off without it, and the guardian of the well probably won’t be dispelled if we are able to turn the machine off.”

"Aye. I don't suppose we have the time to tunnel to the well, we'll have to go in from above?"

"Pretty sure we need to fight the guardian of the well to get the key."  Lia comments.  "Do we want to summon this creature from the ritual now, then go to the well and fight the guardian to get the key, or do we wish to just go to the well first off?"  She looks to the others.  "I do not think going down to the machine without the key is a very good idea, so would be against that, until we have the key."

"Well, bes certain," Vor says, "after readin' th' wee bit o' text agin, th' only way we might turn th' thin' off is wit' th' key, as I bes thinkin' none 'ere is strong in the magic bes needed t' work th' machine.  It do say th' guardian bes partly ethereal.  What doo we 'ave fer fightin'  that kinda critter?"

He looks at Xurxos, "Ye gots an' thin' t' help in that regard; scrolls, magik arrows, a 'andy bolt o' lightnin?" He pauses, thinking, "Do ye know the tongues this thing understan's?"

((Can Hallanann start the process of learning the ritual? Do I need to roll anything for that?))