Vimak waits until Fraktore calms down and then releases them. "We're okay?" he says. "You won't try anything like that again, right?"

If it's okay, potatocrown, Vimak will sort through the remains of the machine, trying to perceive (7) a working heavy crossbow and bolts, using a handaxe to par it from the rest of the machinery if possible. (OCC: Sleight of hand to cut a crossbow away? 5) "I'm just going to take a bit of this so we're both reminded of the dangers of experimenting with out asking the experimentees."

(@Robwin and Tahnis. The contraption is pretty complex but its all mechanical with no magical aspects to it. The crossbows are simple heavy crossbows but there are gears and wires connecting it to various buttons and levers on the chair in the centre. @Vimak, you manage to get one intact heavy crossbow as well as a quiver of 20 bolts.)

Facktore Acrobatics: 10
Vimak Athletics: 22

Facktore just continues to scream, her words becoming increasingly incoherent as she struggles against Vimak's grip. Pog waves his hand dismissively. "Don't bother trying to calm her down. She is never calm." As he says this, Facktore manages to wiggle out of Vimak's grip before running off screaming deeper into the cave, her screams slowly softening as she goes further away. Ulla puts a hand behind her ear, trying to listen. "Yup. And there she goes to who knows where."

Pog shrugs at Robwin's question. "There's a room with giant spinning blades of doom but we can turn it off pretty easily with mage hand." Ulla taps her chin with her finger. "Hmmm. Other than that, I don't think so." The two looks at Robwin with confusion at his question about the kings. "We have two kings, of course!" Pog laughs. "Nuh duh. They're married."

At the mention of ‘giant spinning blades of doom’, Robwin’s eyes widen in disbelief! “I think we’ll let YOU TWO lead the way then!...uhem...”.

And then in relation to the kings “Ah, that explains it! I’ve seen mention of, ‘The Kings of Gnomengarde’, in my studies... I just assumed it meant ‘various’ kings, you know, ‘through the ages’... oh that’s just splendid! Two different Gnomes, both Kings, married, splendid... hmmm... I just thought: ahah.. what with shapeshifters around, the presence of, say, two identical kings might have been... you know... a little... suspicious!”.

OOC: lol, you can see now that Robwin has a charisma score of -1! ;-)

Prosper lowers her bow, a little alarmed by Facktore's outburst of despair, but managing a cheery grin as she speaks to the other gnomes. "No harm done. Didn't even graze me." She looks a little worriedly at the machine. "I hope we haven't ruined her work. I'm sure she can put it back together again. When we're gone." She glances out of the room. "Giant death room. Right. Why, uh, do you need one of those things, if you'll pardon me asking?"

The two gnomes shrugs at Prosper's question. "Who knows? It was something Facktore made so it's probably for security? It's kind of just been there for a long time now."

Seeing everyone is ready to leave, the two gnomes continue to lead the group through the caves. You head down the corridor to the south, passing by a room to east that's filled with barrels. Ulla says nonchalantly, "That's the wine room." 

You continue south before arriving at a room with a 10ft high ledge that takes up the entire southern part of the room. As you enter, the crashing sounds of the waterfall fill your ears. Pog puffs up his chest and shouts over the sound. "This is the guard post! It's where we spend most of our time!"

You head east and down a set of stairs that leads to the waterfall and a bridge outside. Everything here is covered in a mist, created by the waterfall, that lightly obscures the area. You all cross the bridge with ease before going up another set of stairs and discovering the room with the "giant spinning blades of death." Pog simply walks forward, summoning a Mage Hand and using it to flick a lever on the wall. "See, no problem."

You head up another set of stairs and arrive in what looks to be a workshop where two gnomes are currently arguing with each other in gnomish. When you enter the room, both gnomes turn to the group and shout. They both rush towards you, one of them addressing the group. "AH! An unbiased third party! You can help us with our argument, though I'm sure they'll agree my Sanity Ray is the solution!" The other gnome stomps their feet on the ground with an angry expression. "No! My straitjacket is the obvious solution and these people will agree with ME and not YOU!" The first gnome shakes their head. "WHAT EVEN IS A STRAITJACKET, DABBLEDOB!? WHAT EVEN IS IT?" They both turn to the group. "SO? Which is better? Fibblestib's dumb Sanity Ray or my amazing and awesome Straitjacket?"

Ulla and Pog shake their heads. "Oh boy. This is going to take a while."

(Once again, I'll use colours to make it more obvious which gnome is talking. Fibblestib is yellowy green and Dabblebob is just normal green. In the map below, I've marked out the path you've taken. The black arrows indicate that there are more paths towards that direction. The white squares are doors you've yet to open.)

MAP

Robwin makes a mental note of exactly how to disarm the room-of-death with a mage hand...

And then with the two workshop gnomes, Robwin’s face lights up “Ooh, intellectual debate! We did this all the time at the academy! Normally we would start at both extremes, for example in this case: ‘why have either?’ And ‘why not have both?’ Does that help?!”, he says eagerly.

And then, “...although if you ‘only’ want to know which is ‘best’, normally one will be shown to be better by real life practical use! No debate needed! But I come back to ‘why not have both?’ Maybe they will BOTH be ‘best’ for different circumstances! You get that all the time with spells: one is objectively ‘better‘ but another might be ‘best’ under niche circumstances...and if...” he is trailing off, talking more to himself and wittering on and on!..(he’s also doing ‘air quotes’ in the most annoying way, every few words).

(If owls can roll their eyes, Lia rolls her eyes a little, before shuffling down into Robwin’s hood for a nap!)

Vimak is listening, but also looking around, thinking about other things. Then he freezes and raised a finger. "Ballista," he says. "Fraktore! Phandellin!" he says. "We get her to build a giant version of her machine to protect the town from the dragon!" He looks perhaps too happy with this suggestion. "I have to mention this to the king."

Listening to the gnomes and Robwin, he asks, "Is your enemy at range? Clearly the ray," He says, "Can you overwhelm your enemy? Enough to dress it in a coat? Clearly the jacket." He folds his arms and looks far too sure of himself. "Does the king like rays or clothing better? Ought to consult him on this as well."

Fibblestib and Dabbledob look at Robwin and Vimak confused. "Enemies? No no no no. This is for the king! You haven't heard? They didn't tell you?" Pog scratches the back of his head. "Oh right. Probably should've told you the situation here. One of our kings went mad and now he's locked himself and his husband in their bedroom." Ulla nods. "We don't really know what to do other than find the shapeshifter."

The two inventor gnomes nod their heads. "Yup! And we have taken it upon ourselves to try to make him sane again. Thus. Sanity Ray!" Dabbledob looks annoyed at Fibblestib. "No! Straitjacket!!!"

Vimak’s clear voice snaps Robwin out of his academic musings. Under his breath he realises, suddenly, (a little lost for words)...“Ballista.. Genius...”, he says, seeing Vimak again in a new light...

Then coming back to his senses a bit, and looking at the workshop gnomes in turn, “This ‘ray’, this ‘jacket’, are they ready? Are they finished? If they are, get them, and follow us to the Kings. If they’re not, work on them”. And as if pre-empting their next outburst “BOTH of them!”.

Then to Pog and Ulla, “Can you take us to the Kings’ bedroom? Can we speak with them? Through the door?”

Prosper stays close the the gnomes as they pass through the rooms and goggles slightly when they pass the well-stocked wine room. "That's a lot of liquor." She says nonchalantly as they move on. "You drink much?"

She brightens at Vimak's suggestion. "There's an idea." She agrees, looking thoughtful. "Of course, we'd have to persuade Facktore to come with us, unless someone else can also build it? Do you think Facktore had blueprints, or would draw some? If we can make one then surely we can knock out a couple more.

In the workshop, Prosper's face blanks, for a moment, as she listens to the debate between the two gnomes. "It'd really depend on the situation we're facing. Yeah, can we be taken to the king? Hey, maybe we can test both out and see which one works best?"

Tahnis cocks an eyebrow at the liquor. "I'd like to be taken to this 'king' as well."

Fidbblestib and Dabbledob sigh. "Well, we're arguing because we don't know which to make. Wouldn't want to waste resources on making something that doesn't work, like Dabbledob's dumb Straitjacket." Dabbledob pokes Fibblestib in the side with his hand. "It's not dumb! You're dumb!" The two begin to argue with each other as Pog and Ulla shake their heads and usher you to follow them.

At Vimak's suggestion and Robwin and Prosper's subsequent agreement, Pog and Ulla scrunch up their faces with hesitation. "Uhhh.... Well, if you can find her, keep her in one place and convince her to make something that she didn't come up with herself, then I'm sure the kings would be willing to allow Facktore to help Phandalin out."

They lead you up a set of stairs before turning north, arriving in front of a set of wooden double doors. Before knocking on the door, Pog turns to the group. "Also, I didn't want to panic the two out there but I thought it'd probably be best to let you know that two gnomes have gone missing recently." Ulla nods. "We suspect it has to do with the shapeshifter. It happened around the same time the king locked him and his husband in their room." Pog knocks on the door and calls out. "Your Majesty? We've brought a party of adventurers who are willing to help us with the shapeshifter problem." 

You hear sounds of rustling and frantic scrambling before a sudden slam, as if someone had run into the door follower by a voice that comes through the door. "SHHHH! Don't speak too loudly! It could be anywhere! Anyone! You can't let it know we're looking for it! It'll change its shape and then SNAP! YOU'RE DONE! YOU'RE GONE! YOU'RE EATEN!!!!"

Quietly, but loud enough to be heard through the door: “Kings, are you okay? Is the shapeshifter in there with you? We’re here to help...”.

"I have little to no training with the mentally unstable sad to say," Adas said. He seems a little on edge having gone deeper underground, probably attributed to his tendency to being outdoors.

After some thought he speaks to the arguing gnomes, "I would recommend the jacket. Ultimately it sounds more physical and as we have been notified, magic has been acting up in the area correct?"

Tahnis nods. "Yes, the jacket. That may be for the best."

Lia peaks out of Robwin’s hood, towards Adas. And, sharing his unease for being this far underground, calls over with a quiet “hoo-hoot”, and a slow blink, maybe hoping to remind him a bit of the sounds of the wild...

Vimak nods his head as he listens to Pog and Ulla. "Would we take her to the town to build it or try to move the thing once it was built here? Hmm. Yes, difficulties. Might not work." He rubs his chin as he follows them to the king's door. 

"You're sure the gnomes are missing because of the shapeshifter?" he says to Pog and Ulla on the way to the king's door.

He'll listen to Robwin while sizing up the door. "I could try and kick it in. That might panic our potential allies, however," he whispers. "How would we find a shapeshifter, anyway? Do they bleed? Maybe a little? We give everyone a quick nick on the elbow? A nick means you're not a shapeshifter." He looks around. Vimak suddenly jumps back toward the long hall hoping he has a view of all the party members. "Um. I sure hope no one has just been replaced."

Robwin whips around at the sound of Vimak jumping, “Vimak, where have you just jumped out from? Wait, have you been there this whole time? Or... is it?... prove it’s you!!!”...

Prosper snaps her fingers to get her companions' attention. "Hey! This is not the time to start panicking. and we're not going to achieve anything by jumping at shadows. We've all been within line of sight of each other, and I doubt anything can overpower any of us without attracting all of our attention. From now on we'll just have to rely on passphrases or the like, but first and foremost we'll stick close together." 

She approaches the door, putting a soothing tone into her voice. "Your Majesty, there's no need to worry." Prosper assures with a lot more confidence than she felt. "We're here to help and everything is under control. Why don't you come outside and tell us more about this shapeshifter?"

Whether the king answers or not, Prosper leans back, looking at Ulla and Pog. "You'd better tell us more about your shapeshifter." She says, in a quiet voice to keep the king from hearing it from the other side of the door. "When and where did those gnomes go missing?"

As Tahnis and Adas suggest the Straitjacket, Dabbledob jumps into the air. "BOO-YAH! I WAS RIGHT AND YOU WERE WRONG, FIBBLESTIB!" He rubs his hands together. "Time to get working!" Fibblestib looks incredibly annoyed and sighs. "Urgh. FINE! You win... your idea still sucks though!"

--------

The king slams the door again. "NO! Go out there and risk getting me and my husband eaten!? I DON'T THINK SO! Look just.... find the shapeshifter and kill it! The last time I saw it, the last time it tried to EAT ME, it was in the throne room. Disguised as the rug! I stepped right on it and almost DIED!"

Pog and Ulla shake their heads. "Sorry, we don't know anything more than you do... We're not sure if the shapeshifter is responsible for the two's disappearance but it's pretty likely."  "The two that went missing are Orryn and Warryn. Orryn was last seen in the kitchen and Warryn was last seen in the domiciles. We suspect that the creature is moving around and eating those that are alone. Both the missing gnomes were seen at night, alone, but then disappeared in the morning, so it probably hunts during the night."