Lost Lab of Kwalish

If you want to make your way to the north end of the hall and into that secret room with the statue, you can do that and grab a short rest now.

12 dex save 

tetrevess takes the full damage as well.  He leads the retreat back to the hidden room for a rest. 

37 hp regained from spending 6 HD during the short rest.

Ana followed to the safe room where she finished binding her wounds and had a snack.

As you find refuge in the secret room where the craftsman toil away at their golem, Pentival paces, mumbling to himself, or perhaps to his God.  After a full hour if this tense activity in the confined space, he stops paying and falls silent.  He turns ro address the group and implores, "Good people.  You have seen what vile acts this cult has perpetrated.  You know rhe power they possess, and you may suspect as I do, that the hidden figures behind this tomb of horrors are vastly more powerful than the likes we have seen thus far.  With each passing moment as they siphon the energy from that fiend, they grow stronger.  We have disrupted their plans.  This is the decisive moment.  We cannot allow the demon to live.  If we strike now, we can defeat the evil powers of Vecna and thwart the ambitions of those who purport to serve his wickedness.  Should we falter, not only will the sacrifice of my brethren be for naught, but the fate of untold worlds may be sealed by out inaction.  What say you heroes? Will the ages sing of our glory this day, or will the sages mourn our folly?"

Gravity has been attempting to tinker with the mechanical guide for a while using the Smith's Tool for prying open the attached parts to examine the function of the construct while trying to find out if anything's wrong with the machine.

Intelligence: Investigation(Smith's Tool): 25 (Rolled with advantage from skill and tool proficiency)

When Pentival decides to deliver an inspiring speech regarding his moral position, she will pause momentarily to take in the information while resting her arms on the surface of the machine.

"I don't know much about the power politics involving several powerful entities....I've never paid attention to these...uh...issues. What do you suggest?"

At Gravity's imminent touch, Logan speaks up: "Cryptic. Gravity. What are you doing with that implement?  I am programmed to resist unauthorized modifications, which are prohibited by the End User License Agreement."

<This is really open ended. The paladins pretty much good and the balor is pretty much evil, but this isn't a puzzle it's a prompt.  Things will play out however they play out. As a reminder, though you are all here in theory to get the blue stones that are part of the altar alongside Tarnhem's weapons.  That's my guidance.>

Gravity will start a long discussion regarding the significance of unauthorized access to pre-generated mechanism, the absurdity of patent issue and how the agreement can discourage the creative actions of users.

"I wanted to see if you could be transformed into a battle smith defender. Besides, you've been malfunctioning."

Last thing Ana wanted was to tangle with a demon lord. Even the - presumably lesser - demon they've just defeated gave them enough trouble and she really didn't think the balor would be any easier. Yes she had the Queen's magic back but the others were as drained as before... They were here for the blue stones so she wanted to be about that. If he wanted to go and get himself killed, that was his business. And she remembered his blades slicing into her not an hour ago...

But maybe he knew something about the stones they didn't. She decided to try to trick him. "To go after that monster, we'd need all the help we could get. Those blue things, on the altar back there, they seemed powerful. Do you know what they are? Maybe if we got them we could use their magic against it."

"Cryptic. Gravity. Kwalish has temporarily reduced the sensitivity of my self defense capabilities.  Based in the duration if our contact, the probability of your intended contact being a threat were assessed as low.  If the threat threshold is overcome, my defenses are fully enabled." Logan clarifies to Gravity.

Pentival states at the construct warily.  Though disguised at the moment, perhaps something of its nature lingers in a way he can sense.  When first met, the guide revealed a silver skeleton with ornate metal wings.

<This thing sticks out too much for NPCs to ignore, so I threw disguise self on it.>

The half dragon turns to Ana, stating, "I felt my soul's energy leaving me when that fiend was chanting his ceremony and that power was surely being siphoned into that Shrine.  Thise blue gems 💎 must be some sort of focus for the power being stolen from those imprisoned in this tomb.  Perhaps it would be wise to take the stones first, but know my resolve does not waiver.  Once this is done, I will send that balor back to the abyss."

(So are we going going back to the chapel, then?)

(I think getting the stones is the best next move.  Does anyone have thieves tools or proficiency? I think we need that to get them…)

Ana is proficient with thieves tools.

Gravity insists on executing the idea of visiting the chamber where she can get access to a large amount of jewelry in the form of metallic panels. She will stop arguing about the imminent death of the Balor in the hands of the righteous Paladin, and propose:

"Don't destroy his body at least for an hour since I have to harvest rare sample of alchemical components from Tarnhem."

Collected Essence:

(Not carefully observing carrying capacity, just noting how heavy those panels are, they're kind of massive, like non-negligible. You can retroactively fill in something you may wish to do there or check back later.  Just let me know what you want ro do.)

You follow the tunnel back to the chapel with the gaping hole.in the roof.  The alter stands above the rubble strewn floor, it's bright blue gems gleamingmimg beside the demonic weapons also worked into the altar.  The room is filled with dozens of bodies.  Some dead. Others breathing, but exhausted after  untold hours of chanting in the dark ritual.

Gravity eyeballs the wreckage and calculates the estimated cost of reparation. She keeps juggling with a pair of dark blue gemstones while moving towards the altar, then halts abruptly as if she's going to reconsider the result of her action, and attempts to recall something else about the glowing orbs.

"Gorgeous Ana, watch my back and don't let anyone step on my toes...especially someone who might resemble the handsome priest with strange metabolic system."

Intelligence: Arcana 16

Tetrevess short rest 16.  HP recovered, and 1 4th level and 1st level slot.

tetrevess looks with pity on the wounded people, but there’s no time to deal with them yet.   

He examines the altar, and says “perhaps I can get those stones another way”   He casts stone shapeon the altar to try to move the altar’s stone away from the magic stones and the weapons stuck to it, reshaping the altar into a table decorated with holy symbols of various good gods.

Gravity recalls rhe legendary history if Lum the Mad, whose infernal machine empowered him to seize large swathes of land, crushing all opposition for more than half a century, the ramifications of this conquest are still felt throughout Oerth.

Tetrevess causes a recessed area to appear in the surface of the altar in a space surrounding the stones.  They now sit exposed in pronged holders attached by silver wires.  It looks like they could be disconnected by unscrewing them as one would with a threaded base light bulb.  <no skill required>

Gravity will use a chisel and a hammer from the 'Superior Mason's Toolkit' to sever the attached silverwires and remove the components from the altar.

Dexterity (Superior Mason's Tool): (26, 12)

Gravity removes the stones from the altar.  

"There." Says Pentival, "now we have removed the focus of their dark arts.  Time to attend to the Demon."

Tetrevess 16 perception 

Tetrevess notices something unusual another the wall in the southeast corner of the chapel.  It's a secret door!  He touches it and fi ds it moves freely, swinging inward to reveal a small landing, the top of a flight of stairs leading down to the south.