Lost Lab of Kwalish

I was hired and placed in a group to retrieve a gemsmith and the eyes of Moloch. My party fell apart and I assume I am the only survivor. I met you all empty handed. I don’t know if there is a difference between the “stones” mentioned and the gems we retrieved. Barril messages back.

To clarify because we do use many terms for the same thing and vice versa, the gem-like components of the Ingernal Machine of Lum the Mad ate in fact parts of the controls of the planar craft Kwalisj found in the barrier peaks, a place extant in at least Oerth and Toril.

Moghaddam is aware of the power of these items and so is Thesselar.  Moghaddam has sent multiple parties to attempt to retrieve gems from his rival Thesselar.  The gemsmith Seodra was lost in such a raid.  The two rivals are actually fighting more over resources like labor, especially stonemasons, than most things.  Thesselar has more use for the components.  They are central to his life's work.  For Moghaddsm, they are things of value, but not really that important.  He wants the gems that come from the lake where the thesselkraken was, especially the eyes of the statue.  He's pretty indifferent about the priest.  I guess he's got some schadenfreude over his demise if he thinks it harms Thesselar.  It probably doesn't, but he might assume it does.

The eyes of the statue focus magical energy but are not actually parts of the infernal machine.  They're what the artificer was after.

Here's some text directly from the module:

(OOC: Ok, but iirc Huarache took the eyes of Moloch so we dont´t have them right? The only thing I know we have are the things Etrigan has in his portable hole and that is two buttons/gems/stones retrieved from the lab next to Thessalars study, and the treasures retrieved from the vault. So if I understand this correctly Moghaddam isn´t after the buttons Etrigan has but rather the eyes of Moloch that Hurarache has?)

last I remember, Etrigan was the one who stole the eyes, or he was with the ones who did.  I dont keep track of players' inentories.  i really dont know.  I mean.. theyre the thing.  if you dont have them, its not good.

(OOC: No, checked, Huarache took them in post #3218. It is a bit problematic with all the comings and goings in this game but perhaps Huarache decided to hand them over to Sam before striking out on his own. Otherwise I don´t know. Etrigan has no good reason to stay on really, other than he has nothing better to do than to cause some more mischief.)

yeah, i dunno, man.  I thought maybe you'd care that Tetrevess is a block of stone and the guy who can turn him back is right across from you and wants things you can provide - either now or later.  The actual patron you're trying to give the infernal machine parts to is Kwalish.  He's back on his demiplane.  Although, maybe it would interest Etrigan more to treat with Mary Graymalkin.  She thinks she knows how to get ahold of the Demonomicon of Iggwilv.  It's a very reasonable claim given that Iggwilv is her warlock patron as well as her grandmother.  A servant of a demon might feel some kind of way about it.

Mary and her vampire dwarf beau, Ctenmiir (from the classic module, White Plume Mountain) are currently in control of the planar craft, having wrested it from a bone devil who used it for centuries as a temple.  It still contains an active (though presently closed) portal to a layer of Baator.  They are the ones who sent the original crew to find Kwalish, given that the planar craft is about to fall into the valley over which it has hovered for centuries unless someone, perhaps Kwalish - who knows more about the craft than anyone - can stop it.

Anyhow, Moghaddam is the architect of the tomb, but of course your patron might be interested in the teifling wizard Acerrarack for whom the tomb is being constructed. He is gaining power on his way to becoming a demilich who will consume souls from across the multiverse, dominating an untold number of worlds at some point in the future. He is a worshipper of Vecna at the moment, a true believer and disciple thereof. 

<In the future, internal character conflicts like this would probably be better resolved in a DM, but I always respond to public posts publicly.  That's just my policy.>

So, you guys want to just give him the gems or what? He's kind of expecting them.  If you cough them up and want to go back to finish out the temple, bolstered by his aid, you could.  Otherwise, you could kick around the tomb of annihilation and see what's there, either with or without Moghaddam knowing about it.  If you read the spoiler earlier, you might have seen the option to facilitate a prisoner exchange.  This will be complicated at this point, given that the eyes have already been taken from the statue, as well as the infernal machine parts.  Still, you could try it.

Whatever the case, just tell him something. Truth. Lie, a bit of both.  Or just turn and leave.  Or punch him in the face.  Just do it in-game.

Sam is already in dialog with him, so it would make sense for him to continue, but anyone else could interject as well.

Ok, I think it is time for me to resign. Thanks for having me and good luck with the game.

Quote from Legion4 >>

“moghaddam, we have found at things yess” still badly damage from the encounters before hand “thesslar creations are still at large but the preist is dead” 

"Excellent work.  Here, let me take those from you.  I'm surprised you made it back so quickly. Did you find Seodra, then?  NO!  Well, at least we got the gems.  They should do quite nicely.  I will require talented hands to bring my vision to life, though.  Perhaps I could try bargaining with Thesselar to get her back. While I work out the details, you're more than welcome to stay here and take a rest.  You've certainly earned it."  At this point, Moghaddam addresses the elephant in the room, or rather the statue. "What happened here, then?" He frowns as he hears that the denizens of the Temple have turned your subcontractor to stone.

"Well, that simply won't do.  Fortunately, I've been working on something in this vain myself. "

Moghaddam withdraws a small vial of greenish liquid from his desk, opens it and applies it to the statue's mouth, which instantly soften, allowing the contents to be poured into the open mouth of the petrified Tetrevess.  "There you are.  I expect you might feel a bit stiff at first, but you should be right as rain in no time."  Gradually Tetrevess returns to his lucid flesh and blood state.

<OOC: I am really trying to find a reason for you guys to explore the tomb of horrors, but its a stretch.  If you said you were looking for the components of the machine, Moghaddam would know what you meant and acknowledge that they're here, possibly even bargain for them.  He doesn't really need them.  If anyone has another idea for why you might want to explore the tomb, I'd like to hear it.>

Tetrevess blinks his eyes and says “Beware… this can turn one to stone! “

then he looks around.  “Where am I? How did we escape that battle? I felt certain that was it! And who are you?   I’m Tetrevess Tomescribe, Wizard and arcane researcher.   I joined this I’ll-fated mission as I was curious about the Temple and it’s mysteries.   I don’t want to go back there until we are well-prepared!”

“Yes, Moghaddam. We were quite outmatched. I expect that am the lone survivor of the group you sent me with. I was forced to retreat empty handed and joined with this group to search for survivors, which I found none. Nor did we run across the gemsmith. This group did have more success, as you can tell by what was successfully retrieved but the guardians are nigh invincible. It was only by guile and trickery that we managed to escape, and now they will be looking for us. For us to return, we would need to be disguised or invisible. And then mighty weapons would be needed for us to fend off the guardians lest we perish without aiding your cause.” Barril entreats.

"I see.    Well, why don't you just wait here for a bit and rest up.  I can produce some alchemical adjuvant to to your adventuring enterprise.  Seeing as you've faired this well, so far.  Just head down the way and make yourselves at home.  See if you can get anything out of that thief Nolzur.  Maybe you can get some information out if him"

“thank you for your hospitality.  And if there’s anything you need help with here, let us know.  But first, we should rest.  We’ve been through a lot.”  tetrevess says

"Here." Moghaddam adds, handing Tetrevess a token similar to those already given to Sam and Barrill.  "Take this.  Wear it at all times.  Go and visit Phenex.  See if he needs any assistance.  He can point you to Nolzur. "

“Thank you.  Where is Phenex?”   Tetrevess puts the token on.

"Phenex is probably in the Chapel, as usual.  You can't miss him." he grins. "Two rights and a left" he holds up his hands, palms forward, turning the open right hand as he speaks, 4hwn opening the balled fist if his left to intoned the directions as he gives them.

As he ushers you out if his office sharp eyes might notice the stone table here is the first piece of stone cut for the tomb’s excavation. It holds a number of important documents of Moghadam’s creation, including the master map of the tomb. This map features a notation in Undercommon.

That us the whole map.  I won't think it's worth hiding bits of it.  You're in room 1.  The dwarf workers' camp is north of the map's edge.

I'll intro players as you walk through.  In theory this is your territory, so things shouldn't just jump out and attack you, so long as they can identify you as part if the project.  Which means you went through Moghaddam, so you have your little badges.

Sam looks at the rest of the party, then back to mog “we will need more remedies for that effect if we go back again” then pulls out some of the kraken meat he had harvested “is there anyway you can look at this and figure out if theses creatures are embedded with powerful magics” then looks at the rest of his group “I need to rest and recover I will see you soon” 

sam will go to the barracks to have a long rest