Echo Wood: Thornkeep L2 and Emerald Spire L4

A quick recap of what happened from the last time:

• After killing off some goblin assassins using the stab-parley-stab tactic, they were about to go try to find the bottle-headed goblin Mart and Beth had seen earlier.
• They were distracted by someone loudly and dramatically complaining that they were unable to work under these constant interruptions, so they went looking for that guy to murder.
• That guy turned out to be a flying alchemist Krenar Half-Face who looked set to bomb them into glassy shards before they skillfully apologised and then asked how they could make amends for their obvious and appalling intrusion. Something I think of as the stab-parley-oh god please parley tactic.
• Krenar had something he wanted them to do: achieve access to the 5th level of the Emerald Spire, something he’d been unable to do. This would mean deactivating an ancient… thing, called the Godbox. He had a vague notion that it was guarded by some primitive tribe, but that was the price of him not turning them into chunky salsa where they stood.
• Oh yes, Krenar, thank you Krenar, we’ll get right on that Krenar. They left and really it was the sensible thing to do. That they didn’t just rush back and murder him as soon as they’d rested is amazing.
• They proceeded to the Emerald Spire, rested up with the bandit guild and then descended the cloyingly smelly staircase to the next level.
• 
• Here they encountered friendly Slaagh, a troglodyte doorman who represented the tribe on this level. They were the worshippers and caretakers of Skraa-orm Thagh, the God in The Box. This Godbox required an offering before it would allows any to pass through the level. Slaagh led them to where they could make an offering.
• The level smelled awful because Troglodytes stink. It was well lit though, by some sort of magnetic force applied to certain metal rods attached to the wall. The doors in the level were odd. Sort of coppery-bronzey but not quite, cut or cast with a level of sophistication far beyond the walls and floor of the levels. They had no hinges, but just sort of worked.
• The room of the Godbox was dominated by a six-sided metal column, very large and covered in metal objects. It was flanked by two tall statues of praying troglodytes. From the doorway the adventurers could feel the magnetic force pulling ferrous metals towards the Godbox. Slaagh encouraged them to make an offering to add to the collection of metal objects. They mostly did so, tossing shortswords and the like up there. However anything too small (steel arrowheads, for example) didn’t make the cut.
• Eventually everyone had made an offering and Slaagh informed them that they had received the Godbox’s blessing and that they’d be free to move on through the level, he turned to lead them on when Mart drove his sword into the ground, by way of Slaagh’s head. Slaagh briefly begged with them before being cut down by the rest of the party. The party drove through into the next room and quickly murdered two more troglodytes who were painting some pretty threatening things on the walls.
• The alarm was raised at that point and while killing troglodytes seemed to be no big problem for the party, the previously immobile objects were a different matter. Doors snapped shut, flinging Bam back into the Godbox room, where he was beaten to a pulp by the suddenly animate Troglodyte statues. At this development, the party beat a hasty and direct retreat.
• They returned, and faced a defensive trog tribe, who they never the less quickly overcame. The statues were still a problem and the doors were treacherous, but they persevered and eventually the level was theirs, the tribe’s leader and shaman cut down along with the statues.
• They ended by searching the level and pondering over what they know about the Godbox.
• The Godbox is a six-sided column with six slots at the vertex of each angle. The column is about 20′ high and the slots start about 6″ off the base, so they don’t extend the height of the Godbox. These slots have a retractable metal cover that when pushed back reveal a pale green glow. The slots are 6’x1″ and are about 4′ deep. Bam cast Darkness inside and could see through the glow, but all he saw was flat metal sides to the slot.
• The troglodytes appear to have minimal contact without side and two magic cauldrons appear to create food (stinking slimy spoiled ham-like substance) and water (murky but potable) in two separate rooms.

What they find in the level, assuming they take enough time to identify everything:

On the Godbox: a Masterwork Cold Iron Dagger, +1 Greatsword, +1 Chainmail, +1 Heavy Steel Shield, +1 Light Shield, Thieves Kit, Brooch of Shielding, a bunch of other mundane metal weaponry and armour, all the items ‘offered’ by the party as well as few weapons that people dropped during combat.

On the Troglodytes, either on their persons or tucked away in the shabby nests they made, therefore up for grabs: A Handy Haversack, 50gp worth of Garnets, a potion of CMW, boots of elvenkind, various clubs and javelins.

The rest of the level is Troglodyte living quarters and there are no visible exits from the level. One room has not been explored, and that’s an otherwise featureless room that contains another Trog statue.