Planar residue as a material component?  He’d heard a little about planar keys and focus items to tap into using planar magic.  Long-term accretion of planar material sounded unhealthy, though.  He wondered if any of the professors had had any trouble or side-effects from it.  Rediscovering lost planes also sounded quite intriguing, and dangerous.  There were quite enough dangerous and malicious planes that were well-known; who knew what other even more inscrutable or hostile planes there were?  Still, if there were benevolent, or at least benign universes to discover, that could be equally beneficial to discover.  And it seemed House Cannith was on the cutting edge of this planar technology, something Kleris had been starting to research himself…<br/><br/>It seemed tours were common enough to warrant a gift shop, and Kleris ended up picking up a plush gorgon himself, squishing its soft “metallic” hide with a grin.  “Hold, don’t bite, gentle…” he commanded Ari, placing the plush into the iron defender’s jaws, trusting it to gingerly hold the toy without shredding it.  And fortunately Ari had no drool or dog-breath to otherwise turn it into a wet mushy blob.  Fortunately, with their special invitation extended to Redhurst, the tour didn’t have to end there.  Now they would get to see the<em>real</em>secret research and development, not just the workers producing consumer products.  Going to the very bottom secret sub-sub basement was exciting, though the feeling and idea of descending the tower, possibly down into the Cogs and underground was unnerving.  He gripped Elmira’s hand, happy to comfort each other as the weight of it all loomed above.<br/><br/>Down on the manufacturing “floor” was a kaleidoscope of forges and magical effects.  Conjuration, telekinesis, fabrication, all working together seamlessly to create and fashion advanced magical technology.  It was all a lot to take in, and Kleris was similarly distracted by it all, though Merrix’s proclamation about planar energy—something the gnome had just let slip a few minutes before—caught his attention again.  While it was a great privilege to be in the heart of House Cannith’s factory, were the students being treated as guests, or exploited as resources, like silkworms and cows?  Looking at the bronze table, he couldn’t instantly fathom what it might do just from touching it—though with magic, it didn’t have to take any more than that.  It was just too awkward to directly confront Merrix about any unease he felt, and he didn’t have the benefit of a ventriloquism loudspeaker, so he instead looked askance to the gnome tour guide that had brought them here.  “Um, sir, exactly what have we been brought here to do?  I thought this would be a tour, or maybe doing some minor manufacturing project as a learning experience—”<br/><br/>At this point Merrix interrupted again, although promising no harm was the opposite of comforting at this point.  With golems all around, Kleris began to think that House Cannith didn’t have a lot of respect for teacher-student relationships, which was only confirmed when the telekinetic force building golems seized himself now.  Despite the protests of the students now, and even the intervention of Ari, Kleris’ hand was pushed to the bronze table.  Lightning connected him, even as the psychic voice of Horishkad roared unintelligibly at his mind.  Yelling and crying around him were drowned out as his tunnel vision focused on the golden light suffusing everything.  Luckily, Hroshkad was able to take the initiative to pull him to safety, and Filomena’s apparent suspicion saved them all from diving into the precariously placed arcane pool.  When Kleris found his bearings again, they were almost tipping into the pool below as a big metal dragon flew up from it.  It looked like all the workers were focused on trying to stop it, however, and Kleris just thought about getting the class out and slowing down the constructed monster.  “Ari, defend!  Girls, run!”<br/><br/>[Gorgon plush, -5 sp<br/>Knowledge (planes) 2+17=19, fail DC 25<br/>Initiative 9+6=15<br/>If dragonforged is currently standing on something, cast<em>spiked pit</em>under it and Ari readies to bite if it approaches.  If it is flying/hovering, cast<em>mage armor</em>on himself, and in either case move toward the elevator if possible.<br/><em>Spiked pit</em>, 10x10 ft hole, 30 ft deep, 8 rounds, Reflex DC 20 (fail): 3d6 fall damage +2d6 piercing = 15 damage.<br/>Ari bite 15+9=24, miss.<br/><br/>Ari AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 15, CMD 18, hp 37, construct traits