An End to Magic

Overview
Nestled in the heart of the commerce district of Sevan's Folly, Comsworth's Clockworks is a highly profitable timepiece and clockwork mechanism shop. Founded by Ryan Comsworth and his wife Emilia, their intricate designs drew the notice of the town's elite. Unfortunately for the Comsworth family, their house resided within the radius effected by the event known as the Hollow Night.

Ryan and the Comsworth's two children were lost that night, but Emilia remained behind, having stayed late at the shop working on a project. The loss struck her deeply, and in her grief she began to search for someone to blame. It was no big jump to blame the University, and magic users in general. Now, with the reopening of the Cognitus University she seeks to exact her revenge on the mages within, and ultimately to remove the existence of magic altogether.

Stage 1: First Contact
Utilizing the town's underground courier system, run by the criminal Eyering Syndicate, Emilia has a explosive device delivered to the offices of a professor at the school. The device is a non-descript wooden box, about the size of a breadbox, with 2 brass hinges on the back and a brass clasp on the front. Releasing the clasp or damaging the box's structure causes it to fall apart, a series of springs inside flinging the wooden walls across the room, along with 6 brass orbs. Upon coming to a rest, the orbs unfold 4 spider-like mechanical legs and flee to hide themselves in the building. They will detonate in 30 minutes (real time measured with an hourglass), each resulting in an explosion matching the effects of a lowest level Fireball spell. The devices can be defused with a tinkering check DC15.

Stage 1a: Initial Investigation
Having survive the first attack on the school, and with a clue in hand that the first device was made by a master craftsman, the party searches for possible suspects.

Undiscovered clues:
 * 1) The perpetrator is local, as the box couldn't be entrusted to a courier or third party left is spring early.

Only 4 people in town would know how to make such a device, which the party can find by asking around town.

Possible Suspects:
 * 1) Boulgrath Ironhide (Angelhead's Anvil, Roughneck Quarter)
 * 2) Emilia Comsworth (Comsworth's Clockworks, Commerce District)
 * 3) Tynsho Selra (The Iron Woman, Roughneck Quarter)

Stage 2: Repeat Performance
Again using the Eyering courier network, Emilia has an explosive device delivered to Cognitus University. This time however the device is significantly more complex, disarming it is extremely difficult if not impossible and it contains many trick mechanisms to foil would be people trying to disarm it. This device is also significantly more powerful, exploding per a Fireball cast with an 8th level spell slot.

Stage 3: A New Methodology
Seeing the possibility of being traced by the courier service, for one cannot truly trust such a criminal organization like the Eyering Syndicate, Emilia instead builds a crude automaton, disguising it in an oversized hooded burlap robe. This machine walks via its own power to the university, and explodes once someone touches the automaton. These devices are significantly less powerful than the previous ones, owing to lack of space in the automaton, and explodes with the force of a Fireball at default level.

Stage 4: Assault on the University
Seeing the success of her automaton delivery method, Emilia builds a small army of them, releasing them to explode around various locales of the university, hopefully destroying it once and for all. The swarm of robed automatons walk into the university from a variety of directions and slowly walk their way to the locations designated for their destruction.

Final Stage: Lair Found
Emilia's secret workshop in the sewers beneath the Comsworth's Clockworks shop. The route through the sewer is treacherous, Emilia having booby trapped the tunnels. Of note is that none of these traps are magical in nature in any way. The general layout is as follows.

Trap Room 1: This sewer corridor runs alongside a large canal of brackish water, a DC0+ perception check will reveal an ornate sword stuck into the bottom of the canal. The sword handle is coated in Sovereign Glue, and a DC20+ strength check is required to pull the sword from the canal bottom. The DC for this goes up by 2 for every failed attempt, and a character that is stuck to the sword is completely submerged in water, and is considered to be drowning.

Trap Room 2: A tiled floor sewer hallway with 2 trip wires that are detectable (DC 20 and 10 respectively), one after the other in the hallway. Tripping the first detonates two small explosive charges, anyone within 20 feet must pass a Dexterity Saving Throw (DC15) or take 2d10 fire damage. The second trip must be tripped or else the pressure plates which make up the remainder of the hallway will trigger, shooting poison darts into the hallway, each creature in the area take 1d4 piercing damage and must succeed on a DC15 constitution saving throw or take 2d10 poison damage.

Workshop: Here the bulk of Emilia's research and design took place. Looking around, the party notices the following things:

DC10+: Many gears and small brass mechanical parts and various tinkering tools, what appears to be a very small vial of black powder.

DC15+: A black velvet robe that fell behind a crate in the room, nearly empty bottle of Sovereign glue

DC20+: Folded up blueprints in the work desk that seem to be for a kind of mechanical man, a nearly empty bottle of Universal Solvent.

Trap Room 3: This small room, 20 foot square, features only two doors, the entrance and a single exit, which is sealed by a sturdy iron door. In the center of the room stands a statue wearing ornate bronze armor. A DC18+ investigation check will reveal a small capped iron tube in the ceiling. Upon someone entering the room and stepping on a pressure plate by the exit door, the entrance seals itself with a similar iron door, and 2 of the exploding spider bots drop through and scuttle to various places, easily found. The suit of ornate armor animates (a Helmed Horror) and begins to attack. The players then have 30 minutes to make good their escape. The iron doors can be pried open with a DC30+ strength check, or upon suffering 50HP of damage, AC 20. The spider bots detonate once a spinning gear inside of them stops turning, either from losing their stored energy in the drive spring or by outside means (freezing, etc). Removing the small blasting cap inside will disable the device.

Mannequin Storage: 

At this point the players come across a large room with scattered crates and packing material all about. At the far end is a large scaffold construction, encasing a freight elevator packed with 30 of the mannequins. Emilia is busy arming them all and preparing to unleash her final attack on the University. When she notices one of the players enter she finishes arming the final mannequin and dashes to get to the elevator controls.

Emilia has a trick up her sleeve however, her greatest invention: a camera known as the Captis Oculus with which she can nullify magic. She intends to build many more of these devices and release them into the world, making them so ubiquitous that magic will no longer be able to exist.

Bonus Round 1
Emilia has attached the casing for a spider bomb to a toung dog, and sent it chasing after a smaller tinker bot with a scrap of meat. Two people on watch (Ardeth and Widdershins) notice the dog. The spider bomb is ticking, though contains no gunpowder. Inside instead is a note from Emilia letting the Circle Guard know she is still waiting.