The murderhoboes

Garreth, half-orc swordsman
Bleu, droning elf wizard
Zaber, suave and debonaire man
Logan, wolverine
Polly, cute and deadly elf archer

(Stonemaul, dwarven cleric of Danethar)

What they did

We go back to the room with the chalkboard and put the gem in the first notch. We see what looks like angry claw scratches on the chalkboard once we do. Bleu tells us that it's in Draconic, and it reads, "Hi! I am Shale, I like potions! I have been asleep a long time. Do you guys like potions?" I burp, and tell Bleu to say that we do, especially the alcohol used in preserving potions. Shale writes back that it likes clear grain alcohol.

Shale keeps writing enthusiastically about potions. As well as not only knowing about potions and wanting to learn even more, we find that Shale can't brew potions "due to a lack of potion-brewing appendages," and that Pelltiar took away its activation crystal, but we found it, and Fluffy kept washing it whenever it tried to talk to her. The notches trigger the tongue: first notch is Draconic, second is Elvish, and third is Abyssal. We switch to the Elven notch so Polly and I can follow along without Bleu translating for us.

With the insight of having a chalkboard that just loves potions, I look for a hidden cabinet again, and find one with eight potions inside. We ask Shale what these potions are, and Shale instead walks me through the steps of identifying them. I do, and find that we have three poisons, and one each of Greater Magic Weapon 5, Water Walk, Missile Shield, Tongues, and Great Rage 10.

Then we find out Shale's problem: it can't drink potions, or anything else, not even inebriation potions. I start weeping in sympathy, then drink some scotch. As Shale's chalkboard is on wheels, it lets us know we can move it, and we let Shale know that Pelltiar is dead. It shows its enthusiasm at us taking it away, as we can actually brew the potions. Shale also says that it doesn't like the drow, which used to have it until Pelltiar took it away, and we let it know that we didn't like the drow either, and it won't hear from the drow anymore.

We have Bleu do one last check for magic items and, finding none, we pack up the alchemy lab. Pelltiar can't use it anymore.