Swamped

"I don't have a particular need to use magic yet," you reply. "If your chemist is telling the truth, I've got no real quarrel with you. Got bigger problems than moonshine."

"Then why exactly are you here?" he asks, clearly suspicious.

"Because I've run into this toxin today and I can't help but wonder if your little operation is connected to it. Maybe you can clarify that for me. For instance, I thought I heard you say something about 'releasing' it. Which sounds like you might have plans involving the toxin's effect."

"Damn!" he suddenly shouts. "We can't risk losing everything at this stage!"

He fires suddenly. You have just enough time to duck, but you also drop the chemist. He runs off and throws a stool onto your leg.

Meanwhile, the man rushes directly for... the terror? And starts pulling the various instruments out?

"We don't have enough distilled yet!" the chemist shouts.

"There's no time! Nual's becoming more aware of this thing! Our only chance is to get it back in the water!"

The stool is just heavy enough that you have to work to move it aside. By the time you free your leg, they've shut the door. They even left the cauldron behind.

The terror is gone. You have more than a few questions, but you think they'll have to wait until you can catch up with those two. So you rush out to follow...

And find a muckbeast. The human scrambles over it and the grebling scrambles under it, but its attention seems fixated on you rather than either of them. And you don't think you have the agility to do what they did, so you'll need to get past it some other way.