Journey to Emberwood Hollow

My group and I have heard of a rumor of treasure in a place called Emberwood Hollow. We were well on our way when we were attacked by a horde of zombies. I was the only survivor. These zombies were engulfed in some kind of green cloud. I wasn't about to find out what it was, so I fled. However, my initial group wasn't the only group searching the area. I stumbled upon another group that was trapped by another group of zombies. After we dispatched the horde, I agreed to join this new group as our goals aligned. Perhaps this is part of my destiny that I am seeking. What if I was supposed to be in this group all along?
We proceeded along the road through the forest when were were attacked by another horde that appeared to drop from the trees. Upon searching the remains, we discovered a glowing statue of a gnome. A little further down the road we found a wagon that had another glowing gnomish statue. There was a journal entry as well that was rather disturbing to me: the zombies we had just killed were a family travelling through the hollow. Don't get me wrong...I'm all about making a buck of the upper class, but that's a horrible way to go out.
We finally arrived in a clearing with four buildings: a tavern, a workshop, a foundry, and the town hall. We decided to investigate the town hall. It had an eerie glow to it, which was intriguing to the group. We found a banner that the rest of the party stated was a part of the quest they were on. A further search revealed a journal entry. The entry stated that the heart is the doom of the clockmaker. At first it was cryptic to me, but the group stated that it might be related to another quest item they are after: some kind of heart a gnome is wanting. I told them I'm just here for the loot. As long as I get my share, I don't care.
Before we had a chance to fully search the clockmaker's workshop, Fip told Erik to set fire to the place. Fip hates gnomes so much that he's willing to sacrifice the possiblity of loot to destroy any trace of their existence, and Erik just likes fire. We did a very quick search of the area, but didn't find anything of interest. After a few choice words, the group decided to check out the tavern. As expected, the only thing worthwhile was a few jugs of ale. I'm getting rather disappointed in the loot quality at this point. We ended up leaving the town and resting for the night.
When we work up, we were surrounded by that fog. Thankfully, we have an articifer that can cast a protective air bubble for us. We quickly continued towards the clockwork city. Along the path we discovered a skeleton wearing plate mail and holding a piece of paper. The paper was orders to retreat to the forge. As we continued towards the city, a large gap in the road prevented our crossing. Down in the gap we discovered several forge guardians. We decided to just fly over the gap rather than fight such a formidable foe.
Across the gap we noticed several buildings. A quick search of the area revealed some cheap items and a lot of coin. We finally found something that made this trip worthwhile...platinum! After loading my placing my shiny 10 platinum pieces in my pouch, we searched the auction house. All we found was a ledger that had nothing out of the ordinary written in it.
The library was next on our search list, although I didn't really see the point at the time. Books were never my thing. I was in for a big surprise! We found a desk with some arcane objects on it and a blueprint. Mason decided to put it together and the object came alive! It was emitting the same fog that was outside! Mason quickly threw it in his bag of holding and saved us from that problem. He stated that something was written in the corner of the blueprint that he couldn't make out. I examined it and noted that it was written in Gnomish. "These blueprints are what doomed us!" is the message that I relayed to the rest of the group. I kept the blueprints in case we needed them later.
The nearest building to us was the Grand Forge, so we proceeded in that direction. As we approached, a lightning cannon started firing at us! While that was enough of an annoyance in itself to take care of, further in was a forge guardian that was guarding something that looked like a gear on the pedastal behind it. I was informed that this was another item the group was looking for. After several attacks on the guardian, we found out the hard way that fire heals it...after we set the room on fire.
Upon dispatching the guardian, we investigated the pedestal. There was an inscription upon it that showed the location of what's called the heart of the mountain. Apparently, this is yet another piece of the quest the other members are after. I hope this quest is worth all of this trouble! The inscription also warns of the dangers of the mountain, but warnings haven't stopped us yet so why would this one be different? We were also fairly certain that the fog was coming from the mountain. Curiousity my be my doom here, but I had to find out for certain. Besides, there are bound to be riches in a mountain.
The mountain had a lift, so we decided to use it rather than attempt to climb the mountain. However, as soon as we stepped in the lift a cable broke and crashed to the bottom of the mountain...alerting a horde of zombies to our location. Strangely, though, a magical pulse killed them all before we had the opportunity to attack.
When we approached the front door, I had a bad feeling about traps so I decided to check. Sure enough, it was trapped. Rather than going through or attempting to disarm the trap, Skree made her own door that we all stepped through. On the other side of the door was a gear maze. Great! Gnomes are known for trapping their riches, so this is going to be rough.
Ahead of us was the first console. Approaching it we were able to read an inscription: "The heart powers all...without it none escape." Omnious indeed. After many mishaps with the consoles, we finally ascend a set of stairs to a glowing pedestal. The heart is sitting upon the pedestal. It's now very obvious that this is where the fog is coming from. As we grabbed the heart, the entire building started to collapse around us. While Mason was able to teleport us out, he ended up making himself ethereal. Luckily it was only temporary.
After much discussion, we decided to talk to Kip's mother before we turned over the items. Personally, I was dead set against turning the items over. If it is one thing I've learned over the course of my life, it's that power corrupts. This kind of power is no good in anyone's hands and should be destroyed. I reluctantly yielded to the group's decision, however.
Kip's mother convinced us to give the items to the quest giver in front of the whole council. That way there is some accountability. As we started off towards the quest giver, we encountered a fairy in an alleyway who had just had its wings clipped. We patched her up, but we need to find out who is doing this as the group told me this is not the first occurance.
When we talked to the council about what we had discovered about the artifacts, they blamed it upon a rouge gnome that was corrupted. However, we had a letter stating that it was the intention of the gnomish council in an attempt to acheive immortality. In the end, we hesitantly gave the items to the council head. His words still concern me though. He stated, "I have no nefarious plans for them." He never answered my questions when I asked if anyone else had plans. After collecting my 500gp, I retired to my bastion.