Topic: Session Summaries
The figure rapidly and somewhat clumsily approaching the party turns out to be Jade, who amid a flurry of words and scrolls, delivers a letter from Marcellus. Upon Axel's suggestion, she reads the letter aloud. (The letter is reprinted below in another entry.)
The party discusses the story and what it might reveal--clearly, according to the "dream" had by Marcellus and Golda, there is an "evil room" beneath Merrywell, possibly accessible via the tower. They discuss how they might proceed; Axel suggests it might be a good idea to consult with the elves in Greengate about the entrance to the tunnels, although Patrick expresses deep reservations--the entrance is likely sealed and, if not, heavily guarded, with the elves unlikely to be convinced by a ragtag band of adventurers to explore or even inquire about the tunnels to see if they can unlock a room sealing a great evil within.
Axel volunteers to look for any information in the manor's library, as there is "something" he wants to look for there anyway, and the rest of the party decides to go down to the war tunnels to see if they can find any entrances there to any further tunnels.
Jour, Patrick, and Riley's investigations show little, however--with thorough searching, they can find no secret doors or passages, save the 150-200 mile long passage which leads distinctly away from the manor and their intended destination. Jour urges they try a different route, as trying to explore the lengthy passage will probably be a waste of time and resources.
The party reconvenes, deciding they'd best discover the truth of "the room" now and that that likely means taking on the wizard's tower complex. The only obvious entrance is the front gate. High in the middle of the tall gate is a ring-socket like that which opens the vault, and after about 15 minutes of theatrical acrobatics on the part of Patrick and Axel, Axel manages to insert the ring--but the door only slides open a few inches. A distinct rumbling grinds to a halt and it seems unable to open further.
Behind the door lies a creature of metal, ironwood, and stone, finely crafted, like a suit of armor come to life. "Intruders" it shouts from its mouthless face.
The party attempts to deliver long range attacks through the crack in the door, but all this manages to do is cause someone or something to toss large javelins and alchemist's fire at them from a nearby archer's window. The little damage done to the creature by Axel's thrown Acid Flask seems to heal back within a few seconds.
Jour tries to pull the door open with the aid of Brightmane, while Patrick attempts to grapple the top of the tower to climb it. Jour is slightly more successful, eventually getting the door open nearly to a foot (while Riley's summoned mephit occupies the Guardian). Patrick is less successful, getting his grappling hook melted by a fireball that activated as soon as the hook touched the top of the parapet.
Patrick and Axel go out to search for an appropriate tree to create a battering ram, and Jour and Riley later join them to help them bring the ram back. The guardian has deactivated upon their leaving, but immediately reactivates when they start bashing the door in. They manage to buckle the door enough to allow a few people in and even damage the guardian with the ram before it becomes useless. The party then engages the guardian in brutal melee. The portcullis area is small and allows for little movement--the Guardian swings at and does serious damage to Patrick and Jour especially, but fate and skill delivers victory to the party, with the final crushing blow delivered by Patrick's Golden Hammer. Upon falling apart, the construct barks, "Shield Guardian 7 has failed."
With the fog of battle cleared, the party sees there are the bones of many goblins and other creatures on the ground, as well as smashed parts of other shield guardians. It's hard to tell how many were destroyed.
Riley eagerly pries the gem out of the chest of the guardian, which had delivered to them a nasty sonic blast during the earlier part of the fight. Though no magic seems to remain in the gem, it is the largest sapphire the party has ever seen, and Axel guesses it's probably worth at least 3 times more than the usual sapphire (3,000 - 4,000 GP, depending on the market).
Somewhat secure between the tower gates (a portcullis and a smaller sallyport still bar their continued entrance to the tower, but these seem less impenetrable than the front door), the party opts to rest and recover from their fight before continuing on.