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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 4822554" data-attributes="member: 99">The PC's scrambled out of their bedrolls as Astavian took a guard position between them and the bugbears.  The Human Wizard raised his staff and a bolt of lightning shot toward the Paladin.  As it struck him he realized that it was not merely a bolt but in fact a serpent.  It coiled around him and continued to deliver jolts of electricity through his armor.Eshik leapt to defend against the Guardian, now unwillingly bent on their destruction.  Mialain and Zanne scrambled back from the stone beast trying to aid both Astavian and Eshik.  The Bugbears charged in amongst them and added to their troubles and things were looking bleak.The Guardian was dealing bone-crushing bites to Eshik and they all knew that he wouldn't last long.  Astavian knocked aside one of the Bugbears and ran right at the Human Wizard.  The Wizard disengaged, giving ground as he retreated further back the hallway leading into the Hearth.  The Elven Wizard and the Bugbears continued to be the hammer against the anvil that was the Guardian.But Zanne was dealing brutal damage to multiple Bugbears at once with her spells and Mialain was keeping them all on their feet for a few moments.  Eshik, seeing that he stood little chance against the Guardain began focusing his attacks on the Bugbears.  One by one they began to fall.  As they did so the PC's noted the bulky sacks they were carrying which hit the stone floor with an audible "thud!".  The Elven Wizard began to slowly retreat up the stairs to the Promenade, continuing to rain lightning bolts down among the PC's.Then Eshik fell to a blow from behind by the Guardian.  Zanne finished the last of the Bugbears and turned to see Mialain use some of her Healing magic on Eshik only an instant before the Guardian knocked her to the ground as well.  Zanne fired a parting shot at the Elven Wizard who suddenly teleported away and then the stone behemoth struck her down as well.Back inside the corridor the Wizard continued to retreat against the relentless assault of Astavian.  They finally emerged on a balcony above the Hearth proper:  A huge, conical room with a bubbling pit of lava at the base where the various implements for working metal were kept.  The Paladin dealt him a tremendous blow with his greatsword that left the mage barely standing.  He gave ground and unleashed another feeble spell but the Paladin of Ryukaar would not be denied his vengeance.  The final blow fell.Astavian quickly stooped to grab the stone scepter that controlled the guardian and dashed back to help his friends.  But he was met in the hallway by the bounding form of the Guardian, coming to destroy him as well."STOP!" commanded Astavian.And so the Guardian did.They stood looking at one another for an instant before Astavian heard Eshik's cry, "HELP!"  The Paladin raced back out of the tunnel to find Eshik frantically trying to give medical aid to the fallen women.  A few tense moments passed before they could be stabilized and both clinged to life by the most narrow of margins.Astavian gripped the lion-head scepter and spoke to the Guardian once more.  "Guard us as we rest," he commanded.  The Guardian replied, "I shall."Several hours later they were battered and bruised but in good enough shape to examine what the Bugbears carried in their sacks and also to peer inside the Hearth to see what wonders it might hold.  The sacks held some stone tablets written in dwarven runes as well as a brilliant silver bust of a dwarf.  Zanne performed a quick ritual to comprehend that language and was able to make some sense of things.The stone tablets were magically charged writings holding pre-cataclysm spells.  She couldn't begin to guess how they were written but felt that she might be able to tap into their magic if need be.Then she examined the bust and read the inscription around the base.  It said, "For Galron Silverbeard:  Your craftsmanship will not be forgotten."  As she read the inscription aloud the statue began to speak.  She listened intently as it carefully explained the precise steps required to perform increasingly complex enchantments to magical weapons and armor.  And...the secret of working adamantite...*******So the fight with the Wizards/Bugbears/Guardian was pretty nasty.  But the players handled it just as they should have.  They worked on the weaker targets (the Bugbears) while somebody went right after that Wizard and his scepter that had turned the Guardian against them.  Once the PC's starting falling it got ugly in a hurry though.  Mialain was ONE death save away when Astavian got to her with his Lay on Hands.  Zanne had only failed one by the time the newly awakened Mialain could use her Heal skill to stabilize her (Zanne had ZERO healing surges left).They were all angry that the Elf had escaped during the fight and they actually sent the Guardian after him but the stone lion tracked him to a door that he probably teleported through and could follow no further.And then came the part where they found the secret of adamantite...and I totally botched this.So basically I announced it to the group and then started the debate.  Astavian and Eshik felt that they should destroy the bust (presumably by throwing it in the lava) because they worried that a dragonslaying weapon (which appears to be a property of all adamantite in my world) might be somehow turned into a dragonBORNslaying weapoin.  Further, Eshik felt that any weapon designed specifically to slay the majestic dragons was a bad thing.Zanne on the other hand felt that there was a lot that could be learned from the bust, which clearly contained several rituals for enchanting various magic items.  She also felt it should be returned to the dwarves, who had shown no interest in fighting either dragons or dragonborn, since it was the main thing they had come down here for.  (Mialain wasn't in on the initial debate because she had to miss this session but she would eventually side with Zanne for similar reasons)Now normally this is something I'd chalk up to just a friendly debate between players.  But the problem was that I knew this conflict was brewing for a long time.  The dragonborn players had pretty well broadcast the fact that they weren't so sure they wanted anybody having that technology in their hands.  And Zanne had already picked up on that and was worried that they might try and stop it from getting back to the dwarves.Where I screwed things up was the fact that a few weeks earlier Zanne's player had sent me a private note containing several bits of info, including the fact that she wanted to be wary of any chance that the dragonborn might take to destroy or hide the secret of adamantite.  And then, when she was the only person in the party who could understand what the bust was saying (since it spoke in dwarven) I unthinkingly blurted out to the whole group what was contained therein.Anyway, over the course of the next week there was much e-mail traffic and discussion about how they should handle this and who cared more about what and who would back down.  But in the end it was decided that, since Zanne should have kept that bit of information to herself, we would retcon things back to how they would have unfolded if she hadn't shared with the dragonborn the fact that the bust held the secret of working adamantite.Lesson learned:  Pay attention to the information your players send you and read over it again once in a while so you don't forget stuff!</blockquote>

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