Bronze Guard

"Bronze Guard"  is the 12th episode of the Dungeons and Dragons adventure,  Sword of the Godslayer. It follows episode 10,  "The Island"

Synopsis
After surviving the various traps of the island, the adventurers finally arrive at the gates of the temple and face off with a dragon.

Temple Guardian
The party reached the entrance to the temple, but as they were about to enter, the dwarf survivor who accompanied them throughout stood in front of them and transformed into a bronze dragon. The group backed away together, trying to avoid conflict. When the dragon asked what they really wanted, they told the truth: to retrieve the Sword of the Godslayer.

Knowing that bronze dragons were good by nature, Lira insisted that they reason with it. She told it that they only wanted to borrow the sword to prevent a war, citing the danger to the City of Zephyrus. Azula also said that they would respect the temple and the other artifacts it contained. The guardian continued to refuse however and said that it could sense evil among them. Azula remembered the baron's scroll and showed it to the dragon.

They insisted that they were not associated to the scroll's evil and asked the dragon if it could break through its protective barrier. The guardian consented and disintegrated the scroll with a burst of storm magic. The dragon then agreed to allow them into the temple, but warned them not to take anything except the Godslayer. The group thanked it and crossed the bridge, checking carefully for traps along the way.

Finding The Entrance
At the smaller isle, they investigated the large stone door of the temple. Lira checked the seam and realized that there was no actual gap, as if the door was carved into solid stone. The group then split up to check the walls on either side. Nicolas cut away some vines hanging from the wall. Behind them, Marley discovered a single stone that, unlike the others next to it, was blank of any carvings. Lira struggled to push against the stone and eventually moved it aside to reveal a dark tunnel.

The group entered the temple in single file and realized that they were in a labyrinth. Not wanting to get lost inside, Marley anchored a spare sword into the dirt outside and tied a rope to its handle. They explored further and trailed the rope behind them, with Lira donating her own when they reached its end, but the group eventually decided to draw a map of the complex tunnels instead.

Watch for Traps
The adventurers ran into several traps as they progressed deeper, with Minos narrowly avoiding a falling boulder and Lira being rescued from a freezing flame by Marley. After several hours of walking, they finally found a small door. The group carefully crowded behind Nicolas, who held his shield ready. Since he had no darkvision, the paladin pushed both a torch and his shield into the room first.

Inside the room, a bull seemingly made of iron lifted its head as they entered. They also noticed two other iron bulls sleeping in the center of the room. The bull started charging towards them as they struggle to pass through the narrow doorway. Using her Blink Dagger, Lira teleported behind the monster to attack it.

Worried that they would wake the others, the group used only spells and projectiles to avoid the gong-like sound of hitting the iron plating which consisted most of the iron bull's body. They successfully killed the sentinel without disturbing the other two and found a map of the labyrinth on its corpse.

The Hollow Chamber
Following the map, the group eventually arrived at the chamber in the center of the temple where the sword is supposed to be hidden. It is filled with shallow water, and is open to the the cloud-covered sky above. A stone chest about seven feet long rose from the center of the water. Azula stepped into the cold water and discovered that the bottom of the pool was covered in gold coins. Lira and the others hurried to restrain Marley, worried that taking the coins would trigger another trap. The dwarf studied the large chest, but could not open the heavy lid. Lira attempted to come over and help, but was injured by the arcane spell in the water. Instead, Nicolas transformed Auren into a giant eagle so he could lift the lid.

As he did, Azula immediately realized that the chest was a sarcophagus, containing a skeleton whose hands were clasped around a sword. She climbed up and verified that the skeleton was enchanted, though taking the sword would not set it off. The group considered leaving the replica sword in its place, but Lira protested that, even if it was not magical, abandoning the sword from the stone would be a waste. Azula thus picked up the sword and Auren replaced the lid.

Dragon Fight
As they ready to leave, they heard echoing roars over the temple. The adventurers looked up over the non-existing ceiling to see the bronze dragon fighting against another dragon covered with black dragon reptilian scales. Moments later, the two came crashing through the opening, bringing down a chunk of dust and heavy rocks with them.

Through the rubble, the group saw the bronze dragon change into an elven form as it fell unconscious. They grabbed the guardian so they could flee the temple, knowing that the black dragon would be right behind them.

Godslayer Expedition

 * Auren
 * Azula
 * Lira
 * Marley
 * Minos
 * Nong-Poi
 * Nicolas

Island-Temple

 * Kaleth (unnamed)
 * Nighith (unnamed)

Next Episode
"Bronze Guard "  is the second episode of the third chapter, '''Heretics. This is followed by episode 12, "Escape "Escape from the Labyrinth'''".