While you chip Spidre out of his ice-cocoon and discuss your plans for recuperation, you investigate the room a bit more, and discover two things of note:
One, the back wall of the room (opposite where you came in) has a lever that you would guess operates the massive door that you saw (though both the door and the lever are currently encased in ice).
Two, the corners of the room contain the dragon's treasure horde! You see cash and gems and several weapons and other objects that you would guess are likely to be magical. But again, coated in ice.
Speaking of ice, in a few minutes you notice a fine mist or fog beginning to come off all this ice, and you guess that since it's magically-created ice, it's likely going to evaporate over the course of a couple of hours (rather than melt and leave you all with soggy feet).
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You hole up in the dragon's lair for a good long while, taking turns on the watch as you rest up from your recent ordeals. By the time Thyra's watch has ended, all the magical ice produced by the dragon has vaporized, but nothing alarming has happened.
Spidre takes the second watch, and can't help noticing the now de-iced treasures in the corners of the room. Browsing a bit during his watch, his attention is caught by a shortsword with a jeweled pommel and a crossguard that looks like a dragon skull with its jaws agape. After spending about an hour examining it during his watch, he's able to determine that it is enchanted, and is (ironically) especially potent against dragons. He spends the rest of his watch trying to take his mind off the irony of this find by counting the piles of coins. By the time he switches off with Pietro, he's determined that there is 2,822gp worth of cash and gems in the hoard.
Similarly lacking anything better to do while on watch, Pietro too rummages through the hoard in search of items to examine. Sure enough, there's plenty to be found in this dragon's hoard. The first item to catch Pietro's eye is a gold ring with a larget garnet set into it, with abstract swirling patterns engraved into the band. He eventually determines this ring to be magical, offering protection from fire. By the time his watch is over, Pietro has also managed to identify two spell scrolls: one of web, and one of fireball.
Mirrel then takes over the watch, and similarly contributes to examining the hoard. However, realizing that all its items have been identified already, he remembers the handful of items gathered from a couple of clerics in the maze earlier that day. By the time he has finished his watch, Mirrel has determined that the sling they took is, interestingly enough, magical.
Finally, Halsere takes the last watch, and sets about gathering scales and talons and teeth from the dragon's corpse.
Does anyone has use for those scrolls? I can cast one of those spells already though it would be useful but the fireball spell is something I wish to add to my spell book.
"Aye, perhaps when this is all ovah, we can take couple o' dragon bones back with us and make me some Dragonbone plate,"
Thyra has eaten her breakfast of trail rations and water, geared up, fired up and is ready to finish this dungeon and kill this evil Koriszegy.
"Fine sword Spidre! Yer gonna kill many foes with it, I'm sure!"
"Halsere, I believe you should wear this ring. It will protect against fire, and you seem to be the least likely to withstand significant damage out of the rest of us."
Very well but this doesn't mean I am laying claim to it. I don't want a lions share of these treasures at anyone else's expense. Someone else may need this later.
Spidre nods at Thyra's admiration of his sword. He then calls his spider onto his shoulder and surveys the others with a slow, expressionless glare.
Having recuperated from your ordeals, you set out to finish exploring this level of the dungeon. So far from the sun, you're hardly even aware that you've just finished your sleep so close to midnight; you'll have some adjusting to do on the journey home later.
Having cleared out this branch, you finally begin to explore the southern branch. As it turns out, this branch is much smaller. A couple of turns of a hallway, and you find yourselves at the entrance to a 20ft by 20ft room. There is no door, but rather a portcullis that is raised into the ceiling, allowing access to the room. Said room is empty, save for a pedestal at the back wall. Atop this pedestal, sitting at about chest height, is an ornate glass case which contains a diamond larger than any of you has ever seen, or perhaps even imagined; if you grabbed it, you couldn't touch your thumb to your fingers. A pearly sheen swirls inside it like roiling clouds. The glass case itself is trimmed in iron and gold, and bears a heavy padlock preventing it from being easily opened.
Thyra will look around at her companions, at the gem and then at the portculis, the only entrance or exit to this room.
"Ai uh. Ai don't like this," With shield strapped to her wrist and battleaxe sheathed at her hip, "What's tha plan, smash it, grab it and run like hell?"
That can't end well but I have something that will. I think that if we smash the case the portcullis will fall, trapping us in the room with some sort of nasty trap or monster right? Well - what if I conjured up an unseen servant to carry the diamond back to us after an arrow or thrown dagger smashes the case? We stay safe on this side of the portcullis.
"Excellent plan," Mirrel nods. "Pietro or I could shatter the case from here via magic. I can't imagine it would harm the diamond."
"Halsere, perhaps you should attempt to detect any magical auras, in case of traps or illusions. I'll do my part to detect mundane poisoned traps."
Pietro takes a moment to examine the area, and notices impossibly fine metallic strands embedded in the glass of the case. The metallic strands are far too thin to be a means of reinforcement against damage, and Halsere has enough background in this type of thing to realize what they are: a magical trap. Should the glass case be broken, the strands will break as well, triggering some sort of magical contingency. However, the naked eye will not be able to determine what that contingency might be.
Thyra will look around looking for anything to prop the portcullis up in the chance that it decides to slam down, looking finally to Halsere and Spidre, the two smartest people in the group,
"If it comes ta it, can Ai catch the portcullis with ma shield and hold tha 'cullis open?"
She'll kind of make a motion of holding the shield at shoulder height to catch the portcullis as it comes down.
While Mirrel and Halsere quietly ponder the situation, Pietro begins casting his spell and the two fighters examine the portcullis. Spidre can find no clear means of operating it, meaning either it's exclusively connected to the trap or its controls are very well hidden (or perhaps even located elsewhere). Thyra assesses the likely weight of the portcullis, and thinks she has a shot at holding it open if she's there to catch it, but it's not a guarantee.
Pietro finishes his spell, and does not detect any poison or disease in the area.
Halsere begins his ritual for summoning the unseen servant, having it appear on the far side of where the portcullis would fall and nods to the others just before the spell is ready.
Spidre makes sure to be on the correct side of the portcullis before the party starts. He puts away his scimitar and draws his bonded dagger.
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Once Halsere and Thyra indicate they are ready, Mirrel checks that everyone is clear of the portcullis and then casts shatter on the cabinet.
Thrya raises her shield ready to catch the portcullis and nods to Mirrel affirming his course of action.
Pietro petitions Njord for guidance for Thyra, then positions himself to assist her in holding the portcullis open when it falls.
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Halsere completes his spell and summons his servant but has it stand by as he looks to find someway to disable the portcullis.
AND add +3 if dex based or + 4 if Int based.
After much discussion, you begin to position yourselves for the execution of your plan.
Halsere first examines the portcullis and tries to wedge something into the ceiling, hoping that will keep it open if it tries to close, though an unusual lack of mechanisms makes him skeptical of his efficacy.
Spidre and Halsere then exit the room, waiting just outside the portcullis.
Pietro and Thyra stand in the doorway, bracing themselves to catch the portcullis if Halsere's sabotage fails.
Mirrel stays in the room, positioning himself within the relative safety of Thyra's reach.
When everyone is ready, Mirrel at last gets things started by centering a shatter spell on the case, and several things happen all at once:
Much as expected, the glass case is instantly obliterated; even the stone pedestal upon which it rests suffers some minor cracking. The Diamond doesn't so much as wiggle, though this is unsurprising for such a potent magical artifact.
Also much as expected, the portcullis tries to drop. The chunk of debris that Halsere wedged into it at the top screeches like nails on a chalkboard for a precious moment or two before popping out like a bullet. The portcullis slams down against the waiting arms of Pietro and Thyra.
Pietro and Thyra catch the portcullis, holding it open!
Simultaneously, a less-expected event happens: three of the room's walls (the three sides that don't contain the doorway) all vanish like a dispersing mist! Each illusory wall concealed a 10ft space (so the room is 20ft wider and 10ft deeper than you thought), and each space contains something resembling a headless, metal humanoid!
The metallic figures are standing in a slouched position, but as the illusory walls disappear, they each stand up straight while a gemstone lights up in each of their chests! One bears a red gem, one a blue gem, and one a yellow gem.
The metallic guardian with the red gem in its chest faces the party, and a small ball of fire erupts from its gem, flies across the room, and strikes the floor between Pietro and Thyra. It detonates in a ball of flame the engulfs you all!
The red guardian then rushes forward and punches at Mirrel!
,
Mirrel takes a metal fist to the face!
These are elemental golems. Their metallic bodies are resistant to nonmagical weapons. Additionally, they are immune to any sort of mind-affecting effects, and are resistant to most magic damage types. They're immune to poison and necrotic, and are affected normally by force and thunder. They each have an elemental attack they can use as a bonus action, but has to spend several seconds recharging before it can be used again.
"Magic weapons only! Force and thunder damage are best if you have them!"
Pietro steps out from under the portcullis so he can cast (maximized) Shatter on the yellow golem.
Halsere orders his unseen servant to fetch the diamond!
Pietro steps forward and unleashes an earth-shattering BOOM against the yellow golem!
It shudders under the cacophony, but doesn't fall!
Halsere commands his servant, and after a second or two you all see the diamond lift from the pedestal!
Identifying Pietro as a threat, the blue golem approaches! Arriving at the cluster of Pietro, Mirrel and Thyra; its blue gem glows and a burst of cold sweeps across the three of you with a flash of pale light!
The blue golem then follows up with a punch!
,
He clobbers Pietro square in the face!
Fortifying himself with magic, Mirrel steps under the portcullis to take the load from Thyra, freeing her to fight the golems.
Spidre throws a ball of thunder at Yellow, making sure to keep his distance from the others for the sake of the apparent explosive magics the golems seem to possess.
,
Halsere continues to send the gem his way and throws a firebolt into the blue golem.
for
Mirrel heals himself and then moves to relieve Thyra of the portcullis' weight!
Spidre blasts one of the golems, nearly dropping it, then backs into the hallway a bit.
Moving out from under the Portcullis, Thyra straightens her shoulders, move towards the nearest golem, drawing her battleaxe of course, and will attack it.
I don't have any magical attacks, I'll just have to hit it as hard as I can
Thyra puts some hurt on the red golem, twice!
Yellow finally joins the party, moving forward and emitting a numbing wave of electrical energy!
Thyra and Pietro feel their muscles numb a bit, but they stand firm. Mirrel, however, convulses from the shock!
Unable to exert any strength, Mirrel collapses under the push of the portcullis!
Mirrel crumples to the floor, and the portcullis jams into his back, pinning him down!
The yellow golem then takes a swing at Pietro, though Thyra tries to interfere!
,
Thyra deflects the blow!
The red golem's gem is dim, so it just tries to pummel Pietro!
,
It's a miss!