Guardians Awakened

Set Up

  In the bustling city of Iron Haven, rumors abound ancient vaults exist beneath the city, old hold outs from the cities origional creators the Dvalian Dwarves. Mnay have gone searching for them, as tresure, weapons, or advanced technology is all but assured when a new vault is discovered.

• The Wandering Griffin Tavern: While enjoying a drink or listening to a bard's performance at The Wandering Griffin, the party might overhear snippets of conversation among the patrons. A group of adventurers or scholars could be discussing their research into the Dvalian Dwarves and beleif that ther is an undescovered section of tunnels in the western section of the Old City.
• Steel & Enchantments Store: If the party visits Steel & Enchantments, Forgemaster Gundrik Ironhand could mention rumors of a renewed excivation being planned in the western sections of the Old city by some out of town schoolars, with some bitterness of having the cities relics being taken by non-dwarves.
• Shadowy Contacts in Obsidian Hollows: If the party has made contacts in Obsidian Hollows, they could be approached by one of Dusks people, possibly Smoke and his crew or a freed Autonomaton, who seeks to hire them for a clandestine mission. He may reveal that the old Dvalian relics holds significant value in the black market.
• Scholars in Artisan's Row: If the party interacts with scholars or historians in Artisan's Row, they may come across a dusty tome or an old scroll that hints at the Dvalian Dwarves and the potential location of a new section of tunnels. There is also a member of the Celestial Academy, Master Orelious, currently on an investigative study into the Old Dvalian ruins beneath the city.

Section 1- Entering the Dvalian Vault:

Upon entering the Dvalian vault, the adventurers find themselves in a dimly lit, underground chamber with three distinct directions to choose from.   Direction 1 - Collapsed Tunnel:

• The path directly ahead leads to a partially collapsed tunnel with some faint light filtering through from the other side. It seems that there's a potential way through, but it's blocked by fallen rocks and debris.
• Adventurers can attempt to clear the debris with strength checks or use magic to manipulate the rocks. Successful efforts will reveal a passage that leads deeper into the Dvalian ruins.

Direction 2 - Trapped Pathway:

• To the right, a short pathway catches their attention, but it is protected by a cleverly hidden magical motion sensor trap.
• Should any member of the party pass this sensor, it triggers a sudden and intense blast of flames from concealed vents, inflicting fire damage. The adventurers will need to find a way to disarm or bypass this trap safely.

Direction 2A - Locked Storage Room:

• If they successfully navigate the trap or disarm it, they reach a locked storage room (Locked Door 1).
• This storage room holds valuable ancient Dvalian artifacts, including a unique magic item that, once acquired, can be used to aid in dealing with the collapsed tunnel or other challenges within the vault.
• Emphasis that the items stored here indicate that the owner was a forge master, elements of scrap metal, leather, and other forge working materials. 

Direction 3 - Security Room:

• The third direction leads to a well-lit security room within the vault.
• Inside, two ancient @dva stand in standby mode, resembling imposing armored guardians with intricately crafted designs.
• If the party alerts the automatons through loud noises or disturbances, they will activate and attack the intruders.
• However, the security room also contains a series of levers and controls that, when manipulated, can remotely open Locked Door 1, allowing access to the storage room without triggering the motion sensor trap.
• Players may choose to engage in combat with the automatons or attempt a stealthy approach to access the levers, providing multiple options for overcoming this obstacle.

Section 2- False vault

As the adventurers proceed deeper into the Dvalian vault, they encounter a broken door that should have been unlocked by manipulating the mechanisms in the security room.

• Unfortunately, the collapsed tunnel from earlier has damaged the opening mechanism, rendering it inoperable. Players must now find an alternate way to bypass this door and continue their exploration.

Solving the Broken Door:

• Adventurers can examine the door and the area around it for clues.
• On closer inspection, they notice subtle markings on the door's frame that suggest it can be manually lifted or lowered.
• Working together, they must use their collective strength to raise the heavy door and continue their journey into the depths of the vault.

Inside the Room - The False Vault:

• Beyond the broken door, the adventurers find themselves in what appears to be a vault chamber, filled with treasures and artifacts of the Dvalian dwarves.
• However, upon closer examination, they notice a mural on the far wall, that displace a man working hard at a forge, with sevral symbols integrated into the mural. 

The Puzzle Mechanism:   The puzzle consists of a series of interconnected runes and symbols on the wall.

• Symbols- A hammer, a wolfs head, an Anvil, a Gear, a wooden club, and a dragon.
• Solution- They must press in the symbols associated with metal working.  
• Once the sequence is correctly activated, a hidden passage in the floor opens up, revealing a concealed ladder that leads deeper into the vault.
• Moving any of the treasure items in the room, or pressing a wrong symbol, triggers a magical ward causing four hidden alcoves in the room to release security automatons and activate a floor wide flame thrower that goes off at the top of each round of combat, roughly at knee hieght (can possibly climb on top of things to avoid it). 

Revealing the Hidden Passage:

• Successfully solving the puzzle unlocks the mechanism controlling the false vault, granting access to the hidden passage below.
• Players can now descend through the opened passage, descending further into the depths of the Dvalian vault

Section 3 - The Real Vault:

After successfully navigating through the false vault, the adventurers find themselves facing two potential paths as they delve deeper into the Dvalian vault.   Direction 1 - The Workshop:

• One path leads to a workshop chamber filled with the remnants of Dvalian automaton construction. On a workbench in the center of the room, two partially assembled automatons lie dormant.
• As soon as the party enters the workshop, the partially assembled automatons come to life and attack.
• The room is wired with magical energy, and at the top of each round, electrical shocks surge through the room, damaging anyone within. Players must find a way to shut off the power source to stop the shocks.
• Upon defeating the automatons and disabling the electrical traps, the adventurers discover a key hanging on a hook in the workshop. This key unlocks locked door number 3.

Direction 2 - The Proper Vault:

• The second path leads to a massive locked door that guards the entrance to the actual Dvalian vault.
• Upon opening the door, the adventurers find themselves inside the proper vault chamber.
• In the center of the vault, they discover a colossal, heavily upgraded automaton connected to a charging station. This automaton serves as the boss encounter for this section of the adventure.

The Boss Encounter:

• The large upgraded automaton is a formidable adversary and guards the most valuable treasures within the vault.
• The room itself is laden with hazards that players must contend with during the encounter. These hazards may include falling debris, collapsing pillars, or arcane traps triggered by the automaton's actions.
• The automaton's advanced design grants it unique abilities, such as powerful ranged attacks, area-of-effect abilities, and the ability to call forth smaller automatons to assist in the battle.
• To defeat the boss, the adventurers must work together to exploit its weaknesses, disable the charging station, and avoid the numerous hazards in the room.
• As the boss battle progresses, players will need to adapt to the changing environment and make strategic choices to emerge victorious.

Reward:   Upon defeating the boss automaton, the adventurers gain access to the most coveted treasures and relics stored within the Dvalian vault, including valuable magical items, rare artifacts, and perhaps even knowledge about the ancient Dvalian dwarves and their legendary creations.

• schematics to origional, previously unknown dvalian auronomaton designs, something that many in the city would pay, or kill for. 
• a pair of dvalian forge gauntlets; +1 AC, fire resistance. 
• small chest of 20 Electrum; ancient coins no longer in use, may be of value to the right person