Game summary for September 5, 2013, Carrion Crown Adventure Path campaign, Trial of the Beast adventure; PCs included Gnok Thatek (dwarf monk), and Irnadette Steelsoul (elan psion), accompanied by NPC companion Heidi Loenhardt (human cleric).
The party opened the doors and raced across the arched bridge dodging crossbow bolts from the troll in the tower. They discovered a door with a bell and rang it. A porthole opened, but no one was on the other side. Soon thereafter the port closed. The party determined to open the door because the trolls were coming down from the tower. Irnadette used a breach power to unlock the door and triggered a trap summoning a huge air elemental! It buffeted the party as the trolls stepped out onto the bridge. The team slipped through the unlocked door as the elemental transformed into a whirling tornado and tore into the approaching trolls!
Things were not safe inside the manor proper, however. A mechanical form crawled out from beneath the stairs, its twin scythe-arms swiping at the party! The group locked the front door while Irnadette used sonic attacks against the construct. Gnok went toe-to-toe but could only dent the monstrosity. Heidi channeled positive energy to heal the wicked blade wounds. In the end, it was Irnadette’s powerful psionics that brought the creature down.
The team then explored the rest of the main house. They found several trappings of wealth but no real sign of current occupants. They discovered a secret passage in the dining hall leading to a rear exit. Opening the door, they found a 3-foot-narrow stone bridge stretching out over a plunging waterfall hundreds of feet below. Across the bridge stood another stone building with a wooden door. The group moved across the perilous bridge and entered the room. Inside they found a damaged alchemy workshop with a portion of the wall and floor missing. Outside a missing doorway the remnants of a fallen stone bridge were instead spanned by a swinging rope bridge.
As the team moved about the rubble, a trio of insectoid rust monsters emerged and attacked! They focused on Heidi’s gleaming magical chainmail and damaged it with their rusting touch! Gnok and Irnadette fell in around her to fend off the ravenous metal-eaters. The team killed two of the creatures, but the third slipped through to menace Heidi yet again! Gnok grappled the creature, heaved it up upon his shoulders and ran to the edge of the rope bridge. The squirming bug thrashed wildly and nearly broke free, but the monk’s training proved too good! He hurled the rust monster over the side, and it plunged hundreds of feet to its death in the waterfall below.
