The City

To be fair, I didn't quite know how the Shield Guardian worked at the time that I set that spell in it. I was still experimenting with its capabilities.

The construct had finally caught up to us before we left through the portal - it had been following us since it went overboard before we had reached Halruaa. Of course it accompanied us to the new world, and its capabilities were tested almost as soon as we reached the city.

We had encountered friendly Gith along the way, and he helped us to find a place where we could set up camp - a ruined building at the base of one of the many towers that made up the bulk of the city. Immediately I set Paazbul to scouting the other towers for their layout - it was obvious that the Vampire had set up in the largest of the towers. After determining the basic structure, I sent him to that largest of towers to see what could be gleaned invisibly, but he was unable to enter due to a magical barrier that appeared to surround the whole tower.

We sat down to have a war council, but we were attacked as we were deliberating by creatures that appeared naturally invisible. My magic allowed me to detect them but my colleagues were not so lucky. One of them hit me and I went down.

Here is where my mistake was made manifest.

The Shield Guardian could be set with a spell, to be cast when certain circumstances were met. Several days previously I had been experimenting with this capability, and I set a spell that would generate a cloud of foul-smelling noxious fumes if I were ever to be made unconscious.

Alas, this spell does not discriminate between friend and foe. My allies had to fight invisible opponents while gagging and retching because of my lack of forward planning. Fortunately, they are that good. Of course, I didn't find out about this until Lirin revived me, but when I did find out I was mightily chagrined, and resolved in future to set a different spell.

Fortunately an event occurred later that distracted everyone. We had come up with a plan to approach the largest tower by sea and use the tunnels beneath it to infiltrate by stealth. However, Buff did not like the idea - I got the impression that he was aquaphobic.

Caine attempted to demonstrate how safe it really was, but the moment he landed in the water several very large eel-like creatures grabbed him and attempted to drown and devour him. I wagered a yellow gemstone on his survival. Fortunately Buff was able to bring him back up, showing that even when terrified he was able to get the job done. To my surprise, my admiration for him only continues to grow.