Zoom 2022-10-18 21:00

Going round in circles:
The party camps peacefully on either side of the barrier, and the next morning decide to send a runner to Quercuis with a report and request for suggestions, before investigating the palace grounds further. To find a runner, the (outside) party goes to the nearest farmhouse (an hour or more away), and engage a young farmhand to take the message. We also ask about the barrier, and are informed that the Elves have said no-one should go near the old palace on pain on death! There does seem to be some element of the GSOV about the way they don't think about it much.
We then rejoin at the barrier and complete our circumnavigation of the perimeter. We come across the remains of another Lizardman (similar garb and equipment to previous one), but otherwise find nothing noteworthy.  With Kirsten re-manifested, we pick up scents inside the barrier of recent Elves/Dark Elves, and old scents of Lizardman.
As this takes the rest of the day, we camp down for the night.
The 'insiders':
The next day the 'insiders' head towards the centre - ie the old palace. We take a drum-kit goblet with us just in case! Going through the main gates, we confirm they are indeed broken outwards from the inside. There are two Lizardmen bodies inside the gate - one killed from 'blunt force' (eg mace), the other with multiple spear wounds. They have similar holy symbols to the others. The palace itself is in a poor state, with the right hand wing totally collapsed.
As we advance towards the palace, we come across chunks of masonry - which we infer comes from an explosion in the right wing that would have thrown masonry out - and indeed as we approach closer, we see there is a large crater in the remains - from which Brokev detects a very strong 'anti-Wyldwood' aura. The other parts of the building are in a very precarious, unstable condition. However, as we get closer to the crater, our magic items start getting hot - so we beat a rapid retreat to outside that area of effect. Dougal divests himself of his magic item (ring of protection) and familiar, and goes in to investigate on his own - with the rest of the insiders supporting from as close as they can get without heating up.
Approaching the crater, Dougal comes across four statues of Elves lying on the ground - two with maces, two with spears. (We assume that these were what did for the Lizardmen, so Dougal keeps an eye out for any hint of them animating.) 
In the centre of the crater, Dougal can see a large head, glowing red like hot iron (however, there is no heat haze coming off it.) This 15 foot high head is of a human - but it has scaled skin. This is presumably the head of the GARM Golem/Red Titan.
As Dougal returns to the rest of the insiders, we see four drakes fly in and hover above the dome: The dome flashes blue/red/blue then black - and there is a shattering sound: We get the idea that the barrier has been broken. The drakes descend and land - and 2 Lizardmen get off each drake. 
We hurry back to join the rest of the party to report.
The 'outsiders':
Meanwhile, the outsiders have been having quite an interesting time observing the comings and goings of a large number of Elves. Firstly, soon after the 'insiders' departed, they observed a mounted Elf gallop up to the tents/barracks in the training ground, go into one of them for a brief moment, then come back out and gallop back to the city. Then they hear bells starting to ring in the city.  After a short while, a large number of Elves (spearmen) pour out of the (previously empty) tents. They form up in ranks and a group of about 300 march off in double-time towards the city. Over the next hour or so about 10,000 Elves emerge from the tents and march quickly citywards.
Later on, the outsiders observe the 4 drakes fly in from the NorthWest and see the breaking of the barrier.
Together again:
The party reunite, and rapidly de-brief, and then Caradoc sneaks into the palace grounds to see what the Lizardman are up to - and the answer seems to be killing themselves. They have set up a large gate (40 foot by 40 foot), and then four of them commit ritual suicide that appears to power up the gate - which turns red. A massive hand comes through the gate (commensurate with the size of hand that was retrieved from the Vale of Vendor), picks up head and carries it back through the gate. The gate closes, and the remaining Lizardmen get on their drakes and fly off.
All that is left are the puddled remains of the four sacrificed Lizardmen, the four elven statues that are now heavily crazed and looking as if they will fall to pieces, and a residual anti-Wyldwood aura that is fading fast.
Meanwhile, a large amount of smoke can be seen rising from Stormhaven.