The Tower of Mysteries

After paying a hefty toll to the Manifestation of Vecna, the heroes are teleported into the lower chamber of the Tower of Mysteries. Various faces, either blindfolded or gagged, come to life and start chanting as soon as the party appears, sounding the alarm. The adventurers find the lower chamber to be lined with heavily inscribed pillars, and are soon onset by mechanical horrors! Clockwork guardians and arachnids attack the heroes as magical effects leap from the pillars, robbing the heroes of their abilities.  The artificer quickly deduces that these spells are originating from elsewhere within the Tower. As the party wraps up the remaining clockwork guardians, Eben kicks open a door, finding an Enigma of Vecna in a trance within, channeling his power through the pillars.

"Wakey wakey mother fucker!" shouts Eben as he unleashes a magically infused crossbow bolt into the Enigma. The party quickly mops up the remaining threats on this floor, and step into the teleportation circle that takes them to the second floor of the Tower.

On the second floor of the tower, the heroes encountered powerful Aspect of Vecna, a necromancer with a potent aura that was particularly dangerous to living creatures. As the heroes battled with the powerful necromancer, a bronze warder and other clockwork constructs moved to flank them. It was an arduous fight, but in the end the heroes prevailed.

After eliminating all threats on the second floor of the tower, the heroes had time to take stock of what surrounded them; they were standing in a library full of tomes on all aspects of academic study...though the pages of these tomes were magically blanked to anyone who was not a worshiper of Vecna. This floor also hosted an alchemical laboratory, the centerpiece of which was an infernal machine filled with acrid, glowing liquid and the head of a bronze warder. The Artificer and the Wizard deduce that this machine is a means of gaining control of all bronze warders in the Labyrinth and is the linchpin of Paldemar's plan...all that is left is the ritual to that will complete the process. After pludering some of the treasures they can use from Paldemar's workshop, the heroes step into the teleportation circle that will bring them to the third floor of the tower.

The 7 adventurers are brought to a small room,  with three doors...though only one is unlocked, which brings them to face to face with Paldemar the Erudite. Standing in a twisted temple dedicated to Vecna, Paldemar is waiting expectantly for the heroes. Flanked by an augmented bronze warder and an iron defender of his own creation, as well as the tiefling brothers that had betrayed the heroes before, Paldemar is sure of his victory. The wizard and asks the heroes what they hope to accomplish by stopping him and reveals that he plans on using the bronze warders to bring order to the Nentir Vale, which has been without true leadership or direction since the fall of Nerath. The Erudite reveals intimate knowledge of each of the heroes to demonstrate the power/knowledge that Vecna has granted him, but during his soliloquy, the adventurers notice that the tieflings appear to be under the influence of some type of arcane mind control device. Though the group might have identified with Paldemar and his goals, they realized that his rule would be one of subjugation, not freedom. With that, the heroes threw themselves at the powerful wizard. At first, it appeared that he might be too much for the heroes; his mechanical bodyguards shielded him from the majority of attacks and punished those who drew too near, while Paldemar himself was a very formidable wizard. Viserys, however, managed to put both the Erudite and his iron defender under the influence of a sleep spell, rendering both of them helpless, after which, it was short order to slaughter the unconscious wizard and destroy his defenders.

After defeating the powerful wizard, the party ties up the unconscious tieflings and search Paldemar's belongings, finding the rituals required to bring the bronze warders under their control and to seal the Well of Demons, among the other treasures. One item of note in Paldemar's collection was a true Crystal Orb...though when Eben gazed into it, he only saw a shadowy cloaked figure, before the orb shattered. The heroes then rushed to the second floor, and hastily performed the spell that would lock the bronze warders to their command, creating 10 amulets. The adventurers return to the Seven pillared hall to find the Ordinator Arcanis making a last stand against the onslaught of Gnolls and Demons, when they summon forth the 350 bronze warders within the Thunderspire. The Bronze Army makes quick work of the demonic horde, leaving none alive. The party brings a shocked Ordinator Arcanis with them as they delve back into the well of Demons to seal it once and for all. As the dust settles, the heroes now must decide what to do with their new found power. An army of this power has not been seen in the Vale since before the fall of Nerath, and represents a very real opportunity to bring order to the chaos....