Session 7

**Real World Date: 1/24/2021**

**In Game Dates(x): 14th of Lencten, 5151 M.E. - 15th of Lencten, 5151 M.E.**

**Party Level: 2**

## NPCs Met This Adventure

* Amari Bacci - nobleman who unknowingly funded a lab for the wizards of P.O.R.T.A.L. and came to the party to clean up his mess
* SAM - artificial magical intelligence construct, attempted to construct body to escape lab it was confined to
* Leyton Strong - member of P.O.R.T.A.L. and last remaining member in Azul

## Summary

### Reunions

Bashan relays to the party that he has been busy all night with a woman, keeping most of the details of the last 24 hours to himself. Poem checks on the wounds he sustained from the Werewolf, which Bashan says is healing fine. The party sit down for dinner and a drink. As the party catches up Bashan on what they had done in the last 24 hours, two people enter the **Gilded Forge Inn**. One is Rylee Sunbrook, but he accompanied by a nobleman named Amari Bacci. Rylee has heard that Fenton was found dead and is now worried for his life, as they aren’t just taking blood samples now.

Amari spins a tale of meeting the two unassuming wizards from P.O.R.T.A.L. They approached him with a design for a magic item but they needed funding for the laboratory to make it. He funded it and didn’t think much of it, despite the fact that he realized they were not from this world (**Otterfolk** and **Ibixian** [Goat-folk]). However when Fenton turned up murdered and Harrison Wright was arrested in connection to the murder, he realized that he might have gotten involved with the wrong people.

### Negotiating and Justification

The two nobles offer 400  to go to investigate the lab and also do Amari a favor. He wants them to destroy any paperwork that mentions his name in connection to these wizards. He hasn’t done anything illegal, just funding research, but reputation is everything for a noble. He does mention that the laboratory may not allow them in, it has a mind of its own. When the party sense unknown dangers, they insist they receive the 400  up front and another 400  after the job is done. Amari and Rylee agree and will decide amongst themselves where that extra 400  will come from.

Baka expresses worry that they may be covering up something but since Amari insists no crime has been committed by him he agrees to go with the party on this. Bashan and Poem both secretly wish to keep something that proves Amari’s involvement to be used at a later date for favors or more coin. They will decide how to approach this once they completed the mission. The party decide to wait until the next morning to head to the laboratory.

### Less 2001, More Smart House

The next morning the party find the building they were directed to. It is two floors and they can see a stairwell on the outside of the rear of the building heading from one floor to the other. Th exterior is generic and matches the surrounding buildings and there is only one door in the front. The party enter it and find themselves in a vestibule of some sort. Upon entering they hear a voice asking them their business. They claim to be meeting Leyton Strong, upon which the voice states they will notify him. The party insist that its not necessary and ask the voice who they are. They identify themselves as **Structure for Assistive Magic**, sometimes called SAM.

They enter a long hallway with three doors. One on either side and one large door at the other end of the hallway. The party asks and SAM informs them that Leyton is upstairs and they will need to go through the Arboretum to reach the second floor, which is the large door at the end of the hallway. The party move past the other two doors and enter the Aboretum. It is filled with various trees, bushes, flowers, and other plants. It has multiple paths leading through the foliage to a door on the other side, which has a patch where plants cant seem to grow. While they are examining the patch, several of the plants start moving and attack.

### Trees and Armor

The party fight an awakened tree and two awakened shrubs. The shrubs are very little problem but the tree knocks out Bashan as they fight it. Baka manages to bring Bashan back and they defeat the plants. The party then move through the door and find the stairs leading up to the second floor. Part of the railing along the outside is broken. As they move up the stairs, SAM tells them they are not authorized to enter. They convince SAM to let them in, though Poem is starting to get angry with this laboratory.

They enter the second floor and see a storage room to the side. They inspect it quickly and see it is mostly empty. They continue forward and see a strange sight in the final room. It appears to be a laboratory with various tables, benches, and tools in there. A complete large construct is in the middle of the room. Two Animated Armors place a glowing medallion inside the chest of the construct and it comes alive. Then then hear SAM’s voice coming from the construct and they realize that SAM has constructed a body and move their consciousness into the construct so that SAM can leave.

### We Can’t Do That SAM

SAM informs them that they have absorbed all the knowledge in this laboratory and to better assist with its purpose it must leave the laboratory and obtain more knowledge. To this end it has created this construct as a new body for itself. It states its intentions of leaving to go explore more. However, towards the side of the laboratory they see the dead body of Leyton Strong, who perhaps may have tried to stop SAM from accomplishing their goal. The party state their intentions to prevent SAM from leaving the lab and battle ensues.

During the battle SAM uses spells they witnessed Poem using, apparently reproducing the spell from just observing the spell being cast. They destroy the two sets of Animated Armor but have a hard time defeating SAM’s construct due to it healing itself as the battle goes on. Eventually after several blows exchanged, they defeat the construct. The party pull out the medallion form that remains that contains SAM inside. They attempt to destroy it, but to no avail and decide they must take it with them.

### Foreign Interference

The party explore the rest of the lab. They are informed, telepathically, by SAM, that the library contains the only remaining book that SAM could not absorb: a journal of Leyton Strong. It also informs them that it is guarded by a Mimic disguised as a bookshelf. Baka manages to steal the book from the jaws of the creature without awakening it. They discover that SAM has slowly been operating on its own. It overregulated the temperature control in the Arboretum, burning one of the wizards and singeing part of the ground. It offers things it wasn’t programmed to offer. It slowly became secretive inside the lab, working on its own designs. There are numerous mentions of Amari in the documents, which the party decides to keep.

As they leave the lab, SAM communicates that they should gather more materials to construct a new body, which the party ignores. The labs appearance on the outside has changed, apparently an illusion that is no longer being maintained. It appears run down and covered in vines, standing out amongst the other buildings. As they discuss next steps, they are approached by some guards. These are not guards of Azul, but they recognize the symbol of Ostoril on their chests. The **Goliath leader** approaches them and states that they are here for Leyton Strong. Custody of Harrison has already been transferred to them and after the lockdown they intend to extradite both of them back to Ostoril.

### Exchanges Are Made

The Ostoril guards insist on them turning over any documentation they have (which Baka admits to having). The party agrees to turning it over, and SAM, if they can get a copy of the journal. With a fancy spell, their wizard makes a copy of the journal for them, so the party turns over all they have. SAM goes with the guards, who have already moved inside the lab and destroyed the Mimic. SAM asks them about constructing a new body as they part ways with the party.

The party head to the theater where they know Rylee will be located at. They meet with him and tell him that their job is complete and the threat to Rylee is done, at least for a while. They receive their final two days worth of payments from him, their job finally complete. They also receive the second 400  from him for finishing the job for Amari. Baka tells Rylee to deliver a message for him to Amari. He doesn’t think Amari is innocent despite the fact that no laws were broken, because lives were lost. He wishes to meet with Amari and threatens to go public with his connection to the wizards and the lab if Amari doesn’t meet with him. Rylee agrees, reluctantly, to pass that info along.