Back! Back you foul demon statue thing!

So there I was..plodding thru the dreaded wilderness, when I found the entrance into the Dragon Spire!!!. Having my beefy (yet somewhat simple) barbarian clad in my new Dragon armor that I managed to talk the King out of (glad he didn't see all those bulging bricks of gold sticking out of my pack) I confidently walk in, throw a switch, ignore a 'insert letter here please' sign hanging over a empty drawer, round a corner and promptly lose all my facial hair to some smelly, loud, obnoxious bronze fire breathing DEMON!

Naturally this confuses me. I'm wearing my new armor with 'fire? what fire?' etched into the breast plate and it's been about as effective as the cardboard tunic that I gave up at level 2. Rationalizing that the demon must not have read the script at this point, I courteously toss my copy out showing him that I have the fire resistant armor and he should just get out of the way, which he promptly burns to ash! How rude!

Prompting my wizard to go out and see if he can 'negotiate' I cross my fingers hoping maybe one can talk with this thing (the barbarian's not too good with words you know), but apparently that didn't go to well as incantations fill the room and all hell breaks loose down the corridor, quickly followed by my oh-so-powerful wizard yelling 'medic!' and cowering back behind the wall.

Apparently this bronze fire breathing demon forgot to get hit points (so as to become killable) at the last stop in town.

I've tried walking down the hallway holding the armor in front of me like some kinda pathetic shield, yelling yankee-doodle-dandy and kissing all the pretty stones in the way while saying 'open sesame' to get this thing to realize that I'm supposed to be HERE!, yet I can't get by it. Do I have to send in a request via this letter slot and wait for a engraved invitation?

Could someone be so kind as to tell me how I get this thing to shut up and let me pass?

Make sure that the one with the armour is (a) in the lead and (b) selected. Keep drawing the beast fire until he stops, healing and retreating as necessary. Kill anything that wanders down the corridor. I don't think you need to deliver the letter to get past him, but I could be wrong. There is an invisible wall half way up the tunnel, you must have the dragon armour to get past it. The 'demon' is a machine. It can't be killed, but it can be switched off. The switch is next to it. Keep trying.

The armour is fire resistant not fire proof you were obviously so anxious to get out of the mine having stolen the poor old kings gold that you forgot to read the instructions.

In fact you cannot get up this passage without the armour there is an invisible wall that stops you and its removal is triggered by the dragon armour. Just keep running up the passage and past the dragon there is a switch just past him to turn it off.

[Regis]

I know this will come as a major shock but....
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Well, I just don't know how to say it without hurting your feelings, old bean, so here goes...
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You're really not going to like this.....
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When I got to the Dragon Statue and he breathed, all I did was wait approximately one minute. He let out a stream of fire for quite some time, but eventually he tired. After that, I just walked up the hall and turned him off. Now, I'm sure you have some seriously religious motivations for charging full-steam into fire (hmm...that's doesn't sound right), but if you could see your way clear to think these things through for a bit beforehand, I'm relatively sure the kids would sleep better at night, and the wife wouldn't have to worry about whether the same brain-sick malady that possesses you will strike her children.

Cheers