"What's your name, priest?! Before you sacrifice yourself to the Goddesses, are you aware that this whole cult is a sham and that the goddesses are just pretty girls that your precious cult has kidnapped?! Crazzleboks, I hope you wake up and come to realize the truth behind this foolish little sharade! Now, answer Daggers before he dispatches you. We are on a tight schedule here!"
There is a deep metallic *clong* as Buta hits the portal and does no damamge except to his snout...
That portal! the priest says and adds That'S the only way upstairs and if you really want to stop them, you have to hurry now!
With panic in his eyes he then turns to Kyren
I'm Illen and I didn't know about the cult's doings until recently and since then, only fear has kept me here!
"No point waiting here then, I suppose they are all planning on returning the the ground or something equally dire"
You hear a voice cry out from ahead "Less talk, more with the running. Door is closed and Buta cannot butt down."
OK, Illen. How do we open it?
"I'm Illen and I didn't know about the cult's doings until recently and since then, only fear has kept me here!"
"Is this fear for your own life should you not do as the cult asks? Well if you want redemption for your misdeeds, you can start by opening this portal. You heard, Daggers. How do we open it? Hurry now, we do not have all day."
"Then again, if they have all gone to die then who are we to stop them. One way or another, the Cult vanishes"
because they're taking the children with them!!
"I don't mind the cultists killing each other, by I do object to anyone laying a finger on any of our little goddesses! That needs to be our top priority, and you, Mr. Illen, are going to help us if you know what is wise! Now quit standing flumberstruck and answer our questions! How do we open the portal?!"
Illen gets up and runs over to the portal.
Here he presses his fingers into some tiny cavities that were hidden under the tiles of the stylized pyramid.
At first nothing happens, but then, quite suddenly, there is a deep rumbling and the portal begins to open...
Illen stares at the moving door and sighs
Only once I have been beyond this point...it is dangerous up there...
You give us good directions, and an idea of what we might face, and I'm fine with you NOT coming up--just make it quick! Guys, you agree?
Kenta doesn't speak, instead taking a draw on his bow and tensing his knees on Buta's flanks... wary of what lies beyond.
"I would rather keep the priest with us to help us with any other encounters with cultists. Illen may be able to help us talk our way through some tricky situations. I also much prefer keeping him in my sights until he has proven his loyalties."
Whatever we do, we have to do it. I think we shouldn't bother with him--but I wont' fight it, we need to move. Those girls' lives are in danger...
"Daggers is right. Let's move!"
"Stillness is death" Alcheringa also pushes forward.
You duck and quickly move past the opening portal - beyond it, the stairwell continues, but the stairs glow in changing colours - black, green, blue, red, brown, yellow, purple and silver.
Illen grabs Vaughn's sleeve and shouts
Wait - that is one of the traps - it is some kind of riddle, but I don't know its solution!
The large stairs glow in the following colours and change these colours after about 30 seconds.
1. silver
2. blue
3. green
4. purple
5. brown
6. yellow
7. black
8. red
Next to the stairwell is some kind of switch box - 8 levers are sticking out of it.
"Crazzleboks! Puzzles at a time like this! What if we pull the levers in the order that the stairs are glowing? First number 7, then 3, 2, 8, 5, 6, 4, and finally 1. If you agree with my order, than I want to pull the levers."
Vaughn looks at the colored stairs, the levers, and the Halfling with confusion. I have no idea how you came to that, but whatever...
Nothing happens...
Illen scratches his head
I guess that was wrong!
Tal'Zeneb grabs the priest and looks at his holy symbol. Does it have colors to match the stairwell?
Vaughn looks at the colored stairs, the levers, and the Halfling with confusion. I have no idea how you came to that, but whatever...
"All I am doing is simple color matching. I am pulling the lever that matches with the color of the stairs. The first lever goes with the silver, the second with blue, and so forth. If the colors change from black to green to blue, red, brown, yellow, purple and finally to silver, then I am using the 7th lever, the third and so forth."
Kyren pauses to make sure that he is understand and then comes up with a different idea, "Well maybe the order needs to be reversed. I mean people can go up and down stairs. What if I try 1, 4, 6, 5, 8, 2, 3, and then 7."
No, the stairwell-colour-change does not seem to follow any pattern. After 30 seconds, all colours/stairs are jumbled up again.
But by pulling the levers, you can make each of the steps take on a colour of your choice (e.g. you could make step 1 be silver, step 3 yellow, step 5 blue etc.).
The priest does indeed wear a holy symbol, but its made of lead and shows a colourless pyramid.
"Well, my friends, what color steps do you all want to walk on? I feel tremendous power behind these levers."
BErry goes to the bottom step and observes it closely mumbling somethign about how much easier it would be to just unleash the naurotoxin and ressurect the girls.
PErception to find traps.
No traps - colour - at the moment - blue, will change soon though.
@ Kenta - pitch you up? By using what? a Kentapult?
The stairwell is about 3m tall. The actual distance to the last step is about 7m though.
Spitting to the side "Feh, something not right. How this person going make to big ceremony if this thing in way? Someone lying, Kenta think should make him walk stair first. If live we follow, die then learn something."
Regardless Kenta searches his thoughts for a clue..
Int check:
As soon as the step changes BErry will observe the step again.
Perception
Illen, fearing that Daggers could also question his previous explanation is quick to clear up the matter
When everyone moved upstairs, they surely disabled the trap, but I wasn't with them and I fear no one missed me...now I'm stuck here with you...maybe it is about the sequence of the colours?
"So do you think the trap is now rearmed? What are we to do with these colored steps? Should we be trying to get a particular color or are we trying to get the colors to stop altogether. Crazzleboks! Nobody has gotten hurt on these stairs yet, but I'm hoping to keep it that way!"
"Strange magic, what is its purpose do we think?"
"Does this cult have a ranking system tied to colours? Because it certainly isn't a rainbow"
Kenta subtly maneuvers Buta between the cultist and escape. He smiles, transferred through his magical helmet to show a daemonic leer "Whichever way, he just volunteer go first."
The cultist stares at Kenta
I...the only thing I ever heard about this stairwell is, that it starts with silver, because it's used for white and white is the missing of all colour...I couldn't make sense of it, so I rather decided not to confuse you...
Ok, ummm...if silver represents white and that's no colors, then brown--which is a mixture of all the primary colors--is probably last, right? So take the primary colors, in order of brightness: yellow, then, um, red then blue? then green, which is a mix of 2 colors (red adn blue). Then purple, a darker mix of 2 colors. Then brown, a mix of three. Then black, all colors mixed. that gives us
1 silver
2 yellow
3 red or blue
4 blue or red (I'm undecided here!)
5 green
6 purple
7 brown
8 black
Convince me I'm wrong, or try it.
"Seems like a reasonable system" Alcheringa gives the stairwell a very wide berth.
"Daggers! You amaze me with your knowledge of colors! Have you ever been a painter in a previous life? Kazam, let's give it a try."
Nudging Buta forward to make the priest stumble towards the stairs "Off you go... Kenta will watch... see if right or wrong."
The priest gives Vaughn a desperate look, stumbles over to the stairwell and puts his foot slowly on the step...nothing happens
Hah! You're right!
He takes another step and still nothing happens - Great, you solved it!
Then he looks at the third step
Red or blue?
Red. Definitely red. Vaughn *shrugs* when his back its turned.
Ok! the priest says in a sudden burst of hope, takes another step and... is reduced to a stinking pile of ash within a split second!
A colourful flame has shot out of the step and consumed the man fully leaving only a sticky mixture of charred bones, molten flesh and singed equipment behind...
Uh. blue?
"Crazzleboks!" Kyren utters slowly. "That is sort of a costly mistake. Let's not make that one again! That poor chap didn't stand a chance. This will teach me to study more in art class. So who do we use to test out our ideas on now? Too bad we don't have that crazy kobold hanging around with us!"
"That was dramatic"
"I wonder if there are further clues or survivors about? No point risking any of us to advance further"
Kenta raises an eyebrow at the display, showing no remorse for the loss of the priest. Sighing he asks the others "We have friend outside with many many people already dead, so no matter if make many mistake. Have time to go get dead walking ones?"
Unable to stop the priest before he took the next step, Tal'Zeneb is aghast at the poor man's fate.
"That was unfortunate." he says dryly "Perhaps a test of the inanimate."
He removes one of his crossbow bolts from its quiver and tosses it on the step marred by the remains of the ill-fated priest.
"I agree with using the undead as bait!" Berry chimes in. "Alternatively I can prep the neurotoxin!"
Alcheringa watches to see the fate of the bolt, or whether its time to fetch undead.