Dalton was a bit ticked the blood offer was not made when it could be split between the two. Surely thrice a pint wouldn't kill them. Instead, they found themselves in a macabre prison. Also holding his breath, Dalton followed towards the door - and ignored contact with the dying.
The cries of the desperate follow you as you reach the far door, a mother thrusts our her baby, but the party realizes the gravity of the situation and moves on.
They close the door behind them, then turn to examine the room they're now in. The room is a 30 foot diameter circle, painted around the entire length of the wall is the history of minotaurs. Above the one massive painting are four torches (reachable), evenly spaced out. One above the door, one on the far wall, and one on each side.
The most interesting aspect of the room is the center. You see hundreds of thousands of tiny white specks floating in space. After a minute of watching them, you see they are slowly moving linearly, but are confined to the exact shape of two separate minotaurs, except each one is about twice the size of a normal minotaur. Also, inside all the specks of the one on the left, you see another stone chip.
Toramin will un-gag the villainous alchemist, whose name he has already forgotten, and ask him a brief question.
"I tire of riddle, traps, and puzzles. While we make our way to the gatehouse, good men and women die. The more of our people who are injured the longer you will have to suffer broken hands and ankles. I assure you that our priests are your only hope for succor because I will make sure you die before any outside rescue is actualized. I am your only path through this war. I will give you one chance to speed our passage to the gate house and to your healing. Choose. Choose wisely and choose now."
Gelrick takes a moment to clear his throat, looking around the room with curiosity. "Interesting, they even depict..." He stops as Toramin starts talking. He glances over at him before continuing to read the history on the walls. "My life is already forfeit, your bargaining chip is weak."
What was he looking at when he spoke?
After stuffing the gag back into the mouth of some nameless footnote on the rolls of the damned, Toramin will note, "It sounds as though our guest -- who thinks he is too clever by half -- has not been in this room before. That suggests that there is an alternative route of ingress and egress into the compound."
He was glancing at a depiction of when the minotaurs lost a battle at Sans de Glor, a battle they often deny ever happened.
Bjorkus moves towards the cloud of specks bearing the stone shard.
"What are they?" he rumbles aloud. "Are they alive?"
Toramin will start examining the room in detail, taking 20 (19). He is looking, but not touching.
When Psotheos hears what the man wants for his cure, he feels hopeless. Not just because three liters of blood from the drow would put Lindale out of action for a few days at least, but also because of the enormity of the situation. This man is the creator of the disease and the best chance for a cure, but he has no scruples and is utterly untrustworthy unless his own well being is involved.
Psotheos doesn’t blame Lindale for walking away, refusing the offer. He admires Toramin for being brave enough to offer his own blood as well.
Overwhelmed with pity and grief he nearly cries as he walks across the chamber filled with his fellow citizens under the throes of the disease. As he holds his breath, it feels like a pressure is building within him, a rage at Nuro that he can’t wait to unleash. His eyes plead with the woman holding the babe to understand that he can do nothing for her.
In the new room, after catching his breath, Psotheos walks around the two minotaurs. ”Like statues made of illuminated motes. I would have studied magic if I knew I could do this,” he says in a whisper. Their beauty does nothing to lift the heaviness in his heart from the last room.
”Bjorkus, does the mural appear accurate to you? There might be some incorrect information that is a clue to the exit.”
"Beautiful," remarked Dalton at the light-sculpture. "But thin." He waved his hand through the space between some of the motes, not particularly toward the chip.
"I don't know a whole lot 'bout Taur history. My father an I weren't real close and there weren't any others on our crew", he explains.
Bjorkus snorts in frustration and studies the murals.
As Dalton attempts to wave his hand between the motes, his hand is stopped on the outline of the minotaur, which you now realize is more than just an outline. Suddenly the giant minotaur animates, turning to strike at Dalton! Just as suddenly as the minotaur animates, it returns to its original position and becomes still.
Bjorkus snorts again, in surprise this time, as the giant pseudo-minotaur animates long enough to flatten the fat elf. He prepares himself for a fight, only to see the creature resume its disinterest.
The bull approaches close enough to drag Dalton back.
"Get that wand. He's hurt bad."
If I remove one of the torches on the wall, do either of the minotaurs change shape?
Which minotaur is the chip in? Toramin will remove the east west torch nearest it.
The stone casts as a shadow as expected by a solid object, and the motes continue to not reflect or absorb light in any way.
Lindale uses detect magic.
Toramin takes a torch and brings it to the motes, but as it gets to the outline of the minotaurs it's stopped dead, as surely as if you hit a stone wall.
"Here Dalton. Can't have our magician dying on us now can we."
"I can help you put your arm back in if you want."
Brought back to consciousness with a wand, Dalton thanks his rescuers and stands slowly. His arm ached, and his temper was red-hot. He studied the situation anew.
"Perhaps something to do with light and dark to get that chip. The motes are points of light, so perhaps a shadow would halt their rather violent response. It's also possible the reverse might have the effect, flooding them out with light."
Trying none of the above though, Dalton merely reached for the chip this time - but with the hand of his mind.
Toramin watches Dalton use his mage hand, and then gets a smile on his face. Toramin will use the torch to extend the shadow of his hand into the minotaur to get the chip.