Kergh crushes his chest symbol hard and faint lines of blood cut away and begin to fizz and pop into reddish mist. The mist grows and grows around the priest covering him and the rest in a large cloud filling the area.
Oswald holds forth Rosaline, the ragdoll limp in his palm, toward Drisella. He hesitates a moment, fingers clutching his poppet tight against her magical pull, "Please be careful with her. She may not be what I once thought but there is still importance in her existence." With a deep sigh, the doctor releases his hold on Rosaline, allowing Drisella's magic to pluck it aloft. He remains close by to the girl, watching and waiting to rescue his poppet from the horde of scarabs if need be.
"Snack time little bugs. We brought a treat."
As the chambers rumble, Kaynen hesitates with insatiable curiosity, looking back at he source - eyes wide with admiration.
He falters ever so slightly in his step, hands absentmindedly reaching for his own belt.
That was impressive... I wonder if he's using refined guano?
As Barnabas and Oswald continue to push ahead towards the carrion-loving beetles, Kaynen returns to his senses.
As he watches Drisella open the cage door, he begins to hum to himself, standing upright and attempting a formal salute to the captain, the action itself making him feel somewhat inspired.
Rushing down the hallway and pursued by the murderous remoted controlled construct of chemical, flesh and steel, the forsaken retreat back to the second room. Thinking quickly Drisella throws open the door to the glass enclosure filled with thousands of black carrion beetles. Suddenly the beetles pause in their aimless scampering. They wriggle their antennae frantically... and then, first one and then dozens begin to pour through the door and down the hall. A moment later, a flood of thousands of bugs follows, a massive black shiny carpet of them flowing forward at remarkable speed.
Suddenly the golem catches sight of the massive carpet of black chitin flooding towards him. The stinking, clanking mechanical monstrosity turns and begins to run away to the other end of the room.
The beetles pour into the room and rush across it to the creature. The swarm pours up its rotting lower limbs and then disappears under its armor plates.
Like something out of a dream the bugs begin devouring the carrion flesh of the creature so fast that the forsaken can actually hear their little jaws masticating the golems flesh. It's a wet sort of a sound, and not very pleasant.
The armored creature attempts to flee but slams into a wall. The massive swarm covers it so thickly that its vision, or whatever it uses instead of vision, is blocked. bzzzt sss
The rotting, armored thing is covered completely in a carpet of bugs so thick that it can no longer be seen beneath. It raises its arms. zzzzt *crack*
Stumbling back and forth the golem slams into another wall leaving an imprint of crushed bugs smeared against the stone surface. Its movements are erratic and uncontrolled, like a man who is caught in a fever dream.
zzzzz
Suddenly the creature stops flailing. Through the carpet of insects covering it, one mad, glaring eye appears for just a moment. It fixes on Kaynen
The creature lurches to its feet and swings its left arm -- the one with the launcher -- around under its chin, or where its chin would be if it weren't covered with thousands of frantically gobbling beetles.
There is a blast of shattering glass, an explosion of steam, and a truly remarkable smell. Everything goes silent. The headless construct, still twitching and sparking, slumps over lifelessly. The greedy beetles continue their work.
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Mikhail smirks mercilessly as the beetles consume the flesh golem, enjoying the pain and discomfort of its foul controller. He keeps his distance from them, skirting the edge of the room. The last thing that he wants is to draw the sickening little skitters to himself. "Well done," he praises Drisella. "Thank you for risking..." Mikhail struggles with the words for his praise for Oswald. "Something of such value to you."
Oswald collects Rosaline from where she continues to dance in the air by Drisella's minor spell, giving the poppet a close examination before carefully placing it back in his coat pocket. The doctor sighs with some relief as he acknowledges Mikhail's words, "I'm sure we'll each risk something valuable, probably our lives, before our path comes to its end. Now let us see what the golem was hiding behind the curtain." As he says it, Oswald starts over to alcove behind the curtain, coming to a halt before crossing its threshold. He waits for Barnabas or Kaynen to come check it before touching anything but still looks around for any obvious features.
"That went exceedingly well," Ethaniel acknowledges, though not without just a mere hint of disappointment at the lack of the challenge a fight against the golem was certain to be. Still, the man is no fool, nor is he one to prefer needless fighting to a clever plan and his continued survival. Taking one last look at the now fallen creation, the magus makes his way towards the alcove, joining Oswald in looking around, yet, like the good doctor, refrains from touching anything just yet.
Barnabas wipes a sheen of sweat from his forehead and lets out a sigh of relief. "That was a little too close for comfort. I think we nearly lost the ogre on that one. "
Grimacing in disgust as a beetle scurries across his foot, he crushes the bug beneath a boot heel before it can rejoin the feast. "At least we can be thankful that the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing. I can't imagine that the dwarf would have intentionally put his little pet contraption anywhere near those beetles."
Searching the remains of the golem is a gruesome task. Still, it is a necessary one in that the challenges are made to teach, always viciously, but ever with the point of further training the ninth knot to leave no stone unturned or advantage misused. As Kherg and Grumblejack scatter the piles of bugs and dig though the chemicals, wreckage and shreds of gristle and flesh that have not yet been eaten, they are able to find a four pronged key made of brass.
As the search continues, Mikhail stands to the side watching the slow search unfold and he wonders to himself what might have happened had the Forsaken burned the bugs. After all, they had been harmless. Perhaps there was second lesson to be learned here. It was not enough in the service of the Dark Lord to use all resources at hand, but at times it might be required to accept the momentarily unpleasantness rather than act rashly and later regret it. After all, it was clear from the conversations and training the group had received this far, that the Cardinal had spent years slowly putting his plan into motion. He had drawn together the pawns necessary for his gambit and placed the board just so. Despite not knowing what his eventual plan was for conquering Talingarde, it was clear that everything he had done to this point had been part of it.
Finally after searching the wreckage of the the pair of brutes emerge victorious. Though much of the body was left unusable, the pair does manage to find several large struts, spacers and gears that were comprised of mithral alloy that appears to have served as part of the creatures harness. Finding nothing else of note, Barnabas takes lead and moves back into the previous room where the Forsaken first encountered the golem.
Now that the curtain has been lowered, the knot is able to see that there is a single door that leads out of the room that was previously blocked from sight. Checking the door, Barnabas is unable to find any traps but does note the heavy brass lock upon the door. Quickly putting two and two together the former noble takes the key that was recovered from Zargo's amalgamation and fits it to the lock, where the door slides open effortlessly.
As before there is another hallway that is ten feet long and ten feet wide. It leads to another door and inscribed above the arch is another one of the Cardinals "lessons".
A worthy servant of our Father can fight effectively even when at a temporary disadvantage. Remember that knowledge is power. Many challenges may be burned in the fire of understanding.
Again showing his cautious nature, Barnabas checks over the door but finds it unlocked and without any sort of "mundane" trap. Pushing the door open, the man then pauses in uncertainty. The room beyond is dark and unnatural. The ambient light should reveal something, but at the threshold of the door it is pitch black. Even Mikhail for whom darkness should have no hold upon is momentarily astounded. The room ahead is filled with utter and absolute darkness. Its possible that the door leads to another hallways, or following the previous pattern a room, but nothing is assured.
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Drisella finally lets a held breath out as the creature expires of its own accord. The release of tension from the young woman comes with a shudder that briefly belies her actual age in spite of her usually stoic demeanor. A fleeting look is offered to Walker in Darkness as the creature moves to assess the condition of the corpse. Drisella, however, approaches Grumblejack and lays a hand on the ogre's uninjured flank.
She says nothing, but the touch says much all on its own. For the briefest of moments, the summoner's eyes show a kindness not displayed to the others yet. She owes the ogre, that much is clear.
Surveying the darkness, Drisella offers a look down to Walker who returns the girl's stare with a slow, steady shake of its head. Furrowing her brows, the young woman clutches her puzzlebox firmly and looks up to Mikhail. "Walker cannot see through that shadow, what do your eyes see?"
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Mikhail reads the inscription, mulling it over with his cunning intellect. "Knowledge is power," he whispers to himself. He knew the truth of that statement more than most. Knowledge of his identity led to his imprisonment, while it would lead in the future to his ascension to the throne.
He steps forward into the dark room, looking around in all directions. His eyes have always been able to pick out details in the dark, but he may as well be blind in this room. "It must be magic," he says to Drisella, "as I cannot see anything at all. I imagine that this is the temporary disadvantage. Drisella, Oswald, Ethaniel... Do you have any idea what spell this is, and how to undo it? Take not a step farther until we have some idea. The floor may be pitted or trapped." He draws his sword in preparation for a monstrous creature to burst out of the darkness.
Kaynen smirked at the sign, with each re-reading of "Knowledge is power" unnecessarily boosting his ego further.
Finally, unable to control himself, he replied to their currently-unseen benefactor, "how right you are..."
Squinting at the darkness, Kaynen leans forward and considers passing his hand through the impenetrable darkness.
"I am reminded once of a tale of adventurers, where a seemingly dark corridor was in fact an ancient artifact capable of annihilating any matter that came into contact with it."
Pulling a tindertwig from his person, the half-elf pokes at the darkness with the stick, withdrawing it to ensure it hasn't been disintegrated by some powerful magic.
"If we are to assume knowledge is power, it is very likely this room mirrors one of the previous ones."
Kaynen regarded the first passage again with some uncertainty.
"Perhaps our most worthy servants of The Father should go first?"
With this, his gives Kergh a long look.
Are we to face a cage of undead beetles that would devour living flesh in the darkness, now?
Oswald examines the darkness as if it were a living creature, even going so far as to remove his scalpel from a pocket and try to slice a piece of its essence from the whole. The doctor shakes his head as he examines it, "No spells to dispel it, no. Maybe something to help though we shall have to see if it has any effect. Maybe it is as Kaynen states and what lies before us is but a reflection of came before. If so, then we should be prepared to fight creatures big and small or to walk a proscribed path without the benefit of our sight to read the runes upon the floor. I suppose if they are enscribed, we might be able to feel them. Hrmm."
As he contemplates the possiblities, Oswald utters a few quick words and waves his fingers about like they were dancing flames. In the air surrounding the doctor, four floating lights bearing the faint resemblance to lanterns coalesce into being. They shed their light all around the door way before floating forward past the veil of darkness at Oswald's wordless bidding.
Examining the impenetrable darkness, Drisella is at a loss for words. While she is sure that it is magical in nature, the spell if it is such a thing is something she has never seen before. Meanwhile as Drisella examines the darkness itself, Kaynen takes a more historical based approach. Poking at the darkened boundary with the edge of a tindertwig, the half-elf holds his breath before withdrawing it. To his relief the twig emerges unbroken. As all of this is going on Oswald calls upon the power of his patron and summons a set of faint dancing lights. Sending them forward slowly they enter the edge of the black boundary and then vanish. Willing them back, the lights return. Whatever the darkness is, it does not seem to end spells currently in effect, but it does block any sight beyond the threshold of the doorway.
"Does anyone have any rope? Someone is going to have to go in there and it might be useful to have a tether."
Waiting for a reply, Barnabas fires his crossbow into the darkness and listens to hear if it strikes anything.
Firing his crossbow into the darkness Barnabas hears the whizz of the bolt before the sound of a dull "thud" as the bolt strikes something hard and solid. Half a breath later a second sound of clanking can barely be made out as the bolt falls onto something that sound metal like. After another second and a short breath by the creative ex-noble, no further sounds come from the obscure black room.
-Posted with Wayfinder
"You want me to go first. Fine. But I not best without eyes. Someone sneaky or like a cat better." Kergh gives the Walker a long look back.
Oswald brings forth his shovel, reaching out into the darkness to tap the floor plates within reach in front of the door frame, "I doubt stealth will be an issue with this challenge, Kergh. We'll be literally in the dark. No doubt something flammable within will prove the bane to this inky blackness, we will have to survive until we can find it." The doctor continues his probing until the sound of Barnabas' bolt clinks against the metallic ground. He tilts his head toward the room, "Opposite wall, you think?"
Pocketing his tindertwing for later use, Kaynen strokes his chin as he considers what he learned in the university about unnatural darkness such as the ones the Forsaken were now facing.
"There's magic like this. I do believe it emanates from a source, meaning if we could find a way to smother the source, prevailing lighting conditions should return."
Kaynen eyes the cloaks of the others.
"I'd think it would be somewhere about the middle of the room."
The half-elf takes no step forward to put himself in harms way.
"I'd offer to burn this challenge with my own special formula of Flames of Understanding, but I'm not sure if that's what our benefactor intended, here."
"I suppose we could simply walk straight ahead blindly until we bump into something," Ethaniel quips as he stares into the blackness in front of him. "Although perhaps Kaynen may have the right idea with burning our way through this particular challenge. Perhaps whatever the magical darkness is coming from is flammable."
"If I bumble around in dark I die. That is stupid waste."
"If I bumble around in dark I die. That is stupid waste."
Oswald stops prodding with his shovel as he turns to the others, "Yes, as Barnabas said, a bit of rope might do us good in here. Barring that, I suppose we can hold to one another so no-one is lost as we proceed. As it stands, we can't gleam enough about this challenge by staying here at the door, so garter your loins." The doctor reaches out for either rope or someones hand as he starts creeping toward the darkness.
Kherg grips Oswald firmly and ventures into the blackness, sliding one foot along the floor, and then the other.
This is madness! Sorry Barbellar.
Kherg coughs and whispers out loud, "Maybe the answer is in here?"
Snorting derisively, Drisella looks at the formation of what amounts to a human daisy-chain with brows furrowed. Clutching her puzzle box in both hands, the young woman slides the colored squares around with her thumbs, watching her companions attempt to fumble about the darkness. She nods to Walker in Darkness, who moves to take her place with them. The slick, black creature does not have hands to join, per-se, but reaches out with its sinuous, barbed tail to touch the person at the rear of the chain.
"I will wait here with Grumblejack," the summoner states flatly, unwilling to probe the lightless void with blindly groping hands. "I will attempt to... discern another approach, should this fail." Nodding to Walker in Darkness, Drisella continues to play with the colored squares of her puzzlebox.
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The Dark Prince, Mikhail steps into the darkness, followed a moment later by Oswald and then Kergh, and so on until only Drisella and Grumblejack remain behind. Watching the group enter the all encompassing blackness, Drisella notes how the ebon room seems to drink in the group as the step in. Each person as they cross the threshold seems to be absorbed by the darkness. To the group members in the daisy chain, the experience however is somewhat different. The blackness is absolute. Mikhails eyes, despite their sharpness at night are unable to resolve anything before him. It is not so much that he can't pierce the gloom. Rather it is as if his eyes have lost the ability to see. However his other senses seem unaffected; He can still hear the breathing of the other members of the knot, the touch of Oswalds clammy hands against his own and the sound of the scrape of boots along the floor.
A moment after stepping in, Mikhail pauses... because just a single pace beyond the boundary of the darkness, the surface of the floor changes. His finely crafted boots are no longer resting on the dressed and fitted stones of the other rooms and the corridor. Instead, it feels like he has now stepped onto some sort of metal grating.
One by one each of the remaining members of the knot step out onto the metal grating. Barnabas notes the sound seems to match the second more faint fall when his bolt hit the floor. What is more, is that now that he stands upon it he can tell there is a hollow quality to it. The grating shakes ever so slightly below his feet and it sounds like there is an empty space below the floor, though it is hard to say how deep the pit below the metal grating extends.
As the group advanced about fifteen feet into the room, Walker in Darkness suddenly lets out a catlike yowl of sharp metal against a tin can. Something just touched its paw. It feels cold and damp, like a morning mist or a sudden splash of water, but with a rubbery firmness to it. Hissing, the beast of shadows and pain, growls. We are not alone!
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"Retreat!" Drisella shouts after she hears that warning from Walker, "Vacate the room now!" One of the colored pieces of her puzzle box snaps into place with a click. She's figured it out.
"Grumblejack! Fetch the bomb launcher from the carrion golem!" The young woman barks the order to the weary ogre, then readies herself to retrieve the destructive piece of artifice.
Hopefully, it still functions.
Oswald whips his head around in the darkness, eyes straining fruitlessly for some sign of anything but inky nothingness. He starts feeling his way back toward the doorway with his feet, pulling the hands he holds along with him, "I see nothing. Nothing like the corpse sees in the coffin. What is it, Drisella?"
Mikhail carefully walks over the grating towards the entrance to the room, maintaining a slow and steady gait. "Return to the entrance!" Sometimes leadership means knowing when to listen to knowledgable followers and backing their ideas, even if they did not originate with the leader.
"Don't have to tell me twice."
Blackness darker than night enshrouds much of the ninth knot as they begin to venture into the inky blanked room. The first steps are tentative as the group steps out onto the steel holed floor when suddenly walker shouts out a warning that they are not alone in the room. Scattering like leaves in the wind at the warning, Mikhail orders the group to retreat from whatever foe it is that stalks them in the umbral room. Mikhail, Kergh, Oswald and Kaynen all manage to keep their bearings despite the loss of sight and turn fleeing from the room and back through the portal. Barnabas and Ethaniel however are not so lucky. In the shouted warning the slaver and the arsonist quickly lose their direction. Ethaniel by pure luck managed to run headlong back the way he came, despite of, rather then because of his bearings. Barnabas instead runs the opposite way before colliding with a stone pillar. Despite the darkness, the wily man manages to throw his body out of the way of hitting it with the full force of his run, and he can feel the stone grazing his arm. Eyes useless the man feels around him, knowing at any second that a foe may attack him. The pillar feels rough. It is approximately four feet high and some areas are covered with soft mildew patches that might be wet felt or mold. Atop of the pillar is a cold steel orb, roughly the size of two fists clutched together and the way it wobbles, it's clearly not attached to the pedestal, but is instead resting atop it.
As the rest of the group exit, Walker in Darkness takes flight as well, all four paws padding towards the exit before it gives a yowl of pain and anger. It feels something pierce its skin, and can hear the drops of its own blood mixed with the signals of pain from its right hind leg. Still the beast of darkness and pain knows such sensations all too well and manages to retain its bearings before exiting the room.
Once back in the flickering torchlight of the hallway the others can see a long gash running down its leg. The beast's body shakes from an unnatural weariness and blood continues to flow from the odd tear in its leg. It is almost as if the beasts ichor blood had somehow been forced to ruture from its veins.
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Mikhail turns to look at the others as they all make it out of the darkened room. He counts all of them in the safety of the light (an irony that he feels keenly) - all except for Barnabas. "Barnabas! Come to my voice!" His commanding tenor echoes through the room, hopefully helping him find his way out. "Follow my voice!"
Round 1, Init 3
Understanding something hostile is amidst everyone, Kaynen doubles back with the others to the comfort of torchlight before taking a breath and sizing up the situation.
Seeing the wound on Drisella's "pet" and unaware of Barnabas' discovery, Kaynen fiddles a strap loose and grasps a small iron flask and begins to shake the contents rapidly, a smile forming on his face.
"Here, kitty... kitty..."
for
Oswald rubs his chin in thought as the rest stumble out of the darkness, all but Barnabas. The bleeding on Walker's leg interests the mad doctor for a moment before he goes back to examining the dark shrouded room. He mutters a spell under his breath, magic coming to life before his eyes.
Grunting in pain at the collision, Barnabas gropes blindly at the structure that he's collided with. His dextrous fingers running up the slimy column, his hand stops on the cool metal sphere, he picks it up and tries to climb on top of the column. "Where the blazes is everyone. I found something. Feels like a metal sphere."
Stumbling through the darkness, Barnabas barely manages to keep himself from colliding with what feels like a stone pillar. Grasping the smooth, cold orb in his hands, he momentarily feels a tingle run through his fingers when he picks up the weighty orb. While the tingle is not harmful in any way, it makes the hairs on the back of his arms seem to stand on end. From behind him, the crafty slaver can hear the yells and directions from the rest of the ninth knot as they call back towards him. With their quick thinking, it should be easy for him to escape to the entrance. Unfortunately however, that would have to wait, at least for a few moments.
Clutching the orb in one hand, the rogue turns his body in the pitch black towards the calls of the others. It is at the very same moment that the rogue feels a cool, damp sensation run along his spine. It is like morning dew upon a leaf or a humid breath in the night. Suddenly the coolness turns to heat and then pain, as the rogue feels a puncturing sensation and a momentarily lightheadedness. He can feel his blood pumping and something wet running down his back. He can feel his back erupt in screaming spikes of agony, but whatever it is that caused the wound remains silent.
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"Barnabas!" Mikhail cannot see into the inky darkness and must rely on his other senses. He can't hear the footfalls of the sure-footed rogue. He feels a bit of worry for the fallen slaver; if there is anyone in this knot who he can view as anything resembling an equal, it is the former nobleman. This worry and regard does not translate into him rushing into the black. He waits to see what the man will do.
Barnabas lets loose a cry of agony and gritting his teeth, he moves towards he believes the exit to be, the orb clutched tightly against his pain wracked body.
While the others call out directions to Barnabas, Oswald peers into the black abyss, his eyes faintly glowing with a blue light as the fabric of magic itself becomes as light to his vision.
With a grunt and groan of effort, Grumblejack grabs the carrion golem's bomb-launching arm that it had killed itself with and begins dragging the creature — bodily — in the direction of his allies. As he does so, Drisella steps to the side and flourishes one arm towards the opening that Barnabas is making his way towards. Walker in Darkness quickly slinks along beside Drisella's heels, then moves aside as Grumblejack hauls the carcass up beside the red-clad summoner.
Offering the arm out to Drisella, Grumblejack watches with some puzzlement as she gives it a scrutinizing look, trying to ascertain how it functions in order to fight darkness with fire.
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Sword in hand, Ethaniel peers into the darkness, waiting for Barnabas to emerge. The cry of pain that comes from the rogue and its implications are not lost on him, yet the magus retains his more or less impassive expression, confident that the other man will find his way to the rest of them thanks to their directions. Looking to the side, he notices the wisps of blue light coming from Oswald's eyes, recognizing their meaning. With a shrug and a slight feeling of disapproval towards himself for not having thought of it as well, Ethaniel casts the simple spell that will allow him to discern magical auras around him and joins the doctor in his effort to glean some more information from the darkness.
Kaynen's eyes remain shut while he concentrates on hearing any hint of Barnabas beyond in the darkness.
How lightly his footsteps are!
Swaying slightly to the soft beat in his head, Kaynen's eyes dart open once he hears his comrade's scream from within the dark.
And I thought in absolute darkness, nobody could hear one scream?
Nodding a mental note to himself, Kaynen's reflexes guide his hands to his belt where a handful of alchemical agents stand ready to mix. The half-elf narrows his eyes and readies himself to measure whatever follows Barnabas out of the darkness ahead.
The next four room's passed for the Forsaken in a flurry of trials and terrors, each worse than the next. The fourth trial, one of darkness and pain, intended to teach the Forsaken to work as a team even when all was not apparent was summarily ended when Drisella managed to activate Zargo's Alchemical Golems bomb launcher with devastating accuracy into the darkness. What none of the Forsaken could have known was that the room had been carefully prepared with a large colony of heat reactive mold and when fire.. any fire had been used in the room it was explode with horrifying results. The creature, whatever it was that had hurt Barnabas and Walker in Darkness died instantly in the fiery explosion, its cry drowned out by the sudden whoush of flame and fire that appeared just as the flames rocketed out of the portal, narrowly missing Barnabas just as he stumbled out of the door.
The Fifth lesson led the group to a room that was formed into a long passage that sloped gradually downward. Upon entering the long hallway, the door snapped shut and within a few seconds a loud rumbling could be heard from the upward slope. Kaynen's keen ears were the first to identify what the sound was. Stone grinding on stone and picking up speed. Within seconds a large boulder appeared, rolling towards the group and picking up speed. Despite the deadly nature of the trap, this too was a lesson. Against insurmountable force the only option is to flee. As the boulder picked up speed, the group broke into a run. Grumblejack and Walker in Darkness led the pack thanks to their long legs but despite all of the odds no one was left behind. As the boulder continued to roll, the group encountered a series of three pools of water. Each required the group to jump across frantically or lose time. The first two were water. The third had somehow been blessed and caused Mikhails skin to blister with grievous welts. The one positive of the water traps however is that each time the group managed to make their way past, the boulder that had been slowly picking up speed slowed noticeably. Finally after five long minutes of running and jumping for their lives, the group came to a dead end. At the top was a hole leading onward and the group with only seconds left managed to climb to the top before the boulder with its massive force and speed crashed against the stone, causing the underground complex to shake as if in an earthquake.
The Sixth lesson lead the group to a large circular room. At first glance the object of their trial, a glittering pendant of silver and blue lay in the center of the room atop a stone pedestal, encased under a glass jar. Kergh in a flash of wisdom however reminded the group that they were the Ninth Knot the Nessian Knot and there was a certain symmetry to the Ninth Knot facing Nine Lessons. Cautioned, the group spread out among the room. Oswald called upon the same magic he had done before, searching the room for magical aura's and was able to tell that a circular ring of binding had been placed around the jar. In careful conversation, Oswald, Kaynen and Drisella working together were able to identify the spell, a Magic Circle against Evil. Suspecting this a trap, Mikhail ordered the rest of the group to spread out and search the room, without disturbing the circle. After ten long minutes of searching, Barnabas is able to find a false door in the southern wall, and despite the glittering of the object, the other Forsaken abandoned the room suspecting it, correctly to be a false ruse placed to cost them time and resources. Indeed, the lesson of this room was one of choice. Do not be lured by gold. Focus on your objective.
The Seventh lesson began with yet another inscription above the door. A hint, or perhaps a teaching. There are many ways to worship Him. Stealth is one. Bow down, and come upon your enemies silently and unseen. The passageway beyond led into darkness, though it was easily pierced by Mikhail's keen eyes. Ahead lay fungi, growths and growths upon the walls. The room branched off into four directions and carved into stone at the foot of the room just before it became overwhelmed with fungi were the words Truth is hard but the Way is straight. Taking yet another cue from the veiled lessons the group placed themselves on their hands and knees and silently kept their heads looking towards the ground. They did not divert their attention and moved forward as a group towards the opposite end of the hall. To even raise their heads would have caused them to brush against the spores, hallucinogenic and poisonous, had Oswald had the chance to study them. But they followed the teaching to a fault and emerged from the room unscathed.
The Eighth was the oddest and yet most dangerous of the lessons the group faced, though upon the surface they could not know it. Above the doors were the words "Optional. Dangerous. She cannot lie." The room inside was rich in every sense of the word. Thick carpets with intricate patterns covered the floor. Expensive looking tapestries hung on the walls. There were several low couches with pillows and there were a number of decorations and ornaments that looked quite valuable: a narghili decorated with silver chasing and dozens of semiprecious stones was placed on a table while a candlestick that appeared to be solid gold shed faint light. A wine decanter stood next to the candlestick and looked to have been carved from a single block of crystal. The table also held a bowl of some dark, heavy-looking wood that had been elaborately carved. Inside of the the bowl are plump, juicy, delicious looking fruits, tropical in nature and would have cost great amounts to export from the Expanse.
The general color scheme of the room was red and gold and the air was slightly hazy with smoke like something from a Katapesh Den. The smell was strong but pleasant, musky and sweet at the same time and it was noticeably warmer in the room than in the corridor or the past seven other rooms.
On the opposite wall lay a door that exited out of the chamber and in the corner by the door was a low table. In front of the table was a single chair. Behind the table stood a divan and a woman was stretched on the divan, half sitting, half lying.
As the Forsaken enter she sat up a bit, putting the mouthpiece of the narghili to one side, before looking at the group and folding her hands. "The first thing you should know," she says softly, "is that I cannot lie." The woman's presence filled the room, and the strength of her personality hit the group like a wave of unspoken, raw power.
Her long hair was dark and curly. It was only loosely confined by a red silk headscarf and it fell in waves around her shoulders. Her eyes were green. If she was a human, then she appeared to be somewhere in her thirties. She wore a complicated looking belted robe of some heavy, rich fabric, patterned in red, green and gold. Her movements were very, very graceful, like a danger. Kaynen hummed to himself, feeling as if he could just stand there for a while and watch her move.
"I cannot lie," she said, "though I can speak incomplete truths. And of course, there are many questions I simply will not answer." She has a faint accent that was hard identify -- guttural and lilting at the same time. "The second thing you should know is that I may defend myself, my possessions, and my dignity. While it might be briefly amusing to kill or enslave you, that would result in me having to wait for the Cardinal to assemble another Knot. I'd prefer to be done with this. So, I suggest that you not be stupid. The third thing you should know is that this is entirely optional. You are not compelled or required to spend any further time here. At this point, you are still free to walk through that door and continue with the test. You will not be punished for doing so."
"Is this clear so far?"
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Mikhail's eyes feast upon the tableau of expensive fineries, eventually resting upon the speaker in the center. The gold and crimson make him feel precisely at home. The decadent prince truly enjoys beauty, and before him stands enough beauty to sate one of his hungers. He smiles at the woman, giving her the same smile that has charmed royalty and peasant girl alike to do things that they would never regret. "Only a fool would resist a chance to hear you speak," Mikhail flirts. "Half-truths and riddles are my mother tongue."
He sits in the chair, settling into the comfortable seat. He catches the woman's gaze, smiling as he does so. He drinks in her beauty, confident that she is likely doing the same. He allows several long moments to pass as they just look at one another. Mikhail finally interrupts it with a question. "What's your name?"
Smiling Softly in return, the woman inclines her head before pouring a measure of amber liquid from the crystal wine decanter into a small but elegantly crafted crystal class. Mikhail Halancoun, the woman says softly, nodding towards the man. It is no surprise to me that you would be the first to speak.. a leader.. in so many things. Sipping at her wine, the woman relaxes back on the divan. As to the question of my name. Some have called me Irin. That I believe will suffice. There is after all power in names, would you not agree, Prince Charthagnion. The woman states, staring at the man.
Reaching into a pocket of her robe the woman withdraws a small wooden box, roughly the size of a man's hand. As part of my agreement with Cardinal Thorn, I am required to tell you that you have three choices here. she says softly while taking a moment to look each member of the Forsaken in the eyes. First, I will remind you again, you can walk out that door and continue with the Cardinal's test. I will neither aid nor hinder you.
Second, she opens the box. Inside is a deck of cards. She places it on the low table in front of her and her hands seem to move with fluid gracefulness, flipping and folding the cards back and forth, together and through as fast as the eye can track them. second, I can read the cards for you. Ask them what you will, or simply ask for what you need to know. In the cards there can be seen what is past, or passing, or to come. I cannot lie, so believe me when I tell you: there are many things that you need to know. Of course, the woman pauses, looking Barnabas in the eye. Nothing of value comes without a price, as I believe you already know too well. Before you sit for a reading, I will cast a lesser geas upon you, and you must accept it without resisting. Folding her hands into her lap, the woman inclines her head towards the murders, arsonists, slavers and worse that make up the ninth knot. The choice is yours.