The blood dripping onto the altar trickles down. But the small amount doesn't seem to do anything. It's clear that a lot more blood is going to be needed.
There is a loud echoing crash, but the magic fails to move the obsidian block.
Grith, unsatisfied at the probable truth, turns toward the "glitterdark" door and tries his spell there.
As a last resort, Vasayo tries shooting his own mirror image with an arrow.
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Alton sinks to the floor against one of the walls. His bow falls to the ground beside him and he puts his face in his hands.
The knock spell blasts open the "glitterdark" door. So the party now has a means of escape. But the way forward to the Forever Stone is blocked without a sacrifice.
Vasayo has a stern look on his face, even as the door out of this cursed room is opened.
"I can't," he starts speaking, just loud enough for the ones standing next to him to hear. Then his voice raises. "I can't! There is no turning back."
He gives Grith a tired look. For the first time since you met him, Vasayo seems to have lost his bravado.
"Outside this mine, only death awaits me. And rightfully so. If I can't reach the Forever Stone, can't use it to right a wrong, I might as well be dead."
He gets out a letter from under his vest. It holds an important-looking seal on it and is partly damaged from the several instances Vasayo got mangled, beaten and digested alive while in this cursed mine. He walks over to Randal, pressing his one hand against his shoulder while handing him the letter with the other one, together with the healing potion from his belt.
"Make sure this reaches the Magister. He will know what it means. Tell him what I did, what I will do, maybe this will be enough to save a friend."
His face is pale, you can see he is shaking, almost crying. He slowly walks down the corridor again and into the room with the altar, leaving his backpack and weapons at the entrance. He sits on the cold stone altar, the ceremonial dagger in hands, gathering his last reserves to do what has to be done. He looks up to see who has come to his side in his final moments. He looks you in the eyes one after the other. My very own honour guard, he thinks and smirks. He feels pride in what he is doing. For the first time, he is not running away. He will end this, save a friend, hopefully, if the Magister keeps his word. And he will aid his companions on their way into the annals of history. Maybe after all, he won't be forgotten or remembered a thief and murderer.
Vasayo slowly places himself on the altar, a bit calmer and in deep concentration. You guess he is making his final prayers to the gods. He breathes in and out, slowly, for the last time. Then he brings up the ceremonial dagger and plunges it into his chest.
Randal takes the potion and the letter and follows Vasayo into the altar room.
" What are you?... But you?... Are you su...? " Randal splutters as Vasayo lies down and takes the dagger.
Alton is stunned as he watches Vasayo's brief monologue. He forces himself to watch the rogue take his own life. If he is going to make a sacrifice like this, I might as well make sure he doesn't do it alone, eh?
Grith seems a bit confused for the whole event. Only after the rogue's eyes go dark does he seem able to accept what transpired. His cheeks goes flush and he begins trembling, a frown contorting his face. "Well that was a foolish thing to do! Why, there's more than enough blood in the few of us to open that door! We could have done it together! We could have found a sickly fellow who needed help taking care of his family! We could've... why we could've..." the dwarf continues, increasingly worked up. "Madness! This place! This accursed mine drove him mad. Well I won't stand for it. The mad fool! I'll bring you back just so I can knock you out with my own hands! Come on men, let's fall in line and head out. Find the stone, save the thief, then cave in this worthless arcane disaster. Let's move!" Grith declares in a huff, drawing his hammer as though ready to strike down invisible foes in that very room.
The obsidian door doesn't open right away. First the blood pours from Vasayo's lifeless body. So - so much blood. It trickles down the grooves into the grating. And then there's a font of life pouring from below...
The world shutters to a halt as a being steps in from a corner of the room. He is covered in shadow and bound by secrets. He is Mask, the newly risen God of Shadows. Patron to thieves, assassins, spies, and all those who work in shadows.
Mask looks down on the dead thief and smiles. "He'll probably just die anyway -- but what the hell. I'm bored."
The god makes an errant, borderline flippant gesture and suddenly a surprised Vasayo tat was standing before the court of Kelemvor is thrust back into his body with no memory of his brief visit in the afterlife.
Another errant gesture. A spell of shadowy regeneration. He would be reborn as a half-shade. He thought about making him a true scion of darkness, but that was probably not a good idea. The last thing he needed was Shar drawing his attention this way.
He walks to the pile of equipment on the floor, and stands over a dagger and shortsword. "Might as well go for broke." A wisp of shadow from his finger divides into two, and engulfs the dagger and sword, transforming them.
The weapons begin to bleed shadowy wisps of darkness.
He then smirked at the others and said, "Time in." And then he was gone and reality lurched forward once more.
The light surrounding Vasayo is suddenly extinguished. And the rogue, as a newly crowned Chosen of Mask, slowly opens his now yellow eyes.
And then the obsidian block screeches backwards, opening the way forward.
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Vasayo's head is spinning as he slowly sits up again. He looks around in confusion.
"Didn't I just ... well ... die?" he starts muttering. "Yes, I'm pretty certain I just stabbed myself with a dagger in the chest. There was blood and all ... it was quite gross as I remember it. And what in the nine hells is wrong with my skin? That shadowy figure, was it just a dream or halucination? Someone pinch me and tell me I'm really alive for that matter!"
"I don't feel good about this." Grith admits openly.
"Oh, I'm sorry, just hand me that dagger and I'll try again," Vasayo spits out sarcastically. "Well, I admit, I'm cautiously pessimistic too, but for now, I'm happy to be alive. "
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Alton steps back from Vasayo. So, are you... alive?
Eventually the party decides to continue on.
You hear the sound of metal striking stone. Ahead, the passage widens into a 20-foot-high cavern with large clusters of glittering red crystal sprouting from rocky outcroppings everywhere. Resting on the uneven floor are large barrels filled with the crystal in powdered form.
Standing in the middle of the room, pulverizing a crystal formation with its massive fists, is an iron golem forged in the likeness of a grinning dwarf. It stands 9 feet tall and is nearly as wide.
If the golem is aware of Vasayo, it doesn't show it.
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Alton also moves into a position where he can cover the golem with his bow.
Grith waits to see if the golem tears anyone apart.
Devel also stays back, cautious.
Vasayo tries to imagine a route for the group to sneak past the golem without alerting it. Maybe as long as tehy don't come too close and leave the crystals and dust alone, the golem won't attack them?
The powdered red crystal is Krimsonite. It is effectively worthless.
The large boulder blocking the way forward only leaves gaps large enough for a small character to fit through. So even if you could sneak past only the Hobbits could go to the next area.
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Grith looks at the boulder, then gestures at the golem and shrugs.
Grith pulls out his diamond pick and tries to cross towards the obstruction without provoking his golem likeness.
If the Golem noticed the dwarf sneaking past him with a diamond pick axe, he shows no sign and continues working.
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Grith nods at the others, making sure they're prepared to save his life if things go sideways. He heaves the ax up behind him and brings it down at the obstruction.
While the diamond pick does strike off a healthy 2-inch piece of rock off of the obstruction, it isn't nearly enough to get the medium characters through.
It does however attract the attention of the Golem, which walks over with all the stealthy, subtlety of a rock slide. It towers over Grith, points at the diamond pick and leaves its massive out-stretched hand open inches in front of him.
Grith shrugs, hands over the pick, and steps out of the way. "Impress me."
Vasayo holds his breath as the behemoth stomps over to Grith. If this thing decides to murder them, they are very likely done for.
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Randal stands a little ways back but his hand is on the hilt of his mace and he's ready to run to Griths aid if things turn nasty.
The Golem clutches the diamond pick in its massive hands, and then walks back to where it was mining the Krimsonite. It begins using the pickaxe rather than its bare hands to break even more of the red mineral.
Grith blinks. "Excuse me, that wasn't a gift. Break this for me, you tin can."
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The Golem stops and looks back to Grith.
After a moment it just goes back to mining the Krimsonite.
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Grith sighs.
Vasayo stands up from his crouching prosition. At the moment, the golem doesn't pose a threat, so there's no point in hiding.
"I think the golem doesn't take commands from just anyone. He seems to be looking for some kind of identification maybe?" Vasayo guesses while stepping back out of the shadows. "Did we stumble upon anything like that?"
That's when an idea hits him: "Didn't we find some document on this dwarf all the way up there?"
"The deed! Good idea, Vasayo."
Grith produces the deed to the mine and declares, "Finders Keepers!", showing it to the golem.
The Golem inspects the deed, then stands back and salutes Grith.
With a little direction, the Golem moves the boulder away, clearing the path to the next room. But once that is done it continues mining the Krimsonite. Directions to do other things, merely confuse the smiling golem.
The ceiling of this enormous cavern ranges from 30 to 50 feet high. Stalactites cling to the roof in various places, and the walls are slick with moisture.
Rolling hills of stinky bat guano cover the floor, and hopping about this fetid gray carpet are numerous giant cave crickets with pale white carapaces. Each one is the size of a sheep, and they seem skittish. The cavern is also aflutter with hundreds of bats.
Randal manages to see that dangling from the 30-foot-high ceiling in the northeast part of the cavern is a leathery black pod about 10 feet long and 3 feet wide.
Randal motions for everyone to stop. Then he points out the bat.
" Looks like some kind of giant bat. Light will probably annoy it. Maybe if we are careful and those that can see in the dark lead those who can't we'll make it through here without a fight.
Alton nods. Randal is right. Let's not kill more than we have to, eh?
"Without a light source I will be bl..." Vasayo starts speaking before he notices the change in the colour pallet. While his surroundings are greyed out, he is still able to see his environment perfectly.
"Ok, that's handy," he sais absentmindedly, without bothering to further elaborate.
Vasayo tries to help his blind comrades while he himself moves along carefully, his bow drawn.