Sighing and turning to follow the two sylph's. Forest please don't let me die here.
Ibinu turns and stands to his imposing height, "do you not know who we are? Inam, tell these fools that don't know the Blessed when the see them."
Coming to an abrupt stop and turning around with a growl, "You have got to be kidding me. We are no impostors."
Inam turns around, a flash of imperious calm in her eye. "Indeed, my companions speak true - we are the Blessed, and I am an emissary of The Warrior Himself!" Etrah lands on her outstretched arm, displaying his glowing plumage to full effect. "If you claim my friend Etrah is an illusion or lie, we shall have words, you and I. Now what is this about impostors?"
One of the els steps forward, pulling down his hood. He has a gray, wasted face; his exact age is impossible to tell. In a scratchy voice, he says, "Forgive us, but how is it possible that you are the Blessed? I met the Blessed before I was sent here, and unless magic of some kind had changed your forms, you are simply not who I remember."
Ibinu's brow furrows and then his eyes light up, "ahhhh, well what date were you sent here? There has been a recent uh... yeah it was probably magic... change in the Blessed due to some really bad things being done by those that used to be in charge of the temple. So, I have to ask, why were you sent here? Are you mad, suspected of being oracles and didn't fail the 'ole truth test or simply in on this whole place at the Lady's behest?" He says this last part with a hint of warning to his allies.
Preparing to continue her verbal assault, she stops short as Ibinu chimes in. 'Seems like he's got this part handled. Good questions too! Hopefully it's resolved soon...' she considers.
Glaring at the priests, she waits...hoping for a promising answer.
The priest's mouth works silently. His furrowed brow attests that he has not thought about dates in quite some time. "It was...1232, or perhaps 1233. Err, how long have I been here?"
The old el is speechless for a moment. He clears his throat, attempting to speak. "I've almost spent more time in here than out there..." He looks up at Ibinu. "I...made an off-hand remark about one of the Blessed. I said that stubborn Ehtain would refuse a mission she had just been given. None of the inquisitors believed she would dare. Well, my little prediction came true, and I was 'rewarded' with the title of oracle, and..." He blinks, tears running down his face, "and I've been here ever since." He sits down on the floor and sobs. His companion, still hooded, bends over and rubs his back soothingly.
Mouth dropping open, Inam blurts "That's HORRIBLE! Oh, I'm so sorry. We don't do things like that anymore... Maybe you can come with us? Maybe we can help you get out of here...? Do you have family back home?"
He nods, absently. "They must think I abandoned them. I did go mad the first years of my captivity, but I found my way back with some help. I had a wife, and a beautiful little boy, Edoardo. Not a day goes by where I don't wonder what they are doing, if they are safe."
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"I am pleased to say Edoardo still lives. He's grown to be a fine young el! Please come with us...if you could perhaps aid us that would be even better! We've found what little answers I believe we are permitted to obtain in this place." replies Inam.
"We're looking for the exit."
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Lingering anger flowing through her veins keeps her mouth shut after her exasperated outburst. That dwindling anger surges back to a raging rapid with the explanation. I almost hope he comes back so we can kill him again.
"You...you know Eddy? What is he doing? Has he married-" He waves his hands in a negating gesture. "No. Time for that later. There used to be a way out of here for those who could navigate the maze, but darkspawn have infiltrated even this Hall, leaving the maze a deathtrap, and now no one leaves, except through death. And sometimes not even then."
He smiles, and stands up with a cricker-crack of bones and joints. "But of course! You are the new Blessed, are you not? With a little divine magic on your side, we should have no problem feeling this accursed place once and for all! What do you say? Allies?" He holds out his hand.
"Yes! Lets get to it. If you can navigate us from behind, that would be great. I'd hate for you to lead and stumble into a trap." agrees Inam, taking the offered hand.
"He's a good el, your son. We'll take you to him when we clear this place."
He smiles, his face lighting up with hope rekindled. "Yes, we shall leave this place together! It is a pleasure to meet you, Blessed. I am Edoardo Gregari Romano Senior, and this is my companion in suffering, Juliana Coros." The second priest nods to you from within her hood. The small glimpse of her face shows heavily scarred skin.
You do not head back to the throne room of the King of Eyes; instead, you turn toward the unknown. Slowly, the hallway narrows and the ceiling lowers, until Ibinu has to stoop to keep from hitting his head. The claustrophobia affects the sylphs more than the oread, but you recall you have been in darker tunnels than this--infested with cultists no less--and soldier on.
Ahead, you see words, pulsing with a faint red glow, carved into the wall on the left. As you approach, you see they are written in High Ifrit. Out of habit, Ibinu begins to translate for the others.
There is only one true light in the world - all others are false. The light of Volcano is savior, guide, and comfort...
You all recognize this as the beginning of the Libro della Voce Rovente, the Book of the Burning Voice. Following the path of the words, you come upon a three-way intersection. Each branch shows a different verse from the Book that continues its incandescent journey down the halls.
Ibinu looks down the halls and not seeing any particular difference he shrugs, "which one boss? Words probably mean something you or Etrah can do or see which will lead us down the correct path."
Ibinu, you recognize one of the hallways as a direct continuation of the beginning verse. The other halls' words are also from the Rove Voce, but only one of them leaves the text flowing and unbroken.
Ibinu points down that corridor, "I think this is the way. See the words continue the same passage I was reading. The other corridor's words are from the same book but not the direct continuation."
With a nod, Inam agrees. "Yes, that makes sense." Without pause, she heads down to the next intersection. Stopping as she looks for guidance, she turns to Etrah.
"Perhaps you can give us a hand here?" she inquires, drawing her blade cautiously. "Keep on your guard. It can't be as easy as just following the passages..."
"Agreed. Good eye Ibinu."
"Priest, don't fall to far behind...but stay a bit back so you don't get caught in any crossfire. Do you know if these passages are guarded by anything? Perhaps trapped?"
Nodding along, "That sounds reasonable."
Tugging her axe free again and keeping it in her hands. Nothing can ever be easy.
"Unfortunately, we know almost nothing about this maze. Ever since one of our number came back infected by darkspawn, none have dared the passages."
Etrah easily points the way through another few intersections. Kallik notices something happening behind you - the floor is beginning to glow, much like the writing on the wall.
Ibinu notes the light signature and the heat emanations (even at this distance) and comes to one inevitable conclusion: the paths you have already taken are slowly sinking into hot lava.
Looking backward, Edoardo Gregari sees the lava slowly coming toward you, and panics. He tries to push past the three of you, mostly failing due to his frailty and the casual strength of the young Blessed. "We must hurry! I do not want to die here!"
"Relax my friend. Panicking never solves anything." pleads Inam...considering the situation 'I do hope Ibinu or Etrah figure a way out of this'
Edoardo Gregari nods at Inam's words, calming slightly. He keeps looking behind at the slowly approaching lava - the dreadful fascination pulls at his eyes and his mind. His silent companion urges him onward, firmly but not unkindly.
Etrah and Ibinu hold a quiet conversation about the Rove Voce, quoting various passages and translations back and forth. Consensus is reached: a left turn, then a right. Etrah nearly makes a wrong move, but Ibinu pulls him back in time. The phoenix is equal parts grateful at the rescue and miffed at making at mistake.
Kallik and Inam are on guard as the other two converse. Without warning, spidery darkspawn detach from the ceiling, needle-teeth glimmering in the light of the runes. Inam slashes through one, but misses the second. It latches onto her shoulder, contracting its circular mouth through the joint in her armor. Likewise, Kallik swipes at one spider-spawn with her axe as another immediately lands on her head, raking sharp legs down her neck and back. Both warriors quickly dispatch their foes before extensive damage can be done.
As if angered by the presence of spawn, the lazily trailing lava flow becomes swifter - it now approaches more quickly than you can comfortably walk. And the runes continue.
Let all who would turn from Volcano by volition or foolishness remember the tale of the Efreet...
Doing her best to keep her eyes above her as well as behind and in-front. That whole process is a little maddening. "Why is everything so damn difficult!"
"Ouch! Dang it! Stop that villain!" moans Inam as she attempts to shield her companions from the attack.
"Look out Kallik! There's more!"
"Thanks Ibinu." mumbles the phoenix, attempting to hid his embarrassment...helps that's his feathers are already red.
Reading the next few passages, he takes a moment to consider them carefully before pressing forward.
After several more harried twists and turns, Inam is short of breath, and Ibinu has a nasty side stitch that hampers his running. Despite this, Inam keeps up with the deadly rhythm of slash, step-step, slash, run, for several more passages, and Ibinu's recall of the Rove Voce remains true.
...and His people shall be committed to the flame, for the flame is where they were forged...
The lava creeps closer. You can feel the heat from the floor through your boots.
With a hoarse yell in Oread, Kallik summons scowling duplicates of herself. Rushing in front of the group, the avalanche of Kalliks is swarmed by spawn, bat-winged and spider-legged. Most of them are fooled by the illusions, and easily dispatched by the real Kallik's axe. However, the sheer volume of the attackers takes its toll on the proud oread.
Etrah is distracted by Inam battling the spawn that are now coming from the ceiling and from random side passages. He has no time to correct Ibinu's misstep-
..and remember to never shy away from fires you see, be them wild or tamed...
and the false floor gives way like rotten wood. Ibinu's leg plunges into the lava. Kallik is there instantly to pull him back up, but the viscous, burning material clings to the sylph.
Glowing brightly, Etrah spreads his wings and takes a deep, calming breath. All of you feel refreshed, despite the long run.
Under the incandescent burning of his plumage, the false passages go dark, and only the last true passage remains.
And know ye that sacrifice is the greatest of all virtues, one close to Volcano always.
The maze ends with three choices: to the left, a Cauldron etched above; to the right, the strange visage of the Silver-Bringer; and straight ahead, the upright sword of the Warrior.
Yanking his scorched leg back expecting it to be completely burned away, Ibinu is quite surprised to see less damage then expected... which then starts healing itself immediately. Well dang, all my research has paid off... and the uh dragon boon certainly has helped too. He smiles and continues forward, looking at their three options.
He quickly speaks up, "don't go to the right, we aren't ready to deal with that yet if ever. Your choice boss, meet your patron to try to talk to the lady."
Grunting at the various injuries she still manages to gain. Huffing and reaching up to wipe blood off her cheek. Growling, "Which one is the least dangerous." I really need to learn more about the damn fire god.
Torn, Inam looks from the symbol of the Cauldron Lady and back towards her own patronage. "Well...I'd really like to see whats behind The Warrior...but we should try to get the Cauldron Lady on our side. Or at least convince her to back off..."
Biting her lower lip, she continues to waffle for a moment. As an afterthought, she glances towards Ibinu's leg. "You ok there? That looked rough...How about you Kallik? Holding up ok?"
As if Kallik's question just registered, she replies "That much is obvious, isn't it? The Warrior is likely the least dangerous for us at this point...but perhaps its a trick?"
Listening silently as they discuss how to proceed, Etrah pipes up. "Keep in mind, this place was created for the Cauldron Lady. Though the passages we've followed thus far were from the Rove Voce."
Scratching his chin with a wing...a bit of a strange look for a bird...he shakes his head slowly. "Well...I suggest we go through the door of the warrior."
Frowning, Inam snaps her fingers. "Why don't I scan the doors with my divine sight. Maybe that'll give us some insight."
Ibinu shrugs, "well probably, assuming the warrior is happy with us. I'm sure you'd be fine though. The lady is probably weakest though of the three at this moment. I uh... we'll talk about the third later."
Glancing at Inam, "I'm not dead yet."I think? before turning to look behind them again.
Ibinu asks plainly, "you see anything with you warrior inspired sight? This is probably one of those times it is quite useful."
Inam's gaze goes distant for a moment; her eyes take on a subtle pearlescence. She blinks, refocusing on Ibinu. "A strong evil presence awaits us down the corridor of the Cauldron Lady. If the poor elens that remain in this prison are to have any chance of a better life, I say this evil is to be confronted. The easy path is not the path of the Blessed!"
With an audible sigh, she glances longingly towards the path of 'The Warrior' before turning away. "Let us see what we can do to save these poor souls."
Before she can reconsider her choice, she steps through the archway of the 'Cauldron Lady'...sword drawn.
'Warrior, help us...guide our path. Bless our souls and guide us to your light.'
Ibinu hands an elixir to Kallik and touches her on the shoulder, the remainder of his healing flowing into her injured body, "drink that please."
He follows the other sylph with a shrug and glances at Etrah with a smirk, one way out is as good as any. Let's hope we don't have a test of how to debone a chicken.
Groaning at the apparent decision to visit the Cauldron Lady but offering no objection. The right thing is always the dangerous option.
Drinking the small vial Ibinu offers and sighing as some of the gashes start to close up. That burning pain lessens. "Thank you."
You take the sinister passage. Stone efreet heads line either side of the hall; their fanged mouths glow a myriad of yellows, reds, and oranges. Despite the illumination, the air seems gloomy and close, like a cave. The fires reek of burning meat. Your footsteps echo. Every few seconds, you hear a high-pitching keening, just on the edge of your hearing. Looking back, there is only darkness; the efreet heads behind you have been extinguished.
The labyrinth finally comes to an end, opening into a small rectangular chamber. At the far end, a large figure--easily twice the size of an elen--comes into view. Sitting straight and erect upon a throne of hewn flint, the sharp, cruel nails that poke from her tattered brown-red cloak idly scritch and screech like wails of the damned.
Two huge, mangy wolves, yellow-toothed and drooling, flank her throne. They make no move - they only watch with glowing green pupils, slowly tracking your steps.
You cannot see the Cauldron Lady's face. Two thick horns curve out from her deep hood, nearly meeting at a point above her head. She says nothing. A cauldron bubbles in the corner, giving off a shifting glow eerily similar to that of Volcano. The hounds breathe like a great pair of bellows. Scritch. Still, she says nothing.