While others check the door, Inelukii will stand back and examine the little panel for traps, just because he has nothing else to do at the moment... but if he finds one, he does nothing about it aside from pointing it out, since he's got no skill with disabling them.
With the southern door NOT appearing to be a deathtrap, Price opens it gingerly...
Price opens the door to the south revealing a 20' hallway, ending at another wooden door. Above the door is an inscription:
“Following the herd is for fools. Fear not their icy derision. Instead, fear only thy Infernal Lord.”
Daidalos once again checks the room for active magic.
Daidalos does not detect any magic.
The inquisitor considers the message as she probes the area surrounding the door, as well as the door itself. "'Icy'. 'Herd'. Hmm.. is that just prosaic or an important clue?"
"Sounds like we're supposed to traverse this corridor one by one, but I might be taking things too literal what with all these divine quotations being thrown our way."
Asturu peers into the hallway and tries to spot any and all traps.
"WHat if that little door is the true path we need to take.. or has something essential behind it,like the bauble we're looking for... or a key or something?" Ineluki shrugs looking over at it, not having a clue if it's really important or not... If everyone leaves the room and goes down the hallway though, he will follow, his curiosity unsatisfied.
Luke's question brings the inquisitor to a halt. She sidles up to the skinshifter to discuss the matter, taking an obique tack. "The cardinal said we were his ninth team. Did you notice that he also called us his 'Nessian Knot'? Nessus is the lowest - the ninth - plane of Hell." She waves her hand vaguely, indicating the maze they were in. "And he went to the trouble of mentioning there are nine rooms in this little 'love grotto'. That's a pattern and it suggests that everything is purposeful. Then we have the Cardinal's goal, to train us for our mission. At the entrance to this room was a lesson 'self-deception will bugger you'. And at the bottom of the pit, a note was waiting for me saying 'You were deceived, now you get spanked'. So, we have a true lesson and an intended consequence for choosing the wrong path. That's remarkably honest for a deceptive bastard, don't you think?" She lets Luke consider the puzzle pieces for a moment.
"Here's how I read the situation. We'll be walked through all nine rooms because each one has a lesson and a test for us. If the lessons are important, there will be no shortcut to get to the 'cheese' at the end of this maze. IF I'm right, that little panel right over there will lead to another painful consequence. And IF I'm right, the fact that the next room down the corridor has a lesson above the door proves it is the right path to get us through this maze."
She smiles at Luke, "I'm meticulous. Like you, I have an itch to see what's behind that panel... but we can always come back to it if the next room proves to be a dead-end or there's a key needed. And if my theory is right - that panel leads to another trap. I'd rather not spend more of my eldritch powers on healing in only the first of nine rooms. So, are you willing to put your curiosity in check for the moment? I promise you, if you can't sleep without knowing what's behind that panel, I will come back with you after this test is over and we can see where it leads."
Price waits for the skinshifter's agreement before moving on.
Affyria sniggers to herself. When people turn to look at her, she shrugs, "I'm sure this is the correct path, but I can't help but feel curious about that panel in the first room. It would be quite a trick if the bauble we're after is hidden there, in the first room of this abominable death maze. Perhaps one of the lessons will read 'leave no stone unturned'. I agree however, and we should probably push forward. 'Following the herd is for fools', probably means we should take the least obvious path in the next room," she points to the inscription.
Ineluki nods.. "Fair enough... if we need it, we'll come back to it." He gives Price a little smile to show he's not upset about not opening it... but he's still curious.
You find no traps on the door at the end of the hall. Opening it, you find another stone chamber. There are four doors – each facing a cardinal direction. The entire chamber seems strangely cold. This room is also lit with a small oil lantern that hangs from the ceiling. There is a small amount of frost on the lantern’s glass panes. The eastern and southern doors are plain wooden doors. The western door is covered in a strange pulsating violet-colored mold.
The inquisitor gives his arm a squeeze then turns almost bubbly... which is a disturbing juxtaposition coming from Talidoria's face, "Marvelous! Truth be told, I'll be a little disappointed in our host if the bauble is sitting here." She rubs her hands together, "Let's see what trick awaits us in the next chamber."
"Hmm ... It appears by not following the herd we are supposed to go towards the pulsing mold. I'm not quite sure what it is so my opinion is to burn it from afar and move on."
Affyria nods, "I would reach the same conclusion, Timo. However, I'm reluctant to just throw stuff at it. Asturu, Daidalos, would your bookish knowledge be able to identify that foul-looking substance?"
Affyria does a cursory search of glances casually at the rest of the room, taking care not to approach within 10' of any of the doors.
Price frowns, "I'm guessing that's not the kind of mold that makes good cheese. That's pretty much the limit of my knowledge... But I agree with Affyria; Let's not smack it too quickly. And if we need to experiment, I can lob acid at it. Most creatures don't like that."
Daidalos recognizes the mold. Coming near it is dangerous and burning it or attacking it with fire will cause it to expand in size at an exponential rate. Harming it with cold, however, will kill it.
Daidalos kills it with ice- using Ray of Frost until the mold is dead.
"Nicely done. Two chambers down, seven more that will try to kill us."
Price checks the door for locks and traps, just in case the mold was only the obvious hazard.
Daidalos shoulders his way to the front upon hearing his name called. He tests the air, and watches his breath become visible in the chilly room.
"Hmmm. Yes. It seems like its some variation of brown mold. Trying to burn it would be a mistake. It thrives off of heat- it pulls in every last drop that it can from the area, and it's why the room is so cold. Exposing it to fire would make it grow exponentially and likely kill us all. Well, maybe not all of us. But a good number. Now, it's counterintuitevly weak to cold, which means...." his fingers trace a triangle in the air, "[color=blue]Frigiderio[/color]" and a bolt of ice streaks through the air and strikes the mold, causing it to shrink slightly. Daidalos grins, and repeats as needed to get the door completely clear, "There we go. Nothing to it. Now, who's first?"
Asturu checks the door first and, assuming he doesn't find anything, steps back and gives the woman some room to work with. "Go for it, Price."
The door is untrapped. Revealed by the death of the mold, at the top of the door is an inscription: "Thou hast made thy own path."
Cautiously, the group proceeds to explore what lays beyond and finds a meandering corridor unlit but for any light you bring with you.
It leads to another door, above which is another inscription: "Know your enemy. Shatter all that blinds you and then burn thy adversary to ashes."
Price mulls the lesson above the next door, offering, "So far, the messages have been quite literal. Assuming that holds true... it looks like we have a fight coming." Not expecting this door to be trapped, nevertheless the inquisitor searches it just to be sure. She waits for her allies to ready themselves. Once everyone is prepared, she shades her eyes in case the 'blinding' part proves true... then pushes the door open. She doesn't advance into the room yet.
Timo smirks at Price, "Good I could use a fight... though if we take it literally, this enemy we need to burn."
Price offers Timo a wink and - more practically - a flask of Alchemist's Fire. "Your wish is my command." she purrs.
Price detects no traps and opens the door. On the other side is utter and complete darkness. Torches do not penetrate the darkness.
Timo peers around the new room. "A shame ... no one to fight. It is odd that the torch light doesn't enter and there are some strange holes all over the floor. The door said to shatter what blinds you. Shall I shatter that black orb?"
Price makes a small gesture and her eyes begin to glow with grey light. She stares into the gloom, sweeping the room with both eldritch and mundane vision. For the benefit of those further down the corridor, she describes it. "We have a 30' room with two exits. As Timo said, it is filled with impenetrable darkness and holes. I wouldn't put it past our host to have a swarm hiding beneath the floor. Breaking the globe makes sense but I'm not a fan of anyone stepping on that floor. I've got a bow, we could try to shatter it from here... It's a pity to lose that globe. Could we try to cover it instead?"
"Hmmmm.... I feel like I should be seeing something. I'm fairly certain that the planetouched should be able to see in the dark." Daidalos waves a hand in front of his face, slightly confused, "Price, you can see, right? Ah well, if we're expecting trouble, may as well change."
Daidalos concentrates for a moment, and his appearance flickers, the illusion taking hold as he transforms into a tall, human fighter in full armor, in the hopes enemies wouldn't suspect he was a mage and target him immediately.
"I suppose you should, Timo. The destruction of the orb might trigger a contingency effect and it wouldn't surprise me if it somehow conjures up enemies. Be careful."
As if that needed to be said.
Detect magic reveals the globe is indeed magical, radiating an evocation aura. Unfortunately, Price isn't able to make out much more than that.
Timo nods to Price, "Give your arrow a shot. If it doesn't work I'll step in with my sword"
Daidalos, hearing that Price can't identify the effect, also casts a divination, hoping to ascertain the spell responsible.
The inquisitor silently curses her minimal eldritch knowledge. "Gracious! Your sword? Won't that be overkill?" She unshoulders her bow, takes careful aim, and sends an arrow flying.
"The inscription seems rather clear here; smash the orb, destroy whatever appears. Perhaps we have left deception behind at the first room," Affyria quips, as she pulls out her mace.
Price fires her bow at the glowing orb in the room. The arrow strikes the globe and it cracks, but is not destroyed.
"Do you think a sonic energy attack will hurt it?" Ineluki asks, wondering if he should just try it anyway. "Sometimes it breaks fragile things, like glass or crystal."
Price *hrmphs*, pulls another arrow from her quiver, and smoothly sets it flying at the cracked globe. She replies to Luke, "That's likely worth trying since I'm not having much luck."
This time Price's arrow just bounces harmlessly off the globe.
Personally offended, Price glares at the globe and draws one more arrow "Son-of-a-..." and sends it flying with a curse.
INeluki sends a wave of sonic energy at the globe.
Timo chuckles at Price and says with a smirk, "You know ... if you can't them when they stand still, what happens when they start moving?"
Price replies sweetly, "Comments like that will NOT get you into my bed... tomorrow night - at midnight."
Together, Price and Luke are finally able to shatter the globe. The magical darkness dissipates as the obsidian shards fall to the floor. You see two wooden doors, one to the north and another to the east.
Still cautious, Price casts the lantern light around the room.
Standing st the threshold of the room, Price lifts the lantern and peers in. She sees no inscriptions but does notice both of the doors are barred on this side.