Wocket frowns at the brick wall. "If the door's a fake, maybe the trap is also fake, and the way forward is down? Or the door is double-fake, like the fakeness of the fake door is fake." Something seems to occur to the gnome, and she jogs back to the stairs where they entered and peers up, holding out her hand again. "Whither; Whence; Where."
The only magic auras that occur as you sweep the room are from the iron circlets. Nothing else seems to register.
Heverly frowns. "If that's a fake door. . . Maybe there's a fake wall along here somewhere." Heverly steps to the North and begins searching for a hidden door or something else that might help them escape.
"Nope. No kind of magic around here. -and it's not an antimagic field. I can feel the alteration stuff on our circlets. Carry on."
Silarsha walks over to the brick wall behind the now opened door and taps it with the pommel of her sword. Looking an listening as though it might be a figment similar to the lights made by Wocket on the bridge.
"Huh." she grunts. "We must have missed something here."
She will then start looking around the room for any kind of hidden doors or latches that might open a hidden door
It takes a few minutes, but in the middle of the South wall, you find signs of a hidden doorway. You renew your search and eventually find a small switch in the cracks of a stone near the door.
Genevieve presses one of the stones in the wall. "I think I've found something," she calls over her shoulder. "It seems there's a door here."
The wall creaks and cracks, opening up to the side. Behind the wall there is a small pedestal with a small jewel that glows with pale blue light. A small plaque sits below this jewel with an inscription: Thou hast seen through deception to uncover a useful tool.
Genevieve picks up the crystal, "Well, this may come in useful." She then puts it into her pouch and looks around at the others. "Anyone else found anything?"
Wocket peers around Genevieve's shin. "Mmm.. Liquid Ice. Forty gold at standard rates. Nice glasswork..."
As Genevieve checks the north wall, Silarsha moves over to the bottom corner of the room, and starts carefully running her hands over the south wall, moving east she spends a few minutes checking before she exclaims; "Ha! There's a door here. Now where's the latch?" just as Genevieve opens the hidden panel. Distracted, she walks over to the others, and looks at the other woman's find.
Once the item has been identified by Wocket, she returns to her search. A couple more minutes pass as she keeps looking over the wall, pushing and pulling on the bricks in a methodical manner until she speaks again;
"Gotcha!"
Sticking her fingers into a well hidden space between two bricks and activates the switch inside.
Talia is as shocked as the rest to see the bare wall behind the trap, and as Charmaine steps back, she approaches and begins rapping methodically at various spots on the brick with the butt of her spear, listening for any hollowness.
Talia is much quicker with her search of the day wall but finds nothing more along the wall.
Silarsha flips the switch and the wall on the South side pulls open to reveal a short hallway. At the end is another door with the words, Following the herd is for fools. Fear not their icy derision. Instead, fear only thy Infernal Lord, inscribed into the wood.
Charmaine sighs, rather loudly. "Why does it have to be riddles? I've never been any good at those! Don't be a sheep! Being cold sucks! Asmodeus is scary! Hooray!" she whines with incredible sarcasm. Rolling her eyes, she waits for the all clear before moving forward into the hallway. Riddles are just ways for people to make you feel dumb. But nobody really even makes their own riddles! Some wizard or whatever spent his life making them all and they are now in books and stuff so people now don't have to come up with them.
Genevieve laughs, "That's not the riddle Charmaine. The room is the riddle. These are the hints." She steps forward examining the words. "Whatever we find behind the door, we should go against what would be normal." She gently touches the pouch at her side, "We might have something to do with this crystal, or maybe with fire." She finally looks up, "Well, shall we find out what this is about then?"
Wocket examines the stone floor of the hallway. "Might be about not walking the same path through the hall. Like the floor is littered with two-touch pressure plates? Whither; Whence; Where." Wocket diligently continues to scan new areas as they are revealed This time she doesn't abandon the spell, and will just continue scanning.
Talia steps forward and examines the door, then turns back to the others, shaking her head. "This one's clean," she says then pushes the door open.
On the other side is another room, about the same size as the first. There are four doors, one on each wall, including the one you come through. The door to the East and the door to the South are plain wooden doors. The West door is covered in a strange pulsating violet
mold.
The room is cold. Very cold. The lantern in the middle of the room has a light layer of frost on the glass.
Genevieve walks into the room and looks around for a moment, then points, "We want to go that way," she says, facing the door covered in mold. She begins to approach the door, though not too close and examines the door and mold. "What is the puzzle here?" she mutters to herself.
Wocket cautiously proceeds into the room, continuing to scan. "Yeah, the path less traveled. My gut says we burn the mold, but..." She squints at the strange stuff on the door. "Most molds I've seen are already powdered... I don't know what this stuff is."
Heading into the room with the others, Silarsha shivers a bit in the cold of the room.
"This room is colder than even a good root cellar should be. The path not taken is the one we probably need, but has anyone seen mold like this before?"
As the group approaches the mold, it becomes noticeably colder.
Talia feels a burst of cold air as she opens the door under the inscribed lesson. She steps confidently into the room and begins to look around.
As she walks slowly around the room, spear at the ready, she examines the lantern which at first seems to be putting out the frost. It is only when she approaches the mold that she realizes otherwise.
"I agree with the rest of you that it seems the mold door is our path, given the clue. It also seems to me that Asmodeus wants his followers - I mean, us - to be shrewd and crafty, just as he wants us to be ruthless and ambitious. So how do you get past this stuff without touching it? Perhaps the lantern holds a clue."
Talia walks to the center of the room and studies the lantern, atop its pedestal.
"I guess this door is that part with the herd? And the next is to not fear the ice or something... so... who wants to touch it first?" Charmaine asks sheepishly, taking a slight step back. What's the worst that could happen, right?
Well, I think at this point, we've just got to try and see. Either ice or fire." Genevieve turns to Wocket, "I'm inclined to agree with you, fire makes sense. However," she pulls out the crystal they'd found in the other room, looking it over, "it is also likely that this has a purpose. Either way, I can create fire and use up some of my casting strength, or we can use this and use up some of our resources." Genevieve bites her lip as she thinks
Finally, she pulls her hand up, "You all might want to move back, we don't know what this'll do." Once everyone has moved back, Genevieve throws the crystal at the mold, letting it explode.
"After you Charmaine." and gestures grandly towards the moldy door.
At Heverly's direction, Silarsha steps back, and watches for any reaction as the Oracle throws the crystal at the door. She stands nervously shifting her feet back and forth, with her hands sitting close to her weapons; ready to draw if a threat presents itself.
I am so far out of my element down here. she sighs to herself, and takes a deep breath.
What did the book say? Oh yes, "Adversity builds strength and opportunities. I will build my power. I will impose my order upon this world. For the greater glory of the Dark Lord." repeating the phrase in her mind to steady herself.
A faint smile appears her face, as she stops her shuffling feet.
Well, that works. Maybe there is something to it.
Wocket notices Silarsha's positivity and stoicism while waiting for the others to decide she's right and light the door on fire.
How is she so confident? She can offer no real utility to our team unless the pendant is in the belly of a giant frog. I'm lucky I can check for magic, and at least look like I'm contributing...
She crosses the room to watch Talia sniff around the lantern. "S'got oil in it? We could just douse the door and light it. I haven't figured out fire, but I've got plenty of sparks." Wocket performs a smile, and doesn't realize how condescending she sounds.
Wocket examines the lantern and does in deed find oil in it. In the meantime though, Genevieve throws the crystal at the mold and a loud whistling can be heard throughout the room as the mold melts away, uncovering an opening into a hallway. Finally all that is left is some powder on the ground, and a small plaque on the top of the entrance, Thou hast made thy own path.. The hallway runs around the side of the room, turning back the other direction until you all stand in front of an archway. Carved into the top of the archway are the words, Know your enemy. Shatter all that blinds you and then burn thy adversary to ashes.
Beyond the archway, there seems to be an unnatural darkness. Though the hallway is lit, none of the light seems to move beyond the archway.
There are one inch holes in the floor at various intervals, and there is something moving around underneath the ground there.
Carefully, using a small metal scoop, Wocket collects some of the mold powder in an empty bottle of hers.
When they reach the darkened room, Wocket can't see through the darkness, but can sense something pulsing in the middle of the room. "I'd watch out groping in the dark. There's something magic in there... the raw, destructive kind. It... I think it could be making the darkness? I've never really thought about doing something like that."
Genevieve steps into the room, looking around, "Where is the magic coming from Wocket? Is it in the center? There's a stone on a pedestal here," she says walking around the edge of the room.
Wocket points into the darkness for her deaf ally. "Right smack in the middle. It's smallish, and about head height. I do think it's the thing making it dark in here. If it's a stone, one of us should get to shattering it, but be careful. There is a foe to burn..."
With a futile effort, Silarsha peers into the darkened room from the doorway.
"I can't see a damned thing in there. But if you can guide me, I'll do my best to smash it.
Genevieve steps out of the darkness, "I'll guide you to it," she says, grabbing Silarsha's arm and dragging her in towards the orb. "Everyone be ready."
Silarsha says "Sounds good. Lead the way.", and pulling the warhammer from her belt, holds out her arm for "Genevieve" to guide her.
As the two of you approach the center of the room, suddenly you smell rotting blood in the air just in front of you.
Genevieve yells out, "It's in here, next to Silarsha!" She reaches out with a hand to touch the mist, a slight glow showing in the darkness for a brief moment as she touches the creature with fire.
There is a hissing sound like steam escaping, very urgent and hurt. Despite this, the creature reaches out with a strange formation of claws and strikes at Silarsha, but somehow seems distracted by the fire. The creature then moves down through the floor again.
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Pleased to see the mold retreating from Genevieve's gambit, Talia glances around the room once more before making her way into the next hallway. She happens to catch Wocket collecting a dust sample, and smiles approvingly but says nothing. If I had a mind or the patience for that sort of thing, I'd do the same, she thinks to herself as she exits.
In the next room, Talia finds herself more than a little unsettled by the unnatural darkness, and tries her best to see what she can. Yes, look and see what's there, a voice echoes in her head. She turns her head sharply to look at her allies for any signs that they had the same experience, but if so, nothing of the sort is apparent on their faces.
She steels herself and looks back into the black room.
She sees only the stone in the center of the room - and Genevieve leading Silarsha to it - when suddenly the shadowy creature appears and attacks! She watches in horror as it dives into the floor as a reaction to being wreathed in flame, and frantically scans the ground, hoping for a sign of its whereabouts.
The voice in her head returns, stronger this time. There, THERE! Can't you see it?! it wails directly into her mind.
Skin crawling from feeling of the unknown creature's claws brushing against her, Silarsha taps into her power. Her body shifting in the darkness, as her claws burst from her fingers, and her eyes take on their reptilian aspect. She raises her warhammer in a two handed grip then stops, dead still like a statue and listens for the enemy.
At a bare whisper, she says "Tell me where to go to hit that stone. That should be the key to beating this thing." and then waits for instruction.
Talia spots a few wisps indicating the shadow's location under the floor, and advises anyone near it how to back away.
The noises didn't sound good, and Talia is already shouting about a monster in the dark. The stone is right there someone just needs to smash it! Or... at least get it out of the room. Wocket closes her eyes and focuses on the location of the stone, leaving her hand extended as she lets go of the Detect Magic spell. Then, having only discovered the technique the day before, the gnome begins to manifest another spell. "Telestatic grip!"
Pulling her hand back as if pulling a heavy iron chain, Wocket pulls the stone toward her and toward the door.
"Get the rock, get the rock, get the rock!" Charmaine shouts as she can do nothing but wait until her companions crack the stone shrouding the room in darkness.
________
Silarsha prepares herself while Talia rushes into the room. Talia destroys the stone in a single blast, and suddenly light floods into the room, letting everyone see.
Heverly readies herself for when the creature comes out again.
Blinking at the sudden light, Silarsha sets herself and waits for the creature to appear again.
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