Upon receiving the Cardinal's summons, Igoroskandrallanotly dons their new armor beneath their clothing and gathers together their alchemical supplies, disguise materials, and thieves' tools. They also take the signal horn they took out of Branderscar, in case it is needed, as well as the dagger and crossbow they'd retrieved.
Upon their arrival in the altar room, they note the...clearly inhuman creature and the naked slaves against the wall. Combat, or sacrifice? That is the question. Will we do battle with this creature, or give it one of these slaves as blood payment?
The doppelganger otherwise says nothing, waiting for the Cardinal to speak.
Dahlia arrives with her combat gear, armor underneath a silk chiton. She has her mask on.
Noting the silence, she simply looks around with her snakes and suppresses the urge to hum.
Reginald glances up from a book he had been reading, looks around the room quickly, before returning his focus to the book until Thorn speaks.
Agghh comes in full gear when told to be prepared. When he sees the strange creature standing before them, he shifts nervously, shameful fear welling inside of his heart as he looks upon it.
Cardinal Thorn looks you over, evaluating silently. "I hope you have all prepared as I warned. I have a test for you, I call it the Cardinal's Gauntlet. There are enough of you so you will go in 2 groups. There is one of you, however, that will no longer be continuing with us." He motions to his guest.
The devil creature standing next to the Cardinal reads from a scroll he has in hand. "Zograth Zon. You have been found in breach of your contract by the unlawful murder of a slave belonging to Cardinal Thorn, your master. The punishment shall equal the crime. The powers of hell witness this."
Zograth the bugbear turned and tried to run but he was frozen in his tracks by Tiadora's swift magic and he could not move. She walked over to face him and put a hand on either side of his face and whispered incantations in his ear. He tried to resist but seconds later he slacked and the look in his eyes was similar to the washed out look of the slaves. "Stand in place with the other slaves. You shall take the place of the one you killed." she tells him and he walks over to stand next to the slaves.
"The path we are on can suffer no missteps. If Talinguarde is to fall we must be as one!" The Cardinal warns as he retrieves a wicked looking black dagger. "The sacrifices will come forward." Five slaves walked to stand on each point of the large pentagram on the floor. The Cardinal speaks arcane phrases for several minutes as he goes to each of the slaves and cuts open their arms. They barely flinch as they stand their, blood dripping on the ground, soaking into the stone. With a final crescendo the Cardinal shouts and the pentagram on the ground bursts into flame, rising up to the ceiling, consuming the slaves. "One group at a time shall be tested by the fire. Which of you will go first?"
Igoroskandrallanotly carefully observed the Cardinal’s byplay with the murderous bugbear. Tiadora’s abilities, in particular, they made note of. I was right - she would be a most formidable foe.
The bugbear’s punishment was noted, and the Cardinal spoke of his gauntlet. The doppelgänger nodded at Mei’s sentiment and said, ”I am prepared. Let us do this.”
Augier looks silently as the bugbear is stripped of his mind and seems very attracted to the flame. I shall go! He approaches the flame without fear and steps in...
The Hound pauses, his injuries burning him even now, destroyed muscles screaming in remembered agony.
The only thing that keeps him moving is knowledge of his death if he fails to comply.
AH, well, as long as I get a new suit afterwards...
Reginald begrudgingly obliges.
Dahlia bows her head and says, "Let's begin."
"The first group is ready. If you return, I shall know that you are not just lucky in escaping the prison. You must work together to pass the lessons that will come before you. Each one can be deadly if you do not pay attention. To show your success, you must find and bring back to me a sapphire pendant mounted in silver." The Cardinal gave some last words as you 6 walked into the flames. They singed and burnt without causing any actual physical damage to your skin, clothes or fur. Still very unpleasant and hot. Once you were all standing together inside the pentagram the flames intensified, you might have wondered if the Cardinal were testing you for stupidity or some insane devotion to have walked into this... Perhaps he was, but what choice did you have, especially after seeing what happened to Zograth. He still stood with the other 4 remaining slaves, perhaps waiting to be the sacrifice for the second group's journey.
Finally the flames subside and are gone. But so is the Cardinal, his guest, Tiadora or the slaves. Even the room is different. It is larger, about 30 feet across, a dull red stone floor, blackened walls and ceiling. A flickering lantern hangs in the middle of the room. The air is dry and hot, completely different than the manor room. Wherever the Cardinal sent you, it is not a pleasant place.
You think you hear a voice, over your shoulder? in your head? or maybe coming from outside the room. It almost sounded like the Cardinal as well, but a lot deeper and slower, almost demonic.
"Deception is a tool. Self-deception is death. Deceive always thy enemy but never thyself."
The room is empty and has only 1 door.
Deceive always thy enemy but never thyself. A lesson I know well, now. Igoroskandrallanotly had believed themselves safe in their disguises, had deceived themselves into thinking they couldn't be discovered. The accursed Versarius had shown him the error of that belief.
The doppelganger slowly turned in a circle, looking over the room. "Naught but a lantern and a door. There is a trick to this room, I think, based on the words I heard. We are apparently to learn lessons in these rooms, so perhaps the lsson for this one is 'Deception is a tool. Self-deception is death. Deceive always thy enemy but never thyself.' Let us search the other walls of the room for any secrets. We appear to not have a time limit, at any rate."
Igoroskandrallnotly moves to the wall to the left of the door when facing it, and begins to search it for any secrets, carefully going over every inch he can see and reach.
Augier wipes his face as sweat streams down it and wipes it on his shirt. Hrump, fancy lights and noise. As they appear in the new room, he grips his sword as the voice sounds in his head and listens ro Igor. Hrumph walls blackened like ash, some flame trap?
Dahlia basks in the heat for a moment before continuing through, more lively and animated than before. Her constant humming hits a certain note once the room changes and the air seems to shimmer around her for a brief moment.
"Oh good, a welcoming fire and some soothsayer wisdom."
Then she starts to look around the room.
Reginald mutters the words to a spell of protection in draconic before speaking.
Perhaps, it is to deceive us into thinking that the answer is not obvious.
Igor's search of the north wall (door on east wall) is prosperous. A small section of the wall is a thin false wall, easily removed. A small niche is revealed holding a small pedestal that holds a jewel that glows with pale blue light. It is cold to the touch.
You all hear the same deep, demonic sounding voice.
"Thou hast seen through deception to uncover a useful tool."
Holding up the jewel, Igoroskandrallanotly says, "A useful tool. It does not lead out of this room, perhaps, but it is as I said - there is more to this room than meets the eye. I will look to the wall opposite the door. Someone should check the remaining wall without a door." The jewel slips into their belt pouch, and they do as they said they would.
The Hound sniffs around the room, trusting his nose may uncover things the others' eyes may not.
Squirrel.
Augier examines the wall.
reginald will glance over the items as well.
No smells present themselves other than an overpowering burnt smell everywhere.
Igor finds nothing in a search of the wall opposite the door and neither does Aggghhh searching the final wall.
The glowing pale blue jewel is just a fragile casing for something inside. Your alchemical experience finds it a similar design to the way alchemist's fire is crafted. The cool touch leads you to think the opposite kind of effect would appear if the gem was broken.
"The obvious answer would be to put that in the lantern, yes? Not many other options I see."
Through the door then?
Igor looks at the others, considers Aaaggghhh for a moment, and then carefully goes over the wall the orc had just gone over.
Dahlia will hold out her hand to Igor and ask, "The jewel, may I?"
If and when he hands it over, she'll try putting out the lantern and putting the jewel in its place.
Bah! Enough waiting! Aghh opens the door.