"Justicia, I willingly give a part of our connection to protect us all from this evil."
Significant wounds appear across the Beast's body. Zathra shrugs. "Uh, I guess I'll give up some of my intelligence? Don't really need that..."
She groans and holds her head, and the Beast finally collapses into a pile of steaming goo! The village wavers and fades away, and you find yourselves back in the hub chamber. The staircase now stretches almost all the way to the ceiling! One door remains.
The last door remains, and Clancy again pauses as he grabs the handle. "Judgement." He intones solemnly. He wonders if this will have special meaning for him, here in this place, this world where Law and righteousness hold sway. The very foundation of the new life he had accepted when swearing an oath to Justicia in following her tenets. Would he be be judged as unworthy now? Sent back to his old, meaningless life as a chicken farmer? Or worse? Yes, he decides, the Council of Chaos and the endless sea of tortured souls that surrounded them confirmed that idea quite soundly. With a sigh, he opens the door...
The room changes around you. Before you stands a balance scale of immense construction. Its central pillar, its beam, and the chains leading to its two pans are translucent, formed from glowing golden light. Only its two weighing pans appear of solid construction, fashioned from burnished gold and lying flat upon the floor. The great scales soar five times the height of a man, nearly brushing the ceiling of this room. Thirty-five feet above the rightmost weighing pan is an azure key, the size of a wand.
Between you and the scales is a quartet of silver-furred lions with golden manes. They growl softly but threateningly at your arrival. They sniff the air, then their eyes focus on Mirinde and Mister Wanderful. They snarl and tense up, preparing to pounce!
"So strange that they don't seem to like you..." He says to Mister Wanderful, glancing at the elf. They obviously don't like Mirinde either, though at least she isn't as insufferable as her kinsman. Still, he knows that they have both thrown in their lot with The Lady in Blue - though the same could be said of him as well, at least for a time. In any case, it is not for him to judge - but at the same time he cannot stand idly by while they are both torn to pieces. Well... perhaps Mister Wanderful could stand to have a few deep and painful lacerations...
Shoving those thoughts from his mind, the cleric focuses his magic and touches his holy symbol. Maybe he can forestall the inevitable for a minute or so, if Justicia's strength is with him.
The cleric designates a single creature within 30' and paralyzes it with a word. If the creature is 2HD or less there is no save, but if the target has 3 HD or more, it gets a Will save vs. spell check DC or is completely paralyzed for 1d8+1 rounds.
Rounds (Will Save vs DC 21 if 3+ HD)
"Forgive me, Justicia." He whispers softly as an ethereal gray mist surrounds one of the lions, but Clancy is hardly paying attention as he sprints as fast as his armor will let him toward the weight pan that lies on the ground a short distance away. The one on the righthand side, below the key. "We need to get up to that key, I think!" The cleric calls out to the others. Perhaps he might still be judged worthy enough to allow that to happen...
Range: Touch (or varies); Duration: 1 Round (or varies); Casting Time: 1 Action; Manifestation: ['dice=Manifestation]1d4[/dice] (1=crackle of electricity; 2=black ropy binds; 3=white pallor; 4=ethereal gray mist)
12-13: The cleric's hands and melee weapons are charged with the energy of paralysis. The cleric makes a normal attack this round if it hits the enemy takes normal damage and must make a Will save vs. spell check DC or be completely paralyzed for ['dice=Duration]1d6+1[/dice] rounds.
14-17: As above, but spell duration is ['dice=Spell Duration]1d4+1[/dice] rounds instead of a single round.
18-19: As previous entry, but the paralysis effect extends to melee weapons and ranged weapons.
20-23: The cleric designates a single creature within 30' and paralyzes it with a word. If the creature is 2HD or less there is no save, but if the target has 3 HD or more, it gets a Will save vs. spell check DC or is completely paralyzed for ['dice=Duration]1d8+1[/dice] rounds.
24-27:The cleric designates up to three targets within 30' and paralyzes all of them. If the creatures are 4HD or less there is no save, but if a target has 5 HD or more, it gets a Will save vs. spell check DC or is completely paralyzed for ['dice=Duration]2d6+1[/dice] rounds.
Mirinde looks at the guardian lions and an alarmed look appears on her face. Clearly they do not like those opposed to their cause!
Stepping back away from the lions she decides to summon some protectors (or at least distracters) from the lions! Preparing her magicks here she attempts to call forth a dark feathered redhawk!
With a flash of dark clouds the hawk appears ready to fly!
"So strange that they don't seem to like you..." He says to Mister Wanderful, glancing at the elf.
"They're just annoyed that their sphincters are slammed so tight that they can't excrete their poisons...much like you." He responds. He slides back like Mirinde and fires his bow at a free tiger.
"Are we supposed to get that key?" - Artemis inquired - "Maybe one of us on the plate beneath it, and all others on the other plate?" - he added with a doubtful look at the lions.
Vying for maximum advantage, he waited until the last minute, to launch his treacherous attack.
Roscoe realizes he is not much use in battling these things and is not convinced that is the action... still.
He runs around to the pan under the key and jumps on it to see what happens. If there is time he'll take a bow shot, but if not he'll move... stealthily hopefully.
Stealth if that is the path.
Bow shot if that is the path.
Piercing damage
Or he just moves. Not sure of the positioning.
Zathra moves in to attack the lions! She drives her chaos polearm deep into the belly of one, causing serious internal bleeding!
Clancy’s spell causes one of the lions to seize up with paralysis! Mirinde’s summoned hawks rake at the lion Zathra wounded, keeping it distracted. Mister Wanderful takes aim at the weakest lion and fires, the arrow catching it in the throat and taking it down! Artemis hangs back for now, while Roscoe sneaks around the melee towards the scales. He can’t quite reach them, so he fires an arrow to finish off the wounded lion.
The last lion who is not paralyzed ignores Zathra and the hawks as it rushes straight at Mister Wanderful. It gets in his face and roars angrily!
***
As Roscoe and Clancy step onto the pans, they hear a noble-sounding male voice in their heads. ”Only he who hath led a goodly and lawful life shall ascend in the end. If thou wishes to rise above all others, speak truthfully of your deeds in life. You have 30 heartbeats to prove your merit.”
Clancy speaks. "I have pledged my life to Justicia, and to the tenets she holds true for all of her children. I helped to defeat an agent of Chaos in days past, and assisted a noble guardian of Law to retire to his just reward only a few hours past."
The scale Clancy is standing on begins to rise towards the key above. It stops about halfway to it, though. Perhaps he has more good deeds to tell of?
"Well. I don't have a whole lot of experience with being a glovemaker till recently and all, but I did survive an encounter with Chaos Beast, and refused to make a bargin with "mean old Noohl when he tried to push me to. I told him no deal without a contract".
Roscoe shrugs...
Mister Wanderful shrugs off the roar magic. He grits his teeth and launches another attack.
"Almost there! I... uh... I avoided the needless slaughter of innocent shades in a dance hall! Oh! And I sacrificed some of my magic - my connection to Justicia - in order to take down a fearsome monster that threatened to destroy a town! And even in this moment, I am seeking to avoid further bloodshed to protect the noble guardians of this very chamber!" The cleric isn't even certain if these will count, but they are so close now...
I fail to see any way to reach the Key here...perhaps the other scale is meant for judgement of those who follow Chaos... Mirinde takes advantage of the melee to work her way to the opposite scale from Clancy and climbs upon it.
Roscoe's confession causes the pan to raise slightly higher. Then the last few admissions from Clancy raise it all the way up to the key! Claiming the key completes the trial, transporting everybody back to the hub chamber.
The stairs reach all the way to the ceiling now. When you are ready, you will be able to ascend them into the glowing light above...
"Gee. We're pretty good at upholding the law it seems. Going to be interesting to see how we deal with Chaos". Roscoe says looking up at the glowing light.
Clancy nods. "I have a feeling there will be a bit more violence involved when we deal with Chaos. I'm sure Mister Wanderful will be quite pleased. Let us see what awaits upstairs, we aren't out of this quite yet, my friend." The cleric begins to climb the stairs, his shield in hand and his right hand free...
Artemis follows after the others - "Anyone gave any thought on us coming clean with whomever is in charge here, and flip the table on the Chaos Lords?" - he asked.
Mirinde considers his words carefully before replying, "Yes it seems our benefactors do not have our well being in mind here, despite their eloquent promises. While I hold no great love for those who uphold the Law, their words are more...trustworthy. Perhaps revealing our purpose here would be wise."
"The only escape that we have from this place is back to the land of Chaos. Maybe they were only kidding about throwing us into their lake of fire." Says Mister Wanderful with a shrug.
...I don't want to burn. Tell them its a bad idea. I mean...
The elf walks the stairs and into the light.
"Why is that the only escape?" - Artemis scowls - "The Gods of Law I am betting are as strong, if not stronger than those of Chaos. So maybe they can get us out of this mess" - he added - "I wouldn't mind turning the table on those that forced us into this"
"Maybe you can bribe the gods of law with some gold." the elf replies.
”Why would I need to bribe them?” - Artemis shrugs - ”Maybe just spill the beans”
The staircase ends at a locked door, but the key Clancy claimed from the previous chamber unlocks it. The celestial door swings open to the music of the spheres, dulcet tones of unearthly instruments announcing your entrance. The chamber before you is a massive dome fashioned from bright blue marble flecked with spotless white. A wide walkway circles the perimeter of this 90’ wide room. Directly before you is a bridge extending from the encircling causeway to a triangular platform hanging unsupported above a gulf of sultry, star-studded night. A number of figures stand atop the platform, surrounding a crystal plinth. Floating above the plinth is a large egg of cerulean blue.
As you get closer, you see the figures on the platform are perfect reflections of the six of you! Each one is an idealized duplicate, identical to you with one major exception: they appear better than you. your doubles look healthier, stronger, more attractive, and more confident.
The reflection of Clancy steps forward. "Welcome. If your purpose here is to claim the Yokeless Egg, then present your sigil of the Scions of Law. Without the sigil, you must depart."
Clancy pauses on the steps as the others discuss their next move with regards to the Yokeless Egg. The cleric stops, and turns to face them. "Forgive me for waiting, but I feel that now is the time to reveal something I learned while we took our rest in the realm of the Council of Chaos. A woman approached me, a simple servant - perhaps you will recall her. She told me she was an Agent of Law, a spy sent to the Court of Chaos. Her name was Lexaliah, and through the magic of Justicia I deemed she held no evil or malice in her heart. She gave her blessing to our task, for she felt that the Scions of Law have grown complacent in their guardianship - a fact we seem to have proven, in fact. She advised to keep Lawful tenets in mind during our task, and that if we returned the Egg to her when we returned to the Courts, the Scions of Law would be honor-bound to repay us for our service - even if not directly."
The cleric pauses for a moment, then continues. "I decided to keep this knowledge to myself, not knowing how those of you that have chosen to follow the Lady in Blue would react to the idea. However, I sense that you both have reservations about handing over the Yokeless Egg to them as well. I do not believe Lexaliah to have been a vision, as was the appearance of Klavgorok. She was real flesh and blood, and I beleive she will make herself known to us when we return to that hellish place. I believe we should hand the Egg over to her. What say you to this plan? I cannot abide the idea of handing the Egg over to the Lords of Chaos, in any case. I would sooner die than see that happen."
Moments later, when they face the Scions, Clancy steps forward as well, his eyes on this more perfect version of himself. Is this his destiny? Or a mockery, perhaps? "We have no sigil to present. We have been sent to acquire the Egg, though if you will tell us how to acquire the sigil, we will do so immediately."
”The sigil can only be granted by the Scions of Law themselves,” Mirror Clancy says. ”If you are not here at their behest, then you should not be here at all. Turn back and return whence you came. Failure to do so will result in violence. We will defend the Yokeless Egg to the death.”
Mirrror Zathra flexes her muscles. Mirror Artemis and Mirror Roscoe brandish their weapons. Mirror Mirinde stretches her spellcasting fingers, while Mirror Wanderful winks and blows the real Wanderful a kiss.
Clancy considers the group in front of him, and decides that honesty is probably the best policy here. "We are here to take the Yokeless Egg, and then see it returned to it's rightful place. An agent that serves Law as a spy in the Council of Chaos has deemed that the Scions have grown lax in protecting the artifact. She approached me after we were captured by the Lords of Chaos and forced to either retrieve the Yokeless Egg or accept a terrible death. Be glad that it is we who have come for it, with the intent of returning it directly rather than hand it over to those that would do evil. The agent's name is Lexaliah, and she has given her blessings to our endeavor - in fact, she believes it will better serve the forces of Law in the long term. Know also that I would sooner die than turn the Egg over to the Council of Chaos - but now we can both save our lives and serve a greater purpose in seeing the artifact better protected going forward. And so, I ask you again, stand aside and allow us to take the Yokeless Egg for this noble purpose. I speak only the truth in this, and I believe you know it to be true."
Before the party approaches the chamber holding the Egg Mirinde considers Clancy's words carefully, "Your words ring true priest. After contemplating the situation further, perhaps it would be wise to see the Egg claimed by no one..." Plus I do not believe I have the strength to overcome you all in a fair combat...
Mister Wanderful reaches out with his right hand and grabs the kiss. The elf pockets the treasure. He gracefully smiles and looks his mirror-self up and down. He nods approvingly. He then rolls his eyes while listening to the incessant droning coming out of Clancy's mouth.
...Holy bulging ball sacks, that guy is soooo Dum. You're right master. Soooo right"...
"You're babbling to constructs who don't care. You hand over the sigil of the Scions of Law, which you don't have, then they ask us to leave. Like, once." Mister Wanderful pulls free his bow and arms it with an arrow."Next, following the law, they fight. I just hope to hit only the mirror you."
"Your intentions may be noble, but we cannot deviate from the purpose of our creation. Without the sigil, we cannot allow you to claim the Yokeless Egg. We will fight to the death to defend it," Mirror Clancy says. Your duplicates ready their weapons!
”wait! there has to be another way… I don’t want to fight and hurt myself”.
Your duplicates seem committed to violence...
"It was worth a shot. I don't want to fight any of you, but our mission is vital." Steeling himself, Clancy draws the ebon warhammer - but too slow...
Your duplicates seem committed to violence...
Yes
Mirror Clancy invokes a blessing on himself and moves forward with shield raised. Mirror Artemis fires a dart from his blowgun, scoring a critical hit on the real Artemis! The dart draws a line across the outlaw’s face, blinding him with blood! Mirror Mirinde misses with her bow. Mirror Wanderful fumbles and nearly falls prone but recovers. Mirror Roscoe fumbles too, his bow becoming entangled in his armor. Mirror Zathra moves up beside Mirror Clancy and impales the real Zathra with her polearm! Zathra groans and doubles over, slumping to the ground.
Mirinde concentrates upon her own doppleganger here relieved she did not cast any spells. Perhaps these creatures are not capable of such? She then prepares to summon her own magicks here!
But as she gazes upon her own visage her body slumps as the spell flees her mind!
Clancy sees Zathra fall, and the cleric doesn't hesitate in reaching out, belaying his grab for the warhammer as he touches her skin and calls upon the power of Justicia.
The mortal wound in her chest closes and Zathra groans in pain. She spares a quick look of thanks to Clancy before getting to her feet and attacking her duplicate! Unfortunately, Mirror Zathra parries her strike. ”Crom take your eyes!” she curses.
Mister Wanderful laughs out loud at his duplicates fumble. The elf draws his bow and aims it at the back of the dictator's...
...Mister do as I say or die by my hand...
...head. He pulls the bow tight with an arrow notched.
He quickly switches from Clancy's melon to the recovering MW.
Hit with a cheap shot, Artemis stumbles around - "Figures" - he grumbled.
"Stay back! I will not go down that easy!" - the Outlaw tries to charge his mirror self.
"Dang it! Now you done gone and pixxed me off".
Hand Axe 1
Damage 1
Hand Axe 2
Damage 2
Roscoe is the only one who manages to land a hit, his axe cutting deep into Mirror Zathra’s side. She growls in anger.
Mirror Clancy attacks the real cleric, bashing him with his hammer. Artemis narrowly avoids his duplicate’s blade as the mirror thief lunges at him. Mirror Mirinde and Mirror Wanderful miss with their attacks against their counterparts. Mirror Roscoe spends the round disentangling his weapon. Mirror Zathra continues to be a force to be reckoned with, scoring a critical hit on Roscoe! The blow to the cranium sends the halfling sprawling!
Mirinde fumbles for her bow as she stares at her counterpart with a look of sheer hatred!
;
Clancy grunts as the warharmmer wielded by his mirror image smacks him squarely in the side. Then Roscoe falls and the cleric does hesitate for just a moment this time. If they cannot stop these foes, they may all fall to their weapons. But Clancy cannot simply let Roscoe die, and so he again channels the divine healing of Justicia and touches his arm with a brush of his hand as he squares off against himself...
Justicia appears to be quite unhappy with Clancy!