"Modius. Don't show the gems to Levi. I think he is one who sees his own needs as larger than other's"
"Agreed Rufinus."
Paper stares at Levi.
"What is going on now?"
Paper examines the hallway Levi is stuck in.
Nothing more is evident. The hallway appears completely normal, except for its opulence, and the eternally burning torches. Levi seems to be sliding in place. Rufinus has entered, and exited the room with no ill effects. Levi has surreal eyes, and seems convinced that he is moving. He is about eighty feet down the hallway. The stars on the walls have replaced his eyes. He is muttering to himself, about the book, and occasionally the word "Ruth".
What are you all going to do?
"This fire gives off no heat. It is eldritch."
Levi remains stuck in place. He does not seem to notice his lack of motion at all. He has been in one spot for more than five minutes.
What are you all going to do?
Modius shouts at him down the hall. "Hey Levi, where are you going?"
Levi turned back to look at you, when adressed. He is at the far end of the long room, and is a scant 12 feet from the far door.
He suddenly moves six feet closer to the door. He is now six feet away from it. He is not looking in your direction now. His attention is on the door ahead of him.
"hmmmmmmmm."
"He's the only one among us who knows about Ruth, her kin and the book. We need to keep him in sight at least."
Calling to Levi
"Levi Bram, wait if you can."
Paper calls out to Levi.
"Wizard! Do not think to leave us behind now that you have brought us to the realm of the dead."
Paper strides after Levi, trying to catch up with him.
What are you all going to do?
Isat joins Paper, trying to keep pace with the long-striding soldier.
Paper and Isat draw abreast of each other at the midpoint of the room. At the midpoint, they believe themselves to be walking toward Levi. Modius, Rufinus, Stratos and Hrothgar instead see them walking in place in the midpoint of the room.
Paper, Isat: will save DC 10 to move half the remaining distance. If you make DC 20, the spell will end for you. If one of you makes the save, they can give the other +2 to disbelieve. On a successful save, you will move a further 25 feet. Half the remaining distance. You have entered a chamber that obeys Zeno's paradox.
Levi continues to tread in place, starry-eyed and oblivious to time and space.
Paper and Isat are similarly star eyed, and must navigate the room. Return is impossible.
Will save for sparkly room (1d20 6=20)
Isat shakes his head as the enchantment vanishes. He looks at Paper.
"This isn't real. Concentrate."
Yah they're in his backpack.
Modius will make the crossing with Hrothgar.
Can he do the same trick for Levi or does he need to be next to him and make a new roll?[/ooc]
Paper and Isat are together. They can only help each other to move forward. Now that Isat is free of the spell, he can walk wherever he wants to, and help anyone.
"Huh? What did you say Isat?"
"Paper! Concentrate. This is not real."
Calling back to Modius and Hrothgar.
"Wait until Paper is free of the enchantment and we can both help you cross."
Paper plods on, looking like a sleepwalker
Isat shouts fruitlessly in his friend's ear.
"THIS IS NOT HAPPENING. Don't let yourself believe it."
Paper turns to Isat.
"Isat? Do you see the stars? They are so pretty and sparkly..."
"Come on man, snap out of it."
Paper stares around in wonder. An eldrich tune wanders through his conciousness.
There is a wonderful rule called take twenty. Because roling fifty saving throws is not as fun as it sounds, I can assume that Isat spends a nerve-wracking seven hours getting his companions through the paradox. Levi Bram is last. (He rolled a 1 on his first save.) Levi is now moving tenths of an inch.
Stratos calls everyone together.
"We should rest, and recover. The magics in this place are overwhelming, and only fools would press on if injured. Ruth took the book more than ten hours ago. We will not catch up with her. Levi should predict her next moves, or we should find other means to find this miracle book of his. Rushing headlong through this tomb will kill us more certainly than this Rafi villain will. We need to proceed very carefully to make it out alive.
Levi is under the spell of this room, we should discuss him now. What are we going to do about him? do we trust him?"
Isat slumps down exhausted, head in hands. His shoulders are shaking slightly with relieved laughter and he repeats the words of the bawdy Persian marching song he's been singing to keep himself and the others focussed for the last seven hours. He is, as Rufinus will realise, suffering from a mild bout of hysteria.
Stratos's words pull him back to the here and now.
"Levi? I have no idea. He's fought with us and I don't doubt he needs our help to find this book. Whether he realises that or is even prepared to tell us what we need to know is another matter.
His behaviour so far has been secretive - but he's lived a life where secrecy has saved him. Whatever else we decide, we need his information and I'm not too enamoured of his little habit of rushing ahead without telling us what he's planning to do.
Keep your friends close and your potential enemies closer. I think if he sees a chance to take the book he'll take it. I don't think he's the proper person to do that. He loves power too much."
Paper shakes off the lingering efects of the confusion the hallway brought him.
"I will make sure that wizard walks the straight and narrow." He says grimly, gripping his sword hilt.
"I do not fear the otherworld, and I do not fear some puling wizard who attempts to suckle power like a babe on a teat. My gladius will keep him honest if nothing else will."
There is a wonderful rule called take twenty. Because roling fifty saving throws is not as fun as it sounds...
Levi abruptly makes it to the end of his grueling journey through a world of dilating distances. He has made it to the door at the far end. He turns to face you all.
"She left it for us to find. She must know there is no way through. She left the make-up on the door, to give me a clue that I would follow. She did not come this far. She just left the clues, and went out the way we came in. She knew I would follow. Whatever is through this door, she wanted it to claim me. I am so tired. I wish I had never found the Solomonic gates. I have had no rest since I found them. I brought her forth to serve me. To give me a chance to rest. Now she uses my instincts and habits against me. You are right. We should rest, and you should not trust me. I am hungry for power. I always have been. I sought magic, before I knew what it was. I sought a bride from the hells, before I knew what she was. I brought her here, into this tomb, and that is what freed her. The contract I wrote had a flaw. I wrote on it that she would serve me to the end of my days, as long as I remain on Earth. This place is not on Earth. I brought her down the stairs, and bade her dig the hole. That is how she broke the bonds of the summoning. She took the book, then she walked past the pool that housed Aiolus. The defenders must have been told to stop any human that passed. Ruth is not human. She walked past, then left signs that she had come this way, to lure me to my doom, and left out the way we came in. She left yesterday, before I even came to find help in Constantinople. She left as soon as my back was turned. I know she did not pass this door, for it is warded against her kind."
"I think that this place is not designed to kill. This sorceror had godlike powers, and yet he made a chorus to sing. He left clues on the door for pilgrims to follow. He even made the image of Zeno on the door, to let us know what to expect. Aeschylus was a playwright. His portrait was on the left. We faced a chorus. A play. Homer was next. He was first to write of the Cyclops. Then came Dionysus, on the very door we opened with obeiscance. Next was Zeno, and that is the peril of this room. The next will be Plato, then Diogenes, then the mathemetician. The last image on the door was a cornucopia. Perhaps that will be a peril, and perhaps a reward. This place was meant to be unravelled, but only by followers of the old gods. Perhaps I am wrong, but I think we are here for a reason."
"We are here for a reason. People outside want to kill us."
"...The next will be Plato, then Diogenes, then the mathemetician. The last image on the door was a cornucopia. Perhaps that will be a peril, and perhaps a reward. This place was meant to be unravelled, but only by followers of the old gods. Perhaps I am wrong, but I think we are here for a reason."
"That may be. If you're right, we should be able to have some idea of what faces us ahead. Because we need to go on, I've a strong sense that whatever is hidden here needs to be unravelled. Modius, keep in mind your Christ is a forgiving lord. You are working for the good and you must use the means to hand.
Paper, can you offer us any clues to the likely perils? What do you know of these philosophers?"
Isat also thinks hard -
Knowledge rolls in Arcana, History and Religion (since the game inconveniently doesn't list ancient greek philosophers :D) (1d20 8=20, 1d20 3=9, 1d20 7=24)
Paper casts his mind back to his youth in his father's library. The dry cadence of Themostiklies, his old tutor echoes through his ears like the ancient Greek was standing next to him.
"We are here for a reason. People outside want to kill us."
Modius keeps walking, losing himself only to pull himself back together again just as he feels like he might just drift away.
Plato.
Diogenes.
The mathemetician.
Cornucopia.
Plato is one of the founders of logos and scientas. He is most famous for dualism, and the idea of perfect forms, of which our world is a shadow. His famous anecdote, of humanity living in a cave, watching shadows on the wall, springs to mind. There is too much information on this thinker available to you.
Diogenes was against materialism. He shunned all posessions, and famously lived in a barrel. Alexander, then 19, came to see him. The young emperor asked if Diogenes wanted anything, and was famously told: "Yes. Get out of my sun."
The mathemetician in the picture was calculating something to do with pi. It could be Euclid(Author of the elements, and titan of mathematics.), Demosthenes (Who calculated the diameter of the Earth using the shadows in two wells) or Pythagoras (Mathemetician, mystic and madman.)
The Cornucopia in the picture contained grapes, bread, meat, and golden wheat. All fairly standard.
Paper frowns in concentration
"Plato theorized that our Earth was but a shadow of the real, perfect world. Perhaps we are seeing some justification of his theories now.
I think if Diogenes is pictured we might face a challenge to put away our greed. Perhaps a danger that can only be avoided by forsaking some treasure. The mathmatician ... hmm"
Paper tries to think.
"Maybe we will be called on to solve a mathematical riddle or something of the sort regarding the properties of circles."
Paper thinks some more
"The cornucopia could be anything. I'll take it as a promising omen as it has often been used as a symbol of the Cornelii gens throughout history."
Rufinus has spread his poncho on the ground. He lies down on it.
"Forgive me. I am very tired, and must sleep. Thank you, master Vastra, for letting me help Hrothgar. Thank you, warriors, for showing me your bravery and prowess, and thank you masters Larci, and Papyrus, for your trust and frienship. The All-Father and the Thunderer have given this old man a chance to die gloriously. I will sleep well tonight."
"The cornucopia is the symbol of the mother. She lies at the root of all mysteries. Whatever we need to pass through, she will be at the heart." says Isat with calm certainty.
"Rufinus, as always your sense is our best guide. I need to sleep too. Apart from anything else, I need to get the song I've been singing for hours out of my head."
Paper yawns and winces, feeling the pain of the wounds Aiolos gave him. Although Isat did and excellent job of reviving him, dying takes a lot out of a soul.
"I think this is as good a spot to recover until we meet our next challenge."
Paper spreads his father's cloak out and lies down to rest.
ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz
The night passes peacefully. There is no real sense of time in the tomb, but when you all wake, you find the air fresh. The false stars on the roof of the blue tunnel glitter in the magical torchlight. You have all taken turns resting during the night. There were quiet conversations between whoever was awake at any time. Isat and Rufinus tended to all wounds, with magical and mundane means. Levi spent part of the early morning in meditation. Stratos Kopteros snored. He has moved deeper into the grand hall, to give you all some peace.
Rufinus and Modius are the last to wake.
The air is cool, and slightly humid. The paradoxical passageway is not an obstacle to any of you any more. The door ahead is a plain and unadorned setof double doors, each door is four foot wide and eight foot tall. It is ebony, and the handles are two leather loops. The wood is polished smooth, and perfectly dark. There is almost no gap between the door and frame. The seam in the middle is flush. The hinges are simple brass fittings. There is a small layer of undisturbed dust in front of the door. Ruth's footprints did not get to the door.
All of you are healed, and ready.
Hrothgar exclaims, "Praise be the gods have not exacted their toll!"