"Fine. Thanks." Greydon rests their scythe against their shoulder.

Shi pauses as a blue globe circles and hovers close to her ear, her eyes dancing between Mallet and Corinne before she sighs. "Are there any issues before we move on?"

"P-perhaps we should rest here a moment..." Morticia suggests gently. "I wouldn't want to waste any magic to heal my wounds, but I should be okay after a short rest."

If allowed an SR: 9

Shi shrugs and sits down before beginning to talk to another one of her orbs, something about preferred methods of execution.

SR: 7

Greydon keeps an eye out while the others rest.

Corinne finds a spot to sit and stretch, tearing some fabric from another part of her dress to apply a rudimentary bandage to her seeping shoulder.

SR: 8

Mallet, still wary, still fascinated, looking at Corinne like she sprouted another head, offers to help dress her wounds, and asks “does it hurt? When you… do that? And are you in control?”

She will also try to bind her own wounds and weave some low-level magic to help the others heal up while they take a breather.

HD: 3

E18. The Impossible Hall

This long hallway stretches to the east and west to wooden doors. Every few feet, an elaborate portrait depicts a scholarly individual. Most are reading heavy tomes, wearing academic robes, or holding quills. All have sour expressions. As you walk down the hallway, the eyes on the paintings follow you, however, as you continue down the hall, you find that no matter how much you walk, you do not get any closer to the door opposite the one you came in from.

Greydon would pause. “Is this an illusion or something?” They’d blurt a thought.

Shi tilts her head curiously. "Very possibly," she acknowledges, looking for any signs of illusion magic or the like.

Investigation: 4

Shi gets distracted and starts talking to one of her lights about limb loss two seconds into her investigation.

It's hard for Shi to tell anything, since she rolled a 1.

Corinne looks visibly stressed at the possibility of illusion magic, she will move over to Mallet, giving a short, polite curtsy,  "Pardon me, Mallet. Do you have some kind of small object or item that can be thrown? I want to try something."

Mallet fumbles in her pocket for a pair of dice from a gaming set she's never really used, and hands it to Corinne. "Here, this might work. And if not, I can try putting a bonfire in the hallway to see what happens. Have a few other tricks up my sleeve if there's something else there."

She will cast create bonfire about 20 feet down the hallway if the group gives the go-ahead. She will ready thorn whip to grab anything dangerous-seeming that appears beyond that to perhaps pull into the bonfire if it seems like a good idea.

The bonfire is able to come into existence 20 feet down from you with no problems. Nothing dangerous seeming appears, although the figures in the portraits continue to look at you disapprovingly.

Morticia really didn't like the eyes on them. She tried hiding behind both Corrine and Greydon to avoid their disapproving gazes, but it wasn't easy. "M-m-maybe we, um... um... d-destroy the, um, paintings...?"

Insight: 16

Insight: 18

Mallet is able to discern that these portraits aren't illusions and that somehow their disapproval of you is tied to your inability to make it to the other side of the room. You assume that if their attitude changed, you would be able to get out of here.

(We're walking west, per our instructions, correct?)

Mallet extinguishes the bonfire with a wave of one hand. "I think those portraits are judging us," she says quietly to the group.

She speaks up, to the nearest portrait. "Hello! I am Mallet. What is your name? Have you been here long? I admire curiosity and hard work -- can I ask what you study? We would like to get to where Ms. Pedipalp is, which I assume is through that door and up the stairs. Any advice you have would be welcome. Perhaps we should try climbing the walls, walking on the ceiling, walking backwards, or something else. Also, do you know Salighara?"

Mallet tries walking backwards a few steps to see if that changes the feeling of not going anywhere.

(You are going west, yes)

Can you make a Persuasion check to go along with all that?