"What about..."  Roxana begins, but the halfling has vanished. "Guess he wouldn't have answered anyway,"  She remarks to Obidiah, then knocks on the door. 

As before, the clatter of approaching armor is heard, then the guardian opens the door. He counts you (this time much earlier) and declares: "Stay where you are, please. There are 3 of you, I have to give you 1 Yellow Kylth's Flag. What is the password?"

(OOC: 3 because Gaer is also with you)

And after Roxana replies "Redone", the guardian, like the previous time, goes to the smaller rock wall near to the east one and from behind retrieves a Yellow Kylth's Flag, identical to the one Rash kept with him. The guard hands the flag to the girl from Longsaddle, then closes the door.

(OOC: Gratz for getting your 2nd yellow flag!)

"Where..." Roxana starts again, but it is clear the guardian has left."Not much for conversation, are they?" she says to Gaer and Obidiah with a grin.

"Think maybe we should try our mnemonic theory over on the other side," she says. "Probably should hold hands just in case." Roxana reaches out her hand to whoever will take it, then heads off towards the other alcove.

Once there she mutters, "Leave, loneliness, later. So three lefts to start." Still holding the yellow flag, she moves down the tunnel on the left. 

"You go ahead, I will catch up." The white-haired warrior mutters, and as soon as Roxana and Gaer is out of sight he knocks on the door, ready to speak the password in order to get a flag of his own before following along.

Gaer agrees to hold Roxana's hand, while he looks at her appreciatively and compliments: "Nice bet, to try to get a new flag! Good girl, besides how pretty, you're really smart!"

"If we could play the trick again, we could pile up quite a few of these..." the tiefling muses aloud "They should be worth a lot, you know? They're magical... They make the fog go away... They give light without one risks getting burned... When we don't need them anymore, they could bring in a tidy sum... You were already thinking about that too, right?" he smiles "And the nice thing is that it's not even a dishonest thing, it isn't like stealing or something... The guardian gives them to us of his own free will... Not even that pedantic troublesome Quspira could find anything to say about it!"

In the meantime, Obadiah puts into practice what Gaer limited himself to planning: he knocks, waits for the guardian and his usual question, replies with the password, receives his flag... and is in an instant in front of the door closed, but with a precious Yellow Kylth's Flag in hand!

As soon as the woodsman reaches the two, Gaer immediately notices him: "You're smart too, huh, man? I was just thinking about getting more flags..."

But here comes the moment of truth for Roxana's theory...

Leaving the southern alcove through the left corridor (the one that leads to the east, to then turn south) no alarm actually goes off and no fiery menace is encountered... So the theory seems correct, thus far... But there is something different from the usual, in the section of the corridor that leads to the south: through pretty much all that stretch, the stone (of walls, ceiling and floor) has a lot of cracks - so numerous that they make the stone look like a spiderweb! A few fragments have also fallen, but the stability of the passage is not in danger.

The corridor then turns west and after a few more paces the girl from Longsaddle comes to a point from which many possible ways can be seen...

So where are you going now?

Roxana suppresses a chuckle as Gaer takes her hand. "Thanks Gaer, you're pretty too!" she says with a grin. She tries to pass it off, but she does like being complimented.

"This should be the second left" she says as she turns to go down the hall (south). Then coming to where there's a passage to the left and the hall continues, she says, "And this is the third."  She turns to go left. (East towards ?12)

"It's nice when you find someone who has so many things in common with you..." comments Gaer, with a grin of his own, continuing to follow the girl from Longsaddle...

...whose lead seems to continue to be safe. Nothing bad happens to the trio of heroes, who arrive unscathed at a new 'T' intersection, with many new ways available.

Gaer's Perception: 23

(OOC: Roxana and Obadiah, please, roll you too for Perception - no need to stop the action, though, you can keep choosing the next way)

"Careful, Roxana, he's been known to break a few hearts in his wild and reckless youth.", Spira chuckles.  "But seriously: since this is the third left, that should take us through the first phrase of the riddle. ' 'Leave loneliness, later', so there remains; remember lore, really! And be constant'.  Should be a right, left right; but does anyone have any guesses as to the 'a,b,c' at the end?  This is the riddle that leads to the purple flag, so I would hope the left and right directions would take us to the point we can get that.  Maybe, 'a, b, c' refers to a choice between three possible options we'll have to make?'"  Her brow wrinkles as she tries to think of possibilities for the last part of the riddle.

========================

Investigation ("...and make deductions based on those clues..."): 13

(Roxana Perception: 24)

"Ok, remember lore, really. Right, left, right." Roxana says to herself.  With that she heads down the passage to her right (south).  Coming to the new passage branching to the left, she then takes that. (East, at ?16).

(OOC: Oh, if Spira came with the exploring party as well, she also can roll for Perception!)

Anyway, reasoning on the riddle, the tiefling cleric doesn't come up with new ideas... Maybe once you all get there there will be new elements.

In the meantime, Gaer replies: "You're just envious because you're probably going to be a spinster, Quspira... I told you that you have to work on that character of yours... Doesn't the fact that what came closest to a love conquest in your life has been Solitude make you think about it?"

With her senses always alert, Roxana has identified a small object, while walking along the last corridor to the east, the one that had led her to the 'T' intersection: it is a small, straight piece of iron (about as long as her little finger and less than half thick).

The small object is left there, as if someone dropped it. The girl from  Longsaddle can pick it up (or get someone else to pick it up) if she wants.

Meanwhile, the path chosen by Roxana crosses another area where the corridor is visibly ruined: the part of the corridor south and east of the last turn you take before reaching the threshold of the large room is noticeably blackened and ruined, with several small fragments of rock that have detached from the floor, walls or ceiling, which show numerous cracks. Some of the cracks are large enough to fit a finger through, but at least the stability of the passage is not in danger.

In fact, you manage to pass without difficulty... and thus arrive at the threshold of a large room without a door... and truly unusual!

First, in the middle of the room, there is a 15' x 15' area that is divided into 9 squares with luminescent outlines in the center of which float motionless images of disparate creatures (a different creature for each square) scaled in size so that they are all about 1' high.

Near the south wall there is a sort of small rock wall, 5' high and as long as the south wall itself, which marks off a narrow space between itself and the latter.

The description of the figures in the various squares follows.

In the northernmost row, the western square contains a winged reptile, with four legs and a tail, with white scales fading to transparency and shimmering with radiant energy - an energy that glows like starlight between the body and the spines and horns that hover close to the head and back.

In the northernmost row, the center square contains a beautiful humanoid-like creature with silvery skin. Its hair and eyes gleam with an unearthly luster, and large feathery wings unfurl from its shoulder blades.

In the northernmost row, the east square contains a hulking monster with a whip-like tail and enormous wings that it wraps around itself like a cloak. Red armored scales cover its body, and its fanged maw drips an unreassuring-looking icore.

In the middle row, the west square contains a giant bipedal insect, with clawed hands and feet, powerful mandibles, and a long tail covered in razor-sharp spikes. Its carapace is generally white in color but with some shades tending towards light blue and others tending towards light grey.

In the central row, the central square contains a winged reptile, with four legs and a tail, with dark yellow scales with big metallic flecks. Its face is sagacious and anointed with flexible spines that resemble whiskers. Its sail-like wings start at its shoulders and trace down to the tip of its tail.

In the middle row, the east square contains a muscular and hairless humanoid, with opalescent green skin and white-feathered wings, brandishing a great sword.

In the southernmost row, the western square contains a muscular and handsome humanoid, regal in appearance and with white-feathered wings, holding a bow, while a great sword floats by his side.

In the southernmost row, the center square contains an intimidating feral-looking humanoid, armed with a fork, sheathed in quite tough looking scales and with huge wings, sweeping horns and a pointed tail.

In the southernmost row, the east square contains a winged reptile, with four legs and a tail, with swept-back horns and spinal frill that define its silhouette. Its thick scales are a dull, deeper red and its very long wings have a blue-black tint along the trailing edge that resembles metal burned blue by fire.

"Not sure how long she'll adore me, if I'm as preachy as you always say, dear brother.", Spira murmurs, obviously distracted from their sibling spat by the strange scene before us all.  "How strange!  I wonder if these are images of prisoners; or something else?  I'd swear some of these creatures are dragons, and some seem like demons, while others could be from the Heavens or from Arcadia.  Or a puzzle of some kind.  They don't seem to be moving at the moment ..."  She stretches herself up on tiptoe to her greatest height and begins craning and peering to see if she can see anything like controls ... or anything unusual for that matter ... behind the wall to the south.

===========================

Perception 11

Arcana (to identify the creatures and humanoids) 2

Spira fails to notice further details. As for the creatures... she observes them with greater attention, now, but she does nothing but confirm her initial analysis: some of these creatures are dragons, and some seem like demons, while others could be from the Heavens or from Arcadia.

"And be constant..." Gaer snorts "I can't stand these silly riddles... What can there ever be constant, in this jumble of creatures? Or if it's the initials that matter, like before... What could 'A', 'B' and 'C' refer to here?"

(OOC: Spira can also roll for Investigation, to look for clues and reflect about the ones she finds or she already knows. The others can roll as well, of course)

Roxana reacts a bit gruffly to Spira's warning to her about her brother breaking hearts.  "I'm only holding his hand because that's the rules of these flags," she says, sounding a bit defensive.  She does have to stifle a laugh though as Gaer mentions his sister loving 'Solitude'.

As they turn to the room, Roxana says, "That was the final 'right'. Now to ponder 'And be constant.'  Certainly could be 'a', 'b', 'c' but that doesn't seem as obvious.  Perhaps it's meant literally. The path is the one where you stay consistent with some choice. "

She turns to look more carefully at the room and its images.  "Maybe there's a pattern. But this might take a bit."

==========

(Spira's Investigation 23

(Aidyn would have come down with the others to further explore lvl 2 too ) 

"Just do not try to get more information out of the halfling" she says when they finish their last interaction with him " It is clearly a fixed incarnation or illusion or something that doesn't really has a mind of itself, so to speak.. "

At the entrance of the chamber the warrior will look amazed to the figures, the winged one with the bow and the greatsword specially pick her attention. 

"What do you tink is this chamber?" she asks "that one" she says pointing to the wingwed radiant reptile, reminds me to the mosaic we saw before, don't ask me why... what... what we shsould do? " she asks to the others.