Ilixia politely declines the offering of peanuts. "I do not need to eat as you mortals do. But your gesture demonstrates that your heart is purer than Grathyvon's. I assume that you have all come here to gain entry into the Sacred Grove?"

Kasha startles out of her amazement of the tree and finger guns Illxia, making two clicking noises with her mouth.

"Ya can bet yer sweet arse we're hope'n to. In case ya haven't gotten the news, or figured it out fer yerself, some of the local druids have gone off the deep end, 'nd be plan'in to undo yer Lady Myleaky the exact opposite of a solid by releasing somethin' she's got all sealed up. So mind make'n with the magics and open'n the way already, alexa... Illzia... Al--ah, **** it. Mind if'n I call ya Buffy?" Bivaris asked, back to being her more brass self.

"I have stood guard over the way to the Sacred Grove for millennia. You will show me some respect when you speak to me." Said Ilixia, who very much minded being called Buffy. "The way to the Sacred Grove will not open to you unless you pass the test and prove yourselves worthy. Are you ready for the test?"

Kasha, her mouth full of peanuts, held up her finger. She chewed with much more urgency, swallowed loudly, followed it up with a loud "AAHHhh!" and stood straight.

"Yes!" 

Stella casually brings a foot down on Bivaris's toes. "Of course we'll take the test."

"I... Apologize on her behalf, Ilixia." Yvan speaks up finally, stepping forward after seeing Stella 'accidentally' step on Bivaris' toes. "But, yes, we are."

"Very well then." Said Ilixia, who accepts your apology. "Leave your weapons here and enter the pool. You will not need them for this. Your hearts and minds are being tested in this trial, not your skills in combat." 

Vastra unclips her dagger and leaves it at the shoreline.  

Yvan does as the druid instructs, setting his greataxe, javelin, and handaxes on the shoreline and waits for further instruction. 

Alys would follow Yvan's lead and begin stripping herself of her shield and dagger, laying them with the giants weapons. She'd leave anything else the druid may request.

Kasha plops down her bag of peanuts and swan dives into the pool gracefully.

Furlong contemplates attempting to pass his cane off as a simple walking stick, and not his weapon, but he realizes that might risk their entry into the grove. As he weighs his options, he attempts to read this strange being and their intent, and whether they are being invited into a trap.

Insight: 10

Furlong: You can't really tell, but everything Ilixia said seems genuine, but she does seem to be awfully mature for someone who looks like they're 10.

Bivaris started to roll her eyes, only to be forced to yank her foot out of the way of Stella's 'attack'. "Oi!" She grouses at Stella, and then shoots a dirty look at Yvan. Despite her ever growing and foul mood, she dumps most of her basic weapons, including even the device strapped to her arm. But stops at the lute and levels a wary look at Ilixia. "Oi... ya count'n instruments as weapons? 'cause yer test'n me heart and mind, ya basically ask'n me to... well, leave those behind." As she stood closer, she clutched her lute tightly to her chest, seeming at least genuine in her assertion.

In the event of an unfavorable answer, Bivaris looks long and hard at her instruments, and traces the design with a finger if to etch the design deep into her surface thoughts. Yet when push comes to shove, she would set them down with the rest if needed prior to stepping into the lake with the rest.

Ilixia gives you an understanding look and allows you to keep your instrument.

Upon getting a dirty look from Bivaris, Stella would glare right back and mutter, "Manners around the mysterious superpowerful being, plese."

She lays her weapons down as well without complaint before taking a graceful dive straight into the lake.

Furlong sighs and lays his cane on the ground, straightens his collar, then proceeds towards the water.

Rinn watches the others drop their weapons and begin stepping into the pool. The elf hesitates briefly before unstrapping his blades. "I pretty much sleep with these things," he mutters before entering the pool. 

Ilixia dives down into the pond and motions for you to all follow her as she swims down. When you go beneath the surface, you see that this is much deeper than you would expect a pond to be, with water going down before going into a deep blackness from which you can see no bottom. You still follow the child down and after a few moments your brains start to register that you're going pretty down. You expect to be greeted by the crushing pains of going down into the depths or the need to breathe after holding your breath for so long. But instead of drowning, you feel perfectly fine.

"Mielekki is testing your minds and hearts, not your bodies. Your ability to hold your breath will not be what grants you entry into the Sacred Grove."

As soon as Ilixia finishes communicating this to you, you all see a small red light in the distance. Upon swimming closer to it, you see that it's a fire. When you arrive at the fire, the environment changes. You are no longer underwater, you're standing around a campfire, in a primitive human village at night. It's not clear where this village is located or when it was located, but it's very clear that the people here are not industrious. The homes are all huts made out of wood and cloth. The people you see are all cooking meats from hunted creatures over fire and they're clothed in simple furs. Their tools are made from bone, rock, and wood, not metal.

"What you see before you is a mere image of events that have occurred thousands upon thousands of years ago. You are no more capable of influencing what happens here as you are with influencing what happens in the pages of an already written book. Behold, Misfit Company, you gaze upon a young world where the humanoid races are in their infancy. They have not yet created the tools that they will use for good and evil, the discoveries that they will find that will allow them to create kingdoms and empires."

The humans begin cowering in fear as an impossibly tall man approaches with a look of fury on his face. He appears to be a Sahuagin that's clothed in weeds and bones. Before he can do anything, his attention is diverted by a shout from another impossibly tall being, this one appearing to be an half-elven woman with red hair that is dressed in ranger's clothing. The Sahuagin approaches the half-elven woman, and begins to argue with her.

"But the gods knew that their creations would not remain in this primitive state forever. The races of the world would go on to build society, discover new things, and create many inventions as they would try to understand the universe that they lived in. The Devourer saw this as a rebellion against nature, and wished to use his great power to keep the humanoid races from leaving their cradle, or worst case, smother them in it and start over with races who would know their place. Mielekki disagreed. She knew that this was as natural as a young bird flying out of the nest and that attempting to stop progress is as futile as attempting to stop the rising of the sun."

Even though this is a mere image of something that occurred thousands upon thousands of years ago, watching two gods argue is still a terrifying scene, even if they are wearing guises that the mortal mind could comprehend. Everyone make a DC13 Wisdom Saving Throw or take  5 psychic damage. Once everyone has done so, we will move on to the next image.

Bivaris Wis Save(DC 13): 6.

Once it became clear they could breathe -- or, more accurately did not have to, Bivaris quickly lost interest in most other discoveries to follow. Most things. 'Did we ever mention our names?' She thought just prior to another image change; that of the Gods. Neither Terror or Awe could quite describe the feeling evoked by the sight of them arguing. And though she tried to push the strange feeling down, her mind started to fracture...