Ramious picks himself up off the ground after crashing down under the construct.  He wipes himself off, quick to push any rusting bits of metal off himself.  He grins at Bernard, "Well, that went well....see?  No axe!"  He slaps him on the shoulder.  

With the construct broken and apparently hollow, Ramious picks it up and turns it, trying to dump anything out that may have been hidden inside.  He absently says to the group, "I mean, that instruction OBVIOUSLY refers to me and my axe. Most clever. Best tool.  Matches perfectly."  He gives Alyssa a toothy grin.  "Or maybe you gotta use your pencil. Ooooh, oooh, or your brain. Wack it with your face.  No..no...try the pencil first."  He goes back to searching the hollow construct body. 

There are times when whacking her face against a wall felt appropriate. Alyssa would step forward, and as suggested, touch her pen to it.

"That was great Ramious, you held it perfectly so we could take it down.  Team work makes dream work," he says to Ramious.  

"I don't think the axe counts as clever but maybe you're on the right track?  Not her face but I like that pen idea.  Alyssa, if that's not enough maybe try some magic ink for your spells, oh, what about a spell scroll?  That's a clever tool."

It is highly unlikely that authors of the riddle meant pen - something invented centuries later and not in this part of the world - and yet, the magic itself was smart enough to recognize the conditions when they were met: the crystal wall - cold and solid like a rock - melted away like a piece of ice under the hot sun.

And yet, the creature inside remained unreachable, guarded by an invisible barrier. New glyphs lightened up around the column: Trust your souls to the gods, mortals!

Ramious stopped trying to shake anything free of the hollow construct, dropping it with an unceremonious bang onto the floor.  He wipes his hands off with some clapping then walks over and puts an arm on Alyssa's shoulder, feigning leaning on her without actually putting weight on her.  "Woah.  That worked?!?"  He laughs a snorting laugh.  "Hunh.  Well, wonders never cease.  Now what....Trust our souls? Yeesh...."  he shrugs, "Gods always want people bowin to them, or bleedin for them....maybe one of those?"

Alyssa’s eyes would fall over the glyphs. With Ramious prattling on, the elf just hears his words and shrugs. “Gods...” She’d look to her holy symbol that was passed down to her. The path she barely took, and practically ignored, but maybe shouldn’t have... ”I guess... Here.” Taking her crest of Oghma, she’d hold it up to see if it did anything. 

And yet again, it seemed the glyphs were recognising the essence, not the form, because whoever worshiped the builders, it was not Oghma.

The barrier staid but the glyphs seemed to lighten up brighter when the crest came closer to them.

Pleasantly surprised Bernard gave a pump of his arm for Ramious' correct suggestion and Alyssa able to pull it off.  Then with the next step her symbol seemed to do something but not quite enough.  "Alyssa, if just showing the symbol doesn't work, try hitting the shield with a spell from your god."

Alyssa was tempted to tap her symbol against the barrier as the glyphs began to react but when Bernard instruct her to try a spell, she would. “Sure.” 

She’ll try guidance first and if that doesn’t work she’d spend a spell slot on Bless. 

"Or maybe you simply have to have faith it will work, and walk through holding the symbol." Leon spoke his thoughts out loud.

It was Bless that did it. You could not see the force wall disappearing, of course, but the glyphs flashed with the radiant light once and then stopped glowing. With that, the creature inside slowly softly fell to the floor and was lying there, still coiled around the column, motionlessly. But a few moments passed and the stairs on the other sides begun to loose their auras (Leon could see it clearly) as if magic was sucked out of them, while the feathered snake opened its eyes and raised up in all its beauty.

"You freed me." It was a statement made in a perfect language the most close to each of you (Leon have not heard Gith for a long time, and Alyssa could enjoy clarity of his Elvish). "Is this the time then?" The snake looked back, at the wall behind: where before was just smooth stone and nothing else, now you could clearly see the double doors, sealed with familiar golden sun symbol. "You will be the one fighting Chitza-Atlan. Zotzilaha foresaw your coming when the prison breaks."

Bernard was taken aback by both the creature and it talking to them.  Though, talking was good.  Talking was not fighting.  

"Um... I'm not sure who those people are.  We were hired by the locals because whatever curse they are under needs to be ended by outlanders. That's us and we've climbed from the bottom of the temple up here.  If whatever we are to fight imprisoned you here then maybe there is a way you can help us since we freed you?"

"My magic sustained the prison. It is ending now, and so is my life. Zotzilaha locked Chitza-Atlan - the great evil - inside and placed me as a guardian - to wait until those capable to fight it would come. You went through the labyrinth, you are those who can fight it then. No matter who summoned you or how they or you call yourself - that was foretold an so it has to happen."

"Take the items you can find here - some of them might help. There is a bracelet among them that can shield the one who wares it, but do not try to harm anyone with it's power, or the curse might kill you".

The snake spread its radiant wings but it did not look as if they could lift the body up, the creature did look quite ... not weak, but fading, like a dream.

"My powers are leaving me," repeated snake, "and my part is done." His gaze shifted from one to another of you, as if studying. "I can do one last thing in this world before I perish. Two of you," the snake slightly bowed towards Alyssa and Ramious, "are bearing the curse of Zotzilaha, but you," (another motion towards Ramious) "carry another one, meant for one of his creatures. I can free you from it." The snake was waiting for the answer with a stoical patience of someone who already sees "the other side."

Ramious glances around, "Uhh, ya, definitely, free me, please. That'd be great. You mean the axe right?  Is there another curse?"  Ramious looks around suddenly, his brows furrowed furiously, "Have I been doing something else weird and nobody has said anything?"  He looks himself over as if expecting to see a 3rd arm.

Alyssa would pinch the bridge of her nose, letting out a soft exhale.

He glances over at her...."Do I....do I smell bad? Come on...what is it?"

"No Ramious, you don't smell bad... well no worse than normal that is.  Just give her a moment to collect her thoughts," Bernard says.  He turn towards the the creature and gaves a slight bow.  "I thank you for your help.  Can you point me in the direction of the items here you think would help us in our fight?"

Leon gives Ramious a lopsided grin. "Come on man, you don't believe we would tell you that do you?" He nods to the other two. "We here made a pact you see, no telling Ramious about the other thing he is doing that is so very wierd." Leon shrugs. "Though I would have to say ending the curse brought by that axe would be my preference, we have lived with the other thing for quite some time already..." He shifts his feet on the stone, skuffing a metal-reinforced boot across the ground. With all kidding aside his eyes are scanning the chamber, wondering what these 'other' things might be, most interested in the thing that might shield a person. His magical sight is still up, so he hopes to see some sort of magical aura, as he has little doubt such things would be magical.

"So be it," answered snake, "be ware of the gaze of Chitza-Atlan - it will kill the one who meet it!" and then suddenly flapped its wings. The swirling cloud of shining sparks covered Ramious for a few moment, and when the mesmerizing cyclone died out, the axe dropped to the floor with a loud bronze "bang". The colorful splashes of light stopped their dance only to reveal that the snake creature was gone. But with the magic of the pillar and the creature disappearing, Leon could now see the different objects with all their auras. There were a few: the axe, of course, peacefully laying on the stairs, a small scale, a golden bracelet, a mirror, and a pendant on a long chain. (a balance of harmony, a periapt of wound closure, a mirror of the past and a bracelet of rock magic )

The snake did not tell how to open the door, but you had a feeling, it would not be a problem now.

(Level 6 , everybody!)

(WOOHOO!)

Ramious flexes his muscles, and takes several steps back from the axe.  "Wow. That thing had a hold of me by the nuts!!  All I wanted was to keep it in my hand and kill things."  He backs away further.  "Thanks magical snake creature....wherever you've gone.  Woah.  Glad to be rid of that.  Now...well...now I'm feeling GREAT!".

He puts down his bag and pulls out a spare shirt, and ties it around his face, covering his eyes.  Then, he hops from foot to foot, as if testing out his balance.  "Ok....great, i can SORTA see through the cloth, but....it'll help remind me not to look this thing in it's eyes...."

"Uh, that bracelet of rock magic seems neat.  I don't think I'd ever use it...I'd probably just wear it so that nothing nasty turns me to stone, cause that sounds great. Though, honestly, I'm sorta wary of anything else from this place. I guess that wound closing one would be good for me.  I get beat up a lot." 

He sighs. "I sorta miss the axe...wait..NO..NO I DO NOT.  ALL I NEED IS MY RAPIER.  THAT'S ALL I NEED!"  He turns his blind folded face to face away from the axe resting on the stairs.

(He picks up a 3rd level of sorcerer, gaining Enlarge/Reduce and switching false life for Misty Step, and chooses Quicken spell and Subtle spell as his meta-magic options.)