Pizazz's Myth Drannor

"Check the shadows, he might be there preparing poisons. At least I hope he does, otherwise, we would need to improvise." Mirica looked around too - in shadows or not but Russel had to participate in Heroes Feast too.

The sound of rustling feathers is heard from Jezun's left and he turns to see Russel standing there. He's not sure if he's been there the whole time or just showed up.  Either way, Russel then opens his mouth and Thryius's voice emerges, "Poison."  He withdraws a couple of vials from a belt pouch and holds them up. 

Toc grunts, "Well, great, we can all poison ourselves now. I'm hoping wine works. Alright, lets go give some of the theories a shot."  He scoops the last bit of the mystical Lentil soup from the fancy bowl that Mirica had summoned as part of her powerful magical feast. As the group stands, the jewel encrusted bowl that the food appeared in, turns grey, and then crumbles into dust leaving behind nothing.   

The group packs up their goods. Anything left to the mostly transparent staff to clean comes back thoroughly cleaned and cared for. Eventually everyone is on the foyer, warm winter clothes on and started to sweat slightly, before the door is opened and the group emerges from the magical mansion back into exactly the place they'd left next to the ruins and crawling hands. Warm breath plumes from mouths and the icy cold embraces any revealed flesh.  Though there is no wind here, stepping back into this icy realm is a harsh reminder of the terrible cold that you've all been surviving in. 

With nothing apparent having changed around you, the group heads back towards the gateway that leads into the central building. The large guardian clanks along behind Toc, while Russel slips along behind the group. The magical field extends out, like a peninsula, following a hollow strut that reaches out to one of the cities districts. The strut plants itself on the ground but has a wide opening revealing the inside of the tube that must travel all the way up and into the mid-section of the large central tower. The magical field prevents entry into the struts hollow center. Before the opening and the field, is a large circle with eight symbols representing the eight schools of magic. 

Mirica repeats the Rite of the Arcane Octad to everyone, "First, shield thy heart with a wand from the Nether Oak. Second, summon a flame in the palm of your hand. Third, a burnt palm loosens the tongue. Shed a secret about yourself for all to hear. Fourth, coax a secret from another. Fifth, quench the flame in thy palm with ice. Sixth, hide thyself behind a mask. Seventh, trace a circle with the ashes of the dead. Eighth, stand firm in thy circle of death and consume poison."

What now?   

"Greetings again." he says to Jezun.

"Wand will hopefully work, drop it as soon as you're done with it in case you teleport away". Start a torch so we have one on hand, but also have unlit torch and sparker ready. Might need a little bit of oil in the palm then torch the oil or maybe embers will work. Then make sure there's two large blocks of ice, one in the center, and another outside with the rest of the group. Then take a shirt and cut out two eyeholes and make a head mask out of it. Ashes I think we have if not we'll have to burn some hands. Poison we have via bird.

"Additionally we need to figure out order right now so there's no confusion and we can rush through once person goes through. I'll go 4th, no reason, just to say a place. Sounds like he will go first" (pointing to Jezun). "Actually we only have one wand, but potentially just pass the wand to the person on your right, and that way maybe we can activate it all in parallel. So my idea is for everyone to go in a circle within the ritual location. First person starts and when they do the second thing, the second person does the first thing and so on. That's probably fastest way to get in at once."

"If we each take a step, with a single repetition if we can't use the automaton" Thyrius speaks up, "We'll need only one wand, only one of us needs poison, only two secrets need to be revealed. I suggest we take this conservative approach in our first try. How about this:"

• Toc shields his heart with the wand's power. I guess it requires knowledge of the arcane to be properly used.
• Jezun lights a torch and holds the flame close to his palm, as per Simaal's instructions.
• Jezun volunteers a secret about himself, since the instructions call for it to be shed by the person with flames in their hands.
• Then, someone will ask me to reveal a secret about myself. Feeling thoroughly persuaded, I will do so.
• Xem can then put Jezun's flame out with some snow/ice from the ground.
• Mirica puts her paper/shirt mask on.
• Simaal spreads the ashes in a circle.
• Russel drinks a few drops of his poison or somebody's wine-skin.

((Everyone, don't forget to increase the hit point maximum 2d10))

"No harm in trying," agreed Mirica. "We stand as Simaal suggests and make the first attempt according to Thyrius's plan. If it fails, we simply continue one by one, with Simall's idea."

The masks were made inside the mansion and Mirica tried her mask out. Mostly to save time for the potential second attempt: even if only one needed it, the ritual did not say others have to be without masks. Russel was there with the poison, ashes (thoroughly incinerated hands) were collected in the bowl and ready to be used.

"Guess we have to stand in this circle?" She stepped in. "Ready?"

(Heroe's Feast bonus HP: 10.)

Apart from seeming speculative for a few moments there, Xemnez voices no further word rejection to the plan, knowing his time to better spent finding that wine. Although leery the consequences of opening a portable hole in the mansion, pulling the ultimately already half drunken vessel out would come about once everyone had been gathered outside and passed along to Russel. "It's pretty strong stuff from what little I can remember.. for a wine, at least. So, I wouldn't drink too much now, little bird." He warns with a half-amused smile on his face, before by then stepping into the circle as directed with a scoop of snow in hand.

(Everyone can get Xemnez's roll for HP's from Heroes Feast.) 

Everyone seems to take their place within the circle and attempts the group version of the process. 

Toc brings the wand up to his chest. The first symbol on the circle lights up with a dim blue glow. With a shrug, Jezun lights the torch and brings it near his palm. The next symbol begins glowing.  With his palm feeling slightly singed...everyone looks to Jezun and waits. 

?

"I have dreams about Nuzej and I don't know what they mean," Jezun whispers, eyes shut tight, and trying not to close his palm. He nervously opens one eye. Then another, and looks at Simaal expectantly. Failing that, Thyrius.

The next symbol begins to glow softly. 

Seeing that the plan seems to be working so far, Thyrius wants to be careful and true to the wording of the clues. He whispers mentally: "I'm supposed to be persuaded. Somebody coax a secret out of me."

"Thyrius, if share your secret with us, it will be a heroic deed, one, that will help to defeat a great evil. Please, tell us your secret!" Mirica was not sure how convincing it sounded but it was not for her to decide anyway so she gave it a try.

Persuaded by Mirica's call to heroism, Thyrius sighs and then speaks while pointing to the tower: "The mythallar is not the only thing I seek in that tower."

He watches the next symbol to make sure it lights up.

The symbol lights up with a dim blue. Xemnez is quick to press his hand of icy slush over the torch that's still held near Jezun's hand....with a hissing smoke filled event, the torch goes out, lighting up yet another of the symbols. Mirica holds her mask up, lighting up another symbol. Simaal then sprinkles ash about the circle...lighting up the seventh. Finally Russel lifts the wineskin to his beak, and squirts some in his mouth.  

The last symbols lights up and the whole circle swirls with a flash of light. A light tingling sensation can be felt in your skin and then the symbols fade. Nothing apparent has happened otherwise, but as you step forward and reach out, any sense of an invisible field preventing your progress is now gone.

Grinning at first, Xemnez just about asked a rather old but still burning curiosity for the sake of the ritual. A harmless secret, of that he figured from the onset. But before the words can be put forth, Mirica beat's him to the punch. Though a touch disappointed, it is Thyrius response that truly wiped the grin from the Leonin's face. Questions however are promptly set aside for completing his part of the ritual. Yet once his part is over, Xemnez side-eyed his brother briefly before his attention is lured elsewhere.

"That's that then. Good. And here you were worried." He says to Mirica, a ghost of a smirk playing at the edge of his lips. "Best we hurry on inside. I doubt your deity couldn't sense that. And even she couldn't, no need to chance it." Xemnez is already on the move as he spoke with axe in hand through the 'gateway'.

“Toc do you have a secret too?” Jezun whispers with a hopeful grin to the impassive elf, as he steps into… wherever they were going.

"Did not believe it will work," Mirica was very surprised but quite relieved. "Thyrius, what is your other goal here? I do not mean to pry and as long as it is not to hand Mythallar over to Larloch or kill us all, I do not really mind. But if you need help with your goal, you can say so." She walked into the tower after Xemnez. "I will need a minute once we are inside. If you are to fight a diety, it is better to come prepared."

Xemnez is first to walk through the opening into the open space inside the hollow, arched pillar that arcs up into the side of the tower. He reflexively kicks his feet and waves his arms though as he begins lifting off the ground once he steps into the tube.  He stops his flapping a moment later and manages to even look a bit composed as the tube seems to lift him gently up the arcing hollow tube towards the tower.  Everyone else follows.  The tube keeps them facing down even as it follows a gentle curve, eventually depositing them where the end of the tube is now completely horizontal. It's also grown wider, thirty feet round, and runs perhaps 60 feet where it meets a wide staircase that leads to the front doors of the tower. You notice some marks on the floor show the spot where the magical elevator like force ends. From a window above the large double doors you see a bald, blue skinned figure in a black robe. Mentally you hear his voice speak to you, "You are intruders here, please depart." 

As an aside, you've been able to see glimpses of the large Mythallar underneath the tower.  The tower sits on tall tree like stone struts OVER TOP of the Mythallar. You're not sure if there is a way from inside the tower, down to the Mythallar, but, you could also just walk AROUND the strut/elevator, and walk across the open space, through the struts holding up the tower, and into the Mythallar chamber.  That is how the brothers left the Mythallar once they'd arrived. 

The "tube" up to the tower, and the Mythallar below the tower.

"Hi! Who are you now?" Jezun says, waving.

BEFORE STEPPING FORWARD

Thyrius expected his brother's look as soon as he was finished revealing his secret. He hoped his brother would trust him until the appropriate time to delve into details was upon them. Then, with her pointed question, Mirica might just have forced the "appropriate time" on the black cat. He speaks only what he deems necessary for now: "It is a new quest, acquired as recently as the previous night. I worried that two of the steps in this ritual called for secrets, and decided to postpone sharing my new quest so the lack of its party-wide knowledge could be used as one of the ritual secrets. That is why I volunteered to be one of the secret givers. I am glad my suggested conservative approach to the ritual worked, otherwise we might have to come up with two new secrets each time we failed the ritual. The simple sharing of it during a failed ritual attempt could already deny a secret's use in the next attempt, as it would no longer be a secret." 

"Keep your secret if you wish," did not argue Mirica. "As I said, as long as it is not against us here, it's your business."

As she warned before, she stopped once in the view of the Mythallar. The appearance of the voice was a good enough indication it was time for a little summoning. Fortunately, Couatl was never too far, and a minute later multicoloured feathered snake joined the company. For now, he was asked to fly up and scan the surroundings for anyone alive.