MOD PLOT ↠ BEFORE THE GATES | PUZZLE LOG

[faderifting]

WHO: Bastien, Byerly, Cosima, Derrica, Edgard, Ellis, Flint, Gwenaëlle, Josias, Loxley, Marcus, Mobius, Redvers, Sidony, Tiffany, Tony, Viktor
WHAT: Puzzles and sacrifice
WHEN: Mid Kingsway
WHERE: A temple in Arlathan Forest
NOTES: See also OOC post, open log.

The search pays off, after a few weeks, when a team—every team, independently, separated from the others by foliage and time, and unaware they aren't the only ones—stumbles upon a sizable contingent of Venatori and their allies making steady progress toward a ruined temple complex. It's too large a group for any four- or five-person team to combat directly. But they can outrun them. Whether they dash ahead of the enemy unseen or pause first to ambush or delay them, they'll beat them to the ruins. The forest is so densely grown up around and over its remnants that it's impossible to get a sense of the full scale, but something about the size of the walls and doorways arching high overhead, the opulence of the carvings and mosaics even encrusted by millenia of moss, suggests an important site. And there's a feeling, too, a spine-prickling sense of mingled excitement and foreboding, that whispers this must be the place.

That feeling is confirmed by the contents of the mosaics lining the walls, depicting a glowing golden city with a familiar arrangement of spires and towers. Looking at it causes a strangely powerful sense of deja vu until someone puts it together—these same towers now haunt the Fade, their blackened heights always visible, never reachable. The mosaic of the city circles what looks once to have been a great temple hall, perspective sloping to draw the eye to the only other doorway out of this space, an arched portal opposite, gilded to appear as if it's part of the mosaic, as if walking through it might take one through the walls of the golden city itself.

Each team will reach this temple alone and will travel through it alone. As far as they will be able to tell, they are the only ones to have made it here—perhaps the only people to set foot inside it in a thousand years or more—and the combination of time distortion and crystal lapses will make it impossible to determine otherwise. They can send all the messages they like while inside the complex, but will receive no replies until it's all over. As far as they know, they are the only people with this chance to investigate by far the most promising site Riftwatch has found in the forest. The enemy is going to arrive soon to take whatever is here, and if they leave here now who knows how long it might take to find it again.

Once they're inside, their passage through the temple will follow a linear path, with no opportunities to branch off or divide their party. There is a single route to follow, and the walls are still high and sheer and thick enough to stop them going over or under or through. Each room will present a new trial, a puzzle to be solved, feats of strength and cunning and bravery to be accomplished before the way forward is revealed. If they take the time to clear away some of the vines and study the statues and reliefs, they'll find that each room is dedicated to one or more of the Elvhen gods, which may provide clues if they know their pantheon.

Comments

the pit of Andruil

[fairforce]

Tiffany edges forward carefully so that she can peer over the edge. The light doesn't carry very far down, so mostly what this does is afford her a better look at the absolute darkness of the pit below them.

"I have some," she offers, without much confidence. "Enough that we could lower someone a little more, to see if there's any hand-holds just out of sight. Besides that, I don't know that I'll be of much use either way. My arm is feeling worse, not better."

What had seemed a minor tumble in the chamber of Falon'Din is--well, maybe still that. Even so, her arm is definitely hurting more, though she's kept it tucked close to her side.

"Surely there's a way to solve it. What sort of puzzle is 'a great big hole'?"

[favoriteanalyst]

"There's no reason the puzzle can't just be a test of...faith?" That still feels like the wrong word. "If your will's not strong enough, if you don't believe you'll survive it when something will save you on the other side, then you're stuck here and fail the test. So on."

He frowns. Down into the hole. "But that also seems a little too simple. Could toss a little magic down there, see for ourselves if a fireball doesn't get snuffed out immediately. And so long as there's someone with a firm grip, we can lower someone at least a ways. We've got options." Things to explore carefully. On the other hand: "Not a whole lot of time, though."

[luaithre]

The reverberation of Marcus' staff striking the ground—well, if the sound of metal-boned wood connecting with stone can ring in some way over it, it does, but there's no material complaint as he does this thing, and twinned balls of flame erupt from where the blade of his staff connects with its body. They spiral together, arcing and descending down into the pit, flaring orange light along a smooth wall before fizzling out with nothing below to strike.

We've got options. The idea of leaping into the darkness feels like failure, to Marcus, with a stronger likelihood of finding broken bodies of people who tried the same and dying among them.

He looks to the group, evaluating. Tiffany and her broken hand, Mobius and his injury. That would leave himself, Edgard, and Redvers Keen, and the idea of dangling off a rope at either of their mercy has Marcus stay silent for another disgruntled second. Then, offering, "I can go."

Because Keen is built like a shit brickhouse and Edgard is a panicky fool is only pronounced in a flick of a glance.

[fairforce]

It is a good suggestion. Probably their best, and maybe even their only. Because she and Mobius are injured and because Keen is built like a brick house and Edgard's strengths lie elsewhere. Tiffany surmises all of this as she swiftly surveys the group of them.

Then she looks back down the hole. She can still see the path of the fire, the memory of it as good as the sight. The heat of it passing by had reminded her of standing too near to Funalis fires. Under its light, the walls had continued smooth, on and on and on.

"Only as far as we can, with what rope we have. We won't take any risks, or put anyone else at risk. This is reconnaissance."

She slips her pack off her right shoulder as she stoops, stiffly. The length of rope lies neatly coiled on the top, packed by a clear calm cool version of Seeker Hart some hours ago.

[favoriteanalyst]

He wonders if other ghostly spirit versions of themselves got this far. He wonders if they made it or if they all died. Shudders, clears it from mind.

"We could also try to secure it to the base of one of the mirrors. Those seem sturdy, though we'll lose a little length for it." Since he, naturally, can understand if Marcus has reservations about all this. "Maybe seeing the walls of it up close might reveal something."

Though he sounds doubtful.