"Perhaps the four placed before the mirrors will bring reflections or illusions of themselves into being. That would fit the clue from the first room. Mayhaps they then have to fight themselves? Or the rest of us have to fight the illusionary party. Tall or small might then mean somthing more akin to powerful or weaker. Not in a complete physical sense but in a skills and abilities one. Mayeb it is best to split up by our abilities so as to have fighter, mage, healer and thief abilities in each group.

Siréne let her eyes wander across the room, tracing the contours of each mirror. She listened in silence to the others and their suggestions. It made sense that the mirrors were in some way linked to the four elements, but there was something else that linked all four together - the amber light. What did it mean?

She had not the experience of the others in maneuvering the riddles of this cavern built labyrinth, but still she felt there was something more. Something missing.

Stepping forward the elf addressed her new companions, "I too agree these mirrors are linked in someway to the four basic elements, but there is more here that ties them together. We are not looking at rock, wind, flame, and water, but rather how light interacts with each element. Fire gives off its own, air diffuses, water reflects, and earth absorbs. There is something to consider in all that."

The enchantress pauses a moment as she glides forward, "Cor, you may well be right that these mirrors will call forth illusions, it does make sense. Yet we have already entertained too many possibilities."

Looking to Cor, Cynil, and Rayne Siréne produces a handful of rune painted stones, "We four channel divine energies, I suggest we consult them."

Cor thought for a moment, rune stones held no sway for him but as a holy man he knew that each religion had its own way of focusing and one was not necessarilly better then another. "Well las, give then a throw and see what the stone have ta say. Tis no hurry so far in this chamber at least."

Rayne's mind israpping itself around the possiblities. Lookong at the mirrors as other indicate other possibilites she adds,

"Of course they could be ruse except that the magic mouth seem to clearly indicate our coourse of action. That part disturbs me in that we have never been given such a clear clue to the solving of the test before.

(Rayne looks t the mirrior. Are thry indivual mirrors? C--liked turnedaround to face eachother? Can they be move around to face eah other.

If they can she has another idea.

It might be possible fot 4 of us to move in from a angle behind the mirrors ans turn them to face each other.

Thee four, the mouth mentioned, may not be four of us but the four mirrors themselves. Remember in the beginning this test was set up so his descendant might be here alone and not with others. Why would he make a test only 4 could accomplish. One person might be ale to do this with a cloak or other coveringd put over the mirror until placed correctly and then uncver in one motion.

As the door closes behind Maggot, the Mouth speaks its words and then is gone once more. Maggot thought to himself, ‘How many times has that mouth said that? More of a question is home many more times will it have to speak them again?’

It was then the others spoke not all at once but Maggot marveled at how their minds kicked into gear. The human is a strange animal when it comes to death’s cold finger.

Maggot then speaks up as all seem to be thinking, “It is not a clue… The riddle you speak of. It is not a clue but more like instructions. And the one who gave those words to the mouth to say had a flare for the rhyme.” Maggot moved deeper into the room from where he stood by the now closed door. “Four must look, Tall or Small. Any of us can look into the mirrors.”

He turned quickly and shouted at the four Mirrors, “YES THERE ARE FOUR.” He then turned and addresses the party, “And whom ever the four souls that look into the said mirrors must do it at the same time.” He then looks down at the white cat, “That part is very easily decoded.”

He then spins and faces the mirrors, “YES, FOUR SOULS FOR THE FOUR MIRRORS. WE GET THAT PART!”

Maggot once more faces the party, “And the four who look will either bring fourth something that will try to kill us or they themselves will be turned in some way and try to kill us.” Maggot then pulls a small bit of cloth from the end of his tattered cloak, “I will have to mend that later.” He then ties it around his right arm, “If I am one to look and if what ever comes from the mirror I look into,” Maggot looks up and yells, “YES! FOUR MIRRORS.” He then continues, “Looks like me, everyone please note that the bad one, the one you should kill, will have the cloth around his left arm.”

Maggot then goes to the east wall and finds a soft spot. Haha like a soft spot could be found. As he takes a seat, “Right good, left bad.”

Conall listened intently to the magic mouth, and then looked at the four mirrors... And while the group began immediately talking about what they could all mean, Conall stood there speechless.

Four mirrors? Tall Small? Kill them All? This was much too powerful for Conall to comprehend. Though it seemed that the general consensus was that the mirrors were bound to the elements, and that there was a possibility of illusions coming out and attacking the rest of the party. But then there was light interacting with them... It was all confusing.

"My companions you all bring forth very valid ideas. It makes me almost embarrassed that I cannot think of anything which has not already been mentioned. I do believe however, that potential dire consequences await us if we do not get this correct, much like our troubles with the previous room. We should think very carefully before attempting to solve this riddle, as oppose to simply guessing and checking like we did the last."

Conall is visibly uncomfortable not knowing anything, but his brow remains furrowed as he attempt to decipher this riddle. It could mean life or death. And he was not ready to die here.

DROW MOUNTAIN
With the Magic Mouth having spoken it’s message, it was now up to the party to interpret it in the correct way.

From Cor came the thought that the Mirrors were each a separate link to the four elements Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. He also voiced the thought that those who were picked to gaze should be of varied heights.
Yet Haila was skeptical of such saying instead of height each should be somehow themselves connected to each of the four elements. And to this she found Ulthok to be in agreement.

With Cynil quoting the very first Mouth, Rayne pondering defense of elemental type attacks, and Cor adding the notion of Illusions of the gazing party members appearing to attack.It was clear to all that there were more questions then answers.

From thoughts of asking for Divine help from Sirène, to moving the mirrors to face themselves from Rayne, an impossibility as they were each quite solidly attached to the wall, and the one called Maggot speaking both to the party and himself, the parties thoughts and idea’s were many and quick in coming.

In the end the last to speak, the Paladin Conall, was mayhap also the wisest.

"My companions you all bring forth very valid ideas. It makes me almost embarrassed that I cannot think of anything which has not already been mentioned. I do believe however, that potential dire consequences await us if we do not get this correct, much like our troubles with the previous room. We should think very carefully before attempting to solve this riddle, as opposed to simply guessing and checking like we did the last."

For now all that the party had done was talk and offer idea’s as to the right course of action, that action, any action in truth, was as yet forthcoming.

And in the darkness of Drow Mountain, things no longer what they once were....Moved....

(DM OOC: Ok short post as no action was taken good posting by all on this our first posting week back from holiday. For those of you that do not yet know Aryn’s wife is having a baby and he will be gone from us for a few weeks at least as such I will be NPCing both he and Althena as needed,
Again good posting and its nice to see everyone returned and no replacement players were needed other then Eol taking over for Vesper. Next post Next Sunday, Game On!!)

"Cast your rune stones and tell what you see in them." Cor then knelt and began to pray to Odin asking his divine guidance. "Father Odin, lend me your foresight in our hour of need. If we have one healer, one mage, one fighter and one thief look upon the mirrors at once will it bring doom or rejoicing? Also, I cannot but shake the feeling that we are not alone in these halls. Does something wicked this way come?" Cor waited for an answer to his augury.


(DM Edit: To speed things up the reply Cor get's is "yes")

As the rest of the party tossed their evaluations and ideas back and forth, Ulthok scrutinized the set of mirrors again, getting close enough to give each as thorough a going over as possible without actually putting himself directly in front of any of them... The more he had listened to the others talk about the elemental representations of the things, the more something gnawed at his gut and irritated his mind... Something told him that, as practical as the evaluations might have sounded, there was something missing from the theory.

The clatter of Cor's runes and the low voices of the others snatched his attentions from the examination of the four panes of framed glass just as the realization came to him... "You know," the little halfling said, flicking a glance over his shoulder to where the mirrors waited and then looking back at the assembled group, "the more I look at these things, the more I think we may be wrong in our estimations of what they are.

True enough, three of them seem to definitely hint at being somewhat elemental in nature but the black one, there... I don't think that it represents an element, at all... at least not earth or air or fire or water... these others evoke some of those elements, yes, but when you place that black one in the formula..." he shrugged "... I don't know... it just doesn't fit... I think we're misleading ourselves..."

During the clatter of Cor's runes and the low voices of the others, Kenji stood over to the side out of the way and let those with more intelligence figure out this one.

"You know," the Ulthok said, flicking a glance over his shoulder to where the mirrors waited and then looking back at the assembled group, "the more I look at these things, the more I think we may be wrong in our estimations of what they are.

True enough, three of them seem to definitely hint at being somewhat elemental in nature but the black one, there... I don't think that it represents an element, at all... at least not earth or air or fire or water... these others evoke some of those elements, yes, but when you place that black one in the formula..." he shrugged "... I don't know... it just doesn't fit... I think we're misleading ourselves..."
The little Halflings words seemed to stir Kenji slightly as he leaned against the side wall. A sudden thought sprang to his mind and before he realized it he spoke it.

“Maybe the black is the absence of the elements,” the Samurai said with a shrug.

He doubted his thought meant anything but if he didn’t say or do something he thought he just might doze off while he waited. Why did all these ‘puzzles’ have to do with riddles and things. Why didn’t more of them involve beating a certain monster or band of men? Mages.. that is why.. he would never understand them.

Halia frowned and leaned against a wall before sinking down to the floor. Her head hurt. All these riddles and all this death that went around their failures.

Halia... you cannot give up hope like this, not with that sword still around...
She sighs and closes her eyes. Beyond her scope the others continue to discuss the possibilities. She frowns and speaks up.

"If the black one is a lack of elements... we cannot put nothing before it. Four must stand it said, did it not. Oh... I can't remember. It said four didn't it? How can three be elements but earth be missing? It just doesn't make any sense. I never liked these riddles. Let me know when I can slash at something."

She found her cat nearby and pulled it up into her lap running her fingers through it's silky fur.

I need to get ahold of myself here... she reminded herself.

“Maybe the black is the absence of the elements,” the Samurai said with a shrug.

Uthlok looked up at Kenji, his brow furrowed as he contemplated the simple wisdom of the Samurai and looked from the foreign man to the mirrors again. "Very possible," he acknowledged, "but why the three others, then? If, as we have begun to think so far, we are to select four from our ranks to face a mirror each based on the aspects of those elements within us, who is..." the thief seemed to struggle for the right word, here, and when he finally found it, could not help but glance in Maggot's direction... "...empty enough... to face the black one?"

The peculiar fellow, Ulthok knew, likely wasn't empty, per se, but there was a darkness about the man that, if the current line of thought was followed through, seemed to best fit the ebon glass.

The halfling shrugged, again, started to turn his attentions back to the mirrors and caught sight of Halia sinking to the floor...

"...Four must stand it said, did it not. Oh... I can't remember," she sighed, sounding tired beyond the physical and even mental definitions, "It said four didn't it? How can three be elements but earth be missing? It just doesn't make any sense. I never liked these riddles..."

Ulthok's contemplative scowl melted into something of a sympathetic frown... for the moment, he left the deliberations to the others and padded softly over to where his now-gone brother's love slumped against the wall... "Halia," he said softly in a voice meant only for her ears, resting a hand on the lady's shoulder, "I don't think any of us care for these riddles... or any of the games that this accursed sword has played with our lives... or our loves..." He sighed softly, blowing the ill thoughts that had come to his mind at those last words, then, as best he could, smiled at the woman... "But we cannot stop, now... if we do... if any of us do... what did my brother die for... what have any of the sacrifices any of us made meant?

I promise you, m'lady," he said, taking his hand from the woman's shoulder and offering it to her, "if you can find your way back to your feet and continue to stand with us, when those foul things that are thrown at us to slash at... for you know as well as I that such things are coming whether we solve this riddle or not... I'll stand right beside you and make sure that we slash them as they've never been slashed, okay?"

She looked up as Ulthok came into her space and spoke to her. He was right, about all of it. She wasn't alone in her hatred or these riddles, nor was she alone in her losses. She had lost her sister, and they both had lost Divot. Divot... she sighed and stared at the hand that his brother offered her.

Noding she took the hand into her own and stood, rising up above the man.

"Alright. I look forward to that opportunity." A moment later she let go of his hand smoothed out her hair.

"Although I feel it will be soon." Her cornflower blue eyes went to the mirrors. "I get the impression that there might not be a solution to this problem that will not end in some kind of bloodshed. Even passing the test might result in danger, we should be prepared for that."

"Just ecause ti is dark doesn't mean it is nothing. What might the earth looks like under the ground without light?" It was just a though but in this game of solving the riddle all angles needed to be looked at, Rayne thought. "Just because four face the mirrors at once does not preclude others being ready to do what they can if it comes to a fight in the room."

"Perhaps we should decide who might be best to stand in front of the mirrors when we are ready and who best to support them out here. Perhaps some who have resistance to certain elemental effects wpuld be best to stand in front of that particular mirror and with offenses designed against the element we think it represents."

"If that is the darkness of the element of earth, then I might be best there for I can meld with stone."

She sighed, "If it is beyond that then I might be all wrong is my choice."