Already with the yellow and white in her hands, Rayne replies, "First, I will try yellow on top and white on the bottom. You test the pink peg. If that doesn't work I will pull them and you be ready to put black one top and red on the bottom, then try the pink peg. If that doesn't work you pull them out and I will put in the yellow on top and white on the bottom after that."

Time and time again the selection of colored pegs had been wrong, the seemingly number of possible combinations endless. Would they find the right code of colors quickly and if they did would it be the answer to this test or just another riddle........

Thinking perhaps that the verse spoken by the magic mouth in the beginning of these tests held the answer. Rayne with suggestions from Cynil tried the next two combinations.

First Black and Red, the Pink peg yet held firm, another failure. Then the next suggestion Yellow and White.... And yet, as was becoming the norm, another failure, the supposed all important pink peg refusing to be released from its stone puzzle. Both women could feel that they were oh so very close to the correct combination, but could that feeling be a lie, could this whole test be a lie, maybe yes, maybe no. Tick tock, tick tock, the clock moving ever on.........

As both the Elvin women tried again in vain to find the answer to this part of the test a bet was made between Conall and Cor, Ulthok flying above, his spell he knew to be almost at its end, Kenji, Althena, and Haila, standing guard, all waiting for something to happen.......

Even as they all expected it, still the manner of its coming took them by surprise, as both the Wall of Thorns and the one of Iron simply disappeared. No loud explosion of Iron and Thorns, no flying missiles of shrapnel, both living and created as the test before. As if they had never been, the two Walls were just no longer there!!

Before the party stood a small rock/flesh type creature, no boulder upon its back yet parts of it still stone. On closer look it could be seen by those on guard to be slightly taller and a little bigger in girth then the other boulder creatures, many of those same boulder creatures silently crouched behind it, all unmoving and glowing.

The left half of its face stone, as was its right leg and both its hands, the party could see what appeared to be a Blue gem in place of its eye on the stone part of its face. As it slowly raised its small hands of stone, all could see in place of normal knuckles were 9 different colored gems.
Black, Red, Yellow, White and Green on its right. Black, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Copper upon its left. Both Black gems on its index fingers, the Green and Copper on its thumbs the rest in order until White and Bronze at its pinkies. Conall knew at once this was the source of the evil he had felt.

“Forzare” the single word escaped its lips and Conall found himself flying across the room, struck by a large bolt of lightening. He felt pain as his metal armor tried to electrocute him, though for only a portion of the whole, luckily a save made. Blue gem in the creatures eye glowing…

“Amal” Kenji engulfed in fire, fire as if breathed from the mouth of a red dragon, his Asian body raked with pain and on fire. Lucky was he, for like the Paladin before him, he had made a save for half damage. Red gem on the creatures right hand glowing...

“Bijal” Cor, struck by a black bolt of shadow, his body at once very cold, his heart for a brief moment stopped, the finger of death so close, then it was gone. A good deal of damage taken yet with his save vs. death made the Dwarf yet lived. Black gem on the creatures left hand glowing....

And with just three words the real battle for control of this room, the battle to best this test, and the battle to just survive this little gnome of a creature, had truly begun.....

(DM OOC: Ok Rd one has started for the party, the bigger boulder creature won initiative and its attacks are done. Good luck, and a hint,… Fight smart as this is the most dangerous creature you have fought to date.

Nimu, my lady, I skipped you and Aryn this post as I want to give Aryn the ability to reply to your question when he returns next week so please bare with me, and that includes clothes of course .

Next post next, Monday night as I work both Saturday and Sunday this upcoming Labor day weekend at the park.)

The two were at it again, well pairs of twos anyhow; the women at the pegs with COr and Conall at their banterin. This time though, there was a bet, a single gold to whoever stuck the killing blow on this last monster, and Ulthok loved his gold. Don't these poor fools no that the spell is mightier than the blade.
Ulthok was caught unawares when the two walls came down at the same time, he could swore though that the thorns came down by a second sooner or so. A creature that looked alot like the boulder critters they fought before came strolling out of its whole, this time no shell but made partly out of rock itseld. Gems, some of the nicest the halfling thief had ever seen. Probably magical too, knowing this place.

With a single word, Conall was struck by a lightning bolt, another saw Kenji engulfed in flames, and then Cor was struck by a black bolt of negative energy. Each time a work was spoken, a gem glowed in color. Ulthok would like to get his hands on those gems, but he knew that to kill the creature, he might just have to destroy the lovely things.

With his own word of magic spoken and the gestures made, Ulthok casts Melf's Acid Arrow at the thing before makin sure he got closer to the ground, no need to be to high up when his flight ends.

Cor watched the walls come down in an instant; well before they should have. "Tis powerful magic at work here" he said to no one in particular. Moments later the rock creature attacked and attacked well. Several members of the party took damage and Cor himself caught a glimpse of Death looking at him.

The strange creature's fingers glowed as it cast spell after spell too quickly to be a true spell caster. Hoping for the best Cor moved in to close combat and with a prayer to Odin to guide his blades, the elder dwarf swung both axes at the creature aiming for its hands as best he could in an attempt to sever the seeming source of its magic.

THE DREAM
The golden-haired man… Allanan as he had been named… lay on his cot, tossing with his fitful sleep. Images rushed through his mind, terrifying images – a dragon and woman circling around him, as if closing in for the kill.

And then! A burst of light and endless blue…

And there he stood… engulfed in the endless blue… and time seemed to stretch onwards intp eternity… and yet moved so slowly.

Faintly, he heard a voice, familiar yet haunting, calling to him,. “Come, my love,” she called. “Return to me.”

“Where are you, m’lady?” Allanan called out to the endless blue.

The voice grew closer, closer, until it seemed to be whispering in his ear, yet the lady remained unseen. “You have returned, my love. Come to me!”

“But how shall I find you, m’lady?”

“All shall soon be revealed, my love.”

And then, while first only a speck in the sea of endless blue, an image of a mountain appeared and advanced towards him.

“Come to me, my love!” The voice, along with the mountain, faded into the background once again, and Allanan was left alone in the endless blue once more.

REAL LIFE
Allanan the Wanderer woke with a start, the images of the dream quickly fading away into oblivion. He tried with all his being to remember them, to grab hold of them, but like trying to catch fish with your hands, they slipped away just beyond his reach.

Sitting up, the golden haired man took in a deep breath and exhaled a deep sigh. It was just before dawn, and Allanan dressed and busied himself with preparing himself for the journey to Main.

When the caravan was ready to move, Allanan mounted his horse, Uryanor, which Sirene said meant “Blazing Sun” in her tongue. As he turned his face towards Main, Allanan heard a voice, as though it were speaking into his ear, Come to me, my love.
The "sound" caused the golden-haired man to turn back to the north.

"The mountain," he whispered to himself. In the distance, he saw a mountain peeking out above the morning mist. The image of the mountain from his dream flashed back to him.

Come, my love.
“… Allanan?” The slender hand of Sirene stirred him. And, for a moment, he looked into the compassionate eyes of the elf. One could lose themselves in those eyes, he thought.

He sighed again. “M’lady,” he said, straightening up and looking back at the mountain. “How are you skills at interpreting dreams?”

And in the space of a few moments, Allanan relayed to the elf priestess the brief images he remembered from his night’s sleep – the dragon and the woman, the light and endless blue, the mountain and the voice calling.

He finished by saying, “And now, as we turn our faces to Main, I hear this call again, now, fully awake and present, as though the mountain calls for me. Though, I know not why.” Turning back to Sirene, he said hopefully, “Perhaps, m’lady, do you think that the Lady is calling me? Perhaps, looking to bring me in to her service? What do you make of the dream?”

[OOC: I’m away until Sept 8]

After trying to PULL out the pink peg as Rayne tried each new set of ped color combinations, Cynils suddenly snagged a though out of those circulating about her.

"Rayne, put back the red and white. "Lets try pushing on the pink peg and if that does not work, let's try pushing on all three pegs. and if that does not work, I will try turning the pink peg."

Rayne would try anything. Cynil's ida had merit and certainly worth the effort. Rayne put back the red on top and the white on the bottom then tried pushing in the pink prg. IF nothing happens she tries twisting the pink peg clockwise and then counter-clockwise. If that fails she tries twisting each of the top two pegs both ways and then in opposite directions and testing the pink peg pushing or testing it both directions to see if it moves and like some tricky elven box reveals the secret of opening up the room.

Astride her horse Sirène listened intently as Allanan described his dream and the voice that called to him even now in waking life. She shook her head in silence, this was not the Goddess. The Queen of Heaven spoke through symbols and synchronicity, She did not whisper seductively to men in the waking world. The elf gazed at the golden haired man for a moment before sighing and reaching out a hand to touch his shoulder.

"Allanan, my friend," Sirène began, "it is not for me to say if it is that Lady that calls you. We each hear the call of the Goddess in our own way, but in truth I do not believe it is the Lady that whispers to you even now. The Gods are not the only beings that can walk the dream and whisper in the minds of mortal men."

"Even so, Allanan, I believe that the Queen of Heaven has made her will known." Pausing she looked to the mountain studying its mist shrouded visage in the distance. "It is rare that my people leave the forests of E'Loth Lo'rian and it was only to follow visions the Lady sent me that I have. Had the Lady not sent visions I would not have been here to heal you and likely you would not have lived to hear this voice that whispers from the mountain. For reasons not yet revealed the Goddess calls us to the mountain."

As she spoke Sirène pulled a handful of moonstone rocks and threw them into the air. Calling forth the power of the Lady she whispered her question, Do we go to the mountain?
Let it be that the queen of heaven decides their fate.

(OOC: Casts Augury)

Conall picked himself up after the lightning had struck him this was disastrous. The world flashed before him brilliantly as the lightning hit him and tossed him across the room. The wind escaped his chest as he hit the wall. This dire foe was powerful, Conall granted him that. And now with him out of the way, that left Cynil exposed to this... danger. This would not be permitted by Conall.

Picking himself up, he looked around for the others whom had been struck. Kenji was burned, and Cor - being Cor - was charging straight into the fray, to deal with this monster the way he knew best. Conall decided that permitting Cor to be the sole person to challenge this monster would not be a good outcome... And so, picking up his sword and shield, Conall charged forward, joining Cor beside the behemoth and bringing his sword down on this foul creature. With a mighty cry, he swung his sword in a deadly arc.

"You owe me a silver Cor! Live long enough to give me that!"

BAD NEWS
Another round gone by with 3 of 8 party members hurt in only a matter of seconds, 2 Elvin ladies once more unable to guess the right color combo and a very serious midget getting it on in a very powerful way.
With the first attack of this new round of combat clearly in this new creatures favor it was the parties turn to react and so they did.

Ulthok, sure in his belief of magic over melee, was the first to act as such, an Acid Arrow shot quickly towards this new foe, only to watch as it cleanly passed right through the boulder mage to hit one of the crouched boulder creatures behind him. The arrow served its purpose there as the creature struck by it, without a sound was killed. Yet many more still remained unmoving and glowing as if unaware of the fight or their fellow boulder creatures death.

Cor, though hurt by the creatures attack, was still the first of the party to respond physically. As was his nature the dwarf, his split axes in hand, charged head long towards this, even for him, smaller enemy. He was joined at the moment of his attack by his fellow party member and friend Conall and together as they had so many times before attacked in unison.

Only to watch in surprise as their weapons seemed to deflect off of some type of invisible magical shield with a burst of white light. The creature within this now apparent shield took no notice of them instead turning his attacks towards three new targets.

“Harih” A densely packed ball of apparent energy passed the two warriors to slam into Althena, just as she released two bolts from her crossbow, with a ear shattering burst of high pitched sound staggering the Fighter/Psionicist back on her toes then to her knees. Though her save for partial damage was made, she yet found herself on hands and knees, her ears leaking blood rapidly. The Yellow gem on the creatures right hand glowing....

Althena’s bolts, slightly misaligned as a cause of the creatures attack, yet still did hit the same shield as had Conall and Cor before. The bolts thus blocked were deflected, one almost taking Conall in the leg, in an almost very close case of friendly fire.

“Memr” A gold band of light, like a tentacle in form, was the next attack to streak past the Paladin and Knight Cleric, to slam into the body of Haila as she readied a spell. The spell on her lips lost, the two warriors watched as a line of magic energy flowed briefly but quickly from the fighter/Mage into the Boulder Mage, then stopped as the creatures spell expired. Her save vs. spell as Althena’s a success she took no damage but found herself without a number of once memorized spells The Gold gem on the creatures stone left hand glowing....

“Forzare” Once again a bolt of lighting flew from the blue gem of the creatures eye this time its target the Thief/Mage Ulthok. Good foresight it was that he had lowered himself height wise to ground level as that was where the force of the spell put him. His save easily made and not wearing any metal armor, the spell though damaging, was survivable health wise for the moment....

The Samurai Kenji, this round left alone, had time to recover from the creatures initial attack and as he did so watched as all the attacks before him, both magical and melee, failed. His mind quickly seeking an alternative mode of attack turned to his Gauntlets Of Hand-to-Hand Combat. If weapons and spells had no effect perhaps a weaponless attack would fair better. With a shout of his Ki he quickly joined Cor and Conall on the creatures flank, his hands moving forward, only to find as had the two warriors before him that this magical shield of the Boulder Mage did also protect him from non weapon attacks. At a loss for one of the few times in his life he looked to Cor and Conall for help.

Rayne and Cynil knew they were close, knew it in their very being, but somehow their minds, perhaps worried about the possibility they were wrong, turned back to the first set of colors they had tried… Red and White. Only to once again see that these two colors were not the correct ones in any manner of placement, the Pink peg in no way being moved an inch clearly held quite strongly in place.

Their concentration so strong and devoted to finding the correct answer, they had no idea how serious the situation was slowly becoming and how quickly the time to find the right answer was running out. Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock.


THE SOUTHERN ALA-ZAH ROAD early morning 15 miles from Main.
Allanan stood gazing at the mountain to the north, the same as in his dream, his hand upon the saddles pommel unsure of what to do next.

"The mountain," he whispered to himself as the dream replayed itself so clearly in his mind.

“… Allanan?” The slender hand of Sirene stirred the regeared warrior and, for a moment, he looked into the compassionate eyes of the elf.

Sighing again he turned to her to ask. “M’lady, how are your skills at interpreting dreams?”

At her questioning look he told her of his dream the night before and watched as she quietly listened rushing him not one bit. Her reply after a few moments of careful thinking on her part was straight to the point

"Allanan, my friend," she began, "it is not for me to say if it is that Lady that calls you. We each hear the call of the Goddess in our own way, but in truth I do not believe it is the Lady that whispers to you even now. The Gods are not the only beings that can walk the dream and whisper in the minds of mortal men."

"Even so, Allanan, I believe that the Queen of Heaven has made her will known." Pausing she looked to the mountain of the dream before her studying its mist shrouded visage in the distance. "It is rare that my people leave the forests of E'Loth Lo'rian and it was only to follow visions the Lady sent me that I have. Had the Lady not sent visions I would not have been here to heal you and likely you would not have lived to hear this voice that whispers from the mountain. For reasons not yet revealed the Goddess calls us to the mountain. Give me but a few moments and I will ask her"
Turning slightly away she cast the spell of Augury, and was surprised when quickly an answer she received.

Great risk awaits, yet aid is needed there.
(DM OOC: GOOD NEWS

Ok here’s my post for this week nice to see that everyone posted once again and I dearly hope it continues for that’s what makes the game fun for me.
Ok as I am off Sunday and my Cowboys play their first game early, my next post will be Sunday night as normal.

Ok some good news I may have found the new Haila already and once the Lady checks her out and gives me the heads up if she is ok to play, I will intro her to you all. Keep your fingers crossed )

Cor watched as both magical and physical attacks had no effect on the creature. However it continued to attack at will. "I'll gladly pay that silver if we make it out of this one alive lad." Seeing no other option available and knowing that healing would likely be needed soon Cor turned to a defensive spell. Hoping he was faster than the creature he began to cast sanctuary. He also racked his brain for any clues as to how to defeat the creature but knew it was likely that only the peg puzzle could save them.

Suddenly Cor had an epiphany, if such could come from one such as him. The stone creatures no longer moved at all and in fact seemed to have started to glow; perhpas somehow they controlled the creature. Seemed resonable that if that was the case then less of them alive might weaken the creature. "Keji, Connel, Divot ignore the creature and kill the small ones! I believe they control our new foe!" Cor abandoned his thought of casting sacntuary and instead once more attacked teh rock creatures with both axes.

Sirène stared at the moonstones as they landed back in her palm. Her blue-green eyes studied their patterns intently searching for some sign from the Queen of Heaven. A feeling came over her and words seemed to spring up in her mind.

Great risk awaits, but aid is needed there.
The elf nodded and held out her hand to Allanan revealing the smooth moonstones that lay in her palm, "The Goddess has spoken, friend. 'Great risk awaits, but aid is needed there.' It cannot be more clear, we must both sojourn to the mountain. What say you?"

“Black-red, yellow-white
What is wrong, yet what is right
Is it up, is it down, is it all around
Is it real or is it false, a mirror image
can you find the truth inside the illusion
that you call your life.”
Conall's thoughts raced about while he tried to think of a plan to get out of here alive. The last verse was the only one that mentioned colours... so that had to be some sort of clue. And he realized with his last attempt at assault that nothing was going to harm this creature... both magic and melee was repelled. It was strange... and the peg puzzle must be the only way to leave the room.

But something about the fact that the stuck peg was pink, and that the four colours mentioned were four of the colours that the pegs were. Hmm... Rayne had brought up a point earlier of how white and red made pink... but what if this verse meant that red wasn't red and white wasn't white?

"Cynil! That verse earlier - 'Black-red, yellow-white, what is wrong and what is right.' What if that means that black is red, and yellow is white? the colours may still mix to make pink... But instead of red and white, it's black and yellow!"

Conall, hearing Cor with his brilliant idea. He said move in and attack the small boulder creatures. Conall moved in as he shouted back, "Try that Cynil!"

Cynil was near tears, as she had been thinking Black and White from something further in the rhyme about no colors. Hearing Conall made her change her mind and she yelled to Rayne, "Try black and yellow and then black and white,"

Rayne, with a prayer on her lips, did just that. First black and yellow and if that did not work, then black and white.