"Just this one," Rosunn, another of the Lammasu, clarifies for Brindle before you disappear into the mists.

Tesseryn stops in the doorway to announce his intentions to Omphalos. "Omphalos, I shall take up the mantle of the Heart of Law, if I am found worthy."  He turns from the doorway and, with a resigned sigh, clanks towards the chamber of the Heart, prepared lay bare his soul, his failings, and be judged.

"Well that was easy." Aurion quirks a grin at Brindle. He steps out of the mist and squeezes past the troubled paladin in the doorway.

"Well met again Omphy. We should bring you up to date with our successes thus far, and ask your council on some vexing riddles we've encountered." He keeps his serpent-headed sword hidden within his robe, and holds up Mitra's amulet. "We've recovered the Amulet from the were rats, and visited the White Tower. We met the defenders of the tower and found ourselves impressed. That leads one to speculate at the forces we may encounter within the Black Tower. We heard mention of a dragon... what type? And what other creatures dwell there?"

"We captured a wizard named Berkam-Shem. He is now imprisoned in the White Tower. He had a talkative goat familiar that vanished. What type of creature was that?"

"And riddles.  We encountered two doors named Harlon and Sydni. They were opposites in all ways except one, their obsession with a diamond placed on the floor midway between them. What are we missing?"

"Omphalos, not Omphy," Brindle reminds Aurion as he joins the elf at the doorway. "... and Hargrove, not Harlon. Good questions though. I hope Omphalos can give us some answers. I ... we even thought the diamond might be the Mind of Balance, didn't we? But it wasn't magical, was it?"

"Good luck, Tesseryn!" she offers, as he passes.  "Or, rather... just be yourself.  I believe in you."  She says this sincerely, without her usual teasing tone.

Turning back to the others as he clanks down the hall, she shrugs in answer to Brindle, smiling a little as he corrects Aurion on the names.  "It didn't react when I picked it up, and it's generally my understanding that they would, so I am relatively certain it's just pretty.  It occurs to me, none of us seem to have any difficulties helping Tesseryn claim the Heart of Law, but... at a guess, I'd say none of us standing here would have expected to survive it anyway.  We might have more conflicts of interest when it comes to the others, which may be better to reconcile now.  Who's intrigued by what?  Or would we rather just agree to a more... everyone for themselves approach, within the constraints we're currently under, that whoever claims it when we get there wins?"

Omphalos seems pleased to see you once more, swaying and dipping his head in greeting.

"I will pray that you are found worthy," he assures Tesseryn respectfully, not at all implying that if the Paladin is not his corpse will be disposed of in a manner befitting.

Aurion, Brindle and Leisha congregate in the doorway, choosing to give Tesseryn his privacy in what will undoubtedly be a very personal and private test of his faith.

Cogwitz immediately starts to follow after the Paladin ... but Wrukaog grabs him by the collar, the big orc being marginally less interested in what will undoubtedly amount to a lot of soul searching than he is in the Naga's answers to the questions posed.

"You have the amulet ?  That was well done."  That you had visited the White Tower was obvious to Omphalos by the manner of your arrival, but he is too polite to mention it, save to ask, "I trust all is well with the guardians of Mitra's sacred temple ?"

Alas the Naga knows naught of the dragon, though he is prepared to speculate.  "No doubt an evil creature, lured by false promises.  I have heard rumours, however, that in the Black Tower itself abide the Sons of Set, the bastard offspring of the evil god, bound by blood to his dark designs.  Their appearance is said to be most strange, no two the same, their forms riven by the Chaos that created them."

"Berkam-Shem ?  Again well done !  He only came this way once, but was driven back by the glyphs that ward this chamber.  At that time he had with him a creature that seemed beholden to him, a small devil ... an Imp you would call it, I think ... whispering in his ear."

"The doors I have heard of," he smiles as Brindle corrects Aurion's naming of them, "their existence is somewhat disturbing.  One is good, the other evil ... some have said that their squabbles merely hold a mirror to the larger conflict between ourselves and the minions of set, the diamond they strive for naught but a shining bauble upon which men place value."

"Though I cannot accept that.  If we do not struggle against evil then we are no better than they."

If Omphalos hears Leisha's question, he does not comment.

Brindle listens carefully to Omphalos's answers and nods thoughtfully at mention of the Sons of Set.

"Thank you. Yes everything seemed to be in order at the white tower, as would be expected," he responded.

He stepped away from doorway to answer Leisha's question much more quietly.

"I suspect my mind is not balanced the same way as the Mind of Balance but the Soul of Chaos might be a better match for me, and probably Aurion too, if we ever find it," he whispered.

Wrukaog sets the silver statue (aka Tessy Junior) down behind him and leans forward over Leisha's head to peer in at Omphalos.

"Do we still need to find anything else before we take on these so-called Sons of Set? Like that belt of Mitra's? I mean, I just wanna hit something, real soon, but I wanna win too."

Then he glances down at Leisha and whispers to her.

"If Tessy Senior can use this Heart of Law thing, maybe I could use that Mind of Balance?" he whispers doubtfully.

Holding his silver holy symbol, the Scales of Justice, Tesseryn resolutely strides forward...

"The Soul of Chaos does have a certain appeal, but I'd be happy to draw lots if we find it." Aurion whispers back and grins at Leisha, "You could benefit from a little mind-balancing."

He's thoughtful for a moment after listening to Omphalos' news then ventures an idea while Tesseryn is out of earshot "Perhaps we could infiltrate the black tower? We could impersonate Berkam Shem, or his 'replacement' to gain access to the tower rather than fighting our way in."

Brindle laughs at that idea.

"I might have more success at impersonating the imp!" he chuckles.

Omphalos is pleased to hear the White Tower fares well, but gives Wrukaog's question his earnest consideration.

"If you could gain the Lion Belt, the Girding of Mitra, it would certainly help you ... indeed, as I have said, the holy artifacts are reputed to provide greater protection in combination.  But naught but a pure heart is needed to triumph over evil."

A short time later, Tesseryn returns from the Chamber of the Heart, much altered.  Firstly she is now a tall and muscular woman, still with sandy blonde hair and golden eyes, and still wearing full plate armour.  Secondly she has a diamond, half an inch in diameter, embedded in the flesh and bone of her forehead.  Her armour ripples with flame which she extinguishes with a glance as she rounds the corner.  The plain leather belt is now embossed with grinning goblin faces.

She clanks to a halt before the party.  "I am found worthy of the Heart of Law,"  She nods slowly towards Leisha to acknowledge her confidence, "and so restored, as you see.  With this gift, I reconfirm my resolve to destroy the workings of Set.  No quarter shall be given to any who follow the path of evil."  She fixes her gaze upon Aurion and holds out her right hand.  "Aurion, that sword must be destroyed."

"And here comes one now!" Leisha says cheerfully, as Tesseryn's footsteps become apparent after Omphalos informs us that all we need is a pure heart.

She smiles and nods at Tesseryn, but looks at her with open curiosity.  "That's fascinating," she says.  "I'd have thought the Mind of Balance might have gone there, but the Heart of Law I expected to bond more in the upper torso region."  That does, indeed, appear to be her only question about Tesseryn's transformation.  "Well, I suppose it's not important.  Congratulations."

Wrukaog stares at the armored woman in front of them.

"Somehow that just don't look right," he growls, his finger pointing at her, lingering on her chest for a long moment before dropping to point at the goblin faces on the belt. "That belt don't carking suit you at all!"

"No changes for the better?" Aurion looks unimpressed at the paladin's entrance, but grins at Leisha's observation.

Ignoring Tesseryn's challenge, he enters the naga's chamber. "How did you get on with the last evil artefact that was left here, Omphalos? A golden bowl?" He crosses the room to western wall, unbuckling the serpent-headed sword as he goes, and stands at the entrance to Mitra's Tomb. "Is Lord Mitra at home today?"

Tesseryn' brow furrows as she struggles to understand Leisha's line of reasoning, then her face relaxes to a smile in response to the congratulations. "Thank you."

As she becomes aware of Wrukaog's stare, she self-consciously places a hand on her breastplate and adjusts the ill-fitting metal. She follows his gaze down to her belt.  "This?  A plain leather belt."  She looks back at the orc, puzzled.  "It is the one I received in exchange from Samalgidaceon, the statue."

Her eyes follow Aurion as he enter's the naga's room, but she remains where she is, distracted by Wrukaog's attention.

Tesseryn's changed form, complete with forehead-embedded gemstone does cause some comment (and some studious silences), but it is quickly obvious to all that this is indeed the Paladin, and not at all an evil goat that has taken her form ...

Omphalos however is most pleased that Tesseryn has been found worthy. "Congratulations !" the naga greets her return.  "I honour you, oh blessed of the gods.  May your choosing be a sign that the forces of righteousness and good may at last o'ercome those of darkness and depravity !"

Aurion's question is easily settled.  "The bowl was not evil of itself, merely tainted by long use and proximity to fell magics.  A simple blessing sufficed to dispel the miasma that clung to it."

Brindle looks at Tesseryn, then at Wrukaog, then back to Tesseryn.

"Your belt - I see grinning goblin faces, not a plain leather belt. It looks like your belt did just before Samalgidaceon exchanged it. Remember how you complained and accused him of altering your belt? Well that's what your belt looks like now. Hmm, I wonder whether there was some enchantment at work there, and perhaps on the belt he gave me too? Hand me your belt and I will test them both to see whether either one is enchanted."

Brindle's belt is fashioned of leather braids and with a rather ornate buckle in the form of a dragon.

If Tesseryn hands over his belt Brindle will take off his own belt and cast Detect Magic to examine both belts.

Tesseryn looks puzzled.  "I see only plain leather.  Thank you, I will do as you suggest Brindle."  She removes a short sword and pouch from her belt and makes to unbuckle the belt itself, with a struggle.  She frowns back at Brindle "It seems I cannot remove the it."

OOC: Tesseryn's original belt had leering goblin faces.  This is similar but the faces are different.  The belts were swapped with Samalgidaceon.

Brindle frowns when he realises Tesseryn cannot remove her belt. He looks down at his own belt of leather braids with its dragon buckle. Rather tentatively he tries to unbuckle his belt too.

Leisha whistles encouragingly.

Tesseryn stops struggling with the belt and laughs at the sound.  "You remind me of my sister, Mariel of Divine Might.  She was a whistler."

She regards Brindle with a speculative look.  "The other belt also seemed plain to me until Samalgidaceon asked for it, then I saw the goblin faces upon it.  This belt looks plain to me, but you see goblin faces.  Perhaps the statue can take this one back; I shall ask if we pass that way again."  Another thought strikes her. "The leering goblin face is a symbol of Grum Gog, the god of goblinkind in Ardania.  He and I are not friends; I have waged war on his followers and won.  I wonder, could he have played some part in this... peculiar turn of events we find ourselves a part of?  He is known for mischief and pranks."

Her gaze hardens again as she looks about for Aurion and spies him standing across Omphalos' room.  "There is this other matter to conclude first."  She strides into Omphalos' room, stopping to bow in formal acknowledgement of the naga's greeting.  "Indeed.  Evil has no place to hide."

"How do you feel about removing the 'taint' from this?" Aurion holds out the serpent-hilted sword for Omphalos to inspect. "It is mine by right of conquest over the wererat who wore it, but before that it belonged to sheriff Merth. I feel the blade might be turned against its own evil kind, and that my possession of it might put the forces of darkness off guard if they think I am one of their own - a ruse to gain the advantage. The magics in it are but minor. If you can remove its evil wil then perhaps Tesseryn will not feel compelled to simply destroy it." He glances behind himself to see whether the door to Mitra's tomb is open.

While Tesseryn is unable to remove her belt, Brindle has no such trouble, much to his relief and Leisha's amusement.  The Halfling holds his belt aloft in triumph in one hand while he holds his trousers up with the other.

Setting aside the matter of goblin curses the Paladin follows Aurion into Omphalos's chamber, noting approvingly the mage's nod in the direction of Mitra's tomb, though the wall is inconveniently lacking of doors at the moment.

The naga notices, however, and nods himself towards the tomb, causing the walls to shimmer and the doors not only reveal themselves, but slowly swing open.

"A sword is ... usually at least, a sword," Omphalos ponders.  "The good or ill to which it is put resting in the soul of the wielder.  What form does this evil take ?"