The party continues forward, climbs down steep steps and walks down a corridor to a set of double doors that are open.  The great bronze doors are nearly ten feet tall.  The aged metal has a blue-green sheen.  The doors' bas relief surfaces depict a gruesome scene of people being devoured by dragons, giants, demons, gargantuan serpeants, and other horrific monsters.  Courtouches in the middle of each door bear inscriptions.

Kallad translates the Allevian writing for the group:  "Plianonne placates for the peace of this mountain.  Her stone guards the temple.  Do not enter."

The other writing states:  "The one with the second life will take the stone and bring ruin, for the stone is death to all else."

Looking into the chamber beyond the doors, you see a dark chamber with a high, vaulted ceiling.  Patches of masonry show through smooth plaster walls.  The air seems stale.  Ranks of marble statues line the left and right walls in the wider portion of the chamber.

A lattice of heavy wooden beams spans the chamber at the point where the vaulting begins to curve inward, reaching overhead perhaps three or four times the height of a human.  From these beams, four rusty iron cages hang on thick chains.  The cages resemble squat, ugly eggs with curved bars instead of shells.  Skeletal arms and legs hang from inside each one.  Scattered bones litter the floor under the cages.

Some distance away, the chamber widens a bit.  You spot six similar cages in a double row of three, hanging over a pair of bronze doors just like the first pair.  They're ajar, too.  The cages are lit from behind, probably by a pair of torches like those in the treasury room that burn eternally at the level of the cages.  Thanks to the light, you can see that one of the cages has an intact body inside.  It may be your imagination, but you could swear that it just moved...


This message was last edited by the GM at 08:35, Fri 08 Aug 2003.

Shae moves to walk beside Kallad and turns her head to whisper fiercely at him.

After she has said her piece, the druid seems to calm slightly as Shanjalae gains her attention and the two sisters talk quietly to one another.

Kallad whispers curtly back to Shae in response.

Floradine noticeably avoids talking to Kallad about his statement or the whispered family dispute.  Instead, he focuses on the room ahead.

He takes his shield and throws it underneath the nearest cage on the left to see if it triggers any kind of trap.  He will also take a cautious step forward, ready to jump back if necessary.

As Floradine's shield lands under the cage, the metal frame drops down like a metal claw, crashing into the ground.  The half-ton iron claw could easily injure or kill someone below.  Then, almost as soon as it hits, the claw closes and lifts twenty feet above the air, taking the shield with it.

When it is done lifting the shield, all ten cages begin rotating, taking the shield back to the northeast corner of the room.  See figure below:

First position of the 10 cages (per previous map) (ignore spacing problems):

A  B  CD
         EF
J  I  HG

New position of cages:

H  I  JA
         BC
G  F  ED

You see a figure, badly wounded, in the cage (marked G) as it moves closest to you.  After a moment, you recognize the bloody form as Garanon.  He moves weakly and opens his mouth.  "Help me," he says, holding tightly to one of the claws.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:59, Mon 11 Aug 2003.

Shanjalae says something to Shae.  Then she steps down from Shae's embrace, seeming to have gotten some energy back.  "We will help you, Garanon," she says.

Shae's sad demeanour suddenly changes to a fierce glare that she directs at Kallad as he whispers back at her. Deliberately she turns from him, obviously holding back from saying anything more for the time being.

Her eyes flick back to the scene when Floradine throws his shield and the cages move, a moment later the form of Garanon clutching to the claw.

"The only way to help him down would be to set the trap off again," she says, adding to Shanjalae's statement, "That is, if Garanon is quick enough to perhaps roll free of the claw as it opens."

She turns to Floradine and Joseph, "What do you think?"

Sir Floradine responds, quite possibly to the shock of the others, "I came here to give Garanon, Gillimar, whatever his name is, the chance to prove his innocence.  He is, if I recall, a traitor to the Crown, and he has done nothing to prove himself otherwise.  Yet I give him this chance to prove that he is innocent, for I cannot see innocence punished.  But I certainly will not see traitorous actions be rewarded."

With command in his voice, he says to Garanon, "Speak!  Why should we trust you?  Why should we free you?  Are you a traitor or are you an ally?  Give us reason to help you and perhaps we will.  Don't give us reason and..."  He stops, giving a stern look to Kallad.  "...and we will leave you to your fate and let God give his judgment."

The druid is indeed surprised with Floradine's sudden zealous turn of thought. She raises one perfect eyebrow as she regards the Knight for several long moments, before turning her gaze back to Garanon.

"Yes, Garanon. Tell us."

Resigning at last, Garanon says, "I serve the Queen.  She yet lives.  I am sworn to secrecy.  I was forbidden to tell even Kallad because of his previous...ah...association with her.  When I opposed the Council and its plan to eliminate magic from the world, the pipe-smoking wizard told me that she yet lived...and that she shared my beliefs.  Joining the Brotherhood was in part to help find her and bring her back, for it is rumored that Syrissa knows where she is.  Syrissa is a relatively inactive member of the Brotherhood, and so she is more trusted.  She cares more about art, beauty and sculpture than about politics.  If she could be persuaded to help us, the queen could yet be saved and perhaps the strength of the Brotherhood could be repelled, including the Black Eucharist.  For the queen is, even now, a prisoner of some sort.  Syrissa is the one who can help us."

Garanon grabs the cage bars and presses his face forward.  "So you see," he says, "I am not a traitor at all.  I am a patriot to the true throne and its heir, not to an old general who ascended by marriage alone.  It is perhaps because of these views that I was hunted as a traitor."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:38, Tue 12 Aug 2003.

"You serve my mother!" Shae exclaims, rolling her eyes in disbelief. "Then you should be able to tell us where she is located then.....especially if you are in contact with her."

"My good princess, I am not in contact with her.  All my information has come through the pipe-smoking wizard.  I have never met the queen, but the wizard wanted me to protect you once he learned of your identity."  He takes a deep breath, his low and calm voice almost hypnotizing.  "Which was why he arranged for me to be dispatched with you on your original mission.  And which was why I had to fake my own death to avoid capture...twice.  All I know is that the queen is somewhere in the elven kingdom of Leslorlen, and that she is in a prison without walls."  He pauses again.  "And that Syrissa can best help us find her and help her escape that prison."  He follows up with, "Which was why I was trying to find an excuse to go see Syrissa by following the artifacts to her and getting in good with the Brotherhood."

He says apologetically, "I understand that you have concerns, but you did not know the treachery that Nohm, Illborn, and that goblin apprentice had in store for us.  I assume that Kallad has managed to dispatch with Illborn since I no longer see him here."

"He dispatched himself." Joseph chimes in from the back of the crowd.  "So if we are to get him out, does anyone have a plan?"  the ranger asked.

"I don't believe you Garanon." Shae states flatly, "You had no compunction in killing Nohm in his sleep, so I don't think you'd give a second thought to twisting the truth, lying, or killing if it meant saving your hide."

She pauses to look at Floradine, "However, I believe he is the one in the prophecy to release the Placating Figure from its resting place, and he may also be the catalyst to help in another area." Her gaze moves to take in Shanjalae as she says the last.

"We need to set him free."

"I understand your distrust," Garanon says.  "I must admit that my hatred of the orcs sometimes dominates my emotions...and my actions.  But we have had many adventures together, Shae, and have I ever hurt you?"

Changing the subject, he says, "The cage in the middle front closest towards us opens and dumps its contents. [This is where cage B currently stands.] If you rotate the cages to that point, then it should open up.  It's a twenty foot drop, so like a fool I didn't let go last time.  But if you put something under that point to help catch me, it will certainly help catch me when I drop."

Sir Floradine looks up at Garanon.  "I know just enough about the queen and her existence to believe some of what you say.  Regardless, you are swearing allegiance to the crown and the queen.  So long as you abide by that allegiance, I will continue with you as my companion.  But do not cross me again.  I would be a dangerous adversary to any enemy to the throne."  He looks over at Shae and then back up at Garanon.  "Any enemy to any heir to the throne," he corrects.

Looking up at the cages, he contemplates the logistics, stating, "I calculate that we will have to trip the cages five times to get you there, since they move three spaces each time they rotate."  He looks at the others for confirmation.  "Of course, that means that we will need to sacrifice five things from our inventory to get the cages to move."  He looks longingly at his shield and counts on his fingers.  "And seven or eight items to get back my shield.  They'll probably have to be fairly heavy items to trip the cages."

"We could always use these statues." Joseph comments as Sir Flordadine begins to ponder how to set off the traps.

"Good idea," Floradine says.  He walks over to the statue on the top left (avoiding stepping under any of the cages and tests to see if he can move the statue).  "And nevermind about my shield.  If I can use the two handed sword, I prefer it anyway."  He flexes his acid burnt hand to see if he can use a sword with it.

Floradine finds that his arm is in good working order and he can freely use his two handed sword.

He walks across the room and to the statue with no apparent effects from the room.  He pulls on the statue, but it is extremely heavy.  The ten foot high statue would probably require the strength of three men to move.

Shae pointedly ignores Garanon's question, instead she moves to aid Floradine with the statues. With the hinderance of her missing hand she places her back against the statue, using the strength of her legs to tip the statue over.

"IF the statue shatters we might be able to use parts of it to set off the other cages." she comments as she heaves.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 04:09, Thu 14 Aug 2003.

Kallad joins in the pushing of the statue, making no comments on the exchanges with Garanon.

With three people pushing, the statue wavers, totters, then crashes to the floor.  It shatters into three large pieces and several less significant pieces, and powder rises into the air.  The sound of it crashing and breaking is almost deafening.

The mountain rumbles and shakes as another earthquake like wave goes through it.  The cages shake and rattle, the six in the eastern corner actually banging against each other like the tolling of a bell.  And then all settles down quietly again.

Without her hand, Shae looks to Kallad and Floradine to throw the pieces of statue to set the trap off. Instead, she moves back to stand beside Shanjalae, her gaze lifting to watch Garanon, her eyes unreadable as she studies him closely.

Joseph steps up and helps to pick up the larger pieces of the statue and throw them out under the cages, wiating after each piece is thrown for the cages to grab and then shift.

The three large pieces of statue are moved underneath the cages one at a time.  The first time, the cage lands hard, picks up the piece of statue, and then rotates.  The second does the same thing.  The third time, the cage cannot hold the large base of the statue, and the statue falls ten feet to the ground, shattering and sending pieces of marble like shrapnel.  Luckily, no one is hurt, but you have run out of statue pieces.

Garanon is now in the place that was marked F (one cage behind where he just was).

"Let's try it again," Floradine says, getting behind another statue to push it over.

Shae goes to aid Floradine, using the same method as before to help push the statue over.

"We might want to push one extra statue over to make sure we have enough pieces." she offers

Floradine nods.  "Yes, but one step at a time."  Then he looks over at the grouping of cages.  "The question is this:  after we get him out, how are we going to get through to the door without getting caught in the cages?"

"I'm really not sure." Shae says considering the room, her eyes roaming across the floor for any sign of how to avoid the traps.  Perhaps, like the other puzzles they'd encountered there would be a hint on how to solve there dilemma.

Floradine says, "My idea is to go running underneath them as fast as possible toward the door.  They have to have the trap tripped and then fall twenty feet.  We can probably outrun them...I hope."

[Following Floradine's plan would leave 3-4 feet of clearance between the cage and the wall.  Thus, it might be possible.]

"Sounds fine by me, let's see if your plan works." Picking the most direct path to the otherside, Shae bolts across the room as fast as she can.

Floradine watches Shae bolt across the room with a raised eyebrow and says, when she gets to the other side, "I actually meant after we get Garanon down, but I guess your way works too.  Just don't move until we get there."

Shae runs across to the door, going underneath where cages B and C are shown.  She must jump over the pile of debris under Cage B. The two cages drop as she passes underneath them.  She drops and rolls with cat-like reflexes after diving over the pile of rubbish and bones, coming to stand by the door just as the huge cage crashes into the floor behind her.

The cage B position cage drops, picks up most of the debris, and rises again.

The cages rotate twice, and Garanon ends up at the cage B position.  It opens, spilling him out.  He crashes into the remaining debris and bones but his drop is much harder without the pile to cushion him.  He falls with a thud, and a large glass vial falls from his jacket, smashing into the ground and shattering.  A greenish vapor and cloud rise from the fallen shards of glass.  As it clears, you see a young man standing in front of you, slightly stunned and confused.  He wears leather armor, boots, and a cloak, and you see that sheathed are paired swords of bone.

"Oh, no," Garanon says as he weakly climbs to his feet to escape the cage before it resets.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:20, Mon 18 Aug 2003.

With the appearance of the young man and Garanon's exlaimation, a look of realisation dawns on the druids face.  Awe filled eyes flicker from Shanjalae to the young man, and in particlar the bone handled swords sheathed at his waist.

"Quickly, Run to me!" she calls to the cloaked stranger, "You are standing on a trap!"

If needed, Floradine lends a hand to the newcomer and then asks, "And who might you be?"

Saying, "Watch out, Rathyl!" Garanon quickly grabs the newcomer and pulls him out of harm's way.

Shae's eyes narrow at Garanon's actions, suspicion wholly evident.

Garanon successfully pulls the dazed Rathyl out of the way as he himself jumps from underneath the cage.  But you see that the cage does not drop this time, apparently resetting.  [Otherwise, it would fall everytime it dropped something.]

Seeing this new person materialize out of thin air Joseph his dumbfounded.  When he finally gathers himself he comments, "What is going on here?  Who is this person Garanon?"

Garanon shakes his head and says, "This wasn't supposed to happen."  Looking at the suspicious glares of his companions, he says, "This is Rathyl.  I saved his life in Leslorlen by putting him in this glass bottle so those looking for him would not find him."  He looks over at the dazed youth.  "I wasn't given permission to release him yet, so this is...uh...slightly...unplanned.  I don't know much about him.  I was simply following orders.  He came willingly," Garanon adds quickly before anyone can think otherwise.

"Permission?! Permission from whom?" Shae asks curtly, before turning to Kallad "Did you know about this?"

Her golden gaze reflects eerily in the torchlight as it moves to take in Rathyl, absorbing each detail of the young man.

Rathyl appears as a handsome, powerful, and elite elf lord of high stature despite his young age, and he looks about in confusion at his surroundings.

Kallad shakes his head slowly and responds to Shae, "This is as startling to me as it is to you."

Exasperated, Garanon explains, "As I told you before, the man you know as the pipe-smoking wizard was on my side in opposing the Council's decision concerning magic.  He helped me escape from sure death after I was branded a traitor.  I began to help him, to serve under his wisdom.  He needed me to save this boy from certain death at the hands of the Brotherhood, so I had to infiltrate the Brotherhood and get to him before they could.  I don't know much about him other than his name.  We've only exchanged a few sentences.  The pipe-smoking wizard never tells me more than I need to know.  I was supposed to bring him to the wizard for his protection."

Rathyl peers up at the metal constructs with wide eyes.  Blinking, Rathyl looks over the strangers before asking Garanon, "What wizard?  Where am I?  What is this place?"

"Don't take that tone with me Garanon!" Shae snaps, her golden gaze fairly ablaze with anger, "You whose motives are so dubious. Your words twist and turn back upon themselves like a serpent in long grass!"

The druid stands rigid as she continues to glower at the thief, though frustration can easily been seen fueling her current anger. She looks nothing more than the teenager she really is. With a deep breath she calms somewhat, "I grow weary of all that is happening. I should never have left my people of the Leslorlen."

Blinking, her gaze suddenly pierces Rathyl, "You my noble sir are on the world of Allevia, deep within the bowels of an unstable volcano, in a temple long forgotten by most. This man," she points at Garanon, "had you trapped magically within a recently smashed vial....for your own protection of course."

She looks pointedly at Garanon as she says the last, "I am Shae, the haughty bitch of this crusade!"

Garanon runs and jumps across the area under the two cages to get to the niche where Shae stands.

As Garanon runs at Shae, the druidess backs away the dragon maw dagger suddenly appearing in her good hand.  Her eyes a wary as she watches the thief.

As Garanon jumps across, the two cages fall to the floor.  He runs fast enough to avoid being hit by the falling iron and stands next to Shae.

Garanon says, "I see the queen's legendary temper is genetic.  No need to fear, though.  I have sword fealty to the queen, and that loyalty transcends to her daughter, the princess.  You have no need to fear me.  I would protect you with my life.  I am sure that would be her desire."

Then he moves past Shae, carefully and slowly pushing the tip of the dagger away from him.  He opens the door and moves into the room beyond as the cages still rotate on the latticework.

"I'll have to take your word on that,as much as it is worth" Shae comments back to Garanon the dagger still held tightly in her hand.

She turns quickly to Floradine and the others, "We need to move along quickly it would seem." She moves after Garanon, keeping close upon his heels.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:12, Thu 21 Aug 2003.

"I find myself at a crossroads," Floradine says.  "My duty to the queen versus my duty to the king.  Garanon seems to suggest that those interests divert.  I suppose I shall owe my allegiance to both until such day as those allegiances cross."

Seeing Garanon and Shae disappear through the door, Floradine rushes under the traps, yelling back at the others, "Follow right behind me before the trap can reset itself."

Kallad takes Shanjalae's hand and follows Floradine's advice before the traps can reset.

Joseph takes up the rear as the group makes teh dash under the cages and through the door on the other side.