Rolf looks at the small box, knowing at a glance what must be done to get inside, though he is a little hesitant to expend the energy. Still, if he wishes to win this competition, Rolf knows there is no other way forward.
"Reserare" Rolf whispers as he touches the small lock on the front of the box.
Though Rolf knows immediately his
spell has succeeded, there is still something off, as if the lock itself is resisting his magic. Still, after only a moment, the lock bends to his will, clicking into place in the unlocked position.
Rolf unclasps the front of the lid and opens the box, which elicits a few more calls of appreciation from the judges.
Within, Rolf finds only a small slip of paper on which is written.
3A
"Excellent!" Dehogue stands up from behind the table, stepping forward to glimpse for a moment at the small slip of paper before ushering Rolf on to the seats at the side of the room where the older man and the young girl already sit.
"Take a seat then, take a seat. Excellent work!"
There is little time to do so much as to catch his breath before another box is put within the flames and the next contestant is in, a young man perhaps a few years older than Rolf. His trial goes as quickly as Rolf, extinguishing the flames with a wave of his hand and picking up the box. He examines it for only a minute or so before casting some spell or other against the hinge on the back, which at first seems to do nothing, though in the next moment the boy bashes the box against a wall, shattering the hinge all together, allowing him to open the back just enough to let his slip of paper drop free.
The nominees come in, one after another. The next of them creating a giant pool just above the flames, which drops to create a massive torrent of hot steam which Rolf is just too late to avoid taking full in the face as it ripples out from the center of the room. Though when faced with the box, he stares at it blankly for a few moments before setting it on the ground and simply mashing down with his heel at its center, over and over, until the whole thing is so mangled and broken that it is possible to retrieve the reward. Dehogue laughs outright at this spectacle, though it is jovial and not derisive in nature.
"Resourcefulness is a boon to any mage." he says with a smile, checking to ensure the note is still in tact before ushering him to sit in the chairs.
Rolf cannot help but realize through the process how much of an advantage it is to watch the others compete. First, if he goes head to head against some of these others (and he has a hard time imagining he will not), he will already know some of what they can accomplish.
And while the others still languish in their spellwork, Rolf has been sitting in a chair, recuperating precious energy while the time passes!
Though many of the nominees succeed and through various means, others of them fail and fail spectacularly. One of the men seems to want to accomplish the work using only water magic, first creating the pool above the fire (Rolf has the foresight this time to cover his face) before apparently filling the insides of the box with water. Moments later, the wood form splits at the seams after the water inside freezes with some additional magic.
Here Dehogue leans eagerly forward, watching as the ice is melted away and the slip of paper is revealed.
"If you can read it on your first try you may move on." Though apparently the ink has been smeared, for when the boy guesses 'Do?', he is led away, screaming at the unfairness.
The last of the nominees seems to be thinking along the same lines as Rolf had been, thinking perhaps that the flames are mere illusion, he dashes forward, his hands held low to grab the box mid-stride. He has barely a foot within the flames before his face shifts to agony, though there is entirely too much momentum built up to stop his body. Some of the judges gasp, many stand up in alarm, though the flames seem to flash into nothingness before the rest of his body even hits the ground.
"That was exceedingly foolish." Dehogue chastises, his face stony though his complete attention on the incident betrays his concern. Two members of the guild come forward, looking the boy over for a moment before lifting him up by magic.
"Take him up to the healers." Dehogue sighs, brushing the three away with his hand.
"Make sure they look after his lungs, you never know with fire damage."
It is several moments more before Dehogue realizes that the first phase of the competition is over, and the seven remainders are waiting on him.
"Ah yes," The guildmaster starts as the door closes behind the injured man.
"Well, that can sometimes happen, very unfortunate though I am sure he will be fine." His countenance slowly builds, the smile creeping back onto his face.
"And so we are here! Congratulations again, for now we are five fewer and the challenge is only going to get more difficult as we go! Three more tasks you will have to get through if you wish to win. The first will be designed to test your observation, mental faculties and patience. The second, your tenacity and determination! Finally, the last will determine your courage, strength and skill. Of course, you all know that there can be only one winner, therefore, at each step there can only be half of you to move forward. At each step you will compete with someone else, and the first to accomplish the task will move onward!"
"Well." Dehogue throws smiling glances at each of the contestants.
"Each of you received a slip of paper in your box, I'd ask you now to go to the door that matches with your number." With the wave of Dehogue's hand, four doorways exiting the room sprout numbers on their fronts, one, two, three, and four.
Rolf stands with the others, walking towards the door with the '3'. He throws glances about behind him, though it seems there is no one else headed his direction. Indeed, when all the others have reached their destination, 1, 2, and 4 each have two competitors, while Rolf it seems, is the odd man out.
"Good luck then." Dehogue smiles broadly at all of them, waving a hand with a flourish as he shouts.
"And begin!"
Unsure as to whether he is racing with the other six, Rolf pushes his way through the door into near complete darkness. Halting his progress until he gains his bearings, Rolf stops midstep as the door behind him swings to a close.
Lights blink immediately on, revealing a room some twenty or thirty feet square. The only two exits appear to be the one behind him he just entered through, and another on the far side of the room which is blocked with a heavy iron grate.
Just before Rolf is a wide table, on which stand seven bottles, ranging in size from a mere vial to a massive decanter. On the wall to the right, several lines are written on the stone wall in dark black scrawl that continues all the way down to the flagstones and is just barely legible from this distance.
Seven potions here are standing all within a line,
seven potions meant to try you, to test on your refine.
For only one among them, can you use to continue on.
Another is used for healing, though once it's drunk it's gone.
Two jasmine teas are there, but for good or ill are worthless,
though the last three will impede you, Epimenides, Sysyphus, Tantalus.
If you wish to be a member, chose and make haste!
For the winning drought has but one dose and so it is a race.
Know first, that the worst among them, though they are hidden with such deft,
Can always be found to sit upon the placebo's left.
The potions to the far left, and it's brother to far right
Are different once you taste them, though neither will win your fight;
Though each bottle is different sizes, you need not bee a seer;
To know that the largest and the smallest, have nothing for you to fear.
a penultimate piece to this puzzle and then you must turn the tide,
Two twins each are located one bottle from the outside.
I have a table below with bottle location from left to right (one being far left) and bottle size (one being the smallest).
Bottle Location | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
Bottle Size | 6 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Firstly, roll vs. Perception-5. Secondly, please describe any movements you are making. If you wish to drink a bottle, please just give me the number, from left to right.
-Riddle adapted from Joanne Rowling