Three Paths: CXXI
Andraste stared at the new room before her, or perhaps the new cavern? It couldn't be easily defined. It was a gracious space of hard granite, the staircase they had excited led onto a sixty foot long yet only ten foot wide platform at its center held three long and narrow bridges, bridges she had spotted from the floor below. Below the bridges was that previous floor only around eighty feet under her. Yeah that would be a nasty drop. The three bridges led to three distinct doorways. The left had no door way, the center and right a large iron door way. "Any ideas?" she asked, the bridge on her left was mostly intact however after twenty five feet it became fractured and slightly broken the polished granite was cracked apart. Directly in front of her the middle bridge was smashed to pieces it extended ten feet out before an enormous hole dotted its narrow line the bridge continued after fifteen feet of this drop. The final one to her right was similar to the first yet it was broken apart after only ten feet that one seemed to have dust and rocks falling from it.
"Well.." Herod crooked his neck. "There are a lot of options.. Jumping.. Flying.. The question is which bridge is the right one." All eyes turned to Renaer. Now it probably wasn't the most polite thing to do Andraste admitted that, however she and everyone else were also aware that the 'vault of dragons' was created by his father embezzling hundreds of thousands from the government.
"Hey!" He protested. "Don't look at me I don't even talk to the man."
"Worth a shot." Markos shrugged. Andraste wished she knew what was on the other side perhaps if she used shape earth and created a pulley system for them to swing across. No she thought the engineering alone required to perform such an attempt would be troublesome to figure out.
"How about Markos and I send our familiars across to see what's going on?" Riu suggested. A small portal opened above her as the small black and blue pseudodragon flew through.
"I mean I have the spell jump." Andraste waved a finger trying to be helpful.
"Nah I've got; fly so if anything we can do that." Herod added. Two familiars flew past Andraste the small squid and the dragon dancing around in the air. Cerdest flew down the left path while Kuro the dragon hovered down the middle one. Vestus took a step forward testing his weight on the right bridge. The room shook with the sound of crumbling rocks.
"Hey!" Herod snapped. Vestus oved back but his face was more curious than apologetic.
"Huh.." Riu's eyes had begun to change shade from their icy blue to the dark deep blue of Kuro as she inhabited the familiars mind in an attempt to see. Markos had a similar effect changing to turquoise. "This center door is adamntine." Riu gasped. Andraste peered over the dragon was scratching the door peeling iron colored paint from its covers. Well that was telling, she wondered if they all held a similar trick.
"We should probably sell that door if we could take it." Alekzandr suggested.
"Fuck yeah!" Adleth snapped. "Lets steal the fucking door. One second I got some tools." the elf started rummaging around through her bag. Andraste moved to the left to inspect the left hand side doorway. Inside she spotted something.. It was hard to make out but soon the image was beamed into her head by Cerdest. She saw a large dwarven statue twenty feet high dressed in heavy armor. The familiar danced around the room spotting a rather large trap door on the floor.
"Huh.. I'm not really sure what this is.." Markos.
"What do you mean?" Andraste quizzed. The stream of image stopped with Markos waving the party over.
"That statue is a god called; Ol' Fire Eyes.. a dwarven god.. Cerdest doesn't have the strength to pull the adamantine trap door.. So I'm gonna go check it out." Markos replied. Literally everyone just stared at him.. He wanted to cross the bridge? That sounded like the dumbest of ideas.
"Markos that thing is crumbling apart there is no way it won't collapse." Andraste cautioned.
"Actually its fine." Riu raised a hand. "Our familars can only show us whats on the other side.. Itll take us to open it up and investigate." that still didnt solve the.. "Also." Riu started to giggle, behind the woman silvery air began to fold like sparkling flakes in the snow they extended into elongated pieces of mystic energy until a set of large silvery blue wings had formed on Riu's back. "I can fly." She started laughing.
"So we investigate each one, one at a time?" Herod asked. Riu nodded.
"Alright.. First you." Riu flutterted in the air, the last time Andraste remembered her flying was that fight against Skeemo. She lifted Markos gently off the ground and flew him to the other side of the cavern he reached the edge of that bridge studying the trap door.
"What is it?!" Renaer cried over the cavern gap.
"Ol' fire eyes.." Markos yelled back. He seemed really entranced by the statute. "Hold on.. What kind of name is Ol' Fire eyes? Also there's a trap door right here." Andraste noticed the cultist did not seem to get close to the door simply pointing at it. "Yeah I'm gonna be honest I don't trust this non-believer door." the cultist began to back up onto the bridge Andraste held her breath her plan was to wild shape into her lion form and leap across but the weight of every bridge was still in question.
"W- be careful!" Mert yelled. Markos simply smiled ans shrugged back as his familiar exited the room flying across the ceiling.
"Cthhugra." Markos spoke in deep speech instantly a tentacle shot from the ground in the room with the trap door- ok really was his response to everything a fucking tentacle? Andraste criticized. "Anddd" Markos spuna round the side of the doorway bracing his back against the doorframe the tentacle leaned down and went to lift the trap door.
*FLOOOFRTH*
Fire shot from the doorway consuming everything inside, blowing right past the cultist and nearly knocking Riu out of the air. "Yup." Markos chuckled, he seemed unfazed and inside his tentacle no longer existed, probably burned to a crisp. The Aasimar ferried Markos back to the main party. "Oh no.. I miss Timothy already." Markos grumbled. He waved his hand a tentacle shot from the ground through a ripped portal. "Oh hi Timothy." He scratched the door frame. "So this trap door was tr- Oh Dammit this whole thing has been a pun!" Markos exclaimed.
"It was in fact." Vestus started laughing. "A Trapped-Door." No one laughed.
"Who could have guessed that fire eyes had a fire trap." Alekzandr added. "Oh wait.. Everyone."
"That's door number one." Herod rubbed his chin pointing at the right hand side. "The middle path is the most unstable.. If it's trapped and we do anything the bridge could collapse.. I'll head to the right one."
"I.. don't know how well I can lift you over." Riu groaned. Herod looked at her curiously.
"Who said you'd have to lift me?" Herod remarked. "Ut ventum ad lucem." He grinned green energy flowed around him a pair of what Andraste could only describe as Deer antlers seemed to form behind his back made from spectral green energy. Unlike Riu he lifted from the ground with seemingly no effort not like the beating of winds from a bird but as if the air itself had willed him to rise his cloak shifted in the new breeze he created. As if the completely overpowered entity of Herod Westwood couldn't get anymore powerful now he could fly. He twirled in the air, setting himself down gently on the other side of the bridge. Herod gripped the handle and pulled hard. The door did not budge.
"Don't be so reckless!" Andraste yelled over, he was grabbing the door with his bare hands when five minutes ago Markos's tentacle was burned from another door. Riu flew over to the other side of the center bridge however she stayed in the air so as to not touch the crumbling rock. Andraste watched with bated breath as the woman gripped the doors handle and pulled it- open? The entrance creaked with a hideous sound like nails against a chalkboard. Andraste decided she would go and see about the middle room. She concentrated hard feeling the wind against her face focusing on the grass fields and blood on her claws when in this form. Her bones cracked reshaping as her body rippled with muscle she bent over getting on all fours feeling fur grow over her skin. She steadily opened her eyes unable to talk but still able to think clearly.
"Woah!" Vestus exclaimed. "Andraste why- the bridges are too unstable." She took her mark and ran across the right balcony jump over it she used her momentum to palace herself at the center bridges end. She sailed through the air feeling the power with every step clearing a twenty foot jump with ease- oh. She realized perhaps she cleared the jump with too much ease. She tumbled out of the air heading straight past the bridge and was nearly about to fall to the floor below. An odd feeling came over her she dug her claws intot he walls of the doorframe and pulled herself narrowly back onto the entrance clawing and scratching back up.
"Vulity eh Gereni!" Herod cursed, his arm extended an odd green incantation spilled from him at her perhaps it saved her from her fall? "That was close!" Andraste agreed. Inside the room Riu was hovering off the ground four suits of rusted metal armor dotted the surroundings. It was twenty feet high with dwarvish runes carved into the wall before them both.
"I.." Riu muttered. "Can't speak dwarvish.. Can you?" The Aasimar turned to her curiously. Andraste shook her head in lion form. "Can anyone speak dwarvish?!" Riu yelled into the cavern Herod poked his head up.
"I can read anything." He disclosed.
"I can as well." Markos raised a hand even Alekzandr did. Wait didn't they already settled this outside? Andraste wondered. Eh it didn't matter. Andraste turned around backing into the room she jumped across the gap headed back to the landing the rest of the party was on. Curiously she hadn't noticed this but in the corner Adleth was standing in front of an open door made of stone holding a bag of something while her and Vaelle picked through it. She decided not to ask. Riu flew back to the landing as well and she picked up Markos and ferried him across while Herod glided through the air to reach the central doorway.
"Lets see here.." Herod was speaking loudly to try and include them all.
"Wow.. this is.. Really old Dwarvish.. I kinda only get half of this." Markos complained.
"Luckily I can read anything.. From any time." Herod replied. "Ahem. A secret never before told will part Dumathoin's lips... Dumathin? Dumathoieen? I don't know how to pronounce that." Herod shrugged.
"Perhaps it's Doom-Ath-oh-in?" Alekzandr suggested.
"Do we really care?" Vestus asked. He.. made a good point. "Though who the fuck is that?" Vestus asked.
"Oh god of Secrets." Alekzandr shared. Andraste's eyes narrowed. He didn't know how to pronounce it.. But he knew what god it was?
"God of secrets.." Markos murmured. "Wait.." he suddenly exclaimed. Herod and him looked at one another. "Ok we've figured out what the hell this means!" Markos yelled.
"We've just got to tell a secret to the room that has never before been told!" herod cried. The two of them started laughing yet also seemed to be crying as if only now realizing they were idiots. Andraste dismissed her wild shape. The two men turned around and began talking. Inside Andraste saw runes glow.
*GRAEECREANNN*
The sound was as horrible as the entrance stone grinding against stone. "Yup!" Markos suddenly yelled happily.
"Markos." Herod heckled "I was just gonna say i'm the one who stole Riu's bacon this morning." The cultists' expression went blank. "There's a spiral staircase over here!" Herod cheered.
"Ok.. now the next issue." Vestus raised a hand. Andraste looked down realizing he was currently lying on the ground using his backpack as a pillow. "We can't all get across.. I've seen enough broken blades to know that bridge isn't holding us. And the Angel lady certainly won't be able to lift us all."
"A pulley!" Andraste cried. She'd been thinking about it ever since they got there. She looked at the ceiling seeing the cavern roof. "I can set up an anchor up top using mold earth... but.." she remembered why she was unwilling to use the plan originally. The roof was slanted an anchor system that would require a lot more work.
"Vestus you shall be the anchor." Alekzandr cut her off; he was flipping through a dark red book with a star symbol embedded on its surface. "Comrade Dyatkir crested a design like this for the great cavern chase.." Alekzandr looked up. "Don't.. Don't worry about it." he held up the pages while the design was illustrated the words were all in a language Andraste didn't understand. "Adleth. Can you tie an anchor knot?" the rogue grid madly.
"If i couldn't I'd shoot myself with your gun. Now get me up there." Adleth chuckled.
"Just to be clear I will be holding the rope here.." Vestus asked. Adleth pulled a long string of heavy duty rope from her bag.
"Yes comrade." Alekzandr responded. Riu flutterted over and picked Adleth up soaring up to the ceiling. Andraste waved her hand according to Alekzandr's instructions of where to place two anchors. They were at odd angles which to her didn't seem right but she followed him. "To think.. If not for Rishall I would not have this information." He laughed. The rope came back down and Vestus tied it off to an iron spike he hammered into the floor. Drifting down now Andraste reached out and took the rope it was sturdy and reached the distance accordingly.
"Everyone across." Andraste grinned.