The next room was lit by a floating orb, much like the stadium outside. Twelve pedestals stood in a circle in the center of the room, and in the middle of the circle, a table held the scroll.
He walked up to the table and picked it up.
Only then, he noticed that each pedestal held a unlit torch.
Interesting.
He opened the scroll.
Your task is to light a torch. One torch is the trigger mechanism for the door, the others trigger less pleasant results, some of which are potentially lethal. Choose wisely.When I asked for more difficult tasks, I didn't mean death.
He put down the scroll, and walked around the outside of the circle of pedestals, examining them carefully.
They are identical in every way.
He returned to the center and looked around at them all. He'd already used the reverse shadow spell he knew, so he wouldn't be able to see the inside of these.
Maybe I could light all of them at once and just block everything. No. I have no way of knowing what traps, hexes, or curses they've set. Unless...
He carefully examined the floor, then each of the four walls, and the ceiling.
Around the edges of the room, there were small doors, smaller then his arm. Maybe if I triggered them, the room will flood, or fill with snakes.
The floor had a seam going down the middle. Maybe it'll split and dump me into lava, or onto poisoned spikes.
Holes dotted the entire floor. Perhaps they release strange gas, or darts of some kind.
There was also a hex around the circle of pedestals, but he couldn't tell what it did. It's illegible.
On the ceiling, a wooden trap door hid some ominous thing. Boiling tar?
Ferondir frowned, then had an idea. If I'm close behind Yami, maybe there's a chance that the torch he chose is still hot. He lifted his staff and spoke a spell that had come in useful on countless occasions. "Deprehendere temperatus."
His staff flashed bright blue, and then red, and then started releasing a mist of strangely colorless fog.
He brought it close to each torch, and each of them registered the same dim blue, all but three.
He released the spell.
Well, it narrows it down, at least. Yami must have guessed. It's kinda lucky that he found the right one after three tries.
Ferondir examined the three torches in question. and finding himself unable to see any discernible difference, chose one at random. "Nayru, guide me." he said, before touching it with his staff and lighting it.
A steady hissing filled the air,
Oh crap, it WAS snakes! He looked around at the small doors, but they didn't move.
The hissing grew louder.
"What are you?!" he asked the air, a little panicked.
He took a step and he heard a click, the floor seemed to catch fire.
"Holy goddess!" he shouted, jumping away,
Thankfully, the seemed to be contained within the hex.
He took at deep breath, and felt a slow pain all the way up his left side.
He was on fire.
"Oh dang!" He flung his robe off and stomped on it.
The flames died, but the robe was badly damaged.
"Oh, man. Mistress Nettleheart is going to kill me." She was the seamstress of the Guild.
He turned back to flames, and while he was trying to figure out how to extinguish them, they went out all at once.
"Hmm." That works.
He put the ruined robe back on. The left side was badly singed, and the arm had almost entirely burned away. "Oh, man." He fingered it. This robe had been though a lot with him. I have no choice but to pass now.\ He turned back to the pedestals, and located the other two possibilities. Left or right? He stood there, deliberating. He didn't want to trigger another trap.
He chose one, and lit it with his eyes shut, and his arm protecting his vital organs.
He heard a series of ominous clicking sounds, and then stone rumbling against stone. Oh no, is the ground opening? He looked up, and opened one eye. It was just the door into the next room. "Oh, hey." He relaxed. "That's that."
Just before he left, he turned back and cast another spell. He was supposed to leave the room as he left it after all. "Tolle calor."
The air seemed to freeze, and he quickly shut the door, and heard several clicks. It was locked once again.
