5) Challenge

^2669c7

Standing in the Domain of Might after completing their trial, The Pawns walk to the House of Wisdom. Before leaving, Zephyr notices the archway leading into the Realm of Knowledge has an inscription matching the previous one he saw. Just like before, the languages shifted, but the text now reads "WISDOM IS FOUND WITHIN A PERSON."

Entering Wisdom's sanctuary, the party pays closer attention to the towering statue occupying the center of the market. It faces the entryway they just came from, and sits on a circular pedestal, with its own engraving that reads "I have served my master well, now I stare into the depths of hell," in the Abyssal tongue.

Looking at the room around them, they notice a mural lining the walls of the House, circling its entire perimeter above the stalls below it. Inbad recognizes that the mural depicts the history of the Dwarven Kingdom - or perhaps the history of this world, or of something greater. The events travel from creation to progress to war to ruin, back to creation, all of history contained in this one visage. A lone figure, hooded in white, adorns the mural.

Tinkering with the statue, Zephyr finds that it is able to rotate. As it rotates, the painted figure dances and travels, moving with the gaze of the statue. They represent progression through the flow of time, walking with the people as they first settled, guiding them as they built their homes, reconciling them as they recover from catastrophe. She has seen it all, and she has been with them through everything.

Not only this, but the inscription on the statue's pedestal also changes with its rotation, each taking the form of a different language. The party collectively could recognize most of the languages, but only understood the translations of some of them. Starting from the entryway facing the Fount of Life, and moving clockwise, the texts read as follows:

• (???) ???
• (Celestial) ?
• (Primordial) ?
• (Draconic) "Follow me to ascension beyond, so that we may protect the coming dawn"
• (Sylvan) "Let us build something that lasts, let us lament the time that past"
• (Dwarfish) "Hard I worked for the fruits of my labor, surrounded by friends, foes, and neighbor"
• (Common) "You know my name"
• (Thieves' Cant) "Wisdom within oneself is hidden, call upon that which is forbidden"
• (Undercommon) ?
• (Infernal) ?
• (Deep Speech) ?
• (Abyssal) "I have served my master well, now I stare into the depths of hell"

Æ

Inside the statue floating words/language; thieves' cant revealed 3 maps to Inbad: glowing red map, paper map, black map ≥ black map chosen

hitting statue on foot made eyes glow; hitting neck shot energy out (hit Jaime)

releasing the energy within, alongside understanding what is in a person, completed the trial, but created consequences for circumventing the intended pathway

clunk sound heard (stairway opening), but then stops

Æ Unlucky feat for rolling 3 natural 1s in a row (wild magic)

• you cast grease on yourself
• eyes glow like multicolored lanterns
• you cast polymorph on yourself and become a sheep

shadow of statue gets up and extinguishes flame in the Haven of Sight

fight: Inbad falls on his butt, grapples the statue from below, and brings the shadow to the floor

Zephyr gets +2 honor

Question to the Seer: "Why were we all put together"