40. Fey Fuckery

The party heads down across the entry hall, following Nimbus toward a tearoom near the front where he spotted something odd on his scouting run, and are approaching the door when they hear a knock behind them. Two raps, coming from the closet under the stairs.   The party looks at each other, then to the door. The knock comes again, not urgent or particularly loud, but repeating.   knock-knock!   "Who is it?" -Mirage   A high, lilting voice, the party recognizes the same cadence as the laughter in the butterfly room.   "Tank!" they sound absolutely giddy that you asked.   "Nice to meet you, Tank," Mirage says, flatly, clocking a joke setup and refusing it outright.   "Oh boooo, you're no fun!"   "Are you responsible for the hex on this house?"   "Hmmmm that's a matter of perspective, honey! I could tell you, but it's sooo much more entertaining to watch you figure it out! Ta for now~"   Mirage rolls her eyes. They watch the closet door for a moment, but nothing else happens. The tearoom door is unlatched. Saeldor takes point, and no sooner have they ducked through the human-size doorway when they raise their shield on reflex, ducking behind it.   "Oh come on, no fun no fun no fun!" The same voice as the closet, fading out as Saeldor lowers their shield.   Peering past them, the party sees Saeldor's shield is covered in pink, sparkling, glowing liquid. More of it dribbles from a crystal decanter that's fallen on the floor, and the same substance fills four large goblets on the coffee-table behind it.   "it just threw itself at me," Saeldor says, regarding the decanter with suspicion.     "Saeldor, you're good?" Mika asks.   "I'm okay, but I don't know about the shield." Saeldor gives it a bit of a shake but for a liquid, it's not really dripping off. They try to scrub at it, and some comes off on their hand, but doesn't diminish the shield's new brightness at all.   "Let me try."   Saeldor holds the shield out, away from themself as Mirage readies an air blast. She unleashes a powerful burst of wind, the gale even moves the furniture in the room back a little bit, but does not dislodge a single glittery drop of the shield's new paint job. Mirage frowns, studying it.   "Does the shield still feel...solid? Do you trust it?"   Saeldor looks it over, raps his massive knuckles against the back of it. "It feels normal."   "Slightly more noticeable, though" Mika puts in.   "I think it's a good colour on me." Saeldor holds the shield up like trying a shirt, smiling.   Cri smiles wide. "You look good in all colours, Saeldor."   Saeldor beams as Mika passes them to kneels next to the spilled decanter, looking between it and the goblets on the coffee table. "Do we want to know what happens if you drink this stuff?" he says, sounding disturbed.   "I feel like no." Mirage quips.   "But someone set it up like this." He gestures toward the table, the filled glasses. "For what, a trap? A practical joke?" He frowns. "'No fun'," he mutters.   "Are you suggesting we entertain Tank?" Mirage is watching him think.   "I don't know. It seemed pretty entertained in the butterfly room," he muses. Counts on his fingers as he continues. "The FLAMES came from dousing a fire - simple counteraction. But breaking the gem and shrinking the butterflies didn't do anything but get a round of giggles from 'Tank,' Not a card? Or just done wrong?   "Defeating the KNIGHT in what you could call honourable combat got it to go back to its card state, I guess that's like meeting it on its terms? If Tank is a card, then which one, and what does it want - if that even matters. I doubt the fire wanted to be doused..." he trails off, thinking.   Mirage's jaw drops. "I assumed Tank put all the cards here, as a form of entertainment. You think they're one of the cards? Who set this up, is what I want to know."   Mika cocks his head, like he hadn't considered that. "You clock any fey on it, Saeldor?"   "Wasn't checking," Saeldor frowns, stroking their beard in thought. "You think there's two? The pranks are a bit of a departure from the warnings."   "Right, because those fuckers are consistent if nothing else," Mika drawls, rolling his eyes.   "Either of you could be right," Saeldor the ever-fair muses, "'Tank' did say it was a matter of perspective, after all.”   "What I want to know," Mika continues, standing up, "is how a Deck gets transformed into whatever the hell's going on here. Regardless of whether Tank is a card in the literal sense or only the figurative, we need more information."   "As long as we clear all the hexes we leave this place, I'm not set on which order we explore them in." Mirage concedes, "Should we go upstairs, then? Have Nimbus take a quick look to give us the layout?"   "Locals say the master of the house was a wizard," Mika points out, "Looking for his lab or whatever might be helpful.”   Saeldor isn't a fan of leaving unexplored rooms behind; suggests they take the chairs from this room and block the remaining two doors with them first.   Mirage has a flash memory of all of them flying out the window of the tower and her buffeting their landing with wind.   "If we get screwed from the lower floor, we can always try the window," she grins, "But it doesn't hurt to have insurance. I'll grab this one, you grab that one."   Nimbus scouts and reports that the master suite is upstairs, some guest rooms, and other more normal chambers, though one is unusually dilapidated. There's also a library, but as soon as Nimbus poked in there, that fey-pretending-to-be-a-ghost started screeching that if he didn't leave now he'd regret it so he high-tailed it back to the party, zooming up to Mirage and hiding in her hair. He crackles a little.   "Okay. Well. Master suite is definitely up there." Marwa says, relaying what Nimbus showed me to the rest of them, including the threat from the voice. "So, obviously there's something important in the Library. Should we head there?"   "[iI wouldn't do that if I were you!" The fey voice warbles, fading in and then out in a flyby.   "You're just making me want to stay longer, which if that's your purpose - congratulations, you've pressed the right button," Mirage snarks, following Saeldor up the stairs, Mika following with a smile. Cri brings up their rearguard, ready to wildshape on a dime.   "So, right to the master bedroom?" Mirage asks as they peer up the stairs, "Or library?"   "I mean, you know my vote" says Mika.   Mirage smiles. "Nerd."   Saeldor thinks about it "A wizard might keep notes in a library, but a personal journal in the master suite seems likely, too."   "Do we feel prepared for a fight? Anything worth guarding is worth discovering, in my opinion. And we are up here looking for information. The library seems like a good place to start."   "We've got it outnumbered, anyway" - Saeldor and Mika say simultaneously.   They look at each other and grin.   "Fortunate for me you don't drink, or I'd owe you a pint," Saeldor chuckles. "Onward we go! Nimbus didn't see any creatures up here?"   "He didn't."   "Maybe you should go ahead with a trap-check, then. I'll be right on your tail."   Mirage salutes and slinks ahead, floating over the possibly-creaky floorboards. The party waits on the stairs, and after a moment, her voice drifts down.   "Found something, but its inactive."   The party ascends the stairs, and finds their rogue crouched in the hallway, peering at a series numbered squares etched over the floorboards.   "Don't touch it," she warns.   Saeldor stops behind her.   "Trapped?"   "I don't know. Could be. I don't recognize this sigil."   Cri and Saeldor glance at each other, Saeldor looks amused and starts to open their mouth but Mika waves quickly like 'nonono.'   Mirage is focused on the chalk markings, and does not see the shit-eating grin spreading across the warlock's face.   "You think it's some kind of ritual mark?" Mika asks.   "I don't know. What if it's another card? Cri and I can fly over it, but you two..." her voice trails off in worry.   Mika turns to Saeldor, affecting grim resignation in his voice and posture.   "We'll just have to complete the steps."   While Saeldor's deciding if this joke is mean or harmless, Mika continues, still solemn. "I recognize these markings, actually."   Mirage looks up, listening.   "It's an ancient tradition, origins lost to time. Gods help the one who misses a step, but it must be done."   "No it doesn't. I know what to do with sigils. I break them." Marwa stands, her hands crackling. She remembers busting out Cobbles, and her own tattoo. Fuck magic marks.   Mika cracks at her determination, he starts laughing.   Marwa blinks. "Did I miss a joke?"   "You seriously don't recognize it?" He's delighted, trying unsuccessfully to get his serious voice back.   He gets a confused expression in response.   He gets the laugh under control, but still very amused. "Saeldor can I borrow a rock?"   Saeldor fishes in the little pouch of pebbles that hangs from their belt and hands him a medium-size agate. He tosses it onto the squares.   "It's a game," he grins, jumping to the first set of squares. She watches as he hops the sequence, skipping the stone where the agate landed. He turns around on the other side, barely ten feet away.   "They don't have hopscotch in Auria?"   Mirage shakes her head, looking at Cri to gauge familiarity. Cri fluffs her feathers in a shrug.   "I've heard of it," the druid admits, "but no, it's not very popular there, especially among flighted folk" she says, shifting her wings.   "Hey, check it out, the myriad human weaknesses yield a benefit for once." Mika grins.   When she realizes she's been had, Mirage gives him a raised eyebrow, very mild irritation. "Ha ha, very funny. So you just... hop to the other side?"   "One foot for single squares, two for doubles, in the numbered order, and you can't touch the one with the rock."   The sequence is trivial for Mirage. Even without hovering, balance is instinctive for her.   It's probably a game for really little kids, she thinks, as she hops off the last one to a warm smile from Mika. She wonders if the rough cobble in front of his parents' home in Midnight ever bore these marks. Fights the tug of a smile at the idea of a wobbly little Mika still learning how to catch himself on one foot, not yet a dancer.   "I'll give it a try," Cri smiles as Mirage turns around. Cri isn’t used to doing feats of nimbleness unassisted by an animal form or her flight, it might be an interesting challenge.   She starts it in good fun, misses a step, gives a hooting chuckle. "I suppose it's not as simple as it looks."   "Cri, fly over?" Mirage suggests, but not being accustomed to flying indoors, Cri has already defaulted to walking and has one foot outside the square.   She looks up when Mirage speaks, and then blinks rapidly as dust puffs around her. She has an "oh, of course" look when suddenly she's a different colour, bits of chalk dust falling from her feathers as she shakes them out. She blinks her huge eyes, coughs pastel-green chalk dust.   "Boooo, no cheating!" its Tank's voice from behind Mirage and Mika.   "You okay, Cri?" Mirage calls, alarmed.   "I am unhurt," the druid replies, but her feathers are still ruffled in surprise. She tries to shake off the chalk, but the dust makes her cough again.   Mika spun around as soon as he heard the voice, but he sees no one. Having made sure Cri is okay, Mirage pulls a gale of chalk-bearing wind off the aaracokra and blasts it into the hallway behind her.   The chalk outlines a silhouette, and a sputtering sound in Tank's voice.   "Hey Tank! Nice to see you," Mirage quips, chipper.   They stand, everyone can see the dust falling off from around the face, presumably from surprised blinks   "Are you this house's jester?" Mirage asks.   "ahahahahHAHAHAHAHAHA You got me! A funny idea, a Jester! But you've made me into a regular FOOL!" As they're laughing, the dust coming off them seems to multiply, growing into a thicker cloud. It condenses, somewhat predictably now, into the rectangular shape of a card.   Mika kneels to pick it up as Mirage sighs in disappointment.   "Just when he was starting to get interesting."   "I guess every deck has a joker, huh?" Saeldor, who walks across the hopscotch at first with trepidation, but then when they are un-chalk-poofed, at a normal pace.   "And it turned because what, you pranked it back? Reversal, again?" Mika picks it up, examining its face as Cri and Saeldor walk past. "Oh, I guess this one's yours too." He turns to offer it to Marwa as he stands, but she's holding out the KNIGHT card when he turns around. He looks at it, surprised.   "You hold onto them," says Marwa, "Just. Is it okay if we talk later, maybe?" this last barely above a whisper.   Mika takes the card, slowly. "I mean... yeah, of course," also quiet   He pockets all three, pulling his eye back to her face. "I wasn't going to... no splitting off, right? I mean if nothing else, boss would kill me if I didn't let him get a word in about it" this last in a more normal volume, half-joking.   "No splitting off, right." Marwa gives a puffy exhale. "I got nervous, is all. Sorry." She's looking at the floor.   He shrugs. "You're smart, it was a smart call. Shifty motherfucker over here, right?" He offers a crooked smile but Mirage's face is not one of amusement or agreement. "Really, though. It's fine. I understand the risk, I really do. And…” He reaches for her hand, gives it a gentle squeeze, "I know what I've got to lose."   "No, no you're not shifty, stop." Marwa's shaking her head. "I got scared because I don't want you to get hurt. But this is your life, and your choice. And I'll respect whatever you decide. I will." She looks at him, squeezes his hand back.   He smiles, genuine this time.   Mirage has the thought of telling him again that she trusts him, but sometimes words aren't enough, you gotta walk the walk. So she gives him a small smile in return.   "Mirage? Trap check." Saeldor calls from up ahead at the door Nimbus is indicating.   "Yep, you got it."   Mika watches her move up to the front of the marching order, thinking Can we please hurry up and finish this place so I can get this perfect woman alone and kiss her til she can't see straight?   The handle on the door Saeldor has indicated is strange. It's shaped like a hydra with eight heads and no knocker. It doesn't turn. Inspecting it, Marwa finds that each of the hydra's head has a hinge, but if the wrong one is pulled, the others will bite.   "You should give up here!" the voice of the fey-who-pretended-to-be-a -you know what let's just call him Puck. Puck's voice comes from within, "If you don't leave now, you'll regret it."   "Why would we regret it, do you think?" Mirage asks.   "Alternatively, go fuck yourself," Mika mutters, getting sick of the threats.   "Most people regret a painful death" Puck quips back.   “But we're just so anxious to meet you." Mirage drawls. She jumps back when the fey appears right in her face. They're a sprite! They look a lot like the ones she met in Amir's place. Small, insectoid, eyes too big for the face, long curling antenna and clear gossamer wings. They go to grab at her hand - or well, a couple fingers, her hand's rather bigger than theirs, too fast for her to pull it away. They shake her hand by two fingers real quick, doing what you assume is a glare with his lidless eyes.   "There-we've-met-now-get-out-get-out-GET OUT!"   "Such a short greeting, you wouldn't want to be a poor host, would you?"   "Hospitality doesn't apply to TRESPASSERS" the sprite shrieks. Then seems to calm, a smirk curling the edges of its too-wide mouth. "Besides," it says, silky sweet, "This place is already pulling you apart. Do you really want to see how deep a rift it can make?"   Mirage draws her daggers, stamping I'll draw my daggers   "Keep talking."   Its gonna try to fly up outside your arms reach. "Leave now and you won't have to listen to another word from me!"   You slice off a wing and gauge down a leg as he flies out of reach, rather unsteady on 3/4 wings now "Ow! OW OW OW! Ohhh that got you scared, didn't it? Good! You should be scared! You should all be scared!"   "Do sprites grow back wings?" I ask and twirl my blade   It thumbs its flat nose at you   "Hey asshole." - Mika, whose eyes have faded white "Answer the fuckin' question."   Saeldor's also got a hand on their greatclub, and while the sprite is out of your reach (until/unless you start hovering), it's certainly not out of theirs (between Cri's flight and wildshapes, Mirage's float options, Saeldor's height and Mika's range, escaping this party through dodginess is not a good strat lmao)   If Mika's looking my way, he's not, but if he was, he'd see her eyes flash for a second, like the way Lydia's are all lightningy?   The sprite's going to look at the party and realize this and say "No they don't but I don't think YOUR limbs do EITHER" and try to disappear. I think Saeldor's detection tells him if there's a creature and roughly how close it is but it's not like a radar for the purpose of tracking an invisible creature, like it doesn't tell them direction or position   I want to push a strong wind towards it and smack it against the nearest wall. I want it to fall prone for just a second or to knock its concentration (if it has to concentrate to stay invisible) off   yeah you can conjure up a wind blast. You send it tottering but not with enough force to hurt it, I'm afraid! When you hit it with the wind there was a lil kind of bloodspray as it spiralled, so the others have an idea where it is but its in motion   He's going to try out the anti-fey attack he's been polishing since Amir's place   The sprite's invisibility falls; it's gripping on the edge of a tiny door at the top of the wall, but as the strength leaves its hands it falls in a crumpled heap to the floor below. Saeldor looks a little disappointed, I think. They would've liked to question it   "Sorry Saeldor." I look over at them   They shake their head in a "done is done" kind of way. "We can hope there's good info inside"   "Wouldna got anything useful outta that trash anyway," Mika scoffs, having wandered over and done a 'make-sure-its-down' boot-nudge.   I explain to the others how the trap on the door works and say, "I think we have to take this threat seriously. Whatever this mage left behind..."   Cri nods, appreciates your caution, so she probably looks exhausted when Mika asks if they can't just bust the door down. It's not like anyone's home and the wood looks old.   "Nobody home - that we've seen" Saeldor corrects   "This whole place has been illusions. We could try that approach, but there's nothing to say somebody with arcane knowledge wouldn't have some trap set in anticipation of brute force."   Mika shrugs in concession. He looks at the door but he has no ideas. He looks up at the little door the Sprite was holding. It’s basically a handle-less cutout of the upper part of the wall on a hidden hinge. Its too small for any of you, though...in our current states.   "I can fit, in my beetle form." Cri offers, to which Marwa would respond, "True, but we have no idea what's on the other side, really. You'd be alone in there for however long it took you to open the door for us."   Cri considers this.   "Would you be all right with Nimbus accompanying me? If my insect form attracts notice, he can spot it before me - beetles don't see very well."   Nimbus hears Mirage's thoughts, understands Cri's question, and zooms over to her side floats up towards the tiny door, as if to say, "Come on!"   Cri goes beetle and scurries up the wall. Nimbus reports no creatures besides himself and Cri in this room. Cri shifts back to her normal form and opens the door from the inside. We'd file in through the doorway, looking around cautiously   It's definitely a wizard's library. The desk is elaborate, the legs shaped like dragons holding up the tabletop. The chair behind the desk resembles a draconic throne, the statue in the corner is wearing elaborate armour of no order you recognize. The shelves are lined with various tomes on the arcane, with a predilection toward the feywild, chaos magic, and chaotic realms (the formation of Limbo, the winds of Pandemonium, etc). The desk has two drawers, both locked.   There's a lot to go through; no particular tome stands out to him   "Hey Mika, will you check these drawers with me? I'm assuming there's magical locks here, just want two sets of eyes on it."   "Sure? I'm not going to be much good for wizard-weave stuff, though" he'll wander over   The first drawer is locked, and has a basic needle trap; you just use a longer pick to keep your hands at a safe distance and it's no trouble. There's a lens inside, like a magnifying glass but with an oddly short/delicate handle. The metal looks brass, and has all manner of symbols/runes etched into it   Saeldor wanders over, and Saeldor does indeed detect divination magic on this item!   Cri posits that it draws meaning from whatever it looks through? Divination isn't always about the future, the present can teach us just as much.   Mika gets a lightbulb when she talks about drawing meaning out. There's some looseleaf on the desktop. He'll grab a pen, write a line in a strange alphabet (draconic). "Have a look?" indicating the lens   "Sure." I'll step over and look at the writing through the lens   So you look through the lens at the writing and it says "can you read this?" but if someone asked you what language it says that in you'd have a hard time answering, because it feels like both Aurian and Common at the same time - you just understand it.   He's watching you for comprehension   "Oh. Yeah - but it's weird?"   "Weird how?"   "Well first of all, it looks completely different from what you've written. But second of all, it's - there are some Aurian words in there, but also Common. I mean I get the meaning, I guess."   "Ah"   "Seems useful. You should hang onto it! Bet your dad would get a kick out of it next time you're home if nothing else."   "Oh. Sure. You don't want it? You're the reader."   "Don't really need it" taps temple   "Yet." I pocket it.   "Hey, can I try something first?"   "Go for it."   As you go to put it away, he takes a second to think, tapping the pen against the page, then uses the common alphabet this time, writing the letters evenly spaced in a long string, a style you recognize from the peek at his grimoire.   vllahnjcxbmuyukrgnktlnyde.   It says "curious if it decrypts as well." and I feel like because the lens gives you the complete meaning of what's written you know the cipher keyword was 'trust'   "It does." I look at him.   "Huh. Okay. That's... okay. Cool. Handy." He manages a smile, "kind of cheating, though"   I'd look at it in my hands and pass it to Cri. "You're a reader too, aren't you, Cri? This'll help."   Cri clocks Mika's distress (or an affect of not caring, which means he cares) and Mirage's concern, knowing that sometimes she makes decisions on impulse.   omg he trusts her but she doesn't trust herself   "Oh, are you sure?" Cri accepts it from you, and adds, gently, "You can borrow it any time, if you like."   "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."   second drawer - did we clock any traps on this one? It seems normal. You hear the telltale hiss before the acid sprays out, and let go the pick, moving your hand back before a little corrosive jet spurts out and starts eating through the floorboard     "...oops.”   “You good??"   "Yep. Totally fine."   <watching the acid bubble into the floor> "Okay. Geez."   Inside this drawer is a notebook!   It details the wizard Astabar's research into the fundamentals of chaotic and fey magic. The sprite outside was apparently his familiar, and encouraged this line of research, entertained by the mortal's attempt to force order on the unorderable, and the randomness it introduced into their lives in the otherwise quiet manor. The wizard specialized in enchantment and disenchantment, and was fascinated by stories the sprite told him about the Deck of Many Things, a fey artefact. The powers of the deck exceed known mortal spellcasting. Astabar became entranced by the idea of harnessing this power. Eventually, he acquired a deck to study. He didn't draw from it, but instead, set about several attempts to divine the nature of its magic, all of which were stymied. The last entry notes the intention to shift to more tactile examinations of the magic within the cards. Perhaps disassembly on a Weave level will yield better information.   Mirage like "why is it ALWAYS weird technical magic stuff and never stabbable, lockpickable problems"   Mika is listening and there's a look of... annoyance? concern? minor distress? Best characterized as "ugh, wizards" but he seems disturbed by the idea dude tried to dissemble the thing. There's an anxiety in his expression that wasn't there before   I want to scour the rest of the library: Statue's marble; probably worth a pretty penny but it's hard to move. The bookshelves have mostly books on chaos magic and various associated techniques and artifacts, the feywild, and realms on the chaotic end of the wheel. You don't see anything to indicate that the experiments mentioned in the journal were conducted in this room   I'm not sure how I would do this - some sort of wind sense thing? But I really want to verify that there's no like, secret door. Pull this book and it opens the wall, thing.   Your winds don't find any secret door in THIS room, but you push them out into the hallways, and are pretty sure there's one in the master suite.   "Oh fuck yes." I mutter. "We good in here? Let's hit up the master suite."   You and Nimbus lead the way. There's two ways in, both locked with simple locks. Bath door's closer, otherwise the same   You pop that bad boy open, trapdoor is in the ceiling. The dressing room door is ajar, window slightly less grimy than the first floor ones but not by much, the bed and armchair both elaborate   The trapdoor's hidden flush with the roof, but sending out your searching winds you can detect the seam in the ceiling beams, the pull ring cleverly concealed in a knot of the wood.   "God I love secret doors." I say as I point to it   The others have to squint a second to clock it, then they smile.   "Right on, guessing there's more than old storage up there"   I want to float up, see if it's trapped. There's a nasty one - opening the door in the wrong way will cause a prepared disintegrate spell to go off.   It doesn't seem locked; the hook is too small for a hand, so it seems like the default is to pull downward with a hook of some kind   I look at how serious this trap is and say, "I bet the fucking deck is up here."     Party follows your gaze; I think they can tell from your reaction and that you haven't yanked it open yet that there's some kind of trap. Saeldor waits for your go ahead in these kind of situations   If I get a questioning look from them I explain my comments   Saeldor gives a low whistle. "Gnarly"   Cri looks unhappy; this whole place is unnatural; out of order, and that the cause of it all is tempting her friend toward what she views as an absurdly silly risk is just bad frosting on the bad cake so encountering a lethal trap is not improving her outlook   Mika looks thoughtful. "Could you cut around it? Like the drawer in fuckface's place? I guess it's bigger than that was, though."   "Would that count as opening it wrong, I wonder" Saeldor muses   "That's what I wondered too, Saeldor. I don't know. And as a wizard - I know my Dad has verbal components to a lot of his magic, I wonder if there's some sort of password. Although we haven't seen any indications of that anywhere."   I think Saeldor looks at Mika when you say password. After ranged/stealth magic, he's always been the party's puzzle guy   "Password would be typical," he concedes, thinking. "Much as I hate to say it, the familiar probably knew it. If the fucker was smart he wouldn't have written it down. But then, his notes were only behind a lock, so..."   Yeah he'll ask if he can see the notes again; does not need the glass though, he saw some draconic tomes on the shelf and guesses the wizard just had it for translation, flips through them, pacing   After a minute, he pauses. "What if-- !!" I think he was near the dressing room door and he kind of jumped when he looked in, bit off a curse.   "Gah, fuck. Okay so the mirror's weird in there. Anyway."   "You okay?"   He glances backward into the other room, and for a second there is a look of just absolute, black loathing of unknown depth on his face. Takes him a second to clear it.   "I'm good. Just fuckin' dandy. Anyway he keeps coming back to this idea of reversal? Like opposites but not quite that strict"   I think Cri goes over.   She raises a hand, offer of support-through-light-physical-contact but he shakes his head.   "Really, I'm good."   Marwa pokes her head around to see the mirror, and she sees Amir's sneering face, leering, triumphant, like when he watched her fall - helpless against gravity - into that cell, enjoying her screams.   "So is it like, draconic for 'lock' or 'close' or something?" 'm looking distracted as I say that, staring at Amir   "I think it's more like the method - it's built to open when pulled, so probably just push inst-" he looks up and clocks where you're looking, and if you're looking past him I think he's going to reach for the   Cri glances in the same direction and cocks her head. I think she sees a normal mirror because her capacity for forgiveness is UNENDING   "Is it really that simple? Push instead of pull?"   "Wait, can I do it with wind, do you think?"   "They had a copy on the formation of Limbo in the library - wrote notes in the margins" displeased at book defacing "seemed pretty tickled by the paradox of how binding Limbo worked precisely because it didn't make any sense for it to work. I feel like they'd get a similar kick out of 'push don't pull' but I am guessing."   Thinks out loud "is there a range on the door's effect? If we can try from far enough away it might not matter if we're wrong"   so if I'm hovering parallel to the secret door, up against the ceiling and I pull the wind UP and over, so nobody is directly below it, seems logical. I'd tell the others to leave the room, just in case   "We can find another way up," Mika offers, not liking the idea of you acting on his guess if he's wrong   No one leaves. "What? Come on. It'll be quick, it'll be fine."   Healers want to be close if this goes badly, Mika's just flat refusing   "Just a couple steps that way! Let a girl work."   They'll back away so they're not beneath the door and get some distance, but they're not gonna like, exit.   "You're all stubborn, you know that?"   "Yup!" cheerful, from Saeldor. "But really, sister, we're taking a guess - an educated one, but a guess - with some nasty backlash if it's wrong. A little caution doesn't hurt. We'll stand back, but stay close"   Cri nods agreement   "Fine. But you will incur my wrath if this hits any of you after I told you to leave."   "Yes ma'am" Saeldor again, affecting a salute at your boss-like line   Yeah you get it open undisintegrated. Because you pushed instead of pulled? Because you were outside the blast zone? Because you did it without touching the door with anything physical? We may never know.   I think everybody holds their breath for a moment, then when you remain whole and the door remains open, lets it out   I'd float on up   Cri eyes up the entrance, then looks to Saeldor; she could probably get a running start and then dive through with wings folded, but it's simpler to be lifted. They can do the same thing for Mika, then make a Paladin/athletics roll to haul themself up; I think they can reach high enough to get a solid grip but it's still a lift.   Saeldor gets up there. They have an impressive physique   You're in an attic, it seems big enough to cover almost the whole house, and is full of random furniture and bric-a-brac, mostly broken or damaged in some way. You stay near the door while your friends are coming up. The second Mika's got feet on the ground he's gonna hug you tight. You can feel his heart pounding anxiety-fast.   "I fucking hate this job sometimes" - quiet   I hug him back. "Looks like you were right again. Smart man."   He lets you go. "Lucky, that's all"   "Both can be true at the same time."   Lookin at you "Incredibly lucky."   "Look, stop being sweet, I'm at work and I can't kiss you while I'm on the clock."   "No?" a smirk, but he moves away, albeit reluctantly. Saeldor's heading toward a door in the south wall and he heads after them.   Saeldor is beginning to see Ta'lok's point about this thing between you two resulting in a loss of focus/cooperation.   There's a door in the south wall, you can all hear a kind of buzzing/crackling sound from beyond it it's locked, obviously. Massive keyhole, Boss Key style. You better not miss your lockpick check because if this lock detects anything other than the key opening it, it'll cast fireball on the whole damn room.   I share that. "Now will you leave? Please? If the fire goes off, you can run up to save me."   A pause, her eyes widen. "Yes. Leave the room." She looks like she's piecing things together.   "Marwa?" - Mika, who is not even acknowledging the request to leave   "What's the plan, sister?" - Saeldor, who also isn't sure of his ability to get back up through that door in a fast enough manner for third degree burns.   "I don't need to breathe, if I can direct the flames, or yank the air out of the room, it should lessen the blast. No air, no fire. That's assuming I don't kick this lock's ass."   I think Saeldor looks impressed, Cri looks proud, and Mika looks conflicted because dammit that's a good plan that does necessitate his exit because Bad Human Lung problems. But like he JUST watched you risk your neck on a lethal trap and got his cardio workout for the day from that he's not super excited for round 2. He looks around gauging the size of the (pretty large) room. I think part of him wants to ask if you're sure, if you can do it for the whole area, if you can maintain it while lockpicking - seeking reassurance, certainty but he's not going to - insult isn't the word, but denigrate? deride? your abilities. If you say you can do it, he's got to trust that. Your abilities have gotten more powerful over the last while. I think Ta'lok has probably expressed that you're as good as a wizard lately - if a bit specialized   Saeldor will consider, "If you're sure that'll work?"   "Saeldor, my good friend, I can be sure of nothing. But that doesn't mean it's not worth trying."   "Fire needs to breathe as much as you or I," Cri will support, directing the "you" to Saeldor   I look at Mika, who I imagine looks visibly conflicted. "Trust me. I got this."     "I trust you." Stressy exhale. Okay. We'll get out of your way. Don't have too much fun without me." This last with a faltering smile. He's trying, but I think the whole party feels an odd sense of trepidation outside this door. You ever skateboard? or ski? You know The Wobble (tm) that kind of feeling   Marwa is FLUSH with adrenaline right now. These kind of high stakes jobs are her thing in her previous life testing security systems for people, it was all about the adrenaline of it (we talked about her being a white hacker, yeah? before she joined the party)   The party file out of the room with various admonishments to be careful, take your time, that they'll come running SO FAST if they're needed, etc   I think they probably take a minute to go through the trash and either drop a crate or something to make climbing back up faster or find something that can work as a ladder for quicker reentry if needed, and then yea Marwa's alone in the room.   You DO cast Remove Air clean across the whole room, but then you start on the lock and your focus slips. Marwa doesn't realize it's a 4   The lock's big, the pins are heavy; you're worried it's going to bend your pins and you also don't want to apply too much force and overset. I think between that and the adrenaline and the pressure you're sweating a bit, hoping it doesn't make the picks slip in your fingers. You set the last pin. You think it set. Was that the sound, or does that click mean the fireball? One way to find out. You push on the turning tool, and the door opens.   I let out a breathy laugh, incredulous. "All clear." I raise my voice so they can hear and then I peek around the door.   Saeldor comes up first, reaches down to help the others up.   The room beyond is smaller, but still spacious. The first thing that catches your eye is a massive circular stone that acts like a low table. It has a hand-drawn circle of runes on it and a dead body fallen across it, an old man in flowing robes. The circle crackles with energy of no colour you can discern. Cards are scattered around the room. One in the corpse's outstretched hand bears the image of a reaper with a scythe, labeled SKULL   When Saeldor catches up to you they're going to immediately step past you and - not putting their hands inside the circle, move the body out of it, check for pulse, breath - shakes their head, closes the eyes.   Cri and Mika linger in the doorway with you, taking in the scene.   Mirage sees the card in the man's hand and her stomach clenches, and she quick glances over at Mika.   He's looking stoic/regular there-is-a-body-here kind of serious, but you saw him swallow when he saw the SKULL card. He's scared but not in a panicky/flighty way. It's more in a like obviously higher stakes but its like getting on a roller coaster and noticing there’s a loop and its like fuck I hate loops but this is the ride. His eyes pan around the room, counting. Seven solid cards scattered around the room in a blast pattern. Three more kind of phasing in and out of perception on the stone table within the spell circle   Seeing this expression on his face, like he's faced with the possibility of his own death and isn't shying away from it, absolutely terrifies her. She meant what she said, that it's his choice if he uses the deck, but GOD she wants anything else, and it will be the fucking hardest thing ever to let him draw from it, if he decides to   She sees his face and her heart is in her throat and is like, "I have to find another way. We HAVE to." In her head, just fervent. “I cannot let this be his only option.”