The Silver Stars of the Eclipsing Moon

[Ozzy_G]

Karl taps his finger on his chin. I think I can do these... let me have a look at the coin. He walks over to it and looks at both sides to see what is inscribed on them.

[Maryring]

The coin has the image of a drop of water emblazoned on it on one side, and the image of a snow crystal on the other side.

[Ozzy_G]

Karl shakes his head in annoyance. I thought the question about two sides was the coin, but it said two places, and this is two different states, not places. He goes and checks the mirror, staff, sword and cup for any inscriptions or ornamentation.

[The Great Skenardo]

Vakri
" The mirror and the sword have two sides. Does the other side of a sword matter?" Vakri observes?

[Ozzy_G]

But I don't see them fitting the rest of the riddle. And it's too faces, not two sides. Probably metaphorical if it's not the coin. Anyway, I think the sword is the one about war and suffering, and writing history.

[Maryring]

The staff is covered in runes and the gems on the sword share a three dimensional image similar to that on the coin. The cup and the mirror however, have no such symbols. The mirror still reflects Karl's werewolf self though.

[Ozzy_G]

Karl looks around the walls, repeating the riddles to himself.

"Two faces, two places. I am heaven and hell. The purest of sins, the deepest of virtues."
"To do good, to do evil. I die alone as I make the virtue of sacrifice."
"I hold secrets to be dispelled, and an eternity of neverending charity."
"I bring ruin, I cause corruption and war is my creation. I caused the past, and I weep for the future."
"I have seen it all. The forests and mountains and the sea. I am the guide who shows the soul the way home."
He walks up and down, thinking.
I'm pretty sure that the one about corruption and war is the sword, though it seems kind of too easy, and doesn't explain the weeping... the secrets to be dispelled could be the runes on the staff, but what of charity? The riddle about two faces could be the mirror, as it shows a different face to our human one. But then what about the sins and virtues thing? I would say that could represent our pure, human selves, and our bestial, cursed forms. But such a concept doesn't seem to fit with this Ami, who presumably wrote this...
He turns to Bronsk and Lisaa. You two know something of Ami, I know very little. What was her view of the lycanthropic condition?

[Amiria]

Lisaa

"Hmm, I think that you are right with the sword ... corruption and war.", says Lisaa. "Two faces, two places could be the mirror. Vanity is a sin. But the reflection in a mirror is perfect, and the endeavour to perfection is a virtue.

Forest, mountains and sea .. that could be the staff, the staff of a wanderer maybe ..."

[Ozzy_G]

Yes, the purest of sins. Karl nods, still pacing around. I can see that...
I suppose the staff could be the guide. But then that leaves us with the coin and the cup. What do either of them have to do with sacrifice?
He carries on pacing. Or are we thinking too literally? He swears softly in a foreign tongue. If only I knew more about the author, this Ami.

[The Great Skenardo]

Vakri
Vakri sits, listening, his gray fur almost floating in the water that surrounds them all. Finally, he clambers to his clawed feet and examines the cup.
"What evil may a cup do?"

[Lycar]

Varek watches the show with amazement, then goes to read each riddle.
He thinks about it as the others discuss the meanings of the riddles.

"Two faces, two places. I am heaven and hell. The purest of sins, the deepest of virtues."
"To do good, to do evil. I die alone as I make the virtue of sacrifice."
"I hold secrets to be dispelled, and an eternity of neverending charity."
"I bring ruin, I cause corruption and war is my creation. I caused the past, and I weep for the future."
"I have seen it all. The forests and mountains and the sea. I am the guide who shows the soul the way home."

"Two faces ? Isn't that what a coin is about ? You know as in 'the other side of the coin' ? And isn't the coin supposed to .. uh.. know the future or somehting ? I think i heard that about it."

Varek pauses a moment, then goes on "And that staff, i think its a healing staff or something. That would be charity ? Sword is war, i'm pretty sure. But.. does anybody know what that ruby is supposed to be doing ? Uhm.... what was that cup doing again.. making nectar ? Something else ?"

Lycar

[Ozzy_G]

Karl shakes his head. I already thought of that, but as I said the riddle says "Two faces, two places", but the coin's two faces don't have two places on, they have two states. But the cup! He walks over to the cup, and turns it upside down. Does it replenish itself? He watches it to see if the nectar keeps flowing. An eternity of never-ending charity?

[Amiria]

Lisaa

"Yes, Karl. That sounds good, the cup is charity. The sword is corruption. When the mirror is two faces, two places and the staff is the forest, mountains and sea, then the coin must be the virtue of sacrifice ...", says Lisaa.

"Hmm, to do good, to do evil. I die alone as I make the virtue of sacrifice. Money can be used for good and for evil. Donating money for a good cause could be the virtue of sacrifice. But to die alone ?"

[Lycar]

Varek shrugs "Maybe it's because you can't take your stuff with you when you die ? What's the point of having lots of gold if you can't take it with you ? Or maybe, once the owner is dead, the gold is orpahned ? Dunno really."


Lycar

[Ozzy_G]

Karl nods. I can't say I'm entirely with these ideas, we're fitting too much around what we want to fit. But I can't see any other answer. Shall we put them on in the way you suggest then Lisaa? Is everyone fine with that?

[Lycar]

"Fine by me, sure." Varek replies.

"I mean, we're going to find out if this works or not."


Lycar

[The Great Skenardo]

Vakri
Vakri nods his head in assent, but what he thinks about the matter is hard to read.

[Amiria]

Lisaa

Lisaa nods. "Yes, let's try this combination.", she says and puts the staff at its supposedly correct place into the wall of ice.

[Maryring]

As soon as a relic touch a wall of ice, it melds into the frozen water and remains static until a relic has been placed into all five walls. As soon as all walls contain one relic, the walls begin to glow. Shortly afterwards, five beams of light shoot out from the walls into the centre of the room. The beams merge into two orbs of ice, both of which shoot up through the water towards Mia. The priestess, who is still climbing down the last few steps of the stair, barely manages to put up her arms to shield herself before the orbs hit her straight on. She screams in pain as the cold courses through her body, causing her to collapse down on her knees while her entire frame shivers from the cold. The five relics then fall out of the ice walls and float back into the centre of the room.

[The Great Skenardo]

Bronsk
The yellow eyes of the hybrid dim to brown for a moment
"Mia!" he cries, and vaults up the stairs to where the priestess kneels.
She finds herself locked in a strange furry embrace as the werewolf clasps her to its chest.

[Maryring]

Mia is cold to the touch. The twin coloured hair on her head is frozen completely solid, and the skin on her fingers have turned blue from the cold. She is alive though. She is breathing and her entire body is shivering violently.

[The Great Skenardo]

Bronsk
Still grasping the priestess to his chest, Bronsk vaults up the spiraling steps until he can bring her above the level of the water. With a crackle of joints and bone, Bronsk shifts back into human form and, mindless of his nudity, retrieves a few healing supplies from his oddly-bulky belt, as well as a spare shirt or two, which he then drapes around Mia's shoulders as he tries to figure out what to do next
Heal Check - (1d20+11)[14]

[Maryring]

Several thoughts race through Bronsk's head as he tries to figure out the best way to heal Mia. However the thoughts seem to race away from him and he can't figure out anything until he suddenly realize that getting her warm is about the only thing that he should focus on now. Placing her near a fire, as well as wrapping warm clothes around her would be a good idea. He also realizes that he should thaw her hair as quickly as possible to avoid as much damage as possible. He should also... but he doesn't get the time to figure out anything else as Mia murmurs some strange words before the blue colour in her fingers fade slightly, and heat begins to return to her body. It's not much. Her body is still very cold, her hair is still frozen and her fingers are still blue. But it's enough for her to openher eyes slightly and look towards... "Bronsk?" She says weakly.

[Ozzy_G]

Get her down here, yells Karl, running up the steps and taking off his coat. We need to cover her in blankets. Does anyone have a torch or something?

[The Great Skenardo]

Bronsk
Bronsk shakes his head, helplessly.
"Can hyu not make fire as you did in the sewer?" he asks, a look of desperation on his face as he packs his spare clothing and shirts around her
"There is a fireplace here, on the first floor...I will take her there."
Bronsk reverts to hybrid form and lifts Mia gingerly, hoping to warm her a little in the meantime with his own furry body, placing a paw at the base of her scalp to keep her head warm.

[Lycar]

Varek can't do aynthing but watch in shock as Mia is hit by the orbs of cold. Then he rushes after the others.

"Is.. there anything i can do ? Oh okay, i'll like, try to start a fire or something."

So Varek heads for the fireplace and looks around for something to start a fire with.


Lycar

[Ozzy_G]

Running back up, Karl chants, and a jet of fire shoots out of his hands and into the fireplace. The logs burst into flames.

[Lycar]

Varek blinks as Karl just wills the fireplace aflame.

"Ookay.... i'll... just wait here.. then."

So he just stands there, looking a bit puzzled for the moment.

Lycar

[The Great Skenardo]

Bronsk
The hybrid dips its furry muzzle in acknowledgment as Karl lights the fire, and then carefully sits Mia down close to the blaze. With a few quick steps, the werewolf takes a seat behind her as it embraces her from behind, a warm, living fur coat.

[Maryring]

The dry logs immediately cause the temperature in the room to increase. The heat from the crackling fire dancing on the logs, along with the warmth of Vakri's body, quickly restores life into Mia's body. Only a few minutes later, the numb blue colour has disappeared from her fingers, and the ice on her hair melts, causing the colouring of her hair to float out and mix, making her haircolour a strange hue of purple, with bluish and reddish dots all over her hair. Mia doesn't let that bother herself, and as soon as she is warm enough, she turns her head away from the flame and towards the others gathered around her. "Thank you everyone." She says as she gently tries to get on her feet, a task she has to abandon as it still hurts when she moves to quickly. "What... happened down there?"