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Having managed to pass through the doorway, you lean your back up against the stone wall, your breathing harsh and ragged from your close run in with death and watch as Gorrack makes his way towards you, pausing to study the doorway.
"Is it safe now?" He asked.
You nod your head in reply, the big orc cautiously walking through the doorway, then waving his arm for Lorna to come through after him.
Her honey brown eyes already moving to the next chamber that appears several paces ahead of you, which seemingly appears empty with strange white balls of lights much like Lorna's dotting the air like floating snow. "We should keep going."
You wince as you feel another wave of pain crash through you from your many wounds and grunt. "Just give me a sec, I'm not feeling so good."
Lorna looks back over to you and rolls her eyes in consternation, before kneeling down beside you and incanting another one of her spells. (+ 40 Health Points). "There, now let's keep going."
Feeling much better you gaze at her with questioningly. "You could heal me along? Why haven't you healed me before?"
Lorna sighs heavily at the question, wiping the blood from her fingers onto her clothes. "It is the only healing spell that I've memorized. I was hoping to save it for much later when we really needed it, but that doesn't matter now."
"Wait! You can't use it again?"
She shakes her head in reply. "I had never intended to be away from my homeland this long, so I did not think to bring my spell book with me. The longer I'm away from home the harder the spells become to repeat."
"And when exactly were you going to tell me this?!" You splutter.
She smiles at you in amusement, highlighting her refined cheekbones and shrugs her shoulders innocently like it wouldn't even have mattered. The damn elf was going to get you both killed with the amount of information she holds from you. "Come along then, we had best keep going," she says.
You push yourself off the wall with a grunt and take point once more, Gorrack nodding his head at you, before following close on your heels.
Carefully watching your step for any traps, you enter the next chamber and scratch your head in confusion. It was a dead end. The circular room despite being lit up by white balls of light that glided across the ceiling had no passageways leading out from it.
You open your mouth to tell Lorna and Gorrack to go back, when all the light in the chamber winks out of existence leaving you all in pitch black darkness, unable to see anything.
"Lorna, we sure could really use your light spell right about now."
The elven mage lets out a hiss and curses beneath her breath, muttering another incantation, but nothing happens. "I can't. Something seems to be blocking my spell. It won't work here."
Gritting your teeth, you try to think what to do next, when a booming voice calls out from the darkness. "I followed the light towards my bitter end, but it was the darkness that took my soul. Listen to my words and come to me."
You feel a breeze blow in from the corridor ahead of you, which could be what the voice was talking about, but you're not really sure.
Lorna quick to grasp the situation as well, pokes you in the back, before pushing rope into your hand blindly. "Here tie this on around your waist, so we don't lose each other."
You quickly tie on the rope around your waist and wait for the others to do the same, calling to them. "I'm ready."
Once you hear them call back, you stretch your hands out before you and slowly walk forward deeper into the pitch blackness with only your footsteps tapping the stone to comfort you and tug of the rope around your waist when you pull too far ahead.
Sick of the silence, you ask, "You think this is where Ice Eyes was truly buried?"
"I'm certain of it. The Honor Blades must have set all these traps to guard his resting place and to test those who wished to join their order,"she replied.
"Then why did they abandon the place?"
"You've seen why for yourself. The swampland was never that large before, but now it has expanded to the very doorstep of this Citadel, no doubt making this place extremely difficult to defend," she continued in a breathless voice.
Gorrack surprisingly speaks up from behind you offering his words of wisdom. "With the swamps so close to the citadel, the trolls would have been easily able to sneak up on the castle from the cover of darkness and launch countless attacks that would have given the enemy no rest and little time to prepare. There would also be the threat of large army assembling in the swamplands and they would not know or be able to send for reinforcements until it was too late. As for why they did not send out scouts? You yourself witnessed how treacherous the swamp can be."
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As you're talking your trying to come up with a sarcastic comment about how Gorrack talks too much, you feel the gusts of wind shift to either side of you with cold wind blowing from the left and a warm breeze blowing from the right.
(Click here if you wish to go left where the breeze is colder)
Spoiler: Spoiler
Wordlessly you guide your party to the left, the cold gust of winds that blow against you becoming stronger and stronger, making it difficult to press on ahead.
Lorna her voice shaky with worry calls out to you, "Where are you taking us?!"
Not exactly sure yourself, you keep walking forward into the icey cold wind that whips all about you, all your energy focused on moving one leg forward after the other you, when abruptly the wind dies away and you stumble forward almost taking everyone down in a heap.
Blue lights sparkle to life all around you showing you another circular chamber with a pedestal in the middle of the room and a metal chest sitting directly on top of it with runes engraved across the surface.
You take a step towards it and a Minotaur shimmers to life to stand before you, wearing silver plate armor, a jagged greatsword strapped to his back and bright blue eyes that have seen many lifetimes.
Stunned you stare at the apparition and let out a gasp of surprise mimicked by you companions, when he speaks. "All those Bound by Honor must also learn wisdom to temper their strength. So answer me this. Whom do the Honor Blades Serve?"
(Click here if you picked to go left and wish to see the answer.)
Spoiler: Spoiler
The answer: If you've answered The people or The world or The minotaurs than you are correct."
(Click here if you wish to go right where the breeze is much warmer)
Spoiler: Spoiler
Wordlessly you guide your party to the left, the hot gust of winds that blow against you becoming stronger and stronger, making it difficult to press on ahead. Sweat dripping down from off your forehead.
Lorna her voice shaky with worry calls out to you, "Where are you taking us?!"
Not exactly sure yourself, you keep walking forward into the hot wind that whips all around, all your energy focused on moving one leg forward after the other you, when abruptly the wind dies away and you stumble forward almost taking everyone down in a heap.
Orange lights sparkle to life all around you showing you another circular chamber with a pedestal in the middle of the room and a metal chest sitting directly on top of it with runes engraved across the surface.
You take a step towards it and a Minotaur shimmers to life before you, wearing silver plate armor, a jagged greatsword strapped to his back and bright blue eyes that have seen many lifetimes.
Stunned you stare at the apparition and let out a gasp of surprise mimicked by you companions, when he speaks. "All those Bound by Honor must also learn wisdom to temper their strength. So answer me this. Whom do the Honor Blades Serve?"
(Click here if you picked to go right and wish to see the answer.)
Spoiler: Spoiler
The answer: If you've answered The people or The world or The minotaurs than you are correct."
(Click here if you have answered the question correctly.)
Spoiler: Spoiler
The Minotaur disappears with a warm smile, his faint words reaching your ears. "Well done." You then see the chest open up to reveal a potion of Life's Glory (Item added to inventory). Plus you gain additional resistance. If you chose to go right your fire resistance has increased by 20%, if you chose to go left your cold resistance has increased by 20%.
(Click here if your answer was incorrect.)
Spoiler: Spoiler
Chose Left incorrect: The mintoaur vanishes from view with a disappointed shake of his head. Blades of ice shoot out from the walls around you to wound you badly. You lose - 60 Health Points.
Chose Right incorrect: The mintoaur vanishes from view with a disappointed shake of his head. Firebolts burst out from the walls around you to badly scorch your body. You lose - 60 Health Points.
As miraculously as the Minotaur disappears so too does the pedestal and chest from the room.
Lorna staring at you wide eyed punches you hard in the back. "You could have gotten us all killed! Why didn't you ask me for help?!"
You shrug your shoulders back at her in the same way, she had done earlier, which turns her face beet root red, but before she can give you a lecture, you move towards the next passageway that has mysteriously appeared ahead of you and say, "Come along then, we had best keep going." Doing your best to mimic her voice, which gets a snort of amusement from Gorrack and irritated glower from Lorna, who huffs loudly and stares daggers into your back.
You stride into the passageway, which is lit up by those same white lights you'd see earlier, the tunnel curving off slightly and arrive at another chamber. This one much larger than the others is the exact replica of the temple above with a sarcophagus in the middle of the chamber, blue eyes painted into the ceiling above and paved stones. These stones however have no images on them.
As your trying to think what test this could be, the lid on the coffin slides off the sarcophagus to crash into the ground and a undead Minotaur in ancient silver plate armor wielding a rusted jagged greatsword steps out to greet you with saddened blue eyes.
He stands by the sarcophagus gazing at each of you and gives a mournful smile that makes the skin on his face flake off. "I have one last test for you warrior, end my life and bring me peace."
In that moment you realise you are facing the spirit fueled body of Ice Eyes a legendary Minotaur warrior of unsurpassed skill in battle. The stories and ballads told of him have been sung for centuries. This would be no easy feat. You quickly untie the rope around your waist and prepare for battle. (Boss Level Battle)
1. Do you attack the creature with a normal weapon?
2. Do you attack the creature with your elemental weapon? (Quest Item Needed)
3. Do you attack the creature using your silver sword? (Quest Item Needed)
4. Do you order Gorrack to attack?
5. Do you flee back the way you came?