The stairs were steep and narrow, and everyone except Lucinda and Lance slipped at least once. As they descended, the air became stale, dry, and much warmer. Up above it had felt like a cool autumn afternoon, here it felt like being in a desert that had not seen wind for a year. Caisin had taken the lead, followed by Grog, Lance, Polly, and Sparky. Lucinda took up the rear.

The stairs spiraled around a central shaft, and every few turns there was a platform where they could all rest for a bit. They had descended six platforms when Caisin held up his hand, and the party stopped. With so many players low on dexterity, they were hardly quiet, but they whispered anyway.

"What are you seeing?" Sparky asked.

"The bottom, and it looks clear from here," Caisin replied as he slowly moved down the last flight of stairs.

The light reaching down from above was almost gone, so Sparky cast a spell. A small ball of light moved to the bottom of the stairs, illuminating a room large enough to hold a party twice their size. On one wall there was a large door. On its face was a set of twenty-five squares that were flashing in a sequence.

Lance looked at the door and found he could easily memorize the sequence of flashing squares, but he had no idea which one to start with.

Sparky stepped up to the door and confidently pressed squares in the correct sequence, and the door popped open for him. Once he had moved his light into the new room, he could see a chamber whose height was not visible. It was forty feet wide and three times that long. Every twenty feet was a set of eight goblin statues spaced evenly across the hall.

"Sweet, a dungeon!" both Cletus and Otis yelled at the same time. They looked each other over, smiled, and then high-fived.

"Glad there looks to be a little fighting to do as well," Caisin said as he looked at the first row of goblins.

Each of the goblins looked as if they had been carved out of the same flint as the canyon above. Looking around, Lance realized the entire room was made from the same rock.

As Caisin moved forward, the first row of goblins began to glow. He quickly stepped back and the glow faded.

"Any thoughts here, Sparky? Is your intelligence hinting at a way to bypass this fight?" Caisin asked.

"None that I can see unless you can fly."

"Cletus? Guys?" The assistants all shook their heads.

"Okay then. Let's talk strategy. I think that once we get the first row down we should be able to heal up and then take on the second, rinse, repeat. But I would like to do a better job on these than we did above. Lance, can you set a trap over here that only goes off if three or more goblins are over it and none of us?"

Otis spoke up, "Make it fire. Goblins hate fire."

Grog shuddered a little. "Yeah, me too."

Otis nodded gravely.

"Sparky and Polly, you go to the back. Lance and Lucinda, stay behind Caisin and me, but once I have some agro going, feel free to step in and deal some damage if needed," Grog said.

Caisin just smiled and winked at Grog as if they were sharing a joke.

Lance walked over to where Caisin had indicated, set the trap, and stepped back.

Casian and Grog stepped forward again and the glow surrounding the goblins brightened until the stone figures animated and attacked.

"Wanna fight? Fight me!" Grog yelled at them, and they all turned toward him. He ran toward Lance's trap and stopped when he was just at the edge of it. The goblins caught up one at a time until he faced all eight of them. Caisin had slipped behind the goblins and was ready to flank them.

Grog's shield and mace were a blur as he blocked many of the strikes. The ones that slipped through were causing his health bar to dip, but it rose as Polly healed him. He stepped back suddenly, and Caisin shoved from behind. One of the goblins fell before reaching the trap but the other seven were caught in the explosion of heat and flame. The heat seemed to cause bits of the black stone to crack and fall off as their health bars dipped an average of 75%.

Two of the creatures turned to Lance, but Grog shouted at them again, and they turned back to face him. "Now!" He shouted, and all hell broke loose.

Lucinda appeared behind the goblin that had escaped the fires and took a huge hunk off its health with a backstab. Lance moved behind one of the ones that had been caught, taking a much smaller but still significant piece of its health. Grog stepped forward and shield bashed two of the creatures, taking them both out of the fight for a moment. He followed up by bashing one of the downed pair in the face with his mace. Storm clouds erupted with lightning, striking each of the stone goblins over and over, with chips of stone flying away at each hit.

The party chunked away in this manner until all eight were down, and true to Caisin's word, it was a matter of rest, rinse, and repeat.

While Lance had been tied up in the battle, a blinking message notification had appeared in his HUD. Once the fight was over, he checked it and then let the party know he had a message and logged out to his offline home.

Once there he pulled up his message.

"Hey, buddy!" a smiling visage of Pastor Joe said. "We have filed the case and it's been fast-tracked; we should have an initial hearing tomorrow. I think Fantasy Mainline saw this coming and is already prepared to argue their side, but our attorneys think that this thing is a slam dunk. I am really hoping that it is and we'll have some relief for you and your friends soon."

Lance fired off a quick reply. "Thanks so much, Pastor Joe. We are all very excited about the update. Glad to hear that things are moving so quickly. That is a huge surprise."

Lance logged back into the game, excited to share the update with his friends.

"Guys, the news regarding the court sounds good, we may have changes coming soon," Lance announced.

"Wow, I was thinking that it would take months to even have the case prepared, not just heard," Caisin said.

Lance replied, "The team is saying that the attorneys have argued civil liberties cases before the Supreme Court on several occasions, and they think that they can get a quick injunction from any reasonable judge. And they found a judge who was willing to hear them quickly. Everything is lining up.”

"I am so pumped!" Sparky said. "I never trusted judges very much, but it sounds like we may be on their good side now."

"We are for sure." Lance continued. "The attorneys are presenting this not as a game, but as if we are renting housing from Fantasy Mainline. And that is totally the way it is. We live here. There is no way that a landlord could tell someone how they can or can't worship in America. And Grog is our ace in the hole. Now that he has signed up for the game, he is here permanently and inmates have been assigned very detailed religious rights by the courts."

Grog grinned. "Go me!"

Caisin smiled. "Okay, enough lallygagging around, guys. Let's move on."

They were rested by now, so they headed to the far wall of the room that had contained the stone goblins. There were three doors, each with a symbol on it.

"Looks like a pick-your-poison choice," Sparky said. "I can read two of the doors but the third is beyond me. How 'bout you Lance?"

"Which ones can you understand?"

"The one to the left says 'Water Trial.' The one to the right says 'Fire Trial.' I can see the word 'Trial' in the middle one but I can't read the rest."

Lance hoped his Greek was up to the task. Walking up to the door, he roughly translated the words to 'cooperation trial.'

"That sounds like a rope course or an escape room," Polly said. "I have always wanted to try a teamwork challenge! Let's do that one!"

"When you choose one, then the other two will be closed to you," Otis warned.

But no one objected, so Lance pushed the door open and they entered. Polly squealed with delight. To no one's surprise, it was a rope course, but with one main difference. There were no harnesses. If you fell here, then you fell and fell. The course stretched across a yawning canyon easily a hundred yards across. As Lance looked over the edge, he could not see the bottom. He assumed that there must be one, but the concept was clear: if you fall, you are toast.

There were seven platforms and on each of them, a large glowing stone sat. The spaces between the platforms were shrouded in mist. As they stepped up to the beginning of the course, the first obstacle revealed itself as a simple swinging rope bridge. This felt like an easy one and everyone passed over easily. Once the entire team was on the first platform, Lucinda reached out and touched the stone. As she did, it diminished with intensity. Sparky touched it next and the light emitted was reduced again. Polly reached out and the intensity brightened but the color shifted from white to green, marking this obstacle as done.

"Looks like half of us need to get to the end of the course," Sparky stated, and everyone else nodded.

Obstacle two was all about arm strength. Monkey bars followed by an angled climb where each new bar was both further on and higher up. This one was easy for Caisin and Grog, but the rest of the party balked at the prospect. The team all moved their free attribute points into strength, but Polly and Sparky were still apprehensive to begin.

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"We need to work together to get everyone across," Lance said. The entire party agreed that this was likely the meaning of this trial.

Four of the members, the ones with some strength, crossed and the obstacle officially cleared, but unfortunately, this did not automatically move Polly and Sparky through the challenge. All four went back to assist. Lance worked the course from behind the spellcaster while Caisin took the lead. Lance hooked all three of them together with his rope so that when Sparky fell, Lance and Caisin could bear his weight while he recovered. Using this method, the whole party was eventually able to cross the void.

After they were done, they all took a long break. When they had rested, they looked at the next obstacle. A forty-foot-long log sat across the next gap and in the middle was an obstacle with four logs positioned vertically and spinning like a pinwheel. Lance saw that this would be easy with his high dexterity, but he worried for the others. Unlike the strength test, this one would not allow him to share his dexterity with others. But he thought part of dexterity was knowing when to move.

"Okay everyone, move all your free points to dexterity. Lance and I are going to help you all through this," Lucinda said, apparently having the same thought Lance had.

Lance was first on the log, then the person who was being ferried across came next, followed by Lucinda who helped them keep their balance. Then, Lucinda would give them a solid shove forward at just the right moment to miss the spinning logs and Lance would catch and balance them on the far side, helping them the rest of the way through. All six of the party made it without any major mishap, three touched the stone and they were through the third obstacle.

The next test looked to Lance as if it were a field of mist over the void. "Is there something I am not seeing here?" he asked.

"Yup," Polly said. "This is a perception test. There are steps in the mist that you are not seeing. I see two paths through. One looks easier than the other."

"Okay, how far apart are the steps?" Lance replied.

"Two, maybe two and a half feet apart."

"Okay, then we can just step right where the person in front of us stepped and we can make it through if we go slowly and carefully."

The group agreed with the stipulation that each person make sure that their feet were exactly at the center of the steps before they moved to the next one. The first few steps went well. Polly led the way as she had the highest wisdom.

"Okay, I am ready," said Grog, and as Polly's foot left the first step, he fell right behind in the same spot, his first foot resting comfortably on the platform. Next came Lance, and all went well. Lucinda was fourth. When all was ready and Lance was pulling his foot away, she committed to her first step, but as Lance's foot left the first step it crumbled, leaving nothing for Lucinda's foot to fall on. She stretched out to grab hold of the next step where Lance was currently standing but the angle was wrong and she fell silently into the dark.

"Well, now we know why there are two paths," Sparky intoned flatly. "I have some wisdom, maybe more than most, and I think I may be able to see the steps if Polly can verify for me." Fortunately, the two paths were only about five feet apart.

Sparky began the second path with Polly's help, and Caisin followed step by step. Soon enough, they were all past the fourth trial but down a member.

When the fifth test appeared, it was not apparent which attribute it was testing. There were a series of discs that floated above the ground a few inches. After twenty feet, they went out over a void for another forty feet and then came back onto land. It was a one-way trip as the discs disappeared after their work was done. Above each disc was what looked like a set of bike handlebars. While over the void the discs and bars tilted side to side, at the most extreme they tilted nearly forty-five degrees, making it clear whoever rode these would need to be holding on to the bars while standing on the disc.

The discs moved slowly enough that it was possible to give them a try. Grog was the first to jump on. He shuddered, and his hair stood on end a bit as he stepped off a little before the void. "Willpower; this is testing willpower. That really hurts."

The party groaned as one; this was not going to be fun.

"Okay," Lance said, "we need to figure out who has the highest scores first. And then we need to figure out how we pair up on this one, each test has required teamwork. Moving all my free over, I have 21."

Sparky had 15, Caisin 28, Polly 15, Grog had 20.

Sparky spoke up next. "No way I am making it across on my own!"

"I know, I am thinking about it," Lance replied.

Grog walked over to where the discs were floating by. After a moment he said, "I think that two people could stand on this disc. If so, then the person with the weaker stat could hold on to their partner."

"That's awesome!" Lance said. "Let's give it a try, Sparky."

The two jumped onto the next disc and Sparky wrapped his arms around Lance as Lance held onto the handlebars. As they approached the void, they both jumped off.

"That was not so bad," Sparky said.

"It was awful for me," Lance stated, “but I am pretty sure I can make it across.”

"Okay then," Caisin said, "let's do this. I think that Polly and Sparky are going to need help. Polly can ride with Lance and Sparky can ride with me and Grog can go on his own. Works for everyone?"

There was a chorus of approval.

“Okay, one group at a time.”

Caisin and Sparky went first and they made it across with a few grunts and groans. Once on the other side, they motioned for the next group to go. Grog jumped on and made it across without incident. Lance jumped on and Polly joined him as they started out. The feeling, which was like 120-volt electricity running through you, was not so bad, but as they hit the curves Lance's grip began to weaken. "Polly, move your extra to dexterity to make this a little easier for me!" he said.

"Good idea," Polly replied, and as her balance increased, it took the pressure off Lance's hands, and his looser grip was enough to get them across. As soon as they were all across, Grog, Caisin, and Sparky touched the stone in quick succession, and it turned green.

The next trial appeared, and it was clearly the trial of constitution. There was a narrow strip of floor about 50 yards long that ran between spinning wooden pillars that had wooden clubs attached. Anyone passing through would take a pummeling. Clearly, those with higher hit points would need to protect those with lower.

After looking over the mauling machine in front of them, Grog said, "Casian and I are best suited here, but we also need to make sure that Sparky gets through, as the last trial is going to be intelligence."

Lance examined the test to see if there was any way to pass around it or over it, but there was nothing. The sides looked as slick as glass and the roof was steeply sloped and made of the same material. The only way was through. "Polly, I expect you will be able to heal us as well?"

"Sure, as long as I can make it. I am going to pop all of my good stuff and keep us up as long as I can, but that looks long."

"I am the only one with a shield," Grog said but then seemed to suddenly perk up. He pulled an old battered shield out of his inventory, as well as some wire and tools, and worked to mend the old thing as best he could. “Hey Lance, can you take a look at this?” He handed the shield over to his friend while pointing at a small inscription on the shield.

Lance took the shield and squinted his eyes to read the Greek words. Θυρεόςτηλικοῦτος. "Shield so large," he read aloud. He handed the shield back to Grog, whose eyes widened as he saw the more detailed description. He handed his older shield to Lance. "I am not going to need this. Everyone, line up behind me."

Grog took the lead, holding his shield in front of him. Behind him, to the right and left, stood Caisin and Lance. Caisin held his ax like a shield in front of him, ready to activate his Axe Shield skill. Between them stood Sparky, and behind him, Polly pressed in tight.

"Okay, I know we have not practiced this, but we must move like Roman soldiers: one step at a time and all together. I will have a minute once I activate my shield's ability.” Caisin looked over the party. “Ready?"

Lance raised the shield to cover his face and made sure he crouched down to protect as much of his body as possible.

"One!" Grog yelled as his shield expanded to enormous proportions, allowing Lance to move his shield around a little further to cover himself and Polly a little more.

"Two!" They stepped into the maelstrom of wood for real, the clubs pressing them back and banging against the shields.

"Three... four... five, six!" By now, they were fully inside the device, and there was no going back.

Grog kept up a steady rhythm, his feet pressing forward. Lance heard grunts coming from the other side of the formation, but everything held together.

By the time he had reached forty, Lance was feeling every step, the rat-at-tat against his shield trying to push him back as he pressed on. The occasional blow slipped past, leaving a welting bruise behind, but he also felt a constant flow of healing coming in from Polly. Suddenly, he felt the shield begin to shudder in a new way. "Grog, we gotta go faster! This shield is breaking apart!"

Grog grunted, and his pace picked up. "Forty-one, forty-two, forty-three..."

The shield was shimmying on his arm and threatening to break free. Then, suddenly, a piece of metal banding on the top of the shield broke off, and the wood began to chip away rapidly where the hole had been created. "Grog!"

Grog grunted now with every step, but he pushed the pace. He could hear Caisin grunting under the strain as well. They still pressed forward as a group, the blows striking Lance more often now and threatening to knock him out. Suddenly, they broke through and were out. Lance dropped the shield and quickly turned to look at his friends. Polly and Sparky looked well except for a few bruises on the backside, which were quickly healed, but as he looked over at Caisin, he saw the man was bruised from head to foot. How he had held up under that many blows was amazing. Grog was unbruised, but he was obviously exhausted. He had pushed his huge shield directly through a nearly solid wall of clubs, which had taken an immense amount of strength to keep on going. Slowly, they all healed up, and then Lance, Polly, and Sparky touched the rock, revealing their final trial.

The last barrier to their passing this room was a series of four pipes interwoven in strange ways. The grey metal tubes twisted and turned, looped, and dove in an impossibly complex pattern. Each pipe began and ended at the ground, and each pipe had a circular metal tool with a handle sitting on the ground around the pipe. Each tool could be moved easily along the pipe with about an inch of clearance if the user held it so that the pipe was exactly in the middle. Each of the tools had handles that were a different color: red, blue, green, and yellow.

Sparky walked confidently up to the pipe, grabbed the green tool, and began moving it along the pipe carefully so as not to touch the pipe. When he got far enough along, the section of pipe that he had just passed over turned a glowing green.

"Lance, can you grab the yellow one and do the same thing I have just done and stop when you get the yellow glow?"

Lance did so. When he was halfway through, he asked, "What happens if I touch it to the pipe?"

"I don't know, but I do know it’s not good. Let's do our best not to make that mistake."

Lance had moved all of his extra attribute points into dexterity before beginning, but as he saw the first third of his section of pipe turn yellow, he stopped and immediately moved his points over into strength. "I used dexterity to navigate through, and now strength to hold it in place."

Sparky nodded and visibly eased as he moved his own points over.

Caisin went next and easily accomplished the blue section, and then Grog took the red tool and made it through, too.

Sparky looked back at Grog and said, "Okay, keep on going until the next section turns colors." The large orc carefully threaded his tool around the pipe and finally stopped two-thirds of the way across the puzzle.

"Okay, now, blue."

Caisin carefully moved his tool along the pipe, but at one difficult loop, there was a light metal clink as the tool touched the pipe.

Suddenly, the tools jerked free from both Grog and Caisin and slid quickly and silently along the pipe, stopping right where the first section ended.

"Grab them quickly!" Sparky hollered.

The two large men ran back and took hold of the tools. When they did, the magic seemed to relax and release the tools.

"It is going to be worse next time," Sparky admonished.

"Sorry, I lost focus," Caisin apologized.

Everyone nodded, knowing how easy that would be to do. Grog repeated his smooth navigation of the second part of the course, followed by Caisin, Sparky, and then Lance. By the time they were all two-thirds of the way through, they were sweating. Polly cast some endurance spell that eased their cramped muscles.

"I know without your high intelligence, we would never know what order to move these in, but this is certainly a workout, too," Lance complained.

Grog was the first in the final phase. He finished and set down his tool, stretching his shoulders. Sparky went next and smoothly finished his last phase. Lance also was quick to close out his last phase. Caisin took his time and focused hard, and he, too, made it through the end. The tension that had been palpable in the room suddenly released, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Lance, Grog, and then Caisin touched the stone, and their path through the room of Unity Trials was complete.

As the stone turned green, all of the party members except Grog glowed golden as they leveled up.

As they were leveling, Lucinda reappeared, looking a little frustrated.

"All level seven now except Lucinda," Grog noted. "That is good."