Tobain sorted out the items that had appeared from the destroyed bag of holding and even settled on leaving some of the stones behind. The group was a few rooms in, or at least far enough, so he couldn't hear them or the sounds of battle.
As he sat on the floor, practicing summoning things from the bag, he held a bag in one hand, the opening pointed up. Calling forth a tiny rock, he saw it leap out a foot and then fall back into the bag. Pulling two rocks out simultaneously didn't work, but he could get them to collide in the air if he called out one right after the other.
Remembering a previous conversation about not knowing exactly what was inside a bag, as most are found or bought used, Tobian tried summoning a pillow from one of the bags. Nothing appeared. He focused on another and tried again, but still nothing. The third remaining bag didn't have anything either, and while the stone floor wasn't bothering him yet, the thought of the pillow made the floor feel that more uncomfortable.
Standing, he went back to calling forth small rocks. No matter the word choice or focus, he couldn't get a pair or a number over one to appear. Curious, he decided to call forth all the stones from the bag.
Suddenly, he was surrounded by rocks of various sizes. Several dozen small rocks about the size of a marble, a dozen rocks the side of his fist, three rocks almost as big as him, and one rock as tall as him.
"Where did you come from?" Tobian asked as he examined the larger stone. The rock looked like something picked up off the side of a mountain, its shape a lesson in angles and sharp corners. Its mottled grey coloring did not trigger any memory.
After remembering his tests and seeing how far he could toss a stone from the bag, he realized his error. He couldn't fit the big rocks back into the container without the Professor's help. Mentally, he noted he needed to learn how to cast the shrink spell.
With nothing else to do, Tobian gathered what stones he could back into the pouch. When the area was clear of the rocks he could fit in, he shifted his vision into the magical spectrum to see if any larger rocks were enchanted.
None of the big rocks had any magic, but he saw a magical aura around a small rock that he missed putting back into the bag. Picking it up, he brought it close to see any markings. Nothing. With a sigh, he placed it back into a bag and mulled over who would enchant a pebble. Across the room, etched on the magic wall, was writing.
Blinking his eyes in disbelief at the writing, Tobian accidentally let the magical detection slip. Without the magical aura glowing everyone, he didn't see the writing anymore. He pulled out a pencil and some paper before shifting his vision back to the magical spectrum to write down what he saw.
The First Lie Cruelty Tells Us,
Is That It Is Necessary.
Tobian felt a weight settle in his stomach. He put down his paper and pencil and walked to the writing. He wondered whom it was directed to: the guards who had long since fled or the jailors who had locked up the prison one last time with the prison still full.
For a reason he couldn't explain, tears welled in his eyes at the needless suffering from the war and its aftereffects. Wiping his eyes, he placed a hand on the wall and rubbed where the word Necessary.
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The wall shifted only slightly. Tobian jumped back as it split open, revealing a small alcove with a single chest.
Did the chest move? Tobian wasn't sure because he was already running away from it toward the rest of the group.
The corridor the group had gone down was fifty feet long. Prayers and runes were etched along the floor and walls in the stone. His magical vision is still active; he saw the glowing lines among the stones. Some phrases and runes were linked together, and others were singular. Thankfully, Sirah or someone else had gone through and left a little bit of sand on the correct path to take.
Stepping onto the first tile, he glanced at the inscription, ‘The First step to forgiveness is to admit you are wrong.’ He paused before taking another step, double-checking the sand marking the path. He read the inscription on the second one, ‘The Second Step to forgiveness’…
Tobian thought he heard the sound of something dragging on the stone. He immediately ceased caring about whether the path was correct and ran along the trail left by the group.
The next room was rectangular, with little alcoves along the left and right sides. These looked like cells, but he couldn’t see any bars or something to hold creatures in them. In a corner, he saw a large orangish bronze creature with an insectoid face. He knew the creature's name, but his mind drew a blank, and he didn’t stop to wait for it to come to him.
A short hallway separated by heavy wooden doors with thick metal straps binding the wood together led to the next room. The doors were open, and a metal pole was visible against one wall, the other end holding back a massive pendulum with a giant axe blade on the end. Only the sharp tip and the anchoring part in the ceiling were visible.
BOOM! A ball of fire exploded near the entrance of the next room. The explosion and force threw Tobian backward, causing him to land on his pack. A wave of heat flowed over him. A loud screech, a mix of a scream and whistle of a kettle boiling, overwhelmed Tobian, causing him to quickly put his hands over his ears.
“Tobian, what are you doing here?” The Professor appeared over Tobian.
Tobian opened his eyes and tried to ignore the ringing in his ears. When the wizard offered a hand, he took it and stood up. “Chest, I found a chest by accident!” Tobian loudly sputtered over the ringing sound.
“It’s okay; we’ll go check it out with you,” Tristan said as she stepped closer. She placed a hand on the Professor's shoulder and then on Tobian’s. The instant her hand touched Tobian, the ringing disappeared.
“Thank you,” Tobian said. “What was that?” He pointed at the blast mark on the floor where whatever that had just died had been. All that was left was bits of twisted armor that lay scattered about.
“Aquatic Visage.” The Professor said as he glanced at the bits of broken armor. “Water demon that likes to inhabit things like a shell. Let’s see this chest, and tell me how you found it.”
A few minutes later, Tobian pointed at the opening in the wall and the chest. Using his magical sight, he didn’t detect any magical auras on it. Sirah had made sure it wasn’t connected to any traps in the room but hadn’t opened it.
“We would have missed this one. I say Tobian gets the honor of opening it.” Sirah said with a grin.
“No, it is fine, I’ll stay here,” Tobian said.
“Now, you wont get over your fear of mimics without confronting it.” Tristan said as she gave Tobain a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “We are here, you are safe.”
“What kind of adventurer would you be if you’re scared of chests?” Darius said.
With a gulp, Tobian stepped forward, focusing on his steps and holding his hands together so they didn’t visibly shake. He took note of things in hopes they would help reassure himself. The chest was in the same spot as when he’d first discovered it. There was a small amount of dust on the floor; only the disturbances from Sirah checking the area were visible. If it had been a creature, it would have attacked Sirah.
The closer he got, the more confident he grew. As he stood in front of it, he had an idea. Pulling out a sword from one of his bags, he stabbed the chest, the tip of the blade digging into the wood. He kept the sword in front of him in case the chest attacked back.
Still no motion from the chest, but a few laughs behind him. Tobain opened the container, inside was a simple sword and scabbard, along with a book with extra papers stuffed in its pages, and a simple medallion of a sun rising over the horizon.
Individually, Tobian picked each out of the chest and showed the group before putting them into a bag, with the sword last. As he pulled the scabbard off the blade, he saw nothing special about it, and the blade looked dull. When he tried to put the sword into a magical bag, the sword wouldn’t fit. Even though the blade was smaller than the opening, the sword seemed limited to the container's mundane dimensions and not go into the extra-dimensional space.
“It won’t fit,” Tobain said, showing the group the bottom of the bag moving as the end of the scabbard pressed against the inside.
“Odd, we’ll have to study it later, if you can though just carry it but don’t use it.” The Professor said. The wizard turned and looked at everyone before waving them back to where they were clearing. “Tobian you stay a room behind us, and keep looking for more hidden stuff. Even a lost and found can hold something important.”