Seeing the Truth with Unblinded Eyes (The City of Splendors #5)

Zloton,
 
I feel rage. Not at Mirt, but at myself. I should have known better. I have suffered this before and I failed to learn from the past. I was just...blinded by relief, desperation to set everything in motion before my time runs out. But now I find myself in the same corner I backed myself in before. And now, other lives besides my own are on the line.
 
We decided to begin the repairs, using 300 dragons or so to begin the construction. We gave the guilds a way to get in and get to work, told the kids to keep an eye on them, and then left. Ristrien bought a pack so that she could have some rations in case we stayed in this magical death trap an excessively long time.
 
 
We followed Mert's instructions to Blue Alley. It involved a bit of searching and thrown stones to find the illusionary entrance among the rows of windowless houses flanking the blue cobbled road, but eventually we passed through and were greeted by the time sign proper.
 
"The Blue Alley"
 
Instead of horrors, the first thing that greeted us was a big blue book on a pedestal. It was to sign in and a glance at the names revealed that about a fourth of them had been crossed out. Cheery, I know, but it grows cosier still.
 
A wall of flame blocked our path. Clearly the Alley would not let us through unless we named ourselves. So we signed ourselves in, sans Pete. Someone else naturally had to do that for him. The Baron signed himself in with a paw print and with all members accounted for, the flame dissipated
 
Next we were confronted by a grand, colorful mural of our deaths. Ristrien was ripped apart by a Minotaur. Nettie was sliced up by a scythe. Pete was at the bottom of a spiked pit and Flynn was impaled. Even the Baron was not overlooked, graphically devoured by a cat. What was my death you ask?
 
Engulfed in flame naturally. I would not have recommended that method to the alley myself. It's been proven an unreliable way of getting rid of me. The mural held other secrets. There was a small inscription that read “there is a secret door 50 feet south of the barred window."
 
There were more words. The east side was marked as silver, the West: gold. We chose to go east with the only reasoning being that unicorn's coats were sometimes silver. You have to appreciate Nettie's logic.
 
We were met with several doors along the right wall and a skeleton, mouth opened, his arms outstretched on the other. Ristrien and I investigated to find a button hidden in its mouth. We had Pete's spectral rat claw push it, which revealed a flight of stairs leading further down. At the end of the descent, we were greeted by a luxurious room: plush red carpet and as Pete can attest to, comfortable couches. I tried to convince everyone to take one or two with us, for the tavern, but alas, I was overruled.
 
The room had two doors. From the first one Ristrien heard a voice whisper "Entertain me." Naturally, Nettie sang beautifully and Ristrien danced...less so. But we heard no response for the trouble. We opened the door to a small room, empty apart from a brass statue of Kelier, the wizard who built the alley. It was magical clearly; its eyes once moved to follow Ristrien. My guess is that he recognized her as a spellcaster from his order and so she needed to entertain him, but try as we might, we could not think of what that entertainment might be. We tried lots of things, even told it jokes but to no avail. Nettie ritual casted detect magic to see if it would give us any clues, but it told us nothing we already knew: everything was magical, especially the statue.
 
Even though it was not useful, Nettie still had to cast detect magic twice. Her first ritual was interrupted by the abrupt heat wave like portaling of four black pointed eared creatures. Ristrien later told me they were called boggles.
 
Two came at me and Ristrien. One secreted tar at me, the other doing the same to Ristrien. I tried to retaliate, but I missed. The tar rooted me in place. I was practically at point blank range, and yet still, I must begin my fights traditionally. Nettie decided not to follow my pitiful example and nails the first one with a dagger.
 
With us stuck in tar, we were blocking the way for Flynn to join the battle. I finally got myself free, just as both boggles teleported behind to strike Nettie. One secretes slippery oil on her, but it doesn't imbalance her. In fact, she proceeds to take her knife out of boggle’s flesh, chirp out "thank you" and then stab it with her rapier. It looked awesome, but I pretty sure it was Ristrien who actually killed it. I end up killing the other. That I am more certain of.
 
While all that was happening, Pete faced the other two alone. From what I can tell, one covered him in that slippery oil and unlike Nettie, he slipped, falling onto the couch. He tried to get up, failed, and then *proceeded to fight them both while lying on the couch*. I know, it makes me grin just thinking about it. He got hit a bit, ate a berry that seems to make him angry (must investigate this. What if there really is a flavor that causes fury?), and then killed one with such force, that its corpse gets stuck to his war pick. All without leaving the couch.
 
The last boggle, seeing the death of all three of its friends, fled. Pete hit it, but it managed to teleport away.
 
We moved on to the next room which happened to be filled to the brim with piles and piles of coin, of every metal. According to Nettie’s detect magic, the coins were no illusions. The sign above the door said only, “Take only what you can afford”
 
We were wary and even wealth motivated Flynn had the sense not to plunder it. Pete lacked that sense, although Flynn was able to talk him out of it. There was another room, empty with a gate in the back. When we flicked a coin into it, it sunk to the ground like it was far heavier than it should be. Thinking the room was enchanted, I tested further by biding my waterskin water into the room, but it seemed unaffected.
 
We tested the room longer than needed, convinced there was some hidden secret. Impatient with us, Pete offered this gem: "Curiosity killed the cat and for that, I am grateful to curiosity."
 
Eventually, we realized the truth. It was the coins that were enchanted not the room. For whatever reason, while they were in the room they were normal, but beyond those walls, a single coin was suddenly a whole pound. Ingenious trap, isn't it? If you stuff your pockets too much without knowing, you risk being stuck by the weight of your own avarice.
 
The moment we made this connection a magic mouth spell appeared to say "It makes 'cents' doesn't it?"
 
It’s nice to know our host has a sense of humor.
 
Could you have overcome this temptation, I wonder? I suspect not. Greed always was your capital vice. Along with every other one.
 
We moved on without taking anything, except Pete, who tolerated an extra five pound load for five gold pounds.
 
The next room we discovered had a peculiar floor. The tiles were grey stone, apart from a winding path of yellow to the door on the opposite side. What was more eye-catching was the mural on the left wall. Flynn recognized it immediately. It depicted the death of Mystra at the hands of Cyric and the banishment of Azuth to the lowest level of the nine hells. You know, the action that caused the spellplague and brought our families here.
 
The phrase above the door is simple this time: get through. We all agree that we need to stay on the yellow path. A pretty straightforward trap. Only problem was Pete who decided to not only not care and step off, but to do so right next to the mural itself. The faces in the mural all turned and looked at us and then the image of Cyric and Shar stepped from the mural.
 
Yeah, I forgot to mention. We fought gods today. Ha! Apparitions though they may have been, they were tough. They were immune to Pete's poisonous farts. Cyric resisted and Shar completely ignored his Thunderous belch. I mean, who in the nine hells has thunder resistance?
 
We missed several shots, my frost and Ristrien's force chipping at the mural, but eventually Shar fell to Ristrien’s stamp, her image unraveling like a tapestry
 
That threw Cyric into such a rage that he launched himself at Ristrien and stabbed her through the chest. Flynn eventually shot Cyric down.
 
I feared for Ristrien. I have seen sacrificial knives plunge into chests and those never got back up again. Pete of all people, came to her rescue. Rats came out of Pete's sleeve and licked Ristrien's wounds. They healed before my eyes. Ristrien herself was half gratitude, half disgust. I thought of cure wounds, shuddering. The last time I had felt it's touch had not been a pleasant experience. Perhaps it's a similar spell. Perhaps Pete is a cleric after all.
 
Meanwhile, Nettie had reached the opposite door, trying to secure an escape for us in case the apparitions proved too tough. But she could not open the door. There was a puzzle keeping it closed, and once the battle finished, we could focus on it.
 
The door had three symbols in the following order: a skull within a star, an eye in the palm of a hand, and scales. I didn't know this (you are well aware of my lack of religious awareness) but these were the symbols of Cyric, Helm, Kelemvor respectively.
 
This riddle appeared alongside it.
 
Three tests will prove you true:
Guard my love, even in death.
Stop a righteous blow with magic’s sway.
Blast the traitor’s blade wielded in darkness.
 
Realizing that each phrase corresponded to one of the represented gods, we pressed the symbols in the order of the riddle and the door opened.
 
Within was a room where every conceivable surface was a mirror. The floor, the ceiling, the walls, all reflected each other and in the center stood a statue.
 
A unicorn statue.
 
We had little time to relish our triumph for the moment we opened the door, a metal construct spawned in the mural room. It is possible we were supposed to do something a little more before we opened the door.
 
It hit hard, and more than that it cast spells. When it struck at Flynn, a blurry cyclone suddenly hovered around him. Ristrien shouted for him not to move his feet from that spot. I vaguely remember something similar being discussed during Mokuz’s lessons. Assuming it was the same thing, I echoed Ristrien's sentiment.
 
Eventually, the construct backed up, made a gesture, and I was knocked unconscious. Recognizing the sensation from my initial self inflicted failures, I suspect it to be the same sleeping spell I learned for my grandmother’s reprieve.
 
I awoke just as Nettie was taking gears from the construct’s dismantled body. So, I missed some of the fight, but apparently Flynn shot it in a crack and it shuddered apart.
 
So, now for the mirror room. Flynn entered first. He went straight to the statue and read the plaque the Blue Alley so helpfully provided.
 
“Everything I see belongs to me”
 
The riddle was arguably the most straightforward one we had so far. Don't look at the statue when we take it. Lucky we had a blind man.
 
Pete stepped into the room, without the Baron on his shoulder. Through groping about and us guiding him from the doorway, he eventually reached the statue.
 
He struggled to pick it up at first, but he ate one of those rage berry things and suddenly he heaved it well enough. He was slowly making his way back when it happened. A shining blue tear ripped through thin air in front of him. At first, I was horrified, but then I realized Mokuz once talked about something like this. Something about random leaks of raw magic. Ristrien knew more. She said they had healing properties, so we told Pete to just step though it.
 
He did and the effect was beyond belief. All his wounds healed, his *scars* healed. And then...his white eyes turned clear and smoky grey and *he could see*.
 
It was joyous. It is hard to put into words how extraordinary and precious a moment it was to witness. It was like someone experiencing the taste of food for the first time, but with their eyes! Does that make sense?
 
I can hear you wondering, Zloton. If these rift things have healing properties that extensive, did I, a shell of myself, step in?
 
I did not.
 
Of course I wanted to, hungered for it even, but I held myself back. I’ve seen too many spells or enchantments only work on one and undo its effects once transferred to another. This, to be honest, didn’t seem like one of those, but I couldn’t risk it. Pete has his whole life to see now (he’s older yes, but he’s not frail) and I could endure my weakness for what remains of my own. Besides, I would not be able to enjoy my newfound freedom if I stripped from Pete the joy of his.
 
Pete seemed so much younger with that childlike wonder in his eyes. He admired himself in the mirror, admired his ass especially, but we eventually convinced him to close his eyes again to walk out of the room.
 
Unfortunately, the damage had already been done. The moment he stepped out of the room the unicorn statue, and *all his clothes* disappeared and reappeared on the stand.
 
My affection is too great for you to be so cruel as to describe what naked Pete looked like. All you must know is that *I* now know what naked Pete looks like.
 
I’ll let that sink in.
 
Pete didn’t let it sink in. He remained ecstatic. Running around in the nude, apparently all the way back to the Kelier statue, which, if he is to be believed, he pissed on, which the statue teleported to his head (going by what I had to prestidigitate away).
 
He bragged and boasted and postured and I could see Ristrien’s hand twitching like she was considering blasting him right then and there.
 
We eventually convinced him to shut his eyes and go and retrieve the statue and his clothes. This time, nothing teleported away when he left the room, which was a relief.
 
We left the way we came. I ritual cast the disk so that we could carry precisely five hundred coins. I wanted to take the furniture, but alas, the democratic process fails me once again. We returned to the front. We glanced at the blue check in book to find that Pete had an asterisk by his name. He was the *only* person with an asterisk by his name. I’m not sure I want to ever find out what it means.
 
When we passed the illusionary wall, two things happened that changed the course of our night forever. One: all the coins we stacked onto my disk turned to dust. We could hear Kelier laughing as the illusion hardened to solidness. Annoying, but at least we had the statue, but then the second thing happened.
 
The statue began to talk to Pete in his head. We thought he was talking to himself for a while. I mean, what would your first assumption be if Pete said aloud: "I ain't no virgin. You're riding me now."
 
Eventually though, we learned the truth. The *whole* truth. The statue was a real unicorn: Prymara. She was apparently changed defending her family from an evil wizard. She wants the curse to be broken. We asked if Mirt knew. She said that he didn't care.
 
We were able to get his side of the story almost immediately afterwards, since he almost immediately showed up in his grand carriage, demanding his statue. Apparently, he knew it was a unicorn. That was why he wanted it back in his art collection, rather flippant toward the unicorn’s own wishes.
 
He mentioned he too once was stuck in a magic item and it baffles me. What kind of person can so utterly lack empathy as to wish a familiar suffering on another? *I* cannot leave the unicorn because I know the shame and isolation of uselessness, of being helpless when your people needed you. I know what it feels like to be trapped in a body, incapable of doing what once was natural. I can only imagine with horror at being incapable of literally anything.
 
Pete was somehow even more furious than me, ranting about how it was akin to slavery. The rest of us attempted to persuade him with a bit more tact. Nettie tried to show him how the artistry of a living unicorn was superior to a marble statue. I asked if we found an exact replica, would that satisfy him. He was unmoved, saying that he liked the statue *because* it was a real unicorn.
 
I was trying to convince him and I won’t repeat precisely what he said but he threatened me beneath a thin veil. I know, *threatened* me. Like seriously? He actually thought he could frighten me. I haven't been frightened by a new cause of death since 1489. I mean, it’s almost insulting. I fear for my companions’ lives, but certainly not my own. I had half a mind to say such a thing to Mirt, but he seems arrogant in his own security, so I figured it would mean nothing.
 
We signed a contract. I remember quite clearly what it entails. And yet, reading it over it’s suddenly different. A magically altering contract? That’s low.
 
As a general rule Zloton, you should really research the people you intend to screw over. He has no idea I have been screwed over by money lenders before. He has no idea what I’ve been willing to do, what I’ve willingly sacrificed, to have justice done. I hope for us all he will give me no reason to inform him.
 
We refuse to give the unicorn up, and he drives away in a huff. There will be serious consequences. Blacklisting? Legal nine hells perhaps? Death likely, but that doesn’t bother me too much. I take comfort in knowing that if he does make the grave mistake of actually killing me, your vengeance would be uncompromising. The goal now is to pass on my research as fast as possible and to try to make sure the others don’t die. Pete just got his sight back and the others are so young. Mirt should not cut their lives short over a statue.
 
All our old plans die. Survival is paramount and the streets are not safe from the likes of him. We decided to seek the advice of Ristrien’s mentor, Algeroon first. We go to the Tower. Yeah, I know, *again*. He apparently is at some sort of meeting or event, so we are waiting for him with his assistant Carina, the blonde human we met the other day. We explain our plight and she is appropriately sympathetic. We ask if she knows anyone who can remove the curse on Prymara because if we are going to die for this, we might as well succeed while we are at it.
 
She says she’s not sure but she thinks an archdruid from the High Forest 100 miles away could do it. I’m all for that trip. I’ve traveled many times that to get here. That is a leisurely stroll by comparison. As for the whole: “Not dying from Mirt” thing she has no advice.
 
So, we wait. I’ll write after we have our meeting with him. Until then.