On the morning of Day 15 of Flocktime, Lhoss and Feno counted up their gold pieces (and borrowed a few from team members) and found they had enough to train to become a Conjurer and Swordsman, respectively. The rest of the party spent a pleasant week in Orlane, with some living large and extravagantly and others living frugally, according to their tastes. Kyro finished his duties at the temple and was free to rejoin the group.
Day 22 of Flocktime dawned beautiful and clear. Lhoss, Feno, Tatania, Armaziti, Hilja, Kyro, Gnorcia, and Arnd ate an early breakfast and got a jump start to the Barrow Maze. Upon arrival, the group encountered a zombie. It was quickly dispatched by a magic missile from Tatania and a blow from Gnorcia's sword, Vengeance.
The heroes pushed further into the underground tunnels, trying to find more unexplored territory. Lhoss came upon a closed door and immediately tried to open it, to no avail. One by one, each of the party tried to open the door but it was stuck fast. At last, the strongest of us (Feno) gave a mighty yank and the door creaked open. Inside was a room that was familiar to some in the party, but a new curiosity to our newer members.
The group beheld three circular pools that were approximately 3 feet in diameter and fed by faces carved into the walls. One was deep purple, another red, and the third pitch black. Feno was keen to experiment and noticed some bones in the room. He tossed an arm bone into the red pool, where it was enveloped with a gurgle but nothing else appeared to happen. With a splash, another bone disappeared into the purple pool with seemingly no result. The same experiment was repeated in the black pool with the same outcome. The group seemed to be at somewhat of a loss about what to do next until Gnorcia's eyes lit up with a spark of inspiration: she felt strongly that the liquids should be mixed.
Lhoss wasted no time in asking around the party for an empty glass vial. Tatania produced one which Lhoss filled in equal parts first with black liquid, then purple liquid, then red liquid. It produced a drab green fluid. As Lhoss eyed it skeptically, Gnorcia volunteered to test it. She said she would try just a sip, but to the group's horror, she downed the entire contents. Gnorcia gagged slightly and mentioned that it tasted like dirty water. Armaziti and Feno expressed that they were not on board with this endeavor, but did not intervene. Ever the scientist, Lhoss mixed black, red, then purple from the pools. A slightly different shade of green tempted Gnorcia, but again it tasted like dirty water. The mixture of red, purple, then black produced a violent orange that Gnorcia proclaimed to be the worst yet. When mixed in the order of red, black, then purple, a bubbling blackish liquid with tints of red and purple was produced. Gnorcia declared this one to be disgusting but drinkable. At first she looked ill, but it became apparent that the potion had increased Gnorcia's dexterity and intelligence! Lhoss immediately recreated the concoction and downed it in one. It was disgusting, but she fought off the flood of discomfort and found that likewise she had improved dexterity and intelligence.
For some unknown reason, Lhoss decided to see what would result from another combo. Feno was not impressed and walked out, not wanting any part of the proceedings and commented that "drugs are bad". Lhoss mixed purple, black, and red then offered it to Hilja in a somewhat chaotic disregard for her wellbeing. She drank it down and it was soon clear that she had been poisoned. Luckily, there was a poison antidote in the bag of holding; Hilja was saved but unconscious. Tatania prepared and drank the red-black-purple potion, and immediately vomited blood. She recovered quickly but was slightly disappointed to find she had only improved her intelligence. Feno called from just beyond the door "vomiting blood? Not good." At this point, Armaziti was vehemently opposed to what was going on and tried to persuade everyone to leave. Tatania prepared a dose of r-b-p and attempted to give it to Kyro, but Armaziti slapped it to the ground and shattered the bottle. It was evident that there was only enough liquid for one more potion. Tatania prepared another dose and Arnd moved to drink it, but Tatania gave it to Kyro who drank it down quickly. Immediately, Kyro spun 360 degrees and dropped unconscious, but nevertheless gained strength, intelligence, and wisdom.
The pools empty, Armaziti and Feno looked on as Gnorcia, Lhoss, and Tatania moved erratically, jumping, spinning and rocking. The trio also spoke in gibberish with moments of lucidity when they uttered profound truths. Armaziti carried out Hilja and Feno ushered the women and a dizzy but alert Kyro out of the room, sensing an increase of chaos among the potion-drinkers. As a plus, Armaziti found a copper piece on the ground. Lucky!
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