@TheDarkOne
Sancireph, you step back into the coal mine and then take the tent exit back to the hedge maze. It's swallowed in flames. You catch a glimpse of the LIZARD DRAGOON before he leaps into one of the flames and vanishes. You flinch, briefly wondering if you should follow him. Instead, you return to the coal mine where Zataka and Malichor are waiting. You tell them that you tried to get to the mansion exterior using the door, but it seems like the doors won't let you leave on their own. Still, maybe the coal mine has a way out since it seems odd that a mine would be on the mansion grounds.
Zataka gets your attention and says that he's found Telivar. The mansion lord is in the tavern room with the whirling ellipsoid of papers... INSIDE THE ELLIPSOID. He couldn't calm Telivar down when he was in there, but that's just because he couldn't reach him. Upon hearing this, the original TOMA rushes into the room.
Malichor steps up to the statue in the center of the cavern and begins to wrap it in paper. He chants words that are unfamiliar to you.
"Allegro calibri papyrus dotomche maiandra segoe vrinda"
You look around at the partially petrified miners standing all around you. They seem to be enraptured by Malichor's every word. To your shock, you sense an AASIMAR PRESENCE surge in all of these people when clearly it wasn't there before. The power of that presence traverses from their bodies to Malichor's hands, and the statue begins to twitch. Its fingers regain their color, its eyes open, and after a few moments what was once nothing but a statue transformed into a man... a man who looks shockingly like an older version of TOMA. Upon seeing Malichor, he smiles.
"Malichor. I thought it would be you."
The formerly petrified man takes Malichor to the side and whispers something to him.
Suddenly, the tent flaps leading to the inn room with Telivar slam shut. The situation feels like it's about to explode.
What do you do?
=====
@mrz84
Zataka, you return from the tavern rented room and tell everyone in the coal mine that you've located Telivar. Before you can ask about the Phoenix feather, Toma rushes into the room.
Malichor steps up to the statue in the center of the cavern and begins to wrap it in paper. He chants words that are unfamiliar to you.
"Allegro calibri papyrus dotomche maiandra segoe vrinda"
You look around at the partially petrified miners standing all around you. They seem to be enraptured by Malichor's every word. You begin to fret; when you tried to enchant your sword earlier a dragon spawned out of thin air. But to your surprise, the statue begins to twitch. Its fingers regain their color, its eyes open, and after a few moments what was once nothing but a statue transformed into a man... a man who looks shockingly like an older version of TOMA. Upon seeing Malichor, he smiles.
"Malichor. I thought it would be you."
The formerly petrified man takes Malichor to the side and whispers something to him.
Since the guy looks a lot like Toma, you decide to ask him about the Phoenix feathers.
"Huh? That's a really good idea, but I wouldn't know where to look. We didn't have any back then, they're pretty rare."
You're inclined to believe that time travel isn't a possibility, but with this interspace you consider the possibility that you're intersecting with a reality that has the same events transposed to an earlier position on the timeline. You wonder what impact this would have on YOUR OWN SEARCH, perhaps interspaces like these are the key to shutting your foe out of all realities.
You ask the formerly petrified man if he can calm Telivar down.
"Well, as I was just saying to your friend... I can end the spell, but I can't help Master Telivar. He's too wrapped up in the spell. If I intervene, he'll be lost when the interspace collapses. What do you think I should do?"
As you consider going back into the room with Telivar, the tent flaps leading to the inn slam shut. As hard as you try, you can't open them.
What do you do?
=====
@bigjoe
Jerias, you suggest to Atticas that perhaps if you can't open the doors that exist, you could make your own. You then let the raging fire within you escape, setting the hedge on fire. He nods and joins in on the infernal revelry. As the flames grow you see sparks of electricity pop out between the flames. The space between these jolts expands until you can see little windows to other parts of the mansion, opening and closing as the fires flicker. You catch a glimpse of a whirling ellipsoid of papers, and through it you can feel the push of two conflicting minds. You call to Atticas and the two of you leap through.
You appear in a bedroom, the kind that would be rented out in an inn or tavern. There's a swirling ellipsoid of pages in the center of the room. The wall behind you is on fire, you suspect the fire is bleeding through the portal connecting the hedge maze to this place. There's a narrow gap in the pages, through which you can see the wizard Telivar. The right half of his body has succumbed to dragon corruption... he kind of looks a little bit like you from where you're standing. His eyes are shut and he seems to be chanting something. Is it... some kind of prayer? You can hear the whispers of another dragon coming from his direction; the voice definitely isn't Atticas. Perhaps it's the corruption clawing at his mind, and your recent liberation from Atticas's control has allowed you to sense it in this manner.
The mage TOMA you attacked earlier enters the room. He doesn't seem to notice you, but he appears panicked upon looking at the swirling mass of pages.
What do you do?
=====
@Xyvol
Malichor, you ponder about the argument about the colony...
~~~~~
You point to the statue and ask 'What about him'? Toma shakes his head.
"All of this is just some figment... an echo from the ghost world. That's not a real wizard. It's just some terror given form by the properties of this place"
The merchant leader pipes up this time.
"Sir, I most certainly am NOT a figment, and I resent the implication. I am the great merchant chief Beymond Franks, renowned across the continent! And you and your supposed master are a couple of hapless wizards!"
Zataka chimes in: "You have to admit the resemblance is uncanny. Even if it is a figment, perhaps understanding it might help with our escape. We cannot rule out that as a mere phantom or even coincidence."
Toma seems resistant to budging on his opinion.
You scold him, explaining that you were able to touch one of the miners and that phantom images don't have mass.
"But we're standing in a ghost world. Who says the rules aren't different here?" Toma retorts.
You shake your head, citing a lack of necessity for the logic. You explain it is better to start with the assumption that the rules are the same and then test for discrepancies. In fact, it gives you an idea.
If that statue is supposed to be Toma and you could revive it somehow, he would be able to verify whether or not this 'colony' was real.
Toma shouts
"ENOUGH! We're not getting anywhere by arguing and each minute we spend here is causing more of the dragon corruption to leech into our bodies. Let's find a door and go to the master; then when this is all resolved you can do whatever you like. Leave, preferably."
~~~~~
You step up to the statue in the center of the cavern and begin to wrap it in paper. You then spout of a list of fonts that you like to use when inscribing runes, hoping the faith of the colony miners will instill them with power.
"Allegro calibri papyrus dotomche maiandra segoe vrinda"
You can feel their stares of awe on your back as you work. And as you feel their stares, you feel the power of their hope surging through you.
...The statue begins to twitch. Its fingers regain their color, its eyes open, and after a few moments what was once nothing but a statue transformed into a man... a man who looks shockingly like an older version of TOMA. Upon seeing you, he smiles.
"Malichor. I thought it would be you."
You're absolutely stunned. You cast a spell with nothing more than the hope of the miners and not an ounce of magic expended and it worked. And this guy is CLEARLY Toma from the future.
He takes you to the side and whispers to you.
"It's been a long time. But it doesn't look like you've waited as long as I have. So... this is the scrambled mansion then? Wow, it was so long ago I can hardly remember."
You ask him what happened to this place.
"The colony, right. I founded this place to protect the survivors when we lost the sun."
You're startled by this declaration. You ask, somewhat nonplussed, what he means by that.
"The dragons that are poking through in your time... they're small potatoes. The big ones are the real problem. Once they caught wind of our theft, they decided to take something back. And they stole the sun."
You ask what you can do to help.
"For me? Nothing. Nobody on this side is powerful enough to snatch the sun back. We're just clinging to what warmth we can until the end comes. But I might be able to help you. Unfortunately, it comes at a cost."
You ask about the cost.
"I can dispel the ghost world incantation that master Telivar initiated, but he's too wrapped up in the machinations of the spell. If I unbind it, he'll be swept away with the incantation as the ghost world vanishes. I can't help but think that we might have stood a better chance against the big fish if Telivar was still in the picture, and I hate to put the decision on you, but... I don't know what to do."
What do you say?
=====
@SUCCESSOR
Reven, you ponder on your brush with the Phoenix.
~~~~~
There's a PHOENIX sleeping in here! You've heard all sorts of rumors about phoenix down and its mysterious properties. You also wonder how your PARTNER would react to an honest-to-goodness phoenix, but she's been pretty quiet as of late.
The thing hasn't spotted you yet.
You ponder the prize of acquiring a panacea like Phoenix Down and so you decide to sneak up and help yourself to a few feathers. But first, you rouse your partner and, though a silent understanding, convince her to catch the bird's gaze so you can creep up and take your fair share. Still, as you approach the Phoenix locks eyes with you and you freeze, hoping it hasn't actually spotted you. You feel a surge of heat wash over you body, almost as if you were standing near the mouth of a volcano. This situation seems just as dangerous. Suddenly, a voice echos in your head.
"A courteous request might yield better results than a con. Just a thought."
You sweat slightly and ask it to repeat that, hoping that the voice you heard was just your anxiety playing tricks on you.
"I mean I'll give you some, if you'd like. That's why I came here after all."
You shrug. A free gift is a free gift, and you can expect a healthy profit for something as rare as Phoenix Down.
"That's not what it's for."
...Did the phoenix just read your thoughts?
"Yes, yes I did. But I'm getting ahead of myself. You see, this scrambled paradimension and the dragon attack that spawned it are small potatoes. The ones poking through are REFUGEES. See, in our dimension heat is a commodity. Everyone who lives there has a burning flame in their chest which requires the stokes of heat, and the most powerful hoard the sources and force everyone else to bow for access. See... our dimension doesn't have stars like yours does, only the phoenixi generate heat. We are caged songbirds in that sense, and compared to our dimension yours is a paradise of sunshine and warmth."
You ask what this has to do with you.
"You have seen some of the refugees from our world, and you have forged a symbiotic bond with one of them. Your relationship with Texia is special, and gives me hope that one day our two realities might merge into one and we might share resources. The mages of your reality reach into ours for our natural magical potency and we reach into yours for sources of heat, but picking each other's pockets is only going to draw the attention of the big fish, and they'll ruin everything if they join in on the plunder."
You ask what you should do.
"The dragons that have breached into your reality are small potatoes; their strength and stature in our world was small enough that they could slip through relatively small tears. More powerful entities like myself cannot reach your dimension because we have too much metaphysical volume to pass through a tear. But the tears are getting bigger, like this one the wizard Telivar has ripped in his panic. I need you to take advantage of the tears while they are still small, so that you can pose a sufficient threat when the big fish come to feast."
You say you still do not understand.
"This little dragons that are tearing through... teach them that they're fighting for the wrong things. Encourage them to grow strong, so that when the big fish come to feast they'll face an army that can defeat them. I give you my boon with the hope that you can foster this rebellion as you have fostered your friendship with Texia."
With that, the phoenix looks away, closing its eyes as if it is in pain.
"The heat of the down has healing properties. It will protect you from the corruption bleeding from my dimension. It can also reverse its effects, but only in those who have not succumbed to the flames."
You notice the three red pearls in the clutches of the three statues on this level are pulsating, as if reacting to the heat of the bird.
~~~~~
You groom Texia to calm her down after the brush with the phoenix, wondering why she became so agitated. Is what the beast said true? What are its motives?
As you let Texia back into your cloak, you notice that the cloak is now covered in Phoenix feathers. You were hoping for a few pinches of down and you've got a whole cloak of them. You ponder the boon you've been given but then pause and decide it's best to see to Telivar. Picking the second-floor door to the HALL OF MIRRORS, you think of Telivar and try to open it. Initially it's locked, but one of the feathers flickers and then it opens, revealing a tavern bedroom.
To your left, you see the LIZARD DRAGOON standing in front of a WALL OF FLAMES. To you right, a young man you suspect is the wizard's apprentice stands panicked, staring towards the mass in front of you. It is a spiraling ellipsoid of spellbook pages, and within you catch a glimpse of Telivar--half-corrupted--silently praying.
What do you do?
