2 Yarthmont - Behind the Statue

After twenty minutes, Broneslav had eaten his fill and was feeling rested enough to continue, although the burns from the beetle's attach were very distracting. He carefully opened the door from the storage room and looked through into the corridor. The choking gas appeared to have dissipated. He stepped through and sniffed carefully. There was a slight smell of the gas, but he did not choke as he entered the passage. The corridor looked the same as it had before apart from the smell. The wand was still twisted to the right as he had left it when he fled.

Thinking about the situation, Broneslav decided to investigate the door first. He listened but could hear nothing. He tried the handle. It turned but the door would not open. Taking a deep breath, Broneslav tensed as he tried the button beside the door. There was a grinding noise and then silence again. He tried the door once more and this time it opened onto a corridor ending in another door. Just inside the corridor were eight buttons. One of them had the same symbol carved above it as the button he had just pressed. Clearly there was a connection but he decided to mull that one over while he checked the statue again.

Broneslav had concluded that the statue would not have got that shiny if it was just a trap for unwary explorers. Therefore, it seemed likely that the wand was meant to turn widdershins instead. Holding his breath and tensed against whatever might happen he twisted the wand to the left. Nothing happened immediately, but then there was a slight grinding noise and the statue, together with the wall behind it, started to move away from him. When it stopped, a long corridor was revealed with a door on the right hand side.

Not one to be overly careful, Broneslav moved quickly to the door. He could hear faint chanting from within. He paused. Thoughts of what might be going on in there filled his head. With a certain amount of trepidation, he decided to enter, prepared for whatever he might encounter. Pushing the door open as gently as he could, he peeked inside the room.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that," he thought.

The room he was peering into had tapestries hanging on the walls. They showed all the major constellations. A stone altar stood towards the far end of the room and thirteen people in rainbow-coloured robes were gathered before it. They were all wearing silver masks featuring the face of the child whose statue he had seen. A stout figure front and centre of the group was also wearing a silver crown. The chanting continued as Broneslav took stock of what was going on.

The previous encounter had gone badly. He presumed it was because he had surprised the other people, so he sheathed his sword and stood waiting at the back of the room until the ritual was over. Once it was over and the people looked like they were preparing to finish, he spoke up.

"What ho, fellow pyramid dwellers," he tried in Common.

The stout figure rounded on him and said something that he did not understand.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand. I am a lost traveller who found his way in here."

The stout figure replied in Common this time, "Why do you wear the mask of Gorm then?"

Broneslav took off the mask, "This? I found it in the tier above."

The thirteen figures relaxed a little at this. Broneslav was soon able to explain that he was lost and found his way into the pyramid after a sandstorm. He inadvertently mentioned the men he had slain who wore the mask he had been wearing and the atmosphere in the room became decidedly more welcoming.

"Welcome to the chamber of the Magi of Usamigaras," declared the stout figure, "I am Auriga Sirkinos, leader of the Magi. It seems to me that your footsteps have been guided here by Usamigaras himself. If you, doughty warrior that you are, will pledge yourself as an initiate of Usamigaras, then we shall pledge to help you. Your aid as an initiate can surely help us lead Cynidicea back to greatness, even though you are only a warrior, and not a great mage like we are."

Broneslav accepted the suggestion to become an initiate.

Auriga explained that Usamigaras was the god of healing, messengers and thieves and that the Magi were the only ones capable of restoring Cynidicea's greatness. The Brotherhood of Gorm were all slow-witted warriors, while the Warrior Maidens of Madarua were all too soft to do what needed to be done. He also explained that Broneslav would need stop wearing his golden mask and that an apprentice Magus would return with a silver ring to mark his pledge to the cause. Broneslav should rest in the Magi's quarters while the apprentice ran the errand. This would take half a day, they said.

Seeing no alternative, and thinking that a good sleep would really help, Broneslav acquiesced and went along with their plans. Soon he was snoring away on a bunk bed in the Magi's dormitory on this level.