Shadows in the Glass

Stepping through the portal, the party barely had time to breathe before Aldous followed in human form, melting into the walls before reemerging in dragon form to kock Naoki unconscious. Sanasha climbed over the dragon to threaten him, but before he could respond, Diablo unleashed a blistering flurry of acrobatics and strikes, coiling around him and ending him at once. The dragon warned that the tower would consume them before dissolving into the stone, leaving Sanasha standing on the fading remains.

Searching the chamber for a breather, the party found basic conjuration books and a crystal ball that could not scry, revealing the tower's imperfect reproductions. They consulted a spirit in the room, restricted to just three questions. Investigating the room's fixtures, they discovered each item represented a school of magic. When Naoki asked how to order them, the spirit provided a story clue: "They first sought to know what was hidden, then mastered the elements to shape their world, changed their own form to endure the ages, and finally cast up walls to protect their sanctuary." Following the verse, they correctly deduced the sequence—Necromancy, Evocation, Transmutation, and Abjuration—unlocking the door to return to the hub for a short rest.

During the rest, the group tackled the Book trial first. Percy cast wards and guidance upon Diablo, who stepped forward to make his declaration: he would claim the sword that had killed a god to split the sky over the Sanguisian Empire. Chains bound his heart, constricting to keep him on his task. Transported to a room where they overlooked three crystal prisons containing Contras, Mr. Brightvein, and Baron Angus Blackshire, each tried to plead their case to be spared. Diablo interrupted, cutting off Brightvein's attempt to speak and warning Baron Blackshire that he would find a way to hurt him through his family regardless. Weighing the catastrophic threat Contras posed to the world alongside warnings of divine retribution from Cresna, the party selected Contras to die. The crystals shattered, returning them to the main room as Sanasha quietly dreaded that time within the tower was passing faster than they knew.

Facing the mirror trial next, Sanasha stepped up and confessed a painful truth to the glass—that she was ultimately a murderer who only brought pain. Stepping into a room with five colored mirrors, the party clashed with shadow doppelgängers that mirrored their skills and abilities. An intense high-attrition fight began, with the party feeling the extent of their own power leveraged against them. The Veiled Vanguard took heavy damage as comrades were repeatedly knocked down and brought back up, while one by one the Shadow Veiled Vanguard fell. As the chaotic melee peaked, Naoki hurled Chill Touch to shut down Shadow-Sanasha's regenerative fury, while Sanasha fought through the strain to finally shatter her own copy. With Naoki calling down lightning on Shadow-Percy and Diablo delivering the final blow by blasting the last shadow to dust with Vicious Mockery, finally proving he can kill with a word through the light of his mojo, the battered Vanguard broke the encounter and materialized back in the waiting room.