@beefgnawpolis On a pedestal in the middle of the room is a simple, feathered quill, sitting beside a small inkwell. It looks like your path is clear!

Then you hear it -- CLINK CLINK CLINK!

An army of tiny suits of armor pours from every corner of the room. Possibly thousands.

And shit. They ALL draw eensy swords with an elaborate flourish.

By thinking hard, you managed to shrink them -- if only you imagined them a bit, er... /lonelier./

As they charge towards you, how do you defeat them?

@beefgnawpolis "ONLY ONE MORE THING.", Grod spells out. "THE GUARDS WAITING IN THERE ARE EXCELLENT SWORDSMEN, SO, UH... EN GARDE?"

At the end of the hallway is a heavy iron door. How do you steel yourself for the challenge that lies ahead?

@beefgnawpolis "I'M... I'M AFRAID IT'S ALL TRUE." Grod spells out for you. "BUT THERE REALLY //IS// A GAUNTLET! WHAT DO YOU THINK WE STOLE THAT PISSED OFF THOSE WIZARDS SO MUCH IN THE FIRST PLACE? LOTTIE'S THE ONE THAT HID IT. REUNITE US AND THE GAUNTLET WILL BE YOURS."

The liquid-person, reading over your shoulder, interjects: "You can try to grab the quill all you want. It's in that room at the end of the hall. But the, eh, 'guards' won't let you just waltz in and take it without a fight..."

@beefgnawpolis "A GAUNTLET? That's the silliest thing I've ever heard." the liquid person spouts.

"That book is the famous half-orc scoundrel Grod. He robbed the wrong guild of wizards and they transfigured him and his lover Lottie into a book and a quill... then cast them into separate realms that they might never be reunited and whole again."

The book quivers slightly in your hands...

@beefgnawpolis The liquid hisses as your flame approaches. It leaps off your leg and coagulates into roughly the shape of a person.

"Whoa! Sorry! I was just greeting you in my traditional manner! Didn't realize it wouldn't be appreciated."

The liquid-person points at the book in your hand.

"Hey, what the hell you doing bringing THAT down here? This whole mausoleum place exists to keep that thing out!!" it says.

@beefgnawpolis Torch held loosely in hand, you clamber down the rungs into the passageway and are struck by a foul odor, even staler and muskier than the one that's met your nose up til now.

You set foot on the ground and that "water" you saw from above begins to collect around your shoe... and climb up your leg...

There, uh, seems to be rather a lot of it all of a sudden...

@beefgnawpolis If anything, the darkness seems deeper and darker the longer and harder you look.

The Mournful Woman calls to you from the doorway, where she's still standing: "Perhaps there's nothing down there at all yet. Perhaps it is a planar construct and must shape itself to the one who walks its paths."

You consider the possibility and look once more and suddenly you can see a path at the bottom.

What does it look like?

@beefgnawpolis As you remove the torch, the lid of the coffin opens with a loud SKREEEEEEK.

When you glance inside, you see... an empty coffin.

But as the torch's light is cast upon the coffin's inside, it's revealed as an illusion.

Inside, there is actually a tunnel leading down into darkness. Rusted metal rungs line the wall for you to climb down.

It looks like it'd be a long drop if you were to slip up... and who knows what's down there in the dark...

@beefgnawpolis Another close call. The torches have notches marked into their bases -- I, II, III, IIII, IIIII.

And they're entirely out of order! The fourth is closest to you, followed by the third, fifth, first, and second.

Sneaky.

With this treachery uncovered, what do you do next?