From the central starting corridor, we moved back to the corridor where we found the machine powering the runic array, there was another door. The door wasn't locked, but Imoen stopped us.
"Web trap," she said.
Which meant spiders of the giant variety. Scouting further revealed 2 Sword Spiders, 2 Ettercaps, 2 Phase Spiders and 1 Astral Phase Spider. Astral Phase spiders have double the hit points , an extra attack and 5 better Thac0 than regular versions.
Worst thing was, they were not grouped up together like in Cloakwood. This could be a considerably challenging battle with so many powerful foes hitting our backlines while our front lines are occupied.
Not.
I had been living the life of a sneak thief for some time now. I wasn't about to bother with unnecessary fights which grant little rewards now that we were experienced capped.
The real target was a stone golem in an alcove in the room, to the side. In stealth, I walked past the various spiders and tapped the stone golem on the shoulder.
"Questions have I for you. None but kin of clan may pass. State your knowledge of the history. Answer true and the way is clear; answer false and feel the sorrow. There is no second chance, neither for true nor false. Do you wish to answer now?"
"Pose your questions, golem," I said to it in whispers.
These questions will be semi-random. It's a test to see if the player had been paying attention to all the LORE dispensaries the developers had liberally placed all around the dungeon thus far.
"If you count Durlag, son of Bolhur "Thunderaxe", as you kin, you will know well the family that builr this place. The mother of the sons, the matron of the clan: What is her name?"
Easy, we just met her ghost. "Islanne."
"Your answer satisfies. Another question remains. Durlag, builder of the home, founder of the clan, had a name not from his father but his own deeds. The tower was built with the fortunes of hordes, but the last name of Durlag came from the fortune of battle. With axe and fire he cleansed the land of beasts he loved to fight, when axe alone would not suffice. I ask the second name of Durlag."
For people who forgot Durlag's second name, the big clue was that the creature he was famous for killing must be killed with fire, not just axe. "Trollkiller."
"Your answer satisfies. A question remains. The father of this place formed the clan that fell in times of teachery. False faces claimed the future, and clanless became Durlag. This he shared with his own father, a wanderer that lived by the strength of his weapon. The second name of Bolhur is what I ask you. Sense most common is all you need for this answer."
The stone golem already said the name earlier. "Thunderaxe."
"Your answer satisfies. Here is the key to what you need. Here is the secret for what comes. The bones will walk where flesh cannot. The ward will walk the bones."
Uh, a bone ward? I think we already used that.
Anyway, in spite of the party being separated, we were all teleported to another circular room with a compass at the bottom. 4 stone golems awaited.
"Whatever you were doing while you were away, it appears you have done well," Jaheira said, nodding.
"And we've already been through one Compass Room. Let's question the stone golems, check the question then decide what the answer should be," I instructed the team.
---
Mishapen stone golem said, "It began with ussss… and the mastersss… The tentacled ones directed and we assssaulted quietly with cover of night. We took off the weaker firssst, hiding amidst the children. None sssaw the arrival, none noticed the insssurrgence, and none sssurvived the final rissse. When Durla realizzzed the deception, it was too late! His own family sssought his life, and he ssslaughtered their falssse facesssss. It began with usss, from the wessst."
Dwarf golem said, "This is not my face. The invaders came and took my true face, burying it with my body and my comrades. I awas among the last, but not the very last, and I saw the horror to come. My child rose against me, though it was no longer my child. It wore her face, but I knew her to be dead. The doppelgangers came from within, and we could not fight ourselves. Better to die than to kill ourselves. What would be left of a man that has had to kill his family… and himself? I was among the last, but not the very last."
Human golem said, "We were hired after the battles were done. Durlag called upon us to make his vissins true. We did our best, but his visions grew darker and soon we could not see. We waded through his fallen, and we waded through his gold. Near the end we feared for our lives, though not as much as he did. I was never truly sure whether he wished to keep the intruders out, or himself in. both, I'll wager. We were hired after the battles were done, and we did our best."
Basically the same story as the last compass room? Kind of redundant, if you ask me.
Durlag's golem, "With me it ended. Speak now of my troubeles, to show you have learnt. From where did my pain come? Whwre did my pain stab home? Whwre did my pain take root? Where dost my pain reside? Speak and show that you understand."
We took a moment to confer, which Durlag's golem allowed.
"Okay, the misshapen golem is first in the story and it is considered west. The dwarf golem's story comes next is in the sequence. By its position in relation to the misshapen golem it is considered in the south. The human golem's story is next in sequence, I guess it is east. Lastly is Durlag, must be in the north."
We told Durlag's golem "west, south, east, then north".
Durlag's golem nodded. "You have learned a little. You may yet survive."
We were then teleported to where we had started.
"That's two out of three!"