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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Joshua Randall" data-source="post: 9562037" data-attributes="member: 7737">186When we touch the murder door, we -- don't die. Instead we feel like we're disintegrating and that the molecules of our body are being drawn through the wood. (Cool!)We're no longer outside on the landing. We are now in our father's dusty, dark chamber.We fumble for the door latch and pull it open. The hinges creak loudly and we hope we didn't just wake the entire college. Dalris hurries into the room, shuts the door, and lights a lamp. [Miraculous how the lamp oil didn't evaporate over the past fifteen years.]She rummages through drawers and cupboards while we wonder aloud where Landor's spellbooks could be."Forget the lousy spellbooks!" Dalris says. "Help me find the Sceptre of Bhukod before your uncle realizes we've breached the door."Hey! Those "lousy" spellbooks are our father's "only" legacy to us. Well, that and the magic money pouch. And the Sceptre of Bhukod. And our finely chiseled features.Dalris's expression softens. She admits that she lied to us about the spellbooks, which are safe on the mainland at her father's sacred grove. "You'll be able to study them at your leisure as soon as we find the Sceptre of Power."Our feelings are hurt and we ask if Dalris lied to us just to use us to get through the door."Yep," she says.[Not her exact words.] She, her father, and Thayne thought the spellbooks would be more of a lure than the sceptre.Before we can complain about being played for a fool, we hear the sounds of footsteps below us in the tower. Someone has raised the alarm."You're the only human who can touch the sceptre and live!" Dalris cries. She volunteers to stall the wizards with some magic of her own while we find the sceptre.Dalris pulls out her bard flute, steps outside the door, and plays a haunting melody. Soon the tramping footsteps cease; she's bought us some time.We look on our father's desk for clues to the sceptre's location. Our attention is caught by a crystal cube with three scrolls suspended within it, like a miniature gelatinous cube ate some correspondence. [I may have embellished the book's description.]When we pick up the crystal cube, it immediately disintegrates, and the three scrolls fall towards the floor. We grab two of them, one bound with a red ribbon and the other with a black ribbon, but the third scroll hits the floor, bursts into flames, and is reduced to ash before we can do anything.Turn to (120).</blockquote>

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