Room17c
Safir reaches for the white mirror which rushes over them. The mirror multiplies the blinding light a thousandfold, shining it at the adventurers from every conceivable angle. When the freezing sensation passes they stagger, blinded by afterimages of the blazing globe.
“I think the light is still directly in front of me,” Safir says. “I can barely see. How are the rest of you?”
“I can’t see anything,” Conrad says. “It’s just too bright.”
“I can see a little,” Lamia says. “The globe is directly ahead of you, Safir.”
Safir ties a rag around her eyes, dimming the light slightly.
She walks slowly toward the light source. It is dazzling, even through the blindfold. After half a dozen steps her questing staff bumps the sphere.
“Protect your eyes as best as you can. I’m going to hit it now.”
The light is so bright that she cannot judge distance and relies on the staff touching the sphere to ready her attack.
Turning her head to the side to avoid the light, she draws back her staff and swings with all her might. There is an arm shuddering impact and she hears a cracking sound. The light remains undimmed.
“I have to hit it again,” she says.
This time Safir raises the staff over her head and puts her entire body behind the swing. The staff impacts the already damaged sphere which explodes outward.
Dozens of shards of glass fly across the room. Safir feels something trace a burning line across her cheek and the others cry out in pain.
She only sees a yellow afterimage filling her vision, for the moment she is blind.
“Is everyone OK? Did that do it? I can’t see a thing.”
“That did it,” Lamia says. “The light is about normal now.”
“I’m going to need a couple of minutes to get my sight back. Everything has this big dot over it.”
“How badly is everyone hurt?” Jora removes his blindfold moves from person to person. Every one of the friends has minor cuts but nothing requiring immediate attention.
“So, what did this accomplish?”
There are no clues or threats revealed by the dousing of the light.
“Maybe it’s just some sort of sick test to see how we react,” Conrad says.
“If this wizard wasn’t already dead, I’d kill him for putting us through this.” Jora fingers the hilt of his sword as he speaks. “Everybody take a few minutes to get your sight back and then we’ll get moving again.”
What choice should the adventurers make?