Krynn's Vanguard passed their first trial and continued on the others, re-entering the center chamber each time and working around counter-clockwise.
The chamber opens into a circular arena of polished stone.
At its center stands a bronze dragon statue with wings half unfurled — not in attack, but shielding something behind it.
Around the chamber stand several frightened civilians: fishermen, children, travelers.
The statues surrounding the chamber shudder.
Stone fractures along their wings and shoulders as metallic plates slide apart, revealing glowing draconic cores burning within.
The constructs unfold to their full height, towering above the chamber floor.
Their eyes ignite with cold light.
Then they turn — not toward you —
but toward the civilians behind you.
The statues attacked the party and the civilians while the party tried to protect them. With some teamwork, Kyan Covverre and Armantaro were able to put the citizens behind a fairly impenetrable wall. With that, the Bronze dragon statue fully unfurled it's wings, beat them one, and the stone dragon statues returned to their place and the entrance to the chamber opened once more.
The next hallway opened to a similar chamber
A tall mirror of polished silver stands at the center of the chamber.
Its surface reflects the room clearly.
Except your reflections move slightly slower than you do.
Each member of the party was asked a question based on their morality, and each answer was answered with the response 'interesting'. Sometimes the reflections asked a 2nd or 3rd question to get a clear answer. After each reflection stepped away from the mirror, the entrance re-opened.
In the last chamber
This chamber is quiet.
At the center kneels a defeated dragonspawn warrior — chained, wounded, breathing heavily.
Behind him stands a silver dragon statue watching silently.
The party debated whether they should kill this prisoner or if they should let the system of how they would be judged run its course. They chose the latter and the prisoner disappeared in a mist of blue light and the chamber opened once more.
In their heads, the voice of Serelyn echoed to the party
Mercy is hardest when it is undeserved.
With that, the large double doors opened
The double doors open slowly, revealing a vast circular chamber beyond.
The ceiling arches high above, its stone carved with spiraling dragons that seem to swim through the rock itself.
At the far end of the chamber stands a raised stone altar.
Resting upon it is a shard of golden crystal the length of a dagger.
The crystal glows softly, like sunlight caught inside glass.
Auri stands beside the altar, hands resting calmly within the sleeves of her robes.
Auri speaks normally.
“You made it through the trials.”
She glances briefly toward the shard.
“Most people don’t.”
She looks back to them.
“They try to win them.”
A small pause.
“The shard isn’t treasure.”
She lightly touches the crystal.
“It’s a piece of a dragon.”
Another pause.
“Which means it’s also a piece of my mother.”
The chamber grows still.
A faint golden light begins to glow beneath Auri’s skin.
The air ripples like heat over desert stone.
Light spills from her shoulders and along the floor in long golden reflections.
The light suddenly surges outward in a blinding wave.
The golden radiance expands across the chamber like sunrise breaking through a storm.
Something enormous moves within the light.
A massive serpentine body coils into existence, scales gleaming like molten gold.
A long, elegant dragon rises from the fading light—far longer than the chamber itself, its body looping through the air like a living river of metal and fire. The whiskered head lowers toward you.
Aurician, Gold Greatwyrm of Aurora, fills the chamber.
His voice reverberates through the chamber.
“The shard carries the strength of dragonkind.”
He coils slowly around the chamber.
“If you carry it…”
His massive head lowers.
“…you must prove you can survive it.”
He lifts slightly.
“Show me.”
With that, combat began. Will Krynn's Vanguard prove themselves worthy in this final trial? Time will tell.