"That is it! that must the trick! I am sure of it. There were thre parts to the task. Find out which of these blades was Lord Varen's, find a way out of here and return the blade to him."

"So we take all three with us. The trick is that if we hemmed and hawed of the decision we might never move on to the last two steps, thinking we had to identify the blade before we did."

"Quick now, we have to find a way out of here so everyone set to work. An illusion might be keeping us form seeing the exit. or there is a secret door. We need to look for that exit.'

OOC: Aeriel'lyndara uses spot search, and elven ability to find secret doors while actively looking gor it.

"I think you assume too much." says the man watching the frantic sleuthing playing out near the pedestals. Walking to Ahn, he explains, "I am currently Varen's fortress, inside the testing room. He does not own me, nor does he own this knife," Khetarin draws a dagger from his hip and places it on the now vacant pedestal to illustrate his point, "even though it now resides in his testing chamber on one of these pedestals.

"Remember the wording of the Test. Return with the sword to the throne room. The instructions imply that only one of the swords belong to Varen, however they also fail to mention any penalty for returning to the throne room with his blade along with two others that are not his."

After sharing his take on the puzzle with the others, Khetarin returns his dagger to its sheath and then begins to examine the trio of swords. He wills his vision to become sensitive to the emanations given off by all types of magic. He looks first to the blades still in their stands, then to the one Anh holds, trying to determine if there are any magical differences between the weapons.

The important part of my soluntion is that it is a it is quite a solution that will not waste time. If we return with three swords and give them all to Lord Varen then we have fulfilled that part of the test because one of those three is "the" one that is his. Now let us all work on the second part of this test, which is to get out of here.

Villiedr called Ulfr back to heel once the instruction to move came. It was together that the pair of them approached the locked room.

Once the task had been explained, Villiedr found himself wishing he'd gotten Ulfr to memorise the scent of their 'patron'. Simple matter then to find the sword which bore the strongest trace of him. Instead, he started leading Ulfr around the periphery of the room. Logically, the strongest scents would be along the paths people walked most often: Namely, the entrance and exit, around the pedestals, etc. Hopefully, whatever latch or switch opened the exit would also be well-visited enough to tip the wolf's nostrils. If not... well, he had his own eyes as well. Not quite as reliable as the wolf's nose, but they made a decent backup anyway.

While walking Ulfr around to find solutions to part two, Villiedr weighed in on the debate about part one. "Applying a little logic to this, I can see three alternative situations. The first: There is a difference between the swords, which we can actually perceive. There is one correct sword and it can be found by examination and thought. The second: There is a difference, but it lies in the pedestals or the placement or some other environmental factor, and not the swords themselves. The third: There is no difference, and this is a test of our approach to problem solving. Probably also a test to see what sort of decision-making structure we will form, how we parcel out work, that sort of thing."

As Ariel'lyndara lifts the first two blades she notices that they seem heavier than one would expect a short sword to usually be, yet they are perfectly balanced and the weight does not seem to be a hindrance at all. Other than that nothing seems, at first glance, to be out of place about the swords. As she begins her search for secret doors she finds one on the wall opposite of the one they entered through, but finds no apparent switch to open said door.

Further examinations reveal the blades to be completely identical in every way, down to the runic figures carved in the blade above the hilt, which do not resemble a language any of you have ever seen.

As Khetarin looks around the room looking for magical clues he finds that the blades do not give off any magical aura whatsoever, however, he does spot several glowing runes on the east wall which appear to be a message from a previous initiate, as he focuses his sight on them they seem to shift and form familiar words, "The key is not to worry about which blade, but to find the switch, any blade will do, but the way will only open if the two remaining blades are on the outer stands." Lucky for the group that Varen does not seem to have the rooms checked for messages like this very often.

As Ulfr sniffs around the room the majority of scents she catches seem to be focused around the three pillars, the south wall which the group entered through, and the north wall where Ariel'lyndara is currently searching for hidden doors. She seems to get particularly anxious along the north wall, as if nervous about something beyond.

"The way out lies through here but I can find no switch ot trigger to open it." Ariel'lyndara tells the rest of the initiates. We need to look for that. "It could be hidden anywhere in the floor, around the door somewhere else,perhaps we needt to check the pillars as well."

"You need to replace two of the swords if you ever want this door to open." Khetarin slowly walks up to the hidden portal Ariel had discovered as he speaks, purposefully avoiding eye contact with the rest of the group.

"If we are in agreement that the swords are the same, the same runes, the same weight, the same balance, then let us assume, for purposes of this test, that they are in fact the same sword. Any one of them is the right choice."

At the wall he slides a hand along its surface, trying to feel the outline of the doorway. "So then if they are all the same sword, if any one of them will do, why bother with them at all? I think Villiedr is right. They have to be connected to the second task: Finding the way out. Try keeping the center pillar empty and return swords to the outer two pedestals."

Watching the wolf for a moment as she sniffed around the edges of the secret door, Villiedr was finding the situation progressively more curious.

"Ulfr seems to be smelling something worrying beyond the secret door. That is good and bad news, I suppose - the good being that the door is not airtight, so we have no risk of choking in here. The bad being that there's something on the other side of the door that worries a wolf. Still, nothing obvious we can do to avoid having to use the exit, so we may as well get it open. Does your mysterious source of knowledge" Obviously, Villiedr did not know about the runes, "mention any details about what we'd find beyond the door? And is there anything more to opening it safely than just putting two of the swords back?"

"I have no idea what's behind the door," Khetarin responded. Having finished his basic search of the wall near the door, the man returned his attention to the pedestals. "Nor do I know for certain what all is required to open the door. I assume there is some kind of switch either near the door, in or on one of these pedestals. If the swords are identical then it won't matter which one we take and which ones we leave. I believe it only matters where we leave them."

At the pedestals, Khetarin takes his time thoroughly inspecting each one. He also glances across the room at the door Leo had brought them through, trying to formulate a less subtle alternate escape route.

Anh listened to the debate and the logic seemed to coincide with his own. Solving puzzles wasn't what Anh did best. He was a swordsman. Give me a reason to wield the sword I'm good ask me o tell the difference between the same blade based on obscure facts. Who cares? They will all three cut I'm sure.
"The way out lies through here but I can find no switch or trigger to open it." Ariel'lyndara tells the rest of the initiates. We need to look for that. "It could be hidden anywhere in the floor, around the door somewhere else,perhaps we needt to check the pillars as well."

Anh looked where she indicated and started searching the wall by lightly pressing various spots on the wall. Perhaps it isn't a switch but a loose brick. "Ulfr seems to be smelling something worrying beyond the secret door. That is good and bad news, I suppose - the good being that the door is not airtight, so we have no risk of choking in here. The bad being that there's something on the other side of the door that worries a wolf. Still, nothing obvious we can do to avoid having to use the exit, so we may as well get it open. Does your mysterious source of knowledge" Villedir piped in, "mention any details about what we'd find beyond the door? And is there anything more to opening it safely than just putting two of the swords back?"

At the comment of something 'worrying' being behind the door Anh stopped pressing on the wall and took up a position in front of the door.

"If there is danger behind the door then I will meet it head on." Anh announced drawing his sword and readying his shield. All problems should be met head on. Kherazinth's strength flow through me. As he thought this prepping himself for whatever leaps from the wall Anh's aura glowed a slight silver as it waved thirty feet around him. The glow was more felt than seen but Anh straightened as it waved from him and stared forward unwavering at the wall. (Draconic Aura Power)