Fleur hid a smile, seeing them all work together for the briefest of moments, as she looked back to the others. Saur had seemingly found something she missed. With a flourish of her dress she made her way back to peer at the papers that Saur found. He was correct in his assumptions. As Fleur got a closer look at the rune on the paper, she delved into her past knowledge of Arcane magics. She closed her eyes and reached out. As images flooded her mind (ironic) she saw a waterfall.

"A good find. Whatever it was meant for it has the power of torrential water behind it. Given that there is a set of watery footprints I think it is safe to say it was not Teacher Ot who was in here wearing the mask or leaving the trail behind him. I cannot say if he caused the crack in his desk or not, though my hopes is that he didn't as whoever did would surely be hurt. I suggest we follow the prints before we lose them also unless someone else has another idea."

"All the more reason to find him as swiftly as possible, then," Saur agreed with a nod of his head, moving to Fleur's side. He glanced up at her for a moment as he passed her by, recalling their brief squabble this morning at Alandri's.... However, now was not the time to bring it up. Nothing should be distracting them from ensuring that whatever was going on was stopped as soon as possible. The torrent of water Fleur mentioned caused him some concern. If it wasn't Teacher Ot who left this behind, and it likely wasn't another staff member due to how wrong the interpretations seemed to be, unless there were staff even less inclined to the magical arts than he was as a brand new student....

"A student," Saur concluded aloud as he approached the watery trail. He crouched down to the trail, kneeling beside it and eyeing it for a moment. "Whoever this was, there's a strong chance that our culprit's a student. And more than one, judging from this trail. I can't tell the number; water trails don't leave that kind of detailed information behind. But it had to be people who belong here or they would've drawn too much attention, and like I said before, I find it hard to believe a staff member would reach such incorrect conclusions about that rune. Not impossible of course, but...."

His eyes narrowed. What would a student be doing studying a rune that seemed to exclusively be used to summon a torrent of water? It was a magic school, so studying the rune itself wasn't out of the ordinary. It could also just have been something a student was asking about with Teacher Ot. But the fact that water was covering the floor combined with the water rune...? There were a number of possibilities. It could have even simply been a prank gone awry or something. He himself had tended to the wounds of guards because of a poorly executed joke before. But still, something inside him was roaring at him, telling him that there something worse going on in the background....

"Regardless, I concur with Fleur," Saur added, rising back to his feet again. "But I would recommend you all keep your wits about you and keep your guard up around any students that aren't in this group. I do not believe we will be attacked, but making assumptions is how someone gets snatched."

With that, he turned around and, if nobody else had anything further to look at or add, he would make begin following the trail in search of its source.

Scene:

As Fleur and Saur lead the way out of Teacher Ot's office, the group falls in behind them. The watery footsteps are still fresh and easy to follow. The building seems oddly sparse of staff, faculty, or students as the group navigates the halls to the West. The two leading the way spot some blood mixed in with the soggy trail and trade glances before they continue on.

Following the footsteps leads to an elaborate door hewn from ebony and stone. The door has no discernible handle, but instead is inset with 12 fist-sized icons in a circle. Clockwise from the top, these engraved symbols include a star burst, blue leopard, black heron, red hyena, grey elephant, golden snake, single leaf, black ibex, frog of shifting colors, emerald spider, walnut hawk, and white bull—-the Ten Magic Warriors, along with some common arcane iconography and four violet gems depicting the essences of magic, all surround a noble portrait depicting Jatembe himself.



Across from this beautiful door sits a clock with a mirror background set two feet off the ground, spanning a seven-foot radius. Every hour on the clock is positioned over a reflected icon from the door. A subtle mosaic display of a map of Nantambu corresponds to where Jatembe’s portrait is positioned. On it,
a canal near the Magaambya labeled “Gonbossa” has been obviously marked with a damp fingerprint. Three gold arms point at various icons on the clock. The thickest points down to the lower left, toward the ibex. The middle switches from the bull to the leopard as the thinnest laps it, ticking across each icon.

End Scene

Storyteller's Aside

@rush99999 @patientbean @vertigo @digizel @clanjos Welcome to your first puzzle!

As the group made their way through the hall, Saur couldn't help but notice how quiet it was. Even with his tuned senses, he wasn't picking up much activity. Strange, all things considered. Did everybody leave work behind already...? Bah, hell of a time for there to be nobody around; Teacher Ot was missing and nobody but them likely even realized it. Or maybe it was that Teacher Ot was missing now because there was nobody around...? Well regardless, judging from the blood in the watery trail, he didn't have time to concern himself. The wounds that had been inflicted clearly hadn't been properly tended to. He exchanged a concerned glance with Fleur, nodding subtly before returning his focus to their surroundings.

"What the hell is this?" Saur suddenly muttered aloud as they finally arrive at what seemed to be their destination. He stopped before the large, elaborate door, his gaze soon drifting to the mirrored clock on the opposite side. He took in all of the details he could in this initial glance, but the only thing he could pick up for sure was that this was no ordinary door.

"Why the hell does this door have so many pictures on it?" he muttered, quickly stepping forward to examine the door closer up. It was at this point that he finally clocked the gears inlaid into the center of the door. Some kind of mechanism; no doubt a lock of some kind. Though as he studied it, he couldn't find what he could describe as a keyhole or anything. "Well, whatever the case, it seems that whoever we're tracking knew how to open it. Look." With that, he gestured at the trail. "The trail stops here. Or more accurately, it goes in."

Fleur followed the wet footsteps closely. If she was correct, what happened in Teacher Ot's office was not good. Someone was significantly hurt and things were destoryed or stolen. Teacher Ot could be dying somewhere. Fleur would not admit it openly, of course, but there was also some sort of thrill. She enjoyed a mystery or figuring things out, making sense of something that could not be immediately explained.

And then she saw the blood.

That compounded with the eerie silence of no one being around led her to believe things were not all right. Saur seemed to agree with her as he nodded at her, a subtle message that her and him were on the same wavelength.

Soon they came up to a door and a clock. The door itself had images on it, none of which made sense to her right away. Still, it was here and the trail led through it, which meant it could be opened.

"Hold on, let me see something." Fleur called upon her magical ability and cast Detect Magic. With her training in the Occult, she found it easier to get a sense of magical artifacts and spells.

Squaring on the door, Fleur closes her eyes for a moment to center herself. She immediately found that its magical properties cried out to her, desperate to reveal its secrets! In her mind, she heard an ancient, wizened voice make a simple request:

"Tell the time."

Fleur's eyes were drawn to the large, grand clockwork contraption whose hands busily stand over mirrored icons of the door across the hallway. Her magical connection to the door had not waned, though for the moment that appears to be all that the door is willing to communicate to her.

"There's magic at work here. The door is connected to the clock. I heard something suggest telling the time would be the answer. I don't suppsoe anyone knows the current time so we can adjust it? The symbols must be connected in that way."

"If all else is to fail, I have many explosives ready! But I believe that the sequence is Ibex, then Leopard then... some third one, due to the rule of three."

Starfinger hopped over to the door, pressing the Ibex first, then the leopard. Thinking for a moment, he looked back over to the clock and map.

"...Where on the map is the Gonbossa, and... about where would that be on the face-door?

Scene:

As Starfinger's slender digit pressed on the Ibex, one of the four inset gems depicting the essences of magic began to alight brilliantly. Then, as he pressed the Leopard, a second violet gem in the center of the door began to shine, in a clockwise pattern from the first. Two of the four gems now shine brightly at the group, as Starfinger considers what insignia to touch next.

Fleur, standing by, continues to feel an occult connection to the door. When Starfinger touches the icons of the Ibex and Leopard, positive energy wafts from the door, indicated in the shining of the violet gems around Jatembe's portrait, dead center. The Elf continues to feel spurring energy from her magic connection with the object.

End Scene

Storyteller's Aside

Let me know if you all have any questions, but feel free to explore the space!

Saur looked back at the others as everybody began to consider the door as well. When Fleur spoke up and stepped forward to inspect the door herself, he nodded his head in response and took a few steps away from the door. In the meantime, he took the time to examine their surroundings more closely. His attention was drawn to the mirrored clock on the opposite wall. He watched it tick, tick tick while Fleur continued to work.... Something about this clock was drawing his attention, and he couldn't put his claw on why....

Finally, it clicked as Fleur finished with her magic and gave her final analysis and voiced what she figured out. "I think your answer's right there," he commented, gesturing toward the mirrored clock. However, he had only just started pointing it out when Starfinger had stepped up and began to push the buttons himself. He turned and watched Starfinger pushing the ibex, and then the leopard.... He compared the inputs to the mirrored icons on the clock, watching the second hand continue to move...and noticing the bright glow from two of the inner circle on the door.... And finally, something connects.

"...No, it's not Natambu," Saur murmured aloud, stepping up beside Starfinger. He looked back at the clock again, raising his claw up toward the icons as well. "If we have to tell the time, then we probably have to use all three hands on the clock." He waited for a moment until the "second" hand would cross one of the icons on the mirror clock before pressing the corresponding icon at the same time, which ended up being the red hyena.

Scene:

As our resident kobold's claw touches the hyena, a third gem begins to alight in the same brilliant color as the first two. Around the portrait of Jatembe, three of the four gems now shine a magical, violet at the group who face the door. Still, the door remains held fast, even as three gems shine.

Fleur's connection, still unwaning, continues to pulse positive energy from the magical door as Saur's investigation seems to feel like it's on the right track.

Around the group, the hallway still appears vacant. The puddles which led them to this door give off a peculiar smell. Beneath the door, there appears to be a steady dribble of water coming from within.

End Scene

Storyteller's Aside

If Fleur isn't able to pass along the feelings she's getting, anyone else can try to make a connection with the door, or otherwise recall knowledge.

As Saur maneuvered the door, Fleur felt a sensation rush within her. Whatever he was doing, the door was responding.

Fleur noticed the smell as well and bent down some to get a better sense. As she did, the noted the dribble from within.

"Whatever you are doing is working. The door is radiating a positive energy. There also seems to be a trickle of water coming out from behind it. Progress carefully, but continue. We are on the right track"

Scene:

As Elaeshor stretches out a hand to touch the portrait of Jatembe, all four of the icons begin to glow; instead of purple, however, all the gems in the icons glow a soft blue color. As Elaeshor steps back, the door gives a satisfying click, and starts to drift open inward.

The heroes, thus occupied with the door, do not notice that they are joined in that moment by an eccentric looking, Elven individual.

"Oh hello, students," the woman caws in a oddly rehearsed-sounding fashion, "seeking supplies in the reshelving room, are we? Well. What do you need, perhaps I can help you find--" but the instructor is not able to finish her query, drowned as it is in a shriek of surprise and disgust!

The door, unsealing itself now, lets loose a torrent of stinking water into the hall up to the ankles of the heroes (and poor Saur, Starfinger, and Jenk's shins). Riding atop the wave that floods the hall are various arcane articles, parchments, potions, and runes, bouncing against and scattering past the group. Now wholly visible, lit by blue magical light from within, the inside of this reshelving room appears to be a partially flooded storage room. One thing is also obvious: it reeks in here!

Beside them, the Elven instructor is busy clicking her tongue, grasping her garment, and whirling around to survey the damage both in the hall and within the reshelving room.

End Scene

Storyteller's Aside

Congratulations on solving the puzzle! You made short work of it IC :D. Feel free to search the room a bit, make some checks, or discuss among yourselves.