The right answer
Having met
Whisper in the Tower of the Magi, Thea and her company of guild agents trekked north-east to
Jence, to reinforce the defenses of the Tower of Reason. Inside they found a hidden passage leading down into the heart of the tower, guarded by oddly blighted druidic fanatics who seemed intent on preventing the party from descending further even at cost of their own lives. After defeating a small troop of these strange assailants, they found Whisper standing upside down in an anti-gravity field.
Whisper activated the defences of the first gate - a simple test, an illusion of two cages hovering over a lake of fire, one containing good-natured civilians and the other containing criminals. Explaining that the first verse of the oath of the Little Warriors was to 'protect the innocent without fear or favour', he explained that the only just choice when being forced to make a decision such as this was to find the one forcing such a decision on you and bring them to justice. To willfully kill another beyond a lawful execution was murder, regardless of who was murdered. He cast dispel magic on the illusion, and the door opened.
Beyond the second door was an entire army of these darkened druids, supported by warriors in mechanised suits - they were a fanatical offshoot of the
Brotherhood of Steel. The room was split into two. Advising the army to assail the lesser guarded side and warning them not to interfere, Whisper then assailed the greater clump of the Brotherhood forces with illusionary copies of himself. They met at the top of the ramps, Whisper destroying the bridges leading up to them and trapping the bulk of the Brotherhood behind them, while he and Aramil opened the second door.
This door drained both Aramil and Whisper of their life force. Whisper explained the second verse of the oath was 'to be magnanimous in your actions, and humble in your heart', and that to give of one's own lifeblood was a much greater generosity than mere gold, and that the first step to humility was recognising that one could not do everything alone.
The third room was guarded by mirrors. Explaining that the room was clearly meant to guard against his other half, Whisper confessed that he had no way through himself - his other half, the Abyrrus, would be looking out through any mirror that contained his reflection and would attack them. With a darkness spell, the party progressed to the other side of the mirror maze.
On the other side was a small stash of magic items, including a Psi Orb. Any who touched it was faced with a simple test - if faced with an unavoidable disaster, where they could only save a village full of people they didn't know or a handful of people they loved, what would they choose? To save the most number of lives, or start with those they cared for? The orb glowed a different color depending on the choice. Whisper explained it had been intended as a simple thought experiment, and regarded it like a child's toy, of little concern or note.
Looking about for an expected third gate, the party found an illusion had formed behind them. In days not long past, shortly before Guildfall, Breac Sunfist had been using the orb to identify those who would choose to save the most number of lives and select them to be Little Warriors while excluding those who chose to save their family and friends. He had mistakenly believed this to be the orb's intended purpose, given William Bregan and Rhillaine had always famously chosen the village and turned the orb blue (so that must be the 'right choice').
Whisper explained this was a critical mistake. Rhillaine's closest companions turned the orb different colors, making different choices when faced with the test - some red, as they saved their friends, and some white as they refused to accept the scenario and preferred to die in futility than abandon anyone. But Rhillaine had never excluded any of them for the choices they made. The truth was, there was no 'right answer' to the orb's test. This was why the oath had its second verse, to ensure that whatever choice a Little Warrior made would at least be based on generosity and humility - but that greed and pride were the most insidious of sins, so the oath had a third verse, 'to accept penance for your misdeeds and to learn from your mistakes'. With that, he siezed the orb with a mage hand and crushed it. The hidden third door opened behind them, allowing Whisper to recharge the tower's defenses, which had begun to fail in Reason's absence and presumed death.
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