1.
You have to jump to make it to the other side of the broken stairs. Astarion won't let you go first, once he's sure there's no immediate danger, he has you jump, followed by Lae'zel and Shadowheart. You look around as the others make their jumps and that's when you spot it again. You turn and hush the others, crouching down as you do, pointing at it. Shadowheart whispers in your ear that it's a displacer beast, and that it should not be down here. The two of you creep forward together, trying to get closer to the beast.
It runs off, further down the hall, but not like an animal fleeing danger… more like it's luring its prey into trap. You stand and wait for the others. Astarion comes up behind the two of you, complaining the smell is getting stronger, the stench of fetid flesh. Even you can smell it now, pungent and putrid.
It dashes around a corner, you and Shadowheart rushing to follow, turning the corner and stopping dead in your tracks. You've found the source of the smell, a mountain of rotting corpses. It's there the beast hunches, wriggling its shoulders and lashing its tail, like a cat ready to pounce. And that's when you hear it, the sound of a crossbow being loaded, that distinct click when it's ready to fire. You look up at the broken floor above you and your blood runs cold.
"What's this?" It's a deep grumbling voice coming from the mouth of an enormous devil, "Fresh entertainment?" He spreads his lips into a hideous smile. Lae'zel and Astarion come up to you and Shadowheart. Your eyes scan the ledge, the entire thing lined with devils, your mouth goes dry as the leader speaks, "But you're too fresh for this place, aren't you? There's a whiff of the surface to you…" He sniffs the air like a hound, "There's something else, almost hidden by your fear stink… cherries, musk… and Sulphur. Raphael! I can smell him all over you. Where is he?"
You've found the one Raphael wants killed, but how are you supposed to fight this monstrosity? He alone would be beyond anything you've faced. He's surrounded by minions and there's the displacer beast… Your mind races, trying to think of how you can even help. True Shadowheart had been helping you learn more protection spells and your healing has improved simply from the amount you've needed to use it, but should you focus on healing or protecting? You're no longer sure what you're capable of, so much has changed.
You can hear Shadowheart and the devil talking, but none of it is registering. You continue thinking about every spell you know, whether or not it would be useful here, where you should run so you're out of the way but can still provide support, how can you best help everyone else fight. Your mind starts to clear, you have a few ideas on what you can do, but something is happening: the smaller devils are stabbing each other, their bodies disintegrating into ash.
Your mouth hangs open. You want to ask what's going on; you've clearly missed something. You turn, looking at Lae'zel, her face is stern but calm while Astarion is scowling at Shadowheart. You look at her now, a cruel smile playing at the corners of her lips,
"You're not finished yet, the displacer can hear you, can't she? Kill her."
"... Kill Nessa?" The devil looks over at the beast, she purrs at hearing her name, "Stay very still, my beauty…" He shoots her with the crossbow, you hear her body crumple to the floor, but your eyes never leave the devil, "Arh! I still hear it!"
"Kill yourself, complete the contract, and you'll be reborn in Avernus. Free."
"If you're wrong about this. I'll claw my way out of Avernus and eat you alive, contract be damned. Nicely played, Raphael. Bastard." And with his final curse he thrusts a blade into himself and falls.
You remain silent, relief flooding through you, as you stand awestruck by her power to manipulate a devil, but before you can praise her for it Astarion snaps,
"That had better count, Shadowheart!" He's furious.
"What? It's dead, isn't it?" She turns to him, "Did you really think that the four of us could take on that monster along with all those minions and a displacer beast?" She looks at you before continuing, "We have other things to get to down here without needlessly endangering ourselves." She stalks off towards the broken steps before he can answer.
"Agreed." Is all Lae'zel says before following after Shadowheart.
You stay, waiting for him to say something but he just glowers at her retreating figure. What had she meant by that look she just gave you?
You walk into the central hall, Astarion pulling you along as you struggle to keep up with him. His mood has turned sour, he's not saying anything, but you know he's anxious about what happened. He needs that little ploy of Shadowheart's to have worked so he can get his answers from Raphael. You want to comfort him, assure him that dead is dead, that Raphael didn't add any stipulations on how the devil died, just that it did.
Lae'zel and Shadowheart are talking as you approach,
"I say we find this necromancer. He may be able to tell us more about the temple and point us towards the trials you are so desperate to find."
"I'd rather ignore him until I fulfil my Lady's wishes and then go kill him for defiling this temple."
"I agree with Lae'zel, we should find Balthazar and be done with the cult's business." He stands beside her, his eyes cold as he looks at Shadowheart.
"I'm with Shadowheart. I'd rather help her." You smile at her as she nods at you, but then he pulls you away from her, into him, his arm wrapping around your shoulders as he narrows his eyes at you… "But… maybe getting more information first, isn't such a bad idea…" He smiles at that, and you can't bring yourself to look back at her as she lets out an exasperated groan.
Lae'zel leads the way. The halls are long, and you walk in silence. Shadowheart walked off ahead of you and Astarion after you agreed to go to the necromancer first. You're sure she's mad at you for something, not just for changing your mind but also that look she gave you when she said 'needlessly endangering ourselves'. Like you would put everyone in danger in a fight. You know you're not the most reliable in a fight, but you don't think yourself useless… At the very least you try to be helpful and to not be a hindrance, you can heal, you can use some offensive spells, you just prefer to reserve your magic for healing, you've started to get better with a sword, and your aim isn't the worst with a bow anymore… So why did she look at you like that? Your brooding is interrupted by the skeleton trio again.
"Hurry inside, or your racket is liable to-" the ground begins to shake, "Rancid donkey scrotum! The quakes herald the shadows, it's already too late!"
Empty Justiciar armors and more of those portals appear around the room you're in, attacking you all. Now's your chance to prove that you're not useless. You ignore the skeletons and focus on helping close the portals while everyone else fights the armors. You manage to get two closed before more guardian armors come through. Lae'zel is having a hard time, pinned down with a gash on her leg; you heal her up and even cast a protection spell so she can fight harder. You run to another portal to help Shadowheart, but more are opening up. Two of the skeletons are gone, it's harder to get to the last of the portals, Astarion provides you with covering fire as you run, casting a mass healing spell as you go. Your sword comes down on the last of the portals, it shimmers and vanishes, leaving you to look around at everyone. You're winded, but everyone is injury free and you're not even that drained. You're rather proud of yourself. Hopefully that will prove to them you're not worthless in a fight.
The remaining skeleton opens a large door to a room with more animated corpses, a grotesque pieced together flesh creature and a rather corpulent man behind a large stone table; you assume that must be Balthazar. Shadowheart doesn't move to go in while Lae'zel and Astarion stride right on through, you stay with her. She glares into the room,
"I'm staying here. Let them get what they want from him." She turns and stalks towards a pillar and leans against it.
"I'll stay with you." Your voice comes out lower than you would have liked. You know she's anxious to be done here and get back to finding the trials, and you want to show your support for her, but don't really know how, you're convinced she thinks you're holding everyone back.
You stand in awkward silence with her, the voices from the other room drift out but you can't understand what's being said. So, you wait for Astarion and Lae'zel to return and tell you what they learned.
They come out and tell you and Shadowheart that you've been tasked with helping hi bring back a relic to Moonrise, this relic is what grants the General his immortality and the way to get to it is by getting passed the gauntlet that Shadowheart needs to become a Dark Justiciar. Your eyes widen with relief and excitement as you turn to Shadowheart,
"See, it wasn't a terrible idea to come here first, right?"
"I know…" She rolls her eyes at you before smiling, "I just want to get this started. I need to do this. And… thanks, for wanting to help me."
"Of course! Now let's go make a Dark Justiciar of you." You link arms and stride off towards the trials, quieting the doubt plaguing you.
2.
You enter the first room of trials. There's a statue of Shar holding out a large basin, behind it there's a wall with locked gates in a few doorways. Shadowheart goes to the statue, slices her wrist over the basin, her blood a sacrifice and then she prays. A moment or two passes before she opens her eyes,
"I'll do this alone. Just wait for me here,"
"If, you're sure. I can come, if you want," You're eager to help, but understand if these trials are intended to be faced alone.
"No. I can do this." There's quiet resolve in her voice as you watch her disappear beyond a gated doorway.
"What do you suppose these trials will entail?" Lae'zel walks up next to you and the statue, studying it more closely.
"I'm not really sure. I suppose they'd be challenges based on the tenants of Shar's worship. I don't know much about their practices other than secrecy is paramount." You shrug, "And a deep-seated hatred for Selune," You smirk thinking of the cave. It feels like so long ago now, but really, it hasn't been.
You walk around the room to see if there's anything interesting, but it's mostly old bones and broken pottery so you just lean against a wall and wait. You don't know how long you stand there, but it's long enough that you start to line up pebbles with your foot. You can feel Astarion watching you. Every step you took around the room his eyes followed you, you'd stop and smile at him, but he didn't speak or move, just watched you. You wonder if he's still thinking about what happened with the devil.
Shadowheart emerges from a different gate, breathless but triumphant. You rush to her, clasping her hands and bombarding her with questions, not letting her catch her breath. She shushes you with a hand to your mouth and giggles but reveals nothing: a secret as you thought. All she does is insist you move on to the next trial and you let her pull you along excitedly, feeling his eyes on you as you hurry by.
You enter the next trial room, the walls are lined with reliefs of Shar, four pillars surround the statue with the basin and a single narrow door lies beyond it. Shadowheart makes her sacrifice and goes through the door. You occupy yourself with looking at one of the reliefs, mildly jealous of what Shar is wearing, before growing bored and going to sit with your silent companions. Lae'zel's silence seems to come from a general sense of calm, like she understands these trials must be done alone, so no need to interfere. Astarion's silence seems to be more from consternation than anything else. You place a hand on his leg and give a reassuring smile, he breaths heavily, wrapping an arm around your shoulder to pull you in close as you relax into his embrace.
"I could use a little help here!" Shadowheart half drags herself to where you're sitting.
"Shadowheart!" You scramble to help her, noticing a bloodied hand clenching her side, "What happened?" You sit her down to take a look, she's closed the wound, but it must have been deep, there's so much blood on her.
"Just a silly mistake," She hisses in pain, and you can see another gash on her that's still oozing, "You mind?" She smiles through her wince, about to gesture to it but your hands are already busy at work, "I had to fight myself… Hah… Didn't know I was such a wily bitch up close."
"You're downright brutal up close." You smile at her as you look for more wounds, healing anything you find, "I take it you passed?"
"Damn right." Her voice sounds less strained but she's going to need time to recover a bit.
"Fantastic. Now could I maybe suggest you stop for the day?" You help her to stand.
"That sounds like an excellent idea. As much as I want to keep going, that may not be the best thing right now." She drapes her arm around your shoulders so you can walk together.
"How can we be sure this is the real Shadowheart? If she says she fought herself…" Lae'zel can't hide the smirk giving away her ruse as she starts to walk ahead of you two, you're beginning to like this new side of Lae'zel.
"Oh haha, very funny Lae'zel. It was a shadow version of me, not a doppelganger. It just managed to sneak up on me, that's all." She does a little head shake and playfully purses her lips.
"Now, now, Shadowheart don't go beating yourself up over- oh wait… You already did…" Astarion's cheeky smile flashes as he joins the procession back to camp, his mood seemingly improved.
You get back to camp and help her out of her armor. As she settles down on her bedroll you rummage in your packs to get something to eat. You sit with her, letting her talk as much as she can about the trials thus far, which isn't much. But she's so enthusiastic about the whole thing, at every trial she has felt her goddess encouraging her, she's felt like this is her destiny. You are so happy for her; you too know the joy of feeling blessed by your goddess and of the feeling of having found what you're meant for. You look across the little camp at Astarion and smile to yourself.
Although the two of you could talk all night, she is tired from today and will turn in early for the night. You're not tired at all but you do want to get more comfortable, you shed your padded tunic and pants to put on a long shirt to sleep in and free your hair from your braid. You walk over to Astarion, who's still drinking his dinner.
"May I join you?" You tilt your head and give a coy smile.
"The pleasure would be all mine," He holds his hand out to help you down when he suddenly looks behind you, narrowing his eyes and you here Raphael's voice,
"Do you know what happens to a devil when it's struck down on this charming plane of existence?" He makes his way over to you, swaggering as always. You take Astarion's hand to help him up instead of joining him on the floor, "It returns to the hells - to the very point it last stood before venturing to whichever devil forsaken plane it died on." You stand beside Astarion as Raphael continues on, "In the case of Yurgir, the orthon you so handily dispatched in the temple of Shar, he manifested in my House of Hope. He thought I would dismember him, but he has his uses so instead I'm reeducating him." He finishes with the smuggest of smiles.
"We delivered the devil. Now I want what I'm owed. We had a deal." Astarion bristles at Raphael.
"Indeed, we did. I discovered all there is to know about those scars of yours." He gestures at Astarion, "It's a rather grim tale, even for my tastes. Now brace yourself, Astarion, we're about to unveil your destiny." You see Astarion stiffen and clench his fists. "Carved into that ivory skin of yours is one part of an infernal contract between the archdevil Mephistopholes and your former master, Cazador Szarr. In full the contract states that Cazador will be granted knowledge of an infernal ritual so vile it has never been performed. The Rite of Profane Ascension. It promises to be a marvelous ceremony. Very elaborate, incredibly ancient and entirely diabolical. If he completes the right, he will become a new kind of being. The Vampire Ascendant. All the strengths of his vampiric form will be amplified, and alongside them he will enjoy the luxuries of the living. The arousals and appetites of man will return to him and unlike Astarion, he will have no need of a parasite to protect him from the sun." Your eyes focus on Astarion's face, watching his eyes widen, "But the ritual has its price, as all worthwhile things do. Lord Cazador will need to sacrifice a number of souls, including all of his vampiric spawn, if he is to ascend." This time it's your eyes that widen and you feel your stomach sink, "Imagine how he felt then, when one of those precious spawn simply disappeared into thin air. The only missing ingredient is Astarion. You are the final piece he requires to complete the ritual. Your scars bind you to it. Your soul will set off a very wave of death, bringing Cazador his twisted life. And that my tragic and toothsome friend, is that. Now if you'll excuse me, I have business elsewhere." And with a snap he vanishes in a whiff of sulfuric smoke.
You reach out and grasp Astarion's arm as he stares at the ground,
"Hmmm…" It's like he doesn't even notice you, he's so lost in thought.
"Astarion?" Your voice is quiet. What Raphael said…
"Yes?" He finally turns his gaze on you.
"Are you all, right? That was..." How do you put into words what just happened? The monster that turned and tortured him intends to now sacrifice him and the thought of it just…
"A lot to take in, I know… There's a way to become a living vampire…" His eyes focus on something far away, "I could get rid of the worm in my head and still walk in the sun. I'd finally be free of the hunger." His whole body seems to vibrate with the promise of a better life, "And if I'm the key to this deal of Cazador's, perhaps I can turn this to my advantage… I need to take the fight to him." He looks down at you with that hungry smile, "And you will help me."
"Of course, my love. I'd do anything for you." His hopefulness quiets your fears, just looking at him and you know there's nothing you wouldn't give to see him happy.
"You're sweet, my love." He gently caresses your face before kissing you softly.
But that soft kiss quickly turns vicious, his mouth leaving your lips to bite your neck. You gasp, biting your lip to keep from moaning. Shadowheart may be asleep but you're certain Lae'zel is still awake. One of his hands grips your ass, pulling you close while the other tangles in your hair, his mouth still hungrily sucking at your neck. You want to give in to it all, but you know you can't. There's too much happening for you to risk being drained right now; you don't know what tomorrow will bring. You fingers tangle into his shirt, ready to give him your signal but before you can protest, he pulls away and kisses you again with bloody lips, you don't stop yourself moaning into him this time. He smiles into your kiss, his lips moving to your ear, whispering that it's time for bed. As he leads you to your shared bedrolls you find yourself hoping he'll continue. It's almost unfair how easily he riles you up.
3.
He did not continue. And you're certain he did it on purpose, like he enjoyed making you want him just so he could deny you. You wake feeling… frustrated. You need to do something to distract yourself. Thankfully Shadowheart is already up so you go to her,
"How are you feeling this morning?" You pull her braid out of her armor as she finishes fastening it, smiling and shaking your head as she had done to you.
"Much better thank you. I'm ready to finish this." She tugs everything into place and smiles.
"Hopefully we can finish this today. I've run out of… food." Astarion surprises you when he comes up behind you. He noses into your neck and teases you with his teeth.
"Ah! Astarion!" You didn't mean to gasp like that, you know your face is flushed and you try to raise your shoulder, but he pushes into your neck further, his fangs threatening to pierce your skin.
"Chk. Must you indulge in such displays of affection?" Lae'zel approaches from the side holding a half-filled bottle out to Shadowheart, "It's unsightly."
"Sorry." You try to wiggle out of his grasp, "Astarion we should get ready." But he only holds you tighter, lifting his head to look at Lae'zel,
"And ignore your good advice?" He finally releases you, but keeps a hand gently caressing your neck, "I think not."
"That is not what I meant. But do as you wish, Astarion." She turns to finish packing her things and readying for the day.
You look to Shadowheart, both of you shrugging, still not privy to what Lae'zel had said to Astarion and they were clearly referring to it just now. She goes off to finish filling the bottle and packing her things as you let Astarion lead you back to get ready. He helps you put on your armor before packing the bottle Shadowheart gives him, you suppose he's not hungry yet considering he had a full bottle and you last night. You finish packing and pile everything on the platform, everyone hoping that today will be the last spent here.
Shadowheart leads the way down to the next trial, arm linked with yours. You chatter excitedly about how she's almost done and then when she gets to Baldur's Gate, she will show her Mother Superior just how wrong she had been to deny her dream all this time. You stride passed the previous trials, down deeper into the temple to the final trial…
This room doesn't separate the trial from the statue, instead the whole thing is laid out before you and you look on in awe. Shadowheart goes to the statue to make her sacrifice and pray while you look around. The floor leading in has a strange pattern in the tiles, and beyond the raised ground you stand on is a darkness that obscures the floor beyond. There are more raised platforms amidst the darkness and at the far end is another statue that looks to be holding something, though you can't make out what.
Shadowheart finishes her prayer and walks over to the patterned floor tiles and studies it. You watch her silently count, her finger tapping the number and direction, then she closes her eyes and repeats it without looking, then does it a few more times before nodding to herself and walking into the darkness…
You had all remained silent as she had done this, sure that whatever this trial required, failure would mean death.
You find yourself nervously watching her, chewing the inside of your mouth and digging your nails into your palms. You walk over to the pattern and follow the path she's taking, willing her to remember everything correctly. You even try to see if you can remember it, treating it more like memorizing a dance than anything else: a poor attempt to calm yourself. You flick your eyes back up to Shadowheart, she's standing stock still, breathing heavily. You check where she is on the map, she's so close… Should you call out to her where to go? Should you let her do it alone? Would Shar do something if one of you were to interfere? You find your own breathing getting faster, shallower as you watch her… She can do this… You know she can…
Shadowheart takes a deep breath, steadies herself and turns, walking confidently to the final goal. She climbs up to the statue, claims her prize and is transported back to where you all stand waiting for her. You rush to her and hug her, she's surprised but returns the hug.
"Gods! That was nerve wracking! But you did it!"
"I did!" She's breathless, pleased with herself, "But I knew I could. Never a doubt in my mind." Her cheeky head shake makes you both giggle.
"Yes. A job well done. Is there more to this? For you seem no different to me." Lae'zel arches a brow and gives a now easy smirk.
"As a matter of fact, there is more to it, Lae'zel." Shadowheart leans in her direction, sweet sarcasm tingeing her words, then she hooks her arm into yours, "We have to go to the library to get something needed for the ritual. And if I'm not mistaken you can all come with me for that part, the trials are done."
You walk out the door with your friends as Astarion silently follows behind. You come to the entrance to the library, there's no door so you can see inside though there is a strange magical barrier over the archway leading in. You look inside as you get closer, it looks like an amphitheater, all sides of the room leading down to the center, though you can't see the bottom from back here. You get closer to the barrier, testing it and find it's passable, but the moment you pass through the threshold something feels off… You can't feel your magic. Your eyes meet Shadowheart's, she feels the same sensation while Astarion and Lae'zel seem oblivious. You go to say something, warn them but that's when you see the enormous portal at the center of the room, swirling with malefic magic, awakening its guardians.
You reach for your bow, the only thing you're capable of doing now is firing arrows and praying that they hit. Your aim has improved, but when things are too far away you still tend to miss more than hit, you heavily depend on your magic to supplement distance fighting. You're not terrible with your short sword and shield, but you know you'd only be in the way if you ran into the fight with Shadowheart and Lae'zel. Astarion throws down his quiver at your feet before drawing his blades and running, following close behind the girls.
You hold still a moment, trying to calm your mind and take in everything that's happening. What is the best thing for you to focus on right now? You don't want to fire at the guardians the others are in close combat with, you'd risk hitting them. You don't want to try hitting the ones that are also firing arrows, they're so far and you don't want to waste every arrow trying to hit them. The portal is the only thing you know you can handle, you're good at closing them by now; they don't move, and you can slowly walk down the stairs while firing. Hopefully that will get you close enough to then fire on the archers once the portal is closed. You take a deep breath and notch an arrow.
Your simple plan is working. You're making slow but steady progress. You're keeping an eye on the others, so far no one is down or looks too badly hurt. Their fight has moved away from the portal, so you run to it, pulling out your sword and slashing it. As soon as it vanishes your magic comes flooding back to you, almost overwhelming you as you close your eyes and concentrate, releasing a massive wave of healing for everyone. Revitalized they rush the last of the guardians and finish them. You collapse, laying on the floor panting, overcome with adrenaline and relief.
"Talia!" Astarion runs down the stairs to where you're sprawled out on the floor, "Talia! What's wrong?" He stops himself before he grabs you, lest he makes any injury worse.
"I'm fine!" You quickly sit up to show him, "I was just, fwahhh. That was such a rush, I just needed a second." He pulls you into him then holds you out at arm's length to examine you, "I promise, I'm OK." Trying to reassure him by smiling and putting your hand on his cheek.
He opens his mouth to say something, but you look up at Shadowheart as she and Lae'zel walk up behind him. They were both worried when they saw you go down but are now easily convinced, you're fine. Shadowheart says she's going to look around while you catch your breath. You ask Astarion to help her, you think that gate could probably use his gentle touch. You nuzzle his chin as he stands, his face still creased with concern, you don't know why he still looks almost distraught. Once he's walked away Lae'zel sits down next to you on the steps,
"Your combat skills have improved since we first met." Her compliment catches you off guard.
"Oh! Thank you." You giggle, a little embarrassed, "It's probably because you guys have been helping me so much. I wouldn't know the first thing about fighting if it weren't for all of you." You genuinely are thankful for everyone trying to help you be less useless.
"You are not the burden you think you are," She puts a hand on your shoulder, "You should have more confidence in your abilities. You show great care in what your actions should be in any given situation, you understand your companions' needs and are able to act accordingly, and you can fight through injury like I have seen few do." She stands up and goes to join Shadowheart at the bookshelves, leaving you to think about her words.
Astarion gets the gate open as you meet Shadowheart at the base of the stairs then you follow her into the book lined room beyond the gate. She goes to the pedestal in the center, places the book on it and waits… The wall at the back slides down and reveals another little room, a statue of Shar like the ones in the trials waits, a darkly beautiful spear lays on the offering basin, presented to the one who has earned it. Shadowheart steps forward and bows, praying before reverently lifting it up, grasping it in both hands,
"The Spear of Night, the weapon my Lady has bid me wield." She smiles triumphantly.
But before she can walk away you point to something next to the statue… A set of Dark Justiciar armor. You both reach for it, lifting it up and holding it to her, it looks like it will be a perfect fit, like it was left here for her. Giggling like a pair of giddy fools, you help her change into it, and she looks magnificent. You stand back and admire her,
"Perfect! I don't think I've ever seen anyone so suited to their uniform before, but you look stunning in that Shadowheart!"
"Thank you, Talia. Now let's go, we have to get to the inner sanctum." Again, she pulls you along, hurriedly running to her destiny.
You ride another magic platform down to the dark depths of this temple, passed another ornate door that opens to reveal an even darker room, stairs descending into it. Shadowheart steps in front and leads everyone in, down the steps as braziers on either side light themselves as you pass, a glowing pool at the feet of another statue of Shar awaits.
"The end draws near. You show great potential, do not falter now. One more test awaits. Descend to the Nightsong. Make a sacrifice. Rise again a Dark Justiciar." The sultry eager voice of Shar reverberates in the room.
Shadowheart kneels before the pool, her head bowed in prayer for but a moment before she stands, a dark gleam in her eye as she steps down into the pool, turning to look back at you,
"Come on." She holds her hand out to you, and you take hold of her as you step into the water.
But it is not water, it is the entrance to the Shadowfell and you can feel the divine presence of Shar all around you. You're in a swirling dark maelstrom, great floating islands of rock surround you, spiraling down to a single point. You have to jump to them, this place letting you float from one to the next. Each landing is greeted with the specters of Dark Justiciars past, all speaking to Shadowheart, all telling her to 'descend to her', and she charges forward, encouraged, determined.
As you get closer you can see a glowing circle with something inside of it. You land on the final rock, Shadowheart walking before you as you approach the glowing circle of undulating glyphs and spectral hands grasping at a strange woman.