Aterro suffers no ill effects from the wine, apart from a general distaste for it’s cheap and inferior flavors. You’d think magic wine wouldn’t skimp on quality quite this much.
The child leads you back toward the room where you arrived.
You hear echoes of your companions' voices coming from the other side of the far door in the cloakroom where you currently are at.
Ashlyn kneels down to the boy's height again, bending at the waist and giving Attero a savory view. "Hey, what is in here that you want us to see? Can you show me? Can you even understand me?
A deep voice calls out, "Interlopers! This Maze is mine! Who dares interfere with the will of a Negamancer?"
From the rounded chamber to the left a chameleonoid individual in black robes and a strange two-pronged hat walks forth, carrying a pearly globe about the size of a human brain.
Five humans in ragged and bloody fine clothes, looking emaciated, flank him. They are squatting and laughing.
"Bloody hell, not these idiots again!" The Lady Capilli groans.
Tenchi turns at the pronouncement of the negamancer and says "I did not know that we were in your maze. If you could just point us to the exit, we shall be happy to collect our friends and leave. Should, however, you be lying about this being your maze, I shall be forced to take offense."
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Aterro allows his eyes only the briefest obligatory glance at Ashlyn's charms, before gazing into the distance and concentrating on his hearing....
"Hush a moment," Aterro says, going over and leaning against the far door. "I hear the voices of the others."
Aterro tries the door, and if he finds it locked, he'll slam his booted heel into it.
"They wield anti-magic." Lady Capilli says to Thratch. "They're nearly as annoying as the Cannibal Critics, and, thinking about it, more foul than the Chameleon Women."
"The Cannibal Critics though, perhaps the only creatures I actually find aesthetically offensive. It looks like this Negamancer has rounded up a few and made them into his Thrall Mammals. Serves them right!"
She steps forward and proceeds to breathe a corrosive gas at one of the feral creatures, killing it quickly.
"I don't have direct quarrel with you, Negamancer, but I must insist you remove these foul creatures from my sight at once!"
"Piss off, dragon-lady! You can't have this Maze either!" the Negamancer shouts back.
Then he turns his attention to Tenchi, "It IS mine! My ancestors helped build this place! You have no claim to it! Stop lying about leaving!"
He waves his hand and some deep black energy springs forth and undoes the attack by Lady Capilli. The felled Thrall Mammal rises again.
"Your offense is not my problem!" he shoots back at her.
He's clearly a bit agitated.
Aterro tries the door and find it opens quite easily.
You peer in and see stairs leading down. Below you, three stairways tangle. A knot hanging in space. Nothing supports this webwork other than the stairs themselves.
Each tangle of stairs leads to another door, but they're situated at different angles and look impossible.
From one of the other doors you hear your companions, and now other voices shouting. Ashlyn looks down at the ghostly boy and he just stares back at her, but does not proceed forward.
"As I said, all you need to do is point us to the exit and we will be happy to leave. Should you not be able to do so, I am afraid that we will not be able to leave. Either way, your unseemly behavior is not warrented to people who are just as stranded here as you appear to be. In civilized lands, we do not treat guests in our home in such a manner."
So to have someone try and make him leave left him - well, not angry. At least, not as angry as he thought it would. But more of a 'determination in the face of a challenge' kind of emotion, with a side order of bemusement.
So with that, he slyly moved behind one of his larger companions and knocked an arrow, ready to fire right into the face of the shitgobbling NegaMan as soon as Tenchi drew his sword.
Vehemence arms himself, preparing for whatever may come.
From nothing he calls his sword to his side, and settles in a defensive stance.
You dig deep and recall the following piece of ancient lore, vague but suddenly relevant.
— —
There is a rumor of an empire, ancient and lost to time. An Empire ruled by three perfect women who could never do wrong, and who would never die. And though they were beautiful, ageless, and merciful, the kingdom that grew around the Triarchy was the most monstrous yet made. A tyranny of torture and pain that could never end while the three immortal sisters lay at its center like pearls in a poisoned shell. Until one day it did. The women disappeared and were never seen again. The Empire slowly faded and fell, leaving only a memory, like a nightmare recalled at dawn.
Once, there was an Empire ruled by three perfect women. One time would not touch — she would never age or die. One was loved — everyone who met her eyes would want nobody else. And one stopped harm — no one who kissed her could hurt another being.
Perfection drives man mad. Beyond its inner court, the Empire was murderous, evil, and insane, but the sisters at its heart would never age and no one who met them would, or could, ever do them harm. The Empire could not end, only change hands.
So the world was f****d.
The sisters lived a cosseted, disconnected existence, almost unaware of the horror that occurred outside of their direct presence. Blind, protected, puppet Queens of a nightmare realm. Until, one day, three treasonous ministers — with rather mixed motives — devised a plan.
They would take the sisters to the Maze of the Blue Medusa.
The Medusa, Psathyrella, was aeons old even so long ago. Immortal, clever, cold-hearted, and almost without fear, she could keep the sisters prisoner without being seduced by their various perfections.
The Maze of the Medusa — where she held immortal threats in forms of stone — was lost, broken from reality and time, near impossible to find, and, if found, still harder to survive.
The plan succeeded: the three sisters, and their three treasonous ministers, disappeared.
The Empire fell and is now little more than legend, a dark mark on the memory of mankind.
The Maze of the Blue Medusa? Lost.
Until now, that is.
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Aterro is silent as the two gaze into the twists of the unnatural stair.
"Beseems that the boy may be just a specter, a directionless spirit that can not find his way beyond. No disrespect to him, but mayhap we can not rely on him as a guide.
So too, I...I am not confident that braving this stair in search of the right door is the best move. We might become lost in a worse situation than we currently are.
I know not. We might stay here and investigate the doors yon peacock wished to keep us out of.
I leave the decision to you. I would not force you down a path you would otherwise resist."
Wan rubs his head watching the events unfold, I have never seen such snobbery personified, this place is definitely inside a painting.
So here we are... Psathyrella's maze.
He takes for himself in his heart a healthy measure of fear. The medusa was known to take the likes of demigods and imprison them in stone.
Even if he were in his full glory, the furnace king would stay on his toes.
This sobriety sets into context the myriad of fools presently pestering his comrades.
You continue to hear noises from your companions on an opposite door of the room. It's difficult to orientate because of the stairs.
"Enough of this!" shouts the Negamancer, "Get them! They can't have our Maze!"
They charge at the group.
Combat order: Tenchi, Lys, Vehemence, Thratch, Wan, Negamancer & co, Lady Capilli
Gesturing towards the horned woman to step aside:
"If you would humor me, my dear..."
Vehemence takes caution to Capilli's safety with a hollow formality. Of course she could handle herself, but if he had the chance to abjure her who could help him, he would take that chance handily. He moves towards the meatbag closest to them, putting himself between the poppet and the blue woman.
He clicks his tongue in a rhythmic jingle of sorts and gestures towards his immediate enemy with his pronounced claw, beckoning it forth to death.
The furnace king thence strides forth, bringing down upon the whelp his cruel heavy brand.
Chuckling at a joke that no one as told, Tenchi then begins moving, his blade clearing it's scabbard with a *shing* sound of metal kissing metal, and use the momentum of the draw to slice into the body of the central zombie. Of note, his blade is not glowing currently, as it has in the past when he has drawn it.
As the body of the zombie crashes to the ground, Tenchi will step into the gap left by the creature.
Tenchi will interpose himself between the party and the enemies as if daring them to strike at him.
Then he goes back into hiding behind Lys.
Lys decides to keep away from the immediate danger and fires a shot at the robed figure
Wan'di leaps into action from the side of the room, looking to target the deranged looking humans first. He uses both ends of his staff in quick succession.
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Aterro nods as Ashlyn is caught in some internal contemplation. "Well, we can always return, I think, but it seems an attempt to reunite with the others might be best. The boy seems to have some affinity for you. Try to bring him along, but he can hardly follow him when he doesn't move."
Aterro shrugs and starts off forward onto the reality-defying stair, hoping that his determination to head forward will make up for his indecision on what direction to take.
He tries to reunite with the party as best he can, and keeps walking forward."
You make the slow climb down the stairs. The entire large chamber echoes with your footsteps and the stairs vibrate, but are otherwise stable. You get closer to the knot in the center, trying to adjust your perception as it seemingly defies gravity.
You are suddenly swooped by a strange birdlike creature. It looks like an animated sculpture of a hummingbird made of paper-thin ruby, diamond, emerald, and sapphire.
It flutters around you and continues to swoop in, but does not directly attack you.
Tenchi uses his mystic abilities to do some minor damage to another Thrall Mammal. It manages to resist some of the damage.
Lys fires a crossbow bolt at another Thrall Mammal and misses.
Vehemence strikes at the nearest Thrall Mammal (#1) with his pact blade and hits for significant damage. It staggers around, bleeding heavily.
Thratch ducks out from behind the young tiefling and fires an arrow at #3, hitting it squarely between the eyes. The creature falls back, dead. Thratch then sneaks back behind Lys.
Wan leaps in and strikes at #2 with his enchanted quarterstaff and quickly takes it down.
The Negamancer casts his antimagic again and causes Lys to fumble and drop her crossbow after the failed shot at him.
The remaining uninjured Thrall Mammal, #4, runs at Lys and tries to bite her, missing.
Thrall Mammal #5 lunges at Tenchi and tries to bite him, also missing.
#1 tries to bite Vehemence. The Furnace King’s Hex ensures it misses.
Lady Capilli flies up and jumps into a shadow, reappearing in another shadow behind the Negamancer, and breathes her corrosive gas onto him. He screams in agony as his skin and robes burn, but he remains standing.
The Negamancer reacts by casting his antimagic again, causing his injuries to transfer to …
1. Lady Capilli 2. Lys 3. Tenchi 4. Thratch 5. Vehemence 6. Wan
… Lys, who suddenly drops as her skin burns!
The birdlike creature flies toward Ashlyn and swoops around her legs, causing her to lose her balance.
Ashlyn falls with a graceless thud internally cursing the bird.
Unperterbed by the fact that his first strike did not drop his enemy, Tenchi will focus a moment and his blade will begin to glow, and then he will swing again, yelling "KUSINAGI BLADE MASTERS SECOND TECHNIQUE! Kamikaze!"
Ashlyn tumbles and falls 30' to another staircase.
Bumped and bruised, she looks up and sees Aterro on the previous staircase, oriented sideways from her perspective. She seems to be closer to the sounds of her companions though.
The bird continues to flutter and swoop around Aterro, trying to get him to lose his balance.
Aterro glimpses numerous dead bodies at the bottom of the chamber, stripped clean of their valuables and stabbed in the back.
Vehemence presses his advantage, cleaving into the pitiful thing disrespecting him with its' obstinate will to live.
He gazes towards the Negamancer and concentrates his fury upon him.
He moves up toward the ugly sorceror, ready to strike.
Lys shrieks as her skin burns, eagerly accepting the soothing relief of the healing potion
Ashlyn tries to dodge the bird, as she missteps and oversteps the edge of the stairs. With no railing to catch her, she tumbles down, with a crushing blow on her arm, her body quickly landing atop it, then her head strikes the stairs with a sickening thud. She lies in self pity for a moment, before trying to get up, bruised and annoyed. Her head swimming from the blow, she tries to reorient herself. Even after a few moments she begins to wonder if she is more injured than she initially through, as the room still seems slanted. Finally she accepts it as yet another twisted magic of this world.
She glances about and calls ?up? to Attero "I think our companions are this way, can you make your way to me?"
Lys backs up as she fires at the nearest mongrel, even with the healing that last hit got her bad.
Tenchi attacks #5 with his sword, killing him.
Thratch administers a healing potion to Lys, improving her condition.
Lys, still smarting, recovers her crossbow and fires a shot at #4, injuring the lunatic badly.
Vehemence strikes again with his pact blade, killing #1.
Wan strikes at #4 with his staff charged full of magic, killing him and burning the Negamancer.
The Negamancer seeing his deranged servants felled, begins to retreat into the nearby chamber.
Lady Capilli flies after him and pushes the Negamancer into a shadow. She calls back behind her,
”I will purge the world of this aberration to art! Go bring me things, and we shall speak again!”
They both disappear into a shadow on the floor.
With the combat died down, you hear shouting echoing from the right chamber. It sounds like Ashlyn.
Flicking blood off of his blade, Tenchi will sigh wearily and head in the direction of the shouting.
Vehemence follows Lady Capilli into the next chamber.
I take it back, this place is starting to get interesting. Since we are stuck 'ere maybe we take the advice of the residence and discover our own art, Wan says as he tries to find anything of value on the humans. The chamber over yonder would be difficult to get through, maybe there is a third option to get out of this room.
As Thratch goes to recovers his arrows, he yells at Vehemence, Hey f%$#face, get the f&!! back here. We just established that we shouldn't split up. You don't know what's down there and it could kill you!