Aterro finds he can fly over the floor with no adverse effects.
Tenchi will stride forward, soft and pure light glowing from his blade has he draws it. He will swing it in an arc towards the insect.
Riven watches the man fly across the room and calls to his lion to return. He was about to offer Ashlyn a chance to ride the lion across as it seemed only directly stepping on the floor triggered the effect but she started nimbly crossing the room without waiting. He seemed to shrug and attempted to get onto the lion's back if the creature would let him and testing going into the room a little ways riding the creature. If he was unaffected by the room then he would ride the creature across to join the rest of the party.
Thratch continue to dance around the angered birdman, but as he does so, he...
...Hands the mask back and cries out, I'm sorry! The white room with the changing black line compelled me to endanger myself! Antagonizing you was the only way to make it stop! Please forgive me! As he dances, he takes a Dodge action.
...He tossed the mask back at the birdman. I... I don't know why I did that, but if you insist on entrapping me and slaughtering me, I will go down fighting. With that, he draws his sword and dagger; then takes the Dodge action for the round.
Tenchi destroys the scarab with his blade. The creature's carapace cracks open, and an assortment of papers and scrolls fall out onto the ground.
And there's the matter of your fallen comrade...
As the combat ends, Aterro joins you in the room to witness the aftermath.
Ashlyn begins to walk the line, which has snapped back to its simple shape. Beneath her feet, it begins to shift and change again.
As you offer back the mask while dancing around, Yarrow, the Oku leader gets between you and the others.
"Alright, alright, back off him. The little fella is clearly messed up on this incense and he crossed the White room. You know, that one we avoid after it did the same thing to Thrift. He's clearly not too bright, but he's not our enemy."
Yarrow takes the mask and hands it back to Kidney Vetch, who chirps and hoots.
"Apology accepted little guy." Yarrow adds.
Riven calls out to Ashlyn as he mounts the lion and starts across the room carefully keeping himself on the back of his powerful beast. As he nears Ashlyn he offers her a hand thinking the straight path will be faster if they both ride the lion quickly across the room.
The line shifts and changes to resemble Ashlyn herself, alone and isolated. The pattern seems simpler than ones before it, but still daunting.
Riven begins crossing on the lion, having no effect on the line at all.
So. That's one compulsion off of me. Now, how do I stop dancing? I need to get back to help my friends.
"Sorry. It'll wear off in about a half hour. Do you remember which way you came here or where they are?" Yarrow says.
Another Oku, Devil-Bit Scabious, chimes in, "If he crossed the White room, he probably wandered down that way, past the giant stone head. I don't think he would have come this other way --"
He turns south and chirps loudly.
"OH $***!"
He points at a humanoid figure standing in shadows in the next room.
"I hope that Thratch is alright, I do not like when allies turn...on each other." There was something in his voice...like he was speaking from experience rather then just making an offhand comment.
"Take us across to the other side lion."
Ashlyn and Riven come across the white room on the back of the magically summoned lion.
When they arrive, Aterro, Tenchi and Vehemence are waiting. Wan lays on the ground, motionless. The remains of a large scarab lay on the ground beside him, a pile of papers and scrolls within its shattered carapace.
When the One exclaims out, Thratch dances behind one of the Oku and draws his dagger, ready to throw it at whatever threat is there.
"Wretch beast... Befouled him."
Vehemence is beside himself, trying to explain what happened. Half stunned, half jaded, fully fed up. Mainly with himself.
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As he sees signs of bared steel, he draws his prized shortsword letting its magic to guide his movements from danger. Speaking clearly he says, I thought it was you birdbrains that placed that trap, I'm coming this way and if you cause trouble I'll be walking out of that room alone.
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Tenchi will clean and sheath his blade, then set about preparing Wan'di's body for travel. He will wrap his body in his blanket and then tie off both ends. Before he does, however, Tenchi will open his portfolio/sketch book, sketch something in charcoal, then remove said sketch and leave it with Wan'di's body.
"If we do not stay together, I can not protect you." is all Tenchi says on the matter.
Ashlyn was ready to ask what happened to both Wan and Thratch, but seeing Tenchi go to prepare the body she falls solemnly silent.
Seeing as they're not in immediate threat, he sheaths his dagger.
Moq steps into the room avoiding the incense, I have not seen any humans around here besides us and statues, what are you doing with these masked idiots? I know someone capped knee-high to a Blemmyes like yourself needs to rely on others, but relying on the Oku will get you killed.
Moq enters the room and you can see he is wearing linens with embroidered edges wrapped around his waist that falls to about his knees; bound with a leather strap and holding the sheath of a long knife, a strange lantern, and a small pouch. He carries a shield and a leather backpack with rope and javelins strapped in place, but he has no other clothing or armor.
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"Where is Thratch? Locating him should be a priority."
The construct seemed to be ignoring the corpse though it was not a malicious act on his part simply one of logic. Inside he felt...a frustration for the inefficient loss of life that was not required here. At the same time he had hardly known the man and from his observation the one named Wan'di he had almost seemed eager to ignore the group and push ahead alone then seek to cooperate to overcome obstacles.
There were other things he wished to say to the others but some fragment of his humanity told him now was not the right time. His silent stares likely had communicated far more then a thousand words would have said.
As for why I'm with the Oku; I got caught in their dancing trap, and I'm stuck here for a short while. If you help me get out, or wait for me, I'll help you find some other humans.
Then Thratch will mouth sane ones to Moq.
Moq extends a hand to Tratch, M'name's Moq, a prize fighter living near Butcher Street. Time's fuzzy in here, but a while ago some wizards paid a few of us to explore the inside of a strange painting they found - you know wizards and putting their curiosity above all else. I'm guessing they sent more people in after we never came back.
Tenchi prepares Wan'di's body, and as you glance around there's no sign of Thratch anywhere.
Within the room itself, there are still scraps of papers and scrolls in the remains of the dead scarab.
The walls itself in this section seem more maze-like with several turns.
Immediately west is an empty room with some equipment and discs on the floor. To the east, the passage continues forward into the dark.
As you glance down at the scarab's remains, you see what appears to be a scrap of a map, as well as several scrolls with writing on them.
He tapped his three fingers of his right hand together and a glowing ball of light tethered by a small beam appears again giving him better illumination to study the map. Not hiding it from anyone, he studied the map trying to locating the configuration of rooms they had previously come through on it to find their location.
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As Tenchi begins wrapping the corpse, Aterro stops him. "Take pause, there. Wan has gone on to his eternal reward, and as such, his soul has no use for the meager things of the material. However, let us honor his departure by accepting the things he has left behind."
Aterro bends and searches the corpse with the efficiency of someone who has gathered rations and arrows of the corpses of friends so that the rest of his unit might live to see another day.
That done, Aterro continues the role of the quartermaster and catalogs the paper-strewn remains of the paper-bug.
As you root through Wan's belongings, you see that his book of shadows has turned to ash, the spells contained therein lost.
Within the scarab's remains, you find not one, but two map fragments:
You also find two scrolls that appear to be spells . There are other papers as well, that appear to be an assortment of child's drawings poorly made, a treatise on demon politics, some kind of negative review of a painting, and other things not of particular interest.
The Oku are uneasy around Moq, but seem to ready themselves to move on.
Yarrow, "I think you guys can look out for each other then. We're going to get moving here in a moment. Sorry about that incident, big guy. You know how things get around here."
He adds, to Thratch, "Are Dark Mullien and Vetchling still with the rest of your group? We can catch up with them and then move on. Looks like you guys managed to evade the Curator."
Ashlyn will take a quick glance at each scroll to see if she recognizes them, before she asks, "Where has Thratch gone, I do not like him being alone this long. Especially given Wan's fate."
You are able to decipher that one if the scrolls is an Invisibility spell. You aren't able to decipher the other one.
Riven shows Ashlyn and the others the first map fragment and taps the Area 24 on his map with a digit.
"This is our current location by my best approximation. This will be valuable in planning the path ahead once Thratch has been located."
We got here because we stole the painting from a wizard who was just keeping it in an art gallery. Just showing it off, like a prized possession, doing nothing with it. We opened the door, and then came in. It was.. um... me, who released the guardian. She filled my dreams for months leading me here to free her. So I did. And then she left with the painting, saying that she'll be back with an army to rescue her lords, the three Medusas.
From there, she told us that there are other ways out, and if we found them, we could leave. But if we were unable to leave by the time she got back, she would release us herself. Then she left.
And now we're all walking around trying to find a way to leave.
Tenchi will collect all of Wan'di's belongings and wrap them with his body, then set it up so that he can carry it as a wierd travoy.
Moq talks as he walks, Didn't someone speak to the small boy? He would bring you to the south of here - where the wedding is. From there you can easily move around. Moq holds up his hand flat and points to the bottom right, You see here is the wedding area - that's where we are just barely inside - over here, moving his hand to the bottom left, is the gardens which is a messed up place. It's also where the Oku are based out of and where the curator they mentioned is. The single most important rule there is to not f!%* with the gallery. Moq slides his hand north and circles the middle left and upper center with his finger, This is where I was imprisoned. The cells are here, run by the single medusa. She can be found in her domain whenever. Moq then lifts his finger and pokes the center of his hand, Just above the area you ran from is one of the three sisters I assume you are referencing Chanterelle mentioning. If you struggled to keep it in your pants with Chanterelle, Chronia is probably too much for you little man. Moq drops his hand and readies his shield.
Entering the northern room, Moq finishes by saying, Still... there may be a shot to get out still. The Bondye Reparatè are another maksed bunch - silent men and woman wearing masks of plain women. They are very tribal, but they trade for basic necessities - even cigarettes. Anyways, the rumor is that they have a way out of the maze. It's not to Vornheim, but it's somewhere and it has to be better than to be trapped inside. Not like I've seen my real home in years before I got trapped here anyways.
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"Aye, Ashlyn, I've no ken with those arcane writings. You may as well hang on to them for the now."
"Well, Wan has no further needs of these baubles. If any would wish a thing, simply speak up. I shall simply hold on to them until a better bearer comes to light."
Aterro shakes his head at Wan's armor and most of his kit--the man can be buried with honor, and most of the things are either heavy or redundant.
The three magic scrolls, the magic stone, and the eight potions of healing, the WarCleric takes for the good of the party. So, too, the dead have little use for rings and moonstones and paintings and gold coins.
That done, Aterro helps Tenchi wrap the body.
Then he says, "You are correct, Riven. Thratch has been unaccounted for too long. Let us set out until we all are united.
By gazing at your map, might you have an idea as to the best way to set out?"
"If no clues are found there I suggest we search the stretch of hallway to the east. If we all work together we will have less chance of missing any details." He points tracing a finger through area 24 to meet area 25.
An idea comes to Riven and he turns to face Vehemence. "You have Thratch's blood on your weapon and he was wounded. Blood will be easier to track then footprints and this lion seems able to understand my commands. Please allow me to use the blood on your weapon and command it to track the bloodtrail left by our comrade."
Assuming Vehemence agrees he does so commanding the lion to get the scent of the blood and track it to Thratch.
I heard one of my friends met the boy and he took them to the wedding, but they couldn't get in because they didn't have an invitation.
As for the curator, well, we killed him! Well, not me - but one of my friends. He's a really great guy! I can't wait for you to meet him - he's super smart and is able to keep track of all this maze stuff like you. I mean, I'm fairly clever, myself - but he always seems to know the right course and can keep track of a lot of stuff. I'm just good at solving problems and puzzles. I'm sure you'll get along.
Thinking of the curator also brought Thratch back to the Okus' question about their own. Oh yeah. Your friends. Well, we saved Vetchling. But there was nothing we could do for Dark Mullien. The curator squeezed him. I'm sorry.
An honest tear wells up in Thratch's eye.
The Oku turn their heads upward and chirp, hoot and crow in unison at the news of Dark Mullein's demise. Several of them flap their arms. They do this for several minutes.
When they quiet down, Yarrow pipes up again.
"Thanks for letting us know. At least the Curator was destroyed. Did you see which way Vetchling went? I think we should go find him."
The lion sniffs at Vehemence's bloody dagger and sniffs the ground, pointing east. He moves forward at a casual pace, walking down a narrow hallway and turning right .
Tenchi will shoulder Wan'di's body and then prepare to move it.
Vehemence pauses for a second when he says 'the medusa', as if he thought about and relented from speaking Psathyrellas name aloud. In truth he assumed there were secret eyes all around; for such is the norm in ethereal kingdoms like these. He knew his positioning in the grand state of play, and wished to not draw any unneeded attention to himself. At this juncture he again cursed himself for his yielding to tactics for want of a stronger defense.
Knowing this, he avoids eye contact from his friends as he speaks.
The lion led the way, he would need to give it a designation soon. The path winded and turned surprising Riven, the small Thratch seemed very fast and covered a lot of ground. Thankfully the blood made it possible to track him.
After a moment's pause, he asks, So was that the only curator, or are there more?
The lion leads you down the hall to a large room. A giant carved stone head fills the room, and a tiny hovel beneath it. The head looks ancient, and you see the following words inscribed on it, in the common language:
“Set Watch I Was, By The Elephant King.
And Many Of My Brothers Now Gone.
Then The Lizards And Their Books.
They Ruled For One Thousand Years.
Then Came The Medusa.
And Bred A Maze From Flesh And Frozen Bone.
Then Three Sisters And Their Court.
I Have Not Seen The Sea For Many Years.
Or Heard The Sound Of Waves.
Now You Come.
Are You Those Sent To End This Land?
As The Elephant King Promised You Would?”
Looking further to the next room south you see a group of the Oku leaving the room by heading farther south, and you see Thratch dancing in place standing by a large man. A large number of censers dangle in the room from the ceiling, all around head-level.
"That's the only Curator we've seen. Man, I hope it was the only one." Yarrow says.
The Oku head south, toward the room with the skeletons.
"We're off to find Vetchling. I've got a good idea where he went. I'm sure we'll run into you again. Good luck finding your crew."
As the Oku depart, Thratch turns back north, while still dancing in place. He sees some familiar faces in the room with the giant stone head, and also a lion in his direction.
When you spot your group in the room with the stone head, more importantly you see Ashlyn, and you are overwhelmingly compelled to run over and dance with her, as she's the most attractive person you see.
Thratch dances over to Ashlyn and starts dancing around her.
Hi guys! I met someone new! This is Moq! Moq, this is Ashlyn, Aterro, Tenchi, Riven, and Vehemence. And Wan is around here somewhere. He likes to wander off and explore.