"Ummm....This way fellas'...Left here for sure...no maybe a right...Does anyone have a compass?!?"
*Evil cackle*
Cappy and Father Jarad can't seem to agree on the right way to go through the maze, and Zim'wa is lagging behind, tending to his burn wounds and not paying as much attention to his surroundings as he normally would.
As you make your way through the rough stone pillars that form this maze, you cross into an area of maze that appears to be more refined, less raw and wild. The columns appear to be subtly shaped, by sculpting or magic, in places.
Without warning, one of you triggers a trap! Small, soft bags covered with some sort of dusty pigment are fired out of small, hidden launchers in deep alcoves in the wall. The bags slap you around, leaving bright colors where they strike you, and giving off a fairly strange odor.
Green lights fill all of your retinas, showing you that the crowd looks through your eyes. Hector laPree appears before you, hovering in the air, his cowl shaking with glee. "Though it has been entertaining watching you try and stumble through the maze, I'm afraid our fun time may have finally run out." the strange robed figure makes small dancing motions, talking in a mocking singsong voice. "The adventurers, had better run, the troll-men come, they aren't much fun!"
From behind you, deeper within the darkness of the maze, you can hear inquisitive sniffing coming from some large animal. The sniffing stops, then you hear the sounds of slowly dragging-feet coming toward you.
""Oof! Ugh! What is that smell? Jarad tries to shake off the colors with his hand and after Hector appears and he hears the sounds of something comming at them he draws his shield and warhammer again,
"That doesn't sound good..."
[dice=Whats' that Smell? Spout lore, int]1d6+1d6-1[/dice]
Xha pointedly turns his back on the Hector Spector.
"Well the Cowled coward tells us company is coming."
Xha draws his sword
"I say let them come. My Kvak was getting a little stale."
Xha picks up a bag and throws it at a pillar near an exit halfway down the room
The bag puffs a small yellow cloud upon impact. The sniffing sound, as well as the dragging feet that accompany it, grow louder and closer. About 60 feet away, one of the pillars is shoved over by an unseen presence moving among the stones and knocking them aside like they were nothing.
The smell of cinnamon is even stronger now. Xha, your brain makes the mental leap when you hear Hector mention "troll-men." There are legends among the trolls that if you consume enough potent spices, you will develop a resistance to fire, the bane of trolls. You have no idea whether or not it's true - trolls are an uncommon encounter if you're smart when traveling the wilds.
"Get ready to kill trolls, if we start getting overrun, we could gain some time by running into the labyrinth"
As you glance about yourself, you see two direct paths leading away from this trapped area. One is a single-file width tunnel with a faint light shining from it, and the other is wider and straighter but darker. You hear the trolls murmuring to one another off in the darkness of the maze, followed by brutish chuckles. Their voices sound dry and gravelly.
Either way, take +1 forward when acting on the answers.
What happened here recently?
What is about to happen?
What should I be on the lookout for?
What here is useful or valuable to me?
Who’s really in control here?
What here is not what it appears to be?
Either way, I think it best we stick together. If we move, I will take the rear position and suggest that Xha stays near the front. Qadir, you should protect from within. If we stay, Xha and I will lead the charge, with Qadir and Cappy flanking. Ultimately, Father Jarad, you are our best chance for support and navigating the labyrinth, so my priority is to keep you protected.
"Hmmm what is down here?" Xha takes a quick look down the lit passage.
Are we in a passage/room with a ceiling or are we under open sky? Also is the light in the lit passage steady or flickering?
"It would seem we are now the hunted." Glancing with disgust at the reeking powder that marred his tunic, Qadir hefts a spear and replies, "Staying together is our only means of survival and your plan of action is admirable. Distract our foe and I'll leave his blood to flow freely from a thousand cuts." Glancing down each of the paths, Qadir shrugs, "There will be danger in either path, as the crowd must have a show. I would take the path where most can see."
Xha: the rock columns all around you have plateaus on top that obscure much of the artificial sky above, but not completely. Climbing is not out of the question...but as you glance at your party mates, you surmise that not all of them would be able to follow you with the speed you require. The light coming from the better-lit tunnel option is steady.
Jarad: as you examine the situation all around you, you see a strange marking etched into the side of one of the rock pillars near to Qadir. As he speaks, you move over to it and examine it closely. Though it seemed a random collection of scratchings at first, a second look reveals it to be a cunningly disguised magic rune. It's even a rune you recognize - a rune of concealment, containing an illusion spell designed to cover up hiding spots and contraband. Activating this rune would uncover a hiding spot, of that you are certain. Suddenly, in addition to fight or flight, you have a third option - lie hidden.
Galadin, you were addressing Jarad as he glanced around the room, and you follow his gaze to see the rune.
Cappy, you check yourself over and determine with no small measure of relief that no part of your body was coated with the scent except your baggy outer coat. Your halfling luck is holding, for now.
Jarad, assuming you accept Xha's aid in your Discern Realities roll you can ask me two additional questions. Xha, you feel a strong sense of doom hanging overhead as you search the suddenly quiet cave around you with Jarad...
"Wait a second, I have seen this mark..." Jard thinks out loud as he sees the marks on the pillars,
Jarad's memory revolted in flame as he remembered that day, the day he saw wings, teeth and fire...
When he was an apprentice, one of his travels took him to the mysterious lands of X'hui En to learn about non-common healing techniques, something about needles and some weird bugs that sucked blood. His master He Ling showed him the way to work with needles to help people with muscular damage and to relieve stress on the body. For the leeching technique, they had to travel to the Serpent mountains to look for the leech worms.
They traveled for days and went into the dark bowels of the mountains, they went deep down until they found a cavern filled with the worms they needed, the cave was not natural Jarad noticed and it was too hot in there...something caught his eyes and he saw skeletons under the mud, dirt and rocks. How can bodies reach here for the worms to eat? Well, his master forgot to tell him that these worms where serpent dragon parasites and they only lived in the nest of a dragon. Lucky for them both the dragon wasn't home and they could pick some worms and get out of there...but luck doesn't last long and on their way up the caverns to exit the mountains they heard the defeaning sound of the dragon's roar, for Jarad it was only the sound of his pants getting wet.
He Ling had brougth a scroll with some special runes, these runes where made to hide things and conceal them from others. He Ling carved them on the walls around a small hole and said a few words to activate them, they hid from the dragon's sight and put mud on their body to conceal their smell. They waited for the dragon to pass by and got on their way as fast as they could, Jarad would have liked the runes to protect him from the fire the dragon breathed, as he lost some of his hair to the fire on his way up.
After some training with the leeching worms, Jarad was more interested on the magic runes his Master knew, after a lot of begging to get He Ling to teach him he got some understanding of the arcane magic and how to use magic runes and activate them but he didn't have the talent to make them or cast them. That journey taught him more that he expected and he was glad.
"These runes here, could help us hide and avoid the trolls, just have to get rid of the smell" Jarad tells the others excitedly after snaping from his memories.
Indeed, when Jarad's finger brushes the rune ever so slightly, a section of the rock wall next to it reveals itself to be an illusion, and fades away. Inside you see a small sitting room which appears to have been specially prepared for this situation, with comfortable chairs and a small table. Upon the table is a glass of wine and enough glasses for each of you. Next to the exit of the room inside, you see the sister rune to the one you just activated.
The maze has gone quiet, but you know the danger is nearly upon you. You are out of time - fight, flight, or hide - WHAT DO YOU DO?
Answers to Jarad's questions:
What is about to happen: You remember listening to a bard sing about trolls once - in the story, they fell silent when they were about to spring an ambush on the hero. Aside from the breathing of your companions, you don't hear a sound.
What should I be on the lookout for: All trolls are dangerous, but you recall the bard warning especially of multiple-headed trolls. Each additional head increases their intelligence and gives them trollish cunning, though it does leave them more susceptible to internal disagreements.
"Or make it so the smell doesn't matter," Xim'wa says, picking up one of the bags as he has the same idea Xha had moments ago. Opening the bag - by force if needed, the shaman quickly begins spreading the contents around the room, with the hope of making themselves impossible to follow by scent. "Quadir, help me with this." He lobs a second bag at his clansman when he gets the chance. There's precious little time to work before danger arrived, but that was nothing new.
"Hide in there, fast! They're ready to ambush us, get in!" Jarad tells the others pointing to the room he just discovered.
"Get in. Worst case it gives us a wall to fight against."
Xha steps into the "safe" room and takes a guard position to the left of the archway.
You spot a likely crevice near one of the paths. You cunningly situate the coat so that it looks like it was pulled off of you by a rocky outcropping as you ran away.
In the corner of your vision you see an active poll being conducted of the viewers at home, asking whether this ploy will save the halfling from becoming troll food.
Catching the bag with casual grace, Qadir nods agreeably at the shaman's sensible suggestion, "Confusing our foes seem wise, I'll do what I can. Qadir helps to coat the room in the powder, applying it hastily. He tries to save around half the bag, a ploy springing to mind. Once done with his spreading, he returns to the hiding place and whispers, "Should they find us despite our hiding, I believe I can hit one of them with this bag. The spice may overwhelm their senses if we are forced to run."
Shaking out the last of the... whatever it was, Zim'wa quickly shuffles into the hidden chamber. Although the situation is tense, he takes a moment to look over the room - it wouldn't do to evade one trap just to walk into another.
No sooner is Zim'wa inside the hiding-spot in the wall and Father Jarad touches the interior rune than the cinnamon trolls burst out of hiding. They're foul creatures, standing 9 feet tall at the shoulder, with long gangly limbs and oversized facial features that only exaggerate their ugliness. There are three - one with one head, one with two heads, and one with three.
The "6" trolls sniff the air and snarl. The one with three heads speaks first, from the middle head. "They've masked their scent, but they're close...I heard their breathing coming from this area not a moment ago..."
The head next to the middle head speaks up. "Right was making too much noise, I said even 'afore we entered the maze..."
Meanwhile, the smallest troll, a puny specimen standing only at 8 feet tall with one head, finds Cappy's coat. "Look here! A widdle coat! We're hunting babies! Ahaw haw haw, lookit 'ow small it is!" the cinnamon troll puts the coat on his pointer finger and bobs it up and down, pantomiming.
Meanwhile, inside the alcove, Zim'wa searches the small room. There are comfortable seats for each of you, along with a table, a decanter of wine and wineglasses for each of you.
What should I be on the lookout for?
Beware the illusion of safety in your illusory hideout. You're aware that Hector la Pree has fallen quiet, and the trolls are sticking around, investigating where you and Qadir spread the bags around. You're being watched very closely - it's doubtful that the master showman La Pree would allow you safety for long.
What is about to happen?
The trolls with multiple heads are having a 5-way argument about which way you all went, while the runt with one head is dancing around from one foot to the other, stupidly amused with Cappy's coat.
What do the Spirits whisper here?
Superstitious... the voices tell you, as your eyes fall upon the furrowed brows of the trolls. Quick to judgement...as with the worst of the mortal races they fear that they do not understand... a presence materializes near you. You feel the spirits of dead adventurers all around you.
Beware, the spirit warns you, lest my fate befall yours - do not let down your guard if the trolls retreat! They know this maze well..
Xha stands silent just within the hidden room.
Unmoving...
barely breathing...
..
Waiting.
Jarad signals them to remain silent, they could wait for the trolls to leave and hurry their wait out or fight...
"This won't last," Zim'wa murmurs as they watch the trolls, "But we have a few more moments to think." He turns his head slightly as he listens to one of the spirits speak. "The trolls are apparently the masters of this maze, they know the layout well. But they're fairly simple. Superstitious. We might be able to leverage that to our advantage..." Zim'wa trails off, thinking about how to do so.
"This won't last," Zim'wa murmurs....
Xha glowers silently at the shaman!
Moments pass tensely. The multi-headed trolls continue to poke around at the strewn-around contents of Zim'wa and Qadir's bags. Meanwhile, the singleton troll tires of playing with the coat and puts it in the pocket of his crude trousers. Moving along the wall, the singleton troll lifts his misshapen nose to the air and sniffs, taking a few steps closer to the entrance of your hiding spot. Then the troll is right there. Standing right where the illusionary wall is. The troll even lifts his ham-fists up and presses against the rock, for a moment.
The troll stares at what looks like a rock wall in front of it, unaware that the adventuring party is less than a foot away. As Zim'wa murmurs, his face contorts in confusion...
"They've moved on! Quickly, or they'll escape us!" the two-headed troll choruses with himself, before moving off down the narrower of the two tunnels, where it's darker.
"Runt! Split up! Now!" the center troll head barks down at the singleton troll, who jumps in surprise and cowers before the larger specimen before jumping to obey his commands. The three trolls with 6 heads move off...the two-headed one down the darkened tunnel and the 3-headed one and the singleton following the brighter one.
A few moments of silence pass. You appear to be alone once again. What do you do?
Cappy pokes his head out, studying the area to make sure it's not an ambush, hissing "We got to get my coat back!"
... speaks first, from the middle head. "They've masked their scent, but they're close...I heard their breathing coming from this area not a moment ago..."
Xha remains motionless. Eyes searching beyond the illusory wall.
Waiting until he can no longer see or hear the trolls.
Whispering... Perhaps we can use this illusion to greater effect. Some farce to convince them that the spirits are here to defend us, or frighten them. I'm not sure. I'd be more than happy to be the voice, but we'll need a plan to lure them back and create a believable illusion. Any ideas?
... speaks first, from the middle head. "They've masked their scent, but they're close...I heard their breathing coming from this area not a moment ago..."