The Witness walks into the intersection, inspecting the chamber while he waits for the first report of interest from those scouting ahead.
As they continue to explore, Gavin refreshes both acute senses (on the Witness)and blessing of the mole (on everyone).
At the Witness' request, Gavin also refreshes telepathic bond.
++Be careful, Lyra.++
Gaius learns several things of note.
The stone walls inside this floor are not the same type of stone as the Tower's external wall, though they look very similar. The floor around the opening that the Witness created is the same as the stairs and exterior wall, but it quickly transitions to an imitation as well.
He and the Witness also both notice that something appears slightly off about the dimensions of the passageways. Neither can quite put their finger on it, but the length of the halls seems very difficult to determine, almost unstable as if they were growing and shrinking.
When the bard ventures to examine the magical auras he is, as usual, overwhelmed by the number and power of them. Pushing through that, he's able to achieve some focus and finds that while they swirling field of energy is quite similar to what he's seen previously there seems to be a greater abundance of conjuration magic here, in a configuration that probably has something to do with teleportation or extradimensional spaces.
Lyra moves down the hall to the right. It turns left almost immediately and then a little ways further down takes a hard right that she can't see around.
Nothing has torn free from space and time, and nothing big green and hideously smelly hasn't attacked, so she waves the group forward and then moves to the next bend.
Gaius shares all this information out loud with his compatriots.
"The walls here are certainly different than what we have seen in the rest of the Tower, and I'm near certain that the magic here means that this very well could be another portal. Whether it is active or not, I'm uncertain."
Gaius gets an idea.
"I'm going to continue ahead wherever this next hallway leads, if it goes anywhere. While I'm going, I'm going to keep talking. If I stop talking, please come find me. I'm going to tell the story of the fight that Maximus and I had with a titan centipede."
He begins talking about their encounter, a little over halfway through their quest for attunement, and how Maximus held the creature off on the ground while Gaius took to the air to try to distract it. Unless someone calls him back, he prepares to move out of sight and explore, should he find any bends.
Lyra stops at Gaius's suggestion and nods, understanding what he is suggesting. "Loses the element of surprise, if there are creatures, but gains additional distance between some weird transition or hazard.
Okay." she hangs back with the others, still with her blade draw and ready.
With a curious look about him as Gaius's voice seems to fade quickly away, "Gaius! Slow down! You're getting ahead of us far too fast! Gaius!" the warrior calls out, picking up his own pace in order to catch up.
Gaius pushes ahead with some foolhardy abandon, steeling himself while he talks.
As the voice grows quieter, Gavin becomes worried. Unconsciously, he takes a few steps forward, following the Knight.
He stops about 15 feet away from the group and looks back, waiting for them to follow.
Lyra starts to rush forward as well, but makes sure to stay by the Witness's side. One never knows when an empty hallway would become full of danger.
"The dimensions of these corridors may be different than they appear; I'd like to test them." The Witness casts dancing lights, summoning four lantern-like lights and sending them slowly down to the far end of the corridor. "Also, if he's become lost, Gaius may notice the illumination."
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Shocked and irritated at the fact they've completely lost Gaius, "You gotta be kidding me! This place is insane. He wasn't that far ahead. No wonder people come in here and are never heard from again. This... this is... I'M STILL WINNING! YOU HEAR ME TOWER! I! AM! GOING! TO! WIN!" he yells, infuriated at the place. He then turns his attention to the others and he notices they are looking at him curiously. "What? I am you know. I'm going to win. Mark my words. I'm going to beat this Tower and they'll be talking about Maximus Benedictus in EVERY age of existence. Before I was born and loooooong after I'm dead. Mark it down," he states firmly, nodding.
Lyra gets out a little journal she keeps, writes down "Maximus . Is. Going. To. Win." she speaks slowly as she writes "Okay, got it." said with a companionly smile.
Gavin smiles at the young man's determination and vigor. good to have a goal I suppose
As they follow Gaius down the hallway, he advises, "Try not to break line of sight with the group."
As much as Gaius would like to follow Gavin's advice, he can't even hear it, much less see his new or old traveling companions. At this point he isn't even sure where he is. No one seems to be responding to his calls anymore. His tale ends and he leans against one of the walls to take a break.
After a moment, he reaches for his Tower Seal to activate its curious ability to discern directions, wondering if that might give him any clearer direction.
Examining the auras of the labyrinthine hallway reveals nothing new, but armed with your new experiential data you're able to formulate a new theory... this is clearly not a simple maze spell but it may very well be a physical maze that shares some of the more confounding characteristics of that spell's destination.
If we are unable to see Gaius at the first left hallway, Gavin suggests the group proceed to, and down, the next hallway.
"Yes, moving, and quickly." Lyra agrees.
The Witness cocks his head in interest at Maximus's declaration. What chance to ally with someone whose goals are the exact opposite of my own.
The wizard casts detect magic and attempts to learn what he can beyond the overwhelming background auras of The Tower. In case Gaius missed anything.
"There seems to be some spatial anomaly at work here - or the illusion of one. I suggest we test each passage with my lights to better understand the distances involved."
When they proceed down the corridor, The Witness focuses on their steps and distance travelled, attempting to discern if some illusion is involved. He refreshes dancing lights and plumbs each corridor they come across before advancing.
Despite his careful scrutiny, the Witness detects no sign of active illusions. Examining the auras of the labyrinthine hallway, he finds there is a pattern within the aura that bears some resemblance to a maze spell, in structure though not in substance. On its own the most reasonable explanation would have been a coincidence but couple with experiential data it seems there could be some connection. This is clearly not a simple maze spell but it may very well be a physical maze that shares some of the more confounding characteristics of that spell's destination, or potentially even the destination itself.
Lyra gets out a little journal she keeps, writes down "Maximus . Is. Going. To. Win." she speaks slowly as she writes "Okay, got it." said with a companionly smile.
Maximus points at Lyra and gives her wink while nodding.
"These passages bear similar arcane patterns to a maze spell, which temporarily creates a confounding extradimensional maze and translocates a target into it. Instead this appears to be a static effect with at least one entry point anchored in The Tower - an interesting variation of the traditional effect. It may be that where we entered is the only entry and exit point, or there maybe additional points of egress. If there are, they may not necessarily lead back into The Tower."
Gaius stands with his back against the wall, fairly certain that he hears the group coming from somewhere to his right. But given what he is beginning to sense about these passages, he determines that moving from here may not be the best idea. He roots himself to his current position, inhales deeply, and then begins speaking in his loudest voice: the kind of volume that he had used when addressing the busy town square back in Estria. He calls out the names of his comrades and generally makes a ruckus, pausing now and then to listen for a response.
This new stretch of hallway appears to be about forty feet long and there are branches off to the left and right before it ends at another left turn.
Gavin leads the foursome to the next intersection where he scans all visible paths and call out loudly to Gaius.
Shaking his head at the current predicament, "Well this stinks. Now we've got like... 94 ways to go! Sheesh this place will drive you bats. So which way should we go now?" he asks, clearly annoyed by it all.
Lyra hears nothing.
The Witness turns back with a troubled look. "Do any of you remember precisely what path we took to get here?"
Once assured someone remembers the way back, he indicates the first passage on the left with a tilt of his head. "I can hear Gaius calling to us, faintly, from that passage."
"It's unusual for me to forget something so recent as our choice of corridors. It would be prudent to leave a trail for ourselves with disposable items, or coins if need be."
"You forgot? We came from... um..." Lyra isn't entirely sure either. She quickly digs into her bag and pulls out some chalk. "Let's this markings and coins, just in case."
"Certainly a prudent precaution," Gavin says as they lay the coins, "but we should move quickly in case Gaius is on the move also."
The intrepid explorers mark the floor with both coins and chalk and move into the hallway indicated by the Witness. It looks sixty feet long but the group of four could span its whole length by standing with their arms outstretched, fingertip to fingertip. It ends at a cross hallway and when the Witness points out Gaius' voice the whole party is able to hear him to the right. Looking in that direction they see that the passage extends away a little way and then curves fairly hard to the left.
The Witness does his best to remember their choice of passages while measuring distances with dancing lights, marking intersections with coins, and listening for Gaius (and for anything else that might be in the maze with them.)
Gaius hears the sounds of his comrades and shouts excitedly. Although it seems like they're going un the right direction, he aims to make their job at least a little bit easier. He travels one corridor to the right, still oration as he goes. He begins to inspire some courage within himself (and presumably his allies if they can hear him).
Gavin calls upon the blessings of his attunement domain to cast Prayer on the foursome before attempting to follow Gaius' voice.
Feeling like danger is a muddle wall around every corner, Lyra uses her unfamliar magic to bolster her courage.
Gaius and the rest of the explorers both follow the sound they hear and soon meet up in a curved section of hallway, although only Lyra and Gaius remember their most recent turns. There are no turns nor branches visible from where they stand but the hallway extends around the bend and out of view in front of and behind them.
Gaius is thrilled to see his comrades again. His face lights up and he gives a cheer, then restrains himself to focus on the situation.
"Well I thought scouting ahead would be wise, but I'm afraid I made things altogether much more challenging for us."
He looks sheepishly at the ground.
"Well, this is like some sort of Maze spell, but also not quite that. I can feel my mind fogging whenever there is a decision to be made. So it is easy to get lost. Whether we are trying to find our way back to the Witness' entrance or through to the other side of this confounded place, it will be difficult. Staying together will be crucial from here on out."
Gaius loos back up, his face full of determination. "I believe that I can bolster our minds whenever we enter a passage, however. It might make it easier for at least one of us to stay within the right frame of mind as we travel."
The bard thinks through his arcane learning and can think of very few spells to help get them out of this mess.
"I'm so glad we were able to relocate you, Gaius! You do know how to make an old man worry. I agree, it would seem that the Tower has other ideas about the conventional wisdom of scouting ahead. We should remain together. I suggest we press onward. Our goal was to explore after all." Gavin says after looking over the young knight for any sign of damage in need of fixing.
After discussing the the turns they have already made, to reach a consensus about the way back, he suggests the move forward.
"There's a very faint scraping noise from back the way we came, though I can't tell if the source is close and quiet or further and muffled by distance. Whatever's moving, it could be anything from a section of wall at the entrance to our coins two passages back.
"Regardless, so long as we're confident in the way back I agree we should press onwards." The wizard notes their agreed upon return route onto the back of one of his scrolls.
I wonder... could it be The Tower slowly regenerating into the effect of my passwall spell? If so, there may be a chance to harvest the excess material when the spell ends. A reliable method of obtaining Tower-stone samples without activating its defenses would be useful.
Once they finally find the lost bard, Maximus can only shake his head. "What t' hell's the matter with you?!" he asks, grinning as he gives him a friendly pop on the shoulder. "We stick together from now on, buddy, because this whole place is nothing BUT a giant maze," he says as he looks all around. "But that doesn't scare me none, you know why?" he asks as he looks back to the bard. "Because I'm going to win," he declares with a wink. "Okay! Like the Witness said: Onward! Let's get this show on the road."
Lyra pulls out her journal, handing it to the Witness. "Would you mind taking the extra precaution of making notes?" she'll continue with the chalk markings and will keep an extra eye out behind them since the Witness mentioned hearing something back there.