Gaius laughs gently at Maximus' continued declaration. "A noble aim, old friend. Keep at it."
With this in mind, Gaius holds his shield out and takes his place with Maximus at the front of the group.
"If something wishes to greet us, we'll be prepared. But if whatever you say is scraping is following us, I'll trust you to hold fast the rear, Lyra."
The reunited band of adventurers move forward once again. The passageway continues its leftward curve until it seems to have reached a right angle from its origin. There it splits with the option to continue straight ahead down what looks to be a 100' long hall, or to turn left into a much shorter section where Gaius had just come from.
Gaius points to the left. "That's where I came initially went when I split from you all. But I felt confused when I first went there: magically, I assume. I didn't go any further. We could go back there, or straight ahead."
The bard shrugs noncommittally, but prepares a good speech for when the group prepares to move on.
"Best to continue on the new path, I think." Gavin suggests.
"mm-hmm" Lyra makes sounds of hummed agreement from the back to Gavin's suggestion.
At Gavin and Lyra's suggestion, the Witness makes a note in the record of turns and the party moves ahead.
"The sound the Witness mentioned seems to be getting louder. It seems likely that something is approaching from behind. We should form a defensive line at the rear." Gavin says as the sound becomes loud enough for him to hear.
Preparing for an encounter, Gavin casts communal tongues on the five of them.
"You got it." With his shield and his sword out, Maximus prepares for whatever is coming their way.
Gaius now hears the sound unmistakably. "Yes, I recommend those of you less defensively oriented position yourselves behind us."
Gaius shifts closer towards the scraping sound. "Ready to win, Maximus?"
Lyra looks between the two men, steel and shields, and assumes they are both defensively oriented. Not having the pleasure so far seeing them fight, she has no other way of knowing.
Drawing her blade she puts herself between the two tanks and her self-appointed charges. Pulling out a polished bone from her bag, she whispers magic into it, letting it float around her.
Gaius now hears the sound unmistakably. "Yes, I recommend those of you less defensively oriented position yourselves behind us."
Gaius shifts closer towards the scraping sound. "Ready to win, Maximus?"
Maximus cuts his eyes toward Gaius, a wry grin forming as he gives a nod. "Always, my friend. Because I really don't like losing."
The Witness shifts to accommodate the proposed formation.
The Witness studiously confirms the most recent turn with his notes. Lyra alone seems to have lost track of their position, but before it can be clarified the mysterious sound's approach provokes a reorganization of positions and the casting of a spell.
A moment later, the sound's source is revealed when a minotaur clad in a bronze breastplate lumbers into view brandishing a heavy flail. It snarls angrily at the group of explorers and tenses as if about to charge.
"I do not believe this creature intends to converse with us!" Gavin exclaims.
Calling on his mythic attunment, the old priest weaves tendrils of magical light that attempt to bind the beast.
A series of faint chirps and clicks comes from inside The Witness's hood as his rarely-seen familiar advises him regarding the minotaur...
The wizard nods, giving a chirp of thanks. The Choreographer has been transformed by the attunement process as well; her memory and reason seem now superior to most humanoids I've met. Most useful, and deserving of further study.
I'll add it to the list... perhaps just after determining the effect of Tower habitation on travel to planes other than the prime material..?
This particular minotaur gives the impression of being stronger and more agile than most, and its equipment is more advanced than might be expected, perhaps hinting at it being connected somehow with a more advanced individual or society?
The minotaur freezes where it stands.
With a mighty cry, Gaius shouts "To arms, men!" He does not mean this to exclude Lyra: it's just something he grew accustomed to saying on the battlefield back in Estria.
Still, he imbues these words with some of the Tower's attuning magic, inspiring a tactical advance.
Gaius surges forward. Though unable to use other abilities to bolster his attack, he lashes out against his helpless opponent with a coup de grace.
At Gaius’ encouragement the party surges forward, but with one well placed stroke of his sword the knight ends the minotaur’s life.
Gaius draws his blade brutally across the minotaur's neck, surprising himself at the swiftness of the melee.
"I...suppose we could have tried to talk. That will be difficult now."
He relaxes. "That was a neat trick, Gavin."
Lyra crouches ready to spring forward and... then it is over.
She frowns.
Sliding her sword back in her sheath she crosses her arms and looks rather irritated "Yes, lovely." she does not sound like she means it.
Maximus grins wryly as he sees the huge minotaur, the warrior born for this exact scenario. Born to test his mettle against such a fantastic beast. But then it stops. It just... stops. Dead in its tracks('Dead' - you'll see shortly - being the operative word here). Unmoving. Not even a mere muscle can be seen even twitching. He then sees Gaius move and strike it down with one fell blow. Just one! With a look of abject horror about him, "Are you kidding me?! That's IT?! Man I was ready to stand toe to toe against that thing! I had that beast EXACTLY where I wanted him! Oh man! Well that sucks!" he complains, dropping his shoulders in defeat.
As he sits there and stares at the now fallen beast, Maximus can only shake his head at what might've been seeing that's pretty much all he can really do. "Welp...," he starts as he takes a deep breath through his nose, "yeah I got nothing. Let's keep moving."
Gaius senses the disappointment from his companions. "I am as surprised as you," he admits, "But expediency seems important here. It was a nice one-two punch: Gavin rendered the creature immobile and that allowed me to end it quickly. Save your strength. I'm sure I will be less able to end things so quickly with whatever else this labyrinth has in store for us."
He flashes a thumbs up to the more martial-appearing of his companions.
"That was a fine trick yourself, Sir." Gavin says, stunned by the young warriors speed and efficiency.
Gavin takes a moment to look over the corpse and its belongings, wary of potential threats.
A quick search of the minotaur reveals that its breastplate is made of Elysian bronze and it's carrying 9 (suspiciously familiar looking) gold pieces. The bottom of it's right hoof is scuffed up and marked with smudges of white chalk.
After examining the beast, Gavin points to the hoofs and gold.
"It looks as if he was following us and erasing the directional aids we put down."
With a curious look about him, "Why? That thing didn't know us. Why would it do such a thing? You don't suppose it was 'employed' by the Tower, do you?"
The Witness holds up Lyra's journal. "Thankfully those weren't the extent of our redundancies."
"This minotaur was exceptionally well-equipped; I wonder if it was itself a Seeker? Regardless, it likely claimed this maze as its lair, and their kind aren't known for their hospitality."
With a thought he shifts his perception into the magical spectrum, wincing slightly at the expected Tower auras, and begins examining the corpse: first hooves and horns, then proceeding to its fur, in places parting it to inspect the skin beneath.
Not his best area of study, but Gavin still attempts to assist any checks.
"A follower or stalker? That is disconcerting. Even if we did find ourselves in its lair...there may be other creatures or traps as we continue to explore."
Gaius helps the Witness and Gavin in their investigation.
"It occurs to me that most of the locations that are available in the locations that we visit appear to be the homes of different creatures, not necessarily Seekers. And we do appear to be entering uninvited."
The trio of inspectors do not find any sign of a Seeker's Seal on the creature. They do however find countless examples of the kind of minor injuries usually associated with vigorous training or sparring, some of which seem quite recent. Its flail and armor exhibit the same magical auras that would be seen on their own equipment, but they have already begun to fade.
Behind them the hallway appears to continue for thirty more feet before reaching a "T" intersection.
"I admit feeling somewhat guilty for slaying this creature," Gaius admits as he sees training scar that remind him of his own. If he does not necessarily feel kinship, he recognizes something in common. But in these situations, where weapons were already drawn, diplomacy seemed unlikely. "But bygones and such."
Gaius stands and stretches, alternating between his feet and ensuring that sword and shield are both wielded well. He looks at the oncoming hallway. "If the way behind has been somewhat obscured, given your note-taking, then we may as well continue forward. Do we wish to flip a coin to choose our way forward, or adopt some pattern? Perhaps if we continue to hew in a given direction when a choice must be made, we can pick up our pace. Even if we become confused, knowing that we have a set pattern could serve us well. Perhaps stay left until we have explored everything available to us there, unless that begins to lead us in circles. Which it could."
"He seemed pretty intent on fighting, so as you say... bygones." Lyra resumes her rearguard position, and will begin marking the hallway choices again.
Cracking his neck from one side and then to the other, "I'm game for any ol' way. Backward, forward, it's all progress to me. And yeah, that beast wasn't interested in wondering if you were going to be free for tea and cakes later. His intent was to kill. Plain and simple."
"A fine suggestion, Gaius. We shall proceed forward, making lefts whenever possible." the old priest says.
"and should return to the order of Knights, scholars, then Birds." he says with a grin.
Nodding, "I like it. Forward it is."
Gaius presses onward alongside Maximus at the front, turning left when the next opportunity presents itself.
"Poor Birds, always at in back." Lyra sighs, but not in complaint.
Having formulated a plan, the band of explorer sets out again. They make their way through four intersections, choosing the leftmost option each time. Based on the distances they seem to have traveled, it feels as though they must certainly have crossed back into a tunnel they've passed through already by now, but they find no evidence of their own passing and even to the Witness' keen mind and senses each new passageway seems to be one they haven't passed through yet.
The fourth intersection is another T, and turning left leads almost immediately to a sixty foot square chamber with no other visible entrances or exits. At the far end of the chamber, a large bare-chested minotaur with impressively good posture stands overseeing two pairs of armored minotaurs sparring with swords and shields. The creatures all pause and turn to look at the new arrivals.
Lyra's mind slows for a moment, sending her shooting mentally into the fray, imagining dodging a hack with an axe with ease, then having trouble with the next, but reaching the Impressively Postured one in a blink of an eye. But the rest of the battle is fuzzy, would the knights engage the two other guards, would they rather form a battle line, did they have their own way to get to the leader as quick as spit... too many unknowns.
So she moves up next to the knights, "At least there is more than one this time" she grins at them, and spends a moment to cast a spell on herself.
Round 1 - Mazes & Matadors
The Witness speaks an arcane syllable while pointing downwards with the index and middle fingers of his right hand and rapidly scissoring them. His spell complete, he taps into his subconscious memory and allows it to control his body's reactions.
The pair of minotaurs to the explorer's right reacts fairly quickly and comes rushing towards them. The closer one actually lowers its horns as it charges towards Lyra. It's sparring partner follows along behind it shouting in giantish about remembering their positioning.
Lyra manages to sidestep the bull-headed giant's surprisingly ineffective attack rather easily. The second minotaur shakes its head disapprovingly as it moves around to the party's right flank and raises its shield before it.
Gaius' jaw drops as he rounds the corner to see several minotaurs. Within moments of their arrival, the Witness has blessed him with an even greater boost of speed, and the pigeon has prepared herself to fly. Gaius cracks his neck, rolls his shoulders, and flexes his hand around the hilt of his blade. It would be good to have a challenge for these new powers!
The bard studies the left pair of minotaurs and the overseer minotaur for particular weaknesses and begins declaiming to the group about their inevitable victory with inspiring prose.
"Standing side by side with you all, I feel triumph within reach. Rally as one, fight by my side, and we'll end this threat as well!"
What might sound trite or over-confident comes across with the full force of belief.
Shield out, Gaius stands firm and ready for the minotaurs to press towards the group. But for now he forms a bulwark and points his sword towards the overseer as though in a challenge. His sword pulses with a flash of red sparks as he carves a rune into the air. The sparks leap off and swirl towards the overseer minotaur before exploding in a grand conflagration that should catch all of the minotaurs without harming any of his allies.
Flames tear through the far end of the chamber as Gaius' spell erupts. In each of the two pairs, one minotaur manages to duck away and avoid the worst of the blast while the other does not. The unarmored minotaur makes a surprisingly graceful move and seems to avoid the fire entirely. "Þeir eru að mynda skjaldvegg," the overseer declares, "brjóta hann."
As the dust of the hot blast settles, one of the armored beasts charges at Gaius with its horns leveled, while the other raises it's shield and moves to the flank next to the bard.
It's horns bite into the brave knight's flesh and toss him backwards ten feet. The leader stays where it started, though it closes its eyes for a moment and when it opens them it's hide appears to have grown thicker, and slightly bark-like.
Maximus can't help but shake his head and chuckle at the words from his long time friend. He then lets out his own inspirational speech, "Oh yeah, let's kick some butt!!!" He then quickly strikes the nearest enemy.
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