Gaius hovers back slightly to be out of the way of the worm's tremendous reach while he prepares to cast a spell. He calls out to his companions.
"This creature's hide is particularly strong. We will need weapons of adamantine to cut fully through it."
Gaius looks at Maximus, knowing that he has what he needs. As for Gaius: he has at least a few more tricks prepared.
A deep thrum rises from deep within the bard's chest, and his blade resonates the call. Even while he continues to inspire his allies, this basso persists, almost as though he can maintain two vocal streams at once.
Unable to reach the injured Lyra, Gavin moves out of the acid, draws a rod from his haversack, and blasts the creature with another dose of flames.
Gavin's blast once again singes slime off the green worm's carapace. It anrgily hisses in his direction but seems to know better than to try to slither past everyone else to reach him. Instead it turns its attention to the noisy bard that wounded it previously.
Despite the pain, Lyra continues to attack the creature.
Gaius hovers back slightly to be out of the way of the worm's tremendous reach while he prepares to cast a spell. He calls out to his companions.
"This creature's hide is particularly strong. We will need weapons of adamantine to cut fully through it."Gaius looks at Maximus, knowing that he has what he needs. As for Gaius: he has at least a few more tricks prepared.
"On it!" Maximus takes off straight for the gigantic worm, charging straight ahead like a rocket with his sword out. As he nears, he raises it high and brings it down hard upon the worm, hoping to strike true.
With a quick word of encouragement, and a bit of magic, Gavin attempts to help Maximus find a vulnerable spot on the creature.
As the worm snaps away one of his images with its gargantuan maw, the remaining six Gaiuses float forward: shield in one claw and sword in another, gangly elongated limbs all shrouded in strange magic. This was a fascinating creature of old lore: even stronger than the titan centipede that he and Maximus had slain weeks--or rather hundreds of years--ago. Or however it was that time worked here. It almost seemed a shame to slay it, and yet as Gaius' form was now a death-dealing machine he grows excited at the prospect of tearing into it. He imbues every sharp element in his arsenal--blade, claws, horns, and teeth--with a fraction of his arcane magic and unleashes fury.
Calling on his mythic powers, Gavin attempts to paralyze the beast.
Round 4: De Vermis Mysteriis
Maintaining his position relative to the worm, The Witness sends five grey beams of energy lancing into the worm via a magic missile spell.
With Gavin’s help, Maximus finally gets to hacks into the worm. Both Lyra and Gaius have a great deal of success with their flurry of attacks, and by the time the Witness’ missiles strike rivulets of caustic blood are dribbling up its plates and falling to the ceiling.
Chains of light flash out from the priest to surround the massive beast, but it smashes through them as if they weren’t there. Growing increasingly desperate, it lashes out at the cluster of gargoyles again.
With Lyra, Gaius, and Maximus all now able to attack freely, they finish off the wounded worm in short order. With it great crash, it collapses to the ceiling.
Once Lyra returns to the floor, Gavin wastes no time removing the poison.
He then goes to work on her bite wound.
The shaken, but cheerful, pigeon flutters to the floor near Gavin, the kindly uncle. "I think... I might be... hurt... something is... burning... Aaaa... fudge on a stick... yes..." she winces in obvious pain despite the wide smile. "Pretty pretty worm all dead now, but truly something... oh, that feels better." her smile turns brighter as Gavin heals her, and the floating pigeon bows deep to her savior "My life is once again in your debt, good sir."
The Witness floats up towards the ceiling, studying the exposed length of the worm. From his hood a hummingbird appears, flitting in sudden starts and stops around him.
If we take the anatomy of a more common genus of worm as a base, add what we know of the purpura vermis, and adjust for the undoubtedly increased acidity of this specimen's digestive fluids...
In the unique language of hums and clicks they share, the wizard asks his familiar's opinion. "What do you think, Choreographer? Will unpassed, undigestable materials more likely reside in a sub-gullet, or simply be peristaltically distributed throughout its system?"
Despite a lack of empirical knowledge - subsisting as she does on insects and nectars - the Choreographer of Flower's second-hand information on mundane lumbricidae is still relatively extensive.
"Well..."
The Witness, and the Choreographer, are aware that in purple worms undigested gems and precious ore are known to get lodged in the creases of the digestive tract. This can happen throughout its entire length, and it stands to reason the same may be true of this green version.
Gaius flutters down, multiple gargoyle images still floating about him, as his droning chant and encouraging tactical advice cease their magics. He sheathes his sword and watches as Gavin tends to Lyra. Gaius looks her over before determining that it looks as though the cleric's ministrations have done the trick. The Pigeon looks (almost) as good as new.
"You are ferocious, Lyra! It is an honor to fight by your side--all of you!"
Gaius tries to soften his voice in his current form, but does not yet dismiss it in case there is yet more danger to be found.
"Have you ever learned to use magic items? This trick of mine to create a bevy of illusions has surely saved my life many times in this labyrinth, much less on the rest of the road. It is, for better or worse, a spell that I can only use on myself. But if we could find a wand or scroll of this spell, it would probably help you. I hate to see you injured like this."
Staring up at the ceiling with the deceased green worm, Gaius wills himself to consider the gravity reversed here so that he can attempt to float down to it.
By imagining down as he takes flight, Gaius begins a spiral towards the new down to join the Witness, his hummingbird familiar, and the green worm on the ceiling-now-floor. As he stands on the ceiling looking up at his other companions, he grins.
"You just have to change your perspective is all!"
Nearer to the worm, Gaius remembers how just moments prior the worm's wounds had been knitting themselves together. He looks the worm over to see whether its regeneration is persistent, or if it has truly stopped.
He also opens his magical eye to assess the worm's corpse, looking for anything inherently magical on--or in--it.
"What do you think?" Gaius asks the Witness as they both stand there. "Is it worth exposing ourselves to its causticity to find aspects of the hordes it has consumed? We still have some of Gavin's protections. And Maximus has the right carving blade."
Gaius then considers the Witness' earlier warning about the Tower dragging them back. "I suppose we would need to work quickly in either case. Do you have a sense for how much time remains?"
The Witness momentarily covers his eyes with his hand as he casts a spell, then surrounds himself with dancing lights before directing The Choreographer into the relative safety of his robes.
"No, I'm unable to make an accurate prediction of when The Tower will recall us. Attempting a dissection of the corpse would be an unnecessary expenditure of time and effort - I'll simply make a direct exploration. I should be back shortly."
The wizard then flies into the corpse's mouth and down its gullet.
It doesn't take long for Gavin's spell to be exhausted once the Witness enters the worm's digestive tract. To the wizard's relief, however, he discovers upon the spell's expiration that with the protection of his ring the acid does little more than sting. All told, it takes him ten minutes to search the creature's innards and harvest what he finds .
The worm's ability to digest earth and stone has left behind little in the way of precious stones, however the uncomfortable journey proves highly fruitful in nuggets of ore tough enough to endure the acid. In fact, all the imperfections within the deposits have been eaten away, leaving behind pure samples of the valuable metals.
The Witness exits the worm ten minutes later little worse for wear and details his finds.
"Not knowing how much longer we have, I think it prudent to begin making our way back towards our entry point. If we arrive before The Tower recalls us I plan to wait on this plane until it does, in order to estimate how much time we're allowed here."
As the Witness exits from the carcass of the worm with a bevy of gems and metals, all of Gaius' shorter duration spells wear off, so a mere man greets him as he emerges.
"A return seems reasonable. Although there is much more of the labyrinth to explore, as you said previously, we can almost certainly return to this Plane if we desire to do so."
Gaius helps the Witness pile the materials that they have gathered into Maximus' bag, and then returns to the rest of the group on the floor.
"Let's make our way back to the Tower."
Worried they might encounter trouble in the return trip, Gavin makes sure they are in fighting shape with a burst of positive energy.
"If any of you would like to cross over into the maze, it would supply important additional information regarding The Tower's "recall" function. Indeed, even testing the ability to communicate with one another across the threshold would be valuable. Even more information could be gained if one or more of you were able to make it all the way back to our original entry point into the maze, however given its effects on the mind, the risk likely outweighs the benefit of a smaller group attempting the trip."
I have no accurate way of measuring how much time has passed inside The Tower when we get back. Next time I exit T-space, I need to effect a timed enchantment of some sort at the portal to ascertain comparative time progressions upon my return. Perhaps a custom spell, if my companions are willing to pause our explorations for a day or more? Something to discuss once we've accomplished the tasks at hand.
"Alright, Witness, you talked me into it. I'll hang out with you and see what happens."
Lyra nods to Maximus "Then I'll protect Gavin." Since Gaius is somewhere between caster and warrior, he is unfortunately left to defend himself.
"I'm afraid I'm a little spent on resources at the moment. If you expect the pulling of the Tower to be painful, I may be better equipped to handle that another day. Might it be wise to experience the 'pull' from as close to the tower as possible at first? Rather than another plane?" Gavin asks as they hash out details.
Gaius looks back and forth between his allies.
"I am not keen to divide our numbers, but if you are willing to stay and risk the damage that will ensue, then I also have some moderate healing capabilities to provide."
He shrugs. "I'll join Lyra and Gavin for now, and we'll try to communicate as best as we can through the various thresholds."
Lyra will follow Gavin's lead on this.
Lyra nods to the silent stares that seem to be communicating so much.
Once near the locale of the earth/maze planar boundary, The Witness cast telepathic bond on himself, Maximus, Gavin, and ( ) Lyra to facilitate communications and to determine the location of the planar boundary.
++Twelve hours seems reasonable. Gavin, please maintain continuous thought communication while you return to the maze - perhaps one of your parables? When I can longer receive your telepathic signal, I'll know you've crossed out of this plane.++
++Also, please allow The Choreographer to accompany you.++
After a quick hum-click, the bird flies from the wizard's hood and lands on the cleric's shoulder.
As predicted, the telepathic bond ceases to function between those in the tunnel and those traveling back by the time the latter group reaches the worked stones of the large chamber. Surprisingly, though, it seems to function intermittently for the last thirty feet or so of the tunnel, leaving those familiar with planar geometry to surmise that the two planes must run coterminally through that area.
Just as suddenly as your world vanished, a new one appears as you tumble bloody and bruised to ground at the feet of your companions in the first room you entered on this floor.
Once at the entrance, you wait for nearly two hours before, in a flash of azure light Maximus and the Witness abruptly spill out of nowhere to arrive bruised and bloody on the floor at your feet.
Gavin looks over the new arrivals quickly for anything more than flesh wounds and goes about fixing them as soon as they appear.
"I dare say, if the experiment had been any more a 'success', I might not have been able to mend it." the old man says, with a laugh that doesn't quite disguise his genuine concern.
"Shall we make our way back to the relative safety of the residential quarter?"
To Gavin’s cursory exam, the injuries seem clearly more than superficial but not especially serious. However, even after channeling four waves of healing energy Maximus and the Witness are not completely restored.
Gaius looks at the battered bodies of his old friend and new friend and is suddenly glad that the Witness' familiar traveled with them. The poor bird probably would have been crushed by the travel.
Gaius goes to Maximus after Gavin sends forth some waves of healing energy, and places his own hand on the knight's arm.
"I have at least a couple more of those if we need them," he says with a smile. "But I agree that we should return. This was a worthwhile excursion."
With the added healing from Gaius’ spell, Maximus’ body is fully restored. The memory of being wrenched across planar boundaries, however, seems unlikely to be wiped away so easily.
Returning to the staircase through the still open passageway created by the Witness’ passwall spell, the explorers transform into mist and begin their rapid ascent. Seventy-nine floors later they arrive back at the entrance to Redwatch.
"That went relatively well," the wizard gasps. After Gavin's channelings, he is restored to full health. "Thank you, friend."
The Witness solidifies and once his companions have done so as well, he enters Redwatch with them. On his way through the entrance, he stoops down and grabs a few small chunks of rubble to take with him.
Gaius stretches upon their return. Residing in the small room still sounded better than sleeping on the stairs, but he still wished that he could have something a bit more comfortable.
Of course, Gaius had spent little time here in Redwatch so far. And if this was a relatively permanent settlement here, then he was curious about what all was offered here.
"I believe I heard that there was a marketplace nearby. Could we sell what we found? I would at the very least like to explore the marketplace and perhaps meet some more of our fellow Seekers--find out what goes on in a transdimensional settlement that is unstuck in time."
Although Gaius had struck out on finding information about his father, he hadn't asked around too much yet. Even without such information, he wouldn't mind finding what passed for entertainment--or whether he could provide any of his own. Was there much of a market for storytelling in Redwatch?
Between what his new companions already know and a few casual questions, Gaius is easily able to get a feel for the marketplace in Redwatch.
Back in the safety of Redwatch, Gavin breathes a sigh of relief. When they reach the market place, he checks in on his 'mailbox' and then gives Maximus and Gaius the full tour, complete with introductions.
As they make their way around, Gavin asks about selling the armor and weapons, first at Helmhammers and then at the Mercantile exchange.
As they slowly make their way around, Gavin collects the most recent rumors.
Gaius is fascinated as he walks around Redwatch's market, especially with the strange smells of Perfect Powder (after having met some people who use guns earlier in the day). He also makes a point to visit the Temple later: even though he doesn't actively follow the Drunken God, he's confident that he would be able to meet some interesting people there.
Although he doesn't purchase anything major just yet, he makes note of the kinds of things he might buy in the future.
As he walks around, he seeks anyone who might have known his father, or anything about his activities over the last 18 years.
Lyra keeps close to her charge even in town, but keeps an eye out for a pillow.
As they are shunted back extremely painfully, Maximus lays there for a moment trying to recover from the beating he just took. "Okay that sucked. Remind me to never do THAT again. That's... that's just the worst." He then thanks the others for the healing, feeling a whole lot better.