Quest Labyrinth - Adventure 1

[Ignotus Everto]

Ignotus had chosen to examine the clam shell in the meantime, in lieu
of staring at an apparently disintegrating Wrenmae. "That's what the pigeons are for." the Nuit said as he scratched at the wall of the room with a grey fingernail, "Besides, I was curious. If men found anything interesting inside, they wouldn't share it."

Perhaps it wasn't the whole truth- He just didn't want to be caught in a situation that was beyond his ability- but it was still the truth, and that was good enough for him.

[Wrenmae]

Sighing, Wrenmae turned away from the mirror and returned to the seems of where the clam had closed. It seemed that the way forward was completely barred, effectively hemming them in with a constantly deteriorating illusion on themselves. So, if the secret was to reopen the room, he'd had to use an ability he had not planned on tapping into within the labyrinth.

Djed lanced through his muscles, and he slipped off the Waveguard uniform top to place both hands at the lip of the clam. His arms bulged, swelling with muscle as he tapped into the Dhani model he'd acquired from Bones. His back broadened, arms doubled in width. Muscle rippled with pulsing veins. Djed performed admirably as the catalyst to memory. He saw the muscles from before, he felt their strength, made it his own. If he grew a little, his body taking liberties with the morphing, he didn't notice.

Instead he concentrated only on straining at the entrance of the clam, pushing and pulling the lid to open and re-admit them to the passage beyond.

[Paragon]

Wrenmae's morphing was just the trick. Though he thought brute strength would be the answer, it was much simpler than that. The mirror caused the illusion of shifting appearance, threatening their minds. Morphing altered appearance too, but the morphing itself was in Wrenmae's control. It had the power to break the mirror's spell. Wrenmae's Skill Challenge (Morphing) Wrenmae Morphing XP = 81 // Your roll was 7 and 9 = 79 - 20 point handicap = 81 - 20 = 61 61 vs 79 FAILURE Wrenmae was thrown back from the wall he had been trying to push, and Ignotus was knocked to his knees too as a swirl of energy blasted through the room. The mirror shattered into a thousand pieces, what seemed like glass shards disintegrating in the air as the clam shell roof rose, revealing a new passageway. But Wrenmae had not broken the spell. Not fully. His skill level had gone some way, but the twisted labyrinth's power had outwitted him. Though he and Ignotus had returned to something that resembled their true selves more closely, some age remained. Time had still taken its toll. Wrinkles played against Wrenmae's skin, on his hands, and when he touched his face, there too. Ignotus body was further gone than it had been before. Some flakes of skin brushing away and languishing in the air. The newly revealed passageway veered left, pulling them into a spiral again, but it only went one way. So for now, forward was their only option.

[Ignotus Everto]

So Wrenmae could turn into a snake-beast. Ignotus would have to remember to ask him how. Unfortunately, academia took a sizable back seat to exploding mirrors. Especially exploding mirrors that blasted him to his knees, causing the Nuit to scrape them against the unforgiving stone. Sadly, a great deal of freshness was lost with the shockwave as well. He would have to replace his body later. At least he was immortal. Wrenmae wasn't, which meant he likely lost a few years of his life.

"Well," the wizard hissed as he drew himself up, a coin-sized disk of skin next to his eye fluttering to the floor to display the musculature of his face, "That backfired."

Looking to the new passageway, Ignotus shrugged and ordered three pigeons ahead, remarking, "But it got us further ahead. Oh, and..." He added as an afterthought, "Sorry about your age."

[Wrenmae]

Time tore through his body, leaving its passage in his hands. As he felt his face, he knew it was there too, a reminder that not all magic in Mizahar was reversable, and he still knew very little about where they were.

"Time." Wrenmae said quietly, ignoring Ignotus' snide aside, "We have part of the mystery to this place...perhaps something to do with a magic that can speed or slow time?"

He pondered the thought, taking solace in his intact ability to reason. Even as his core trembled, shook at the thought of losing his youth, his strength, he continued on behind the nuit.

Ignotus had not been completely forthright with him, not since before they entered the labrynth. That fact weighed on the mage as he followed the dead man with careful steps. So far, the maze had proven only its ability to destroy, to age, to corrupt. There was no way back, and he had not lost sight of that fact.

They were trapped, and in their folly, they'd brought no other sacrificial tributes than the damned birds.

Birds Ignotus could turn on him at any time.

Green res expelled from his skin, batching his arms and languishing there, waiting. He would not be caught a fool if this was some elaborate scheme...nor would he put it past the nuit to do so.

So far, they knew nothing, walked blindly, and Ignotus was hiding something from him.

It was enough to put the mage on the defensive.

[Paragon]

Following the only spiral open to them, they eventually came into a new room. This place was a square room, as if it had once been part of an ancient building, all uniform and symmetrical. Another door faced them on the opposite side, but the deadbolt was visible even from where the duo stood. Upon closer inspection, the door was scrawled with small pictures. Almost glyphs, but more visually comprehensible. There were two small creatures on the wooden surface. A crude snail, and a sea-slug. And then, either side of the door were what looked like individual canisters, with fuses hanging from them. One on the left, one on the right. The canister on the left had a picture of what looked like an octopus scrawled on it. The canister on the right had something resembling a sea floor crab. It appeared that both canisters, and their fuses, were hooked up to the door. But the pair would need to be careful, both had a warning sigil inscribed on them too, a skull and crossbones to represent death to any who were too hasty. This would be Ignotus' chance to shine. He would need to choose an appropriate skill and between the two of them, they would need to decide what to do.

[Ignotus Everto]

Of course. Of course it was a riddle. Even better, if the faux glyphs were any indication, it was an explosive riddle! It seemed straightforward enough: Light the right canister, get through. Don't, die a horrible death. Ignotus cursed under his breath as he leaned toward the door and tapped on a canister with a bony finger. "I am not a marine biologist." he muttered, "But I did fish."

Crabs ate snails and slugs... Or at least Ignotus thought they did, and it seemed a bit of an odd one out among the squishier illustrations. So he pinched the crab canister's fuse between his thumb and forefinger, leaving a droplet of azure Res clinging to it. He then stepped away and willed more of his Djed into gaseous form, soon producing a cloud of dense mist just large enough to shield Wrenmae. "In the event that this canister explodes, it will be best to deflect some of the force."

The Nuit stepped behind his compatriot, and his Res went in front of him. "Together?" He asked with a small smile. If he agreed, it would be a matter of deciding who would control which element, followed by a snap of his fingers to light the fuse when Wrenmae was ready.

[Wrenmae]

The room suggested trial, and enough of one that Wrenmae was set back. He still bore the wear of age from the last room, a fact he had not quite reconciled with, at least not completely. So when Ignotus shrugged off his inquiries and prepared to use reimancy, Wrenmae made no mention that the nuit had chosen to hide his frail body behind his companion. It was a small move, but an important one to define their dynamics. Wren had no doubt that the nuit would sacrifice him if it came down to one or the other, honestly, Wren would do the same…but to play his cards so obviously…

Expelling his own pale green res, the wizard nodded grimly. “Light the fuse, I’ll handle the explosion.” He would have said more, but felt the whole of it to be wasted. The Sagallius servant was crafty and when he wanted to keep his secrets, little could pry him from such a place. Instead Wren was content to let the nuit try this next trial. If it came to being physical, he would save as much of his res as he could for such a confrontation. He didn’t trust Ignotus, not fully. While they were often aligned in goal and attitude, both obviously sported separate agendas.

And if the nuit had found out about his Blight….

There could be more than a shoreline and a dying city waiting for him on the boat ride back…if there was one at all.

[Paragon]

Unfortunately, Ignotus' puzzle solving skills were incorrect today. The cannisters referred to groups of animals, and to the scientists of Zeltiva and Sahova, octopi, snails, and slugs, shared a common group of characteristics. Crabs, however, did not. OOCBecause you made the incorrect choice, I won't do a skill roll here (that might be a good thing after last time XD!) The fuse was lit, and the spark ran all the way up the wire until it finally met the barrel. Foresight saved their lives. The thing exploded, wood splintering outward, and a fierce fireball rushing from the object. Thankfully, the pair's protections of res held, and a click resounded, the door swinging open despite the cannister exploding. The heat subsided, wood chips thrown to the ground. The creator of this place likely assumed any adventurer would be dead at this point anyway. Escaping their near death experience, the pair would continue down the corridor and find a fork in the passage. They could either take a right or a left, and either would bring them closer to the mystery of this place.

[Ignotus Everto]

There were two things that broke in Ignotus and Wrenmae's favor. One, Ignotus was behind his human (and therefore quicker reacting) companion, and was therefore able to remain un-roasted long enough to absorb what was left of the impact. The instant he registered the canister had exploded, the Nuit swirled his Res in a rough sphere around the pair of them, the flames of the blast following the motion instead of turning them both into ash. For a few seconds, the duo was enveloped in a burning orange cocoon that writhed and crackled... And then it was over. Ignotus found a miza sized disk of skin crumbling off the edge of his mouth, but other than that, he was alive, and his Res retreated into a pool around his feet. At least the door opened.

Despite Wrenmae's paranoia, Ignotus had no ill plans for the man. He was his most valuable partner, and even if he was the Blighter (and that was a very low chance indeed), that didn't mean he was useless... Quite the opposite.

"Right... Explosives and killer time mazes... I think we should go right this time." the Nuit said in a deadpan tone.