EVENT ★ LABYRINTH III: THE ESCAPE

[futurologists]

LABYRINTH III The correct passageway to the inner ring of the maze is hidden behind a thick wall of vines. After cutting through the plants, the structure of the maze is noticeably different: the overgrown plants continue creeping up the walls, but the walls are no longer brick and stone, composed instead of some sort of blue metal with holes and divots carved elaborately into the surface. From some holes gush forth pure, clean water; from others, acidic liquid. The air is cool and crisp, the plants creating a lush, dim environment lit by eerie blue lights spread throughout this section. The lizards, rats, and other monstrous creatures seem to be absent from this area of the maze, replaced instead by rhinoceros-sized beetles. The beetles each have a single horn protruding from the head, and their hard carapaces make them difficult to kill -- a better method might be to simply climb somewhere high and wait for the beetle to get bored. But unlike the other monsters encountered in the maze, the beetles seem to have something else on their mind beyond wanton violence: they can sometimes be found rolling massive balls of dung throughout the corridors of the labyrinth. (This might explain why the plants are so lush closer to the center.) There is little time to explore this section of the labyrinth before there's a flicker of light all around and more ALASTAIR recruits suddenly appear, most dressed in a freshly pressed uniform and carrying extra food and supplies. They have been told that the cloaking surrounding Asterion Labyrinth is so strong and complex that Oska was only able to send in a handful of recruits at once for a relief effort. In order to leave, they'll have to locate the escape mechanism that lies deep within the labyrinth; the remaining Asterion Prison correctional officers know its general location, but not precisely what it entails. All they know is that it will require technological cunning to operate and that it's heavily guarded. After five days, the portal room is found. THE PORTAL ROOM The center of the labyrinth is a large, circular room with a raised platform in the middle. On this platform rests a circle of computer consoles surrounding another platform, on which sits an empty circular frame 2.5m (8') in diameter. This is the dormant portal, and it is now Audentes's task to turn it on and find their way back to Oska. Because the portal is not made for interdimensional travel, it must be overclocked, which will cause it to burn out and explode once it is used. In order to override the safety protocols in place to prevent such dangerous tampering, the control panels must be unlocked -- and unfortunately, the locks are all complicated puzzles, ranging from the numerical to sliding pieces into place to complete a pattern. There are many of these puzzled scattered around the portal room, and once they are all unlocked, it's a simple matter of flipping the power override switches. Ignore the dangerous humming sound and the way the frame suddenly fills with violent purple energy. That's probably normal. The new recruits have the correct coordinates to locate Oska, which has temporarily lowered its cloaking shield to allow Audentes to return. So there is a bit of a time crunch. Adding more to the difficulty of the situation is the presence of a monster lumbering around the circular portal room. Six meters (20') high, the beast is best described as a minotaur, but perhaps not in the traditional sense: while it resembles a bipedal bull, it is an amalgamation of flesh and machine with its body covered in pistons and glowing lights. One of its hands is an enormous axe and it belches fire and acid. Despite its head resembling an herbivore, the piles of desiccated bones scattered throughout the portal room tell a different story. Upon seeing the group, the minotaur charges. Mavahari, the Zymandis recruit, rushes to meet it with her sword drawn. Inmates and correctional officers do their best to fight it as well, but something becomes quickly apparent: it cannot be harmed by projectile weapons. The machinery of the beast keeps it protected from most attacks, though electricity will stun it and acid will corrode its metal. But in order to injure the minotaur, it must be stabbed between the metal plates where its vulnerable flesh remains. During the battle, the minotaur fights viciously and without regard for its own safety. The first casualty comes early: the minotaur swings its axe toward Mavahari, who is pushed out of the way by George. The axe connects with him solidly, sending him flying into the wall with a shuddering impact. George lies there still, but there's no time to mourn. The beast continues its rampage. Once the minotaur is defeated, you'll have to quickly decide what to do with the correctional officers and inmates who have followed Audentes through the Asterion Labyrinth. The overclocked portal won't hold forever, and the longer Oska leaves its cloak down, the better chance they have of being found by their enemies. OOC NOTES This log will last for six IC days: five days for exploration and one day at the center of the maze. We have also recently altered the calendar this month, so make sure you review it! IMPORTANT: Participation in the solution poll is mandatory for August AC. Failure to participate will result in an automatic strike. The only exception is for those who are exempt from August AC. The poll will close on 11 August 23:59 UTC. If you have any questions about the labyrinth that aren't answered here, please direct them to the Leramzen dossier. Questions about the game in general should be directed to the FAQ and you may submit mission ideas or player plots at any time.

Comments

[grunehexe]

[What an... irate little man. By Sieglinde's reckoning it seems far more kind to offer her relief of the magical variety when one had no Master to supply mana as opposed to just lending an arm, but. She's already made that mistake, she doesn't open her mouth to argue it. Instead, she crossed her arms thoughtfully, locking her knees to make sure she doesn't topple.]

Then I would be further in your debt... what is it that a witch might do to repay such a thing?

[One of the problems with Servants she's encountered so far being that as powerful as they could be compared to her... those sets were hard to work off.]

[grunehexe]

[Now, that's definitely not a fair trade at all... but she's also getting nowhere and she likes to think she has the sense to know when that isn't going to change, so Sieglinde frowns a moment before giving it up, one hand returning to the box for balance before she hesitantly drops her gaze to her other hand before holding it out.

She almost says "this is a handshake" as way of introduction but despite knowing little of him (besides his claims to be an author and to have apparently been poor at some point), his name sounds European enough that she assumes he knows what it is.]

Very well. Should I run out of salve I shall be in your care.

[grunehexe]

[There. Sieglinde did so think she was getting the hang of this handshake thing. Once she had been told it signified the desire to be friends, causing confusion abound once she'd joined ALASTAIR, but she knew the correct way to use it now. Striking deals, or conveying a sense of business-like trust.

It's almost strange though, to someone raised as she had been, the only youth within a village of older women, to hold the hand of someone whose hands were about the same size as hers. But after a moment of marvel, she releases the shake.]

I am.

[How she came to be she keeps to herself.]

I have learned much from our fellow recruits among ALASTAIR to supplement the repertoire of the Green Witch's healing magics, but I must admit my talents still lie there.

[In healing. Warding. Finding. Most anything but actual offensive spells.]

[grunehexe]

[Well that... is a valid question. She cannot deny that, even as her gaze inadvertently drops down to said feet, swaddled in bandages and, though she'd rebroken them manually and reset them in a somewhat normal shape, still somewhat crooked and oddly arched, lacking in most nerve sensation.

To think she'd once looked upon them with pride.]

I am sure they could be healed with magic. But the Green Witch must sacrifice her legs to honor the pact of our ancestor's. That is the way it has always been.

[The excuse is weak, she knows that now. But it's what she's always been told, and it's easy enough to admit even to a veritable stranger.]

I fear what may happen if I were to be returned having used a magic upon them beyond what my own world is capable of.

[grunehexe]

Precisely.

[She wished she believed it could. She wished she could be so naive as some of their number, who seemed to think ALASTAIR would return them to their worlds as if they'd never left, possessed of all the knowledge and wisdom and changes they'd accrued in service to Audentes.

But while innocence was beauty, ignorance was death. She'd learned that.]

For a group that is all about preserving their idea of the correct "timeline", I cannot believe they would allow us to return to our worlds capable of changing the natural course of events with acquired magics, foreknowledge, or technology.

[It's why she's had anything important she's discovered tattooed on her skin beneath her gown, one more possible way to smuggle it back to her world in case her mind should be wiped clean, why she can't bring herself yet to even want to go home if it meant the loss of everything she's gained.]

... though that is simply my theory.

[grunehexe]

I do not.

[As horrible as it sounds, as it feels... she's seen too many questionable things since "joining" to think otherwise. She'd wanted to trust them, and at first she'd tried.... but they were kept in the dark about so much, and perhaps it was lack of knowledge on their part, but whether it was incompetence or malice... the result was the same.]

[grunehexe]

It is ALASTAIR's responsibility to indoctrinate you before I could potentially ruin it, if that were their aim.

[Oh, they're was Lloyd, and his explanations, and she's sure some people believed those at face value, but. She's been lied too far too many times in her life for that to be something she can accept.]

But I cannot pretend to know their stance on that.

[grunehexe]

[If she takes offense at that- no, it does show, though she tries to hide it, a slight darkening in her gaze and thinning of the lips.]

I have been with this team for nigh two years now. I care greatly. For their safety and their health, and the lives of the natives whose worlds we unceremoniously make havoc of, which I have overseen since ALASTAIR dumped a group of green recruits in Anwick.

[And in Chantes, and in Nalawi, and in Zeta-12, and Perdition's Rest, and-]

But I cannot commit myself to ALASTAIR's mission, nor will I be so foolish as to believe what I am told from on high. They are not my gods.

[grunehexe]

[Oh.

She has the wherewithal to look slightly chagrined at her mistake, at having been so defensive, but she certainly won't take back what she said- that was true, if not... dreadfully misplaced.]

They have tolerated far worse than the likes of my skepticism. If anyone was to go about being mysteriously "transferred", surely it would be one of those without much use to their name, rather than the person who managed to save a world from a plague.

[She doesn't consider herself a braggart, but. Come on.]

[grunehexe]

Then it is a good thing I am a witch and not a society dame, though it would only be hot air if I had not singlehandedly completed a cure for the Bristol virus threatening to end the lives of both ALASTAIR employees and world natives.

[WHAT DID U DO UNCLE, WRITE A BOOK SHE HASNT HEARD OF???]

[grunehexe]

Well, that is all I shall say about that.

[As long as they're clear. Shove that 19th century attitude towards women, boo.]

[grunehexe]

Of course a witch cannot reveal the extent of her powers so easily as that, but-

[More like, she isn't keen to admit that her actual greatest accomplishment thus far in life might have been the creation of an airborne poison that put mustard gas to shame.

Tired of standing, she awkwardly positions herself and gives a tiny hop to perch sitting on the edge of one of the lower crates instead.]

If it is healing, I can do much for a man if he yet draws breath, whether that is the healing of bones, knitting of flesh, breaking of fever, or the purging of poisons. If it is other sorts of spells, I have been working most recently on scrying and wards- though I freedly admit they do not come as easily and of late we have had little time to study.