Event: Passage in the Abyss

[letsplayamod]

[Well, even down in this squalid prison, you have gained some amount of levity. Just a day prior, an impromptu attempt to channel one of you to the land of the living put you into contact with not only the rest of your friends, but Athena herself.

That all comes to a sudden halt, but you're free to continue with perhaps a renewed strength. For once in a long while, it seems like things are getting interesting.

A day later, that's when the rumbling comes.]

That is it! I cannot wait a moment longer... My strength must return, and so my hunger must be sated.

[It's Typhon, he sounds mad.]

A mess of mortals, trapped in my personal cage. Perfect for feeding on!

[He sounds like he's on his way.]

Comments

Three

[letsplayamod]

5

[necromants]

[Hmm, splitting up with only one healer around is not really a great option... But also: if he wanders off on his own then no one else has to deal with him so win/win?? Off he goes, taking this path! He's not going to complain if anyone else wants to come with, though.

Lmao barely avoided a trap today, apparently...]

[letsplayamod]

[As Zvei narrowly avoid stepping on the slightly loose stone in the floor that would have dropped something very heavy and painful on his head, the path ahead is dim but clear! He turns one corner, then another and meets with his first choice.

3-A or 3-B? Once the choice is made, please also make a roll.]

8

[necromants]

[Lucky him!! But hmm... Given how he's traveled, 3-B likely leads back around while 3-A leads deeper in... Let's go 3-A! I rolled double 4s that seems like a sign of something bad.]

[letsplayamod]

[Whatever god of luck has been laughing at them all the past several weeks has had a change of heart. Zvei is able to make it down the 3-A path without incident, winding around another corner where-

Is that a bull-headed statue? What a strange place for it to be. Might be worth investigating!]

[necromants]

[Well of course he's investigating! He'll approach carefully, keeping an eye out for loose stones or other potential traps that might exist around it - but what do we have here?]

[letsplayamod]

[It's a beast of a statue, tall enough to almost touch the ceiling and it's body covered in carved stone armor. It grips a large upside down battle axe between it's hands. Dark rubies sit in the stone cavities as it's eyes, glittering in the dim light of the labyrinth. It almost feels like it's watching Zvei but it's probably a trick of the shadows.

For now it seems to only be a statue with one crooked horn.]

[necromants]

[Huh! Well, he's not bothered by being potentially stared at, but that crooked horn seems important! How far up is it? Is there any way for him to get a better look at it or is he going to have to scale the statue or something?]

[letsplayamod]

[The statue looks sturdy enough to climb! With how tall he already is, he wouldn't even have to go very high to reach the bull's head and horns.]

[necromants]

[That sounds like a plan to him! Ivilezlei slips the labcoat off and drops it, a tentacle emerging to catch it before it can hit the ground as he moves to ascend. The rest of the tentacles are here to help find places to grasp and serve to balance him; he should be able to reach it fairly easily, so let's see what's up!]

[letsplayamod]

[The statue wobbles just slightly but stays upright.

As one would expect from a bull head with a man's body, a pair of horns made from smooth stone and obsidian protrude from either side of it's head. One is upright, the sharp tip pointing skyward. The other points down toward the floor.]

[necromants]

[Hmm! Curious... Deimori often have horns and some even grow in unique shapes like this, but usually horns match. Does it seem like he can move either (or both) of these horns? He's not moving to do that just yet, just touching them to get a better idea of if that's even possible in the first place.]

[letsplayamod]

[In experimentally touching them, Ivilezlei will find that both are slightly loose in a way that feels intentional, almost mechanical.

Like a puzzle to be solved.]

why didn't i get this tag, gmail please

[necromants]

[Oh boy, puzzles! Ivilezlei loves puzzles!

(oh god no a puzzle, redd hates puzzles)

Alright, let's get a good idea of what sort of puzzle we're looking at here - are there markings around where the horns could be turned to, for example?]

[letsplayamod]

[Encircling the bases of the horns themselves and where they attach to the statue there are small marks, little notches carved in that would be invisible from the ground. On the upright horn the notches match up perfectly. On the down-turned horn the notch on the horn base does not.

Would you like to grip it and flip it? Bow chika wow wow.]

[necromants]

[Aww, he was hoping for something more complicated... (Thank you mods!!!!) But that makes it clear what he needs to do here, so let's go ahead and flip it to the correct position!]

[letsplayamod]

[He turns the horn up back to it's proper position and, for a long moment, everything is still.

The statue rumbles beneath him, the dark ruby eyes flashing, and though unseen mechanisms creaking under stone it drags across the floor to the left and reveals a decently-sized and well-lit room with two new paths. Several clay pots are clustered in the corners, two more statues stand guard on opposing walls, and in the middle is a chest.]

[necromants]

[Hah, there we go! Just like home, really. There's even a chest that is probably booby-trapped! Ah, he actually misses Aelios...

Well anyway! Zvei climbs down and moves over to examine that chest first. Does it look like there's any sort of obvious traps that will trigger when it opens? Pressure plates, holes in the wall that might shoot arrows or something, typical Indiana Jones bullshit like that?]

[letsplayamod]

[A roll of 2d6 can certainly be done to see if there are any traps~. 2-5 is a yes, 6-12 is a no.]

9

[necromants]

[That's a no! Nice, he's not exactly an expert at dismantling traps anyway. So what does this treasure chest contain?]

[letsplayamod]

[Neatly folded and tucked away in this chest is what appears to be a black leather chest harness. Attached to the back of it are a hideous pair of wings.

Did one of those eyeballs on the joints just blink? ...yeah, it definitely blinked.]

[necromants]

[No, no this is cool af, holy shit they're even blinking at him.]

My, what a surprise... Are you a living, sapient being...?

[It's asked almost more to himself than the weird wings but +1 set of wings get! Anything else to see around here, since I'm assuming the wings cannot talk?]

[letsplayamod]

[The wings cannot talk, correct! And they're not living in the traditional sense, considering they're in Tartatus, but they seem to have a little zap of personality and sapience to them even if they're just monster flesh and eyes.

There doesn't look to be anything else worth poking at here, which might be a good thing based on how the ground rumbles underfoot.]

[necromants]

How cute...

[His definition of cute might be a bit skewed... Oh well +1 pair of wings! And that's definitely rather ominous... Well, if they need a healer, they can come find him and ask, he's not turning back now. Any indication of where to go from here, or should that rumbling be worrying him more...]

1/2

[letsplayamod]

[The initial rumbling coming from deeper in the labyrinth peters out and everything once again goes still and quiet.

Too quiet.

From deep within the maze, echoing off the stone walls, comes a roar.]