Cavern of Forking Paths - RPLOG
From Rusted Promises
Participants
Date
11/4/476
Log
Just finding the place is a bit of an adventure in and of itself. Off the beaten path and with no signage to point way, and even then the entrance would be easily missed, were not for the aged crane waiting outside. He sits on a slab of stone shaped into a chair by earthen math, head bowed and eyes closed beneath thick, plumed brows. His feathers are clean and white, though what forms his 'hair' has silvered, and may have been a completely different colour in his youth. He's dressed largely in earthen hues, and his clothes, while formal, denote a being of modest financial standing. He rises at the first sight of figures approaching, welcoming them with a wrinkled smile, wetting the edges of his bill with his tongue before speaking, "Ah ha, more young blood here to test their resourcefulness against my labyrinth, welcome, welcome."
Mazurek smirks upon being greeted by the Crane in such a fashion. He is a griffon again today, his raven and panther body shining from a recent bath along the way. Whoever desires it can be on his back during the trip, too, "Young blood, you say? I take it this thing is a dangerous test or something?"
Rogna approaches the strange old crane, the mention of a labyrinth makes him smile slightly. "A test of mind is it?" he says, as he approaches the two. "I believe my blade should prove its worth and my wits are with me, let us see this test." He casts his cape back and moves to shake the cranes hand, he seems to be in a jovial mood at the moment.
Ryusho wanders up a bit slowly behind everyone else as he hums softly, not sure but he nods slightly, "I suppose I can give this whole mess a shot, even though if things get ..narrow in a way I might need to use my non dragon form....If I have too." he says with a slight chuckle, though it is his own thing as he rumbles in thought..a Labyrinth..interesting...
Ictus blinks as he comes across the others and the old man, he chuckles a bit at the thought of a labyrinth, "Sounds interesting and fun." he smiles at the crane and shrugs, "Will it be dangerous? Or just a test of our skills?"
"Oh ho ho!" The fowl rises and approaches Mazurek first, though his eyes don't seem to open. He stands round-abouts five and a half feet tall, most of that height coming from his legs and neck, which are longer than an average being's in proportion to the rest of his body, harkening back to the animal uplifted by the Creators from which he has descended. He produces thick-lensed spectacles from his pocket and perches them near the tip of his bill, leaning in close to study the hybrid bird-cat. "How magnificent! You must be a griffon. I've never seen one with my own eyes. How fascinating!" The old buzzard moves on without addressing Mazurek's question, whistling and looking Rogna over head to toe as he shakes hands with the hippo. "Oh ho, you're a sturdy fella, aren't you?" Then on to the dragon, he produces from his pocket a length of measuring tape, which he holds vertically alongside the looming tengu as far as he can hold his arms apart. "Goodness, you're a collosus! Good thing I made the tunnels plenty tall! Oh ho ho!" He's still putting the tape away when he pauses in front of Ictus, giving the fox only a cursory examination, compared to the rest, "My, you're all just brimming with questions! Now, the only thing you have to fear is wandering in and never being seen or heard from again! Oh ho ho ho ho! In fact, the last group that went in still hasn't found its way back, but maybe you young folk'll have better success, hey? Ooooh ho ho ho! Right this way, right this way." He shuffles towards the opening in the rock wall. Ryu'll need to duck the doorway, but inside the tunnel is comfortably large.
Mazurek strikes a few poses to show off to the Crane. He really doesn't seem to mind the attention in the slightest, and one of them is a ferocious-seeming attack pose. Well, more of a kitten-ready-to-pounce posture, but still. When the bird moves on to the next he takes a moment to preen some of his feathers while the others are being addressed. Of course, he approaches the entryway first and really bounds right inside, "We might be the first group out? Wow! If we run into the other groups, we'll help them out."
Rogna laughs and shakes his head at the antics of the crane, nodding to them in passing as he gives them a pat on the back and pushes in behind Mazurek. "First group out? There is an exit I assume?" he jests as he looks about the interior, keeping one hand at ready on a sword hilt as he proceeds inward. "There must be some reason the other groups haven't returned, I should hope none of the pass residents got hold of them during their journey."
Ryusho chuckles a bit as he looks down, "I suppose I am rather big.." Though he shifts slightly, almost showing off slightly not unlike maz, though he then cracks up laughing in thought, before looking over to Maz, then Rogna, "Well, Who knows, maybe we will see eachother in there if we somehow encounter them." he says nodding.
The crane bursts into another fit of his distinct laughter. "This labyrinth is my masterpiece. I first began carving these passages beneath the mountains over thirty years ago, after concluding my studies at the College of Cliffside. Thirty long years sculpting these very halls with nothing but the power of my mind, can you imagine it?" He makes a sweeping gesture to the walls on either side, without slowing his place or facing the group. "It hasn't been without setbacks; there've been cave ins, and occasionally I've dug too far, or too high, or too deep, I've had misfires and even one flooding, but it was all worth it! Oh ho ho, just you wait and see! Now wait right there a moment." He motions the trio to stop just before reaching a pair of riveted metal doors, which he approaches alone, stroking and lifting its hefty handle before tilting his head to regard the group. "Well then, are you all ready to begin?"
Mazurek simply can't hold back some giggles while he leads the group...behind the Crane. All the answers will be given in time, for certain, but the excitement can be seen all over the griffon's demeanor. He says nothing further until after the new door is opened, "So you've spent thirty long years doing this? Did you carve it with your mind, with your various math knowledge, or did you have some help just digging it all out?" Still, he waits only long enough for whatever the answer is before moving through those doors. Whee!
Rogna raises an eyebrow. "And would any of these dangers persist in the design or are we more than ready to proceed? I eagerly wait to see what you've come up with ini thirty years of work. It must be a masterpiece of grand proportions." He eyes the doors and then the crane, looking the others over once as he adusts his cape. He moves to follow Mazurek, once he is given the okay from the crane.
Ryusho nods a bit, "Thirty years work, That shows dedication worthy of praise I would believe, and should hopefully be quite memorable." He says with a smile, as he can appreciate dedication to ones work for certian, the dragon looking to the others, as he rumbles softly in thought some more...
Through the doors? Oh no, not quite. "Ho ho... oh ho ho! Excellent, you all look so eager! No more delays then, let's begin!" He lifts a foot just to stomp it back down into the floor, and with little more warning than a shift of the stone beneath their feet, the ground suddenly drops out beneath them, dropping them onto a steep incline carved of some incredibly smooth and slippery material that plunges them ever downward and deeper until they're deposited into a small chamber. When the last has tumbled out, a block of rock falls into place, closing the passage behind them, leaving them only with the passage ahead.
