Infinite Labyrinth

THE INFINITE LABYRINTH OF DOOM

DESCRIPTION

The Infinite Labyrinth of DOOM is a massive, 25-square-mile, 9-layer maze that starts on the surface and works its way down into the tunnels of the upper underdark, somewhere near the necropolis, Necropolita. Each layer is filled with a series of twisting tunnels that mostly lead to dead ends and/or traps, and has an exit that leads down to the next layer. Each exit is guarded by a powerful guardian. If the dead ends, traps, twisting tunnels, and guardians weren't enough, the mazes are never the same on each visit, and there is only one exit upon entering it (leading further into the maze).

A word of recall or similar spell or effect is the only means of escaping the Infinite Labyrinth of DOOM beyond the first layer. Any means of teleportation, extradimensional travel, or phase shifting into any of the mazes is disabled, and you cannot fly over the walls. You can, however, teleport outside to the surface, but then you will have to go through it all again from the beginning. Scrying and other divination effects that would allow one to see the layout of any of the mazes is disabled, due to the constant changing nature of the mazes. You will have to map it out the old-fashioned way (though it would just be a waste of time). There are no monsters in the tunnels, nor any treasures (unless you find a body of a previous visitor along the way), except for the guardian at the layer's exit; but there are plenty of traps.

Each maze is five miles wide, five miles long, with passages five feet wide, walls twenty feet high. Beyond the first layer, there is no light and the passages become tunnels of the same dimensions as on the surface. Tunnels are winding and often branching, often leading to dead ends. A keen eye may find a secret door hidden in the wall, which may or may not bring you closer to the exit. The exits stay concealed until the guardian in the room is defeated (unless you can find it without getting killed).

Happy dungeoneering!

OOC Note: If you're going to attempt going through the labyrinth, please PM me so I can narrate the guardians.

LAYER 01: AVERNUS

Avernus is the maze seen on the surface. It is a massive maze with stone walls and endless passages, turns, and dead ends. At the center of the maze is a castle, where the guardian, a hulking Pit Fiend, named Piss, with a wickedly designed greatsword that constantly drips blood, awaits. Plenty of traps along the way, along with "helpful" critters that will lead you the wrong way, even back to the beginning, unless they're given a generous "donation" for their troubles.

Guardian: Piss

LAYER 02: DIS

Dis looks like an old, abandoned mine, with tracks, abandoned carts, and veins of iron showing here and there... only it's as twisty of a maze as the one above it. The earth is constantly rumbling and groaning, and cave ins are imminent. The guardian of this layer is Dareth, a paranoid, seven-foot tall humanoid devil with white hair and small horns. He wields a scepter and a crude, spiked mace. He awaits in a room made of cold iron, with multiple stairways that lead to doorways going every direction and upside-down, like an insane M.C. Escher painting. Down is whichever surface your feet are touching.

Guardian: Dareth

LAYER 03: MINAUROS

The third layer looks like a vast sewer network, with an ankle-deep river of brackish, polluted water covering the path. The water isn't poisoned, but judging from the horrid, disgusting smell, it probably isn't safe to drink either. Plenty of rats. Plenty of traps. Pretty much the same story. The guardian here is Gammon, a giant snake with a muscular, humanoid upper body, and fangs dripping with highly toxic venom. He wields a wicked glaive that can slice through stone like a hot knife through butter.

Guardian: Gammon

LAYER 04: PHLEGETHOS

The fourth layer very much resembles what one would experience going through the tunnels of an active volcano. It is intolerably hot, and veins of lmagma coarse through the walls, floor and ceiling, every now and again spewing out onto the path. There are plenty of pit falls leading into pools of magma, and some passages may collapse altogether from the sweltering heat, flooding with lava. The guardian is an ancient pyroclastic dragon - an extraplanar, elemental creature that embodies the fury of a volcanic eruption.

Guardian: Pyroclastic Dragon

LAYER 05: STYGIA

The fifth layer is the complete opposite of the previous. It's a glacier - or at least, if glaciers had a maze of tunnels running through them, it'd be like that. The same types of pit falls exist here as in the previous layer, falling into a pool of sub-arctic water and instantly freezing, and with the slippery floor it's even easier to fall in one. The guardian here is the ancient white dracolich, Icingdoom.

Guardian: Icingdoom

LAYER 06: MALBOLGE

Start running, and start running fast. The sixth layer leaves you no time to wonder which way to go, because the path behind you is collapsing! If you go the wrong way, you're caught. If you're caught, you fall into a pit of poisonous steel barbed spikes, unevenly spaced so no one can try laying on top of them harmlessly. The guardian of this layer is Lola, a suped up Night Hag.

Guardian: Lola

LAYER 07: MALADOMINI

The seventh layer looks like an ancient, dusty catacombs. One might hear whispering voices or sounds of movement while wandering the halls, but there aren't any undead encounters here. If anything, it's just a sign that you're ever closer to the necropolis. The guardian is an enormous Squamous Spewer; an amorphous, hideous mass of scales, mouths, fangs, and reptilian eyes.

Guardian: Squamous Spewer

LAYER 08: CANIA

The eighth layer resembles a giant freezer or meat locker, with the frosty steel walls and the frigid air and the frozen hooked chains hanging from the ceiling. It's even colder here than the fifth layer, which makes it even likelier to freeze to death here. The guardian here is the (cloned) grandmaster of the Lin Kuei ninja clan, Sub-Zero.

Guardian: Sub-Zero

LAYER 09: NESSUS

Finally, the last layer! And the most challenging. Not only is the path behind you collapsing into an endless pit of darkness, where you fall for so long that you forget you're falling before you splatter across the floor of the ninth layer of Baator, where you soul remains trapped forever; but there are pit falls along your path, and you have no time at all to decide which way to go. If you manage to reach the end, the guardian is a great wyrm Rust Dragon, which looks like a rusted and tarnished gold dragon.

Guardian: Rust Dragon

The final exit spits you out into a normal cavern in the underdark, where you'll be greeted by a welcoming party of nobody. Good place to rest and recover after all that running and fighting.

Upon entering the Labyrinth, the Powers That Be immediately took notice. Their every move would be watched. The first corridor seemed to go on and on in a straight line, without any obvious turns or branching passages. Or were there? The walls on either side had no distinctive features, and with flat lighting, cast no shadows. It would take an exceptionally sharp eye to find the way... or an accident. At least there weren't any traps... so far.

((Roll))

Xanathos remained walking in the straight line, not very concerned about the Labyrinth to this point, it would be nice atleast to see straight ground for a while rather than a load of corners. We was dreading moving the entourage through corridors, it would be a great pain.

Xanathos now met at a crossroads. He really did not wish to split the group up, so near the beginning of the Labyrinth, so he met a decision. "We will follow this new path, only we shall come back the way we came along it." No one questioned his logic, only the sorcerors could really speak back to me, but none did. Xanathos only logic for backtracking along a different path was that perhaps they had simply met a false start, to trick stupid travellers. With that the continued back along the original path

Xanathos audibly snarled as they came to the second junction. "Left" he barked out to the entourage as the corpses began to scurry down the left pathway. If they headed right it would only lead them further away from the centre of the maze, Xanathos wanted to head to the centre of the maze, it seemed a logical guess to make for anyone.

Xanathos turned around, only to see after about five seconds the wall rising above the body slave. There was a pause in the group as they waited and watched for any traps, the sorcerors prepared to protect the group if they had to. There was then the sound of a thud, as though an arrow had struck someone. Followed by another thud, then a clatter, then a thud, and another clatter.

"It appears the way back has been blocked, but what is that noise? C'tanlik, connect with the body slave in the rear, and see what information you can gain." There were a few minutes of silence, before the Necromancer replied.

"The body slave in the back is being pelted by objects of some kind, which are grazing its armour. It appears the slave is in no danger of being breeched, although we should make haste around the next possible corner to get the slave out of danger." With those words said, the group moved quickly down the hallway, searching for a corner to turn around.

As soon as the group reached the square they spread out throughout the square, securing it's entrance's and exits. The body slave in the rear had various small holes in its armour, but it looked like nothing had penetrated. That was something to be thankful for all.

As soon as Xanathos heard the voice it moved towards the source, and saw behind the stone block a small creature that looked like Yoda. Immediatly Xanathos called over C'tanlik and Grashnak.

"C'tanlik, tell me, does this creature suffer life, or is it like us?" The implication was all that was needed. Xanathos would like to know whether the small thing was living or dead. C'tanlik immediatly went to work, his hand hovering slightly over the creature, a slight aura pulsating from it, before C'tanlik answered.

"Yes Mi'lord, it suffers life"

"Excellent. Grashnak, kill it."

With those words spoken Grashnak's grim features broke into a smile. It took less than a second for Grashnak to work his sorcery. With a clench of his hand, there was a terrible snapping noise. The creatures rib's snapped, and promptly embedded themselves in the being's heart. It took less than a minute for it to die, its death throes music to Xanathos' ears.

"C'tanlik, dominate its mind, and purge what secrets you can from it."

C'tanlik looked back at Xanathos with a pained look. "It appears the creature does not know which is the correct way to take."

Xanathos looked most displeased with this result. With a passing sigh he removed a sword from his belt, and sliced the creature in half at the waist.

"Then take control of this corpse, and lead it down each passage, until the corpse meets an unfortunate end at the hands of the supposed guardian."

With that C'tanlik began dominating the half-corpse, and led it down the passage to the left. It walked using its arms as legs, making a strange loping gaze as it moved along the maze. It the mean time Xanathos and the other remained in the square, waiting...

The creature fell down with a thud, and was momentarily still. However, C'tanlik still sensed he had control over the creature. Suddenly the creature sprung to life, and ran away back the way it came, a large hole running through its centre, but it was otherwise mobile.

After a time it reached the large room again, before Xanathos uttered another command. "Lead it to the right then, and see if it will meet its demise in a more beastly manner." With that the corpse waddled away to the right.

The hobbling yoda creature slowly placed its head under the lid of the chest, and pushed up using its arms. The lid of the chest should flip open rather easily, providing there was no latch or lock upon the chest. Should that attempt to open the chest fail, the small creature would turn around and head back the way they came, turning down the missed path on the left.

There was a slight curse from C'tanlik, before he turned and addressed Xanathos. "It appears that our little friend has met an unfortunate end upon a trapped chest. There was one path down that passageway, or we could take the middle path. What is your choice Mi'lord?"

"It appears these paths to the left and right have only brough us misery, but I would still like the explore them more permenantly. Send a Body-slave down the path to the right to explore the unexplored path."

With that C'tanlik took control of the Body-slave, and led it down the path to the right, and then the path to the left. The Body-slave would progress carefully down the path, the magical artifact in its head acting much like a sonar at that moment, looking for any irregularities that the common eye wouldn't spot.

The large body slave paused at the junction, and awaited the remaining group to catch up. They continued in the same order as before, only now there was one less Body-slave in the rear, and one more in the front. C'tanlik meanwhile gave words to the group of warning, such as to avoid the trap the Body-slave had spotted.

The large group therefore followed the Body-slave round the junction, while the Body-slave continued going deeper into the maze, always remaining aware of its surroundings.

The entourage was moving quite happily through the maze, when the body-slave in lead stopped, followed by the corpses, and lasty C'tanlik. There was a nervous pause in the group, the C'tanlik spoke.

"Xanathos, we've been betrayed. I can feel life all around us, closing in on our position, but the information we recieved promised no danger apart from the Guardian. We must run."

Xanathos growled angrily, as he immediatly stopped. "No, nobody move. We will wait here for our foe to come to us."

Before any of the entourage could act with violence towards the Goblins, Xanathos yelled to them in their native tongue.

"Don't attack! Allow them to lead us towards the town, where the Guardian of this level surely dwells. As soon as we are in the town, Branka, I want you to burn them in their armour, Well Done if you please."

A laugh ran through the ten Dead-men, and the three sorcerors. Xanathos then answered the small green abominations. "You have captured us indeed Goblins, lead us to your King"

As soon as they had entered the town, the entourage had entered a circle formation, with the four Body-slaves making a semicircle in the back, the corpses huddled close to them, and the ten Dead-men elites forming another wall around the hapless corpses, protecting them with an armoured wall in the shape of a semi-circle. The other half of the circle was formed by Xanathos in the lead, Branka behind Xanathos, and Grashnak and C'tanlik on other side of Xanathos.

Upon reaching the King the group stopped, and Xanathos began to speak, droning out the voice of any goblin that would attempt to interrupt him.

"My entourage and I thank you for your hospitality, we have had a long journey from our Empire, and we seek the Necropolis this maze stands upon. We bring certain offers and gifts to the Empire that your culture places itself upon, however, in our naivety, we have no gifts for your great town." There was a slight pause in Xanathos' speech, his hand descended to the hilt of his small sword. "Well, there is perhaps one gift we can give you. It appears you are all sick, diseased, and are going to die. It is obvious to us, in our infinite wisdom, that there is only one cure to your disease."

The goblin king gulped slightly, as he stared down the tall stranger, in his metallic skull mask. What face lay behind those cold features. All the king could see were those piercing blue eyes behind the helm.

"What...what disease is this you speak of?" The king managed to stammer out. Was it getting hotter in here, or was that just him. Suddenly the face rose its gaze from the ground, and fixed itself upon the king.

"Life"

The word carried on the air for a second, sounding mystical, unfathomable. Then there came the screams.

Grashnak had been preparing his spell throughout Xanathos' speech, and as soon as his final word was uttered, he unleashed it, a circle of hellfire, radiating out from the groups circle themselves. Tall pillars of flame blew out from the edge of the group, incinerating all the goblin's in the square, all except the King.

In the confusion the King had shat himself, his instincts taking hold in a fight or flight moment. However, standing upon his parapet he hadn't moved, not even an inch. It was too much for his small mind. Then, from the flames Xanathos burst forth, a demon in the light, his sword drawn, and arcing down towards the King's head. That was the last thing the King knew as Xanathos cleaved his head in two.

As soon as the King was dead Xanathos called out to the Dead-men elites. "Search the houses for any remaining goblins, kill them all." With that Xanathos took the King's cloak, wiped his own blood on it, and then placed the sword back inside its sheath while watching the men assault the houses.

Xanathos looked toward the large castle, and a grin crossed his face. He began to move towards the castle, and called after his troops. "Clean your blades, and then follow me to the castle, I believe I shall deal with this guardian personally." Xanathos' cold blue eyes looked towards the heavy stone doors. He was elite, he was of the Empire. He would purge the life from all beings inside the castle, for it was his mission.

Xanathos looked at the demon and laughed at his show of flames. The armour he was wearing absorbed alot of heat, meaning that Xanathos actually felt quite cool inside his armour, just like normal. Xanathos drew the large broadsword from across his back, made of the same material as his armour. A secret of the empire, this metal was impervious to alot of damage, making it very useful when facing foes with naught but leather and scales for protection.

"You foolish demon. I am dead." With that Xanathos charged towards the demon, his sword drawn and infront of him, at a slight angle to his right, although at a moments notice it could change to block the demon's own sword. Xanathos was the only one in the room at that time, although the rest of his part was following shortly behind. Xanathos wanted this fight to himself, although he would allow the sorcerors to step in if things didn't seem to be going his way.

In fact, as soon as Grashnak was in the room, he would begin muttering a spell, concentrating on the large demon. The sorcerors were all hidden behind the large Body-slaves, and then the Dead-men elites, all wearing the same armour as Xanathos. It looked like this fight would be entertaining to say the least.

Xanathos was running towards the demon when he pumped up with his leathery wings, and as such Xanathos slowed then stopped, and followed the demons movements, watching as the demon flew threw the air, over him, and then landed behind him. Xanathos turned promptly to see the demon swing his large blade at Xanathos. There was little that the Dead-man could do except roll away from the demon. Xanathos chose to roll away to the left, as the demon would have struck now what was Xanathos' left shoulder, Xanathos rolled away to the right to the side the demon would be placing his weight upon.

As Xanathos finished rolling, he remained crouched, and in a swing with more power than any man could have imagined, Xanathos swung his deadly sharp blade at the demon's right shinbone. The demon would find it very difficult to dodge a blow like that, as his weight was temporarily placed in swinging the sword down.

Xanathos cursed as the demon disappeared, his sword slicing through the air until it came to a pause at an angle away from him. That was when he heard the tearing noise of fire and air. He looked above him, when he noticed the three large fireballs descending close to him.

He let off a curse in his native tongue, before pushing off the ground with one of his feet, in an attempt to roll away from direct impact from the fireballs. True, he would dodge being hit by the large balls of flame, but not enough to get away from any explosive damage. As the balls hit a wave of air blasted away from them, causing Xanathos to be thrown through the air, and then to the ground with a thud.

He let out a slight groan from his position on the floor, before looking up at the demon. Then a slight laugh escaped his body before he spat on the ground, and quickly leapt to his feet.

"You never can expect a real fight from a creature with life. There is no honour among your kind, you struggle to keep your lives intact, you war with others in your kind, to assert your dominance, you cheat and lie to make the most of your mortal coil. We creatures of death simply accept our betters, perhaps you should to, demon, or would you rather hide behind your magics like a coward."

As Xanathos said this he watched the demon's frame. If he moved an inch, Xanathos would immediatly duck out the way, for fear of being hit by the fireball in the demon's hand.

Xanathos simply hopped back slightly as the fireball struck close to where his feet had been. There was a slight blowback from the distance he was at, but it wasn't enough to really move him back. At the demons words the Dead-man let out a laugh.

"Hmph, I suppose I should have expected so little of a creature of life. You say this name, Hell, like it means something to me. I don't think you quite understand the nature of our people. Allow me to show you."

With that Xanathos began to walk at a lesiurely pace towards the large demon in front of him. Meanwhile Grashnak continued charging his spell, he wanted to make it an impressive display, Xanathos loved a show...

Xanathos simply laughed at the demon as he rose into the air. There was but a split second pause, before Xanathos moved faster, instantly running

forward, running underneath the rising demon, while at the same time, pivoting on his most forward foot as soon as the demon was safely over him. As he pivoted around on the spot, his legs bent, and both his hands wrapped around his sword point, lifting it high into the air. As soon as he had turned, not even waiting for the demon to land, Xanathos jumped straight at the demon's back, his sword raised high and now arcing down towards the demon's right wing.

Xanathos believed he had found a weakness in the demon's plan of attack, surely such a heavy thing descending would find it very difficult to change its path by enough of a degree to avoid a sheering of its own wings. If not, Xanathos was in trouble, as he swung his entire weight into the swing, aiming to take the wing clear off.

Grashnak meanwhile still charged his attack behind the wall of elite soldiers that guarded him. Bashna too began to charge energy after seeing the demon's display of pyrotechnics, it would not do well for Xanathos to be attacked by the fire again, it was not the heat Bashna worried about, but the forthcoming explosion...

Xanathos' sword attack was swung away as Piss struck him with his mighty sword. His arms swung across his chest, causing him to pivot off balance for a moment. His body swung in the same direction of his sword, before he took a double step, and managed to gain his balance again.

That was when the fireball struck him in the chest, causing his to immediatly spin the other direction from the resulting explosion. The only damage to his armour had been a slight charring from the fireball, but the resulting push of air caused his body to spin through the air for a second, before hitting the ground hard.

As soon as Xanathos was on the floor he remained there, black blood escaping from his lips. That was when the laughter truely began. He slowly began to pick himself up, while at the same time laughing at the large demon in front of him. Blood dribbled out his mouth for a moment while he laughed, before he turned too look at the demon. His laughter slowed while he spoke.

"Tell me, demon, can you answer me a question? When I kill you, shall I mount your skull over my doorway, or in the stable with the other beasts?"

Xanathos then called out to Grasnak in their native tongue, "Freeze him, except the jaw"

With that, Piss would find his every limb frozen in place, quite unable to move his body at all. He would be able to tense muscles, rotate his eyes, and open his jaw, to answer Xanathos' question. In the mean time Xanathos arose from the floor, and walked towards the demon, his large sword in his hand.

Xanathos snarled behind his metal mask, before calling to Piss.

"This could have been ended in a much cleaner way for you, but I'm afraid you've left us with no choice."

He then spoke to Grashnak

"Finish him."

With that Grashnak began a pull on the bones in Piss' head. It would be much easier to keep Piss' body frozen, than simply his head. Grashnak released the freeze on Piss' head, and instead held out his left hand. At the same time, the Elite's and Body-slaves separated in front of Grashnak. Then Grashnak spoke his sorcerous tongue. There were a string of incomprehensible words, words that seemed impossible as they were heard, and they tolled for Piss.

Suddenly, a tremendous force pulled on Piss' head, while at the same time Grashnak kept Piss' bones locked in place. There was one outcome, Piss' skull flew through the air, towards Grashnak's hand, where it promptly stopped in front of him, before dropping to the floor with a clatter.

Xanathos placed his large blade back in its hilt, and then looked around the room. Not a single sign could be seen of the combat, except for the charred areas the fireballs had struck the ground. Xanathos looked at Grashnak, and nodded in his direction.

"Fine work, Grashnak. Another excellent job, as for the rest of you, pick yourselves together, we're moving on."

With that Xanathos awaited for the group to assume the position it had been in previously, with the stacked ranks. Xanathos then gave the order to approach the door, upon which the Body-slave in front, controlled by C'tanlik, opened the large door, and stepped within. The others followed.

As they descended Bashna created flames infront of and above the group, small hanging orbs that emitted light around them. The body slaves themselves needed no light to see, so no flames were summoned behind Bashna, as the body slaves had no need of it. Xanathos led C'tanlik lead the way, his body-slave making progress for the group in the darkness.

Xanathos cursed at the darkness slightly, but then he remembered his mission. It was all worth it for that, to reach the Necropolis and offer their accordance. The Necropolis would not only be a powerful ally, but a potent tool to be wielded in their purge of the land. If they could be manipulated, they held none of the fears the living held, their manipulation would certainly be harder.

As soon as the group came to a split, Xanathos paused. He looked down each blackened passageway briefly, before pointing at a single passageway, the right one.

"We shall go down here, make sure the Body slave in front takes a good distance from the group to treat the ground ahead. The body-slaves in the back should also seperate slightly, it will allow us more time to react to any terrible traps this level holds."

With that the group acted accordingly, and went down the maze.

((Harharhar, I laugh at you ))

Xanathos ignored all the side passages, he remembered the incidence with the small green creature and its unfortunate end. Besides, they had no use of such a worthless metal as gold. It held no strength within it, and its only appeal was the glisten it gave in light.

Eventually the group came to the cliff edge over looking the castle. As they came upon the lip of the cliff, they all fanned out. Xanathos looked at the drop height, and immediatly knew what to do.

"The sorcerors shall find no challenge in this task I am sure, but as for the rest of us, we shall proceed as thus: The Body-slaves shall climb down first, each with two corpses upon their backs, and secure the area at the bottom. The sorcerors will then step their way down to the Body-slaves. As for the rest of us," Xanathos paused, and looked at the Dead-men Elites in front of him.

"We shall disconnect from our armour, throw it to the Body-slaves below, and climb down as quickly as possible." The Dead-men elites made no faces, but inside they were relieved. It was always nice to disconnect from their second-skin armour. It made movement that much faster.

With that the Body-slaves all crouched, and two corpses each moved towards the Body-slaves, then, grasping the Body-slave's pauldrons, they descended the cliff-face. It took a total of an hour for the Body-slave's to make it to the bottom of the cliff, their descend slowed by armour and corpses.

They then made their way around the base of the cliff close to the party, ensuring that the area was clear. Xanathos could see nothing in the pitch black, the corpses and Body-slaves needing no light themselves searched the dark. After a few minutes C'tanlik spoke to Xanathos.

"It is clear, we shall now descend"

With that, C'tanlik, Grashnak and Bashna all stepped into the air, and seemed to hover their for a second, before taking another step, then another. It took less than a minute for the sorcerors to air-walk their way down to the descension point. As Bashna descended he created a new orb of fire every five feet, allowing the path down to be lit for the Dead-men. As soon as they were at the bottom, Xanathos turned to his Elites and spoke again.

"Disconnect from your armour, and throw it to the Body-slaves" With those words said Xanathos spoke the impossible tongue, and following a short phrase, there was a strange hissing sound. The armour on all the Dead-men elite was seemingly dropping off to the floor around them, it was no longer fused to their skin, its magic deactivated it had no hold. Collecting their armour they threw it down piece by piece to the Body-slaves at the bottom, before approaching the cliff face.

It took ten minutes for Xanathos and the Dead-men to descend the cliff, their nimble speed was sickly to watch as their sinewous muscles literally crawled over hand and foothold, making it to the bottom with little problem. At the bottom they replaced their armour, re-fusing it to their skin.

"Proceed" Xanathos said, the group walking in an arrow formation, behind the Body-slaves.

Xanathos looked at the sign briefly and was puzzled. Surely no one would have placed a sign up to warn visitors that there was a mine field, when it would have been easier to let them just die. After that brief thought, Xanathos called over Bashna.

"Burn us a path through to the entrance of the castle, make it twenty feet wide, and ensure the ground is well done."

With that, Bashna turned to the minefield, and opening his wides arm, he began his impossible speech. The ground infront of him seemed to shimmer as heat arose within it. The distortion rose as the heat did, and then there came the fires.

His impossible song reached far and wide, and its song brought about the flames of fury. They raged forth from him, towards the castle, carving a straight path through the mine field. Sweat formed from Bashna as he exerted effort into the spell. The flames raged across the ground, rising in temperature for a long time, throughout the time there were loud bangs as the mines exploded, and hisses as the resulting exploding matter was fried into nothing as it met the flames.

When Bashna ended his song, there was a black path in the ground before the party. Heat rolled off it, it would be impossible to tread the path for a while after that, but that was no matter, it would give Bashna time to rest after his spell. The party then waited for the ground to cool while Bashna regained his spirits.

As previously mentioned, the inferno devastated anything above ground, meaning that the sign would have been obliterated before it could have even splintered out. The worst that the group would have recieved would have been large clouds of dust billowing in their direction from the resulting explosion.

After the ground had cooled, the group picked themselves up, and moved towards the castle, the same order as they normally travelled, only now they kept very aware of their flanks, making sure that nothing attacked them from the sides.

The group moved over the charred minefield, stepping through ashes and burnt soil, occasionally crunching on glass were the ground had been scorched so. Eventually they made it to the drawbridge, where they each trod over the bridge, single file. Xanathos looked at the moat beside the castle, wondering if another maze lay within the castle. It seemed this layer had been too easy, which meant that perhaps the Guardian would be far too challenging.

Xanathos would allow the Elite's and Body-slaves to handle this Guardian, perhaps overwhelm the Guardian by sheer force. Xanathos smiled behind his metal mask, his skull visage the only thing that showed beneath the helm. Slowly the group progressed into the castle.

Xanathos watched as the fireball was launched at the group. It hit a Body-slave, who immediatly flew against the back wall, his armour dented slightly in the centre, although his movement seemed to be impaired very little. As soon as the Body-slave hit the wall, it immediatly stood up, on the very wall it had been blown against.

"Is that all you have, demon? If all you can offer us is a slight assurance of this is as far as we go, I must say that I have very little fear. The last guardian promised us he would kill us, but before he could, it seemed his head and he parted ways."

Xanathos watched this, and smiled. "Elites, Body-slaves, go bring your lord a prize. Whoever fetches me a limb will enjoy a reward." With that, 5 large metallic warriors began storming towards the demon, followed by 5 Elites. Meanwhile, the remaining 5 Elites all rose onto the wall, then ceiling, and began to stalk around the demon, closing off all exits. It was a typical Dead-man strategy, trap the prey, then destroy it.

Xanathos then turned to the mages, and smiled. "In case this one can teleport too, I want you to all walk around this area, and kill it if it strays from our footmen." With that the three sorcerors all began charging energy, and walking on the air around them, spreading around the room, fixating on the demon. If it leaped, they would be ready to catch it. Meanwhile, Xanathos positioned himself close to the demon, but on the opposite surface. If it tried to leap away to the ceiling above it, then Xanathos would be there, ready to catch it. So far, no moves of aggression had been made against the demon, but that wouldn't last very long. Soon the poor creature would learn what made them the superior race.

The Body-slaves and Elites noted their problem, and all spread out through the maze. Eventually they would find Dareth, and then they would ensue combat with him. Meanwhile Xanathos laughed and replied to the young demon.

"Indeed, so now I must ask you a query, would you prefer to join our crusade, or die like your comrade?"

Meanwhile the sorcerors looked at the orbs, noting their presence, although they didn't attack them. They hadn't threatened their presence yet, so they would leave them alone. Grashnak began to charge a spell towards Dareth, perhaps he wouldn't kill this one the same way as Piss, perhaps he would have fun with this one...

Brashna watched the orb in the air, his charging energies ready to blast it at any moment. Meanwhile Grashnak continued forming his spell, while C'tanlik simply charged his energies.

"What could I offer you? Why, I could offer you eternal life, without fear of death, and I just don't mean a life that spans forever, I truely mean, a life without an end..."

The Body-slaves and Elites were now thoroughly spaced out through the maze, constantly exploring for Dareth. They used jumped to gain access from one surface to another, taking well made use of the gravity this place granted. These soldiers were no ordinary men, they were the high ranking guards within the Empire, and they knew how to adapt.

The sorcerors meanwhile circled closer to Dareth, taking great pleasure in the free movement they had. C'tanlik had taken direct control over one Body-slave, which at that very moment was making its way towards Dareth's position from behind him, as quietly as possible of course, waiting until he was spotted to move into a run.

Xanathos meanwhile looked at Dareth and laughed, "You humour me, youngling, when we defile your broken corpse, your lips will be the first thing to go, for they have offended me."

Those who needed eyes to see, would all have been temporarily blinded by the sudden surge of light that spattered through the room. C'tanlik was certainly blinded, but his Body-slave was not, and it was through the special bond one shares with a dominated mind, that C'tanlik acted.

As soon as he'd percieved the threat to his eyes, the Body-slave moved, it was only twenty feet behind Dareth when it came round the corner charging at the demon. Its massive fist was raised high, ready to splatter the small demon's frame literally everywhere...

The Body-slave did indeed smash his fist through, and with a crack it landed on the stone beneath. There was a split-second of puzzlement, before its sonar picked up Dareth behind it. Before it could turn and address the problem, it felt something strike its armour. What normally would not have been a problem, was suddenly an issue. The Body-slaves armour immediatly began to dissolve away into nothing, leaving the rotting mass of flesh and bones underneath to literally fall apart on the floor by Dareth.

The stench produced by this odour would be so over powering, that anyone with even the slightest sense of smell would be made nautious by its very presence, being so close to it right now would most likely induce vomitting.

While the Body-slave had not been fast enough to react, Grashnak was. Immediatly he unleashed a spell, seizing upon the arm Dareth held the mace in with his magic, and pulling it towards him, Grashnak also sent Dareth's body flying backwards, unless Dareth had another trick up his sleeve, the arm would soon be Grashnaks.

Meanwhile both C'tanlik and Brasha began to close into Dareth's position, still keeping out of his range by floating in the air where his reach would not touch them, yet close enough to see him. C'tanlik began to concentrate on the pile of rotting mass before Dareth, while Brasha began to target one of Dareth's orbs with an incineration spell...

The lightning bolt would be sent flying back at Grashnak, although the sorceror remained solid in his stance. He made no attempt to dodge the blow, as the lightning bolt struck a few feet in front of Grashnak, and fractured across a sphere of light that flared around Grashnak. Surely Dareth would have known mages always cast wards around themselves. Grashnak immediatly began to re-secure any damage that had been done to his wards.

Xanathos watched from below with a grim look upon his face. They had not planned for such destructive weapons. The loss of a Body-slave would certainly be regretable. It seemed the time was upon them to act. It was then that a second lightning bolt would hit a Body-slave. There would be the sound of electricity striking metal, then a slight thud. Creatures with no nerves, felt no pain.

In his native tongue he called out around the maze. "Elites, meet upon me, Grashnak, deal with the orbs."

Grashnak knew what was required of him, immediatly he outstretched his arm towards the orb in the centre of the room, the one greedily containing his magic. There was much that Dareth had to learn yet it seemed, perhaps being trapped in his maze had caused him to lose his mind. From out of Grashnak's arm shot a bolt of solid bone, straight towards the orb in the centre of the room.

The bolt was an extension of Grashnak's arm, extended by Grashnak, then shot off at speed by the Bone mage. Grashnak now directly responded to Dareth.

"Foolish child, you play at sorcery, and yet you do not realize the rank of sorceror you are truely dealing with."

The bone particle would home in on the orb as it moved. It wasn't being thrown by Grashnak after all, it was being propelled by sheer will. If he wanted, the bone piece could have come to a complete halt at a moments notice, hitting the orb would not be difficult. Meanwhile the lightning flashed across his wards, yet he was able to readily replenish the strong wards that surrounded him, although it was draining at his strength slowly. The piece of bone that had fractured the first orb now hovered close to where the orb had previously stood.

In the meantime, Brashna acted as he saw the magic orb that had consumed Grashnak's magic obliterated. He targetted not a magic orb, but Dareth himself. He let a square of inferno rage around Dareth in a five foot square. It was hot enough to burn the stone around Dareth to liquid, then gas, obliterate the orbs unless they had sufficient protection, and Dareth too unless he had another trick up his sleeve.

Grashnak was reinforcing his wards, when he was struck point black by the orbs. His wards fractured, and threatened to break, but Grashnak threw his energy into the wards, and managed to keep them alive. As soon as the damage was done, Grashnak crashed to the floor, exhausted. Blood poured from his now useless ears, the Dead-man was down and out for this fight.

Meanwhile, Xanathos now had to deal with Dareth. He cursed as the demon appeared before him, and immediatly went into a charge to cut the demon down to size. He'd covered about twenty feet with his large size, when he'd realized the sceptre was pointed at him. Xanathos was no fool, immediatly he threw his body to the side wall, curving at the same time, so that if Dareth was fast enough to follow his movement before the utterance of his word, that it would strike his back and offer some protection from the flames. Of course, Xanathos had no idea that if the fireball did strike him, it would cause much more damage than an average fireball.

If Dareth was not fast enough to change direction, the fireball would fly in the direction Xanathos had been, striking the far wall and doing next to no damage.

At the same time, C'tanlik moved in closer to the fight, reinforcing his wards as he moved through the air. He raised a hand and immediatly spoke the impossible words, casting a blight upon Dareth, specifically his arm. It would attempt to eat through the flesh, starting at his elbow and spreading out. This was the arm holding the mace which Dareth held in his hand.

From behind Dareth, an Elite approached silently, his twin blades drawn, and his armour removed. He would move much faster without the armour, perhaps something he could use to his advantage. Regardless, the Elite approached as quietly as possible, while Dareth would be distracted by C'tanlik's spell and words of power uttering through the air, and Xanathos' clattering against the wall and movement.

C'tanlik saw the fireball coming towards him, and floated up and slightly back from the fireball, at the same time continuously re-inforcing his wards in case the fireball was detonated remotely.

Meanwhile, the unarmoured Elite ducked under the swinging mace, slicing with the sword closest to the mace at Dareth's hand, while his other sword jabbed at Dareth's heart. Simutaneously, Xanathos drew his second sword, and went at Dareth, keeping one sword up for defence, Xanathos cleaved at Dareth's head with his other sword, although the sword for defence was really quite redundant, as Dareth had his back turned to Xanathos.

The positioning of the mace made it impossible for Dareth to block Xanathos' sword swipe through the demon's neck, which would result in Xanathos slicing through Dareth's neck, and severing his head. As Xanathos carved through Dareth, he yelled these words.

"You fool, you could have lived forever!"

The group began to pick itself together, C'tanlik wandered over to the injured Grashnak, and began to heal his damaged ears. As creatures of death, the Dead-men were aided by the use of a Necromancer. C'tanlik also repaired the Dead-man who had his armour off, and had thus burnt his arm.

The group did loot Dareth's mace and sceptre, the sorcerors spending a good part of the day trying to perfect the word of power they had heard Dareth speak while he had used the sceptre so liberally. The sceptre would go with Xanathos, and the mace would be dragged in the rear of the group by one of the four remaining body slaves.

After their rest, the group progressed into the next door, in the same order as previous, except with one less Body-slave in the rear.

As the group reached the T-intersection, they paused, and waited for a rat to pass by. As soon as it did, C'tanlik quickly dominated its mind, killing it in the process because of its limited capability to sustain the pressure placed on its mind. When it was dead, C'tanlik took control of its corpse, and began to walk it down the path to the right, observant for any signs of a trap...

C'tanlik lost link with the rat, so taking control of the Body-slave in the lead, he led the group down the tunnel they had led the rat. The Body-slave was using sonar to map out their path, and the orbs of fire as normal floated eerily over the centre of the group.

As they moved, Xanathos looked at his feet. This was unpleasant, but he had gained a new toy out of the whole procedure, he wondered what he could do with the sceptre, it would definately be a powerful weapon against foes further into the labyrinth...

The group walked past the sewage as if nothing was there, they had seen much worse in their long lives, and they were no mortal fools that could be disgusted by such sights. The group arrived in the chamber, and headed down the left most path, keeping the Body-slave in front ahead, his sonar searching for any discrepancies in the path ahead of them, especially for any areas with denser matter which would show a mass of water, or for stones which could descend into traps...

((Nooo, it's ok, I can wait, I thought you'd just lost interest))

Strangely enough, they would not encounter any traps until they got to the end of the tunnel, 30 meters ahead, which was a dead end. Nothing special to see, other than some mold growing on the walls.

((Yeah, I'm getting bored of it too. Gonna have to come up with some kind of real plan for this. >.>))

All of a sudden they step into a PIME TARADOX. Days and weeks flash by in an instant, and all of a sudden they are standing in a dark cavern, outside of the labyrinth's exit, probably missing a few people, but no doubt carrying loot from any of the other Guardians they might have taken something from during their arduous journey. They would get a moment to collect themselves before being ambushed by a gaggle of skeletons wearing tattered remains of military gear, armed with Kalashnikovs. They stayed their weapons though, merely surrounding them with their weapons trained.

"Congratulations on getting through the labyrinth," said a rasping voice from somewhere behind the skeletal commandos. "You're the first ones. We'll make sure you're also the last."

A pair of commandos pulled their weapons back, stepping aside to make an opening and snapping to attention. A skull with a jeweled gold circlet floated into the circle. The azure gems in its eyes seemed to flicker with an inner light. The demilich's words chilled the air with an unnatural coldness, like death.

"I am Valas Zauviir, Archmagus of Necropolita, Leader of the Council of Seven, and Chosen of Darshendros. Who are you, and what is your purpose here?"

They must have traveled far indeed, for Valas had never heard of that empire. They would have made contact long ago if they had. The proposition sparked some interest though.

"Interesting. We have already been making progress in such a crusade, but the mortals have powerful allies. What does your emperor have to offer in this alliance that we cannot produce ourselves?"

"That's all?" the demilich asked, seemingly disappointed. "Very well. Let us discuss this more in detail. These soldiers will escort you to the necropolis."

Valas turned transparent and then vanished completely. The skeletal commandos formed ranks around Xanathos and his entourage.

((To be continued in the Necropolita thread.))