(PP-F3) Maze of the Minos <<Search for the Hoya>>

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Benjamin tried to hide how much he was shaking as they got closer to the center of the maze. The adrenaline had worn off from the last fight, and now he was beginning to fill up with nervous energy as they focused on getting out of here in one piece.  "I can't believe that you get into fights like this so often- I haven't done any big quests with all this combat before.  Mostly it's just gathering and making things..." he said as he thought back to his last few quests into the wild.  "I'm never going to complain about those walks being boring ever again."

"Actually, once we get to the center we could just teleport on out.  Though that's expensive, so I suppose we can use the same strategy as when we came in, and just pick a route towards the edge of the maze and follow it." he pondered as the three of them walked on their path. "Once you see something that looks like the center we can figure it out from there- we don't know what it will look like until we get there."

@Dazia

[Dazia 0]

Dazia listened to what Benjamin had to say as the players continued to traverse the maze. "So you find it hard to believe that I find myself in combat often?" She asked him. Yinangi seemed confused, and decided to explain from her own experiences with Dazia. "I mean, if this is your first time going on a quest with her help, I can understand why you'd ask...but take it from me, she gets into fights often...very often. Whenever she doesn't have anything planned, I often see her strategizing stuff, or out in the wilds, hunting down monsters she can handle with ease."  While this was true to an extent, Dazia didn't necessarily feel like this was how it actually was...after all, she hadn't exactly looked at this in another's perspective, just her own.

"It's possible," Dazia noted. "We could return through the way we came...of course, there may be other methods out that we haven't seen or thought of yet." Soon enough, she saw an archway in the side of the corridor the players were walking through. "I think we may have found it, but this is too easy...both of you, wait here, I'll signal you if it's safe." Dazia would slowly walk over to the archway peer through its opening. There it was, the center room. Four pillars, as well as a pedestal, were clearly visible. Dazia would walk into the room cautiously, making sure that no monsters or traps awaited the players. Once she knew the coast was clear, she would walk out to gesture for Benjamin and Yinangi to head in with her.

On the Pedestal was a pendant of elegant design. The pendant itself seemed to be silver, and in the shape of a Hoya flower, a Star-shaped, simple flower with a smaller, more detailed one in the center, that was not star-shaped, of course. In the center of the smaller flower was an amethyst. She took the pendant off of the pedestal, and would show it to Benjamin. "Well...this is what we were searching for. I guess they don't call it the Hoya of Minos for nothing."

@Benjamin Bookworm

(OOC: Sorry for the extremely long delay)

Edited February 13, 2020 by Dazia

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben waited with Yinangi until the coast was clear, walking into the center of the maze where Dazia waited.  "Well, I meant that I couldn't keep up this much fighting myself.  Seeing you fighting for your life like that... it's a lot more than I've ever done.  Beyond the beginner quests, I haven't gotten in any other major fights before.  It's kinda scary to realize you fight like that constantly." he said a bit apprehensively. "I was worried you'd get hurt there.  Even though it seems you have it more than under control, it's still a scary concept."

His eyes were drawn to the pendant in the center of the room as well, looking at the beautiful item she was holding. "Yea... it really is something, isn't it?  I think it would look good on you." he stated, knowing it would be a bit of a waste on him.  He was here to keep Dazia company, not for the trinkets the quest gave. 

@Dazia

[Dazia 0]

So Benjamin wasn't really that much of a fighter...he seemed like one of those hopeful people who preferred to help, assist, and heal rather than fight. He was clearly able to acknowledge that combat was unavoidable, but he seemed to prefer the healer role when in combat. Benjamin was a healer, Dazia was a fighter...which is funny because some could see such things as opposites. Dazia wondered why it scared Benjamin, the concept of everyday combat, the usual strife of this game...why did it scare him, she wondered. Perhaps she might never know.

Benjamin agreed with Dazia that the pendant was a lovely trinket, but what he said next was unexpected.

"I think it would look good on you."

Dazia's face reddened slightly at this as her eyes widened in response. "I ahhh, y-you're sure about that...?" She asked, somewhat flustered at this unexpected turn of events. Ynangi smiled, and would whisper in Dazia's ear, "Keep it, keep what he has offered you." She would back a few feet away, still smiling in anticipation of what Dazia's decision might be. "I...um, thanks..." Dazia said, still a bit flustered, but agreeing to keep the pendant. Yinangi seemed a bit excited about Dazia's decision. How and why she was excited, Dazia believed she'll never know.

@Benjamin Bookworm

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben smiled at Dazia, blushing a bit behind his scarf at her response.  "W-well we should get going, right?  It's still pretty dangerous in the maze, especially if another minotaur spawns somewhere around here." he said while he scratched his arm nervously. "Even if you guys are up for it too, these maze walls are close enough quarters that it's a lot more chaotic than usual, and I don't want to get separated in the battle." 

"I mean, I know you can handle yourself well, but it's never good to have extra risks like that.  Especially if we can simply get back fast enough to avoid it."  he said with a forced chuckle.  He knew there wasn't going to be anything spawning in here, but there was a real worry about getting trapped by another spawn they'd have to fight through or wait out.  And with it basically just being him and Dazia.... well he blushed at the thought of that.  When they got in town and things were quieter, maybe they could get some food and talk or something...

@Dazia

[Dazia 0]

Yinangi noticed that both Benjamin and Dazia were a bit bashful in this moment. To her, it could only mean one thing. She was suppressing her excitement at this very moment. 

Dazia, on the other hand, did not notice. However, she did see Benjamin's reaction. "Yes, I do think we should get going..." She did what she could to recall the path they took as she turned around, ready to leave the room, but there wasn't much there to recall. However, she did see something that seemed...out of place. She would see a slip of paper lodged in-between the stones of the room. She would pull it out, and unfold it. She would find that it was a note addressed to "V.G." ...but the lettering wasn't written in what was easily recognizable. It took her a few seconds to figure it out. The letters were unique, and Dazia only knew one who wrote in such lettering from time to time... She now knew who this V.G. was...it was herself, Violet Grace. "Hmm...this lettering, only one who I know would write letters like these...Akemi. She was here...I can't believe one of my sisters is in this game..." She muttered. She was going to stow the note away, but then she saw some words on the bottom of it that had normal lettering.

"Where a priceless treasure is hidden to stay, lies a path to send oneself away."

A riddle.

"Hold on a second, what's with this riddle?" Dazia asked, turning the note around in case Benjamin or Yinangi could make any sense of it. She was still dealing with the fact that her sister might be in this game, and was also trying to figure those words out at the same time...

[Unbeknownst to her, something is stirring within Dazia...]

@Benjamin Bookworm

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben didn't hear what Dazia was muttering to herself, but took a close look at the note to read it.  "So... like a treasure chest, at an exit?  I've never been very good at riddles.  Maybe that's what VG stands for- very good?" he guessed, wondering what about the note had shaken her so much. 

"I didn't see anything about this as part of the quest- what do you think the note is about?  Maybe something left by another player?" he asked Dazia. He walked over to where she was holding the note, a frown forming on his face. 

"If there's some more notes about that might help.  Maybe there's a clue in the answer to the riddle, but unless we can figure out the intentions of whoever wrote those we're not going to get anything out of it." he said as he tried to think about what the answers could mean.  Though it was most likely that they were going to have to figure this riddle out as they continued back through the maze. 

@Dazia

[Dazia 0]

Yinangi looked at the note. "Player-written, it has to be....but...who's V.G.?" Yinangi asked. Dazia knew that if she gave the answer to that, she'd be giving away her real name...because it would be an answer, not a guess. She felt that she could trust Yinangi, she somehow felt like she could trust Benjamin. "At best guess....V.G. would actually stand for Violet Grace. There's only one who I know to write such lettering above the riddle...one of my older sisters. How she anticipated me coming here, I have no clue...but what to make of this riddle?" She explained, proceeding to ask her question again. Yinangi would read it aloud. "Hmm... 'where a priceless treasure is hidden to stay, lies a path to send oneself away'..." Yinangi would look around the room, and her eyes would stop at the floor where the pedestal was. "Dazia, I think I might have a clue to help you figure it out. Where are we, and what is known to be here?" She asked.

"The center room of the maze, where the Hoya of Minos is found..." Dazia thought aloud. She looked to the pedestal, and noticed that the flooring was made with stone tiles. One long tile in front of the pedestal's tile seemed to be loose, and there were gaps between all of the tiles... "How did no one else think of this? We aren't being set up, are we?" She asked. "One way to find out!" Yinangi guessed. She tried to begin lifting the loose tile, but it was heavy, and would need a bit more brawn to move. "So you think there could be a hidden passage under the pedestal? It would make sense to the riddle, but with the tile in the way- Yinangi, what are you doing?" Dazia asked. She would walk over to help, but even the two of them combined were not enough to move the loose stone tile onto the side of its resting place. "Benjamin, do you mind helping out with this crackpot theory here? This tile is heavier than expected..." She asked a bit hopefully.

@Benjamin Bookworm

(OOC: I actually decided there would be a passageway hidden under the pedestal. I simply thought it would be cleverly hidden, as both brains and combined strength would be required to uncover it.[The long tile prevents the pedestal tile from being moved, so moving it would make it possible to uncover the passage])

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

"Violet?  That's your real name?" he asked in surprise. "It's nice.  I didn't know that- or that you had other family in the game.  We should definitely take a look if she really is behind that note.  Especially since items like those break down over time, so she would have had to have placed it here recently." he said as he walked over to the loosened stones by the pedestal, bending down to help the two of them pry it up. 

After about a minute or two of strained effort, they managed to pull open one of the tiles, showing an open space below it.  "Looks like there actually is something down there- and that we have to pry up a few more before we can find out what kind of a passage it is."  he told her with a smile as he caught his breath. 

"And, um, if you're curious, my name actually is Benjamin.  I figured it would be easier not to change that in game, since I'm used to being called that..." he explained with a little blush.

@Dazia

[Dazia 0]

Benjamin seemed surprised to hear Dazia's real name, as one could normally expect from such a reveal. Yinangi looked at Dazia, also a bit surprised that she would reveal her real name. "Violet, hm? That actually is a nice name." . With the first tile removed, some of the hidden passage underneath was uncovered. Yinangi would hightail it to the pedestal and start pushing it...but once again, this would be too much trouble for one player alone. "Don't overdo yourself, Yinangi." The Pedestal must have been more on the hollow side, for this one was slightly easier to move...then again, the two were pushing it, rather than lifting it... Dazia would lose her footing and slip into the fresh opening in the ground. "Dazia, are you alright?" Yiangi asked, worried about what just happened to her friend. Dazia would respond with, "I...I think I just fell into the passage..." Dazia would get up, turn around, and see that there were some stone bricks purposefully built to stick out...a built in climbing wall, about seven feet in height. "I'm all right, and there seems to be a way to climb down, rather than jump down. Don't worry, go ahead and push the pedestal the rest of the way." Dazia reassured. Yinangi would have trouble getting the pedestal to budge. when it stopped moving, she would notice something. "Oof, so close." She muttered. "There's a shorter tile in the way. It's loose like the last one, so maybe Benjamin and I can move this one." She said to Dazia. Dazia would notice that in a small indent of the passageway's side, was an open crate, a treasure chest that had obviously been looted. "Someone has been here recently..." She muttered. She would climb back up the wall, saying, "You're not doing it alone, I'll pitch in with what I can." The space was open a bit more than enough for Dazia to go in and out, but she wanted to make sure there would be enough room for Benjamin to enter as well.

@Benjamin Bookworm

 

ID# 135819 LD: 3(No chest found)

Edited February 16, 2020 by Dazia

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben nodded as he saw Dazia was safe at the bottom of the pit, before turning back to Yinangi.  "OK- let's get this last piece out of the way before heading down." he told her before moving so both of them could pick up the last tile and move it out of the way.

"It looks like the two of us are following Dazia down there Yinangi. So once we get these moved, I'll help you down there first before following, OK?  We don't want you being up here all alone if you don't have to." he told Yinangi, making sure she would get down safely. 

"So did you find anything else down there to show your sister was here, or are we going to have to go down that passageway.... and I thought it was tight quarters in the maze.  This is going to be something else..." he asked, worried about how they're going to get through the passage if there were monsters in it.

@Dazia

[Dazia 0]

"Well, no other hints that someone was here, save for this chest here that was empty when I found it." Dazia admitted. She would then take out the note again, hoping it had any clues as to how to get through the passage in case it was dangerous. Nope, nothing else in common lettering. "I don't know if the different lettering on this note contains any hints...Akemi used to write to me like this often. It's been a long while, but I still think I might be able to translate the letters, even though it's probably still using the english language..." She would take an empty piece of paper from her inventory, and within eight minutes, she'd translated the note...however, it wasn't what Dazia needed.

Spoiler

V.G:

Sorry you had to come all this way for nothing, assuming what you entered was an empty room. I'd heard quite a bit about you, both good things and bad things included. I'd also heard that you were considering this quest, hence why I'm writing this with you in mind. Now that I know you're in this game, thanks to my helpful informants, I thought I'd leave a way of contact so that we could get in touch sometime...I have quite the things to tell you. Again, sorry I took the Hoya before you had a chance...it's mine now, though, so don't think about getting it from me. You can reach me by messages, just send it to "Amithere".

Love your big sis, Akemi ♡

Dazia pulled out the item she found on the pedestal. The system claimed it was indeed the Hoya of Minos, so clearly the room had reset before Dazia and Benjamin had reached it. She laughed, knowing that she still had the Hoya of Minos, despite that the note claimed it was already gone. "I can't believe she thought it wouldn't spawn another one before we got here!" She calmed down as she got up, then she looked to Benjamin. "Unfortunately, it doesn't say anything about the passage, but now I know that my sister is definitely in this game...I do find it ridiculous that she didn't think the center room would spawn another Hoya of Minos by the time we reached it, though..." She explained.

@Benjamin Bookworm

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

After waiting around bored, wondering why Dazia's sister had bothered to make a note like that so difficult to read as he kept a loose watch, he turned to hear Dazia's explaination of what the note had.

Then, Ben let out a small laugh at Dazia's good luck so far.  "Well, I guess sometimes you start thinking of the game like real life after a while, not with everything... respawning..." he trailed off as a chill ran down his spine. "If she left long enough for the item to respawn, the enemies are going to be spawning as well.  That's why she didn't think you'd get it!  She thought we would get here before it spawned again... and spawned a new guardian with it." he called out, instantly alert and whipping his head around to look about. 

"Yinangi, help Dazia out of that hole now.  If the pendant is on a long cooldown timer, that means the minotaur is too.  And monsters on long timers like that are very, VERY tough." he explained nervously as he listened for the telltale sounds of something spawning.  "I think we should start heading back.  Now." The teleport crystal on his belt hung heavily, which he checked once more as they waited.  If trouble came, they might need to make a very speedy escape. 

@Dazia

[Dazia 0]

Benjamin seemed to become worried as he got his thoughts out, which were in regards to mob respawns and room resets. He then called for Yinangi to get Dazia out immediately so they could start heading back. Of course, Yinangi had something to say. "Wait, if the riddle that spoke of the passage ended with 'send oneself away', do you think it's a passage that we could use as a shortcut?" She asked. "If it's a passageway out, it wouldn't make sense unless it was a one way trip, meaning we couldn't enter the maze through it. It does seem to make sense for the riddle, though." Dazia noted. She looked towards the path of the passageway. It seemed pretty straight, she couldn't see a corner. "So we have two options, and we'll have to decide quickly. We can see if this is indeed a one-way passage out, or we can take the maze and try and figure out which way we came from." 

@Benjamin Bookworm

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben looked back and forth between Dazia and the outside of the maze, quickly deciding on what to do.  "Dazia, you handled a Minotaur before.  You can do it again if need be.  I think we should head back on out the way we came- if we run into a monster we'll rely on you.  If we get stuck in the tunnel down there with something bearing down on us, thing will get a lot worse than before." he said, trying to sound sure of himself.  Facing off with more monsters in the maze would be tough, but Dazia could handle them.  He was sure of it.  Plus he didn't think that protecting Yinangi- or to a lesser extent himself since he had very little mitigation- would be possible for her in such a small area. 

"If you need a little more time to check for anything else your sister left, you should do it now.  I don't want you to miss anything she left you because we were in a hurry." he added, keeping watch over the doorway they came from. 

@Dazia

[Dazia 0]

Benjamin would suggest quickly searching for any other traces of Akemi before leaving back the way they came. "I'm with Benjamin on this one, Yinangi, we don't know what this passage holds, but we've handled the maze itself." Dazia looked around her, then started to climb back up to the center room. She would glance around again, and notice another slip of paper between stones. When she unfolded it, she would read what it had to say. It was written in common lettering, so it was quick.

"He be warned, who has the power, to take the King's prized flower. The voice of mockery should not ring, lest you awaken the wrath of the fallen King."

As soon as she read that, she would hear the sound of something beating against stone. She looked where the note was found, and- how did she not notice this before? The center room only had a east opening and a west opening, there was no north or south. The south wall of the room had a large stone the size of a door, and since Dazia was close, she could see it budge slightly when she heard the sound a second time. Her eyes widened at the realization. "We have to get out of here, back the way we came. NOW!" Dazia called out. She didn't know what could have been at the other side of the door, but given what the note said, she wasn't going to take a chance at knowing if it meant a fight that the players couldn't win.

@Benjamin Bookworm

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

"Yep, time to go.  Yinangi, you and me are up front while Dazia covers our asses, OK?" he said while pushing her into action.  He was sure Dazia would be right behind them- she handled the fighting well last time- but couldn't help sneaking a glance back as he raced out of the center room and down the path they came from.  He did worry.

"OK, I think we went right in here, so we go left out... um, if everyone can just call out the directions as we go it would help us all stay on track!" he called out.  His voice was already starting to raise up in pitch from his nervousness, and his heart felt like it was beating up in his throat.  If they made a wrong turn and wound up down a dead end, they'd be in a big fight it would be hard to get out of.  He knew he should have insisted that everyone have an extra teleport crystal before they came in here...

@Dazia

[Dazia 0]

Yinangi would listen to Benjamin and Dazia. "Ok, let's get out of here!" Dazia would be close behind the two, looking back every once in a while to make sure there was nothing following. She would hear the booming sound of the stone falling at last, followed by a distorted shout... They had to get a far enough distance away as to avoid unnecessary and potentially dangerous combat.

Dazia and Yinangi did their best to recall the path they took as they ran, which sounded easier than it actually was. Half the time, the two players would suggest the same direction, and they would sometimes say different directions, leading to the two having to agree on one of them at random, as time was of the essence as to avoid getting attacked by a monster that might be chasing after them, or possibly even the minotaurs that they had battled earlier on the way.

@Benjamin Bookworm

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

They rounded another corner, gasping for breath as they fled for their lives.  "I think there's only one more turn to go!" He called out as they got to another split in the path- one that looked like all the others in this bloody maze.  "Just... which way do we go?" he asked, just before being interrupted by an all too familiar cry.

"Never mind, minotaur is that way- we're going the other way!" was all he said before moving down the final choice of passage way, making sure they were all together as they ran.  If this last path wasn't going to lead them to an exit, they were going to be face to face with another huge minotaur very soon- and he hoped Dazia could take it out before more trouble showed up. 

For now, all they could do was sprint down the curving path towards whatever lie at the end- hopefully a shot to the exit and not a desperate fight. 

@Dazia

(OOC, get to the end safely, or have to push through the last enemy?  What do you think?)

[Dazia 0]

(OOC: There were originally only two minotaurs in the quest itself, so there's no need to fight another one.)

After going through many, many turns around the maze, the players would encounter a T-intersection before hearing the cry of a minotaur. Benjamin decided they would go in the direction opposite of the sound. After some time running in the chosen direction, natural sunlight came into view, an exit point! "Finally!" Dazia called out between breaths. The end of the maze was in sight, it was finally over. With the item retrieved, and the enemies out of the way, the quest was pretty much clear at this point. Yinangi raised her arms as she smiled. "Woo, Freedooooom!!!" She called out as the players reached the exit point. Once outside, Dazia would take a moment to breathe. "That was a close one...Maybe we should be more prepared before delving into a place like that again..."  She remarked. "Well, at least we weren't alone in this...I can't imagine what would have happened if any of us had taken the quest alone, or even split up during it..."

@Benjamin Bookworm