Ulfang, Midnight, June 3rd, AE 420
Jovah dispenses some healing magic, and the party heads down the ladder that they find once they open the trapdoor in the room behind the bar. They climb down in to a large basement, forty-five feet wide, and longer than they can see with the light provided by Aris’ flameblade and Gavin’s flaming bandana.
Jovah pulls out one of his rocks with continual flame cast on it and tosses it the length of the room. It bounces several times, illuminating the rest of the room, and coming to rest against a normal sized oaken door, painted a brilliant turquoise color. The basement appears to have been used for storage, there are various crates and boxes scattered throughout the room. As they approach the turquoise door, they notice two other doors leading off to the left and right. Each is unpainted, but otherwise similar to the first door.
“There’s somthing magical beyond that door,” Jovah says. “I can’t tell what kind of magic, but it’s pretty strong.”
Jalea checks the door for traps and finds none. He unlocks the door, and then opens it slowly, just a few inches.
He feels a little abnormal resistance, which goes away after a moment. He hears two sounds on the other side of the door; a low, deep, grumbling, snorting sound, and a sound like a thin thread running through a metal eyelet.
He holds the door slightly ajar for a few more moments, grimacing at each succeeding noise. Right after the sound of the thread running through the eyelet comes a loud clang from something metal bashing into something else metal.
Corwin winces.
Then there is a sound like a chair falling over followed by another metal clang and a sound like dozens of marbles rolling over a stone floor. Then the low grumbling turns into a quiet, deep chuckle.
“Open the door all the way, Jalea,” Corwin says. “I’m fireballing whatever’s in there!”
Jalea throws the door open, and Corwin begins casting his fireball. Unfortunately, his armor gets in his way, and the spell fizzles out. He can see clearly into the room now, and his expression is not a happy one.
The room is octagonal, with a lowered area in the center surrounded by six pillars. The floor is covered in marbles rolling all over the floor, including down into the lowered area, where a fifteen foot diameter pentagram is inscribed.
Inside the pentagram is a two-story tall minotaur-like creature. It leans over and picks up one of the marbles that has crossed the pentagrams edge, and smiles wickedly at Corwin.
And then it charges at the door.
It’s a huge creature, and it seesm unlikely that it can fit through the door. There is a ten foot hall on the other side of the door leading into the summoning room, further isolating the creature from the party.
Gavin and Reana run to the right hand door, and throw it open, hoping that there might be some way around the creature’s chamber. They find only that the hallway beyond leads to the sewers.
Jalea fires off two arrows that hit the thing dead on, and bounce off it’s skin. He steps to the side of the door, but the thing’s arms are long, and it is able to reach the elf even down the ten foot hall. Aris steps into view, and fires off a lightning bolt, but the magic breaks on the creature’s hide like water, to no avail. Corwin manages to let fly a lightning bolt of his own, and this one pierces it’s defenses and hurts the thing.
Aris then tumbles down the hall, and to the creature’s side. Jalea tries to match his fellow elf’s moves, but takes another swipe from the minotaur-thing. However, he’s now in position to do a sneak attack, and his shortsword of quickness bites deep into its hide. Brennen takes the opening made by the thing attacking Jalea and rushes in to engage, and gets in a blow as well.
The thing steps back, and makes a few arcane gestures. Brennen, Jalea, Aris, and Jovah are all overwhelmed with a sense of fear and doom, and flee the area, leaving Corwin alone, with only the ten foot hall seperating him from the thing.
Then, the creature teleports into the room with Corwin, and suddenly the wizard is face to face with the eighteen foot tall Minotaur-demon!
“Uh guys?” the frightened wizard yells, “I could use a little help here!” He draws his seldom used bastard sword, and prepares to get his hands dirty for the first time in ages.
The creature begins another incantation, and Corwin swings his blade, to little effect.
Gavin and Reana rush back to the room, as Jalea rushes past them and takes refuge in the sewers. They arrive just in time to see the creature point at Corwin, and to see Corwin vanish from the room!
Corwin finds himself in a stone passage, with twisting corridors leading in all directions.
“This is a maze spell,” he thinks to himself. “Just remember, the important thing is to try to escape; that way the spell will end sooner…”
Gavin looks around, and sees Jovah huddled in a corner, frightened out of his wits, and sees that Brennen and Aris have taken refuge upstairs. The demon (for that’s what it must be, he thinks) is terribly injured, but seeming more angry than anything. He moves into position to charge, and Reana fires off a couple of magical arrows that stick in the creature’s hide, and they prepare to bear the brunt of its attack.
Reana draws both her shortswords and goes in swinging. Gavin reconsiders his charge, as he is badly injured himself, and advances carefully. The minotaur-demon unleashes his full arsenal of attacks, swinging claws and horns with equal power, drawing blood from both combatants. Reana lands several deep cuts on the thing, and then Gavin lands two, with the second biting particularly deep.
Finally, the thing drops. Moments later, Corwin pops back into the room, right where he left it.
“Where were you?” Reana asks incredulously.
“You know those noble outdoors parties where they have those gardens with the hedge mazes?” Corwin asks. “I’m never going to one of those again.”
Gotta love the M section of that book right KC and lazybones? 
