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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ziona" data-source="post: 248824" data-attributes="member: 484">Shiny ObjectsThe group followed Dent down a long corridor.  Dent called Lox forward when he found the first door.  “It’s safe,” said Lox.  “It’s not even locked. See?”  Lox swung the door open with a smile and pranced happily into the room.“Hullo. My name is Lox. Who are you?”Dent and Venus followed behind Lox and saw a very frail-looking man with dark skin sitting within a circle meditating.  Beneath him was a giant pentagram.  He opened one eye and looked at Lox.“Leave this place,” he said loudly.  The sound of his deep voice bounced off the walls so the others who waited in the hallway could hear.“Oooh, that’s a pretty gem you have,” said Lox with a look of wonder in his eyes.Lox quickly approached the man with an outstretched arm, and grabbed the sparkling ruby.  The man’s eyes snapped open and he clutched Lox’s wrist.  “What have you done?” shouted the man.“It’s so pretty I had to touch it,” said Lox.Venus and Dent moved forward with their weapons drawn.  Lox began to struggle to get away from the thin man, but did not loosen his grip on the ruby.“Unhand my ruby, thief!”“Leggo of me! Leggo!”Lox struggled as fiercely as the Spleckle had struggled against Prynne, although he wouldn’t loosen his grip on the gem.  Suddenly, a loud cracking noise could be heard reverberating off the walls.  The meditating man shouted out in pain.“What have you done? You fool…”The man no longer had a hold on Lox.  In fact, the man’s arm seemed to be resting at a funny angle now.“Lox! What are you doing? Get over here, now,” called Dent.  “We don’t know what sort of magics this man has,” shouted Venus.  “When will you ever learn, silly halfling?!”The man looked up at the intruders with an angry, painful scowl.  “I am a pacifist, you fools…why have you come here to disturb me and steal from me?”Dent looked shocked.  Venus was confused.  Lox just smiled and looked at the sparkling ruby.“I am truly sorry,” said Dent, “but you are in a deadly maze.”“Be gone!  Get out of here,” cried the dark-skinned man. “Can I keep this ruby?” asked Lox.The man smirked at Lox, an evil look appearing in his eyes.“Get out!” he shouted.  “A curse upon you and your retched halfling family! A curse!”“Let’s be gone,” said Venus to Dent.  Dent grabbed Lox and they exited the room.  “What happened in there?” asked Prynne, seeing the large ruby that Lox was holding.“I got this pretty shiny ruby,” started Lox.  “But the man was so loud, and rude, too. You wouldn’t believe what he said about my family.”“Let’s just move along,” sighed Dent, trying to keep his composure. The next door they found was unlocked as well.  As they approached the door, they could hear the jangling of bells.  When Lox tried to inspect the door for traps, it swung open and a jester smiled wildly at them.“Greetings, adventurers!”“Hullo! I’m Lox! Who are you?”“Why I am Mar the Jester, young halfling,” he said, “and have I got a treat for you!”The man who stood before them was dressed in what was once brightly colored apparel.  His clothing was faded and tattered, and the only thing that really stood out were the bright shiny bells on his shoes.“Whoa, wait a minute,” said Dent pulling Lox away from Mar.  “What are you doing down here in the maze?”“Well, if you truly must know,” Mar replied, “I was kicked out of Lord Korvish’s court, and he through me down here.  I am a prisoner of the maze, like yourselves.”  “You’ve got to be kidding…” mumbled Prynne.“Oh, but I’m not, my dear.  It’s awful living all your days down here, waiting for someone to show up…it’s so lonely…”“Pull yourself together,” said Venus.  “Pull?  Did you say pull?  Sure you can,” said Mar pulling a deck of cards out of thin air.“Ooh, a game! Isn’t this grand? I wanna pull,” said Lox.“No, Lox! No more of these shenanigans,” said Dent.  “Let’s move along.”As the party turned to leave, Lox ran into the room with Mar and the door closed behind them.“Great,” said Belasco.  “The halfling is at it again.  You do realize that we could make much better time if we just left the little nuisance behind, right?”Dent glared at Belasco a moment, then moved back to the door and opened it wide.“Lox, the party isn’t going to stand for your foolishness any longer,” he said sternly.Lox looked up from the deck and smiled.  “It’s okay Dent.  You should try.  It’s a lot of fun.”Mar held out the cards to each of them, explaining that good fortune could come their way if they pulled from the deck of cards.  He told tales of others who had pulled from the deck, and how they had received treasure and land, wishes and magical gifts.“What did Lox get?” asked Prynne.“A second chance,” said Mar with a smile. “Now it’s your turn, my bald, female friend.  Say, did anyone ever tell you that you have a shiny head?”“Shiny things are nice,” said Lox, thinking of his ruby.“Shut up and give me a card,” said Prynne.  “Prynne,” said Dent, “are you sure you want to do this? We don’t know if we can trust this jester.”Prynne didn’t take her eye from Mar. “Don’t worry about me, ranger,” she said.She reached forward and pulled a card from the deck he held before her.  It turned to smoke and wisped away.  In her head she heard the jester laughing. “Lucky girl…you have a wish.  Looks like you didn’t have to finish the maze to get it after all, baldy.”“What was that?” asked Venus.  “Are you okay?”Prynne turned to the group.  “I’m fine.”“Miss Prynne, what did you get from the card?” asked Lox.  “That is for me alone to know, Lox,” she said.“Let me have a hand at that deck,” said Venus.  He reached forward and pulled a card.  It transformed before their eyes into a scroll.  Venus untied the bow, unrolled the scroll and read it.“It’s a deed,” he said.  “I am now a landowner.”“Land?  Let me try,” said Nuttin.  He pulled a card and it transformed into a rod.  In his mind, he heard Mar laughing, “It is a Rod of Wonder, halfling.  Should be useful since you’re too old to fight.”Belasco reached forward and pulled a card, which, like Prynne’s, wisped away into smoke.  Immediately he felt invigorated, stronger.  He heard the jester say “How does it feel to be stronger?  I know you elves are so frail and weak.”Belasco looked at Mar from behind his mask.“You know nothing, Jester,” he spat.“Oh, no. I’ve upset the masked elf,” laughed Mar.  “Whatever will he do?”“Don’t push me, you worthless human,” he growled, turning away.“It’s your turn, ranger,” giggled Mar. “Unless you’d like me to leaf you alone.”“That’s funny,” chortled Lox.“I don’t need to pull from that deck,” said Dent and he turned away.“Touchy fellow,” said Mar with a smirk.  “What about the horny fellow?  What are you, part goat?” Elmond looked insulted, and shoved his way past the jester and followed Dent. The rest of the party began to follow Dent away from Mar’s room as well, and before long, they noticed that Mar was following them.“Whoa, wait a minute,” said Venus. “What mischief are you planning, jester?”“No mischief,” said Mar. “But I don’t want to live the rest of my days in this maze, so I’d like to follow you to see if you actually find your way out.  Is that so bad?”“I don’t trust this jester,” said Belasco.  “I say we tie him up and leave him in the room we found him in.”“He hasn’t done anything wrong,” said Dent.  “It’s understandable that he would want to leave this wretched place.  We’ll just have to keep an eye on him.”“Why thank you,” said Mar.  “Just watch yourself,” said Belasco.  “All I need is one reason…”“Ooh, so dark and mysterious,” said Mar.  “What’s behind your mask that you’re hiding, hmmmm?”“Back off,” said Belasco, giving Mar a shove.  “Stay at the back with the halflings.”“Hooray,” said Lox.  “I can tell you some stories if you like…”Mar rolled his eyes and followed the group.Further down the corridor the party came across two doors.  Again Lox was called to the front of the line to inspect the first one.  He found the first one was unlocked and not trapped.  The second one was locked, but not trapped, and he unlocked it.  Before he could make any hasty moves, though, Venus picked him up by the nap of his neck and moved him aside.“I’ll open the door this time,” he said.  He swung open the door and burst inside with his sword ready.  But, instead of an insidious foe, he found three women lounging about the large room, which was dimly lit by candles.  The smell of incense hung in the air and a bed of satiny pillows sat in the center of the room.  Against the back wall was a long table presenting a feast of succulent meats, cheeses, fruits, breads and wine.  There were tapestries on the wall and decorative carpets on the floor.  The three women looked up in unison as Venus opened the door.  One was a voluptuous red head in a red gown.  The second wore light armor and had sandy blonde hair.  The third wore scale mail armor and had dark hair and eyes.“Pardon the intrusion, miladies,” stuttered Venus.“It’s quite alright,” said the red haired woman, standing up. “Come right in Sir…?”“Venus…my name is Venus, milady.”“Welcome, Venus.  I am Veerdra.  This is Cryenna,” she said pointing to the blonde, “and Hrolga,” she said motioning to the brunette.Venus dropped to one knee and bowed before the women as the rest of the party entered.  Cryenna and Hrolga stood up from the bed at that point and Cryenna seemed to keep some distance between herself and the group.“Is this your group of friends, Venus?” asked Veerdra seductively.  “Yes, milady.  They are my allies in this hellish maze.”“You are seeking a way out,  I see,” said Veerdra.  “Will you rescue us from the clutches of Lord Korvish?”“Of course, milady,” said Venus, getting back to his feet.  “I will see to your protection personally, Veerdra.”“Why thank you, Venus.”“Wait a minute,” said Prynne.  “We don’t know if we can trust these women anymore than we know we can trust the damn jester.  I say we leave them here.  We aren’t here to rescue every stray we meet in this godforsaken pit!”“Prynne, you are jumping to conclusions,” said Venus.  “Veerdra would never do anything to harm us.”Prynne glanced at Venus.  His eyes seemed to shine with awe at Veerdra.  It was obvious he was smitten with her.  Prynne looked to Dent.  “What are your thoughts, ranger?”“If they are prisoners as they say they are, I don’t see how we can possibly leave them here under Korvish’s thumb.”“Fine,” said Prynne, looking at Veerdra. “But I’m watching you.”“No need to be so suspicious,” said Veerdra coolly. “We just want to escape Lord Korvish.”“We didn’t ask to be brought here,” said Hrolga.  “We want to leave, as you do.”Belasco looked at Cryenna.  She stood silently behind the other two women and eyed the party suspiciously.  “And what about you, Cryenna,” he asked. “Have you anything to add?”“I want only to return to my people,” she said flatly.“Then I say we take them with us,” said Belasco.  “Do you three have any idea how to escape?” asked Nuttin.  “Korvish must have brought you here somehow.  Do you remember?”“He used magic to bring us here,” said Hrolga.  “Hey look!” cried Lox.  “There’s enough food here to feed an army!”“Which is exactly what we’re shaping up to be,” grumbled Prynne.“Eat your fill,” said Veerdra.  “This is a fine place to rest if you feel the need.”The party agreed that they could use the rest and decided to stay in the room.  They split up their watches and their night was uneventful.  The jester kept Lox occupied while Venus’s attention was taken by Veerdra.  Prynne and Dent discussed strategies while Belasco talked with Cryenna.  Elmond and Nuttin bickered about their magical abilities as usual.  In the morning the well rested (and well fed) group ventured back down the corridors and deeper into the maze.  The Adventure Continues…</blockquote>

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