Thread: For the love of gold (LunarCinnamon & Courtney)

Emily had been born in a rather small village on the outskirts of a rather dreary kingdom. There was nothing special about her nor was there anything interesting. She was a beauty, but that was truly all she had going for her. She was not a master with her sword, nor was she a tradeswoman with sewing. She was, for all accounts, completely ordinary. Her long red hair was just about the only thing that was even remotely interesting to anyone. But otherwise, she was an ordinary girl on the hunt for something particularly hard to find. Emily had heard rumors of a mysterious labyrinth hidden somewhere in her lands. The stories she'd heard were monstrous tales of fire breathing dragons and demons alike. But, for Emily, a girl of ordinary if not almost naive logicality, she didn't believe a word of it. To her, this maze was simply that. It must just be a plain old maze, nothing special about it. Though of course, this was not that case. In fact that maze was created by an evil witch many years ago. Inside of it held treasures beyond any mere mortals dreams. But, like any adventurers tale, the maze had to have guardians and monsters. Within this maze lay several threats. From traps to sentient beings bent on physical harm. Emily had shuddered at the thought but, upon each time she'd heard the story from drunkards in bars, she'd been reassured that the physical harm inflicted on travelers who made it there was of the more... sensual kind. It was with this knowledge that Emily had decided to make her way up the mountain side no less than 3 weeks ago. She was dressed from head to toe in as many layers as she could possibly wear, refusing to be touched by anything evil. Even if she refused to believe anything evil lived there at all. Or, truly, that there even was a maze. She wasn't sure what compelled her to go looking for it when she believed in her heart that it wasn't real but, here she was, traversing a dangerous cliff side. It was late evening when she finally discovered a dimly illuminated cavern as she side stepped along a ledge. Emily ducked in, the torches along the wall lighting aflame immediately. They startled her, causing her to jump back, nearly tripping over a rock and falling down the mountain. She managed to steady herself though, jumping back into the cave mouth. Here it was. The Maze of the Heretic Queen, or so she'd been told it was called. With a grimace at the mildew smell surrounding her, she grabbed one of the torches and continued her journey. It was when she approached a strange looking brass bell and a plaque that she finally stopped to look around. A stone pillar held the bell and the plaque, while the room around her was barren and almost eerie. It was quiet aside from the drip of water in the far corner, the stone beneath her feet somehow green with moss even this deep in the mountain as if it were magic keeping it alive. Emily scoffed at the thought, reading the plaque with a particularly confused and scrunched up expression. She'd never been too good with riddles, and she wasn't about to start being good with them now. She looked around once more, a tentative hand reaching out to touch the cord of the bell. Ring once to break the spell. Emily figured that last part of the riddle sounded a little ominous. She wasn't sure what kind of seal she'd be breaking but, somehow now that she was truly standing in this room, she felt as if she might as well be more careful. Deciding to try and not tempt fate for once in her life, Emily rung the bell only once, awaiting what would happen next.