Episode 417 - Maze 2: Hypermaze

Our heroes enter a realm they have been to before and certainly sent several folks to… but this time is much, much different. Can they survive and shifting halls of the Maze Realm? Also, what is the deal with these bones… odd…

## **Story**

### Long Story

In the final moments of prep before heading to The Abyss, Rowan suggests that Aludra Wyrmsbane, and Jaela head to the The Feywild, so they can have "professionals" on the battlefield, and Adira Harper accompany them to the Abyss. They are then met by Older Man Weck, who informs them that a "demonic force" have entered the Feywild. At that, Aludra and Jaela head off that way, while Toby casts *Maze*, so the rest of the Tower can jump through it. But first, Rowan asks Toby what he knows of Baphomet. It has True Sight, and is immune to poison, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. It's also resistant to cold, fire, and lightning damage, and can't be charmed, frightened, or poisoned. Cool, should be easy. With nothing else to go over, the group heads into *The Endless Maze*. Into the Abyss...

Toby's been here to the Endless Maze before, both for fun, and as training during his White Spire days. He also sometimes stashes things down here, such as a broken coffee table (from a date with Kate Aurochs), and a painting of Rowan Grey, nude, holding baby Hoby over her "bikini area", Madonna-style. Toby broke this, out of horrificness, and hadn't yet fixed it. As for the Maze itself, there are two forks, behind them and before them, that branch off to the left and right. The while thing is rotating slightly, and there's a low hum coming from everywhere. Toby can sense that the walls between the forks is an illusion, so he reaches out with his Vecna hand and touches it. As he does, three things happen. 1. The wall disappears, revealing another hallway before them, 2. The whole room moves a bunch, and 3. A giant scythe swings down from the ceiling and almost slices his hand off!

They head north, as Lahni smudges Egg Salad Sandwiches on the walls around them. She's also running up and down the walls, attempting to set off traps. Also, Skud draws a card from his Deck of Many Things, which grants him 1,000 gold pieces. Cool. They find a skeleton in one room, that Rowan raises to follow them around. It has no hands, implying that it got scythed by a trap. Coming up to the next trap, Rowan sends the skeleton to touch it, and it gets scythed in half, destroying it. Here, they find a bunch more skeletons, which she also raises. Toby finds a hidden grate, and attempts to lift it, but it's held in place via chain. At this, Skud casts *Chain Lightning* *(lol)*, which breaks the chain, much like that one Fleetwood Mac song. Lahni drops down, like a ferret, and she sees the gears and clock-work-like mechanisms that are moving the room around. The other's follow, and smell the smell of cooking meat. This, they turn toward. Soon, they come up on a door made of pelts, and an invisible Lahni enters it.

The first thing she sees is an open fire, above which a bunch of rats are cooking. She eats one. There are also piles of bones around, arranged carefully. Not long after, a small man enters, with a "big, plump belly", and a short stature. Noticing the missing rats, the man screams "My rats!". Lahni attempts to calm the man down, but she's still invisible, which only scares him more. The others enter, and introduce themselves. The man, who calls himself The Collector, is nervous and rat-like himself, and seems to live down here, feeding off the rats to keep himself alive. He admits to collecting the bones of the hands of those who fell victim to the traps. Rowan makes some of the bones dance. She wants to take him back to the Tower with them, but Toby is not for it. He asks the Collector if he knows the way to Lyktion, which he does does. He won't, however, cross "the bridge" to get to it. He is afraid of the bridge because he's seen monsters, 100-ft tall, coming across, a million of them. Rowan convinces him to draw a card from Skud's, despite Toby's objections, but they decide to wait until they get to the bridge until he pulls one.

The Collector leads them through the traps, to the bridge. It's massive, and about 100 ft from the water below. On the other side of the river is a large fortress carved of white marble. And then, the Collector pulls a card. It grants him a magical weapon, that appears in his hand. The handle is made of bones, and it has an axe head on one side and a spike head on the other. Skud really wants this weapon, which Toby finds hilarious. Anyway, they leave the Collector behind, and cross the bridge.

On the other side, they can see a giant fortress made of marble. The front door is open, and Lahni runs in to see what there is to see. What she sees is another Maze, this time made of white marble. The others enter, and there's no illusions this time. As soon as they enter, the door slams shut behind them, and a low growl emits from somewhere inside.

### Short

Trant Thumble has entered the Feywild, so Aludra and Jaela head there, as The Tower of Grey + Adira head to the Abyss. They make their way through the twisting Maze, eventually meeting a strange character named "The Collector". He collects bones! He leads them to the gates of Lyktion, before drawing one of Skud's cards, which grants him an axe/spike weapon. He then skitters away, while the rest of them enter the fortress. The door slams shut behind them, and a deep, animalistic growl begins to be heard.

## **Trivia**

* Skud's stronghold is in the Wiki. Here it will die
* The zone that you are sent to from the *Maze* spell is called The Endless Maze, and it's a layer within the Abyss. Lyktion is the name of Baphomet's fortress
* Bachmann estimates that the cards are about 75% bad at this point

## **In This Episode...**

### **Cast and Player Characters**

* Michael DiMauro - *Dungeon Master*
* Tim Lanning - Toby Treacletart
* Jennifer Cheek - Rowan Grey
* Mike Bachmann - Skud Derringer
* Nika Howard - Lahnik "Lahni" Caplain

### **Non-Player Characters**

* Older Man Weck
* Adira Harper
* The Collector

### **Pets/Familiars**

* Rowan's skeleton friend
* Akkio???

### **Locations**

* Drunkeros
	+ Greenham
		- The Tower of Grey
* The Abyss
	+ The Endless Maze
	+ Lyktion

### **Quest Log Updates**

* [Active] - Stop The BBEG!
	+ [Active] - Go to The Feywild and save Melora
		- [Active] - Steal Baphomet's key to the Dimension Chest
			* ~~[Complete] - Find Lyktion, in The Endless Maze of The Abyss~~
			* [NEW][Active] - Find and defeat Baphomet
* [Optional?] - Destroy The God Killer

### **Quotes**

* **"Oh, it's a *Cube 2: Hypercube* situation."** ~ *Tim Lanning*

* **"She goes down on her hands and knees, backwards, so if she needs to scurry up real fast, she can. Not that it matters, because she can do it on the ceiling, like a weird little tunnel rat."** ~ *Nika Howard*

* **"I stick them in my Ferret bag, and whatever seasoning gets stuck, gets stuck."** ~ *Lahni Caplain*

* **"None of my cards will kill him! i don't think..."** ~ *Skud Derringer, out loud*

## **Rolls**

* **Recap**
	+ Tim - 6
	+ Nika - 4
	+ **Jennifer - 6** - *volunteers*
	+ Bachmann - 7

* **Toby** makes a *Arcana* check to see what he knows about Baphomet - 31
	+ He knows a lot

* **Toby** does a DEX Saving Throw after touching the illusion - 17
	+ A giant scythe swoops down and almost slices him

* Everyone makes INT Saving Throws
	+ Lahni - 11
	+ Rowan - 20
	+ Toby - 27
	+ Skud - 3
		- Everyone wants to go south, but Toby knows to go north

* **Lahni** rolls a DEX Saving Throw after activating a trap - ~~16~~ Nat 1
	+ She gets hit with the scythe - 8 Slashing damage

* Everyone rolls 2d10 extra HP from the Hero's Feast (Also, immune to being poisoned and frightened, and advantage on WIS Saving Throws)
	+ Toby - 7
	+ Lahni - 10
	+ Skud - 10
	+ Rowan - 16

* **Toby** makes an *Investigation* check to see if there's anything interesting around them - 17
	+ The skeleton doesn't have any hand bones

* Everyone rolls an *Investigation* roll
	+ Toby - 31
	+ Lahni - 4
	+ Rowan - 8
	+ Skud - 14
		- Toby, and no one else, finds a hidden grate in the ground

* **Toby** makes a STR check to open the grate - 8+6
	+ He is able to lift it slightly, but it's held by a chain

* Some of them roll *Survival* to see where the smell is coming from
	+ Rowan - 23
	+ Lahni - 20
		- They are both able to pick up where the smell's coming from, and Rowan notices footprints

* **Rowan** rolls *Persuasion* to make the Collector draw a card - Nat 20 + 8
	+ He is convinced

* They roll *Stealth* checks to cross the bridge stealthily
	+ Lahni - 25
	+ Rowan - 20
	+ Toby - 15
	+ Skud - 11
		- Skud is whimpering, not being very stealthy...

* **Lahni** rolls *Perception* to look around the room - Nat 20
	+ There's another Maze before her, made of white marble