Dragonstone 51

**Chapter 51**

Our Heroes make their way down into the Maze with Arin leading. Alos and Egil are both unsettled by the heights, Alos moreso. Everyone else is fine with it. Delon and Ferai share a moment where she refers to her past in a circus, and McKiernan uses up some purple ink describing the scenery. We learn that the canyons are 1,500 feet deep, and Delon keeps referring to the place as *"Hél"* because the rocks are red, which still makes me think of the modern pop culture Christian version of the afterlife.

We come to a branching of the ways. Alos whines a bit. Ferai says she's so turned around she doesn't know which way is north, which inspires Alos and Delon to point in two different directions. Ho ho, Komedy! Actually, no, Delon explains that he's going by the sun, but that Alos is surely a better helmsman at sea.

Don't sailors navigate by the sun and the stars? Shouldn't Alos, or possibly even Egil, be the one to know what direction is what? Or what about Arin and her Sparkly Perfect Elf Astronomy Sense? \~/\~/

As an aside, the narrative keeps calling Ferai *"Ferret,”* which seems a bit rude. By that logic, shouldn’t we be calling Delon “Peacock,” and Samurai Chick “Cat,” and Egil and Alos “One-Eye?”

They meander on for a while, with Samurai Chick leading the way, but Arin guiding them with her Nonsense Vision Powers. I wouldn’t object to this if she was a spellcaster, or if we were given some coherent reason for her to be able to see the correct path, but *“wild magic”* is such a transparent cop-out that I refuse to stop flogging it. Ferai salivates over how much money they’ll get once they find and sell the Jellybean, and Delon reminds her that they’re not in it for money, but to save the world. More walking.

Night falls, and they debate whether to press on or turn back. Samurai Chick says the danger is growing, as indicated by her boob-tiger. They decide to make camp in an easily-defended crack in the canyon wall, and Alos is comically terrified of the occasional howling. Because it’s funny when an old man with PTSD who has been literally drugged and kidnapped and forced to go on a dangerous mission against his will, is afraid of dying. \~/

Hey McKiernan, you know what would be hilarious? Go to a nursing home, kidnap some elderly veterans, and then drop them off in Somalia or somewhere and watch as they panic and freak out! I bet it’d be hysterical!

We get a detailed breakdown of the watch schedule, and night passes. There’s another howl, Egil has another nightmare - and I note he’s treated with more respect and sympathy than Alos ever was - and dawn comes. Another day passes, Delon talks about Hel, and as evening approaches we at last find a carved tunnel leading into the rock. Samurai Chick says it’s dangerous, and everyone decides to investigate sans camels, except for Alos (who is Komically Kowardly) and Arin (who sighs and agrees to stay with Alos).

Entering the tunnel, Our Heroes find a metal portcullis, and are greeted by a Mysterious Someone. They declare that they are friends, and the portcullis is raised and they are allowed to proceed. Inside, they find thenmselves in a large, circular *“basin”* open to the sky, and are met by fifty red-robed and scandalously unveiled women with drawn bows, and a single very tall man with a big-ass sword. This puzzles Samurai Chick, who says of the tall man *“He is not the peril, yet the peril is within him.”*

Drinks: 3

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