Episode 181 - One Small Step

## Synopsis

The students awoke from their much needed rest. Seeing there was no way back, they decided to keep moving forward. Winsler swung open the door he had made and the students walked through the brittle stone hallway.

They passed through many rooms, seemingly identical to the one they had appeared in. After walking for about half an hour, they didn’t find anything different, except the rooms now had hallways leading to the left and right as well. They eventually realised they were in some sort of labyrinth.

Serinepth suggested they keep their hands on the left wall, as she had read that was the way to escape a labyrinth. However, as they kept turning, they found themselves in the exact same room they started in, as the labyrinth was a grid, and they had just walked in a square.

They decided to follow a different, more diagonal pattern, and to look out for any new routes. Mira had an idea, “*Integrity, you always just like have money right?*”

“*Don’t do this to me Mira,*” Integrity pleaded.

Mira said, “*It doesn’t have to be money, I’m just thinking that’s a thing. We should drop something and have a little trail so that if we get completely lost we can find our way out*.”

Integrity opened her backpack and stuck her head inside. She told the group she had a stale roll of bread they could use. Serinepth also suggested that she had a vial of sulphur they could mark the walls with.

They decided to use the sulphur, and marked a circle on the nearby wall. It stuck very well, as through the walls had been primed for painting.

The students followed Integrity through the hallways, zigzagging their way to freedom. After many hours passed, they found a narrow staircase. As they ascended, the moss around them grew to a deeper purple colour. They suddenly heard a chanting in Giant, familiar to Mira and Winsler from their time in Troisle.

They progressed forwards, taking breaks as needed, for two whole weeks through this labyrinth. Every time they reached another staircase, the moss became a deeper colour, the chanting grew louder, and they all felt as though they had more energy.

After six days travelling, it was the 28th day of Winter, and both Integrity and Mira’s birthday. They wondered what must think happened to them, as only the Giants had the vaguest idea of where they had been. As Mira bemoaned spending their birthday in the labyrinth, Integrity pulled out the stale bread she still had with her, and placed her shoelace on top of it. She then lit the end of the shoelace on fire and started singing a strange rendition of Happy Birthday.

They all laughed, and Mira thanked Integrity. They decided that when they got out, they would celebrate properly, to which Graist enthusiastically agreed.

Winsler began to fiddle around with the hourglass he had bought from Betchula’s Puckering Potions back in the Autumn’s End festival. He discovered it did indeed have a magical infusion that allowed the user to reroll a saving throw once, then the magic would fade. He also discovered the silk cloth he picked up was a portable hole, and threw a rock in it, followed by his books.

Throughout their travels, Mira’s tattoo continued to be an iridescent red-blue colour, and felt better than it had in months. The higher up they went, the newer it felt. When she touched it, the skin beneath her tattoo seemed to ripple. She tried to focus on summoning the snake even without any imminent threat. Although she was unsuccessful, she was able to discern that the reason it wasn’t reacting was because it felt as though she was safe, wherever they were.

Serinepth spent her time looking at various items she hadn’t properly examined before. The eye necklace given to her by Winsler allowed her to cast *Scrying* once per day. She also looked through the blank notebook she found in the catacombs. Over the course of a few days, letters, symbols, and writing in Gnomish began to appear. She passed it to Integrity for translation help, who found it to be a logbook written by Osgool Parm.

The book described daily logs of mundane business activities, and then some interesting passages starting roughly three days before the student’s internships started. There were many projects moved to a “*more secure location*” in preparation for their arrival, supposedly so that they didn’t run into any problems they couldn’t handle. The entry read, “*Based on their history, sensitive materials ought to be kept out of reach.*” The three notable projects that were moved were:

* A golem dissection, steadily progressing and awaiting Winsler and Kurt’s help
* The Font of Shadows, stored in a bespoke box and moved to prevent workplace hazards, it seemed to dislike being contained
* The Crei-Crei, removed to the holding room to prevent major harm should the guests come close, dilution of their being is set to continue, the fish seem to be in good health

While they hadn’t heard of a Font of Shadows specifically, Winsler and Serinepth knew of arcane fonts, sources of a particular power or concept. Serinepth knew that the Wildcliff Reliquary currently held both the Font of Luck and the Font of Restoration. They were amused by the effort Crowe had put into hiding the artefacts, only for them to find them anyway. They also decided that should the get back to Troisle they wouldn’t tell anyone they found the room, much to the discomfort of Graist, who suggested they tell the truth and said that Crowe had ways of finding out.

Serinepth voiced her fears that if she crossed Crowe, he might turn her in to the King. The others agreed, saying that if she wanted to be honest, they would support her.

They continued through the monotonous labyrinth for the remaining week. On the final day, they climbed a staircase into a room with no other hallways, simply another staircase leading much. This staircase was much wider than the others, and a pale moonlight shone down on it. From above they could hear the chanting grow louder and they felt even fuller of energy. They realised this was the feeling of intense magic flowing through their surroundings and their bodies, the atmosphere around them was thick with a natural, primal magic.

Integrity lead the group up the stairs, with Graist reluctantly following behind them. Mira held back, and asked what the chanting was saying. He told her they were telling many different stories, with one very high pitched voice praising the Creator.

They ascended to a grand, open room similar to a cathedral. Around them they saw shelves filled with horns (the instrument not a body part) had of different materials and in many different positions. In the far end of the oblong room, they saw a massive ledge, with another giant sitting atop a pillow, watching the group with what seemed like confusion.

The giant’s skin looked as though made from a  smooth grey stone, they had a long face with a small frown and piercing yellow eyes. They wore a a brilliant white robe, cinched at the waist, the bottom of which was dirty. Around their upper body was an iridescent scarf, the same hues as Mira’s altered tattoo. Behind them was a massive set of double doors, chained shut. On the back door were pictures of constellations: serpents, moons, shields, crowns. The ceiling above them had many skylights. Through those holes they saw the dark night sky filled with thousands of stars, as well as other, less comforting views.

They saw a large planet far off in space, a deep blue ocean surrounded a massive continent, covered in deserts and forests. The students looked to the sky, and saw their home planet.

Orbiting the planet were smaller, translucent spheres. One was multicoloured, another flashed with red lightning, one was perfectly split between orange and black, one was green and red with an aura of grey, one was a dirty brown, and a final one a brilliant marble white.

Also in the sky was another planet much further away than their own. It looked almost like a spectral copy of their planet, unmoving in the sky. Floating around it was a copy of the moon, similarly spectral.

The students and Graist stared in shock and awe at the view above them. Behind them, cutting through the chanting, the other giant’s voice boomed out, “*I welcome you all to the shrine of the Creator. I am her great disciple, here to welcome those courageous enough to travel here*.” The chanting immediately stopped. “*For the four of you, I welcome you my honoured guests. The journey must have been tiresome and difficult*.”

The giant spread their arms and fresh food and water appeared before the students. The students began asking questions about where they were and what was happening, but the giant said they needed to deal with Graist first. Mira interrupted them, saying they had been walking for fourteen days, and demanded to know where they were and what was happening with her arm. The giant scowled, and told them that they would explain after dealing with Graist. They said her arm was obviously a blessing of the Creator, for protection.

Mira tried to ask more, but the giant looked at the students angrily, and they sat quietly and began eating. The Disciple called out for Graist to approach them. He looked tentatively at Mira, who shrugged and watched closely. Graist looked back at the Disciple and asked what they wanted. They looked upset and told him, “*Young disciple of Sésul, you stand here in her shrine for only one reason, and that is to stand before me so that I might continue the cycle into its next era.*”

Graist slowly approached the platform, and Winsler noticed the spores in the room move and congregate in the Disciple’s hand to form a small wooden pipe, a crude version of the horns that lined the walls. The Disciple asked Graist to play it for him. The students tensed up, not knowing what to expect. Graist took a deep breath, and played a single note.

As he continued, the horn started to grow and move, looping and bending into a structure more akin to those on the walls. As Mira looked on, she saw Graist burst into flames as he held the note. Almost instantaneously, his body turned into a translucent white crystal, and the note stopped.