Closed [Seasonal Event] The Labyrinth (Quzon)

[Empyrean]

Third of Winter, 513 AV
10th Bell



There was a sense of urgency felt throughout the small corner of the world that was Taloba. It came just as fervidly as it did every time the winter season rolled around. With the arrival of the Goddess Queen's birthday, it would seem the jungle always became just a bit more...savage. The City of Bones' inhabitants surely did. After all they were throwing a seven day period of celebration in Myri's honor. And what greater glory could a faithful follower achieve than impressing their mother on her name day with victory?

From Tiger Jousting to the Great Hunt, Myrians had more than enough options in which to test their strengths. However, the event that day was not one solely comprised of combat prowess and brute force. Instead it was a psychological game of wits and tactics, and if that were not a challenge in itself, all the opponents the entrant would face were seasoned veterans of Taloba's own military, all within a perplexing maze. With Syna's rise approaching the starting mark of The Labyrinth, swarms of inhabitants crowded to the vast Military Training Complex. Yet the scene had changed drastically since the denizens had last visited it.

A massive wooden fortress rose above the spectators, leaving their imaginations running wild with the possible obstacles within. Periodically around the giant maze, a tower would rise above the walls where scouts prowled back and forth in their vigilant watch. Large torches flanked the walkway leading to large (and currently sealed) wooden door that blocked the entrance. With all preparations made, all the event lacked was a soul brave enough to enter. But which of the many dauntless Myrians would dare volunteer?

She seemed to emerge from the depths of the tattooed sea of warriors like a ghost. A legend among veterans and a nightmare to those in opposition to the Myrian way of life. There was no denying she was easily one of the most respected warriors in the whole city. With a body etched with no less ink than her fellow kin, Johko of the Quick Steel Clan was a woman who certainly commanded authority. Earning the undivided attention of the soon to be rowdy spectators was no challenge to her. Especially when they watched her knock a young male senseless in a battle of blades the first day of the same event. Lucky for whatever entrant stepped up, Johko had no interest dominating yet again in The Labyrinth.

"Which one of you petching cowards think you're clever enough to make it through? Anyone brave enough to try to win glory in the name of Blessed Myri?!" The woman challenged brutally, dark eyes scanning the crowd critically with her lip curled into a sadistic snarl. Her fellow Myrians cheered and roared enthusiastically in response. She only snorted in reply, unimpressed. "Ten veterans wait inside those walls for you. Ten warriors to best," She reiterated, pacing before the wooden door. Then came silence for several heartbeats before Johko suddenly stopped and turned to them all once more.

"I SAID I NEED A VOLUNTEER!"

The Myrians whooped and many began to shove toward the front to offer themselves up for the challenges. But which would prove victorious over the others?

[Quzon]

Arriving at what used to be known as The House of Blades, Quzon located Teyacapan of The Patient Shadows easily enough . She was his former Fang mate from the time he was preforming his mandatory service withing the Talobian Army. He stopped next to Teyacapan, his left hand resting onto the hilt of his longsword. They silently stood together surveying the area around them with a faint but growing smile on each of their lips. They each said nothing to each other until Johko of the Quick Steel Clan words silenced the crowd. It sheer happenstance that he stood had found her and wondered if she was going to participate.

Teyacapan was unique among his former Fang-mates in that she was completely mute. Once Johko had finished speaking, Quzon regarded Teya with a small nod, he gestured with a tilt of his head to the The Labyrinth with a questionably furred brow. She understood that he was asking her if she was going to participate and she replied with a shake of her head.

His pale green shifted to Johko as the unspoken conversation between old friend ended abruptly. The pale blue skinned mixed blood worked his way to the front of the crowd, clad in only a loincloth to display the tattoos which decorated his upper body. “I, Quzon of the Barbed Earth Clan, volunteer!” Those of his clan who were scattered amongst the crowd cheered loudly. He lifted right hand to touch his chakram that he wore around his neck as if it were an elaborate neck piece.

With time and age came lessons learned, and those lessons, mostly acquired through violence, precluded him from walking into unknown danger without taking his weapons. The last of which was his Hand Axe that snugly rested against his lower back in his belt. Besides his weapons, Quzon only carried a backpack with a weeks worth of food, a waterskin, and Flint & Steel.

OOCOOC mainly for my memory. Carrying longsword, chakram , and Hand Axe. can't wait to get this started.

[Empyrean]

Finally there came a voice from the crowd to draw the commandeering woman's attention, and a hooting clan clearly supporting him. Several jealous snarls of jealousy rose from those who had tried to present themselves first. One was even bold enough to brandish his club and shove his way forward to challenge the half breed for the spot, but Johko stopped him dead in his tracks with nothing but a look. Slowly she turned her head to address the so strangely colored Myrian.

"Quzon of the Barbed Earth, hm?" She mocked dryly, quirking a brow in disapproval. She knew tainted blood when she saw it, and the half Isur was subject to her condescending gaze just as the others before him. However, there was a game to play and if the half breed wanted to make a mockery of himself, who was she to deny him the privilege? "You think you're clever enough to best some of Myri's finest? Fair enough," She laughed with a simple shrug of her shoulder before turning toward the massive wooden doors behind her. "OPEN THE GATES!"

With a bone splitting creak of a giant crank somewhere behind the giant walls, the doors were slowly pulled open to reveal what laid inside. At first there was little to be seen but wooden walls and a glimpse of a patrolling scouts in their towers. When the doors finally shrieked to a pause, all could make out a clear path forward straight into the mouth of The Labyrinth. After that came a fork that led in two wildly opposite directions. All else was unknown and dependent on the entrant's navigation. One thing was certain though. Sooner or later he'd stumble upon a veteran in his path as a challenge.

"Well what the petch are you waiting for? Go on, half breed," Johko growled impatiently with a sharp gesture toward the opening. Several members of the crowd shouted in agreement, some in malice and others in encouragement. In the end it didn't really matter what was said. As soon as Quzon entered, he'd be greeted with the silence of the incredible structure. Lost and blindly navigating the converted Military Complex, Johko hoped for his sake he at least headed in the right direction....

OOC:Yay! So basically to get started you can have Quzon react to his surroundings, enter, and then describe his trials as he starts to navigate the maze. The first veteran would appear after a couple turns in the right direction. After that I'll pop back in and give you your first challenge. Oh, and sorry if I might've been vague. The event is actually hosted at the Military Complex, not the House of Blades. I just chose to use Johko because of her reputation. Enjoy!

[Quzon]

The gateway was a portrait of honor in Quzon's mind, complete in all details, built out of lumber, and flesh, and bone, and skin of the laborers who erected it. And like every true monolithic structure, it caused his blood to boil from its symbolism. The excitement that coursed through his veins only heightened by the hate he felt for those who slandered him with besmirching remarks.

Equally, the cheers of those who cheered him on positively only caused him to want to prove them right that he would survive as a victor in Myri's honor. He held his darkened left arm into the air. The same arm that was only a dull grey color which showed off his Isurian Pitrius clan heritage. His faded black arm that he had marked in tribal tattoos as his own personal sign of being proud of his origins. Only giving Johko a flickered gaze as he walked into the labyrinth.

Within the silents of the labyrinth, Quzon was suddenly aware of how easily his predilections shifted towards civilization. It was the same feeling he felt when alone in the jungles hunting for his meals. There was a happiness in the solitude that allowed him to focus on a task his task at hand. The silents worked as an anchor, something to keep him grounded.

It was the one constant, the one trigger that pushed him to calm down and walk the path. A path that forked. His right hand had settled onto his collar bone, occasionally brushing a single finger along the chakram around his neck. He stood there looking towards both direction until he turned right, and walked down the path.

oocSorry for the wait. I'll be responding much faster from now on.

[Empyrean]

With every passing step the male had ventured farther and farther from Johko's fierce stare, the roar of the spectators too fading with distance. All that remained constant was the vibrant glow of Syna's rays down upon the jungle world below, the light refracting upon the dewy leaves as the moisture vaporized from their surface in the tree canopy. It was only when Quzon had safely entered through the Labyrinth's sturdy walls that there came the moan of a winch, the massive gate doors closing once again. It was as if the maze itself was another one of Falyndar's vicious beasts that had swallowed the man whole. Within its unwelcoming, hostile embrace the half-Myrian would be greeted with none other than silence. Even the once boisterous cries of his peers had been diluted to a loud sort of buzzing. Yet one might've supposed those details did not matter. He'd very soon have greater worries than the loss of a crowd's noise.

As he navigated his way through the maze, a single Labyrinth guard was visible above the towering walls. He was a sturdy looking male made of lean muscle, face aged with sun damage and wrinkles. His expression was neutral if not passive as he stared down at the sole participant. In his hand was a Tiger Roarer, the only way in which Quzon's failure might be signified if that did turn out to be his fate. Then he too disappeared when the half breed made a right turn and continued on his way. Right into the jaws of the maze's first challenge.

First there was nothing more than a clear, dirt path leading to another fork well ahead. A sprightly, crimson Macaw shot down from its perch to rest above the man. Its blue, yellow, and green frosted wings opened and flapped thrice where it stood in place, a single call coming from its black beak before the scene changed. Without warning there came the sudden cracking of wood just ahead of the approaching warrior. Not a tick later one of the tall, shaved tree trunks that once appeared to be a part of the maze's walls fell with a dull thud upon the earth. Revealed then was a middle aged female with a club held loosely in her leathery right hand. Her form was slender and fit, a malicious sneer appearing upon her face at the sight of her opponent. By far her most notable feature was the elaborate pattern of shapes and symbols racing down her cheeks.

"Barbarian ships too often invade our beaches trying to colonize our sacred jungle or exploit it for their own wealth. Like all threats from the outside world, they must be eliminated immediately. With a fang of your own, what is the most efficient way to engage and destroy these invaders where we lack the natural cover of the trees?"


OOC:Don't worry about it! We all experience our lows in activity once in a while. Feel free to respond whenever is convenient for you.