[Rina]

"Tic-tac-toe? Could you tell me more of the layout?"

Schezo observed Arle's recreation of the diagram so it could be referenced from the map. He nodded, pondering over their existence in the maze. Who left this here, anyhow? Oh, wait, Rulue's heading down the secret hallway and Arle's following suit. Better catch up!

"Ah! Wait!"

Clues Archived!

SPOILER: Click to show

Following the girls into the secret passage and heeding Rulue's findings, Schezo moved over to the vacant dead end so he may brainstorm that keystone Rulue picked up. It could be pretty important for them.

"Could you tell me more about that stone? Arle showed me these scrawls, and I feel those drawings and what you found could be related. Oh, and those doors? They all appear to have rather mundane locks."

If Rulue looked ahead, there's...a wall. Short hall, but it's likely winding, as there's still another entrance leading to elsewhere.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Rulue had indeed noticed there was more of the hall before them, but before she moved towards it, Schezo had grabbed her attention with the question about the keystone. In response,  she had taken it off the pockets and gave it to Schezo for him to take a better look himself. "Here, check it out. I'll go on ahead and see what's in the end of this place. You two stay behind me with some distance, just in case something happens that catches me off-guard ahead." The Fighting Queen instructed, moving towards the probably-very-dark corridor. 

[Rulue's advancing two squares south!]

[Mari]

Wait... around? Arle glanced back and forth in bewilderment. Well that was a foreign idea to her, but sure--if Rulue thought it was a good one she wasn't going to argue. She enjoyed the other's company so much more when she wasn't upset anyway. "I guess this is why skeleton keys are so popular..." Arle thoughtfully lamented. Those mundane locks would be a piece of cake with a handy dandy thief's toolbox! ...Too bad she didn't own any of those. Who kept their dungeons neatly locked up to keep out intruders anyway?? Was someone living in this place? While Arle was thinking about that, she was also considering what Schezo had said about the drawings and the locks. At first she really just didn't see what he was on about, but as she began shifting her perspective to try and connect the dots they suddenly became a bit more apparent.

"--Hey, maybe you're right! What if the shapes or the colors are supposed to mark which key goes to which door?" Arle suggested. That still left outliers and oddities, such as that lonely square, but perhaps they were simply missing more pieces to the puzzle? Well, it was her best guess anyway.

[Rina]

Schezo shrugged. Why does plundering have to be so hard? Oh, right, treasure. They wouldn't want to make it that easy to nab.

"No treasure is given to us on a platter, after all."

Either way, the keystone thing must have belonged to someone who was a security freak, a puzzle-lover, or someone who loves to troll the treasure hunters. It all leads to the same thing: It's locked down deep in the dungeon. Don't question as to how or why it's there. The puzzle is evident, but what's the solution...Hm? Arle's onto something. The colored scribbles...the shapes...huh, it does add up, but where exactly would said mechanism take the keystone? Schezo pictured the two diagrams...

"That seems to line up. The question being is where this information applies."

Another turn has come as Rulue explored down, but if she were to peer over, there's a door! It doesn't appear to have locks on on it, so opening it normally might be possible.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

"...Great. Fantastic. More doors are always welcome. Especially doors hidden in secret pathways." Rulue muttered to herself, mouth dripping with a load of sarcasm as she managed to catch a glimpse of another door another turn in. What's with dungeons having a surplus of doors? Why was that sort of a trend in the ancient civilizations? ...Well, whatever was the case, she found another room to check out. Since Schezo and Arle were back there trying to make sense of the clues, might as well have a look-see. 

[Rulue will be going to the door and open it. In other words, one square west and one square south.]

[Mari]

" . . . Maybe it really does line up!" Arle mused aloud, just sort of considering her idea for a moment before proceeding to actually elaborate on what the heck she was talking about. "The clues are kinda like squares, right? And the map... The dungeon looks like it has a square layout too! What if... the clues are meant to show where things on the map are?" Arle suggested, only to notice Rulue making a push forward. Well, all the puzzle solving in the world wouldn't get them anywhere if they split up again. ...What was a door doing in here? Had they managed to find some sort of shortcut to their goal? That seemed like a bit much to hope for, but what did she know? She was just happy to be exploring dungeons with her friends. "--H-Hey, let's catch up!" Arle offered, beckoning Schezo for a moment before turning to bounce forward after Rulue.

((Arle moves to join Rulue))

[Rina]

"Hey, wait up!"

Schezo followed the two girls into the new chamber down the hallway. Upon entry to the room, it's...surprisingly illuminated! There's torches on the walls that light it up enough to show the entire room, showing two more doors they could enter in. Other than the free lighting, it seems to be just an ordinary room that could be used to take a breather. There's certainly enough room to stretch out. In his curiosity, Schezo proceeded to check the door up towards North, trying to see if it's an open door...

*CLATTER CLATTER*

Hm. Locked. What could unlock it? Schezo hasn't seen any keys around this dungeon, although since the treasure was hidden behind a puzzle, it's not going to be that straightforward. The dark wizard promptly examined the door, which looked to be an otherwise sturdy-looking door made of wood with iron framing. But wait...upon looking closer on the lock. The lock isn't of a standard make. It appears to have a triangular shape to it-

Wait a second...

"Huh. It seems that key stone may have more than one purpose."

Current Position

[TheSpatialWeeg]

A door in a secret passageway. Locked. Why.

How would someone have foreseen such a possibility? And moreover, why the heck did they made the structure like this? Does not compute. Rulue took a very deep breath, trying to regain her inner composure as it turned out they had the key to the door already. Thank goodness, though...wasn't blowing the door off with her strength also a valid option? Probably.

As they moved to the next room, Rulue noticed two doors. The one at the north, in particular, intrigued her. Could it be a tiny room with something inside it? Well, time to find out! "Excuse me, let me check the door over there." she said to the other two before moving to the door in question and attempt to open it.

[Rulue moves to the north door.]

[Mari]

"Alright..!" Arle replied, watching Rulue curiously for a moment. She for one had something slightly more pressing on her mind, though. Turning her attention back to the door Schezo had pointed out, Arle leaned forward a bit to examine it at an angle that cast a better light on it. "What a strange lock... --Hey! Remember about the maps? Let's compare it to those puzzles and see if this door lines up with anything!" Arle encouragingly suggested. She had a feeling that they might find a triangle on their map if they did, and perhaps a matching symbol would provide the key they sought. ...It was worth a shot, anyway! Else she was pretty stumped--for now, anyway.

[Rina]

Upon closely inspecting the door, there is a yellow color to it, although time seems to have made its hue worn down. It's chipped in places, as if someone had painted it for whatever reason. Patches of rust and age line the frame, and especially the hinges; it'd likely make a teeth-grinding creak if it were to open. The fact the hinges are visible suggest it opens outwards. The handle is an otherwise ordinary doorknob, kept shut by a nonstandard lock. The lock itself is suspiciously triangular, small, mechanisms undiscernible.

Schezo turned to Arle, vocalizing some logic behind the diagram and the map. The logic sounded a little odd to the dark wizard, but then again, the logic of this dungeon is pretty wacky. The place is oddly geometrical, and the keystones are geometrical themselves. Could this door be the focus of that clue, perhaps? Possibly! First things first though: the door might be able to be opened. But probably not with brute force.

"A connection between the door and those scrawls, you say?"

Taking out the map, he recalled one of the grid layouts given to them for the possible, overarching puzzle.

"Where do you suppose the Triangle fit into this, as it is part of the door? Here, or here?"

He asked, pointing to the respective squares.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Oh, this one was locked too? Bummer. Though, she did happen to notice the peculiar lock with the triangular shape, alongside the visible hinges. So that thing was a universal key of sorts? Well, that was certainly easier than going off on a key hunt all over the place just to unlock one particular door. For now, she'd leave the door alone, grouping back up with the other two.

She seemed to come at a good time since the two were trying to find out how that door opened. After Schezo asked where would the triangle fit and pointed at two squares in particular, Rulue chimed in.

"Well, I saw that the door has visible hinges. It probably opens outward. So, if I had to make an assumption...I'd say this one." she points at square A. "I'm no professional in terms of locks and doors though, so...at your own risk."

[Mari]

Arle looked to the map for a long moment. "...Honestly, I don't have any idea." Arle lamented in embarassment. She could've sworn she was onto something, but if she was it was now beyond her, and she wouldn't be offering any solutions anytime soon. Maybe Rulue was onto something, but heck if she could tell. "Maybe we hsould just go looking for a Triangle key." the mage half-heartedly relented, unsure if there was anything to learn from these maps that couldn't be solved with a fun little romp through the dungeon's halls. Leave it to her to default to wandering around and messing with stuff until something happened.

[Rina]

"Finding a Triangle Key..."

Schezo thought about it for a moment...From his side of the investigation, he couldn't find anything resembling a key whatsoever. This entire maze is bonkers, and getting in was a puzzle and a half. At this point, there's no way anything in here is that straightforward. The one who set up this treasure likely set this place up to be a mind bender, just making treasure hunters give up from the obtuse logic of this place.

So...what does Schezo do?

"Wait. Call this absurd but...try setting the gem on the lock?"

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Rulue crossed her arms, briefly getting lost in thought. Clearly, the dungeon was made to be as puzzle-driven and slow-paced as possible...and she was running thin on patience to solve anything by this point. How she didn't blow up any doors with her fists or a Power Wave yet is amazing in and of itself. Goodness, she could just do that, and maybe then she would...!

'...All right, Rulue, calm down. You're not going anywhere like this. Deep breaths...' Rulue thought to herself before taking in those deep breaths. Well, that's a possible problem being contained for the time being. Hopefully, it'll last long enough.


She took in a final deep breath before Schezo suggested the usage of the triangular gem they have found a while ago to open the door in front of them. "...Well, it's worth a shot, I think. You still have it with you, right?" Rulue asked.

[Mari]

. . . The gem? "...Oh! I forgot I even had that~ It's got to be worth a try, right?" Arle replied, decisively resigned to letting Schezo do some of the thinking for her. It certainly sounded right when he put it into words, anyway. Producing the triangle gem, she compared its shape to the 'lock for a moment before reaching out to press it inward. "This place has to be hiding something pretty special to put up all this security, right? It almost makes me wonder whether all this is meant to protect us or the treasure." Arle put forward. She hadn't thought about it much before now, but the idea that they were chasing after something never meant to be found had occurred to her rather abruptly.