“...Charlie should go up the stairs!” Erwin declared.
“The stairs, huh?” Finn nodded to himself. “Why?”
“Erwin think Bad Guy has him hostage up there.” Erwin said.
“Ah, trying to guess the narrative.” Finn smirked.
“Erwin guess that pitbull know who Mayor is.” Erwin replied. “Maybe torture him for information.”
“Well, I certainly can’t deny that possibility. But, uh, you do realize the AI just takes my suggestions and generates quests, right?” The dragon replied. “I don’t actually know myself.”
“Why?” Erwin asked.
“Keeps it entertaining.” Finn shrugged. “But okay, up those stairs it is, then.”
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Charlie looked up at the stairs and thought he saw movement.
The shadow appeared anthropomorphic and canine. Either it was the pitbull or it was Rodrigo. Actually, if it WAS the pitbull, he struck Charlie as the kind of villain who loved bragging. After all, only someone vain would erect statues of themselves. He’d likely gloat just to hear the sound of his own voice.
The golems were busy, none looking in his direction, save for the one doing a patrol of the area. Charlie waited for a moment until it rounded a corner into the Menagerie, then double-checked the positions of the other golems.
Taking a breath, he dashed across the floor.
He made it to the flight of stairs and took them two at a time, barely hopping over a cleverly concealed tripwire and a fairly suspect tile. There was the distant sound of dice rolling, but he ignored it as he hopped over a concealed arcane circle.
At the top of the stairs was a room with a large dome ceiling that looked like the night sky.
It was an almost perfect illusion and almost had Charlie fooled for a moment. Under the dome was a deep pit covered in a sandy floor. It looked like an arena of some kind.
Next to the arena, sipping from a bloody goblet, was a large pitbull.
He was wearing a golden collar around his throat, little beaten gold plates radiating around it. His groin was covered with a pure white cloth that was secured with a decorated golden belt. All in all, the pitbull’s general demeanor was haughty and regal.
Just as Charlie suspected, the man was completely vain.
Behind the pitbull’s chaise lounge was a large golem, one more ornate than the others. Beyond the golem was a dining table. At the rear end of the room was a bedroom. Where the bed should have been was a stone coffin, the lid off.
Around the coffin were a variety of anthros - mostly badgers - frozen in stone, still wearing their mining gear.
So THAT was why the pitbull had woken up. The miners had broken the seal on his tomb and then opened the coffin. It was the most incredibly foolish thing Charlie could think of. Oddly, the miners were starting to distort, their features less badger and more canine, though the change wasn’t the same with all of them.
Charlie guessed that at some point in the future, those miners would be just like the statues in the corridor to the tomb.
What Charlie didn’t see was Rodrigo. He wasn’t among the stone statues, wasn’t fighting in the pit, wasn’t eating dinner. The mayor simply wasn’t here. Charlie sighed and carefully retreated back down the stairs, trying his best not to set off any traps.
When he reached the group, he whispered quietly.
“The pitbull is up the stairs. No Rodrigo.”
A few of the Rangers jumped and looked around before Oswin elbowed them.
“Alright.” Oswin hissed. “You gotta find Rodrigo first or we’re dead.”
“The stairway is trapped.” Charlie whispered to Veles. “Tripwire, false stair, arcane circle at the top.”
“Got it.” Veles whispered back.
“How long will the Invisibility hold?” Charlie asked Palseks.
“Until Palseks stop concentrating or Charlie attacks something.” Palseks replied.
“Okay, good.” Charlie straightened up and tried to think of where else the mayor could be.
(Go Back and Try a different path.)