Magic in the Blood...

[MegaraFoxfire]

Margaret stopped them and looked back. "One at a time so we don't hurt each other" Scarlet nodded. "Agreed. Ladies first?"

[Vodius]

Willen shot her a questioning look, but after a moment of silence, sighed and scrunched himself against the wall to let her and Scarlet pass by. Aleck turned around, keeping his light pointed towards the way they had come, just in case.

[MegaraFoxfire]

Margaret slid down the tunnel and after a few momnets Scarlet followed her

[Vodius]

The tunnel soon opened widely, revealing a humongous vault deep within the underground complex. Points of light glittered in the dark, well out of range of anyone's flashlight, indicating there must be light sources below. In the flashing twinkles, the area around them was briefly illuminated, displaying a sprawling maze with zig zagging and criss crossing gouges deep in the stone to guide any would be delvers to any of a hundred different destinations. One particularly bright point below them, and near the exact opposite side of the massive room, shined brightest of all, almost pulsing light constantly...

Landing on their feet at the base of the chute almost a minute later, they again found themselves in a seemingly unremarkable chamber carved into the place. A large arch of shaped rock stood over the only feasible exit out, leading into the maze. Hanging by the trim of the arch was a key, made of a dark, dim metal of some variety...

[MegaraFoxfire]

Margaret and scarlet looked around, waiting for the others. "scarlet..." "I know, I don't like this either"

[Vodius]

Jamie approached the key, yanking it off of its hanger with a quick jerk before holding it close to his face to get a better look. "We should take this right?"

Willen shrugged, Aleck frowned, neither sure of what to make of the thing, but they made no protestations. Again taking their positions in the line, they headed into the maze. The curves and turns started predictably, rapidly increasing to a mind boggling series of lefts and rights, u-turns, and blind corners. The flashlights held up well, and silence still surrounded them on all sides until Willen spoke. "Marge, which way are we headin' anyway? Saw th'big beacon lookin' thing... Figured we're mosey'in' that'a way."

[MegaraFoxfire]

She nodded then dug into her bag and pulled out a marker when they reached a turning point. She looked at the others. "Which way? Then I'll mark it if we reach a dead end"

[Vodius]

Willen shrugged, deferring to the older mage, "I daresay I have the most experience in this situation... This is not so different from navigating a thick forest, honestly." Taking the lead, the old man led them through the maze as best he could, with only a handful of dead ends halting their progress until they backtrack and find a new path using Margaret's map. After a short while, the group had found their way into the reaches of the giant pulsing light, using it to guide them to it the rest of the way.

The maze opened up widely into a large open space. The light emanated from a fist-sized crystal, wrapped in chains and suspended just a few feet off the ground. Willen gulped as he eyed it, wishing he could use his extra senses, though that reassured him slightly, since there would be no magical interference or traps to deal with. The others looked around, trying to take in the scene until Jamie called out, pointing to a metal plate on the wall, "Look! A keyhole!" He rushed forward, drawing the key from his pocket...

[MegaraFoxfire]

Margaret stopp him. "Wait! Lets think about this first"

[Vodius]

Jamie slowed, not stopping, until he was within arm's reach of the slot. "Key. Lock. What's to think about?"