Headed by a Snake

As the crowd watched in silence, Korr calmly walked back to the circle arena. Reclaiming her Shatterspike longsword, she cradled it in her arms and approached Tycondrius.

"Ahem..." Tycon cleared his throat... "Korr."

"[YES, LEADER?]"

Tycon spent a moment deliberating on how exactly he'd recover the weapon from the young lady...

He decided to just ask directly, "Can I have that?"

Korr held her sword out, examining it quietly... then she obediently turned the hilt towards Tycon, handing it over.

Tycon pursed his lips... "I'm... going to give it to Lone."

She nodded in response.

"...You can go back now."

Korr saluted before returning to sit with Athena and the other female adventurers.

Flaming Rage Knight Seldin Korr could not simultaneously wield both the Shatterspike longsword and her current weapon, the two-handed Blackblade of Shahram. Tycon was slightly surprised that she did not ask any questions... and had given up her old weapon so easily... but overall, it was not something he would dwell on.

Tycon tossed the weapon back to Lone, his beaten, battered, and burnt form lying against a tree stump, "Here."

As a credit to his reflexes, Lone caught the weapon by the hilt, "Th-thanks, Boss..."

He still looked a bit... upset about being burnt alive.

He'd manage.

"ALRIGHT, you CHUCKLEF*CKS!!" A commanding voice caught the crowd's attention, "What the SEVEN HELLS is goin' on, here?!"

The surrounding crowd split, allowing a single bald and bearded human through... Bannok, the leader of the Brazen Guard collective. He did not look pleased.

Legionnaire Karodin quickly got to his feet and hurried to the irritated Weaponmaster to explain the situation.

Once informed, Bannok rolled his eyes, groaning in annoyance, "You's gotta be kidding me..."

He addressed the crowd once more in his booming voice, "Alright! That's it! Disperse! Get outta here! And ALL O' YOU'S!! No more Flame-taken duels in the camp!!!"

A round of groans and grumbles rippled through the crowd, milling about as they went off to pretend to work.

"Yeah, yeah, SHUT IT! You's all have work to do, don'tcha?" The Weaponmaster scowled and flung his arms up, the various adventurers of the Brazen Guard scampering off to avoid their leader's wrath.

"Karodin!" Bannok shouted, "Get that Stormbrand to Ari for healing... and YOU!"

Bannok was pointing angrily towards him. From the human's expression and tone of voice, Tycon assumed he was going to be blamed for the ineptitude of persons he had no direct control over.

"TACTICIAN!" Bannok scowled, "The Hero's said he's found something. Go find Fel and check it out!"

Tycon narrowed his eyes. That was not what he expected.

Hunter Felinus emerged from the shadows, "I am here, Tactician. Let us inspect the Dungeon Entrance."

Tycon nodded... "Very well."

...

Tycon glared at a juvenile viper. He must have thought he was clever, hiding in the shadows of a bush.

"You there. Leave or you will be killed."

"(Y-yes, Lord,)" It hissed, before slithering off to safety.

...There were many snakes in the area. Tycon found it odd... though it should have not been surprising, considering that the Dungeon was known to be a bastion of the Snake Cult.

How did they feed? He hadn't seen a mouse or rabbit in bells. Were his kin starving to death, with so many snakes and so little prey?

He was beginning to think of the Snake Cult as less of an annoyance and more of a terrorist organization. If they raised snakes as pets, it was cruel to abandon so many of them into the wild.

Felinus reset his bowstring, scanning the area for other dangers... "It is not safe here."

Tycon walked forward, heedless of the elf's warning, "You realize such words are redundant, concerning our profession and the task at hand?"

"Fair points," The elf conceded. "Remain vigilant, Tactician."

"I will, thank you."

An unassuming stone temple lay hidden by rocky hills, accessible by a narrow, treacherous path. Untouched for years, vines and overgrowth had taken over the stone pathways, carved lanterns, and a once-magnificent fountain.

Traveling by horseback, it was a mere three suns travel to Isidor's old mountain... close enough to visit. As the Titan Snake was... 'popular' amongst the Snake Cult, there might have been some interaction between the two locations.

Thirteen boulders stood thrice the height of a human, their white-rock fronts worn smooth. Heavy metal chains, covered with rust were secured to each of them, arranged in X-shapes.

Those chains once held men... something that Tycon surmised by the old blood staining the otherwise pristine white marble.

Tycon examined the runic script etched into the sacrificial stones... and the lines carved into the rocky ground underfoot. They led to the heavy double doors of the structure... tall, magnificent doors flanked by two mosaics even taller.

Tanamar had been using a movement technique to scout the area from the sky. Supported by the wings of light on his back, he hovered in front of the mosaics staring at the single individuals depicted on each.

"And who are they supposed to be?"

Felinus narrowed his eyes, breathing in deeply... "Champions of the Snake Cult... I have seen the armor design before. These ones-- their names escape me."

Tycon looked over to the Elven Hunter... "They are familiar to you?"

The elf stared back impassively, "They are human."

Tycon did not fault the elf for that. Some humans were difficult to tell apart. Some were difficult to remember. Even Bannok had no incredibly interesting features to identify him. Tycon was thankfully every sun that he had a System that recorded and regurgitated names via mental command.

That he had no issue matching faces or voices to names allowed him to easily fit in amongst his human allies.

Narrowing his eyes to squints... Tycon identified a pattern hidden in the lines of the mosaic arrangement. It *would* have been clever... if the formation mage that drew it had a modicum of skill.

Felinus seemed to notice the change in Tycon's expression, "Master Tactician, would you share what you've found?"

Tycon nodded, "I'm assuming you are aware of the purpose of the stones and the carved depressions in the ground?"

"Indeed," The elf shifted his weight uneasily. "Blood drawn from the chained sacrifices activate the formation... but that is the extent of my knowledge."

Tanamar landed on the ground beside the two of them, holy lance in hand, "So how much blood are we talkin'? If it's just a few drops, we can get thirteen people, no problem."

"Unlikely, Hero." Felinus spoke harshly, "None so loyal to Tyrion would be willing to offer their blood to take part in a Snake Cult Ritual... You may be more open-minded than most, to suggest as such."

"The blood collects down here in front of the mosaics..." Tycon knelt and swept out a handful of dried foliage from one of the trenches... "Gallons of blood. Sentient blood. That is what the ritual would require us to waste if we cared to activate the doors properly."

"Flame take me..." Tanamar cursed, "What, then?"

Tycon shrugged, "According to what I've observed... the doors have four possible conditions, Closed, Open, Fail-Closed, and Fail-Open."

Both the elf and the footman stared cluelessly at Tycon.

Tycon sighed and carried on, "We're not opening it properly. I don't make a point to keep thirteen humans that are worth so little."

"We do have useless humans, Tactician..." Felinus frowned, "Unfortunately, 'murder' is a crime in the Holy Country of Tyrion... Also, Bannok, Ariadne, and countless others would not approve."

"...I've come to a similar conclusion," Tycon pursed his lips.

He would have loved to volunteer the Stormbrands for sacrifice to allow the rest of the Brazen Guard collective to raid the Dungeon... but that would be selfish of him.

"Our guild has explosives..." Tanamar idly twirled his staff-like weapon... "Can we blow the double doors open?"

Tycon shook his head, "Unfortunately, the barrier behind the door is strong... stronger than the formation that guards it, for whatever reason."

The door guardians and the barrier behind the door were created by a Fourth-Circle Formation Mage, at minimum. However, the blood-activation ritual was formed by an amateur.

Curious.

Tycon continued... "A single mana pool governs the door's defenses-- a barrier and the... Mosaic Guardians, we'll call them... In certain conditions, the Guardians can reinforce the barrier and make it impossible to traverse for a time... That would be the Fail-Closed condition."

"The doors are currently closed... We are unwilling to properly open them," Felinus gazed up at the mosaics once more... "Then we need to drain that mana pool... in order to achieve the Fail-Open state."

Tycon nodded, "Athanasius."

"Right," The footman nodded, shutting his eyes... "The ritual summons the Snake Cult Champions in the mosaics..."

"Two Guardians, then?" Tycon asked. He had guessed as much.

Tanamar opened his eyes, frowning... "Yeah."

"Excellent." Tycon smirked, the wheels of a functional plan finally turning in his head, "We activate the ritual, lure the two summoned creatures far from the doors... and defeat them both before they have a chance to reinforce the barrier."

Tanamar whistled, "There's gonna be a whole lot more than just the Guardians, Tycon."

Tycon chuckled to himself, "Then it's a good thing we don't fight alone."