100 HP MAX HP 100 EN MAX EN Claire didn't really care for the prize. Sure it sounded nice, and 100 gold would never be unwelcome, but what Claire was more interested in was running through the whole thing. A test of one's sense of direction, coupled with a good atmospheric environment, what with that castle, the underground sections, the rivers? No way was she passing that up. Partake in the festivities, and get a decent workout in the meantime. She found a partner, and together they set off into the maze. She looked around, not finding anything particularly outstanding for now. Just rows upon rows of corn. "Any preference about which direction to go?" she asked the young man beside her. @Sean Poteitoku Navigating the Maze / Roll 22 + 0 = 22 Maze Progress: 22 / 500
100 HP MAX HP 100 EN MAX EN "A corn maze? Sounds fun," Sean exclaimed before dashing into the maze. As he entered the maze, he suddenly froze in place with his face becoming more serious. "This much corn... It makes me hungry." Shaking his head, he turned to his "partner". "Preferences on where to go? Towards the middle, obviously. I'll race you there!" As Sean began to navigate through the maze, he noticed a small hole in the corn. "A shortcut!" He exclaimed before dashing through it to save time. Navigating the Maze / (Roll) DH - Maize Run 10 + 50 (Shortcut) = 60 Maze Progress: 60 / 500
100 HP MAX HP 100 EN MAX EN Despite herself, Claire found herself growing competitive. Sure they were technically partners for the purpose of this competition. But who said that a friendly rivalry wouldn't help any? The more they competed with each other, the faster they would go. That's how things worked, wasn't it? As Sean spotted a shortcut, Claire grinned and went after him. That was good. A bit of a boost early on would only be beneficial. She ducked through the corn, and started sprinting. Now this was getting fun! Navigating the Maze / Roll 13 + 0 = 13 Maze Progress: 95 / 500
100 HP MAX HP 100 EN MAX EN "Bah, they're outrunning me!" Sean glared as he dashed through the maze. "I need to speed up. I need o beat them!" He started to turn his dash into a mad sprint, with the clear intention of leaving his "partner" in the dust. This is now a full-blown competition, and he's set on first place. Navigating the Maze / Roll 32 + 0 = 32 Maze Progress: 127 / 500
100 HP MAX HP 100 EN MAX EN Claire tried pulling ahead, but she couldn't manage it. In fact, as she attempted to pass Sean, she careened right into a particularly thick row of corn, bouncing back and falling over when she tried to right herself. The sudden stop gave Sean ample time to pass her by, but it also gave her a chance to look around to get their bearings once more. And... damn it! This was familiar. "We've gone the wrong direction!" she called out to him, scowling. "We've been through this way before, let's take the other fork in the path." Navigating the Maze / Roll / Event 23 - 50 (lost) = -27 Maze Progress: 100 / 500
100 HP MAX HP 100 EN MAX EN At the sudden news that they had gotten lost, Sean started to re-think the competition that he had sort of started. "Maybe we should work together and split the reward?" He offered before continuing to navigate the maze once more. "If we work together, we'll get there faster. If we get there faster, we get the reward faster." Navigating the Maze / Roll 82 + 0 = 82 Maze Progress: 182 / 500
100 HP MAX HP 100 EN MAX EN "Right," she said, grimacing. "It's a truce for now, then." Too bad. The competition added a bit more fun to the whole thing, helped to clear out a bit of the buzz she felt in her head after that drinking contest. "But how about this? We work together to get through the maze. And then, when the end is in sight, we sprint for it. No prize for winning that except bragging rights, but then again that's quite a nice prize on its own." While waiting for his agreement, they continued walking, this time at a more sedate pace. It didn't help that the maze was designed to be as twisty and confusing as possible. Though that was the point of a maze, she supposed. (Event roll for the next post!) Navigating the Maze / Roll 12 + 0 = 12 Maze Progress: 194 / 500
100 HP MAX HP 100 EN MAX EN "To be honest... I sort of liked the full competition," Sean thought out loud as he dashed through the corn maze. "It gave us an incentive: Beat the other person." As he sped through splits and turns, not really thinking about where he's going, he began to think of food. "Oh, how I could go for some french fries..." Navigating the Maze / Roll / Event 99 + 0 = 99 Maze Progress: 293 / 500
100 HP MAX HP 100 EN MAX EN "It was fun," she admitted. She was definitely enjoying herself there. "But it did make us a bit careless, to double back on our path." That had been quite unfortunately to find out. Now going at a (slightly) more sedate pace, it was easier to pick out the best routes to take. Or perhaps that was just confirmation bias on her end. Regardless, they were still making rather good progress. They'd even left the endless rows of corn. Now, they were entering through the abandoned castle that had been integrated into parts of the maze. The claustrophobic corridors made maneuvering a bit difficult, but it wasn't that much of a challenge now that Claire wasn't trying to rush headfirst into everything. "There has to be some good food at this festival somewhere," she mused, listening to Sean speak about food. "It would hardly be a complete festival without a food court, or some stall that sold snacks and such." Navigating the Maze / Roll 59 + 0 = 59 Maze Progress: 352 / 500
100 HP MAX HP 100 EN MAX EN As Sean navigated the maze with his partner, he began to slow down from his mad dash. "I think we're going to get out of here soon," he exclaimed, keeping up a steady jog while hugging the left wall. "This has been fun, right?" (Event roll for next post, btw) Navigating the Maze / Roll 59 + 0 = 59 Maze Progress: 411 / 500
100 HP MAX HP 100 EN MAX EN "Quite fun," Claire agreed. It was a nice diversion from the endless carousing that was going on throughout the rest of the festival. A nice bit of exercise did wonders to improve one's mood. As an added plus, she was feeling remarkably more clear-headed after her ill-fated attempts at competing in the drinking contests. Unfortunately, it looked like the slower pace wasn't doing them many favors. "It does look like we're almost there. Shall we race for the end now?" Navigating the Maze / Roll / Event 8 + 0 = 8 Maze Progress: 419 / 500
100 HP MAX HP 100 EN MAX EN "Indeed." Sean nodded. "It's now a race to the finish." Sean started to speed up to a dash again, this time truly meaning to leave her in the dust. "I shall win the race!" He shouted as he almost tripped over himself, catching himself mid-fall and continuing his run. Navigating the Maze / Roll 77+ 0 = 77 Maze Progress: 496 / 500
100 HP MAX HP 100 EN MAX EN "Deal. On 'go'." Setting a starting point, Claire counted them down. "Three, two, one, go!" She began sprinting, doing her best to move, move, move! Now this was exhilarating! Hah, maybe she should do this again sometime, to keep training. It was certainly a lot more fun than going out and knocking some hapless creatures around, though that had its fair share of enjoyable moments. But here, it was a relatively safe environment, with good scenery all around, and a chance to work her mind as well as her body. ...And her mind really would need a good workout, considering just how turned around she had gotten trying to navigate it. Yes, she definitely would have to go through this once more, on her own time. Aha! There was the end in sight! She was still mostly keeping pace with Sean, but tried for one last burst of speed to get to the center of the maze. She wasn't paying him any more attention, focused solely on getting there first. Unfortunately, she was so focused on her own speed that as she crossed the threshold, she didn't notice who it was that won their impromptu footrace. Ah, drats. But they'd at least reached the center of the maze. Hopefully, they'd be the first ones to do it. Navigating the Maze / Roll 57 + 0 = 57 Maze Progress: 553 / 500
