Main Thread

The homunculi seem satisfied by Damara's outburst and explanation for the moment.

"Understood, ma'am. Our assignment," says the Defender, "is to patrol our section of the labyrinth and to remove any intruders. We are also to keep our section clean, hence the piling of the bodies," it says, motioning with its nose towards the pile of bodies.

"Commander wanted us to have something to do, because nobody ever comes down here, except the artificers and scientists that want to study whatever is in the labyrinth," says the Scout.

The injured Scout falls on its face with a heavy thud. "Ma'am! Permission to sit down and recover my wounds?" it says.

Seeming to ignore the other Scout, the first one says, "Ma'am, I have one more question for you, if you will allow it."

The first Scout drags itself to the nearest wall and sits back against it.

"If I may be so bold, Ma'am," the other Scout says, "What about this one?" It briefly points at Kenshin. "Though I suppose it may be possible, if not a bit strange, for the Queen to enlist humans to her Clandestine Guard, he is clearly a Daedalan shifter. The Queen would never allow a foreigner into her army, much less into something as prestigious as the Clandestine Guard. What is his place in all of this?"

Kenshin tightens his grip on his axe, ready to fight again at the first sign of trouble. But he remains quiet and allows the others to speak for him. One wrong word, especially from someone that the homunculi find so suspicious, could be the difference between safe passage and bloodshed.

Another thing that the party notices is that the homunculi seem to be referring to Damara and Badger as humans, though they are clearly elven.

(Bluff Check: 17.)

The homunculi that can stand tense up momentarily, deciding what to make of Kenshin's words. After a moment, they relax a little. The Iron Defender turns to Damara.

"Understood, ma'am," it says, still suspicious, "If you wish, as I am unharmed, I can escort you and your party to the exit of the Labyrinth before returning to my work."

"And I, as well," says the less injured Clay Scout.

"But," the Defender says, "we will not take any orders from a foreigner. Your Lifedebt should remember that." This doesn't seem to be a threat on the homunculus's part, but rather just a statement of fact.

Cherimoya finally speaks up after being silent this whole time, "I know the way out, but it couldn't hurt to have some help, just in case we run into any more trouble. Since they more or less trust you now, they will die protecting you."

"Then we shall lead the way, ma'am!" the Clay Scout says enthusiastically. And with that, the homunculi turn and start down the hallway towards the exit.

"I'll catch up once the gaping wound in my shoulder closes!" the other Scout yells unironically as everyone leaves.

The party, with its two new homunculus friends, make their way anew through the many turns and corners of the labyrinth. The dead bodies of soldiers and homunculi get more sparse the further the party goes, but the halls are never free of them. The party also finds a few living homunculi wandering the halls, but they seem, at best, catatonic and at worst, insane. Some of them walk in a straight line and don't turn until they bump into a wall or one another. One stares obsessively at the ceiling and doesn't move, even when touched. And one especially unhappy Clay Scout shrieks unintelligibly as it swipes its claws over and over at a very particular spot on the wall. Its claws and teeth have been dulled on the stone wall, but still it persists in its life-or-death struggle. Luckily, none of them seem interested in antagonizing the party.

As they continue, the party begins to notice something very odd. Scattered more and more among the dead, they party begins to see skeletons, bleached entirely of flesh and muscle. Even someone with the most cursory knowledge of the body knows that it takes more than a few hours for a dead body to decompose so completely. So, the appearance of skeletons strikes you as particularly unnerving.

(Before we continue, this would be a good place for you to ask any questions you may have to the homunculi or to Cherimoya)

For ending the encounter with minimal casualties, the party gets 125 XP each.

The Clay Scout, apparently unaware of Badger's sarcasm, says, "That homunculus patrols a different section than we do. It is not a friend of mine. We've never even met."

At first glance, the bones just look like bones that have been left to bleach in the sun. There is nothing out of place apparent just by looking at it. What Badger does notice, however, is that there are skeletons from both sides of the battle. There are both humanoid and shifter skeletons scattered about.

"We are made of the same materials and both have identical tasks. We certainly have much in common. Though that one seems to have lost much of its mental capacity, so introducing myself might prove fruitless," says the Scout. Though it is becoming increasingly unclear as to whether it is not picking up on the sarcasm or if it is simply meeting it with stoicism to take the fun out of it.

Badger takes some time to search the nearby bodies, but finds nothing of great value. It seems that most of the people involved in the battle did not carry their valuables into it. But scattered underneath a few of the bodies, he finds another 17 gold pieces.

This is when Cherimoya speaks up. "I understand that we may very well need as many resources as we can find, but perhaps we shouldn't spend so much time taking paltry amounts of gold from dead soldiers."