Mark of the Fool

“First of all,” Baelin started. “I do not recommend you challenge Kaz-Mowang in a direct force of arms. He is a foe that is still beyond you.”

“Baelin, I might be a little crazy sometimes, but I’m not stupid. …most of the time at least. And I’m definitely not suicidal!” Alex said, jotting down a note in his notebook and nodding to Claygon. “Zonon-In nearly killed me, Claygon, Theresa and Cedric. And that was when she was holding back. There’s no way I’m starting a punch-out with any demon who’s on her level.”

“I…would like to face Zonon-In again,” Claygon said, his voice having returned to its initial gravelly tone. “I…owe her…for damaging me…hurting my father…my family…”

“A capital thought!” Baelin sounded pleased. “Despite what Alex might consider to be my…biases, I would enjoy seeing you take your vengeance my young, polished friend. However…Zonon-In at her full strength is still beyond you, though she is somewhat weakened from her defeat. I urge you not to rush in before you are ready. A Proper Wizard—and an intelligent warrior—only moves to crush an opponent when victory is assured, unless forced into an unforeseen situation.”

“Yeah, Claygon,” Alex urged him. “Let’s not pick a fight with two greater demons at once, both of whom will kill us.”

“I…will not…father…” Claygon’s voice boomed. “But…someday. Someday.”

“Agreed,” Alex patted his golem on the arm. “For now, let’s just focus on the greater demon we have to deal with right now. So, we know that we can’t fight Kaz-Mowang. Makes sense…hmmm…” His fingers combed through his beard while he examined the illusion of Cretalikon. “Okay. So, it seems to me that an infiltration mission is the way to go: The Guile Approach, as we talked about. We can’t just blow up the palace and pick through the wreckage.”

“Indeed,” Baelin said. “You could destroy what you are seeking.”

“Right…right.” The much younger wizard nodded. “So, then my first question is…how close can you drop me to Kaz-Mowang’s palace? Can you teleport us inside?”

“Potentially,” Baelin said. “But the geometry of the Outer Labyrinths makes it a difficult place to cross the planes with any sort of precision. All gates I could make from the material plane would be automatically shuffled to specific areas of the maze. Those areas are common for planar travellers, and tend to be either well-guarded by Ezaliel’s forces, patrolled by wild predators, or both.”

“Well, that’s great.” Alex said, noting that down. “So, we’d either have to do the stupid thing and go in blasting…or…do they bother cultists who’re working for Ezaliel or travellers looking for an audience with Kaz-Mowang or his master?”

“The predators bother all, but the demonic guards will let those with ‘proper business’ in Cretalikon pass.”

“So that could mean a small group, well-disguised and prepared with a rehearsed story.” Alex nodded. “Okay, and what about navigating through the maze? I saw it…fold on itself like a damn…” He paused, searching for the words. “Shit, I can’t even think of a way to describe it.”

“Few can,” the archwizard nodded. “The geometry of the realm confounds some of the greatest mortal mathematicians. I can tell you that flight above the walls triggers a response from the domain itself, causing it to fold in space and deposit the flyer into another part of the labyrinth at random. As such, I would not recommend that.”

“Yeah, that seems pretty obvious.” Alex agreed. “So it looks like we’re only left with walking then?”

“Walking is easier, though not by much. Once within Cretalikon, you will be able to walk through the maze. It is rather difficult to navigate by sheer intellect and pattern recognition alone, but it can be done, though that method is inefficient and can be dangerous since you could encounter the labyrinth’s many, many predators in the process.”

“And what about teleportation?” Alex asked. “Or climbing the walls?”

“Those prove to be easier solutions,” the archwizard waved his hand over the image, which scrolled away from Kaz-Mowang’s enormous palace, centering itself over an area of the maze outside of the city. There, it focused on a peculiar sight.

A pack of strange, lizard-like demons with wide, constantly twitching eyes, looking in two different directions at once. The creatures—at least one score in number—navigated the maze with practised precision, but they neither crawled nor walked through the ‘halls’.

Instead, their feet and hands clung to the burning stone in the same manner that Alex had seen a small reptile in the botanical gardens at school do. A gecko, it was called, and he’d seen few non-magical creatures capable of climbing so well on sheer surfaces as they could.

He’d once seen one cling to a smooth piece of glass as easily as Theresa might cling to the rough branch of a tree she was climbing.

These human-size demons—similar in appearance to both geckos and chameleons—scaled burning walls of stone as easily as a gecko climbs glass, stone or bark. They swarmed over the top of the wall and into the next maze ‘hall’.

And there they came upon a group of mortals.

A band of four adventurers—well-armed and well-equipped—drew their weapons as the demons plunged down on them. Two powerfully built warriors surged toward the lizard-like demons, cutting through several with blades glowing with powerful magics, but the demons swarmed them, lashing them with their tongues, pinning them to the ground.

What followed was a grisly, red feast that was both horrifying, and hard to turn away from.

Next to fall was an archer, who was tackled by another lizard-like demon before he could loose his arrow.

Jaws closed on the bowman’s head.

Alex winced, but didn’t turn his eyes away.

The last of the four mortals standing was a wizard—initially frozen in shock at his companions’ deaths—but finally came to his senses as the demons advanced on him. With a quick incantation, the magician disappeared, teleporting several halls away.

The young, Thameish man leaned forward in his chair. “Holy crap, teleportation works? That’s great!”

“It is technically the easiest way to travel through the outer labyrinths,” Baelin said. “Technically.”

“Why do you say technically—Oh right. If you can’t fly above the walls, then you can’t see where you’re teleporting to. So, you’d be blindly transporting yourself to another part of the maze, where you could—Aaaaand there it is.” Alex said grimly.

In the image, the hapless wizard was screaming as a demonic ooze monster—a living mound of magma—enveloped him, consuming him in two blinks.

“You could easily teleport yourself in proximity of somewhere or something you'd rather not be around.” Alex said.

“Indeed,” Baelin said. “Which is why care and strategy must be used with teleportation. And speaking of teleportation, that brings me to another complication. Ezaliel knows that I am no friend to him. I cannot risk teleporting you to the city in case we are seen together. I could send you ahead, but I suspect that he will have agents watching for me the moment I enter the plane. If you wish a stealthy entrance into the city and Kaz-Mowang’s palace, you will need to enter the plane alone.”

“Right…” Alex sighed. “So enter with a small team, without you present, and then make our way to this city through a giant, complex maze—where we can only walk or climb—while not being discovered, and then under stealth, infiltrate a greater demon’s palace. Great. Sounds bloody great. Right, now tell me how it gets worse? What sort of emotion or concept is this realm tied to?”

“Mania,” Baelin said bluntly. “Within the bounds of the domain, one will feel all emotions intensely. Bouts of uncontrolled laughter are common, and uncontrolled tears are incredibly common. As are fits of rushing about aimlessly, struggling to control one’s thoughts, and rages that would be akin to a young child’s tantrums.”

“I think these emotional states are getting better all the time.” Alex noted sarcastically. “It couldn’t be the domain of ‘being able to stay extra focused’, now could it? It's a bit nasty having a maze realm that can steal your ability to concentrate and plan your actions…this means I’m going to have to make sure anyone I recruit has a very strong will, or is already a maniac.”

“Good thoughts,” Baelin agreed. “And what about your point of entry? How will you do that?” His eyes sparkled with curiosity, and Alex noticed that he was barely offering him any of his own suggestions.

‘He’s really trying to get me to think the situation through on my own…guess he was right about me stepping out from his protective circle soon,’ Alex thought, peering at the illusion.

“Could you take the image back to Kaz-Mowang’s palace for a second, Baelin?”

“Of course.” The chancellor waved a hand.

Alex pointed to the palace grounds, tracing his hand through the inner maze surrounding it. “Does that maze have the same ‘I fold over you and send you to another part of the maze’ thing?’ that the labyrinth outside the city does.”

“In a sense—instead, though, it simply reaches up and crushes those who try to fly above it—but only when Kaz-Mowang wills it. Zonon-In has informed me that his personal maze is usually more of a toy: a curiosity to amuse himself, his lieutenants and his guests. When he wishes, however, it will destroy any who try to fly above it.”

“Well, that’s charming,” Alex said, examining the palace. He studied the courtyard, noting a series of richly appointed carriages pulling up in front of the main gate. “Does he get a lot of visitors?”

“Zonon-In says that Kaz-Mowang loves to show off his wealth and power and does this by finding any excuse to host guests, usually on a large scale. It seems he is a rather conceited creature, very much in love with himself, and entertains lavishly as a way to bring attention to himself.”

“Huh.” Alex nodded. “Is he having a party soon?”

“Indeed, Zonon-In has suggested that he will host a party within the next few weeks.”

“Iiinteresting,” Alex said. “We might be able to sneak in while all those guests are there…or…there’s no way he’d allow random humans on his guest list, would he?” Alex asked.

“Not unless you were a high priest of his cult, some powerful ruler on the material plane…or you are there as the meat, as sport, or as entertainment.”

“Right, that makes se—” Alex paused. “Hooold on a minute. Did you say entertainment?”

“...I did. You have a thought, don’t you?”

“I doooo.” Alex looked at the demonic guests being ushered into the palace. “Do you know what sort of entertainment he likes? He sounds arrogant as all hells, but does he insist that his entertainment be all like…competitive human-gutting or something?”

“No,” Baelin said. “Demons in this realm enjoy puzzles as evidenced by the maze that serves as their home, and they also enjoy experiences that heighten the innate mania they experience. Such emotions can become intoxicating.”

“Okay…okay!” An idea began to brew in Alex’s mind. “So, they like spectacle? They like to laugh?”

“...why yes. Yes they often do.” Baelin’s eyes lit up with understanding.

“Yeah, you get where I’m going…” Alex cracked his knuckles. “Do you think you can get me and a small band of people in as entertainment? Maybe ask Zonon-In to arrange some entertainment for him as ‘a gift’? It could be our way in.”

“I do believe I could,” Baelin said. “I do believe I could indeed. What’s your idea?”

“I recruit some minions that could help me put on a show. We use that to get into Kaz-Mowang’s party. Once all the demons and their friends are celebrating, then we use that opportunity to go rifling through the palace and see where he might be keeping the information. During the party, I might be able to get one of his servants talking. Maybe find out what exactly we’re looking for.”

“I see,” Baelin said. “With the right minions recruited, that could very well work.”

“Yeah, and since it’ll be super dangerous,” Alex said. “I’ve got to make sure I bring as few friends with me as possible. Maybe one, maybe two, tops. The rest of the ‘act’ has to be made up of people who…well, thrive in situations like this, people I’d be more comfortable going down with me if things go really wrong.”

“I see…any specifics in mind for your act?”

Alex chuckled in bitter irony. “Do they let wizards in the place?”

“Wizards are a regular fixture there.”

“Then I’ll need to learn the Planar Doorway spell…and I’m going to need a jester’s hat.”