The bird-people introduce themselves as "Oku". You know of no historical accounts describing such people, but the name brings to mind a very old myth. In this ancient pre-Fall belief, "Oku" was a trickster god in bird form, some accounts describe as a crow. He stole light from the sun and gave it to the moon, which is allegedly why the moon glows today. These people seem wholly convinced they are such trickster birds.
The leader of this small band, Agrimony, explains to Aaron that the trio pulled off a heist over East at the dinner halls, careful not to disturb the "Dead Wedding" taking place therein. There the Oku obtained the key to the Medusa's treasury, got chased off by a "gold soul", and met Truman, whom they offered a part of their take.
Now united, you travel into the Gardens to meet up with Yoshiko and Luis.
Room 28:
The first room is dark but full of healthy green vines littered with broken remains of black statues. The statues' features are shallow and suggestive rather than finely crafted. Mixed with the healthy vines there are also tangled masses of burned vines, courtesy of Aaron, who begins to explain what the birdlike Oku already claim to know--the vines magically animate the statues, who will attack but if antagonized. Aaron stuns them when he reveals that the sole surviving statue is now the ally of his friend Yoshiko. The vines seem to be growing back at an alarming rate.
There is a room to the immediate West that none in the party have explored yet, and rooms to the South that are unknown to Aaron. The room to the Northwest is...
Room 34:
In this quaint gardener's toolshed, where Aaron had acquired some tools to brace his leg, you see that a large crack has been made in the East wall, large enough to pass through. "Your friends must be seeking out our people," says Agrimony. "I hope they meet peacefully."
You crawl through the cracked wall, passing catatonic Tutsan through gently, and end up in...
Room 56:
Your feet set down on a soft carpet of moss and vines. The South half of the room has some half-rotten wooden benches like pews in a chapel. At the North of the room sits a cracked sarcophagus covered in thorny weeds. There is a small stone table in front of the sarcophagus with a trio of recently snuffed out votive candles. The sarcophagus lid remains closed but there are scratches at the seal, as if someone had previously tried to open it to get at the grave goods within.
Through the West and South walls you hear an echoing cackle from an adjacent room, a mad laughter that's not at all human. There is a door on the North wall, through which you find...
Room 55:
You blink as the light envelops you for a moment before dying down to a less blinding level. The entire floor of this room is an uneven mosaic of illuminated blocks made of a material like glass or cut gemstone. The tiles of the room ebb and flow with strange light, and once in a while reveal strange images on their glowing surface.
Very briefly you can clearly see several of the Queen of Void's White Jacquets walking down a familiar corridor, white armor gleaming under torchlight. You glimpse Lai Shan in what looks like her elven sleep-trance. You see a woman sitting in a drawing room, her face concealed by a nearly opaque veil. You see a strange snake-boy waving a wooden sword in the air.
All of these images are clear but fleeting, mere seconds long. Spending ten minutes to focus on any tile will give you a longer view, though you cannot control which room in the Maze you observe. The archer Oku Yarrow sighs with relief when reaching the room's Northeast door, opening up into...
Room 54:
The room is actually a large hallway surrounding a central closed off chamber. There are several more Oku here, who ease Tutsan onto a nearby bench. The door North is open, and through it you can see...
Room 58:
In here you find Yoshiko (in her "Lucky Lucy" clothes) and Luis, accompanied by the last remaining animated statue acting as "Lucky Lucy's" bodyguard.
There is another Oku in a dress (Kidney Vetch), and a human woman in paint-spackled armor (Lady Morgen Von Klaw). There is a strange white figure, a bald woman with antlers made of jet-black ink--Aelfadred, the Glyph Witch. Coded symbols flash above her head, and she speaks slowly as she decodes her own thoughts.
The room itself is lines with drop-cloth tapestries, and is being used as the Witch's painting studio. There is door to the East and West, and a North wall with 3 doors in it.
Mother's Day 2024
Dairyu
@ 7:03 PM May 14th