"Well this place is absolutely...".
"Unsettling".
"Yup".
Entering the keep and into what I assumed to be the main hall, we couldn't help but feel incredibly uneasy about our surroundings.
The hall was bright enough for us to see where we were going and make out details on the wall and pillars, but also dim enough that made everything unsettling and made me think there were majimonsters are traps hiding within the shadows.
Decorating the walls, I could make out elaborate carvings of people, landscapes and animals. If I had to guess, it was either a decorative mural or a historical event. As for what event they depicted...I wasn't sure.
Voxea had taught me a lot about the history of the Old Empire, from the emperors that used to rule, the other nations and empires that they had fought and traded with, as well as the numerous rivalries that occured among the maji and their factions.
This particular mural, as Voxea puts it, "Looks like something that probably occured while I was stuck inside my ice coffin".
"Hey, check these things out", someone called out.
Going towards the noise, we saw Alyra standing in the doorway of a room at the end of the meeting hall. I initially couldn't make out what had surprised Alyra, but as my eyes adjusted to the dark, I was rather shocked by the sight.
"That's a lot of statues", Boleros commented.
Standing before us was a large, wide chamber filled with over a dozen or so statues in the shape of soldiers. The soldiers were lined up in a neat, square formation, giving off the feeling that they were professionals waiting for their commander to give orders. On the other side of these statues, I could make out another door.
"I guess we go this way", Bori said as he walked into the room. The rest of us followed shortly after.
Despite their lack of coloring, each of the soldiers were made with a surprisingly good attention detail. Their armor looked supple yet rigid, the facial features were surprisingly on point and the weapons they wielded looked surprisingly intricate and deadly.
Upon closer inspection, I could make out that they were all made of clay.
[Terracotta], Voxea suddenly said as she floated over to one of the soldiers.
[Pardon]?
[The materials these soldiers are made of. It's a fancy way of saying "baked earth", basically they're all made of a type of baked clay], Voxea explained as she patted one of the soldiers, [if I recall correctly, the Clay Overlord made use of this stuff for a majority of his works. I think his reasoning was that this stuff was quicker and easier to make than other clay materials].
[Other clay materials? Like what?], I asked.
[Stoneware, porcelain, bone porcelain, he did make use of that stuff sure, but that I recall he kept for his more "artistic" projects. Something about them being a pain to mold with just magic], she explained.
I was about to ask how clay could be a pain to work with, when I heard a small yelp of surprise coming from behind me. The source of the yelp was Savina.
"What's the matter"?
"One of the statues just tried to grab me", she said while pointing at one of the terracotta soldiers.
The soldier statue had a stoic face and was wielding a large glaive, like the kind I've seen militiamen carried, in one hand while the other hand was hanging limp. I would normally be inclined to ignore such a thing as a trick of the light, but were we in a magical dungeon created by the remnants of a geomancer...
[Hey Voxea, is your ability to sense majimonsters still acting weird]?
[Afraid so].
[Hmmm, I'm gonna try something real quick...], I said as I activated my Dragon's Eye.
Aether began to flow into my eye, as it quickly confirmed my susipcion that the statue did try to grab Savina, because it was a majimonster in disguise, and one I had no idea about, but Voxea knew quite well.
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Species Name: Terrorcotta Soldier
Affinities: Earth/Fury
Grade: Silver
Traits: Mimic, Armed
Description: Unknown
Voxea's notes: An early product of the Clay Overlord, Terrorcotta Soldiers were, in his words, an attempt to instill demons into the bodies of soldiers. Fury aether as their blood, Earth aether as their bones and terracotta as their flesh, Terrorcotta Soldiers are mechanical killers. I remember hearing rumors that the Clay Overlord had managed to instill other affinities in some of his soldiers, but I never got around to investigating that claim...
_________________________________________________
*CRACK!*
"Silvia! Look out"!
As quickly as I finished learning about the Terrorcotta Soldiers, the statue I had been staring at suddenly sprang to life and swung it's massive halberd towards me!
[I don't think so!], Voxea exclaimed as she swung a glowing Ice aether fist at the attacking soldier. Her action had caused the Fog of War to kick in, and I could sense it's magic suddenly protecting me from the halberd swing.
Before the Fog of War completely took over my mind I managed to give out a single warning.
"Call out your monsters, we got enemies"!