Labyrinth of the Lonely Paladin

"I am seeking a group of adventurers to help me out in mapping out the Labyrinth of the Lonely Paladin. I just need some guards to help get past traps and deal with any hostile creatures that might be encountered. I would do it myself but something is preventing my methods from working. Reward of 500,000 gold for completion. Seek out the minotaur known as Francis at the Wondering Swords Inn." ~Posting on the Adventurers Guild Notice Board.

The Labyrinth of the Lonely Paladin is a giant underground maze that was supposedly built to secure the tomb of a warrior named Zenon Rogalski, who was given the nickname of the Lonely Paladin due to the fact that he didn't have any friends during his entire life. Legend has it that should anyone who manages to successfully navigate this complex maze and reach the center alive will be found worthy to claim the Lonely Paladin's weapons and armor. However, no one has been able to figure out how to open the entrance doors until now.

Head over to the Wondering Swords Inn and ask the innkeeper where you can find the Minotaur known as Francis and the innkeeper will point you towards the room he is renting. He is the quest giver. Once you enter his room, you will see him typing away on a magi-tech laptop computer.

WARNING: Don't even think about trying to rob or attack Francis! YOU WILL FAIL AND BE KILLED!

Greet him and inquire about the quest. Don't worry, he is quite friendly and actually quite the chatter box. He will give a brief explanation of why he posted the quest. Once he asks you to follow him to the Labyrinth, he will elaborate on this.

Basically he is an expert of mazes and labyrinths and when he learned about the legend of the Labyrinth of the Lonely Paladin, he wanted to document it on his Blogg site for all of his visitors and followers to see. In fact his site has articles and posts talking about all kinds of different locations that have some kind of maze or labyrinth in them. After asking around, he learned of this place's location and after a few minutes of work, he managed to figure out the puzzle that held the doors shut.

However, when he tried to start mapping the place out, none of his spells and technology would work unless he was inside the maze. Because he knows that there are possibly some monsters and other obstacles that could be deadly, he wants some fighters to accompany him and take care of these for him while he maps the place out. So he posted that quest on the noticeboard.

When the explanation ends, you will all arrive at the entrance to the Labyrinth of the Lonely Paladin. Francis will open the doors and you will all enter. Once the doors close, he will deploy his mapping spells and technology. While his spells are not affected since they do not affect the dungeon itself, any magic that does will not work due to a series of countermeasures.

NOTE: Don't think you can get to the end of this dungeon without Francis' help. The entire place is a complex maze of tricks and traps and due to him being a maze expert, you will require his help navigating the place. NOT WORKING TOGETHER WILL ONLY LEAD TO YOUR DEATHS!

NOTE TO GMs: This is mostly a maze and thus up to you to design. There are some Key Points and rooms that will be described here that are needed for the dungeon to work though.

As you all work your way through this maze killing the monsters that guard the dungeon, you will eventually stumble upon a switch on the wall. Attempting to activate it will do nothing at this time. Francis will quietly make a note of this as it will be important later.

This entire maze is a Test of Pattern and it is essential that you have a copy of the Legend of the Lonely Paladin on hand as it will be essential to solve the maze. At each fork in the road you will need to find a clue in the legend that will point you in the correct direction. As Francis has some experience in puzzles, you could ask him for help if you get stuck.

Every so often you will encounter a trap, be it a pit of spikes, spinning blades, jets of flame, etc. The mechanisms to deactivate some of these traps can only be triggered by Francis for some reason. There is no real way to explain this right now.

Eventually you will reach the center only to be find that the way is blocked by 7 colored gates. There is a switch nearby but only Francis has the strength to activate this one. This will cause some lines that Francis noted were barely visible on the floor to start glowing with each of the 7 colors. Each of these lines is connected to the corresponding colored gate. One of the lines connects a gate to a matching colored switch. Activating that one will open the gate and make that line stop glowing.

All of you should be able to guess that by following those lines you will find the switches that open the gates. Now go back to that switch that did nothing that you all found earlier and activate it. That will open the next gate. This should leave you with 5 switches left. These five switches are located in rooms that contain puzzles and traps all Tests of Pattern. Follow the glowing lines through the maze to each one. You can complete these rooms in whatever order you wish.

Switch Room 01 >> This room has a floor with colored tiles. Each of the tiles is one of 7 colors. The switch is one of those colors. You must step on the tiles in a specific color sequence which is the order of the gates. Get it wrong and a grid of spikes will drop on top of you.

Switch Room 02 >> This room has a series of ornate metal plates on the walls. These are actually hatches connected to a trap. Pulling the switch in this room will cause a metal door to drop from the ceiling and those hatches to open. Water will start to pour out of the pipes that are revealed, causing the room to flood. You must figure out the code hidden in the legend and enter it into the door. This will shut off the water, drain the room, and open the door.

Switch Room 03 >> This room has no trap. But it does have a puzzle. Basically there are 7 colored tiles on the floor that make up a giant game of Simon Says. Press the tiles in the correct order 3 times and it will remove the grate covering the switch. Make a mistake and you have to start the sequence from the beginning.

Switch Room 04 >> In this room, you must stay on a narrow path to the switch. One wrong step will cause spikes to pop out of the floor. This path is made of floor tiles that are slightly darker then the others. Pulling the switch will deactivate this trap.

Switch Room 05 >> This long hallway of a room is filled with traps. You must work together to figure out the timing of the traps to reach the other end. Pulling the switch on that side deactivates them.

Now that all 7 gates are open, you can enter the center chamber. Inside is the treasures and artifacts you seek. Francis will have finished mapping out the maze. The main reward at the center of the chamber however is a surprise. A full suit of Adamantium armor and a double bladed one handed battleaxe. All of these are ornately decorated. However, there is a problem.

The axe is too heavy for you to wield effectively and the armor doesn't fit any of you. Francis will ask if he can try them out and it will turn out to fit perfectly on him and the axe is quite light for his strength. The carvings on the walls of this room will reveal why Zenon Rogalski was dubbed the Lonely Paladin. He was in fact a minotaur as well.

This explains why the rest of the paladins shunned him. It also explains why the dungeon was designed the way it was and how only somethings could only be activated by a minotaur. Francis will keep the armor and the axe. You are all free to take the other treasures in the room. Once you got what you deemed worthy, follow him back outside and collect your 500,000 gold reward. If you visit his site later, you will see a series of articles that document the dungeon and even the finished map of it too.