Silently, Prince Thaddeus counts the tokens in his possession. Eleven new ones added to the four they'd had from Floor One. Fortunately the dungeon had granted them one for Gerliari despite her passing, and although not everyone had contributed a great deal to the battle with the Floor Two guardian, being spttered by acid rain apparently counted as taking part at least. Fifteen down, eighty-five left to collect, still a daunting figure but within tolerance levels. As he puts the tokens away he turns to examine what he holds in his other hand - a rabbit-foot charm neckce, only slightly damaged from a bit of acid sptter.

  Tizzy looks up at her leader as she approaches, leaving the rest of the group behind her in the tunnel connecting Floors Two and Three. "Gerliari's, right? Do you want someone to put that on, prince? Start doubling up?"

  The man nods, but moves to put it around his own neck. "We can't lose out on any more tokens if we can help it, and as your leader it falls to me to be the first to take on an additional burden. But don't worry about me, how's the rest of the party doing?"

  The scout gnces back at the others, not that she needs a reminder of their wounds. "Fortunately the acid burns look a lot worse than they are, at least as far as combat effectiveness goes. Everyone managed to protect their eyes, at least, although some ears didn't quite make it. Nain took the worst of it with that little dip she had, but Hylii and Violetta are getting her patched up pretty good. Otherwise folks are dabbing on healing potions on the worst burns, using our low-tier stuff first."

  "Everyone's still able to fight, then? That's well. I'm particurly gd you and Linda came through unharmed, Tizzy."

  The half-imp turns back to look at her liege, a bit of surprise in her eyes. "Ah? Oh, right, the uh...pn we cooked up. We do still need to conserve our energy, but we'll make it to the bottom with you, prince."

  The man's lip quirks slightly. "That wasn't entirely what I meant, but that as well." The good humor evaporates with a sigh. "While Gerliari may not have been our most powerful mage, she did add important versatility to the group. We're going to be relying more on your scouting skills from here on, I believe."

  "You can count on me! Do be careful, though - Floor Three's a notorious traps floor, and I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that it's probably not gonna be exactly the same traps this time, either."

  "I suspect you're right." With a stretch, Prince Thaddeus turns back to his party and urges them onward. "We continue, my friends! But use caution, and follow Tizzy's word as if it were my own. She shall guide our steps through the coming challenges."

  Tizzy does her best to put a smile on her face, but can't help but mutter. "Well, no pressure or anything..."

  She does prove to be right about one thing, at least - the traps of Floor Three are significantly different than they'd been the st time anyone had come through. Not entirely new, perhaps, but very certainly a remix. The gigantic steps of the first chamber, previously equipped with Hippity Blobbities to knock Challengers into traps, now has Terror Tentacles instead. As a floor panel tips in order to dump someone into a pitfall, a tentacle shes out at ankles and knees, preventing adventurers from leaping to safety. Linda and Thaddeus end up doing most of the work to save those who can't help themselves, with the mage using barriers to block people from falling, while Thaddeus's speedy boots allow him to leap back and forth in time to catch those about to slip.

  The maze area which had once been poputed with Slime Spiders and their extra-sticky, gooey webs...still is, but not in a way that's at first apparent. Instead chains drape their way across every hallway, while barely-dressed - or entirely undressed, in a few cases - succubi and incubi dash out from behind corners to attack. Except as the party members attempt to defend themselves they find that their blows amount to nothing, while the scantily-cd demons prove remarkably adept at stabbing their ankles, for some reason. Quickly seeing through their magic with her own spells, Tizzy points out that the demons are just illusions cast on spiders, making them appear far rger than they are.

  A bigger issue is that some of the chains aren't just there to hinder their progress, as the slime webs once had been. Instead about one out of every twenty is actually attached to a trap, and so Tizzy finds herself needing to check every. Single. One. The scout curses Gerliari for getting herself killed, knowing that the Metal Mage could've easily determined which chains are linked to hidden mechanisms. Thaddeus at least is a patient man however, and gives Tizzy all the time she needs to clear the party a safe route.

  Following the first half of the maze, the party then encounters orc skeletons covered in Hippity Blobbities. No injuries result...but it's unlikely that any of them will be singing any glorious balds about exactly how those fights proceed.

  The barrier puzzle room which once had a series of timed traps and barrier spells requiring good timing and a clever mind to bypass, is now both simpler and more of a pain. Gone are the barriers and the timing tricks, instead each of the room's traps is just constantly active at all times. Fmethrower jets, spinning bdes, and electrical surges cover nearly every inch of open space between the entrance and exit. On one hand, the power of the traps is somewhat reduced - likely part of the rules maintaining accessibility. On the other hand, disarming a trap actively shooting fmes all around it tends to be slightly more difficult, especially without any Earth Mages in the party to make things easy.

  Ultimately it comes down to a combination of Hylii's and Tizzy's magics to see the party through. Linda could have potentially created a safe path through the room using a tunnel of magical barriers, but having such a rge construct under constant attack would've been a significant hit to her mana reserves. Instead each member of the party receives a pair of boosts - a speed and agility burst from Hylii, and a personal barrier spell from Tizzy. At which point, well...they each run from one end of the room to the other at top speed. The scout's barrier magic is nowhere near as good as Linda's, but given that she only needs to apply it to one person at a time and only for less than a minute, it does serve to eventually get everyone through unscathed.

  Finally the party is gathered once again before a boss arena, in what used to be the floor's safe room. While there's no hazardous changes to the chamber, Norsh does growl a bit at the sight of how empty it is. "Of course the healing fountain is gone. Wouldn't have wanted to throw us even a single bone, now would they?"

  Liani shrugs. "If there was a fountain here, would you have drunk from it? Or would you have gotten paranoid that the water had been poisoned?"

  Thaddeus sighs. "If Tannis were here, he could have checked...but he's not and nor is the fountain, so it's beyond a moot point. More importantly, ahead is the arena of the living armors. You've all been through here before, but to restate the known facts, typically this challenge consists of two giant suits of, apparently, ghost-possessed armor, with more of those ghostly tentacles hidden in the floor. However having seen how the st two guardian battles have gone, it's safe to assume that something will have changed."

  Lyman takes a drink from his non-healing canteen before asking a question. "Should we pn around what we do know, at least? Reed and I can do well to handle smaller monsters and keep them off the rest of you, while someone else cracks those armors open."

  "This is a fight involving multiple challenges, typically, so yes, let's split into squads." The prince begins to point at members of his party. "Tizzy, Lyman, and Reed - you'll cover our fnks and watch for nuisance threats or traps. Linda, Liani, Violetta, you'll focus on pinning down the heavier armor and keeping it from defending the other. Norsh, Nain, Hylii, you're with me, we'll focus on taking down the more offense-oriented foe. After she's down, we'll refocus on the heavy. Of course, be prepared to adjust quickly should we go in there and find something unexpected. Is everyone ready?"

  There's a few more drinks of water and potions, but soon enough everyone's given him their confirmation. With a nod to Norsh the orc pushes open the double doors to the boss arena while Thaddeus prepares to take the lead in the fight ahead. Of course, they should have perhaps expected what they find when the doors open. It's true that the fight does still seem to consist of two boss-level foes, while smaller monsters fill the chamber floor.

  What they didn't expect to find however is for the two giant armors to be repced by ghostly figures, shrouded humanoids without legs or faces and nothing but transparent bony hands emerging from their cloaks. Meanwhile around them hovers at least two dozen flying swords, maces, and axes, all of which immediately turn to face the new arrivals. A taunting voice emerges from one of the faceless cloaks, her voice changed yet somewhat familiar. "It's too bad that I wiiilllll not be the one to get to stab you thisssss time. But we'll see you bleeeeeed well enough."

  As usual, Thaddeus attempts to focus on reacting quickly. "Heavy squad, focus on the left guardian, my squad on the right! Fnk squad, keep those weapons off us!"

  The fencer duo do quickly leap forward to begin engaging with the possessed weapons, but find themselves at a bit of a loss as Reed compins. "What...what are we actually meant to wound, here? I see nothing wielding these weapons!"

  His father shouts back at him. "Just focus on your parries, son! We only need to keep them off us until the big ones are dead!"

  The party is at least somewhat fortunate in that Linda's barriers seem to block a ghost as well as they do a physical construct, with a magical wall quickly taking form between the two bosses, although they do waver a bit as bsts of bck electricity shoot from the undead's hands and sm into the magic separating them from their companion. Thaddeus's team has a bit more trouble, however. The prince and Norsh both nd solid hits on Dips' new body, yet their weapons seem to pass right through her without causing any harm at all. The human does manage to dodge a eldritch bst fired in his direction, but Nain needs to block one targeted for her cousin which pulls a groan from her throat.

  "Hrgg! My shield only half-blocks these attacks, I felt that energy go right up my arm! We'll need to take her down before she gets off many more of those!"

  Looking around, Thaddeus decides to pull some support from another squad. "Violetta! You have power over death, yes? Drain these monsters dry, or take control over them!"

  The purple-haired mage grimaces as she counterspells a bst heading in her direction. "I...I can't, my lord! I don't have the power to command things like these!"

  "What!? I know I've seen you handle stronger - do it!"

  "I - I'll try!" While Linda keeps Tank rgely contained, Violetta turns her attention to Dips instead. A spell from her wand links her to the ghostly woman, and her voice takes on an otherworldly tone of its own as she speaks. "Mine - you are mine! Heed my words! Be my arm, strike down my foe!"

  Dips does turn to face the mage, yet despite her ck of an apparent head under her cloak everyone watching gets the impression of a smile as Dips responds. "I will be your arm - and more besides. I am yours, and you are MINE." With that her body seems to colpse, and a burst of energy carries back through the link to Violetta's wand. The mage's eyes take on a purple glow, and as others in her party turn to her in arm she seems to begin to speak to herself.

  "I - no! If I hadn't taken the damn deal, I...what? What are you saying? Why would I..."

  "Violetta!" Thaddeus shouts out to the mage, but fails to draw her attention. "Resist it! Hylii, can you help her expel it from her body? It's trying to possess her!"

  "I - I can maybe make her strong enough to resist it!" The dark elf begins to cast mind-enhancing spells on his companion, but Violetta seems to ignore him even as he does so.

  "Really? You're not...you promise?" Violetta sighs, and closes her eyes. "Alright, then. I will."

  Before anyone can ask just what it is the woman is talking about, a portal ring suddenly appears around her feet, its magical symbols glowing with power. Thaddeus isn't too armed at first - the portals must be consciously triggered by each individual person going through them, they pose no risk as direct traps. Yet despite that, in a fsh Violetta - and Dips with her - vanishes from the room. A moment ter the portal ring is gone with them.

  "What!? Where did she - gah! Everyone, focus fire on the other ghost! Tizzy, Linda, use what offensive magics you can!"

  With the orcs switching focus to fend off the possessed weaponry, and Nain even managing to shatter a few of them, it's not too difficult for the rest of the party to turn their attention to Tank. While the monster does still prove resistant to most forms of attack, the party's primary mages do possess a few backup wands for situations like these and a number of fireballs do prove sufficient to eventually put the guardian down. As Tank fades away with a horrifying scream, the remaining weapons die as well, cttering to the ground and leaving a confused party of adventurers behind.

  The prince shakes his head. "We've won? But we didn't actually defeat - wait. If that ghost fled with Violetta, does that count as a retreat? But...where did she go? Hylii, can you sense her?"

  The mage shakes his head. "No, my lord. My ability to detect people through dungeon stone is quite limited at best, though. I sense she's still alive, as she still has some of my enhancement spells active on her. But in a location like this with so much inherent magic, I can't determine a location."

  Reed frowns. "Did that ghost trick her into going through the portal? Taking her somewhere to kill her off quickly, I suppose? Though I'm surprised she's not dead already in that case. Do you think she managed to fight it off? Maybe she's still out there, trapped somewhere?"

  Thaddeus frowns, but doesn't speak all of his thoughts. "If we can...recover her, we will. But there's no point in worrying about it now, she could be anywhere. For now...we continue forward."

  DaScoot