When nothing moves in the water, the cat gets interested in the sobbibg again. With a graceful leap, the cat jumps out of Viola's arms and slowly walks in the direction of the sobbing. This time she does wait for Viola to catch up as she walks.
Viola makes a note to come back here--it merits investigation at the very least, and might possibly be a vis source. I'm guessing it's pretty easy to find simply by following the sound of dripping water?
She follows the Cat, making ready to cast the spont to make her cloak reflective again.
Scott
This place is a maze, a labyrinth. It took Viola several hours of lost wandering to find this pool, and now she is not sure how to get back to the exit. While the cat is leaping and climbing up the stone spikes that form the walls of the maze-like canyon, Viola is restricted to walking the paths wide enough for a human to cross, even more so by the masculine girth of her guide's shoulders.
Seeing Viola struggle with the maze, the cat scouts likely routes that would accomodate Viola's girth, and leads her gently, meowing until she follows.
Viola follows, more grateful for that cat's sticking close than for the clear path, but hopefully this will help.
"Cat, whatever you do, don't look at her--unless you want to be a statue."
Scott
After much traveling, the trio find a large room, empty but for dozens of statue-corpses. Some look like warriors frozen mid attack, others terrified peasants in retreat, still others kneeling in supplication. One stands out in particular, a minstrel sitting on a chair, a serene smile on his face, lute frozen forever in his hands. He looks to be of same tribe as the small boy the covenant has recently been ministering to.
What about the sobbing? Is it still evident?
Scott
Yes, it has taken a while for Viola to realize, but whoever is crying is also moving around the labyrinth.
In that case, let's pay careful attention to the direction of the sobbing at all times.
Viola turns to her guide. "Why bring me here? You want me to meet your Ma?"
Scott
The guide looks confused. "You were the one who asked to enter the temple. I have no desire to see her."
Viola pauses to think on this. "Yes, yes, indeed, I asked to enter the temple. Do you think if I see the temple at all, I should see the whole temple, or should I see only parts? And why don't you want to see your Ma?"
Scott
"Does that mean we can leave now? Ma finds visitors....upsetting."
Viola nods, "I think so. Are there any other parts of the temple to see?"
Scott
"Nothing else that I know of. There may be other places in this....maze, but I don't explore."
At that, Viola looks at the cat, wondering at her reaction to the statement.
Scott
(The cat appears to be being inscrutably cat-like in her response. Perhaps we should play on without redcat for the time being? I ping'd him a several days ago.)
OK...so what does the cat do, other than being inscrutable?
Scott
After Viola watches the cat clean herself for a few seconds, Cat leaps up onto the walls of the maze, and heads out, pausing every once in a while to see if you are both still following her.
Viola will follow the cat, all the while quietly cursing about the species' supposed curiosity and well-honed instincts.
Scott
That concludes Viola's first exploration of the regio. By the time she exits, it is well past midnight.