Arimneste discovers the water jug chamber.

Arimneste pondered how deep she had traversed the labyrinth thus far. Even now, she was convinced that the praises of the maze's monumental qualifications were misguided; the technical aspects of its construction far outweighed her sense of danger. She also questioned how much further she would need to trespass before she convinced herself of disproving the minotaur's existence. As she passed through a pair of parallel hallways running to her left and right, she laughed at a strange concoction in her head of how such a myth must have come about. How could anyone fear a beast as dopey as a bull? was her line of thought.

Past the corridors, she entered a square chamber that was nestled amidst the crooked and ancient twists and turns. In the center of the room was a heavy, dark water jug resting on a square pedestal. Three sealed doorways fitted the other walls here, with no obvious means of egress. Well, actually, the western door was slightly raised, with scarcely enough space for her to crawl underneath. The ceiling was raised and domed, and she could see light coming from the center beyond a large, hanging bowl. Leafy vines crept inwards from a hole she surmised was at the top, and the sound of birdsong from outside was particularly noisome, as though amplified by the structure.

The bowl hanging from the center of the ceiling was more like a funnel with two tubular protrusions that wound around the upper part of the room, finally pointing to two other bowls which hung much lower, almost like potted plants. Devoid of dirt, they were empty, but their suspensions allowed them much slack so as to reach the large central jug. This jug, upon closer inspection, was immobile by some fashion, fitted onto the pedestal. A stopper existed at its base as if for draining its contents. Arimneste scratched at her bosom and contemplated these items before her. She pieced together that the hanging bowls were some manner of water collection, but given the dry spell, there were no reserves of water available. Available for what?

"So Daedalus' cunning was not limited merely to corners and intersections," she told herself. This room's purpose must have been to confound proceedings. She hypothesized that the water jug, when filled, might depress some trigger that perhaps opened one of these other doors. She had some trouble envisioning the inner works, but maybe the level of water in the jug would dictate which of the doors opened and thus which route she could take. She wondered if she should be impressed or annoyed that her patience should be tried with such games.

The jug was filled only a fraction of the way. The west door was raised enough for her to crawl through. Could there be a way to fill the jug considerably further? Was she over-thinking this? Perhaps she could leave the room and retrace her steps instead. Perhaps she could find a viable substance elsewhere in the labyrinth.