by Troy Osgood
The pass through the mountain was about ten feet wide, the walls angling up. The trail was carved into the side of the valley, only about four feet wide, a sheer drop on one side, rock on the other, following the curve of the valley, making its slow way down until it emptied out into the meadow near the stream, about halfway through the valley.
Bradberry had sat down, long legs hanging off the trail. An ink bottle was set next to him, feather quill sitting in it. Carefully he was unrolling a piece of parchment. Hall recognized the Breakridge and meadow in the lower corner, a dotted line showing the path they had taken through the Frost Tips to get to the valley. The map was almost complete, the Cartographer putting the finishing touches on it.
Brandif and Garrick had found the cave soon after they’d come to Skara Brae. Hall had enticed them to join the village with the promise of unexplored territory. They had not been disappointed. Only two hours north of the meadow, they had found an old path cut into the mountains. Being experienced adventurers, they knew what a path like that usually led to. They had been right.
The cave led to what Brandif had called a lesser dungeon. What Hall would have thought of as just a dungeon in the pre-Glitch days of the game. In the world, Brandif had explained, there were two types of dungeons, lesser and greater. A lesser, like the one they had found as well as the abandoned one under Skara Brae, was small, and most were short. They didn’t have to be. What made them lesser was the number of threats found within, which led to a corresponding level of rewards. Lesser dungeons also had a greater respawn rate. Over a month’s span, maybe less, the monsters would be drawn to the caverns, or whatever the dungeon consisted of, and essentially repopulate it. Greater dungeons would respawn once a year, maybe more.
There had never been a game reason for why dungeons respawn. A mechanics reason, so the players could farm the dungeon, redo it for quests and other reasons. But never a reason according to lore.
Greater dungeons were home to harder monsters, more vicious traps, and greater rewards. Those were the ones that adventurers actively searched for.
Or had.
Brandif, when Hall had first met him, had explained that all the dungeons had been cleared out and remained that way. When they had found the dungeon they were now calling Small Frost Caverns, Brandif and Garrick had cleared it out. They had thought it to be a dungeon that just hadn’t been found. There were thought to be some still in the world.
To their surprise, when they had come with Bradberry so the Cartographer could map it out, they had found it repopulated. Different monsters and boss, but they had been there.
It had been cleared, but more had come.
Just like the old days.
The visit now was part of Brandif’s experiments to see what the respawn rate of Small Frost Caverns was. He had been tracking the levels and types of the monsters in the caverns, trying to find if there was a pattern or not. It had been a month, a couple of days over, and according to Brandif’s estimations, it should be full again. He had cleared it a couple of times now with the small party of experienced adventurers. Garrick, Bradberry, Scarlis and himself. Now it was Hall’s turn to finally get a crack at it.
Hall had been looking forward to the dungeon dive ever since it had been found.
Bradberry had already mapped it out and shared that map with Hall. That took some of the fun out of it. He had looked forward to exploring it fully, all of it being completely new. But having a map with trap locations marked would be like using the wikipages pre-Glitch. In those days, he had never done a dungeon without some prior knowledge of what to expect.
“How long did you say it took?” Caryn asked.
She was standing further down the trail, the Irregulars starting to spread out.
“Four hours,” Brandif replied. “Give or take.”
Hall glanced back at the entrance to the valley, picturing Skara Brae only two hours away. This expedition had been his idea. Spur of the moment. They had some free time, might as well check some items off his large list. Exploring Small Frost Caverns was on that list. He wanted a better understanding of what was in the mountains beyond Skara Brae. This was the first step, and one that could be taken easily.
“Let’s go,” he said firmly, motioning the others down the trail.
Jackoby was already halfway, down with Seo close behind. Leigh had given Bealee and Seo the day off as well. She had almost come with them but had decided there was something she needed to do in the Grove. Hall had been disappointed. He missed having her alongside while out adventuring. Seo was a good healer, more so than Bealee, who had gone with a more offensive build. But neither was Leigh.
She had understood his disappointment but had promised she’d make it up to him.
Seo had been eager to come along. A numbers person, Seo had jumped at the idea of working with Brandif on his research with the dungeon.
“Have fun,” Brandif said as Hall started down the trail.
“What will you do?”
“We’ll hang around here,” Brandif said. “Scarlis has some picking to do, and this one…” He nudged Bradberry with his foot. The Cartographer had been making a fine line, the motion making the straight into a squiggle. He glanced up at Brandif angrily. “He’ll be busy for a while. Map needs fixing,” he finished, jumping back to avoid the angry swing from Bradberry.
“Besides,” Garrick said from the cleft in the mountain, “there was another cave about an hour that way.” He waved his hand in a generally northern direction. “Maybe another dungeon or a mine or a…” He stopped and just shrugged.
Or just a cave, Hall thought.
The cave was a dozen feet above the grassy floor of the valley. A thin trail led up the side of the otherwise nearly vertical face of the mountain. There wasn’t anything special about the cave. A dark hole in the rock, barely enough space to stand before stepping inside.
No doors, no runes around the edge. Nothing to indicate there was a dungeon inside.
“Remember,” Scarlis said from where she stood next to Hall. She had followed them when they had reached the valley, starting to describe the variety of mosses that she had found inside the dungeon. “Get as much as you can. With the guild contract, I need to send some back down to Silverpeak Keep, so if we want a good supply in the village, we need a lot.”
“Will do,” Hall said, trying to remember the descriptions she had given.
Scarlis, the Alchemist of Skara Brae, has requested that you gather some moss for her while inside Small Frost Caverns.
SMALL FROST MOSS (repeatable)
Gather Green Cavern Moss 0/12
Gather Lavender Shining Moss 0/12
Gather Striped Graystone Moss 0/12
Gather Flowered Gem Moss 0/12
Rewards: +150 Experience, +5 Experience per every 5 items beyond the requested.
Accept Quest?
Hall stared at the translucent words filling his vision. He quickly accepted the quest, glancing at the others to see a vacant look in their eyes that faded as they each accepted it.
“When did you become a quest giver?” he asked, surprised, looking at her.
The blonde Storvgarde was as tall as he was. She didn’t look like an Alchemist. She looked more like a warrior, and she was. A Warden. A way to protect herself while out in the wild gathering rare ingredients, she had said.
“When I set up shop in Skara Brae,” she explained with a shrug. “I’m a shopkeeper, kind of comes with the territory.”
Hall shook his head. Why hadn’t anyone told him about that? He had known Timmin, the village administrator, was a quest giver but didn’t think anyone else was, or could be.
“It’s repeatable?” he asked.
“I always need materials,” she answered, turning away and heading back into the meadow.
Hall watched her go for a minute, moving his gaze back up to the entrance. Brandif waved.
Pike swooped down out of the sky, Talon a dark spot high above. The dragonhawk spiraled, slowing h
is descent, wings spread as he settled on Hall’s shoulder. Hall shifted a little bit, compensating for the heavier weight of Pike.
He wasn’t just imagining it. Pike had gotten bigger.
“Jackoby and Caryn, on point,” he said, turning his attention to the dungeon.
Chapter 15
The inside of the cave was vastly different from the outside.
Only a dozen feet inside, the rough stone walls and floor became smoother, worked into blocks. The floor blocks were large, almost four by four squares, two in a row with a half block on either side, making the tunnel ten feet wide. Two-foot-long-by-foot-high blocks made up the walls, with the ceiling just smoothed stone.
Hall ran his finger along the joints. The walls had been carved to reflect staggered blocks. How long must it have taken, he wondered. He couldn’t reach the ceiling above him. Jackoby could, but barely, which put it around ten feet. An almost perfect square.
Just as Brandif had described.
He found some patches of moss along the walls, where drips of water fell from the ceiling, collecting on the ground. It was hard to tell color with his Limited Night Vision, and the Greenfire globes they were using cast everything in a greenish tint. There was nothing special that he could tell from the moss, scraping some off with his dagger.
SMALL FROST MOSS (repeatable)
Gather Green Cavern Moss 4/12
Gather Lavender Shining Moss 0/12
Gather Striped Graystone Moss 2/12
Gather Flowered Gem Moss 0/12
Skill Gain!
Herbology Rank Two +.4
Even though the monsters that inhabited the dungeon had changed, the layout had not.
Hall pulled up his mental map, the image of an unrolled parchment appearing before him. The edges were torn, the color faded. Normally only the areas he could see would be revealed, but because the map had been created by Bradberry, a high enough ranked Cartographer, along with Hall’s own levels in the skill, the map was fully revealed. He knew that there was a split about a hundred feet ahead.
The only source of light came from the natural glow of Tulla inside the cage and a couple of Greenfire globes. They had found chests filled with the green glowing orbs. Duncant and Tunwell had managed to come up with a way to attach them to metal rods, much like had been done in Greenfire Depths, which allowed the globes to be carried and used similar to torches. That worked, but most of them needed to use two hands. Some had forms of night or dark vision, but those weren’t perfect and didn’t help the Irregulars who didn’t have any. Tusho, the leatherworker from the Jaden Empire, had provided the solution. He’d created small harnesses to hold the globes and rods.
For Jackoby, that allowed the globe to hang just below the bottom edge of his shield, providing light across the floor. Using a small globe, it gave just enough to activate his night vision. Each of the others had their own harnesses custom made for them.
They hadn’t been completed in time for the raid on the Duntin, not that anyone had thought it would be needed. This was the first major test.
Caryn walked next to Jackoby, his globe providing her light as she scanned for traps.
Bradberry’s map had one not that far ahead.
He was right.
She found a trip wire running along the ground, a couple of inches high, made of thin wire. Tracing it along the floor and up the wall, she saw a hole in the blocks about five feet up. Two inches in diameter, the sharp point of a spear just visible. A quick deactivation, with a skill up in Caryn’s Trap Manipulation skill, and they were past the first obstacle.
Which was when the first monsters attacked.
Hall saw them first.
Two slightly less dark shapes breaking away from the walls on either side. They were further down, outside the light’s radius. His Limited Night Vision saw things in shades of gray and black, lighter and darker to show depth. It was the only reason he saw them.
They moved silently, crossing the distance quickly, landing just at the edge of the light without a sound.
“Look out,” he shouted, stepping in front of Jackoby, thrusting forward with his spear.
He missed as the creature moved impossibly fast. The second had launched itself at Jackoby. The Firbolg catching it on the shield. Long limbs reached past, claws trying to strike at him. Grunting, holding back the great weight, he tried to push forward.
Still the creature made no noise.
Skill Gain!
Identify Rank Two +.2
Shadow Cavlyn (white)
All black, the Cavlyn resembled a mountain cat. Long, sleek, low to the ground with long legs. No tail, the head was blunter than a cat’s. The ears, at least Hall thought they were the ears, were larger. He took a step toward the one he had attacked, the thing’s head tilting as it listened.
A flash of fire shot past him, sizzling through the air.
The Cavlyn dodged, the flames slamming into the ground beyond, casting a bright orange glow before fading away. In that glow, Hall got a better look at the creature’s face. It was closer to a bat’s. A large upturned nose, large ears that kept shifting as it listened. A small mouth that opened in a soundless growl, the teeth as black as the body.
What shocked Hall was the lack of eyes. There were none.
“What is it?” Roxhard asked from behind him. “Some kind of demon?”
The Cavlyn’s head tilted, the body shifting so it was now facing Roxhard.
Hall stabbed with the spear, hoping to catch it distracted. The Cavlyn shifted, a large paw batting the spear away. It had reacted quickly.
There was a grunt of pain. He glanced at Jackoby, seeing the Cavlyn’s paw slicing across the Firbolg’s arm. Caryn stabbed forward with both swords. Both blades scored solid hits, the creature falling backwards. She had worked herself in front of Jackoby, slashing around the edges of the shield. The Cavlyn landed without a sound.
It was up quickly, rolling away and preparing to pounce again.
Hall grunted as a large paw slammed into his arms. The claws raked across his skin, drawing lines of blood.
A crackling blue-white bolt slammed into the Cavlyn’s side, sliding it back. Smoke rose, gathering at the ceiling, the smell of burning fur filling the tunnel. But the creature was silent. Pike flew past, talons extended. He screeched, the sound loud in the enclosed space. The Cavlyn stepped to the side, Pike missing.
Hall didn’t.
He timed the strike perfectly, thinking the Cavlyn would manage to evade Pike. His spear struck it in the flank, penetrating deeply. He felt the tip pierce flesh and muscle, scraping across bone. Hall pulled the spear out, activating Double Thrust. The second attack sliced across the top of the Cavlyn.
Silently it tried to rush forward, the rear leg giving out.
Pike swooped in, talons cutting across the creature’s head. It tried to lunge up, missing.
Flames struck it in the chest, spreading out around the body. The smell of burning fur grew, smoke rising. Still the Cavlyn didn’t make a sound.
Hall could feel the heat coming off the flames, the creature now on fire. Taking a step closer, he thrust down with his spear, catching it in the shoulder. He pushed, driving it to the ground. He heard bones snap in the front legs, the head turning to try to snap at him. He twisted the spear, the head rearing back and mouth opening in a silent roar of pain. Hall pulled the spear out, stabbing down again, hitting it in the neck.
With a final spasm, the Cavlyn stopped moving.
SLAIN: Shadow Cavlyn
+35 Experience (Dungeon Bonus +35 Experience)
Skill Gain!
Light Armor Rank Two +.1
Skill Gain!
Polearms Rank Two +.2
“That was eerie,” Caryn said.
Giving the dead body a final poke with the spear, Hall turned to see Caryn and Jackoby standing over the corpse of the second Cavlyn.
“The silence,” she continued, giving a shudder. “That was so weird.”
“They hunt
by sound,” Hall said, pointing at the ears. “No eyes, and every time someone different made a noise, the head would turn.”
“That is how it anticipated most attacks,” Jackoby said. “The sound alerted it, and its own speed moved it out of the way.”
Hall bent down, reaching out to touch the dead creature. The fur was soft, short, very sleek. Brandif had mentioned nothing of these creatures. Prior runs through the dungeon had been against Caobolds and Cave Beetles.
He pulled at the fur. Like a cat’s, it didn’t seem attached to the flesh beneath. How hard would it be to skin? He had the skill but hadn’t used it in a long time. There hadn’t been a need. What could the leatherworker make out of these?
With a sigh, Hall reached into his inventory pouch, pulling out the skinning knife. He set the tip against the hide and pushed.
It took a couple of minutes to get into the flow of removing as much of the hide as he could, starting at the belly and cutting along the animal’s shoulders and buttocks, making a large square. The first hadn’t been as easy. He’d gotten it, but had mangled the edges. The second was much smoother.
Like the other times Hall had skinned an animal, the game took care of the more gory parts. It was pretty clean pulling it away from the flesh. Not much blood or odor.
Skill Gain!
Skinning Rank Two +.5
Each square was pretty big, four or five feet.
He rolled them up, stuffing them into the small mouth of the pouch, watching the distortion as the ends twisted and shrank to fit.