“So, what’s the problem?”
Well, I was just going to select it…but then I realized that the Gnoll is part of a family.
Her Dungeon Assistant’s face went from confusion to wide-eyed shock with his mouth open in an “O” shape. Tacca shared his shock as she started going through the implications of her sudden revelation. Going backwards on her creature selection menu, she selected the Semi-human family as her creature and confirmed it with a bit of nervousness in her non-existent stomach.
I…can’t believe that worked. Well, she could believe it, because she had already done it with Canines and Felines, but this was on a whole new level.
Creature List (Select for Variants) (Partial)
Satyr
Harpy
Gnoll
Werewolf
Minotaur
Kobold
Kitsune
Lizardmen
Ratunda
Ursino
Pachyd
Slothar
The addition to her repertoire was so impactful that she wasn’t even sure how to react at first. Not only did she have access to the Gnolls, but to every other Semi-human available. They were all essentially creatures with humanoid features, similarly to how the Gnoll was part hyena and part Human. The Satyrs were part goat; Harpies were part bird; Werewolves were, obviously, part wolf; Minotaurs were part bull; Kobolds were part dragonoid; Kitsune, part fox; Lizardmen were part lizard; Ratunda were small rat-like creatures that walked on two feet; Ursino were part bear; Pachyds had elephant in them; and, regretfully, Slothar were part sloth.
Out of them all, the Slothar were essentially useless as creatures, because they moved so slowly they would be cut down within seconds without being able to do anything, even at higher levels. Not even Tacca, with her intelligence, years of research, and the application of thousands of scenarios could think of a use for them other than as a way to delay a Raider for a few seconds.
The Slothar aside, every other Semi-human was useful in some way or another. For now, though, the Dungeon Core didn’t want to change her plans too much for the next section; she still had to determine whether or not her information about the hyenas and the Gnolls was accurate. Then…well, then the possibilities opening up for her were incredible.
“That’s amazing, Tacca. I thought you were fortunate to have access to so many Canines and Felines before, but this is something else entirely.”
I agree; I can’t believe I never even thought of this. Now, let’s test this out.
Tacca created an Echoing Hyena in her Core Room, and let it form before she checked out her Gnoll options.
Gnoll Variants
Gnoll Scout
Gnoll Assassin
Gnoll Brawler
Gnoll Warrior
Gnoll Guardian
Gnoll Mage
Gnoll Shaman
Gnoll Cleric
Gnoll Archmage
Gnoll Champion
There were quite a few options, and they were all useful in different situations. For dungeons that used Gnolls as a primary creature, the different Variants covered pretty much every type of defense imaginable. There were Gnolls that had Physical ranged attacks – such as the Scout; Variants that used weapons or no weapons in Physical attacks up close – like the Warrior, Brawler, and Guardian; others that could cast spells like the Mage, Shaman, and Archmage; a healing-capable option in the Gnoll Cleric; and a powerful Boss-type Variant in the Gnoll Champion, which dabbled in a bit of everything but Physical ranged attacks. It could fight up close, cast a variety of spells, and even heal itself if necessary.
The more powerful Variants, however, inevitably cost more in terms of Dungeon Force to create and required a larger chunk of her Control Limit, as well as taking longer to create. She wanted to check them out later, of course, to see what might be a good fit for her current project, but for now all she needed was a basic Gnoll. The two least expensive Variants were the Gnoll Scout and Gnoll Brawler, so she chose the former because that was the one she had originally thought to use for her dungeon, and it held a special place in her mind because of that.
The downside of using Gnolls compared to her Canines and Felines wasn’t apparent until she had to wait over a half hour for it to form – 35 minutes to be exact, and that was at Level 1! Most of her Canines, in comparison, took anywhere from 3 to 8 minutes depending on what they were, which allowed her to restock her dungeon quickly enough to keep Raiders delving through it almost constantly. The difference in restocking time for her new dungeon was significant enough to cause some delay in constantly keeping it fully stocked, but she had some thoughts on that. Whether or not it would work was a problem for another day.
“What is it doing?” her Dungeon Assistant asked, breaking Tacca out of her mental tackling of future problems. Her new Gnoll Scout had finally finished forming right next to her Echoing Hyena, and it took less than a second for Tacca to realize what he was talking about.
In between the two creatures – who were standing completely still in the middle of the room, awaiting orders – there was a strange, glowing band of blue light that seemed to connect the Gnoll and Hyena.
I have no idea—
Suddenly, the blue light intensified, growing brighter and brighter. Uh…evacuate, Shale! She wasn’t sure what was happening, but it would be just her luck if her new creatures decided to blow up and destroy her. Just before she Teleported herself to her old Core Room, she watched as her Dungeon Assistant disappeared from sight with a faint *pop* as he Translocated somewhere. He was nowhere she could sense within her dungeon, which worried her a little bit, but his mental voice in her mind quickly assuaged that worry.
“I Translocated high above the mountain range here just to make sure. What’s happening?”
Tacca looked inside the room she just Teleported away from and was nearly blinded by the light coming from the two creatures. The light is growing brighter, and I can’t even see—
An explosion centering on the light coming from the Gnoll and Hyena shook the room, sending out a shockwave of invisible force that she could feel even in her old Core Room. Thankfully, she was far enough away from its epicenter that all it did was shake her Core around a little bit; the rest of the dungeon and its inhabitants had different results. The group of Raiders delving through her upper rooms – along with the Frond Coyotes they were fighting – paused for a few seconds in confusion as the shockwave passed through them; there was no damage or anything to indicate that they were otherwise affected, so both sides started attacking each other again.
The rest of her creatures up there were fine, if visibly disoriented for a few moments before going back to normal. Her creatures below, however, weren’t so lucky. The Human, Elf, Hill Dwarf, and Gnome wearing the enchanted armor nearby were blown off their feet; by the time she checked in with them, all 5 of them had faded away after dying, leaving behind the armor lying on the ground as if they had never existed. As for her traps in the same room, they appeared to be remarkably fine.
The other Canines and Felines she had created temporarily down below to help boost her CIPs up to the required amount were all gone as well, with no trace of them anywhere. As for the Gnoll and Hyena, well—
“Tacca? Are you okay? I think I felt a little something even way up here. What happened?”
Shale’s voice was like an anchor for the rattled Dungeon Core, and she kept an eye on the two creatures that seemed perfectly fine while she answered him. I’m fine, but all my creatures nearby that explosion have been completely destroyed. I think it’s safe now, though; I’m Teleporting back into my new Core Room down below.
Her Dungeon Assistant said that he would be there soon, as he needed to fly through the dungeon to reach her; his Fairy Mana was still regenerating, and he couldn’t Translocate quite yet. Tacca had more than enough to Teleport down, though, and she had a feeling that the danger had passed. A quick look at her Core confirmed that she was fine, though there was a small cra
ck that hadn’t been there before.
I had no idea that would happen, Shale. I’m glad we left when we did; I’m almost positive that the explosion of force would’ve shattered me and possibly killed you as well. Considering that it killed my creatures wearing that armor, which was enchanted against nearly everything that could’ve killed them, I have a feeling we wouldn’t have fared any better.
“I haven’t the slightest idea of what could’ve done that, or even what happened. Do you have any theories why they exploded like they did?” Tacca could sense Shale already entering her dungeon entrance as he communicated with her, and she Teleported back to the new Core Room to confirm that it was safe. If it wasn’t, she didn’t want her Dungeon Assistant to be her test subject – and she was afraid of creating any other creatures in there until she was sure that wouldn’t happen again.
Well…the Gnoll and Hyena didn’t actually explode; it was the building light and energy that connected them that caused the explosion. Tacca arrived at the Core Room via her Teleport option and braced for any detrimental change…but nothing happened. This close to the center of the explosion, she could see the two creatures still standing there as if nothing had even happened. Except, there was something different with them; instead of standing completely still as if they were statues awaiting orders or some other stimuli, they almost appeared to have intelligence in their eyes and life in their posture. In addition to that, there was a faint line of some sort of energy connecting them together, though what exactly it consisted of Tacca was unsure. In fact, those two are…fine? Perhaps better than fine.
“What? No, don’t try to explain, I’ll be there soon.” He wasn’t lying either; Shale used his Invisibility to fly through her dungeon at full speed, completely ignoring the fight between the Raiders currently in the third room and the Branch Jackals trying to get a drop on them. In less than 2 minutes from when he got inside, he was already passing through the entrance of the new Core Room, where he stopped short in surprise.
“They look different. What’s wrong with them?”
I don’t think it’s what’s wrong with them, but what’s right. Take a look.
Gnoll Scout
These humanoid-looking hyenas have excellent hearing and sense of smell, though their eyesight leaves a lot to be desired. Like many Bipedals, Gnolls can use weapons of almost any kind, though the Scout Variant prefers to use bows or crossbows to attack from range. They can, however, easily use the sling they originally come equipped with. That’s not to say that they cannot be forced into a melee role, but they suffer from a penalty to their attack damage and defense rating.
Cost (Level 1): 100 DF
Control Requirement (Level 1): 4
Creation Time (Level 1): 35 Minutes
Equipment: Sling (Ranged Attack +2), Basic Leather Cuirass (Physical Defense +2)
Physical Attack: 2 (4)
Ranged Attack: 4 (8)
Physical Defense: 4 (6)
Ranged Defense: 2 (4)
Elemental Resistance: 0
Specials: Bonus to sensing those hidden by Invisibility spells and effects
Synergy Addition (+): Adds a bonus to Physical and Ranged Attack and Defense when paired with unevolved creature form; this bonus lasts for up to 30 seconds even after paired form is killed
The Echoing Hyena appears very similar, though instead of its Synergy Addition saying “unevolved” it says “evolved”. Incredible bonuses to its attributes as well.
“That is incredible. But why do they look the way they do? They seem more ‘real’ somehow.”
No idea, but if this is what it means by the “synergy” I read about, I don’t think it matters too much to me. And it gives me other ideas of pairing some of my other Semi-humans together.
“Are they going to explode every time you ‘pair’ them together? I would think that would cause some problems with keeping your other creatures alive – let alone us.”
Tacca had to think about it for a moment and even dove every sense she had into the two hyena-based creatures in front of her Core. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but she was confident that future pairings of these two wouldn’t be nearly as dramatic. She told Shale that, but added, As far as new pairings, such as a Wolf Variant with a Werewolf, I can’t guarantee those will be as calm. I have a feeling that once these “Synergy” pairings are formed for the first time, all it will take is putting them together again elsewhere for the connection to form between them – without exploding.
“Wait – you’re going to have Werewolves now?” her Dungeon Assistant asked incredulously, though she could see a hint of a smile on his face.
Oh, yes. And perhaps a few others – we’ll see. With that frightening-yet-successful experiment in “synergy”, Tacca was eager to get her next dungeon section finished so she could finally open up. With even more enthusiasm than she had before, she got back to work.
Chapter 24
Tacca finally had all the needed components, if not the needed Control Limit quite yet for her creatures, to complete her dungeon. She devoted the majority of her concentration to additional construction, ignoring nearly everything the Raiders were doing other than as a peripheral situation. She portioned off a section of her mind to continue moving creatures, traps, and Environmental Objects around to keep the flow of the rooms up there constantly changing, and continued to signal to those outside when the dungeon was ready to be delved through by the next group.
She was concentrating so much on her new project that she only noticed when Sterge and Gwenda were finishing up their latest delve, which was – she had to think back that far – at least 6 weeks since their last one. They seemed to be stretching out their visits longer and longer; she knew they were still trying to avoid too much attention, but now there was another reason she found out when listening in after their final battle.
“Nice! I just hit Raider Level 5!” the Human Healer shouted, who she’d overheard the last time they had visited was named William. She had also learned that the Elven Fighter was named Evy and the Gnome Scout was Mordecai; the last time they delved was relatively uneventful other than the unexpected sharing of names.
“So did I.”
“And I, as well.”
It seemed as though her Bonded Raiders friends had all achieved the 5th Raider Level, which meant that their time was relatively short in her upper dungeon. She had heard from a few of the other Raider groups that at Level 6, they would stop receiving any of the “Power” they earned from killing any of her creatures. They could still accumulate rewards, of course, but there would be no benefit to themselves, otherwise.
“We’re nearly to 6 ourselves,” Sterge said after they were all done congratulating each other. “What we’ve been earning lately has certainly slowed down, though. I have a feeling that 2 more delves will see you at 6 with us.” For some reason, the Hill Dwarves seemed sad about that.
“That’s great news!” Mordecai shouted gleefully, before seeing the expressions on Sterge and Gwenda’s faces. “Or…is that bad news?”
The Hill Dwarf Fighter shook his head. “No, it’s good, but…” He looked at Gwenda, who finished for him.
“But we’re not sure what to do after that. Eventually this dungeon is supposed to get more difficult, which is what we would need to keep earning Power, but we have a feeling that it won’t be until after the snows. That’s nearly half a year away, so we’re not sure what to do when we’re done here.” She shrugged after she stopped talking, and Sterge copied her gesture almost automatically.
“Well, obviously you can come with us to another dungeon for a while—oh. I see,” Evy said, tilting her head to the side as if in contemplation. “You can’t leave this place very easily, can you?”
Sterge shook his head. “No, we can’t. We’re sort of tied here to The Village for various reasons, and leaving even for a short time could cause some major issues.”
“We can just stay here with you and we can tackle the new, more difficult dungeon
whenever it comes about,” William suggested.
Mordecai had already gathered up all of the rewards for the group, as their designated holder of coins and gear, and they walked towards the exit as Gwenda responded. “We would love that, of course, but what about the future?”
The Elf scrunched up her face in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Well, let’s say this new dungeon is perfect for us, allowing us to earn Power and advance our Raider Level. You’ve all seen how quickly we’ve Leveled-up here, so how long would it take for us to make even the new dungeon obsolete? Six months? A year, if we’re slow about it? Common consensus after talking to a few of the more experienced Raiders around The Village said that it usually takes a few years for the dungeon to upgrade again, possibly even a decade or more. Should we all just wait around for 2, 5, or even nearly a decade for this dungeon to work for us again?”
They were halfway up the stairs before William finally responded, as the entire group had gone silent after Gwenda spoke. “So…what do you suggest?”
“As hard as it is to suggest it, I think you three will have to move on and find some replacements for us. We don’t want to hold you back, and I for one don’t think we can leave right now or even in the next year or so. It’s a possibility that we can step away from our responsibilities in the future, but waiting around for an unknown amount of time would be a disservice to you three.”
“That just seems wrong,” Evy immediately insisted. “You two are part of our group, and I don’t think I would be comfortable with anyone else. And no, it isn’t because you allow us to keep all of the loot – though that is nice,” she continued with a smile, before it disappeared. “It’s because – and I think the others can attest to this – we feel safe when you’re with us. Not since the very beginning have I felt even an ounce of fear that we wouldn’t all make it out alive and successful from here. You could argue that we feel that way because of your ‘connection’ to the dungeon, but it’s more than that. There is a confidence in everything you do that is infectious; not bravado, either – but pure confidence in your abilities and your trust in us to do what we need to do to survive.”
The Dungeon Fairy: Two Choices: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 2) Page 27