A Living Dungeon

by Allan Joyal

  Salene nodded. “Look, I have a strange request.”

  “Go ahead,” Kalacho said.

  “This might be more for Bezztol, since the Flame Vultures are going to enter the dungeon tomorrow. I wrote a note, something to see if this dungeon is really who my father thinks, but I don’t want my father to know. Can you arrange for it to be dropped while you are inside?” Salene asked.

  “Why not just speak while you are inside?” Kalacho asked.

  “Because my father might hear,” Salene said. “And after what he revealed. I don’t trust him.”

  Bezztol nodded. “I can understand that. But most likely nothing will happen. I’ve never heard of a dungeon responding openly.”

  Salene nodded. “I don’t know if I expect a response. But if the story is true, the spirit guiding this dungeon knew my ancestor. And I’d love to chat with her.”

  Bezztol just shook his head, but Kalacho was looking back at the entrance. “You know, we ran into something unusual in there.”

  “What?” Bezztol said.

  “The kobolds have set up an altar in a hidden room,” Kalacho replied. “It makes me wonder about if they have actually met the spirit of the dungeon. I can say that their defense of their rooms is cunning. They don’t risk much, but an unwary adventurer will be hurt or killed.”

  “You think the dungeon might have designed the room specifically for them?” Bezztol asked.

  “You know, I wasn’t going to put it that way, but it makes sense. Even the second stairway now makes sense. A spider guards it, or at least we think it was. We never saw what had created the webs in the room. But I’d drop the message at the altar. I suspect the kobolds won’t do anything to it once it’s there,” Kalacho said.

  Bezztol nodded. “Give it to me. I’ll risk dropping it tomorrow.”

  Salene smiled. “Thank you.” She pulled a small piece of paper from her pouch and held it out to him.

  The older adventurer carefully accepted the paper. “Why do you stay with your father?”

  “My family,” Salene said. “I don’t care about my father, but Lewfeld and Luniri need help for now. I’d leave if it wasn’t for them.”

  “Don’t wait too long to leave,” Kalacho recommended. “Not all adventuring companies will be willing to take you in, if they think you’ve avoided joining in the past.”

  Salene looked at the dungeon entrance. “I’m hoping that my father will abandon this quest finally, and I can leave. I never knew why he was obsessed with dungeons. He was always reading about them. He talked my oldest brother into going to a magic academy that specialized in training adventurers, but then encouraged Mardrew to become involved in studying dungeons rather than delving. It never made much sense to me.”

  “And now?” Kalacho asked.

  “My worry now is why he’s interested. Somehow the way he acted yesterday made me think he’s hoping to capture the dungeon soul,” Salene said.

  “Can that be done?” Humtar asked.

  “Long ago I heard someone speculate that it might be possible,” Bezztol said. “But I never talked to a wizard willing to try. Not that I’d ask. Dungeons can definitely sense when someone is seeking to harm them and the responses tend to be… extreme.”

  Everyone on the plateau nodded. Idolyn broke up the silence that followed with a moan of pain.

  “I think we need to get Idolyn and Exeritn to our camp,” Kalacho said.

  “I’ll help carry one of them,” Salene offered. “Or I can run ahead to let them know to bring help.”

  Bezztol shrugged. “I can help as well,” he said. “You already answered the questions I had. I’ll have to rotate my three dungeon rookies, since we have several people who are going to want us to descend deeper into the mountain than the Impaled Cats managed.”

  “We’ll keep improving,” Kalacho said. “Someday we’ll find the treasure room. If this dungeon has one.”

  Faestari’s concentration broke as she giggled at the idea that she kept treasure. She did have many gemstones that her work had uncovered, but never felt the need to build up a full treasure room. She ended up wondering how she should bring the dungeon to an end once adventurers started getting past the orcs and her dwarven fortress.

  She shook her head and looked out at the pool. Aylia was still off seeking to bring in more creatures to help fill her dungeon. She decided to complete the move of the underground stream to accommodate the coming monsters and closed her eyes as she tried to envision the changes to her dungeon.

  Chapter 20: Watching a Town Grow

  The next twenty days proved to be an interesting combination of frantic work on the dungeon, paired with relaxing moments spent talking to Aylia. The water sprite turned out to have many ideas for traps and monsters. Many proved either unworkable, or just felt too deadly, but the stream did get shifted until ten rooms on the fifth floor had running water. Those rooms were populated by creatures that Aylia brought in and Faestari then improved on.

  Faestari also finally allowed her body to develop. She now looked like a teenage human with the pointed ears and long blond hair of an elf. Aylia had laughed the first time she saw that the dungeon soul had grown up, but also admitted that the new look would impress others that saw it.

  There had been other changes during the twenty days. Late the night after Kalacho led the Impaled Cats on their first delve, a pack of wolves had crept up to the north slope of the mountain. The night was moonless, so Faestari used her mana to summon the wolves and lead them to the entrance. They quickly entered and were guided to the third floor where they joined the orcs. Her least favorite monsters were thrilled to finally have some guard creatures, although the mana they provided her failed to increase.

  Faestari also found that a species of bat had started using one of her two safe rooms as a roost. She did not want them there and forced them out by closing off the chamber. She also closed the other one leaving the top level just a straight passage leading to the stairs. The adventurers barely noticed the change as they headed into the dungeon each day.

  The groups had worked out a rotation for their delves. The two adventuring companies still allowed Gee’if and his companions to have the first priority and then split most of the rest of the time. Mordlew’s family only made one more attempt to enter the dungeon, but they were forced to retreat after the second room with orcs. Mordlew then began trying to convince either of the adventuring companies to allow his family to work with them. Faestari was pleased to see that they refused, although the note left for Salene was still unopened in her sleeping alcove. She had retrieved it after it was left, but just set it aside as she watched the adventurers work their way deeper.

  No group had reached the dwarven fortress, but a team led by Bezztol had finally reached the stairway down to the fourth floor. The Flame Vultures turned back before descending, but seemed very pleased by the discovery. Kalacho was already talking about assembling a top team to crack the fourth floor.

  But the largest changes over the twenty days occurred outside Faestari’s domain. About twenty miles to the east, Dared’s workers had finally found a good source of easily cut stone. A new pavilion tent was set up to shelter teams of oxen that hauled wagons to and from the new quarry. Other teams would head to the south where Dared had workers felling trees to provide logs and lumber.

  Several buildings were now complete. The tavern was only a single story building and the back wall of the tavern was part of the log palisade that had been thrown up, but most nights thirty or more adventurers could be found gambling and drinking at the tables. An inn was in place, and Mordlew quickly hired out rooms for himself and Mardrew. The rest of his family was staying in Gee’if’s campsite at the edge of the grove. The group had been given control of the spring that provided water for the village.

  The adventuring companies remained in their camps, but both Lonstance of the Impaled Cats and Ogarsky of the Flame Vultures had spent an afternoon talking to Dared about building permanent halls for the
ir companies. The negotiations regarding the payment of costs were ongoing, but it was clear that both companies planned to establish a permanent presence in the shadow of the mountain.

  Dared was thrilled by the progress and growth of his town. Colasmel now had a small store just a short distance from the tavern. The alchemist had found a young woman who would spend the day in the store selling potions and purchasing the items brought out of the dungeon. He spent his time in a tent downstream of the growing town. Dared had already promised to have a permanent workshop built once the stone began arriving from the quarry.

  It was this issue and others that started a conversation at the tavern one night. Faestari was listening from the rafters of the building. Her domain did not reach the town, but she was able to throw her mana that far without too much trouble.

  Dared was clearly in charge. “The good news is that the first wagon that I sent back to Fairview with some potions Colasmel made, has returned, and master Trifect is reporting a successful trading session.”

  “What does that mean?” Mordlew asked angrily. “The food is always the same and the ale weak.”

  Dared just smiled. “I know we don’t have a lot of variety. It’s difficult to transport most food items. What we can find in Fairview doesn’t travel well. However, the successes of the forays into the dungeon have been talked about.”

  “Who cares?” Mordlew said. “It’s a dungeon, it’s just a bunch of chambers with monsters in them.”

  “And yet you stay here. Why not move on if you hate what you are doing,” Kalacho asked pointedly.

  Salene was sitting with Gee’if and Betrixy. The young woman leaned over to whisper something to the now experienced wizard. Gee’if’s party had returned earlier that day having fought most of the way through the third floor. They turned back after finding a white earthstar mushroom. Everyone in the tavern was still buzzing about that rare find.

  “I have reasons,” Mordlew said as he glared at his daughter.

  Dared just shrugged as he noticed that Mordlew was no longer looking at him. “Well, if I might continue.”

  Mordlew drew in breath, but Bezztol walked over and placed a firm hand on the older man’s shoulder. The adventuring captain whispered something in Mordlew’s ear and then walked away.

  Dared waited a moment longer before nodding. “As I said, Trifect told me that news of the dungeon has started to spread. He did not hear of anyone with firm plans, but it sounded like two different journeymen blacksmiths are considering coming here to set up workshops. He also was able to engage the Hierarch at the Temple of Veshtrya.”

  “We’ll have a temple?” Lewfeld asked. He sounded hopeful.

  “It looks like we will have a temple in about forty days. The Hierarch said that consecrating a new altar would require fifteen days, and they also would have to assemble a full clergy, but they will be coming once that is complete,” Dared said.

  Several of the adventurers sitting at the tables began pounding the tables with their tankards. Dared allowed it to continue for a moment and then raised his hand.

  “I thought you’d like that. My sergeant also hired five more men to serve as guards. So far we haven’t had any trouble, but I thought it would be wise to start building up a peace force. As you know we did have one group of bandits visit,” Dared said.

  “Yeah, and they didn’t listen,” Bezztol shouted.

  The man sitting next to Mordlew frowned and brought his tankard to his lips. He had been part of the group of bandits that argued with Vistilek twenty days before. The five who had turned back after the conversation had returned twelve days later and snuck up to the dungeon entrance that night. For reasons that Faestari still did not understand, they entered the dungeon. They soon found that the spiders and kobolds were more than they wanted to deal with, but instead of turning back they had pressed forward. Two members had fallen just reaching the stairway to the third floor and two more were taken down by the spider after they raced down the stairs and got tangled in the thick webs. Jevilt had stumbled out of the dungeon just before dawn. He actually had managed to find six valuable mushrooms, but selling them did not seem to bring him happiness. The now bitter man sought out Mordlew and offered to serve as his guard in the dungeon and outside.

  Faestari noticed that Dared had looked over at Jevilt. However, nothing happened and Dared raised his hand again.

  “I do have more. As Mordlew pointed out, the food here leaves a lot to be desired. Trifect was supposed to let any farmers he saw at market know that we have land here and my workers are available to help mark out farm boundaries and to help raise a farm house for any young men and women seeking opportunity. The hope is that they’ll soon be able to provide food for the town,” Dared said.

  “Most farms just barely make enough to feel themselves,” Kalacho said. “But it’s nice to see that he’s considered that problem.”

  Lonstance shrugged. “We still don’t have everything we need. Some of the men are starting to talk about the need for a doxy or two.”

  “If the tales of a dungeon are going around, we’ll have something soon. Honestly, I’m surprised we haven’t had someone bring out some girls,” Kalacho said.

  “Where would they stay? It’s not like the inn is all that good. It’s only a single story, and there are no hearths. That’s probably my biggest worry. It’s mid-summer so right now no one is worried about the weather, but this mountain probably sees several feet of snow in the winter,” Lonstance said.

  Bezztol got up. He walked over to Dared. The young lordling was leaning over to listen to something being said by one of his guards. “Sir?” Bezztol asked.

  Dared held up a hand as he listened to the entirety of the guards report. “Let Joward know your idea. I agree. We’d be best off to keep the town entirely on this side of the stream, but to enclose the stream within the walls we are putting up. He’ll know how we should assemble that.”

  The guard smiled. He got up and walked over to the one table were a few of Dared’s workers congregated.

  “I need a second tavern for the workers,” Dared said in an amused tone. “The workers don’t like being in the same place as the adventurers.”

  “Well, some adventurers do like to mock workers like them,” Bezztol admitted.

  “Oh, where are my manners,” Dared said. “Sit down, please!” The young lordling pointed to the chair the guard had been sitting in.

  Bezztol sat down with a smile. “I must say, you are surprisingly approachable.”

  “For a king’s son?” Dared said. “You have to understand, my mother was not married to my father. Worse, while everyone knew that he was my father, he never openly acknowledged me. It meant that to the other nobles I was just some commoner with pretentions.”

  “You speak well for a commoner,” Bezztol said with a smile.

  Dared laughed. “I was educated in the palace. My father said he wanted me to be an advisor to the next king, but that didn’t work out.”

  “So you came out here to found a new kingdom?” Bezztol asked.

  “Maybe a little barony,” Dared said. “After all, I doubt this town will grow that large.”

  “You haven’t started on your keep,” Bezztol pointed out.

  “Joward and I were arguing over where to place it. He wants us to move enough soil to have a proper motte. We’d then encircle the town with walls,” Dared said.

  “Sounds like a good defensible position,” Bezztol replied.

  “But it would require a lot of work, and I’d rather have a well-functioning town. I also wanted to make sure we had access to water, so I want the keep built near the stream,” Dared said.

  “It could flood on you,” Bezztol said worriedly.

  “I’m not that worried about it,” Dared said. “I don’t expect to start serious construction of the keep until the winter. I expect that the adventuring will slow down a bit once snow covers the mountain.”

  “It might not,” Bezztol said. “I doubt anyone will
be willing to climb to the entrance during a storm, but there is no reason to avoid the dungeon.”

  “Not even to allow it to recover. If I’ve kept track properly, the delves since I arrived have resulted in more than fifty spiders killed,” Dared said.

  “In some dungeons that can be a problem,” Bezztol admitted. “However, this dungeon clearly provides lairs and food to all the monsters inside. Several members of the Flame Vultures have reported seeing rats wandering. They have also found rat carcasses where the rat died from a spider bite. I’m not sure how the dungeon makes sure that grain is available for the rats, but all the other monsters have food. I’m sure they also have places to bear their young.”

  “Dungeons do that?” Dared asked. “I’m wondering because I really don’t know much about dungeons. Everyone knows that adventurers love to challenge them, and that they can provide riches to adventurers who survive. The results of the delves here are a good example of the riches. I sent Trifect out ten days ago. And Colasmel was still brewing, so he only had a limited supply of potions. He still made over eight gold selling the potions Colasmel was willing to send.”

  “I hope you haven’t planned to send out all the potions,” Bezztol said.

  “By Veshtrya I wouldn’t do that,” Dared said. “If you didn’t have the potions you need, the delves come to a halt and then Colasmel gets no more ingredients. No, I’ve encouraged him to keep prices for adventurers well below what we can make sending product to Fairview.”

  “He went along with that?” Bezztol asked.

  Dared sighed. “You know that sweet girl who works at his store?”

  “Jerisa?” Bezztol asked.

  “His daughter,” Dared said. “She wants to be an alchemist, but when Colasmel suggested that in the Kingdom of Ridneg, the king ordered him put to death.”

  “What?” Bezztol asked.

  “It was worse, Jerisa was supposed to be seized and then forced to work in the barracks brothel,” Dared said. “I was in the throne room when the king passed the edict.”