by Allan Joyal
Several adventurers shouted out questions, but Joward just backed up as Dared stepped forward. The young man listened to the shouts and raised his hand for silence.
“I’ll try to answer all your questions at the end of the speeches,” he said. “We’re trying to make this quick. However, this one is important for everyone. I know that we don’t have any problems with crime right now, but once we have farmers and adventurers mixing in town there could be trouble. Therefore, Sergeant Koltiss has been making sure we had a town guard that could handle problems. I believe he has a few things to say.”
The old warrior stepped forward. He nodded towards a couple of the adventurers and then frowned. “I’m going to try and keep this simple. First, we are starting to see a lot of non-adventurers in town. Many of them will come to town occasionally for a drink or to deal with the market. We are going to have a market square. I believe that a location for the fountain is already set and the piping is being laid down. Now there are a couple of things I expect.”
The adventurers got quieter. The sergeant nodded. “First, while adventuring in the dungeon is a major part of the economy of our town, adventurers are not above the law. They are to treat all shop keepers and citizens with respect. Failure to do this may result in being exiled from town permanently. Now currently the wall is unfinished so that will be difficult to enforce, but once we can enforce it we will.”
One of the adventurers stood up. “What if we find a merchant cheating us. It happens regularly to some adventurers.”
“If that is happening, you bring it to the guard house. We’ll investigate and if it proves to be true, the merchant will be forced to pay you double the fair price before we exile him,” Sergeant Koltiss responded. “And that is part of what I want to warn you. Dared has authorized hiring additional guards. We should have twenty men serving in town after the next caravan arrives. However, as you might remember I started with only ten guards serving under me and many guard the work sites where we gather the stone and wood for building. I’m trying to make sure we hire men who have some experience dealing with adventurers, but some will be very green. Please be patient with them.”
Sergeant Koltiss sighed. “I do expect them to make mistakes, in particular in failing to treat you with the respect you deserve. If you do have a problem, let me know. I will make sure it is resolved fairly.”
Sergeant Koltiss backed up. Dared immediately stepped forward. “I know some of you might be worried that only twenty guards won’t be enough. If necessary I will be paying certain adventurers to help out,” the young noble said. “As stated earlier, we are starting to enclose the city with a wall. Some of it will be a simple log wall, but we are going to have a stone wall in some areas. Much of this work will continue after the snow falls. By spring, the area of the city will be enclosed. There will be two gates. One at the east edge of the city near the stream. One at the south west area of the city near the gate guarding the path to the dungeon.”
“As for the dungeon. Some of you might have heard a report that a being that appeared to be a young elven woman appeared at the entrance to the dungeon and claimed to be the avatar for the dungeon. A powerful spirit of truth was summoned to confirm this. According to all witnesses, the spirit confirmed the identity of the girl as the soul of the dungeon and also confirmed that the dungeon is content to maintain chambers to challenge the adventurers. I should note that doesn’t mean the dungeon is not lethal. We have confirmation that the monsters and traps are deadlier the deeper you go. Those parties that have taken on the floor past the orcs report that the beetles roaming the floor are extremely difficult to kill. However, I should note that my alchemist loves purchasing any blood or acids collected from the carcasses,” Dared said.
Dared’s last comment received another salute as the adventurers pounded on the tables with their mugs. Dared smiled as the noise echoed in the hall. Then he held up his hand and the woman standing behind him walked up.
Dared put his arm around the woman. “I would like to tell you all that I have taken a wife. I believe many of you recognize Jerisa.”
“You married her?” she heard an adventurer sitting with many Flame Vultures shout out. The man had not been inside the dungeon so Faestari guessed he was a recent arrival.
“Why would I not marry the daughter of the most important man in my town? The woman who brings a smile not only to my face, but to those of just about all she meets thanks to her gentle and caring nature. And the woman who is the mother of my child,” Dared said lovingly as he looked at his wife.
Gee’if jumped to his feet. “Everyone, Dared has made sure we have the foundation of a fine town. He has shown all adventurers here great respect. Let us give a cry to salute his lucky marriage!”
The other adventurers roared their approval. Faestari glanced at Gee’if’s table and could see that Betrixy was gazing up at the veteran adventurer with a love in her eyes. Salene and Hal’vik were both joining in the cheers.
Dared once again waited for the cheers to die down. Once they had he nodded to the crowd. “I just have a couple more things. First, after discussing the town layout and plans with Joward, we decided to delay building the keep until next spring. We want to be sure everyone has shelter for the winter, so that will be the priority for the fall. I also want to make clear that Jerisa’s first child will be my heir. I’m not going to play a game where only boys can inherit. There have been too many capable female adventurers in town for me to discount the value of a woman’s voice.”
The adventurers nodded at this, although Faestari noticed a few with frowns. Dared stepped back and then started to leave the platform, clearly indicating that the celebration could now begin.
Chapter 28: Official Aggression
Dared was still on the platform when Mordlew jumped to his feet. “What will be done about the dungeon?”
Dared stopped and looked over at the old adventurer. Faestari was on the far side of the room, but she noticed strange red lines running up the arms of the old man. “What do you mean?” Dared asked. “I do have the guards there to prevent any problems and to maintain a policy of no more than one group at a time in the dungeon, but that is all.”
“It’s a killer,” Mordlew complained. “It needs to be controlled by magic.”
Dared frowned. He looked more closely at Mordlew. “Ah, now I remember. Let me start by saying I’ve heard about your story. I’ve also heard the story told by the adventurer’s who met with the elven woman claiming to be the dungeon soul. Interestingly, the two stories agree on many points. So I am inclined to believe that the soul guiding the dungeon in the mountain above us did once live as a human child.”
“All the more reason that powerful magic should be used to capture her,” Mordlew complained.
Dared frowned. “No, all that means is that the dungeon might be the child of a man who founded your family line. However, that same dungeon is far older than you. And we still have no real grounds to try to contain the soul.”
“More than fifteen people have died after entering,” Mordlew shouted in fury.
“And they were all adventurers who understood the risk,” Dared said. “Well, I understand that two of the groups wiped out were actually bandits that choose to enter thinking it was a way to get some treasure quickly. It we don’t count them there really are only eight deaths that can be counted. Six of them from an inexperienced group that took money to try to reach the dungeon heart.”
“They were professional dungeon killers!” Mordlew thundered.
“Actually,” Roquel said as she stood up. “Thumas was the most experienced out of that group and he had been on less than thirty delves. He claimed to be a professional, but did not have the experience.”
“You were supposed to be with him,” Mordlew said. “That much I understood when he talked to me about the dungeon just before entering.”
Roquel shrugged. “And he also told me that the dungeon casually attempted to kill every adventurer who entered.
Yet, we now have a confirmed story that an adventurer lost his hand to a beetle, yet was saved by a stone golem from the dungeon who carried him to the plateau at the entrance so that a regrowth potion could be retrieved and brought to him. I had not signed up to kill a dungeon that shows compassion.”
“It’s a rogue dungeon. It doesn’t think like any other dungeon out there,” Mordlew ground out.
“Which I believe we all prefer,” Roquel said. “I’ve only been in there once. I prefer to work with some of the adventuring groups outside the dungeon, but I’ve seen the chambers and the monsters. This dungeon actually tries to give us a fair challenge. New adventurers can risk the first rooms. More experienced ones can take the stairs through the spider web and take on orcs. Truly confident ones can take on the beetles on the next floor down.”
“What about the report that there is a water sprite inside. I heard it admitted to killing one of your friends,” Mordlew said.
“Companion, not friend,” Roquel said firmly. “He was not someone I would have gotten to know well even had he not died during that delve.”
“Whatever, did a water sprite really kill him?”
“I wasn’t a witness to it,” Roquel said. “But if it did happen, I can’t say it was wrong. Adventuring is not for the careless.”
Mordlew just shook his head. “You are another who has become enamored with the treasure inside and forget the monster that is the heart of that dungeon. I will show you all that it is a problem.”
“Not if I have to get involved,” Dared said. “Mordlew. Yes, I know your name. I know a bit more about you than you realize. You’ve been thrown out of four wizard academies due to your obsession with spirit magic and how it can be used to coerce spirits rather than ally with them. I know of two dungeons where adventuring parties met with you and ordered you to leave the area or die. And now you are my problem. I’m going to make it official. You must leave. Mardrew must also leave.”
“What about the others?” Mardrew asked.
“They can decide on their own,” Dared said. “However, I want you two out of town within five days.”
Mordlew stood up slowly. He glared at Dared. “You have no idea the mistake you are making,” the man said firmly.
Dared just shook his head. “That dungeon is the reason we have a town here. Without it, we would not have the resources to build a keep and defend the valley. We are far enough from any other kingdom that there are orcs and trolls nearby.”
“I doubt that,” Mordlew said.
“Why are you so hateful father?” Salene asked as she jumped to her feet. “Oh, I can tell you now that I’m through with you. You can go head off to find some other group of people to make miserable with your petty schemes and tales of glory. What I find fascinating is that you admitted that Feldmar was a simple adventurer and later some kind of farmer. If that is true, he lost nothing other than a woman he loved and a daughter he cherished. You have no real claim to either.”
“That daughter isn’t human. She’s some kind of mystical spirit. Why can’t we reclaim her for the family?” Mordlew yelled back.
The rest of the tavern was quiet as all the patrons watched the ongoing argument. Mordlew appeared to finally realize that he was the center of attention. The man looked around angrily and then bent down to whisper something in Mardrew’s ear. His son stood up as Mordlew glared around the tavern. “Tell Lewfeld and Luniri that I want to see them at dawn tomorrow. There will be no reason to stay after that.”
“Father,” Salene said carefully. “Don’t think the adventurers here won’t stop you if you try to do something.”
Mordlew looked around the tavern and then nodded. He walked out of the room without another word.
Faestari wanted to chase him, but she realized that she needed to get back to her dungeon heart. Something about the confidence with which Mordlew had walked out of the tavern worried her and his comment about the next morning left her wondering what might happen. She also realized she still had to make sure the rat she was possessing died to prevent its increased intelligence from being spread to other rats.
Faestari turned and scamperd along the rafters and out of the tavern. She forced the rat to run as fast as possible out of the town and back up the mountain. The run continued into the mountain and only halted when she managed to get the rat tangled in the webs of the spider that guarded the stairway between the orcs and the kobolds. Then she pulled her consciousness from the rat as the spider prepared for the unplanned feast.
Chapter 29: Morning Assault
The next morning the sky was perfectly clear. Faestari was sitting by her pool. Her left hand made the water ripple as she ran her fingers back and forth. She had her eyes closed as she watched the edge of her domain.
She could sense that Mordlew and Mardrew had walked up and were standing just south of the gatehouse blocking access to her path. Lewfeld and Luniri had joined them. Koristal was standing a short distance to the side. She had an angry look on her face as she glared at her husband.
Lewfeld walked over to her. “I have to, he’s family.”
Koristal just brushed a lock of hair from her forehead and slipped it over her left ear. “I thought I was your family. That is what a marriage is supposed to be about. I’m also the mother of your child to be. Or have you forgotten about that.”
“But we were going to,” Lewfeld started to say.
“No, you were going to run off and leave me,” Koristal said. “You knew about my beliefs when you met me and asked me to marry you.”
Lewfeld frowned. “But, I thought you said that you’d need time to find the right place.”
“I told you that someday I would realize I had found the perfect location to set up a new temple to my lady. The grove that Gee’if and his friends camp in has the features I’ve been looking for. Betrixy and Salene helped me assemble the altar over a ten days ago,” Koristal said angrily.
“What?” Lewfeld asked.
Mordlew ran over and glared at the young woman. “What do you mean altar? You’re just a little woman who followed my son around and convinced him to stop attempting to learn about dungeons.”
Lewfeld put a hand on his father’s shoulder. “She’s a priestess of Cuan Bi,” he said.
“The goddess of nature and balance?” Mordlew said. “And you didn’t tell me?”
“It wasn’t his place to tell you,” Koristal said. “And he agreed to never tell you or we would no longer be married. By his own admission, he wishes for the marriage to end. I’ll be off then. I can say that I have rarely known a more venal and greedy man than you.”
Koristal spun around and stomped off, heading northward to the grove where her new altar had been set up. Faestari found herself smiling at the courage shown by the woman. “Another one I have to find a way to gift once it’s safer for me to wander around,” she thought.
Mordlew walked back over to Mardrew. They were examining a scroll that Mardrew had brought out. Occasionally they would look back at the town. It soon became obvious that they were waiting for someone.
“Father,” Lewfeld complained. “I just lost my wife. And we were told to leave the town.”
“We have,” Mardrew said. “We are not standing within the area that will be walled in once the town is complete.”
“I think that’s not what Dared meant,” Lewfeld said. “We should be leaving the valley, not standing right at the base of the mountain. And why do you keep looking at the mountain.”
“I’m going to claim that dungeon soul,” Mordlew said. “We have the spells and the knowledge. We just have to get to the heart of the dungeon.”
“And where is that?” Lewfeld said. “I believe it would be inside the dungeon. A place you’d never be permitted to go.”
“If I intended to go in that way, I’d have already removed the gatehouse. But it is not the obstacle we need to get past today,” Mordlew said.
Just then four men walked out past the foundation for the town gate. Two
were well armored men, wearing helmets that obscured their faces. The other two were wizards wearing black velvet robes. One of the wizards carried a strange clear bottle filled with what appeared to be pure fire.
The quartet nodded to Mordlew as they approached. “This looks about right,” the wizard holding the bottle said. “But I think we should check again.”
The wizard opened the bottle. A humanoid being made out of flame appeared as a giant flare of flame that reached twice the height of a man before jumping from the bottle to a small pile of sticks that Faestari had not noticed.
The humanoid figure bowed to the wizard that freed it. “Yes, this is it, my master,” the figure said in a sibilant tongue.
“So this dungeon has a humanoid avatar?” the wizard asked.
“I have seen her, spoken to her,” the figure said with another bow. “She threw me out. Refused to give me the right to destroy the water sprite hiding in her chamber.”
“In her chamber?” Mordlew asked.
“Coward she is,” the figure said. “chamber hidden in mountain. Small chamber. It has no entrances or exits. Just a pool of water and some grass.”
“Grass in a mountain cave?” Mardrew asked.
“Crystal to bring light from surface,” the figure said. “Old trick, good trick.”
“Can we use the crystal to find her?” one of the armored men asked.
The fire spirit seemed to look down at the man. “Many crystals on mountain. Waste time. Can feel her. Can feel her treasure.”
The other armored man stepped forward. “Treasure? What treasure. Everyone just talks about the dungeon providing mushrooms.”
Faestari suddenly realized that the fire spirit was the Mephit she had evicted from the dungeon. It pointed at the mountain, and Faestari had little doubt it was pointing directly at her refuge. “Gems, many, many gems. Sapphires, rubies. Mana Stones. Dungeon make those and store.”
“Mana stones?” the wizard not holding a bottle asked. “Probably only a couple.”