Dungeon Deposed

by William D. Arand

  Blinking, Ryker looked down at the map in thought.

  The idea was sound. Even giving the queen a location that he wouldn’t charge rent on would actually benefit him in the long run. If they owned the building, it’d be that much harder to give it up, or not repair it.

  Nodding his head, he couldn’t help but agree with Adele.

  “It’ll be a shame though,” said Adele. “I did as you suggested and took a ride around. A long ride. It may be the ass end of nowhere, but it’s picturesque. City might go and ruin that.”

  “It’s why my hill will remain free of all that. Only my farm, and my home up there,” Ryker said unthinkingly.

  “Farming,” Adele said, wrinkling her nose. “Shoveling animal shit, fighting nature, and pulling things out of the ground sounds… like a bad time. I’d pass.”

  She’s certainly a paradox. She likes riding, has all the grace of a worn boot, is clearly educated, and a solid mind. So why is she such a pain in the ass?

  His open office door functioned as a magnet for visitors. Or so Ryker was starting to believe when Claire walked in.

  “Ah, speaking of the frigid ice queen with lots of manners,” Adele said, getting to her feet. “Ryker will have a letter for our royal cousin later today. Make sure it gets posted with the dispatch.”

  With that, Adele took her leave, her riding skirt swishing with the speed of her departure.

  Claire watched her cousin go.

  “Of course, cousin,” she murmured.

  Turning her head back to Ryker, she quirked a brow at him.

  “Ah, trying to figure out how to lay out the city. Adele had a good suggestion,” Ryker explained. He didn’t want to alienate Claire. He was fairly certain he’d be banking on her when it came time for choosing a royal representative. Best he made sure to set up that relationship now.

  “Mm. Yes, she does well with consultative thinking. Now if only she could apply that to her own problems,” Claire said with a sad smile. “I took the liberty of notifying the adventurers guild about the dungeon. We’ll be splitting the finder’s fee.”

  Ryker was surprised at that. He had been content to simply wait for the adventurers to come in their own time.

  “I’d like to get this venture moving. I do hope you’ll forgive my eagerness. Their ranking party will be arriving tomorrow, if they hold to my proposed timeline,” Claire said.

  Not sure if I like that or not. She didn’t discuss it with me.

  Claire must have had a good read on him, as she bowed her head to him. “I’ll commit to discussing all things with you in the future when it concerns your dungeon.”

  For his part, Ryker was unsure.

  I hate politics.

  ***

  Ryker stood behind his counter.

  Waiting.

  I think I need to hire or buy someone to man the desk. I could be doing something more productive. Like building the dungeon.

  Or farming.

  The door swung inward, and a party of dirt-stained men and women wandered in. A quick count gave him three men and two women.

  They had the look of an adventuring group, one that had been together for a while. They were all on the early side of middle age if he had to guess.

  “Hey there, kid,” said one of the men.

  He was dressed in light clothing and had the look of one of his instructors from long ago. His hair was black and shot through with gray, his short goatee almost entirely gray. Black eyes weighed Ryker seriously.

  “Good morning. And welcome to the Dungeon,” Ryker said without preamble. “What can I do for you?”

  “You the owner?” asked the man.

  “Indeed, I am. Both the dungeon and the inn. Name’s Ryker.”

  The older man nodded his head.

  Claire stepped out from Ryker’s office and bowed her head to the man. “Greetings, my name is Claire. Cousin to the queen,” she said.

  “Ben’s the name. You’re the one who claimed the finder’s fee, then,” the man said. Pulling a purse off his belt, he dropped it down in front of Claire. “Well. Mind showing us the entrance? We’ll get this over as quickly as possible. Especially since there’s a pack of young adventurers coming up behind us. I’m betting the report got leaked and everyone is already well aware of what the Royal Guard recommended.”

  And that recommendation was beginners. Which the city of Warrenton is drowning in. Being the closest hub to the wilderness and farmlands brings all sorts of youngsters out.

  “I see,” Ryker said. Flicking a hand, he sent a command into an Enchanted Candle nearby. “Follow the candle.”

  It rose up, and immediately started off towards the entrance.

  The other two men and women did so, disappearing down the hallway.

  “Anything you can add?” Ben asked, sliding a single gold coin out of a pocket and setting it down on the desk.

  “Treat each fight seriously. There’s no traps that anyone has encountered, nor any casters. It’s all physical threats so far,” Ryker said. He didn’t mind handing out a bit of info for a gold.

  “Thanks,” Ben said, waving his hand and heading out.

  Claire picked up the purse and emptied it onto the desk. Gold coins clattered to the wood and lay there gleaming. Counting them out rapidly, Claire divided it in half and then indicated the pile in front of Ryker.

  “Your share, master Ryker,” Claire said.

  Adele snorted from the table she sat at.

  Drinking.

  “How quickly she’s already selling your information and things. Is that all you ever value? Your position? In public and in front of people no less,” Adele mumbled.

  “Though with that much gold floating around already, and a sea of more people coming, you should probably start worrying about a police force. Bank probably, too. I mean, the Royal Guards are here, but they’re not exactly going to be patrolling the streets. Have you thought about how to carry out justice either?” Adele asked.

  “I… had not. Your words yesterday inspired me. I sent my Fairy with a packet of dispatches after our conversation,” Ryker said honestly.

  “I hired someone to hire everyone else!” Wynne said from her seat in the wooden beams above. “He came highly recommended.”

  “By who?” Claire asked curiously, and a touch crossly. Ryker couldn’t help but feel slightly vindicated about not telling her. After all, she’d acted without his knowledge previously—he could do the same, especially since it was his dungeon.

  “The guild of adventurers! That’s where he was working, too. I offered him a finder’s fee for each person he finds that works longer than six months,” Wynne said with pride in her tone. “Uhm, Ryker told me to get… a blacksmith, alchemist, leather-worker, a few carpenters, farmers, a merchant guild contract, a bank contract, and a hiring manager. That’s the man from the adventurers guild.”

  Adele started to laugh. Only pausing in her mirth to take a deep draught of the beer on her table.

  “Well done. Sorry to burst your bubble, Claire, looks like you can’t hire your friends and pets.”

  Oh? Not that I’d blame her for trying, and if they had the qualifications I’d probably hire them. That pretty face of hers is definitely a problem for me.

  “Since right now I’d be footing the bill for anyone working for the dungeon, other than the Royal Guard, I imagine I’d have the final say,” Ryker said, making sure that his position was understood. “While I’m not against interviewing recommendations, I’d still decide on my own. And right now, that means all initial hiring is being done by who Wynne picked. With tha—” Ryker paused midsentence, looking to the door.

  He would have continued the conversation, but the sound from outside of the door was a dull roar. And it was building.

  It took him a minute, but Ryker figured out that it was the sound of a crowd. A crowd all converging on one location.

  “I think that herd of newbies Ben mentioned is here,” Ryker said softly.

  Claire, Adele,
and Wynne changed their demeanor immediately. All in different ways in fact.

  Claire moved closer to Ryker, Adele took her tankard and vanished towards her room, and Wynne moved to the rafter space in the corner closest to Ryker.

  A wave of young adventurers began pouring into the inn in a solid pack of bodies. They were all clamoring for access to the dungeon, and insisting that they were there first.

  Rather than wait, and feeling like he could leverage this to his advantage, Ryker held up his hands above his head. In the span of a second, he cast a lightning bolt spell from his left hand to his right. Normally a wizard could suppress the thunderclap at no cost of mana.

  Ryker let it detonate.

  The resounding boom silenced everyone, and a number of the newbies looked frightened.

  “That’s enough,” Ryker said. “Follow guild protocol. Highest ranking members get access first, and it goes down accordingly. Did you all forget your training?”

  Those closest to Ryker looked down, away, up, anywhere but him. The shame was clear on their faces.

  Being called to the floor on guild rules by someone not actively in the guild would be… embarrassing.

  “Line up, sign the guestbook, include your rank, and nationality. Don’t lie, I’ll know, and you’ll never go into my dungeon again,” Ryker promised.

  “I’ll have your party notified when your turn is due. Entry fee is a single copper for anyone of the Queendom of Dale. A silver for anyone not. We sell basic supplies if you need them, but I recommend you keep your head on straight. There is no apothecary, or temple. Yet.”

  He paused to survey his audience.

  They were all listening.

  He wasn’t here to kill these children. These wet behind the ears greenhands.

  He’d been one.

  Once.

  I’ll not stop them, but I won’t go out of my way to kill them.

  “Any questions?” Ryker asked.

  “Yeah, what’s to stop me from killing you and taking the land from you, One-Pump?” called a voice from the back.

  Rob. You know what? Let’s get some money from him. Let’s wring him dry. Let’s make him pay through the nose.

  Especially since he’s probably here to assist the young ones.

  “The fact that I own it, have the contract signed, and that the queen has two envoys here, and a Royal Guard company. That all seems about right. Oh, and Rob? You get to pay a gold to enter. Have fun with that,” Ryker said with an evil smile.

  “Whatever, I’ll expense it to the guild,” Rob said, coming up to the front.

  “In that case, two gold,” Ryker said, grinning wider.

  “Fine, whatever.”

  “Three,” Ryker said, leaning forward towards Rob.

  Don’t mess with the bull.

  “Eat me,” Rob said, his face turning ugly.

  “You just got yourself another gold to expense. Want another one?”

  “Yes,” said the barely constrained barrel of indignant rage.

  “You got it. That’s five,” Ryker said, enjoying this far too much.

  “You think I give a shit? I already said I’ll expense it!” Rob shouted.

  “Make it ten then. You through?”

  Rob finally got quiet, the implications of expensing the guild that much money sinking through his thick skull.

  “Good. Anyone else have any questions other than the man who will be funding a new home for me? Hell, maybe I’ll buy his house from the bank,” Ryker said, leaning back into his original position.

  Everyone shook their heads quickly. Ryker imagined everyone had figured out just who was in charge here. Even the queen’s envoy was here and playing nice after all.

  “Great. Everyone can start signing the guestbook,” Ryker said, slapping the book. “You first, Rob. For your stay, it’ll be a gold a night. You can expense that as well. It’ll be two copper for everyone else. That includes meals. That’s an extra silver for you, Rob.”

  Meals were easy since they were summoning creatures from the dungeon into the herb garden, slaughtering them, and then butchering them. One couldn’t tell where meat came from when it was dead. Which meant summoned creatures were on the menu.

  Feeling the dark pit of his heart smoldering with joy, Ryker tapped the guestbook expectantly for Rob.

  Growling, Rob stepped up and looked at the book.

  “Well? Where do I sign, One-pump?” Rob asked.

  “Use your card. Just focus on what you want the book to record. Also, your meals are now a gold each. Sure hope you can cover that up front, because I won’t be allowing a tab for you,” Ryker said.

  Rob’s face was red with fury and hate.

  “I… I don’t…whatever. Fine. Here’s twenty gold up front. And your damn guestbook!” Rob shouted, slamming his card down on top of the open page with one hand. The other crashed a purse of coins onto the table.

  Immediately words began appearing on the page, recording Rob’s information.

  “Great, now just wait a second while I count it. Gotta make sure. Your word isn’t any good here,” Ryker said. “Everyone else, just sign the guestbook. Your bill will be tabulated and you’ll pay at the end. If you ever want to know how much you owe, simply come check in at the desk.”

  Ryker stepped to one side, pulled out the purse, and then began counting out the gold coins one at a time.

  Savoring each and every one, he laid them out in a line. Luxuriating in the discomfort and anger of Rob.

  So sweet. So very sweet. I wonder what it’ll be like when I kill you.

  Watch the light fade from your eyes.

  Sighing happily, Ryker deliberately messed up the pile with a lazy swipe of his hand.

  “Drat. I’ll have to start counting again. Don’t go anywhere, Rob,” Ryker said, piling up the coins. “One, two, three—”

  Chapter 6 - Deals with Devils -

  Ryker watched quietly as Rob led a group of raw recruits into the dungeon. He didn’t even think for a moment he’d get a chance to kill him, but he’d still wanted to make sure of that.

  “Ryker,” Wynne said quietly. “You can’t watch him every time he goes in. And besides, the guy I hired is coming today. He’ll be here in less than an hour in fact. You have to do some planning today.”

  Sighing, Ryker let the spell fade and opened his eyes. “I suppose. Though after that, I think I need to work on the dungeon. I want to start building that second wing I was talking about.”

  “The Gnoll thing?” Wynne asked.

  “Yep. I want this to be an interesting dungeon. So… we’re going to have wings. With different factions and a story.”

  Wynne sighed, shaking her head, then brightened immediately. “I’m going to try and lure some of my kind in to take a look at my dungeon core. Because it ‘isn’t doing its job’ or some such. The only thing I need from you is your permission to use your control spells to bind them to the dungeon.”

  “You can do that? Without their permission?” Ryker asked curiously.

  “Yep! Normally a dungeon core couldn’t do that. They’ll not fear one with no output like ours. It’s one of the reasons I’ll be able to lure so many of them in,” Wynne said excitedly. “The contract between us is very different. We’re a contract of almost equals, whereas a contract with a dungeon is a servant’s. I’m going to lash their wills to your dungeon, and enslave them. The core has no contract after all, and simply does what your spells make it do.”

  “Knock yourself out, Wynne,” Ryker said with a grin.

  He wished he could get his revenge as easily as Wynne described her own plan.

  Then again, I could just murder Rob into the floor. It just wouldn’t look right… and that’s where the problems would start.

  Wynne laughed gaily, then winked out of existence entirely, as if she were never there.

  Grumping to no one, Ryker got up and adjusted his clothes. He’d been dressing in his normal city attire as of late. With so many people around, he could
n’t really get away with his patchy farm robes anymore.

  Looking into the mirror over his desk he gave himself a quick once-over.

  As presentable as you’re going to get. At least you’re not hideous, though you’re not exactly a handsome bastard either.

  Flicking his hand at the mirror dismissively, he left the office and walked out into the main room of the inn.

  There was always a commotion now. The adventurers relaxed in the fields outside, drank and ate inside, and waited their turn for the dungeon.

  It was this general lack of direction that was forcing him to have a meeting about the city.

  There was a need for entertainment.

  Housing.

  Shops.

  General city things.

  Hopefully Edwin has a better idea about what to do then I do.

  Exiting the inn, Ryker started to walk down the road a partial ways. He didn’t want to hold the meeting in the inn, and he figured he could meet the man on the road, then steer him off to one side.

  To be completely honest, he didn’t want Claire around for this one. Ryker wanted to have the first conversation privately.

  And so he waited there, off to the side of the road.

  Inside of twenty minutes, a man on a wagon leading an entire train of them rolled up to Ryker and stopped. The teamster waved at the wagon behind to keep going.

  “Ryker?” asked the man perched in the driver’s seat.

  “That’d be me. Would you be Edwin then?” Ryker asked, waiting where he stood.

  “Yeah. That’s me,” said the man.

  Dropping down from the driver’s bench Edwin brushed his hands off on his legs.

  Ryker got a good look at Edwin. He was in his forties, give or take. Brown hair cut short, blue eyes. Athletic, confident in himself. Ryker was never a great judge of height but he seemed just a few inches shy of six foot.

  Clearly ex-military. There was always a certain presence around them that you couldn’t mistake for anything else. A stamp of their previous life.

  Holding out his hand he got a firm handshake.

  “Welcome to… well, we haven’t figured out a name so far. But welcome. Wynne was quite pleased with herself for finding and hiring you,” Ryker said.