A Living Dungeon's Madness

by Allan Joyal

  “I’ve never heard of creatures that weak providing the mana spike necessary,” Wynterhold said as they reached the edge of the domain. The older dungeon did not pause and moved across the invisible boundary.

  A loud kobold’s alarm howl rang out. The two guards they just passed rushed back down the tunnels. Faestari followed Wynterhold as the two guards ran past them. They were holding finely crafted hammers.

  “Wynterhold!” Faestari said as she noticed the enchanted runes on the heads of the two hammers.

  “I see them,” Wynterhold said. “That’s old imperial dwarven runic. I thought the surface dwarves had forgotten how to use them.”

  Faestari looked down. “We’re near the top of the domain. You don’t think that?”

  Wynterhold started to curse as the duo moved deeper into the dungeon. It was clear that the alarm had sent massive numbers of kobolds rushing deeper into the passages. “Are you suggesting that this was a kobold colony and the awakening was caused by them opening up a passage to some deeper community?”

  “It is the only thing that makes sense. The two kobolds up there appeared almost bored. I’ve watched the creatures in my dungeon. They know that I can alert them to anyone entering if they are not adventurers and they still maintain a close watch on the first two chambers. They even have a trap designed to sound an alarm should someone careless step on the tripwire,” Faestari said.

  “Do people do that?” Wynterhold asked.

  “Ones led by Kalacho or Gee’if don’t, but I’ve seen members of both the Flame Vultures and the Impaled Cats forget that it’s there and step on it,” Faestari said.

  The duo had found a large open chamber. It had clearly been hollowed out by the kobolds. The ceiling was rather low, but more than one hundred kobolds filled the area. They held weapons out as they blocked all the exits from the room.

  Faestari and Wynterhold paused as they stared at the mass of kobolds. A couple of the kobolds cautiously moved forward. They thrust spears at Faestari only to scamper back when the blades of the spears passed through Faestari’s form without affecting her.

  Another kobold howl rang out. The mass of kobolds shifted, leaving a large space in the middle of their army. The hand of a giant kobold holding a red crystal began to emerge from the group in the cleared spot.

  “That’s the dungeon’s heart!” Wynterhold said. The older dungeon was clearly surprised and worried.

  Faestari carefully probed the mass of mana that was rising up through the floor. “The mana there is twisted. It’s not as much as I feared.”

  “It’s still a fair amount of mana,” Wynterhold said as the head of a giant kobold emerged from the ground. “It is just me or is the hand holding the heart gem look like it was carved from stone.”

  “Do you think the kobolds might have been worshipping the gem even before the dungeon received enough mana to wake?” Faestari asked.

  The kobold appeared to leap out of the ground. It stepped forward as the kobolds spread apart to give it a path leading towards Wynterhold and Faestari.

  “Mine! Mana mine!” the giant kobold said. “Leave.”

  “You are appearing in the domains of other dungeons,” Wynterhold said. “You are not supposed to be doing that.”

  “Mana mine!” the giant kobold said firmly. “You give!”

  The kobold reached out with the hand holding its heart gem. Faestari felt a force press against the shield surrounding her avatar. It slid away as the kobold turned to stare at Wynterhold.

  “Give! Must give!” the kobold commanded.

  “It’s mad,” Wynterhold said.

  “So, we need to alert some adventurers to kill it?” Faestari asked. “That seems a bit extreme with a brand new dungeon.”

  “Do you think you can teach it?” Wynterhold asked as the avatar raised its left arm. A shield seemed to grow from the avatar’s wrist. “It can’t even speak. I’ve never known a dungeon that could not communicate.”

  The kobold lowered its hand. “Must give. Can’t refuse.”

  The army of normal kobolds barked out a challenge and with the bay of dogs chasing a fox charged at the two avatars.

  “Leave,” Wynterhold said. “We’ll meet back at your heart chamber.”

  Faestari pulled her mana out of the other dungeon’s domain. The mana of the domain tried to prevent her escape, but a moment later she felt her mana link back to her heart stone. She absorbed it back into the body of her primary avatar and sat up.

  Her heart chamber was empty. She could see that a couple of her stone rabbits were standing in front of her sleeping alcove looking towards the water. They appeared to be guarding the alcove.

  Faestari felt an influx of mana. “Thanks,” Wynterhold said. “We definitely have a problem.”

  “It seemed like that dungeon was using its mana to try to steal ours,” Faestari said. “And it knows where I am so I can expect additional attacks.”

  Wynterhold nodded. “But I noticed it didn’t maintain its attack on you. It’s clear that it knows you have a way to defend against its attempts. How do you do it?”

  Faestari frowned. “After its first visit I examined its mana signature. Every dungeon I’ve met has a different signature. Once I knew what the signature of this new dungeon was like, I modified my domain shields to block that signature. Long ago I did something similar with the magic the Kindred likes to use. Their scanning spells won’t penetrate into my domain.”

  “You keep the Kindred out?” Wynterhold said.

  “I haven’t trusted them since they brought the broken and rusted weapons after you sent them the message that I’d give them a large sapphire if they made a delivery,” Faestari said. “The sapphire should have paid for a full wagon of quality weapons. Instead I got four packs filled with junk.”

  “I remember,” Wynterhold said. “What did you do with the weapons.”

  “A few I provided to my kobolds,” Faestari said.

  “Wait! Your kobolds, do they know about the new dungeon?” Wynterhold asked.

  “I believe they’ve heard it. The last time it sent an avatar, I was able to force it to say outside my domain, but it started barking loudly in kobold. With my kobolds living so close to the surface, it is certain that they heard it. However, my kobolds seem very happy with their chambers. I’m more worried about the other dungeon trying to coax my orcs into betraying me.”

  “What have your kobolds done?” Wynterhold asked.

  “Did I ever tell you that they have a small altar setup in one of the side rooms I set aside for them?” Faestari asked.

  “I remember you mentioning it. Why?” Wynterhold said.

  “Because they are now holding gatherings there where their shaman leads all of the adults in worship ceremonies,” Faestari said. “I can’t describe how much mana they provide every time they meet. And I never ordered it.”

  “What have you done then?” Wynterhold asked.

  “I work hard to provide them with enough food and resources to thrive. They still lose one or two of their younger adults every ten days, but their population increases slowly. Their females are healthy and very happy from what I can tell,” Faestari replied.

  Wynterhold frowned. “It shouldn’t work, but it seems it does.”

  Faestari felt the signal that indicated that an orc raiding party was returning. She closed her avatar’s eyes while she reached out to look.

  The orcs at the entrance included the leader as well as a dozen adult orcs and another seven younglings. They were dragging a still living bear with them. Faestari opened the door and watched as the orcs rushed through the opening.

  “What?” Wynterhold said as she opened her eyes back up.

  “Oh, I’m not sure I told you. My orcs wanted to raid so after some consideration I created a secret magical passage I can open to allow them out of the dungeon. They have strict orders to leave the village and adventurers alone. A band had gone out this morning and was returning. My only question was why they were dr
agging a still living bear with them,” Faestari said.

  Wynterhold looked surprised. “They were doing that? I’ve never heard of such a thing. My tribes don’t try anything like that.”

  “You also don’t allow them to leave,” Faestari said.

  “They’d fight if I did,” Wynterhold said. “They respect my power, but if they were outside my influence, they would immediately try to set up an independent colony.”

  “I have thought the same about mine many times,” Faestari said with a sigh indicating long suffering. “My bug-headed humanoids are great. They just want to exist in the dwarven fortress. They do breed, but not very quickly. And now that I have agreed to give them deposits of copper and tin to mine, they are showing signs of setting up a forge to make their own weapons.”

  “You can just give them weapons,” Wynterhold said.

  “They appear to be happy to have something to do,” Faestari said. “Adventurers entering the dungeon only reach that floor about one time in every three attempts. And even then, not all try very hard to work their way through the fungal forests to reach the dwarven ruins.”

  Wynterhold shook his head. “You do everything wrong, but somehow you make it work. I’m going to return to my own caverns. Don’t be surprised if some other dungeons visit to get the mana signature of that mad dungeon from you. They need to know how to defend against the attacks and mana thefts.”

  “I’ll watch,” Faestari said just as she felt an explosion of mana on the southeastern edge of her domain. “And he’s back.”

  “What?” Wynterhold said.

  “The dungeon followed us, but he can’t enter. We should try to talk again. Just stay within my domain and we’ll be safe.”

  Faestari pulled her spirit from her avatar and found some granite near the border of her domain. She formed it into a body and rose from the side of the mountain. The giant kobold avatar was standing on the ground just outside her domain. She noticed that its right hand was still stone, although the crystal was no longer visible.

  “It was holding a heart crystal,” Wynterhold’s spirit said in an airy whisper. “And why are you using another avatar?”

  “I like having a body,” Faestari said. “Now, the question is if this time our visiting dungeon will be understandable.”

  “You!” the kobold said pointing at Faestari’s avatar. “You block mana. You must die. Mana mine! Give!”

  “And that would be a negative,” Wynterhold said. “I agree with your thought that it was given mana from those kobolds. It sounds about as intelligent as one.”

  “Does that affect a dungeon’s intelligence?” Faestari asked as the giant kobold clawed at the barrier to her domain.

  “Stop that!” she shouted at the avatar. “You don’t have the power to break through.”

  “Can you drain the avatar if it does that?” Wynterhold asked.

  “I’ve looked into it, but the dungeon somehow has a link back to its heart crystal. It would become a clash of mana and wills,” Faestari said.

  “You have more mana,” Wynterhold said as the kobold backed off on its attacks.

  “I don’t worry about mana. I’m worried about the clash of wills. The madness that inspires this dungeon makes me unable to gauge just how much will it can use. I suspect it will be far more than I can,” Faestari said.

  “Mana! Must have!” the giant kobold said as if it had not noticed the exchange.

  “You can’t have my mana!” Faestari shouted at the kobold. “You don’t gain mana that way! You have to earn it from the creatures near your heart crystal!”

  “Um,” Wynterhold said as Faestari walked right up to the edge of her domain.

  “Get away from me!” Faestari shouted at the kobold. She launched a small spike made out of pure mana at the avatar. It pierced the figure and causes it to dissipate.

  “I shouldn’t have done that,” Faestari said as she turned back to look at Wynterhold. “But that dungeon keeps threatening me. I’m the closest one, so it’s going to come back and try to steal my mana.”

  “You didn’t help by telling him to gain mana from the creatures within his domain,” Wynterhold said. “That’s not the way to gain mana.”

  “Why not? My creatures provide me far more than they take unless I’m engaging in some massive changes to their bodies,” Faestari said. “That’s part of why I do things like provide copper to my humanoids. The more they move about and create things on their own, the more mana they feed me and the less I use to keep them alive.”

  “You mean?” Wynterhold asked looking up the mountain.

  “Between the fungus, rats, fish and a few other offerings, all of my creatures can eat items found inside the dungeon. I also try to provide materials for them to craft with. The kobolds make slings out of spider silk. The orcs and the bug-headed ones make leather from the crowns of mushrooms expanded to be truly massive. They waste nothing,” Faestari said.

  “Interesting,” Wynterhold said. “You know, the more I meet with you, the more I wonder if you are a new type of dungeon. One that will thrive for as long as you care to.”

  Faestari giggled. “Oh, that might be a long time. I love the people near me and might be making a few new friends. Although they will only live so long.”

  “That is why most dungeons don’t bother getting to know adventurers. They live such short lives,” Wynterhold said. “Well, I’ll leave from here. But I will caution you one last time about that water nymph. If she is like all the others I’ve heard of, she will betray you eventually. They always do.”

  “I’ll be careful,” Faestari promised as she allowed her stone avatar to sink back into the earth. “And I’ll watch the mad dungeon as much as I can.”

  “Warn me or the old one if it does something unusual,” Wynterhold said as his avatar turned into mist.

  The wind blew across the mountainside. A few drops of rain fell from the sky as the faint evidence of the three avatars faded away.

  Chapter 15: A Probe is Encountered

  Four days after Wynterhold and Faestari had visited the new dungeon found Dared and his companions leaving Oersteglen with a single wagon.

  The group was larger than Dared had planned. The morning of Narhert’s arrival he gathered up Jerisa, Pauly and Varia to head to the caravansary and meet the carter. Coulette planned on meeting them there after using the excuse that she had an errand to run, to leave the inn. The night before they left Fairview Roquel had told him over dinner that she would meet them at the caravansary. Once everyone had finished eating she left the inn, taking her saddlebags and horse.

  Once Dared had arrived and watched as Varia and Narhert had a passionate kiss with their reunion, they had gathered around the wagon.

  “I traded the potions in Eastview,” Narhert said. “There were a couple of caravans using the caravansary there to avoid the fees that the Fairview council has been imposing. I also talked to one of the master merchants. They expressed some interest in heading through Montgar if the roads are better marked.”

  “Good idea,” Dared said. He was scanning the area.

  “What are you watching for?” Narhert asked.

  “We have a lot of goods being delivered,” Dared said. “We arranged for many of our purchases to be delivered directly here this morning. Other items should have been picked up from the stables of the inn where we stayed.”

  Just as Dared finished speaking a trio of men arrived. One was carrying a massive stack of cloth. Jerisa rushed over to look at the cloth. She turned to Narhert. “I want this cloth to arrive in Montgar in good condition.”

  Narhert did not have time to respond when the other two men approached the wagon. “These are for Montgar as well,” the lead man said.

  “What did you get?” Narhert asked.

  “Some raw iron, although that should be delivered to Montgar directly in the spring,” Dared said. “The chests should contain a few tools for coin making. I also purchased many of the small items that Jerisa will need
to sew clothing.”

  “Coin making?” Narhert asked. “But you don’t have a source of silver or gold to turn into gold.”

  “I’m sure we’ll find a deposit in the future,” Dared said. “And the tool set I purchased doesn’t include a die. We’ll have to have one made before we can make coins.”

  “You always plan ahead,” Narhert said. “Um, who’s that?”

  Narhert was pointing towards three teenager who were approaching. One of the trio was Coulette, but Dared did not recognize the other two.

  “The leader is Coulette,” Dared said. “Jerisa and I offered her a place in our household. She’s been helping Varia and Pauly with their children.”

  Coulette turned to the other two teenagers. There were a few impassioned gestures from the teenagers. Coulette nodded and then rushed towards Dared.

  “My lord,” she said. “I bring two more prospective servants.”

  “I see,” Dared had replied. “Bring them over and introduce them.”

  Jerisa had heard the exchange. She had helped the porter carrying the cloth place the bolts in the wagon and then rushed over to stand next to her husband. “Dared?”

  “Coulette brought a couple of friends. She says they wish to become our servants,” Dared answered carefully.

  “We don’t have our manor house built, but yes,” Jerisa said.

  “Jerisa?” Dared asked.

  “We need people who want to come to Montgar,” Jerisa said. “And Coulette will be happier if she has friends.”

  Coulette had waved her friends over. “My lord, this is Fyona. She’s been working as a cook’s helper in The Falling Bridge tavern,” she began pointing at a young woman. The girl appeared to be just starting to go through puberty and had her eyes aimed at the floor. Her red-blonde hair was done up in two braids that hung down over her ears.

  The second teen was a young man who appeared to be just starting to grow a beard. The boy offered an extremely sloppy bow. “I am Reizar. I am a foundling who has been serving at the Broke Shield Clan’s brewery.”

  “Broke Shield?” Jerisa asked.

  “They are a dwarf clan,” Dared said. “They decided to expand from their mountain strongholds and engage in trade and crafting. They establish enclaves in large cities where they forge tools and weapons for the town. Rockgar has a very small enclave, but I was not aware there was one in Fairview.”