Well, as you stated, lions and tigers are the most popular choices in the Felines family. Lions – as you no doubt know – are large, powerful cats that have deadly claws and bite strength, though their defense capabilities depend wholly upon their Variant.
Lion Variants
Blaze Lion
Shadow Lion
Dune Lion
Snow Lion
Aqua Lion
Scrub Lion
Plains Lion
Plateau Lion
Springing Lion
Obscured Lion
What you may also know from your studies, is that the lion is also a Pack Hunter similar to Canines. Unfortunately, the two don’t mesh with their bonuses, as the Canines and Felines are mutually exclusive when it comes to the Pack Hunter trait – but there are two other Felines that benefit from this that I will get to later.
“Hmm…I don’t remember any others, honestly.”
They’re not commonly used creatures, so that makes sense. As for some of the other types of Felines, there are some Variants of tigers – including the Sabre-toothed Tiger Variant – that are even deadlier than lions with their larger frames and weights, though they work best as singular creatures as opposed to a pack; there are panthers and cougars that are smaller than lions and tigers but are much more agile; then there are cheetahs that are deadly hunters that are one of the fastest land-based creatures available.
Each of these can be useful on their own depending on their Variant, which is why I want to experiment with them to see what might be the best fit.
As she was telling Shale about the different kinds of Felines there were, Tacca used her new Control Limit and DF regeneration – which made a marked difference in the amount of Dungeon Force she had constantly available – to create two different creatures, one of which was going to be extremely important in the dungeon.
Now, to the creatures that have the Pack Hunter trait which is, as you’ve seen, very useful. The first of which is the creature that is just appearing: the Cliff Lynx. This is a Variant of the Lynx that is suited to mountainous terrain; as you can see, it has brown-and-gray-striped fur along its body, allowing it to blend into the dirt and stone walls of a mountainside. While small, it can adeptly leap from precarious positions along a cliff face and specializes in attacks from above, landing on their targets from an unexpected direction. Their paws are what make them deadly, because their claws are similar to sharpened stone knives, easily cutting through leather like it’s paper. Their fur is also placed close to their body and stiffened like small shards of rock, giving it better protection than even something like a Plateau Lion. The downside to the Cliff Lynx is that its small size in relation to Raiders makes a one-on-one matchup quite unequal; just like my Canines, though, if they work together using their Pack Hunter trait they can take down larger targets.
“Very useful,” her Dungeon Assistant said, looking over the smallish cat. It was just about as large as her Root Foxes – who were admittedly the weakest of the Canines she was using – but if they worked together and ambushed a Raider, they could do some serious damage or even kill one if they were lucky. Given that they were only Level 1, that was saying something; the Cliff Lynxes, if she chose to use them, would be at least Level 5, which meant that they would be a little bigger than the one she just created.
Okay, now this last one might surprise you, but it is also the basis of my whole creature plan for this section. Of course, this is only one half of my idea, which will be complete when I can select another creature with my Core Improvement Points, but I’ll explain exactly what is going on there.
Just as she finished saying that, her second creature appeared before her Core. It was slightly larger than the Lynx standing right next to it, but it didn’t appear to be anything like a cat; instead, it looked more like a strange dog, with striped brown-and-gray fur very similar to the Lynx but fluffier. The fur didn’t appear to be as coarse and strong as the Lynx, and it definitely wasn’t – it was just normal fur, as far as that went. The creature’s claws were normal-looking as well, though its jaws were more pronounced and larger than on the other cat’s face, and its teeth were sharp and strong – as if they could pulverize bone with ease.
“What? Is that a…but a Hyena is not a cat! In fact, I would’ve said it was a Canine, which I didn’t even think about until now why you couldn’t create it before,” Shale exclaimed, totally confused.
That’s quite true, but this Echoing Hyena is most closely related to cats rather than dogs, so it is part of the Feline family. Another few strange creatures in the Feline family are the mongoose and civet, though they are typically a lot smaller – so I don’t plan on using them for anything…at least for the moment. Who knows if that will change in the future?
Creature List (Select for Variants)
Fox
Jackal
Dog
Coyote
Wolf
Lion
Tiger
Panther
Cheetah
Cougar
Civet
Lynx
Hyena
Mongoose
Cat
Looking at her Creature list, it had practically tripled in the number of options she had available, especially when she added in all of the Variants. Like she had told Shale, though, the Hyena in particular was what she was interested in – and for a singular reason. It wasn’t because the Echoing Hyena Variant worked as a pack to emit a cackling sound that echoed and reverberated inside of a room, confusing and frightening Raiders with a Mental assault – though that was certainly useful. It wasn’t the literal bone-crunching force of the creature’s jaws in any Variant, though that certainly helped. In reality, it wasn’t necessarily the Variant of the Hyena that mattered at all – only that it was a Hyena.
“Okay, I guess I can see that even if it doesn’t make sense to me in particular. However…why?”
Good question. Well, you know how I wanted to include some creatures that can use some of the Abilities that I’ve acquired through Bonding with the Raiders? Ones that aren’t Human or Elf or any of the other creature races I’ve acquired, of course – since using those right now would probably be a bad idea, at least based on the previous reaction to them.
“Well, sure; you had mentioned that you wanted to include some of those with your new section, but I assumed you meant something like Goblins.”
Nope. Originally, my thought about how I would guide a brand-new Dungeon Core included a creature and Variant that seemed perfectly suited to a well-defended dungeon: the Gnoll Scout. I almost went with that, too, when it came time to choose for myself, but I decided to take a risk and go with Canines instead – and I’m glad that I did.
“That’s a good choice, and one that I’m surprised you didn’t go with first. They have ranged damage, can use melee attacks when pressed – though aren’t nearly as deadly when up close – and have better defenses than most starting creatures.” Those were certainly all reasons she had chosen that as the ideal creature to begin with, but there was a secondary reason as well – which came into play right now.
Absolutely. There is something else about the Gnolls that comes into play, though, which was definitely not common knowledge at DAPS – though I never understood why. It isn’t even listed on the descriptions of either the Gnoll or the Hyena, but my research done at DAPS says that it exists.
“What, exactly, are you talking about? This is getting confusing.”
I was just getting to that. Do you know how the Gnoll looks very similar to the Hyena? It’s because the Bipedal creature was originally developed to be a smarter, “more-evolved” form of the four-legged Hyena. If I’m correct, and I believe I am, then they share a close family relationship – and therefore the Pack Hunter trait will apply to both of them. Not only that, but there was a reference in an old tome about sharing some sort of “synergy” because of their natures. Unfortunately, that’s all of the information I could learn about
it.
“Wait. This is all just conjecture?”
…Well…yes. But that doesn’t mean it’s wrong – just untested. Either way, it’s not like I have a lot to lose, do I?
Shale shrugged. “I guess not. Even if this ‘synergy’ or even the Pack Hunter trait doesn’t work, the Gnolls will still be useful.”
True. We’ll have to wait to see if it works, though, until I can select another creature. For now, let’s play with some fun cats.
“Fun? I guess so – just make sure they’re not a fan of trying to catch Fairies,” the Dungeon Fairy laughed, smiling at Tacca’s Core. It was a legitimate concern; cats tended to be able to leap quite high when they needed to, and Fairies seemed to be a popular target outside of dungeons. Not as much with Dungeon Fairies, as they were used to all sorts of different creatures and could use their Repellant Shield to avoid being hurt.
Will do. Now, what to start with…
Chapter 22
Malachite was beyond exhausted. Over the last few months, the leader of the Dungeon Placement and Regulatory Council had been trying desperately to hold everything together, both personally and professionally – with mixed results.
After coming back from the Conclave of Sages, where he had discovered them all slaughtered in their Conclave chambers by some powerful entity or force, he had found that every single Fairy in the DPRC headquarters was gone. Not necessarily dead, because there had been no bodies to find, but just…gone. Disappeared into thin air without a trace.
After being around for so long, and having developed his Abilities as a Dungeon Fairy and Assistant over many, many years, he – as well as the senior members of the Council – could sense and even track Translocation occurrences. Malachite had only been away for a relatively short time at the Conclave, so those traces of Translocations taking place would still have been there had they occurred; they might have been faint and hard to actually track, but they still should’ve been there. Yet, there was nothing – no sign of any Translocations that had happened in at least the last day. There were a few very faded ones outside and above the mountain where the Council headquarters was located, but they were likely from those visiting before the leader had even left for the Conclave.
Since then, he had no time to give into the despair that threatened to crumble his world around him as he attempted to gain control of things again – or as much as he could. There were a few Fairies that he had called in from the Dungeon Assistant Preparatory School to help staff the Council chambers and take over some of the duties that needed attention – like watching the map of the world for changes. Head Instructor Lapis wasn’t very thrilled at the move, but he – along with 4 other Instructors – obeyed his orders without question. Sometimes it pays to be in charge; during a crisis like this, however, I’d rather be back in a dungeon.
There was a short learning curve as they got used to their new – and hopefully temporary – positions. Once they understood the seriousness of the situation, however, they threw themselves into their work. From what he could tell, and with their help comparing the records of current Dungeon Cores and the status of the map, 2 days after he had come back from the Conclave there seemed to only be a single Core that had been destroyed. Then nothing for about a week, before another 2 Cores were destroyed in quick succession. Over the next few months, the destruction would occur in spurts, with nothing for a week or two, and then 2 or 3 would be wiped out.
“I don’t understand, sir – how long did you say this has been happening, again?” Lapis had asked him after being there for nearly 2 months.
“For a little over a year. At first it was only 1 or 2 every once in a while, which wasn’t that uncommon, but it started ramping up around that time. Now it just seems to be sporadic.”
“And I’m assuming there has been no correlation among the ones that are being destroyed?”
Malachite sighed, hating to go over all of this again, though he knew it was important; none of the Instructors from the school had known anything about what had been happening, so therefore they didn’t have any of the information. “None that we could find. There were some similarities between a few, but those few similarities didn’t apply to the others that had been destroyed.”
“And the Assistants? Have they all been making it out safe and sound?”
Head Instructor Lapis always had been more concerned about Dungeon Assistants rather than the Dungeon Cores they were there to guide – which made him the ideal candidate to run the Preparatory School. Not that Malachite wasn’t concerned about the Dungeon Assistants, but he also had to be focused on the Cores of the world – they were what kept the balance of primordial forces stable, after all. “No, unfortunately not. I’d say that approximately a quarter of them made it out safe when their Bonds were severed manually by the Cores themselves. Lily reassigned them, either to vacant positions or doubling them up with those in most need of help. Since the Council has disappeared, none of the Assistants have managed to come back.”
“Did the ones that survived have any description of the attackers?”
The question seemed strange to the Council leader, as it should’ve been obvious. “Raiders, of course. Why they were there to destroy them is the mystery, of course. None of them were violating the rules, and they were considered to be in good standing with the nearby Raider Clans, so it makes no sense.”
Malachite had already described what he had found at the Conclave of Sages, of which Lapis already had knowledge. The Head Instructor had been around nearly as long as the Council Leader himself, and had accumulated a lot of knowledge over the years; therefore, there was no need to explain that he couldn’t get any answers from the leaders of the Raiders themselves.
“Do you have any idea why only a quarter of them got away? It’s standard practice for Assistants to ask for their Bond to be broken if the Core is under direct threat of destruction. In the past, 90% of the time the Core has granted the request because their relationship is strong enough that the Cores don’t want their Fairies to go down with them. The other 10% don’t care and take their Assistants with them – the selfish fools,” Lapis grunted angrily. That quickly faded, and the Head Instructor just appeared resigned. “Of course, that goes both ways. Some Assistants take their relationship too seriously and refuse to leave, perishing along with their assigned Core – but the number who do that is typically very small in proportion to those who leave. So, why were the deaths so high with these?”
Strangely, neither Malachite nor the rest of the Council had even considered that. For his part, he had just assumed that they couldn’t get out in time, but Lapis was correct – at least two-thirds (if not more) of them should’ve gotten out before it was too late, even if it was just to Translocate and warn the Council of their Core’s impending doom. However, the only ones that made it back were ones who had their Bond cut as their dungeon was overrun with powerful Raiders.
“I…don’t know, actually. That might be a good avenue of investigation to explore. I just wish we had followed up with the survivors before this all happened, starting with the first one.” The Council leader was eager to grasp at anything that might be a clue as to what was happening – and perhaps give some insight into how to stop it.
“The very first Core to be destroyed like this had a Fairy that had their Bond broken? And you didn’t follow up with that?” Lapis asked testily.
Malachite immediately bristled at the unvoiced accusation of incompetence. “We thought that it was an isolated incident. Besides, it wasn’t the Bonded Fairy Assistant that escaped, but the trainee under Cobalt who somehow survived when the Core was destroyed. At the time, we concluded that it had to do with her own bad luck rather than any outside forces – and so it proved afterward as she helped us take care of some ‘issues’.”
The Head Instructor was about to say something in response before he checked himself and scrunched up his face in thought. “Wait…you’re not talking about Tacca GloomLily, are you?”
It took the Council leader a moment of recollection before the name came back to him. “Yes, I believe that was her name.”
“Was? Did something happen to her? Because if not, we should probably talk to the one that was there when this all started.”
Malachite shook his head. “She died some time ago, unfortunately – or maybe that was a good thing. She single-handedly helped to eliminate nearly all of our problem Cores before she died, so there weren’t really any others that it was safe for her to Bond with.”
“Huh, that’s convenient. And a shame; she might have been able to give us some insight into what’s going on. While I don’t regret treating her badly because of her birth, because I was right about her, I wish we had held onto her rather than let her start Bonding with Dungeon Cores.”
That was intriguing. “Why is that?”
“She was extremely intelligent – smarter than anyone else I’ve seen graduate from DAPS. Even with my millennia of experience on her, I dare say she might have been smarter than me, and you, combined. I think she read every single book, tome, and scroll in our library at least once – which isn’t something that even I have done. She would’ve been an asset at DAPS…if it weren’t for her ominous birth. I’m afraid that I erred by pushing her out at the first opportunity; no one could determine exactly when the bad luck associated with her birth would rear its ugly head and strike – and we didn’t want to be there when it did.” The Council leader was looking at the Head Instructor of DAPS as he was speaking, so he saw the flash of fear in Lapis’ eyes when he mentioned the bad luck of the unfortunate Dungeon Assistant.
The Dungeon Fairy: Two Choices: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 2) Page 25
