Dungeon Lord- Ancient Traditions

by Hugo Huesca

  “Doctor Frederick. Of course. I should have thought about him myself,” Jarlen said darkly. “His skill at altering undead is par to none. The Regents themselves fight for one of his works. Excellent choice, Head Researcher.”

  “Actually,” Lavy said, “I was talking about m—”

  “Sadly, the good Doctor has refused to work as a minion for anyone since the accident that took the life of his wife. I barely managed to secure one of his creations as a Boss for our dungeons during the past year. But perhaps the sheer challenge of the task would be enough to convince him.”

  Ed remembered Frederick’s Boss—a giant undead bull that had kicked the asses of Ryan Silverblade and the other Heroes. Frederick’s creations certainly had the touch of a genius. He turned to Lavy, who had the expression of a starving girl who had a hot steak taken from her right before she could take the first bite. “Lavy, all the best researchers collaborate with one another. There are some projects too big for a single mind, no matter how brilliant. Think about all that you could learn from Frederick, and all you could teach him.”

  She clearly withheld a pout. “Whatever. I’m sure he’s an old asshole that’s all smoke and mirrors. How about you give me the task as a quest so I at least get some experience out of it?”

  Ed grinned, sure that his friend had swallowed the hook. “Here you go. Since Jarlen is getting Frederick in the first place, she is sharing the start.”

  Research Quest: Develop the Haunt’s own strain of vampirism. Reward: new minion type. First Part: Find a way to get Doctor Frederick on board.

  “Have fun working together, you two,” Kes said dryly, flashing Jarlen a mocking grin. “Maybe you’ll learn to get along after all.”

  Jarlen raised one very still finger. “Wait one second, Lord Wraith. I said I could do it. I’m not fully on board yet. Even if other Nightshades are a nuisance at most and competitors at best, we are still a prideful bloodline—not a strain. They are family, not unlike the Lordship. I may destroy my family members if they annoy me, but I won’t create a competing bloodline that could threaten our continued existence as a group.”

  Klek, who had so far followed the exchange with the pleasant, vaguely confused look of someone who is not entirely following the discussion but is fully on board with it, scratched his ears. “Nothing is ever simple with you, is it?” he asked the vampire.

  “Jarlen, I understand your position,” Ed said. “No, really.” The truth was, he often had a hard time empathizing with the murderous sociopath, but it was terribly easy to follow her logic when inhabiting a body without endocrine glands. In truth, the only thing close to an instinct he felt as an animated skeleton was the constant desire to pace along a six-by-six room until an adventurer came along he could bash with a rusty axe. “Our new strain won’t be a competing bloodline. For starters, it shall be much weaker. But also, it will be based on your blood. Our Haunted vampires—or whatever we will name them—would be your progeny. You will be the master of a new bloodline, all descended from you. And with the minionship securing their loyalty to you through the Haunt… well, think about Laurel and her Empire. Don’t you want something like that? To become some sort of… ah, Queen of the Damned?”

  Alder rubbed his chin. “I’ll have to think of a better title. Queen of the Night is too obvious. Queen of Blood is too pretentious. Mm.”

  The vampire turned to Lavy without hesitation. “You shall have Doctor Frederick.”

  Ed’s eyes flickered with satisfaction. Alder shifted forward and nudged him. “You are getting good at this,” the Bard told him.

  “Trial and error,” Ed said, with only a hint of satisfaction in his undead voice. “Lots of them.”

  One good idea per issue was good enough. Although the Raventa Matter wasn’t solved, Ed and the others agreed to float it to the rest of the Haunt’s commanders. Perhaps Kaga, Laurel, or one of the Bosses could come up with something.

  “The Endeavor,” Ed said, after refreshing his Murmur’s reach hold on the skeleton. Had he had a face, he would’ve winced. His friends weren’t going to like what he had to say. “Alder, you were there with me during our meeting with the Lordship. What do you make of them?”

  Alder coughed to clear his throat and smiled, clearly pleased to hold the other’s undivided attention. “While Ed so kindly created distraction after distraction during dinner, I was able to move more or less unencumbered. The gist of it is, Dungeon Lords are fickle, selfish, corrupt, and very dangerous. Contrary to what Lavy and I thought, they do have loyalties, though. To their houses, their Dark Patrons, and the Lotian King… ah, except they call it Baron? No idea why, perhaps they’re copying King Varon—” Alder blinked in confusion, his train of thought lost.

  “Count,” Lavy corrected him. “They are ruled by a Count that lives in Yhin. Lotia is comprised of free cities, and Yhin is the freest city of them all. Bastavar chose the title so Dungeon Lords wouldn’t get jealous about having a lesser title and try to claim the throne. This way, they think they’re equals.”

  “Actually, it’s a Marquis now,” Jarlen said. “Adolvar, son of Bastavar. Nothing like his father, if half of what I’ve heard is true.”

  “A Marquis? So every descendant will just keep pushing the issue further?” Lavy asked. “They’re asking for an eldritch edge knife to the back.”

  “I’m not surprised. Mortals are terrible at the political game, they just keep dying of old age before getting good at it.”

  “Batblins have cloudmasters,” Klek added helpfully. “And that works for us.”

  “People,” Kes said. “The Endeavor, remember? The longer we keep Ed here the louder will Andreena yell at us, so let’s wrap this up.”

  Alder coughed again, this time to regain their attention. “Fine, so Lotia has a Marquis. He’s supposed to coordinate the Dungeon Lords for the war with Heiliges. Now, the houses. Most Lotian Dungeon Lords—though not all—are created when a Regent bestows a Mantle to a noble house after they’ve performed enough sacrifices to earn their favor… Like a violinist courting the sponsorship of a rich patron. Then the house chooses the best candidate to the Lordship from among them and replaces his heart with the Mantle. Sometimes it’s the house patriarch, sometimes the heir, but not always. Some Dungeon Lords, like Lord Steros, are weapons the house wields against its enemies. Political leverage. From what I heard, that’s not the way it’s supposed to be—Murmur meant Dungeon Lords to rule among mortals—but it is the way Lotia does things nowadays.”

  “I know all those things,” Jarlen said with a dismissive wave. “What does it tell us about our chances to win the Endeavor?”

  “The houses are always fighting against each other, the Dungeon Lords the same,” Alder explained. “We can exploit those rivalries. The Dark Patrons trying to get the Lordship to work together is like trying to herd cats with their tails on fire. If Ed finds the right buttons to push, they’ll take each other out and leave the path to the Factory’s ownership papers wide open. I even prepared a list of which Dungeon Lord hates each other. I think divide and conquer is our best chance at winning.”

  “Divide and conquer, eh?” Kes said, with the hint of a grin. “So you do pay some attention during classes.”

  Something in Alder’s words sparked an inkling of an idea inside Ed’s mind, still too small, too unshaped, to make anything of it.

  “Right. I’ll grant this, Chronicler, I’m impressed you gleaned this much by sharing canapes with a couple minions,” Jarlen said. “However, there’s one detail you’re missing. The Lotians may hate each other, but they hate foreign Dungeon Lords way more. Like I said before, it’s a matter of bloodline. During the dinner, the Lordship studied Lord Wraith. Maybe they hoped to find a possible, albeit uncultured, brother. What they saw was a stranger from a faraway world that does not know their traditions and does not care for them. Worse, he challenges the balance of power. He threatens their standing and possibly intends to take the Standard Factory from Lotian hands. Do you understand
what that means? The only thing worse than losing for all the competitors is that Lord Wraith wins. So when the Endeavor starts, chances are, most of them will simply fireball him at once, then get on with their business.”

  Klek scowled at the vampire. “They’ll have to get through me first.”

  “Trust me, batblin, they will.”

  Ed tried to massage his forehead, but managed only to scratch bone. He lowered his hand. “Jarlen is right. After the duel, I wouldn’t be surprised if they do exactly that.”

  “It’s all Kharon’s fault,” Lavy said. She threw a nervous glance to the ceiling, as if the Boatman were about to pop his head out of nowhere and jeer at her. Which, knowing him… if he could’ve, he would’ve. “After all the trouble you and Alder went through to capture Argent Planeshifter… Taking him out, or even having him on our team, would’ve been a massive advantage. The other Lords would’ve had to think twice about ganging up on us.”

  “Kharon even stole the experience from killing that giant,” Alder said sullenly. “Do you have any idea how many Bards have killed an ice giant before?” He pointed at his chest. “This Bard. And without the experience points, who will believe me?”

  “There, there,” Lavy said, awkwardly patting him on the back.

  Ed shook his skull. “Ryan was never going to help us, Kharon or not. He thinks he’s the hero of a Bardic play, he’ll never listen to anything I say. Hell, I can’t even blame him. In his shoes? If he suddenly came out of this door and told me Kes is some evil mastermind that has manipulated me about everything, I would laugh in his face and tell him to pound sand.”

  “I can’t even convince you not to pick a fight with a Dungeon Lady seven times stronger than you,” Kes said. “Being a mastermind sounds so nice.”

  “The truth is,” Ed went on. “I dueled Vaines because it was the right thing to do. Simple as that. I would do it again. It changed the perception of our rivals, but that only is a bad thing if we refuse to adapt to the new status quo.” The seed of the idea that Alder had given him grew. The Dungeon Lord chased after it, speaking aloud his reasoning. “We know they’ll attack me first. So we do something they’d never see coming. Give them a common enemy, a foreigner they’d hate more than me. A distraction. While they’re fighting him, I can beat them to the Factory.”

  Kes raised a weary eyebrow. “Let me guess, you’re about to say something incredibly dangerous.”

  “What if we summoned an Inquisitorial strike team right at the start of the Endeavor?” Ed asked.

  The reactions of the others came at the same time and were all a variation of “Have you gone mad?” Ed waited patiently for them to calm down and actually process his idea. It would have been easier without Jarlen cackling like a maniac.

  Kes was the first to recover. “Certainly no one would expect you working with the Inquisition,” she said. “How would you even manage such a thing?”

  It was actually quite simple. Ed’s explanation only took a minute. After he was done, Jarlen had stopped laughing.

  “The Inquisitors could attack you on sight as well,” Lavy pointed out. “You’re adding more enemies to the equation.”

  “Yes and no,” Ed said. “I’m adding more chaos to the equation. Right now, as it is, the math problem is already solved—the Dungeon Lords attack me first thing, I go down, it’s over. An Inquisitorial team complicates things, which is good for me. Also, I’ll know they are coming, so I can make sure I’m not in the line of fire when they do.”

  “What if they send Sheriff Gallio?” Klek asked.

  “That would be worst-case scenario,” Ed said. Something told him Gallio wasn’t going down easy. “But even then, he’s still better than the alternative.”

  “Ancestors save me,” Kes said. “Divide and conquer, is it not? That’s how you got the idea in the first place. Have I created a monster? Sometimes I think I’m the only sane person in this entire dungeon.” She shook her head, then looked up. “Stop laughing, Sarge.”

  “Right,” Alder said, after giving Kes a worried glance. “Ed, what if the Inquisition brings more than one team? What if they bring more than anyone can handle?”

  “They won’t have time,” Ed said. “I’ll explain further later. Do we agree this is our best bet to open the Endeavor?”

  “At least it’ll lead to the biggest bloodbath,” Jarlen said happily. “I’m all for it.”

  The rest gave their approval, begrudgingly or not. It was a callous plan, one that Ed never would’ve even considered it had he not been at war with the Inquisition. Years ago, he would’ve tried to find a way not to shed unnecessary blood. The person he was today disagreed with his past self about what “unnecessary” meant.

  “What about the rest of the Endeavor?” Lavy said. “We still have to survive the traps once we’re inside. No Dungeon Lord has managed to reach Evangeline Tillman’s office before.”

  “If she didn’t intend for the Factory to change hands, she and Saint Claire would’ve destroyed it,” Ed said. “So there must be a way. We prepare the best we can. Hopefully the research and the new weapons we’re developing give us an edge. To start, I’ve a couple experience points I’ve been saving up. After seeing Vaines in action, I think it’s time to put them to use.”

  “How many?” Jarlen asked.

  “About five hundred, give or take.”

  “You dueled Vaines at almost half your potential power?” Lavy asked, eyes wide. “Are you out of your mind?”

  Ed shrugged, and turned to Kes. “What do you think, would five hundred points have made a difference?”

  Kes mulled it over, then smiled. “I see. Another gamble. If I didn’t know for a fact that you’re making it up as you go along, I would say you planned it from the start.”

  Ed grinned mysteriously, easy enough because grinning mysteriously was pretty much his only available expression as a skeleton.

  Lavy bristled. “This Alder way of not saying things clearly until the last second is getting to my nerves. What in the Wetlands are you people talking about?”

  “See, five hundred points wouldn’t have changed the result of the duel,” Kes explained. “But now, Vaines thinks she has an idea about Ed’s capabilities. During the chaos of the Inquisition’s arrival, she may forget to look at his updated character sheet. It may give him an opening. Once again, Ed is trying to use their expectations of him in our favor.”

  Klek clapped happily. “We are going to win!”

  Only because of the obvious did Ed’s grin not falter. Of course the situation looked bright. Every single plan in history looked good before it came into contact with the enemy. All the other Dungeon Lords were probably scheming right now, same as he was, all of them ready to take the Factory one way or the other.

  In the end, beyond the plans, preparations, and experience points, Ed had to admit there was something beyond anyone’s control that could decide the winner of the Endeavor. Call it fate, or bravery, the gods’ favor, even luck. All he could do was his best and hope it was enough.

  “Alright,” Alder said, “show us the goods. Let’s see those amazing Lordly talents you’ve saved up for an entire year.”

  Ed showed them.

  Power Strike (30 experience) - The user adds +1 to his Brawn attribute when making an attack with a melee weapon.

  Energy Drain: Activated. Moderate.

  Advanced Reflexes (50 experience) - The user’s improved reflexes are upgraded with his choice of the following:

  -The energy cost per second is greatly reduced.

  -The reaction time of the user is greatly improved, although the energy drain is increased as well.

  Korghiran’s Secret Resistance (50 experience) - After sustaining damage, this talent allows the user to bolster his Endurance with up to half of the user’s Mind ranks, as long as he passes a Spirit contest with difficulty depending on the amount of damage received.

  Energy Drain: None.

  Advanced Metabolism (40 experience) - Reduces the en
ergy cost of all talents by 50% - the caloric requirements of the user are increased by the same amount.

  Spectral Regeneration (40 experience) - This talent greatly speeds the user’s recovery time.

  Warning: This talent advances the Wraith’s Curse.

  Energy Drain: Activated by damage. Moderate.

  Otherworldly Evil Eye (40 experience) - The Dungeon Lord’s Veil Piercing Evil Eye is upgraded with a constant effect. The Dungeon Lord can now command any non-intelligent undead. He can also attempt to wrestle control of the undead if a Necromancer or other Dungeon Lord is currently commanding them by defeating them in a Spirit or Charm contest.

  Energy Drain: Constant. Moderate.

  Choosing this upgrade disables the Frightening Evil Eye upgrade tree.

  Warning: This talent greatly advances the Wraith’s Curse.

  Frightening Evil Eye (40 experience) - The Dungeon Lord’s Veil Piercing Evil Eye is upgraded with a constant effect. The Dungeon Lord may now frighten his enemies if they fail a Spirit or Charm contest against him. A frightened enemy cannot cast spells.

  Energy Drain: Activated. Moderate.

  Choosing this upgrade disables the Otherworldly Evil Eye upgrade tree.

  Pledge of Shadow Armor (80 experience) - The Dungeon Lord’s Pledge of Muted Armor is upgraded with new effects. At his command, the Dungeon Lord is enveloped by hard sheets of shadow that count as magical armor for defensive talents and spells. These tendrils are greatly resistant to magic, but are vulnerable to sunlight and holy magic. Progress along this tree enhances the Shadow Armor up to the equivalent of a Heroic full plate set.