by Allan Joyal
She performed another scan of her domain. The four humans were the only people outside her dungeon. There were hints that some creatures were hiding in the forests just north of her mountain, but they remained under the canopy, clearly unwilling to step out into the afternoon sunlight.
Some of what Gee’if had said left Faestari with questions. She realized that she had no idea where any other dungeons might be. Carefully she focused her mana and then sent out a pulse of mana that should detect dungeons.
At first there was no return signals. Faestari began to believe she had made a mistake when the magic tingled. It had just encountered a rather large dungeon more than ten days travel to the east of her location. Other dungeons were detected even farther away until she finally noticed Wynterhold dungeon more than fifty days travel south of the mountain she claimed. By that time she had found eleven dungeons. Most were unknown, but she had noticed one with a large yellow colored rock at the entrance just twenty days travel north of her position.
“I have to try,” she mumbled as she pulled most of her mana into her dungeon heart. She reached out past her domain and sent a tiny portion of her mana north to the dungeon with the yellow rock.
Her consciousness had just entered the other dungeon’s domain when a powerful magical force grabbed her spirit. “Who Are You?” thundered through her as the dungeon spoke.
“Please, I’m a dungeon. I just have questions,” Faestari said frantically.
“I Know You Not!” the dungeon thundered again to her spirit.
“I’m new,” Faestari said frantically. The force of the other dungeon was pressing on her consciousness.
The pressure faded slightly. “You are that wild dungeon Wynterhold talked about?”
“You know him?” Faestari asked.
“Dungeons are not him or her,” the toneless voice said firmly. It was not much less thunderous than its greeting, but Faestari was able to withstand the power of the voice.
“Sorry, the avatar the dungeon used when visiting me was that of a male dwarf,” Faestari said. She felt perplexed. “Why did I say it that way?”
“So you do have some instincts,” the voice said not unkindly. “I wondered. Speak your question.”
“I had a group of adventurers visit. One said he had been in Yellowrock dungeon. He seemed to know some rules I was never taught,” Faestari said nervously.
“There are no rules, only principles,” the dungeon said. “And he might have visited. Many come to visit my chambers and try their might against my monsters. None reach the ending.”
The voice sounded extremely proud of the last fact it had revealed. Faestari felt like curtseying, but she was just a spirit being held at the edge of the dungeon’s power. She started with her question.
“Well, the man said that dungeons generally keep their monsters from attacking adventurers who are headed back to the entrance and not actively exploring,” Faestari said. “Is this always true?”
The dungeon holding Faestari laughed. “A good question,” he said. “And one not easily answered. Just remember that adventurers enter a dungeon seeking challenge, not death. A dungeon that is talked about as deadly because it kills all who enter will see powerful wizards and warriors come. They come for the sole purpose of destroying the dungeon. But they never come if a dungeon is not a threat.”
“But our whole purpose is to fight and kill adventurers,” Faestari replied.
“If an adventurer falls to a challenge, the rest will understand. Sometimes an adventurer attempts to defeat a challenge they aren’t ready for. This group that visited? How did they do?” the dungeon asked.
“Six adventurers entered,” Faestari said. “Four survived. Two of them are injured and have to be helped to the location the group has chosen to use as a campsite.”
“And how did the two adventurers die?” the other dungeon asked.
“In the third room they entered. The first one was where the first adventurer got hurt. I have kobolds and they had hung a bunch of stones from the ceiling. They released them and the falling rocks took out one adventurer. He was healed and headed out while the others continued. In the second room another adventurer was attacked by a couple of kobolds. He was hurt, but survived after the kobolds retreated,” Faestari said.
“That’s not how the two adventurers died,” the dungeon she was talking to pointed out.
“I’m getting to that. I thought you’d need to know what the adventurers were doing. In the next room the first two adventurers to enter were watching the walls near the floor, looking for kobolds to appear from the tunnels I provided for them,” Faestari said.
The pressure on Faestari seemed to lessen a bit more. “You provided your creatures with the means to move about without the adventurers being able to see or interfere. You might just be a capable dungeon. Let me guess, the two adventurers failed to look in the right place.”
“Exactly,” Faestari said. “Three kobolds were hiding behind stalagmites. The lead adventurer walked right past them. They attacked him. One had a knife. The next adventurer wasn’t watching the ceiling or the high walls. Four spiders jumped down on him. Their bites killed him.”
“Poisonous spiders that early,” the other dungeon said. “I’m not sure I would have done that.”
“These aren’t too big or powerful. Most people could survive a single bite to a hand or foot if they receive healing, and the spiders aren’t quick. But the adventurer in this case had two spiders land on his shoulders and bite into his neck. He was dead as soon as they landed on him,” Faestari replied.
A faint disturbance in the mana flow warned Faestari that the adventurers had stepped out of her domain. “I should go,” she said.
“If you have adventurers near, you should,” the other dungeon replied. “Your challenges sound difficult for a novice or careless adventurer, but not for a group that works together. Just remember to balance the danger with the treasure.”
“The survivors got out with several spider eyes as well as a set of venom sacs. Alchemists will be very happy to purchase those once they find one,” Faestari said.
“Very good,” the other dungeon said. “And the right way to handle it. Don’t use too many coins. Alchemical items are easy to provide and require that adventurers think. It will keep you from getting too many novices.”
There was another tingle from the mana field. Faestari realized that someone had just entered her domain. “I really have to go,” she said frantically. “Something just entered my domain.”
“Go,” the other dungeon said. Her consciousness was casually thrown out of the dungeons domain. She pulled her focus back to her own mountain, seeking the source of the disturbance.
The first thing she noticed was the growing darkness. The sun was touching the horizon and long shadows were being cast by the granite slabs strewn over the mountainside. On the north slope of her mountain, Faestari found a band of nearly fifty humanoids slowly making their way towards the summit.
The creatures walked on their hind legs and their hands had opposable thumbs allowing them to grasp the array of clubs, axes and spears they carried, but that was where their similarity to humans ended. The feet were clawed and shaped much like a bear’s. Thick brown fur covered their bodies from their necks down to their feet, with only their soles and the palms of their hands being bare. However, the heads of these creatures look like that of an enlarged stag beetle’s head.
The band was led by a massive creature. It stood nearly seven feet tall, and was able to scale the granite walls with ease. The monster held a strange club in its right hand. The striking area of the club was a massive glossy black crystal. Faestari could sense the mana the club held as the creature waved it to exhort his tribe to follow him upward.
“Come,” the creature seemed to be calling. “Augur promise us that we find a good home here.”
“More monsters,” Faestari asked herself. She started examining the band closely. This band was not as poor as the kobolds
or the orcs. Their weapons were in good repair and there were an equal number of warriors and females. Many of the creatures wore primitive hide armor.
The leader looked up at the entrance. Faestari noticed that they had been moving steadily and were only a few feet away from reaching the plateau. The creature's mandibles clacked and it jumped up to the landing before turning back.
“Come, the entrance is here,” the creature called.
“Remember, we must ask,” another of the creatures said. This one had white tipped fur and was being assisted in his climbing by two of the females in the band. The others looked at him with a strange awed respect.
“How?” the creature asked. “You said this is a dungeon.”
Faestari cursed as she realized that she would be unable to get to the entrance quickly. She thought for a moment and then summoned her mana. She used it to create a ball of light on the summit of the mountain. It drifted down to the entrance as the leader knelt at the edge of the landing and assisted his tribesmen up.
The one with the white-tipped fur noticed the drifting light and pointed towards it with the stick it was leaning on. “The dungeon sends us a greeting,” it said in the strange clacking language the creatures used.
Faestari stopped the light for a moment. She was surprised that she had not noticed her ability to understand the orcs or kobolds. However, she could sense that this band was a bit impatient so she resumed moving the light to the entrance.
“Who seeks me?” she called out, concentrating so she used the creature’s language.
“Clo’ti’kalk, leader of the Kodak Stag Tribe,” the leader said. “Our augur says that your dungeon seeks monsters to fill its chambers.”
“And you are worthy of receiving chambers?” Faestari asked scornfully.
“Kodak Stag Tribe strong,” the leader said. “We have five hands of warriors. Our females breed many strong babies. Bring thirty with us. Augur is strong in spirit and can offer much soul light.”
Faestari looked over the females in the group. She was surprised to note that all of them had slings around their shoulders and waist. Young monsters, with much less developed mandibles rode in the slings.
“Strength is but part of what is required,” Faestari had her light boom out.
The leader nodded. “We fight for you. Protect rooms, but willing to lose if adventurers strong enough. They win treasure. You promise us one room safe from adventurers for our females. We agree with this.”
“I do have a place,” Faestari said. “There are even giant spiders and beetles in the area. You can work to tame them if you wish.”
The leader’s mandibles clacked together. “Good. We happy for home. Looking for shelter.”
Faestari made a decision. “Follow the light,” she said firmly.
At her silent command, the light floated through the archway and started slowly heading towards the stairway leading into the actual dungeon. The leader chittered something to two of the larger warriors. The two warriors stepped aside and watched as the leader and the augur led the others into the dungeon. Once everyone else had entered, the last two warriors followed.
The strange bug-headed creatures followed the light closely as it descended the stairs to the first true dungeon level. The augur noticed a line made out of spider silk strung across the stairs, and moved to carefully break it, preventing the tumble of stones that had occurred when Avcrod entered just a short time before.
Faestari ignored this and kept the light moving. Her mental commands to the kobolds were to stay out of the way of the light and the following monsters as they moved through the floor to the next stairway.
The descent to the second dungeon level also proceeded smoothly. The first room here was still set up as a web-filled ambush, but only one spider remained from the five that had been in the room when the orcs descended. The others had withdrawn deeper into the dungeon after Faestari realized they might be too dangerous for a band of adventurers. One of the creatures in the group pointed to the spider hiding in the upper corner of the room, but the creatures left it alone as they passed.
Faestari found she had to strain to keep the orcs from charging out of their lair. The three orcs in the first room sounded an alarm and then glared at the new monsters as the Kodak Stag Tribe marched through the floor. Weapons were drawn and several warriors from both sides engaged in staring at each other from close range until the leader finally reached the stairway down to the next level.
The bug-headed creatures headed down the stairs even as the light stopped and moved in front of the orc leader. The pig-faced monster grunted in thwarted fury as he watched the rival tribe descend deeper into the dungeon.
“Not right,” the orc said.
“They are stronger,” Faestari said. “And I have a different task and location for them. You have been thriving here, do not test me.”
“Maybe we leave,” the orc said. “Or maybe we destroy you.”
Faestari made the room the orc was standing in shake violently. “Maybe I crush you like an insignificant insect. You have food, you have shelter. Do not demand more than you need.”
The orc leader turned and ran back towards his lair. His followers raced after him, grunting in panic. Faestari immediately had the light race down the stairs to catch up with her newest monsters.
“Where?” the leader asked.
“Follow,” Faestari had the light speak.
The group walked through several rooms. This floor had slowly turned into a fungus and monster filled maze. The many twisting passages led to what appeared to be a ruined dwarven fortress. When the group reached the shattered gates of the fortress, Faestari stopped.
“What’s inside the rooms beyond is yours. There is a stairway hidden behind the throne. That stairway will be hidden to all except your people. The rooms it leads to are your lair. The exit from this floor to ones deeper inside the mountain is in the armory in the back of the fortress. You are to leave the room empty and to never attempt to descend deeper,” Faestari commanded.
“Can we patrol,” the leader asked, pointing at the three other passages leading to the front of the fortress.
“Stay on the floor, and small patrols only,” Faestari said. “This is now yours.”
The creature clacked its mandibles in agreement. “We do,” it said. It turned to the rest of its tribe and began clacking out orders. Faestari could have stayed to listen, but she allowed her attention to fade and brought her power back into the heart, leaving the monsters to sort out their uses for the various rooms.
Chapter 13: A Town is Founded
Fourteen days later, Faestari was boredly checking on the progress of her newest monsters when she felt a disturbance at the southeastern edge of her domain. She pulled her attention back to the dungeon heart and reached out with some mana.
She quickly found a new group of men were standing right at the border of her domain. Two were wearing ornately decorated velvet robes. One of these men was holding a short stick in his hands as he chanted in a strange language.
Faestari watched the man as he walked just outside the border of her domain. He was careful to remain just outside as he walked along. Another man followed him. This man was dragging a stick in the ground, cutting a furrow in the soil.
Jyxton walked over from the grove where the original adventuring party had made camp. They had attempted a second run once Hal’vik had recovered. That had occurred five days ago. The quartet retreated after completing only two rooms. They had managed to get through the first room completely unscathed, but in the second room the kobolds had sent a wave of spiders against the four intrepid adventurers. The adventurers had killed five spiders, but Hal’vik and Gee’if both were bitten multiple times. Betrixy drained her magic to stop the poison from killing the men and they left after claiming the spider’s eyes and venom glands. Faestari expected them to try again in a few days, but for now the youngest member of their group was approaching this new group.
“Hey!” J
yxton called out. “What are you doing?”
The man in the velvet robes turned. “I heard there was a dungeon under this mountain.”
“You don’t need to waste your magic,” Jyxton said. “Just follow the path to the top and you’ll see the entrance. You can even enter the top floor safely. Just be prepared for kobolds and massive spiders once you go down the stairs.”
The man in the robes dropped his hands. “I need to know where the dungeon’s power ends. I wish to set up a permanent tower where I can research between expeditions.”
Jyxton looked confused. “Oh, well, look at the path. Gee’if thinks the dungeon extended it as far as its power would allow. But why would it matter. I’ve never seen a creature leave the dungeon.”
“I’d rather not raise the dungeon’s ire. They are fickle and known for taking vengeful actions against those who use too much magic to examine them,” the wizard said.
“Why use magic?” Jyxton asked. “You can enter the dungeon.”
The man in the robes took several frightened steps away from Jyxton. “You have no idea what a dungeon can do.”
Jyxton tilted his head as he stared at the man. “I’ve been in this dungeon. I’ve seen the creatures living within. They are dangerous, but survivable.”
The man looked panicked. “I couldn’t. But you could for me.”
Jyxton stepped back from the man. “I already saw what happens if someone enters with an agenda other than survival. I’m not desperate enough to accept your commands. Nor, I bet, will any experienced adventurer. You can just stand at the edge and wonder.”
Jyxton turned and started to walk away from the man in robes. Faestari was tempted to send a ball of light to the border of her domain to speak, but decided to watch invisibly.
