A Living Dungeon

by Allan Joyal

  Dextral turned to glare at Thumas. “The dungeon knows,” he screamed.

  “The dungeon isn’t going to know it can work,” Thumas said. “No dungeon understands what makes them exist. The Kindred is positive about that.”

  “Like that matters,” Dextral said. “Naliesen and Doxia are dead. And you can’t even say how many more rooms there are. Why is that?”

  Thumas looked a bit upset. “This dungeon’s domain blocks the standard spells the Kindred use. They can detect the size of the domain, but that’s it. None of the spells they use to determine the size of a dungeon works.”

  “And you knew this?” Dextral accused Harmali.

  The wizard nodded. “I knew that the spells failed, but not why. The Kindred refuse to explain their interest.”

  “Why are you still arguing?” Thumas asked. “As I’ve said, the Kindred are positive that this dungeon has only existed for a short time. Adding new chambers takes a lot of mana. Few dungeons add more than one or two chambers every ten years.”

  “And if it is a couple of hundred years old?” Axcrete asked.

  “How could it be that old?” Thumas said. “Dungeons feed on the life force of adventurers. Or at least the mana generated by the conflict an adventurer brings with them. This dungeon would have starved without adventurers visiting.”

  Faestari felt something touch her domain. She relaxed her focus just a bit and was stunned to realize that the spirit of Wynterhold Dungeon was trying to get her attention. She split off enough focus to keep track of the adventurers as she signaled the spirit to slip into her dungeon heart.

  When she opened her eyes the familiar whirlwind appeared. The ugly dwarven shape of the avatar of the Wynterhold dungeon immediately glared at her. “What are you doing? I can feel mana flares from your dungeon.”

  “I have a group of dungeon killers inside. They were paid by the Kindred to find my heart,” Faestari said coldly. “They don’t know it, but they’ll never reach here.”

  “How can you be sure?” Wynterhold asked.

  “Because they believe that my dungeon is only a few rooms,” Faestari said. “Two of the six members of the team are already dead. And while it looks like they are organized enough to make their way to the next stairway, it will be the last one they descend.”

  “Are you actively working to kill them?” Wynterhold asked worriedly.

  “I would think that the fact they came to kill me should remove that stigma,” Faestari replied. “However, I haven’t had to. The first member died when the adventurers neglected to watch the ceiling. One of my spiders landed on the back of a wizard and bit him. The bite was almost instantly fatal thanks to the location.”

  “That happened once before didn’t it?” Wynterhold asked.

  Faestari nodded. “The first group to enter made the same mistake. Now the adventurers warn each other. However, this group of dungeon killers angered the regular companies. They refused to offer help.”

  “And the other?” Wynterhold asked.

  “The humanoids on my fourth floor had three shields made from the crown of a special mushroom. The spores from this mushroom sprout very quickly if they are inhaled. One of the adventurers broke the shield and then inhaled the cloud of spores,” Faestari said emotionlessly. “I regret that death, but it was in my own defense.”

  “So four are left. How can you be sure they won’t reach here?” Wynterhold asked.

  “There are no paths to here at the moment,” Faestari said. “I closed the last one last night when I learned what this group had planned. As for the rest. Let’s just say that the next floor won’t be what they expect.”

  “You don’t expect your humanoids to kill a few more?” Wynterhold asked.

  “They might,” Faestari said as the group ran into another group of the humanoids. She could feel the wizard Harmali gather mana and then use it to unleash a wave of frost that killed five of the monsters. The others quickly retreated.

  Faestari sighed. “I don’t really like killing adventurers. Usually my monsters will retreat if the adventurers are pressing hard. That’s why I expect my humanoids to allow them through. I’d rather they press onward than my monsters get wiped out.”

  Wynterhold snorted. “They breed rapidly. You just grow more.”

  Faestari shook her head. “I don’t need to do that. And I don’t expect I will have to after the next level. This group’s wizard is tiring. Their better armored fighter is blind on his left side because of damage to his armor, and the leader is complaining that he’s called for too many blessings from his patron god. They are tiring.”

  “You’ve made the dungeon that strong already?” Wynterhold said in shock. “Maybe I should be learning from you.”

  Faestari giggled. “And shouldn’t you get back to your dungeon. I’m sure you have adventurers visiting.”

  “Its a group I know well. They’ll turn back before they clear half the chambers,” Wynterhold said. “But I probably should allow you to concentrate on the adventurers. Be careful. This might get you a reputation as a killer dungeon.”

  Faestari nodded again and then closed her eyes. The adventurers had been pushing hard to get through the dwarven fortress. They had already cleared the courtyard and the armory. They were in a hallway that lead to the audience chamber, taking on a pair of giant beetles that spat acid.

  “Use your magic!” Dextral cried out as he stabbed with his spear. The runes on the blade were badly deformed and the tip of the spear appeared to have melted.

  Axcrete charged forward, using his armored shoulder to knock the beetle’s legs upward. “Now, thrust hard!” he shouted.

  Dextral thrust his spear right at the joint between the head and the thorax of the beetle. The dulled tip caught on the exo-skeleton and then sliced upward, severing the neck of the creature. It collapsed as Harmali threw a salt crystal at the other beetle.

  The second beetle’s exoskeleton collapsed. A loud sucking sound echoed through the chamber as the group stepped back to look at the dead creatures.

  “That’s five different giant beetles,” Harmali said. “This is not a new dungeon.”

  “I’m telling you it wasn’t here two years ago,” Thumas said. “The Kindred are positive it can’t be more than two years old.”

  “Then we should have reached the end by now,” Dextral said. “This dungeon is tough. Those adventurers couldn’t survive in this place for long.”

  “Unless they are better and more careful than we thought,” Axcrete said softly as he started to move forward. “And I’m not sure the dungeon isn’t aware of our goal. It’s possible we’re seeing tougher opposition than a regular group of adventurers would see.”

  “Dungeon’s don’t do that,” Thumas said.

  Dextral growled. “I’m beginning to realize that you have no more knowledge about dungeons than those idiots from the Kindred. Thumas, this dungeon is going to kill us if we aren’t careful.”

  “I can’t return the money we were paid,” Thumas half wailed. “We have to complete this delve.”

  “Great,” Axcrete said. “Well, I found another stairway down. It seems this is not the last floor.”

  “Can we reach the stairway without a fight?” Thumas asked. “We are out of potions.”

  “You’d better hope we are near the end of the monsters,” Dextral muttered as he moved forward so he could get a better look into the room.

  “The room appears to be empty except for the stairway,” Axcrete said.

  “Let’s go,” Dextral said. He rushed forward, racing to the top of the stairs and then looking around. “Its clear.”

  “This has to lead to the heart,” Thumas muttered as he tiredly ran to the stairway.

  “Why?” Axcrete asked.

  “It just must lead there,” Thumas said. “Now let’s get down the stairs before another of those acid spitting beetles returns.”

  “You realize we probably won’t survive to return to the surface,” Dextral said worriedly. />
  “Why not? All dungeons that want to survive allow adventurers to return to the surface once they finish a delve,” Thumas said confidently. He marched down the stairs, his helmet providing the only light thanks to the blessing of Pors he had requested long before.

  The stairway led to a room that seemed to be filled with fog. The heavy mist made it difficult to see very far. The light from Thumas’ helmet was reflected by the floating particles of water. He cursed as the others spread out at the base of the stairway.

  “What is this?” he demanded.

  “What? You’ve never seen fog?” Dextral asked angrily. “How could a man as incompetent as you become the leader of a team of dungeon killers?”

  “Actually this is our first attempt,” Axcrete said.

  “What?” Dextral exclaimed. “I agreed to join this group.”

  “Because you wanted to kill dungeons,” Harmali said. “Don’t try to deny that part. Thumas and I were the ones that came up with this. He heard a couple of wizards complaining about how hard it was to organize a proper team.”

  “So? It seems that it was hard because getting deep into dungeons is hard,” Dextral said. “I know the deepest I ever ventured was twenty rooms into Wynterhold.”

  Axcrete snorted. “I made it twenty-two deep there. At Yellowrock the deepest I ever managed was fifteen.”

  “Then why are we even trying to convince people we are dungeon killers?” Dextral asked.

  “Roquel and Invarg were the two who had the most experience. I think Roquel has seen the final room of almost a dozen different dungeons,” Axcrete said.

  “She wears no armor,” Dextral said.

  “She’s a spirit weaver. Some of the spirits she has pacts with offer her their protection,” Axcrete said. “I’ve seen her fight once long ago. I joined a rescue party in Yellowrock. She allowed me to join, but could have made it by herself. The group was only eight rooms in.”

  “Eight rooms and they needed help?” Dextral asked.

  “Yellow rock has some massive rooms, with many monsters. The group had been cornered in the room. One member ran for the exit and escaped and then begged for help. Roquel went in and freed the party,” Axcrete said.

  “She’s a coward who refused to fulfill her contract,” Thumas complained.

  “Arguing will do us no good,” Axcrete said. “I see two exits from this floor.”

  “Which direction has less fog?” Thumas said. “Let’s move to someplace where we can see.”

  “Follow,” Axcrete said. He started marching from the base of the stairway. The others followed cautiously. The fog kept them from seeing the full size of the room, but they could soon feel the walls as they moved through a narrow passageway.

  “I hear water,” Harmali said.

  The fog had started to lift as the dungeon’s air grew a bit warmer. They emerged into a room filled with light. A stream of clear water flowed along the wall to their left as they looked upon a grassy field.

  “How can grass grown down here?” Dextral asked.

  Axcrete strode out into the field of grass. He was near the center as he stopped and turned around slowly. Faestari could see that he was one step away from putting a foot into the carnivorous grass patch growing in the room.

  “I see another passage,” Axcrete said pointing to the passage on the opposite wall from the stream. “The rest of the room appears peaceful.”

  “No hidden passages on the far wall?” Thumas asked.

  Axcrete took two steps in the direction, placing himself in the middle of the carnivorous grass. Shoots of the razor sharp grass found cracks in his boots and grew up to stab deep into his free with barbed and hollow blades.

  “What?” Axcrete said as he looked down. The rapidly growing grass covered his feet as the blades within him started draining his blood. The armored adventurer dropped to his knees.

  “Axcrete!” Dextral shouted.

  Axcrete threw the sword towards them. “No! Don’t come near. You’d be trapped and killed too. There is nothing you can do for me.”

  “But,” Dextral said.

  Thumas pushed Dextral towards the other exit. “We have to leave. He’s right, there is nothing we can do.”

  “I thought dungeons didn’t put in lethal traps,” Dextral complained.

  “Where did you hear that?” Harmali said in a voice filled with scorn. “They do all the time. That one wasn’t even that difficult to avoid. Once Axcrete fell I noticed that the grass he was standing in was a much darker color. It stood out if an adventurer was paying attention.”

  “And Axcrete was never very good at watching out for traps,” Thumas said scornfully. “Look at it this way. Once we find the final chamber, you’ll have a larger share of the reward.”

  “A reward you already spent,” Dextral spat. “You already admitted that.”

  Faestari saw which passage they were entering and quickly changed its route. She sloped it down enough to go under the other rooms. Then she had it temporarily join with one of the passages leading to Aylia’s chamber. She found she wanted to watch her water sprite friend in action and perhaps find out a bit more about the Kindred and what they wanted.

  The adventurers did not appear to notice the change. They walked down the path and then under several rooms without noticing how long they had been moving. When the hallway sloped back up Thumas grunted in happiness. “This must be it, we’re moving upward.”

  “You think that the final room just had man-eating grass?” Dextral asked.

  The group could now definitely see the light of the next room. Faestari looked ahead and could see Aylia sitting on a rock by her pool. The water sprite was brushing her hair out as she sang some tuneless song about a babbling brook.

  The trio of tired adventurers emerged into the room. Faestari wanted to shout to warn Aylia, but noticed the smirk appearing on her face as the men spread out just a little. She finished three more strokes of her hair and then gasped and half turned, revealing her lack of clothing.

  “A woman?” Dextral said in a voice filled with lust. “Here?”

  “Now this just might be what we are looking for,” Thumas said evilly.

  None of the three men turned and noticed as the passage they used to enter the room closed up behind them. Faestari allowed the granite to flow back into position as she reconnected the rooms in their original format. Now the men were lost deep in the dungeon.

  The expressions on the faces of the three men bothered Faestari a little. Dextral clearly just saw a beautiful woman in front of him. He had relaxed his grip on his spear as he approached Aylia. The man had a hand out and made several enticing gestures.

  Thumas was just standing there with a strange look of greed driven lust on his face. He wanted Aylia, but not because she was a woman.

  Harmali looked almost bored. He moved to his right. The wizard had reached inside his robes and was whispering something. Faestari pulled her focus far from him as he prepared a rather elaborate spell.

  Dextral was the first to speak. “Girl, are you trapped down here?”

  Aylia playfully just shook her head. She had her arms crossed over her chest. The water sprite was looking down at the water shyly as Dextral continued to approach her.

  “Dextral!” Harmali shouted. You’re in the way. Move!”

  “I just want to talk to her,” Dextral said. He had continued to approach and was standing just in front of Aylia.

  “We’re not here to talk to some pretty girl. We’re here to capture the dungeon soul. That must be her!” Harmali said.

  Dextral turned to look at the wizard. He probably wanted to say something, but the instant he looked away from Aylia the loyal water sprite struck. She jumped to her feet and grabbed the young adventurer by the shoulders. In one motion, she threw him into the water and dove in after him, driving his body to the bottom of the pool.

  “What?” Thumas shouted. “Harmali, use it now!”

  “She might not be the dungeon soul. I was
still checking!” Harmali shouted back.

  “We don’t have time to find out, cast the stone and the spell,” Thumas commanded.

  Aylia had caught Dextral completely by surprise. The young man struggled for a moment as Harmali removed his hand from his robes and held up a black gemstone about the size of his fist. He shouted one last unintelligible word and threw the stone at the pool.

  The gemstone flashed with a brilliant red light. Faestari felt her spirit drawn to the stone, but it was a faint pull against the pull from her own heartstone buried deep within the mountain. The light faded quickly as the stone landed on the rocks at the side of the pool.

  “What happened?” Thumas shouted. “That should have drawn her in.”

  “She isn’t the dungeon soul!” Harmali shouted back. “We have to save him.”

  “How?” Thumas said. “Nothing I have can hurt a being made from water. Use some fire magic.’

  Harmali glared at the leader of the group. “I have no magic lef….” His final word was cut sharp not by a scream, but a gasp. One of the rock snakes had slithered up behind him. The creature bit into his right calf as he started speaking the last word. The potent venom stopped his heart almost instantly and the dead wizard’s body fell to the ground.

  “Harmali?” Thumas asked. “Dammit, you can’t leave me now!”

  Aylia emerged from the pool. Faestari had already felt the rush of mana from Dextral’s death and figured that her friend was going to attack Thumas. She was surprised when Aylia just put her hands on the rocks and looked at the man who had led the dungeon killers.

  “So, you wish to destroy my home?” Aylia growled.

  “Your home is evil. It killed my friends,” Thumas blustered.

  “Only because the choice was to kill your friends or be captured by them. Not much of a choice in my opinion,” Aylia said.

  “You’ll let me live right? Dungeons always allow adventurers to walk back out,” Thumas said. He did not sound quite as confident as he stared as Aylia’s body. “How are you dry?”

  Aylia smirked. “Not that the answer matters to you anymore. “You aren’t going to be leaving this dungeon alive. You led a group of dungeon killers.”