A Living Dungeon

by Allan Joyal

  “Why?” Roquel asked. “Most dungeons I’ve found use their mana to feed the monsters within.”

  “Because I felt that feeding them mana alone wasn’t best use of my mana. This way the monsters are encouraged to move about. They also can make use of the skins of the dead rats. I believe that the adventurers have salvaged several pouches that they discovered were made out of rat skin,” Faestari said.

  “What?” Roquel asked.

  “She’s right about that,” Gee’if said. “We have found a number of them. It’s mostly the kobolds as they are small and don’t appear to mind the fact that the pouches are small. I’m not sure where the orcs get the larger pieces of leather.”

  “It’s some kind of fungi,” Faestari said. “They were the ones that first brought fungus into the dungeon. No one has stumbled on it, but they have a room that is a forest of fungi. Some they eat and some they use for leather.”

  “Can they do that?” Salene asked. “I’ve never heard of something like that.”

  “I have,” Roquel said. “There are some giant varieties that have caps that can be dried just like you’d dry any fur. I’ve encountered those in several dungeons.”

  Faestari nodded. “Some of the knowledge I use I was never taught. It appears to be instinctive. Once the orcs introduced fungi to the dungeon I remembered hundreds of varieties. I could use mana to generate any variety I felt I needed.”

  “So dungeons don’t necessarily know about every possible monster?” Roquel asked.

  “I think we just need to be reminded,” Faestari explained. “After I woke up I was trying to figure out what I could use as a monster. I had no real clue other than a creature like the stone golem I used to help the Impaled Cats. Then a spider was blown down an air vent I had set up. As soon as the spider was in my domain, I saw ways to use mana to change it. I’ve made more than one type.”

  Kalacho snorted. “Like that monster of a spider that guards the stairway after the kobolds?”

  Faestari giggled. “That one’s primary job is to make sure the orcs remain on their own floor. They’d bully the kobolds if they could.”

  “So it won’t kill?” Roquel asked.

  Faestari looked right at the scantily clad female adventurer. “Oh, the spiders in that room have killed more than once. And they will attack any adventurer that gets entangled in the web. But an adventurer that does not touch the webs will be left alone. However an orc entering the room will be attacked immediately.”

  “Why don’t the orcs overwhelm the spider?” Roquel asked.

  “Who says that there is only one?” Faestari said with a smirk.

  Aylia shot her right arm forward. A small ball of water detached from her hand and splashed over Roquel. “Think about how we got up here. No one here has ever seen me before. I live deeper than anyone else has come, and Faestari’s chamber is deeper under the mountain than mine. She can open up tunnels with a thought. Should the orcs try to storm the room, she can flood it with more spiders.”

  “I could,” Faestari said. “But I’d rather not do that. Those spiders take a lot of mana to grow. But the orcs are happy now that they have wolves patrolling with them.”

  Roquel wiped the water from her face. “I could destroy you water sprite,” she snarled at Aylia.

  Aylia stepped forward, but Faestari put a restraining hand on the shoulder of her friend. “No,” she commanded.

  “But,” Aylia said.

  “You could have explained it without the ball of water,” Faestari said. “She has a right to be a little upset. Although I’d hope that she’d realize that your attack did no harm to her.”

  Roquel glared at Aylia. She blinked once and then turned to look at Faestari. “You’re right. I’m not harmed. However, I don’t have to be happy about it either.”

  Aylia nodded. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “I just don’t want to see Faestari destroyed. She’s a good soul.”

  Roquel looked at me. “Is she really?”

  Aylia looked at Roquel. “You’re a spirit weaver?”

  Roquel looked a bit surprised. “Why does that matter?”

  “Ask your spirits what they think of Faestari,” Aylia said. “They would be able to provide an answer you will believe, since you refuse to believe me.”

  Roquel glared at Aylia and then nodded. “You’re right, I would believe them. I just don’t like summoning them for no reason.”

  “I think having you agree that I am not a dungeon that needs to be destroyed is a perfect reason,” Faestari said firmly.

  Kalacho started laughing. “I never thought I’d laugh at a dungeon. However, you have to admit, she’s right.”

  Roquel just glared at the experienced adventurer.

  “I’m not sure it’s as funny as you believe it is,” she replied. “I will see if I can summon a couple of spirits to judge her.”

  Faestari nodded. “I’m ready.”

  “I’m not,” Salene said. “If you are truly my ancestor.”

  “I’m not,” Faestari said. “If anything I would have been the half-sister of the founder of your line. Well, if we don’t count Feldmar as the founder.”

  “You’re still related to me,” Salene said.

  “Barely,” Faestari replied. “I’ll accept we probably are distant relatives. However, Roquel is not asking anything unfair. She just wants to know the truth.”

  “But she might decide to destroy you,” Salene complained.

  “Who summons me!” a voice boomed. “Why am I here?”

  Roquel backed up as a glowing figure of a well-muscled man formed in front of her. The figure slowly turned around. “I find myself within a dungeon’s domain, but outside the dungeon. Again, who summons me?”

  Roquel knelt. “I have summoned you, Ioustos.”

  “Why?” the figure said in its booming voice as it turned to look at her. “And who are you to summon me?”

  Roquel lowered her forehead until it was touching the stone. “I apologize for interrupting your sleep, great Ioustos. I am Roquel, an adventurer of some note and friend to spirits. My companions here and I have a question only one such as yourself may answer.”

  The spirit was motionless for a long moment. Faestari could feel massive mana flows spreading all over the plateau. Then it began to slowly turn.

  “A young woman, adventurer. Of a surprisingly pure and noble heart. A male adventurer, experienced, somewhat jaded, but lacking any malice. A grizzled veteran adventurer, lost to goodness, but lacking any intent to do evil, devoted to the joy of delving,” the spirit said as it looked at the other adventurers.

  The spirit’s turn had it looking directly at Faestari. Aylia yelped in fright and took a step back and away from Faestari, but Ioutos lifted a hand. “Hold, water sprite. Before I can answer the question, I must see the quality of the companions, Roquel keeps. You are not typical. I see a sprite that understands love and loyalty. You are free of all magical bonds, but have accepted emotional ones. Unusual for one like you. But what is this? I see the body, but the heart of this one lies elsewhere.”

  “Far beneath us,” Faestari said with a nod. “I’m sorry, but I would be forced to defend myself should you attempt to touch it.”

  “Touch it? I merely need to feel the true nature of it,” Ioutos said confidently. “But I see that you do not seek to deceive on this issue. You are playful, and understand challenge, but malice is not in your nature. I have touched many dungeons, but I believe you are unique.”

  Faestari shrugged. “I cannot say. Even the other dungeons I have spoken with seem remarkably uninterested in providing more than basic information.”

  “That has always been the way of immortal spirits,” Ioutos said with a thunderous laugh. He turned back to Roquel. “So, what is your question? Your companions here are worthy of hearing the answer.

  Roquel raised her head and looked directly at Faestari. “Ioutos, my question is not a worthy one. When Faestari admitted to being the spirit of the dungeon and that
a group that entered the dungeon earlier today had all died, I suspected she was evil. I could not reconcile her words with the deaths of the adventurers.”

  The spirit’s glow brightened and then dulled. “Did you attack her?”

  “Not with weapons or spirits, but I did not believe her. I told her that I thought it might be necessary to destroy her still. It was her companion, the water sprite who suggested that I summon a spirit to calm my fears,” Roquel said.

  To Faestari’s surprise Ioutos looked over at Aylia. “You are wise to have requested that she summon a spirit, but she might have summoned one that would have condemned your mistress.”

  Aylia stood up proudly. “She has stood by me. She will stand by others. I could not believe any honest spirit would find evil within her.”

  “But she has killed,” Roquel complained.

  “But is it not part of the challenge adventurers undertake?” Ioutos thundered. “True, a dungeon that becomes capricious and willful, that wipes out groups of adventurers for no more reason than it is capable of such killing, deserves and needs to be destroyed. But this dungeon could not do such. She will kill when an adventurer who is unworthy enters, or who pushes past their own ability. But those that understand that part of the challenge is to respect the danger will survive.”

  Roquel stared at Faestari. The young dungeon nodded sadly. “I will not deny that my nature is to throw up challenges. And there are traps within this mountain lethal to any who stumble into them. But they are avoidable. I even have rooms where adventurers can rest safely if they find they are tired.”

  “And you’d then kill them as they exit,” Roquel complained.

  “All creatures within my domain adhere to my edicts. No adventurer who refrains from invading the monster lairs will be attacked while they leave the dungeon. Even the spider will avoid a fight under those circumstances, unless the adventurer runs headlong into the webs. If he becomes too entangled, the spider will act naturally,” Faestari said.

  Roquel nodded. “I’m sorry.”

  Faestari looked at Ioutos. “Do not be sorry. You have a right to worry. I am just glad that the spirit was willing to see goodness within me.”

  Ioutos smiled. His glow diminished slightly and then shone brighter. “You are a being with honor. The water sprite with you demonstrates that you wish only happiness for all around you. Remain strong, and you will be a beacon for many in the times ahead.”

  Faestari nodded. “I won’t make the dungeon easier though. And I should note, it gets harder the deeper anyone goes.”

  “I believe most adventurers would have it no other way,” Ioutos said. The spirit turned to Roquel. “You asked a worthy question, with worthy companions around you. There will be a task for you in the future, but it shall be small. For now, just know that the people here mean no one ill.”

  Ioutos glowed so bright everyone had to avert their eyes. There was a loud clap of thunder and the light vanished. The plateau stood still for a moment as everyone realized he had left the plateau.

  “Well, that is not something I’ve seen before,” Gee’if said. “And I think I’ll head down. Betrixy and the others will wonder what caused that sound.”

  “I should return as well,” Kalacho said. “And there won’t be a delve tomorrow from my group. I believe we’ll skip the next one.”

  “I don’t mind,” Faestari said.

  “My people will need time to understand all that we have learned today,” Kalacho replied. “And I know that Niscott and Ygryail will want to meet you someday.”

  “I require no thanks,” Faestari said. “Your company has always fought honorably within the dungeon. The beetle you encountered was a nasty surprise after two floors of kobolds and orcs. It was only right to give him a chance to recover.”

  “You might see it that way, but I know they will feel otherwise,” Kalacho said. “Either way, we will meet again.”

  Kalacho and Gee’if both started to walk off the plateau, leaving Roquel and Salene still standing there. Roquel had a sour expression on her weathered face. “I’m sorry,” she said to Faestari.

  Faestari shook her head and walked over to Roquel. She put a hand on the woman’s right hand. “Please, do not apologize for your doubts. I am probably unique. For my first ten years of life, I believed I was a human girl. Well, half-human. No human has ears like mine.”

  “Why are yours like that?” Salene asked.

  “Mother’s were the same,” Faestari said. “Perhaps it was a suggestion of my father. I believe elves live longer and since I only age when I will it, appearing to be a human might cause some whispers if he lived in the same place too long.”

  Roquel laughed. “That’s just too logical.”

  Faestari shrugged. “It’s all I can think of. My parents never talked about it. I discovered I was a dungeon soul the day my mother used my gemstone to put me to sleep. I woke up inside this mountain. Actually, I woke up still not knowing what I was. It took meeting the avatar of another dungeon to learn the truth.”

  Salene gasped. “Another dungeon is like you?”

  “No,” Faestari said. “The other dungeon woke normally. It was an area where adventurers kept going because there were monsters to challenge. The fights began to generate mana. The mana found a suitable vessel to fill. Once a vessel has enough mana, it forms a soul and wakes.”

  “I never knew,” Roquel said. “So a dungeon is just ...”

  “A soul created by the conflict and feeding off it. Once it wakes, it will work to shape the area feeding it mana,” Faestari responded.

  “Are you sure?” Salene said. “My father believes something quite different and he’s studied dungeons for years.”

  “Has he ever talked to one?” Faestari asked.

  “No,” Salene responded. “But I could bring him up to talk to you.”

  “No,” Faestari said. “I won’t talk to him, or Mardrew. You and Koristal I trust. Lewfeld and Luniri might be trusted, I’m not sure. I do not trust your father.”

  Salene nodded. “I might have guessed that. I’m not sure I trust my father either.”

  Faestari nodded. She turned and started to walk back into the dungeon.

  “Wait!” Salene called out. “Will I see you again?”

  Faestari paused for a moment. She stood and looked at the entrance to the dungeon. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I do enjoy talking with you, but there are others who appear to want to capture me, and I cannot take the risk they will surprise me. All I can say is that if circumstances allow, I will appear again.”

  Faestari walked into the dungeon. Aylia followed closely behind as they headed back into the darkness.

  Chapter 27: The Town Expands

  Faestari’s appearance, matched with the destruction of the party hired to destroy her, caused a number of changes in the town. Dared was furious that anyone would have hired adventurers to destroy the dungeon. He used some of the stone his workers quarried to build a gatehouse at the base of the trail leading up to the dungeon entrance. Faestari was not happy to see access restricted, but Dared’s guards proved to be very fair.

  Salene’s father was furious when she came down the mountain and told him that she would no longer adventure with him. The argument was long and bitter. In the end Salene moved to Gee’if’s camp and Jyxton’s bedroll. Lewfeld and Luniri stayed with their father, but the group stopped attempting to enter the cave. Mordlew was now selling fetish enchantments and offering advice on how to survive the dungeon to the trickle of new adventurers who arrived as the season began to turn to fall.

  A few farmers had come out in the late summer. Most had not done much more than establish a small homestead and start clearing fields of brush and stones, but a few had managed to plant some quick growing vegetables or even some winter wheat. There even had been one herder who brought out a flock of shaggy coated goats. He claimed land near the mountain and the goats were often seen peacefully grazing on the brush that covered the slopes on the ea
stern side of the mountain.

  There were no more deaths inside the dungeon. Gee’if, Beeztol and Kalacho got together first. They had then approached Dared with a plan to limit access to either experienced groups, or groups that had experienced guides. A few adventuring groups complained when they were initially denied access to the dungeon, but eventually the few problems were worked out, usually by Salene or Roquel agreeing to guide the group the first couple of delves.

  Faestari noticed that both the Impaled Cats and the Flame Vultures were rotating members. Usually when a member finished the third floor three times, they would stop appearing at the entrance. A few days later a new member would join the company. For the Impaled Cats only Kalacho, Niscott and Ygryail continued to delve after completing three runs through the orcs. Bezztol was the only Flame Vulture who remained.

  Faestari wanted to ask about this, but had been unable to figure out a way to approach the groups. She had felt near continuous probes against her domain since she first revealed the truth, and more than once a new group of adventurers would enter carrying a magical item that appeared to be enchanted specifically to seek out her mana.

  Finally, as the sun began to set on the day where the day and night lasted equally long she heard adventurers talking as they began their ascent of the final stairway leading out of the dungeon. This had been a new group, and the five members had appeared happy with their treasure.

  “I can see why this dungeon has the reputation it does,” the leader said. He was a rather well-muscled man who had brought a sword into the dungeon.

  “I don’t know why you care,” a woman wearing robes replied. “We’re here for the treasure, not some dungeon’s reputation.”

  “Viana,” the man said with a sigh. “The reputation is that this dungeon offers a good and fair treasure for the challenge. You remember the last dungeon we were in.”

  “Was that really a dungeon?” asked a young man of perhaps sixteen years. He had brought a large number of knives into the dungeon. Faestari thought he would struggle, but the man proved to be very accurate when throwing the knives. More than one spider and kobold had been hit by a well thrown knife during this delve.