The City and the Dungeon

by Matthew Schmidt

  "An economic transaction! And discussion thereof," the massive man said and looked around. "Oh, if I must." He raised a hand, and a wave of heat spread through. I took a few points of fire damage, while monsters were simply obliterated. "You would remember to resume our discussion?"

  "Yes, sir," said the shopkeeper. "Perhaps we can talk as we evacuate?"

  "Of course!" Joseph said, raising a finger which shot more rays of fire. He walked slowly away. "As I was saying..."

  "Ignore him," Michael said. "We need to move."

  * * *

  The Deep House is a source of conspiracy theories. After all, if there is an Undercity, there would be its rulers, yes? I had believed in the existence of the latter no more than that of the former, but it was obvious enough now.

  What wasn't true was that it was a vast crystal-encrusted palace of treasure. It was a number of buildings surrounded by another moat of magma. The drawbridge was up and many Underdwellers gathered before it. A tall blond girl in a Blue Dragon scale gown shouted orders into her staff, interrupting herself repeatedly as she saw us. "Hold the line! Hello, Alice. Fourth Quarter, what the Dungeon are you doing? New friends, hmm? Your boys look cute. First Quarter, fall back! Any of them yours?"

  "Where are we needed, Sirea?" Alice Black asked.

  "We'd like you on the Offense, actually, but I wouldn't want any of your guys to get hurt. Offense, status! Where'd you find them at?"

  "We'll just stand here," Alice Black said.

  "Is anyone here taking this battle seriously?" I asked. "Is everyone weird?"

  "Do you even need to ask?" Michael asked.

  "Look, he talks!" Sirea said. "OFFENSE! What by the Dungeon is going on there?"

  "Our Lich friend has brought a few others," a deep, unconcerned voice through the staff replied. "We're looking for replication traps."

  "Awfully convenient."

  "Awfully so."

  Was someone attacking the Undercity?

  "Incoming!" shouted a mage, and a Deep Lich King appeared before us accompanied by a horde of summons.

  I wish I could say we fought valiantly alongside them, but everyone was higher level than us. We would have been creamed just by the Area spells. It was only flashes and swords and one large explosion. I did the most work; for if I hadn't healed us that instant, only Alice Black would have survived.

  But the Deep Lich King clutched the vertebrae under its neck and moaned as it fell into dust. Then Experience, so much Experience. I felt myself thrust through the spectrum barrier into blue.

  "That was a bit more excitement than I anticipated," Michael said.

  "How many of them are left?" Sirea asked.

  "Two," the voice through the staff said. "One. Zero."

  "Good job. PARTY TIME!" she shouted.

  "The battle is not over yet, you silly girl," the voice said, with a little amusement.

  "No, I don't suppose it is," Michael said. "Only a few monsters, here and there, destroying our beautiful city."

  "Fine, fine, party SOON!" the girl shouted.

  I still stared at myself. My aura was blue. Blue.

  We're heading back after this. Alice Black thought to us. Way too close for you guys.

  I'll be fine. I thought. I mean, fine with going back. I'm exhausted.

  No one thought disagreement.

  Chapter Twenty-One:

  Blue

  I saw it when I went to the mirror to shave that next morning. Something—something ever so different, but so slight I couldn't put my finger on how. I was still as young as ever, and if I ever wanted to be younger or older, it was only a potion away. But I saw an oldness in my expression that no potion could change. A tiredness. A cynicism, perhaps? No. Simply weariness.

  I was—and am—Dungeon-worn.

  This did not disturb me as much as I thought it would. Not that there was anything I could do about it.

  * * *

  The others, I saw when we had gathered around our table, had also changed.

  "Cheer up," I ordered. "Guys, we knew this would happen eventually."

  "In a single delve?" Elise said. She seemed even more cynical, as if every ill thought of the world was now completely and irrefutably validated. "One summonstorm..." She shrugged her shoulders. "It's the Creator's will, I suppose."

  "Or proof there is no Creator," Xavier said. I saw he had the same inner fatigue in his eyes as mine. "Considering your sacrifice seemed to have the inverse effect."

  "We survived, no?"

  "At least you two still argue," I said.

  Andy stared silently off into the distance—I couldn't tell, but she stood straighter, as if whatever shreds of childhood remained in her had been ripped away.

  "Eh, we'll be better tomorrow," Sampson said. If he had been affected, he hid it well. Perhaps too well. "Just too early to recover."

  "I hope so," I said.

  "No, really," Sampson insisted. "We're still ourselves. Just... older."

  "It was happening slowly," Andy finally said. "This... was the last straw."

  "Probably," I said.

  "You recovering from your first summonstorm?" Adam Black asked us. I wondered what he had been like prior to his own Dungeon-wearing. Maybe not that different, I thought. He did look at us with slightly more respect as he handed each of us a thick, glossy magazine. "Congratulations, by the way."

  "Thanks," I said, looking at my copy. The title said Blues in blue calligraphy.

  On the bottom was For Alex Kenderman.

  I opened it. Blues is a cross between a celebrity 'zine, political commentary, and a directory. They list, with a short paragraph, most common facts about every blue or higher delver. Copies are pretty pricey—I guess they have to make their money somewhere, if they give them away to actual blues.

  "We're in 'New Blood,'" Elise said.

  "So we are," I said, and read the article.

  Most delvers would rather flee into the deeper Deep than face an out-of-depth Deep Lich King, let alone several. Alex Kenderman and party (Sampson Kerryman, Elise Purple, Andromeda Square, Xavier D'Ambrose) survived such a summonstorm defending a camp on the 29th, bringing them directly in the ranks of the Blues. Assisting was Alice Black (V), Tengu Bushi Kyoto (B+), and an unknown violet.

  "How do they know this stuff?" I asked.

  "Spies," Elise said. "Really good scryers. The Law. Interviews. They've got their ways."

  "A camp on the 29th," Sampson said. "I take it they can't bear to say Undercity."

  "Everyone knows what they mean, though," Elise said. "'Unknown violet.' Can't talk about the Deep House, either."

  "The list isn't alphabetical," Andy said, flipping through the back.

  "The directory's by House and party," Elise said.

  I flipped to the directory, then to High House Black.

  ALEX KENDERMAN

  B, 54th Black Minister, High House Black, 25Q, +100

  Delver for less than a year, and already at Blue? We've rarely seen anyone with ambition, skill, and luck to level so fast. Joined High House Black in a little-noted incident wherein he rescued Alice Black (V) from slayers. A botched revive hasn't done anything between them, since Alice Black has been spotted more than once in his party. Perhaps there is something more there? His party has remained together with only a couple exceptions.

  My face was completely red.

  XAVIER D'AMBROSE

  B, 30th Fire Mage, High House Black, 25Q, +102

  Don't let the low primary level make you underestimate him. He's got enough levels in magic classes to go for Grand Archmage. Will he? Sources suspect an alliance between Black and Magica is in the making.

  SAMPSON KERRYMAN

  B, 51th Black Knight, High House Black, 25Q, +102

  Only a few frontline delvers can claim to have reached Blue without dying, and he's died just once. What's his secret? Beats us.

  ELISE PURPLE

  B, 50th Rogue, High House Black, 25Q, +109

  The long-lost heir to
House Purple has reappeared, having joined High House Black. Known for rapid Experience gain—perhaps soon to reestablish the House? Watch her.

  ANDROMEDA SQUARE

  B, 42nd Grim Knight, High House Black, 25Q, +104

  The daughter of Diggers, she has gone deeper than her parents possibly could have. Known to be silent, but evidently intelligent. No one knows what build path she's going for, but rumor has it her House is looking into replicating it. Keep an eye on her, she might be onto something.

  "It's Master of Magic," Xavier said with a sigh. "Why does everyone assume I'm going for Grand Archmage?"

  I flipped back a few pages.

  ADAM BLACK

  V+, 103rd Black Seraph, High House Black (Head), 50Q, +413

  High House Black has been tight lipped about what's happened to their nominal head. Aside from a recent bounty increase, no news. SHATTERED, BOUNTY AVAILABLE.

  SETH BLACK

  V+, 80th Black Seraph, High House Black (Acting Head), 50Q, +500

  Most delvers would have given up on finding a shattered brother at this point, especially if that meant they would still lead a High House. Seth Black has absolutely refused to do so. Note the alignment: his recent medal of service to the City has brought him into the bright gold.

  ALICE BLACK

  V, 4th Black Cherub, High House Black (Family), 50Q, +223

  4th? Don't think for a moment that means she's fallen off the power charts. All we know is that her new primary class is from the Angelstone, and she's been building towards it for ages. We believe the recent summonstorm she survived accounts for the sudden new class. Has been seen in Alex Kenderman's (B) party.

  ADAM BLACK II

  V, 107th Black Knight, High House Black (Family), 50Q, +250

  No clue why he's overleveling Black Knight, but he's still doing so. A secret build?

  ADRIANNE BLACK

  V, 80th Black Virtue, High House Black (Family), 50Q, +300

  Adrianne Black's rarely been seen outside of the High House's spire now-a-days, but she's been gaining levels somehow. Rumor has it she's going for Black Seraph, too.

  ISAAC BLACK

  V, 100th Rogue King, High House Black (Family), 50Q, +252

  Isaac Black hasn't gained in primary levels for a long time, but he's been seen in the Dungeon. Working on some secret build? We'll get you the latest.

  "Notice how all of these are basically puffery?" Alice Black said, with her own copy cracked open. "They know on which side their bread is buttered."

  "Congratulations on the Black Cherub," I said. "What's it like?"

  "I've never had a polymorph class before. Black Archangel just gave me wings. Black Cherub... Very, very strange. We really need a superparty to test it out. By the way, take a look at me."

  I did. "You look Dungeon of a lot better," I said.

  "Really?" Elise asked. "Just a lot better? You look gorgeous, Alice Black."

  Yes. She was... High Charisma delvers appear closer and closer to an ideal of beauty. Alice Black currently embodied that ideal. Not a spot out of place, not the slightest wrinkle or blemish—but that was the surface. She was real—not someone trying to be beautiful, but beauty itself.

  I wondered what the max Strength, Agility, and Wisdom would be like.

  "Thanks," Alice Black said, and looked at Elise's copy of Blues. We followed her eyes to Elise's entry.

  "Interesting little article," Elise said, and stroked a purple strand of hair ever so slightly.

  Alice Black said, deliberately, "Enjoy blue. I think it's the best flavor." And she walked off.

  "So," Elise said, looking at us. "I know what you're all wondering."

  "Why you're a High House heir, and never told us?" Sampson asked.

  "No, just a House heir," Elise said. "We never were as great as the Blacks, or the Greens. We had just an ordinary building down on the surface." She paused, as if in painful memory.

  "Something happened?" I ventured.

  "One wipe," Elise said. "Just one, and our top level delvers were all gone. Then we couldn't afford to equip another party. Then the collectors came for our debts. A few desperate, underequipped, underprovisioned delves later, every family delver was lost. The liegemen left us. And then I was the only one left—the little girl too young to use the Cornerstone. When I was old enough—long after they had taken our Housestone, our building, everything—I didn't delve because I knew full well that I was the last one left.

  "And..." she said quietly. "I can't offer proof, but I know the other Houses had a hand in it. I'm not saying they wiped Dad and the rest, but..."

  "Which houses?" I asked.

  "All of them."

  "What's your proof?" Xavier asked.

  "Can't offer any, as I said," Elise said. "But let me put it this way. Not one—not one single other House—gave us aid. Or if they offered, it was couched in a demand. Forsake labyrinthodula, or else." She made a small, forced laugh. "Turns out that the City isn't so tolerant of those it disagrees with, huh?"

  "Is this why you and Alice Black are constantly glaring at each other?" I asked.

  "Yep," Elise said, "because had things been just a little bit different, I would still be in my own House. She would be the one who had to join a rival House to survive. She'd be the one who would have to obey, to play obedient student while I play schoolteacher and critique her build." The ire in her, the rage at the unfairness of a careless world, was in full voice now. "By the way, we're distant cousins. Or at least we admit that. The Black family refuses to acknowledge the connection. But check the family trees, it's all there. Counting a certain indiscretion."

  "Which was never proven," Alice Black said as she pulled up a chair. She must not have walked that far. "Finished telling them how we are evil incarnate?"

  "I never said that," Elise said. "Only that you did wrong." I could sense the tremors in her breath.

  "As it happens, we never asked anyone to forsake any religion," Alice Black said.

  "Sure," Elise said. "I'm sure that's what you tell everyone. Lie to everyone. Even yourselves."

  "But you didn't offer any aid?" I asked.

  "Not my place to say why. Uncle Seth!"

  Our leader had been passing by as she called—deliberately, perhaps. No. I can't keep looking at everything as a conspiracy, particularly when he just had incredible Perception. He walked up to us and looked Elise in the eyes. "Arguing about the past?"

  "Telling the truth about it," Elise said. "You know who I am."

  "I do," Seth Black paused. That pause revolted me. "I have wondered why you joined us."

  "Because I knew that, after we had rescued Alice Black, what was really—" Elise stopped short, and both Seth and Alice Black stared at her. "Never mind."

  "I'm sorry," Alice Black said.

  "What?" Elise asked.

  "Sorry about what happened, back then. You probably realize what happened to them."

  "Will either of you please explain what you are talking about?" Xavier asked.

  "Conspiracies being revealed, of course," Sampson said happily.

  "Whatever the case, you could have done something," Elise said, "if you were truly sorry."

  "We offered, or should I say, Adam did," Seth Black said. "But you must realize that a decade ago, blue gear was top tier. We could barely spare anything of our own."

  "I am well aware of what you offered," Elise said. "I was in the discussion, I was one of the only remaining Purples at that time. And I knew a loan wasn't the same as support."

  "Do you really want to air all our dirty laundry here?" Seth Black said. Indeed, no delver in the common room was doing anything but watching and listening. "If you wish to remain as a liegewoman, I recommend you talk to me in private."

  I watched Elise. Her face didn't move the slightest. "Fine," she said after a moment. "I'll talk to you in private."

  * * *

  Our cheer on making blue had been dampened by that incident, so I suggested we all have a party at Mic
al's. It didn't work. Each of us ate in silence. Mical sat with us and didn't say anything either, simply watching. A waitress came and mentioned some crisis in the kitchen, and she waved her away.

  Blue was delicious. The Elevatarch was missing out—it was like the coolest spring day, blue sky everywhere, just the right temperature, but in edible form. Also, vaguely like blueberries.