by Galen Wolf
I stand for a moment then I commit fifty points into Swordplay, just like the owl said.
That is really cool. What is less cool, but necessary, is the fifty points I put into management.
That is very helpful. I think of all those mixed race dwarf/human babies and smile.
Two game days go by. Thorvald's miners have finished Miners Row, as I'm calling their houses, and moved in with their wives. Still no children. I check my HUD.
Military
Light Archers: 6
Yeomen Halberdiers: 4
Not Counted In Population
Civilians
Farmers: Adults, 4
Friars: 4
Miners: Adults 20
Key NPCs: 8
Silver Drift Population: 36
The total of thirty-six population is made up of miners and their wives - twenty all told. Four farmers, four friars and eight notable NPCs. Players such as myself, Bernard and Fitheach don't count in the population. Neither do the military.
Still a way to go before I get to one hundred population and get my settlement milestone and can bind here. If we had that already, Bernard wouldn't have had to walk back. I haven't heard anything from him. I won't worry yet.
Later, I check my dungeon schematic and see a red dot at the entrance. That reminds me to look at my dungeon xp. We're at 850xp and we need 1000 for Level 3. This red dot will help a little. I leave my chambers in the Silver Drift and walk to the connecting door, my heavy metal shoes scraping on the stone floor. I lean into my inventory and take out the brass key. It's nearly time for the meeting with the NPCs, I hope this adventurer gets killed before we meet there. Then I'll lock the front door and switch the dungeon off until we're finished with upgrading. I smile to myself as I mentally see the 'Closed For Refurbishment' sign on the dungeon door.
The adventurer is pretty confident, judging by the speed his dot progresses through into the Tapestry Room. It looks like he's killed the carrion crawlers and slimes already. I faint whiff of toasted jelly wafts through on the still dungeon air. I switch observation mode on and hover over the red dot to see who it is. It's Tye. Of course the dungeon still doesn't recognize him as a friend. There's a tab on the dungeon menu where I can add the names onto a friends list then the dungeon won't trigger mobs and traps against them. I mentally type: Tye, and his dot goes green.
I switch off observation mode so he can see me. He's standing with a big grin on his face, as he swipes back his flame orange hair with his hand. A sprite of light hovers by his shoulder casting bright radiance all around. Tye's still wearing his midnight blue and gold embroidered wizard's robes. The smell of burning is coming from him.
'I got your dove,' he says. 'Came straight over.'
'Welcome. By the way, did you see Bernard?'
'Your alchemist friend? No. Why?'
I scratch my chin. 'He should be up here by now. He got killed and had to walk from his bind point.'
'Bummer.'
'But anyway, let's go get the others.'
I show him through the connecting corridor. We walk past the untriggered paladin and Tye raps on its armor as we squeeze through. When we get to the connecting door, I'm about to get out my brass key to unlock when I have a thought. I go to the dungeon tab on the HUD and on the dungeon friends list, I promote Tye to mini-boss.
He gets his copy of the brass key deposited in his inventory and pulls it out all gold and gleaming in the light of his hovering spell. 'Thanks, dude. I won't let you down.'
'I know.' And I really do. He's straight and honest and an enemy of evil.
I back out of the way and let him open the connecting door with his key as a kind of initiation. As the heavy stone door rumbles out of the way, we are faced with a group of NPCs. Oliver Stone stands there with Asterix, Peter the Silent and Geraint the Blacksmith.
'Sir Gorrow,' Oliver says, bowing.
I wave his deference away. 'Oliver, less of the bowing. It makes me uneasy. You know Tye, our wizard and boss of this level.'
Those who do know him, mutter a greeting, those who don't introduce themselves.
'I was coming to find you,' I say. 'Is Thorvald coming?'
Oliver nods. 'Yes. He's on his way. He said to start.'
We walk into the Tapestry Room and are standing around looking at the walls, when Thorvald arrives apologizing for being late. 'Did I miss anything?'
More introductions to Tye. NPCs are always deferential to players, I've noticed, and they seem a little in awe of Tye. Maybe it's his striking hair and air of confidence.
When we're all seated, a hush descends on the room. 'So,' I begin. 'This dungeon's got to get better. And bigger. I need more rooms excavated.'
'Sure,' Thorvald says. 'What were you thinking?'
I point to the dead end so called Creepy Corridor where the Pit Trap is. 'I think down there I want a big colonnaded room. Or maybe plinths with statues on.'
'Statues of saints?' Oliver says. 'That would be appropriate.'
I nod. 'Okay. Saints.'
'That breathe fire,' Tye adds.
I hadn't thought of that, but it's good. I look to Peter the Silent. 'Peter, can you rig up a trap mechanism so the statues breathe fire on adventurers?'
Peter nods quietly. 'Pressure plates should do it suitably disguised. But I can't make the fire.'
Tye smiles. 'Don't worry about that. I got plenty of fire.'
I look from one to the other. It's right that Tye should have a big say in what goes into his dungeon level. 'You two can work together?'
Tye grins broadly. 'Sure we can. If he can make the trap mechanisms, I can imbue them with fire. I'll just enchant them. I've got points in enchanting.'
'Where does this colonnaded room lead to?' Asterix asks.
I suck my teeth. 'Not quite sure yet.'
'Deeper,' Tye offers. 'It always goes deeper into the dungeon.'
'So we've got a Room of Statues with pressure plates that trigger fire breathing?'
Oliver nods. He's going to have to create the design and give it to Thorvald's miners to start work.
Tye says, 'And the other passage. It leads from the main entrance and goes past the Ruined Chapel and the Tapestry Room doors.'
'Yep.'
'It should go somewhere too. It's just a dead end now with some loot and a carrion crawler.' I look to Geraint. 'We're going to have to move the mobs around.'
Tye shakes his head. 'Remove them. I want all the mobs on this level to be fire based. I'm seeing a fire theme.'
I grin. 'Yeah, I got that.'
Tye continues. 'Want to walk?' We all get up and leave the room. We enter the dungeon proper and follow him to the dead end passage. The carrion crawler and the loot lie there. 'Through here,' he says. 'The passage goes down...'
Oliver is scribbling notes.
'...And after it's gone down about ten feet on a gentle slope, so they have to be watchful in the dark to even know they've descended, after it's ten feet down it fills up—'
'—with water?' I ask.
Tye shakes his head. 'No, with gas.'
I chuckle. 'I thought you were going to say fire.'
'No, gas.'
'Gas, okay. Poison gas?'
'Explosive gas. So if they go in with a torch or any source of flame, they are going to get blown the hell up.'
Peter nods. 'I can do a gas trap. I don't think a pressure plate this time, we've had a few of those. I like to vary my art.'
'Maybe a trip wire?' I suggest.
'Excellent idea, Sir Gorrow,' Peter says with a smug smile.
'And when they get through the Gas Room. Can I call it the Gas Room?'
Oliver frowns. 'Maybe Explosive Room, to be polite.'<
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'Okay then, the Explosive Room, what then?'
Tye's face is glowing as he imagines the scene. He directs with his hands like he's directing an orchestra. 'Then! A locked door. Can't be hacked or blown up. Can that work?'
Oliver shakes his head. 'All doors can be hacked or blown up eventually. But we can make it tough.'
Geraint the Blacksmith clears his throat. 'I can reinforce it. Maybe with something really durable, to make it hard to get through.'
'But there's a key!' Tye says.
'Where?'
He ponders a second. 'In the Ruined Chapel. A crystal key.'
'I can't work crystal yet,' Geraint says.
'Platinum?'
'How about gold?'
'Yeah fine, gold. Then when they get through the door it's a room full of mobs. Let me think which kind.' He closes his eyes then says, 'Fire elementals? Can we get fire elementals?'
Asterix the Dwarf says, 'I can provide a full range of dungeon mobiles. Fire elementals, water elementals—'
Tye silences him with a gesture of his hand. 'No, we don't want any water things. This is fire.'
Tye is a prima donna I can see, but he's fun.
He says, 'Salamanders?'
He means the poison lizards that live in the flames.
'Of course,' Asterix says, tugging his beard.
'What about Pit Fiends?'
Asterix is about to say yes when I butt in. 'No devils. Nothing evil. Neutral sure, but not evil.'
Tye nods. 'Of course, boss. Sorry, I was getting carried away. I'll think about mobs later.'
'So they fight their way through the room of fire elementals, then what?'
'They come to a... I don't know... a river of lava?'
I look questioningly at Thorvald. 'Have we come across any lava in the mine yet?'
'We're not deep enough yet.'
I have to admit a river of lava sounds good. I say, 'Can we reserve a space for the lava, for now just make it a regular underground river and then when we get down deeper, we can pipe up the lava from below? How about that?'
Tye isn't convinced. Thorvald being ever helpful is about to offer to start digging straight away but I cough politely. 'Let's leave the lava for now. It's a great idea, but we have other calls on our resources just yet. Any more ideas?'
'Sure, sure,' Tye says. 'Loads of ideas. We need a theme — a story for the level.'
He's right. We don't just want a rambling level with no theme.
Tye is talking at high speed. 'So, I see fire dwarfs. Are they a thing?' He looks to Asterix.
Asterix tilts his head. 'They exist. But not round here.'
'Can you get us some?'
'Of course. At a price.'
Tye says, 'Don't worry about the money, we are going to kill so many adventurers in here we can clone their gear when they die, and sell it. Look, we got a tribe of fire dwarfs—'
'We prefer dwarves,' Asterix says. 'And it's a clan, not a tribe of dwarves.'
'Sure. No offence.'
'None taken.'
'And right this tribe, I mean clan, they are forging something... like maybe good weapons? Gold weapons, that's good, isn't it?' Tye looks to me and Geraint. He knows his knowledge in this area isn't up to scratch. In Camelot gold is actually pretty durable, so this would work. I nod.
'And the adventurers are just raiding them. Simple.'
Geraint says, 'But that gives us the opportunity to fill the level with functional buildings. Forges, barracks, storerooms, kitchens. Who's their leader? A dwarf king?'
Tye shakes his head and jabs his thumb into his own chest. 'No, me. I am. The Fire Mage. They are my dudes. Doing stuff for me.'
'Anything else about design before we move onto loot and mobs?'
'Yeah,' Tye says. 'I want some fireball traps. I love that spell. I just need some traps that explode and fireball them to ash. Can I get those?'
Peter says, 'If you imbue them, I can set up the mechanism.'
'Excellent. And what about fire blade traps. Spinning blades of fire?'
'Of course. I'll need your help, but of course.'
'You've got it. And in addition how about fire pit traps. You know — traps where they fall into a pit of fire.'
'I actually got that before you explained it,' I say.
Peter nods and shrugs. 'I see no problem.'
'Great. Awesome. Mobs then?'
I nod.
'Get rid of all the ones you've got. I mean they're great, but I don't want them.'
I smile. 'We can store them.'
'We will have fire dwarf soldiers guarding the place. We've already talked about fire elementals, and salamanders. What else?'
Asterix considers. 'Fire mephits?'
'Yes.'
'Fire giants?'
'Doesn't go with the dwarf theme.'
'Fire reavers?'
'Yup.'
'Sentient fireballs that roll along?'
'Sounds good.'
'Dwarf fire wizards...'
Asterix goes through the list of fire based mobs and Tye accepts most of them. The bill will be huge and we can't afford them all. Neither would there be space in the dungeon for this many mobs, even with the planned extensions. I just let them talk and dream their dream. It will still be a well stocked dungeon. I turn to Geraint. 'What about loot?'
'I can provide what you want. A good amount of gold, jeweler, armor, weapons. Some enchanted gear?'
'Flaming swords,' Tye says. 'Fire resist armor.'
I nod. 'We could do with potions of fire resist too.'
'Yeah, but not 100% resist. Only up to, say, 20%?'
I shake my head. 'Got to be better than that. We have to balance this, we can't kill them within the first ten minutes. What about 60% resist?'
Tye frowns. 'No. 40% tops?'
'50%?'
'Okay, but rare. Most items are less than that.'
It sounds like a compromise. I'm going to ask Bernard to create some fire resist potions, as well as some health potions.
'Exploding fire runes — can you make those?' Tye says. 'Like there are fire writing, writhing there on the walls, the adventurers look at them, try to decipher them then — boom! Can you do that?'
Peter shakes his head. 'Alas, my lord, no.'
'Geraint?'
Geraint shrugs. 'Not me. No.'
I say, 'I bet Bernard can make them. When he gets back. And he's going to make the boss loot too. Put it in a locked chest for when they kill you.'
Tye wags his finger. 'If they kill me. Not many will.'
'That's how it should be because this loot sounds really good.'
Bernard had talked to me of a tome that added points to a particular skill once you read it. I don't know if it's possible but I say, 'Yeah, it's a tome of +100 to whatever skill you choose.'
Tye whistles. 'That's pretty cool, actually. I'd like one myself. By the way, what's the level limit on the mobs and traps?'
I don't want the dungeon to be too deadly, or too easy, for that matter. 'Say the floor level + 1, so currently Level 3, when we get our next level, Level 4 and so on.'
'I'm Level 4 now,' Tye says. 'By the way do I get xp as well as the dungeon.'
I say, 'From what I read, you get the xp for the adventurers you personally kill.'
'That's fine. It'll be a lot.'
The meeting seems to be coming to a close. We've got plenty to do. I give my orders. 'Geraint, you get on the loot; Thorvald, talk to Oliver and start excavating all the rooms, Peter, traps with Tye, Asterix, can you begin to order the mobs? By the way, I'll talk to you in private about how many.'
He nods wisely. 'I thought as much, Sir Gorrow. I will await your instructions.'
Tye is almost dancing with excitement. 'This is going to be so awesome, Gorrow.'
'Sir Gorrow,' Asterix corrects him.
'Yeah I meant that. But it will be the best dungeon and I will be the best mini-boss. It'll be full of loot to attract them and not too hard that it's imposs
ible, but pretty hard so 80% of them die. How about that?'
I clap him on the shoulder. 'Sounds about right.'
'So guys, get to work. We'll close the dungeon for a game week and then have a grand reopening.'
They all leave me standing alone in my dungeon. It feels strange now. It's not just mine, but it is still mine, except now I have a team behind me. But that team is missing someone.
While the dungeon level is being constructed. I decide to go out and search for Bernard.
18
THE LOST ALCHEMIST
I stand on the edge of the escarpment gazing over the valley of the River Idon towards the sea and Scotia beyond. It grieves me to see the red and black haze over everything that denotes this is enemy held territory. Lands that were once pleasant and green, woods full of songbirds and rivers full of speckled trout are now blacked and burned — diseased fungus and blight flourish where there was once greenery. The villages that I can see are now monstrous heaps of misshapen hovels filled with vile goblins and Dwemmers. But there's no sign of Bernard. I wait there for an hour or so, the breeze blowing from the sea, smelling faintly of salt and freedom. Over the sea lies Ireland and, as far as I know, the plague of evil has not spread there yet.
Eventually, I turn Spirit's head and we travel back to The Forgotten Chapel. The dungeon is closed to adventurers. Before, I get back I saw a group of three adventurers trying the door, but it's locked and disappointed, they leave. They are servants of evil and I think about hunting them down, but I know they'll be low level so I let them go.
I go to the escarpment the next game morning and look again for the errant alchemist. I've sent him various doves but he hasn't replied, not even to say he's okay. Maybe he's quit the game? Who knows? I hope that's not true.
The third day, I go again, not expecting to see anything or anyone — I'm beginning to think he truly has left the game and I'm disappointed and sad he didn't send me a message to say he was leaving.
Then I see two figures down the sloping path through the blasted heather, now sick and blackened from the influence of evil. They're about half a mile away. One's on foot and the other's on horseback. I put my hand to shield my eyes from the glimmering sun. The figure on horseback looks familiar. He's dressed in black armor and even from here I can see the insignia of his evil guild. It's Reza the Cruel.
