Dungeon Lord: Abominable Creatures (The Wraith's Haunt Book 3)

by Hugo Huesca

  I seem to recall a boot that complained as much as them, Sergeant Ria told her from the back of her mind. Hell, didn’t you cry during your first night at camp?

  Fuck off, Sarge, Kes thought. You weren’t there for that part. She knew that the voice of her old, grumpy sergeant was only a trick of her imagination, a product of too many blows to the head mixed with the trauma of losing her wings. It still beat having to relive Ria’s eventual fate over and over again, as well as the fate of the rest of her squad. And some days, anyway, Kes welcomed the company of someone who got it, even if it was a ghost, or insanity, or whatever. What would you have done in my place, anyway?

  Ria would’ve been brutal the first weeks, to cull the weak and force the ones who stayed to bond over their hatred for the sergeant. Then, slowly, as they improved and become real fighters, she’d have allowed them to earn her “begrudging” respect, as if they’d forced her hand by sheer effort instead of it being the entire point all along. That had created a different kind of bond between the unit and Ria, which eventually expanded into a fiery loyalty to the Cardinal Command and the values it represented.

  It was a tried-and-true method at creating warriors. But Kes couldn’t use it. She didn’t have an unending tide of new recruits to fill the ranks of the ones who broke. These nine were all she had. If she pushed them too hard, fewer would join next time. But if she pushed them too little, they would become a danger to themselves at best, and mean bullies at worst.

  Maybe she could inspire them some other way. Kes bit her lip and followed Costel’s gaze. Most the boots were stealing glances at the dueling grounds. I can use this, she thought.

  “Five-minute-break, everyone,” she announced. Before they had a chance to relax, she added, “Come with me. There’s something you must see.”

  She led them toward the dueling grounds like a mother duck guiding a line of sweaty, tired ducklings. When she stopped a few paces away from the stake circle, the boots bunched up behind her.

  “These are two of my best students,” she told the group. “They’ve been training for a little over three seasons, following the same program you’ll go through. If you apply yourselves, you’ll be as skilled as they. Perhaps you could even surpass them.”

  In the ring, Ed and Alder exchanged parries and ripostes repeatedly using dull-edged longswords. They’d changed much since they’d first started training. While they still had a long way to go, the changes in their bodies already showed. Alder’s lanky frame was being shaped into an athletic build, and the warm lines of his face were now framed by a powerful jaw. He appeared less like a Bard every day, which was a stark contrast to Ed, who looked more and more like a Dungeon Lord with each passing season. The gaunt and tall young man Kes had first met had become a trim, broad-shouldered warrior with callused hands and unruly black hair reaching his shoulders. He was gaining pounds of muscle along with each Endurance and Brawn rank, and even his stride became more grounded as time went on, as if Ivalis itself warmed to his presence. To Kes, it seemed as if there was a sort of promise in the way Ed was growing—as if, if she focused, she could see past him and gaze into the future, into the Dungeon Lord he would become once he fully eased into his role.

  And you’re helping him become that man. You’re pouring into him all you know, all that pain and life have taught you along the way, Kes thought. Once his training is over, Lord Wraith shall have a part of him that is Kessih of Greene as well as the part that is Edward Wright. The idea was both exhilarating and terrifying at once. This was the hidden power of mentors—the way they became immortal and achieved true mastery. Will he add my voice to my teachings when he thinks of them, the way Ria’s voice lives inside me to this day?

  Kes’ throat had gone dry. She forced herself back into reality, and away from those thoughts. Peering into the future could be too much for a mortal, even if it were the nebulous, uncertain future of could be and may be.

  No, best to live life one day at a time. Today, Ed and Alder were still her trainees, and the gods knew she had a lot of road yet to walk with them. Their stances needed work. A parry there was too slow. The riposte would’ve crushed Alder’s wrist in a real fight. It comforted her. Things were as they should be. She wasn’t ready for immortality just yet.

  One of the rookies behind Kes took a sharp breath and whistled. “Me, fighting like a Dungeon Lord? Kes, you’re talking nonsense. Are you still drunk?”

  Ah, Kes thought. Yes. There was a reason she’d come here. She gave the rookie her best challenging smile and eased herself back into her mantle of mentor. “Fighting is a skill, Rasvan, not a magical power. You can see Alder and Lord Edward’s character sheet as well as you can see mine. If you raise your melee skill as high as theirs, what makes you think you cannot fight as well?”

  The boots stood still as they focused on Ed’s character sheet. Kes followed suit, although by now she’d come to know the stats of most of the Haunt’s inhabitants by heart. She started with Alder.

  Alder Loom

  Species: Human

  Total Exp: 270

  Unused Exp: 0

  Claims: Bardic School of Elaitra - Journeyman.

  Attributes

  Brawn: 10

  Agility: 9

  Endurance: 10

  Mind: 10

  Spirit: 9 (+1 Minion of Dungeon Lord Edward Wright)= 10

  Charm: 13 (+1 Minion of Dungeon Lord Edward Wright)= 14

  Skills

  Knowledge (Bardship): Improved (I) - Pertains to the owner’s knowledge of a specialized, secret topic. This skill allows access to the Bardic subdomain’s utterances.

  Bardic Performance: Basic (IX) - Represents the Bard’s capacity for performing under the pressure of an audience without penalization to the bard’s magic.

  -Basic status allows the Bard to suffer no penalty to performing an utterance in the presence of a crowd if there’s no danger involved.

  -If danger is involved, each extra rank of Basic allows the Bard faster utterance casting and lessens the risk of disruption if they suffer damage or are attacked.

  Survival: Basic (VII) - Represents the owner’s capability to survive when far from civilization. Basic ranks imply they can survive in a non-lethal environment and situations. They can build a basic campsite, know that some berries are dangerous, how to start a fire, and so on.

  Melee: Basic (III) - Measures the user’s progress in physical combat. It opens up melee-related talents as well as advanced martial skill specializations.

  Talents

  Bardic Utterances: Basic (IV) - Allows the bard to use utterances, the magical variant of the Illusion and Control hybrid subdomain: Bardic.

  -Basic ranks allow the bard to perform any basic utterance that they know and have practiced enough.

  -Allowed utterances: 4 basic per day + 1 basic utterance due to Dungeon Allegiance.

  Energy Drain: Active. Varies per utterance.

  Spellcasting: Basic (II) - Domains: Illusion(Mind). Forbidden: Rend - Represents the owner’s magical ability.

  -Basic status allows the caster to use and learn all basic related spells of their domain. Extra ranks improve each individual spell’s characteristics, such as range or damage.

  -Allowed spells: 2 basic per day + 1 basic spell due to Dungeon Allegiance

  Empathy: Basic - Allows the owner to sense emotions in humanoid creatures familiar to the owner.

  -Basic status lets the owner sense strong emotions that their targets are not actively trying to hide.

  Energy Drain: Active. Low.

  Dungeon Minion - Dungeon Minion. The owner is a minion under the command of a Dungeon Lord. The Minion receives bonuses according to the Lord’s power and is recognized by the Dungeon Lord’s dungeon as an allowed entity (unless otherwise specified).

  Resist Sickness: Basic - Allows its owner to resist disease and sickness.

  -Basic status allows the owner to resist non-magical sickness as if they had Endurance of 15 and were in optimal conditions (c
lean, well-fed, rested).

  Improved Dodge - Allows the owner to perform, up to the limits of their own body, the correct set of movements to avoid being hit by a non-magical attack as long as the owner sees it coming.

  Energy Drain: Activated. Moderate.

  Utterance List

  Nimble Feet - Creates an area of effect around the Bard that allows them and their friends to retreat as if they possessed an Agility of 15. This effect ends if the users enter combat.

  Duration: 5 minutes.

  Bardic Images - As long as the Bard is playing his instrument, five illusory copies of himself are created on the battlefield. They are indistinguishable from the real one, and will do their best to keep attention away from the Bard. If the Bard uses Bardic Images along with a Spellcasting slot, he can change the form of the copies to another person, but they will behave as normal illusions and have to be directly controlled.

  Dazzling Display - Any creature with direct line of sight to the performing Bard is stunned by the Utterance and feels compelled to pay its full attention to the Bard. The creature can attempt to resist the effect by contesting its Charm, Mind, or Spirit against the Bard’s Charm. This effect ends if the creature is attacked.

  Duration: 3 seconds.

  Spell List

  Minor Illusion, Arcane Flare.

  Alder was creating an interesting build. A focus on illusions was something Kes’ had seen only a few Bards go for, so she had little frame of reference. As far as she knew, most illusions were resisted by either the Mind attribute or the Spirit, but Alder was certain that he could eventually purchase Bard-exclusive talents to force his targets to use Charm against his own Charm, and that was where he was focusing. Ever since he’d begun practicing his songs and performances again, he’d gained two new utterances, which he used defensively. Kes approved of that choice. Only shock troops spec’d into full aggression. Everyone who valued their own hides tried to make themselves as hard to hit as possible.

  On the other hand, she wished she could convince the Bard to go for more physical talents other than his new improved dodge. The reason was that magical talents weren’t always at hand. An enemy spellcaster could use an anti-magic field, or buff their own attributes to resist Alder’s illusions. Physical talents were more reliable and much cheaper than magical ones.

  At least Ed hasn’t made his choice yet. The Dungeon Lord could still resist the siren’s call of magic and go for the more sensible approach. Ed liked to hoard his experience points until his skills were high enough to show him a more flexible list of options. He’d bought an expensive improved metabolism because he had realized that some Dungeon Lord’s talents couldn’t be shut down, like his pledge of armor, and was saving the rest of his points until he raised his Dungeon Engineering skill to Improved.

  This plan, however, Kes wasn’t so sure she approved of. Improved metabolism implied that Ed planned on picking more always-on talents, which was a dangerous line to tread. Too much strain to his body and the chances that he’d keel over dead in his thirties skyrocketed, no matter how powerful he became by then.

  She focused on Ed until his character sheet appeared in avian glyphs in front of her.

  Edward Wright

  Species: Human

  Total Exp: 460

  Unused Exp: 107

  Claims: Lordship.

  Attributes

  Brawn: 12

  Agility: 11

  Endurance: 13

  Mind: 13

  Spirit: 14 (+1 Dungeon Lord mantle)= 15

  Charm: 13 (+1 Dungeon Lord mantle)= 14

  Skills

  Athletics: Basic (VI) - The owner has trained his body to perform continuous physical activity without penalties to their Endurance. For a while.

  -Basic ranks allows them to realize mild energy-consuming tasks (non-combat) such as running or swimming without tiring. Unlocks stamina-related talents.

  Melee: Basic (VI) - Measures the user’s progress in physical combat. It opens up melee-related talents as well as advanced martial skill specializations.

  Dungeon Engineering: Improved (VII) - This skill represents the user’s knowledge of magical constructs pertaining to dungeoncraft. As it improves, it allows for new rooms and traps, as well as adds to the Dungeon Lord Mantle capacity of storing the user’s own blueprints.

  Combat Casting: Basic (V) - Pertains to the speed and efficiency of spells cast during combat or life-threatening situations.

  -Basic status allows the caster to use spells every 20 seconds - 1 second per extra rank. The caster must say the spell names aloud and perform the appropriate hand gestures.

  Leadership: Basic (VIII) - Reflects the owner’s capacity of inspiring and managing his troops and minions. For a Dungeon Lord, improving this skill adds to the bonus he and his minions receive.

  Talents

  Evil Eye - Allows the Dungeon Lord to see the Objectivity of any creature or item. If the target of his gaze possesses a strong Spirit (or related Attribute or Skill) they may hide their information if the Lord’s own Spirit is not strong enough.

  Energy Drain: Active. Very Low.

  Dungeon Lord Mantle - The mantle is the heart of the Dungeon Lord and represents the dark pact made in exchange for power.

  -It allows the Dungeon Lord access to the Dungeon Lord status and powers, as defined by the Dungeon Screen.

  -It allows the Dungeon Lord to create and control dungeons, as per the limitations of his Dungeon Screen.

  Energy Drain: None.

  Improved Reflexes - Allows the owner to experience increased reaction time for a small burst of time.

  -Basic status elevates his reaction speed to a degree dictated by the owner’s Agility, for a duration of 3 seconds per use.

  Improved Metabolism - Reduces the energy costs of all talents by 25% - the caloric requirements of the user are increased by the same amount.

  Energy Drain: Activated. High.

  Resist Sickness: Basic - Allows the owner to resist disease and sickness.

  -Basic status allows the owner to resist non-magical sickness as if they had Endurance of 15 and were in optimal conditions (clean, well-fed, rested).

  Spellcasting: Basic (IV) - Domains: general. Forbidden: Healing - Represents the owner’s magical ability.

  -Basic status allows the caster to use and learn all basic related spells of their domain. Extra ranks improve each individual spell’s characteristics, such as range or damage.

  -Efficient status grants the owner 1 extra basic spell.

  -Allowed spells: 1 basic per day + 1 basic spell due to Dungeon Lordship

  Energy Drain: Active. Varies per Spell.

  Ancient Lord Aura - The owner creates an aura around him that enhances allied beings inside its area of effect. Affected beings can use the Dungeon Lord’s Spirit as their own while this aura is active. Their physical attributes are also enhanced +1 while this aura is active. If the creature is a minion of the Dungeon Lord, they are immune to fear while affected by the aura.

  Duration: 1 minute.

  Energy Drain: Activated. Moderate.

  Pledge of Armor - Any armor that the Dungeon Lord wears is considered magical, as if it had a minor protection enchantment. This bonus stacks with any protection enchantment the armor may have, or any other similar defensive enchantment. Magical armor can deflect spells of similar power-category, as well as normal weaponry.

  Restriction: Selecting this talent locks out the Pledge of Bloodshed advancement option.

  Energy Drain: Passive.

  Spell List

  Minor Order - Command. The caster forces a target creature to follow a simple order as long as said order is not immediately against the creature’s moral code or presents a threat to its life.

  Eldritch Edge - Enchantment. The caster adds a magical flame to the edge of a weapon. This flame makes the weapon magical for the duration, allowing it to bypass weak magical defenses and mundane ones.

  Duration: 1 minute per Spellcraft rank.
<
br />   Murmur’s Reach - Command (Mantle) - The caster possesses a minion located in the same dungeon as the caster. The caster’s body is left defenseless during this time.

  Duration: Ten minutes per Spellcraft rank.

  Old Ivan snorted after he was done reading the character sheets. “Dungeon Lords are magical up to their balls, Kes. Us normals can’t compare. We’re going along with this guard thing because it’s a bad idea to tell a Dungeon Lord to take his idea and shove it, but c’mon. Don’t dare tell us that guards will ever be anything more than arrow-fodder.”

  “Oh. I see.” Kes caressed her chin as if deep in thought. She glanced at her two pupils, then at Old Ivan. “Well, if you say so. Since you seem to be more observant than me… Ivan, can you tell me what kind of magic are Alder and Ed using?”

  “Well…”

  Oblivious to the discussion, Alder closed in on Ed. The Bard held his sword over his right shoulder, grasping it with both hands. He and Ed circled each other for a brief instant before Alder lunged forward and launched a diagonal cut aimed at Ed’s chest. The Dungeon Lord adjusted his stance and parried in such a way that he stopped Alder’s blade outright. Ed advanced, keeping his edge on Alder’s, trying to divert the Bard’s sword away from his own body while aiming the tip of his blade at Alder’s neck. Alder faded backward and to the side and brought his sword back to a neutral stance. Ed did the same, but at the last instant threw a blindingly fast vertical slash. Alder reacted by instinct and hefted his sword at an angle to catch Ed’s. Right as the blades met, Alder stepped forward and used the impact to make his blade bounce aside, spring around Ed’s blade, and trace a horizontal arc aimed at the Dungeon Lord’s helmet. Ed chased the attack, bending his whole body away while bringing his own sword down atop Alder’s, but he wasn’t fast enough and the Bard’s sword struck his arm just as his own tapped Alder’s shoulder.