It was nearly 1330, when the small squad of bugbears made it to the Gnome settlement. They had gotten around five hours of rest during Mareth’s attack on the lower levels of the dungeon. It would have to be enough. Mark was on a clock. Mareth’s units were repeatedly sabotaging the respawning buildings, and if losing a day’s worth of furthering research, crafting, and the home base’s production was not bad enough, they had also lost their first outpost around noon.
Mareth only had brought 30 units, but two jack o lanterns and more than two dozen level one units were plenty to take on the goblin patrol Mark had stationed at Crassius’ old dungeon site. Mareth might not have succeeded in conquering their dungeon, but the fact that she must have sent out the war band to attack their outpost at the same time that her main force left told Mark that she was not taking chances. If she could not kill them outright she would be content to strangle them away from resources that they would need to keep up. Amelia and Mark were already working through several disadvantages. They could not afford for their progress to stall.
First, they would need to retake their dungeon’s surface. Mareth seemed content to sit at both the main dungeon and outpost site and continually destroy their buildings. Unfortunately, Mark had no way to organically retake the home base. The bugbears and arachne might be able to retake the outpost, but that would mean giving up on the home base for several days. The frog men also could retake the outpost, but that would take at least 3 days for them to get there. It would take them about the same amount of time to get to the home base, but although they almost outnumbered the units holding it 2 to 1 they would not stand a chance.
That left trying to get outside assistance. The harpies likely were not strong enough, and the kobolds likely would not care. For one the magic mine along with the forge were both up and running, so the kobolds were not adversely affected. Mark did not know whether Mareth did not know about them, or she just did not care. Regardless, they did not really have a deep enough relationship with either group to get them to assist. That left the gnomes as the only choice.
Mark had been then thinking through a couple lines of argument while the bugbears traveled. He was exhausted, but he needed to get things on course before he could afford to sleep. If he could not convince the gnomes to help it would result in a major setback. Mark would then have to offer the kobolds everything under high heaven to try to get them to help out. If that did not work, then Mark would have to go back to relying on their own means.
Mark could only see two options if they had to free themselves. For the first he would upgrade their other outpost to a settlement for 100,000 MP. Then they could summon a force to retake the surface of the main dungeon, but how long would that take. He had used up most of their MP prior to the attack and now they could only produce 6,300 MP a day with the other outpost. The tens of thousands of MP they would recoup from the enemy units that died in their territory was being held up. The 87 units occupying their home base apparently still made the system behave as if the battle was ongoing.
They were sitting at 86 DP, so it would only take a few days for them to upgrade the outpost, but it would still take some time to build an army to take on the 87 units. Meanwhile Mareth could and probably would reinforce her forces. In that case, how much of a chance would they even stand at catching up, when Mareth was operating at full capacity pulling in three times more MP each day. Not to mention, enchanted weapons were off the table since they only had a crafting house at the home base.
The other option would be to have the frogmen immediately march to join the remnants of the bugbear platoon. The 150 extra fodder might give the bugbear platoon a chance to make things happen, but Mark still did not like the chances. Mareth could easily double her forces in the time it would take for the frogmen to get there.
In conclusion, even if Mark could get either of the options to work out in the end, it would still result in a lot of lost production. Something Mark and Amelia could not afford. The gnomes were their best solution to break them free of the situation.
The gnome settlement came into view. It actually was Mark and Amelia’s first time to set eyes on it. A wooden gate with metal hinges sat between two natural massive stone pillars. Using his overhead view Mark could look past the gate into the village. The village was built in a secret glade like recess in the sheer face of the plateau. The glade was covered in crop fields and gardens with only a couple of buildings. There was a forge and a large town center like building near the back against the cliff face. Then there were a handful of stables near the front gate. This must be where the sheep were housed for the night.
During the day the sheep were allowed to graze in the surrounding fields outside the gate. The bugbear squad had marched between two large herds of them, their gnome caretakers watching on. Mark sighed remembering that it was their goblins trying to steal these very sheep that had started this relationship. Mark supposed in hindsight, he was fortunate the goblins had been dumb enough to think they would be able to sneak sheep out from under the watchful eyes of their caretakers.
It was evident that there would be adequate forewarning of the bugbears' arrival. The land was cleared for a good distance from the main gate, and indeed Cedrick and a small party were already making their way toward the gate to meet them. Luckily, Cedrick knew about and had even met some of the bugbears, so at least they should not be treated overly suspiciously.
“I guess there would not be any village tour,” Amelia remarked glumly.
“Last thing we should be concerned about,” Mark said stiffly.
Their attention shifted back on screen as the bugbears approached the gate. Cedrick was waiting in full iron plate along with eight other gnome brawlers. Then there were a half dozen archers perched up on the wall. They were on good terms, but there was no reason not to have a show of force when it came to forces approaching their village.
“I would ask why you all made your way here, but I suppose it’s rather obvious. That was quite the scuffle you guys got in last night. Although I was a bit far away to see the specifics,” Cedrick said. His own war hammer rested across his shoulder, the pick on the back pointing up toward the sky.
“Boss, Mark and Amelia, send their greetings,” the bugbear captain said as he lowered his hammer to the earth. The weapon likely weighed about 30 pounds, so even the captain would take any respite from carrying it whenever possible. The three bugbears without military ranks were breathing quite heavily, having no decorum one of them decided to take a seat on the ground. The other two soon followed suit. The captain gave the two lieutenants a glare and they remained standing, although they rested their hammers on the ground as well.
“Let me guess, you came asking for a bit of help. Despite us not having such an agreement in place,” Cedrick said stroking his white beard that was awkwardly tucked into the front of his armor.
“Yes, we are seeking to continue our relationship, and continued cooperation. While we do need your help, we believe that helping us will be in your best interest in the long run,” Mark said. The bugbear repeated, answering the gnome leader.
“Oh… How do ya figure?” Cedrick said, arching his eyebrows. “Helping you fight would draw the ire of your enemies, and from what I’ve seen… Well, I don’t think we could afford such a thing.”
Mark paused. He had expected as much. Cedrick was not exactly saying, no. Mark would have to convince them that helping out would be in their best interest. He had a couple of ideas, but had also wanted to gauge the gnome leader’s attitude prior to choosing a route.
If Cedrick had taken an adamant stance against helping them. Mark would have to assume the gnome leader was prioritizing his people’s safety above all else. Mark would only be able to go with the more coercive approach, suggesting that the gnomes were already on their enemies radar.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
The other approach would be to play to the gnome's explorative and innovative nature and perhaps their greed. They were getting a lot of benefits from the research lab and crafting house. Not to mention, the potential benefits that the mine promised, although had as of yet not delivered. Over the last few hours, Mark had decided that he would need to touch on both approaches in their request for aid. Luckily, Cedrick seemed to be in a state of mind that would be receptive to such an approach.
“Okay, I will get straight to the point. You have witnessed for yourself the unique advantages that our dungeon can offer. I’m sure it also would not be a surprise for me to tell you that a bunch of other such dungeons have sprung up across the land. Similar to ours, those dungeons are also working to develop and strengthen themselves, including gathering resources, like essence…” Mark let the last word hang in the air.
He was sure Cedrick would get the implications. The gnome village was built around an essence source. The gnome village, the wasp nest, both had probably been set as roadblocks for contenders to take an essence source. Amelia’s chosen specialization may be one of the few that would allow dungeons to get the essence source without necessarily having to fight for it. The sources were probably fairly common throughout the endless bluffs. The battle creators had not intended for contenders to be able to find and control a whole lot of essence sources easily without expending resources and effort along the way. Sources like the life essence spring were perhaps an exception in that regard, but the amount was far more limited than the other two essence sources.
“Aye… We have located and observed several other dungeons in the area. Not to mention we have heard of other dungeons from some of the other clans,” Cedrick said, taking on a more somber tone.
Mark's mind immediately went to, What! they are in contact with other clans? And knew about other dungeons farther away? But Mark pushed the thoughts away. They could ask about it later. For now, he needed to focus. Based on the gnome leader’s somewhat resigned facial expressions and tone, Mark could assume that it was not lost on the gnome leader that the dungeons represented a change to the status quo that the endless bluffs had existed in for untold millennia. After all, powerful forces like the gnolls and wasps could be wiped out after only a few months of development, and the gnomes fell short of both of them.
Surely it had crossed the gnome leader’s mind what would happen if they became at odds with Amelia and Mark or one of the other dungeons. Even when the gnomes had superior strength compared to the dungeon summons on an individual level, they would not have been able to keep up with the endless numbers that a dungeon could summon. Now with level 2 units, the gnome’s would easily be both outnumbered and outmatched. Even the benefits that the gnomes had gleaned from Amelia and Mark’s dungeon could not help to alleviate the difference. They would always be at any dungeons they crossed mercy.
Mark allowed Cedrick to dwell on it for a good minute. “We have a good thing between your clan and our dungeon. While I cannot say that there will not be more risk getting more deeply involved with our dungeon. At least your clan will be fighting for its place, it might beat the uncertainty of not siding with us and dealing with whoever comes after us,” Mark paused thinking on what to say next. The bugbear leader shuffled awkwardly while waiting.
“Right now our dungeon is in a tight spot. One that could be alleviated quite easily with your help. We are unable to summon units until we retake the surface of our dungeon. The situation will only get worse if we are unable to act soon, since the other dungeon is likely to reinforce their units and starve our dungeon off from resources, so we would like to retake the surface as soon as possible… Today!” Mark added with finality.
“Aye I have dwelt on the potential threat the dungeons like yours can pose to our clan. It is likely a couple of them that are responsible for us losing contact with some of the other clans. Perhaps if we had realized the danger you all would pose, we would have snuffed you out during your infancy,” Cedrick stated with a hard expression.
“Although it’s doubtful whether the five clans would have found or got to them all in time. Why, it was not till a good month after we met you that we had discovered all of the dungeons in our own backyard. Still it would be difficult to throw ar’ lot in with you all when you likely are not even the strongest out there. It makes it difficult to side with you, or put my people at risk,” Cedrick sifted his fingers through his beard.
Mark thought about it for a moment. Well this next part would be a bit awkward. “ While I cannot promise there won’t be casualties retaking our dungeon. Our units will be leading the attack and should draw most of the fire. As far as the other dungeons. We only have two others in the area, that would potentially see you siding with us here and now. There is a good chance that things will be settled one way or the other before the other dungeons further away even come into play.”
After a brief pause Mark added. “Oh, and just so you don’t think things are in the dungeon that attacked last night’s favor. All of their forces they sent to our lower levels were defeated. The other dungeon spent double the amount of resources than we spent on the battle and failed. The reason we lost the surface is due to us prioritizing developing our lower defenses. While it has come back to bite us, our lower level forces all respawn. In short the enemy has used up more of its resources in the battle than we have,” Mark explained.
“Ah where the reanimated wasp body and those powerful scorpions and arachne were sent,” Cedrick remembered. Mark nodded, before realizing that the gnome leader could not see him and had the bugbear captain affirm the statement.
“Very well, I think it would still be to our benefit to support your dungeon.” But before Mark could get too excited, the gnome leader added a qualifier. “Still I think it would be prudent of me to get a bit of compensation, ehhh,” Cedrick said with a smile.
Mark sighed, as he listened to the gnome leader's conditions, knowing he would basically have to accept whatever they were. The alternative would be their dungeon losing so much more. The gnome leader seemed to know it, although the gnome did not make too harsh conditions. He shrewdly was keeping in mind that Mark could renege on the deal if he pushed it too far. Cedrick had to balance out his demands with the worth the gnomes were bringing to the dungeon.
The first condition was that the gnomes would collect 25% of special resources mined in the dungeon instead of the 10% that they had taken for their cut for managing the goblin’s mining efforts. So far they had basically only found basic metals, with the exception of a handful of gems, but that could change any day. Not to mention that, Mark had really yet to mine the mine full force. It was clear a couple of patrols rotating in and out was far from sufficient to make enough progress. Now that they had mined a good deal of rock out, there was enough room that Mark could potentially have hundreds of miners at work at a time. From harpy intelligence, he knew both Mareth and Gale likely had hundreds of units at work at all times in their dungeons.
The second condition was that the goblins would show the gnomes where the essence spring was located. Then the gnomes would manage the spring, taking a majority stake of the life essence produced. Mark and Amelia would still get 10%, but it would basically shut the door on them reanimating any additional units in the future. Well, not unless they wanted to save up their cut of the life essence for around 3 months, and that was to get a unit at the level of the reanimated dungeon floor bosses they currently had.
Honestly, it was not as big a loss as it would have been a month or two ago. The ability to reanimate corpses had most definitely what had kept them alive in the first few months of the battle. Crassius would have wiped them out in the second week of the battle otherwise. If not then, they would have been wiped out multiple other times since that first attack. However, it was also true that they were moving away from needing them. Right now with level 2 units and unit upgrades they could field units in the same realm of power as Winnie and Bruce fairly easily. Their 10% steak should at least be enough for them to use to make items like the vitality bomb.
Still who could tell what uses the essence would have in the future. Mark only had the presence of mind to fight for one more stop gap. They had just lost their ten spiritualists, Mark at least needed to ensure that they could be immediately replaced. Cedrick agreed after Mark explained what he needed them for and why. Cedrick agreed, so they could resummon them before the new allotment measures took effect. Mark was exhausted, but he still had the presence of mind to remember how hard it normally was for the spiritualists to meet their conditions of gaining their shadow minions. Fortunately, there were 87 units from another dungeon that would be easily available for his new spiritualists to refill their capacities.
The final condition was that Cedrick would direct the upcoming attack. Which Mark had no reason to challenge. Mark had already awkwardly made his bugbear captain agree to be fodder in the gnomes attack. With things decided, Cedrick moved to gather his forces and equipment. While the bugbears ate meals provided to them.
“Make sure the arachne’s meet up with them on the way,” Mark directed Amelia. “And keep them in line. Last thing we need is for them to attack one of the gnomes.” Amelia nodded in response.
“Good, I’m going to bed.” Mark said, turning toward the hut. It had been something like 36 hours since he had slept last. Amelia had slept half of last night and even taken a quick nap while the bugbears made their way to the gnome village. She could keep an eye on things for now.