« (Jasper) »

Jasper had begun to hope the trolls were losing interest in her and her dungeon. There had been a marked reduction in the number of times they cleared out her first level.

However they had not slackened – much – in enlarging the tunnel linking her first and second floors. And now, well, they were nearly through. And naturally, now that she could use them, Red and Purple were nowhere to be found. It was as if they had evaporated leaving a bad smell in their wake.

She had put up with their obnoxious compliments and overconfident attitudes. She had even gifted them with iron knives, and now when they could have been useful – they vanished. She had assembled the best of her forces in the big room, the first room of her second level.

At least all the activity had allowed her to create a third level, and she had been able to unlock a new variant of undead. She wasn’t sure Vampire Servant counted as undead – but her system said they were. Anyway, they were too expensive, and – in her eyes – not real undead.

Apprehensively she watched as the big troll with the huge maul came down the enlarged passage dragging two large burlap bags. The curseling workers scuttled out of his way, clearly terrified of the big lug.

The huge bastard of a troll grabbed the weakest of the curseling workers and shoved him at the small length of the tunnel that needed opening.

Whimpering, the poor thing slowly enlarged the opening. Then before she expected the big guy pulled the miserable creature back. Then he emptied one of the sacks near the end of the passage. Jasper watched in shock as the troll punted a ghoul through the hole into the first room on her second level. He then emptied the second sack and punted another ghoul into her second level.

While her guardian skeletons were trying to deal with the two ghouls, the curseling workers were frantically working to finish opening the tunnel.

Jasper ground her teeth in frustration. Just as her decimated defenders managed to put the ghouls down, the huge three meter tall troll burst into the room. His huge maul made short work of her damaged defenders.

The big bastard collected three of the bigger curseling workers and leaving the rest to finish enlarging the tunnel. The big guy advanced deeper into her dungeon.

Jasper cursed herself, her traps proved useless against the big lug. She had sized them for the curseling trolls. A mistake she regretted bitterly now. Also, she had denuded her second level to stuff the first room. The big so and so went through her second level in no time flat.

He seemed surprised when he found the stairs to her third level. She watched apprehensively as he stumbled his way down the too small stairs. Despite a more even spread of mobs, her third level had suffered in relation to the second. So, once again the big bastard had no difficulty making his way through her defences.

Jasper’s only success came with Twofer, currently her final champion. The Skeletal Knight didn’t last long against the invading trolls, but the wrathling that emerged from the destroyed boss – despite being unable to possess the big troll – was able to take over one of the curseling trolls. A surprise attack took down one of the other curseling trolls.

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The Greater Troll, Dramtarog rune lord of Torash Toreg easily killed the possessed curseling worker troll.

Jasper cringed in her – rather basic – hide out. She watched Dramtarog inspect her core. He appeared puzzled.

« (Rune Lord Dramtarog) »

Dramtarog was still not impressed with this dungeon. The only thing he found promising was the second floor boss. The dual nature of the challenge it offered was interesting, he liked the concept.

But the core was dead. It did not contain a soul, not even the seed of a soul. But it was – nonetheless – linked to a companion.

He searched the dungeon’s heart chamber carefully. His darkvision provided the clue he needed. He stared directly at the hidden cavern near the room’s ceiling.

“Companion,” he rumbled in his deep gravelly sounding voice. “I see that against all logic you are still linked to your core after its death. Your dungeon is still too basic. You will have to do better if you want to survive.

“I suspect you need a true core. I believe there are rituals that can fix that. Especially as you still have a viable soul link.”

Dramtarog uttered a low laugh. “You could use a companion to expand your options and ideas on how to improve your dungeon – and survive.”

“After our wars against the hated Sun Worshipers we will need entertainment. Make sure you are up to it. I will see to it that the slaughter of our human prisoners will take place in your dungeon. Make use of their life force wisely.”

With that Dramtarog made his way out of the baby dungeon. As it stood it would do to train the value and worker curselings. On his way out he collected up those curselings still in the dungeon and left the odd companion to her own devices. He had a couple of reports to make.

« (Jasper) »

Jasper was feeling weak. She watched as that damned troll left her dungeon. She didn’t know what to think. She believed in the big bastard’s threat, if it was a threat. But – she didn’t want to become part of the crime he... Killing intruders was one thing, but what the troll had said – well, that was just murder. Plain and simple, and just the idea made her feel dirty.

And she was really unsure about his suggestion that if she didn’t improve fast, she would become a dungeon core in truth. At least she would no longer be female, but she would loose the freedom of movement, and she had become very attached to being able to fly...

She was jerked out of her funk by a piercing wolf whistle. Jasper glared at her unwelcome guests, Red and Purple were back.

“Where were you when I needed you,” she screeched.

“Hey baby, don’ be like tha’. Weuns ain fightas ya know,” explained Red as he buzzed around her heart room.

“Yeah, weuns are all peeces an’ love – weuns lovers not fightas,” boasted Purple as he strutted in front of Jasper.

Jasper fumed, even as she plotted her revenge. First she needed to populate her dungeon, and now she had the templates for ghouls. Then... well, then would come Red and Purple. Jasper wondered how much energy she would get for the two useless cowardly imps.

« (Cressiida Ioalovna) »

Meanwhile, far away from the troll hills, amongst the sere grassy plains of the animal nomads Cressiida was crouched down behind the crest of a low rise. She had made contact with a mixed band of Bison and True Horse Riders. The nomads had been wary of her and her command, but once she showed their war leader her orders, that had mostly faded.

She grinned; High Priest Heramakos would be flabbergasted. The Animal nomads did not need her company’s help against the Mara Feldans. She looked sideways at her – liaisons – with the tribes. She understood that the frustrated young warrior was there to keep the three cocksure children under control.

They had only recently earned their adult names, it was obvious by the way they still slipped up and used the children’s names they had answered to all their lives. She had been having fun asking them some of the riddler’s riddles. Voice was the most perceptive of the three, closely followed by Honey.

It was time... with the Sun Star just poking up over the eastern horizon. The earth shaking charge of close to one hundred Rhino Riders heading straight for the poorly defended principal encampment of the Mara Feldans.

They were flanked on the right by the Raptor Riders on their toothy knife clawed feathered bipedal mounts. To the Rhino’s left charged the Bison Riders.

She knew that the Antelope Riders and the Horse Nomads were maintaining a noose around the Mara Feldans’ encampment to prevent escape.