A burnt orange snout emerged from the small hole in the hillside, followed quickly by a wiggly and crocodilian-like body, huge yellow eyes squinting into the sunlight as the pupils contracted to the smallest of slits.

The kobold hissed softly, running claw tipped hands over her scales as she brushed off grass and dirt that had fallen onto her during her emergence from the tunnel. Her blunt ended tail swished with joy as she straightened up, mouth open slightly as she stared about the rolling thick grassed hills that the badger sett was being dug into.

Not for the first time that day she considered how very lucky she was to be born in a place like this, her eyes closing and nostrils flaring as she sucked in a deep breath of rich forest air. Birdsong filled her ears, joyous and beautiful, as well as causing her mouth to water slightly. Truly she was lucky to have such an area rich in resources right at hand.

Near the bottom of the hillside there was a shallow creek that drifted by, its origin deep in the forest that obscured most of the hills behind and above her. It would be an excellent place for not just water, but for fish and other things that loved water. Looking down the hill, between the trees, she could see beyond the creek to where a stone wall marked the edge of man territory, a farm judging by the cows that grazed idly. She had seen sheep as well earlier in the day, and smoke and what looked like strange rocks beyond the trees further past even that indicated a village or small town.

Milk, wool, even meat if she got so bold as to attack… It was all so close that she could easily help the dungeon grow and expand.

It was a good place for a dungeon to be, though not at the current stage that it was in. Once the dungeon developed a bit more, filled with monsters and treasure, it would be a perfect location. People from the village would come, bored children looking to explore, farmers looking to expand, herbalists searching for medicinal plants, and the dungeon would be fed. It would grow, and the kobold would serve a powerful master.

No kobold could ever ask for more than that.

Remembering her task at hand, something that had her mouth falling open so that sharp pointed teeth were on display in a wide and happy grin, the kobold began to make her way up the hill and deeper into the forest.

Three large oaks grew close together above where the dungeon was forming, but the forest proper didn’t truly begin until she had reached the top of the hill. It was there that paths formed between trees, the grass and leaves worn down to dirt to show where animals had been traveling.

The kobold ran a bumpy tongue across pale yellow lips, imagining the taste of rabbits and deer. How delicious they would be! How pleased the Dungeon Core would be to have bone and hide to ingest! Oh the wonderful things the core would be able to do with access to those materials!

“Core will praise lots and lots if I bring back the food, yes…” She spoke aloud to herself, her voice pitchy and high, but soft as she spoke only to herself, more or less just musing quietly. It seemed as if talking about the Core had caused her to suddenly grow thoughtful, the ridges over her eyes pulling down as she seemed to be thinking hard about something stressful. Even the happy swishing of her tail had died down, leaving her briefly still before she shook her mood aside to resume her search for fallen branches.

Though she was lucky in a way, being born in such a good location and to such a kind Core, it was also very strange and very unusual.

The kobold didn’t have much knowledge of the outside world, but she had impressions of what it should be like, of what people were like, what the situation should be, how things were supposed to go… And when she compared how things actually were to the way it felt like they should go? The circumstances were very wrong.

She let out a heavy sigh, air whistling through her nose, as she gathered up a particularly thick branch. “Core is a very strange Core, yes,” She told herself, shaking her head so that her ears swayed from the motion. “I do not think they are to have personality, no. Not at all, no.”

That had been the thing that had shocked her the most when she realized that the odd voice had truly belonged to a real Dungeon Core. It spoke with personality, it seemed to laugh and show pleasure, and it had actual ideas and values. What was most surprising to her was that it seemed to be thinking beyond simply growing and expanding as fast as possible.

Even though she knew nothing of the world, the moment she realized that the Core was being sneaky and clever, putting thought into things that shouldn’t normally matter to a dungeon, the first thought that had run through the kobold’s mind was just how very wrong that was.

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The next thought had been how very miraculous it was, how amazing, and that she was happy to be part of something like that.

Still, it was a very mysterious situation. The Core was so small, so very small that the kobold felt like perhaps it had been broken by something. She got the impression that a dungeon core was normally twice that size, at the very least, and when she tried to imagine what it looked like she was greeted with the mental image of a large glowing crystal floating above something like a shrine.

“Maybe that is why Core is different…” She mumbled to a mushroom growing in the shadows of a tree, and before she could think better on it she grabbed that to add to the growing pile of wood and plant matter forming in her arms. “Core is too small, much much too small. I must protect. Must help grow. Then Core will be like proper Dungeon Core.”

No sooner had she said that, determination written all over her face, than the kobold seemed to shrink down on herself.

She didn’t actually want the dungeon core to change into what it was supposed to be, she wanted it to continue to be strange and warm. It had offered to give her a name, something that was a big deal for monsters, in a dungeon it was only the strongest who earned names, after all. In exchange all the kobold had to do was give the core a name, and in her heart of hearts she already knew what that name was. It wasn’t something she had even needed to think about.

If the core changed… If it became more like a proper dungeon core… Then what would become of the warmth that had bloomed in the kobold’s heart when she thought of returning home to the dungeon? Would that place become cold? Would it feel like a prison?

She shook her head quickly, trying to loosen the thoughts before they took root. If she didn’t think about it then there was no chance that it could actually happen. “No. No, do not want. Do not want at all.” The kobold spoke louder, almost yelling, as if she could chase the thought away entirely.

The core was, in her opinion, perfect as it was. Sure it was smaller than most cores, sure it seemed confused and almost lost, but wasn’t she also confused and lost in this world? As it was the kobold felt a deep bond with the core, something that went far beyond just being created by the thing. They were alike: both weaker than most creatures, smaller than most creatures, brought into a world they didn’t know with strange knowledge of things they didn’t know and no knowledge of the things they should.

They were the same, and the kobold wouldn’t change that for the world.

With her arms overflowing with broken branches and bits of wood, as well as a few interesting mushrooms and bugs that she had seen, the kobold began to make her way back out of the forest. She had been wandering aimlessly from the beginning, but a deep instinct told her which way the dungeon entrance was, leading her through the trees.

They were taller here, older and thicker, and as the kobold stared upwards she realized that she hadn’t gone into the forest this deep the last time. The light was dimmer here due to the thickness of the canopy, and it made it easier for the creature to see, her reptilian pupils expanding to drink in the light.

Mixed in amongst the trees there seemed to be a shape, clearly manmade, and resembling that of a large building. There were rocks everywhere, roots and vines growing over them, stone that had been hacked and broken into block shapes so that they could build whatever had once stood proudly here before it had fallen to ruin.

The kobold tipped her head, strong instinct making her almost terrified to approach any closer. Looking at the shape the words “fortress” and “castle” had gone through her mind, and thinking of those words caused her to also think of men with swords and bows, sharp arrows and the sting of being struck by blades. Places like these brought pain and death to creatures such as herself. She could almost smell the blood on the air, though the only scent here was damp earth and green growing things

The building had fallen into ruin long ago, only the barest structure of walls and towers remaining with the trees seeming to hold it up more than the stones themselves did, but all the same she didn’t want to go any closer. She reminded herself that there was no need to, at least not at the moment. The core wanted wood to build a door, not stone, and so there was no need to bother approaching a place like that.

The kobold swallowed, pale yellow throat bobbing as she gulped, and she turned away from the mossy stone to head back down the hillside. The stink of man still hung about the place which could only mean that people still visited the area, though she couldn’t imagine what anyone would want with a damp looking building that barely had any roof left. It wasn’t good for shelter, wasn’t something that would be easily defendable, so what could man want with the thing?

All the same she would need to warn the dungeon core about the situation, while people were good for dungeon growth over all it would be bad if the dungeon was found this early. With the core so small and currently completely vulnerable only bad things could happen. She wasn’t sure what the bad things were, but gut instinct told her that she couldn’t allow it.

The kobold would need to talk to the core about things like weapons and armor, as well as traps, so that it could prepare to defend itself in case of attack.

“Core is lucky. Traps is speciality of kobolds, yes.” She told herself, nodding firmly, determination straightening her spine as she scurried through the tall grass. Whatever instinct had filled her mind with knowledge of what kobolds were like would surely teach her how to build a good trap.

She would protect her home, and her friend, with everything she had.