Basic learning materials... Study Guide, Starter Kit, permission granted to a supplemental training regiment. Barely done in time for Henla to come online.
"Do not do anything other than read this information," Zenya says loudly while directing the Core's focus to the prepared materials. "Do not practice what you read. We'll go over that later. Do not test any of the things you read. Despite what the guides say, do not attempt to experiment with any of the information found. Do not do anything but read."
If Henla had eyes she'd blink deliberately, chastised. She didn't know what the timeline was. She just thought they were going to bring people in today.
Not for a few weeks Zenya sends while setting up personal alarms for any expenditure of energy or credits. They set an alert on the logs for anything and everything. At this juncture they should only see thinking, reading, learning, processing. Anything not in that list is going to get Henla in trouble. Zenya would prefer if Henla didn't die on their watch. Again.
Henla slowly turns her focus to a list of documents written in a very, very simple style. A quick scan and she learns that there is a shop where you can buy stuff, abilities that let you change your dungeon into a suitable environment for your inhabitants, and two basic dungeon styles. Towers up or down, and sprawling complexes. As for inhabitants they were self-contained entities that could be influenced but were mainly independent.
Zenya watches for a few minutes, sensing Henla's frustration but knowing that Henla doesn't have all of the information available in the guide. She'd required Kimlxik's permission to access basic information. That's not how this works. With a sigh, and a little more time, Zenya delves in to finding more guides for World Cores for Henla's education.
Henla tries not to sigh, she's figured all of this out but apparently she doesn't have enough self-control anymore. Maybe something in here would help explain how to tell when you're getting tired versus just experiencing pure exhaustion. Back to the start.
> Welcome to your new life!
>
> Congratulations! You have been chosen to begin a new existence as a participating member of the Inner Offices of Creation. You can now assist in the development of the System and be able to interact with the very fabric of your universe!
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> But first!
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> Yes! You did die. But you have been given another chance at life. You won't be able to go back to your old life but you have a surprising amount of agency in your new one.
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> You might be finding it hard to move. Don't be alarmed. You are currently a Dungeon Core. As a Core you will not be able to ambulate or move on your own power, but, with time and learning, you may find ways that you may relocate yourself.
>
> Now, as a Dungeon Core, you will be responsible for developing a dungeon. A dungeon is a self-contained location with unique creatures and resources designed to test and enlighten the denizens of your world. Please keep that in mind when designing your dungeon.
Zenya finds a few companion guides to Towers, Manors and Greater Dungeons and purchases it with Core credits knowing that the information will be helpful for Henla as well. Luckily Henla does little more than note the transaction before refocusing on her studies with no judgement. Zenya releases a breath they didn't realize they were holding before checking the strain that the simple purchases have made. So far so good. One thousand energy per minute? This is ridiculous!
> For basic designs there are soaring towers, plunging depths, vast caverns and other sprawling complexes. But they all had to start somewhere. Right now you should be either in a small hollow or fully embedded in some surrounding material. If you are out in the open with an unobstructed view, please Dig immediately and bury yourself. After you are safely hidden focus on Support in the Core Haven Dungeon Core Shop. To gain access to the shop just think Core Haven and you should be granted access. To Dig you will need to unlock the ability from the shop. Don't worry! While some abilities and products cost credits, the Dig ability is free and allows you to earn credits!
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> Now, you should soon have or should already have received a Companion. A Companion is an assistant to help with the maintenance and management of your dungeon. As you grow and your dungeon becomes more complex it will be harder for you to keep track of the minutiae. This is where a Companion comes in handy. All powers that be understand the value of delegation and this will be a good way to practice delegating tasks and looking over a workforce. Welcome to upper management!
While Henla continues to read Zenya is filling out reports. They'd managed to buy themself some time with the guides, they'll have more time when they ask Henla to draw up a succinct and informative report, and they'll grade the report and have her redo it until they come up with an efficient communication system to relay the most pertinent information in the shortest amount of time. Ah, Zenya remembers that they need to send in a report of Henla's latest Death-scapade. No doubt this will prompt an investigation into their current situation to prevent another tragedy. Yay! More reports...
Zenya gives a disgusted sigh even as they clip the entire log, so short and so long, to send off along with a summary of how they'd allowed it to happen and an action plan for how they're attempting to prevent it from happening again. To start a job doing a full investigation? This is out of their purview. They shouldn't even be interacting with a core of this magnitude. They're rated for Rank E to Rank D, Class E to D, with maximum pools for 200 points. There was supposed to be a lot of guiding and digging and hiding and observing as the newly created core learned what it was capable of. This is a gross misrepresentation. Yes, technically, Henla was a newly created core, but she'd need a trauma specialist.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
> Now, on to Core Haven! Core Haven is an interface that allows you to purchase knowledge, abilities, and a plethora of helpful items! The currency used in Core Haven is predominantly credits, but, if you don't have credits and something prevents you from digging to earn any, you may sell your energy. Energy to credit conversion differs from core to core. Depending on your previous life you may be allotted a few bonus skills, knowledge or items.
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> While perusing or going through the shop you may find some skills inaccessible. A skill may be inaccessible if you don't meet the criteria or if you have already fully unlocked the skill. Please note that some purchases may have multiple options allowing you to "unlock" the same purchase over and over again to receive variations or upgrades.
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> When making purchases a good rule of thumb is to not spend more than 1/5 of your energy. To find your current energy, please look around the perimeter or edges of your shop view.
Henla blanks, immediately going to World Builder to check for her energy and credit count on the edges of the interface when her mind is blasted by light, sound and pain.
"What did I just say!" Zenya shrieks, as Henla triggers a series of alarms.
I wasn't going to buy anything! I was just looking!
Just read!
Henla mentally sputters in indignation before going back to her reading. Yes, Zenya said to just read, but she was only going to take a quick look. Okay. No... She'd probably get curious and try to check what else was in the store. Good call on Zenya's part, but still.
This doesn't sound at all like reading, Zenya thinks sweetly with poisonous undertones.
I'm reading, I'm reading...
> While perusing or going through the shop you may find some skills inaccessible. A skill may be inaccessible if you don't meet the criteria or if you have already fully unlocked the skill. Please note that some purchases may have multiple options allowing you to "unlock" the same purchase over and over again to receive variations or upgrades.
>
> When making purchases a good rule of thumb is to not spend more than 1/5 of your energy. To find your current energy, please look around the perimeter or edges of your shop view. You'll see your name, rank, class, energy and/or credit information. Please note that for some cores the energy and point count do not reset until after you refresh or leave and re-enter the shop or they may be set on a timer, such as refreshing once a day. So if you find you can't finish a purchase and you're not sure if you don't meet the requirements, try backing out of the store and then re-entering it again.
Zenya resets the alarms, marking and highlighting the log for the first infraction and wondering how best to reinforce avoidance of actions that were detrimental to both Henla and the dungeon's development. And Zenya's and Henla's sanities. Henla is still a sentient, but she is a strong personality. She'd have to be to survive what she did, but this can't continue. Zenya would prefer to avoid aversion training/therapy and focus more on positive reinforcement. They'd both been through enough.
> While you may purchase and place certain elements, some elements may be capable of independence. Some placed items may be influenced or Guided while others develope over time. For instance if you place a mobile creature in one spot it may not remain in that location or ever return to that spot. Please keep this in mind when creating areas in your environment. Some of the inhabitants may move or spread based on available resources.
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> Energy and credits are not the same although they do work together. When you generate items in your dungeon they take energy to create unless you buy an amount from the store. Please note that you have a set amount of energy until you change ranks or classifications. Your energy can regenerate but your credits do not.
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> To find your energy regeneration rate focus on your energy, either the display on your shop interface or display or you can go to your Situational Database for more information about your status and the status of your dungeon. To access the Situational Database just focus on "Situational Database" and access should be granted.
Zenya checks their Companion Records and notes with no small amount of trepidation that they haven't been given a Watcher yet. Without someone to report directly to they'd have no oversight and they'd be forced to disseminate their reports to multiple departments and institutional bodies in an effort to have the information properly logged, catalogued and reported. They'd also have to personally vet all requests directly through the Companion College, as Henla called it, to ensure validity. They'd already had to report a few of the less official requests as breaches of security or lack of professionalism from some very curious individuals who'd hoped to catch them slipping up on protocol.
Zenya feels themself channelling to their spines and the tips of their strands hardening as their contrast goes up. They won't allow those pencil pushers to ruin their career. And if they tried then they would take those fawning sycophants down with them. At this point Zenya has nothing to lose and most of those office weaklings couldn't face Zenya in a real fight, hiding behind bureaucracy. Oh, how Zenya'd make them regret it if they did manage to push them out from their little shields. They'd already lost one limb being "polite" and "understanding". Never again.
> The Situational Database will contain information about you, such as your name, rank, the class of your core, energy levels, credit amount, and your dungeons name, rank, class, environments and inhabitants. Please note that your Database may not update immediately after changes are made. You may have to close it and reopen it or wait for your refresh timer.
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> Please note that you cannot make deliberate changes directly to your Situational Database. Your database is a record of last recorded standings. To see what effect your actions have on yourself or your dungeon, or to gain information on recent changes, please access your Situational Log.
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> The Situational Log is a record of changes made to you, by you, or to the dungeon or by the dungeons inhabitants. To gain access to the Situational Log focus while thinking "Situational Log". From learning the seasons, time of day, births and deaths, gains and losses, you can find so much information. For some the Situational Log can be overwhelming. Fret not! with the aid of your companion and a few handy filters, you can restrict the information you see while browsing your Log. Please note this does not stop the Log from logging changes, just changes what you see when you look into the Log.
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> If you have any questions about this guide, please reread the guide or focus and think Support. There are a number of supplementary guides that cover the subject matter in depth. This guide merely serves as a touch into the basics of the resources available to you as a Core. Don't forget your companion. Any questions you may have may be known by a trained Companion in the effort to help you build the best dungeon you can.
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> Goodbye, good luck, and thank you for your service!
Henla pauses, mentally going over the guide and comparing it to her experiences. It hadn't mentioned transplanting. Was she not supposed to do that or was that more advanced? She'd just thought it was a way to dig. It also didn't mention storing or compacting materials into indestructible substances that required rewriting reality to modify. No, that definitely sounds more advanced. With a sigh and a nudge of approval at the idea, Henla delves back into the guide. She did learn a few things, maybe other things will make more sense.
Zenya breathes a sigh of relief.