Chapter Sixty-Two - The Dungeon Book

“This compendium doesn’t hold as much information as you would think, but it’s nonetheless one of the most useful books out there. Most noble families, academies and guilds have a copy at their branch offices and mansions,” Amaryllis explained.

“Does the Exploration Guild have one?” I wondered as I scooted closer.

“The Exploration guild are the ones providing most of the information being published here,” Amaryllis said.

She opened the book to a page near the start and I leaned closer to read.

The Pit of a Hundred Traps

Approx Dungeon levels 5-7

Suggested levels 10+

Party composition: 3+ Healer Necessary.

Special warnings: Poisons. Traps.

Located south-southwest of Stormshark near the Bay of Storms in lands belonging to the Kingdom of Endless Swells.

At ToW this dungeon has seven floors. The path from floor to floor is built along a series of tall plinths above a basin of predator-filled waters. The delve room is otherwise safe. Special care should be taken while using the bridges from one plinth to the next as some have trapped boards.

First Floor: Large area with key at one end. Simple pitfalls.

Second Floor: Rows of pillars meant to be jumped over. Pit beneath contains venomous spiders (common). Key at end.

Third Floor: Maze-like tunnel. End returns to start. Key hidden within. Layout changes daily. Pitfalls, blow darts.

Fourth Floor: False treasure room. Mimics. Key in one of the chests.

Fifth Floor: Use keys marked with symbols on the door to open. Remaining keys to be kept. Lesser boss is a large brass boar. Must be baited into traps or killed with overwhelming power.

Sixth Floor: Puzzle room. Bait large turtles into eating poisoned fish. Key at end of room.

Seventh Floor: Dungeon Boss. Large animated bear-trap. Needs to be baited into setting off different traps across the room. Each broken tooth summons an iron bear (uncommon).

Loot rewards:

Various traps. Ropes. Poisons. Fishing rods

Class reward:

Master Baiter class

Specializes in setting off traps from afar and tracking.

“What’s ToW? And what’s a delve room?” I asked as I held back a giggle. I really hoped that Amaryllis didn’t pick that class, or else I’d never be able to look her in the eyes again. Instead of looking up to see her no-doubt unamused look, I looked at the maps on the next page. They were small, and not that detailed, but they showed the rough shapes of each floor of the dungeon, and there were even some notes to the side.

Amaryllis hummed. “ToW stands for Time of Writing. This one is nearly a year old.” She tapped a date at the bottom of the page. “So no doubt the dungeon has gained at least a floor since. Some of the traps may have moved. And the delve room is the main room of a dungeon. Some dungeons have a room that allows you to access each floor. You can’t actually skip ahead, and the dungeon punishes you for trying, but it does mean you can leave if you need to.”

“Neat,” I said. The Wonderland dungeon in Threewells had that, then. The large room with the shaft had to be its delve room.

“Indeed,” she said. Amaryllis began flipping through the pages too fast for me to do much more than stare at some of the maps or read the passing names of the dungeons. She seemed to know what she was looking for.

But I didn’t. “Ah, what kind of class do you want?” I wondered.

“Something that will synergize with my Thunder Mage class.”

“So another mage class? Or something thunder and lightning related?” I wondered.

She hummed, then shook her head. “No, not quite. I want something that will work well with my class, shore up some weaknesses, but not something too close. Ah, this one is interesting.”

The page she stopped at had a bit less information on it. I noticed that she had been skipping right past some of the dungeons with too many levels. They were probably a bit beyond us anyway.

Toyland

Approx Dungeon levels 4-7

Suggested levels: 8-10

Party Composition: 3+ Area of Effect Specialist Suggested

Special Warnings: Golems. Horde Enemies

Located next to Port Hazel, the capital of the Kingdom of Mattergrove.

At ToW this dungeon has five floors. The delve room is built to resemble a long, large castle room, with a glass ceiling (always near dusk) and hundreds of dust-covered boxes. All are empty. Excessive tampering or destruction in the dungeon will replace some boxes with traps. Otherwise safe.

First Floor: A long, narrow playroom. Hundreds of toys within. Upon crossing the middle of the room the toys rise and begin to charge the delver in waves. Attacking prematurely awakens all toy golems at once.

Second Floor: Nutcracker room. Defeat toy knight in joust atop provided mount or fight soldier golems.

Third Floor: Room is filled with large plush animals. Deceptively dangerous. Will be invited for ‘tea.’ Accept and pass. Otherwise fight. Enemies resilient and strong for level. Slow-moving.

Fourth Floor: Room is built like a theater. Large Marionettes act out a play on stage. Participating unlocks special reward (Toy wand, rare) Otherwise simple combat against large wooden foes. Focus cords.

Fifth Floor: Dungeon Boss. Large room filled with broken toys. Large armoured ‘teddy bear’ in centre. Will summon toys from sides of the room to aid in combat. Suggest fire.

Loot rewards:

Various toys. Small children’s trinkets. Enchanted playthings.

Class reward:

Toymaker class

Class specializes in making small trinkets and toys and animating them with mana.

“Oh,” I said. “That class does sound like a lot of fun.”

“You’re merely saying that because you want to play with the toys I would make,” Amaryllis said.

“I’m a bit old for most toys,” I defended myself. “Though I wouldn’t mind a teddy bear that hugs back. I’d call it Threadbear and I’d love it lots.”

She shook her head and seemed about to tell me off, but a knock at the door alerted us right before it opened and our supper arrived. The book was pushed aside as a pair of trays laden with all sorts of small plates with artfully arranged meats and veggies and breads were placed before us by a pair of barmaids. They left as quickly as they had come, leaving the room smelling heavenly.

“Let’s eat!” I said as I immediately began digging in. Amaryllis went a little slower, at first, but she soon tossed her cutlery aside and began spearing her food with her talons.

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When we finally finished eating some time later, I had to lean back into my seat to pat down my overfull tummy. There was still some food left, and I wanted to eat it, but there was no room.

I was almost dozing when Amaryllis dragged the book closer and started shifting through the pages. “Found it,” she said a little while later.

“Eh?” I muttered as I sat up straighter.

“Look,” she said as she pushed the book my way.

The Palace of Strings

Approx Dungeon levels 4-7

Suggested levels: 8-10

Party Composition: 2+ High Mental Resistance and Perception Suggested

Special Warnings: Body Snatchers

Located at the base of the cliffs of the independent town of Rosenbell.

At ToW this dungeon has 4 floors. No delve rooms. The entry point is a garden around an ancient palace.

First Floor: The garden hedges. Attempting to pass over the walls summons (rare) gargoyles. Large spiders near the ceilings will try to ensnare delvers.

Second Floor: The main halls of the palace. Knights patrol the corridors, held up by strings. Focus fire on the strings to disable.

Third Floor: Ball room. Filled with child-sized humanoid puppets in dresses. Hidden weaponry. Will demand to dance.

Fourth Floor: Throne room with a large ‘puppet king’ that uses multiple weapons and hidden compartments on the body to unleash different effects on the battlefield.

Loot rewards:

Strings, Spider parts, Dresses.

Class reward:

Puppeteer class

Ranged control of a single target or golem. Minion control.

“That sounds... kinda spooky,” I said.

“Don’t be a coward, it’s a normal enough dungeon. And a low-levelled one at that,” Amaryllis said. “And, best of all, Rosenbell isn’t too far from Greenshade. A week on foot. Less if we rent a carriage.”

She flipped the book to the very back where a map was laid out. I ‘oohed’ and started looking at it. I used to love the maps in fantasy novels, they were some of the best parts, and now I could trace my own journey across Dirt.

“The class is a little... unusual, but I think it might have its uses, if I unlock the right kinds of skills for it.” Amaryllis stood up, then stretched her back until it popped. “I’m going to go rest,” she said.

“Ah, I should go to sleep too,” I replied. The filling meal had done a number on what was left of my energy, and the sun was about to set outside besides. “There’s a shower here, right?”

Amaryllis snorted. “There is. Enjoy yourself, I’m going to get changed.”

***

I woke up to a sniffling noise, like two pieces of cloth rubbing together. It was faint, and I decided that it had to be from some other room in the inn. It was a busy place after all. That, and I had just had a nice warm shower and was tucked under a veritable pile of cozy-warm blankets. Moving was not an option.

I was almost back asleep when I heard the snuffle again. It sounded as if it had come from Amaryllis’ side of the room.

Carefully, I turned around and snooped out of the top of my blankets and looked around.

Other than Orange who was curled up next to me I couldn’t see anyone.

Then Amaryllis’ bed shook and the sniffle returned.

Someone was crying. Quiet, lonely sobs, the sort that are trying very hard to remain quiet but just can’t help but escape.

Pulling Orange up, I sat on the edge of my bed, then stood up with the kitty cradled to my chest. I was glad that I chose to sleep with some clothes on for a change. It meant that I didn’t lose all of my warmth as I padded across the room.

Amaryllis had her head buried in her pillow, eyes closed and face pressed into the soft white fluff.

“Amaryllis?” I asked.

She tensed.

Swallowing, I placed a hand over the blankets where her shoulder was. “Amaryllis?”

“What’s wrong, Broccoli?” Amaryllis asked.

If she was trying to sound self-assured she was doing a poor job of it.

I, on the other hand, didn’t know what to do. When I was sad and lonely I asked for hugs, but I wasn’t sure if that would happen with Amaryllis, and maybe her problems weren’t the kind that could be fixed with lots of hugs and cuddles. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

I winced. “Oh, okay,” I said.

“Go back to bed,” she muttered.

I did as she asked and sat on her bed.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to bed,” I said.

“Your own bed, you moron!”

Sighing, I plopped a disgruntled-but-too-sleepy-to-care Orange on Amaryllis’ other side, then glomped down atop of her. There were a bunch of blankets between us, so I did my best to make my hug as awesome as I could make it.

“Wh-what are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m giving you a hug. It’s supposed to make you feel better.”

“It’s not working.”

I chuckled. “I think it is,” I said. “Did you want to talk about it? That makes it feel better too.”

“The only thing I want to talk about is how stupid you are,” she grumped.

“We can talk about that too, if you want.”

Amaryllis was quiet for a very long time, but she didn’t squirm and she didn’t fight off my hug, so I stayed where I was even as my back started to get a bit chilly.

“It was just a nightmare,” she said.

“Nightmares can be scary.”

“It was... the cervid. They took me, and my family didn’t want me back. Which is ridiculous.” She snorted and it didn’t sound as if she thought it was all that ridiculous.

“That’s awful. But it didn’t happen, right? And even if your family didn’t want you, you’re still my friend. And friends are a family that you pick.”

The room was quiet for a while, and I thought that maybe she had gone to sleep when at last she spoke. “Do... do you want to get under the blankets?”

“If you want?” I asked.

“My... my sisters used to do this. It was immature and childish, but when one of us had a nightmare--”

“I get it,” I said.

It took some doing, and I tried to be fast not to let all the warmth escape, but soon enough I was tucked up beside Amaryllis and hugging her close. Her wings were surprisingly soft from so close.

“I’m a mess,” Amaryllis said.

I snorted and fired a bit of cleaning magic at her. “There, now you’re not,” I said before tightening the hug. “It’s okay. Go to sleep.”

“Idiot,” she muttered.

“Yup.”

The night grew darker as more lights outside the window were snuffed out, but it was okay.

“Thank you,” Amaryllis said.

I fell asleep smiling.

***