As the delvers started to go deeper into the dungeon they saw more signs of combat from groups that had come before. Scorch marks from spells, gashes from weapons, cracked stone from who knows what. Any large amounts of damage that happened from things like Nelva’s gravel ground spell would be automatically repaired by the dungeon but smaller amounts of damage would not be fixed.
Another thing that the dungeon didn’t fix soon came into view: dead adventurers.
Three bodies lay in the halls, all young adventurers that had gotten in over their heads far too soon with too small of a group. One lay further in the back with spear marks in her back. Another lay against the wall with a old axe head stuck in their rusty and dented metal chestplate with the handle snapped off. The last was the furthest down the hall clearly cut up with swords.
All their weapons and most of whatever armor they had on was taken off their bodies alongside any valuables. They were fortunate that it was a goblinoid dungeon as their bodies were pretty much left intact besides a few extra strikes. Full bodies ready for whatever their respective cultures’ funeral rites were.
The delvers paused and looked at the bodies. Tezira gave a small dip of her head not really having many traditions being an ex-slave. On top of that she was used to finding dead bodies and death so she was already numb to the sight. Jack dipped his head and gave them a moment of silence. He was not a religious man himself and was also used to seeing dead bodies so he just gave them what he felt was the basics of respect.
Zilta, nelva, and John did have their own traditions though. They looked at each other and Zilta stepped forward to do hers first. She let out a deep, mournful howl that echoed down the halls. Once the howl died down she held her sword upside down and looked at the first body. She lifted the sword up and slammed the tip into the ground letting the metallic thud echo down the halls. She then looked at the next one and slammed the tip down again before doing the same for the last body. Once the final echo faded she let out another long howl and stepped back.
Nelva walked forward and knelt down. “These three are not from the swamp, but I will give them some of our rites. May their souls not be held long by this dungeon nor wander long and return to the lands from which they came. May those they knew only remember the good times. May their memory last long, and we shall mourn the fact they fell before their time.” She then tapped her staff six times on the floor before motioning to John.
John stepped forward and, while he knew the catholic last rites, he decided it probably wouldn’t be effective in this new world. He went from body to body carefully picking them up and laying them side by side off to the side of the hall to make sure nobody would step on them. Their heads against the wall facing up with their eyes and mouths closed with their hands on their chest.
He then checked their bodies to find anything and slowly pulled a tag off of one and a letter off of another. He then looked at the group and held the two things up. “Something to bring up so that the guards know who died and can notify the families.” He explained to the confused onlookers. They all nodded, gave the bodies one last moment of silence, then started to walk down the hall once more.
They fell back into formation and walked in silence for some time before Nelva spoke up. “They were so young.”
Zilta gave a small nod. “Yes. Many young ones think they are tough and talented enough to go into the dungeons and find their fortune. Being young can only get you so far though. Not like monsters give a fuck if you are young either.” She growled out as they walked. “Idiots. If you think you got a big enough party add one more. Basic dungeoneering.”
Tezira nodded and let out a small hiss. “I would have never let anyone so green go out in such a small group. Anyone I hire that young and fresh has to go with someone with experience at all times when they leave the compound. Learned that really fuckin’ fast. They kept getting too big for their little heads and getting into fights. Rival gangs snatched them up, or worse. Did something dumb and got us all in trouble. And worse of all was when one, or worse a few, had a “Good idea.” I swear chaperones have saved the dragon’s horde more times than I have fingers!” She let out a sigh. “Somebody shoulda stopped them. Can’t blame the guards though. Just doin their job and not allowed to stop anyone really.”
Nelva let out a sigh. “Every now and then we would lose a child to the swamp that surrounded the village. The child would ignore the warnings of their parents and the tales from our ancestors that spoke of the endless dangers that came from where we lived and venture off. We would constantly have to hold back parents that wanted to rush out into the wilds to look for their kids until a search party could be formed.
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When I was young a friend of mine vanished into the swamps. Her father was training to be a warrior and many considered him to be growing into a strong man that would become one of our most powerful guards. He thought this meant he could go after her himself. The search party formed and went looking for them both. The daughter was found alive having been dragged off by a monster but managed to beat it off and hide. Her father was not so fortunate. The ground gave out beneath him and he was trapped as monsters surrounded him. Even though he was a skilled warrior he couldn’t fight them off. His broken spear still hangs in the main hall as a reminder.”
Everyone in the group gave a small, somber nod. They all knew someone that had died well before their time due to a stupid choice. It just simply came with the territory of the lives they had either chosen or been forced to live. Once more they fell into silence as their own memories crept up to the front of their minds.
Luckily for them soon the dungeon would interrupt their thoughts. At first it was two goblins that tried to jump from a small hole in the wall only for them to be sliced in half with one brutal swing of Zilta’s chain sword. Their shrieks of mindless fury and bloodlust cut off with he roar of the blade and the wet splattering of what had been inside them moments before.
Another goblin popped up from the floor and swung a curved blade with poison dripping off of it. It aimed for the nearest foot it could trying to get one good strike in and poison someone. However their blade bounced harmlessly off the armored boot of John’s power armor. The blade barely made a scratch in the paint at all while the poison simply splattered against the metal and dripped onto the floor. The goblin could only watch as the metal boot lifted up into the air before it slammed down through the goblin’s skull like a power hammer. The thud of boot meeting the floor along with the wet crunch of bones and brain mixed with the crack of breaking stone as the stomp even shattered the floor beneath the goblin’s head.
They continued on a bit longer, pausing only to any goblinoid that dared try to attack them. By this point the goblinoids had swapped to purely ambush tactics as they tried desperately to find any weakness in the delvers. Each time however they would only find death as the group kept to their roles. Orcs found themselves swallowed by the earth, goblins charged only to have a bullet rip them apart, groups would wait behind cover only for a grenade to roll in the middle of them and rip apart them and their plans.
They went deeper and deeper until at long last they reached a massive stone and metal door. Scenes of battles and monsters decorated the massive entrance, but most of the detail had been lost to time and damage. To the right of the door was a large area with a fire pit and chairs. Spots for sleeping bags and more were cleared as well. To the left was a memorial. Letters, trinkets, candles, and more were piled up on and around altars with everything dedicated to those who had entered the dungeon and had either died or been horrifically hurt. Some things were brand new while other trinkets, letters, and a few markers had clearly been there for years. The group paused to write the two names they did know from the trio on a large wooden board full of the names of confirmed dead.
Right next to the memorial was a large stone platform with magical gems embedded into it. It had elegant carvings with magical runes and glyphs etched into it carefully all leading to the middle of the round platform. It was clearly not created by the dungeon being far too well-maintained, made of a fully different kind of stone, a different style, and simply too new. Around it were signs in various languages all reading pretty much the same thing: “EXIT TELEPORT! Boss room ahead. If you are not ready leave while you can.”
The group gathered up in front of the door to discuss their next move.
“Alright. Any idea what is on the other side of that door? Me and John never entered a boss room before.” Jack asked looking at the women.
Tezira shrugged. “Unno. First dungeon.” She admitted.
Nelva calmly opened her journal and flipped through it. “Most dungeons do not have set bosses. They tend to generate a boss that is crafted towards the party entering the room. Normally it tries to make the boss as difficult and as dangerous as it can. A stone golem for swordsmen, a magic nullifying cyclops for a group of wizards, so on and so on. It’s the number one reason party variety is so highly recommended.” She explained.
They then looked at the door. “What kinda thing could it spit out at us to counter our guns?” John wondered aloud as they thought about it.
“Well, would be a shame to get this far and NOT beat the boss.” Jack pointed out. “Besides, we are all unharmed, fully stocked on supplies, and are already working pretty well together overall. I think it we should be able to handle what is on the other side as long as the dungeon can’t spawn bosses over its normal weight class.” He looked over to Nelva to make sure his guess was right and smiled under his helmet when she nodded at him.
“I say we go for it. None of the fights had really been a challenge at all and I swear the spawn rate was low.” Zilta growled out as she toyed with her chain sword.
Nelva paused a bit and slowly rubbed her chin. “That is actually something we should be worried about. If we go in there is a chance that the dungeon had been saving up its power to spawn as difficult of a boss fight as it possibly could.” She pointed out.
The group went quiet before one by one each one looked at the door. Once they all realized they were staring at the door they looked at each other and did final checks on their gear. They all knew they wanted this fight, they wanted to see what was on the other side, they wanted to beat the dungeon in full, and they wanted to finally get some treasure to make this whole trip worthwhile.
With Jack at the lead they slowly pushed open the massive doors and strode into the boss room with their weapons at the ready.