Chapter 40: Critters

Sunday, April 2nd, 2:21 AM

Dungeon Ciara

Garters and Ringnecks were rear-fanged snakes, mildly venomous, and they each sported handsome, striking patterns and colors. I found it hard to choose between the two, so I opted for a Pacific garter snake’s body since they grow a bit larger, and maxed that out to five times its normal mass. It wasn’t a massive snake at two meters long, but it would serve my purpose.

For its pattern, I used the Pacific garter’s upper half behind the head, with the bright, colorful underside of a Ringneck snake along with its dark gray head and the handsome band of orange just behind.

I added the second set of enlarged venom glands and rear fangs from the Ringneck, set slightly ahead of those already in its oversized Pacific garter head. Duvernoy’s glands in Colubrid snakes drip their secretions into grooved fangs, requiring the serpents to chew to envenomate their prey or to use their venom defensively.

While it wasn’t ideal as a minion meant to defend my Dungeon, its design would help keep the challenge of my early floors to a minimum for the sake of training.

Then again, even if my new minion had hollow, hypodermic fangs, such mild venom targeted at reptiles and amphibians would likely only cause serious harm to people who were allergic. It’s perfect—unless they end up gaining some kind of magical potency like my Dire Widows seem to have done. Their venom takes effect many times faster than a normal Black Widow’s.

Hmm.

The instinct thinks that’s the way things should be. I should probably listen.

Thus, my first Ringneck garter snake minion received a spawn point on my second floor.

Ah, the iridescence of its scales is gorgeous.

I ordered it to take a defensive posture, and received the classic striking pose of a garter snake.

Ah, yes. Its brain is still from a Pacific garter snake, so it won’t show Ringneck behavior.

My second Ringneck garter received the mind of a Ringneck snake, and I got my desired result. It turned the latter half of its body over to reveal the vivid orange-to-red gradient that grew darker toward its rear, then coiled its tail into a tight spiral.

For variety’s sake, I made twenty with each brain type, for a total of forty Ringneck garter snakes. Half of them, chosen randomly, received bright yellow bellies instead of red.

I spread their spawn locations out and checked back with the Gopher snake chasing the weasels. The snake managed to kill one, but it had some nasty holes chewed in its neck and was missing part of its tail. Many of the snake’s handsome, keeled scales had been utterly destroyed by the powerful bite and claws of the weasel it was trying to swallow.

I’ll find out soon enough whether this little guy survives. I returned to my second floor.

Next, I searched through mammals. Sure enough, I had a weasel available and, to my surprise, a Striped skunk.

Ohh, now we’re talking. Not sure how or when I managed to kill one of those, but I won’t complain.

I enlarged a skunk to twice its normal size, then changed its white stripes the brownish-red of a weasel, to camouflage its true nature. Its coloration was handsome against the rest of its black fur coat.

Siobhán’s gonna have a strong opinion about this one way or another, but I have to. It’s the same as her hair color. I grinned.

Eight Soybean skunks received homes across my second floor. Then I added two Alpha Soybean skunks, at five times their typical mass, to provide a random challenge.

The Gopher snake that killed the weasel died from its injuries, so I created a Coastal constrictor.

At five times the mass of a regular Gopher snake and three-to-four meters long, depending on sex, this minion wasn’t the most dangerous creature on my second floor—but for some, it would likely rank as the most intimidating. I darkened its overall color to better match the bark of a Redwood, but I left its black camouflage pattern alone.

These should help train people to fight larger snakes. Especially the big females.

Twenty Coastal constrictors entered my forest as well. As with my other minions, they had orders to avoid hunting unless they were hungry.

Looking out over my second floor, I watched one pack of Forest coyotes chasing a big Norway rat. The alpha caught the rat, pinning it against the greenery with a paw before letting it run again, and the chase resumed.

I was worried they’d run it to death for no reason, but they stopped when the rat became winded. The coyotes stood guard over the rodent, let it catch its breath, and allowed it to leave.

Hm. I guess my canine minions enjoy playing, just like ‘real’ dogs. As long as they aren’t killing denizens for sport, then it’s fine.

The second pack was sunbathing on a rock beside one of my Soybean skunks.

Such a scene would be nigh-unthinkable in a natural setting. Hungry coyotes will eat skunks.

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I spent two hours after sunrise clearing snow from my old neighborhood and rebuilding approximations of houses. Wherever I couldn’t shape things, I added more tunnels near the surface. Before I knew it, I’d added another ten complete houses.

When I finished that project, many humans were stirring in my houses and basement. But aside from bathroom breaks, those on the surface remained huddled in their blankets.

I need to do something… They shouldn’t be shivering when I can provide warmth.

But I needed them away from the housing to make changes, and everywhere near or at the surface was freezing.

Snow covering the fruit orchard’s glass ceiling was quickly stored in my inventory, and sunlight flooded in. I added a series of ten hearthstones stretched into wires inside the stone frames between glass panels to help keep them snow-free should another winter storm roll through.

They need heating in those houses, too.

I absorbed a sizable, charred Eucalyptus log that had washed up on the beach, then purged it of water.

[Oh, residents… Rise and shine!]

Everyone answered quickly except Joe and Siobhán, who awakened groggily beside one another in what had essentially become Joe’s room and both groaned in protest.

I still can’t believe those two were up until just before dawn.

After twenty minutes of prodding, I’d marshaled the troops and they managed to get all my human denizens moving to the fruit orchard for breakfast.

While they were busy stuffing their faces, I created a sizable fireplace in the main living space of each house, with a wide cover above their tall stone chimneys to prevent rain and snow from falling in. In the tradition of my father, I over-engineered the hell out of everything.

[Can I get all my human residents to the main housing area? I need to test some things I just made. One of you to each house, please.]

Five minutes later, none had success lighting the Eucalyptus driftwood I’d provided.

“Why not set a hearthstone into a pit inside each fireplace, O’Connor? We could light the wood with that,” Mike mused.

[Let’s give it a try.]

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

It worked. Less than a minute after installing those, the kindling I’d made was aflame in each fireplace. But smoke poured into every living room as well, so I reshaped the fireplaces until the exhaust was drawn properly up and out.

“These fireplaces are likely too thick to radiate much heat from their back and sides until they’ve burned for hours. Can you make them thinner, Ciara?” Joe asked with a yawn.

[Sure.]

I compressed the walls of each fireplace down to two centimeters of thickness.

“Whoa, I didn’t mean—it’s only stone, so maybe keep it twice that thick, at least?” Joe held a hand up.

[This is many times more resilient than what you’re used to. It should be fine, Joe.]

“I see. Let’s give it a shot and see how they hold up. Thanks, Ciara.” Joe smiled and yawned as he added more wood and held his hands before the small fire.

“Professor, can we get a fireplace like this down in the basement?” asked Rihelah.

[Already working on that.] I smiled.

The basement’s fireplace stood where my old LCD TV and its entertainment center used to be, across from the couch.

I’m probably going to need more housing for survivors fairly soon.

Then I thought about who would likely be visiting soon.

I’d better protect my resident quarters as well. Especially when the military comes knocking.

Above, I cleared more snow from the area surrounding my old neighborhood, then smoothed and flattened the area where my house used to stand and fashioned a replica of the structure.

Wait. Why recreate my old house, when I can…

I enlarged my house into an A-frame castle oriented north-south between Assembly Avenue and Seventh Avenue, with a forty-by-forty-meter footprint.

Classic, pointy towers stood twenty meters high above the surroundings at each corner, while a central tower climbed thirty-five meters above the foundation, with spiral staircases leading up to enclosed rooms with wraparound balconies.

The fourteen-meter-high exterior walls received crenelations, and I added archer slits to a protected walkway that wrapped around near the bottom of the roof. Massive Gothic timber and steel double doors allowed entry from the south, facing the beach. That consumed most of the remaining steel I’d salvaged from the harbor, but it was worth it.

“ProfCon, is that…” Siobhán began as she and Joe walked toward the basement.

[Yep, A castle. Come and check it out while I’m building.]

“A what? I’m coming, too!” Rihelah took off from the fruit orchard with Michael and Joy falling in beside her.

Mike shrugged, rolled his eyes, and with a smile, walked up the ramp behind them.

Michael, Rihelah, and Joy quickly passed Joe and Siobhán, who looked at each other, shrugged, and kept walking.

Drains were added at each corner and midway along the outer walls with hidden channels to send rainwater down to my Dungeon’s second floor.

I dug a moat six meters deep and ten meters wide around the exterior, then deposited some of the snow I’d collected. A stone bridge crossed in front of the doors, and four small staircases allowed escape from the moat at each corner.

“This is amazing!” Rihelah bounced on her toes, clapping with a huge grin as she stood in front of the bridge. Michael smiled up at the castle while Joy walked around the outside of the moat, gazing at the structure with wide eyes.

For the castle’s three-meter-high first floor, I removed my outer basement doorway and fashioned a hydraulically-activated hardened stone slab thirty centimeters thick to conceal the stairs leading down while serving as a heavy false floor for a north-south central hallway. The sliding floor was difficult to spot against the pattern of the hallway floor, which perfectly matched its size and shape when it was closed.

The mechanism for the hidden passage consumed one of my trap slots, but protecting my residents was a top priority.

When open, the slab slid beneath the pantry for a large kitchen on the west side beside two spacious bathrooms.

A huge living area lay east of the hallway.

Joe and Siobhán walked silently, only speaking after they’d entered the castle and couldn’t find the basement door. I let them inside, and they headed straight back to bed while the others ran around inside, though Siobhán went to her room.

Thick, hardened Gothic windows matching the castle’s front door were set high into the outside walls. They allowed a bit of natural light to complement the horn-shaped, lightstone-capped torches Rihelah and Michael had suggested for the rooms and hallways on all floors.

The second floor of the structure received eight large bedrooms, each with a king-size bed and private bathroom including a proper sink, shower, and tub large enough to accommodate two adults.

My third castle floor held two sizable meeting rooms, and two multi-stall bathrooms at the end of its hall adjacent to the stairs up.

Water was provided via a system Sven taught me how to create when making equipment for Mike in the metalworking area. The entire building received plenty of water pressure with cold and hot water that would virtually never run out, and best of all, I didn’t have to pay any attention.

With that in mind, as Michael and Rihelah commandeered one bathroom to use the tub together and Joy and Mike each claimed one for themselves, I upgraded the water systems and bathroom facilities in all my existing housing to match. I barely finished before the first human denizens returned to their houses.

All six denizen children squealed for joy when they discovered there were bathtubs they could share, though the adults congregated around the fireplaces.

I left the castle mostly unfurnished, save for beds and fireplace. Chimneys ran through the walls and exited via shared vents protected beneath tall spikes at the tops of the five towers.

When Joe awakened an hour later, all my human denizens were in much better spirits, talking cheerfully near the fireplaces despite the chill outside. I’d stacked plenty of firewood for them, and they were enthusiastic about using it.

But I frowned.

We don’t have time to keep playing around. I need a higher mana income, and these people need to gear up.

I addressed my human residents.

[Gather anyone who’s interested in weapons or armor and bring them to Mike’s workshop. We have a few pickaxes. Now that our weather issue is handled, it’s time we get things started.]

With all that in mind, I added another sliding stone slab that could seal my basement from the workshop area and closed it. Another trap slot was occupied, but keeping my residents safe was worth it.

A new, spacious tunnel ran smoothly from inside the mining entrance down to the hallway between the four massive rooms that housed my metal workshop. Where it branched from the mining area, I crafted another, two-meter-thick, sliding, hardened-stone door to seal it off.

When I checked on her Siobhán was still sound asleep. She’d had a long night, so I didn’t press that issue.

Despite his lack of sleep, I was impressed by Joe’s dedication. He and Mike took charge and rallied a team of eight others into my spiral mining area, and by late afternoon, the humans had accumulated sizable piles of each ore near the smelters.

“This is strange, Schimpf. I’ve never done this before, but somehow… I know what to do.” Mike’s brow furrowed as he loaded each crucible with chunks of ore via long metal tongs.

Old Jeffrey Stapp and Joe watched Mike’s example and assisted. Michael and Rihelah were quick to follow, along with Joy. The others stood back, shrinking from the heat radiating off the smelters.

Joe replied, “I get you, Master Guns. Healing people just… came to me. No fuss, no practice needed.”

“Magic really is something else.” Mike smirked.

“I’m looking forward to what you can do with a rifle.” Joe grinned.

“Sonofabitch, you’re right.” Mike’s eyes widened.

Jeffrey Stapp said, “I can’t wait for the weapons and armor we’ll make. Used to frequent Scottish Renaissance faires. Had myself a fine collection of garb and gear, too—before the war. All decorative showpieces, mind you. Making and using the real thing… I never dreamed this could happen.”

“I get the feeling we’ll soon appreciate Joe’s healing even more than we already do. If what I’ve seen is anything to go by, the Dungeon’s minions will be difficult to handle, and possibly deadly until everyone grows stronger,” said Michael with a frown.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” said Joe. “I’ll do whatever it takes. It’s not like we have much choice.”

“Oorah, Schimpf.” Mike nodded curtly, dropping another large chunk of titanium into a smelter. “I can’t believe the Dungeon got the temperatures right for every single material. It’s uncanny.”

[It’s Svenny. I did the physical work, but you can thank him later.]

“How do you know they’re correct, Papa Mike?” Rihelah asked.

“I’m not sure. I just do.” Mike added another piece of ore.

Joe snorted. “Fuckin’ magic.”

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Floors: 2

Minions: 212/240

Residents: 12/12

Denizens: 45942

Traps: 6/10