Novels2Search
Dungeon Core Chat Room.
Chapter 41. A day in the life of Bose.

Chapter 41. A day in the life of Bose.

> Dungeon Reviewer Tom here, continuing my "lesser-known and rising stars" miniseries.

>

> The eternal dungeon has taken the world by storm recently. It's not often you hear adventurers talk about a new dungeon all over the continent of Mur. As your favourite reviewer and due to several reader requests, I simply had to travel here and give it a go.

>

> The Dungeon of Eternity is a new dungeon that feels like an old dungeon. Many traps and situations that fans of the ancient dungeons love are found here and while its monsters and loot are...okay. The main draw of this dungeon is its ambiance and mystery. What is that city found near the top of the dungeon? What effects do those runes produce? Why is a mysterious cult forming and why did all the monsters in this dungeon start laughing uncontrollably a few months ago?

>

> This dungeon brings one back to their roots as an adventurer. It makes you feel that wonder and excitement from your very first delve once more. There’s a story contained in this dungeon. One that’s not simply handed to you but hinted at in dozens of locations. A story of a city that fell to ruin in its hubris and through isolating itself from the world. Intricate questlines intersect at certain points and while parts of the process are obviously factitious. The artifacts tell a different story. They speak of this nation forgotten from history having existed here and all you have to do is believe. A few have spoken out to being annoyed at all the questlines, but they are few and far between. The number of adventures that want a true experience outnumber those that simply wish to bash a monster into paste.

>

> I was honestly surprised and excited by this dungeon. If you want to get rich there are better places to go, but if you want to go on an adventure this is the dungeon for you. Do I recommend the dungeon of eternity? Of course. If you visit only one of the dungeons I’ve reviewed, I implore you to try this one for it's truly one of the greats.

Excerpt from the popular serial "Tom's Dungeon Reviews Issue 255"

----------------------------------------

Fated Eternal Design: I'm ready.

----------------------------------------

A flicker passes before the theatrical Core’s information is displayed

Monster Name Lore Description. Wisps

A mob found in most Wind dungeons. It's made up of Wind mana and acts like a toddler with magic. These things are practically immune to physical damage only dispersing with immense force but can easily be destroyed by magic.

Orange Masks

Far more powerful than the Wisps, Orange Masks are the first floor's primary defenders. They come in seven different variants, which is ironic with it being a variant itself. Orange Masks will either specialize in sneak attacks or ranged attacks. Manifesting wind claws or firing wind arrows they can only be briefly banished with magic and only truly destroyed by breaking their "Urn". Unlike the deeper floors, most of the Orange mask's urns are hidden in plain sight and can be destroyed easily enough once you find them.

Green Masks

Clad in ancient seeming armour, and wielding weapons cloaked in mana. These things are the warriors of the second floor and onwards. More on the rare side than the other mobs they are hard to kill on their own. The major weakness with this mask variant is that it has a core inside and attached to its armour. When destroyed it causes the entire thing to collapse unlike the rest of the masks. Though it still has an Urn that reforms it over time, a party can be considered to have destroyed a green mask when its armour is broken. You don’t need to find its urn unless you really want to destroy it. Note: much slower than many of its kin.

Guardian masks

Yellow Masks fused into the entrances of locked doors. These monsters ask riddles to any who come across them, speaking directly into your mind. Silence is considered an answer and usually the wrong one. Answering a riddle incorrectly activates countless deadly traps and locks the doors behind them. Answering correctly both opens the passage beyond and provides a small reward. Attempting to blow through them with high-grade explosives as was attempted once, summons countless black masks.

Blue Masks

These guys are a nightmare to fight. Able to redirect most ranged attacks including some magical spells. They often travel in groups. One Blue Mask defending the others, while the rest hurl random debris and materials. The Blue Masks' primary capabilities lie in taking advantage of their environment, flinging both debris and loose items including an adventurer's own weapon back at them.

Black Mask

A truly monstrous mob, "Black Masks" take the form of a massive guardian of rotting white fabric covered in ancient magical symbols. They wield mana enhanced weaponry and carry a detailed black mask in the face of a dead adventurer. Literally a dead adventurer. Each black mask has a visage resembling those that have perished in the depths of the eternal dungeon.

All Black masks are frozen in the form they had when they died. Twisted masks of pain, rage, sadness, or surprise. Their very presence can damage the unshielded and their weapons often rot and kill with death mana. Black masks appear when too many urns are broken in quick succession however their true danger is they don't seem to have a readily accessible urn. There is no easy weakness for these spirits of death and air can be banished but never truly killed.

Finally, while most are mindless some seem to retain memories of their life or at least their death – seeking out revenge on those that have wronged them and appearing out of sequence to attempt to strike at their betrayers.

Red Masks

Located on the 5th floor and onwards, Red Masks replace the Orange and are simply a stronger form. Don't let that fact lower your guard. Just because you have gotten used to the Orange masks doesn't mean you can face them and survive.

Cult Masks

Purple masked enemies found on the 7th floor onwards "Cult Masks" each have a slowing domain around them that can trap even the strongest of adventures. Immune to their own slowing magic, cultists each wear a single ceremonial knife and sacrifice those that enter their domain. Almost mockingly praying and stabbing adventurers moving at a snail’s pace. Note: There are strange people that have taken to wearing purple masks and frequenting the bottom floors of the dungeons. Not all Cult masks are monsters and a few adventurers have stabbed what they thought was a dungeon attraction and turned out to be a baker or alchemist from the nearby town.

Urn

These items store the essence of the monsters in the Dungeon. Most resemble vases and urns of some kind. Hence the name. Many are well hidden, typically increasing in difficulty the lower in the dungeon you progress. Adventurers should never break too many in short succession. Doing so causes you to unleash a Black Mask.

Grey Mask

Passive mobs that exist solely to supply quests.

Boss Name Lore Description. Mortifax the Whisperer

A massive wisp filled with magical energy. Its Urn is a goblet cloaked in runes that causes anyone who holds it to hear whispers. If any were to drink from it they would become plagued by voices only they could hear. There is no cure from this. It does not technically damage you but the two who have done so are now heavily mentally taxed listening to voices constantly.

To face this boss, an adventuring party must first find the boss's Urn then place it on a pedestal deep within the dungeon. This starts a fake summoning ritual where Mortifax whispers to each party member their deepest darkest fears. After each party member gets a personalized whisper, a massive floating wave of wind mana and mind mana is formed in the center of the room. It fires off blasts of invisible gusts and lets out more whispers holding the barest amount of logic to them. Maddened noises or a forgotten language. It is recommended to ignore all the voices to prevent being controlled by them. Next The pedestal will slowly purify the goblet.

When the ritual is complete Mortifax will be purified and banished, leaving a cup of liquid that enhances mental stability and intelligence rather than weakens it when drunk. This boss merely needs to be withstood once summoned, but attacking it speeds the process along and is heavily recommended.

The Lost Son

A eyeless boy the size of a five-year-old. The boss mob is made entirely of decaying flesh and death mana. The only way to summon this boss mob is to find a packet of papers detailing the disappearance of a rather high-ranking official and her son.

Once acquired, an adventuring party must then journey to two distinct chambers. One which holds the skull of the mother. And the other that holds The Lost Son.

When fighting, The Lost Son fires off blasts of rending death mana. While also fighting with two knives. One enchanted to drain life mana, the other enchanted to infuse death mana. The Lost Son is a far more normal boss though It simply needs to be destroyed with strength and clever use of the son's mother's skull. The son hesitates while attacking anyone carrying the skull and that brief moment of hesitation is normally enough. All who face the son receive a reward of some forgotten empire.

King of Masks

A forgotten king. Deep within the earth. The king must be summoned by placing a piece of each of its subjects Masks together in the mask room. The source of all coloured Masks the king has a pure white mask that flashes every colour of the rainbow. With each mask colour, the king takes on its corresponding subjects' abilities but multiplied to insane levels. One minute a melee green mask the next a blue Caster. Each of its colours must be faced before one is deemed worthy and let into the royal treasury and even then, the king is only banished for a time. The treasury is filled with countless riches, but you must only take one gift per challenge. If you attempt to cheat the king, he is immediately enraged and summons dozens of black Masks to punish the cheater.

Catacombs of Eternity [Dungeon Information]

Known floors: 11.

Traps: Plenty of mechanisms abound in this dungeon. Every single trap is pointed out in a weird scribbling script however that same script is used to point out secrets and loot so unless someone figures out how to translate it, we are stuck guessing if something is beneficial or dangerous.

Loot: Loot is varied and sufficient. Plenty of "normal" system rewards along with a few themed pieces of some forgotten empire. Paintings jewelry and old artifacts with forgotten spells and uses, keep rewards exciting. UPDATE The strange silver baubles dropped by mobs on the top few floors and traded about in the fake city are NOT TRASH. Many are furious they had been tossing them out once they saw what they could get with them on some of the deepest floors.

General Notes+Bosses: Unlike most other Dungeons. The Catacombs of Eternity has a disproportionate balance of mage prey. Warriors will find no easy time in this dungeon for all of its main enemies are wind creatures immune to nearly all physical damage.

The other point to look out for is the theatrics. The dungeon of Eternity has every dungeon boss be a quest boss. Every single one. To even fight one of these bosses requires receiving a quest and some of those are hard to find. Some bosses can be found outside their questlines but are nearly impossible to beat when not in the correct quest position (most require certain quest items are found before being weakened to a more manageable level).

Finally, there is a weird cult popping up around this dungeon for some unknown reason.

----------------------------------------

Fated Eternal Design: welcome my friends. Welcome to my dungeon. Come in come in!

----------------------------------------

A screen appears showing an ornate entrance of wrought iron and silver faint specs of Dust frozen in the air around them. As if frozen in time Bose’s entrance speaks of an ancient civilization lost and newly unearthed.

A few seconds after it appeared, the Camera glided slowly forward entering Bose’s first floor.

A long dusty hallway leads forward. Rimmed with cobwebs, faded paintings and mostly destroyed hieroglyphs, several motes of light surrounded by spinning air flows about.

----------------------------------------

Innearth: what do the paintings mean? Did you draw them yourself? Did you find an old civilization or something to excavate?

----------------------------------------

Fated Eternal Design: please keep questions for the end.

----------------------------------------

Abe: I'm bored. You're moving too slowly! I bet this tour would be better with an explosion or two.

Abe: Boom. Boom. The eternal dungeon blah blah BOOM.

Abe: Great huh?

----------------------------------------

Amy: shh. You'll have your turn. Stop heckling.

----------------------------------------

As the camera continues to sweep through the hall it suddenly opens up to a vast cavern. A whole city lies below with countless buildings and masked creatures patrolling both the ground and air. The very top of the ceiling is constantly emmiting a swirling grey mist that hides countless fire sourced lights giving the carvern the look of a city covered by an overcast sky.

----------------------------------------

Abe: HOW BIG IS THIS. IS IT A SINGLE FLOOR! ARE ALL YOUR FLOORS THIS BIG!!

----------------------------------------

Fated Eternal Design: 15 kilometers from end to end. Only this floor is like this. It works much better as the only city and it's also much bigger than other floors. Technically this is 2 floors at once I split the basements of each house and the above ground area as a separate floor… but the details don't matter.

----------------------------------------

The camera rose into the air and spent time circling the city slowing down a dozen times to watch pairs and trios of adventures locked in battle against the Masks of the city. Each slow down was accompanied by a smooth orbit around the relevant party.

Bose seems to be having fun with the camera controls. I can't say I can complain in comparison to Amy's control I like this a lot better.

Most seem to be struggling but winning – just barely winning – and it's only by seeing several groups in quick succession that the answer becomes known. Reinforcements stay back and each group faces a different number of enemies.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

A pair of completely covered adventurers face a pair of green and blue Masks – one swinging wildly with a sharp but unimaginable sword while the other fiddles with a strange compass and mutters to itself searching the walls and ground.

A group of 5 with varying clothing and weapons faces over a dozen Masks of different colours and a bored-looking robed person in a mask strolls around smashing random Masks with a long staff of sorts that appears to be embedded into their arm.

----------------------------------------

Abe: Anyone wants to guess what that bloke is thinking? "I came here to find a new mask but none of these will do."

----------------------------------------

Innearth: what great fashion everyone has. Except you. AND You! Who invited you to this fine dungeon?

----------------------------------------

Fated Eternal Design: he's a regular. I'm not sure what he's doing up here to be honest. He can pretty consistently fight in the 7th floor and onwards and has already unlocked the relevant shortcuts to skip these floors.

----------------------------------------

Innearth: shortcuts?

----------------------------------------

Fated Eternal Design: yeah each floor or two has a boss but they are only allowed to be faced if they haven't been beaten yet. I have a hidden title that shows how deep an adventurer has delved and unlocks the way for them if they've already done a quest. Quests really don't have the same impact the second time around and it's boring watching them redo the same stuff again.

----------------------------------------

Innearth: ...wow I feel dumb for not thinking or implementing that yet. I should set up a system like this soon.

----------------------------------------

Abe: You need adventurers before shortcuts start becoming important <3

----------------------------------------

Innearth: Wow, rude. Hit me in the sore spot why don’t you.

----------------------------------------

The Camera continued on, showing the rest of the adventurer interactions. A pair stand before a dull grey robed monster who points and exclaims wildly, talking to them without attacking.

Another grey mask looks out of an alleyway. A street urchin looking for an easy mark. Yet another stares out of a glass window into the street below. Shaking its mask slightly disapprovingly as it watches the group.

----------------------------------------

Amy: what's happening here?

----------------------------------------

Fated Eternal Design: Quest NPC. Civilian mask telling them their basement is haunted. Actually its using mind mana to convince them its sound is speech and using mind mana to infer their responses…sort of quasi language comprehension can be obtained that way.

----------------------------------------

Amy: ...wow I didn't realize this was an option. I'm going make a greeter monster that tells everyone who exits my dungeon to have a nice day!

----------------------------------------

Abe: “Have a nice day! Please bring all limbs and belongings with you. Do not bleed in the entranceway. We hope you come again”

----------------------------------------

Amy: Yeah! Super friendly like. I’m sure adventurers will love them!

----------------------------------------

As the camera continued on more and more grey masked robes were shown. Each performing a role and pretending to be townsfolk. Some play at being shopkeepers’ others have fake families and take little baby masks for a walk. Still others pretend to be criminals hiding from the "law" otherwise known as most of the active masked monsters.

A group of Green masks drag a prisoner grey mask through the street – thick grey chains holding them against the ground and preventing them from floating. A pair of grey masks accost another and drag them through the air to an allyway while other grey masks pretend they can’t see.

A grey mask “sits” on the corner of the street with plenty of trinkets laid in front of them then gets chased away by a blue mask which tosses all of its trinkets telekinetically after them.

As soon as this blue mask disappears the grey peddler scrambles around and resets their array of trinkets before exclaiming at some missing item – another grey mask sneaking away with it in their grasp in the background.

All these “NPC’s” either start a questline or give hints. When adventurers aren't within eyesight, they continue performing their caricature at life. Practicing their lines for adventurers or redoing the same scenarios like broken records. Some quickly moving and “resetting” themselves when adventurers pass out of view, others still getting more into the role and acting as if they are being observed at all times.

The city was alive with small and large interactions alike and as long as you were around adventurers and not looking too closely, they all felt “genuine”.

After flowing between different groups of adventures in dozens of unique scenarios and skipping by similar ones the camera finally stopped at the side of a group walking up to a dilapidated church. The group passed a large golden urn between them laboriously taking turns to bear its burden all the while sweating and acting as if the very clearly light urn weight dozens of times more than it did.

----------------------------------------

Fated Eternal Design: ah. NEW CHALLENGERS APPROACH! The tour will be put on a brief hold as we watch this special show made just for you.

----------------------------------------

The group climbs a flight of 6 stairs spending way too much time on each step. Each step needed a break and each member of the group needed a rest after completing one stair – no matter their build or apparent strength.

The doors creaked slightly as they closed all sound of the city behind them immediately being shut off. None reacted to the sounds, instead approaching an altar before placing the urn carefully into a circular crevasse. Carefully setting the urn into its slot each member of the group glances slightly to the side as if reading something in the air.

----------------------------------------

Innearth: what's happening?

----------------------------------------

Fated Eternal Design: sorry here.

----------------------------------------

The Whisperer questline 4/4

The Whisperer Urn has been brought to his place of worship! This ancient evil has been weakned but as it weakens its cage weakens as well.

Prepare yourself. The finale is here. Mortifax approaches.

A Breeze rushes through the church and several candles flicker ominously. The group flinched as one and each grab their head and shake as if to rid themselves of a bad thought.

Slowly mist rolls across the floor and into the Urn. Faster and faster it pools, faint faces and limbs appearing in the smoke as it travels up and into the Urn which had started to shake.

----------------------------------------

Fated Eternal Design: Mist materials can be made with Water and Air. Most of my mist is Water+Air mana attached to water. There’s actually a secret boss the “woman in the mist” that controls all the mist on this floor and a few others. No one has found her yet and I’m kind of glad – it adds so much to the ambiance when they can’t see the one controlling all the special effects.

----------------------------------------

Without being drawn out too much longer, a giant wisp gathered in the air. Before it had finished its summoning, the group pulled out various weapons and attacked as one. A man in a black jumpsuit starts running sideways while flashing completely black daggers that ooze shadows.

Blinking forwards in an impossibly fast motion the rogue stabs the wisp and then blinks back continuing to run sideways before reaching the corner of the room and disappearing into a shadow.

In the front, a mage raises their arms in the air and exclaims something loudly causing a flash of purple light to appear and strike the wisp again and again.

At first, it looks like The Whisperer is simply sitting there in the air doing nothing, but Innearth notices a woman walking closer and closer to the mage in front. Holding her arms out as if to embrace her teammate, the woman suddenly lunges forward knocking them to the ground a green glow pooling in her fingers as she pulls the mage to the ground and begins melting through their robe and sizzling the flesh below.

Immediately another woman at the back dashes forward a blue light surrounding her and spreading to the pair on the ground causing the possessed women to immediately stop and then stand up in an embarrassed manner.

----------------------------------------

Abe: Terribly sorry my good sir. I don’t know what came over me!

----------------------------------------

Innearth: Oh it's no issue my dear. You were not yourself! No blame lies with your cute curls.

----------------------------------------

Amy: Guys, please. Your narration adds nothing to my enjoyment of this

----------------------------------------

It was at this moment that the wisp took a visible action. An expanding blade of wind rushing out and towards the distracted group as If angry at its lost puppet.

A finger is raised and a circular shield of purple light is deployed blocking most of the blade and extending the boss battle.

In the back, the blue glow woman is looking up. Her eyes cast completely blue while a halo of light forms above her head.

Rushing forward once more the rogue slashes through The Whisperer. Daggers of darkness doing damage to the incorporeal and causing its second wind blade to miss entirely.

Each adventurer strikes one after the other giving The Whisperer no time to fight back while the golden Urn begins to glow and cracks of light race across the wisp. Finally, with a scream The Whisperer vanished, leading an exhausted party to walk forwards to collect their prize.

----------------------------------------

Amy: Hey I'm curious. Was that a unique monster? How do you replace them? My first 3 bosses are all normal replaceable ones while there's some unique stuff in my 4th boss that would be unreplaceable...

----------------------------------------

Fated Eternal Design: Unique yes...it ruins a part of the event to know but as my friends, I'm willing to tell you a secret.

Fated Eternal Design: None of my bosses are ever killed just banished and healed up before starting once more. Their urns are fake and the real ones are hidden in my core room. You can heal a monster that broke its sub-core as long as its main core is undamaged and that’s what I’m currently doing.

----------------------------------------

Amy: ...wow okay. That feels like cheating but fine.

----------------------------------------

Innearth: I have a question. You chose eternal mana right? So far I haven't really seen much "eternal"

----------------------------------------

Fated Eternal Design: You haven't noticed? It's pretty subtle...More eternal items are found further down.

----------------------------------------

Innearth: ...of course I noticed.

----------------------------------------

Abe: Why ever would you slow down the action. That ruins everything! everything needs to POP. I have my boss rooms all blanketed in enthalpy fields so the action is fast paced!

----------------------------------------

Fated Eternal Design: ...barbarian. You want to savour the action. Drag it out so it lasts longer.

----------------------------------------

Amy: What's happening now?

----------------------------------------

Fated Eternal Design: oh, they are enhancing their wisdom by drinking mysterious liquids in a trusting manner.

----------------------------------------

Abe: I have enough wisdom to know not to drink weird drinks you find in a boss room.

----------------------------------------

Fated Eternal Design: It's fine, the quest completion told them it was safe. Our journey continues!

----------------------------------------

Bose's camera followed the group as they headed down into the church basement. The rooms transitioned to downwards sloping hallways with alcoves set every few meters carrying soft flames as the floor changed.

Breaking away from the group Bose continues down and down, passing rooms that looked like sacrificial alters complete with suspicious red liquid flowing through channels in the ground and ceremonial knives on platforms.

Deeper still they pass, a library containing a zombie child reading a book and further still they rush, passing monsters and bosses alike.

Finally, Bose brings them to an unadorned fountain containing water that flows so slowly you would think it was a statue.

Droplets float in the air and fall slowly to the pool below which somehow manages to reflect perfectly. It's surface a mirror, marred by slow moving ripples and hiding anything in its depths.

----------------------------------------

Fated Eternal Design: This is the fountain of eternity. All acolytes of my order must make a pilgrimage here and drink from the sacred pool

----------------------------------------

Abe: ...what in the...why are you like this.

----------------------------------------

Fated Eternal Design: I rushed through the last area because a new disciple approaches and I didn't want you to miss this!

----------------------------------------

From the far end of the room, a masked creature enters. They wear something indistinguishable from the masked monsters that frequent Bose’s halls – and if it weren’t for the feet shuffling near the bottom of the robes, or the way they clung and revealed a body, Innearth would have thought them a monster as well.

As the figure nears the center of the room the mask is raised revealing a tired looking woman's face. Wrinkles and age were apparent as she raises her hands above her head unable to fully extend due to some issues with her back.

Mumbling something in a low droning tone she steps up to the fountain and kneels, before plunging both hands into the pool. Her arms slow and bend slightly as they get closer and the further, she leans the stronger this effect becomes. Spreading across her whole body.

At the point where her fingers just barely touch the water and her speed decreases to next to nothing, a second figure enters the room.

This time it’s a monster with an identical purple mask stepping through an alcove at the opposite end of the room who approaches the still woman.

She really doesn’t hold an ounce of fear towards what’s happening despite her defenceless position huh? Is this some sort of mind mana trick?

Eyes slowly track the monster that approaches with a mad glint of excitement. The monster glides down and extends an ethereal arm out of its robes and pulls out a white knife carved out of bone and inlaid in a blood-red metal.

Calmly passing through the surroundings unaffected by the slowed down time, the monster cuts a small gash at the tip of the women’s finger then scoops the bloodied water into her hand.

Bringing the cupped hand up to her lips the purple mask forces her to drink and drink she does.

Slowly but surely as if whatever spell the woman was affected by was torn apart piece by piece she started to move random parts of her body normally. A few of the larger wrinkles shrink and the smaller ones are smoothed over completely while the monster vacates the premises – its job done. Tears start to form and fall as the women's face begins moving normally once more and a wild happy laugh fills the air. Standing up she spins twice before re-donning her mask.

Her exit from the room is noticeably more cheerful than her entrance.

----------------------------------------

ZeMadDoctor: Okay. That. I want to know what this whole…this whole thing is. What is happening? I got lost.

----------------------------------------

Abe: I'm...not commenting on this whole scenario. I don't even know where to start.

----------------------------------------

Innearth: You just commented :3

----------------------------------------

Fated Eternal Design: Is it not much more fun without knowing everything? I told you. I have my believers. Fellow believers of the eternal. Is that not enough? She has drunk of me and me of her.

----------------------------------------

ZeMadDoctor: Yeah is this a unique material? What effects is it giving and why is there a woman devoting herself to you. What even is happening in your dungeon. I’m curious. How does one get these "followers". What use are they?

----------------------------------------

Fated Eternal Design: I am the source of the eternal and the eternal flows through me. I shall kill death and through me, my followers may live in eternal bliss. I am the beginning middle and end, for all exist as one in my domain.

----------------------------------------

Amy: want my guess? I’m pretty good at trying to figure out what's happening.

----------------------------------------

Innearth: Sure what do you think is happening.

----------------------------------------

Amy: "Fated Eternal Design" is making a magical liquid that has “eternal” properties. It’s either a Water+Eternal combo or its Eternal magic attached to mercury or maybe eternal mana makes liquids or can be attached to water on its own or... something. It's some eternal liquid obviously.

Amy: Next some sapient has come along and used alchemy to turn his pool into some sort of anti aging potion. The potion also seems to give some resistance to the eternal fields he's using. Elementary my fine sir.

----------------------------------------

Abe: m8. That makes so much sense. Real smart!

----------------------------------------

Innearth: Yeah Bose is that what’s happening?

----------------------------------------

Fated Eternal Design: …do any of you care to see my mask room?

----------------------------------------

Abe: Deflections as good as a confession for me. Yep! I’m having plenty of fun what’s the mask room?

----------------------------------------

Innearth felt slightly bad about how they had ruined Bose’s trick. It felt like good natured messing around with him… but that last surprise seemed to have deflated some of his excitement.

Maybe we went a bit too far...of course, the exact reason for the fountain's existence might be slightly different but if it is Bose isn’t going to tell us.

They flew through several walls to a completely sealed-off room full of urns lined as colour-coded simple vases. The walls were lined with interlocking rods of mental mana tied to different urns. A large “fan” of several mind mana rods with small bobbles of mental mana along it spun using Kinetic mana at the top of the room. A medium sized “tasselled” cylinder in the corner rolls out of the room and down a chute before returning. Other smaller creations vibrate or flow in random patterns while in the center of the room a monster with 3 masks of gold, silver and bronze floats about protecting the cache.

There was much less theatrics in this room for the sole reason it was supposed to be impossible to get to, but it was one of the most active in terms of various constructs in motion.

By the time they reached and started to review this room, Bose was back to normal.

----------------------------------------

Fated Eternal Design: This could be considered the heart of my dungeon. Not even my loyal followers are allowed in this room, for destroying these would break over half my questlines. The ghost spirits are revived in this room all my revivable bosses, normal, hidden, and sentinel are hosted in this room. One of the main purposes of this room is to scramble to connections. High levelled adventurers can follow the lines that connect urns to monsters and they really aren’t supposed to get to these…I spent quite a while figuring out how to introduce static into the tethers and there is a web of “fake caches” that bounce the connections around.

Fated Eternal Design: …surprisingly even though the visible connections are split and routed they retain the same functionality. Even though it looks strange they still can revive using their phylactery in this room.

Fated Eternal Design: Anyways I’ve combed through my halls and shown off what I believe to be the most exciting areas. This is the most complicated thing I made and while it needs to remain a secret from delvers, I still wanted to show it off. My genius is frightening is it not?

Fated Eternal Design: Do any wish to gain knowledge at this point in the tour?

----------------------------------------

Innearth: Oh same question I had earlier. Ancient city, writing and runes. That true or did you make it up?

----------------------------------------

Fated Eternal Design: …Innearth my apprentice. Just because It was brought forth from my mind doesn’t mean it's not true. You haven’t gotten many adventuers yet correct? Well listen. You have to provide an experience and nothing you’ve mentioned about your dungeon tells me you’ve taken my advice to heart.

Fated Eternal Design: In answer to your question. There is a city near me and if you excavate below it there are plenty of old artifacts from when the city was younger. I also appropriated some of the writing I found and filled in the blanks with similar looking ones. That doesn’t mean the story I’ve created does not exist! It exists enough to delight the adventurers and thus is made real through their belief. Good question. Anyone else?

----------------------------------------

Amy: …about that reviving your monsters. Do you think I could manage something for my more unique monsters? I can’t remake some of them.

----------------------------------------

Fated Eternal Design: I mean I told you – keep the largest/main core alive and you should be able to heal the rest. Whether you can achieve the same results as me in terms of remote cores depends on your skill with mental mana. Anyone else?

----------------------------------------

ZeMadDoctor: Can I have some eternal materials? I simply can’t manage to make any. I’ve tried. I can owe you a favour. Or buy them outright. For some reason. There’s a dearth of them on the market right now.

----------------------------------------

Fated Eternal Design: Of course.

----------------------------------------

The tour wound to a close and Innearth returned once more to his own expansion. A critical eye surveying everything he had while he considered what he had learned from both Amy and Bose’s dungeons.