Flying out the submerged entrance to the Mangle Bog, which was currently being returned to its pre war state, I locked eyes with Simmons and Mulan in her [Persona] form. For a man who just emerged on the victorious side of war he didn’t look very good. In fact he looked downright exhausted.
“Ah! There you are my friend!” he called with a smile as I landed beside him.
“Good afternoon, I’m very sorry about the wait. We’ve had a large influx in mana that needed to be properly allocated. Otherwise it could go towards things unintended.”
Simmons waved his hand dismissively “Believe me when I say I fully understand. Calling back all the adventurers and mercenaries has been... an effort. Then there’s the worry about replacing the lost dungeon’s resources, what to do about the wasted apprentice, not to mention capturing the other masters-”
Coughing to get the obviously sleep deprived man’s attention I said “Speaking of the adventurers I have the payment ready for whenever you decide to hand it out. The sooner the better I’d imagine.”
“Y-yes that would be for the best. Although if you’d like my opinion you should hand out the bonds yourself. Doing so in tandem with your first public appearance should leave a positive impression.”
“So we’ll be moving forward with my grand reveal?”
Nodding Simmon’s eyes grew incredibly serious, “Yes. While I know your true intentions well enough at this point to the public you are nothing but a few lines of text. It would be best to at least give them the chance to verify your existence themselves. Most already see you as an ally given recent events but you must still be careful, people’s trust is a fickle thing.”
Pausing to think for a moment I glanced at Mulan “I think we could get something ready in about a week. We could hold a small event around the entrance, hand out the money, and build a stage. I’ll take the opportunity to answer any of the publics lingering questions or concerns that I can.”
Giving a curt bow Mulan said, “I’ll have the golems begin work immediately Milord.”
Moving along Simmons made a small note for himself then asked “Another important decision is when you’ll meet with King Rylen. He’s asked me to relay his desire to meet in person and discuss your role in this country. Would that be doable sometime soon?”
“If he wants to meet me that’s one thing, but if he wants to discuss policy... Could we ask him to wait for little longer?”
“Making the King wait on you isn’t an advisable course of action” Simmons remarked with a wince.
“Not for long. A month at the absolute most. By then my current projects should be completed and I’ll have much more to offer. I could even travel and meet him with a procession if all goes well.”
After some apprehension Simmons made another note “If you need another month we might as well have you attend the Iliad rather than travel independently. It’s to be held in 5 weeks’ time in the capital of Centrilliam.”
“You don’t mean the book do you?”
“Ah, pardon me I suppose you wouldn’t know. The Iliad is an annual gathering of nobles, guilds, and other important representatives before the king. With him present any and all issues concerning the previous and coming year are up for discussion without waiting around for diplomacy. It’s a time for deals, marriages, and alliances that lasts around a week. Now that I think about it this may be the perfect opportunity. Make a positive impression at the Iliad and even your detractors will have no chose but to leave you be.”
Cupping my chin I finished “But if we screw up while the entire country is watching us we’re good as dead.”
“Exactly.”
Thinking over my current plans I figured the Iliad was worth the risk. Just being in attendance would bring credibility to the dungeon and its inhabitants in the eyes of the people. Having the opportunity to create a network of useful individuals would also be beneficial. Right now the only ones I could consider tentatively trustworthy are the people of Brooksdam and possibly Everest, although counting on an S class’s favor is dangerous.
“It does sound risky, but with my abilities I should be able to make quite an impact. Just be sure the other attendees know a procession of monsters will be walking into the city.”
Nodding Simmons wrote down a note to inform the king of the plan ahead of time.
“You already have his support from what I can infer. Your appearance is to cement yourself as the owner and demonstrate loyalty to the other powerful factions. Winning over most of the guilds will be easy as long as you permit further exploration, except for the mage guild. They’ve voiced interest in running tests on you along with some other unsavory individuals. It also bears mentioning that the other dungeon masters may make an appearance, along with the senior members of the Yui and Osin houses.”
Turning to Mulan again I added “If our enemies will be there I’ll need protection. Mulan, you and Almar will accompany me publicly. Mary will follow us in the shadows with some of the Reapers along with any new allies we make during the coming month.”
Arching an eyebrow Simmons asked “New allies? Should I be worried?”
Finishing with a smile I said “A dungeon can’t very well stop growing can it? At the very least I guarantee what lies farther down will be worth the trip. I’d love to have you in the future.”
Putting away his notebook Simmons grinned slightly “I’m sure it would be wonderfully but I’m no adventurer. Even the stories of your bog send shivers down my spine I assure you.”
Leaving Mulan to escort the mayor back to the knights outside I lifted a few inches off the ground and grinned “Why, I hadn’t thought of that yet. I should come up with a work around for people like you.”
---
Collapsing into my rocking chair with Mulan beside me I let out my nervous energy. Doing my best to come across well with the mayor really took it out of me. Just how bad is speaking with the king going to be?
Tilting her head in concern Mulan asked “Are you alright Milord? You look dimmer than usual.”
Noticing the no change in the [Projection] myself I answered “Well I certainly feel tired. Dealing with all this back to back is more stress than I’m used to. Hard to believe just 5 months ago I was struggling to make honor roll and now I have to meet a king about national policy.”
“That just speaks to your brilliance Milord.”
Blushing slightly I said “No need to flatter me. All things considered I’ve only gotten this far on luck. I’m not anyone special or some natural born leader, hell if it wasn’t for how the voice incorporated itself within me I wouldn’t even know how to be a dungeon core. I’m in way over my head here.”
Furrowing her brow Mulan retorted “You don’t give yourself enough credit Milord. While you may not see yourself as someone great I believe your accomplishments speak for themselves. I truly doubt many could have grown this dungeon to survive and thrive like you have given the circumstances.”
“... Thank you. That... means a lot.”
A small silence fell over the core room as I marinated in Mulan’s sincerity. One I couldn’t handle for long.
Absorbing my [Projection] back into the main core I stuttered “H-how about we go check on the casino! It should be almost done by now! Then we can make the Cavern’s entrance scope out the biomes! So much to do!”
Chuckling into her yukata sleeve Mulan gestured for me to pull up the Monitor “Please begin then Milord.”
With a thought I willed the Monitor to show us the very back of Almar’s dark reservoir. Previously I’d already pushed the core room to the side of the back wall and erected a massive vault shaped door. Getting the door to properly spin open had taken some time but eventually with the help of [Micromanaging] it would whir to life and reveal the casino only when Almar was properly defeated. With how dark the reservoir is I’m hoping the slow reveal of a bustling casino of lights, music, and festivities will be a magnificent reveal after a hard won fight.
To make the reveal even better I’d purposefully built the entrance on the 3rd floor with a railing overlooking the thousands of magic lights above and below. Off to the left and right of this grand entrance were twin marble staircases bringing guests down to the first level. I wanted to give them just a small taste of what the higher floors had to offer before knocking them back down to the visitors area.
Once at the bottom of either staircase visitors would find a path of red velvet overtop black marble interwoven between pillars of gold towering towards the floors above. Following the path would lead them into a large reception hall meant to get them acquainted with the safe zone. On the left wall was a reception desk, hopefully operated by my sentient races, meant to explain the casino’s rules, handle any disputes, and take payments. Opposite on the right wall a large golden archway would take guests to the resort hotel. On either side of the grand golden arch were check in desks to help book guests into our grand experience. As all safe zones would require payment moving forward I installed teleporters in the base of every pillar within the entrance to account for additional foot traffic. There would always be some who refused to pay and simply accepted the lower quality free safe zones above.
The biggest draw of the entrance way though was the massive water fixture in the back. Water would fall through a hidden Faucet in the ceiling down past the massive logo for the casino, giant bubble letters each several feet tall spelling out the name Cascade. Each letter was a different color of the rainbow to foreshadow the next floor and the first C would occasionally send a pulse of chromatic lights down to the others. All water that passed by the giant logo would crash into the small pool around the base before being reabsorbed into a Drain.
On either side of the logo were another pair of golden arches with synchronized lights traveling down their sides from the crest. Both of these led out to the first floor of the casino proper and travelling in a straight line led to staircases leading upwards. But simply walking by would rob you of the opportunity to see my glorious memorial. Just behind the massive water fixture was a wall of black marble with the names of those who perished in the war chiseled into it and then coated with silver lining. Beside this monument I also placed twin standing alters to burn incense at all times. I felt the spectacle more than delivered on my promise to the adventurers and conveyed my sincerity.
Past the reception hall were 8 floors I’d placed every kind of entertainment I could fit with room for more when I learn to cater to this worlds tastes. Dueling rings, firing ranges, roulette tables, several stages and theatres I’m hoping to rent out one day, different restaurants and bars my sentient monsters will be manning, dance halls, banquet halls, wedding venues, and of course several thousand different slot machines and game tables I’d found in the [Construction] tab. All these different venues were crammed into the accessible 7 floors with the final floor being a management center and home for Almar and the other workers. There was also a basement where I’d made a workers paradise. From blacksmith to tailor’s tools I’ put everything one could possible want. On later floors I’ll create an even better version but hearing the sounds of manufacturing would ruin the casino’s lively atmosphere, hence the 20 feet of solid rock between the basement and the first floor.
To add even more each floor of the casino is designed to get more and more exclusive as one moves upwards. The first floor is completely free to get people hooked on betting but the second is 5,000 Rhilos per entry, the third is 10,000 and so on. Of course a membership plan will be offered once people get hooked and I find my whales. Part of me does feel bad preying on someone’s addiction though so I’ll stock some bouncers to kick out rowdy customers and stop the truly desperate from losing it all.
Perhaps my favorite part of the Cascade though was the giant resort hotel next door. The interior would seem just like any other fancy hotel, but the rooms themselves had special features. Mainly that they could extend out into the second reservoir. Truth was the entire hotel was underwater!
It had taken a lot of work to reinforce the structure to prevent any leaks but the views spoke for themselves. From every window of the hotel the guests could look out into a massive false ocean with illusionary walls that made the sea appear to go on forever. In reality it was only about 3 miles in size, still absolutely massive, but smaller than it appeared. The exterior of the hotel was decorated in various species of corals and sponges to encourage my exotic fish species to hang around nearby. Using this space I’ll breed my aquatic monsters away from their respective floors and create tunnels to help them travel around the dungeon. My mana fish farms really have come a long way.
Besides the lovely aquarium views the rooms themselves could extend out into the reef for even closer views of the reef. I’m greatly looking forward to the guest’s reactions to being completely underwater without getting wet. Each room cost a sizable 15,000 Rhilos but I was giving people a once in a lifetime experience they couldn’t get anywhere else. Where else could you sleep beside a young leviathan or read a book while gazing up at a school of stingrays? Even Almar was allowed to come swim here whenever he wanted to drum up excitement. He would hopefully find this reef more comfortable than his reservoir as it’s better lit.
“Other than moving the marine species in and training our future staff everything is looking good to me. Anything stick out to you?”
“No Milord it looks positively stunning. Almar will be please when he returns.”
“Alright, then I’ll do a final once over with him in person when he gets back. It looks like the biomes are still being built but we can work on the entrance for now.”
As I popped out of my core form to go work in person Mulan asked “Where will the entrance to the Cavern’s be Milord? I believe I missed it.”
“I’ll make a temporary one down in the reception hall but I’ll have Almar decide. Obviously we don’t want it in the middle of the show floor.”
Before leaving I absorbed some stained glass I’d had Mulan purchase while in town. Luckily I only needed the basic template to create the variety of colors I wanted. Not that a few panes of glass were really breaking the bank but I’d always been a bargain hunter.
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Arriving at the end of the temporary entrance tunnel I almost instantly dug out a large cavern approximately 120 feet tall and around 200 in diameter. Using the randomizer function of the [Terraforming] skill the cavern was quickly decorated with stalactites, stalagmites, various mosses, and the occasional gem or reflective crystal imbedded in the walls. On the side of the vaguely circular cavern opposite the entrance I carved out 7 large doorways for later.
Turning my attention upwards by about 90 feet I made a giant sheet of reinforced glass that completely blocked the ceiling off from the rest of the cavern. This artificial sky would become one of the most important aspects of the floor so it needed to look perfect. Once I was satisfied with the clarity of the glass and created large dips and bumps to add depth I went ahead and began summoning my glowworm larvae.
Before beginning my experiments I had no idea that glowworms didn’t glow their entire lives. Imagine my surprise when I realized they weren’t even worms! In actuality they are gnat larvae that hang small threads of mucus down to catch prey. It had taken some major reprogramming of the species with my skills but I was able to get my desired result eventually.
Having removed the gnat stage of their life cycle the new glowworms would exist only as eggs and hatch into the wormlike larval form. Their eggs were also augmented further to float in the air before descending downwards when ready to hatch. This way the eggs wouldn’t block the view of the worms from below while still keeping the population naturally healthy. Given they would be the 4th floor’s light source I heavily increased their bioluminescence so that the floor below would still be navigable. Along with the intensity of the light I also imbedded in their genes the pigments for all seven colors of the rainbow. Any worm could lay any eggs of any color to ensure an even distribution along the ceiling in this room. Finally, the mucus webbing was given the magical property of passing through glass. Not only did this give the ceiling an even greater sense of depth and distance but the streamers would absorb the ambient mana from the dungeon to feed and breed the worms above. With this even my dungeon’s light source could be bringing in more mana!
Before long the living rainbow of shifting colors was casting rays of light down on to the cavern below without issue and the glowworms began making themselves comfortable. They would enjoy a peaceful life free from fighting, only ever ordered to make the 4th floor beautiful through their presence. While they hadn’t technically evolved I decided to rename the final version Prismatic Worms.
Happy with the ambiance I went back to the seven doorways created earlier and began making small scale Faucets and Drains. Similar to the water fixture in the reception hall above these waterfalls would gently flow over the doorways into each individual biome. Each door was then constructed out of a color of stain glass representing the rainbow, red on the far right heading towards violet on the left. These doorways would only open after set intervals to avoid congestion on the floor. As the staggering of adventurers to allow monsters and materials to regenerate is considered commonplace they shouldn’t object to me handling it.
“Do we need so many doors Milord? I understand we have multiple different areas on this floor but why not have them lead into each other?”
Scrolling through the biome notes I’d made for myself in the planning phase I answered “Each one of these will lead to a distinct “biome” like you said. Each could be considered a mini floor with a mini boss awaiting at the end. I’m hoping to make each take around one full day and night to complete if a capably party knows what they’re doing. We’ll capitalize on the new length by selling tents and survival gear if all goes well.”
“This place will be massive then...” suddenly perking her streamers in curiosity Mulan asked “How will the safe zone function? Do the adventurers return to this main cavern after each biome or do they have to work their way back through?”
Smirking as my plan came to fruition I answered smugly “After clearing just a single biome the adventurers will gain access to the 4th safe zone. While Cascade is meant to be a tourist spot from where people are always coming and going this safe zone will become the center of the dungeon itself.”
“Will that not make the 4th floor too easy? If it only takes a full day to clear then it may not pose much of a challenge.”
“Keep in mind the creatures here will already be stronger than those in Burza. Making your way through any floor of mine won’t be easy. But this floor will be unique in several ways. For instance, while the safe zone is accessible after clearing only a single color all seven must be cleared before they can challenge the floor guardian. That way we can have them spend money in the 3rd and 4th safe zone for at least 7 days before moving on!”
“I see... By giving them short term progression goals we can force them to spend longer periods of time in the dungeon, thus turning a larger profit for ourselves. Very clever Milord.”
“Why thank you.” I said with a smile and bow “Let’s just hope the dungeon city concept works out. If people don’t want to come the “I.D. Rings” won’t help our business at all.”
“Those are what you teased the mayor with correct?”
Summoning one of the rungs from my core room I twirled it on my finger “These things will be our future if all goes well. Each needs only absorb a small amount of someone’s mana to become linked to their “signature” for lack of a better word. As the dungeon rules force me to allow only those who have traveled down the floors use my teleporters I needed a work around for noncombatants. If a team of adventurers were to wear these rings and make it through from the upper floors to the lower ones the person who has bonded with the ring will be able to teleport down. This way the adventurers make more money from escort jobs and we get more civilians and merchants who want to do business in our little city. They aren’t finished yet and I’m still considering the design. Hopefully I’ll have a prototype soon and can discuss the concept during the Iliad with someone more qualified.”
“I think the adventurers will be receptive Milord. As long as we don’t allow those who teleport with this method outside the safe zones, as that would be cheating, we all stand to profit from each other. My only major concern would be high level adventurers conquering the earlier floors over and over again. If someone even half of Everest’s strength wanted they could make several escort trips a day.”
“Fair point. It’s a work in progress and the first few rings will be a trial run. Maybe we could limit dungeon floor escort missions based on party level? If I began offering them as official [Quests] maybe I can limit those who can accept them?”
Given that the I.D. Rings will likely become a major industry for both humans and ourselves the details need to be hammered out long before their debut. I’ll do my best to catch the major flaws in discussions with the [Named] but that can only do so much. If possible I’d like to hire a merchant to get their point of view.
Turning back to the blueprints I began carving the tunnels out from the main cavern. It was only with some dungeon subspace trickery this floor would function at all. Each door would lead down a dark tunnel with fewer glowworms before emerging into each of the biomes. With every biome planned to be around 20 miles long in concept it would have been impossible to wrap the exits around the safe zone without making use of my metaphysical properties. Unlike the early days I’m now aware of my nature and have learned how to abuse it.
Once the main tunnels were completed I started on the far left of the cavern with the red door “Let’s go check on the seven biomes environments are coming along. At the current rate they should all finish in around 10 hours. While we wait I say we get started on the Lamias.”
“Will we summon the other creatures upon completion as well Milord?”
“Personally I’d like to get the Lamias sorted out first. They’ll be the big draw of the floor so I’ll need to have their input or at the least understand how they work. Besides, I have a feeling they’ll keep us busy for a bit.”
“Understood Milord.”
Flying down the tunnel towards the Red Biome I slowly began changing all the glowworms to red, ordering those of the other colors to stay closer to the entrance. This would be the same for every color to help make every biome feel distinct. Inside the safe zone for this floor I’ll bring back the rainbow ceiling. [Micromanaging] will ensure future glowworm generations understand they’re only permitted in their matching biome.
While in the blueprints phase I’d cleared out a massive vaguely rectangular shaped room with illusionary walls to hide the linear structure of the room. Just clearing the area had cost over 20,000 mana right at the beginning. Clocking in at 20 miles long the Red Biome alone was already an expensive project factoring in the cost of the glass ceiling and expanding my influence to cover it. This price was almost doubled when I’d ordered several thousand tons of sand to create my desert. These shifting sands were tinged slightly red to match the theme but not a terribly deep shade, designed with the Australian Outback in mind over the Sahara. My Prismatic Worms above would already be shining red light down on the desert and too much red would be garish on the eyes.
Planning for the future I’d dug out some smaller caves under the sands for my nocturnal creatures to live in along with several rock structures jutting out of the sands to hide under. I couldn’t make my desert be quite as hot as they are in nature but I could simulate the harsh shift to cold at night. Meaning my creatures would need shaded regions to cool off in at the least.
Along with the caves I’d also drawn 10 plateaus scattered across the biome that reached to just underneath the glass ceiling. Red Prismatic Worms give off excess heat by design so I’m hoping any reptiles can use these plateaus as extra heat spots. Naturally some rewards and chests will be dropped here if any party makes the arduous climb. 4 of the 10 were also made home to large springs for any adventurers or creatures wanting to take a breather.
“Anything obvious we’re missing in a desert?”
“Besides some scarce plant life and animals everything looks excellent. With the dunes shifting thanks to our fake winds and foot traffic the layout will be hard to map as well.”
“Then lets head over to Orange.”
Same as before I worked my way out from the orange glass door and slowly reduced the number of glowworms until only the orange remained. Unlike the Red Biome however the chamber we came into was much more rectangular with a slight upward incline of around 10 degrees. This biome would be much more linear than the others if the adventures let it be.
I’d paved a winding 24 mile long trail of black tile with brick borders all the way to the end of the biome. Adventurers would have the option of following the longer but relatively safer trail I’d placed for them or hiking off the beaten path for greater rewards and added danger. For the less adventurous I’d placed various sights off the beaten path to lure them away. The core concept was that a party could clear the biome in a single day by not following the trail but it could take 2-3 days by walking the paved road.
After the rough structure of the floor had been laid out along with the trail I’d generated several feet of fertile soil and begun placing down large maple trees. To contrast their now permanently vibrant orange leaves I’d augmented their bark to a pitch black and summoned a thing layer of mist across the floor maintained by [Micromanaging]. The mist was just heavy enough to dampen the skin but not enough to fully obstruct the orange light of the worms above. Making the mist come across more natural I’d dotted some trickling waterfalls along the incline that lead into crystal clear stone ponds I plan to place some koi fish inside of.
As everything looked to be working as intended we left for the Yellow biome. By the time I return I hope the maple leaves will have begun to fall and obscure the safe path.
Easily the tallest of the biomes Yellow’s chamber was also 20 miles long but over 1,000 feet in elevation. This was to contain the large mountains of rock I left jutting up and down the biome. Coming from the glass door tunnel it would be hard to tell if the floor was actually at a high elevation at all. Adventurers would be entering near the mountain ridges and be unable to see the bottom.
Furthering the illusion of distance the mountains were reconstructed out of yellow sulfur, only keeping some soil on their peaks for grass to grow. Reacting with the heated air the sulfur would create yellow clouds of toxic gas across the entire biome. Since this wasn’t a kill chamber I’d used some Vents to keep the gas below the walkable paths. Aside from the main trails and rickety wooden bridges I’d strung up leading towards the exit, I’d created several large spikes of stone and sulfur that peaked above the gas. Hopefully they will add to the atmosphere and make good perches for any aerial predators.
“Will this biome’s pathway be made safer like that in Orange’s Milord?”
Shaking my head as I reabsorbed a bridge I’d just made to be placed elsewhere I answered “No actually. I want the adventurers to be building their own bridges and ladders to get around. We might even offer to sell them in the safe zone. These will only be around in the beginning until they break and that cycle of building and rebuilding begins.”
“Cycle?”
“To keep the area hard to map the lamias and other creatures in this biome will be systematically breaking bridges as they find them. It’s a way to make more sales and keep adventurers on their toes about the correct layout.”
Following the Green path next I was pleased to see the 300 foot tall room with dark soil and stone hills had come out just as expected. To differentiate this forest from my others I’d used Tacuma Palms, Rubber Trees, and Sorvas. Stereotypical jungle and rainforest trees were now growing at a visible rate and as planned the bottom of the floor near the entrance began to darken. By the time most of the trees were done expanding it was almost pitch black at the forest floor.
“Not much to do in here before the lamias move in. I’ll be encouraging the creatures of this biome to make a highway of loot and rewards higher up in the Understory, Canopy, and Emergent layers. The entire forest will be dangerous but the higher you go the more dangerous the creatures, in exchange for the challenge level you can find the exit much easier than in the darkness.”
“Could we bring some of my ocelots here? Jungle cats could be very different from the Coal Cats we have now. The darkness of a jungle should be a good environment for some powerful evolutions.”
“Agreed. I think throwing some Bulb Spiders in here could be good too. A big theme of this floor is bioluminescence after all.”
Next past the Blue door I began with a small, white, picture perfect resort beach. I’d left nothing here on the beach opting to leave exploration to the adventurers and instead began pumping light blue water. Only around 12-20 feet deep the water was meant to be shallow and crossed. Just far enough in the distance to be visible from the beach I could see the construction of a grand island just beginning.
Palm trees dotted the beaches and thick island bushes would block the way inland. Sloping up towards the back wall of the biome would be a large mountain. On the backside of the island I’m hoping to construct a natural arena for the mini boss. I’m planning for the lamias of this biome would be based off of amazons and live on the island while hunting in the reefs.
Getting into a workers mood again I began weaving tapestries of bright colored corals, visible underneath the crystal blue waves. At the moment I’m undecided what to fill the waters here with but I’m thinking lionfish, dolphins, or even dugongs if I can get their templates. Preferably some animals capable of knocking people out of boats they bring and others to actually take them out. Other than the lamias of course.
Moving onto Indigo I was worried. Indigo is a rather rare color in nature so I’d needed to get a bit creative. What I’d decided on was to make the creatures themselves Indigo in color and incorporate various crystals of the same shade amidst the biome. The design had been promising on paper but I could only hope it turned out as hoped.
Turns out I had nothing to worry about.
At the end of the tunnel the biome was a small forest surrounding an enormous sinkhole. Adventurers would figure out the way down themselves amidst the safety of the forest before plunging into the depths. Lighting up the sinkhole were thousands of sprouting indigo colored crystals large enough to comfortably walk across. The main cavern held several different divergent tunnels to be explored while the main room itself was already over 10 miles deep. Theoretically someone could cushion a fall with magic and survive a fall to the bottom, but I wouldn’t directly stop them for being creative. Besides I’ve thrown in several different ore veins and chests around the tunnels so skipping ahead is their loss. Even without the drops from creatures the loot in this biome will likely be the most profitable to delve.
Other than a few major offshoots and the main sinkhole Indigo doesn’t require much more than a rough structure on my end. I’m planning to create several burrowing species that will expand it without my input. All I’ll need to do is instill those species with some hoarding instincts like that of a crow, or I guess a dragon, and I won’t even need to place chests around.
Finally finishing the over 18,000,000 mana project I headed over to Purple. Along with Indigo, Purple took a long time to design. Not only did I need to differentiate it from the color Indigo but also the Mangle Bog. First thing that came to mind with purple as an RPG fan was poison of course, and that led to a swamp. While the Bog was more chaotic everglades and Amazon mixed together Purple would be more of a witches’ haunted domain with fantasy thrown in.
Flooding the biome with a few feet of water I’d planted Bald Cypress trees mixed with dead rotting oaks and birches. The color of purple cast by the Prismatic Worms has been dulled more than in the main cavern by tinting the glass slightly black. This worked to create the effect of haunting shadows cast along the brackish waters under an eerie purple night.
Mixing in some magic stones from the Ethereal Elk that produce toxins will keep the water a slight blackish purple and corrosive. The acid may not be enough to destroy metal armor on contact but no one would want it anywhere near their bare skin. Once I get some acid producing monsters in here the crucible of toxins should only increase in potency!
“Everything’s looking pretty good considering it was done automatically! I’ll need to make some small landscape changes in Blue once the island is done, check the sulfur levels in Yellow, and run some tests on Purple’s final acidity but all that can wait. How about we summon some Lamias?”
“How about you go work on a speech for your appearance Milord?”
Grimacing at the reminder of public speaking I tried to worm my way out of the conversation “Oh and there’s the moss levels in Green! Wouldn’t want too much moss!”
“...Milord.”
Looking back to see a smiling but not smiling Mulan I turned towards the core room and said “Or I could get started on that speech.”
“That sounds like a good idea.”