It wasn’t until we all reentered the core room my nerves finally settled. Speaking one on one with someone is easy but I’ve been awful at public speaking since I was a child. Thankfully Noire saved the day by writing me a speech to fall back on. She’s already doing a great job as dungeon secretary!
In fact all the Serpent Sisters had done a great job with their first public appearance. They let out just enough [Intimidation] skill to send a message about taking us on while still acting friendly towards the adventurers. The adventurers know well enough by now how powerful my [Named] monsters are, so the appearance of 8 more hopefully put to bed any plans to declare another war while we’re still recovering.
Falling into the rocking chair I keep next to my core I asked everyone in the room “Think that went well enough guys? I thought I was gonna throw up at first.”
Taking a seat at her desk beside my core Noire answered “That was serviceable Chairman but you must become more comfortable with such things by the Iliad. Those talks will concern much more pressing issues than distribution of war money.”
Standing to my side Mulan smiled “I think you did well Milord. Your inexperience should have helped you come across more relatable and therefore likeable. Acting casual during the Q&A was also a good call.”
“Y-yeah! Acting... glad you noticed.”
Standing with his arms crossed Almar asked “Think we encouraged a push on the 3rd floor Boss? I still haven’t seen any action there.”
Tapping a paper on her desk Noire answered for me “Perhaps for those not motivated by currency Mr. Almar. Our current target demographic, adventurers, tend to live paycheck to paycheck. Meaning our numbers should be down given we just paid many of them a rather sizeable sum.”
Groaning Almar moved to lean against the wall “You could have just let me dream Scales...”
Slithering over to me having left her [Persona] form Daphne asked “F-father do you think they liked us? That was horrifying! All of them... looking at me... judgingly! What if they never visit the Green biome and it’s all my fault!?”
Running a hand through her dark green hair like I had when she was small only a week ago I answered “You were great Daphne. I’m sure the adventurers will be jumping to explore all your biomes.”
While I said they would be exploring soon I actually hope the adventurers hold off for a while. I’ve been so busy the last week between building the stage, meeting with the Tamers Guild representatives, researching ways to actually bring my monsters to Centrilliam with me, and obviously raising 8 Lamia children myself I haven’t finished the 4th floor yet. Just yesterday though I managed to wrap up the last major fix so hopefully I can begin introducing the residents later today.
Raising the Serpent Sisters hadn’t actually been a planned endeavor. I’d expected the first sentient race to come with a learning curve and left some time aside in my schedule but little did I know it would dominate my life. Raising kids will do that.
Upon initially summoning a sentient monster a slider appears. This slider is used to determine a creatures maturity rate. For Lamias, and any of my discovered subspecies, this could be anywhere between 3 days and 30 years. In the interest of time I dropped the time down to 1 week. From their perspective the girls still got to experience a full, and hopefully happy, childhood. In the future when we have a large enough population of Lamias I’ll extend this rate to roughly match that of a humans. That way they’ll blend into this worlds established races easily and appear less like monsters.
The first of the batch I created was Noire making her the oldest sister, albeit only by a few minutes. As she was the first I learned something rather intriguing about Lamias I believe to be a racial feature. All Lamias inherit a subspecies based on the snake species I choose to mold them after. I believe this initial choice to be why all the sisters have such differing personalities. Whether or not their respective tribes will resemble their leaders remains to be seen.
Given the multitude of snake species I have registered in my Creature Codex along with my various alteration skills I had free reign to choose basically any snake species I knew of. So to keep in line with the 4th floors color theme I’d fashioned Noire after a Black Mamba. She’ll be the last color to be challenged after the other seven and thus the absence of all color. To round out the color spectrum I modified her scales to shine a light silver under both sunlight and the Prismatic Worm’s bioluminescence. As a result she gained the ability to take on a completely white scaled form but she’s only used it once.
Being the oldest and strongest of the siblings Noire quickly took charge and began running the dungeon as a company. Announcing me the “Chairman” and herself as my personal secretary Noire has integrated herself into the dungeon effortlessly and completely overhauled my uncoordinated schedule. Her timing couldn’t have been better either as we begin working closely with the outside world and my [Named] begin running teams of their own. Just having someone to serve as my right hand woman, who is better at managing resources and capable of keeping me in check will be a huge advantage.
As Noire was a [Named], [Boss], and sentient race from birth her evolutions came rapid fire over the last week. Just like her younger sisters had Noire started off as a young girl, approximately 7-8 years old, with the lower body of a snake resembling their subspecies. Every day throughout the week they aged up about 2 years until they peaked in their early twenties. Unlike her sisters however Noire had stopped calling me Father, a behavior I’d never encouraged or discouraged since it had been cute when they were smaller. Now that they all looked older than I’d been on Earth though I have mixed feelings...
LAMIA: Long believed to exist only in legend Lamias are a matriarchal race existing only of woman. Similar to their snake cousins Lamia are found all over the world with incredible genetic differences between species. Some legends describe Lamias as the result of an ancient accident in the pursuit of a Philosophers Stone.
*Black Mamba Subspecies: From their heritage Black Mamba Lamias gain incredible speed and toxic venom capable of killing large prey in minutes. When compared to other Lamias the Black Mamba subspecies have incredibly long tails capable of lifting the main body up into the air. This species also has a natural affinity for most magic elements making them natural born casters.
Lamia Matriarch: Amongst every Lamia tribe no matter the species a leader known as the Matriarch will be chosen to lead the tribe. Traditionally the strongest takes on the title and welcomes challengers for the position. However Lamias that properly evolve into a Matriarch rather than receiving the title become much more powerful than those who serve under it. A Matriarch can be viewed as the apex of their species.
This was where all the other sister’s evolutions stopped. Noire however became something even more remarkable.
Lamia Queen: A being that appears only in the sacred texts of lost Lamia civilizations only a handful of Lamia Queens have been recorded in history. Whenever a Queen has appeared they’ve united several tribes and Matriarchs under themselves, gaining the magical proficiencies of those under them. Every queen is recorded as fiercely intelligent and for “eating” other snakes.
As we now have such a legendary monster in our ranks I’m feeling more protected than ever. And her sisters are anything but weak either, each a future mini boss of Covenant Cavern’s various biomes. I’d love for them all to become Lamia Queens one day but I have a feeling only one can exist at a time.
Pulling up the Creature Codex I keep for myself in the corner of my vision I decided to review each girl’s subspecies before summoning more later in the day. This would be my last chance to change my mind after all.
Scarlet is a Sidewinder subspecies built to slither across sand. About 4 days into her fast forwarded childhood the sisters had begun to differentiate from each other. Scarlet had gone through a boy crazy phase at Almar’s expense. Nowadays she’s taken the appearance of a dancing seductress. Not sure how I feel about that but she isn’t hurting anyone, or more importantly herself, yet.
*Sidewinder Subspecies: Built to survive in desert climates this subspecies is capable of slithering over sand just as easily as solid ground. Known for burying themselves in sand dunes and constructing elaborate ambushes this subspecies possesses a sizable affinity for earth and fire magic.
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Amber had been given the traits of a Ringneck snake and inherited a coiled tip on the end of her tail. During her constant training she’s learned to fire magic projectiles from that tip after spinning the concentrated mana to enhance it’s speed and piercing power. For some reason Amber is a work out addict who constantly races up and down the Orange biome trying to get a new record. Back when all the sisters had been making fashion choices Amber opted to dress like an image of Athena she’d seen during one of our [Named] movie nights. To differentiate herself she’d died the toga orange and changed the medusa shield to a roaring bear. Why the [Textile Shop] even had such clothing or why I could buy entertainment from Earth in the Miscellaneous section is beyond me. Although the nature documentaries have made for great sources of inspiration!
*Ringneck Subspecies: Possessing black scales and orange underbellies the Ringneck Lamias are known for their proficient aim and indistinguishable illusions. A commonly observed behavior amongst the species is coating their tails with mana and firing the concentrated drill of mana towards their opponents while hiding behind countless illusions.
Melina is the quietest amongst her sisters and often the hardest for me to read. She’d been very attached to me when she was younger but has grown more aloof since her teenage days. Most often I find her leaping around her biome with her hood up, honing her assassination skills. For an elite assassin though she can be rather cute when embarrassed.
None of us know why but Melina and Daphne had appeared as twins, sharing the same dark green hair with yellow stripes. Luckily they get along well despite both of them being the quiet independent type. They even chose to get matching hairstyles and clothes! Although Daphne tends to wear her hood down whenever she’s alone and Melina hides her twin braids within her cowl.
*Eyelash Viper Subspecies: Like their viper ancestors the Eyelash Viper Lamias are solitary hunters. Unless a Matriarch appears to lead this species will live and die alone among the tropical or high altitude regions they call home. While they lack the elemental affinities found in other subspecies the Eyelash Vipers make up the difference with strong hypnotic skills and the variety of venoms they secrete from their fingernails.
As stated earlier Daphne is Melina’s twin and thus almost identical in appearance. Except for their skin tone that is. Living in the darkness of the Green biome has turned her skin rather pale and her scales have taken on a darker shade, something that leads me to believe Lamia scales shift hue with their health or surroundings. Daphne is also rather skittish when it comes to anyone other than me or her sisters but is no less a fighter because of it. She and Milena have both been training with bows since the sisters all took up weapons at 3 days old. Something I find interesting is that Daphne makes her own scales into arrow heads during combat. Given her subspecies that’s even more incredible.
*Ornate Glider Subspecies: Capable of limited flight with their curved underbellies Ornate Lamias glide from tree to tree in their jungle habitats. Found across all layers of the rainforest Ornate Lamias typically hunt during the night and use their lengthy tails to constrict enemies from above. Some tribes have been observed dragging and/or throwing prey into trees or poisonous plants while hunting.
Just as Amber had taken inspiration from Athena, Azura had taken her outfit from the same movies lead female knight. Something had apparently clicked in her mind and she’d begun training as a heavily armored knight. With some training in honor and fierce one on one duals with Mulan Azura had chosen a double headed Labrys as her weapon. I’d been planning for her tribe to be more Amazon than knight order but it’s ultimately her choice. From what she’s told me she plans on turning her [Boss] arena into a coliseum of sorts.
*Water Moccasin Subspecies: Most often found slithering down sandy beaches and island shore the Water Moccasin Lamia is able to swim atop the water’s surface and dive below with ease. Colored dark and light blue to hunt camouflaged in the ocean and her reefs these venomous warriors are rumored to have acted as pirates while masquerading as mermaids.
Iris... of my cute little Iris what happened!? She’d been such a happy child running around singing and playing on her instruments, but now she’s turned into a punk rocker! Soon as I gave her that pair of headphones that Lila helped me engineer she stopped hanging out with the rest of us. Given her biomes magic echo crystals her musical talents are a great fit but seeing her wear ripped clothing and only “speaking with her music” troubles me deeply.
*Speckled Rattlesnake Subspecies: While several Lamia species possess the rattles of their snake cousins very few use them for anything other than decoration. The underground dwelling Speckled Rattlesnake Lamias however have learned to combine the sound producing rattles with their great affinity for metal magic. Creating crystal construct instruments out of whatever gemstone they fancy these Lamias create ear piercing music to disorient prey or buff tribe members before closing in with their venom secreting tails.
Lastly is Lila who much like Iris worries me to no end. On the outside she’s the perfect woman of beauty, elegance, and strength. But when she’s with us or alone she is nothing but a magic research obsessed weirdo! Ever since I showed the group an anime for young girls she’d become obsessed with recreating all the main heroines magic tools. Seemed cute enough until she actually started succeeding. With her poison and curse magic...
*Cottonmouth Subspecies: Calling the swamps and flooded forests of the world home Cottonmouth Lamias are immune to, and can create, unique poisons. Thriving in toxic wastelands lost to time this rare subspecies utilize their poison to customize the desired effects of their spells. From necrotic to paralytic their venom is seemingly unique amongst Lamias. Some scholars believe this species still thrives in regions of the world beyond sapient exploration.
I love all my new [Named] creatures equally, quirks and all, but looking around the room at all the mismatch of clothing, personalities, and hobby’s I wonder if I should start unifying our dungeon a bit more. Others have a theme of some kind and I’ve finally decided on mine. What had sparked the idea was the text when I attempted to use one of the Unused Cores I received from the war.
*ATTEMPTED ACTIVATION OF UNUSED CORE DETECTED!
*WARNING! ACTIVATION OF UNUSED CORE WILL OPEN A NEW DUNGEON AT YOUR IMMEDIATE LOCATION! IF WITHIN A PREEXISTING DUNGEON WHEN ACTIVATED THE UNUSED CORE WILL OPEN AN ENTRANCE NEAR TO YOURS!
*ERROR!
*DUNGEON CORE IS WILD AND OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN!
*SUBSIDIZING LOSS OF FUNCTION FOR “DUNGEON OF SEASONS”
*SUCCESS!
*UPON ACTIVATION OF UNUSED CORE THE “DUNGEON OF SEASONS” WILL GAIN A SUBORDINATE CORE!
That moment had sparked my creative energies. If I could open multiple dungeons in different locations I could become something even more special! For the current plan I will need a few more cores than I currently have but that’s a problem for the future. The problem right now is classifying what we’ve built so far and the final dungeon.
Currently the plan is to name this dungeon “Dungeon of Seasons: Moon” and the final “Dungeon of Seasons: Sun” with the titular seasons in-between. However the floors up till now aren’t exactly “moon themed”. I’ve got a great idea for the 5th floor brewing that can feature the moon quite heavily but if the theme only starts on floor 5 it won’t match with the Dungeon of Seasons: Sun. Maybe I’ll just have the first 4 floors of Sun be random like Moon’s? Not that it matters, that’s future Sol’s problem.
Oh yeah! I decided to give myself a name!
The reason?
Paperwork.
Filling out forms and the distribution of funds is rather difficult when your group is referred to as “Unnamed” and you yourself are nameless. A mundane reason I know but I genuinely hadn’t needed one before. Although, it does feel strange to forgo my old Earth name... I mean, my mom chose that one...
Tapping me on the shoulder Azura suddenly asked “Father, I wish to return to my biome and resume training. Have I been dismissed?”
Removing the Creature Codex with a wave of my hand I stood and answered “Of course. Actually with the speech done I’d like to start going through all of your biomes and establishing the tribes. Would you like to start?”
Placing a hand on her chest and bowing slightly Azura began “I would love nothing more than to be the firs- “
“Awwww! Come on Pops! Let’s do mine first!” Amber called in-between lunges across the core room.
“I was also hoping to receive some test subject- I mean, allies!” Lila pouted.
Even the quiet Melina tugged on my shoulder begging for her turn. Deciding to settle this before any arguing began I pulled up a random number generator on the Monitor with a thought. I set the numbers to 1-7 and told the generator to color them when it finished.
As I’d been using this tool for the better part of a week now the sisters all froze and watched with anticipation as the Monitor created an objective order. Previously I’d just gone in ROYGBIV order but Lila had lodged an official complaint at always being last.
With a short animation the colored numbers appeared on screen and I read out the order.
“Alright, the order will be Scarlet, Melina, Lila, Amber, Daphne, Iris, and Azura to finish us out.”
Pacing around upset Amber whined “Dangit! Scarlet always go first!”
“Oh pleasssssse! You’re just jealoussssss my biome will be better than yourssss!”
Before a physical altercation could begin I flew over to Scarlet, placed my hands on her shoulders, and began pushing her out of the core room towards the Red biome. As I pushed I called out over my shoulder.
“Everyone go wait in your respective biomes and come up with some ideas you want incorporated. I’m looking for environmental hazards, ecosystem functionality, and creative composition. While I’m around I’d also like to begin talks regarding your districts. Nothing you must commit to right now but let’s get those gears turning.
“Noire, watch over the reopening of the dungeon for me. Mary, help smooth over any problems with the Reaper’s new tasks if you could. Everyone else do whatever you want. I’ll be busy for a bit. If you need something to do try looking into what the humans know about young dungeon cores for me. Obviously I know what I’m like but we all know I’m a bit special. Since we’ll be making the Moon core soon some background knowledge could be useful.”
A variety of yes’s and ok’s echoed behind me and I took my time flying form the core room, currently positioned at the end of where all 7 biomes meet, to the Red biome with Scarlet. Once the basic creatures to evolve later on are placed in their biomes I’ll start the 4th safe zone, and once that’s done we’ll activate the new core. So much to do nowadays...
Cracking my fingers as we emerged from the tunnel onto the stretch of towering dunes I asked, “Ready to get started?”
“Yesssss Father... I have sssso many wonderful ideassss.”