It was Crestheart Day! Finally, after what felt like forever, the day of the street fair and dungeon clearing race had arrived.
Vee smiled as he stood up and watched the sun rise over the horizon. The moons still hung in the sky, and for a few minutes he got to see all three celestial bodies in the sky at the same time. He loved the way the silver moons were framed by the orange and pink of the new day, and the sight temporarily distracted him from the ache in his lower back.
He’d been up for hours, helping set up the last of the vendors for the day, and his stomach growled.
Reginald tightened his brim around Vee’s head. “You should probably eat something, boss. The last thing we need is for you to faint during the event.”
The hat made a good point, so Vee meandered around the stalls looking for one with something ready. Finally, he found one, and asked if he could have a snack. With a chuckle, the proprietor – one of the three [Bakers] who’d agreed to sell their wares during Crestheart Day – handed Vee a freshly baked scone with emberberry jam inside and crackled brown sugar on top. Taking a bite, Vee savored the combination of sweet and spicy flavors that mingled with the buttery warmth of the scone itself.
He finished it in two more bites and got a second scone before returning to his task. There were still a handful of crates to unload, and Alforde was busy lugging two over to the far end of the street. Given his limited Might, Vee couldn’t move much by himself, but he’d recruited his entire orchestra to come and help out, and making sure that the members of the Light and Medium sections took their loads to the correct stalls required all of his attention.
Not to mention managing all of the nervous vendors, who were terrified of being within striking distance of the fiends. Thankfully, Do and the rest of the [Dungeon Maintainers] did a good job of assuaging their fears and concerns with their calm speech and helpful demeanors. Hopefully the vendors would help spread the word that not all the fiends were bad, so that Vee could bring them into Northtown at some point.
A pair of fiends from the Light Section brought a large box over to him, and Vee consulted his list so that he could tell them where to take it.
“Let’s see. That’s box….one thirteen, so it’s the uh…soap. Yeah, it’s the soap. It goes to the blue and green tent about halfway down the street. Space fourteen, okay?”
The fiends nodded but didn’t say anything in response. Vee was still uncertain as to why the Medium and Light sections were developing so much more slowly than the heavy section had. If any of his professors ever answered his letter, maybe he could ask them. Otherwise, he’d just have to experiment with a bunch of things and see if anything stuck.
Problems for another time.
The next box was filled with children’s toys, courtesy of the local [Toy Maker]. Such was his curiosity that Vee had half a mind to open it up and take a look inside. Apparently, the man had crafted a special Alforde action figure in honor of the event, and Vee wanted to see what they looked like. He hoped they sold well; if they proved popular he’d see about having some more made.
A handful of hours passed in the blink of an eye, and then it was time for the day’s festivities to begin. At Reginald’s suggestion, Vee asked the [City Guards] to close the gate once more so that they could open it to symbolically show the beginning of the event. People were already starting to gather outside, and Vee nervously tugged at his jacket collar.
Reginald snickered. “Got your notecards, boss? It’s almost showtime.”
Vee didn’t like public speaking, but he dutifully drew out his notecards all the same and smiled at the crowd once the gate opened. I can do this, he thought.
“Good people of Crestheart,” he almost shouted. “Er, I mean, of Oar’s Crest, I bid you all a good morning!”
A few people who thought he’d intended the mistake as a joke laughed, and Vee relaxed a little bit. Seeing the excitement on their faces, he decided that the rest of his speech wasn’t necessary and that sometimes, less was more.
Reaching up, he grabbed Reginald’s brim and whipped it off with a flourish. Doing his best to bow in a whimsical manner, he extended his free hand towards the dungeon.
“Please enjoy the street fair, courtesy of all of us at Crestheart dungeon. Good folks, welcome to Crestheart Day!”
There was a combination of cheers and laughs, and Vee shook hands with various passerby as the people surged into Westown.
[Charisma +1]
[Guts +1]
The [Dungeon Master] stayed where he was for a few more minutes, watching people young and old bumble between shops and vendors, buying food and trinkets, and generally having a good time. Their smiles filled Vee with pride. It was great to see his hard work pay off, but he already had ideas for how he’d make the event bigger and better next year. Hopefully he’d have more of Westown cleared out by then.
[Citizenship +2]
[Failed to receive quest! Reason: Citizenship too low (Requires 20 points)]
“Still working on it,” Vee muttered.
A gentle breeze blew a strand of hair into Vee’s face, and he brushed it away absentmindedly as he ambled back to Crestheart. There was still half an hour or so before the day’s dungeon runs started, so Vee decided to enjoy the street fair a bit for himself. He didn’t know where Alforde had gone, but was sure that he’d see his friend eventually. Glenda and Jared had agreed to come and participate, so the armorsoul was probably there admiring hammers or something.
Like he always did at street fairs back in Bardis, Vee followed his nose to the first thing that made his mouth water. Today, it was a grill run by three salamanders that sold various types of fried noodles. There wasn’t much of a line yet as it was too early for noodles for most of the fair’s patrons, but Vee got himself a heaping plate. Coated in spicy peanut sauce, they were some of the best noodles he’d ever had.
“Where do you guys normally work out of?” he asked between bites. The shortest salamander of the three gave him directions, and Vee promised that he’d be visiting again real soon.
He munched and crunched his way over to a [Baker]’s stall, bought a chocolate cream puff to help soothe his mouth, and then stopped to watch an older [Clown] perform some basic acrobatics and card tricks to amuse a group of children.
While Vee explored, plenty of people came up to him. They thanked him for organizing the event, or asked him if they could possibly borrow some of his slimes to clean up their storefronts. A few had requests for things to include for next year, and Vee did his best to commit them all to memory. Strangely though, a good number of people clapped Vee on the shoulder and simply told him to keep on doing what he was doing.
“We’re all rooting for you,” one man said.
The encouragement was strange, but nice at the same time, and Vee was smiling wide and feeling good when he got back to Crestheart.
So long as nothing catastrophic happened, the day would go down as a huge success.
Stolen story; please report.
Was he tempting fate by thinking that? Probably.
Looking up at the sky, Vee muttered a litany of prayers to both Gawain and Piper, asking for their divine forbearance. Surely just one day of good fortune wasn’t too much to ask, was it?
He really hoped not.
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The group of adventurers milling around outside the dungeon seemed to be in good spirits. They were making bets on the outcome of the day’s runs, with various fair fare on the line as the rewards.
Wiping a bit of peanut sauce off his chin, Vee gave the adventurers a wave and headed up to the office. Even the stairs couldn’t get him down as he sat down at his desk and readied himself for the first run of the day.
He set Reginald down in front of his station and pulled over the first sheet of paper. The day’s first adventurer was a young [Brawler]. He was clearly inexperienced, given that his outfit looked freshly bought and he was veritably shaking with nerves. Vee had no idea how he’d gotten to be the first person into the dungeon that day.
Vee’d been planning to use his [Boost Drops] skill right away, but seeing how green the first runner was, the [Dungeon Master] decided to save his charges until more competent adventurers appeared. No point in wasting a charge on someone who’d quit right away.
“It’s pretty nice to have challengers again,” Reginald said after he introduced the dungeon’s rules to the poor kid and watched as the adventurer headed for the room of bravery, where he’d almost surely have his run ended.
“Yeah, it really is,” Vee said. Just as expected, the adventurer failed to dodge any of the traps that burst forth from the floor and ceiling and abandoned his attempt right away.
The second adventurer, though, looked substantially more formidable. Wearing the crimson armor that marked her as a [Sister of the Plate] – an acolyte of Piper – she stood tall in the center of the hub room and bounced back and forth on her feet as if she were a [Boxer]. Her bird companion flittered around the room a few times before landing on the top of the woman’s helmet and chirping out a challenge.
“This looks like a much better use of a charge. [Boost Drops],” Vee said.
A tingling sensation spready across his eyes, as if he’d used one of his [Ghost Maestro] skills, but nothing looked different. No ghosts or spirits appeared in his sight. He wondered if the skill had even activated properly. Only time would tell.
“Well, let’s hope she goes for Might and Dueling,” he said. “I’d love to get some extra shards of chaos.”
Reginald raised his ghostly hands up towards the ceiling, and put on his best [Announcer] voice.
“Welcome to Crestheart, adventurer! As you probably know from the guide I saw you come in with, you only need to clear three of the five rooms inside to advance to the second floor. However, if you want to clear all of them, there’s a separate prize for that. The choice is yours, and the timer will begin as soon as you leave that spot on the floor.”
“I don’t need any prizes, I’m just here for a spot of fun,” the [Sister of the Plate] called up. “But I’ll clear these five rooms all the same! I have my pride; I used to be an adventurer!”
“Perfect,” Reginald called down. “Go ahead and start whenever you’re ready, but keep in mind that we’ve got a lot of other adventurers to get through today so don’t take too long! Remember, press the symbol on the door to challenge the room.”
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Astrid nodded up at the ceiling and slammed the visor on her helmet shut. With her armor fully sealed, [Blessing of Fortitude] activated and she felt her body grow light with the help of the skill’s power. Reaching up with a gauntleted hand, she tapped her companion – Berryfeather – on the side and gave the bird an affectionate push.
“It’s probably too dangerous for you inside the rooms,” she said. “Amuse yourself in here until I finish, okay?”
Berryfeather squawked, and his scratchy voice filled her thoughts. Of course. Have fun!
Smiling, Astrid looked at the rooms all around. What order did she want to clear them in?
No reason to be fancy. She’d simply go from left to right.
That meant starting with the room of Might, which suited her fine. According to the guide she’d purchased – a lovely thing that was clearly made by a dedicated professional and was an absolute steal at twelve silver fleurs – the room of Might contained a series of battles against ghosts and skeletons. Some adventurers might struggle at such a fight, but Astrid would be fine. She was quite confident in her martial capabilities.
When she pressed her fist against the symbol on the door, the [Announcer]’s voice filled the room again.
“You have selected the room of Might. Inside are waves of enemies you must overcome. Do you wish to continue?”
“I do.”
The door groaned and swung up to the ceiling and Astrid walked inside.
Immediately, a trio of skeletons appeared in front of her. They were dressed like knights; armed with tiny swords and shields that looked like they couldn’t be much use in real combat. However, the minions were quick and worked together surprisingly well as a team. They all struck her from different angles at once, so she had a difficult time blocking all of their attacks.
Years as a priestess had dulled her instincts, and she was aware of the fact that her footwork wasn’t as crisp as it should have been as she danced in and out of their sword range. Still, she wasn’t completely a house bird yet, and she dodged and blocked the blows for the most part. Whenever she got the chance, Astrid peppered the skeletons with her [One-Two Punch]. Despite their apparent frailty, they bounced back up from each hit and Astrid started putting more force into each of her attacks.
Before she could defeat them though, a wave of ghosts mobbed her from all sides, and the skeletons faded into the pack of ectoplasmic monsters. Their swords still flashed out at her from all angles, but the ghosts obscured Astrid’s vision enough to prevent her from destroying them. She ripped through the ghosts instead, but it seemed that no matter how many she destroyed, another was waiting to take its place.
Slowly, the [Sister of the Plate] whittled down the number of ghosts, only for a second trio of skeletons to appear at the far end of the room. They were archers, carrying frail bows. Janky arrows whizzed through the air and clattered off of Astrid’s armor. More of a distraction than a real threat, then, though they’d probably be quite dangerous for someone without Astrid’s level of protection.
One of the knight skeletons appeared again, and Astrid landed a [Haymaker] on its jaw. The skeleton’s head went flying into the wall and the charms that animated the bones was broken. Green flames engulfed the rest of its body and it vanished. The other two knights were still hiding among the mass of ghosts and the archers still constantly launched arrows at her.
A third trio of skeletons appeared. They were all armed with knobby sticks. Spellcasters of some kind, then.
The spellcaster skeletons hurled low-level jinxes at her, and when the purple orbs of magic crashed into her armor, they hurt. She’d deal with them first, and then clear out the remaining monsters.
Sweeping away the ghosts, the [Sister of the Plate] marched across the room. As she continued dodging the hexes, she noticed that one of the three spellcasting ghosts had a glowing purple diamond on its skull. A Mark, of some kind.
Wincing as a pair of hexes found their mark in her right thigh, Astrid grabbed the marked skeleton and ripped it in half. The green flames burned again, and two shards of chaos appeared on the floor.
Now that she was close enough to grab the spellcasters and the archers, Astrid tore through the rest of the skeletons in short order. However, instead of burning away like the rest, one of the defeated skeletons simply fell into a pile and didn’t respond to any further attacks.
Bending down, Astrid picked up the two shards of chaos and went to retrieve the orb key from its pedestal near the wall.
“An excellent display of Might,” the [Announcer] said in a gruff voice.
Astrid smiled inside her helmet. That’d been fun. A bit too easy – other than the spellcaster skeletons – but a nice little workout all the same.
Returning to the hub room, Astrid dropped the red sphere into the furnace and watched the flames change color. The first socket above the door turned red.
The [Sister of the Plate] collected herself.
One room down, four to go.
Astrid headed for the Room of Wit.
Main character sheets:
Vee Vales:
Primary Class: Ghost Maestro (Locksmagister University), Level 24
Secondary Class: Dungeon Master (Oar’s Crest), Level 15
Tertiary Class: Guy-Who-Takes-Things-WAY-Too-Far (Self), Level 5
Might: 10
Wit: 26
Faith: 18
Adventurousness: 6
Ambition: 11
Plotting: 13
Charisma: 9 (+1)
Devious Mind: 15
Leadership: 14
Guts: 11
Intimidating Presence: 8
Citizenship: 14 (+2)
Public Relations: 4 (+1)
Alforde Armorsoul:
Primary Class: Hammer Afficionado (Self), Level 19
Secondary Class: Right-hand man (Vee Vales), Level 11
Tertiary Class: Dungeon Champion (Oar’s Crest), Level 11
Additional Class: Clunker (Vee Vales), Level 2
Might: 30 (+1)
Wit: 11
Faith: 24
Adventurousness (Bound – Vee Vales): 8
Endurance: 16 (+1)
Intimidating Presence: 10
Heart of a Champion: 3
Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 6 (+1)
Vigilance: 4
Reginald:
Primary Class: Core Spirit (Unknown), Level ???
--~%@(%$@ &% T*$ #&#e !i$$ (#$%#$%#$@!)~--, L$#@& ????
Secondary Class: Loudmouth (Self), Level 37
Tertiary Class: Majordomo (Vee Vales), Level 9
Additional Class: Announcer (Vee Vales), Level 5
Might: 1
Wit: 29
Faith: 10
Ambition: 25
Greed: 21
Deceptiveness: 28 (-1)
Manipulativeness: 34
F^#$#$%@#
Loyalty: 43 (+1)
^^^^^^^^^^^
[*--__#4%_--------]
Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 4 (+1)