Samuel Cristophen

I was unfortunate enough to draw the short straw from our group of reporters for being the first Delver into the Dungeon here. I was reassured by the Voice of the Dungeon, Lady Erifis herself - that if I decide to bow out and give up, my life would not be forfeit. That the Core here changes the "encounters" to be tough but doable for each group that enters. Moreover that I needn't bring any supplies.

Tentatively I enter the beach-side cave, clearly marked with signs inviting people in, and the bounty board for the information on the Dungeon. The reason I've decided to go through with this is the very tempting offer made by the Dungeon itself. A wish. There was a lot of controversy over the details of the wish and what it could and couldn't be, but the general promise is that given enough time, the Dungeon could produce even a literal mountain of gold. It was explained that the Dungeon is not omnipotent and can't change things about a person specifically - no one is going to become immortal, or be made a Noble through the wish, but any material desire could be wished for.

What I see is as it was described, well lit with motes of Masaara infused light orbs, just far enough inside so that the light doesn't disturb the citizenry living above the dungeon.

4y33h81phKU

I find myself in a large tunnel, with brickwork that looks ancient. In the distance, the furthest point I can see the tunnel turns to the left, not sharply but a slight rounded path, and as I walk I begin hearing a single note on the piano. Then two notes, then three notes. Then as I keep walking keeping my eyes locked on the distance the piano accompaniment restarts. Back to just the same single note. Over and over. The tunnel keeps going and after a long time, it's been almost four hours, and the island only takes two to walk from one side to the other and back I think I understand what is happening. Verifying my suspicion when the piano resets again I look behind me and I see the entrance and my team. Looking bewildered, as apparently they've watched me appear and walk deeper into the spiral twenty three times. A teleport trap, though not bodily hurtful, it is frustrating to know that I've made no progress in four hours.

Knowing that I've been inside the Dungeon for four hours and haven't encountered any monsters or dangerous traps my team decides to join me, to see if we can ascertain the activator for this trap to be able to progress further in. We go back into the tunnel and I'm walking backwards to talk with my team, I've seen this tunnel enough at this point that I'm familiar with the stonework and don't have to worry about tripping. As the piano reaches the point where there would be a fourth note joining in my team disappears from in front of me. Only to come running back when they had teleported without me. I find the feeling that they had worried for my safety heartwarming. But as Jason runs up to make sure I'm okay he is teleported back to the start, just a few feet from in front of me.

The trap activator either has to do with, speed, the direction someone is facing or the number of times they've been teleported but I have a suspicion and instruct Kelsey to walk backwards. As she does, she bypasses my current location and the music picks up more notes. We wait for Jason to get back to us and tell him of our discovery, the trap is activated by facing forward, face the walls or walk backwards and you bypass the mechanism. This bit of information is glorious news to our team and we all cheer, once we submit the information to the adventurers guild we will be significantly richer for the various bounties on trap information. We continue on through the spiraling tunnel, eventually discovering a lush room full of life. As we enter this room my heart jumps out of my body and my soul decides to leave as well.

"Took you lot long enough, I can only ignore the restarting song for so long." Lady Erifis is already in the room, sitting on a beautiful stone bench overlooking the grassy green area, it reminds me of the parks in my home nation of Trylla dear readers, and even though we are underground there is a few trees in the room, a couple squirrels and a field of beautiful flowers, a wide variety of types as well. A pond in the middle with fish swimming in it and a box in front of the pond for people to make offerings to the Dungeon. She points to the corner of the room and the much more murky water in it. A sign with an arrow pointing into the water leading deeper into the Dungeon.

"The Reaper wants to know if you are good at swimming, if not say so now."

Jason speaks up saying he can't swim, and so does Kelsey, and in response the water in the corner pit of the room dissipates. "When you get to the end of that area ask for a weapon of your preferred type. You'll need it, and I hope for your sake you lot aren't afraid of spiders." Her warning given and the path forward clearly marked we asked her how she got to this room before us.

"He -the Dungeon Core goes by He, noticed that I wasn't enjoying the attention of my position and setup a teleport to this room in the bell tower of the church, but he wants me to add that any who use it won't be able to progress in the Dungeon. It's my place of relaxation. As you can see, it's very calming and even the stone on the bench is soft, it's perpetually daytime here in the park. Always comfortable and it never rains, well at least not while it's occupied."

The Dungeon Core here gets weirder and stranger the longer we stay here. We decide to continue onwards climbing down into the pit at the corner of the room which now doesn't have a trace of water in it. The stonework looks wonderful and follows the rest of the design shown previously in the Dungeon. If we had a group of strong swimmers I feel as though we would have been met with fish and plant life here too, but those were removed with the water as well.

The next floor is a maze, both vertically and horizontally, with enough room to crouch or crawl around through it. There are gaps every fifty feet to stand up and stretch in, but it's only big enough for one person at a time. Doing this while it's flooded would be dangerous and could lead to death by drowning, though it would be far easier on the body. After blundering around in the silence of the dry underwater maze we emerge into a large square room. With a smooth walled basin at the center and a floating platform.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Recalling the Ladies' instructions I ask for a sword, and a shield. The dungeon summons my request but in a far more valuable material than I could have ever dreamed of earning as a level 4 Swordsman. My primary class being a Journalist at level 13. I swing the mythril edged sword to test it's weight, and satisfied with it I buckle it to my waist. The shield is a bit heavy but seems to be designed with me specifically in mind. Instead of the crest of a Kingdom on the blocking face of it, in mythril etching is a piece of paper, an inkpot with a quill accompanying it. The green tint of the metal bulbs on it making me believe it to be some type of adamantium alloy. If I could earn that wish it would be to keep this shield, it's worth a fortune, and not just monetarily, I feel as though it was made for me and me alone.

My companions are in tears as they each received relevant gear to their classes as well. One piece for each being specific to the person in question. Beautifully crafted, or in this specific instance - designed by the Core here. Jason received a plain shield, but a heavy looking Morningstar, to those uninitiated readers this is a weapon like a club, but instead of a stick with some metal at the end of it, a spiked ball is attached to chains connecting it to the end of a reinforced stick. The special edits to what would normally be difficult to do on such a weapon visible for everyone to see. Instead of a basic metal for the ball and chain, it's blue mythril, the spikes coated in a beautiful clear crystal I can't identify and his name is etched into the metal reinforcing of the handle. Kelsey received a bow, but unlike what I've ever seen. It's not made of wood, it's made of something dark and reflective but flexible. Two wheels sit aside either end of the bow arms, with a metallic black string running between them, several of these are strung between the arms. She looked skeptical at first but when she fired an arrow, also of the same material as the Dungeon crafted bow, she was surprised, I was as well - since Dungeon Walls are notoriously sturdy, but the arrow embedded itself into the stone.

I don't fancy myself as a ranger and I've never been a good shot with a bow. So I'll let her describe it for your sake dear readers, "I was skeptical about it because I've never seen a bow that size, let alone one with wheels in it, I figured it would have some type of drawback like being heavy or hard to draw. I was wrong, the bow itself only weighs a single pound, the draw weight is only five pounds at full draw and the force it fires with is comparable to that of a pistol. The arrows were of a strange design with short fletched ends and a shaft of the same strange material as my bow, the heads are of steel, difficult to make but fairly common and razor sharp with a pointed design, what wasn't normal to see however was the three equidistant crescent blades behind the head, I'm writing this after having gotten to use them and the design is elegant and efficient. These crescents cause a bigger wound on the target, making retrieval easy, and leading to some targets just bleeding out instead of requiring another shot to be brought down."

Once we were geared for our respective combat classes the platform in the middle of the basin lifted up slightly then sank down to become flush with the surrounding basin, words visible on the platform reflecting the light in the room to make sure it catches your eyes. "If overwhelmed, surrender and no harm shall come to ye who enter here." This has been told to us numerous times and as we all stand atop the platform we begin descending downwards. Music starting again, more ominous and foreboding this time.

m-ckvhKQDDM

I feel like I haven't done the description justice and want to try again dear readers, this platform isn't a small one, it's a perfect circle of dark colored Dungeon bricks. My estimate would be that it's at minimum fifty feet wide from the center to the edge. The descent downwards is dark, slow, and unnerving as chittering can be heard from the walls around the platform. Spiders of varying sizes drop down onto the platform and fight us from above. Only one at first, the size of a wagon wheel, then three more arrive once the first had been dispatched. By the time we were overran and forced to forfeit I had killed at least three dozen of them on my own.

As the Dungeon had instructed, I laid my sword on the ground placing my hands in the air. The spiders which had been fighting so viciously before, stopping their assault, and stealing my sword before disappearing back onto the wall. I almost pissed myself then, forgive the vulgarity readers, but it was the first time any of us had looked at the walls. There were so many spiders in various sizes, shapes, and colors, all along the walls all the way up as far as the eye could see. Truly at that moment I realized that the Dungeon Core could very easily have killed us. A large spider matriarch crossing the pit from the eastern wall to the western wall blocking the light for a moment from it's sheer size. Upon reaching the end of the descent we were once again greeted by Erifis.

"I am acting as the voice of the Dungeon Core, he congratulates you on your attempt and the valiant effort you put forth. He is letting you each keep your special item, as a commemorative gift for being his first Delvers ever. We ask that you follow us so that we can make your exit." She lead us to a wall that looked solid, but the Reaper waved a hand over the surface and a dark room appeared, it had been here for a while, and not just in decorative fashion, the layer of dust was evidence to that. Stepping into it we found ourselves standing on a piece of wood, it felt like it was floating on something but I couldn't get a look underneath it. The entrance sealed itself and far above us the sky appeared. Then the magic happened, we ascended, slowly at first then much more rapidly up all the way to the surface. Slowing down in the last fifteen feet as we emerged from the well in front of the Church where the Reaper performs his music.

We each ended up gaining multiple levels in our combat classes, as well as truly special equipment, Kelsey was upset she didn't get to keep any of the strange arrows, but was more than happy to keep the bow. Likewise Jason is ecstatic about the beautiful new weapon he has, while I'm content to have hung up my shield on the wall above the door to my room. A reminder of one of the best adventures I have ever had with my team. I hope dear readers that any among you who wish to come and delve the Dungeon, come regardless of whether you think you'll be successful. He, the Dungeon Core, the Reaper, the Guardian, or whatever you want to call it, will look after you. He will push you to the point you can't go on and then safely set you back on stable ground where you are free to attempt again the following day. The music accompanying the dungeon is beautiful and almost adds to the excitement during combat and adds ambiance. We don't have time for another attempt at the moment, but we will be back again to try it soon.

Thank you again readers for partaking in this journey with us. Our next update will be out in another month most likely. Until then dear readers, may you grow ever stronger.