Jason nods, “So what are we going to be facing at the end of this journey? Of course a dungeon, but any specifics you want to share?”
Gregor shrugs, “You wanted a bunch of things. None of them are hard on their own, but together it limits us a little. You wanted the monsters to be susceptible to sneak attacks, yet not intelligent. A little hard as the easiest things to target, especially at the level of skill shown by Rosha, will be humanoid in form. After all, you know your own weak points more than that of, for instance, a lion. On the other hand, most monsters with a humanoid form tend more towards the intelligent sort.”
“There was also the desire to not face a swarm or swarm like tactics which further restricts our options as most humanoid monsters that aren’t too clever will be hordes. Goblins without something like a warboss are actually a good example of this. Luckily, I know a good dungeon that will work within the constraints.”
“Ever hear of the water bear? More properly called tardigrades they right away seem to not be what you want. Even the larger, more magical forms of them aren’t strong but rather resistant to most damage. What the dungeon I am sending you towards has in it though are a unique form of the tardigrade. The name of the dungeon is Invasion from the Deep Sky.”
“Travellers nicknamed it the Dumb Alien dungeon. I can tell by your faces you have some understanding of what that means. Anyway, the monsters in the dungeon are mostly based on tardigrades turned into a humanoid form. Though more on the folk side as compared to the kin side of things. Of course if they were actually a folk species not only wouldn’t I suggest it to you, they wouldn’t be a dungeon monster either, what with folk being sapient. No, these stupid monsters have taken on a humanoid form, losing a number of their defenses, for none of the benefits such a form would normally give. They’ve even gained a skeletal system which seems to only be there so the bones can be broken.”
Courtney sighs, “Let me guess, they are a little taller than a goblin but constantly stopped over? Probably a very unhealthy color of gray with very forlorn eyes?”
Gregor laughs, “Actually a bit taller. You forgot that tardigrades have eight limbs, so if you stretch these monsters out they have a bit more of a length to them than you would expect. Almost a centaur like quality to them but they can’t even manage that. So what do you think?”
Rosha raises an eyebrow, “Inoffensive I guess? I don’t know if I would want a full dungeon of them. Plus, what would the boss for that even be?”
Gregor shrugs, “Meh, while a lot of the dungeon is taken up by them there are still some other monsters. A mix of the usual strangeness you get whenever there is mention of the deep sky. And no, the deep sky isn’t space as you travellers understand it. We call that the void and while most of the stuff you find in the deep sky can be found there as well, it is more spaced out.”
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“If it wasn’t so hard to survive there in the first place it would actually be a pretty calm place. What with being able to see what is coming from so far off. Anyway, you can expect spidersytes, solarworms, and a few other common creepy crawlies. None of the intelligent pests though.”
Jason frowns, “Spidersytes?”
Gregor nods, “A portmanteau of spider and parasites with a y thrown in for flavor. Honestly, I don’t know why they didn’t just call them spider mites as that is closer to what you are dealing with. Basically the deep sky seems to favor eight limbed spidery forms when it comes to critters that live on other critters.”
Rosha frowns, “That doesn’t sound like something I can sneak attack.”
Gregor shrugs again, “most of the monsters are tardigroids, another portmanteau. This time of tardigrade and humanoid. That is another common thing with the deep sky. Someone got way too clever with combining names up there. If there was a panther in the deep sky that used shadows, it would probably be called something fancy like Shadther or some such nonsense. You know, instead of the more down-to-earth way of naming it like Shadow Panther.”
“But yeah, most of the enemies in there are tardigroids. Honestly, I don’t think I could find you any dungeon that doesn’t have a few animals and insects kicking around. At least there aren’t any plant monsters to deal with. Except for a few, plants are up there with slimes and swarms when it comes to lacking weak points.”
Rosha sighs, “Well, I guess that will have to do.”
Jason laughs at this, “I think it will be fine. At least there will be something for me to fight. Would be a boring dive if we spent the entire time sitting back as you snipe everything. Anyway,” and he turns to Gregor, “What do you have for me on my path?”
Gregor smiles, “As I said, the terrain is all mixed up. Expect most creatures you face along the way to be averaging around level 20 plus or minus about three. To start you can stick to the edges. While that doesn’t guarantee lower levels, most of the more experienced monsters will head deeper into their own regions.”
“Once you have some more levels under your belt, you will be able to start heading towards the center of those regions. Now, I don’t advise you go right through the center. That is just asking for trouble. Rather, you can skim along the edge of the center to get some decent fights in. You can expect 3rd break to be the starting point. Though nothing that hits the next bottleneck. Anything getting too close will be killed by all the nearby monsters ganging up on it.”
Jason smiles back, “That sounds like fun. Any chance they will gang up on me?”
Gregor shrugs, “If you wanted to stay in the same area for more than a day, sure. While you aren’t anywhere near level 50, they would consider you an enemy monster of the same power range if you are as good as Peter thinks you are. After all, it isn’t like they can check the actual levels of those they fight. You setting up shop to kill them en masse? All they will understand is that you Must Die.”