Kahari slept like a rock through what remained of the night, and well into the morning. It was almost an hour after they’d normally eaten that he finally stirred from his sleep. He exited his tent, finding the others whispering quietly over the embers of what had been last night’s fire. Chara was the first to notice he was up and moving, and stood up, bringing him a bowl so he could eat before they had to get moving. Everyone else turned to look at him, eyes burning with both curiosity and concern. Nissa seemed perhaps the least worried, she’d probably checked him every way she could with magic to make sure he had been okay.
He sighed and slurped his stew down quickly. It was still slightly warm, but it was obvious it’d been cooling for a while, with the fire having died while the others had talked. Putting his bowl away, he took a deep breath and summarized what had happened last night. He avoided the details that might paint either Detia or Adeallus in a bad light. While he wasn’t allowed to give the majority of the message to anyone but one of the leaders of the operation, he was able to make it clear he wasn’t the only messenger Detia had chosen. Maybe to impress how important it was to her, or to make it perfectly clear to the Association that this wasn’t a delusion, or trick. He could scarcely claim to know the mind of any god, let alone one as unpredictable as a literal chaos goddess.
Bedora sighed as she thought about all of this. The fact that Kahari wasn’t the only one had alleviated all their concern somewhat, but had been replaced with great weight on at least her own shoulders. Kahari was fairly sure why; there were at least four divine beings involved in this mess. Detia, Rettia, Adeallus, and the mysterious benefactor of the Night Talons. This had gone from being merely a reprisal war crafted as a warning beacon against other powers, to now a divine conflict. Mayhaps for the mortals on the ground it still mostly remained as such, but things had just gotten far, far more complicated. Way above the heads of the party too, considering that by the standards of the Association, they were still newbies and beginners. Silver and Gold adventurers held respect among the civilians of the world for being the first line between common monsters and their homes. There was, however, a great deal of growth still left for Silver and Gold adventurers to undergo. Bronze was seen as a training rank, you were still on probation till you left it behind.
Bedora only let everyone mull over the earth shattering news for a few moments, before climbing to her feet.
“Right, we can’t do anything else right now. We should get moving, no point sitting here doing nothing when we should already be making our way back to Ixul. There is a lot to report, between Kalise’s village, Wither Willow and Silverleaf, and now this. Get packing.”
It wasn’t so much a command as just trying to snap them out of their shock, and it did the trick. Everyone realized they’d just kind of been sitting in silence for a bit, and got to their feet, cleaning the campsite. Maybe a little slower than usual, but for some, like Chara, the cold was a factor there. Once they were back in Ixul, some of their reward money would need to get a heated cloak for her, a fairly cheap enchantment. To be honest, none of them, not even Chara, had thought about it before they left, when it really should be something they all carried in winter.
Once everything was clear and packed, Nissa looked at the cloud covered skies with a sigh, and cast a little bit of magic so she’d know which direction ‘West’ was in. Without the sun or stars to guide them, a little bit of magic would do the trick. Once they were out of the forest, they just needed to get to the nearest road and Ixul was a straight shot. Here in the wilderness, they needed more direction. With winter having set in, many of the monsters they’d seen on their climb up into the area were now hibernating, dead, or migrated to somewhere warmer. Killer Roses were sealed tight, sleeping through the cold season, Monster Boars spread further out with less to eat, Giant Soldier Wasps were largely buried under the earth till everything warmed up.
There were, however, now new threats to be wary of. Ice Wraiths, Night Goblins, Ogres, Behemoths, and Glacier Ants all tended to become more common in the winter. Most came down from the snow capped peaks as it got colder, others, like the Ogres, wanted to hunt things like Behemoths who were unbothered by the cold, and suddenly had less competition. Thankfully, nothing more than a passing worker ant had reared it’s head around them as of yet. So long as they kept their distance, the ants weren’t prone to attack anyway. They burrowed in the snow, and mostly lived on roots and trees, far more benign than the majority of insectoid monsters in the region.
Bedora took point with Kalise at the rear of the party, Nissa in the middle, Chara stayed just behind Bedora to use her as a windbreak, which left Kahari to stay in line behind Nissa. Strictly speaking they didn’t need to move like this, but it helped insure getting attacked from behind didn’t put their squishier members at unneeded risk. Once the forest did break, about four or five days' travel with the snow, they could abandon the formation and just move as a group. Sticking near to the now purified stream was a risk, the monsters of the forest would come to it to drink, so they moved away from it through the day. There was plenty of snow to melt for water, and at this point all of them were looking forward to a few days without constant fighting. No need to test their luck by sticking too close to an unfrozen water source.
They didn’t even stop for lunch, eating some rations on the march so the snow wouldn’t slow them down too much. A few times Bedora called the party to a halt as distant cries or sounds of battle reached them, the Amazon trying to determine if whatever it was was coming their way. Each time they were able to get moving again without much of a problem, but Kalise had warned them that with so many strong adventures gathering in Ixul, the forest would see an uptick in rare, powerful monsters. They hadn’t seen or heard anything particularly rare yet, but blue flame phoenixes were known to show up on occasion near the mountains. Generally not aggressive, but hard to keep dead and harder still to mollify once angered. Damn birds held a grudge, and no one wanted to be the target of one. They were better than the Necrotic Phoenixes, one of those showing up anywhere was a disaster, and usually resulted in an emergency quest from the Association, and an evacuation of the area.
As the light of day grew steadily weaker, Bedora called for them to stop as they found a little grove sheltered by the branches of tall trees.
“Alright, let's set up camp he-.”
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She didn’t get to finish her thought as a raving, gibbering cry assaulted them as a small black form launched itself at Bedora’s face. She caught the thing in one hand, holding aloft the feral form of a Night Goblin. Monster cousins of the fae goblins found in civilized parts of the world, they’d willingly given up civilization and reason to indulge in whatever vice they wanted. While weak, they were revolting creatures that normal goblins exterminated on sight. Bedora squeezed with her hand, snapping it’s neck. She was surprised when it puffed into smoke almost instantly.
“No more? Don’t they move in groups?”
Kalise nodded.
“They do, but that’s one fewer of the things out here at least.”
Bedora shook her head as she peered into the grove.
“Check the grove first, it might have been guarding a den. Warren? Dingy mud hole.”
The party all retrieved their weapons, and Kalise used her magic to clear the grove of snow. At first everything looked fine, then they all spotted it, almost as one. There beneath the roots of the oldest tree around the grove, was an ominous black pit. The frightening thing was that it wasn’t sized for Night Goblins, Bedora could fit in there. Chara used Pagos and Fotia to scout it out, taking a second to articulate what she found.
“It’s…a dungeon. All the recent activity must have spawned one, still a young one too. It takes a few months for the stone entrance to form, that it’s still just a dirt hole means it’s what…a month old at most?”
“That’s a mountain dungeon, forest dungeons will wrap their entrance in brambles and roots. Though yes, it’s pretty young. Haven’t heard of a dungeon around these parts in years.”
Kailse added with a shake of her head. A dungeon left alone for too long would eventually spawn a rare or unique boss monster, sometimes even trigger a monster swarm. Just a few people assaulting them every few months kept them under control, but it was usually better to just destroy their core. Of course, the magic items and spell tomes they almost always contained always attracted mercenaries and adventurers to try and clear them.
“With how young it is, the dungeon Guardian might still just be something like a Wasp Queen or Young Ogre.”
Kalise finished as everyone stared warily at the void that was the entrance to the dungeon. It wasn’t physically in the ground, it was more like a portal to a pocket dimension, and as the dungeon grew larger and older, more of them would eventually appear. Bedora thought about this and decided not to make the decision for the group.
“Alright, we still have some wiggle room on timing. Kahari isn’t Detia’s only messenger, the warning for the start of the operation hasn’t been sent. We could try to clear it before we head back, see what we find, so let’s take a vote. Who wants to go in?”
Bedora herself abstained from voting. If it was just her choice, she’d go inside in a heartbeat, but Amazonian blood ran hot, and she wasn’t the only one here. Kalise nodded.
“I’m in, monsters in there can come from any ecosystem, might get to fight something weird. Like slimes.”
Nissa shook her head at the slime comment.
“Slimes are everywhere once you get away from the coast and towards the swamps and lakes beyond the mountains. They love fresh water.”
“They’re rare here, I’ve never even seen one.”
“In any case, I second, going in could be fun. Clearing a dungeon almost always results in a level, that’d push some of us through the thresholds to a new rank.”
Chara agreed with all of this, adding.
“And it’s going to be warmer in there. I’d like to be warm for a night or two before we get back to Ixul.”
Kahari was unsure, but that was mostly because…well the entrance was an ominous black void. Who wanted to step into that, but eventually he relented.
“I’m already outvoted, lets just head in and see what’s what.”
Bedora added a warning as everyone readied their weapons.
“Once we’re in we’ll have to clear a few rooms before we can find an exit, dungeons don’t want you just poking your head in and looking around. First room is usually unguarded, but not always. Be ready for anything.”
Kahari adjusted his gloves as he readied Heartseeker. They weren’t getting those few days of quiet they wanted, but at least it would be something new. They’d hunted so many Monster Boars since leaving Ixul it was getting…boring. Wasps had been a good change of pace, but this might be interesting for all of them. Bedora stepped through first, followed by Kalise, and then Kahari. They were the melee fighters after all, they’d form the front line if there was anything beyond. Inky blackness surrounded Kahari, a few seconds later he blinked in the dimly lit, cobblestone room. Empty, as expected. They’d move to the next room…rooms actually, there was more than one door, after everyone got out of their coats and restrictive winter clothing. The dungeon, at least on this level, was comfortably warm. Bedora smiled.
“This is going to be fun.”