The room was dark, small, and rather empty.

Rooms, of course, tended to be dark when there were no light sources. And this particular room happened to be buried eight feet beneath the earth. The smoothed stone floor was littered with bones both large and small, though surprisingly lacking in dust. Cobwebs were strewn across the engraved stone walls, vermin skittering about the small room, spiders catching insects and skittering into the path of the occasional rat that would swiftly devour them. It was quiet. The air was still. And then, the room shook. For the briefest of moments, something powerful set its gaze here. An oppressive presence held the room in its grip, time seeming to stop, before shooting into the sarcophagus at the center of the room. And then, as soon as the presence had appeared, it was gone. It left behind a soft glow... and life. Inside the sarcophagus, She awoke. Hazily, the woman took in her surroundings only to find that there wasn't much to take in at all. She seemed to be trapped inside of a dark and featureless gray box. Perhaps this should have worried the woman, but it didn't. In fact, the woman felt nothing at all as she laid there. She simply reached up to push on the lid, attempting to dislodge it.

That was, undoubtedly, when the worry would have set in for a normal person.

Her hands were skeletal - no; her whole body was skeletal. She was nothing but bone. Or, actually, that wasn't true. Nothing but bone and a small, floating, clear sliver of crystal in the center of her body that lay where her heart would be protected by her ribcage. This... wasn't right at all. She knew it wasn't. Where was her flesh, her skin? She shouldn't be alive, and yet the woman was remarkably unafraid. She was confused, perhaps, but willing to accept her new circumstances. With a strong shove, the lid of the box began to slide off of her prison at an angle with a harsh grinding sound. It began to pick up speed as gravity took hold of it before promptly slamming against the floor with a loud crash that scattered the braver rats - the ones that had drawn closer to the attracting glow. The skeleton sat up, observing the room calmly. It appeared to be some sort of tomb at first glance, strangely familiar yet also distant. There were faint, moth-eaten echoes hovering at the edge of her consciousness. Reaching for them, though, only seemed to scatter them further out into the oblivion that had claimed most of her memories. Sounds, sights and smells that gave her nothing but a vague sense of loss when she attempted to focus on them and glean anything that she could work with. Instead, she clambered out of her coffin and examined herself fully.

Unnamed - Level 1 Race: {Highborn} Skeleton Type: {Intelligent} Undead Class: Skeleton 1/10 Affinities: None Titles: [Dungeon Master] Body Integrity: 100% Soul Integrity: 100% Anima: 4/5

The risen skeleton of a highborn. She appears to have awoken recently.

Interestingly, she was not raised by necromantic magic.

This skeleton is not bound to any master.

Current Effects: N/A

The text that had appeared only served to confuse the skeleton further and, worse, did little to shed light on her mysterious existence. If anything, it only gave her new questions. What was she seeing and how dd it relate to her predicament? She frowned internally, turning her attention to the rest of the room. It was a small, square tomb, the walls engraved with presumably religious imagery of some kind. While curious, these carvings were not a priority for her. She would return to them later... if she remembered to. A pile of bones lay in one corner of the room, the only object of interest other than the slightly-ajar stone door on the opposite side. Interestingly, the doorway appeared to glow a faint light-blue as did the door's edges. As she turned back to analyse the bones, a text box appeared above them.

Spawner - Skeletal Hand - Inert. Claim? [5 Anima]

And these words raised even more questions. What actually was anima? She was not familiar with the term 'spawner' although it was simple enough to guess that the spawner would most likely create, or 'spawn', these skeletal hands. But what did that do for her? The former question was answered immediately as a teal bar appeared in the lower left of her vision. It told her, somewhat helpfully, that her anima was now a full 5/5. Since it seemed that she could purchase things with it, she'd consider it a form of currency. After her attention returned to the pile, the bar disappeared. Simply thinking about it was enough to bring the bar back into view. Very well , she supposed, then I will claim this spawner and see what happens.

Error - Cannot claim a spawner until your core is placed. Please designate a core room. Your core may be relocated later.

Why couldn't it tell her that first? She exhaled a long, rattling sigh despite her lack of lungs. This room would do for now, then. Designate this room as a core room. The boxes responded.

Core room designated. Step 1 of 3 complete in [Quest: Dungeon Genesis.]

Spawner claimed - Skeletal Hand. Spawner activated.

Skeletal Hand pattern unlocked.

Skeletal Hand Capacity: 0/5

Spawn Paragon [5 Anima]

It seemed that the spawner was given to her for free since it was inside of her core room when she designated it. Curiously, she hadn't recalled being given a 'quest' in the first place. She would have to find out the rest of her objectives soon, if it were possible to. The shard of colorless crystal floated out of her ribcage, twisting to slip between two of her ribs and rising to hover just above the unsealed sarcophagus as the bone pile flashed with white light. Turning back to the spawner, she leapt back in surprise as it shifted. A small, bony hand burst free, rolling out of the pile and onto the floor before facing her expectantly. She stared back at it with no expression, not that she could have given one anyway; her face was forced into a permanent grin. The two stood there in silence until, suddenly, the hand shot towards the crystal with surprising agility. The skeleton turned just in time to see it pounce at a rat who had hopped up towards the rim of the coffin, knocking it from its perch and proceeding to squeeze the creature until its body collapsed in on itself with a sickening squelch. Curious, she thought, why did the rat approach my core? The remains were absorbed into the floor when she willed them to. While the crypt was anything but clean, she didn't wish to add to the mess. It was currently her home and she knew, on some level, that she liked to keep things orderly.

A Rat has been slain.

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Anima is full. Excess anima could not be absorbed.

New pattern revealed. Progress towards unlocking pattern - Rat: 25%

1 unit of [Bone] has been added to your stores.

…Oh. That's annoying. She'd wasted anima. Even if inadvertently, the skeleton knew that she hated wasting money. Not that it was money in the traditional sense. What could she spend it on, though, now that the spawner was claimed? She was dragged out of her thoughts as a wave of pain slammed against her, causing her legs to buckle. What..? No! Another rat had latched onto the crystal, chewing on it as the hand tensed, ready to pounce. She lunged forwards at surprising speed and grabbed the rat, wrenching it from the crystal which stayed rooted firmly in place and hurling the creature against the wall. It squeaked loudly, falling to the floor with a soft thud and scurrying away. That had hurt. She couldn't let anything touch that crystal if this was the result!

Nascent Dungeon Core - Lv. 1

This core is the heart of a currently unnamed dungeon.

It was recently created.

This core is the extension of a Dungeon Master and possesses no mind nor will of its own.

Body Integrity: 48%

The crystal had cracked halfway through and the skeleton's entire body, her entire being, throbbed with pain. Another second and the shard would have been snapped in half. She had to fix it somehow and soon. She needed to stop the pain. The mere act of willing the crystal to fix itself, however, seemed to begin the process on its own. Clear liquid slowly bubbled up from inside of the crack and filled it in smoothly, beginning to solidify into solid crystal. A few minutes later, there was no sign of damage at all.

Core healed. 1 Anima was spent.

The skeleton slumped against the wall, relieved. Looking down at the hand that had protected her, she willed it to guard the crystal even closer and, unsurprisingly, it began to climb into the stone coffin. Then, she had another idea. She would seal the crystal away. The rats wouldn't be able to get to it then. As the hand crawled inside, she hauled the slab back up with surprisingly little effort, willing the crystal to descend into its new sanctum before shoving the slab into place. She sighed with relief as the room dimmed, the crystal safely entombed. Now, all she had to do was figure out what to do next. Sitting down atop the slab, the skeleton stared up at the featureless ceiling. Perhaps she could spawn another hand? Turning to the pile, the skeleton would have furrowed her brow if she could. She needed a full five anima if she wanted to "spawn a paragon", yet had only four thanks to that rat. She would have to kill something if she wanted to do that. Actually... there was an idea. Where had the little pest gone? Ah, there it is. She shifted off of her seat and strode purposefully towards it. It immediately dashed away but was blindsided by a swift kick to the side, sending it careening off to smash against the wall. Then, as it scrambled to its feet, she crushed it under her heel with a harsh crunch. Staring at the broken body dispassionately, the skeleton watched as it disintegrated into motes of teal light.

You have slain a Rat.

Experience has been acquired.

1 Anima was absorbed.

Progress towards unlocking pattern - Rat: 50%

1 unit of [Bone] has been added to your stores.

This time, interestingly, she had received 'experience' alongside the bone she'd gained by absorbing its corpse. Why was that? A question better left until later. Now, she could spawn a "paragon" if she wanted to. But was that what she wanted? She turned her attention to the bony pile. It seemed that another hand had crawled out of the bones by itself while she was distracted which confirmed to her that they would passively spawn on their own. Sure... a paragon could be useful, in theory, but she didn't actually know what it was. Was there any way to strengthen the spawner itself? Or, perhaps, to spawn another hand?

Upgrade Spawner - Skeletal Hand?

[Anima - 0/10]

This was new. It seemed that she could feed her anima into this upgrade over time, rather than purchase it outright. Was this because it was above her anima capacity or was there a different reason for this new pricing option? For now, the skeleton paid two anima into the pile. She would reserve three to play with or heal the core if needed. Now, what was that notification about patterns? The thought of patterns brought up a new menu in her vision called 'Bestiary'. Here, a silhouette of a small rodent appeared next to a colored render of a skeletal hand. Selecting the rat's pattern revealed more information.

Rat - Knowledge Rank 0 An animal. You currently know almost nothing about this creature. Variants: Unknown Resources: Bone Evolutions: Unknown Type: Beast - This creature is capable of defending your dungeon from invaders and may provide resources. Depending on its characteristics, it may be suited to additional roles. You cannot create a creature spawner at your current Knowledge Rank. You cannot spawn this creature until the pattern is fully unlocked. Base Anima Yield: 1

Not as helpful as she would have liked. She rattled irritably, her new minion marching around the perimeter of the stone coffin. Patterns could wait, then. She already had a hand spawner and wanted information on the rodents that had almost ended her short second life. With two hands protecting her core, she could explore the rest of this tomb. Wrenching the door fully open, noting that its other side was oddly featureless, she peered out into the darkness and stepped forth. Her body grew instantly weary, the binding that kept her bones together beginning to fail as she staggered backwards with a soft rasp, throwing herself from the source of the force that sapped her strength.

WARNING: Your body is currently being sustained entirely by your core. You will lose your binding shortly after leaving its domain and perish.

Never mind, then... She would instead look at this 'quest' that the boxes had mentioned earlier.

Quest: Dungeon Genesis

A new dungeon has appeared in the world with you as its master. This quest will be completed when you have achieved a basic understanding of the most crucial mechanics required to control a dungeon.

Step 1: Designate Core Room - Complete

Step 2: Expand Your Domain Once - Incomplete

Step 3: ??? - Incomplete

Reward: ???

Expand my domain, huh? That was a relief. The tomb was starting to feel cramped. Now she just had to think about expanding.

Expansion Options

Crypt - Interior - [5 Anima]

Still a flat cost, much like the hand spawner had been before she placed her core. Her theory updated. Upgrading a spawner was a cumulative effort while expanding appeared to be a one-time cost that required the full amount. Hopefully, nothing would prove her wrong. If it did... then at least she would be closer to understanding how anima costs worked. Now, she was just frustrated with herself for putting anima into the spawner. As it turned out, it wasn't refundable once she had given it up. At least she had learned not to use the spawner as a bank for excess anima. The Skeleton was starting to become frustrated. Why was nothing explained to her until she had already attempted - and failed - to do it herself? How was she meant to progress with no guidance? With no options left, the skeleton simply waited for another rat to scurry into her lair as she contemplated her problem. If only she could send a hand out to hunt for them. Two rats would give her enough anima and - potentially - a pattern to play with.

Expedition Menu

- Scouting Party [Reveal new territory adjacent to your dungeon or explored territory.]

You cannot form another type of expedition until you have scouted an area.

Ah! She clasped her bony hands together. She could do just that! Perhaps she wouldn't be waiting for the anima to come to her after all. She opened the Scouting Party interface and placed her patrolling hand into the party, sending it off. Now, she would just need to wait.