Day 22
image [https://imgur.com/FBrQWRL.jpg]
‘Deep’ core room
image [https://imgur.com/beZ6IZT.jpg]
status Day 22, Mana:318/339, Size: 679, core 21, Eleven upgrades available
Ok, my dove found a worm to carry to Expansion 1, and while it was eaten not long after it was dropped off, I now know the exact range and direction to target from my tower.
So let’s start with a five floor tower.
Or perhaps not, as my dungeon instincts say that more than three will fall over. Ok, five tall surrounded by two tall, that works.
Well it sort of works. Instead of thirty or six times my starting range, it is less than four.
If towers give a diminishing return on range, I may need to determine the most efficient height for delivering sub-cores, because beyond a certain range, I will need to spend more on the tower than on the core.
Looks like a six floor tower only gives me another six hundred sixty spaces over the five floor, with seven floors giving about six hundred ten spaces over six floors, and finally eight floors gives about five hundred seventy additional spaces. Even if I assume an extra hundred mana on top of the cost of the tower and remote-placed sub-core and ignore the cost of removing the tower, the seven floor tower gets me further per mana spent than the eight floor tower, so no sense wasting mana on building my test-tower higher than that.
Well, since I have a plan, I might as well carry it out, it will probably take four ‘steps’ to get to Exploration 1, but if I bury them deep under the sand, perhaps they will be even more difficult to find.
Location verification shot successful, 9592 spaces towards Exploration 1, another claim shot, just to make sure the sub-core lands in friendly territory, followed immediately by the bundled up sub-score pattern.
Success! -ish. This sand stuff is awful to build on. First I need to dig out the sand, then immediately claim it and refill it, so I can then dig a chimney down to the next floor.
Hmm, can I partially fill with a chimney already dug out?
That works, so now it only costs about twice what it should to dig into this sand stuff.
Even making a chimney out of dirt feels unstable in all this sand, but at least I find some nice stable rock about five floors down, giving me a stable anchor for my construction. Without that I expect the next tower would fall over and sink even if I made it twice as wide as it should need to be.
That is it for today’s experimental budget, but I can spend the growth mana getting my new sub-core settled into its new hidden home.
Probably need to tear down the tower I used tomorrow, although it might be a good idea to send out a core for the first step towards Hazard 1 before I do so.
Scouting Report
No new hazards were identified in the vicinity of the dungeon.
The scouting party consisted of six doves and four bats.
Six doves and four bats returned.
There were no kills or resources harvested.
Day 23
image [https://imgur.com/xuLv8pt.jpg]
Expansion 1-A
15 into rock under sand, 4-tall ‘chimney’ through sand
image [https://imgur.com/9xG7abu.jpg]
status Day 23, Mana:338/382, Size: 764, Eleven upgrades available
It looks like the sand shifts sound some, based on how the chimney is now sticking out above the sand a little bit. That suggests it would be important to remove that chimney to keep the under-sand expansion hidden.
Speaking of hiding things, that tower is yelling out that there is something going on here for all to see, so I need to go ahead and create a sub-core towards Hazard 1 so I can get rid of it.
So dial in, stabilize, deploy. Nice 9620 spaces from the tower.
Build a chimney through the sand. Four deep again. Probably because I am targeting the most distant sand, and that is the top of one of the sand-hills. Dig another fifteen-deep into the rock, core room with self-destruct trap, move the core, remove the chimney, Secret passage at the surface of the rock. Ok hidden core room established. Remove the targeting tower, and ninety six mana remaining. That is just enough for most of the trees to fill Hazard 1A.
I suppose it is nice having enough mana to expand that much in a single day, but needing two two more before I have a chance to get to Exploration 1 suggests this could take a while if this ocean of sand is very large.
I think I need to send out scouts in all four directions(detouring around hazard 1 of course) to find the edges of all this sand. Fortunately I have six doves now, so I can keep two on look-out.
Probably one full day out or until they find the edge of the sand, then return and report.
Scouting Report
No new hazards were identified in the vicinity of the dungeon.
Sand gives way to rocky terrain 80-100 miles North
Sand gives way to rocky terrain 80-100 miles South
Sand gives way to rocky terrain 50-60 miles West of center of dungeon
Sand gives way to rocky terrain 100-120 miles East of center of dungeon.
Expansion 1 located 20-40 miles West.
Hazard 1 located 20-40 miles East.
The scouting party consisted of six doves and four bats.
Six doves and four bats returned.
There were no kills or resources harvested.
Day 24
image [https://imgur.com/FBrQWRL.jpg]
Hazard 1-A
15 into rock under sand, S at bedrock
image [https://imgur.com/7YdF6Ep.jpg]
status Day 24, Mana:327/430, Size: 860, Twelve upgrades available
Wow, up to twelve upgrades available now, that is quite a few, and perhaps I should start thinking about more options for handling the core killers should finding and building under their base not be feasible.
I have seen how tool users can draw in invaders, which I am not keen on. It might be reasonable with several camps added together to allow for improved equipment, but that still seems likely to have people out looking for dungeons in the area.
Alternatively, the animals seem to work just fine for being around without bringing back invaders.
The article on nests mentioned wolves and bears in dens, and that combining multiple dens would allow for spawning larger versions. Presumably I could use additional upgrades to be able to summon them directly like I did with giant rats, but that seems wasteful now that I know how to get them with just a little mana.
Speaking of mana, I do not have quite the mana for a full step today, so I’ll want to go with a minimal new-core room, which leaves me with enough mana to finish planting Hazard 1A, get the Den upgrade, and spend a little mana on finishing Expedition 1A.
Upgrade Complete, New Feature: Dens
Scouting Report
No new hazards were identified in the vicinity of the dungeon.
The scouting party consisted of six doves and four bats.
Six doves and four bats returned.
There were no kills or resources harvested.
Day 25
Expansion 1-A
15 into rock under sand, 1 chimney
image [https://imgur.com/9xG7abu.jpg]
Expansion 1-B
15 into rock under sand, 4 chimney
image [https://imgur.com/A3AouHO.jpg]
Hazard 1-A
15 into rock under sand, S at bedrock
image [https://imgur.com/Qav5dsD.jpg]
status Day 25, Mana:370/446, Size: 892, core 22, Eleven upgrades available
I have enough mana to deploy another sub-core, which should be the last one before I reach Expansion 1, and this time I can even afford to build out the full core room as part of it. Feels a little strange to finish the new one when I have two others that still need attention, but that also means I’ll be done with it once I launch the next sub-core and tidy it up.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
It feels expensive to be moving my targeting core twice a day, but it does feel much more secure in the storage area where invaders cannot get to it with their enslavement devices before I can destroy it.
Scouting Report
No new hazards were identified in the vicinity of the dungeon.
The scouting party consisted of six doves and four bats.
Six doves and four bats returned.
There were no kills or resources harvested.
Day 26
Expansion 1-A
15 into rock under sand, S at bedrock
image [https://imgur.com/3PwXyzj.jpg]
Expansion 1-C
15 into rock under sand, 4 chimney
image [https://imgur.com/IDw1ElN.jpg]
status Day 26, Mana:409/496, Size: 992, Twelve upgrades available
Huh, back up to twelve available upgrades, I guess I am getting bigger faster than I am using them.
On the topic of getting bigger, my next sub-core should get me to Expansion 1, so I need to plan how I want to lay that out.
I will want to have new scout nests, so that means a connection to the surface.
It would be nice if I had some idea how effective the narrow, water-filled tunnel dozens of floors high is when it comes to slowing down invaders, so I could know if using a similar plan would be effective.
Secret doors were effective against the harvesters, but not against the core killers.
Defenders were partially effective against weak invaders, but not against the core killers either.
It seems that once they find the entrance, invaders always want to go inside, and tool-using defenders make them want to look for the entrance.
What if I were to have a bunch of big, dangerous animal defenders on the surface around the dungeon entrance. Would that make invaders less interested in searching out the entrance or more interested in fighting the defenders?
Might I be able to use defenders that invaders would not realize were defenders?
I do not recall seeing anything that looked particularly dangerous visiting my water, but I could send out some of my scouts to see if there is anything more dangerous than the fox and the hawk that they have seen thus far.
Ok, scouting orders given, now back to planning for Expansion 1.
If I used all available upgrades, I would be at Core 34, so I want at least thirty five floors down below the surface for a back-up main core room, probably forty.
It is only a backup option, so maintaining contact with the surface should be fine so long as it can be cut off should it be needed as the primary. The ‘H’ shape will hopefully still work as a way to cause delay by increasing the area that needs to be examined for hidden passages, but perhaps it should be a bit different so they cannot use one as a guide to the other?
Scouting Report
No new hazards were identified in the vicinity of the dungeon.
Extended scouting was able to identify a Cheetah, a small pack of coyotes, a Snake and a Fox as the largest predator spotted by each of the extended scouts.
The scouting party consisted of six doves and four bats.
Six doves and four bats returned.
There were no kills or resources harvested.
Day 27
Expansion 1 Vertical
image [https://imgur.com/YpqL1wF.jpg]
Expansion 1A
image [https://imgur.com/ACaU3Z3.jpg]
Expansion 1 Core
image [https://imgur.com/LHdOzq0.jpg]
Expansion 1 Surface
image [https://imgur.com/hSpI7z2.jpg]
status Day 27, Mana:443/560, Size: 1120, core 22, Thirteen upgrades available
Sounds like coyotes are a reasonable option for disguised defenders. I should see if I can access any additional information about coyotes and related canid defender options when I finish today.
I am thinking a four-by-four pond is probably sufficient, surrounded by multiple layers of grass. The trees are nice for mana, but the fruits are clearly special, even outside, while the grass does not have the shimmer when on the surface, so hopefully it will not be nearly as notable. The dove nest can go on an outcropping one or two floors tall. The Coyote den will probably go next to it, perhaps a slab of rock or two leaning against the outcropping? I would not want it to be too obviously a dungeon after all.
Without the trees, I probably want the grass to be wider to pretend to keep sand out of the water, probably four wide, making it twelve by twelve except for the four-by-four in the middle. No, wait, the grass should change to reflect the environment, so grass in the water might even be better. Even if it costs a bit of mana, it will make water mana and that may be better for keeping the water full.
Outside the grass, probably claim a couple wide so there is room on one corner for the coyote den, the dove nest and the bat nest.
Right, I need the canids before I can spawn them.
Upgrade Complete, New Defender: Canid
There we go, a perfect twelve by twelve square of grass with a four by four pond in the middle, all looking perfectly natural, even having some rock outcroppings nearby with doves, bats and coyotes making their homes in close proximity.
Even if the core killers stopped here for a drink of water, they would have no reason to suspect a dungeon, as the sub core is more than forty floors down, hidden behind no less than four hidden doors, all under water.
One more tree to plant, so Akasha, please tell me about canid defenders.
Canids range from the small and solitary fox to the larger pack forming wolves and Dire wolves. This includes jackals, coyotes, and many domesticated breeds of dogs. Canids can be spawned from Dens.
While the base species can easily pass as natural animals in the correct environments, environmentally flavored ones such as the ice flavored winter wolf generally will not.
While canids are capable of swimming short distances, canids spawned in water will instead be Sea Dogs, better known as Sharks. While sharks are often larger and more dangerous than wolves, larger specimens require relatively large bodies of water, making them difficult to use unless the dungeon expands into such a body.
Scouting Report
A caravan was spotted camping roughly fifteen miles west of Expansion 1
Shortly before midnight, the caravan is seven miles west of Expansion 1, traveling east.
The scouting party consisted of nine doves, six bats, and three coyotes.
Nine doves, six bats, and three coyotes returned.
There were no kills or resources harvested.
Day 28
Expansion 1 Surface
image [https://imgur.com/sIF0wLG.jpg]
Start Surface
image [https://imgur.com/6Tpr27A.jpg]
Expansion 1A
image [https://imgur.com/1uy5oGW.jpg]
status Day 28, Mana:621/688, Water: 33/688 Size: 1376, core 23, Fourteen upgrades available
It is good to see that I can still get those when needed. It does not even hurt any more to access them. Sharks sound like they would be terrible for invaders to deal with deep underground, I wonder how much water they would need to be effective?
If I were to take that twenty one long length of pipe and pass it through a fifteen-by-fifteen-by-fifteen pool, that feels like enough for a large shark. That one tank would also be roughly three times the size of my current dungeon, taking five days worth of mana just to dig it out. Also, it would be more than four spaces wide and collapse before I could finish building it. Planning on the nine support pillars, each fifteen floors tall also feels like it would collapse long before getting to that size.
I guess sharks will need a large open-top tank, or an existing body of water as described.
When I focus on spawning sharks from a den, I do not get any sort of impression on what would work. Same for sharks from a nest, and as a control, I also get the same lack of reaction when I focus on trying to spawn a canid from a nest. I suppose there is at least one other type of spawner? I wonder what it is?
Oh, a caravan, this time traveling the other direction. I wonder if it is the same one.
Now there is a nice wide grassy area they can set up their tents on. I wonder if I should make the grass wider around the trees at the other pond as well.
As the caravan is close to where the next core should land, that will need to wait for tomorrow night when they are not in the target area, and when they are not close enough to see me building towers in the middle of the night.
I guess for now I will be finishing up the two partial core rooms, then tidying up those chimneys into secret doors so the caravan does not stumble across them tomorrow night. I'll get that Bear upgrade then use anything left over to expand on the surface and place more grass.
Actually, now that I have tidied up the core rooms and chimneys, instead of just adding ice to the water effect in most of the E1 H-pipes, what if I planted some grass in the ice area I already have at the bottom of the starting H, that should let me gradually grow the icy part without as much of a normal mana investment. Efficiency is important, so long as it does not leave me vulnerable at least.
It looks like icy-water grass not only works but provides both ice and water mana, only half as much of each, but that part is not really a surprise.
If I get additional mana pools for specialty mana, having more environment types seems a lot more appealing, even fire which is supposed to take mana to maintain. I am not sure what I can use that mana for aside from building and maintaining elemental areas, but even that will save me some mana.
Upgrade Complete, New Defender: Bears
It seems like so long as I just try to access information, then I can pass without notice, and only if I make requests or try other interactions does it get noticed.
On that note, I think I want more information about spawners, as I cannot seem to figure out how sharks are supposed to be spawned. I am pretty sure they would not count as tool users, and they do not spawn from nests or dens, so there must be something else I am missing.
Intruder Detected
Oh, right, the caravan. I guess I’ll be waiting until after they leave this evening to get that spawner information.
They seem confused and concerned about the new water, but after poking and prodding at it for a while, they fill their barrels and water their beasts.
They seem wary of the spawners as well, the beasts and tool users both, so hopefully that indicates that they should be good defenders, but are generally not remarkable for the area.
They have some of their own defenders keeping an eye on the coyote den. They seemed much more relaxed once the coyotes left to scout the surrounding area. They also seemed happy to see the coyotes return to their den while they were packing up to leave.
The caravan gave the coyote den a wide berth as it departed.
There are two classes of spawners, basic and advanced. Basic spawners are nests, dens, and camps. These can produce most types of defenders and are easy to both place and use.
But some defender types require specialized regions from which to spawn.
For those defenders, an applicable region will need to be manually constructed and then designated as a spawning region.
The typical example is horses or other ruminants spawning in open grassland. For this spawner you would need to have a large area of grasses and other leafy plants then designate the region as an advanced spawn point. Then appropriate defenders can be spawned there.
Most larger aquatic species, such as sharks and whales will be produced from a spawner designated on a sufficiently large cube of water.
As it is not something that is useful to starting dungeons, Advanced spawning must be unlocked with an upgrade.
Scouting Report
No new hazards were identified in the vicinity of the dungeon.
A caravan sent the day camping at Expansion 1 and left towards the Core as the sun was setting.
The scouting party consisted of Twelve doves, six bats, and six coyotes.
Twelve doves, eight bats, and six coyotes returned.
There were no kills or resources harvested.