Day 24
#####_______________##mm
#...#_______________#mmmn
#...#################mmm..
#...#................mmm...
##S##.T.T.T.T.T.T.t.tmmm....
#...#..T.T.T.T.T.t.t.........
#.T.#.T.T.T.T...T.t.tmmm......
#...#..T.#.T.o#..t.#..mmm.....
##S##.T.T.T.T...T.t._.mmm....
#...#..T.T.T.T.T.T.t._.......
#.T.S.T.T.T.T.T.T.t...mmm...
#...#.................mmm..
######################mmmm.
_____________________##mm ###########
#.........#
#.T.T.T.T.#
#..T.T.T..#
#.T.T.T.T.###########################
#..To#.T..-------------------------n#
#.T.T.t.T.###########################
#..t.t.T..#
#.t.t.t.T.#
#.........#
###########
status Day 24, Mana: 126/165, Size: 330, core 17, next upgrade progress: 8%
That is not quite right. I was expecting 118 mana, where are the other 8 mana coming from?
Might the trees be getting more efficient at growing the fruit with practice? That does not make a lot of sense because if the 36 trees getting harvested every day were getting more efficient shouldn’t it be 9 or 18 mana instead of 8?
It is something to keep an eye on, but hardly unwelcome.
To start with, I think a second normal rat spawner and making both spawners spawn scouts.
I think the rat from yesterday is still asleep, but hopefully the scout behavior will apply to it as well, at least once it gets up.
After that, I guess spread out a bit and plant say another twenty trees?
Intruder Detected
They seem very excited about all the new plantings today, and all the rats seem to be out scouting, as I do not see any in the nest.
They seem to be getting more efficient in harvesting the fruit, or at least they are bringing fewer guards.
The mana-garden approach, especially if you have stuff on the surface, is highly effective, just as described. I hope I can keep this up for at least a few more upgrades, as I am almost to the base starting level.
Scouting Report
There is a wood and plaster structure built atop the hill with the main entrance. This structure is guarded by a feline with roughly twice the mass of the rat scout.
The unclaimed area in front of the main entrance extends out for another hundred to one hundred fifty spaces with the same grooved texture and sheared-off grasses as the already claimed area. The lingering scent of dung suggests a large group of passing animals may have caused this repeating regular pattern. At the far end of the pattern there is a wooden barrier that is difficult for the rats to pass through, but the other side has the smell of animals.
The area above the dungeon is mostly covered with a dense pattern of different types of fruiting plants, mostly dry and dead, possibly due to the cold and ice that seems pervasive outside the dungeon. This grouping of dead fruiting plants is adjacent to the structure at the top of the hill, and is likely associated with it.
To the sides of the entrance, there is a slope with a wooden barrier at the bottom of it. It is possible that some of the wood among the rocks near the entrance were a continuation of that barrier, but it was not sufficiently intact to prevent scouting both sides.
It would seem that the double wooden barrier with the space between them is adequate for keeping the animals away from the structure, as there was very little scent of dung or animals on the side of the barriers with the structure.
The scouting party consisted of three rats.
All scouts returned, one with minor injuries from the feline.
There were no kills or resources harvested.
Mana grass is the most basic mana plant and the prerequisite for any other magic plants or herbs.
By itself, mana grass can improve the mana generation of a dungeon by a small, static amount, until it gets harvested by an invader.
The more advanced mana tree provides a base mana income on top of providing a harvestable resource. While many invaders will be satisfied with harvesting the fruit, some few are both prepared and willing to harvest the tree itself, which then needs to be replaced, just like the grass.
Unlocking Mana Grass also grants access to elemental herbs appropriate to each of the alternate environments that have been unlocked. Unlocking additional alternate environments will also unlock the appropriate herbs if mana grass is already unlocked.
Elemental herbs generally come in two flavors, one that produces elemental mana by consuming one or more different flavors of mana, and one that consumes one or more flavors of mana to produce an elemental effect.
For example, Steem-root consumes fire and water mana to produce an area of hot, humid air, while flame buds and water buds produce fire or water mana from neutral mana.
If an herb is unable to access appropriate types of mana, then they will wither and eventually die if they are not already in an appropriately aspected region.
When planted in the dark, these plants will draw a small amount of mana to provide their own light. While basic mana grass and mana trees can provide their own mana, elemental herbs will need a separate source of appropriate mana, reducing the potential mana generation of the dungeon. For this reason, it is common for mana grass to be found in proximity to elemental herbs.
Aspected mana trees are just a larger, more mana-intensive version of elemental herbs that also produce a fruit that can be harvested without taking the entire plant. These can be worthwhile if you have a complex cycle of herbs and do not wish to lose an entire crop every time invaders harvest all of a specific flavor of herb without your notice.
Day 25
#####_______________##mm..
#...#_______________#mmmn...
#...#################mmm.....
#...#................mmm........
##S##.T.T.T.T.T.T.T.Tm_m_._.....
#...#..T.T.T.T.T.T.T._._._._......
#.T.#.T.T.T.T...T.T.Tm_m_._.......
#...#..T.#.T.o#..T.#._mmm_.........
##S##.T.T.T.T...T.T.t._m_._......
#...#..T.T.T.T.T.T.T.t._._._.....
#.T.S.T.T.T.T.T.T.T._._m_._......
#...#.................mmm.......
######################mmmm....
_____________________##mm....
###########
#.........#
#.T.T.T.T.#
#..T.T.T..#
#.T.T.T.T.###########################
#..To#.T..-------------------------n#
#.T.T.T.T.###########################
#..T.T.T..#
#.T.T.T.T.#
#.........#
###########
status Day 24, Mana: 136/195, Size: 390, next upgrade progress: 87%
Ok, so mana plants are more productive when exposed to light. That would explain the unexpected mana I have been getting.
Also, that scouting report is very useful, I should have plenty of area to expand into for several more core upgrades, so long as I move forward from the entrance and avoid that structure with the feline defender.
That structure might also be one of those upgraded camps that can spawn tool users, a likely source of the fruit harvesters even.
I wonder if they are worried about losing the structure on the hill, or just the trees if that rock fall trap falls on the core, but it seems like plenty to encourage the gatherers to stick with the trees and leave the core alone.
If I expand out into that clear area, I should have plenty to get the bat upgrade and hopefully, add a bat nest or two to send out flying scouts. If I can find more structures, I might be able to move my core under one of those and give them another good reason to leave it alone.
[Floor Designated, New Defender: Noctule Bat]
Ok, now a nest in the corner there and a bat spawn costs six, seven if I make it a scout. I think I am going to invest a lot into this, a second nest on the other side of the entrance and two bat scout spawns in each nest. I still have one more mana, so how about I start digging towards that structure on the hill from my old core room. If I put it towards the back, I should be able to get another tree room under that building with another secondary core. If those core killers come back, perhaps they will be more reluctant to destroy me if doing so will destroy one of their own nests as well.
[Intruder Detected]
It is hard to believe that intruders coming in and harvesting most of my fruit is getting boring, but they are efficient and effective, clearly they have grown accustomed to stealing my fruit every day.
With more trees exposed to the light, it is easier to see the differents, the exposed trees do not have the shimmer except on the fruit, so that may be an indication that they are using some mana to provide the light that they want.
Scouting Report
Past the wooden barrier on the other side of the open area where I intend to continue expanding, there is an area with mostly grass and small bushes. No obvious signs of the large number of animals that were scented previously, but there seem to be plenty of piles of fresh dung suggesting that the lack of animals is recent.
To the sides of the entrance, there are more fenced areas, generally a few hundred areas across in each direction. Some of the fences are wood, and others are piled stones. At least one of the stone fences is lacking the dead grasses that indicates it has been there for a while, suggesting a possible destination for the stones that have been collected from when I collapsed the side of the hill.
On the side of the hill facing away from my entrance, there are a cluster of additional structures, mostly made with wood, paster, and some stone. Of particular interest, there is a stone-lined hole with a roof over it that sounds to be quite deep.
The scouting party consisted of four rats and four bats.
All scouts returned.
There were no kills or resources harvested.
Alternate environments refer to the various elemental affinities available to a dungeon.
As the dungeon core is a crystal, and dungeons are generally on or under the ground, the starting environment of most dungeons could be considered to be earth. Alternate environments can also allow fire and water affinities, as well as more complex affinities such as ice, poison or lava. While an air affinity region might be possible, it is generally not practical, but related complex affinities such as miasma may be viable.
In addition to gaining access to the environmental hazards of an alternate environment, any defenders created or spawned in such an environment will have both an attack and enhanced resistances related to that environment.
Changing environments once invaders are already deep within the dungeon can be an effective way of slowing down or turning back groups of invaders. Even prepared invaders will often need to spend time and resources preparing for a switch of environments.
As an added caution, it is not wise to have a strong, elementally enhanced defender close to an opposing environment, lest invaders use your environments against your own defenders.
Day 26
_###
##.##_______________##mm..
#...#_______________#mmmn...
#...#################mmm.....
#...#............n...mmm........
##S##.T.T.T.T.T.T.T.Tmtmt.t......
#...#..T.T.T.T.T.T.T.t.t.t.t.......
#.T.#.T.T.T.T...T.T.Tmtmt.t........
#...#..T.#.T.o#..T.#.tmmmt..........
##S##.T.T.T.T...T.T.T.tmt.t.........
#...#..T.T.T.T.T.T.T.T.t.t.t......
#.T.S.T.T.T.T.T.T.T.t.tmt.t.......
#...#.............n...mmm........
######################mmmm....
Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!
_____________________##mm....
###########
#.........#
#.T.T.T.T.#
#..T.T.T..#
#.T.T.T.T.###########################
#..To#.T..-------------------------n#
#.T.T.T.T.###########################
#..T.T.T..#
#.T.T.T.T.#
#.........#
###########
status Day 26, Mana: 182/200, Size: 401, core 18, next upgrade progress: 1% 1/84
I wonder what that hole is for? Perhaps I could imitate that structure the next time I want an entrance?
The rope instead of any sort of stairs should make things more difficult at the very least, especially if I do not include the rope in my version. Assuming I could make a rope if I try.
So, hiding under the invader nest.
Hmm, there already seems to be an open area under the nest. I had better hide this new entrance with a secret passage and send some rats in to scout it.
So Stairs down a couple levels, to give me a place to put the falling rocks, then build a nine-by-nine with a central support and adjacent trapped secondary core. Oh, nice, that gives me enough for my next upgrade, but I do not have nearly the mana for it.
So a couple secret passages to hide the new construction from both ends, start filling in trees and spend the last point on claiming more open area.
Intruder Detected
The invader-harvesters are back. I think I will have one of the rats re-check the dried plants room to see how much more they have after another day's worth of harvest.
Scouting Report
In the early evening there were several metal-armored invaders standing around yelling at other invaders who were making some sort of fabric structures held up with sticks and rope.
Some of the pitch-fork invaders seemed to be trying to talk to them, but they were rather far away, and the armored invaders did not seem to hear them, even if the pitchfork invaders were calling out loudly.
There was also a larger animal that carried off one of the fruit-stealing invaders. There was no obvious bleeding or dismemberment, and the invader was on its back instead of in its mouth, so that may have been a cooperative effort instead of an invader being eaten by a wild animal.
The underground portion of the wooden structure seems mostly to contain a honey-comb of wooden ledges holding various plant parts. Nearly a quarter of the ledges are holding the fruit harvested from my dungeon, along with multiple lidless chests also holding my fruits.
The scouting party consisted of four rats and eight bats.
All scouts returned.
There were no kills or resources harvested.
Bats are commonly nocturnal cave-dwelling creatures. As defenders they can be effective distractions and may cause invaders to fall for traps they might otherwise notice, but tend not to be effective combatants on their own.
Bats can be effective scouts or spies, especially in low-light environments.
Bats spawned from an alternative environment will usually have an elemental effect that they can apply to invaders, but the effectiveness of those effects can vary greatly.
Day 27
###########
#.........#
#._._._._.#
#.._._._..#
#._..o....#
#....#....#
#.........#
#.........#
#.........#
#.........#
#####S#####
____#^#
____###
###
#v#
#^#
###
_...
##S##
_#V#
_#.#
_#.#
_#.#
##S##_______________##mm..
#...#_______________#mmmn...
#...#################mmm.....
#...#............n...mmm........
##S##.T.T.T.T.T.T.T.TmTmT.T......
#...#..T.T.T.T.T.T.T.T.T.T.T.......
#.T.#.T.T.T.T...T.T.TmTmT.T........
#...#..T.#.T.o#..T.#.TmmmT..........
##S##.T.T.T.T...T.T.T.TmT.T.........
#...#..T.T.T.T.T.T.T.T.T.T.T......
#.T.S.T.T.T.T.T.T.T.T.TmT.T.......
#...#.............n...mmm........
######################mmmm....
_____________________##mm....
###########
#.........#
#.T.T.T.T.#
#..T.T.T..#
#.T.T.T.T.###########################
#..To#.T..-------------------------n#
#.T.T.T.T.###########################
#..T.T.T..#
#.T.T.T.T.#
#.........#
###########
status Day 27, Mana: 182/247, Size: 494, next upgrade available
I am very concerned that these armored invaders might be the core-killers preparing to destroy my dungeon again, but bats are very bad at identifying distinctive markings like the white tabards with the lightning-core on it. Clearly I am going to want some sharp-sighted birds to use as scouts for today's upgrade.
The underground area for holding my fruits confused me at first, but considering I have multiple separated underground areas for hiding things from invaders, it makes sense for them to hide away some of my fruit in case the dungeon killers show up and smash all my trees. The fact that it also holds dried parts of other plants suggests that it might also be a gathering place for that sort of thing.
This holding area does not even have as many of my fruit as were harvested today, so I wonder how many of these holding areas the invaders have? Do they have one under each of the structures my bats identified? Is that why those new structures are cloth, so they can dig out the storage area and then build on top of it without worrying about a potential collapse?
I wonder if some of these plant parts need the other plant parts, sort of like how it is advisable to have mana grass around to feed elemental herbs. It feels like that might work better if the plants are not already harvested and dried out, but clearly these invaders have been dealing with plants longer than I have, so it may be worth investigating.
So, I want something common and inconspicuous that can fly around and get a good look at things in the light.
Upgrade Complete, New Defender: Dove
That sounds like something that might reasonably make a nest in the area created by the collapse when I got exposed.
And if I want to trick the core killers into thinking they killed me when I set off that first secondary core, I will need to practice leaving rocks and loose dirt on my territory. That feels wrong, but hiding is better than dying, so I am going to try anyway.
It takes a few tries, but I am finally able to claim some areas along the broken hill-face and leave the rocks and dirt as they were before I claimed the area, then place a nest on either side of the entrance with a couple dove scout spawns in each, similar to the bats. Looks like the doves are a fair bit larger than the bats, but some of that might be the feathers. Those beaks might be long enough to cause some minor damage, but not sharp enough to be useful for doing so. Outside of a scouting role, I do not think doves will be very effective at providing defense, as their claws do not even look sufficient for tearing cloth.
That leaves me with enough for another eight trees in the sub-structure, doubling the number in that room, and bringing my potential daily mana above two hundred.
Intruder Detected
It is still dark out when the first two invaders arrive. They have metal helmets, and mail shirts, but not the plate of the core killers or the tent people, and their tabards have a darker shade and a different pattern on them than the core killers. They also do not seem to be doing much, just standing there with their polearms on either side of my entrance. Did the invader-harvesters give me invader-defenders? I am not sure how I feel about that, as I have no control over them, and if they kill anyone, the invaders may want to destroy my core again.
The daily invader-harvesters arrive with the first light and load their carts with my fruit. I am relieved, but not surprised that the invader-defenders seem to be friendly with the harvesters.
While they work, I get my first look at the plat armored fabric structure invaders, and they have the symbol of the core killers on their chests.
The invader-defenders are wary of the core killers and force them to open the chest they are carrying. I prepare to trigger the collapse of the exposed tre room, but this time the chest they carry does not have the cursed hammer, instead it has a large hollow-looking device that seems to be filled with spiky bits, mostly pointing inwards.
After the harvesters finish, the defenders yell at the core killers some more and most of them back away, leaving only four unarmed core killers and a staff-holding core killer to carry the device inside my dungeon.
The staff-core-killer does a lot of yelling at the other invaders when they finally get to where they can see my secondary core. There is a fair bit of yelling, but the defenders yell and point their weapons, so the unarmored core killers lift the device and bring it towards the core as the staff-holder backs up a bit giving them plenty of room.
It is only when they lift the device higher and start moving it over the core that I realize that the device is designed to press all those pointy-bits against a dungeon core, and as they approach, I can feel some very nasty mana on those points. Now that I have a good idea what they are attempting, I trigger the trap, detonate the core and collapse most of the tree room.
There is a lot of yelling, and it looks like the device got destroyed, along with those carrying it, but the staff-holder managed to protect themselves from the falling dirt and stone. Unfortunately, many of the trees were destroyed, but the invader-defenders seem to be feeling very stabby towards the core-killers and force them to leave the area.
Later in the day, the invader defenders get switched out for others that I would have thought were the same, had I not watched the switch happen.
After watching the invader-defenders do very little for most of the day, I can more fully appreciate the way time usually passes for me after using my daily mana.
Scouting Report: Day
The lidless chests holding my fruit are now gone from the plant storage area, but there is still quite a bit on the wooden ledges.
The fabric structures are primarily occupied by core-killers and they have multiple large pieces of fabric displaying their symbol.
Near midday, a new group of armored invaders arrived, accompanied by several wagons.
While the wagons were loaded with lidless chests of dungeon fruit, the armored invaders, wearing the same design as the invader-defenders, approached the core-killers and had a discussion that frequently increased in volume.
At one point, one of the less armored invaders brought a dungeon fruit to the invader yelling the loudest at the core killers, then, after waving it around vigorously for a while, the fruit was crushed in its hand and the resulting mess thrown at the core killers.
Some time later, the yelling ended and the core-killers started pulling down their fabric structures under the watch of invaders matching the appearance of the invader-defenders in front of the dungeon entrance.
Once the fabric structures and other items were stowed, the core-killers departed opposite the direction that the carts holding the dungeon fruit departed, although still using the same rutted-path that passes between the remaining structures.
The scouting party consisted of four rats and four doves.
All scouts returned.
There were no kills or resources harvested.
Scouting Report: Night
Some dark-clad invaders came up the path from the direction the core killers departed, using small devices, they wandered the area, generally heading towards the hill-top structure and a separate area near the base of the hill opposite the dungeon entrance.
There were several additional invaders similar to the invader-defenders around the area; the dark-clad invaders generally avoided them.
The scouting party consisted of eight bats.
All scouts returned.
There were no kills or resources harvested.
Day 28
###########
#.........#
#.t.t.t.t.#
#..t.t.t..#
#.t._o_._.#
#.._.#._..#
#._._._...#
#.........#
#.........#
#.........#
#####S#####
____#^#
____###
###
#v#
#^#
###
_...
##S##
_#V#
_#.#
_#.#
_#.#
##S##_______________##mm..
#...#_______________#nmmn...
#...#################mmm.....
#...#............n...mmm........
##S##.T.T.T.T.T.T.T.TmTmT.T......
#...#..mmmmmmmmmmmmmmT.T.T.T.......
#.T.#.TmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmTmT.T.........
#...#..mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmT...........
##S##.TmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmTmT.T.........
#...#..mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.T.T.T.......
#.T.S.T.T.T.T.T.T.T.T.TmT.T.......
#...#.............n...mmm........
######################mmmm....
_____________________##nm....
______________________##m
###########
#.........#
#.T.T.T.T.#
#..T.T.T..#
#.T.T.T.T.###########################
#..To#.T..-------------------------n#
#.T.T.T.T.###########################
#..T.T.T..#
#.T.T.T.T.#
#.........#
###########
status Day 28, Mana: 151/247, Size: 494, core 19, next upgrade progress: 11%
Wait, no memory dump?
Is it because those intruder-defenders were there all the time and I never had down-time for it to happen?
Probably not a big deal. Probably would have told me that doves are common innocuous day-creatures that are useless for combat unless they have special abilities from their spawn environment. Too bad it does not seem to have much on the core killers, that might prove useful.
The dark figures might be the core-killers coming back and looking for me. The back of the hill is probably where my main core is, and the secondary core is under the hill-top structure. I wonder if they are tracking my mana gathering fields.
If I could dig straight down twenty times, I could probably get my core out of range, but I would also need to dig to the side far enough that they would not find me by just digging where their scouts said to dig. On top of that I am only about thirty mana above the cost of the previous upgrade, so while the upgrade might be possible, I still need a lot more than sixty spaces to be eligible for the upgrade.
On the other hand, I do not know how fast they can dig, or if they can even reach a core that is completely sealed off, so for today, I’ll dig down and over, perhaps thirty spaces each, in groups of ten and changing directions each time I dig over just to confuse things. Put in a sub-core, then close off multiple spaces on each side of those turns.
Claim a bunch of surface area, and save the last half-dozen mana towards the upgrade tomorrow.
Ok, I should be all ready to move my core as soon as I have the mana.
Wait, where are my invader-defenders?
Uh-oh, those dark-clad invaders are inside my dungeon and past the first two secret passages, searching the walls for the path to my core. Thank goodness I cut it off completely, but that is not going to save the secondary core under the hill.
Huh, looks like they are more interested in the secret door behind the stairs than the stairs themselves. I wonder if they have a special interest in the dried plants in that storage area.
Apparently not too much interest, as they came back to my claimed area pretty quick after leaving it.
They found my sub-core, so I’ll need to be ready to trigger the rocks if they get too close or pull out one of those devices.
Well, they did pull out a device, but it is a small one, and they are talking to it.
Pulling out another devices… and it is just a tiny crossbow. Loading it and pointing it at my core. I don’t know if it is a cursed bolt, but I guess they do not want to be crushed by the falling rocks like the core killers with that spiky device were.
I wonder what they are waiting for?
As far as I can tell, there is not anything else…
Wait, what is happening with the ceiling in my core room? Is that a hole?
Yes, that is a hole, and another dark-clad core-killer is now in my core room.
I really do not like this!
Ok, be reasonable, I am ready to detonate all of my cores at a moment’s notice, so I can watch them long enough to be better prepared next time. I might even catch some of them in the collapse, reducing the number available to hunt down my next dungeon.
Yes, that’s it, just wait until I can take out as many of them as I can so they will be less able to threaten my next dungeon.
They lowered down a chest. Not yet, not yet, what is in the chest?
Hammer Chest! Drop the Rocks! Drop the Rocks!!!