“The whole of who we are is a secret. Our language is hidden; our differences obscured. All the books in our language are unique. Mankind knows that we are different, but they don’t know how, and this allows them to make guesses. In guessing some will draw closer to us, and some be enemies, but no unity of thought can be made. And the greatest weapon we have is to speak unknown with one another.”
-An Adar ancient
==POV: Zidaun==
Deep within myself was a connection, and I sought it out. This was something I had seldom done, though I had done it far more than almost any other Adar. That was one of the responsibilities of a Seeker, after all, to report the status of newly explored dungeons. There were other reasons one could use it: As an example, we could report a betrayal by mankind so that vengeance and justice could be served. Having our communication stay a secret made it far more powerful.
There was good reason to use it sparingly, however; it was indiscriminate. Every Adar would hear me when I spoke, no matter where they were or what they were doing. I had no doubt that I was going to wake up millions of people. If we tried to use this channel for regular communication, all we would hear was a constant babble of muddled noise.
And now I was about to use it for one of the other reasons it could be used. The creation of an Adar ancient.
I opened the channel and spoke an ancient greeting I had heard used in earnest only once before.
“Rejoice, for another Adar has joined with an Awakened. I, Zidaun, have become an ancient.”
That was it, a few simple words to announce how my life had shifted course drastically. There was a brief pause, just a few moments, before anyone answered. First came a greeting, a ritual greeting that was a mirror to my own.
“The ancients of the Adar greet thee and rejoice. Thou art esteemed highly and blessed, and we greet our brother.”
The overlapping resonance of many people speaking in unison faded and was replaced by a thunderous chorus, as every Adar but myself and the other ancients, spoke in reply.
“Sacred be the Awakened, and also their voice, may thy wisdom guide us.”
The united voices faded into silence.
“I need guidance. I have bound partially to a new dungeon, but the soulbond in not complete. The dungeon speaks with two voices, but neither speaks with a language that I have ever heard. It took the sacrifice that was offered and a partial soulbond formed, but I am uncertain what I should do now.
I am in the eastern edge of the Lances Mountains, beneath Twisted Tip, and I request aid from the Adar which are closest to me. The Blaze Blossom Swamp to the north and the Adar of the Dawnshine Desert to the south. An entrance to the north already exists, several days south of the human capital city Asmund. I have felt one that seems to be forming to the south.”
A voice that I was intimately familiar with spoke, the ancient of the Blaze Blossom Swamp.
“Zidaun, my former child, welcome to our ranks. Do not let yourself worry too greatly about your concerns. Partial soulbonds have formed before, and can be found in our records. They form when a dungeon enters a contract that it does not fully understand. However, like we with them, they are more when united with us; it will join with us once it understands. As is customary, a portion of our people will be sent there. A skillbook of the common tongue will be sent as well, and I will also send an Adar to prepare a skillbook of our language there. You will have help in this new and glorious task.”
Another, unfamiliar, voice spoke afterwards.
“I welcome you, Zidaun, to our ranks. I am the ancient of the Dawnshine Desert. Regardless of whether an entrance forms that is convenient for us or not, we shall also bring you what we can, and send people for a new colony.”
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In contrast to the voices before, a timid voice spoke.
“I am not an ancient. I am to the south of the Lances, near the eastern edge, with my group and we are waiting for an entrance to open up. It believe it will lead to this new dungeon beneath Twisted Tip. The resonance has gradually grown closer to me. This should allow my brothers to gain access from the south.”
I smiled. I wasn’t sure if I truly wanted to be an ancient. It had responsibilities and duties, plus I was unlikely to ever travel very far. However, it was always reassuring to know that I had the support of my people. I was glad I was not too far from two other groups of us.
I spoke again.
"Do any of you know of a dungeon with two souls or two voices?" I asked. "As I said before, I heard two voices speak. I am wondering if perhaps the dungeon is bound to another already, Though if it is, they are not an Adar, since it does not speak our own tongue, and it does not seem to have interfered with performing the soulbond. I had thought, perhaps, that this dungeon might possess a contract formed with another creature in the past. Perhaps something that was like unto us, or it may be something else entirely. I don't know. This dungeon does seem to be truly ancient."
As the ancient closest to the new dungeon, Zidaun's former ancient spoke once more.
"I know of no record where the dungeon had two souls or had been contracted to another, so that we would speak to two instead of one, and I know not what it portends. Like all the Awakened, this dungeon is special, but perhaps it is even more extraordinary than those we have seen before in this regard. Regardless, we shall gain understanding with it and knowledge, and from there we shall do what is necessary. We shall revel in its uniqueness. If any others know of this phenomenon, ancient or otherwise, let them speak now."
There was silence. It carried on for a few moments and no one spoke, no Adar claimed to have heard or even encountered this in any form, so his voice returned.
“Zidaun, be welcome and well. All the Ancients shall look through our records. If we find anything we shall contact you again. If that is all we shall say farewell, unless there is another need to speak.”
I hesitated for a moment, thinking about the dungeon and what I knew of its nature so far. I was going to allow my hesitation to win and stay silent, but then I was forced to speak. I had to place the needs of my dungeon before all else, and it had clearly showed what it desired.
“There is one additional thing. This dungeon seeks knowledge. It seems to want to know everything. And, more than any dungeon I have ever been in, including when we directed our home to build, this dungeon seems to understand people and their needs. It provided housing with places to sleep, eat, and even relieve ourselves, as well as bathe. There are roads and lights. And even more than that, everything is perfectly proportioned. Its art is beautiful and meant to be seen with eyes. I have never seen a dungeon which understood people so well and catered to their needs. I waited for a time in offering my sacrifice to the dungeon because I have been in a safe zone for the entire time I have explored.
I did see where the main dungeon lies, but I don’t have access to it yet. However, there was an entire room dedicated to leaving offerings to the dungeon. It is offering some form of reward, though I don’t understand what they do yet.
We gave it fruit and it rewarded us. We gave it gems and it rewarded us and then gave the gems back, and it created gems cut in the same pattern. It seemed to only desire the knowledge of that pattern. We have given it various pieces of everything that we could think of, save for enchanted items, and I shall give up some of those soon. Everything it didn’t possess spurred a reward.
Those who can, I ask to send knowledge. Anything unique or interesting from where you are, please send it. Seeds, books, letters, ores, and all materials. I do not yet know exactly what it wants, but I ask especially that you send what is unique to your region.”
I stopped there, my duty to the dungeon done, and my duty to my people preventing me from saying more. There was silence after that. I had hoped for more confirmation, but I was not surprised by the silence. Clearing this channel so people could continue without interruption was important. Duty would compel each to do what they could, so long as it didn’t cause problems elsewhere.
I looked down at my new body.
“This is going to take some explaining.”
I glanced over at the sealed door. I took a brief moment to see if there was anything else that I needed to know before I left. Obviously there were the changes to my body. Huh, it looked like I received a reward for my sacrifice. It was actually the largest reward we had gained for anything at fifty points.
Well I wanted to offer the dungeon some better items anyway.
I took out some heat stones. Given the weather outside, I had quite a few extra of these. I might need them in the dungeon, but it wasn’t hugely likely. I would save some regardless, I had no idea what the dungeon wanted of me, but even a partial pact meant I shouldn’t waste my life.
I put the first heat stone on the altar. It gave fifteen points. It didn’t dissolve, instead it vanished entirely. The same happened with a second stone, and a third, fourth, and fifth. I stopped there. I gave a light stone next, though I only had a few and was likely to actually need those. I had three, which was overkill for most situations, though when exploring it was best to be over prepared. For now I decided it was best to give one. The dungeon did seem to appreciate new things the most.
Two stones went back into my pack, and one went onto the altar, giving me another fifteen points on my token. I considered if I should offer some of my other items, a dagger, or something else. No, the dungeon was my first priority, but I didn’t know exactly how much it valued this versus the potential cost of bringing me back. Once it could understand my language it was more than welcome to speak to me.
I turned from the altar and walked toward the door. Upon reaching it I unsealed it almost completely, leaving just a thin strip of stone to keep it from opening just yet.
Damn, this was going to be awkward.
“So… don’t freak out but this was one of the special dungeons. I connected with it and I look a little, okay, quite a bit... different. Okay?”
From the other side of the door I could hear vague murmurs of surprise, but I didn’t want to delay anymore. I unsealed the door, opened it, and stepped out.