“Jessamine’s Dungeon Adventure”
Written by Lillene the author of “After the End: Serenity” and “Broken Lands”, which you can find on RoyalRoad.
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There were plants everywhere. Jessamine stared at one plant, then another.
Was this what a dungeon was supposed to be like? It didn’t match the stories, but it had to be a dungeon. It was nothing like the outside. It was cold outside, cold and dangerous. She wasn’t prepared for a blizzard.
This wasn’t the slightly warmer cave she was searching for, but it would have to do.
Jessamine ducked outside for long enough to get her donkey and bring him into the warm interior. It wasn’t safe, but anything was safer than outside.
Jessamine searched around the entrance first; if there was anything dangerous, she needed to know. Grass, clover, some very useful herbs, flowers … a bee! She’d have to be careful, but that bee might be the best news she’d ever seen. A bee meant a beehive, and beehives held treasure, both honey and bees’ wax. Better yet, this was a dungeon beehive; that meant it would return after it was taken.
At least, that was what the stories said. Jessamine had never been in a dungeon before.
She couldn’t get any wax or honey today. She didn’t have the gear for it, and dungeon creatures were supposed to be more dangerous than normal ones. She didn’t want to be stung. Getting a beekeeper out here should be possible if she went to the right place; there was a town less than a day’s travel away.
Maybe she’d be better off reporting the dungeon instead? Jessamine wasn’t sure. They were valuable, weren’t they? That might be worth even more than finding a beekeeper if no one else had reported the dungeon. It was worth finding out. If it wasn’t worth anything, it wouldn’t hurt.
Who did you report a dungeon to, anyway? Who would actually pay to know? Should she go to Staiven? He would pay for almost any information, but he usually didn’t pay well.
Eh. There would be time to deal with that once she was out of here. She had better things to deal with.
Jessamine followed the honey bee as it buzzed along the top of the flowers, then rose a bit. Her eyes widened as she finally saw the bees’ home. It was a fancily carved stacked set of wooden boxes with holes surrounded by bees. It had to be a beehive, but what beehive was set into a tree? It almost looked like it was the tree, but that didn’t make sense. Surely it just surrounded a hollow in the tree?
If this were anything but a dungeon, Jessamine would say there was definitely a beekeeper. If there was a beekeeper in a dungeon, she didn’t want to meet them.
She turned and cautiously made her way down the short hall and poked her head back outside the dungeon. The wind stole her breath and she shivered as snow found its way right down her shirt. She definitely couldn’t leave.
“Camp first,” she muttered. “The bees haven’t bothered me yet.”
The donkey didn’t share Jessamine’s reservations; it was already eating the dungeon’s plant life. The bees weren’t bothering it either, so it must be good enough.
A day later, the blizzard winds no longer howled in front of the dungeon entrance, but only because it was blocked with snow. Jessamine knew what that meant: she’d be stuck inside for days if she was lucky. If she wasn’t lucky, it could be weeks. It wouldn’t be longer than that; it was still too early in the winter. It was really too early for a storm this large, but that was how she was caught in the first place.
At least there was water. All she had to do was grab a bowl, scoop up some snow, and let it melt and she’d have water. Several of the greens inside were edible, too; she couldn’t really cook with what she had, but she could soak some greens and get enough to eat for a few days without reducing the supplies she needed to make it back to town.
Jessamine made her way back inside and stripped off her top before it could get soaked by the melting snow. She shook it out, then heard an odd thump not too far away. Her head rose and followed the noise.
A rabbit sat in the clover and stared up at her.
“Where did you come from?” Jessamine frowned at the rabbit. “I know you haven’t been here, I’d have seen you.”
The rabbit hopped away, startled by her voice.
Jessamine followed slowly. This was a dangerous place and she had to be careful, but she could only be so scared of a place with bees and rabbits. Rabbits were skittish and didn’t stay visible in places that were too dangerous, but this one seemed remarkably calm.
The rabbit led her down a short stone walkway to another open field. This one seemed filled with grasses and shrubs rather than clover. The shrubs seemed familiar, so Jessamine leaned down and sniffed a broken leaf. “Tea! But tea doesn’t grow here-”
Jessamine had to harvest some tea leaves. No one was going to believe there was tea here if she didn’t bring proof. It was too bad that she didn’t know how to turn it into proper tea, but at least it would be something.
She tried to stay aware of her surroundings, but by the third trip back to her camp with tea leaves she was trying to dry out without using a fire, she was hurrying and not watching where she put her feet. Her left foot went straight into a hole she hadn’t seen and she felt a sharp pain as she tripped.
Jessamine curled up on the ground in pain, then forced herself to examine her foot. Nothing seemed to be broken, but her ankle was definitely twisted. She dragged herself back to her camp on her butt, pushing with her arms and her good right foot, then wrapped her left ankle.
It was a day later before her ankle felt enough better for her to take the corridor outside for water. Another day passed before she really felt comfortable walking on it. It still hurt a bit, but she’d walked on worse and she didn’t have a choice. She needed to move.
The snow outside was melting. It would be gone soon enough; it was already low enough that she could travel if she had to, but another day would be better.
Jessamine couldn’t wait any longer. If she was going to make it through any more of the dungeon, it had to be now. She’d found bees and wild greens and tea; what else could be here?
Two steps into the room with the tea, Jessamine found the reason the rabbit had moved to the bees’ room: three red foxes stood in the tall grass. They didn’t seem to have noticed Jessamine.
She couldn’t see an exit, but there had to be one. That meant it was probably along the wall to her left, since that was the direction she couldn’t see. Jessamine nodded to herself and set out. She was sure to stay well away from the foxes; they weren’t usually dangerous, but “usually” was a bad way to judge things and the fact that this was a dungeon made it worse, even if she hadn’t found anything worse than a mole hole so far. As long as the foxes didn’t bother her, she wouldn’t bother them.
Most of her attention was on her feet. She definitely didn’t want to twist her ankle again, or worse, break an ankle. That could absolutely happen on poor ground, and this seemed to be poor ground. She didn’t see any moles, but the small holes everywhere were the right size. There were far too many of them and they seemed worse than she was used to, which made the trip across the field nerve-wracking, but at least she was able to stay relatively close to one of the stone walls. It helped keep her from getting lost in the near-maze of bushes.
The other exit was exactly where she guessed. When she saw it, she knew why it wasn’t visible from across the room: it would lose its impact. The short stone corridor opened up into an impressive wild grotto filled with colorful plants. A waterfall in the distance meant the path was covered in water; it led to a pool right at the entrance to the room.
Jessamine paused and looked around. She didn’t recognize most of the plants. Did that mean they were valuable or were they just pretty?
“Just pretty is worth something,” she told herself. As she spoke, she could have sworn some of the plants moved. She paused, concerned.
A moment later, something dropped from the ceiling. A giant spider!
Jessamine would later deny it, but she shrieked, tripped backwards, and landed on her butt. She stared upwards at the spider … plant … thing.
When she got a better look at it, it looked like a skull supported by vines with a set of eight large spiderlike limbs. “What are you?”
The skull chattered at her. The clicking was followed by a high-pitched, scratchy voice. “I’m the dungeon master, girl, and you shouldn’t be here. Run back to your donkey and leave as soon as you can.”
Jessamine flipped onto her knees and hurried away. Strangely enough, her sore ankle didn’t bother her at all as she ran from that thing. She had just enough presence of mind to make her way safely across the meadow full of holes and avoid the bees on the clover near her camp. She quickly packed up everything she had and loaded it onto her donkey.
A few inches of snow or not, she’d clearly outstayed her welcome.
She had her tea leaves and she’d outlasted the blizzard. Maybe she’d even get something for finding a dungeon when she reached town.
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Author’s Note: Anyone who reads what I write knows I love to write notes at the end, so you’re getting one :-)
This is the sort of thing I’d normally reveal later, but since there won’t be a later for this story - no, the skull with vines and spider legs isn’t the dungeon master. It’s a puppet. It definitely did its job of scaring Jessamine away without the dungeon master having to show up in person!
As for who or what the dungeon master actually is … well, there might be some clues in the dungeon’s setup.
~Lillene
The Green Mile Dungeon
image [https://imgur.com/wdHiJT2.jpg] image [https://imgur.com/A8F76Mm.jpg] image [https://imgur.com/0a6Yfwl.jpg] image [https://imgur.com/fz7hske.jpg]
image [https://imgur.com/N0oFqCy.jpg] image [https://imgur.com/cODPCOa.jpg] image [https://imgur.com/zyLIfsS.jpg]
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
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Untitled
Written by Lunar_Silkie the author of “Love Isn’t Rainbows” and “Shadow Hunters”, which you can find on Wattpad.
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There is a dungeon out in the middle of the Bermuda called the Sirens Abyss, the dungeon master's name is Grace. It’s hard to even get to it because of all the fog that leads sailors astray. The dungeon is mostly sea with drowned sailors, krakens, and even mermaids. No one has even made it close to the core(except the dungeon representative of course). The Sirens Abyss became so powerful because the endless sea around counts to getting points. The dungeon rewards include rare plants, legendary fish, and objects thought lost to time. No one truly knows how old this dungeon is for most records don’t even get the chance to be known. Now let’s get into how this dungeon came to be and the story of its infamy.
(Grace pov)
It’s the middle of summer when I died. It wasn’t even a cool death, it was freaking stupid. I got killed by a water gun, A WATER GUN! How does that work you ask well I’ll tell ya. It was dropped on me from a high rise diving board. Now I’m just floating here choking to death because that stupid water gun hit my throat. No one even notices someone choking. Dude Society…
I just wanted to have a nice calming swim.
Noting preference to swimming (water)
Why am I hungry now? I’m never gonna eat again, I’m never gonna have fries again.
Generating Gluttony
Is this voice calling me fat?
No
I can no longer keep on…. How is no one noticing…
I knew I wasn’t important…Hopefully someone leaves flowers at my grave for me…
Generating anti-depressants
Noting preference to nature
——————-Chapter One————————-
Our lead slowly awakens to the smell of the sea and sand under their fingertips. How is she alive, she questions while opening her eyes just to get sand blown into her eyes.
Desperately trying to wipe the sand out she hears a goggle and a damp cloth being placed into her hand. Not thinking about it she uses the cloth as intended, sand. She slowly turns her head to see someone smiling at her, freaking out as she pulls sand from her pockets flinging it at them. The wind decides to throw the sand back which makes this mystery person laugh.
They finally introduce themselves to her as Cressida or Cress for short. Grace slowly realizes Cressida has scales that shine beautifully around her cheeks trailing down her neck and her eyes are a beautiful seafoam green. Cressida tells her she is her assigned dungeon representative and how she was chosen because of the location of this so-called dungeon I now “govern”. The entrance is located in a cave under the sea which leads to this little island.
After a while Cressida left after giving her contributions, a rainbow fish, one of her scales, and a few seashells. The fish and Cressida's scale reminds Grace of that one children’s book for some reason; the seashells are just pretty. Grace soon started building up her dungeon by first making a little pagoda on the island that contains her dungeon core. After doing that brick by brick Grace made a spawner that made water slimes and a scary looking crab that goes and grabs things for her to absorb.
Grace then realizes she hasn’t made any type of trap yet and soon she begins. Seeing she didn’t have much mp she decides to add these trees she has in her arsenal supposedly one is sleep inducing for the people who will be coming here and the other can grow vines and roots which will subdue her victims. Grace notes another tree for later, it sounds interesting because it is somehow poisonous.
Slowly mp started coming in out of nowhere which Grace decides to investigate. Turns out the trees have been working together by making the people who are on the boats asleep then vines started covering the boat and all. It is surprisingly pretty, the vines sprouting red flowers that completely cover the ships. No one would think the flowers could be caused by blood.
As she got more and more mp Grace expanded by adding squids with barbed tentacles, selkies, and much much more. The world soon knows of the Sirens Abyss, the dungeon is now called because of how birds with the heads of beautiful women lure them in with their enchanting hymns. Soon the sailors and adventurers that were on the boats that have been submerged over time became zombies while the passengers just stay there decomposing, becoming nutrients for the many schools of fish down below.
A few hundred years have passed since then and Grace has gotten bored quite a few times. Once she learnt how to combine creatures and objects alike she started scaring people. She made the lochness monster of this world as well as many cryptids of the sea. The plants she made were beautiful so she added them as rewards for defeating the drowns in the lower levels. Most of the time Grace made absolutely terrifying creatures but every now and then she would make adorable creatures for example sea lions literally lions with fish tails. Her all time favorite creation is the sea cats she made, specifically one that looks like her old cat from her world.
Another few hundred years has passed and now she’s been collecting things like books, rocks, and paints. Her paintings have been hung up on walls around the world. Her paintings are rewards in the middle levels of her dungeon which is hard to get to. The books she received from her alter have been modified by her so they don’t get soaked. She has books that are hundreds of years old and more. She stopped counting after two hundred.
Adventurers are able to get undeniable wealth if they are able to obtain one of those books which are only rewards on her third floor. Now the rocks, she just loves them and the prettier the better your luck is.
Everyone far and wide knows of the Sirens Abyss and its many wonders. People still try to beat it even if they die in the process. The chance for unimaginable wealth is slim but it still keeps people coming to try their luck for a new life.
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image [https://imgur.com/wW4YgZu.jpg] image [https://imgur.com/ylD94cI.jpg]
(This link goes to pintrest where a 'video' of a Minecraft world map of the dungeon is available.)
https://pin.it/1SbadoFbq
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The Dungeon Completionists
Written by Colin Dyke.
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Clide was watching amused at the group of new adventurers searched high and low in the 4th room of the 1st floor. It was empty but they hadn’t asked about that at the Adventurers Guild. The new party decided to carry on and went into the next room, and when they saw the 5 goblins in there, they were even more confused. That said, 5 goblins were still not enough as this group was reasonably strong. With these 5 goblins completed they then went back and searched the previous room again to find the 4 goblins that should be in the room if the pattern made sense.
While he was watching using the remote view skill, he saw another party come through the room, barging past the party that was still searching for the missing goblins. Clide’s eyes narrowed, it was them, the Dungeon Completionists. The party was a classic fighter, rogue, cleric, and mage composition. According to George, his dungeon diplomat, they went around boasting that they had reached the dungeon core of every dungeon on every level, and as soon as they heard that a dungeon had a new floor they went and defeated that floor.
Now that in itself was complete understandable, and Clide was happy with people challenging the dungeon and completing it. What he hated was the taunting and mocking dance that they had performed in the core room after reaching it. The fact that they had tied him up while they performed the mocking dance was even worse.
Clide was prepared for them this time. He quickly switched the hallways that connected to the second floor boss room to be the other one changing the route through the maze. He then switched to watching them.
The Dungeon Completionists had no trouble dealing with goblins. Ulnak the fire mage didn’t even need to shoot any spells, the combined talents of Gaston the Swordsman, and Macavity the Scout sliced through the goblins like they weren’t there. They reached the stairs and started along the path to the core, while the dart traps worked reasonably well, Gaston blocked those that came at them and Macavity disarmed the ones that came from behind before they could fire. Macavity also disarmed the pit traps very easily. Even though he had brought the upgrade that turned their hidden covers into stone floor like the rest of the dungeon it wasn’t enough.
The real fun started when they reached the old entrances to the boss chamber and found that there was just a wall there.
“What?”
said Elaina the healer,
“The adventurers guild said that the route to the boss was simple. Just go left at each junction unless there is a pit trap just before the junction.”
Well, that was the route about 15 minutes ago, Clide smirked to himself.
“So the Adventurers Guild is stupid.”
said Gaston
“We are going to have to do this ourselves. So let’s go back and check the paths that we didn’t try.”
After finding a few dead-ends they found themselves at a new junction. They took a right then a left and found themselves back at the stairs.
“How is this possible?”
asked Gaston,
“There is no way we should be back at the stairs this quickly!”
“Probably some moving walls that Macavity couldn’t spot”
Ulnak replied.
“Hey, I can spot any moving wall that the dungeon places. There is no way it was a moving wall trap.”
Macavity was indignant. He had a reputation to uphold.
“Let’s go back and we will just have to try a different way. I will point out any moving walls that we come across.”
Clide smirked. The newly installed teleport trap had worked. 1,000 DP was a lot but it had been worth it to confuse their spatial mapping sense. The completionists turned back and quickly found themselves in unfamiliar territory as the trap had not recharged so didn’t trigger.
Eventually, they found their way to the boss room, a stone golem awaited them there. This proved to be a problem for the completionists. Ulnak’s fire spells did little damage to the golem, and Macavity’s daggers just scratched the surface. Gaston’s sword did some damage, but it wasn’t much, and the fight went on for ages. Elaina was even drinking mana potions just to keep up with the damage that the golem was dealing back to Gaston, despite his heavy armor. Eventually, they were victorious, and the golem was defeated.
The Completionists headed up the stairs to the 3rd floor. They opened the door to the 1st room on the floor and immediately spotted the bats. Ulnak sent a fireball at them wiping out most of the bats and Gaston moved forward to finish the rest off. Macavity said
“WAIT!”
and pulled Gaston back.
“There is a trap just ahead of us.”
Macavity carefully moved forward and opened the pit trap in the centre of the room. As he did so, this caused another trap to trigger, which meant that rocks fell onto Elaina and Ulnak, who were waiting in the back. While Elaina could heal the damage, the rocks were too heavy for Elaina or Ulnak to lift off themselves. As Gaston and Macavity turned back to unbury Elaina and Ulnak, the doors of the room opened and minotaurs entered from both sides. The minotaurs were armed with crossbows and Clide had called them forward so that they could deal with the Completionists as a group.
Gaston had no choice but to try and defend the group. There was a lot of crossbow bolts coming his way, and while he could block some with his shield, some with his amour, and deflect a few with his sword, some of the bolts got through.
“This is annoying. How much longer before we can fight them?”
“We need your strength”
Macavity replied.
“They are too heavy for us to move.”
“I can’t hit the Minotaurs from this position”
added Ulnak.
Gaston sighed.
“If I move to help you then we will all get hit by these bolts. Elaina, how’s your mana holding out?”
“I’m getting low and will be out soon. This constant damage is getting to us.”
Elaina replied.
“Ok dungeon, you win this time, but we will be back, and next time we will be ready for you. Macavity take us out.”
Yelled Gaston while retreating into arms reach of Macavity.
Macavity grabbed hold of Gaston and Ulnak, Ulnak grabbed Elaina, and then Macavity used his signature skill
“Mass Teleport”
causing them all to vanish. The rocks fell down proving that they had really left the dungeon and not turned invisible.
Clide was relieved. His plan had worked, and he drove them away. They would probably be back but he could reasonably assume that something similar would work again. He sent the Minotaurs back to their rooms and relaxed. For now the threat was gone and he could go back to watching the new adventurers search the fourth room for the goblins that weren’t there. Though as it turned out, the adventurers had already left the dungeon while he was occupied by the Completionists.
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image [https://imgur.com/sHJhMXj.jpg]
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