13. Tilarack’s Tower pt. 3
The wooden constructs that were supposed to appear on the sixth floor instead showed up on the seventh, but they weren’t very challenging. The challenge was that there were mimics in the room which attacked mid-fight. One was a chair that ambushed Azarath when he stepped too close to it, and the other was the candelabra which fell from the ceiling and bit down on Lyle. In addition to the constructs, that left me to tank seven targets, even with Lyle acting as an off-tank by keeping aggro on the active kill-target.
The next floor was the same, as was the ninth floor. They were very challenging fights, especially with my companions being so new to my world, but we persevered.
“The tenth floor is normally a giant construct,” Lyle informed us as we began to climb the staircase, “but with these mimics everywhere we should be prepared for anything.”
What we found was not quite what we were expecting. It was a giant treasure chest. It was quite obvious that it was really a mimic, and also that it was the boss, but it seems that the tower couldn’t find a way to subtly hide the giant mimic and had given up on doing so. I began the fight with a [Charge], and the mimic burst into its amorphous form in response.
Ultimately, the fight was a tank and spank. A difficult one, as the mimic dealt high damage which could spike suddenly to bring me down to thirty percent health, pushing both me and Wren to our limits. Just because there were no special mechanics didn’t mean that the damage dealers could take it easy; once Wren ran out of mana I would die, and then the mimic would rip through the rest of the party like they were paper. They managed, but it was close, with Wren on her last ten percent.
The loot was great, a new spear for Lyle and a ring which Azarath and Wren rolled for. Azarath was a little annoyed when Wren won, as he was the only one who hadn’t gotten an item, but it’s not like anyone planned it that way.
The eleventh floor had four of the imps from the base of the tower, two of the wooden constructs, which were humanoid in shape. They moved like puppet animated by magic, with sudden jerky motions. The twelfth floor was the exact same, with the addition of two mimics which revealed themselves midway through the battle. One of them was a candelabra which dropped from the ceiling for its ambush, and the other was a plain chest hidden in a corner which launched itself at Wren when her back was turned.
I stopped everyone before we took the stairs to the final room. “So, I should warn you. Every time I’ve done this so far, the final boss has been much more powerful than the previous ones. We only just barely scraped by on the second boss fight. We might wipe for real.”
Nobody seemed that concerned by the warning, however, so we proceeded. We found another lavishly furnished room, and Lyle called out the warning to keep an eye out for mimics.
“There are no mimics here,” a feminine voice answered. It was sourceless, coming from everywhere at once. “This was my bedroom, when I was alive. Why would I put mimics here?”
“Mage Tilarack?” I inquired. “You have set your soul to guard this tower after your death?”
“Nothing so drab as that.” Light coalesced, forming the shade of a beautiful woman. “I was no necromancer, whatever accusations were thrown at me by those who couldn’t understand my work. I am a copy. Not a true copy of Alis Tilarack, an imprint of her memories before she was forced from this land set to guard this tower until she returned. She never did, however. You say that I am dead?”
“Eighty years ago. I understand it was a laboratory accident,” I informed the shade.
“I see. That does not release me from my duty, however. I must either protect the work eternally, or find a way to continue it.”
“I can release you from that duty, if you wish,” I offered. “I came here to claim her research notes. If you --”
“What do you know of her research?” the shade challenged.
I paused, searching my memories. There was quite a bit of information that the tutors had crammed in there when I was younger, and Mage Tilarack was a minor footnote. “New applications to the residue that darkspawn leave behind. That’s what I’m interested in. We have been gathering the residue from Travelers as proof of their martial deeds for more than ten years now, but we have nothing to use it for, and so it simply accumulates.”
“That is what you’re interested in?” Shade Tilarack asked. She shrugged. “It was one area in which I was curious. I don’t remember researching it, however, which means that if I did make any leaps forward, it would have been after I stripped this tower of everything remotely useful and left behind a dungeon.”
“There is nothing here, then?” I asked, disappointed.
“The original me overlooked one thing which could have been used to copy her research,” the shade admitted. “Myself. She left behind a great many memories embedded in mine. I could possibly be persuaded to come with you and help further her research.”
“What about your eternal duty?” I asked.
“Weren’t you listening? The only thing here that could conceivably be used to copy her research is myself. I can protect myself from anywhere, I don’t have to stay locked up in a gods forsaken tower for the rest of eternity waiting for that bitch to come home when she’s already dead!” the shade snapped, surprising me with the venom. “However, before I begin divulging secrets, I require proof that the original me is truly dead. Can you oblige?”
“Not from this tower,” I admitted. “Would you trust the testimony of Archmage Blancherathetera? She was the one who delved into Mage Tilarack’s final tower after it exploded, found the body, and laid it to rest.”
“Her testimony, yes, I would believe that,” the shade agreed. “Very well. I will come with you.”
Abruptly the room shifted, and a wind began to swirl about it. The lavish items which had decorated it were sucked into the center, being crushed into a small ball which never grew any larger. When the room was empty except for us, an item was left behind, the head of a sewing mannequin. When I analyzed it, it identified as “Memory Construct #1.” I placed it into my inventory, and turned to face the rest of the party, who had watched in silence during my dialogue with the shade.
“So, I guess that’s it!” I said.
“Wait, no final boss?” Azarath asked. “You got us all hyped up by saying how tough it would be, and there’s just nothing?”
“Sorry,” I said. “I don’t know the future. Sometimes the final boss is intelligent, and I can talk them out of fighting. I think that if I hadn’t managed to do that, we would have faced off against that shade, and I don’t think it would have been an easy fight.”
“What about loot?” Lyle asked.
“We already got four items instead of three,” I reminded him. And we might get something else when I find the dungeon core. It’s probably around here somewhere, just give me a minute to – oh, there it is.”
As I had spoken, the core had been drifting slowly down from the ceiling, where it had been shining softly this entire time. I simply hadn’t noticed because I thought it was part of the normal ambiance.
“There what is?” Azarath asked.
“I guess you can’t see it. Just give me a moment,” I said, and I reached out to touch the core.
You have reached the core of Tilarack’s Tower (Kordock)
Levels 15-20
Options
Evolve Dungeon
(6 Evolutions Available)
Increase Level Range (Selected)
Decrease Level Range
Add Monster Type (Mimic) (Selected)
Remove Monster Type (Imp)
Remove Monster Type (Wooden Construct)
Add Boss (Mimic Queen) (Selected)
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Remove Boss (Xikos and Rixas)
Remove Boss (Giant Construct #3) (Selected)
Remove Boss (Rukan, the Tower Thief) (Selected)
Add Challenge (Room of the Poltergeist) (no longer available)
Destroy Dungeon Core
(Note: This action cannot be reversed!)
(Note: This action breaks your word!)
Rewards for successful clear will be increased. Dungeon will close and all parties within will be returned to the nearest safety zone
Reclaim Dungeon Core
Rewards: Tower Dungeon Core
Other rewards revoked.
Dungeon will close and all parties within will be returned to the nearest safety zone. The tower will be contained within the core and relocated entirely.
(Note: This action will draw the attention of locals at both the present location and the location where the new dungeon is created.)
I was surprised that some of the options which, I thought, would make the dungeon easier to clear had been selected. I promptly unselected choices to remove the Giant Construct and Rukan, the tower thief. I didn’t see how removing bosses would make the dungeon more difficult . This left me with two free possible evolutions. However, the goal was to make this dungeon as difficult as possible, and none of the other options seemed likely to do that. I considered for a moment, and then tried to select [Increase Level Range] again. It seemed to work; an asterisk was added to the (selected) option each time.
I confirmed my selection, and a new popup appeared.
Tilarack’s Tower (Kordock) has been cleared!
Calculating Rewards
Kill Percentage
100%
Time
2 hours 18 minutes (.33 RT)
Xikos and Rixas
Killed
Mimic Queen
Killed
Room of the Poltergheist
Cleared Successfully (Negotiation)
Rating
A+
Your interests align with the dungeon core: you did not face the dungeon at the highest difficulty. Standard rewards for first clear issued.
All Party members
Gold
8,235
Experience
18,000
Haunted Lamp (vanity pet)
1
Additional Rewards (Hail Jeoran)
Dungeon Daughter Core
3
Haunted Lamp
45
The Memory Construct of Alis Tilarack #1
1
As usual, I earned more rewards than everyone else, including three new Dungeon Cores and a bunch of vanity pets. This brought my total number of dungeon cores back up to 93. While the others discussed their sudden windfall of levels, as eighteen thousand experience on top of what they had gained clearing the trash was enough to bring them all up four levels compared to when they had started the dungeon, I took out the ledger I was using to keep track of my cores.
In total, I had earned one hundred eleven cores, starting from when I had assisted my father and his raid clear [Zhesa Castle Raid]. One hundred from the raid, eight from clearing [Mikal Mine], and now three from [Tilarack’s Tower]. I had spent twenty-three cores on various goals and projects, almost all of them had come from Zhesa Castle. Unless I found a reliable way of farming dungeon cores, I would quickly run out if I continued to use them at the pace that I had been.
“So then, I know you guys will be tempted to post videos or something on the forums about what just happened, but I hope you don’t,” I told them. “Because I want to bust more dungeons with you like we just did, but I won’t party with anyone who snitches about my secret identity.”
That seemed to throw a bucket of cold water on Azarath, who had been looking forward to being famous for sharing what he’d learned about me. Lyle was practical about it, and asked me for an actual list of what we were allowed to share and what we weren’t. I had to think about it for a while; I didn’t want them to have to sign the NDA that Tarisha had most of the people who came into contact with me sign. I thought through the terms of that document and listed a few of the ones that I agreed with strongly, leaving out the majority of the terms.
The entire party agreed to the terms, but it was just a verbal agreement among friends.
At least, I hope they considered me a friend.