Jungle Rocks Dungeon, foot of Mount Gursway, 18th day of Sol, 1661
“Now, Aunt Bessy, I have asked you not to call me that.”
Aunt Bess laughed. Turning to Jessica’s crystal, she said, “So, you finally got the nerve to call me ‘Bessy’. Good, my mission is complete. I just wanted to make sure that you would stand up for yourself, darling.”
“Is that the reason Mum keeps calling me that?”
“Nah, she’s the Queen of three quarters of this continent and she just has always preferred ‘Jess’.”
Jessica sighed.
“Jessica says, ‘Welcome to my Dungeon’.”
“Can I give you a hug, Jessica.?”
Jessica agreed.
Aunt Bess came up to her crystal and hugged her. Giving her a kiss on the tip, she said. “Love you, darling. As you’re now a dungeon, please just call me ‘Bess’. When I heard the three of you had been taken, I wanted to denude a few Baronies of at least their leadership, if not all of their population, but your Mum found so many false plots, that there was a bit of confusion about who were really behind things. I wanted to do them all, just on principle, but your Mum asked me not to. Yet. Anyway, she asked me to interview the three of you and see what I could find. I’ll add this slimeball to the list and do him first.”
Aunt Bess pulled her glove off her left hand and put her hand on the Mage’s forehead. The Mage started screaming after a moment, so Aunt Bess casually got one of her many knives out and cut out the Mage’s voice box. “There, much quieter.”
A minute later, Aunt Bess stood up and said, “Interesting”. You might as well finish him off and get the points. Do you need me to drag him down the passageway a little?”
Fancy said, “If you drag him at least twenty metres, Jessica will be able to deal with him.”
“Good. Got some millipedes or centipedes?”
“Yes, both,” answered Jessica.
“Great, turns out his scared of the cute little buggers. Instruct them to leave the head alone until last and let them have some fun. The magic ring he’s still wearing will continue to keep him alive through it all.”
Jessica paused for a moment and thought about how she felt about that. She realised that her Dungeon Self was fine with the request, but her ‘old’ self wasn’t. Thinking more, she realised that Bess would be doing this partly for her benefit. This Mage had tried to kidnap her, probably to give her to someone who’d wipe her mind and then control her forever. Jessica reasoned that whoever was doing this probably intended to hold the three of them as collateral to stop the Kingdom from doing anything. This pointed to the three of them becoming 'factory' dungeons, churning out goods for whatever kingdom controlled them. Her continued safety, and that of her siblings, would depend on her being a bit ruthless. These had to be made an example of. Jessica had to harden her heart and just do it.
“Fancy, is it OK if we build like a memorial wall somewhere? Immortalise how stupid it is to attack a Dungeon?”
Fancy’s eyes widened as she realised what Jessica was suggesting. She fluttered across to Jessica’s core, laid a hand on her and said, “Are you sure?”
Jessica replied, “Yes. It has to be. I would do anything to protect Sara and Monty. I’m not going to gloat over the wall, in fact I don’t really intend to look at it after I make it, but it’s a bit like gibbets outside of a town. Empty gibbets don’t teach lessons, you have to have the full ones.”
“OK, if you’re sure, yes, we can immortalise the three of them and, yes, it would help to discourage dungeon robbers. The equip room at the start of your Dungeon would be the best place. Actually, some dungeons have a hero wall in that room too, for all of the Delvers who die in their Dungeon.”
“Isn’t it more like a list of people who did a big whoopsie while in an active Dungeon?”
Fancy giggled. “Technically, yes, it is a list of people who did a big whoopsie while in an active Dungeon. But it’s a nice undertaking for the Dungeon to recognise those that helped the Dungeon grow.”
"Let's make plans, but hold off the decision until we have our first 'volunteer'.
Bess dragged the still conscious Mage down the corridor and dumped him. She chopped off a finger of his, with an ornate golden ring on it. She pierced his nose and put the ring through the hole. “There you are, it’s important that you don’t die too quickly. Here are some friends to keep you company.” A hoard of Centipedes and Millipedes had spawned in the shaft and now skittled along until they reached the Mage. All were quite small for a dungeon, about the size of a ferret. Starting at the extremities, they began to nibble.
Returning to the Core room, Bess said, “So, run me through everything you remember.”
Fancy interrupted, saying, “Sorry for interrupting, Bess, Jessica, can you start regenerating your Dungeon in case we get some real visitors? It’s just housekeeping that she needs to start automatically doing.”
“Sure. Umm, is there urgency? I think it’ll take a while as I’ll have to gather mana a few times to complete this. I could use Mana from the harvests, but I’ve been trying to keep that for a rainy day. Yes, I know that this is a Jungle, so most days are rainy.”
Fancy giggled. “That’s fine, just start from the beginning as even if you have another group turn up, you will usually be able to re-generate the dungeon ahead of a normal party. Let me know when you finished regenerating – remember to return those things we changed back to normal. I’ll show you how to start your Dungeon Instances once you’ve finished.”
Bess said, “You’ve got instances already? How many?”
Jessica answered, “I’ve got three instances.”
“Ah, level 5! Well done, Jessica.”
Jessica said, “Ahh, Bess? If I make you a room, scrub that, a mansion, would you move in whenever you weren’t busy? I could make a really nice training dungeon, just for you?”
Fancy was confused, so asked Jessica *What is happening?*
*Look at my status.*
Fancy examined Jessica’s status, but didn’t see anything unusual, until she noticed the recharge rate from Delvers. Allowing for the dying Mage, the current rate would mean that Bess was in the mid-forties level range.
Fancy glanced across at Bess, with a lot of worry on her face.
Bess sighed. “Please don’t treat me any differently, just because I’m level 45. I’m still your Aunt Bess, Jessica, and I would love to remain friends with you, and become your friend, Fancy.”
Fancy gave herself a shake and said, “I’ll try.
Jessica’s core turned a little pink, then flashed bright pink.
“Ah, that mage finally died?”
“Jessica said, ‘Yes’.”
“Speaking of kissing, did you enjoy your kiss with Bobby?”
Jessica turned pink, again.
Fancy said, “Bobby?”
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
“Yes, Jessica and Lord Robert Lionpaw, Bobby to his friends, were noted getting a bit ‘friendly’ at the last party at the Palace. Jessica got her first kiss.”
Fancy giggled, “So you know that a Delver dying inside a dungeon gives the Dungeon a feeling that’s supposed to be similar to a kiss?”
“Yes, well, we should obviously ask the expert. Come on, give up the gos, Jessica…”
Jessica’s crystal turned a brighter and brighter pink. She finally said, “Look, I’m no expert, right? I’ve only ever been kissed by the one boy, and I admit that I liked it. I’ve also only had three Delvers dying inside me. Yes, they are similar, but not as intense or nice as the real thing, OK? I can see why it’s talked about in that way, but come on, it IS someone dying.”
Bess smirked and said, “I noted you said, that you had ‘only ever been kissed by the one boy’. So, that means there was a whole line of girls?”
“No!” Jessica continued in a mumble, “A couple of the ladies in waiting and I did practice a couple of times, just so I knew what to do, but nothing serious.”
Bess smirked and said, “It will be a bit better for you, once you get to level 10.”
“Um, why?”
Fancy answered Jessica. “When you reach level 10, you pick up life magic and the dungeon skill to allow you to give Delvers the option of Regeneration. You basically get to strip them of their last full level and take those points for yourself in return for regenerating the Delver. The feeling is supposed to be more…intense.”
“That’s a lot of Dungeon Points.”
“Well, it’s not one for one and it is the third most likely time for a Dungeon to be culled.”
“Culled?”
“A dungeon that is branded as ‘dangerous’ will be purposely hunted by the various Adventurer and Delver guilds and destroyed. You’re past the most common spot, when a dungeon is first formed. You’re fine, as your dungeon is balanced, reasonable and not killing everyone who enters.”
Bess interrupted, “Well, I don’t know. So far, she’ll killed every single Delver that’s entered her, except for me, of course.”
Fancy looked at Bess for a minute, then burst out laughing and continued, “Well, I suppose that’s true. The second most likely time is when the dungeon introduces Instances. If it’s done incorrectly, it can lead to mental imbalance. Don’t worry about that, I know what I’m doing.”
“As to the introduction of Regeneration, some dungeons just turn too greedy. The intoxicating flow of power from Delvers will turn some dungeons into killing machines, but worse. They basically capture Delvers and torture them, stripping a level, then regenerating, then repeating this level after level until they finally dispose of the empty husk of a person. I don’t expect that from you. Anyway, start your dungeon respawning.”
“OK, the respawn is underway.”
“Bess, you had some questions for Fancy?”
“Why don’t you call Jessica’s Mum before we start, so she knows everything is OK? Might be better for the Kingdom if she calms down. Then quickly pop over to Monty and Sara and let them know. Then we can chat.”
Fancy agreed, did a quick call the Queen Camilla and then disappeared with a pop.
“Now that she’s out of the way, Jessica, are you happy with Fancy?”
‘Umm, yes?”
“Is there anything you need me to do that you don’t want Fancy to know about?”
“Umm, no?”
“Great. Just wanted to check.”
Bess filled in the time with Jessica sharing some of the gossip from Court. She was just finishing up a story about the Duchess Antrino and her very public wardrobe malfunction, when Fancy returned.
Bess asked, “All OK?”
“Yes, all is fine. I think that both are taking personal security more seriously now. Oh, Jessica, Monty’s got a new Assistant. Master Brian’s replaced Bartholomew with Jeremy, the Sprite I suggested. I gave them both, your mother’s contact details.”
“Excellent.”
“Fancy, I just need the contact details for the other two Dungeon Assistants, so I can easily contact them.”
Fancy had no issue with that, so gave Bess the information.
“Thanks, now Jessica, can you start by walking me completely through the whole day before you were kidnapped, then the day of your kidnap and up until you woke up here?”
Nearly four hours later, Jessica felt for the first time since becoming a dungeon, mentally exhausted. She was impressed by how much information Bess had been able to pull out of her. Jessica hadn’t realised that she’d seen and noticed everything that she had, until Bess had finished questioning her.
“You’re Mum asked me to note down your current statistics, if you didn’t mind, Jessica?”
“I’m a bit concerned after Mum had admitted that they have to have at least one spy there.”
“I understand, but I will say that, now your Mum knows, this information will not be widely dissipated.”
*What do you think, Fancy?*
*It should be OK. These people seem to have your best interests at heart, and the assistance that you can get will be priceless. Plus, this information really isn’t that confidential at this stage. If we’re about to be Surveyed, then most of this will be on the public record within a couple of weeks.*
“OK. Here’s the stats.”
Jessica Fortier (Basic Status)
Dungeon Name:
Jungle Rocks
Mana Recharge per min:
Alignment:
0
Base/Current Recharge:
110/271
Level:
6
Recharge from rooms:
12
Used/Current DP:
2500/3061
Recharge from creatures:
139
DP Points Next Level:
4500
Instances
3
Mana:
99/1686
Extras from harvests:
20439
Jessica Fortier (Dungeon Status)
Dungeon Radius (km)
7.0
Dungeon rooms:
12
Max Radius: (km)
12
Current Delvers DP/Hour
7.5
Dungeon Area: (sq km)
149.57
DP’s per month
50
Dungeon Influence: (sq km)
153.94
Maximum Dungeon Level
3
Skills:
BDO 2, Instances, Teleport Gates,
Magics:
Dark, Fire#, Illusion, Light, Space
(Magics marked with a # will operate for 5% less mana)
(Magics marked with a % will operate for 5% more mana)
“Great. I’ll come back after I’ve talked to Monty and Sara and do a run through of your Dungeon, if that’s OK? Oh, I’m going to camp out in the area until the troops your parents sent arrive. One more thing, Jessica, your Mum put a request into the Surnae Adventurer’s Guild that the three Dungeons be surveyed. This will start to get your name out there.”
“Um, one condition? Can you tell me about the ten best traps you’ve ever seen.”
With a laugh, Bess said, “Sure. I’ll even give you a bonus one now. So, does your Dungeon Knowledge list the metal rubidium?”
“Yes, looks similar to silver, unstable – especially with water – not particularly strong or useful.”
“Yep. Imagine a room behind a waterfall, accessible only by a narrow ledge cut into a vertical cliff over a deep drop.”
Fancy responded, “Right.”
“So, you go through the waterfall, noting that the water is hot – not scalding, but hot - to a hidden room. The floor is sand, the room is quite hot and in the middle of the room is a glass pillar. On top of the pillar is a glass dome and under the dome is a beautiful, obviously enchanted, gleaming sword. A couple of obvious traps are in the room and to get the sword you have to break the glass dome.”
Fancy responded, “Right.” By now she was hooked and was following the story.
“The Delver breaks the glass, grabs the sword - noticing that the sword is quite chilly - and the room starts to shake, encouraging the thief to run out of the room. Quickly.
“Now, the room shaking is just that, everything else in the room is mundane, except for an enchantment that keep moisture out of the room – this stops the glass bell from getting frost on it, the glass bell keeps moisture and oxygen away from the sword, which is pure rubidium, and keeps the sword chilled to stop it melting. The glowing is indeed the sword’s enchantment – which is to glow. That’s it, just glow. The thief exits the room, splashing through the waterfall. The water does two things. Firstly, the heat starts to melt the sword and secondly, the water reacts violently with the sword, creating explosions. The Delver is blown off the ledge, and down to their doom!”
“The Dungeon Information lists a few different metals that react the same way here.”
“Yes, you’ll have to experiment and decide which ones you want to use. They melt at different temperatures, and each reacts a little differently to water. Rubidium isn’t toxic, or anything, so it’s a good one to use.”
Jessica said, “See you Bess, and thanks for all your help, from both of us.”
With a pop, Bess disappeared.
Jessica said, “Did she just teleport out of our Dungeon?”
“Can you detect her outside?”
“Um, yeh. She’s on our northern border.”
“Then, yes, she teleported out of our Dungeon. You’ve expanded to seven kilometres, haven’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Finished respawning your Dungeon?”
“Not quite. I’m letting my mana increase for another half hour or so, then I can finish off respawning the trap outside of my Core room. Should I set up an automated procedure for this to happen once the party leaves a dungeon?”
“Not yet. You should be able to set a reminder for the moment but wait until you have instances running before automating that area of Dungeon maintenance. Right, I’ll go and set some markers to help with the three of you finding each other. You should see a set of bright spots start to appear along your northern border. Let your mana recharge completely, we'll need the mana for activating your instances.”
“Thanks, Fancy. Oh, Fancy? You’re looking a bit taller than you use to.”
Fancy disappeared with a pop. Fortunately, with her skin colouring, you didn’t notice the blush. Much.