Jungle Rocks Dungeon, foot of Mount Gursway, 18th day of Sol, 1661
Reappearing in the Jungle, north of Jessica’s Dungeon, Fancy began to bury a series of small crystals along the edge of Jessica’s domain. She started just west of a line to Monty’s dungeon and continued around the edge until just east of the line to Sara’s dungeon. Once they had expanded to within a kilometre of each other, they’d be able to see the line. Once Jeremy and Mandy, did the same for their Dungeons, the three will be able to butt heads. That will be interesting. Will they just share everything, or will they barter? Fancy could see it going either (or both) ways.
Fancy detected something approaching her. She spun and went invisible.
“Hey, Fancy, it’s Bess. So, this will be the edge of Jessica’s Dungeon?”
Fancy felt a little uncomfortable talking to Bess without Jessica. After a moment’s thought, she realised that it should be OK.
“Well, the three dungeons form a triangle, with each side about 15 kilometres long. This is seven kilometres from Jessica, so each Dungeon Assistant will do the same and then we can use these lines to coach the dungeons into connecting.”
“It will probably cause issues for the town that’s going to be built here if the dungeons go right up to each other. Can I do a sketch of what I’m thinking?”
“Sure, but maybe I should go and get the other two assistants?”
“Just before you do, I know this will make you feel awkward, but I want to ask you a question. As Jessica’s Aunt, I wanted to know how you think she’s going. Any problems that you’re concerned about?”
Fancy froze. This was making her feel very ‘wrong’. She felt like she would be betraying Jessica by answering this question. She thought about it and realised that she could honestly answer the question with ‘no’, and that felt all right to her.”
“I feel uncomfortable answering, but I’m OK with saying that I honestly do not have any concerns, perhaps except for what the three Dungeons are going to get up to.”
Bess laughed. “Even their Mum feels the same. If the other two Assistants are available, then it would be great to get this sketched out.”
A couple of minutes later, the three Assistants appeared back where Bess was.
Fancy introduced the Assistants to Bess.
“Bess, this is Mercy, Sara’s Assistant. Mercy, this is Sara’s Aunt Bess, sent here by her Mum. Bess, this is Jeremy, Monty’s Assistant. Jeremy, this is Monty’s Aunt Bess, sent here by his Mum.
Bess was interested to see all three main Dungeon Assistant species represented. Fancy was a Fairy, Jeremy a sprite and Mercy a Pixie. Hmm, maybe Jessicaville would be a good place for both various Adventurer Guild reginal offices and the Dungeon Assistants regional office.
Bess had cleared an area of ground and drawn a map in the dirt of the intersecting area. A large curve to the south was Jessica, one to the north-west was Monty and the one to the north-east was Sara.
Bess had drawn intersecting lines to rough out the area. “I was assuming a small, central chamber for the three dungeons to meet?”
The Assistants looked at each other and laughed.
Jeremy said, “Well, that would make partying for us three easier, but I don’t think Monty would think that it is ideal.”
Fancy said, “What were you thinking of using the space for, Bess?”
“I was assuming the dungeons would trade. Plus, I was hoping we could set the town up to use the dungeons to dispose of all waste and rubbish. To ensure peaceful relationships, I was hoping there was some way of splitting everything equally.”
Mercy fluttered up to the map. Looking around, she spotted a stick and used it to modify the map.
“I would be really shocked if Sara, Jessica and Monty wanted to trade as a group. I would suspect that trades will be done on a one-on-one basis. So, I would expect that there will be two tunnels from each dungeon, one to each of the others.
“I think we insist on the central hub but be open about it being so we can socialise.”
She added two lines from each dungeon to the other two Dungeons. One either side of the passageway that Bess had drawn. It now looked like a three-sided pyramid between the three circles.
With growing excitement, Jeremy added, “If we get them to make the dome at least a hundred metres across, we could use it for regional dances.”
This got both of the girls excited as well.
Mercy was hopping up and down with excitement, “And with three dungeons sharing the cost, we could have then quite regularly.”
Fancy turned to Bess and said, “Bess, how do you see the Town sitting here, and how big do you expect it to be?”
“As I’m sure you know, with the town backed by the Sonae Kingdom, and being built to help the ruler’s three eldest children, it’s probably going to be bigger, rather than smaller than usual. But I suspect you would have a better idea than me. I would comment that it’s being bandied around to use this Dungeon as one of the prime training sites for the Kingdom’s army.”
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Fancy looked at both Jeremy and Mercy and whistled. “That would change things. Bess, do you have some parchment on you, or do you want me to pop back to Jessica to get something?”
Bess shook her head and pulled out a sketchpad and charcoal sticks from her dimensional bag.
“I’d suggest that the best place for the town is going to be to the north, in the natural valley between the two Dungeons.”
“Jessica had already spotted that valley and thought the same.”
Bess was impressed by Jessica’s maturity. Being honest, she expected to have more of an issue getting the three Dungeons to cooperate. “Hmm. Being honest.”, Bess thought.
“Just in the name of honesty, The King and Queen have started thinking whether this would be a good location to encourage the various Dungeon guilds to set up their regional headquarters. I was thinking it also might be good for a regional office of the Assistants Guild as well.”
The three assistants looked at each other. This was both a huge risk and a huge opportunity. Risk because of the increased scrutiny and opportunity because their dungeons would have real political power in a few years.
Bess finished sketching out the basic shapes. The three Dungeons were represented by circles of their influence. The central hall was added, with a path from each of the Dungeons to it. In addition, two other tunnels were added between each Dungeon for the Dungeons to trade. Lastly, a wedge shape area was filled in between each dungeon to represent ‘neutral territory’.
Sketch of area between the three dungeons [https://images2.imgbox.com/5f/5a/wliC20Um_o.jpg]
“I’d expect the Kingdom to take this wedge to the north, which fairly closely mimics the valley in the side of the mountain. The area to the south-east, I’d expect the Empire to want to develop, as this area is about the closest part of the continent to their continent, Sandos.”
Jeremy asked, “Do you expect the Empire of the Moon to build much of a town?”
Bess thought for a moment, then answered, “Not initially, no. Medium term is when I expect things to pick up with them. They tend to be a bit slow off the mark but can put a lot of resources behind their efforts once they decide their direction is worthwhile.”
“The last area we were expecting the tribes of the south to use as their camping grounds.”
Jeremy said, “So, will it make sense for our Dungeons to move their entrances to this area, so all three are close to the town?”
Mercy and Fancy looked at each other, eyes wide.
Bess said, “Is that even possible?”
Jeremy answered, “Technically yes. Once we all get teleport gates, it’s even easy. By Dungeon tradition, it’s normally not recommended.”
Mercy laughed, “Try, ‘make the stuffed shirts run around in circles waving their arms while screaming’, not recommended.”
Fancy continued, “But in this case, it just might work. It would certainly allow us to have better security.”
Jeremy said, “Build fortress walls a hundred metres or so from the edge of our area and allow the town to connect to them. The only problem is, which side is the outside? Do we need to protect the Dungeons from the town or the wilds?”
Fancy and Mercy answered together, “The Town.”
Jeremy examined the large map etched into the ground for a minute, then said, “OK, what if we get our Dungeons to build a standard castle wall along the border, well, a hundred and fifty metres in from the edge, in a big curve. Install a nice set of gates at the point closest to the middle and a second wall around the back of the new entrance. Sort of like a squashed grape.” Looking at Bess, he asked, “Should this wall extend to the end of the town area?”
“The town would appreciate that. Would it be guarded by the Dungeon or the Town?”
Mercy said, “I expect the Dungeons will prefer if they do it themselves.”
Jeremy fluttered over the map and pointed at the junction point between the end of the Town area and the Dungeon area. “So, a redoubt at the junction, another where the inner and outer walls will meet, towers and gatehouses with curtain walls between. The dungeons can spawn the defenders straight to the guard locations. We just need to set the height of the redoubts so they’re all the same. I’m going to assume that the town will use wooden palisades to start with and the replace them with stone as required?”
Bess sketched the changes into the paper map in front of her and then said, “I’ve got the authority to agree to that.”
Mercy added in, “We’ll need to borrow an arbalest at some point, as I don’t think we’ll have the plans for that.”
“Monty might have one in his memory. Do you want him to whip up a set of plans for the other two?”
With a laugh, Fancy said “No.” She looked around and came to a decision. “The mental changes involved with becoming a dungeon will make them at least mildly more competitive. They will all be fighting part of their new nature to do this sort of cooperative thing, so it’s part of our job to…dampen down…the natural friction. We must be careful to never offer something from one Dungeon to another. We can suggest that to our Dungeon, but it has to be their choice.”
Mercy added, “Yes. I also agree with Jeremy, that we need to set in place both the location and height of the ends of our fortifications to allow for integration by the town. So, four-metre-tall curtain wall, stretching out, what, ten metres from the corner redoubt, in stone and finishing with a right-angle buttress?”
Both Fancy and Jeremy answered, “I’m fine with that.”
Jeremy added, “Monty is proving, so far, to break just about every norm of dungeon design, so I’m sure his above ground fortifications will look nothing like ‘normal’ ones, so it’s important to standardise where things will join. So that will be an opening between the dungeon walls of a thousand metres, plus two hundred, less 20, so 1,180 metres. Will this be big enough for the town?”
“Yes. I’m expecting the main town to be fine, as that valley into the side of the mountain runs for more than six kilometres, and has nice, steep walls, that should work out well. Both the Empire and the local tribes will be able to seal-off whatever amount of area they want. For the Empire, I’d expect a small, permanent settlement, plus a few legions rotating through from time to time. For the locals, some of the close villages will add the area to their normal, yearly migration route. They may even start holding their conclave here in a couple of years.”
“So, regular ablution houses every, thousand metres along the wall? Add a refuse pit next to them?”
Bess looked a bit confused. “All that would be nice, but I don’t want the town to be a strain on the dungeons. Wait! This will all be on dungeon grounds. You’ll be harvesting Dungeon Points from everyone using the facilities, won’t you?”
“To quote Jessica, ‘Would I, a pure, innocent twelve-year-old do that?’.”
Bess snorted and the other two Assistants laughed outright. “Yeh, every thousand metres would be wonderful.”
Fancy looked across the map and said, “As for organised refuse from the town, that’s going to be harder. I think, the way things are laid out, Jessica’s going to be at a disadvantage so far. While Sara and Monty will have the harder time of it, building the wall in the mountains, I’d expect that with the ablution houses and refuse pits in the town, the biggest share of spoils is going to go to those two dungeons.” Fancy looked around and got nods of agreements from the other two Assistants. “Maybe the run-off from the town and any collection services goes straight across to Jessica’s Dungeon for the moment, and we let the Dungeons fight it out in twelve months or so, once things start to settle down.”
Bess kept quiet while the Assistants argued out the final details. This was a ridiculously strife-free set of negotiations for Dungeons. Actually, it was very strife-free even for negotiations between any of the intelligent races.
Except sloth-people. They were always laid-back.