Jungle Rocks Dungeon, foot of Mount Gursway, 20th day of Sol, 1661

The three ladies appeared in the cave, before the first dungeon room. Looking at the veil of water and the lit room beyond, Marisol extinguished the little dancing light that she had conjured just behind her shoulder.

Marta looked at Marisol with an obvious question on her face.

“I want to see what Jessica’s done with the lighting.”

Marta nodded and looked at Bess. “Will we give honour to the Dungeon?”

Bess and Marisol looked at each other and nodded.

The three of them lined up and beat their chests with their fist and repeated, “We honour the Dungeon!”

“Ready? Speed run?”

Bess’s grin was all the answer she needed. Marta loosened the club in its holder and broke into a trot, passing through the curtain of water.

Bess indicated to Marisol to go next, and she followed as rearguard.

The three quickly discovered the Goblins and just as quickly dispatched them all.

Looking at the mushroom forest and then each other, Bess said, “Yes, we should harvest anything that we see as useful. It’ll help Jessica get a better feel for required mana levels to renew an instance.”

Marisol said, “Plus, I see some of my favourite mushrooms here, and I do enjoy cooking a meal when I have the time.”

It took the three of them less than a quarter hour to harvest nearly every mushroom that was there. The only ones left were a couple of varieties that, while edible, just weren’t nice to eat.

The giant spiders in the next room were also quickly dispatched.

The three of them got halfway through the third room, just in front of the next mushroom forest when Bess said, “Now that’s a nice touch.”

Marisol and Marta looked again at the forest and then spotted the mushroom warriors hiding.

Marta said, “So, relax the Delvers by having the first forest unguarded, then put the mushroom warriors in amongst this forest to catch them unawares. I bet most low-grade teams will have split up to harvest and any guards will be back here, outside the forest.”

“Yep.” Again, Bess patted the ground and continued, “Well done!”

Another quarter hour and this forest was harvested as well.

At the back of the forest was a short cave with a sign at the back, “Reserved for future expansion”.

Bess said, “Why here?”

Marisol replied, “Multiple paths?”

Bess shrugged, and said, “We’ll find out eventually. Shame Jessica’s no longer ticklish. I used to be able to get most of her secrets through tickling.

Jessica’s crystal went slightly pink at this revelation.

Fancy hid a smirk.

Arriving in the fourth room, the three quickly spotted the dangling threads.

Marisol asked, “What are these?”

Bess said, “No idea.”

As she was able to see into the infra-red, Bess said, “But they seem to be attached to a monster on the ceiling. About a metre long.”

Marta said, “Bess, can you put a couple of daggers into the monster? Call out as you throw them. I think I know what these are.”

Bess shrugged, said, “Knives away” and threw two of her throwing knives.

Marta grabbed the thread in a spot with no glistening drops and gave a violent tug. The dead monster fell with a crash.

Still holding the thread, Marta said, “Thought so. There’s a tiny insect found deep in caves around here. They build a silken nest on the ceiling and then let down threads. The threads have drops of a glue and a poison on them. Another insect blunders into the thread, gets stuck and poisoned and the insect reals their prey in and sucks them dry.”

Bess, examining the thread, said, “So the slightly greenish drops are the poison, and the slightly grey looking drops are a contact adhesive? Also, the thread looks really strong.”

She got out two sample jars and quickly filled one up with the venom and the other with the glue. Wrapping some of the thread around a rock, she slipped it into a bag which she added to her spatial bag.

Meanwhile, Marisol was examining the monster. She pulled out a little magical stove, put a flat grill plate on top and turned it on.

Cutting out some of the meat, she put some butter, salt, pepper and squeezed in some lemon juice. She crushed some cloves of garlic and added them into the sauce. She dipped the pieces in the mixture and threw it on the grill. She put some diced mushrooms from the previous rooms on the grill as well, pouring some of the lemon butter mixture on it. A minute or two later, she flipped it and poured a little more butter mixture over the top and finished cooking it. After it was cooked, she took it off the grill and put it on a plate. She let it cool, then nibbled on the cooked monster.

“Oh, Gods!”

She waved Bess and Marta over and got them to try it as well.

A half-hour later, they reluctantly put everything away.

In a veritable frenzy of killing, the three harvested every Dungeon Fisher in the room and moved on.

Marisol said, “I’m putting a request in at the Adventure’s Guild when it’s running for any and all Dungeon Fisher carcases. I know what I’ll be eating for the next few months.”

Bess walked up to hidden door and, after a moment, had it open. Looking into the next room, she motioned for the others to stay behind her.

“Pit trap.” Pulling out a three-metre pole from her storage, she tapped it a few times until she got it to trigger. “OK, three-metre-deep pit with sharpened stakes. We haven’t seen anything other than pit traps yet, have we?”

“Now, Bess. This is the first level of the Dungeon. You know she has to keep it simple.”

Bess mumbled a “Maybe”, as she walked off.

The three of them turned the next corner and stopped.

Marta said, “Beautiful!”

The large cavern sparkled with limestone cave formations. Columns, stalactites, stalagmites, flowstones, straws, and more, made a winter wonderland.

In the mid-point of the cavern, a wild-looking ‘natural’ chandelier hung with the constant drip of water from it to a medium sized pool directly below it.

Spotting the giant frogs, Marisol shouted, “My turn!” and jumped into the pool.

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Giant frogs started to leave the water in a perfect arc to land, dead, at Bess and Marta’s feet. Shortly after, Marisol walked out of the pool. A shimmer of magic and she stood there, clean, and dry.

A quick check proved that there wasn’t anything worth harvesting, so Marta just looted the frogs.

They left the pool and started walking towards the exit, walking alongside a series of rimstone pools.

The next room was quite similar, except populated by giant millipedes.

Most disturbingly, Bess kept saying, “Who’s a cute, little, millipede” as she sliced their heads off.

Bess said, “Just loot one and make sure that a vial of venom drops.”

Marta looted one and confirmed that a vial of poison was in the drop.

Bess continued, “Fine, that’s the only thing worthwhile. The shell from larger ones can be used to make armour but shells this small aren’t thick enough.”

The kobolds in the next room were killed and looted. Bess walked over to the hidden door and paused. “There’s a secret door here, do we spring it now or later?”

Marta said, “Let’s check the next room and if things go any further, we’ll come back here first.”

Marisol and Bess nodded in agreement.

Going into the next room, they found no treasure or monsters. Searching the tunnel opposite the entrance, they found a pit trap and another sign, “Reserved for future expansion”.

Going back through the room, Bess knelt and touched the Floor. “Jessica, just a comment that some parties might be annoyed that the only thing in the room is a trap that’s sort of out of the room.”

As they exited the room, they saw Fancy sitting on a pillar of rock.

“Enjoying the Dungeon so far?”

Marta said, “Yes. It will be good for the younger ones and is filled with wonder. I might just stay in the area to try the new levels out as they are completed. Those cave fisher things were absolutely delicious.”

Marisol said, “Gorgeous, and a good, smart layout.”

Bess, pointing to Marta and Marisol, said, “I agree, but I bet the two of them change their tune when they reach the last two rooms.”

“Well, you’re ahead of the Evaluation Team by a fair margin, but since you’re not sketching and doing notes it’s to be expected. Jessica asks that you have another quick look at the last room and see if you think it’s better. We both missed what you pointed out and the automatic checks missed it because of the pit trap. See you soon.”

The three went back into the previous room and everything looked the same.

A quick search for hidden items showed a concealed stone flap that opened to reveal a small, wooden chest. Checking it for traps, they laughed.

“Jessica’s a smart girl. Opening the chest doesn’t trip anything, but removing the chest from its little hole triggers a poisoned needle trap.”

Marta and Marisol nodded in agreement.

“There’s a second little something over here. This is a lot better concealed.”

The three of them inspected a concealed panel on the wall opposite and, when ready, flipped it open. Laying on the rock shelf behind the panel were three silver coins. Behind the coins, on the wall, were three slots, each about the same size as a coin. Above the first was an image of a cup full of some sort of food. Above the second was a cup filled with some kind of fluid, and above the third was a water skin.

Shrugging, Bess picked up one of the coins and examined it. “Seems like a normal dungeon coin. Give it a try?”

The others nodded.

She put the coin into the first slot and a side panel opened, revealing a tankard, filled to overflowing with popped corn kernels. With no signs of traps, she grabbed the tankard and tried one of the kernels.

“Oh, Gods, she’s nailed it. It’s even still warm.”

The other two tried it. “Good.”

Bess nodded towards the panel.

Marisol took a silver coin out of her coin purse and put it in the second slot. Another side panel opened, this one containing a tankard full of a slightly yellow liquid. Marisol checked for traps, then took the tankard and gave it an appreciative sniff. “Brewed lemonade.”

Marisol sipped and said, “Mmm, chilled.”

It too got passed around.

Marta went up next and took the last coins and put one into the last slot. A final panel opened, revealing a high-quality water skin. Marta examined it, opened the stopper, and allowed a drop to touch her tongue. “Good quality, fresh water, certainly worth a silver piece.”

Bess pulled another silver piece out of her coin purse and dropped it into the drink slot.

Nothing happened, except the coin disappearing. Bess snorted and said, “Good one, Jessica, I approve.”

They turned and exited the room again.

Going over to the secret door, they quickly opened it and proceeded through.

After spending a few minutes searching, the room seemed empty.

Bess closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them, pointing to the pool. “There’s something hidden at the bottom of the pool.”

She walked into the pool, searched around in the middle and came up with a small, wooden chest. Walking out of the water, she shook, and all the water flew off her.

Marisol gave Bess a dirty look, then cast her clean spell on herself again, having caught a fair bit of the splash.

Marta just looked smug, as her clothes had simply repelled the water.

Bess checked the chest for traps and then opened it. “Twelve copper and one silver coin, a good haul for a level 1 dungeon.”

The others nodded.

Walking into the next room, Bess spotted a single, copper coin, on the ground to the right of the path. “Now, why are you just sitting there, little coin?”

Not getting too close, Bess examined the coin. “No traps, but there’s something off. My danger sense is not happy.”

Marty said, “Look directly above the coin.”

“So, a stalactite. Something trips and the stalactite drops?”

“No, it’s not a stalactite. If you look carefully, there are small heat signatures on it. Move and I will show you.”

Bess backed away and Marty unslung her huge club.

She stepped forward to where the coin was and got ready to use her club.

The stalactite monster dropped and was met with the club. There was a sickening ‘crunch’ and the now deformed monster collapsed to the side.

“Haven’t seen these in years. You can dissect them and collect the eyes. They can be used in some potions, but it’s just not worth the time and effort.”

With a grin, Marta said, “I’ll take the lead.”

Over the next ten minutes, Marta used her club to demolish each of the monsters. There were some larger ones, which you could tell by the bronze coin on the ground instead of a copper one.

All that was now left was one, last, silver coin.

Marta hesitated, not sure if she would hurt herself with this one. “The bronze-coin ones were doable, but I’m not sure about this one. It looks to be three or four times the size.”

Bess said, “Well what if I trigger it, then step away. If you look to be struggling, we’ll help.”

The three of them stood in a ring around the shiny, silver coin. Bess stepped in, paused, then stepped out.

The huge stalactite monster landed just where they expected. Marta had to hit the thing twice before it was dead.

Marta said, “That was fun.”

The three women stood at the entrance to the second last room.

Marisol looked across the room filled with mud, swamp, slime and stench and said, “No. Not going to happen.”

“Going to pay the penalty, then?”

“Yes, Bess, I’m happily going to pay the penalty.”

Marisol cast a spell over the room and all of the water dried up. The mud became solid, the slime dried out and the leeches died. “Wow, that was a lot of leeches.”

Bess said, “Well that just leaves the mosquitoes.”

A swarm of mosquitoes, looking a little annoyed, were flying straight for them. Marisol cast another spell and a rolling storm of heat went out from her. As it reached each mosquito, it burst into flame.

“Well, going to collect the monsters?”

Marisol looked at Bess and said, “No. It you want them, feel free to collect them.”

Bess looked at Marta and Marta said, “Sure, I’ll go halves with you.”

Bess cast a spell and a pile of monster carcases piled up in front of them.

Marisol looked a little embarrassed and said, “I forgot you could do that. But it still counts as a spell, so it goes on your tally.”

Bess shrugged.

They quickly looted the monster carcases, then walked across the now dry mud to the exit from the room.

“Seriously? Another mud room?”

Bess said, “You know in some health spas you actually have to pay to get mud on your skin?”

Marta looked sceptical.

Bess continued, “Really, it is. It’s based on two principles. Firstly, good, pure, fine clay, if left on the skin for a half hour or so, will help to clean out the skin pores, revitalising the skin and helping to maintain good skin condition. The second principle is that a fool and their money are easily separated.”

Laughing, Bess stepped of the entrance shelf and started walking across the top of the mud. She occasionally dipped one of her daggers into the mud and pulled out a leech, which she looted and continued.

Marta shrugged and dove into the mud, forcing her way through, following Bess. Bess noticed and slowed down to a pace easier for Marta.

Marisol looked out across the room and noted that there was a series of higher mounds. She summoned a fiery chariot, pulled by two fiery steeds, and trotted off straight to the first raised area.

The mosquitoes seemed to be attracted to the fiery steeds and died when they touched them. Marisol collected the dead she could and looted them as she went.

Bess picked up the few that Marisol missed and arrived to find Marisol squatting on the mound.

“It’s trapped and it’s got some treasure.”

The trap was another poisoned needle, this one in the lock itself. Inside the small chest was twelve copper coins, two bronze coins and single silver coin.

There were another five islands, two of them also had treasure. The first had a small fire trap and the second had another poisoned needle. Both had about the same amount of treasure.

“I never noticed if there were mounds in the previous room.”

Bess thought for a moment, then replied to Marisol. “Yes, I think there was. We’re slipping.”

Arriving at the last island, Bess said, “We’ll just wait here for Fancy, this is the end.”

“What’s that for, then?”

Turning around, Bess and Marisol see a large chest sitting in the middle of the island.

Marisol said, “That wasn’t there before.”

With a laugh, Marta said, “No. It rose up out of the ground while you were looking elsewhere.”

Bess said, “No traps,” and opened it.

On the inside of the lid where the standard pictograms explaining what a teleport token was and how to use it. They each reached into the chest and touched the teleport icon. An item was added to their character sheet, under the heading “Jungle Rocks Teleport Tokens”.

A pop behind them announced the arrival of Fancy.

Bess asked Marta, “Do you want to stay?”

“Sure.”

Fancy said, “I’ll just get Jessica to open a portal.”

A portal appeared next to Fancy, and the four ladies went through, after Marisol dismissed the fiery chariot that she’d been riding in.