Jungle Rocks Dungeon, foot of Mount Gursway, 20th day of Sol, 1661
Four hours earlier.
The first of the ‘normal’ Delver groups entered the vestibule, followed by the team that was to be second.
The three women ran through the gates first, hooting and hollering.
Jackson, from the Evaluation Team, asked them if they knew who the woman in tribal dress was.
“Oh, yes. That is Marta, she was recently promoted from Elder in the Cassowary tribe to one of the ruling elders in the Conclave. I think her Delving name would translate to ‘she-who-shatters-bones? Umm, do you know who she was with?”
“Yes, the black haired, dark brown eyed woman in the tight leather studded armour, with about twenty knives and daggers visible is Bess, the court assassin from the Kingdom. She’s known as ‘Shadow of Death’. The other woman, blond, fit, blue eyes, dressed in lavender mage robes, is the Kingdom’s ambassador to the Dungeons, ‘Sun Maiden’. They both use to be in the King and Queens Adventuring Team. Well, enjoy the Delve.”
The Evaluation Team entered the portal, the second gem above the portal turning red.
The next team looked at each other, gave a little shake and finished checking their equipment. They lined up and bowed towards the Dungeon.
Jessica said, “Is that rhino skin armour of Blondie?”
“Looks like it,” responded Fancy.
“Ooh, hot!”
The last of the five delvers was the shortest of all of them, but quite muscled, with very dark coloured skin.
“Is that last one an elf, dwarf half-blood?”
“Yes, she is.”
“She?” Jessica looked in more detail and realised Fancy was correct. Both male and female dwarves were very proud of their luxurious beards, but the general shape and the style of ornaments in the beard pointed to her being female. She had brown hair and leather armour with plates of something built into it. Probably blackened steel.
“She. I think she might be a scout type, but a lot more heavily armoured that that would usually indicate.”
The elf-dwarf Delver stepped forward and said, “We greet you Dungeon! We thank you for this time to challenge you. We thank you for this chance to grow! We honour the Dungeon!”
All five beat their chests with their fist and repeated, “We honour the Dungeon!”
Fancy fluttered over to her backpack and pulled out a largish book. Sitting down, she quickly leafed through it and then said, “Jessica, do you have the blueprint for a Blue Moon Orchid?”
“Yes.”
The part orc Delver stepped forward and said, “I hope we do not anger you, but our elders have charged us with delivering a message. They hope to have an opportunity to talk with you over the next few days. They wish to see if they can come to an agreement with you.”
Fancy looked back at her book then said. “Could you generate, on the first room’s lintel, a flower from the Blue Moon Orchid and, if you have it, a flower from the Fire Bromeliad?”
Jessica said, “Done.”
“Thank you. The orchid returns the honour, and the bromeliad indicates our willingness to talk, according to tribal traditions.”
“What’s the book?”
“It is a book I won while attending the Dungeon Assistance university. It runs through many of the world’s cultures with a summary of their main practices.”
“Could you put it on the ground for a moment?”
Seeing Fancy’s hesitation, Jessica continued, “I’m not going to absorb it, but I think I can read it.”
Fancy put the book on the ground, next to her.
A moment later, Jessica said, “Thanks. Yep, that did the job.”
Putting the book back into her storage bag, Fancy asked, “Out of curiosity, why had you not read it by now?”
“Firstly, it’s yours. It would be rude for me to rifle through your things. Secondly, I can’t see the contents of storage items. Which reminds me, can you sort through these storage items and pull everything out?”
A ring and two bags appeared on the ground in front of Fancy.
After checking for curses, Fancy used a drop of blood on each of the items to take control of it.
Within a couple of minutes, there was a huge pile of assorted ‘stuff’ in front of her. Checking on of the bags, Fancy said, “You have got to be kidding me! Whoever owned this bag shat in it.”
“Just empty it out on the floor and I’ll absorb it straight away.” Jessica began a process of absorbing each item, gaining a few Dungeon Points from the process.
“Well, I’ve identified three-quarters of the stuff, and absorbed the patterns for about half. I’ll store the others away until I get enough levels and magic to do the others. You can look through my patterns, can’t you Fancy?”
“Generally, I can, yes.”
“If theirs’s anything you want or need, please mention it to me and I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank you, Jessica.”
“My pleasure.”
The Delvers moved through the portal, the third gem turning red.
The leader of the next Delver Team waiting, Sarchan Fangslayer, tried to enter the portal.
“Sire, you will need to wait until one of the three slots are freed up before you can enter.”
“Well, how long do I have to wait?”
“Sire, it can take hours to explore a Dungeon, especially as the first teams. Patience is required.”
“Don’t they know how important I am? Why couldn’t we get the first ticket, anyway. I certainly paid enough for second place.”
Looking increasingly worried, Sarchan’s chief guard glanced at the Elder sitting behind the desk and tried to cover up for his charge’s indiscretion. “Hah, good joke, Sire. I’m just not sure that the Overseer would enjoy that kind of humour.”
Sarchan tried, badly, to laugh along as though it was a joke.
“Right, Jessica, could you scan them please?”
“Sure. Assuming this is their marching order, we have Mandy Ironhand, a level 2 Thief, part elf, part dwarf and part human, in studded leather armour, wielding dual daggers. Wonderful milk-chocolate complexion, and I do like the look of the war hammer she’s got strapped to her back.
“Then Blondie, Fred Rendfoe, a level 2 Fighter, orc and human crossbreed, wielding a long sword and shield and dressed in that sexy, rhino-hide armour.”
Fancy rolled her eyes.
“Next, we have old Death-mask himself, Greg Shadowclaw, a level 2 Mage, human, in what looks like light leather armour, and wielding a staff, walking beside she-who-has-feathers.
“Priscilla Eaglesight, a level 2 Priest, also dressed in light leather armour, wielding a club, complete with spikes. If that’s supposed to be ceremonial, I’d hate to see the ceremony.
“Lastly is the black-haired human ranger, Markin Crushfoe, level 2 Fighter, has what looks to be an elvan bow and has a cutlass as a backup weapon.”
By the end of the description, Fancy was laughing. “So, Mandy the thief in front, Fred the fighter next, then Greg the mage and Priscilla the priest and Markin the fighter at the rear. Pretty good group. This will be fun, as they should give you a good idea of what a group at the correct levels will be like. This will also be the first ‘normal’ group since you established the instances.”
Mandy approached the curtain of water, marking the entrance to the first level of the Dungeon, when she noticed the flowers. She knelt and retrieved them. With a look of wonder on her face, she and said, “We have been honoured!”
Priscilla said, “I’ll put them into my storage pouch. That will protect them.”
Marken said, “Well, all three instances are now in use. No one else will be able to get in until one of the groups finish.”
Greg said, “Who was going to be the next group?”
Mandy answered, “The Peacock.”
Greg snorted and said, “So, there will be no ‘patiently waiting their turn’. Glad I’m in here, instead of out there anywhere near him.”
Fred commented, “You do realise that although he’s level 6, he’s never been in a Dungeon either?”
Greg replied, “How did he get his levels then?”
Mandy said, “He goes ‘hunting’ with his guards. They find and capture creatures and hold them while he kills them.”
Fred continued, “I’m not sure how he is going to survive a real fight. Sure, he has got the levels, but really, he has never been properly blooded. I am just glad that I am not on his guard detail, though I have a cousin who is.”
“Right, come on, get your warrior face on. We are in a real, live, Dungeon.”
They all cheered.
They all took off their backpacks. A couple got out smaller, delving packs and put them on, then everyone put their traveling packs in Priscilla’s storage ring.
“I am extinguishing my torch and proceeding through the entrance.” Mandy tucked her torch into her small backpack, drew her twin daggers and entered the room. She stepped to the right side and waved the rest of her team in.
Fred tightened the straps on his shield, drew his longsword and followed her through the door, stepping left and waited for the rest of the team.
Greg and Priscilla came through next, one going left and the other right, slipping behind their teammates and taking their place against the wall.
Finally, Markin came through, then unpacked and strung his bow.
Markin said, “Let’s go.”
Mandy moved off, crossing over to the right-hand side of the small stream. As she progressed into the room, she spotted the Goblins, signalling to the rest of her team so they noticed them as well. Progressing until the small pond was between the team and the goblins, she signalled Markin to open fire.
The goblins were all dead before they even made it to the pool.
The team went around the pond together and checked the dead goblins, Mandy put her hand on each one and chanted ‘loot’. There were five goblins, each dropped a wooden spear and a copper piece as loot. The camp was searched, and an additional four copper pieces and a bronze piece was found.
The team looked around and Markin said, “Wait. I think we can harvest some of these mushrooms.”
They moved across to the Mushroom Forest and, between Markin, Priscilla and Greg, they harvested a good portion of the mushrooms. They all went into Priscilla’s storage pouch.
Going towards the room’s exit, they collected the other two Delvers, who had been watching for any surprises, and reformed into their standard marching order.
Reaching the next doorway, Mandy stopped and said, “Too dark?”
Markin looked and said, “Should be OK.”
About ten metres into the room, Markin said, “I see cobwebs on the ceiling, watch out for spiders.”
Mandy grunted. Just after that she held her hand up, stopping the party. “I see a single, shiny copper coin on the ground to our right.”
Markin said, “Movement from behind, we have spiders.”
Mandy had a moment of indecision, then said, “Let’s deal with the spiders first.”
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The party reversed and spread out, forming a skirmish line.
The three spiders all went for the centre of the line, where they were met by a small ball of fire from Greg and a large club from Priscilla. Fred closed in from the flank and sliced the last spider in half with his sword.
In the middle of the fight, an additional two dropped down from the ceiling and three more came from further into the room.
The two dropping down from on top of them would have caused problems, but Markin had spotted them and dispatched them with arrows before they reached the team.
The team turned around to face the final three and Mandy finally got a chance to attack. She missed her first attacks, with the spider jerking to the side and avoiding the daggers. Meanwhile, Priscilla’s club claimed another victim.
One spider jumped at Greg, but he used his staff like a bat and launched the spider into the wall of the cave. Mandy hit her spider with both daggers, slicing it nearly in two. An arrow from Markin finished of the stunned spider that Greg had launched across the cave.
Markin kept his bow covering the rest of his team while they looted the spiders, collecting and returning the arrows to Markin. One of them was too damaged to re-use, but the others would be OK.
Ten minutes later, the team examined the area around the coin that they had found on the ground.
Mandy said, “What’s everyone think?”
Markin replied, “My danger sense is going off, but I can’t detect a trap at all.”
Mandy pulled out one of the spears they had taken from the goblins and waved it over the coin. Nothing happened. Using the spear, she pushed the coin about a metre across the floor. Grabbing the coin, she dived out of the way. Examining the coin, it looked fine, but she still felt a sense of danger. She dived through the area where the coin had been and that caused a reaction. The Stalactite monster crashed into the spot where the coin had been. It was still attached to the ceiling by its long ‘tongue’ and began to slowly haul itself back up to the ceiling.
The five of them attacked the monster, killing it.
Greg said, “What on Earth and in the Heavens was that?”
Mandy shrugged and said, “A Dungeon Monster. Quite a powerful one, at that.”
Fred looked thoughtful, “I suppose it wasn’t considered so dangerous because it does not roam around. With the coin being directly below it, they are fairly easy to avoid, if we want.”
Priscilla added, “From my status log, that must be an actual Level 1 Monster. That is the first one I have ever killed. I am liking the experience, let us clear out the rest. I see another two coins from here.”
Mandy said, “Just before we do, my treasure sense is saying we have missed something. Priscilla, do you have that long pole in your storage?”
“Of course. My Granddad always said to never go into a Dungeon without a long pole.”
“Fred, do you think you can reach the ceiling with the pole?”
“No, I will be short.”
Mandy giggled and said, “That is my line! What if I stand on your shoulders, I think I can just see something in the web nest just there.”
“Sure.” Fred picked Mandy up, placed her on his shoulders and held her ankles firmly. Priscilla passed her the pole and after a couple of tries, she was able to knock the object out of the spider’s nest. Markin leaped and caught the object, while Mandy handed the pole back and climbed down.
“Well, what did we get?”
Markin shrugged and passed it to Priscilla to put in her pouch. “Some kind of potion. We will have to get it evaluated.”
Three Stalactite Monsters later, Mandy noticed that the coin was a bronze piece, instead of copper.
The team had got into a routine by then but were all on edge.
When the monster dropped, it was about 50% larger than the previous ones had been. They were able to kill it, but it was a bit harder than the smaller ones.
The traps were easy to spot, and Mandy called everyone over. Uncovering the trap, she showed everyone. It was a small hole with a conical bottom and a sharpened wooden stake at the bottom. “This is called a lilia trap, because it sort of looks like a lily. The Empire likes to use them around their fortifications.”
A half hour later, there was one single monster left. The coin was silver, and the team were debating whether to trigger it or not.
Greg said, “Look, so long as it does not land on us, we should be fine. These things do not seem to attack once they have dropped, so even if we decide we cannot take it on, it should still be fine.”
They gathered around the final coin. Mandy started by using a spear to move the coin, where she quickly grabbed it. Again, waving the spear did nothing, so she quickly jumped through the spot.
After nothing had happened, they all looked a little puzzled.
Mandy said, “My dark vision can barely see the monster, but it is there. Only the eyes and mouths give off any heat.”
Markin said, “Maybe you are too fast? If the monster is bigger than the other ones, it might take a little longer to react?”
Mandy let out a frustrated chuff and leaped a lot slower through the area where the coin was. This time, the monster reacted, with the massive creature hitting the ground with a bone rattling thud. Three of them picked up small cuts from flying stones out of the impact crater. It took them a lot longer to kill the monster and they were all a little tired after the battle.
Priscilla said, “Well, level three monsters really rake in the experience.”
Various cries of ‘Level 3!’ sounded out.
“Check your logs if you want.”
At the end of the room, they had a couple of handfuls of copper coins, a single handful of bronze coins, a couple of silver coins and two unknown potions. Mandy has a huge grin on her face and said, “I am liking this Delving!”
The group moved through the third room, passing the half-way point before spotting the mushroom forest on the right.
Again, Markin, Priscilla and Greg went to harvest the mushrooms, while Fred and Mandy had overwatch. A few minutes into harvesting, Mandy came face to face with her first Mobile Mushroom Warrior. Armed with a bronze sword, it slashed at Markin, giving her a deep cut to her arm.
“Mobs! Animated mushrooms!” Mandy backed away from the mushroom, quickly evaluating the monster and deciding to draw her war hammer.
Priscilla and Greg also found themselves facing Mushroom Warriors. Greg launched a fan of flame from his hand, roasting the mob facing him. Priscilla was able to avoid the monsters first attack. This one was armed with a spear. Priscilla quickly pulled her own spear from her spatial bag and overpowered the mob.
Fred advanced into battle, pulling out his longsword. Passing Priscilla, he said, “This is not training. Kill it.”
Blushing, she ran it through with her spear. The monster barely reacted to the injury, stabbing at Priscilla. “Watch out, they do not bleed, they are hard to kill.”
Pulling her spear back, she used an awkward downward strike to pin the mob to a huge mushroom tree. As the spear was at a downward slope, it couldn’t pull itself off the spear to move. She then pulled her club and decapitated it with one swing. This seemed to kill it.
Priscilla continued into the forest, and came across the injured Mandy. She led her out of the forest, then healed her arm. She pulled some herbs from her spatial storage and a mortar and pestle. She ground them up, added them to a cup and pulled out a strange, teapot like vessel. Pouring in a little hot water from the magic teapot, she repacked everything and stirred the mixture. She pulled a second cup out, used a square of muslin to filter out any solids and poured the still hot mixture from one cup to another. Chanting a spell over the second cup, she finally added water from her waterskin to cool it down and gave it to Mandy. “Drink up, this will help you to recover. You lost a fair amount of blood.”
“Thank you.”
Priscilla rinsed everything and put it all away.
The rest of the team had returned by now, and Fred said, “What did we do wrong?”
Priscilla started. “I operated like this was a training exercise and didn’t finish off my foe.”
Markin continued, “I broke a basic tenet of Delving. In my excitement, I didn’t clear the room before looting.”
Fred said, “Same.”
Mandy added, “We allowed the party to be split.”
Greg looked around. Everyone was now looking at him. “Don’t look at me, I’ve got nothing to add.”
The others snorted and looked around.
Priscilla said, “Right, Fred, watch my back, Mandy, watch Greg’s back, Markin, you’re on overwatch. Come on Greg, let’s go and finish fossicking in this fabulous, but fecund forest.”
Twenty minutes later, with the mushrooms harvested, the room cleared, and wounds healed, the Delvers continued.
Entering room 4, the team stayed together and on alert. They quickly spotted the threads hanging from the ceiling at random intervals.
Mandy said, “I can see monsters on the ceiling, with one near each thread. They are each about a metre long.”
Fred commented, “I suppose it is like they are fishing, but this thread would not be strong enough and I can see no bait or hook.”
Priscilla said, “There seems to be drops on the threads. Two different coloured ones.”
Mandy said, “Yes, some are greenish and other drops are greyish.”
Priscilla said, “Watch out!”
Mandy jerked her hand away, but unfortunately this made her hand touch the thread and she got some of the greenish coloured liquid on her hand.
Her hand instantly went numb, with her both unable to feel anything and unable to move her hand.
Priscilla cast a diagnostic spell and relaxed. “Well, yes you are poisoned, but there is no damage. It will take a quarter hour or so for the toxins to work out of your system.”
They decided as a team to wait for Mandy to recover before continuing, So, with the monsters in this room seeming to be static, they set up a temporary camp at the entrance to the room.
Mandy asked Priscilla, “Why did you yell at me?”
“Because I saw your attention was on us, while your hand kept getting closer to that thread.”
Mandy thought for a moment, then said, “Sorry.”
Priscilla waved the apology off, saying, “Forget about it. Your compulsiveness is part of your charm.”
Mandy pouted.
While resting, they talked over what exactly they had found.
Greg commented, “Silken threads can be ridiculously strong.”
Markin added, “I suppose that poison on the thread could be like a bait, especially in the dark.”
Fred said, “But that still leaves us without a hook.”
Mandy said, “Unless the other droplets, the grey looking ones are something like a hook.”
Priscilla added, “Maybe a glue of some kind? Tugging on the thread is like a fly getting trapped in a spider’s web?”
Mandy said, “Then if we use another of those wooden spears from the Goblins and try it, we can see.”
Fred thought for a moment, then said, “She-who-pouts speaks wisdom.”
Shocked silence greeted his words, then everyone except Mandy laughed. Mandy pouted, making everyone else laugh harder.
Mandy started getting feeling back in her hand a few minutes later, but it was a half hour before she got her full feeling and control back.
Fred took one of the wooden spears and lightly touched one of the drops of grey liquid on the threads. Within a matter of seconds, the spear was glued firmly to the thread. “Right, now let us see what happens.”
He held the spear loosely but began to tug the spear away. The spear immediately got fouled on the thread, with another two drops of glue attaching themselves within seconds. The monster on the ceiling started to rapidly draw the thread in, pulling it out of Fred’s grip.
“And there is the hook. So, these are fishing monsters.”
Mandy asked Markin if he could see the monsters, and he replied that it was too dark. She fished out a torch from her small backpack and pointed it at Greg, who used magic to light the torch. She gave the torch to Fred, who smiled and held it up as high as he could.
Priscilla said, “Let us not stand directly under the monster while we do this.”
Fred looked chagrined and took a few steps to the side.
Two arrows from Markin killed the monster, but it did not fall down, being suspended by thread.
Priscilla pulled a grappling hook out of her bag and handed it over to Mandy, who quickly snagged the monster and between her and Priscilla dislodged it, with it crashing to the ground.
The pair grabbed the spear, which was still attached to the thread, and pulled. They were able to pull out a good length of the thread from the monster’s body, wrapping it around the spear.
“So, the monster must strip off the poison and glue as it reels in the thread, which means these two little glands next to the spinneret must apply glue and poison when they deploy the thread again?”
Fred said, “So, she-who-pontificates speaks wisdom.”
This time, everyone except Priscilla laughed and she attempted a pout. Everyone agreed it wasn’t as good as Mandy’s.
They repeated the process with the rest of the monsters, and quickly cleared the room.
When they looted the monsters, they were surprised by the food drop.
Markin commented, “Looks like the meat from those river crayfish.”
Fred said, “Good eating, those.”
Putting the meat away in her pouch, Priscilla said, “Well, we will have to try it later.”
Markin said, “We had agreed to evaluate our dive after four rooms. How are people feeling? Continue or end here?”
Fred asked Priscilla, “How is your pouch?”
Checking her storage pouch, she replied, “Just about full.”
Fred nodded and said, “One more room, we pull our backpacks out of Priscilla’s pouch and end it there?”
They all agreed that was reasonable. The walk back to the start of the Dungeon would give them a better feel for how tired they were and help to judge how they were going in a dungeon. They had heard a few cautionary tales about teams going too far and struggling to get back through the dungeon to exit.
Fred looked around and said, “Actually, where is the exit to the next room?”
Mandy said, “Probably a secret door. Give me a minute to search.”
She circumnavigated the room and returned to the group.
“Well?” Asked Fred.
Mandy said, “Yes, a single hidden entrance.” She led them over to the concealed door and opened it.
Holding the door open, she bowed with a flourish and indicated for the group to enter.
Once they had all entered, she quickly moved through the group towards the front when she suddenly yelled, “Stop, trap!” and lurched towards Fred, grabbing the back of his armour and trying to brace. She managed to pull him back far enough that he fell onto his butt, rather than into the pit trap that had opened up in front of him.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! My inattention almost cost you your life.” Mandy clung to Fred, crying in distress.
Fred gave a smile and said, “Yet you also saved me. Those stakes look sharp. Thank you.”
Greg added a notation to the rough map he was keeping, indicating the trap. “It is deep as well.”
Priscilla said, “Shall we turn back now?”
Fred glanced at Mandy and said, “No. We said one more room and this changes nothing.”
The rest nodded.
“Please Mandy, return to the front and continue to keep us all safe.”
Mandy’s head snapped up to look at Fred. Was he mocking her? No. the look on his face showed trust instead. She vowed to herself to be more aware from now on.
Turning the corner of the rom they were in, she stopped dead.
“The Dungeon has a soul.”
Looking puzzled, the rest of the group turned the corner and stopped as well. The whole room glittered with limestone formations.
Glittering columns marched imperially down the room, with glittering stalactites and stalagmites littering the roof and ceiling. Flowstones decorated the room walls, like expensive curtains in a chief’s tent. A pearl coloured pool sat in the middle of the room, emptying into a series of pools towards the far exit. Each pool was enclosed by a delicate rimstone, glittering in the light.
The pinnacle, however, was the fantastical chandelier that hung over the pool in the middle. Water constantly dripped and trickled from the four-metre wide and tall structure, with each and every end point having a flickering light-source, making it look like there were hundreds of candles lighting the room.
Remembering her vow, Mandy shook herself out of her daze and said, “Stop. Remember, this is a Dungeon.”
A look of surprise on all their faces, changed to warmth and acknowledging nods.
Markin said, “Time enough to sightsee later.”
“Yes, this delicious dungeon of doom and destiny, deadly for delvers, delightful for daring adventurers awaits!”
Fred tried to respond to Priscilla, but gave up after three attempts to come up with an appropriate response.
The giant frogs turned out to be the hardest fight they had, up to that point. The level 1 monsters, more mobile and smarter than the Mushroom Warriors, ended up causing injuries to both of their front-line fighters before they were all defeated.
The team got their backpacks out of Priscilla’s storage device and started filling them up with all of their loot. They kept the things that would spoil in the device but distributed the rest around the team. Those like Mandy, who had been wearing a small, ‘Delving’ pack, tucked it into the much larger main pack and shouldered it.
“Hopefully, once we get to level five or so, if we can get some more storage devices, we won’t have to hide how big mine is.”
Greg looked at Priscilla and said, “No. It will take longer than that. You seem to keep forgetting that a storage device as large as your one, is incredibly rare. Once we get a couple of other, smaller ones, that will help hide your one, but it will not be before level 10 or so that the precautions will not be necessary.”
The team walked back through the Dungeon to the start of the Dungeon and exited through the portal.
Arriving back at the vestibule area, the team made their way over to the Overseer’s table to report.
“Well, congratulations, you are the first team to report in. How far did you get, and did you enjoy yourselves?”
Priscilla answered, “This was our first Dungeon, and it was great! We decided to turn back after completing room 5, which had eight, level 1 giant frogs.”
Sarchan said, “Right, they finally finished, let us go!”
He marched to the portal, but again could not enter.
“What is wrong with this cursed Dungeon? Why won’t it let me enter this time?”
Cardon internally sighed and went up to Sarchan. “Sire, the Dungeon will be a few minutes while it restocks itself for your entertainment.”
“Did you hear? That pathetic group only made it to room 5. It shouldn’t take that long.” Hiding his embarrassment, he stormed out of the room, saying, “Get me when it is finally ready.”
The Overseer looked at Cardon and simply raised one eyebrow.
Cardon the Wise muttered, “Do not start as well.”
The Overseer grinned.
Cardon followed Sarchan out, instructing his second to listen to the report and send someone to get them once the Dungeon indicated the instance was ready.
Mandy’s Team walked the Overseer through their experience in the Dungeon, showing the loot drops and other rewards they had found.
They had just finished describing the encounter with the strange ‘fishing monsters’, when there was a ‘ding’ noise, like a fine bell would make.
One of Sarchan’s team said, “Finally.” She sent someone to tell Cardon that they were ready to start.
Jessica commented to Fancy and the girls, “I quite liked that group. I know I was entertained. I was surprised that they turned back, however. Is my Dungeon too hard?”
Marisol handled the reply. “Not at all. That just showed that they are a smart group of Delvers. What level were they?”
Fancy answered, “All level 2.”
Marisol nodded. “That makes sense. You’ll find that level 1 teams will turn back after only a couple of rooms, while that group will slowly explore more and more of your Dungeon, probably finally finishing the first floor sometime around them reaching level 5?”
She looked around the room and saw agreeing nods.
Fancy interrupted them to say, “I just need to retrieve the Evaluation Team.”