Excerpt of a Dungeoneers study
Upon my many years of study into the origins and source of the places that we inhabitants of this world have come to call Dungeons I have come across one singular truth across them all. There are no new dungeons and no old dungeons.
I have delved their depths and spoke to their avatars and they all agree with one thing, the only varience is their time of reveal and that is why they always have the same amount of floors.
Their purpose is unknown to them but we have used them for wealth, glory, power and in some cases defense of the land itself.
-Unknown
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At the start of creation, or as someone would just call the beginning, the world was in its infancy all on its own. With time different mortal species began to evolve and with it a system came into existence as the world attempted to give its peoples the power to defend itself from the threats of the [Beyond].
This is where the first flaw lay, it created a system of [Experience] where by the use of actions you could grow stronger and craft yourself a [Class] solely unqiue to yourself. This seemed fine at the start, no one knew how to use it until someone studied it. Where most took the warrior, healer or crafting route in an attempt to lay waste to the monsters which the lands produced naturally a singular mage began to study what would become known as [Necromancy].
By brining the first [Undead] into this world and the first [Minion] was formed. The newly created [Necromancer] sent his creation out into the fields and saw that as it slew the [Slime] which were within his influential sphere both it and he grew in [Experience] and so it snowballed. He took the core of a [Slime] and created a [Necrotic] version with its own ability. You see, when a slime grows enough, it splits and an undying one such as the one he created was a blight upon the planet. Growing and spreading indefinitely the world had to intervene.
First the world began to take note of what its System had created, then it made the Arbiters, beings of immense power made to sanction and prune parts of the System as and when required. These Arbiters became known as the [Gods]. Falling upon the mortal realm they ended the blight and the [Necromancer] which had begun it before leaving. Each one taking an aspect unto their own and so the first limit was laid upon a class.
[Necromancer] or rather the [Necromancy] that it granted to the user was no longer allowed to keep the naturally occurring skills of a monster that was raised and they gained the racial restriction [Undead] and the first [Priest] class was granted, its own magic which was simply known as [Holy] was created to oppose such a thing as the [Undead] species gained a natural weakness to this, at least the lower tiers did.
What happened next was a massacre, for the first time since the creation of the system a new threat from the [Beyond] slipped through the planes and found its way onto this still forming society. The being was easy to describe in one way, a writhing mass of black shadows and tentacles that dragged its way through the world leaving pathways of corruption behind it and from this came the first [Void Egg].
A [Void Egg] at this time was a simple 4ft tall ball of spikes which when given enough [Experience], as the mass which came from the beyond stole it from those they killed, hatched into a horrific facsimile of a human. Their bodies made from the same shadows as the beast from the [Beyond] except their arms were tipped of blades.
Together they tore through the inhabitants of our world until the [Gods] descended once more.
Applying their own understanding of the system to create a fracture in the world, splitting the landmasses into smaller ones in their battle to remove the [Voidlings] and the beast of the [Beyond]. Once their fight was over they returned to their own plane where they contemplated just what to do. After all, they couldn't manage the System the world created if they had to descend and deal with these beasts could they. So they wondered what to do, before one of them took the idea of that first [Necromancer] and thought of a self replicating monster which the mortals could use to gain [Experience] in order to grow their [Class] and become able to defend their selves.
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First they tried the [Slime] taking a core out of the freshly created body of the [Impure mana] of the planet and condensed it into the tiniest of spherical gems, first they programmed it to absorb this [Impure Mana] and to expel it into a [Mana] more acceptable for the mortal body. They planted this core into one of the newly formed land fractures and waited.
As they waited and watched they saw how the conversion was not perfect, the core absorbed and absorbed the [Impure Mana] yet only let out a fraction of the [Mana] which mortals could use. The passive [Experience] gain of the area may have gone up. But it was of no use. So they fractured the core and let it shatter, releasing just as much [Mana] as it had absorbed. Mortals in the immediate area gained experience at a rapid rate. So they changed their plan.
Taking another set of these cores, they condensed multiple and created the first [Mana Core]. This acted in a new way, consuming [Impure Mana] and pumping out monsters of varying types, yet when these ones were killed they granted a higher tier of [Experience] to the mortals upon the planet. And so they watched.
The levelling of these mortals increased immensely on this continent, but it was not enough. Another beast from [Beyond] was brought into the world and while the mortals managed on their own, the continent was left a wasteland where nothing could survive. The [Mana Core] shattering when the beast entered the world.
So they went back to the metaphorical drawing board. This time they combined the ideas, create something which could absorb the [Impure Mana] and pump out both [Mana] and monsters. Yet nothing happened when they placed this upon a new land. It was inert until a young mortal passed on near it. There was a small spark as the body of the mortal vanished along with its equipment. The system reacted and for the first time since the experiments began a new change to the system was created.
A [Primal Core] was formed and the World itself took note. The world prodded this [Primal Core] and granted it a small hint of access to the System triggering a change, slowly the [Primal Core] woke and began to consume [Impure Mana] and the land itself at an immense rate all while pumping out new monsters, made from this [Mana] and when they died these dropped their own items what became known as [Loot] as well as the [Experience] mortals needed.
A ripple ran through the World that day as it shattered and took the [Primal Core] into its own hands. Letting the [Gods] watch and input their own essence and knowledge of the system, binding this new creation. They created a set of spherical gems now known as the first [Dungeon Cores] each one granted its own access to the system and its own sentience so that it could do its job with a few directives.
1 - To absorb [Impure Mana] from the world
2 - To output [Mana] in the forms of Monsters which can provide [Experience] and [Loot] to those who slew it
3 - To understand that if it was [Shattered] then it would no longer exist.
4 - To always be accessible to the world.
5 - To be a Dungeon you need Floors and Monsters.
This was so that the [Dungeon Core] would slowly evolve with time, no longer being just an animal but its own thinking being, at least that was the hope.
The World proceeded to seed these [Dungeon Core]s within their own plane so that they could grow without restraint. First they would create their initial floor and portal to the world itself. Then it would lure mortals within it and fight. This caused what is now known as the first System Edict.
A message to all mortals appeared and so it read:
{Rejoice! For the World has seen your limits and the World has watched and listened. As of now there will be the formations of [Dungeon]s. A place to gain riches, loot beyond your wildest imaginations but more importantly [Experience] for your classes and growth.
Be aware, these [Dungeon]s are not meant to be a place to have fun and play around. They are a place to test your mettle for the defense of the World.
Good Luck.]
And so the World fell silent once more, leaving it to the [Gods] and mortals.
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Now, while all this was going on we have our own main character if you will. The [Core] of this story in more ways than one. It was not sentient, not really, it was a smaller [Core] of no colour and you could see right through it. As it saw its own System directives it simply waited. While the other [Core]s grew, gained sentience and expanded gaining their builds, their floors and their monsters, it just waited. Simply falling asleep once again, letting the planes energies wash over it. Absorbing it in preparation for when it felt ready, if it did.