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/qst/ - Quests


There was a clear sphere floating in an endless void, cupped in...let’s call them hands, easier that way. A light flickered inside the orb, weak at first, but then growing to a bright incandescent glow. Awareness stirred inside, nascent, weak, confused. There were hands holding it, a being watching it.

“A core must choose, Tormentor, Challenger, or Gardener. Which will you be?”

Tormentor: The oldest style of dungeon, a loathsome place of death and pain. Tormentors grow stronger with every gasp and scream of their victims, and design fearsome deathtraps that lure in the desperate or foolish. As they grow stronger they eventually begin to spill out armies of monsters to feed their never ending hunger for more suffering.
-Gains Mana from each point of damage and each death to invaders.
-Can take prisoners, torturing them over time to produce more mana

Challenger: This dungeon revels in the glory of excellence, often expressed in combat. These dungeons build elaborate arenas and grand challenges, often taking the form of coliseums. These dungeons grow stronger with each challenge overcome, urging those who brave its halls to ever greater feats.
-Gains Mana from each combat
-Gains Mana from invaders overcoming “Challenges”

Gardener: This peculiar dungeon type draws strength from the happiness and well being of those within it, seeking to create pleasant areas where visitors linger. Gardens, fishing holes, scenic vistas and cozy hotels can all be found within.
-Gains Mana for each visit to a room
-Gain Mana for each item acquired from the dungeon.


> Tormentor
> Challenger
> Gardener
>>
>>5449376
> Gardener
>>
>>5449376
> Gardener
>>
>>5449376
>Challenger
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!?
>>
>>5449376
>Tormentor
>>
Gardener
>>
>>5449376
>> Gardener
The last two dungeon stories that ran on here were close to tormentor archetypes. Blood, pain, terror, mindbreak for both dungeon and invader...I want to change it up, have some fun and not be in a desperate race for survival for once! Help people instead of being a meat grinder! I guess challenger could also be fun, but only if challengers play by the rules. Same for gardener, but here at least there's a golden goose of resources.
I just don't want another tormentor, is all.
>>
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> Gardener

The white light of the core changed, growing yellow like the sun at springtime. The vast being that held the core nodded. “Single minded focus makes for a fool however. How will you broaden yourself? And equally important, where will you go?"

How will you broaden yourself?
> Gains Mana from each point of damage and each death to invaders.
> Can take prisoners, torturing them over time to produce more mana.
> Gains Mana from each combat.
> Gains Mana from invaders overcoming “Challenges”.

Where will you go?
> E3: Position yourself just off a well traveled road.
> I3: Appear in the depths of a mine.
> H5: Nest in the forest.
> D6: Emerge in the basements of a city
> Write in: Pick a square on the map
>>
>>5449507
> Gains Mana from each point of damage and each death to invaders.
> H5: Nest in the forest.
Dungeon that pretends to be a typical tormentor dungeon but actually wants the adventurers to succeed so it gains mana?
>>
>>5449507
>Gains Mana from invaders overcoming “Challenges”.
> E3: Position yourself just off a well traveled road.
>>
>>5449507
> Gains Mana from invaders overcoming “Challenges”.
Maybe we can be a silent, pleasant garden walled off by mystery and riddles.
> H5: Nest in the forest.
>>
>>5449531
I like the sound of that, a pleasant puzzle dungeon that opens up wider to those who solve the riddles or completes challenges. If you fail you just soft-lock yourself out of continuing until you reset the dungeon.
>>5449507
>Gains Mana from invaders overcoming “Challenges”.
>>
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> H5: Nest in the forest.
> Gains Mana from invaders overcoming “Challenges”

Yellow deepened to orange. The hands holding the core slowly faded away and darkness around it slowly brightened revealing old trees and tangled brush. Birds chirped, insects buzzed. The core stirred, looking around, orange light pulsing from its perch on top of an old stump. Mana spread from the core slowly, taking in grass, dirt, broken twigs and old leaves. The grass and dirt remained untouched, but the twigs and leaves seemed to burn with orange flames, vaporizing into mana that flowed back to the core.

The power burned, demanding use. There was an awareness, a keen desire, that approaching her core should demand something, reverence, awe, respect. She had few tools to work with...dirt, twigs, leaves, but would have to be enough.

> Tunnel beneath the earth and begin a cave network
> Build walls and rooms, the start of a surface building or network of buildings
> Twist space with mana, creating forest glades that can only be entered and exited from certain paths and directions, effectively forming ‘rooms’ and ‘chambers’ in the forest itself.
> Write in

There was power enough for two rooms, whatever form they took. One would be a core room, the other...she considered her three aspects. The Journey, The Challenge, and The Treasure. The Journey was going to be difficult to work without more rooms, which left The Challenge or The Treasure.

> A Challenge
> A Treasure
> Write in?
>>
>>5449630
> Twist space with mana, creating forest glades that can only be entered and exited from certain paths and directions, effectively forming ‘rooms’ and ‘chambers’ in the forest itself.
> A Treasure
>>
>>5449637
Support
>>
>>5449630
>>5449637
Supporting as well.

I wonder how large we’ll get in a one-shot?
>>
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A dark complex underground, a high tower, a forbidding fortress...all of them would provide tightly controlled environments where another core might lay down devious traps and dens of horrible monsters.

It just didn't appeal to her. Instead mana flowed into the fabric of reality around her, warping reality in subtle ways. Space cleared around the core, trees crowded together at its edge, a subtle magic of misdirection ensured that those who tried to slip out the edges would simply find themselves back within. In a brief moment of vanity light was carefully warped to let a golden shaft of light shine down on the core regardless of weather.

Trees were nudged, reality warped, and a second glade, what another dungeon might call a room, formed, connected by a path between them. Now...a treasure.

The core...well frowning was a bit beyond her, but if she could. Dirt, leaves, twigs, grass... not the typical materials of a treasure. Still, there must be something she could make.

> A humble basket of woven twigs
> A simple hat made of dried grasses
> A small twig infused with mana, supporting a pair of green leaves.
> Write in
>>
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>>5449376
>>
>>5449868
>Write in
>A Golden Apple, hanging from an ancient tree in the center of the glade
>>
>>5449868
>> A simple hat made of dried grasses
Golden apple feels like a bit higher tier treasure, add it later, as a center piece of our dungeon?
>>
>>5449902

Sorry, you can't really do trees, or even apples yet.

Leaves, twigs, dirt. Humble beginnings.
>>
>>5449868
>A small twig infused with mana, supporting a pair of green leaves.
>>
>>5450172
+1
Im not sure if youre describing it as a wand or a sprouting plant OP but either option is what id want regardless
>>
>>5449868
>> A small twig infused with mana, supporting a pair of green leaves.

Glad to see another dungeon quest
>>
>>5449868
> A simple hat made of dried grasses
>>
>>5449868
>> A small twig infused with mana, supporting a pair of green leaves.
Disregard low-level loot, acquire resource nodes!
As for the future...resource nodes+challenges...Fishing challenges should absolutely be a thing! Want to find high-quality fishes? Grab a rod (which should be within our ability to make) and go ham with that pond over there. Would probably make a good first challenge, with possibility for upgrade/expansion later, or just creating another pond with better loot and harder fishes. But we can see to the specifics once we get some xp!
>>
The core watched with interest as her first visitor arrived, breathless into her glade. Mana rolled off the visitor like steam, drawn into the core. He walked forward and picked up her first treasure, a humble enchanted twig that would serve as a wand base or magical focus.

Her heart leapt, then fell as the visitor picked up the twig and gave it a few swishes before dropping it with a shudder. What was wrong with it? It was a humble treasure, but it could still serve as a useful tool, or the base of a greater one.

A second visitor arrived in her wood and locked eyes with the first. The core watched and analyzed. Her first visitor was a man, thin and tall, with a face that might have once been handsome if not for the ugly scarring that spoke of violence and fire in his past. His clothes were dirty and simple, a pouch hung from his belt with some unknown items inside.

The second visitor was female, in cloth armor, a long club in one hand, being tapped against the the palm of her other hand. Pointed ears and yellow eyes hinted at elvish heritage.

"Nowhere to run, bug."

"It's Moth you fucking asshole! And it's a forest! Everywhere is a place to run! See that path right there? Try to keep up!" The first visitor sprinted down the path to the core.

The woman sighed and shook her head. "Idiot." She looked around at the peaceful glade around her. "This is...nice." She dug around in her pockets for a moment with a frown. "Sorry, I don't have much on hand, but I hope these help." A handful of small black seeds slipped through her fingers and landed on the ground, igniting into tiny orange flames as they struck the ground. "I'd better get after that jackass."

Sunflowers acquired

The core shifted its awareness to find the first visitor standing behind her core, a knife in hand.

"You're a dungeon right? You've got to have monsters right? Maybe a big old bear or something?" The man muttered, glancing at the thick trees ringing the edge. "Listen, get this bitch off my back and I won't jab this knife into you."

Monsters? Bears? The core flexed its metaphorical muscles, pondering the concept. Bears seemed right out but the concept of guardians did resonate...

The woman walked into the core room, fresh mana rolling off of her. "You damn idiot. Breaking a core could level you, me, and the whole damn forest. Drop it and get over here."

"Sounds like a good incentive for you to drop your stick and get out of my way."

The woman took a step forward. "You don't have the balls."

"I'm not going back!" The man brandished his knife. The woman flinched as the blade came dangerously close to the core.

The core watched the situation unfold with annoyance. Yes, a guardian sounded useful right now...but what kind?

> Beetles
> Squirrels
> Plantkin
> Write in

And perhaps more importantly, what should she do with it?

> Disarm the man with the knife
> Disarm the woman with the club
> Disarm everyone
> Write in
>>
>>5450514
> Beetles
> Disarm the man with the knife
The woman gave us some dank flowers, the man outright threatened us and disregarded our treasure, dick moves all around.
>>
>>5450514
>Squirrels
>Disarm the man with the knife
New objective unlocked: Grow Chestnut Trees so the squirrels have things to chuck at rude invaders.
>>
>>5450514
> Squirrels
> Disarm the man with the knife
>>
>>5450514
>> Plantkin
> Disarm the man with the knife

"In Gardener Dungeon, forest threatens you!"
>>
>>5450514
> Plantkin
> Disarm the man with the knife
>>
>>5450514
>Squirrels
>Disarm the man with the knife
>>
> Squirrels
> Disarm the man with the knife

Was...was this man using her as a weapon? Threatening her? The core pulsed as the trees ringing the glade shuddered. The man and the woman both looked around as leaves rustled.

“Bug, I think you pissed it off.”

“How the hell would you know? It’s probably just the wind.”

A squirrel perched on a branch watching the scene. The core reached out to it, touched its mind and offered it power and immortality.

Seems like trouble. The squirrel replied.

I have sunflower seeds? The core offered. Desperate times.

The link between creature and core locked into place instantly. Power flowed into the squirrel, its mind expanding, strength, agility and speed rising beyond its mortal kin. The core flexed its power and two more squirrels manifested, flanking the first.

---

The leaves rusted, the trees swayed, the core pulsed with light, one, two, three times. Moth swallowed and gripped his knife. It’s nothing, it’s just the wind, cores pulsed all the time...

There was a squirrel standing in front of him, watching him.

“Uh...hey.”

The squirrel chittered at him.

“Uh...I don’t speak squirrel.”

The squirrel shrugged. Moth shrugged and glanced at Idrid, who shrugged.

“You don’t think it’s a dungeon minion, do you?”

Idrid giggled, hand over her mouth.

“Hey! I can rip this core open any...” He stared at his empty hand, looked up and stared at the squirrel holding his knife, the blade clutched between its teeth. “How the hell-” Idrid’s club slammed down on his shoulder, crumpling him to the ground.

---

The core watched with interest as the woman, a guard named Idrid, hauled the man to his feet. Her squirrel, knife still clenched in his teeth, watched as well.

“Sorry about that dungeon, I’ll just take this one off your hands. Could I have uh...” Idrid swallowed at the sight of a squirrel with a knife, eyes narrowing. “You know, just keep it. Looks good on you.”

The squirrel nodded, its two companions lurking on nearby branches.

“A dungeon...in my own backyard. And a nice one even. I’ll swing back in a bit.”

The woman left, even pausing to take the enchanted twig and thread it through her hair. Success! Two visitors, even if one was a bit of an ass, and a treasure granted.

Adventure Complete!
> Three Rooms * Three levels of adventurers = 9 Mana
> Basic Treasure Granted = 3 Mana
> Offerings: Sunflower Seeds = 3 Mana
> 15 Mana gained, 6 spent on Squirrels (2 each)

Squirrel would like to keep Old knife. Y/N?

> Y. Upgrade Squirrel to Knife Squirrel?
> N. Absorb Knife and acquire ten mana and Cheap Metal as material
>>
>>5450784
That was nice visit all things considered.
>> Y. Upgrade Squirrel to Knife Squirrel?
Yiss, it deserves it and we got one battle hardened guardian now.
>>
>>5450784
>Y. Upgrade Squirrel to Knife Squirrel
>>
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> Y. Upgrade Squirrel to Knife Squirrel?
>>
>>5450784
>> Y. Upgrade Squirrel to Knife Squirrel
>>
>>5450784
> Y. Upgrade Squirrel to Knife Squirrel?
>>
> Knife Squirrel

Orange light suffused the squirrel and knife for a moment, then flashed away. The squirrel stood on its back legs for a moment, slightly taller and larger, knife held to its back by a twig sheath.

Knife Squirrel
Damage: D4
Ability: Ambush(Damage rises to D8) on unaware targets.

The knife squirrel ran an excited circle around her core, chittering happily, then shot off into the wood. She panicked for a moment, had it abandoned her? Then just a few minutes later it scampered back clutching objects, an acorn, a propeller like maple seed, and a chestnut. The seeds were dropped, igniting in orange flame as the dungeon absorbed them. Three more mana trickled in, bringing her to twelve. More squirrels perhaps? How much was a room though? The answer flowed into her mind, along with other information.

Current Room cost is 20 Mana.

Squirrels currently requesting ‘Squirrel Nest’ at cost of 10 Mana.
Squirrels currently requesting ‘Sunflower’ at cost of 1 Mana.


A squirrel nest? The core focused on the concept for a moment, an ethereal tree appearing in the center of her first room. It shifted between three different trees, oak, maple, and chestnut, each featuring their own challenge. More information rose into her mind.

The Squirrel Nest comes with a free ‘Challenge’, and provides automatic respawn of up to five squirrel minions.

Well, that was hard to pass up. Which tree should she pick though?

> Oak: Climbing Challenge
> Maple: Dancing Challenge
> Chestnut: Dodging Challenge
>>
>>5451432
>Oak: Climbing Challenge
Oak trees for our tool weilding squirrels to turn their nest into a squirrel treehouse village connected by bridges n shit
>>
>>5451432
>Chestnut: Dodging Challenge
Squirrels, but with guns.
>>
>>5451432
> Chestnut: Dodging Challenge
I'm for mischievous squirrels.
>>
>>5451432
>> Oak: Climbing Challenge
A climbing lesson, while being coached by a squirrel acting like a miniature drill sergeant, berating the contestants but it's all in squirrel so most people don't get it. At least it'd be funny.

Also, when the core offered "power and immortality" to the squirrel, did it mean that this specific squirrel would respawn if killed or was it in a more metaphorical sense of the word?
>>
>>5451432
>> Maple: Dancing Challenge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WzswZXTMZQ
>>
>>5451432
> Oak: Climbing Challenge
>>
>>5451467

Creatures can link themselves to a dungeon core, which allows the core to respawn them, grants them increased power, and generally halts aging, all contingent on the core surviving of course. The primary advantage for the core is that linked creatures can leave the dungeon and bring in materials.
>>
>>5451432
> Oak: Climbing Challenge
>>
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> Oak: Climbing Challenge

With the Knife Squirrel off gathering materials the core turned her attention to the first room. A single acorn was manifested and buried deep within the rotting stump. Ribbons of orange mana flowed deep into the stump.

The core waited. And waited. Knife returned with a few dandelions and a shelf mushroom, ticking up her mana to five, then darted back into the wild. She frowned, had something gone wrong?

The old stump split in two as a new sapling suddenly erupted from it, shedding the old wood. It shot up suddenly, growing taller and thickening by the second, a hollow forming in the center where the enchanted twig reformed in a swirl of orange mana. Branches shot out in every direction, leaves bursting out behind them. Five of the acorns took on an orange sheen.

Acorn Hunt Challenge
Visitors can opt into this challenge when entering the glade. They have five minutes to acquire all five enchanted acorns, receiving a prize on completion. Prize defaults to a random squirrel themed treasure. Successful completion grants the dungeon five mana.

The core nodded and pondered if the challenge prize would also count as a claimed treasure. Knife the squirrel slinked back into the clearing, drenched and ragged looking.
What happened to you?

Knife glowered and shook water off of himself, sending mud and water in all directions before squeezing water from his tail. Little orange flames followed each drop, along with a steady rise in mana.

Water Acquired
Clay Acquired
Squirrels currently requesting any natural water feature


You’re pretty focused on the things you want, aren’t you?

Knife shrugged and scampered back into the forest. At least it was diligent.

> Upgrade the Climb Challenge
> Hold out for another room
> Handle some squirrel requests
> Write in
>>
>>5451701
>Handle some squirrel requests
Give Knifey the Squirrel the Sunflower Seed he asked for.
Spawn a small creek that cuts through the whole room roughly diagonally.
>>
>>5451701
> Hold out for another room
>>
>>5451701
> Handle some squirrel requests
Give them some sunflower seeds, those are cheap at 1 mana.
Then
> Hold out for another room
>>
>>5451701
>Handle some squirrel requests
+1 to giving the sunflower to the homie, this is the first of our minions so I dont think its a bad idea to give him access to things that will further dungeon squirrel culture
>>
>>5451701
>Handle some squirrel requests
>>
>>5451717
Supportin
>>
The core watched, a smile playing on her...well metaphorical lips anyway, as her two normal squirrels shot from branch to branch in a blur, playing an enthusiastic game of tag. They seemed to be enjoying their new home at least. Still, they also had a list of requests.

Three ribbons of mana augured through the dirt on one side of the glade, a small stream gurgling into existence, spilling up from a spring framed by rocks on one side before vanishing underground on the other. The core studied it for a moment, then widened the stream a little, adding a few stepping stones. The water rushed by, no deeper than a human’s ankle, but fast and energetic. A few more ribbons of mana buried sunflower seeds into the earth, shooting them up into proud stalks within minutes, vibrant blooms swaying in the gentle breeze that filled the glade.

All Squirrels gained Determination. If they roll a 1, they gain an additional attack!
Point of Interest Detected. Please choose behavior.


> Challenge: Crossing the stream without slipping manifests a bag of sunflower seeds.
> Treasure: One of the sunflowers is always ripe with seeds
> Write In
>>
>>5452061
>Challenge
>>
>>5452061
> Treasure: One of the sunflowers is always ripe with seeds
>>
>>5452061
>challenge: Crossing the stream without slipping manifests a bag of sunflower seeds.
>>
>>5452061
>> Treasure: One of the sunflowers is always ripe with seeds
Kind of sets us up for gathering spots or nodes. I had a gathering challenge in mind for when we start getting a few different mushrooms. Besides we should try and keep rooms balanced, and this is in the same room as the oak, right QM?
>>
>>5452161
+1 to this
Im >>5451753 in case my ip changed
>>
>>5452161
Yup
>>
>>5452061
> Treasure: One of the sunflowers is always ripe with seeds
>>
>>5452061
> Treasure: One of the sunflowers is always ripe with seeds
>>
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> Treasure: One of the sunflowers is always ripe with seeds

A sprinkle of mana and one of the sunflowers drooped with a heavy load of seeds. The core nodded. Humble, but a fine first room. Water bubbled, leaves rustled, squirrels pilfered the entire sunflower in moments, then danced in delight as it restored to life and another sunflower drooped with seeds. The core checked her mana, sighing to find it at zero. Well, Knifey should be back soon with more supplies, then-

Dungeon Mana maxed out. 20/20

“Oh, you’re cute. A little garden dungeon.”

Dungeon Management locked.

The core twitched, growled as it found its mana locked inside. A winged woman was standing, hunched over in her entryway body cloaked in her wings. Her squirrels scurried up the branches of the tree and glared down.

“Hahaha. Squirrels? You think rodents are going to be enough?” The woman took a step, feet revealed as cruel bird talons. Her eyes gazed around the room as the breeze stilled. “A twig, a climbing challenge, some sunflowers...hmph.” The woman, a harpy, took flight, soaring low over the ground, bypassing the squirrel glade and entering the core room.

Warning! Mana Levels Dangerously High! 40/20

The core shuddered, a visible orange flame rolling off of it. The harpy smirked and landed in front of the core. Lightning lashed off the orange sphere, leaving a scorch in the grass.

“A little infant.” Her smile grew. “I could break you with a look.” She lifted a clawed foot, resting it on the core and squeezed.

Pain! Trees shook, squirrels chattered, the sparkling stream split with veins of ice.

The harpy let go, laughter filling the air. “Oh you’re cute! A tender little piece of meat. Do grow nice and big for me.”

Something screamed, and a knife flashed through the air. The harpy span and batted the squirrel out of the air, sending it into a tree trunk with a crunch. Feather fragments and a sprinkle of blood hit the ground.

“Know your place, rodent.” The harpy spread its wings wide. “I will return, when you are a proper meal.” Grass scattered as the harpy shot off, passing back through the dungeon. The core winced as the heat and pain intensified, lightning arcing and flames crackling off the core itself.

Vision blurred. Tree leaves smoked. Stream water flowed backwards. She had to build, had to burn this energy!

Critical Warning! Mana Levels Extremely High! 60/20
Dungeon Management Enabled!
Excessive Mana must be expended!
Build Rooms!


> Build a line! D1 and D2!
> Form a cross! C3! D2! E3! Burn it all!
> No! Save some mana! C4! E4!
> Write in! Just make at least two rooms!
>>
>>5452648
>No! Save some mana! C4 E4
>>
>>5452648
> Form a cross! C3! D2! E3! Burn it all!
Also, we should let Idrid know what happened. Maybe we can convince her to be a guardian.
>>
>>5452648
>No! Save some mana! C4! E4!
>>
>>5452648
> No! Save some mana! C4! E4!
>>
>>5452648
> Build a line! D1 and D2!
>>
> No! Save some mana! C4! E4!

Mana surged and crashed, beams of orange light ripping space open, shoving trees aside like toys. The act only took moments, but the pained feeling of being ripped apart from the inside lingered for minutes afterward, like a network of bloody wounds, leaving the glades still and quiet for some time.

The core observed itself, noting a thin line across its core. A scar. What was that fiend? And what drove her behavior? The sheer power rolling off of her was terrifying, enough to put the core at capacity just by walking into the dungeon.

Additional rooms and ‘floors’ increase the Core’s ability to handle large amounts of mana.
Harpy feathers and blood absorbed. 10 Mana gained.
Mana Levels stabilized. 30/60 Mana.


I will return, when you are a proper meal

The trees of the glade shuddered in unison. A powerful enemy that meant to devour her. But it had also given her the power to grow. An arrogant mistake, and one she intended to capitalize on. The core turned to the room to the left of the squirrel glade and considered her options.

Natural: Trees and related items (chestnut, maple, oak), Shelf Mushrooms, Sunflowers
Elemental: Water, Earth, Clay
Animal: Feathers(Harpy), Blood, Squirrels

> Something with mushrooms perhaps?
> A pond might fit nicely...
> A field of flowers
> Write in
>>
>>5453085
> Something with mushrooms perhaps?
I like mushrooms
>>
>>5453085
>Something with mushrooms perhaps?
Big spongey mushrooms you can make leaps off of!
>>
>>5453085
>Something with mushrooms perhaps?
We should definitely look into getting flying creatures at some point
>>
>>5453085
> Something with mushrooms perhaps?
>>
>>5453085
> A pond might fit nicely...
>>
>>5453085
>Something with mushrooms perhaps?
If this has write in potential i suggest we try to "mutate/evolve" a sleeping/poison spore mushroom to ward off conqueror types who dont want to respect the chill forest meadow vibes of our peaceful dungeon
>>
>>5453085
> Something with mushrooms perhaps?
>>
> Something with mushrooms perhaps?

Mushrooms. The core considered the properties of the shelf fungus she had absorbed for a moment, then let loose streams of mana. Orange drops of energy fell like rain, soaking into the ground and manifesting a damp and spongy terrain. A thick coil of energy transformed into a fallen log, then a scattering of orange spores allowed several shelf mushrooms to form. Expanding from here could be problematic though...

Knifey Respawn Complete

The squirrel burst back into existence in a blaze of orange light, chittering angrily and swinging his knife.

She’s gone. I could use some new varieties of mushrooms though if you’d like to go foraging.

Knifey seemed to sigh, then sheathed his blade before scampering over to the core. Tiny paws traced the scar left on the core before he shot off into the trees. Still plenty of mana to work with, perhaps she should work on the other room while she waited for new mushroom types.

What to do with the room to the right of her entrance?

> A pond might fit nicely...
> A field of flowers
> Maybe something with bridges and trees...
> Write in

>>5453466
Whatever you want to do you can work toward. There's no rigidity to this system
>>
>>5453674
> A pond might fit nicely...
Maybe coming off the stream
Awesome I really like these dungeon core style games and im loving the spin weve gone with of being a somewhat peaceful fun calm enchanted trickster forest, looking forward to the rest of the thread
>>
>>5453674
>maybe a desert/oasis, with cacti and other desert plants.
Some desert plants can be used to make medicine, which we can use as treasure. Also, it would be nice to eventually have some big cactus guardians.
>>
>>5453674
>A pond might fit nicely...
>>
>>5453674
> A pond might fit nicely...
Hard to choose from all the good options, pond has a lot of potential.
To some later room, some giant trees, with rope bridges running between them would be nice.

>>5453774
Innocent and naive cores are the best.
>>
>>5453674
> A pond might fit nicely...
We can do something like "forcing" invader to go through a fishing minigame outside of main road to progress?
>>
>>5453466
Yep, I was thinking we should focus on getting our core room some defenses like this. Basically a thorn-filled bush with mushrooms below it, the kind that release spores, like some type of puffball.
From there we'll have to tinker with them to give the thorns and spores some type of nasty side effect, the more powerful the better. We can worry about a cure later. If someone gets to the core and ignores whatever warning we put up, then screw them. This is now life and death, so don't be a stupid git and you'll be fine.
>>5453822
I had another idea like this, though much more game-like. Make the entry to the core room a "puzzle". It can only be crossed by someone who has completed /everything/ else. Every challenge, every treasure, including the well-hidden ones, the mostly useless ones and the very long and annoying ones. Problem is, I have no clue if that sort of stuff is something we can do, or if we could enforce penalties for people not playing the game by skipping challenges or forcing entry. I'll admit I was inspired by another dungeon core story with a more clearly defined system and the opportunity for a dungeon to set rules within itself.

>>5453674
> A pond might fit nicely...
And sure, fishing challenges! I think we have enough basic materials to provide basic fishing rods, right?
Or make it a diving challenge, force the damned harpy to dive if we can get the puzzle idea working.
>>
>>5453833
Well, I was thinking about good ol' LOZ key and locks.
But the key can be a puzzle piece.
>>
>>5453837
We'll have to see about any rules forbidding us from cutting off our core, or how an actual solid object might interfere with our mana flow.
Also, we may need to manage a way to open it ourselves, if for some reason we want people to be able to get close to the core. Not very tempted to do that right now, mind you.
>>
>>5453674
> A pond might fit nicely...
> Write in: spawn clay golems
>>
>>5453844
+1 and also we should try to find some cacti so we can spawn some giant cactus golems too :)
>>
>>5453674
> A pond might fit nicely...
>>
>>5453674
>>5453791
>+1
Supporting this, if possible.

If we don’t have the power yet to alter a room that drastically (an oasis would imply an arid environment around it, and we’re in a forest) then a pond is good enough.
>>
>>5453674
> A pond might fit nicely...
>>
> A pond might fit nicely...

The core set to work. Scoops of orange mana started shifting and molding earth. The spring fed stream of the squirrel glade was extended, weaving through the dense trees between glades before spilling into a steadily deepening and widening pond. As she worked Knifey continued to make trips, dropping off small piles of mushrooms of various colors and shapes. The squirrel paused for a moment after one such trip, watching the pond slowly fill in with water.

This isn’t going to make much sense without fish is it?

It was difficult for a squirrel to frown, but Knifey did his best. He took a moment to stuff his face with sunflower seeds and shot back into the forest. The core turned back to the slowly filling pond. A small section of log for sitting on, a couple stumps, a crooked stump that peeked out of the water in the middle of the room, its roots forming a network of places where fish could live. Without fish or plants there was little more to be done unfortunately, so she turned back toward the mushroom glade.

Toadstools, morels, amanitas, chanterelles, agaric. Tiny sparks of orange littered the room, and fungal growths of all kinds sprouted and burst from the ground. Another rotting log was created, then shredded into a dark loam as food for the fungi. A good start, a functional room where visitors could gather mushrooms, but it could be more. The core checked her mana, between what she had gained from forage and lost from populating the rooms 20 mana remained, probably enough to populate some fish in the pond and do something here in the mushroom glade.

> Set up a bouncing mushroom challenge
> Improve growth of mushrooms and allow new breeds to emerge
> Let the shrooms grow rampant and form a mushroom maze
> Write in

>>5453953
For an oasis it'd be best to create a desert floor first.

>>5453840
There has to be a path. It doesn't have to easy or even fair.
>>
>>5454309
> Improve growth of mushrooms and allow new breeds to emerge
Let's get poison, next time that harpy tries to fuck around, she will find out
>>
>>5454311
Yep, though poison is only one part!
>>5454309
>There has to be a path. It doesn't have to be easy or even fair.
Time for some fun, then! "Defense Oriented Architecture" aka not-a-trap!
First step is mushroom mixing.
> Improve growth of mushrooms and allow new breeds to emerge
Maybe nudge together puffball types and poisons? I'd like something with range for our core defense setup, we can't expect opponents to just stop and pop a random mushroom on the way to pulverize us. Similarly, giving them the shits or striking them dead a few hours after the fact isn't that helpful, so going for immediate but lesser effects we can tailor might be better? We'll see what comes from our test bed and vote from there.

>Ask Knifey if he's seen any thorny brambles or bushes around, and if he could bring us a small bit?
Have a giant bush surrounding the core, wit the only way a tight fit layered with thorns. I'd like to see that winged bully make her way through that! And it'd give us plenty of opportunity to get an intruder's face low to the ground so they can breathe in our poisoned mushroom spores.
>>
>>5454309
>Populate the pond with some fish

>20 mana remained, probably enough to populate some fish in the pond and do something here in the mushroom glade.
>No options for populating fish
bruh
>>
>>5454422

Gotta wait for Knifey to find you some fish, you don't know how to make them yet.
>>
>>5454309
>Improve growth of mushrooms and allow new breeds to emerge
Leaning towards a gaseous defensive capability and/or mycelium people to trade with adventurers and defend the dungeon
>>
>>5454309
>Improve growth of mushrooms and allow new breeds to emerge

The cutesy forest dungeon just might introduce chemical warfare
>>
>>5454309
>> Improve growth of mushrooms and allow new breeds to emerge
>>
>>5454309
>Improve growth of mushrooms and allow new breeds to emerge
>>
>>5454309
>>Improve growth of mushrooms and allow new breeds to emerge
Mushroom people would be good addion to our defenders, and they can useful in many different tasks.

Thorn maze, or just thorn wall to protect our chamber could be useful, it would slow down any hostile, for our defenders to catch up.
>>
Blargh have flu blargh
>>
>>5454943
You know what else is useful? Giant mobile cactus defenders :)
>>
>>5454945
Bless you
>>
>>5454309
> Improve growth of mushrooms and allow new breeds to emerge
>>
> Improve growth of mushrooms and allow new breeds to emerge

Even as the dungeon core poured mana into the mushroom farm, the nearby logging town of Sufeer, or as the local teens called it ‘Suffer’ had a strange visitor. Gelub, part time fishmonger, full time fisherman, stared down at the squirrel. The squirrel with a knife sheathed on its back. It laid a heap of sunflower seeds and acorns down and pointed at his best fish, chattering insistently.

Gelub was an orc, muscled, tall, greener than healthy grass, but this couldn’t possibly be a normal squirrel, could it? Still, that was the best fish of the day, he was hoping the mayor might drop by and pay a premium for it. Did squirrels even eat meat?

"Listen, I've got a whole bin of scraps. I don't even think you can carry that fish. You can have the scraps." Was he talking to a squirrel? Bargaining with a squirrel?

The squirrel narrowed its eyes and pointed up at the brim of Gelub's hat where a rusty hook was embedded.

"This? Sure, take it. Please just get out of my shop though." Gelub sat his bucket of scraps down and tossed the fishhook on top. The squirrel chittered and drug the bucket out of the shop, leaving a trail of fish scales and debris. Only minutes later Gelub realized he had also given up his best bucket.

---

Massive mushrooms, as large as the trees, loomed over the mush-room, casting it in a somber shade. Mushrooms of all sorts littered the room, growing on heaps of rotting lots, off of the large mushrooms ringing the room, surrounding murky puddles of water. Just a few feet under the surface several pockets of empty space existed where the crossbreeding process would begin. What to aim for though?

> Poof Shrooms: On impact with a surface these small white button shrooms burst into clouds of white spores, obscuring the area of impact.
> Sticky Shrooms: These cousins of the common deathcap forgo their deadly poison for an extremely sticky exterior
> Smolder Shrooms: This curious fungus is highly flammable and makes for excellent fire starting material
> Wriggle Shrooms: This oddly active fungus is quite tasty, in spite of its wiggling worm like behavior when uprooted.
> Write in
>>
>>5455443
>Spotted mushrooms: When comsumed, they severely weaken or massively strengthen someone.
>>
>>5455448
Forgot to say that it would depend on the color.
Yes, it's a mario reference. First thing that came to my mind
>>
I wish I could have voted against mushrooms back when. I’m being reminded of Mushy and it hurts a bit.

>>5455443
>>5455448
I’ll support the gaming reference.
>>
>>5455443
>Poof Shrooms: On impact with a surface these small white button shrooms burst into clouds of white spores, obscuring the area of impact.
>>
>>5455443
>Sticky Shrooms: These cousins of the common deathcap forgo their deadly poison for an extremely sticky exterior
>>
>>5455443
> Poof Shrooms: On impact with a surface these small white button shrooms burst into clouds of white spores, obscuring the area of impact.
Sticky shrooms also sound cool
>>
>>5455471
Mushy?

>>5455443
>Poof Shrooms: On impact with a surface these small white button shrooms burst into clouds of white spores, obscuring the area of impact.
>>
>>5455569
Know what, I’m crossing wires. I was thinking of “There is No Epic Loot Here, Only Puns”, which is SpaceBattles. It also isn’t dead like I thought, I just assumed it was because it has been years since I read it.
>>
>>5455443
>> Sticky Shrooms: These cousins of the common deathcap forgo their deadly poison for an extremely sticky exterior
Our !mushroom! treasure is so good, people just can't put them down afterwards!
>>
>>5455443
When is Idris coming back? I miss her. :(
>>
>>5455443
>> Sticky Shrooms: These cousins of the common deathcap forgo their deadly poison for an extremely sticky exterior

Think about the shenanigans. Intruder get sticked. Then Stabbrel does his best.
>>
> Sticky Shrooms: These cousins of the common deathcap forgo their deadly poison for an extremely sticky exterior

Shiitake mushrooms and deathcaps snuggled against each other in the underground chamber, hopefully resulting in a sticky glue like mushrooms. The glow settled the spores into place, then turned back toward the pond as a litany of notifications appeared. Fish scales, bones, and shreds of flesh from a wide variety of species were absorbed in orange flame, along with a cheap metal bucket, an old fish hook and a few fragments of fishing line.

Knifey had clearly been busy. The core focused on the squirrel, finding him slumped over a tree limb asleep. Poor fellow must have drug an entire bucket of fish guts...from somewhere? There were fishermen somewhere nearby? Something to ponder later. She turned her mana on the pond she had created and manifested a dozen fish, their silvery forms darting through the water.

She stood back, metaphorically, and surveyed the room. Peaceful pond, fallen logs, swimming fish. With the addition of the fish guts she had just enough for one final touch...

> Plump up the fish, causing one of them to take on magical properties
> Add a shop that exchanges “fish points” acquired from fishing for treasures
> Write in

Still feel like crap, update pace likely slowed
>>
>>5457933
> Add a shop that exchanges “fish points” acquired from fishing for treasures
>>
>>5457933
>Add a shop that exchanges “fish points” acquired from fishing for treasures
>>
>>5457933
> Plump up the fish, causing one of them to take on magical properties
>>
>>5457933
>Add a shop that exchanges “fish points” acquired from fishing for treasures
>>
>>5457933
>> Plump up the fish, causing one of them to take on magical properties
>>
>>5457933
>Plump up the fish, causing one of them to take on magical properties
Magic fish!
>>
>>5457933
gotta make sure we reward our hard-working squirrel with some sunflower seeds
>>
>>5457933
>> Add a shop that exchanges “fish points” acquired from fishing for treasures
Gotta hook those adventurers to our dungeon
>>
>>5457933
>Add a shop that exchanges “fish points” acquired from fishing for treasures
Add a squirrel shopkeeper too.
>>
>>5457933
>> Add a shop that exchanges “fish points” acquired from fishing for treasures
Definitely good to start on a shop/point redeem system, it's got a lot of potential for what we want to do. Having a central location and plenty of semi-hidden fishing spots would be very space efficient and maybe allow us to chain challenges together for bigger rewards and more time spent in the dungeon, all of which benefits us.
>>5458297
Also supporting giving Knifey a snack, he (do we know for sure now?) deserves it.
>>
>>5457933
> Add a shop that exchanges “fish points” acquired from fishing for treasures
>>
> Add a shop that exchanges “fish points” acquired from fishing for treasures

A shop? Fish points? Peculiar concepts, but they existed within the scope of her mana. She unleashed a wave of energy and let it work.

Two of the trees on the edge of the glade grew, building in size until they started struggling for space against each other. Wood twisted and bent, curling over and casting a blanket of shade over the glade. A hollow formed in the tree and a sign was abruptly tossed over the edge.

Baitz n lurez

A tuft of gray hair shuffled within the hollow and the core was about to say hello when footsteps eased into her awareness.

Someone entered her domain. Her attention jumped to find the elvish woman from before, Idrid. She was looking behind, beyond the vision of the core.

“I’m fairly certain it’s safe sir. It seems to have grown a tree, and a few sunflowers.”

A second being, short, old and grumpy stomped into the domain of the core. A dwarf?

“Well...it’s a tree.”

“Oh! One moment sir, that sunflower is perfectly ripe.” Idrid darted across the stream and started filling a small pouch with the seeds. “Looks like the squirrels have been enjoying these too.”

“It’s still a dungeon, Idrid.”

“It’s gotta be a garden dungeon though. Didn’t fight me, didn’t attack. The very first thing it made was a treasure, an enchanted twig. War and monster dungeons would have tried to fight either me or Bug.”

The dwarf grunted and stomped over to the oak. “Some of them are born real clever. Smart, too smart. You ever heard of the Lotus type?” He picked up the enchanted twig, turning the stick over, bending the leaves gently. He glanced over at Idrid then tucked the twig into his coat.

“Lotus? Sounds pretty.”

“It’s a garden-monster hybrid. Lures you in with nice places just like this, hides its nature, sometimes for years, then one day people start vanishing. Usually takes a while to notice, but sooner or later you find out the dungeon’s been picking people off it thinks no one will miss.”

Idrid shivered and glanced around the glade before stepping back across the stream.

“Ok, I’m listening. How do we know what subtype this place is?”

The dwarf shrugged. “If it’s smart enough we’ll never be quite sure. Even if it’s got no war dungeon in it, it can still make challenges to look like one.” The dwarf pointed up at the acorns shimmering with orange light.

“Oh, that’s an easy one.” Idrid rubbed her hand together and bounced on her toes for a moment.

Three squirrels watched her from the branches, mischief glinting in their eyes.

Climbing Challenge: Base DC 5 (D20 Roll)
> Leave it as is. Idrid will almost certainly succeed.
> Let the normal squirrels complicate matters, raising the DC by 2
> Let all the squirrels complicate matters, raising the DC by 5
> Write in
>>
>>5459032
> Leave it as is. Idrid will almost certainly succeed.
I actually want her to succeed. We need to talk about protection from the Bitch
>>
>>5459035
>support
seems like they could be helpful at least should we ease their suspicion
>>
>>5459032
> Leave it as is. Idrid will almost certainly succeed
>>
Rolled 8 (1d20)

> Leave it as is. Idrid will almost certainly succeed.

While Indrid scampered through the tree limbs the dwarf wandered off toward the mushroom grove. The dungeon hesitated for a moment, then followed him. Indrid seemed at ease, but the dwarf...the dwarf was filled with mistrust. Was there anything she could do to ease his fear? Should she? Nagging concern filled her, she was, by her very nature, a passive participant in the greater world, at the mercy of those beyond her domain. How she presented herself to the world was the only tool she had.

“Mushrooms.” The dwarf spoke.

The core turned her attention back to the dwarf, fiddling with a pouch of something. “Name’s Fari, Fari Coalgrog. Don’t know if you’ve gotten to naming yourself yet, but either way there’s probably not much in the way you can do for speaking. Now, you’re pretty clearly either a garden dungeon or the cleverest monster type I’ve ever seen.”

A monster? Did he mean Tormentor? Was that what they called them?

Fari grunted and plucked a few edible mushrooms out of the ground. “Now, a garden dungeon can be a real blessing to a town, so you can probably expect a fair number of visitors. Once word gets around people are going to have a lot of expectations of you...especially if they think you aren’t dangerous. Don’t feel like you’ve got to pander to them though. Some dungeons lose their minds, go feral and random trying to please people. Follow your own path.”
>>
Fari returned to the squirrel glade in time to watch Idrid seize the last acorn.

“Done playing?”

Idrid let the top of her body fall, hanging by her legs off a branch.

“Dungeon, you can make it a little harder, I’m pretty sure even the kids in the village can handle this one. Ooh!” Orange mana coalesced together into an object.

“A squirrel fur scarf. Curious.” Fari peered closer. “Mild enchantment of some sort.”

“Ooh. How was the other room?”

“Mushrooms. Lots of them.”

“Huh. Not a fan, but I’m sure someone will like them. Sunflowers are delicious though.”
“Could have been poisonous, you know.”

“Uh huh. Says the man carrying mushrooms in his pockets.”

“I’m significantly more resistant to poisons than you are. I’m going to visit the core, pay my respects. Looks like there’s another room to the other side if you’d like to take a look.”

“Sure. See you back here.”

> Keep watching
> Write in
>>
>>5459292
>> Write in
Can we send Knifey with one of the feathers from the harpy? I want to warn them we have been threatened.
>>
>>5459294
Actually, since he is going to the core he might notice talon marks or the drops of blood. When we made the fishing shop a sign materialized. Can we make notes appear?
If we can't communicate, than just watch the fishing challenge
>>
>>5459292
I would say >Keep watching and if/when he makes mention of the issue, then >>5459294
>>
>>5459328
Supportin'
Maybe we can ask Knifey to draw for us using Bug's knife?
>>
>>5459292
> Write in
>Tell Knifey to use sign language to tell them we've been threatened. Like spawn and show harpy feather, then point at the scar or something.
>>
>>5459292
Supporting having Knifey bring in the harpy feather and try to act out what happened. I'm thinking about that scene from the first Ice Age movie, really. Or just have him point at the feather and the wound in the core while getting increasingly frustrated until they get it. Getting notes out would be better, but I don't think we have their written language, it must be a dungeon effect doing the translation for us.
>>
Fari studied the orange core, pulsing with a slow steady light.

“It’s a nice place dungeon. Brought you a little gift I thought you might find useful...kindly don’t make me regret it.” The dwarf set a book on the ground, alongside four simple metal nails. “The Standard Dwarven Guide to Carpentry. Should help you if you want something a little less natural. A few nails to hold things together...” The dwarf paused and peered closer at the orb.

“Bit of a mark there.”

Knifey shot into the clearing, bounding from tree to tree, eventually landing directly on the orb itself, a feather held in one paw. The squirrel offered it out. Fari lifted an eyebrow and took the feather, inspecting it carefully.

“Hmm. Harpy feather. Stinks of death too...aye, I know of this one.” Fari winced. “Well, you’ve made a powerful enemy. I’ll dig around, see if I can find you anything useful.”

Idrid’s voice called out. “Hey boss! They’ve got a fishing pond! With an old man squirrel shop!”

Fari rolled his eyes. “Hook, line and sinker eh?” He nodded toward the core and ambled away.


Adventure Complete!
Fari (5) + Indrid (6) = 11 Mana
4 Basic Treasures Granted = 12 Mana
Easy Challenge = 5 Mana
Offerings = 14 Mana
42 Mana gained
Indrid was Delighted! Gained 1 Delight!


The core felt the flurry of energy flood into her, along with pages and pages of information on Dwarven Carpentry. Not perhaps the most elegant or beautiful of styles, but a sturdy and practical basis for building. With her visitors gone it was time to get back to work.

> Defenses, the dungeon must be ready for unpleasant guests
> Improvements, the existing rooms could be bigger! Better!
> It’s time for a new room!
> Write in
>>
>>5460099
> Defenses, the dungeon must be ready for unpleasant guests
Anti chicken system
>>
>The dwarf set a book on the ground, alongside four simple metal nails. “The Standard Dwarven Guide to Carpentry. Should help you if you want something a little less natural."
That's neat. We can expand the fishing pond, then make a cozy bench for people to sit on while they fish.
>>5460099
>Defenses, the dungeon must be ready for unpleasant guests
Not everyone will be friendly. See if we can get something like a wolf den or an eagle's nest.
>>
>>5460099
> Defenses, the dungeon must be ready for unpleasant guests
>>
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>>5460099
> Defenses, the dungeon must be ready for unpleasant guests
It would be nice to have some cactarons treants to protect us.
>>
>>5460099
>> Defenses, the dungeon must be ready for unpleasant guests
Treants, mushroom folk, giant plants, or some beasts as other anon suggested would all be good.

>>5460171
Nothing against some spiky guardians, but I'd get our current forest theme rolling, before adding more desert style rooms
>>
> Defenses, the dungeon must be ready for unpleasant guests

The core lifted her awareness high into the air and looked at the dungeon from above. She would need tools for dealing with unpleasant guests. Defenses. What could she arrange that would stymie a hostile target, but leave friendly ones in peace? Indiscriminate traps were the simplest, simple pits studded with spikes and surrounded by tripwires, but such things could as easily kill a proper guest as a ruthless invader...

> A murky fog filled patch of forest designed to lead travelers astray. A Lost Woods if you will.
> Take the dungeon higher into the trees and create a tricky complex of rope bridges and platforms that favor your agile squirrels. In a bad situation Knifey could even cut bridges down, dropping hostiles to the forest below.
> Write in
>>
>>5460218
> A murky fog filled patch of forest designed to lead travelers astray. A Lost Woods if you will.
And the squirrels will guide anyone that is friendly.
If they aren't, they get vietnam'd
>>
>>5460218
>> A murky fog filled patch of forest designed to lead travelers astray. A Lost Woods if you will.

Honestly, I just love the reference. But yes, friendlies will get squirrel guides.

Hostiles will get squirrel ASSASSINS.

Besides, a little challenge to get here might make the reward a bit more appreciated as opposed to us just being a nature store.
>>
>>5460220
+1
>>
>>5460218
>Take the dungeon higher into the trees and create a tricky complex of rope bridges and platforms that favor your agile squirrels. In a bad situation Knifey could even cut bridges down, dropping hostiles to the forest below.
>>
>>5460218
>Take the dungeon higher into the trees and create a tricky complex of rope bridges and platforms that favor your agile squirrels. In a bad situation Knifey could even cut bridges down, dropping hostiles to the forest below.
This is the first step to us having a sentient squirrel village, we have 2 with Knifey and the Fishmonger
>>
>>5460218
> A murky fog filled patch of forest designed to lead travelers astray. A Lost Woods if you will.
> Write-in: build a room and spawn some forest beings. Other anons have suggested their own ideas, I'm going to add clay golems as possibility considering we possess clay as a material.
>>
>>5460220
Supportin'

What is it with us anon and turning every dungeon into Vietnam as soon as we can?
>>
>>5460218
>Take the dungeon higher into the trees and create a tricky complex of rope bridges and platforms that favor your agile squirrels. In a bad situation Knifey could even cut bridges down, dropping hostiles to the forest below.
>write in: Create Beehives that produce delicious wild honey but can also be used as a defense machanism against threats. And this could be a fist step in the direction of powerful bear guardians.
>>
> The Lost Woods

The core studied her layout. When the harpy had entered her domain it had moved straight toward her core, one simple step from the entrance to her very heart. That had to change, she needed some way to redirect visitors, twist and skew direction and perception...the very corridors that connected her glades had to be transformed, changed into swirling chaotic mystery.

She manifested water, hundreds of tiny fragments of water, scattered them in the air, forming billowing clouds of fog that filled the corridors of the dungeon. The corridors themselves were branched, twisted and connected in wild and twisting loops that defied logic and physics, a maze with hundreds of exits into her three visitor’s rooms, but only one route that led directly to the core.

The harpy’s brazen charge toward her core would now lead directly out of the dungeon instead. The core manifested two more squirrel guardians, and the five of them scampered off into the fog filled passageways, darting from branch to branch like fuzzy ghosts, completely at ease, able to jump from path to path, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. It was a good start, but it needed more.

> The paths of the forest can shift and change over time, preventing easy memorization of routes
> Add subtle tells to the corridors that observant guests can use to navigate to the room they want. The core can retract these tells at will.
> While in the fog your squirrels become Phantom Squirrels, able to project illusions of themselves.
> The trees of the Lost Woods become slightly aware, able to make subtle changes and coordinate with the squirrels against opponents.
> Write in
>>
>>5461400
> The trees of the Lost Woods become slightly aware, able to make subtle changes and coordinate with the squirrels against opponents.
The trees are speaking squirrel
>>
>>5461400
> The trees of the Lost Woods become slightly aware, able to make subtle changes and coordinate with the squirrels against opponents
>>
>>5461400
> The trees of the Lost Woods become slightly aware, able to make subtle changes and coordinate with the squirrels against opponents.
>>
>>5461400
>The trees of the Lost Woods become slightly aware, able to make subtle changes and coordinate with the squirrels against opponents.
>>
>>5461400
>> The trees of the Lost Woods become slightly aware, able to make subtle changes and coordinate with the squirrels against opponents.
This can become its own 1 and 2 option with enough investment
>>
> The trees of the Lost Woods become slightly aware, able to make subtle changes and coordinate with the squirrels against opponents.

A wave of orange mana spread out from the core, filling every part of the dungeon. The soft light settled into the trees themselves, ever present background elements, and empowered them. Branches shifted, roots rolled, leaves shuddered. The dungeon watched as Knifey leapt from branch to branch, each one shifting slightly to make impossible jumps possible, other squirrels chasing on the ground finding sudden roots, branches and leaves in their way. Even with her presence within the dungeon, as the dungeon, the trees seemed to defy observation, adjustments happening whenever her focus wavered or drifted elsewhere.

A fog choked living forest patrols by squirrels. Let the harpy bitch come.

---

Father ran, four paws pounding the ground, vision twisting and blurring as the poison twisted in his mind. Had to run. Had to get away from Mother and the pups before the poison did something to him, made him do something. His heart jerked and pounded, drool and foam fell from his mouth, and he ran. Had to keep the cubs safe from this poison.

He paused, in some distant portion of the woods that seemed strange and familiar at the same time. Something had changed here. Short scent, foul scent, tall scent...Normally such things would serve a warning, tall scent were hunters of hunters, but with the poison in his heart? No, let the tall one hunt him, Mother could find another Father, and the cubs would be safer.

He followed the scent and found fog. Strange fog that should not be. Where was the rain that would make this fog? He snarled and snapped at the fog then charged blindly into its mist, the poison twisting his heart even as the pain of it shot through him. False fog maker! This day the Father will find solace with you, or end you!

---

The howl of a wolf cut through the air, echoing strangely through the distorted pathways of the lost woods. The squirrels shot through the trees, homing in on the sound, but nothing was faster than the shift of the core’s focus, finding the intruder immediately.

Dungeon Management Disabled

Was that only for hostile forces? Her human visitors had triggered no such restriction of power, but they had also been friendly. She turned her focus to the wolf who had invaded her dungeon, prowling and snapping through the fog. The creature had seen better days, its fur was patchy, eyes wild, a thin trail of foam trailing from its mouth. The eyes spoke of conflict and pain and anger.

But there was no mistake that it was here to cause pain.

How do you command your squirrels?

> Direct assault
> Hit and run
> Exhausting chase through the forest
> Write in
>>
>>5462508
> Hit and run
Can we make pitfalls and lead the wolves to fal in?
>>
>>5462508
>exhausting chase
into
>hit and run
in case he tries to ignore the furrballs.
>>
>>5462508
>Exhausting chase through the forest
Lets try out the lost forest. Branches that tug and rip at the fur, roots that spring out of the ground to cause the wolf to stumble and thorny brushes to fall in too.
>>
>>5462508
> Exhausting chase through the forest
>>
> Exhausting chase through the forest

The wolf sniffed the air, the fog that should not be. Squirrels were nearby, no doubt hiding in the branches. Irrelevant creatures, a useful snack if the opportunity arose, but not worth chasing. Their business was their-

An acorn popped off his nose, followed by the chittering of squirrels. The wolf span, snarling and snapping. Who dared!? Who! Death and rent bones and scattered blood to them! Sitting on the ground, eyes glittering with mischief, was a chittering squirrel. It turned and wagged its tail.

The wolf charged.

---

The core held her breath as her squirrels played their dangerous game, aided by the devious trees of the lost woods. Time and time again the squirrels stayed just barely out of reach, darting through gaps under roots, leaping through thickets of branches, leading the wolf on a merry chase that kept him scraping through tight gaps, banging into branches, crashing through bushes and being pelted by acorns. Her devious squirrels kept their numbers hidden, only ever having one visible at a time, vanishing into banks of fog and switching out, staying fresh and alert even as the wolf grew more haggard and battered, the fight slowly but surely burning out of him.

The core studied the rabid animal with some dismay. It was clearly sick, out of its mind with pain and rage, but she had no choice, no option but to put it down...or did she? Could she reach out to the creature, like she had with Knifey? She reached out and the mind of the wolf burned at the touch, rage, pain, fury, but also a desperate desire to protect his family, to put distance between this poison and those he had to protect. The connection though...if she was going to get through she’d have to let the wolf get closer, closer to her core.

> Send in Knifey to put the wolf down
> Let the wolf closer and try to break through his pain
> Write in
>>
>>5462863
>> Let the wolf closer and try to break through his pain
>>
>>5462863
>Let the wolf closer and try to break through his pain
>>
>>5462863
> Let the wolf closer and try to break through his pain
>>
>>5462863
> Let the wolf closer and try to break through his pain
>>
>>5462863
> Let the wolf closer and try to break through his pain
>>
> Let the wolf closer and try to break through his pain

Father pounced at the infuriating beast chittered away, soaring through fog. His steps stumbled as sudden sunlight burst through the trees, blinding his bloodshot eyes. Where! What black magic made fog and sun such close brothers!? He span, snapping and growling, then his eyes fell on the source of the magic, a mockery of the sun, orange like sunset. He pounced, death in claw and fang!

Squirrels! One grabbed his tail, another slammed into his side, a third and fourth leapt onto his back! Impudent prey! He threw them off only for them to leap back in defense of their witch orb, ruthless in their miniscule fury. Each of you is but a snap of the jaws to me! A snap of the jaws! He surged and twisted, throwing the little beasts off, clearing his path, finally the witch orb lay before him!

Except the fifth squirrel, a tall one’s weapon of war in his hand, standing on his hind legs. Father hesitated, what squirrel stood like the tall ones? What squirrel stood with the eyes of a hunter, a weapon in its hands? But what wolf would back down against any squirrel, even this strange one? No! Even as the sickness coiled his heart he could not back down!

He lunged!
>>
The core had no eyes, but if it did it would have closed them and cowered at the sight of fangs and claws flying toward her heart. Knifey had no such privilege and sprung at the maw. Back paw to the eye, handle of the knife slammed into the skull, then a dramatic swing under the beast followed by a two pawed slam to the gut. The wolf crashed to the ground, heaving with breath, but still.

Now or never. The core thrust her mind into that of the wolf, weaving past barbs of pain and poisoned rivers of disease distorting its reality.

Hello.

Witch thing. If you seek to torment me, I shall not break! End me now before I find my breath to end you!

You are sick, I can aid you, if you will let me.

The aid of a witch thing? A spreader of unnatural fog and strange places that defy reason?

Would you rather death? I see children, a mate in your memories-

Out of my mind! They are not yours to behold! Yet...would you provide a place for them as well? Your aid, it is a form of servitude is it not? A chain that protects, but binds?

I believe so. There is much of my own nature I do not yet understand.


The wolf struggled to its feet, staring into the core, then gave a small nod.

Very well.

Orange light flowed out from the core, pouring into the once noble animal. Disease was purged, wounds healed, infections flushed. Fur regrew and within minutes a healthy wolf sat in front of the core.

I must return to my family core, bring them to this...strange place.

Of course. I’ll prepare a home for you.


The wolf sprang into action immediately, darting back into the fog immediately, and within moments had left the dungeon, the fog no barrier now that he was linked to the core itself. She let the relief wash over her, the purpose of the fog had been to keep enemies away from her core, not lure them closer. Yet the pain of the wolf had been obvious, and the disease she had purged (carefully filed away in the do not use part of her) had warped his mind. She had to do something, and so she had.

A home for a family of wolves...where would she put it?

> Mushroom Grove
> Fishing Pond
> The Lost Woods
> Write in
>>
>>5463612
> The Lost Woods
>>
>>5463612
> The Lost Woods

We are able to thrust our mind into wolves and squirrels, but can we do it with human, dwarves, and elves?
>>
>>5463612
>The Lost Woods
>>
>>5463612
>Lost woods
>>
>>5463612
> Fishing Pond
>>
>>5463612
> The Lost Woods
>>
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>>5463612
> The Lost Woods
We have wolf, now we need sword.
>>
> The Lost Woods

The dungeon roamed the lost woods, eventually settling on a spot that allowed quick movement to the core itself, no need to keep a guardian at a distance. Earth was dug and heaped, then carefully sloped to produce a safe dry den. The stream that ran through other parts of the dungeon was extended, weaving through the lost woods until a bend of it circled nearby. A place to rest, water to drink. She’d need to wait for her newest companion to return to add more.

Wolf Den registered as minor location. Respawn enabled for up to five wolf type units.
Ghost wolf upgrade option unlocked.


Her mana had run dry unfortunately. She refocused onto Knifey to find him stuffing his face with sunflower seeds. He turned toward her presence, seeds spilling from his cheeks. She indicated her needs, more mana, more materials, fueling her steady growth. Although...what to focus on?

> Brambles, thorn bushes and other tools for building defenses
> Herbs, berries, and other desirables
> Rubbish from the nearby town, maybe something useful will turn up?
> Write in

>>5463624
As you grow larger, yes. Not yet though.
>>
>>5464554
> Brambles, thorn bushes and other tools for building defenses
With the lost woods, the wolves and some torns we should be set for defencive options and can focus on gardening in peace.
>>
>>5464554
>> Herbs, berries, and other desirables
>>
>>5464554
> Rubbish from the nearby town, maybe something useful will turn up?
>>
>>5464554
>> Herbs, berries, and other desirables
More nice things, we are Gardener after all

I'd like to get thorns, but wolfs and lost wood should keep us safe for a moment.
>>
>>5464554

> Brambles, thorn bushes and other tools for building defenses
>>
> Brambles, thorn bushes and other tools for building defenses
> Herbs, berries, and other desirables

The core turned her attention back to the future, considering the possibilities. There was a building pressure, a sensation of almost completeness...

4/5 Rooms complete. 1 Room remaining for first floor of dungeon.

Ah, only one more room then for the first part of herself. The Lost woods must count as a room, or was it the core room? No matter. What to do with this last chamber...

Boss room unlocked. Boss rooms can be assigned some number of aspects from their containing floor, creating powerful guardians and/or effects.

Oh. Well, that was a possibility. Her mana was still lacking, but she could feel out the possibility, an open glade like what her other rooms had began as, but with a swirling nexus of power within. What would she place within it? Any number of aspects from the containing floor? Possibilities swirled in her head, squirrels, sunflowers, mushrooms, wolves, water, fish, fog, acorns...her head practically spun at all the possibilities. Even things as simple as dirt, or clay or twigs could be embedded into such a space. She’d have to give it some thought.
>>
Wolves entered her domain, one her guardian, the others pausing for a moment as they entered the fog, orange threads of energy anchoring their essence and soul to the power of the core. Father, the proud leader who had challenged her in the midst of diseased madness. Mother, who walked warily at the back, eyes wary as they paced through the unnatural fog. And three pups scampered and played between them, unworried by their strange environment.

Father tossed a sad looking rabbit corpse to the ground.

An offering, witch core.

Thank you.
Orange flames consumed the bloodied corpse and the knowledge of rabbits and mana entered her. She directed her newest guardians to the cave. Mother and Father circled it, sniffing, and checking even as their pups played and fought and tussled in the den.

Satisfactory. Mother noted.

Wolves request local hunting.
Wolves request home upgraded to stone.


Ah. So close and so far. Stone was...comically out of reach, surely a simple pebble or rock would have fallen into her home at some point? But no. Hunting at least should be doable with the gift of the rabbit, although a stable population would take more mana than she currently had. Perhaps a few deer as well, they could serve as resources for humans to hunt as well...

Witch core. We go to hunt, and shall return with what we can.

The family of wolves shot off into the murk and gloom, fading from her awareness within seconds. Well, they seemed settled in at least. Only a few moments later Knifey returned, a bundle of herbs tied with a prickly thistle in hand. The bundle had scarcely been consumed by orange flame before berries started flying in through the fog bank, mostly unripe or destroyed by birds, but good enough to learn from. A single ragged looking rose followed the rest. Mana and knowledge of new things flowed through her, now she could get busy!

> Create the boss room
> Make some improvements for the wolves
> Add some herbs and berries throughout the Lost Woods
> Write in
>>
>>5464685
> Make some improvements for the wolves
>>
>>5464685
>> Make some improvements for the wolves
>>
>>5464685
> Make some improvements for the wolves
>>
>>5464685
>Make some improvements for the wolves
>>
>>5464685
> Make some improvements for the wolves
>>
>>5464685
>> Add some herbs and berries throughout the Lost Woods
Hidden glade. With sunflowers, roses, berry trees. Only accessible by less than 11 year old.
>>
>>5464685
> Make some improvements for the wolves
>>
>>5464685
>Make some improvements for the wolves
>>
The core put some distance between herself and the wolf den and set to work creating rabbits. The timid wide eyed creatures looked around their mysterious fog filled home, then back at her.

Right, if wolves needed a den then rabbits would need a burrow. There was a twinge of guilt, after all she had made them to be hunted and eaten. Well, at least she could give them some comfort. A network of burrows and tunnels would give the rabbits some refuge, and another bend in the stream would keep water nearby.

A brief presence on the edge of her domain resulted in a long flat rock being shoved in. The orange flame consumed it slowly and the core turned back to the wolf den. Stone at last!

Two smaller slabs as a base, then another larger one on top formed a proper den entrance.

Wolf needs met.
Wolves gained Ambush! Damage upgraded from D6 to D12 on first strike!


The trees of the dungeon swayed in time as the core hummed. Things were coming along nicely, there was just enough mana for one more small improvement...

> Spikey berry bushes in the lost woods
> Add some rental fishing poles at the pond
> Shouldn't those sticky mushrooms be ready by now?
> Write in
>>
>>5465777
>Shouldn't those sticky mushrooms be ready by now?
>>
>>5465777
> Add some rental fishing poles at the pond
Not everyone will be ready to go fishing while exploring
>>
>>5465777
> Add some rental fishing poles at the pond
>>
>>5465777
>Add some rental fishing poles at the pond
>>
>>5465777
> Add some rental fishing poles at the pond
>>
>>5465777
>> Add some rental fishing poles at the pond
>>
>>5465777
> Shouldn't those sticky mushrooms be ready by now?
>>
>>5465777
>Spikey berry bushes in the lost woods
>>
>>5465777
>> Shouldn't those sticky mushrooms be ready by now?
"The process is done. Bag it up, and let's do another round."
>>
Start with a branch. Apply techniques from the carpentry book, transforming it into a smooth pole. Add delicate notches for fishing line to run through, a hook and a bit of wood for a float. The core had a nagging feeling there was a bit more to it, but it would have to do for now. She left three of her creations sitting next to the fishing shop when-

Someone entered her domain. The core’s perspective jumped to the newcomer to find Indrid walking warily through the fog.

“Well, this is new. Sure hope you haven’t gone bad on me.” She glanced down at the fishing pole at her side. “Not exactly dungeoneering gear but eh, you’re not exactly a dungeon. I hope. This fog isn’t exactly going to make an easy case for bringing the kids though...”

She continued onward through the fog, wandering at random, twice exiting the dungeon by accident, before frowning and holding up her hands.

“Ok, ok, I give up. Could I get a hand to the fishing pond?”

> Send a squirrel
> Send a wolf
> Send some acorns
> Let her wander
> Write in
>>
>>5466903
>> Send a squirrel
>>
>>5466903
>> Send a squirrel
>>
>>5466903
> Send a squirrel
>>
>>5466903
> Send a wolf
Behold our power! Wolf guides are cool.
>>
>>5466903
> Send a wolf
>>
>>5466903
> Send a wolf
>Make sure that they don't attack.
>>
>>5466903
>Send a squirrel
Let's keep the wolves a secret, it's more fun this way.
>>
>>5466903
> Send a squirrel
>>
> Send a squirrel

In less than a minute the unmistakable sound of squirrel laughter was coming from behind Indrid. She turned, hand on her hip.

"Laugh it up. I've got a bag of candied chestnuts here if one of you can get me to the fishing pond."

A brief scuffle broke out among the branches before one of the squirrels scampered a short distance away and beckoned with a paw.

"Finally, let's do some fishing!"

---

The core had come to a terrifying realization.

Watching someone fish was the epitome of dull. Indrid herself seemed happy, perched on a stump and tossing out her fishing line and pulling the occasional fish from the pond, little orange sparks leaping from the fish and swirling around Indrid's wrist like a bracelet. The fishing points perhaps?

But the core was bored to tears. Thankfully each fish captured triggered a point of mana, and Indrid was seven fish in, so soon the core would be able to do some sort of improvement.

Just a few more fish...

Strangers entered her domain. Her attention jumped into the fog banks and found...children?

---

Elrin brushed a few strands of his too long blonde hair from his eyes and took a few timid steps in the swirling fog.

“Sam? I want to go home.”

His companion turned and grinned, swishing his stick. “Home? We just got here! And Indrid can’t be too far in, and they said it was a nice dungeon and-”

“Dungeon!? You didn’t say it was a dungeon!” Elrin held himself tightly.

“A nice dungeon. A garden.” Sam lunged and stabbed at an imaginary foe. “Look how mysterious it is! There’s got to be a real treasure inside! Imagine our first treasure!”

"I guess?"

"Yeah! Let's go!"

Where do you guide the children?

> Over to the fishing pond where Indrid can take care of them
> To the mushroom grove
> Let them wander into the squirrel glade
> Just let them wander around, maybe they’ll get lucky
> Write in

How do you guide them?

> A little scare
> Some mysterious mushrooms
> A squirrel on the head
> Let them wander a bit
> Write in
>>
>>5467800
> Over to the fishing pond where Indrid can take care of them

> Knifey mounted on one of the pups, he will be the green knight.
>>
>>5467800
Where do you guide the children?
> Over to the fishing pond where Indrid can take care of them
How do you guide them?
> A squirrel on the head
>>
>>5467846
Supporting
>>
>>5467800
>Over to the fishing pond where Indrid can take care of them
> A squirrel on the head
>>
>>5467846
Support, if possible give them a little treat too, kids are cool in my book especially since we are a dungeon of the people
>>
>>5467800
>> Let them wander into the squirrel glade
We need SOMETHING to do.

> A squirrel on the head

Though I'm not opposed to letting them wander a bit. Get a tiny bit of adventure and mystery going!
>>
>>5467800
>> Let them wander into the squirrel glade
>> Let them wander a bit
Lets see if the children really can do the climbing challenge.
A squirrel can guide them, if they really get lost, but they should not need hand holding in a dungeon !adventure!
>>
>>5467808
Changing to
> Let them wander into the squirrel glade
> A squirrel on the head
Let them have a little adventure.
They can get one of the magic sticks if they win.
>>
> Over to the fishing pond where Indrid can take care of them
> A squirrel on the head

The two would be adventurers continued their admittedly random walk forward through the forest.

“We’re lost aren’t we?” Elrin moaned.

“We’re not lost! I’ve seen that same tree with that funny moss patch like my dad’s hair three times now.” Sam grinned. “We’re very good at finding that spot.”

“We’re going in circles then.”

“We’re exploring! Onward!” Sam plunged forward, only pausing when his companion didn’t follow.

“Sam...” Elrin spoke slowly. His friend turned around, eyes widening a little.

“Yeah?”

“There’s something on my head! Is it a spider!? It’s a spider isn’t it? Is it poisonous? Is it going to bite me? Is this-”

“Squirrel!” Sam grinned and pointed. “Hi Mr. Squirrel!”

“A squirrel!? On my head?”

“He’s cute! Can you help us Mr. Squirrel?”

“Can he get off my head?”

The squirrel chittered and settled in more deeply into Elrin’s blonde hair.

“I don’t think he wants to. Ooh! He’s pointing! This way! This way!”

---

The dungeon sighed as the two children were guided toward Indrid. What were they doing here by themselves? Her dungeon certainly wasn’t dangerous, but it still contained wolves, running water, a deep pond, plenty of ways for a child to get hurt.

Two more beings stepped into the dungeon.

Dungeon Management Locked

That wasn’t good.

---

“Sava! Is this really the place? Why’s all this fog here?” The first of a pair of young harpies took a few confident steps forward into the fog, talons crunching leaves underfoot.

“I think so Cely? I can feel the magic of the core. I’m a little scared though. Mama wanted us to come here? Aren’t these places dangerous?”

Celynne smacked her sister with a wing. “It’s a little baby dungeon, and a garden too. Mom just wants us to send a message. See if it’s big enough to eat. And I’ll protect you anyway. Come on, let’s find this core. Maybe we’ll find a squirrel to eat.”

What’s the plan?

> Lure them straight into Indrid, let someone else deal with them
> Let them wander around for a bit, maybe they’ll get bored and leave?
> Lure them into the mushroom grove, safely away from the humans, and less safely next to the sticky shrooms
> Harass, torment, separate, ambush and kill them in the Lost Woods.
> Write in
>>
>>5468308
>Lure them into the mushroom grove, safely away from the humans, and less safely next to the sticky shrooms
>>
>>5468308
> Lure them into the mushroom grove, safely away from the humans, and less safely next to the sticky shrooms
>>
>>5468308
>> Lure them into the mushroom grove, safely away from the humans, and less safely next to the sticky shrooms
>>
>>5468308
>> Lure them into the mushroom grove, safely away from the humans, and less safely next to the sticky shrooms

Let's get them stuck in our dungeon for a few hours :)
>>
>>5468308
> Lure them into the mushroom grove, safely away from the humans, and less safely next to the sticky shrooms
>>
> Lure them into the mushroom grove, safely away from the humans, and less safely next to the sticky shrooms

Celynne turned slowly around, scowling. “We’re lost sis. Can you feel the core through this?”

“Kind of? It’s...it’s really confusing. Something isn’t right with...the space around here. I don’t understand it.” Sava whimpered.

Celynne shrieked into the fog. “No more tricks dungeon! Face us if you dare!”

An acorn bounced off her forehead and the trees erupted into chittering laughter. Celynne span, wings sending leaves scattering as she hovered just above the ground.

“Where is that rodent!?”

“There sis!” Sava pointed at a squirrel on the path, waggling its tail impudently. “Uh, I can get it! Glaas vas!”

Celynne charged. Sava called up a bolt of chilling energy and shot it forward with a gust of her wings, just as her sister ran into the path. Celynne tumbled as the numbing ice slammed into her wings.

“Ah! Sis! No!”

“Damn it Sava! Watch where you toss those!”

The trees erupted with more chittered as the squirrel scampered down the path.

“Get that thing!”
>>
The dungeon winced in spite of the harpies being an enemy as they gave chase. The elder sister was definitely taking the worst of the chase, catching two tree branches to the face, and spending several hopeless minutes chasing a squirrel around a tree, never quite realizing she was dealing with three squirrels. The two sisters finally erupted from the fog into the mushroom grove, only to be immediately pelted with sticky shrooms. That should hold them for a moment, she should probably check on the children.

Her focus shifted to the fishing pond where Indrid was scowling and pacing, lecturing the two boys.

“What the hell were you two thinking!? I said to go home and let me check things over before I brought you in!?”

Sam stuck out his tongue. “You’re just fishing! And the dungeon even gave us a squirrel to help us!”

Elrin groaned and looked up at the squirrel on his head. "Can you please get off now?"

The squirrel shook his head.

Indrid sighed and looked up at the tree line. "Thanks for wrangling these two. Guess that cuts my trip short. Alright, let's get out of here. And you two get to explain this to your parents."

---

As the grumpling of her human guests faded the core turned back to her other 'visitors'.

"Get it off get it off get it off!"

The dungeon winced as the elder harpy sister flailed, feathers stuck in awkward positions, several feathers pulled out.

“Hold still sis! Hold still!” Sava, the younger sister, paced around the grove, carefully stepping over the sticky mushrooms that dotted the area.

Celynne clawed at the ground, wincing as another sticky shroom stuck to her claw.

“Ok sis, I’ve got a fire spell that I think might help...”

“A fire spell!? What if they’re flammable!?”

“I mean, that’s the idea. They’ll burn fast, and you can shake them off before they hurt you...too much?”

A fire spell!? The core frowned. That might need to be adjusted.

> Pop a Beech mushroom in the younger sister’s mouth, the bitter taste and sudden surprise ought to cancel the spell
> Let her cast, the damp fog of the lost woods will keep the fire contained, and it’s not you cooking in the inferno
> Have the wolves ring one side of the clearing and let out a chorus of howls, hopefully spooking the sisters back into the fog
> Write in
>>
>>5470122
> Pop a Beech mushroom in the younger sister’s mouth, the bitter taste and sudden surprise ought to cancel the spell
>>
>>5470122
>> Pop a Beech mushroom in the younger sister’s mouth, the bitter taste and sudden surprise ought to cancel the spell
>>
>>5470122
>Have the wolves ring one side of the clearing and let out a chorus of howls, hopefully spooking the sisters back into the fog
>>
>>5470122
>> Pop a Beech mushroom in the younger sister’s mouth, the bitter taste and sudden surprise ought to cancel the spell
We should be able, to drive out these goofs without wolfs. Wolfs will be rude surprise, when mama comes for us.
>>
>>5470122
> Pop a Beech mushroom in the younger sister’s mouth, the bitter taste and sudden surprise ought to cancel the spell
>>
>>5470122
>Pop a Beech mushroom in the younger sister’s mouth, the bitter taste and sudden surprise ought to cancel the spell
>>
>>5470122
>> Let her cast, the damp fog of the lost woods will keep the fire contained, and it’s not you cooking in the inferno
>>
> Pop a Beech mushroom in the younger sister’s mouth, the bitter taste and sudden surprise ought to cancel the spell

Sava carefully plucked a sticky mushroom off her hand. Ok, ok, she could do this. Mama thought she was good. And mama was always right, and, and, and there was a squirrel on her head!

“Eek!” Sava’s scream was suddenly cut off as the squirrel leaned down and jammed a bitter handful of mushroom into her mouth. Her entire body twisted with the bitter taste before she could spit the foul thing out. “Ahg! Pah! Eww!” Sava shuddered as the bitter taste clung to her tongue. “Sis! I want out of here!”

Celynne slammed her claws into the ground, sending mushrooms scattering. “I...It’s just a bunch of squirrels! And fog! And these damn mushrooms!”

Sava glanced around and the trees shook with the laughter of squirrels. “Sis...it’s just toying with us.” She stepped carefully through the patches of mushrooms and started carefully plucking the sticky shrooms from her sister. “I think we need to get out of here before it gets mad.”

Celynne growled, scratching at the ground. “Just give up? Just let it win?”

Sava whimpered. “It wants you mad Cely. It’s running us in circles, wearing us down.”

Celynne shivered. “But mama...mama won’t be happy with us.”

Sava shuddered as well. “We...we’ll make something up. We’ll grab some of these mushrooms, I’ll scorch a few, you claw a few...”

“You think it’ll work?”

Sava’s face twitched. “Hopefully.”

---

The core watched the two harpies retreat through the fog with mixed emotions, even as the ‘Adventure Complete’ notification appeared in her mind, listing off rooms visited, fish (pleasingly acquiring fish points counted as the fish themselves) and mushrooms gathered. Between the five visitors and the items gathered thirty mana flowed into her reserves, but something still troubled her.

mama won’t be happy with us

The enemy and yet she couldn’t help but feel a bit of pity for them. She sighed and turned her thoughts to the next improvements to the dungeon.

What next?

> Build out the boss room and choose what aspects to fill it with
> Add a scatter of challenges across the dungeon, then link them together with a locked passageway to your core
> Fill out the Lost Woods with berry bushes, herbs, and mushrooms
> Write in
>>
>>5471388
> Add a scatter of challenges across the dungeon, then link them together with a locked passageway to your core
>>
>>5471388
> Build out the boss room and choose what aspects to fill it with

Make the boss room a desert floor, with some cactarons and treants.
>>
>>5471463
The boss room can only use aspects that exist on the floor it's contained in. You're definitely welcome to do a desert on the second floor/zone/section though.
>>
>>5471388
>Build out the boss room and choose what aspects to fill it with
>>
>>5471388
> Build out the boss room and choose what aspects to fill it with


>>5471463
why give them open terrain though, in the case of the harpies I'd only give them an advantage
and where are we going to get cactus in a forest
>>
> Add a scatter of challenges across the dungeon, then link them together with a locked passageway to your core
>>
>>5471388
> Build out the boss room and choose what aspects to fill it with
Make a treant or something.
>>
>>5471388
>Fill out the Lost Woods with berry bushes, herbs, and mushrooms
We gotta get the gatherers!
>>
>>5471388
>> Fill out the Lost Woods with berry bushes, herbs, and mushrooms
Lost Woods is a bit gloomy place, lets live it up a bit

If we end up with boss room, an treant, with fire resistant bark could be one boss.
>>
It was time for her final defense, a boss room. In many dungeons this would be a ruthless and powerful champion, intended to break and destroy invaders, and with the harpies threatening her life perhaps it would need to be. Creating the space was simple work at this point, and the enchantments that would empower the boss, while mighty, were also fairly simple. The true difficulty was the decision of what to place within it.

One or more aspects within the first floor...an almost terrifying level of freedom. Simplest would be to create a mighty treant, a classic guardian of the forest, perhaps influenced with the aspect of fog, or mushrooms. Or perhaps use the concept of a pond as a base, creating some sort of shape shifting water elemental. Sunflowers or roses might produces interesting results, or simple earth, clay and rock to create a powerful lumbering golem.

The core found herself next to the fishing shop, a location she had sadly failed to take a moment to inspect. Inside the tree hollow a gray haired squirrel nodded to here and continued sitting on a tiny twig built rocking chair, whittling a small wooden fish.

How am I to choose?

The gray haired squirrel nodded and pointed at the wall of his home. Dozens of tiny carved fish hung on hooks.

Those must have taken some time.

The elderly squirrel nodded and held up the half completed fish carving.

One at a time. I see. Thank you.

What will be the first aspect of your boss chamber?

> Trees
> Water
> Sunflowers
> Stone
> Fog
> Write in
>>
>>5472338
>> Stone
Moss golem
>>
>>5472347
Supportin' Mossy
>>
>>5472338
> Stone
>>
>>5472347
Not bad.
+1 for stone
>>
> Stone

The core manifested a simple pebble and held it in the air, slowly spinning. Light reflected off the smooth surface, marred by a small chip on one side. A simple thing...and yet not unlike herself, bound to a location and the actions of others, held by strict rules that governed its actions.

The pebble floated to the center of the chamber and ribbons of orange light flowed in from all directions. There was a sense and presence of the mountain that every pebble remembers once being and desires to be again. Of impervious nature and the wrath of the avalanche. The mana strained, wanting to complete, wanting to create the mountain, but the core held it, like a finger on a ribbon.

Was this enough?

> It is. Let the Mountain be born.
> Add the aspect of roses, let the mountain bloom
> Add the aspect of water, let the mountain flow
> Add the aspect of fog, let the mountain be shrouded in mystery
> Write in
>>
>>5472604
> Add the aspect of roses, let the mountain bloom
I still want moss golem
>>
>>5472604
> Add the aspect of water, let the mountain flow
>>
>>5472614
+1
>>
>>5472604
>> Add the aspect of roses, let the mountain bloom
A bit of twist to the golem, unyielding like a rock, but elegant.

I do wonder what flowing mountain would look like
>>
>>5472604
> Add the aspect of water, let the mountain flow
Waterfalls are cool. Also tsunami attacks maybe.
>>
>>5472604
>Add the aspect of roses, let the mountain bloom
>>
>>5472604
> Add the aspect of roses, let the mountain bloom
Id prefer we stick to the gathering variety and magic roses growing on/near a rock golem feels good, definitely a bit more danger for gatherers but I feel like we should have it be a caretaker of a special flower garden in its room and itll get aggressive if you take too much/provoke it, maybe even giving gifts for people pulling weeds or watering plots like gold or dungeon currency like fish points, speaking of what can people buy from the old fishing squirrel?
>>
>>5472614
Support'
>>
> Add the aspect of roses, let the mountain bloom

The core drew in more power still, trees whipping into frenzy, a storm of rose petals filling the air. Power crackled and lashed, and even unreleased the core could see roses sprouting at the borders of the room, creeping up tree trunks. Boulders hung in the air, waiting to come together.

She could barely hold it back, but maybe there was time for one last touch...

> No, your guardian is complete.
> Write in
>>
>>5473957
> Write in
> Water, let there be a spring
>>
>>5473973
>support
>>
>>5473957
>>5473973
Support.
>>
>>5473957
>> No, your guardian is complete.
It's good like this
>>
>>5473973
+1
>>
>>5473957
>>5473973 +1
>>
> Add water

One last touch...a ribbon of water twisted through the air, mingling with the roses and surrounding the pebble. The glade crackled with power, filling with intense light as boulders burrowed up out the ground and rose bushes crawled up the trees.

A rolling wave of mana cascaded across the room, reshaping it to its new form. Rose bushes of all kinds grew in patches across the room. Three neat tiled paths weaved through the room, meeting in the middle where a two tiered water fountain topped with a female stone archer with a live rose instead of an arrow set to its string. The water spilled from the fountain, running along narrow grooves set into the path to each of the rose bushes. As the core’s presence approached each bush burst into bloom before her eyes, a wave of red crossing the room.

A beautiful tranquil place. The core approached the fountain, then paused.

Where is the boss?

The stone archer winked and hopped down, bowing with a flourish, the core reeling back in surprise.

“Ma’am.”

“Ah! Uh, hello there.” A voice? Words? Too many things to think about at once.

The statue giggled. “Sorry about that Ma’am. I really shouldn’t be playing tricks with you. You’ve given me a beautiful home here. Artemis.” She held out a hand, then frowned. “Oh, sorry, right, disembodied spirit all around me.”

The core laughed. “It’s alright. I’m glad you like this place. Hopefully you will be able to enjoy it rather than defend it.”

Artemis shrugged. “Well, I’ll do my best, but I think Mossy will handle most of it.”

The core glanced around. “Mossy?”

The ground shook, and with a grind of boulders, the fountain rose, a massive moss covered boulder rising out of the ground from underneath it. Two rough slabs reached out, seized the ground and pulled the boulder out, landing on a pair of stubby legs. The golem, ten feet tall and just as wide leaned over, water pouring from a pair of eyes.

"Oh! Mossy! It's ok!" Aremis fussed over the giant of stone. "He uh, he's upset I surprised you."

The core gave the golem a mental pat on the head. "It's ok...Mossy." The golem straightened out, the water from it's eyes coming to a stop and pouring out of the fountain on his back instead. "So are you both the boss of the first floor?"

Artemis shrugged. "Technically Mossy is the boss and I'm more of a 'feature'." She took a step back and backflipped in an impressive arc onto the giant's shoulder. "But I'm a hell of a feature. This bow isn't a decoration."

The core nodded solemnly. "I hope it doesn't come to that, but I'll feel safer with you and Mossy around. Thank you."

What's next?

> A visitor
> A threat
> Something in between
> Write in
>>
>>5475742
> Write in
>Someone very lost
>>
Also I'm very happy with both the boss room and the boss.
Mossy and Artemis are cool and the room itself fits well with the garden theme. If a visitor reaches the place, the can even rest a while.
>>
>>5475742
>> A visitor

QM once we have more mana could we still do Add a scatter of challenges across the dungeon, then link them together with a locked passageway to your core
as an added protection layer
>>
>>5475848
Of course.
>>
>>5475868
Are we able to speak with humans elves and dwarves yet?
>>
>>5475742
>> Something in between

Nice, the pair is pretty cool and does fit greatly, can't wait to see them in action...greeting new visitors to our forest!

How about inn at some some point, to serve guests that'd like to stay a bit longer, or once we get multiple zones/levels of our dungeon, an resting place between areas.
>>
>>5475742
> A threat
>>
>>5475749
Supportin'
Lost woods actually attracts lost people.
>>
>>5475742
>>5475749
Support.
>>
>Someone very lost

Someone was singing in her domain, loudly.

“Came the elves to the fortress, the mountain-home grand,
They indicted the baron; "You've clear cut this land!
You have chopped down our brethren, you short little man,
Of course this means war, now deliver, now stand!"

The singer paused to laugh uproariously as the core closed in on his location. Stumbling through the fog was a dwarf, face red, eyes twinkling, a cask perched on his hip, a flagon in his hand. He paused for a moment and peered around at the swirling fog, then shrugged and kept stumbling forward, more song roaring from his lips.

“When the elves were all dead, the dwarves were confused,
Who were these strange fools, so quickly abused?
"More blood for the blood god," the Baron's wife mused,
And they went back beneath where the hot magma oozed.”

The dungeon watched the stranger with some measure of confusion. A wicked looking battle ax hung at his hip, but he didn’t seem particularly concerned about wandering into a mysterious bank of fog.

What shall we do with him?
> Let him wander until he ends up somewhere
> Direct him to the mushroom chamber. Dwarves like mushrooms, right?
> Maybe he’d like to go fishing? Nothing ever went wrong with a dwarf going fishing.
> Hold up, is he digging? Why is he digging!?
> Write in

This post brought to you by Bay12 and the EPIC Dwarven Drinking Song of Many Names
>>
>>5477561
> Hold up, is he digging? Why is he digging!?
Dwarf fortress related songs are always good. I'm fond of Simon Swerver's Tankard Basher and Danger Room.
>>
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>>5477561
> Hold up, is he digging? Why is he digging!?
>>
>>5477561
>> Let him wander until he ends up somewhere
>>
>>5477561
> Hold up, is he digging? Why is he digging!?
>>
>>5477561
>Hold up, is he digging? Why is he digging!?
>>
>>5477561
> Hold up, is he digging? Why is he digging!?
>>
>>5477561
>> Hold up, is he digging? Why is he digging!?
>>
> Hold up, is he digging? Why is he digging!?

The core looked around frantically. Where had the dwarf gone? He had been there just a moment ago...She scanned the area and found a heap of dirt, next to a ramp leading into the ground...how was he working this fast? Her presence halted at the bottom of the ramp unfortunately, but within moments the dwarf, still humming his song, hustled back out, and beelined for the nearest tree. The core winced as the dwarven ax reduced it to a stump in just a few swings, then the trump was trimmed of branches, reduced to logs, and hauled into the cave. Vigorous hammering and banging sounded out, then the dwarf emerged and looked around with a frown.

“Never should have drank that elf swill...where am I? And where can I find something to brew?” The dwarf stomped grumbling into the mist, somehow navigating directly through the fog until he popped up in the mushroom chamber.

“What kind of mushroom grows above ground?” He glared at the fungi filled glade, then shrugged and gathered up a handful of shrooms and scurried back to his cave, again navigating the fog as though it were normal forest. Rattling and tendrils of steam started to roll out of the cave...what was he doing in there?

> Have Knifey check on him
> Have Artemis check on him
> Maybe just leave him alone?
> Write in
>>
>>5478122
> Have Artemis check on him
She can speak
>>
>>5478122
> Maybe just leave him alone?
We acquired a dwarf. It's not a dungeon creature.
That means free mana as long as he overcomes challenge.
Where are our mana for felling tree, diggin a hole, finding something to brew?
>>
>>5478122
> Have Artemis check on him
>>
>>5478122
>Have Artemis check on him
>>
>>5478122
>Have Artemis check on him
>>
> Have Artemis check on him

“Artemis?”

In spite of the distance the stone archer's voice carried easily. Within the minute she had arrived, peering at the hole.

“Well...I haven’t seen much in my life, but I feel like this isn’t normal. Pretty big for such a short time too. I’ll check it out Ma’am.”

“Be careful!”

The core waited, fretting for several minutes until Artemis returned, struggling under the weight of a barrel.

“Uh, I think he’s gone ma’am.” She grunted as she set the barrel down. “I’m pretty fast ma’am, but whatever dug that hole was like the wind itself. Built an entire still in there, brewed this barrel of...I guess ale? Then started digging a spiral staircase straight down, hit solid rock, and kept going, marking out little steps as he went. Hit my limit pretty quickly, a little of your control field is down there, but not enough.”

“That’s...That’s just weird.”

“Should have seen the engravings about cheese ma’am. Want me to bring the still up here?”
The core frowned. What if the dwarf came back? Of course if she absorbed the still she could make her own...

> Take it all!
> Just the barrel of ale
> Put it back, never get between a dwarf and his ale!
> Write in
>>
>>5479661
> Put it back, never get between a dwarf and his ale!
> Leave a message about him being on claimed property and that we want to talk.
We can sculpt stone and wood right? If we can't write maybe some little statue to get his attention when he comes back?
Anyway, we should ask for some of the ale instead of taking. It could help setting up an inn in the future.
>>
>>5479661
>>5479666 +1
>>
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>>5479666
+1

>Engraving about cheese
>>
>>5479661
>>5479666
Support.
>>
>>5479661
>Engraving
>Please contribute to the landlord’s local distillery by pouring new brews on the ground for their sampling!
>Current brews assimilated: 0 :’(
>Current alcohol stockpile: Nonexistent :’(
>>
> Put it back, never get between a dwarf and his ale!

“Let’s put everything back for now. We don’t know when he’ll be back, and that ax looked more than a little sharp.” The core paused as the adventure complete notification went by.

Adventure Complete!
3 Rooms Visited = 15 Mana
Resources Gathered = 10 Mana
Fog Navigator Challenge = 10 Mana
Total Mana acquired = 35 Mana!

“That was...an exceptional amount of mana.”

Artemis frowned. “Sure you don’t want to absorb this too?” She kicked the keg. “We could set up our own tavern with some of that equipment.”

“No, we’ve gotten enough mana, and I’m sure we can get this sort of equipment another way. If he returns, perhaps he could even run the tavern.”

Artemis sighed. “And here I was hoping for a chiseled six pack. Oh well, I’ll get this back. What’s the plan for the new influx of mana?”

“I’m not sure...” A plank of wood manifested in the air, and text carved into it. “I think we’re close to a second floor, although more challenges and treasures on the first floor would be good.” A handful of berries appeared, were crushed into a slurry and stained into the wood.

Please contribute to the landlord’s local distillery by pouring new brews on the ground for their sampling!
Current brews assimilated: 0 :’(
Current alcohol stockpile: Nonexistent :’(


Artemis smiled. “I like the little faces.”

> Save up a little more and start a second floor
> Add more challenges and a challenge gate to the first floor
> Oh, right! The mushrooms need to be checked on!
> Fill out the dungeon with some more resources
> Write in

Sorry about the slow pace, just been at low energy
>>
>>5481452
> Fill out the dungeon with some more resources
> Oh, right! The mushrooms need to be checked on!
This two fell like they can go hand in hand
>>
Sure, let's do a double vote since mushrooms are pretty simple

Mushrooms! The core shot off, the sign dropping into Artemis’s hands. Sure enough the grove was rampant with sticky shrooms. The core spent a few minutes culling and adjusting, making room for new species. The underground chambers were cleared out, which begged the question of what to start developing in them.

> Poof Shrooms: On impact with a surface these small white button shrooms burst into clouds of white spores, obscuring the area of impact.
> Smolder Shrooms: This curious fungus is highly flammable and makes for excellent fire starting material
> Wriggle Shrooms: This oddly active fungus is quite tasty, in spite of its wiggling worm like behavior when uprooted.
>>
>>5481503
> Poof Shrooms: On impact with a surface these small white button shrooms burst into clouds of white spores, obscuring the area of impact.
>>
>>5481503
> Wriggle Shrooms: This oddly active fungus is quite tasty, in spite of its wiggling worm like behavior when uprooted.
Combo challenge where they’re used as actual bait to catch a special fish is a go!
>>
>>5481503
> Smolder Shrooms: This curious fungus is highly flammable and makes for excellent fire starting material
>>
>>5481503
>Wriggle Shrooms: This oddly active fungus is quite tasty, in spite of its wiggling worm like behavior when uprooted.
>>
>>5481554
>Combo challenge where they’re used as actual bait to catch a special fish is a go!
Ooh, that's excellent. Certain fish will be more likely to take the bait when using a wriggler, and having them be worth more points if caught. Very nice. It could also be used for meals if we open a Squirrle Inn too.
>>5481503
>Wriggle Shrooms: This oddly active fungus is quite tasty, in spite of its wiggling worm like behavior when uprooted.
>>
>>5481554
Supportin'
>>
>>5481503
> Poof Shrooms: On impact with a surface these small white button shrooms burst into clouds of white spores, obscuring the area of impact.
>>
> Wriggle Shrooms: This oddly active fungus is quite tasty, in spite of its wiggling worm like behavior when uprooted.

Gather the most energetic spores, weave them with mana, then seed them throughout the underground chambers. Long stalks with umbrella like heads soon sprouted. She gave one a poke and giggled as the stalk wiggled vigorously.

She left most in the hybrid chambers to mature, but a few were scooped up and left discretely around the edges of the fishing grove. A little more mana to create the challenge Catch a fish with a Mushroom. A little boon for those who took the time to find it.

Ok, what next?

> Save up a little more and start a second floor
> Add more challenges and a challenge gate to the first floor
> Manifest some new treasures to find
> Fill out the dungeon with some more resources
>>
>>5482127
> Fill out the dungeon with some more resources
>>
>>5482127
>> Manifest some new treasures to find
>>
>>5482127
> Fill out the dungeon with some more resources
>Add a special leaf-based “ticket taker” inside the entrance to the lost woods. Children get them free if desired, adults must provide resources to activate their tickets.
>Anyone who takes the ticket and makes it any of the resource areas will be escorted by Tour Guide Artemis to all other resource nodes on the first floor while she explains the challenges, resources, and treasures in each room.
>Challenges are disabled for ticket holders during the tour. Resources may not be collected during the tour.
>Artemis may revoke the ticket status at any time. >Anyone who has had their ticket status revoked is automatically treated as hostile until they leave the dungeon. Don’t bully the guide!
I want to see all of our creations suffer with the most well-meaning of intentions.
>>
>>5482127
> Fill out the dungeon with some more resources
>>
>>5482127
>> Fill out the dungeon with some more resources
>>
>>5482127
>Fill out the dungeon with some more resources
Berries and rose bushes! Thorns galore! Trees bearing fruit!
>>
> Fill out the dungeon with some more resources

The core whisked through the dungeon, mana streaming like orange gold dew drops. Berry bushes, mushroom rings, and patches of herbs sprung up through the lost woods and lurking at the edges of the squirrel and fishing glades. Knifey returned with an old apple core and moments later a full grown apple tree was hidden within the fog. A deer carcass from the wolves spawned in a herd of deer in return.

The dungeon was packed with useful things to forage or hunt! Just one last little burst of mana, enough for one final touch...

> The Golden Lunker, the biggest fish in the pond.
> The Ghost Hind, a rare and elusive deer with a pearl white hide.
> The Silver Apple, a difficult to acquire silver apple with potent magic within.
> Write in
>>
>>5483913
>> The Golden Lunker, the biggest fish in the pond.
>>
>>5483913
>> The Golden Lunker, the biggest fish in the pond.
Deer is cool too
>>
>>5483913
> The Golden Lunker, the biggest fish in the pond.
>>
>>5483913
> The Golden Lunker, the biggest fish in the pond.
>>
>>5483913
>The Ghost Hind, a rare and elusive deer with a pearl white hide.
>>
> The Golden Lunker, the biggest fish in the pond.

The pond. She swept over to its surface smiling as the fish swam up and circled under her presence. One of them would be empowered, transformed into something bigger, something grander...

Ah. Down in the depths, largely ignoring her was a small minnow, determinedly pulling at a bit of pond weed wedge under a rock. Ribbons of orange light raced down through the water with the faintest of ripples and flowed into the tiny fish. A golden sheen raced across its scales as its size and body grew until it was a true monster of the lake, the faintest hint of a grin playing on its lips. The stubborn pond weed was ripped out and devoured.

Golden Fishing Challenge Added.

A few wiggle shrooms were manifested into the air above the pond and the lunker roared up, breaking the water’s surface like a weapon of war. Water hung in the air, shimmering with the gold of the fish, until the mushrooms were snatched up and the lord of the lake vanished into the depths again.

Absolutely perfect.

---

Ezel paused, brushing a blonde strand out of her face and tucking it behind a pointed ear.

“You really think it’s a dungeon?”

Her companion, in many ways a mirror of her nodded. “No rain recently, no lakes or streams nearby, and this fog is more of a wall than anything else. Can’t be natural. If it’s not natural there’s either a spellcaster doing it or a dungeon.”

Ezel bit her lip and nodded at her raven haired partner. “No magic in the area. I think you’re right.”

“Course I am. Let’s check it out. It’s not on the register, so it must be new. If it’s new it’s probably easy.”

---

The core watched with interest as the two women walked through the fog. One seemed fairly carefree, a staff in hand, while the other held an arrow to a bow and stalked rather than walked. The dungeon had to admit though that arrow woman was a capable navigator, only getting turned around a few times in the fog before she somehow led them out into the squirrel grove.

“Think I could hit that squirrel with an arrow?” Sharp eyes too.

Her companion flinched. “You wouldn’t! Look, there’s a sunflower patch right here ripe with seeds! Leave that poor squirrel alone.”

“Eh, it’s probably a dungeon monster anyway. They come back, you know. It’s basically their job to be shot at.”

“It’s still not nice! What kind of dungeon is this anyway?” Staff woman skipped over the rocks leading to the sunflowers, blonde hair escaping to cover her eyes again. “Sunflowers respawn too!”

“There were a few rabbits in the fog too, I could use a bite to eat.”

“Don’t you dare!”

> Just let them explore
> Maybe chuck a sticky shroom at the archer
> Post Artemis as a guard
> Write in
>>
>>5484235
> Just let them explore
>>
>>5484235
>Maybe chuck a sticky shroom at the archer
>Also pelt her with nuts for being rude
>>
>>5484275
Yeah, that. Peltering increase when violence is mentionned, while squirrels gift flowers to the nice one.
>>
>>5484235
>Reward the well behaved one
>Chuck a sticky shroom at the archer
>>
> Maybe chuck a sticky shroom at the archer
> Give a flower to the other one

Sere rolled her eyes and paced around the squirrel glade, sharp eyes noting the squirrels watching her. Definitely dungeon monsters, no normal squirrel was that patient...did that one have a knife? She finished a circle around the tree, then glanced over at Ezel...who was gathering up sunflowers into a bag. Good, no nagging then for removing a threat...

She reached back, pulled an arrow and set it to-mushroom? She flinched and stared at the mushroom stuck to her arrow shaft, now sticking to her bowstring. She poked it with a finger and shuddered as a piece of the mushroom came off stuck to her finger.

“Ugh!” She stomped over to Ezel and noted a red rose, thorns removed, threaded into her friend’s hair. “I see you’re getting along with this place.”

Ezel nodded happily as she closed the bag of seeds. She turned with a smile and removed the rose blinking. “Oh! Where did this come from? It’s a very nice rose!”

“Squirrels.” Sere grunted. “Very sneaky squirrels.” She knelt and washed her hands, arrow, and bow clean of sticky mushrooms. “One of them had a knife.”

“Oh my! I hope it doesn’t hurt itself.”

“I hope it doesn’t stab me in the back. Are we done here?”

“What about that big tree in the center? I think it has some sort of challenge in it.”

Both women turned toward the tree, eyes moving as though reading through text.

Sere snorted. “Five acorns in five minutes? Sounds pretty easy.”

“For you maybe. I broke my arm the last time I tried to climb a tree!”

“I still don’t know how you did that...here, let me show you how it’s done.” Sere set her bow on the ground and shot into the tree branches.

> No interference
> Add a few strategically placed sticky shrooms
> Some of the nuts are held by squirrels you have to catch
> Write in
>>
>>5484608
>No interference
>>
>>5484608
> No interference
>>
>>5484608
>No interference
>>
>>5484608
> Some of the nuts are held by squirrels you have to catch
>>
>>5484608
>Some of the nuts are held by squirrels you have to catch
Also have them pass the nuts between eachother just when they're about to get caught.
>>
> No interference

Sere moved with a quick and easy grace through the tree branches, plucking each acorn in passing with the easy indifference one might pluck a flower from the ground. In just a few minutes the archer had landed back on the ground, a handful of acorns firmly in one hand.

“Easy. One handed even.”

Ezel clapped politely. “I wish I could move like that.” She sighed.

Sere shrugged as the five acorns lifted into the air and melted into orange mana, then span together into a small wooden ring that floated gently down into her hand. She studied it for a moment then tossed it to her companion. “Here. Climbing bonus. Not much good for me but maybe this will keep your arm out of a sling.”

Ezel giggled and accepted the ring with a bob of her head. “Alright! I can do this!”

Sere sighed. “At least you’ve got healing to spare.”

Ezel set her staff down, rubbed her hands and started into the tree. The core winced as she moved timidly from limb to limb, feet slipping, hands unsure. Still, the time limit was generous and the cleric should be able to make it...

Until her boot pushed down on a branch that had no hope of holding her. Oh dear.

> Let her fall, it’s a challenge not a charity
> Discreetly lend her a hand
> Write in
>>
>>5485901
> Let her fall, it’s a challenge not a charity
>Make sure she fall into something soft, so she doesn't hurt herself.
>>
>>5485901
>> Let her fall, it’s a challenge not a charity
Aw, we should had made it a bit harder for Sere after all. Oh well.
Also page 7, do we get another thread for this one shot?
>>
>>5485901
> Discreetly lend her a hand
>>
>>5485901
>>5485914 +1
>>
>>5485901
>>5485914
+1, we’ve been fair with the challenges so far. I don’t feel the need to ruin that streak.
>>
> Let her fall, it’s a challenge not a charity
> Softly

The core considered her options. Direct aid felt against a piece of her nature, the part of her that sought to push, purify, and elevate those who walked her. Soften the blow then? She could manifest some leaves, cushion the strike against the ground, preserve flesh and bone if not pride.

Ezel the cleric fell as the branch gave way, eyes widening as her blonde hair whipped upward. The core rushed to weave a soft landing together, then the cleric suddenly halted, body held by a single hand clinging to a lower branch.

“Attagirl!” Sere called out, arms folded. “Just remember that well of slime you fell into that one time.”

Ezel blew an errant strand of hair from her eyes, muscles trembling as she pulled herself back upward. “Ahg!” She heaved onto the branch, panting. “I stank for a week!”

Sere grimaced. “Yes you did. Running low on time too.”

“Eep!” Ezel scrambled recklessly, but with a little more care to where her feet landed, snatching up two more acorns, bringing her to four. “Where’s the last one?”

“Right below you. Should have the time to cross back-”

Ezel tumbled down through the branches, a string of curses accompanying a shower of leaves, until she thumped onto the ground.

“Well, it was a good try, Ezzy.”

Ezel spat out a leaf from her mouth and held up the last of the acorns. “I got it! On the way down!”

"Unorthodox, but sure, that probably counts."

The five acorns shimmered into light, then flicked up into the tree and removed the broken tree branch. Lines of orange mana carved along the surface forming images.

Ezel giggled. "It's a little picture story...of me climbing this tree. And falling from it. I didn't really flail that much did I?"

"You did. But good job anyway. Oh hey, enchanted twig, makes for a good arrow." Sere picked up the twig and started absently carving it. "We moving on?"

Ezel nodded. "Looks like it's back into the fog."

> Mushrooms
> Fishing
> Rose Garden
> Write in
>>
>>5486684
> Fishing
>>
>>5486684
> Rose Garden
>>
>>5486684
>Fishing
>Hint at the king of the pond as a reward to Ezel for surmonting such difficult odds.
>>
>>5486684
>Fishing
>>
>>5486684
> Fishing
>>5486721
why tell them a secret that they are suppose to discovery for themselves
I say no hint, if they catch it's shine in the water over the light from sun then so be it but no deliberate hint's
>>
>>5486684
> Mushrooms
If they want to catch the big fish, they need to pick the mushrooms first.
>>
>>5486927
+1
This is the best hint we can give to help them catch Lord of the Pond
>>
>>5486927 has a good point, I'm changing my vote (>>5486760) to mushrooms
>>
>>5486684
>>5486694
I'll change to
> Mushrooms
as well.
>>
>>5486684
>> Fishing
Don't see how visiting mushroom glade helps them to catch it, unless they find shroom with fish catching guide printed on it.
Let's see if they take the bait and go for that quest in first place.
>>
>>5487641
The intent with the wriggling mushrooms (at least with how I voted and with how the fish acted later) is that the big fish needs that as bait, so harvesting them first is a requirement for completing that challenge.

Would they know the mushrooms are needed for the big fish? No, they wouldn’t. But having them go fishing first, then to mushrooms means they need to backtrack to the fishing spot with the mushrooms if they think to try them as bait. So I’m banking on them gathering a bit of every mushroom before the fishing zone and potentially saving a trip.

If they don’t think to try the wriggling mushroom as bait (or don’t take the wriggling mushroom) then I guess the prodding was all for nothing. But I don’t want to spell out the puzzle for them, all I want to do is minimize unnecessary backtracking if possible.
>>
>>5487641
Even if they don't connect the dots, which they are unlikely to since they don't know about the pond, we can still throw more sticky mushrooms at the rude girl in the Mushroom glade.
>>
>>5486699
Changing my vote to
>>5486684
> Mushrooms
Since a garden visit isn't happening
>>
>>5487656
I hope they still have time for a rose garden visit later. We haven’t seen what Mossy and Artemis can do yet.
>>
> Mushrooms

The core watched with some concern as the archer stalked through the fog, pausing to watch a rabbit flit by. Was this level of navigation skill normal? Would the harpy bitch move with such ease?

Of course the pair of adventurers weren't exactly moving fast, and while they refrained from wandering in circles, they were still wandering quite a bit. But eventually...

"Mushrooms!" Ezel clapped her hands.

"Don't eat them. Again." Sere groaned.

"It was one time! Ooh look at this one? It's probably safe, right?"

"Extremely poisonous."

"What about-"

"Ezel. Stay away from the mushrooms. Besides, we really need to name the dungeon, it's not in the register, so we get rights on the name."

"Hmm." Ezel picked up a mushroom and giggled at the wiggling stem. "Wiggle shroom dungeon?"

Sere ignored her. "Probably something like Gentle Glade? Lots of squirrels around though... Squirrel Glade?"

"Think it has a boss? Lots of dungeons are named after their first boss."

"Probably a giant squirrel or something." Sere wrinkled her nose as she carefully gathered a few of the sticky shrooms into a small bag.

Name?

> Gentle Glade
> Squirrel Forest
> The Lost Woods
> Rose Garden
> Name it later
> Write in
>>
>>5488780
>> The Lost Woods
>>
>>5488780
> Write in
>Hidden Groves
>>
>>5488780
>The Lost Garden

>>5488795
Is pretty good also
>>
>>5488780
>>5488952
I like this.
>>5488795
This is also cool, but I prefer the former.
>>
>>5488780
> The Lost Woods
>>
Broke the tie with my own preferences, hope no one minds
> The Lost Garden

“The Lost Garden!” Ezel declared, pointing dramatically upward. The trees rustled, a wind stirring through them.

Sere shrugged. “Sure. Seems to fit.” She lifted a wiggle shroom to her face and sniffed it carefully. “This one might be good...if it can stop wiggling. We’ll try a little later. You ready to move on?”

“What about this-”

“It’s called a deathcap and the name is not ironic. Put it down and let’s find another room.”

---

Sere leaned against the fishing shop’s tree and sighed. Of course it had a fishing pond.

“Twenty minutes!” She shouted.

“Hush! You’ll scare the fishies!” Ezel hissed back.

Sere turned to the gray haired squirrel. “She does this everytime we find a fishing spot. Like, I get it, she’s the daughter of a fishmonger, she spent half her childhood fishing with her dad, but do we really need to call a halt every time we find a pond?”

The shopkeeper stared at her with the baleful eyes of a captive audience.

“Oh well. She’s only poisoned herself once fishing, and that’s better than most of her hobbies.” Sere turned to watch Ezel pull a sizable thrashing fish from the pond with a whoop. “She is pretty good at it though. What’s this place sell anyway?”

The squirrel flipped a wooden sign over the edge of the tree hollow, various tally marks and crude drawings accompanying it. Sere peered at the pictographs and pointed at one.

“What’s this book here with the yellow smudge on it? A spell book or something?”

The shopkeeper vanished into his hollow and returned with a slim book, holding it up. The cover was embossed with a gold scaled fish and the title ‘Legend of the Golden Lunker’.

“I’ll pay you every coin I have to hide that from her.” Sere leaned in. “And more later.”

The shopkeep smirked, a difficult but sometimes worthwhile task for a squirrel, as Ezel popped in, a thick swirl of blue ribbons circling her arm. “The Legend of the Golden Lunker!?” She seized the book, blue ribbons flowing from her wrist into the shop. “Ooh, and a fishing lure, and a little charm and...aww, I’m out of points already?”

“Nope! We can come back later! You’ve had enough!” Sere clamped onto Ezel’s arm and started dragging.

“But fishies! Points! The Golden Lunker!”

“Nope! We’ll be here all day if I let you. You can come back after we make our report and get the claim for the dungeon.”

Ezel’s boots left grooves in the grass. “Promise?”

Sere sighed. “Yes, I promise. C’mon, should only be one more room in this place.”

Allow Sere and Ezel to enter the Rose Garden?

>Yes
>No
>Write in
>>
>>5489485
>>Yes
Let Artemis say hi.
If they try anything, Mossy is always around.
>>
>>5489485
>Yes
>>
>>5489485
>No
>>
>Yes
>>
>>5489485
>>Yes
They get the claim for dungeon?
Well, they have been good sport so far, so they can go ahead.
>>
>>5489485
>Yes
Gonna end it after this thread?
>>
>>5489485
>Yes
>>
>Yes

The last trip through the fog took significantly longer, with Sere backtracking and weaving back and forth frequently, eventually pausing for a moment.

“There’s not a bit of this fog that makes sense. We’ve been walking in an inward spiral for ten minutes, that’s not even kind of possible.”

“There’s some light though? I think we’re there.” Ezel pointed toward a brighter patch of fog.

“Yeah...keep your guard up. Place seems nice enough but...”

Ezel giggled and rushed ahead. Sere sighed and followed.

---

“It’s so pretty!” Ezel span in a circle as a gentle current of rose petals drifted through the air. “Do you really think there’s a boss here?”

Sere glared at the trees. “It’d be stranger if there wasn’t. Treant maybe. Or the rose bushes might be a giant spider or something.”

“She’s very suspicious isn’t she.” Artemis commented dryly, not moving from her position.

Ezel nodded. “She is usually right though. Sere! I think the boss is the water fountain!”

“The fountain?”

“It’s talking to me!”

Sere frowned and stared at the motionless statue, rose sitting where an arrow would on the string.

“Did you eat one of the mushrooms when I wasn’t looking?”

“I don’t think so...” Ezel turned toward the statue. “You did talk right?”

Artemis relaxed her posture and nodded. “But only when I have something to say.”

“Ezel! Back away from the boss monster!” Sere advanced, arrow to string, point leveled at the statue.

Artemis laughed. “If I wanted to hurt you, you’d already be feeding the roses.” Artemis leaned against the fountain as a wall of vines as thick as tree trunks rose up out of the ground and blocked the far exit. Wicked foot long thorns featured prominently. “If you desire to stand in my lady’s presence you will need to prove yourself."

> A tale of two archers
> Trial by combat
> Capture the blue rose
> Write in
>>
>>5490028
> Capture the blue rose
>>
> A tale of two archers
>>
>>5490028
> Write in
Rock Paper Scissors. Best 2 out of 3 :)
>>
>>5490028
>> A tale of two archers
>>
>>5490028
> Capture the blue rose variant?
One of them takes a blue rose. Artemis takes another. Then Mossy attempts to capture the other person with the rose while Artemis dodges the one without.

Since Mossy is hidden, he should get a nice sneak attack in. Which is a little dirty, but I don’t believe in holding back for a boss room even for a light-hearted challenge.
>>
> A tale of two archers

"Try me. I'm not about to lose to a lawn ornament. I can put an arrow into your eye before you can blink. If you can blink at all."

Artemis pulled back her bow and launched a red rose high into the air. "The challenge is simple-"

Sere's hands moved in a blur and her arrow shot out and pierced the rose. Red petals fluttered to the ground.

That's a hell of a shot ma'am.

"Bet you my bow against yours I can do nine out of ten." Sere grinned and set another arrow to string.

Artemis smiled and set two roses to her bow string at once.

"Shall we ma'am?"

> Take the bet
> No deal
> Write in
>>
>>5490413
>Write in
>'Nine out of ten is so cliché. Lets see you do Fifty out of Fifty. If you manage that you'll get something really nice, I'll even be kind enough to give you a consolation prize if you make it past Forty should you fail.'
>>
>>5490413
> Take the bet
>>
>>5490413
>Take the bet
>>
>>5490418
support'
>>
>>5490413
> Take the bet
>>
>>5490418
Supporting. Gives Artemis more time to get creative.
>>
>>5490413
>> Take the bet
9 out of 10 is fair, let's see how skilled she is
>>
>>5490413
>Take the bet
I hope Artemis is going to shoot one more roses each time, cause Ezel is too confident.

I'm mostly lurking this story, but I wanted to say that I highly enjoy seeing the Dungeon grow. I'm not even into fishing, but I'd definetly read ‘Legend of the Golden Lunker’. Nice job QM.
>>
> Take the bet

The living statue cocked its head as though listening to an unheard voice, although as the trees rustled Sere could feel another presence all around them. She rubbed the arrow set to string, toes flexing in her boots.

“You turn back into a statue?”

In response the stone archer pointed her bow skyward and launched two roses high into the sky.

“It’s a bet. But I hope you weren’t planning on doing these one at a time.”

Sere’s mind went into overdrive. Sun at the four o’clock position. Stone archer at one o’clock. Rose bushes, flowing water, wet surfaces, two targets in the air, everything locked into a mental map. Ezel cheering at seven o’clock, her opponent changing position, putting three roses to her bow, two roses falling.

Two arrows hissed through the air, shattering flowers into petals.

A light wind from the west-northwest, three roses fired in a lazy arc overhead, had to hit them before they vanished into the fog, back to the sun, track the arc of the targets and...

Three arrows and a cloud of rose petals started falling toward the earth below. The stone archer started bounding up a tree along the edge of the glade, branch and limb moving to assist her assent, firing three arrows as she went, nearly directly at Sere. Fast moving targets, but easy angles, she kept pace, pinning each rose to a tree with tiny shifts in her stance for each one.

The archer leapt toward the sun from the highest branches, two roses going to bow. Sun glare, bad angle, rose bush in ideal position, she blind fired a pointless arrow, more defiant than accurate, mind racing for a solution as two roses were launched from the heavens.

The fountain. Sprint, bound, step onto the upper platform, then leap into the air, only one chance at this, arrow to string, breath in, release! The arrow pinned both roses to the ground and Sere grinned madly, letting out a shout moments before crashing painfully to the ground.

---

Ezel bowed before the orange glow of the core, held in a pedestal of branches that grew from the floor. “Thank you Lost Garden. We had a lovely time.”

Sere nodded and set her old bow at the foot of the core. The stone bow had transformed in her hands into polished wood engraved with golden rose patterns, a faint glow of magic clinging to it. “Thank you for a good challenge.”

“Come back for a rematch.” Artemis called out from the entrance to the core room.

---

Visitor bonus, challenge bonus, treasure bonus, resource bonus...The core watched as numbers scrolled by and totaled up.

Fifty!?

Time for a new floor.

We'll spin up another thread for the next one since apparently I have no grasp of how to actually do a one shot.
>>
>>5493273
That is good news, Sys
>>
New thread >>5497307#



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