《Dungeon Building For Beginners》Party Time
Advertisement
Flames crackled in the hearth in a way that you have never before experienced, and it's a small thing that is reminding you of how far you have come in a short time. A month ago and you were just a Drakeling, living in a cave. Hoarding shiny things and hiding from adventuring Heroes.
Around you, the party flows. Chunks of meat, spiced with unmentionables that you have no intention of divining, have long since been devoured. Charlemagne is sat, swaying gently, on the second barrel of ale. Your lair lacks cups, ad the goblin chef took it upon himself to use his ladle to serve the drink into mouths directly. As the guardian of said ladle, he looked to be quite drunk, even defaulting back to goblin-speak when you last visited him, abandoning his unusual eloquence. Mercy and a very red faced Amanda are sat at the tall table, giggling around the only two tankards that the currently very green dryad has coaxed from the trunk of her tree. Every few seconds one or the other of them looks over to you and the giggling begins again. You stop looking over when you see Mercy making a series of very explicit hang gestures and apparently sketching something on the table in front of a furiously red Amanda. Sapphire and Feathers vanished some time ago. Your own thoughts are... pleasantly muzzled, although the bitter taste of the drink left you somewhat underwhelmed, and you left the majority of the drinking to your minions.
Charlemagne finally overbalances, slumping backwards over the barrel and starting to snore. Notch-ear, one of the female goblins, staggers upright.
“Keeper of Ale has fallen!” she slurs. Maybe their small stature is making the alcohol hit them harder. The gobliness moves to reach for the ladle, but before she can get more than a step, Jack is holding it aloft.
“Long live the new Keeper!” he shouts. “Kobolds first! Goblins to the back of the queue!”
This outburst is greeted by ragged cheers from the kobolds, and outraged cries from the goblins. One Eye lets out a warcry that's picked up by the other goblins, and the War of the Ladle begins in earnest. You tune out the crashes and bangs as the kobolds stage a fighting retreat towards the kitchens, and slip out of the hall with Amanda's giggling echoing in your ears.
Advertisement
It's... nice. To do this, something that even a week ago you would have seen as a waste of time and resources. To live without fear, if only for an evening, and let your minions experience feasting, and drinking. Things that even the largest cities of kobolds or tribes of goblins experience rarely.
You're not sure where your feet are taking you, and you have nowhere in particular to be, so you let your mind wander as your feet do. There's a lot to think about. What sort of demonic horrors were going to come knocking now that you had a full week of extra attraction? If your workers are any indication, some sort of imp-thing is already on the way. A second floor is coming too, you're only putting it off right now because it seems a waste to work while the party is still going, and who knows what that will do.
You've wandered to the entrance hall, awash with moonlight and the sound of rushing water. For a moment, the view of rolling forest quiets your mind. You take a breath, the chill air filling you. A second breath, slow and deep, carrying the scents of snow melt; mountain flowers; lush, green trees and -
Rot.
The smallest hint, a grain of salt in a glass of water. Gone in a moment. But for that moment, the chittering, rotting, corrupt, sick...
And then its gone. Several more breaths are needed before you can convince yourself that the smell is truly gone.
That sickness is far away. It was an unlucky gust, nothing more.
You shiver. The cold moonlight is no longer so welcoming, and you turn to return to the party. Until you are distracted once more, by a noise. Faint, but you could have sworn you heard the sound of flesh striking flesh, a punch or slap perhaps? After several seconds listening, it doesn't seem to repeat and you shrug it off. And then you hear it again. Coming from the tunnel to the goblin town.
Curious.
You're forced to step over a small bloodstain to enter the first cave, and beyond you can see evidence of Feathers' fight with the Hero. The walls are cracked, the floor pitted and scratched.
The sound again, louder now, and almost immediately repeated. And followed by a... moan?
Advertisement
Oh. Well then.
You furrow your brow. The only people missing from the party are...
You'd raise your eyebrows if you had them.
You emerge into the goblin's village to find it deserted. But now you can hear another sound. Slow, rhythmic. You grin, and creep up the stairs until you can peak into the second chamber of the town.
There, at the highest point of the cave, in the nest of furs that Feathers constructed, are your wayward champions.
*Censored*
As you leave the caves behind you
*Censored*
You shake your head. Horniest dungeon ever indeed.
You step through them, headed back towards the mess hall to find the others, but you pause. Your eye drawn to the stairs down to the cells. The cells where one of your companions has been living without complaint. The fire in your blood cools. Maybe you should accelerate your plans for the second floor.
With a sigh, you turn away from the surrounding sex and make your way into the arena.
Upgrade Lair?
200 Fame, 50 Stone, 50 Wood, 50 Metal Ore (Any)
You hit yes, not giving yourself any time to think.
One viable room detected. Stairwell placed automatically.
And then another pop-up pops up, bursting through the remnants of the last. A fair blue crackle fuzzes the words for a moment, before it stabilises.
Congratulations! Your Lair has evolved into a Dungeon! Dungeon Paths generated by choices so far! Please choose a Dungeon Path:
Proud Bastion
Hidden Stronghold
You blink. This isn't what you expected. Maybe doing this after a drink wasn't the best idea. As if sensing your confusion, another window leaps into place to the side of the first. It shudders momentarily and then words spill across its surface, as if someone was writing it in real time.
Proud Bastion Path will extend your dungeon influence, allowing you to defend the local area; It will also reinforce your dungeon, and unlock thematic floor specialities.
Hidden Stronghold Path will hide your dungeon influence, making it harder for people to find you by accident, make you more self sufficient, and also unlock thematic floor specialities.
You frown. As much as hiding sounds good, it's as you said the Sapphire all that time ago. This is a dungeon. Death has no hold on you any more. And killing Heroes is how you will grow stronger. You bap your hand against Proud Bastion, and the window vanishes with an audible pop, only to be replaced a moment later as the walls around you groan. Shrieks come from the orgy-room, and not the fun kind. You wince.
Yeah. Should have sobered up first.
The new pop up is larger, practically overflowing with information.
Your choice of Path and previous actions have unlocked 3 Floor Specialisations! You may choose one now. Warning! This is permanent and cannot be changed!
Grand Halls (Unlocked by: Proud Bastion Path); Your Dungeon is your castle, and the Grand Halls reflect that. All rooms will be upgraded to Cut Stone style for free, and cosmetics such as torches and banners will spawn in viable locations. In addition, you may nominate one Monster sub class as Floor Guards. All members of the Floor Guard race will receive free armour and weaponry, and be more easily upgraded by your actions.
The Grim Oubliette (Unlocked by: Water feature, Mixed use of Dungeon and Natural room types, 1st floor, Proud Bastion Path); Your enemies will never love you. But now, they will fear you. All rooms will be upgraded to Mixed style for free and cosmetics such as cells and bone piles will spawn in viable locations. In addition, all undead spawned on this floor will receive better equipment. Finally, every minion on this floor will receive small stat bonuses based on the number and nature of prisoners kept on this floor.
City of the Disparate (Unlocked by: High individualism of inhabitants, High number of small monster races, Proud Bastion Path); Your dungeon is more than just a place to fight and die. It's a place to live. Rooms will be upgraded based on the needs of those who live in them, and cosmetics such as species appropriate artwork will spawn in viable locations. In addition, all individuals on this floor gain small bonuses based on their opinion of you.
You smile.
Advertisement
- In Serial34 Chapters
The Extramundane Emancipation of Geela, Evil Sorceress at Large
Darkos, holy priest of Alerion, the God of Peace and Healing, has just arrived at the castle of the Evil, Dark Sorceress, backed by his trusty, if clumsy, companion, Geela. They fling open the doors to find the place dusty and decrepit. "Oh dear, this place is showing its age," Geela sighs. And with those words, everything Darkos knew about his friend is turned on its head. Geela, far from a naive farm girl, is a 70-year-old Dark Mistress, hell-bent on exacting revenge on her ex-husband Barney for cheating on her, trashing her place, and changing the locks. Geela is everything Darkos has sworn to defeat. A bastion of dastardly deeds. A pinnacle of evil... ...so of course he finds himself tagging along.
8 174 - In Serial30 Chapters
Star wars: Selfish virtue.
''He's broken, are you sure this is a good idea?'' ''It's gonna be alright, it'll become a different timeline. I will supply the power for it myself, won't cost you anything and you can watch it play out with me.'' ''If you're sure dear, the last time we did this it didn't turn out so good for the world though.'' ''It's gonna be fine! ...Probably.'' A man yanked out of our world is put into another one on the whims of beings out of his comprehension or knowledge. Journey with him as he tries for the things that were ever out of his reach in his last life, enjoyment, fulfillment, happiness... and maybe even love. This is my first time writing anything. I'll be taking it as a learning experience, though obviously, I'd hope that people enjoy it. When you find something to criticize, and you will. I at least hope you'll word it in a constructive way so I could remedy and/or learn from it. Enjoy.
8 388 - In Serial6 Chapters
Heroes Die First
It was after World War Two ended; rumors spread of people wielding amazing powers or mutating into horrifying monsters. Seventy years later, heroes and villains dominate the news and battle in the streets, discrimination drives mutants into the criminal lifestyle, and the governments of the world are struggling to handle the rapidly shifting paradigm. Maxmillian Grants, like any sixteen year old boy, wants to be a hero and he has a secret: he has the power to do it! Except, when he actually looks into the risks and the rewards he discovers that being a hero is not really worth it. Being a villain, on the other hand, certainly pays well. If you don't mind risking being sent to prison and being hunted by heroes and other villains. Max, not being an idiot, does mind both of those things. Instead of being a hero or being a villain, Max decides to take the third option, to be a vigilante! His plan? To hit the criminals in the gut and run off with their money, making the world a bit brighter at the same time by taking down the bad guys. But how long can he actually manage alone? Can he really navigate through the dangerous world of supers and capes without declaring for either heroes or villains? Or will he be sucked into the web of plots and drama that is the life of those with superpowers? (Cover photo by Sebastiaan Stam, downloaded from Unsplash)
8 140 - In Serial17 Chapters
The Adventures of Rat Damon
12/20/2021: we're back to work! Rat Damon reflects on his life of adventuring, both before and after meeting Jack Jensen of earth. He recounts many of his experiences, both happy and sad. He regales you with the tales of power found and love lost. This is a side-adventure based on our The Other Guys series. Rat Damon makes an appearance in Heroes of Last Resort but is much more than a simple rat. What I will post here is going to be a lot rougher than Heroes as I am writing and posting as I go along, so my apologies go out to you in advance! However, I will revise as needed as we go along. As writing isn't my full-time gig, the posting of new material here will likely be a bit irregular and as far as what length this book will be, it remains to be seen. This was originally envisioned to be a 30-40k word novella but one never knows where the story will take me. Do not fret, book 2 in the series is well on its way, in fact much farther along than this novel(la?). We will see where Rat Damon takes, I guess! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy this as much as I had writing it.
8 87 - In Serial12 Chapters
Song of Change (Cancelled)
The song that changed the world. All around the world, the song has inspired many.One man, inspired by the song, created one of the most advanced VRMMORPG ever.A young man, tired of the life of the underworld, tries it out.-----------Sorry, I lost all motivation to work on any novels (plus I have a huge amount of problems in RL) so no more stories.
8 212 - In Serial58 Chapters
Skyris {GirlXGirl}
Though once at peace their world is now rising in war. The Deamons and Angelo both have mighty kingdoms secluded to their own races, run by monarchy's. And just like every great kingdom. There are always those who wish to see them fall.Skyris is the mountainous region of floating lanshelfs the Angelo call home. Little is known of the lands queen, seen as cold and vicious she strikes fear in those unlucky enough to be caught in her presence.One choice out of a hundred possibilities can change your view and put you in the middle of a dangerous game. A lesson learned too late by one who wanted to change things, but not like this.
8 436

