Graverra wakes with a start.

She hadn’t really meant to fall asleep, even if previously she’d been curious as to if she could while still trapped in the dungeon. And admittedly, not feeling bone weary and hurt was much more preferable, but that didn’t mean much if her restored mana was about to attract the dungeon core’s unwanted attentions.

Graverra sits up in a panic, the bone spider from before clattering off her lap with a distressed little chittering sound. An ethereal cloak of sparkling, sickly green is summoned from thin air as she casts her Grave Shroud - not that she’s ever been very good with the more stealthy skills, but Val had once encouraged her to at least try a little harder in that regard so she begrudgingly slotted the skill.

“Graverra, sweetie…” Capo mouths off from above. “I don’t think those kinds of abilities work against dungeon cores while you’re still inside them.”

She frowns slightly at the phrasing.

“Besides, if he was gonna kill you and take all your mana, he could’ve done it by now. He left you something.”

Accept Item: Regenerative Necklace (Health)

+2.5% Health Regeneration

[Y] / N

Graverra recognizes it as a simple trinket, the sort of thing that could be looted from any number of basic dungeons and at her level had already been replaceable by stronger buffs. It did, however, look unique… Still made of pewter, but rather than the usual, plain little pendant, it was shaped more like an anatomically correct heart. Not well, given the nature of the material and amount of buff, but… She guessed that was kind of sweet. An attempt at least.

Graverra plucks off the note attached to it first, but before reading can’t help herself from commenting, “I’ve already regenerated everything though…”

Note:

You did say sleeping on it would be fair. Please don’t make me kill you :(

P.S. You may keep the necklace no matter what you decide, though I’m still not able to create very useful loot and I don’t think it will make a difference.

Graverra equips the necklace and sighs before looking up to speak to the core again. “Thank you, dungeon core, for the gifts. I’m still not sure if the bone spider was supposed to be a gift or sent to kill me, but I guess thank you also for not killing me in my sleep and stealing all my mana.”

She pauses there in case the core planned to respond somehow. The bone spider takes the opportunity to climb back into her lap and beg for pets, which she obliges as she continues responding to the core.

“I have been thinking about it, obviously, but I think you owe me some explanations first. I mean, what sort of girl would I be if I just said yes to the first core that made me an offer?”

Sure, another core was unlikely to make this kind of offer… But if it had happened to her once, then maybe it could happen again. Maybe she ought to have been holding out for better. Or at least made this core think that might be an option, so he had better continue to shape up.

“You are going to have to talk to me, you know? I’m not just going to say yes after one piece of jewelry.”

The dungeon rumbles much like the core’s room had when she had upset him before. Graverra yelps, not even certain what she should brace herself for. A door? Some new, worse mob? She gets her answer by way of falling backwards through the wall behind her with another screech.

Graverra knows she’s been summoned back to the core’s chambers by the way the floor squelches beneath her as she tumbles in. The bone spider clatters in along with her with the smallest of screeches.

To her surprise, Capo doesn’t seem phased by the fall, chuckling from his place still affixed to her witch’s hat, “There you go, girlie, he’s got you head over heels now.”

Graverra ‘hurmph’s for the moment she lays sprawled out on the fleshy floor.

“You could have just used a door again!” She howls as she gets back to her feet and brushes herself off. Beside her, the bone spider rattles itself back to rights. She’s somewhat relieved to have something else in there with her this time, besides Capo, who had been no help at all.

The core hovers in the center of the room, merely blinking once through her entire ordeal with his odd configuration of half thumping heart, half crystalline eye.

“It drains me to keep you here if you aren’t going to be part of the dungeon.” He explains, voice smooth as ever… but the lack of clear emotion sets Graverra on edge.

“Oh, well, I’m sorry, but- “ She summons her scythe, feeling as though that might have been a threat. “You know you didn’t have to keep making more things if it was really such an inconvenience for you.”

“I did hope you would have killed the spider. I worked hard on it.”

The bone spider hisses. Maybe not cognizant enough to know what was being said about it, but enough to know it had been mentioned.

Graverra kneels down to pick it up again. “You would have gotten more mana though, and probably made something even bigger.”

“I don’t want to kill you, Graverra, really I don’t. I am, however, bound to certain rules. Adventurers can’t be left to loiter in dungeons. And I can’t focus my resources on building up my domain if I’m also looking after you.”

“Adventurers don’t fall into unfinished dungeons, not as far as I know, but here I am.”

“Also correct. I think you are something of an exception.” The way the dungeon core blinks a little slower than usual and doesn’t quite open again all the way has Graverra believing he might have been smiling at her if only he had a mouth.

She looks askance but smiles back, twirling one of her curls around her finger.

“You said you had questions first, before you could give me an answer.”

Right. Funny how she’d nearly forgotten them again. It would have been awfully easy to just say yes now… But a part of Graverra still maintained that if she were going to do this, she’d like to do it right.

“If it’s not too much of a trouble…” She drawls, undecided if asking the core to spend more mana on her or not was in her best interest. While she certainly enjoyed the idea of him wanting for more, she didn’t want to frustrate him to the point of simply killing her. And she couldn’t go wasting Withering Bolts in here…

“What would you like to know?”

Graverra bends down to set the bone spider back on the ground, but decides this might be awhile and sits down herself. Once she’s seated, the floor shifts beneath her, calling to mind immediately the ordeal of nearly being smothered to death. Before she can quite aim a Withering Bolt at the core’s eye though, Graverra realizes she’s been lifted into a chair made of bone and sinew, the cushioning made of patch worked leathers.

“Oh.” Graverra smoothes down her skirt and crosses her legs. “Thank you, though I don’t really mean to cost you so much mana, you know?”

“It is a little less when it’s my own lair,” The core admits. “And you had said something about wanting to be impressed.”

Graverra smiles coyly again. So he had been listening.

“Go on then,” Capo encourages. “Ask your questions already, girlie.”

“Right.” Graverra fidgets with her petticoats again. “Well…”