I would like to metamorphose into a mouse-mountain.

-Walter Benjamin

==Zidaun==

With the conclusion of lunch I disassembled the stone barrier, and we continued deeper down the tunnel.

The cavern continued to twist back and forth, its descent almost imperceptible.

Waterfalls and streams of water added to the flow. The new water came in hot, the faint smell of minerals lingering in the air. The air filled with a slight haze of steam and mist.

The green of the cave slowly gave way, more and more, to the luminous blue of glowing grass mixed with small pockets of illuminated water where the ceiling lights had fallen into the water.

The lit up portions formed oases of green amid the pale phosphorescent blue. Sometimes the water was lit up in a large circle where the light had remained intact beneath the waves, and the light from below wavered with the motion of the water. In others, several small circles remained where the crystal had broken into chunks and then gotten embedded into the rocks and mud beneath. In others the crystal was missing entirely, or deep underwater caves had small sections revealed by small sections of light amid the gloom.

Black moss grew in the gloom, its depths drinking in the light. From afar it looked like the walls were pockmarked with caves leading into inky darkness.

As the cavern grew dimmer, different types of insects emerged as well.

Small insects glimmered with their own internal light as they crawled along the walls. And the first flying insect I had seen emerged.

Glimmering Mana-Wings

They jumped up and out into the air from the walls, their bodies pale. And then they would sprout wings of mana, allowing them to glide across the cavern. The mana came in many colors. Red, blue, green, brown, and others.

When many jumped together, the air filled with gently glowing sparks of light that drifted gently down and across the cave. Then they would land and glows would disappear once more, only for another trail of lights to appear elsewhere.

The faint mist reflected and diffused the light slightly, making the whole tunnel dreamlike and out of focus.

The monster attacks had not abated. The encounters had grown in number and difficulty, the narrow path not suitable for a number of tactics.

For us, it was merely good practice, but I could see it being dangerous and exhausting for low level parties. It also had great potential to train them. Constant ambushes, increasing difficulty, a narrow path that forced party members behind the bulwark to adapt to dealing with melee, it all would prove very effective training. It hadn’t been lost on me that each new monster that was introduced was a single encounter. I doubted the entire dungeon was this way, if only because I couldn’t imagine how it would function in wide open spaces like the meadow outside the town.

I did occasionally look at the deep underwater caves we were passing. I knew for sure that Inda was glad we weren’t trying to explore those.

If the dungeon wasn’t so large and complex, we would be exploring them. Doing any underwater adventuring was always a challenge. I would need to trap air bubbles in stone and bring them below the water so we had area to breath. Then we would carefully go deeper and deeper, using one of Firi’s blessings to keep the air fresh. And then we would deal with any monsters that were attacking us at the same time. It was a tedious and miserable process.

I think Inda actually hated getting wet because of underwater exploration. Few things could crack her refined exterior like that.

Fortunately, after lunch, she had become more agreeable again. She was very careful to avoid getting wet again though.

Only the wave-makers were a concern for that. However, other monsters were difficult in other ways.

Multiple whipping weeds attacking at the same time made it difficult to completely avoid getting hit. Actually, whipping weeds combined with any other monster made it difficult not to get hit by something.

As long as the teams that came through here were prepared, and had at least decent armor, they would be fine. This section would definitely weed out anyone that wasn’t prepared, however. And that was a good thing. Too many adventurers died because they overestimated their own abilities.

I shook myself out of my thoughts. With sections this easy my mind was drifting off. Best to get ahead of that before it became a bad habit and got me or someone else killed. I focused back on the path, my senses tuned to all the life around us.

Ahead of us, the cavern opened up, and yellow light gleamed in shafts pouring down through ceiling.

When we reached it, we stopped and examined the area.

The tunnel had expanded into an enormous bubble shaped cavern. The water of the underground river descended a series of tiered waterfalls until it reached a deep pool at the bottom of the cave. Above, the ceiling arched overhead, with cracks in the ceiling showing bright blue sky.

Shafts of sunlight spilled from the cracks and reached down to the bottom of the cave, casting the cave in alternating sections of bright golden light and gloomy shadow. The deeper shadows were muted by the presence of pale blue light glowing in the depths.

The path continued around the outside of the cave, spiraling around until it reached the level of the pond. A bridge led across the pond and to a relatively large island, about a hundred feet across, covered with a profusion of green plants. Past the island, another bridge let to an archway set into the stone of the wall.

“Beautiful,” I said, taking in the view.

A few moments more and we continued on.

The path here turned into a mix of stone and dirt, with grass and moss mixing underfoot and to the sides. The path was relatively narrow, only three feet across. To our left a crumbling cliff of packed dirt and stone rose upwards. A new type of vines climbed up the cliff in places, the vines were spindly and had tiny sections of leaves clustered together. To our right was a sheer drop down to the next level, about fifteen feet. The fall wouldn’t hurt any of us if we jumped carefully, but it was better to take the proper path.

Plate-rodents had shown up in this area again. They emerged from burrows in the rock and dirt, flinging themselves down on top of us. They were not a particular danger, usually Inda or Gurek would bisect them. Though when several jumped down at once, Firi and I were more than capable of dealing with them.

By reflex I smashed the first one that jump out at me back upward and to the right. It sailed up into the air and made a parabolic curve down and over the cliff-side, missed the next level down and smashed into the level below that, some thirty feet below where we stood. It dissolved shortly after it hid the ground.

After that my fist or Firi’s golden shield would deflect them that way on purpose if there were too many. Occasionally one would survive and attempt to limp their way back to us. As soon as it entered my range I finished them with stone.

The pathway was not difficult, the aerial assaults simply another type of attack that we had dealt with numerous times in the past.

After that we dealt with a swarm of juvenile moss groomers, a dozen of them emerging from burrows in the cliff’s face. Their light weight was able to hold onto the moss and vines of the cliff-side without issue.

It continued like that, the ambushes and swarms growing in intensity a little at a time. Even with that the trip around the spiral was not difficult. It was slightly precarious in each waterfall section. The air was full of mist and the stone and dirt were damp and slick. We stepped on large rocks to cross the river, the water swirling around the stone several feet below before it fell over the edge to the next level. The stones were slick and mossy, making the crossing precarious.

Soon enough we had reached the bottom of the spiraling path and the bridge leading to island.

The bridge was made of tan stone, and small veins of dark brown ran through the stone in streaks. The bridge was a simple arched span of precisely cut, but unadorned, stone reaching over the water. It was twenty feet long, about seven feet wide, and had two short three foot walls keeping anyone from falling over the edge. The walls ended in slightly thicker square end posts on each side.

“I am guessing that we will either be facing a boss on the island or shortly afterwards,” I said. “Take a look and let me know your thoughts.”

We all examined the island for a while.

“The island is large enough that we are unlikely to face an entirely aquatic threat,” Inda said. “Any monster would need to be able to reach the entire island from the waters surrounding it.”

“If something was in the water and had a ranged attack, that might be possible,” Gurek said. “Something that would force us to come to it. Throwing rocks, cutting beams of water, and so on.”

Firi frowned.

“I don’t think we will face anything too far in that direction,” He said. “So far the dungeon has been pretty consistent about incremental danger so far. More likely to face some kind of swarms, I think.”

“I agree,” I said. “It is likely to involve a swarm in some fashion, just because we dealt with a lot of those getting down to here. If we battle on the island itself I think ambushes from above will be unlikely. If we face a boss inside a cave on the far side we might though. Anything else?”

We waited for a moment, but there wasn’t much to say. The dungeon had been uncommonly regimented in its approach to difficulty levels, but it also had far more variety of monsters and environments as well.

We started to cross the bridge. When we got halfway I stopped us to give a warning.

“Pretty sure this will be the boss arena. I can sense a lot of whipping weeds at the perimeter of islands waters. Nothing too close to the bridge, but enough that approaching the water would be a challenge.”

The others just nodded, their faces serious, and we proceeded.

We stepped onto the island, the ground covered with short green grass. Small fruit trees grew here and there, red fruit ripe and ready to be picked waited on the branches. Small bunches of tall grass formed clumps, the grass waving in the slight breeze.

The island had a slight rise towards it center, and we climbed up toward it. As we got half-way there we could suddenly hear loud squeaks ahead. We stopped and waited, our weapons ready.

Suddenly a large monster appeared over the curve of the island.

Plate-Mouse Brood-Mother

Level 8

“Level 8,” I said.

The monster was six feet long and three tall, not including its long whipping tail. The black chitin of its form was glossy and seemed almost stretched over its generous form. It opened it mouth to scream at us, its large pale teeth sharp and incredibly sturdy looking.

All around the island whipping weeds rose from the water, their whips poised at the ready. And, emerging from burrows near the shore, a horde of plate-mice appeared. They swarmed around the edges of the island, protected by their proximity to the weeds above them. I noted that the way to the bridge was carefully left open and unmolested.

Even for an awakened dungeon… this one was strange.

The battle began as the brood-mother lumbered forward. Simultaneously a section of plate-mice charged forward in a small sward about two dozen strong.

Gurek stepped forward, giving us a little more room to work with, his blades interposed between us and boss.

“Inda,” I said, “crowd control.”

Her only response was action.

Firi stepped forward past her as she stepped to the back, keeping our healer in the center of the formation.

A pulse of mana pushed forward from Inda. Between one moment and the next, the charging plate-mice lost contact with the ground. Their small pushes off the ground were sufficient to push them up into the air. There massively decreased weight led them float gently and uncontrollably into the air, their motion gradually slowing down.

Before any of them had a chance to reach the apex of their ark, Inda was already there. The mice tried to snap at her, their motions sending them into uncontrolled spins. Her sabre bisected multiple mice on each pass, the arcs of her blade precise and controlled. Only a few seconds were needed to completely destroy the swarm.

Gurek had not been idle.

The charge of the brood-mother had been met with the flat of his blades and a gentle application of one of his skills, causing the monster to turn to the side. A casual swipe of his sword was enough to remove the tip of the boss’s tail which came whipping toward him as it was forced past.

My fist slammed into the side of the boss, causing the monster to be pushed several feet back. Plates of chitin had cracked from the impact, the natural armor insufficient to deal with even an unaugmented and light blow from someone of my level.

The boss screamed again, and this time two groups of plate-mice streamed out to try and attack us.

I wasn’t particularly concerned, I just wanted to learn the patterns of the fight.

“Inda,” I said, “one group.”

I took care of the other group myself.

The earth caved in beneath the mice of one group, the dirt easy to shift away. Then I compacted the dirt to the sides and brought it toward the center with crushing force. Inda was only moments slower.

Firi sent out a blessing, golden light settling into our bodies, raising our mana regeneration. We wouldn’t come even close to using it all in this fight, but it was standard protocol when a lot of crowd control was expected. If the monsters were higher level Inda and I would be burning through a decent chunk of mana to take care of them all.

Gurek was playing with the boss. The flats of his blades smacked against it anytime it came too close, forcing it to the side. Every time it tried to whip him it lost another small section of its tail.

When it got close enough to me I slammed my fist against it again, the chitin giving way and my fist plunging into the bloody flesh underneath. Blood sprayed out of the wound, the stream splattering against my clothes.

The monster screamed again, and another two groups attacked us like last time. Nothing more to learn.

“Finish it Gurek!” I yelled.

I destroyed a group of mice behind me and I stayed watching the front.

Then the ragged boss got near Gurek again his blade lashed out, a faint shimmer of energy surrounding it. It pushed through the monster’s head without any effort, killing it instantly.

The mice that were still swarming the perimeter of the island retreated into their burrows, and whipping vines retreated below the water.

A chest appeared on the center of the island.

Once we waited for a moment, and nothing else happened, we gathered together to review the boss. We ignored the treasure for the moment, though Gurek’s eyes flashed toward it longingly once or twice.

The boss had been a relatively simple brute. The difficulty of the battle was in having the party split up to deal with other threats. A team needed a way to deal with the swarms and to keeping the boss occupied at the same time. The boss wasn’t particularly fast, but it was moderately tough for its level. The fast little swarms of plate-mice would have a hard time doing real damage to anyone well equipped, but they could absolutely be a distraction. The whipping weeds were numerous enough that it was unreasonable to try to go and clear out all of the mice swarm, or to get near to the edge of the island.

There was one strange thing. This boss, like the others we had encountered, didn’t have a boss label. Maybe the dungeon didn’t think these lower level encounters counted as real bosses? It was impossible to say for now.

We went to go loot the chest.

Gurek opened it with his usual glee.

Inside were two objects.

One was a small metallic sphere. On one side was the symbol for the sewers. On the other was a symbol I didn’t recognize. It looked like a tree with a hole or archway at its roots.

Meadow Key

Cannot Be Traded Outside Party– Cannot Be Stolen – Temporary Binding – Dungeon Bound

“Looks like the key we needed to get through the gates of the town,” I said.

The other object was another necklace.

Amulet of Safety

Cannot Be Traded Outside Party – Cannot Be Stolen – Dungeon Bound

To activate pour in a small amount of mana. Upon activation, if the party is not attacked for three consecutive minutes, a small safe zone will appear with a bathroom. The safe zone will last for one hour, or until the entire party leaves the zone. Cooldown of four hours between uses.

More bathroom stuff. I just shrugged.

We harvest the fruit from the island after testing if it was poisonous. The fruit was cammar; we had brought the dried version with us.

The trees let us take a few dozen fruit before additional harvests dissolved into thin air. From there we moved over the bridge and through a small tunnel. It ended at a door with the number three on it.

It was early evening, so we took the pathway back through the door and went back to base to sleep.