Dungeon Life

Chapter Two-Hundred Eighty

Berdol

This has probably been the busiest winter of Berdol’s life. Usually, the tabby catkin spends the snowy months in and around the Adventurer’s Guildhall, enjoying the warm hearth, good drink, and loud company. If he’s ambitious, he’d commission a new blade or armor or something else, but in general, the winter months are a time to relax.

Of course, life rarely lets a good routine like that continue for long. He had expected to be busier this winter, thanks to apprenticing to Tarl and joining the Dungeoneer’s Guild, but that business was supposed to be spent learning, reading information on dungeons, maybe taking the inspector exam or filling out forms; the kind of business that can be satisfying, but not exciting.

But then Thedeim declared war on a distant dungeon the Dungeoneers didn’t know about. And he formed a formal alliance between himself and the Southwood, which is a status the guild vaguely knew about, but has basically been a legend until now. And that doesn’t take into account his apparent apotheosis! He and Tarl could hardly miss the orange wave that signified Thedeim’s true ascendance, though the catkin was perplexed when the elf didn’t even note it with his voice stone.

“Aren’t you going to note that?” he asked, which earned him an immediate shake of the head from the elf.

“Nope. The Guild doesn’t have any regulations for this. Dungeons are often worshiped by their dwellers, and sometimes even get a following among delvers, but there’s no guides for what to do if one achieves true divinity.”

“Shouldn’t we tell them, though? It seems important,” he insisted to the shrugging elf.

“If it were a different dungeon, maybe. But I don’t think Thedeim will really change much because of it. His changes for getting all the mana from the Maw will have a more direct impact on the guild. You can note it if you want, but I don’t think it’ll really do much.”

Berdol did, but after seeing the aftermath of the subsumation of the Maw, and learning the convoluted nature of how it actually fell, and the efforts put into building up Silvervein, he has to admit Tarl was probably right.

Even if it feels weird that the guild would be more interested in his account of the creation of that little shadow dungeon than a dungeon achieving godhood. If he had the kind of mana sense Tarl or Yvonne do, he’d have something useful to put to parchment. Instead, he’s putting to parchment duplicate reports to send back to the main guild. It’ll probably be fall before they need to be sent, but better to get on it now, rather than let it all build up over the year.

He sighs as he sets aside the iron quills, his affinity letting him easily make as many copies at once as he can get quills. He stretches and groans as his joints pop, before sighing in relief this time and looking over to Telar.

Even with him being able to fill multiple forms at once, the elven woman’s efficiency lets her far outpace him in administrative work. He had heard Tarl accuse her of being a bureaucramancer, and seeing her stack of finished forms compared to his, he’s inclined to believe his mentor. “I think that’s all the reports from the winter delvers you wanted me to copy?”

Winter saw the creation and expansion of the section Thedeim dubs the Lava Labyrinth, a twisting multi-level maze with transportation traps mixed in with more ordinary traps, though they are all designed to mimic the typical death traps of other dungeons, usually using a sleeping effect to incapacitate delvers.

Telar looks up from her tea and nods. “Take a break for now, Berdol. I think copying the new reports can wait until after lunch.”

“Do you, uh… still want me to start running the inspections on Monday?” he asks, still uncertain about taking that kind of responsibility. He’s still an apprentice, after all. On the other hand, Tarl is still busy with Silvervein and establishing not only a new guild office there, but also gently guiding the little dungeon he, Tarl, Yvonne, and Teemo got to see coalesce.

Telar nods over her cup. “I do. With Tarl indisposed, the responsibility falls to you.” She smirks at him before continuing. “At least all the local dungeons are friendly. Inspecting Neverrest was especially stressful for me, hoping his stealth would be enough to return safely.”

Berdol shudders at the memory of the murderous dungeon that used to inhabit the cemetery, before Thedeim subsumed it. He never had a chance to delve it before the guild sealed it off, but the stories of the ones who did were generally the kind to earn drinks of sympathy rather than celebration at the guild.

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Thinking of how the dungeons around here have changed since Thedeim happened, makes him feel a lot better, though Telar happily shatters that feeling with her next words.

“You do realize you’ll need to delve the sewers if Violet has claimed them, right? I already have a few reports from delvers that say she has new denizens.”

The very idea of delving a sewer makes Berdol very glad that catkin don’t share in their ancestors’ aversion to water baths. “At least Violet probably won’t deliberately throw anything at me in there.”

“Indeed. I’m also getting reports her gremlin scion has gone missing. She may have a Voice for you to speak with, too.”

“Onyx? She’d make a good Voice, yeah. And it’ll make it easier to teach her how to fight, if she still wants tips with that.”

“She may advance to a shade or shadow from the new title, or she may stay a gremlin. Teemo didn’t advance his form, so it’s difficult to say. I’d imagine a shade wouldn’t be able to learn too much more from you.”

Berdol chuckles and nods. “Probably not. At that point, she’d probably be able to spar with Rocky though, so she’s not going to stagnate.”

Telar nods before continuing. “I also have reports of Hullbreak expanding to encompass the Overlook Cliffs. He seems to be moving slower than Violet, but you should expect at least one new variety of denizen when you inspect him.”

“I need to make sure I get a fresh aqua affinity potion from Staiven, then. I think I have an old one from the start of winter, but I never got a chance to go delve before everything happened. I dunno if it’s still fresh.”

The elven woman shrugs. “I wouldn’t know. Make sure to get a receipt from him for your delving potions used for inspections. Those will be Guild expenses, not yours.”

“I don’t suppose the Guild would pay for my new blades, too?” he asks with a smirk, knowing the answer before she even opens her lips.

“Only if you only use them when on an inspection,” she replies with a smile, playing along. “Though we will reimburse you for damage done to them on an inspection, provided you don’t deliberately damage them to take advantage of the situation.”

Berdol nods at that. “I forgot about the damage reimbursement, actually. I’ll keep in mind to have my stuff appraised before I go inspect then. Thedeim especially can be rough on gear.”

Telar finishes her tea before standing and organizing the scrolls on her desk. “Speaking of him, I’m also getting reports he’s expanded beyond the cemetery and created two new spawners, along with two new scions. Estimates have the expansion at close to a mile long.”

Berdol gives a low whistle. “He’s not wasting time, is he? At least I can talk to Teemo and hopefully not get blindsided by whatever he’s cooking up in there. Any hints for the new denizens and scions?”

“I have an account of a colorful new variety of bat seen leaving the manor, as well as new, larger bees buzzing over the cemetery walls. I only have a report on one of the new scions: a bark pixie, so he has at least a fey spawner now. There are also a few sightings of strange things moving just under the ground, but nothing confirmed yet.”

The catkin taps a finger against one of the double-ended blades at his belt as he considers. “Bark pixies should be life affinity fey, I think. The new bat means he’s upgraded that spawner, and it also sounds like he’s upgraded the bees, too. With bees big enough to mention, I don’t think he specialized them for resources, but I don’t know what he would have done with them. The underground has me stumped, though. He might have picked up worms to go along with his wyrms, or maybe Violet upgraded her moles. I’ll have to ask when I go inspect.”

Telar idly nods as he speaks, organizing the scrolls before pausing at one. “Ah, I almost forgot. I have a few secondhand accounts that Thedeim has established a third enclave, this time using his ant spawner. A few traders with the established enclaves overheard them talking about the soon-to-be antkin.”

That gets the catkin’s attention. “Antkin? I don’t know that I’ve ever met one before.”

“Neither have I. I believe the Principalities have a population of them, but they seem to be reclusive, or at least don’t trust those outside the Principalities. Either way, it would be a good idea to try to get a look in the enclave, if Thedeim doesn’t object.”

Berdol shrugs. “I doubt he will, but I’ll ask before doing anything. Anyway, where should we eat?” he asks as he stands, and goes around the desks capping the inkwells.

“I’ve heard of a new cafe by the docks that’s supposed to be good. Seaspray Cafe. They’re supposed to serve a lot of fish from Hullbreak there.”

“Oh, that sounds good! I tried a little fishing, but I don’t have much of a knack for it, so I haven’t had any dungeon fish before. I might need to hire a fisherman to help me with delving Hullbreak next week, come to think of it.”

Telar smiles and leads the way out of the guild, and sets a sign to let everyone know they’re out to lunch. “You should consider officially pursuing it as a skill, especially if you end up enjoying the meal. I understand most adventurers try to have at least one crafting or gathering skill.”

He nods as they start walking. “Yeah, I can do a bit of mining, but that’s mostly because of my affinity, rather than any real desire to mine. Fishing could be nice, though. Relaxing on a boat, reading something while I wait for something to take the bait.”

The two idly chat as they walk to the docks, where the fish is even better than they could have hoped. Even the bustle of the boats doesn’t distract them from their meal, no matter how excited the workers are to soon have new sailors and wrights. The caravan bearing more should arrive any day now.

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