Dungeons Are Bad Business

Reginald watched Zeiken open and close his door over and over while he waited for Vee to finish up inside. The salamander would gaze at the dark wood carefully, as if evaluating some great decision, then cautiously open his door, step through, and bring it to a close behind him. Each time, he was careful not to close it too hard, lest it slam.

Then a few seconds later, the entire process repeated, with only the occasional muttering to break up the monotony. Reginald found it incredibly irritating; each squeak of the hinges or handle pierced the air and demanded his attention, but it served as an ample distraction from his frustration at being forced to sit outside. He was no dog or cat, to be locked away in the back of the house during dinner with guests! He was Vee’s [Majordomo]! That meant his place was by Vee’s side, making sure that the boy didn’t say or do anything too stupid. Of all the people Reginald had assisted through the decades, young Vales was probably the least polished.

That wasn’t entirely Vee’s fault though; [Big Picture] was a powerful, albeit subtle skill, and when added to the lad’s natural…personality, the deck was summarily stacked against him.

Though, if Reginald were being honest with himself, he had to admit that his boss was getting better when it came to avoiding his worst personality foibles, such as freezing up when under stress or letting his temper get the better of his judgment following the slightest provocation. It wasn’t much in the grand scheme of things – and make no mistake, Vee still had a long way to go – but at least Reginald didn’t have to worry that they were going the wrong direction anymore.

Small victories and little accomplishments. He snorted for good measure.

Zeiken turned and looked over at the sound, and Reginald didn’t balk from the salamander’s baleful gaze. He still wasn’t sure what to make of the [Doortune Teller], who’d arrived out of nowhere, inserted himself into the dungeon’s business without any prior warning, and then left to go sell the idea of Crestheart to people almost as quickly as he’d appeared. That entire chain of events had been abrupt, even by Reginald’s rather generous standards.

Now, the [Core Spirit] didn’t suspect anything nefarious about Zeiken – he was certain that there was no risk of a sudden betrayal or an unexpected knife through Vee’s ribs followed by a triumphant ‘Vengeance is mine’ shouted for the gods themselves to hear…which was something of a relief, given the people Reginald had dealt with for decades – but he would have felt more comfortable with the entire situation if he could have used [Hide No Secrets] on the salamander to get a better idea of who he was and what he was after.

Unfortunately, every time he tried to do so, something big and powerful blocked his gaze. It was like a door getting slammed shut in his face. Of course, normally Reginald could get through such an inhibitor, picking the metaphorical lock that blocked his progress, but his normal efforts were all rebuffed. The lock wasn’t malicious or aggressive, but it was absolute.

Well, relatively speaking, of course. Reginald was confident that he could break through it if he absolutely needed to – and he hadn’t yet ruled it out – but he hadn’t yet decided that he was ready to pay the price such an act would have demanded. Power capable of bending the pillars of the world came at a price, and the [Majordomo] wasn’t sure it was worth it to pay up just yet. After all, his leveling had gotten slow and sluggish in recent years; he’d spent too long in the same place, doing the same types of things with the same types of people.

He thought about the murderous tendencies of his previous partner, remembered a flashing knife in a moonlit alley, and shuddered. Okay, maybe not quite the same type of people, but close enough that the System didn’t see fit to reward him with growth the way it had so long ago when he’d been a bright eyed and bushy-tailed [Herald oF ThE $%^& #(@%] --------

--(Unsanctioned reminiscence detected! Activating containment measures!)--

The seal binding him triggered, sending a psychic tightness throughout Reginald’s felty body. His memories grew sticky, for a lack of better term, and his thoughts fuzzed around the words he’d been trying to form. Only when he stopped did the containment measure deactivate and let him regain proper possession of his thoughts.

Reginald glared up at the sky. Surely my restraint is worth a few points here and there?

[No.]

The voice hit him like a hammer, and Reginald’s glare intensified even further.

Didn’t the system see how hard he was trying? Didn’t his efforts to avoid inserting himself into situations in the ways that came most naturally to him mean anything?

Heck, if he’d wanted to, he could have seized Vee’s mind completely within the first few hours of knowing the boy! Barring that, he could have done the same thing two – no, three! – dozen times since then, and nobody would have ever been the wiser.

[Not being bad isn’t the same as being good.]

The [Core Spirit] sighed. Stingy prick.

Feeling his mood darken, Reginald determinedly turned his attention elsewhere, so that he wouldn’t be at risk of succumbing to old temptations. Being a better person – or spirit – required conscious effort, and he was determined to succeed in his attempt.

There’s too much riding on this to fail.

An hour passed; each minute agonizingly slow while Reginald did his best to eavesdrop through the door. He couldn’t quite make out what Vee was saying, but it sounded vaguely numeric. Maybe targets and prices for various goods? He kept trying to listen, but eventually gave up when he started getting frustrated at his inability to understand clearly.

[Irritability +1]

Instead, he decided to strike up a conversation with Zeiken.

“So, how do you see this all shaking out?” he asked.

The salamander looked over at him once more, raising an eye and swishing his tail back and forth, as some salamanders were prone to doing when they didn’t know what to say. “All what?”

“The dungeon development committee, mostly. But I’ll take your thoughts on Crestheart too, if you’ve got any you’re willing to offer me.”

Zeiken stepped through his door once more, deep in thought. He closed it, opened it back up again, and returned to the side where he’d come from. He scowled and scratched his chin with a claw, then shrugged and said, “Hmm, it appears that we’ve got some time, yet. The meeting will go on for at least another twenty or thirty minutes, depending on the way the knob turns.”

Gawain’s balls, all those door puns were obnoxious! Surely the salamander had to grow weary of talking like that, right? Nobody in their right mind – and probably a good number of people not in their right mind – could do that forever without driving themselves to drink.

How Reginald missed the taste of good, strong drink!

Zeiken sat down on the floor, crossing his legs and smacking the ground twice with his tail. He smiled, and Reginald didn’t like that he couldn’t get a read on what the [Doortune Teller] was thinking.

“Let us talk, then, you and I. Surely we have many things we can learn from one another.”

“Indeed,” Reginald said curtly. He’d decided that he didn’t like the look on the salamander’s face, and a fey mood was making its presence known. Not for the first time, he wondered if he was starting to pick up some of Vee’s impulsiveness. “I’m quite keen on hearing what you have to say, but first, there’s something I need to do.”

Reaching into a part of himself that he'd long since wished forgotten, Reginald took hold of the old, dusty power that had once governed his every waking moment. Like a former lover, it caressed him, begging him to return to the way things used to be. He kept his will steeled, and activated his skill.

“[[Hide No Secrets]].”

The presence was there again, and Reginald still couldn’t see anything, so the [C0r3 Sp!rIt] fed his skill more and more of his levels. They flowed like water, and he lost count of how many left him , but he didn't really care.

[Levels Lost! You are now a Core Spirit Level ???!]

Dismissing the notification, Reginald poured more and more of his power into the skill, strengthening his will until a tiny little crack appeared in the power stopping him from seeing Zeiken’s level. He pushed his efforts into that space, until he carved out a tiny space and got to actually see some of the salamander’s sheet. It wasn’t much, but it was enough that the hat had a better idea of who he was dealing with.

For the second time since meeting Vee, Reginald felt completely overwhelmed, and was only spared from a rather uncomfortable conversation by the fact that all the lights in the hallway dimmed at once.

Crap. He’d used too many of his levels.

He swore.

Vee’s back ached, and his brain felt like a rag drawn out of a bucket of water and squeezed dry. It was surprisingly hard work, keeping up a respectable façade during a long discussion like this, and he was quickly learning that his endurance for such things was nearly as bad as it was for climbing stairs.

Hopefully, getting more practice with it would help him get better at it.

There’d been so many things to go over – vendor allotments, merchandise agreements, pricing requirements, accommodation vouchers, media access, and more – and the [Ghost Maestro] couldn’t help but feel that he’d missed out on at least half of what they’d said. Thankfully, he’d taken some notes and Deina had promised to send a more complete summary of the meeting via gryphon post in the coming days, so he didn’t have to worry about failing to take care of a necessary task.

Still, the instant Deina and Hendon finally said that they were finished for the day and thanked everyone for their time, the blue-haired [Dungeon Master] nearly melted into his seat with relief. He wearily reached up and deactivated the far-viewing crystal as soon as he could, then took a few moments to enjoy the silence of his office and collect his thoughts. There was so much that needed to be done, and ever-less time in which to do it. The thought of failure was prominent and more than a little nerve wracking, but Vee couldn’t help but also feel excited at the prospect of being involved in something so big. He was eager to see how Crestheart performed.

He didn’t know what the other dungeons were like, had never seen them for himself and Zeiken’s notes weren’t particularly detailed, but there was a blossoming sensation in his chest that urged him to prove that Crestheart was better than the others.

[Now get out there and show them what you’ve got!]

[You can now earn points in Competitive Spirit!]

[Competitive Spirit +1!]

Vee smiled as he got up to go check on Reginald and Zeiken. Before he’d made it more than a few steps though, the lights flickered and dimmed, and he heard Reginald cursing outside. At the same time, Do and the other [Dungeon Maintainers] all flooded their bonds with abject terror and panic. There was a problem in the dungeon.

This was not what he needed to be dealing with right now. Throwing open the door, Vee looked down at his [Majordomo], whose felty guilt was obvious, and folded his arms across his chest.

“What did you do?”

“I can explain everything, boss,” Reginald hurried to say. “It’s just a big misunderstanding! I promise!”

Somehow, Vee doubted that was actually the case.

Main Character Sheets:

Main Character Sheets

Vee Vales

Primary Class: Ghost Maestro (Locksmagister University), Level 30

Secondary Class: Dungeon Master (Oar’s Crest), Level 21

Tertiary Class: Guy-Who-Takes-Things-WAY-Too-Far (Self), Level 5

Might: 14

Wit: 35

Faith: 21

Adventurousness: 7

Ambition: 14

Plotting: 20

Charisma: 15

Devious Mind: 24

Leadership: 17

Guts: 14

Intimidating Presence: 10

Citizenship: 21

Public Relations: 8

Determination: 2

Persuasiveness: 3

Bargaining: 1

Patience: 1

Competitive Spirit: 1 (+1)

<3***Infatuation***<3

Alforde Armorsoul:

Primary Class: Hammer Afficionado (Self), Level 26

Secondary Class: Right-hand man (Vee Vales), Level 14

Tertiary Class: Dungeon Champion (Oar’s Crest), Level 16

Additional Class: Glaciernaut (Sacha Silverblade), Level 8

Might: 48

Wit: 13

Faith: 28

Adventurousness (Bound – Vee Vales): 9

Endurance: 25

Intimidating Presence: 12

Heart of a Champion: 11

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 8

Vigilance: 6

Vanity: 1

Reginald:

Primary Class: Core Spirit (Unknown), Level ?? (-??)

--~%@(%$@ &% (*$ #&#e !i$$ (#$%#$%#$@!)~--, #$v@& ????

Secondary Class: Loudmouth (Self), Level 40

Tertiary Class: Majordomo (Vee Vales), Level 16

Additional Class: Announcer (Vee Vales), Level 8

Might: 1

Wit: 33

Faith: 15

Ambition: 27

Greed: 23

Deceptiveness: 27

Manipulativeness: 38

$#&*!@!!: !!!

Loyalty: 47

Patience: 8

Irritability: 22 (+1)

[#&%%%@%!#@__--#%]

Hop@#!! @#$@!@#

@#$@%%^

#4^5#*&_!+++#(@$#

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 8

Bonus: Zeiken's (Partial) Character Sheet:

Primary Class: Doortune Teller (Corridor Perpetuous) Level 71

Secondary Class: World Traveler (Self), Level 63

Tertiary Class: Exiled Chieftain (|Vermillion Matriarch|), Level 61

Additional Class: Cook (Uther Roldrox), Level 55

Additional Class: Charismatic Conquerer (Maleirizzia Suohn), Level 53

Additional Class: Methodical Maverick (Self), Level 50

Might: 140

Wit: 186

Faith: 225

[---- ----- Locked ---- --------- ---- -----------]