Dungeons Are Bad Business

Sadly, despite all his thinking, no neat solutions for Vee’s problems manifested. The only thing he could come up with – which kept coming back over and over, like the refrain of an obnoxious song – was to somehow gain enough power and influence that he could push back against the don and Sacre both when their trouble came onto his doorstep. Forcefully if necessary.

Alas, truth be told, that wasn’t really a solution; Vee doubted he was capable of doing such a thing. He knew himself well enough to know that he lacked the will necessary to follow such a path, not to mention the incredible financial resources. One didn’t simply walk into becoming a crime lord.

Speaking of finances, the [Dungeon Master] knew that his own were somewhere between “completely hopeless” and “rather dire”, which was not a great place to be. He’d spent a good bit of the afternoon between runs trying to come up with other ways to collect fleurs before the next payment date, but had also come up empty.

It wasn’t a good day for thinking, it seemed, and Vee was disappointed and frustrated with himself as Alforde helped him put away their meager earnings. It was his job to come up with ideas during times like these, and his mind was irritatingly blank. No clever schemes whispered in his ear, nor did any devious plots. Emptiness was his only mental companion, and the [Ghost Maestro] resented its presence.

[Devious Mind -1]

[Plotting -1]

“Figures,” Vee muttered. “Go ahead and kick me while I’m down, eh?”

He waited, expecting further stat losses, but none came. Alforde clapped a gauntlet on his shoulder and said, “Don’t be so down, Vee. Everything is going to be okay.”

“Yeah, boss, the big guy is right. Things aren’t so great right now, but we’ve got a few days to work and come up with some extra fleurs. An opportunity will present itself!”

Vee wished that he could borrow some of his friends’ optimism, it would have been nice right then. Alas, he couldn’t, and he remained in a dark and surly mood all the way back to the boarding house.

Sculla was out on her stoop with her pipe, like normal, but when the ogre fixed her gaze on Vee, the [Dungeon Master] felt something similar to what he felt from the Expectation. There was a heaviness he wasn’t expecting, and he nearly stumbled when she blew a smoke ring and said to him, “You look like you have something on your mind, kid. Want to talk about it? I’ve been known to lend a listening ear here and there.”

Reginald tightened his brim around Vee’s forehead, but the hat remained silent as Vee considered the offer. There wasn’t really much to think about, Vee decided. What was the harm in talking things out? Perhaps the ogre would have a different perspective than his friends, or would say something to jog his own thoughts in a productive direction. Taking off Reginald and handing the hat to Alforde, Vee sat down next to Sculla and took a deep breath as he looked back at his friends.

“I’ll meet you guys back upstairs, okay?”

Alforde’s eyes flashed, and the armorsoul inclined his helmet forward. “Of course, Vee. Take your time.”

Alforde and Reginald disappeared inside, leaving Vee out on the stoop with Sculla.

The ogre didn’t say anything, and after a few seconds of awkward silence, Vee said, “Well, uh, now what?”

“What’s on your mind?”

Vee thought it over, choosing his words slowly as he spoke.

“It’s just…a bunch of stuff has happened lately, and it kind of feels like I’m in over my head. There are so many things demanding my attention that no matter how I try, things fall through the cracks.”

“And you’re sure that everything going on needs your direct supervision and intervention? There’s nothing you can delegate?”

Vee looked up to see that Sculla was giving him a sidelong look as she inhaled from her pipe.

The silence returned between them, but it was pensive instead of awkward.

“I guess there’s probably something that I can delegate, but I’m not really sure what it would be,“ Vee finally said. “Everything with Crestheart seems so important lately that I feel guilty if I’m not the one taking care of them. I’m in charge, so it’s my job to make sure that things are handled properly.”

“A lot of leaders feel that way,” Sculla said. “As non-sensical as it is. Surely you understand that you’re only one person? There’s simply no way that you could handle everything on your own. The best leaders are the ones who trust their underlings to help them carry parts of the burden. Why don’t you go ahead and [Tell Me] about what you’ve been dealing with, eh?”

Nodding, Vee launched into the details while the ogre listened. He discussed the issues with the circuit, his fears that the city wouldn’t make a good impression on the out-of-town adventurers, the need to get Reginald’s levels back so that the dungeon worked properly, and the fact that the dungeon had been robbed. He talked and talked, enjoying the catharsis that came from venting all his fears and frustrations.

By the time he’d finished, the moons were out and the air was starting to get quite chilly.

Tapping her ashes out onto the ground, Sculla said something in a language that Vee didn’t understand and drew a circle with her pipe. As she moved, the air grew warmer and warmer until Vee’s ears stopped stinging, and the ogre flashed him a small smile as she refilled her pipe.

“Dungeons aren’t really my specialty, but if you’d allow me, there’s something I think I can help you with,” she said. “You mentioned that if you were able to get your fiends into the city they could start cleaning up the streets before this circuit of yours starts, right?”

Vee nodded. “I have to go and plead my case to the Council though, and I’m not sure that they’ll listen to me.”

“Allow me to go and plead on your behalf. It’s been many years and I don’t mean to brag, but there was a time that everyone on that council waited with bated breath for my opinion on matters. I’m sure that I still have enough Influence to get them to let your fiends into the city to help clean the streets. I strongly suspect I could even get them to agree to pay you for the service, which should help alleviate your recent money troubles as well.”

“That’d be great,” Vee said. “But what would you want in exchange?”

“For the moment, nothing. I’m offering this to you free of charge or any future obligation, simply because I wish to assist you. What do you say?”

Vee’s first instinct was to say yes right away, but there was something about the change in the way the ogre spoke that made him pause. Reginald had hinted that there was more to Sculla than first met the eye, and so Vee was careful with his words so as not to offend her as he replied.

“I’d definitely appreciate the help if you did that, but I must admit that I’m curious as to why you’re so willing to help without getting anything in return. That type of generosity is somewhat strange to me.”

Sculla laughed. “When you’ve lived as long as I have, you find that carrying the burdens of favors and debts gets harder and harder. Life is much easier, not to mention more pleasant, when you give what you can to others without reservation or expectation of reciprocation.”

She took another deep draw from her pipe. “Now, with that said, should you make a habit of asking me for help with things like this, there will be a cost. As much as I don’t like them, there are Rules that even I must follow.”

The heaviness that accompanied the word Rules sent a shiver down the [Dungeon Master]’s spine.

“Well, thank you for listening and for the offer of help, Sculla. I’ll try and think about how I can delegate.”

“You’re welcome. I know it seems difficult right now, but you’ll get the hang of it with time. [Don’t Worry]. Everything is going to be fine. [Have A Good Night], Vee.”

Bidding Sculla the same, Vee stood up and headed back to his room. As he climbed the steps – cursing them with each one – he felt his mind clearing. So much so, in fact, that by the time he reached his room, he no longer felt the need to talk to Reginald about the ogre, and neither of his friends brought it up either. Instead, they laughed and talked about the book Alforde was reading – See Me Rolling, the twentieth volume of The Hasty and Hateful, a series about high stakes carriage racing – before calling it an early night and going to sleep.

The next morning, Luna was waiting outside the boarding house with two other adventurers. Her lance was slung over her shoulder, and she was carrying a heavy bag too. Her boots had been freshly polished, and her hair was tied back in a long ponytail.

One of her companions was a small and shifty girl with closely cropped blonde hair and a pair of daggers on her hips. A [Rogue] of some kind, if Vee’s instincts were right. She refused to look up from a spot on the ground, and fiddled with a coin that she danced across her knuckles. Vee fought back the urge to check his pockets.

The third woman was the tallest of the group. Her red armor marked her as a [Sister of the Plate], but she carried a staff that reminded Vee of the old [Healers] he’d seen back in the academy. She was carrying a basket too, but Vee couldn’t see what was in it.

Luna grinned at the sight of Vee – who’d darted behind Alforde as soon as he’d noticed her and was trying to use the reflection from the armorsoul’s cuirass as a de facto mirror to fix his messy hair – and waved as she walked over. Her companions stayed where they were.

“Good morning, good morning! How are you guys today?”

“We’re doing fine,” Alforde answered, reaching back with a gauntlet and pulling Vee forward. The [Dungeon Master] flashed a sheepish smile and stood up as straight as he could muster.

“It’s good to see you,” he said. “What brings you all by?”

“We’re here to ask some questions about your job posting actually.”

Vee blinked, not following just yet. “Job posting?”

“The trip into the mountains to find these reservoirs,” Reginald said. “Do any of you have the ability to find hidden things? You with the daggers, maybe? You have the look of a [Treasure Hunter]. Maybe not as a primary class, but somewhere in there.”

The [Rogue]-looking woman shook her head. “My name is Janice. I’m a [Backstabber], actually, so I’m really not good at finding hidden things. Most of my skills are centered around critical strikes and inflicting the Bleeding status effect, actually.”

Vee raised an eyebrow. “Is that…going to be a particularly useful set of skills for this job?”

The [Backstabber] shrugged. “It’ll be helpful if we run into a yeti. They’re pretty nasty customers otherwise.”

“There aren’t yetis in those mountains anymore,” Reginald said. “If there were, some would have come down to the city at some point in the last several decades.”

“They’re definitely still up there,” the [Backstabber] insisted. She glared at Reginald, shifting her weight and crossing her arms across her chest. “Plenty of adventurers have seen them and come back the worse for it, regardless of what some hat thinks.”

Reginald started to build up to some sort of nasty insult, but Alforde stopped him.

“Wow, yetis! I’ve read a lot of books about yetis! Is it true that they’re almost ten feet tall? Or that they’re covered in [Snow Armor]? Please tell me everything you know about them!”

The animosity building in the air faded away, and Vee was silently grateful for his friend’s genuine enthusiasm. He took the opportunity to regain control of the conversation. “I’m not trying to cast aspersions on your party here, but if Janice doesn’t have the ability to find hidden things, how are you going to track down the reservoirs?”

“That’s where I come in,” the [Sister Of The Plate] said with a wide smile. Her armor clanked as she walked forward, and she opened her basket as she did so. “My name is Calico, and I’ve recently discovered something of a gift with thread. I have a skill called [Sympathetic Bond] that lets me follow connections between two things. If there’s one between you, Master Hat, and these reservoirs, I’ll be able to find them. Would you allow me to [Pluck] one of your strings so I can try?”

“Of course,” Reginald said gleefully. “You have my full permission!”

Calico snipped a tiny bit of fabric away from Reginald’s brim with a pair of engraved scissors, and then closed her eyes as she held it up. A sparkling red light surrounded her entire body, and when it faded and she opened her eyes, there was a glimmer there that reminded the [Dungeon Master] ever so slightly of Luna’s.

The [Sister Of The Plate] confirmed that there was something in the piece of fabric connected to the mountains, and the trio of adventurers went to leave. Before they walked away though, Vee caught up with Luna and said, “Be safe out there. Let me know when you get back and we’ll go out to eat or something, okay?”

Luna giggled. “I will. Don’t worry. You’re always such a sweetheart, Vee. I really like that about you.”

Then, quick as a flash, the [Pumpkin Witch] darted forward and gave the [Dungeon Master] a quick peck on the cheek. Everything seemed to smell of cinnamon and vanilla, and Vee’s cheek burned like nothing else as she stepped back.

He tried to say something witty, but his mind had once again gone blank and all he could do was take solace in the fact that Luna was nearly the same shade as Calico’s armor. Looking equal parts embarrassed and pleased, Luna scurried away before Vee could restart his brain. She looked back before she left, a hopeful gleam in her eyes, and Vee gave her the biggest smile and wave that he could muster.

Main Character Sheets:

Vee Vales

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

Secondary Class: Dungeon Master (Oar’s Crest), Level 22

Tertiary Class: Guy-Who-Takes-Things-WAY-Too-Far (Self), Level 6

Might: 14

Wit: 35

Faith: 21

Adventurousness: 7

Ambition: 15

Plotting: 19 (-1)

Charisma: 15

Devious Mind: 23 (-1)

Leadership: 19

Guts: 14

Intimidating Presence: 10

Citizenship: 21

Public Relations: 8

Determination: 3

Persuasiveness: 3

Bargaining: 1

Patience: 1

Competitive Spirit: 1

<3<3 Infatuation <3<3

Alforde Armorsoul (Unchanged from last chapter):

Primary Class: Hammer Afficionado (Self), Level 27

Secondary Class: Right-hand man (Vee Vales), Level 15

Tertiary Class: Dungeon Champion (Oar’s Crest), Level 17

Additional Class: Glaciernaut (Sacha Silverblade), Level 9

Might: 48

Wit: 14

Faith: 28

Adventurousness (Bound – Vee Vales): 9

Endurance: 26

Intimidating Presence: 12

Heart of a Champion: 11

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 8

Vigilance: 7

Vanity: 1

Reginald (Unchanged From Last Chapter):

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

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

Secondary Class: Loudmouth (Self), Level 40

Tertiary Class: Majordomo (Vee Vales), Level 18

Additional Class: Announcer (Vee Vales), Level 9

Might: 1

Wit: 35 (+1)

Faith: 15

Ambition: 27

Greed: 23

Deceptiveness: 27

Manipulativeness: 39

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

Loyalty: 47

Patience: 9

Irritability: 22

Remorsefulness: 17

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

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

@#$@%%^

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

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 8