Dungeons Are Bad Business

Standing next to Alforde, Vee craned his neck back as his fiends climbed up to the top of the dungeon with the third piece of his newest ghost and got to work carefully installing it. Standing nearly as tall as Crestheart itself at its full height, it was by far the biggest ghost that Vee had ever patched together. Even with all the ectoplasmic binding practice he’d gotten with Rortenferry, the [Dungeon Master] doubted that the ghost would survive more than a few activations.

That was fine, too. While the experience of making big ghosts was definitely something Vee was interested in pursuing more down the road, for the moment all he needed this one to do was make a statement.

Do got into position and gestured for the other fiends to do the same. Once they were all ready, the [Dungeon Maintainer] made a sound and the fiends hoisted the ghost into place. They bustled back and forth to make sure that everything had been installed the way it’d been designed, and when they were done, Do gave Vee a thumbs up.

“You think they got everything where it’s supposed to be?” Reginald asked. “A few of them didn’t really seem like they totally understood the diagrams.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Vee said. “Worse comes to worst, we’ll see if we can get Hanako to rig up a bunch of little crystals to use as a distraction if it breaks before the first circuit adventurers come through.”

“No we can’t,” Reginald said. “Hanako is gone, remember? She had to go to that gala over in Bardis.”

“Oh, right,” Vee said. “That makes that, uh, not possible I guess. Well, we’ll figure something out if it comes up, but I don’t think we need to worry about it for now.”

The trio waited for the fiends to come back down, covering their eyes as the sun rose higher and higher into the sky. It warmed Vee’s skin, and the [Dungeon Master] couldn’t help but smile. He was in a good mood, and was looking forward to the morning’s runs.

However, before he could go up into the tower and get started for the day, he had a few other errands to run. Kai had come to visit when the [Dungeon Maintainers] first got started, and he’d asked Vee to come and take a look at the space he’d started roughing out to expand the menagerie and take a look at something he said was ‘slightly worrisome’.

Juniper had come by too, her arms filled with bouquets of flowers, and she’d mentioned that she’d recently come up with a new recipe that she wanted him to try before she started serving in the Lobby. Vee had promised to do so as soon as the ghost was installed, and since it was closer than the menagerie, that was where he went first.

While it hadn’t been long since Vee’s last visit, he felt as if he were stepping into an entirely different place. Juniper had been hard at work redecorating; the tables and chairs were freshly stained – and in some cases looked like they’d been entirely remade – and there were new pieces of art on the walls. For the most part they were simple paintings of flowers, but there were a few charcoal drawings of people too.

“It looks great in here,” Vee said. “Where’d you get all this stuff?”

“Asked around. I have a lot of [Woodworker] and [Artist] friends, and they generally have a bunch of odds and ends laying around. I asked them if they’d be willing to let us use the stuff here, and they agreed on the condition that we put a price sticker on them in case some visitor wants to buy them. It’s a long shot, but maybe someone who comes through will want a nice piece of art for their place…or a new table or something.”

Vee thought that last hypothetical was rather unlikely, but he loved the idea all the same. In addition to serving snacks and drinks, selling guides to the dungeon, and providing a place for adventurers to discuss their runs, the lobby could also serve as a place to showcase local artists and craftsmen, providing additional economic opportunities to the community.

Now he just had to find someone who made stuffed animals or other nice little consolation prizes, and he’d be set.

Juniper handed him a muffin. “This is what I was telling you about,” she said. “Gingerbread maple muffins. Try it and see what you think.”

Even though the muffin looked tasty, Vee was still somewhat skeptical. He’d never been a big fan of gingerbread, which he felt was far too strong of a flavor, but after a tentative sniff failed to reveal any glaring issues, he raised it to his mouth. If Juniper said they were good, they couldn’t be that bad, right?

[Faith +1]

Vee took a tiny bite, and it was delicious! The muffin was warm and inviting, with the perfect amount of sweetness and just a hint of spice flavor. Vee gobbled down the rest in short order, then asked Juniper if she had any more.

Laughing, the [Herbalist] reached down and grabbed a plate filled with the muffins and gave Vee another one.

“I’ll go ahead and take that as a sign of approval,” she said as she put them back down.

“How much are you going to charge for them?” Vee asked, speaking slowly around a mouthful of muffin.

“I’m thinking like seven bronze fleurs,” Juniper said. “I’m trying to standardize the prices across all of the products here as much as possible, but it’s a work in progress. One of my friends just got his [Baker] class, and he’s been helping me figure out how much all this stuff should cost.”

She paused, as if thinking, then said, “And actually, it might be a good idea for you to talk to him too. With spring kicking off, I’m not going to have as much time to help out around here as I do now, especially since I’m helping Kai with his Verdant Construction thing. My friend – his name is Micah – would be awesome at keeping things all stocked up."

“I can’t afford to pay anyone right now,” Vee said. “Things are even tighter than they usually are, fleur-wise.”

“That’s fine!” Juniper said quickly. Perhaps a touch too quickly, Vee thought. “He’s actually still kind of getting his footing, in terms of being a [Baker] and all, so he’d be willing to work here for free. As long as he gets to keep most of the profits from the baked goods, anyways.”

Vee shook his head. “I don’t know how I feel about that, Juniper. That sounds nice in theory, but I don’t know anything about this guy. You said he just got his class, right? How do I even know that he can bake?”

Junipers’ eyes sparkled. “Well, your tastebuds should tell you. See, I actually lied earlier. I didn’t bake these muffins, he did. Pretty good, right?”

Reginald let out a loud guffaw. “A classic misdirection. Good stuff, good stuff! You can hardly reject this guy now, right boss?”

The [Herbalist] smiled and she raised the plate of muffins one more time. “Sorry, Vee. Take a third one as consolation?”

Vee smiled back. “If everything he makes is this good, I’d love to talk to him. And I’m not really upset about the trick either, though I’d rather that you don’t do it again.”

“Micah is a really good friend of mine, I wanted to give him the best chance possible,” Juniper said. “We’ve known each other since we were kids, and he’s finally getting around to doing all the stuff he’s wanted to do his whole life. Is it okay if I bring him by tomorrow?”

“Make it the day after,” Vee said. “I have some other things to do tomorrow.”

Juniper nodded, and after another short look around the lobby to make sure that everything was in order and as it should be, Vee headed off to the menagerie.

“It’s a bit of a mess right now, but in another couple weeks we’ll have things looking really nice,” Kai said as he led Vee, Alforde, and Reginald over to the space he’d been clearing out with Dandelion’s help.

The bonsai treant’s branches were covered in tiny white and blue flowers, and his eyes glowed with vibrant green energy. Instead of his barkbody, he rode atop Dandelion’s shoulder, and Vee noticed that the fiend’s eyes were a mirror of Kai’s. There was a tiny branch with a equally small pink blossom off to the side of Dandelion’s wrist, and with the way it was set Vee couldn’t quite tell if it had been placed there or if it was growing on its own. It was an interesting thing to think about, but Vee had too many mysteries on his plate just then and not enough time or energy to dig down into all of them.

At the very least, he’d mention it in his next letter to Rortenferry and hope that his [Professor] could make some sense out of it.

“Alright, tell me what I’m looking at,” Vee said. The empty lot had been scraped down to dirt, and a series of awkward boards were strewn about. Various cuttings and saplings in homemade pots and planter boxes were loosely grouped together, and there were also two big holes in the middle of the ground.

“This is going to be a dedicated skeleton space,” Kai said. “They’ve been getting craftier with their escape attempts, and so we’re going to make this a fortress that they can’t get out of.”

“I’m surprised to hear that,” Alforde said. “I didn’t think they’d be able to get past the warding hedges and stuff.”

“Shouldn’t have been able to,” Dandelion said. It’s voice was still rough and scratchy, but there was a brightness as well that Vee hadn’t ever heard before. “There’s a leader, though.”

“A leader?”

Kai nodded. “That’s the reason I asked you to come out here, actually. One of the skeleton lancers has gotten a bit bigger than the others, and its acting differently too."

"Like a royal slime situation?" Vee asked, feeling a slight thrum of excitement.

Kai shook his branches, and Vee’s hopes for easy skeleton replacements were dashed.

“Not quite. It’s not showing any signs of splitting away or creating more little skeletons, at the very least. It just seems to be getting bigger, stronger, and more calculating. You want to go and take a look at it?”

Vee nodded, and he followed Kai over to take a look at this new skeleton variant, which was sitting in a small pen like it was waiting for something. Sure enough, its bones were thicker and darker than the other lancers riding around the menagerie, and its cape was somehow grander than the others. Its lance was slightly different too, longer and heavier looking than the weapons of its fellows, and its eyes burned with a malevolent purple light.

“I see. That’s…not supposed to be possible. Is it causing any trouble beyond just the escape attempts?” Vee asked. “Like is it threatening either of you two or anything like that?”

Kai shook his head. “Not yet, but who knows when that might change, you know? I’m pretty sure we could beat it up if it tried to force its way out, but I’d feel a lot better if you could get some more information about it and see if we’re going to be finding ourselves up against an even stronger skeleton in the next few weeks. I’m afraid I don’t know much about how they work.”

“Neither do I,” Vee said. “I didn’t do very well in my Introduction to Ethical Necromancy back in school, and that was all I ever learned about skeletons. I’ll dig around and see if I can find the receipt for those lancers. I think I remember seeing that they offered assistance somewhere. I’ll write a letter to their [Necromancers], and ask them if they know what might be going on.”

“Thanks,” Dandelion said. “Dealing with skeletons is distracting from other menagerie and verdant construction tasks.”

Vee raised an eyebrow, and the fiend seemed to shrink beneath his gaze. “No disrespect intended, master. Just saying.”

“It’s apparently a day for things I’m not expecting,” Vee said. “No offense taken, Dandelion.”

They wandered around the rest of the menagerie for a little while, and there were definitely some encouraging signs. There were plenty of slimes in the pens, and a handful of them had the distinctive coloration of the ones that’d been eating the ectoplasm. They weren’t quite floating yet, but when asked Kai said that they probably would be in the next couple of days.

“It’s almost opening time,” Alforde said quietly as Vee looked into a pen to see his elementals bouncing against one another. “We should probably head back to the dungeon.”

“Sounds good,” Vee said, bidding his [Menagerie Caretaker] and his fiend farewell.

The trio headed back to Crestheart, and as soon as Vee got up into the office, he dug through his stacks of papers and found the receipt for the skeletons while Reginald activated his magnification crystal and got to work on his [Announcer] duties for the day.

Picking up his pen, the [Dungeon Master] started to write.

To whom it may concern,

My name is Vee Vales, and I’m the [Dungeon Master] of Crestheart, a dungeon located in Oar’s Crest. I’m writing today because I’m having a bit of an issue with one of your skeletons, and am hoping that you might be able to assist me in troubleshooting the issue…

Main Character Sheets:

Vee Vales

Primary Class: Ghost Maestro (Locksmagister University), Level 29

Secondary Class: Dungeon Master (Oar’s Crest), Level 23

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

Might: 14

Wit: 35

Faith: 22 (+1)

Adventurousness: 7

Ambition: 15

Plotting: 19

Charisma: 15

Devious Mind: 23

Leadership: 19

Guts: 14

Intimidating Presence: 10

Citizenship: 21

Public Relations: 8

Determination: 3

Persuasiveness: 4

Bargaining: 2

Patience: 1

Competitive Spirit: 1

<3<3 Infatuation <3<3

Alforde Armorsoul:

Primary Class: Hammer Afficionado (Self), Level 28

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

Tertiary Class: Dungeon Champion (Oar’s Crest), Level 18

Additional Class: Glaciernaut (Sacha Silverblade), Level 9

Might: 49

Wit: 14

Faith: 28

Adventurousness (Bound – Vee Vales): 9

Endurance: 27

Intimidating Presence: 12

Heart of a Champion: 11

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 8

Vigilance: 8 (+1)

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

Faith: 16

Ambition: 27

Greed: 23

Deceptiveness: 27

Manipulativeness: 39

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

Loyalty: 47

Patience: 9

Irritability: 22

Remorsefulness: 17

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

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

@#$@%%^

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

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 8