Dungeons Are Bad Business

The next two days passed without incident, with Vee adding another fourteen golden fleurs to his still-depleted dungeon coffers. Micah was making himself comfortable in the lobby, and the snippets of conversation he heard from the adventurers had given him confidence that he’d made a good decision.

Reginald continued absorbing the aqua magia, but the liquid was surprisingly dense and the levels in the bottles weren’t depleting the way the [Dungeon Master] expected them to. At least the [Core Spirit] was slowly regaining his levels, bringing with them slight increases to Crestheart’s functionality. There was still a ways to go before the dungeon was back to “normal”, but Vee would take every additional trap, moving platform, or other manipulable element that he could get.

One of his tasks for the day, in fact, was figuring out what to bring back first. During most runs, Vee found himself missing the [Frost Vent] traps the most, so he was tempted to select those, but most adventurers struggled with the ones that used [Sloping Ice] more.

However, before he could get to that, Vee had to go and collect the uniforms for his light section from Natasha the [Tailor]. The fleurs in his pocket felt like they were made of lead as he walked toward the market, but the temporary reprieve from paying Sacre back meant that he didn’t need to panic about the expenditure.

Still, he knew all too well how fast the two weeks would fly by, and was determined to firm up his financials as much as possible before then. Especially since the twins were going to start costing him money too. Not much, thankfully, but more fleurs going out the door was always something to be mindful of.

He still had some reservations about Reginald’s idea to go and sell debt to the public, but there was more research and thinking he needed to do before making a final decision on that option. Vee knew that he could postpone those things by getting more fleurs into the dungeon, but it weighed on him all the same.

Shaking his head, Vee pushed the thoughts from his mind. There’d be time to settle those things later. Hopefully.

Natasha was hanging a few dresses on racks beneath a canvas awning when Vee, Alforde, and Reginald arrived. The dresses were nice; earth tones decorated with flower patterns that celebrated the coming spring.

Vee’s cheeks warmed as he imagined Luna wearing one. She’d probably look rather pretty.

“You have good timing,” Natasha said as she pointed to a large box on the ground. “I just finished your uniforms up this morning. Do you want to take a look at them?”

Vee nodded, following the [Tailor] over to the box in question.

They were thick, bulky things, reminiscent of the sacks used to carry agricultural goods. While they were hardly the most attractive things in the world, there was no doubt in Vee’s mind that they were well made and would stand up to the rigors of street cleaning without issue.

“Everything look good?” Natasha asked.

“Yeah,” Vee said, reaching into his pocket to grab the fleurs. He handed them over, and watched Natasha count them.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” the [Tailor] said with a smile.

“Same to you,” Vee said. “Hey, Alforde, mind picking these up? Let’s get them over to the dungeon!”

The armorsoul crouched down and grabbed the box, picking it up with ease. Before the trio left, Natasha held up a hand and said, “If that space you mentioned is still available, I might be interested in checking it out at some point. Juniper said you have some big plans for Westown over the next few months.”

Vee grinned. “We sure do. Come visit sometime and I’d be happy to talk.”

Bidding the [Tailor] farewell, the [Dungeon Master] and his companions headed over to Crestheart.

Getting the fiends into their uniforms was surprisingly tricky, but Vee managed – thanks to no small amount of help from Alforde, who pulled a stuck sleeve into its proper position on more than one occasion – and the [Dungeon Master] couldn’t help but grin when they finished.

“You all look great. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that you all look like proper [Janitors] now,” he said, feeling a reverberation in the air as the word left his mouth.

An impulse took him then, and the [Dungeon Master] decided to go ahead and formalize the thought as best he could. It’d been some time since he’d used [Bequeath Class], but if it’d been fitting to use for Do and the other [Dungeon Maintainers], it was proper to use it here as well.

He started to use the skill.

First, a need to be addressed. Clean the streets near Crestheart, and those of Oar’s Crest as well. Bring beauty back to this city.

The Expectation around his shoulders tightened. Flashes of blue flickered through his mind’s eye.

Second, the name of the class to be given. [Dungeon Janitors]? No, that’s too small. This one can’t just be for Crestheart. It has to be bigger…big enough for the city as well.

The Expectation nuzzled his ear. "[Custodian]."

That's better. [Oar’s Crest Custodian].

A pair of chimes rang through Vee’s skull, ominous but also exciting.

Lastly, [Bequeath Class] required Vee to make a vow of his own responsibility, and after taking a deep breath, he did so.

"I, Vee Vales, [Dungeon Master] of Crestheart, will ensure that this class isn’t used improperly. Its bearers will work for the betterment of the dungeon and the city we share."

A series of pings flowed like water through his bond to each of them, telling the [Ghost Maestro] that the light section had all received their new class. They also gained a point of Might, Wit, and Faith to go along with it.

[Leadership +1]

[Congratulations, you are now a level 31 Ghost Maestro!]

Another chime echoed in Vee’s skull, louder and brighter than the others.

[Congratulations! You have reached a milestone in your quest, ‘Through Crestheart, rebuild Oar’s Crest’!]

[Faith +1]

[Citizenship +1 – As a quest reward, this will be shared across all existent bonds]

The [Ghost Maestro] felt a surge of pride as his fiends all stood a little straighter and their eyes grew brighter. They were developing into something greater than simple spirits, and Vee was – at least a little bit – responsible for it. That felt good…and a little scary. Every [Ghost Maestro] knew that they changed alongside their orchestras, and the new purpose belonging to the [Oar’s Crest Custodians] was Vee's as well.

“Something wrong, boss?”

“I’m fine,” Vee said, clenching his hands into fists. He'd rise to this. He would.

A few seconds later, his breath returned to normal.

He turned to the fiends and held up his hands. “We’ll go over your new tasks and routes in more detail tonight, but I think the earliest you’ll get into the city is tomorrow. For now, just focus on your normal tasks, okay?”

The fiends grunted, and Vee dismissed them with another wave. Alforde waved his gauntlet to say goodbye, then headed into the dungeon’s depths to prepare himself for the day ahead, leaving Vee alone on the sidewalk with Reginald.

“Come on, boss, there’s still lots of work to be done today,” the hat said encouragingly. “Let’s get up to the office, huh?”

Vee nodded. “Yeah, but first I’m going to go and grab myself a snack. [Bequeath Class] takes a lot out of me.”

Curious to test Micah’s goods for himself, Vee walked into the lobby and relished the welcoming smells of baking bread and freshly brewed coffee. Walking up to the counter, Vee grinned over at Micah and pointed to the nearest tray of cookies. “What are those ones with the little bits of red in them?”

“Chocolate cherry,” the [Baker] said with an equally large smile. “Would you like to try one?”

“Absolutely, and throw in one from over there too – the ones with green frosting look good.”

“And a lemon mint, got it. Anything else?”

Vee shook his head. “Not right now. How much do I owe you?”

Micah laughed and returned to the nearest oven, where a loaf of bread looked like it was just about ready to remove. “Nothing, Mister Vales. You own the place.”

Vee thought about that for a moment. Technically speaking, that was true. Still, he grabbed a few errant bronze fleurs from his pocket and dropped them into an empty jar.

“As a tip,” he said, taking a bite of the chocolate cherry cookie.

It was absolutely delicious.

With one cookie eaten and the second one tucked away for later, Vee sat down in his chair and started adjusting dials. On the way up the stairs, he’d decided to go ahead and re-activate the [Ice Slope] traps, deciding that his personal preference for [Frost Vent] didn’t justify the weaker dungeon performance they brought.

Eventually he’d get his precious traps back in their entirety – which, speaking of, it was time for the day’s first infusion of aqua magia – but for the time being he wanted to make Crestheart the most challenging dungeon he could.

Before the day’s first run started, he looked through the list of adventurer applications, seeing if the scouts from the other circuit participants had decided to return. None of them had. That was strange. Did they think that they’d seen all they needed to in a single run?

He smiled. If so, he was going to do his best to give them all a proper surprise once the actual circuit started.

Next to him, Reginald went through his dungeon opening spiel like he did every morning, extolling the Crestheart’s virtues and questioning the valor of its challengers. Vee tuned the hat out, like he usually did, and let his attention drift out the nearby window. He had a few minutes before he actually needed to buckle down and start handling adventurers.

An interesting sight caught his eye: down on the street below, Kai and Dandelion were pulling a makeshift wagon. It was covered in planter boxes that were starting to show the first signs of proper blooming.

The bonsai treant’s barkboy held up one hand, and the wagon came to a stop. Kai and Dandelion sorted through the boxes, selecting a half dozen or so filled with small flowers and pulling them down to the ground. While Vee didn’t recognize what kind they were – he couldn’t see the shape of the petals from up in his tower – there was no mistaking their colors. They were all blue, silver, and gold.

Kai and Dandelion got to work getting them into the ground, with the [Menagerie Caretaker] digging with his barkbody’s arms and the fiend using a strange shovel unlike anything Vee had ever seen before. The [Dungeon Master] was surprised by how quickly they worked – his few recollections of playtime in the family garden weren’t particularly pleasant – and found himself wondering where they were headed next when it came time for them to leave.

Perhaps he’d go take a walk around on his next day off to see how Kai’s “Verdant Construction” was coming along.

He had a gut feeling that it would be an important part of the city’s next steps, especially if he wanted to try and attract other merchants to Westown as well.

Someone knocked on the door to the office, and Vee got up to answer it.

To his surprise, it was Michael Seidon. He was by himself.

“Have a moment to chat?” the council member asked.

Vee nodded, though he remained wary. “Come on in. To what do I owe this particular honor?”

Main Character Sheets:

Main Character Sheets

Vee Vales

Primary Class: Ghost Maestro (Locksmagister University), Level 31 (+1)

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

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

Might: 15

Wit: 36

Faith: 26 (+1)

Adventurousness: 7

Ambition: 15

Plotting: 19

Charisma: 15

Devious Mind: 24

Leadership: 20 (+1)

Guts: 14

Intimidating Presence: 10

Citizenship: 23 (+1)

Public Relations: 8

Determination: 4

Persuasiveness: 5

Bargaining: 3

Patience: 1

Competitive Spirit: 1

<3<3 Infatuation <3<3

Alforde Armorsoul:

Primary Class: Hammer Specialist (Self), Level 5

Secondary Class: Right-hand man (Vee Vales), Level 17

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

Additional Class: Glaciernaut (Sacha Silverblade), Level 10

Might: 56 (+1)

Wit: 14

Faith: 28

Adventurousness (Bound – Vee Vales): 9

Endurance: 29

Intimidating Presence: 13

Heart of a Champion: 14 (+1)

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 9 (+1)

Vigilance: 9

Vanity: 2

Reginald:

Primary Class: Core Spirit (Unknown), Level ?? (+5)

#$&Q#$)(@#$#@#$%!@#$##%#%()@#$**@@##

Secondary Class: Loudmouth (Self), Level 41

Tertiary Class: Majordomo (Vee Vales), Level 19

Additional Class: Announcer (Vee Vales), Level 11

Additional Class: Hyperthymesiac (Self), Level 5

Might: 1

Wit: 37

Faith: 17

Ambition: 28

Greed: 24

Deceptiveness: 27

Manipulativeness: 41

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

Loyalty: 47

Patience: 10

Irritability: 22

Remorsefulness: 17

Expository Prowess: 23

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

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

@#$@%%^

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

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 9 (+1)

BONUS: Vee's Light Section Sheets:

Bonus Oar’s Crest Custodian Sheets:

Sweep

Primary Class: Oar’s Crest Custodian (Vee Vales), Level 1 (+1)

Secondary Class: None (Vee Vales)

Might: 9 (+1)

Wit: 6 (+1)

Faith: 10 (+1)

Diligence: 4

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 2 (+1)

Scrub

Primary Class: Oar’s Crest Custodian (Vee Vales), Level 1 (+1)

Secondary Class: None (Vee Vales)

Might: 9 (+1)

Wit: 6 (+1)

Faith: 10 (+1)

Diligence: 4

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 2 (+1)

Shuffle

Primary Class: Oar’s Crest Custodian (Vee Vales), Level 1 (+1)

Secondary Class: None (Vee Vales)

Might: 9 (+1)

Wit: 6 (+1)

Faith: 10 (+1)

Diligence: 4

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 2 (+1)

Scour

Primary Class: Oar’s Crest Custodian (Vee Vales), Level 1 (+1)

Secondary Class: None (Vee Vales)

Might: 9 (+1)

Wit: 6 (+1)

Faith: 10 (+1)

Diligence: 4

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 2 (+1)

Swab

Primary Class: Oar’s Crest Custodian (Vee Vales), Level 1 (+1)

Secondary Class: None (Vee Vales)

Might: 9 (+1)

Wit: 6 (+1)

Faith: 10 (+1)

Diligence: 4

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 2 (+1)

Sluice

Primary Class: Oar’s Crest Custodian (Vee Vales), Level 1 (+1)

Secondary Class: None (Vee Vales)

Might: 9 (+1)

Wit: 6 (+1)

Faith: 10 (+1)

Diligence: 4

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 2 (+1)

Scrape

Primary Class: Oar’s Crest Custodian (Vee Vales), Level 1 (+1)

Secondary Class: None (Vee Vales)

Might: 9 (+1)

Wit: 6 (+1)

Faith: 10 (+1)

Diligence: 4

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 2 (+1)