Tiny Dungeon

It quickly became clear to Valterra that the wasps his father had created could not reach the same level of intelligence as his High Danians despite being the same rarity. While intelligent to a certain degree, these wasps had been mutated by Aether into an extremely dangerous swarm consisting of the queen and her children workers. They were extremely predatory and with their sharp mandibles, impressive size, and enhanced toxic sting, Valterra could see how they had come to evolve as quickly as they did.

The problem he now faced was how to do justice to his father’s creation. The wasps were a marvel of careful Aetheric manipulation with enhancements made wholistically to their Schema. With all of that, their Evolutionary Pool wasn’t the largest, being essentially a targeted experiment of tampering with their original natural growth. Undeterred, Valterra moved to create a predator capable of pushing his Danian Ants to the limits of their evolutionary capacity.

In doing so he believed that his father’s creation would do what it was designed to do, which was provide a powerful defender for his Dungeon. He went into their Schema and enhanced their Queen, providing her with a telepathic sense of her daughters. It would be small at first but would grow with the number of wasps present in the hive. Along with that telepathic union, he added a semblance of increased mental prowess.

Enhancing each individual wasp’s intelligence would be too difficult but by creating a feedback loop he could create a general enhancement that could grow with time and numbers. That took up quite a bit of the pool but he still had enough to enhance their size and make some adjustments. He made them similar to his Danians with four legs providing a stable base for a more humanoid torso with two arms at the top.

He made their natural chitin tougher and more rigid so that it looked similar to the knights from his father’s memories. Further enhancements took on still a greater difference. Valterra took the stinger from their abdomen completely and fashioned it into a cruel-looking spear. He made a natural latch on the outside of the abdomen where he attached the spear so it could be reached easily.

It was relatively easy to convert the incredible toxins present in the wasp into an affinity for their special blend. The toxic glands were dissolved for greater internal Aether Conduits and a repurposing of some natural inclinations would allow for instinctual usage and summoning of their particular toxin.

When he had finished the wasps were transformed in appearance. Like knights in yellow and black armor, the worker wasps stood tall on thickened legs while armed with spears that could be toxified at a moment's notice. The queen had been similarly recreated though less armored, since more had gone to enhancing her brain than the others. All in all, he was pleased.

There was less diversity in their layered Schema when compared to his High Danian Ants but they would be formidable opponents and their competition would drive his Danians to succeed. All that was left to do was give them a name in keeping with their origin and future. He already had one picked out but his father’s contributions couldn’t be ignored so he added something else to it. He thought it came out quite nice despite the savagery of the creatures in question.

New Evolutionary Path synthesized from an existing Schema during Evolution! The Schema “Aether-Mutated Sylcyne Wasp” may now evolve into the following Schema:

Calamvorian Vespid (Unique- Rare)

A partnering of potential, Calamvorian Vespids are the unique creation of the Dungeon Core Valterra Unok’Davaas. Building upon the foundation left by the deceased Archmage Calamvor and named after him, these wasps are a terrifying creation with a rudimentary hivemind in place and formidable worker soldiers.

Note: This is a multilayered Schema consisting of separate, internal, Evolutionary Paths. Those Paths are Hivemind Queen and Swarm Knight.

These Paths may be summoned as separate Dungeon Monsters but be warned. Wasp monsters made in such a way will see themselves as belonging to another colony and will fight to the death when meeting another of the same species.

As the Dungeon who created this creature as a Dungeon Monster, you will be able to create and modify its Evolutionary Paths freely.

Warning! May have unforeseen consequences.

POV Natalia Talios

Natalia looked out over the glowing waters of the sunken basement with a pensive gaze. The rest of her party was relaxing in a miniature cavern not far from the hole she was looking through. Valterra’s Dungeon continued to be a surprise and not necessarily a pleasant one. The wide range of creatures and lack of any big ones was the first surprise. While the creatures might seem gigantic to them now, the reality was that if they were at their regular size, the creatures wouldn’t be much bigger than normal with a few exceptions.

That reality didn’t bode well for the Dungeon in question when news of his Dungeon got out. The fact that it would get out was a foregone conclusion. Natalia had sent the missive herself to say that she suspected Dungeon activity in the Sylcyne forest. Even if she claimed she hadn’t found anything, entrepreneurial parties would make their way north. There was even the possibility of one of the wandering northern tribes stumbling upon him.

Even more worrying in her eyes were the signs of past conflict. It was clear that Valterra had cleaned up a bit but to her experienced eyes, there were signs of a past raid. Someone had attempted to raid the Dungeon and the signs pointed to extreme violence on both sides. This was no polite Delve with agreed rules. It had been an invasion, and Valterra had stopped it cold.

Claiming Dungeons was an old practice and one outlawed by the churches ever since the System rose to prominence but it did still happen from time to time. Becoming a Dungeon Keeper was something of a pipe dream among nobility and many would pay handsomely for information on a new unclaimed Dungeon previously unknown by the churches.

There were places in the far west where Claiming was even practiced legally, outside the domain of the gods. To see evidence of an attempt to do so here had her worried. Another thing that worried her was that Valterra had welcomed them inside so easily. He was young by all accounts and all signs pointed to him having been born around two months ago probably right as she received the notice of her grandfather’s death.

To be so young and then to be raided so soon did not give her hope that his anger at such an invasion had cooled. She suspected that his easy acceptance of her party spoke to a sense of naivety about him. Well that and the fact that he believed her to be family, a notion that warmed her heart in spite of herself. There was a playfulness about him that she found precious despite the dangers involved in such an attitude.

Then there was the final worrying piece of information. The fact that his name meant “The Playground of the Gods”. He was a Named Dungeon from birth and his Name was firmly attached to the gods themselves. She had not missed the connotations of his mentioning that he had “uncles and aunts” who would want to meet with them. If his naivety and playfulness had anything to do with the way he saw the world then she could believe that he could see the gods as family figures.

This meant that regardless of how this Delve went down and what she did afterward, the churches would be involved. The gods would be involved. Krat’Imos himself had sent her a message about finding the truth inside the wards that guarded her grandfather’s domain. She was starting to think that the truth was something she wasn’t ready to handle.

A gentle hand on her shoulder had her looking up into Korim’s concerned eyes. She turned away and continued to stare at the beautiful colors shining from the grass that grew in the depths. His hand retreated but his presence remained steady beside her. She soaked it in for a moment letting his presence remind her that she had her party with her at the very least. They remained that way for a time before Korim stirred. The way his elvish accent lent a drawl to his words was something she found unbelievably attractive.

“Boris says the magic of the potions is fading slower than it normally would. Says we will be tiny for some time til we actually leave this place. We don’t have to worry about returning to normal size at an inopportune moment.” His words were calm and the information was welcome but there was a question hidden in his tone. She knew what he wanted.

Her team was concerned about her frame of mind. Ever since reaching the inside of the walls and finding the evidence of conflict there, she had been withdrawn. The marks had forced her to come to terms with the strangeness of Valterra’s Dungeon and the implications that had for her grandfather’s death. She had wanted to Delve to escape the questions but found even more questions inside.

“Soon,” she said simply, and she sensed more than saw Korim nod his head in acceptance. She motioned to the sunken basement before her and continued in a conversational tone. “What do you think of this? The Aether levels are higher and there is at least some motion in the water. Think we have found the next Floor?” She turned to look at him, expecting a response.

“Aye,” Korim said, his gaze sharpening as he took in the basement. Natalia knew that his eyes were far more suited to seeing in the dark than hers and she trusted his judgment. “The basement extends deeper but it's all underwater.” He pointed to the center of the room. “There’s a large column or pillar in the center and this room is massive, easily the length of the main part of the mansion in size.”

Squinting he pointed a finger off into the distance where Natalia could just barely make out an increase in light. “There are some stairs over there that lead upward and from the Aether flow, I would say that is where we need to go. The Aether flow goes underwater as well but the majority flows there and then up.” He turned to look at her and she could read the determination in his face. He would wait a little longer but his concern for her would win out over her position as leader eventually. She hoped she would have an answer for her team by then.