Worthy Core

Having mostly checked out of the remaining conversation the night before after Sincere, Lollyp, and Guy had starting delving into theoretical topics of dungeon construction and expansion that largely went over Xenia's head, the dungeon master had decided to start the new day fresh with a few things that she could handle. The first of those matters was the that of a pair of promotions. While she had upgraded monsters before, and had even once upgraded the Floor Three bosses from C- to C tier, today was likely to be rather different. Today she would be pushing them forward into the B tier of Undead, and that promised to have much greater significance to it - or at least, so she hoped.

Standing before the two possessed armors with Guy hovering behind her, Xenia claps her hands. "Alright! Tank, Dips, today's a big day! You two ready to kick it up a notch?"

As usual, the two bosses share a look before one of them responds. "Weeee seeerrrve, dungeon maaaaster."

"...Right. Well, here's hoping we start getting a little more personality in our conversations, no offense. Hold on to your iron britches, cause here comes the juice." Holding out a hand towards each suit of armor, mana flows out of the dungeon master and into the pair. While the armors themselves don't physically change in the process, that aspect of their forms being limited by Xenia's armor schemas, a pale otherworldly glow does begin to emit from the armors' various joints. As she finishes, soft lights begin to appear behind the visors of their respective helmets, where eyes ought to be, and something shifts in the rigid postures of the two. The next time they exchange a look their movements flow more organically, with perhaps even a hint of...well, not 'life', certainly, but perhaps extra undeath to them.

Dips, the more feminine swordswoman of the pair, is the first to speak. "Innnteresting. My thoughts seeeeeeem....clearer."

Tank, the masculine axe-wielding suit of armor, nods in agreement. "Yeeeeees. I feeeeeel...angry!"

Xenia steps back with a slight grimace. "Wait, what? Okay now big guy, I'm sure we can hash out whatever the issue is!"

The armor clenches a fist before continuing. "We have been practicing, annnnnnd protecting. Yeeeeetttt...we have not haaaaad the chance to slay a single moooortal."

"Ooooh, is that the issue? Well, sorry, Tank, but not a whole lot I can do there. We just haven't had any adventurers with the balls to get this far! Not that I've exactly been encouraging it, but I gotta be honest, my guess is there's gonna be a lot of boredom involved with this gig. At least for a while, anyhow." Xenia rubs her chin. "Is there anything I could do to help you out? I don't really know what ghosts do for fun."

Dips seems to consider the question before answering. "Could we staaaaaab the slime a little? I dooooouubbt she would care, she seems veeeeeeery stabbable." The ghost makes a few stabbing motions at the air, in order to demonstrate for her boss.

Xenia stares at the armor. "...Spar. You mean...sparring with the slime, right?"

"...Suurrrrree."

"I can see if she's up for it, though we probably wanna make that an evening thing, don't wanna make her have to rush all the way back up if some Challengers come by or nothin'. Oh, I could ask Beatrice if she wants to try a few rounds? You gotta promise not to break her though, she doesn't respawn, you know?"

Tank answers for the pair. "...Suuurrrrre."

"Will do then. Hey, how about names, you two still good with Tank and Dips?"

Tank nods, but Dips needs a little longer to answer. "It will seeeeeerrrve. For now."

"Cool! Well, if you need me, I'm right next door. Don't be strangers, alright?"

The pair nod again. "Of course, dungeon maaaaaster."

For the second meeting on Xenia's agenda the dungeon master popped up to Sincere's apartment to give him an invite before swinging over next door to Beatrice's place. After politely knocking on the door and being invited in, Xenia gave a wave to the new-and-improved Slooshy, who was now human-sized and helping to wash Beatrice's breakfast plates in the kitchen. Then, realizing the water elemental couldn't actually see or hear her, had Beatrice pass on a greeting in her place. While the water elemental was now about as tall as Xenia's form, it was difficult to call her humanoid, as she mostly had the appearance of a semi-solid blob of water with two thick appendages for arms and only occasional impressions of individual legs. Still, Xenia was able to get a vague impression of her being in a good mood as she worked.

Looking a little odd in her enchanted helmet but without much more of her usual heavy armor, Beatrice gets her roommate's attention. "Hey Slooshy, Xenia's here. Says she's glad you're up and about, though a little surprised you can actually walk around."

The elemental nods, probably, her head only being vaguely distinct from her torso. "Now that I've added on more water, I can compress myself together enough to get around a bit on dry land." She holds up a mitten-shaped hand, and with some concentration slowly forms individual fingers. "I can only do so much at once, though. Having to put so much energy into standing up means it's hard to shape the rest of my body very well."

"Well, progress is progress." As Beatrice translates again, Xenia's lips frown slightly. "Ugh, having to repeat everything twice is a pain. Hold on, let me try something." Summoning a sheet of parchment into her hand, Xenia experimentally forms words on it in printed ink. "Nice, I can mark stuff down on paper as I go, that's way fancier than carving stone." The dungeon master creates another sheet which she places down in front of the elemental before continuing, speaking and magically writing down her words at the same time. "So, Slooshy...actually, how'd you get that name anyhow?"

"Oh, my friend Ride named me that! And I named him Ride. He grumbled a little about it but I think he liked it!"

"Ride? Is he one of the ones who's still down there...or..." Xenia trails off as she notices Beatrice doing a neck-cutting motion, but Slooshy responds cheerfully.

"Oh, no, Beatrice killed him! It's a little sad, but that's the way it goes sometimes, right?"

"Oh...uh, well, I'm...glad to see you're settling in alright, then. I wanted to talk about you and like, elementals in general though, and I brought Sincere in since I figure he's a bit of an expert?"

Sincere raises an eyebrow at the suggestion. "I know a thing or two, I suppose, but it's not exactly my specialty."

"Well, it's more of a dungeon question really." Xenia settles in at one of the kitchen table chairs before continuing. "So, explain this to me. Elementals are classified here as 'mortals', not as 'monsters', yes?"

The demon nods. "The gods make those distinctions, which can be determined by how various magics affect various creatures. But essentially, if something has a soul, and is sapient, it is called 'mortal'. A wolf has a soul but is not sapient, so it is an animal, while the skeletons you produce have neither qualification, and are monsters. Dungeon creatures like Lollyp and myself are something of a hybrid, a mortal soul temporarily bound to a monster's body."

"Right, so, here's my issue. Beatrice and Slooshy living in here counts as like, one big ongoing 'dungeon intrusion' to my senses, which isn't too big a deal as long as they don't break anything that needs respawning, but does give me this like...constant little buzz in the back of my head, you know? I noticed it before with Beatrice, and it's a little stronger now with Slooshy here too. I had some ideas for how I could help out Sloosh and those other water cores you had, but I'm worried about having so many 'mortals' living in here full time. It's not a big deal at the moment, but if it gets worse...so my question is, if the dead dungeon was making elementals, what was it planning to do with them all?"

Sincere stares off for a moment, considering the question. "I have some theories on that. From what I have heard of Roxxy's tale, it appears the dungeon was using some as 'loot' rewards, which seems a bit odd, but we know the Dragonlord is not one to exactly take a moral stance against the concept of slavery or treating individuals as possessions. That is certainly one reason I didn't follow most of my kin into Domain service...but that's besides the point. My main suspicion is that the Dragonlord, or the dungeon they resided in, was attempting to find a way to create 'dungeon monsters' who could leave the bounds of the dungeon itself. Certainly we have seen that elementals can do that, however, they are not bound to the dungeon in any way. And that is the issue you're facing, yes? How to register an elemental as part of the dungeon and not as an intruder to it?"

Xenia slowly nods along. "...Right. That sounds like it's what I'm looking for, yeah."

"Well, this is only a theory, but I believe for the three cores you have taken possession of, the issue is already settled. I don't know if you noticed this, but while you were able to take elemental cores into your inventory, that's not something you would be able to do to a normal mortal adventurer. Would be quite the trick, if you could. The reason for this is that elemental cores are themselves inanimate objects, only physical links for the metaphysical, elemental spark which is the true 'body' of the elemental. So, my wager would be that if you were to birth the elementals from those cores within your dungeon, they would be registered as parts of it, much like the books I have on my shelves. However, like my books could not be repaired if found and burned, your elementals would not be able to respawn if destroyed, as if they were dungeon monsters."

"Can't use them as floor bosses, got it. But how can I register Slooshy as part of the dungeon, then?"

Sincere looks at Slooshy, who looks back at him. "Well, simple. We would merely need to destroy her body and allow your inventory to take possession of her core."

Slooshy frowns, or at least gives the slight impression of doing so on her largely formless face. "Hey! Rude! How about we de-body you and see how you like it!"

"I believe I've already done that once, actually. And please, it's not as if losing one's form is an unusual part of an elemental's lifecycle."

"Pretty sure losing our body means we fucked up somewhere! Just because we can survive it doesn't mean it's fun."

Xenia waves a hand to try and halt the argument. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna, uh, 'de-body' anyone without their permission. It's not an urgent thing, anyhow, I don't think I'll be waking up the others til we've got a Floor Four going. Just something to keep in mind, I guess."

"...I guess." Slooshy turns back to the sink, while Sincere refocuses on Xenia.

"I was thinking more about that floor expansion problem, by the way. I've had some ideas..."

Some miles away, another meeting was taking place within the Challengers camp. While most of the Valleylands delegation had left with their tents some time ago, a few still stood, and in one of those Warrior Mason Tossrock was examining his team - perhaps the first of many, depending on their success and what they discovered. The Valleylands had not sent their best, intentionally. After all, these soldiers were supposedly here for training, and had a full team of Masters appeared to challenge a month-old dungeon diplomatic complaints would surely have been raised. Still, each of the new arrivals was fairly high into their Advanced levels, and were considered promising troops by their commanders. Perhaps most importantly, all of them had already cleared at least five floors in one of the nation's more familiar dungeons, and that experience would be vital for the mission.

Yarro Tossrock himself had come up through the ranks of the military's combat engineers, his stone-shaping powers essential for the quick construction of defenses, bridges, and other earthworks. His experience in small-unit combat tactics was rather lacking, and that was hardly a unique problem. While many soldiers went through dungeons for training, their true purpose was to fight armies of other soldiers, not to defeat clever traps and giant boss monsters. Those he had before him had shown particular skill towards those ends, however, and would hopefully prove to have a better fate awaiting them than what had occurred to the first team of Valleylanders to enter the Worthy Dungeon. Deciding it was time to get to business, the Mason began with roll call.

"Welcome to the Grassbrook Challengers Association camp, all of you. I hope you're feeling well rested from your long days of travel, because today is when things will begin to get truly, hrmm, interesting. None of you have served with me before, and I understand that each of you come from different units, so bear with me as I go through introductions. As you know, the role of every individual is key in a dungeon-delving party, and it is important that we all be clear what those roles are."

Tossrock turns first to the other minotaur in the tent, mostly only because he was so difficult to miss. The eight-foot tall man was draped in the robes of a cleric, though not the plain white cotton fashion that many paths wore, but rather ones dotted with sapphires and shining blue threads, making him one of the most eye-catching people in the entire camp. "You would be Tanno Longpull, Cleric of Frost, is that correct?"

The other minotaur bows his head. "Indeed I am, Mason. I serve my goddess Lisst and our nation in equal measure, and I am prepared to bring...cold comfort to our party as required." There's a glint in Tanno's eyes as he speaks, and Tossrock is uncertain if the man is reciting religious terminology or simply making puns.

Deciding not to wade into it either way, he turns to the next member of the group: an orc woman wearing not one but two crossbows, a special heavy model strapped against her back, and a smaller single-handed model holstered at her thigh. There's a professional but stony expression on her face, which somewhat relieves the Mason. In his experience, those who make a living dealing death at a distance either become detached and cold, or far too prone to making light of sudden demise, and the former are at least easier for the taciturn soldier to work with. "Kalasha of Bug'kurc, Sniper, yes?"

The orc nods. "If I can see it, I can hit it. Range certainly won't be an issue in a dungeon, and I can handle myself in a melee scrap if it comes to it."

"Good to know. And you...Mesht of Niad'osh, Vanguard?" To Kalasha's side stands another orc, a man equipped in heavy plate armor. The common advancement of the Guard class, Vanguards made up the heavy infantry of both the Valleylands and the Rainlands, their thick shields covering those behind them as they closed ranks with the enemy. Certainly much stronger when within a shield formation with others of their class, but also an essential role when fighting monstrous beasts. Mesht nods, less coldly than Kalasha but in a professional, well-trained manner, as to be expected of a man who's surely spent hundreds of hours drilling formations.

"That would be me, Mason. Eager to see the worst the dungeon can throw at us be broken on my shield!"

Tossrock nods back, rewarding the man's eagerness with a grin. With that he comes to the final and most unusual member of the party. Despite being a mere four feet tall, he would not describe the woman wrapped in black and brown leathers as being mousy even were it not likely to get him in trouble for using insensitive terminology for his soldiers. "Tinsel Hansliss, Sapper?"

"That's me! Ready to blow some shit up!" The woman grins widely, her voice carrying the high pitch and excitability common to mousekin, though in this case Tossrock is more inclined to attribute her attitude to her profession. Although the minotaur's met very few beastkin in his years of service in general, let alone mousekin specifically, as an engineer he's more than familiar with Sappers and their...particular take on life. Which is to say, they all seem to be at least a little bit mad and far too fond of things that are liable to explode in their hands. A Scout-derived career path, Sapper alchemical-based explosives tended to be the military's preferred alternative to the more sedate lockpicks equipped by Challenger Rogues. Hopefully, that decision wouldn't result in the dungeon coming down around their heads at any point in the coming days. As he watches, the woman's large, thin ears twitch in excitement, and the short white fur covering her face remains broken by the pink of her nose and the wide-stretched lips of her eager smile.

"All are present and accounted for, then. Ready your supplies and be prepared to move out in five minutes, soldiers. The walk ahead is a few hours long, so I will be briefing you on the known facts and intelligence on the way. And when we arrive, we shall see what this Worthy Dungeon truly has to throw at us."