Dungeon Descent

Vote Result:
[X] Ask about other kinds of dungeons. (Tie broken by Yays and @ShadowPixelle)

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"Right…" You say, and lean back in your chair to watch Eyari contemplatively. "So you gave up."

Eyari bristles, "I didn't give up! I just… stopped trying. At this point, I don't want to go home. I've been gone long enough that the people I hung out with are probably all dead, me da's probably moved on to a new den, and my clutch-sibs have probably all forgotten about me anyway."

You blink placidly.
"But you still called it home."

She tenses, then lowers her head to glare at you eye to eye.
"Shut up." She instructs you, and, when you don't reply, she pulls back, satisfied. "Anyway, there's no getting back, so it's pointless to worry about it."

No way they've told you about, you think, but keep your mouth shut. No point in getting eaten at this early juncture.

"Fine then. You said the Reyliar dungeon is called a Seed Dungeon? Are there other kinds of dungeons?"

"Yeah, a few." She nods, and settles back on her pile, getting comfortable. "Lemme see… There's seed, material, enhancement, martial, academic, and wild…"

Eyari trails off, looking uncertain. "Supposedly, there's one more, but… I'm not sure if it's actually a type of dungeon, or just a really consistent wild dungeon."

"Really?" That sounds interesting. "What is it?"

"The Afterlife Dungeon." She says quietly. "They say it has over a hundred floors, and the dead wander all of them. They say that there's all kinds of riches- anything that you might find offered to the dead, or buried with them. They say," her voice drops even further, and you find yourself leaning closer almost despite yourself. "They say that on the bottom floor, there's a garden made of precious metals and gems, and if you make it to the center of that garden without taking any of the riches from the rest of the dungeon, there's a tree that bears golden pomegranates with ruby seeds. They say, if you take a pomegranate, and fight your way all the way back up and out of the dungeon, one of the seeds will turn into a diamond that will bring someone back from the dead."

"What happens if you take something else from the dungeon?" You ask, fascinated, and Eyari shrugs.

"I don't know for sure. Some people say that the pomegranates wither and die, and the ruby seeds turn to dust. Other people say that the tree grows too tall for anyone to reach the fruits, lifting them just out of reach no matter how you try to get at them. I've heard a whole bunch of stories, but I've never gone to look for it."

"Wow…"

An entire dungeon dedicated to the dead. Granted, you still aren't quite sure of the scale of the thing, so a hundred floors might not actually be that big, but… riches, huh?

"That one is probably the most famous dungeon in the world." Eyari admits, "even if some people don't believe it exists."

"Why wouldn't they think it exists?" You ask, one ear twitching slightly, and Eyari shrugs again.

"Well, the damn thing moves. That's why I think it's a hyper-specialized wild-type dungeon. Only wilds move around."

"Wait, they can move!?" Your voice goes embarrassingly high, and Eyari laughs.

"Yeah. Only wild-types, like I said, but yeah."

"Okay, so what's a wild type? Aside from a feature of the landscape that apparently moves around."

She laughs again, and shifts one wing, visibly relaxing a little more.

"Wild type dungeons don't follow the normal rules. Their floors can be completely different from one to the next, they don't usually have themes, and they move. The only rules they do follow are the Challenge Rule and Dungeon's Justice."

You pause for a beat, waiting for her to elaborate, then realize from the amused glint in her eyes that she's going to make you ask.

Rolling your eyes, you sigh, and oblige. "What's the challenge rule and dungeon's justice?"

"They're the rules that govern who lives and who dies in dungeons." She says simply. "Basically, the Challenge Rule is that anyone who goes in to challenge the dungeon, either to get to a particular floor to harvest resources or just because they're bored, they're safe. The dungeon's monsters will fight you, and they'll kill you if you aren't careful, but when you die, you'll wake up back at the entrance to the dungeon, just inside. Most of your gear'll be gone, and probably most if not all of anything you'd managed to harvest, but you'll be alive, and if you feel like it you can try to head back down to retrieve your stuff."

"That's why you said about dying four times in a month." You murmur, your eyes wide with shock. "I thought you just meant that resurrection magic was cheaper or easier here…"

"Nope." Eyari shakes her head. "It's harder, actually. Aside from the Afterlife Dungeon, I haven't heard of any other resurrection magic here."

"Wow…"

"Nuts, isn't it?" She grins at you, and you nod, still a little shell-shocked. "Anyway, that's the Challenge Rule. Dungeon's Justice is basically the opposite, kinda. Basically, if you go into a dungeon with the intent of harming the dungeon- messing with the core or whatever, the Challenge Rule turns off for you. If you die, you're dead, and everything will be gunning for you."

"So… no hurting the dungeon. Got it." You murmur, "Ah, what counts as hurting a dungeon?"

"Pretty much anything to do with its Core. You do not fuck with the dungeon cores. Period. You can look at it, if you get close enough, but don't touch it. Don't use magic on it, don't attack it. Leave it alone."

"Right." You blink, "Dungeon cores are absolutely hands off. Got it."

"Anyway," Eyari says, "that's wild-types. Enhancement dungeons do pretty much exactly what the name implies. They make things better. There's not usually much in the way of resources to harvest from them, but if you go in and fight for a while, your gear and tools and such will start getting enhancements. It's neat. There's one on the other side of the valley and north a ways."

"Martial dungeons are similar," She continues, obviously enjoying your speechlessness. "But they enhance you, and they help you learn new skills. Techniques, moves, schools, whatever. They're there to hone your body, just like the Academic dungeons are there to hone your mind. Those'll teach you new skills, too, but they focus on general knowledge, magic, or in some cases psionics."

She makes a face. "Honestly, psions are weird. I'm kinda glad there's so few psion focused academic dungeons."

Huh… interesting…

"What about the last one? There was one more, right?"

Eyari blinks, then cocks her head, ticking off dungeon types on her claws as she counts.
"Seed, enhancement, martial, academic, wild, the afterlife… Oh right! Material dungeons! Almost forgot, sorry. Those are… resource based dungeons. Some might be massive mines for gathering metals or gems, or quarries for different kinds of stone, others might be forests for lumber or deserts for sand. Those ones are all pretty varied too, but they're consistent in their themes. They're neat, but not super useful unless you're actually trained in how to harvest those resources. Still, towns and cities near those kinds of dungeons usually end up pretty well off."


"Huh…"

She's right, it's neat, but not particularly useful for you at the moment.
No, you're more interested in...


[] The Afterlife Dungeon- It might be a liminal space, if the dead are wandering around the whole thing. A thin spot between worlds.

[] Martial Dungeons- You don't know much more than basic self defense at the moment, so going somewhere that might teach you more could be good for making it through other dungeons.

[] Academic Dungeons- If they're focused on knowledge, then maybe one has the information you need on how to go home.

[] Enhancement Dungeons- While not super useful at the moment, since you have no weapons, you do have the Adventure Wear. Seeing how that was enhanced by a dungeon might be interesting.

[] Seed Dungeons- This one is probably your best bet, at least at first. There's one nearby and everything, so you could go a few times, just to get used to the idea.

[] Wild Dungeons- If they move, then the likelihood of finding one nearby is low, but it couldn't hurt to ask… Just to take a look at something that doesn't follow the 'rules' of the world.

Vote Result:
[X] Martial Dungeons- You don't know much more than basic self defense at the moment, so going somewhere that might teach you more could be good for making it through other dungeons.

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"You said there was an enhancement dungeon around here?" You ask, and Eyari shrugs.

"I mean, near is relative. It's not far for me, flying. Just a couple hour's flight across the valley and north a bit, but on foot it'd probably take much longer. Especially since the area between here and there isn't tamed. There's monsters and things." She adds, catching your questioning look.

"Oh." Your nose wrinkles. Inconvenient, but not too much so, when you're really interested in those martial dungeons she'd mentioned. "What about martial dungeons? Are there any around here?"

She blinks at you, golden eyes puzzled. "Not on this side of the pass… I think Lessiter is the closest, but that's on the other side of the mountains. Why?"

You give Eyari a flat look, then sigh and start spelling it out for her. "I wasn't actually a guard yet. I don't have guard training; I only know some basic self defense. I don't have a weapon because I just got here today and I was naked. If I want to have a chance at getting home, my best bet is probably through a dungeon. If I want to go into a dungeon, I need a weapon and, preferably, some training. It's pointless to just throw myself into fights that I know I don't have a chance of winning."

Eyari blinks again. "Oh. Alright, I guess. I mean, that's certainly a kind of logic…"

Your eyes narrow with irritation. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She shrugs. "Nothing, really. Just… There's a seed dungeon right there. Why would you want to cross the mountains or go out into the wilds with no supplies, or money, or, like you said, weapons or armor to fight off the monsters, when you could just… go do a few seed runs, make some money, and either buy the weapon you need, or pick it up as a dungeon drop?"

Oh.

That's…

"You didn't say that the dungeon monsters would drop weapons." You point out, a touch grumpily.

She blinks, and you can practically see her reviewing what she'd told you about before she winces.

"Oh. Oops. Yeah, dungeon monsters'll drop loot when you kill 'em. Not anything out in the world, of course, but in the dungeons? Yeah, for sure. Sometimes it's weapons, or armor, sometimes it's other stuff. Usually it's alright, but it gets better the deeper you go, and what drops depends on what you kill."

Eyari pauses, then shrugs. "Still, if you want to go to the Lessiter dungeon, I can't exactly stop you. I'm just supposed to give you the rundown on this world, whatever you wanna do after that? Not my business."

Ouch. That stung a little. She was right, but… maybe part of you had hoped that she'd feel a little more camaraderie towards you, what with being from the same world and all.

The silence that falls as your ears droop slightly is an uncomfortable one, but Eyari seems content to let it settle, her eyes moving from you over to the fireplace and staring into the flickering flames.

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[] I have more questions. (Write in [all questions written in will be asked, consensus is not required.])
[] I should go.
[] Thank you for your advice.