《Dungeon of Lights》 -Prologue- The End A single point of light floats in darkness that seems to go on forever. Vast ruined shards of rock float through the eternal night in clouds of cooling gas as the horizon of reality itself- once so far beyond imagination gradually closes in. There were other small lights before long ago, but those lights have long since Disappeared though the light knows not where. The small mote of shining brilliance is the last light in this dying place. The end is not far now. When the edge of existence finally ceases closing in the light will cease to be. Not death no- simply oblivion. It watches, as much as any such being can be said to see as oblivion closes in. Then, very suddenly the light disappears.
Unclaimed Soul Found
Establishing Link: World Link Successful
Initiating Soul Naturalization Process
The light is somewhere else, a place between places.
Scanning Soul...
System Not Found: Installing System...
System Installed
A blue text box floats in front of it, though the light does not notice.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Suddenly the light pulses, shards ripping away into the void.
Memory Status: Present
Initiating Memory Erasure...
The light wobbles left and right as pieces are ripped away, losing size until a single fragment remains clinging to a brilliantly shining core. The fragment wobbles but sticks fast as the blackness eats away at the lost fragments. Then the last vestige of memory clinging to the ancient soul is torn away and flung through the void. But this is not the story of the ancient soul. This is not the story of it''s rebirth, the strangeness that made a young boy ascend to heights most could only dream of- no. For as the small fragment of memory fell tumbling through nothingness, something unexpected happened- it hit something. In all the stupidly vast non-space of the void between places the fragment of memory slammed through the outgoing shell of memories from another soul, absorbing a chance few in it''s way before colliding with the soul itself. This sent the soul spinning careening through the void for impossible distances (or possibly only a few meters) before some celestial force said ''enough of that'' and plopped it right back where it started. Not that the soul noticed- the void between worlds is not known for it''s frequency of landmarks. It is that soul who is the subject of this story. A soul for whom a few remaining memories, and one not her own would cause no end of trouble. A soul who though she did not know it was from the very same universe as the memory fragment''s original holder- though she was from far earlier in our reality''s lifespan. -Chapter One- The Floor Is Lava The floor is lava. Well magma technically. I mean I am definitely underground, probably pretty far underground considering all the molten rock. The small offshoot I am in that goes on for maybe half a dozen meters before it ends in a smooth wall of puffy looking grey stone, then there is a giant drop off. Said drop-off seemingly leads to what has got to be the single-largest cavern in existence below stretching off into the distance. That''s the one with all the magma in it. Aside from whatever my little cubby-hole is built into I actually can¡¯t see any of the edges. Just the rocky ceiling a comparatively short distance up, maybe sixty-odd meters? The magma is a long way down. Naturally, this is only the beginning of my problems. The second most obvious issue- made slightly less so by my apparent ability to move my¡­ ¡®Point of view¡¯ for lack of a better term around anywhere within a certain area around me is¡­ I am a rock. At the center of the spherical area where I can see is a small obelisk made of black shiny stone with six sides. On the top of this obelisk where a point would normally be there is a large ball-shaped crystal maybe the size of a girl¡¯s fist. Somehow, by looking at myself I can tell that this sizable chunk of deep-black gemstone is me. As for why I am currently a rock I have no clue. Last thing I remember was¡­ ¡­ Nothing. Literally Nothing- In two ways. Both in of that I remember a vast, -infinite but somehow getting smaller as though existence itself was coming to a close- empty unending expanse of space, ending. Becoming an absolute Void, the eternal unstoppable fate of all things. This, and the simple fact that beyond this single memory of something impossible I have no memories at all. I have no past. I know I was human once but I am a gemstone now. I know no human could have survived what I remember: The End. Everything in existence, everything that ever was having finally finished it¡¯s great play closing the curtains of the stage that is reality. And now I am somewhere else. A place, that is existing. As places generally do. I am a rock. The floor is magma. What do I do now? No seriously- what do I do now? Do I just sit here, I can float around nearby so do I do that?
Please select a starting race for your dungeon!
Okay, so now there is a blue box. Dungeon eh? That sounds sort of weird, but that does sound like something to do besides studying some rocks or staring at the magma. Actualy come to think of that I want to make things. Okay Boxy what are my choices?
Race: Description:
Imps (unavailable due to lack of demonic taint) Small, petty, and frail Imps are the weakest of the family of monsters often referred to as demons. Ferocious scavengers from the thousand hells Imps are vicious fighters. No relation to Daemons, or Devils.
Rotting Zombies (Unavailable due to extreme heat/lack of rotting material) Smelly, slow-moving, and overwhelmingly stupid rotting zombies are the weakest form of undead lower even then wisps. Rotten Zombies are only a threat as they come in enormous numbers. Any killed bya zombie will rise from the dead to join the tide of rotting flesh. Fairly flammable, tend to rot to nothing over time.
Slimes (Unavailable due to extreme heat/lack of moisture) Squishy, weak, and slow slimes are simple scavengers and the distant ancestors to jellyfish and sea anemones. While not very effective in direct combat acid, and extreme adaptability makeslimes nonetheless dangerous. Can eat literally anything, or even subsist on only water and ambient mana. Slimes are resistant to physical damage but are easily killed by damage to their core and initial forms do damage slowly.
Giant Rats (Unavailable due to lack of food/lack of water/extreme heat) Small, frail, and weak giant rats are sewer scavengers but can be found anywhere people are if you look hard enough. While not very durable rats are fast and numerous breeding very fast and attacking with sharp teeth and claws. Rats can eat almost any organic substance but are voracious.
So I can choose exactly none of them. Okay blue box what can I do?
Name: (None) Race: Dungeon Core
Area:?15m^3 Level: 1?(0/1000 exp)
HP:??100/100 MP??1000/1000??5/30 days
Floors: 1 Rooms: 1
Traps:?(None) Monsters:?(None)
Traits:(None) Rank: (None)
Skills: Description:
Increase AreaThis content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Add more area to your Dungeon for MP An area must be added to the dungeon before you can build or Excavate there.
Create Floor (Basic) Creates a floor for 100 MP x floor number
Excavate??(Basic) Excavate an area for 1 MP x cubic meter
Trap??(Basic) Allows the creation of basic traps for MP (pit,spike)
Create Entity??(None) Create available flora, or fauna from MP (None)
Create Treasure?(Basic) Create available treasure from MP based on value/current floor
Create Object???(Basic) Create simple objects and liquids from excavated materials or Basic materials for MP
... Okay that is actually surprisingly helpful, if a bit weird. I am a ''Dungeon Core'' and I can do all that huh? I also apparently have no name, but that does not really bother me. I am definitely a girl though so why is there no ''gender'' there? Very worrying however is the fact that I apparently have no life in my dungeon. I am not entirely sure why this bothers me it just feels wrong somehow. Like I am missing something. Traps seem important too but I''m not entirely sure why I would need them really. MP seems important, and I have quite a bit but the rate it regenerates is terrible So Blue Box is there anything I can do to get water?
Create Object???(Basic) Create simple objects and liquids from excavated materials or Basic materials for MP Current liquids: Water, Magma
Good, but the floor is flat so won''t it all drain out into the lava? I think about the excavate skill and the rock in the wall vanishes... and I can feel it appear somewhere inside of me? I use this to hollow out a little ways behind me until I reach the edge of my area- about ten meters from where I started maybe? My MP is at 980 so I expand my area further, spending 80 mana to get a large area of solid rock- this bounces my MP regen up to 1 a day Excavating a large cavern opposite the magma sea I leave a five-meter ring around a deep bowl like depression in the center with craggy, teir-like sides, I drop a few rocks into it and make some little fissures in the bottom that go deeper in a moment of fancy. I know these, like I have seen volcanic hot-springs before but don''t remember. Most of the area I left filled with stone, and beyond these cracks I buy more area to create a sizable pocket to fill with water The ceiling of the upper room has three large stalactites that I left behind, all composed of that same grey volcanic rock streaked with black. Filling the indentation with water using leaves me at a solid 622 MP. Water appears and falls in a perfect cube as energy drains out of me, splashing and hissing on the hot rocks in the pocket, steam rising from the cracks in the spring-room towards the ceiling. Soon the small hot-spring is filling with water bubbling up from the source below. I look at the round cave, with the slightly irregular ring-shaped path around the bubbling water. It took so much mana to make this even at 1 MP a cubic meter! The slight light shining through from the small downwards-slope to my core cave makes the walls and bubbling watergleam dimly with a strange reddish light. Now blue box, What life is available?
Species: 1/257 available Description:
Manashroom??(5 MP) A common species of mushroom found growing anywhere warm with mana, and water. These glowing mushrooms are a common ingredient in mana potions. Costs 5MP fora patch of manashrooms, grow slowly.
Mushrooms? Really? And they are the only thing available? Out of 257 species? ... Okay, I can work with that. It''s cheap too. I feel mana flow out of me as I buy it. (I am assuming that¡¯s what MP stands for anyway- that would probably make HP health?) I may have been left here clueless but if none of the other species can survive here then I will take care of my mushroom garden. -Chapter Two- Mushroom Soup Mushrooms are weird. They also cannot survive boiling, or at least manashrooms can''t. The Mushrooms have this spongy net of stuff apparently called mycelium that holds them in place and it seems to make up most of the mushroom... This is probably so if something kills the top part the rest of it won¡¯t die... Unless you place them in the center of a volcanic hot spring. Then the manashrooms immediately die including the mycelium. The spring now has a bunch of dead mushroom bits floating around and a bunch of that spongy stuff flaked off and ended up swept into cracks in the rock. The bits are a sort of bleached off-white and leaked some sort of liquid that glows a gentle blue and got mixed into the rest of the water. I now have five less mana, and some extremely thin mushroom soup. Let''s try this again- the mushrooms died because it was too hot right? Either that or because they were underwater. I seem to be under the impression that quite a few living things cannot survive being underwater. Also that there are even more things that need to be in water to live. This said, I don''t know anything about mushrooms so let''s figure out the heat bit first. The water in the lower chamber is hot because it is close to the magma, or at least closer. The big pocket filled with water is boiling and forcing hot water up through the two crevices into my spring. From that I know that the cracks are probably the hottest places in the spring, easily seen by the oblong mass of roiling white water and bubbles in those places. Parts further away from those are less bubbly and probably not as hot, so let''s try placing some mushrooms farther away. The furthest point from the two cracks is about twelve meters away since the pool is a rough twenty-six meter circle and the cracks are off center. Hopefully it''s cool enough for the mushrooms.
Manashroom (5 MP) A common species of mushroom found growing anywhere warm with mana, and water. These glowing mushrooms are a common ingredient in mana potions. Costs 5MP for a patch of manashrooms, grow slowly.
White tendrils sprout from nothing on the shallowest stones, spreading in an instant as each stem grows upwards and opens up their little grey-is caps each maybe the size of a thumb at the water¡¯s surface.
Flora: Moss, herbs, mushrooms- as the basis of an ecosystem or just decorations Flora can provide concealment for monsters or traps while adding flavor to an environment. Certain flora is highly sought after and can be used to entice adventurers into entering your dungeon. Flora is a living part of the dungeon and increases mana regeneration.
Awesome- I get more mana for living things in my Dungeon! I still have 650MP too so I should place more manashrooms! Not really sure what ''Adventurers'' are, and I have no idea why I would want them in my Dungeon. Time to plop down mushrooms! Plop more in the shallows! <-45MP> Plop a mushroom on the side of that rocky stalag-thingy hanging down! It¡¯s actually dripping water! <-5MP> Plop a bunch on the shore! <-10MP> Plop them on the walls! <-15MP> Plop some on the ceiling! <-25MP> ¡­ Most of the ceiling mushrooms fell into the water and immediately boiled to death. A few are still up there though. Some of the ones on the walls fell off too, and a few in the pool got tossed around by the swirling water. The ones placed on decorative cracks in the rock are fine but the rest are kinda dead¡­ I may have overdone it... I used a hundred mana and I lost at least forty mana¡¯s worth of mushrooms¡­ The mushroom soup in the spring is slightly less thin now. The surviving mushrooms are tiny off-white things with light blue tops that glow faintly, apparently uncaring of my terrible gardening skills. At least I hope they don¡¯t care- I have no idea how to take care of mushrooms so if they require some sort of special care they are going to die. The Manashrooms did bump up my mana-regen by a whole 9 mana a day! A sudden wave of mana rushes into me- it tastes and feels fantastic. The mana I have been getting up till now had no taste at all. The mana from the manashrooms is different, moist and slightly spicy with a strong slightly sour meaty feeling. Delicious! I didn¡¯t realize mana was food! It has texture, and taste and I didn¡¯t realize I missed being able to touch and taste things until now! Now I get why not having living things felt wrong! Life is delicious. The rush of food after so much work is making me tired, I think I will sit and rest for a bit. The manashrooms are interesting to watch as I slowly eat up their mana. The currents in the shifting water form little eddies under the tops of the mushrooms I planted in the water as they grow upwards, then the mushrooms started to change. It started with only one of them- an oddity, but quickly spread to every mushroom that touched it''s roots. Is this a disease of some kind? It seems isolated to only one part of the pool, a mid-sized patch close to the corridor to my own cave. Should I try to stop it? I watch as the mushrooms white stalks become thin, and slightly translucent. The mushroom''s tiny round tops become smaller and smaller seeming to disappear into the glowing hair-like fungus entirely. The gentle glow of the swaying strands in the dark water the only indication the mushroom caps were ever there in the new patch of alien life.
New Flora Added through Evolution! Wisp Thread (4575MP) An unusual descendant of the common Manashroom, Wisp Thread is an unusual hair-like fungus that has adapted to life in mana-rich hot springs. A rare potion ingredient only found in springs with little other life to compete against, these glowing threads are highly sought-after for use in potion manufacturing. Wisp Thread requires a great deal of mana to grow, and will die if the original stalk is taken. Costs 4575MP per original stalk.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Care must be taken when placing Whisp Thread as it is very valuable and can easily lead to a rush of fortune-seeking adventurers assailing any dungeon discovered to contain it.
This Wisp Thread stuff is dangerous. I mean look at that price tag! 4575MP?! That¡¯s literally more then four times my maximum mana! Just for one stalk! It¡¯s my first new life since I got the manashrooms and it¡¯s this stuff?! This is seriously dangerous, I don''t want my dungeon to be attacked! ¡­ There is a lot more then one stalk in my pool isn¡¯t there... The glowing threads have spread further through the pool, their spongy roots creeping across the bottom wherever they can find purchase on the rocks, becoming shorter and more brilliant in color as they creep closer to the boiling center. There are almost no regular manashrooms left in the water anymore. Justseven very large ones in the shallows... The mana coming off of the Wisp Threads is different from the mana of the manashrooms- it lacks the spiciness, the meaty-ness but somehow feels raw, like it could become anything. Is this what the blue boxes meant by purified mana? The waves of invisible energy swirl and form a small, rapidly spinning ball under the spike from the roof. I don''t know what that is, but I like it a lot. Something tells me this is very good. At least the Wisp Thread is pretty. Thousands of swaying threads light the dark cavern with a pale blue glow... I guess my hot-spring is mana-rich because I pull mana towards me and it''s so close? If that''s the case does mana make stuff evolve? I glance up from the swirling water at the button-like mushrooms on the shore and walls. I look at the small, invisible-yet-nearly-opaque ball of swirling purified mana forming over the pool. Only about the size of a small pebble yet I can feel it''s power. Hey... Blue boxes? Can you define the terms for Evolution?
...
Not feeling very talkative eh? That''s fine. I have time. I will just sit here with my mushrooms, bombard them with different kinds of mana. It feels like there are different sorts anyway, so that might change the results. The first oneI changeis the mushroom hanging down from the side of the stalag-thingy. It''s stem is long, pulled down by gravity, thin and strangely twisted. It sways slightly in the rising steam of the boiling water below it. The top isnarrow, and slightly pointed. I can feel the heat around it, fire mana, the flow of air, and water as steam. The large ceiling-spike is threaded through in two places by long thin white roots eating up minerals from the rock. The minerals have their own mana, different depending on the particular substance. Interesting. I file this discovery away for later consideration as I focus on pulling the fiery mana from the air and focusing it on the mushroom''s top. To my surprise, the ethereal energy heads my call- flowing into the orb at the center of the cavern, and then shooting out in a thick reddish-orange thread latching onto the manashroom- I can feel the strange simple organism, the mycelium, the feather like gills on it''s cap. I can feel the possibility inherent in it. I reach out towards one such possibility and pull. Magic pulls and life twists away from my form as the stem becomes stronger, longer, and rope-like. Spongy Mycelium splits and spirals along the rock as it explodes into growth, rapidly overtaking the side of the rocky spike with threads. The threads are hard, black and unyielding where they face away from the rock, yet spongy, soft and pale white where they embrace it. The tip of the mushroom is strange looking, a single large orb of flesh about the size of my own orb glowing brilliant blue-green. A blue box informs me of what I have unknowingly created.
Wytches Lantern (100MP) A strange species of fungus found growing only in the deepest of caverns, Wytches Lantern gathers mana in it''s single large glowing fruit. Oddly, the fruit does not contain spores or seeds, but rather a sticky honey-like substance often called Lantern''s Oil that serves little to no apparent purpose besides the further collection of mana. The fungus reproduces by spreading it''s black tendrils along the rock and growing new stems. Wytches Lantern costs 100MP per stalk to create, and requires mana to survive. Wytches Lantern is an unusual yet effective light source for a dungeon
I have created a lamp... It''s a very nice, ifexpensive lamp... I turn my attention to the mushrooms growing on the walls- squat much like the ones on the shore below, but also curved upwards slightly. I can feel the warmth they feed on, as well as the great number of minerals in the rock they have anchored themselves to. The stalks sag slightly under the weight of their broad, almost fist-sized caps. I reach out again with mana, the process feeling more natural, intuitive. I extend the roots further into the rock, pulling at lighter metals and using them to strengthen the mushroom''s base. The pale white stalk thickens fades to a light grey, becoming darker towards the base while the thread like roots are now the same color as the surrounding rock. The cap has lost much of former thickness, and it wants to droop down. I let it, the mushroom''s top becoming thinner and translucent, a pale grey shroud for the thick stem. It''s gills pulsate softly through the transparent flesh, giving off a strange, invisible light in an impossible shade of violet.
Slag Stalk (20MP) Often found by miners in the deepest, and warmest reaches of the earth, Slag Stalk shines with a strange harsh Ultraviolet light that other Fungus love. Named for the mushroom''s tendency to collect metals in it''s stalk to strengthen itself the dense mushroom is avoided by herbivores due to a high chance of containing toxic heavy metals absorbed from the surrounding rock. Slag Stalk was originally named by dwarves as it is most commonly found around solidified deposits of molten metals. Slag Stalk costs 20MP per mushroom cluster. Requires high-grade ore/slag to grow. While not very valuable, Slag Stalk can be used by Dungeons, and Adventurers alike to increase the growth rate of nearby fungus.
The other mushrooms seem to love the strange ''ultraviolet'' light. Their own glowing becoming far more noticable. Water seems to block it''s effect though. It''s not really much of a problem- this could be a major boon for me. Plus, Slag Stalk is interesting- it''s my first poisonous mushroom. I seem to remember this being a fairly common trait for mushrooms.
New Dungeon Trait Acquired!
UnnaturalSelection:Through the concentration of available mana, and manipulation of the environment it is possible to influence the evolution of an organism in the dungeon. This process becomes more difficult the more complex an organism is, and may kill the subject if handled poorly. Grants basic insight into traits of possible evolutions.
Huh... That seems useful. -Chapter Three- Chasm of Steam I am not entirely certain what I am supposed to be doing. I have a garden of mushrooms, a hotspring, a sea of lava, and no idea why I am here or what I am supposed to be doing. I can create traps, flora, treasure, and would be able to create creatures and probably plants too if any were capable of surviving down here. I can twist their forms and alter them with my new trait- though not without risk of failure so I''m not trying THAT if I can avoid it. What to do? I reach out at the earth around me, I can feel the small obsidian pedistal beneath my small body. I swear my stone seems slightly larger then last I checked. The rock surface of the cavern holding my spring is warm and damp, my mushrooms slowly spreading spores and finding purchase throughout the cave. The spring itself is boiling, fed from water slowly dripping back down into the pool as it coalesces from the steam, the stones far below heating it back up and sending it on it''s way again. The cave is lit dimly from a thousand sources, purple-black, dim blue-green, the water swirls with green, blue, purple, and red under the single massive white light of the Lantern like a star where it has centered itself exactly over the swirling mass of mana. It''s beautiful. The water pulses with motion from the currents of the spring, spores waft through the steam-soaked air. But it''s missing something. There is life in my garden, motion. Yet ll the motion is from the steam and swirling waters of the spring, the mushrooms do not move on their own swaying on the currents like trees in a breeze. Nothing can move on it''s own. I don''t know how long I have been watching my garden, mushrooms have grown, filled the air with glowing dust and began to wither falling to the floor or into the spring as their children grown from the spores take their place. I have started pushing outwards, pushing my aura further day by day. I can feel the hot rock around me, and it seems to get warmer as I go down, and deeper as I go up. So Up I will go. On the side of the spring opposite the ramp to my crystal roomI am making a tunnel. In a fit of whimsy, or just to confuse the crap out of any ''adventurers'' who would somehow find me down here the entrance to the tunnel is a massive four-meter wide square opening surrounded by an unbroken meter-wide ring of shining obsidian. The doorway gleams in the light, and I carve it deeply with twisting looping lines resembling knots of some unknown vine twisting through the gleaming black stone. The opening is also about a meter off the ground, with a massive grey-stone slab edged with obsidian carved with more knotwork reaching five meters to the edge of the spring at it''s base. Not sure why I did that but it certainly looks cool. It seemed to cost a lot less mana using materials have already absorbed. In any case it looks excellent, but I don''t want the mushrooms to grow on the carvings... I look closely at the spores, little packets of fungus-stuff floating in the air directly on top of the platform. Hmmm... I wonder... I push mana into the smooth dull grey stone, trying to make it stronger. Maybe some way to keep the fungus off it?
New Material Ward Stone:A strange heavy incredibly durable form of stone rarely found in certain ruins, Undead and other creatures of black magic act as though they cannot sense those standing on ward stone, nor remember them. Thought to demark an area as protected or sacred in ancient times plants will never grow on it. Occasionally used in dungeons to create ''safe zones'' though traps can still be placed. 20MP a square meter
Well that worked. Ward Stone. Sounds fancy and apparently Repells undead. Interesting I guess. I push mana into the obsidian bordering the platform unblemished, stronger-
New Material: Ward Glass:A extreamly rare form of enchanted obsidian, Ward Glass shows many similar properties to Ward Stone but cannot be crossed by monsters up to a height equal to thelongest side of the Glass forming the Barrier. 30MP a square meter
Yes! It worked! So from now on if the stone has a border, it is a safe-zone from harm, and if there isn''t one I can put traps or monsters there to destroy my enemies! Assuming I eventually have any of those things! ... Did I seriously just think that? Also won''t this block any monsters I could eventually create from entering or exiting this room now? I mean the doorway is made of Ward Glass too. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.You know? I am going to call that type of doorway a ''Gateway'' and it will always be some distance off the ground to mess with people. Also because it looks nice that way. Since none of the life in my dungeon can pass through I suppose I can use it to partition areas, or create a nifty cube out of them for a very fancy safe-zone. I would probably have to add a floor to that though. Now that the door is done I can start on the tunnel. An invisible source carves its way through the black-grey stone, rocks vanishing into... Somewhere. The same place as where I got the obsidian, likely from carving out the spring room I think? Is that why it cost so little? The tunnel is easily a dozen meters wide, and three times that height,soaring up through the rock- a blue box pops up but I ignore it until it stops me from going further. There is a spot of stone with shining grey near the top.
WARNING: You have exceeded the (200) meter z valuefor -Floor 1-(-1700, -1500) by (14) meters additional construction will require the purchase of an additional floor. (200mp)
Ithink about the ''create new floor'' ability and use it. Okay, so that''s two hundred mana gone, now to investigate this rock. I begin to dig out the ore, Galena apparently and ore of lead and silver. It gives me a lot of those. I expand further along the vein, splitting off from the side and top of the cylindrical chamber and Moving outwards along the vein, finding a smaller vein of something new Bismuthinite. Also interesting. I suppose it will go with the dark-grey, black, and glowing mushroom theme I have going in the Garden. I create slabs of rock, stairs about a meter above the edge of the next, spiraling upwards along the right side of the tunnel, stopping about twelve meters from the top is thirty steps, and the last step is directly across from the ore vein. The new floor starts here now I suppose. The bottom step is actually built into the floor at the foot of the portal, oh that won''t do at all. I dig down, and down, and down, passing through empty rock until the blue box pops up again.
WARNING: You have exceeded the (200) meter z value for -Floor 1- (-1700, -1500) by (0) meters additional construction will require the purchase of an additional floor. (300mp)
Oh well, I must be very close to lava now, the floor and walls heat the air to temperatures far greater then even the plumes of steam in my spring room. Out of curiosity I place three small bars of metal at the bottom. The Lead is a dark grey, Silver shines, or would if there was any light down here. Bismuth... Bismuth is not like either of those. It forms a strange tiered shape along the sides of its bar, brilliant colors in square boxy spirals. It reminds me of the Wisp Treads swirling in their pool. I stare in awe for some time. Eventually I stop- the crystals are starting to droop, I abruptly notice that the lead has become a glowing puddle. I take the metals back after that. On the plus side if it''s hot enough to melt metal then it will make a perfect place to put some water for a spring. Rock shatters as water explodes into steam, I spend nearly half of my mana filling the enormous chasm''s bottom with water, steam wafts upwards bringing scalding heat, clouding the air of the chasm. The rock at the top is not very cool. Hmmm... I dig upwards until I have gone an even forty meters from the start of floor 2, I begin to widen the area around the last step, a massive hexagonal room forty meters wide and forty meters tall with the circular chasm at it''s center. The floor is flattened as best as I can, the chasm surrounded by a six-sided ring of solid obsidian etched with silver. I repeat the design on the ceiling exactly above the chasm, the center filled by an enormous circular sheet of silver only a few millimeters thick. The entire room is lit by six massive bundles of Wytches Lantern bound in silver cages hanging from the ceiling halfway between each side of the hexagon and the corresponding wall. The spiralling masses of glowing pale blue orbs in tangles of white flesh, shining silver, and black husk lend the room an erie dim feeling not helped by the wisps of steam rising from the pit at it''s center. Hmmm I wonder- If this gives access to my stone, and the Springs, even if a person would already have to pass through the steam-filled spiral death-chasm I think I need a way to shut it unless a person does.... Something... Hmmm. A puzzle of some kind? Well there are six sides. Six triangular pillars rise from the inner corners of the hexagon surrounding the chasm, each one with a palm-sized triangular indent in the center. Perfect for what I have in mind. The mineral vein turned cavern takes up one side of six of the cavern, three paths each with two symbols so the paths will have to split. The cavern walls darken as they smooth becoming more regular as the gaping hole in one wall smoothes out becoming a four-meter doorway filled by a slab of obsidian, two identical doors emerge on the walls to form a triangle. Three passages to make, one of them heads off towards the lava, the other two away from it at separate angles. Great silver chains, each link nearly two hands across and as thick as a grown man''s fist bind the massive mirror to the ceiling on six sides. The mirror hangs now, edged with a ring of obsidian, bound to the silver by lead. There are tiny holes all along the sides for steam to escape once it is lowered over the chasm, only to be opened when all six symbols are brought and arranged properly. The entire assembly is flooded with my mana making it far stronger then any normal materials. The same is done to the walls of all my dungeon below this point, as well as the room itself. This act using up most of my remaining mana to do so. Now to figure out what the symbols will be, what order they should be in, make the tunnels to hide them, and maybe figure out how to protect them. I should probably try and figure out ¡®traps¡¯ for that, and how to lower the mirror, and how to make it rise when the keys are put in place... In the meantime I will leave manashrooms on the edges of this room to see what will grow from them. -Chapter Four- Plans, and Silver Blocks I have been considering the construction of my first puzzle for some time now. Six symbols as keys for six pillars, three passages off the room. The problem with this? I am building up. Eventually I want to reach the surface, and assuming the blue boxes z value starts at global sea level then the start of my second floor is 1.5 kilometers below ground. Once I reach the surface the entrance to my dungeon will obviously be there, so one of those three paths is going to have to lead up there. Now the reason I even want an entrance to my dungeon despite the horrifying prospect of adventurers is fairly simple. Because literally anyone including adventurers would know more about the world then I do. I know next to nothing about this world, and since I can''t move around getting people to come to me is the next best way to find out what''s going on. I was originally thinking to have each path separate into two so there are six paths, each one having one of the six keys. The problem with this is that one of those paths would have to have some way up to the floor above, splitting it into three paths instead of two like the rest. Someone could possibly go down the wrong path, and take one of the keystones not knowing what they are for. The sensible solution to this would probably be to have some kind of lock on the paths to the keys, but that strikes me as needlessly complicated. Instead of that I should build a huge room around the room with the pedestals, like a big cavern, and have paths to three tunnels going through that. I can grow mushrooms in the big cave, and the big cave can have a path leading upwards to the level above rather then confusing people. Plus I can fill the big cave with traps and possibly monsters once I get some. With that thought I begin building the cavern. I already reinforced the walls, and coming to a conclusion took enough time for some of my mana to regenerate so it''s time to dig. The cavern is going to be sizable, I could probably use it as a nexus of sorts and make each symbol have a sub-floor or something later so I want it to be sizable. With any luck this will allow me to split this floor into six much smaller dungeons each with a theme. I think the tunnel leading upwards should probably open up somewhere near the middle, so should I leave a pillar by the steam room? I could try and make some sort of vertical moving platform... like an elevator of some kind? I do need to figure out how to lower the mirror, but I''m not really sure how... Hot water rises, and produces a sizable amount of force as it does so, the billowing steam from the chasm shot up for quite a ways, and even now a large amount rises out from the hole over a kilometer from the bottom. Condensation is forming on the walls and floor. It''s not going back into the pit, if things continue like this the room might flood slightly until it. Shit. Quickly I give the floor and ceiling a slight incline, only enough that the water slides where I want it to. The ceiling tapers slightly up towards where the mirror is so the water slides down the smooth grey stone towards the walls, the floor tapers slightly towards the chasm. The water should drip down, feed the mushrooms, and eventually find it''s way back into the chasm. Incidentally this leaves six grooves in the surface of both the ceiling and floor. Perfect. The polished grey stone is glistening with moisture. It looks kinda slippery actually... Eh I''m sure it won''t be a problem. It''s strengthened with mana so it shouldn''t erode. Now that that''s out of the way I bet I could figure out a way to use another steam put to force something upwards, cutting off the force might let it fall back down on it''s own weight. I don''t want the mirror to slam back down, so I would need to find some way to reduce the force with which it moves up and down, balance it out somehow. Balance, the thought brings to mind a strange object with a cup on either side hanging from a bar at the top... the weights counter one another somewhat, counterweighting could be used to let the steam pressure do most of the work for me. I would only need a way to force the mirror up, and then to hold it there. Locking the chains should be as easy as preventing the sliding stone block they are attached to inside their little ceiling chutes from moving. The block itself is prevented from moving currently by the chute ahead of it being too small for it to go further, steam would still leak out. The stone is far from frictionless, and grates as it slides. I probably need to find something to make it more slippery, or else it will grate loudly as it opens.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Of course I could just prop it up on two opposing smooth plates of metal... I swiftly replace the layers of stone on the sides and bottom with silver, I think that might be heavier, but it also might slide better. Next I add material to the blocks, digging a trench about two thirds of the way down the block, and making a chute past that just long enough to let the block go barely past the end of the trench. The steam will flow into the chute and push the block through the trench, and then on reaching the end the steam can escape through the chain chute rather then letting the pressure keep building. Of course this will only work if I attach counterweights, made of silver bound by silver chains. These are on round rolly things my memory calls wheels and built into each corner so they pull away from the three blocks at an angle so they end up falling down chutes on either side of the three doors to the chasm room. the chutes have little rail-things made of silver keeping the counterweights on their path, wetted with condensation. Initially I put too much and the mirror pulled up with the howling shriek of metal grating on metal.I took away too much and the silver howled again as the mirror fell. I stopped it about halfway adding just a fifth less then I took and it slowed rapidly. A little more and it slows to a more acceptable rate of about a fifth of a meter per second, metal squealing as it steadily slides into place over the chasm. Steam pushes its way through the tiny circular holes around the edges of the mirror forming a circular shroud around the center of the room. Now I make use of the three unoccupied walls of the room to hollow out and create tubes leading to each block. The steam will force the blocks away from the center, and so pull the mirror upwards. Rock seems too fragile for the pressure tubes, since the steam cracked it in the chasm, lead is too soft, and bismuth melts so... More silver. coating the circular half-meter wide chutes in silver takes a LOT of metal, even only doing it a centimeter thick. Each tube leads down to a seperate chasm, just like the first one but only a meter wide. To prevent the pressure from forcing the blocks too soon, each place for a symbol needs some way of locking in place until the right symbol is put there, then when all of them are put in place it will unlock a counter-weight to slide away the stone block holding in the steam letting it travel up the chute in a powerful blast of force. Each triangular indent''s symbol should be placed on the pillar closest to the direction of the tunnel it matches. Eventually I want to make each one have a symbol on it that represents the place it was taken from in some obvious way, and... I could just forgo the idea of a seperate way down altogether. Three entrances leading up to a central nexus, somewhere a lot more practical then two kilometers underground. Each one with two paths, each one has a challenge and the reward is a symbol. getting both of the symbols used for the mirror along a pair of paths opens a special reward of some kind, but that would use up the symbol for that run. I would need to find some way to make the symbols one-use... Bismuth. It melts, and getting heat is not really a problem for me. Higher up it could be difficult, but I could pour molten metal into a mold, and the metal melts when put into the right slot, draining off for me to re-absorb and then put back for re-use. I can create magma, so heating up a furnace should not be much of a problem, plus there is an absurd amount of fire mana around here from the magma sea. The keys will probably be fairly heavy, considering each one is twice the size of a person''s hand and made of metal, and the keys will also be destroyed if exposed to too much heat, but that seems like a useful challenge. The Mirror room is now a temple, sitting in the center of a vast cavern, nearly three hundred meters tall, and seven hundred across with massive stalactites. I dig out the floor a good three hundred meters, sloping down with numerous thin fissures and even silver pipes leading off to chasms. I force fire mana into the surrounding stones, then something unexpected happens- A small diamond in one of the rocks turns red, and starts to shine with heat.
New Material: Primal Fire mana crystal. Burning with a brilliant internal flame these shards of gemstone are imbued with immense quantities of fire mana and can only be found in the hottest places far underground. Costs 50mp a cubic cm.
I can think of more then a few uses for this. Notice! Not a chapter For a while I have been stuck on this stor, not content with where and how it was going. I am doing a rewrite that is somewhat different, though the perspective, sight of the void, most of the prologue, use of mushrooms, and inhospitable nature of our protagonist''s environment will remain. Firstly, I found that building a worse-as-it-goes-down cave dungeon from the bottom up required far more forthought then I am readily capable of. Secondly, many advanced species of fungus use symbiotic organisms such as algea found in lichen- this will allow me far more leway to get on with more interesting developments. A volcanic environment is nice, but I found I could not pin down anything I had planned that had anything to do with the magma sea in a more then tangential manner- therefore defeating it''s purpose.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. As such I will be re-writing the story, and the edited prologue and first chapter will be posted shortly. I am also moving my rate of release up to once a month to make up for the issues. -Your devoted entertainer, ShinyRock -Prologue- The End A single point of light floats in darkness that seems to go on forever. Vast ruined shards of rock float through an eternal night in clouds of cooling gas as the horizon of reality itself, once so far beyond imagination- gradually closes in. There were other lights once long ago, but those lights have long since disappeared; though the light knows not where. The small mote of shining brilliance is the last light in this dying place. The end is not far now. When the edge of existence finally ceases closing in, the light will cease to be. Not death, no- simply oblivion. It watches, as much as any such being can, be said to watch as oblivion closes in. Then, very suddenly the light disappears.
Unclaimed Soul Found
Establishing Link: World Link Successful
Initiating Soul Naturalization Process
The light is somewhere else, a place between places.
Scanning Soul...
System Not Found: Installing System...
System Installed
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. A blue text box floats in front of it, though the light does not notice. Suddenly the light pulses, shards ripping away into the void.
Memory Status: Present
Initiating Memory Erasure¡­
The light wobbles left and right as pieces are ripped away, losing size until a single fragment remains, clinging to a brilliantly shining core. The fragment wobbles, but sticks fast as the darkness eats away at the lost fragments. Then the last vestige of memory clinging to the ancient soul is torn away and flung through the void. But this is not the story of the ancient soul. This is not the story of it''s rebirth, the strangeness that made a young boy ascend to heights most could only dream of- no. For as the small fragment of memory fell, tumbling through the void, when something unexpected happened. It hit something. In all the stupidly vast non-space of the void between places, the fragment of memory slammed through the outgoing shell of memories from another soul, absorbing a chance few in it''s way before colliding with the soul itself. This sent the soul spinning, careening through the void for impossible distances (or possibly only a few meters) before some celestial force said, ''enough of that'' and plopped it right back where it started. Not that the soul noticed- the void between worlds is not known for its frequency of landmarks. It is that soul who is the subject of this story. A soul for whom a few remaining memories, and one not her own would cause no end of trouble. A soul who though she did not know it was from the very same universe as the memory fragment''s original holder- though she was from far earlier in our reality''s lifespan. -Chapter One- Somehow Alive The void is cold. Emptiness going on forever, on and on with no end. I remember this. There were lights once, out in the dark endless sky, an untold numbers of specks in the black. Stars burned in the darkness giving light to the void for eons. Then, one by one the lights grew cold. The darkness returned, and somewhere in the darkness a universe quietly died. So where am I? Reality ended, but I am definitely somewhere else now. It¡¯s dark, though for some reason I can see just fine. A cave of tan stone, a tunnel maybe two meters wide, circular and ten meters long. At the very end there is a large break in the rock, and outside I can see stars. I saw the last stars die, I watched as nothingness closed in. Yet somehow, I am here in a cave with sand on the floor. At the back of the cave there is a small obelisk made of the same tan stone, and at its top a shining grey gem almost the size of a fist. I can move my point of view freely within five or so meters of the stone, and come to a jaring halt should I try to go any further away. I can look down and see the fine grains of sand, look up at the smooth ceiling and walls worn round by time and nature. Obviously being a floating point-of-view bound to a rock is not the biggest oddity here. No, the real problem is that none of this should exist in the first place. The universe ended. I stare at the sand covered floor as it stubbornly continues to be. It doesn¡¯t seem like it¡¯s going anywhere anytime soon.
Title Gained
Watcher of Oblivion You have seen the end of everything, yet it was not your end. You remember the death of your world, and the mark it has left cannot be erased.
And now there are blue boxes. They gave me a title too, that¡¯s like a name, but formal right? Yeah that sounds right¡­ Do I have a name? ¡­ I feel like I had one once, though I no longer remember it. There are other memories aside from the curtains closing on reality¡¯s last act. Other things besides the endless void. I had a body, broken as it may have been. I could move a little on my own sometimes. I remember white halls, and metal beds, tests, doctors, and sad parents. Fragments and pieces of a lifetime spent in white rooms sleeping on soft beds with metal frames. Dolls given by my father that held no appeal to me, a small fern for my room that died within a month, even though I watered it every day exactly how the instructions said. I loved that plant, it was green and bright, and alive. It was everything the steril white hospital room wasn¡¯t. I remember a girl in the mirror, nearly an adult yet unable to walk on her own for more than a few brief moments. Her short blonde hair in front of her face to hide the bags under her dull grey eyes. I don¡¯t know how I got from a dying girl in a hospital bed to watching the end of the universe. The doctors did not fix me as I only ever went to a different hospital, or out onto the hospital''s lawn. Somehow, I remember the end, and the blue boxes know that. Somehow, I am in a small tan cave with sand, and a view of the stars. Stars that should not exist. At least it isn¡¯t unpainted steel, red, and white. Even if I seem to be a disembodied point of view centered around a grey gemstone, at least it¡¯s a nice color. I think that gem might be the closest thing I have to a body right now. For some reason I seem to be bound to it, and it is the same flat, steel-grey color as my eyes used to be. This raises its own question- what the hell am I?
Status
Name: Nameless Dungeon Core Titles: Reincarnated, Watcher of Oblivion Race: Dungeon core Traits: (no traits) Level: 0 0/100exp HP: 50/50 +10/day MP: 1000/1000 +50/day DP: 0
Skills (blocked until starting options are selected) Dig -1mp/cubic meter Build menu-variable (insufficient level) Trap menu- (no traps) Flora menu- (no flora) Fauna menu- (no fauna) Object menu- (no objects)- Access shop- (insufficient level) Move Room- (insufficient level) Move Object- (insufficient level) Move Core- (insufficient level)
¡­ Well, that is an interesting answer. A Dungeon Core, and I am reincarnated¡­ Presumably reincarnated into another reality that has very helpful blue boxes, levels and a ¡®status¡¯ screen. Not sure what DP is, but I don¡¯t have any of that anyways. HP is probably my health, and MP is¡­ something else I have a lot of. I also apparently have not selected any options, but I should probably wait till I have some idea of what is going on before doing that. This of course leads to another question: what is a ¡®Dungeon Core¡¯?
Dungeon Core: A naturally occuring living mana stone that constructs, controls, and maintains a Dungeon. Dungeon cores refine and purify the mana of an area preventing buildup, and corruption. The core of a dungeon is extremely valuable due to its inherent magical properties.
Okay, so the stone definitely is my body, and magic is a thing, so that¡¯s cool. Also mana can get screwed up, or flood a place if there isn¡¯t a core. That¡¯s probably bad. Also bad is that I am valuable and people will want to steal me. Blue boxes, if you would be so kind, what is a Dungeon?
Dungeons: Mysterious and varied structures most often created by Dungeon Cores, the treasures inside lure many to their doom. Dungeons often contain traps, and monsters as well as unique flora and fauna all guarding the core.
If I had a body I would be jumping up and down and squeeing. Or rather, wobbling slightly and hyperventilating on my bed if I were in my old body. I was unable to even keep a fern alive back then. But, I might be able to make my own garden here¡­ Though aside from humans, grass, some weeds, and that fern I don¡¯t actually remember what any living creatures look like. That might be a problem. As for killing people? Let me be perfectly clear- I do not like people. Some people are kind- my mother used to bring books for me to read. She was quiet and kind, honestly the only person besides a quiet nurse that I enjoyed visits from. More common, are those people who try to be kind, but hurt others instead. Father who brought me dolls to play with, and dresses when I could barely stand upright on a good day. My sister who brought me sweets I could not eat. The doctors who proposed more and more unlikely, painful treatments of needles and machines when my father asked. I can¡¯t remember their names, or faces anymore. It bothers me a little, but I am more then used to dealing with things I cannot change. I am not going to let the deaths of those who disturb my sanctuary hold me back. Onwards to the starting options my blue friend.
Please select starting location.
Vogen Desert Dry and desolate, the sandy Vogen Desert cuts through the center of the continent.
¡­ Really? Fine whatever. I can live in the desert. I don¡¯t think my core needs water or anything since I am some sort of magic-eating gemstone. I can grow¡­ Desert ferns or something. That explains all the sand at least. Don¡¯t know why you bother putting it as a choice when I am already here and there aren¡¯t any other options, but whatever. How do I select things? I navigate the blue boxes by thinking, so maybe if I think about selecting it¡­ The blue box disappears and is replaced with another one.
Please select three traits for your Dungeon.
Monster loyalty Monsters that originate in your dungeon are eternally loyal and will never willingly betray you.
Monster Cores All monsters start with an internal core for free. Monster cores allow monsters to grow as an individual, and move beyond the dungeon as well as being substantially valuable. Increases evolution chance slightly.
Basic Trap knowledge Start with knowledge of more advanced traps for free. Tier two traps: Retracting spikes, Dart launchers, pressure plate, collapsing floor.
Ecology Monsters, Flora, and Fauna will attempt to form a functional ecosystem preying on and competing against one another. Significantly increases individual strength, and evolution chance at the cost of creatures consuming one another, and no automatic respawn. Significantly increases odds of successfully forming an ecosystem.
Basic Enchanting Start with basic knowledge of simple enchantments for free. Allows for the creation of simple trap runes: throw stone, throw fire, emit water.
Basic Treasures Allows creation of basic currency without requiring a sample. Allows creation of basic gemstones and precious metals without requiring a sample. Allows creation of all Tier I spell books without requiring a sample.
First Boss Elevate one monster to a boss monster for free. Boss monsters gain a free evolution and are much stronger then normal, boss monsters may be set to guard an area, or to roam a floor.
Monster Naming Ability to name monsters, making them unique, enabling individual respawn, and substantially increasing power and intelligence. Named monsters limited to dungeon level/number of named monsters, nameing monsters costs DP. This function can be bought later in the shop at significant cost.
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.That is a lot of options¡­ I don¡¯t want my garden leaving me so I need monster loyalty, I am also going to need ecology even if it means my creatures have to prey on one another, it will make them more likely to survive if they look for food and water on their own. For the last one I am going to go with monster cores, as even though they are valuable, a lot of these seem to require a sample so sending out my monsters seems important. Plus they grow and evolve faster this way. Monster naming is very tempting, and traps it seems useful, but cores seem to fulfil an important purpose. I think about selecting those three and the blue box disappears again.
Please select a starting monster for your Dungeon.
Imps (unavailable due to lack of demonic taint) Small, petty, and frail Imps are the weakest of the family of monsters often referred to as devils. Ferocious scavengers from the thousand hells Imps are vicious fighters if tiny. No relation to Daemons, or Demons.
Rotten Zombies (Unavailable due to lack of corpses) Smelly, slow-moving, and overwhelmingly stupid rotting zombies are the weakest form of undead lower even then wisps. Rotten Zombies are only a threat as they come in enormous numbers as any killed by one will rise from the dead to join the tide of rotting flesh. Fairly flammable, tend to rot to nothing over time.
Slimes (Unavailable due to lack of food/lack of water) Squishy, weak, and slow slimes are simple scavengers and the distant ancestors to jellyfish and sea anemones. While not very effective in direct combat, slimes acid, and extreme adaptability makes them nonetheless dangerous. Can eat literally anything, or even subsist on only water and ambient mana. Slimes are resistant to physical damage but are easily killed by damage to their core and in their initial forms and do damage slowly.
Giant Rats (Unavailable due to lack of food/lack of water) Small, frail, and weak giant rats are sewer scavengers, but can be found anywhere people are if you look hard enough. While not very durable, rats are fast and numerous, breeding very fast and attacking with sharp teeth and claws. Rats can eat almost any organic substance but are voracious.
Biting Weed (Unavailable due to lack of soil/lack of water) A small carnivorous plant with biting mouths filled with glass-like teeth. Spread and evolve quickly becoming an infestation. Biting weeds are flammable, and their teeth break easily. They are often found in swamps, and eat anything they can keep a hold of.
None Gain two free flora, and one free fauna from the shop. Evolve natural creatures into your own monsters. Risky and takes time.
¡­ I let out a small sigh. Nothing can ever just start off functioning can it? I guess I am stuck with Flora and Fauna and will have to evolve monsters¡­ At least I took monster cores, and Ecology so I can hopefully make a decent biosphere and have things go faster. I select the last option. Blasted desert, I don¡¯t really like any of the options but at least they can defend me.
Dungeon Starting Options Selected.
Trait Gained:
Monster loyalty Monsters that originate in your dungeon are eternally loyal and will never willingly betray you.
Trait Gained:
Monster Cores All monsters start with an internal core for free. Monster cores allow monsters to grow as an individual, and move beyond the dungeon as well as being substantially valuable. Increases evolution chance slightly.
Trait Gained:
Ecology Monsters, Flora, and Fauna will attempt to form a functional ecosystem preying on and competing against one another. Significantly increases individual strength, and evolution chance at the cost of creatures consuming one another, and no automatic respawn. Significantly increases odds of successfully forming an ecosystem.
You have two free flora, and one free fauna in the shop.
+100exp you are now Level I
First level traps unlocked: falling rock, spikes, pit
Build function unlocked, Dungeon shop unlocked, Move room unlocked, Move Object unlocked, Move Core unlocked.
1000DP gained!
A wall of blue boxes cascades in front of me informing me of my selections, and level. At last I am free to build. First, though I should probably see what I can make, and then get my free critters. I should probably figure out how to create a livable environment for them as well. Time to open the build menu.
Build:
Create Room Dig out a room. Size, shape, materials, and chosen room type alter cost
Create Floor Create a new floor of the dungeon for 500DP x number of current floors
Build Structure Create pre-made structures or freely build new ones using MP
Designate Area Designate boss area, subfloors, sub-rooms, biome (NEW)
Claim Area Claim existing area for MP. Area must be claimed to build there
Alter Material Change existing material to a different material for MP
From the sound of it I am expected to mostly build below ground since most of the options are digging related. Plus I started underground and it seems a sensible place to remain if I want to avoid notice. That said- what I have read seems to hint that dungeons lure people in on purpose and there is presumably a reason or incentive to do so. I am not going to go out of my way to draw people in and kill them, but for some reason I really want I will have to claim the area immediately around the entrance to build a decent arch way, or something¡­
Claim area immediately surrounding entrance, and small cave for 300 mana? Yes / No
I only have one thousand mana, and that much will take me six days to regenerate. I need to see if claiming the cave will cost less.
Claim small sandy cave for 5 mana? Yes / No
Wow that dropped pretty sharply. "Does claiming area above ground cost more or something Blue?¡± I think at my helpful little boxes.
Claiming area above ground costs 5x standard price due to lack of enclosure. Space occupied by rocks, dirt or other solid substances, or gaps of less than two meters are automatically claimed when building a room on their location.
¡°Thanks Blue. Good to know.¡± I think at the blue box. Guess I¡¯m making an underground garden then. I quickly claim my small cave and now I can zoom around freely in the small space. I think I should probably look at my options for living things now. First off, I need some flora for animals to eat. Bringing up the shop I ask, ¡°If you please Blue, show only flora that can survive current conditions in the dungeon, and are available.¡±
Available Shop Flora:
Dungeon Lichen 20DP Part algae, part fungus this colonial organism roots on any solid surface and subsists on ambient mana instead of light. Though edible Dungeon Lichen contains too few nutrients to serve as food for anything larger than mice. Costs 5MP for every five patches of spores past the first one. Found on rocks, walls, and ceilings in Dungeons everywhere.
Manashroom 50DP A simple mushroom found anywhere warm with enough mana. These gently glowing mushrooms are a common ingredient in mana potions but grow slowly. Costs 5MP for a patch of manashrooms. Manashrooms grow faster in moist environments.
Sand Lichen 5DP A species of Lichen that subsists off ambient heat and mana rather then light. Sand Lichen can be found under rocks in deserts everywhere. Edible but tastes like sand. Costs 5MP for five patches of spores. Hates light.
¡°I will take the Dungeon lichen, and Manashrooms as my freebies, then buy Sand Lichen please Blue.¡± I think at the box.
Shop Purchases added to Flora: Sand Lichen, Manashroom, Dungeon Lichen.
Now I just need to create somewhere for them to grow. -Chapter Two- Starting Out Sand lichen needs heat and manashrooms need water. This little cave at the surface is plenty hot, but obviously I am not going to be getting any water from there. I need to go deeper if I want to keep some water in my dungeon. I seem to remember that a planet gets hotter the closer to the center you go, but that seems like it would take a lot of digging. I also have no way of being certain if I actually am on a planet, I mean this world has magic, dungeons, monsters, and blue menu screens for¡­ Uhhh¡­ Something¡¯s sake. There was something I was supposed to say there but I can¡¯t remember. A blank hole in my memories. Just like everything else that isn¡¯t a fucking hospital. In any case this world could be flat, it could be some sort of giant ring-shaped superweapon like my sister always jabbered on about. I didn¡¯t even realize I had a sister a moment ago. She was¡­ Unkind. She cared for me in her own way, telling me of games she played, stories she read, and places she went with our parents. She would talk for hours about things I would never have before the nurse told her to go. She meant it as a kindness, keeping her crippled dying sister company. I hated her deeply. Yet somehow I forgot. I can¡¯t rely on my memories. This having been said, I don¡¯t really have a better idea for what this world could be. I do not enjoy remembering the hospital. Remembering nearly two decades of helplessness, but my sister did have a lot of interesting ideas. Selecting Dig I can feel mana trickling away as the cave smoothes itself and expands, a square room ten meters across, and ten high. The entrance is a good four meters off the ground, and I smooth it into a rectangle two meters wide, and two meters high, exposing more of the sky. Smooth stone steps lead from the entrance down to the floor and end up taking up nearly half the room¡¯s length. On either side of the last steps of the staircase are two large hexagonal braisers to be filled with fire and light the place. Extending the room forwards another ten meters I have a suitable entry hall for my dungeon. A second set of braisers marks the beginning of a second staircase identical to the first, only dug into the floor where I tunnel down and down to escape my memories¡­
WARNING: You are exceeding the (200) meter z value for -Floor 1- (-12, -212) additional construction will require the purchase of an additional floor for 500DP x 1 Purchase second floor?
Yes No
I select yes, and my DP drops rapidly down to 495 as I feel my awareness expand briefly- then stop after about a meter of rock. Digging down another twenty meters I think I¡¯ve reached where I want my first real ¡®floor¡¯ to be.
Designate -Floor 1- as ¡®Entrance Hall¡¯ for 200MP?Entrance areas are safe zones that grant bonuses to the dungeon. Entrance area cannot contain traps or monsters and do not count towards floor number Yes No
Energy flows out of me as I select yes. The first floor warps and twists as I can feel something change without any visible difference.
Special Room Added: Entrance hall (Scale -Floor-) A smooth limestone entrance hall to an unknown dungeon. Safe area. Entrance Hall upgrades unlocked.
Okay, I will look at that in a bit. First I need to get some things sorted out. For me to make a good garden I first need to have somewhere to put it. I¡¯ve been working on that, but whatever I make also needs to make it hard for intruders to get to wherever I plan on building my actual garden later on. While I¡¯m at it, I should probably make use of some of those traps, and move my core somewhere less obvious. Preferably somewhere hard to reach as well. Mana shears through stone as I start to excavate. The tan limestone is cut through in places by streaks of green, and mining away at these I am bombarded by a burst of Blue Boxes.
New Materials added:
Copper: A basic ductile metal with numerous uses. A good conductor of heat and electricity as well as being useful in the construction of metal goods, and alloyed materials.
Malachite: A shiny green ore of copper often found in Sedimentary stone. Pretty, and semi-valuable on its own.
Chrysocolla: A bright green or blue semi-precious stone commonly found in veins of copper ore. Used in jewelry and mana storage devices.
The gemstone seems like the perfect thing to place mana-hungry lichen on once this room is done. The ore seems useful, so I will base the shape of this room on the deposit. This would prove to be a terrible idea pretty much immediately. The deposit as it turns out is not small, or even moderately sized- no. I have dug out a thirty meter space forty three meters in diameter. Except for the ceiling the entire half opposite and angled down from the stairs is pretty much a giant mass of ore waiting to be dug out. The stairs open onto a twenty two meter cliff with a sharp lip where I found an extrusion of the ore vein. Placing some stone down I make a platform so the stairs don¡¯t just drop off. ¡­ Gardens are usually wide and open right? Maybe if I make it bigger it will help? If I do that I can make this my first area, then have something to keep people from progressing into the main garden. Particularly because for now I don¡¯t have enough DP for a third floor. The question is- can I create water?
Fluid materials: None
Well shit. Can I buy water in the store?
Purchase material Water from Dungeon shop for 50DP? Yes No
I let out a soft sigh as I hit yes and lose more DP. I¡¯m down to 245DP and I don¡¯t even have monsters yet. Still, the underground is a lot cooler than I expected past the first few meters; I hope the sand lichen can survive well down here. I have a strange feeling that still water is a bad thing, so I will need to keep it moving somehow. It takes some digging, a little filling in with sandstone and creating a staircase down to the floor for me to have my first real ¡®rooms¡¯. A massive chasm some fifty meters across, and twice as high. Stairs carve their way down one wall from the landing at the foot of the entry staircase before coming to a landing on a rocky outcrop of stone jutting out from the surrounding rock. A roofed pavilion stretches across the chasm as a bridge to the large open shelf of carved limestone set into the wall before a massive two meter tall door. This door will have to have some sort of puzzle or challenge to keep people from progressing further into my garden, but I don¡¯t actually have any real ideas on how to do that beyond maybe sliding blocks? The chasm itself will be the main reservoir of water for the rest of the dungeon as well as containing a second hidden entrance to my garden under the usual water level to irrigate the garden. People will probably try to swim in, so I¡¯ll need to place bars or something to keep them out. A short ways below the bridge there is a large round hole in one side of the crevasse that burrows off, turning slightly to one side and sloping up to where I dig out a second room. The second cavern is sort of round, a good seventy meters across with the deepest part of the bowl like floor nearly forty meters deep. The entrance tunnel comes out just about at the lip of the bowl shape resting at the shore of the future lake. This is where I will have my first garden. The sides of the bowl, much like the sides of the chasm, and tunnel are scarred and pitted with shelves and divots making the whole thing look a lot more natural. Perfect. Now I just need to figure out how to keep the water level in both reservoirs stable
Room Upgrade: Water source Lakebed 200DP Generates water to ensure the lake is always close to the intended level at the cost of mana. Excess water from watershed will be converted back into mana to maintain set water levels. Ecology- Unlocks seasonal variance, and flooding option.
Perfect! I think about purchasing the upgrade and my DP drops to 45 as the bottom of the lakebed flattens and warps. Copper emerges from the ground like branches of a tree and wrap around themselves forming a half meter globe shaped cage, as a brilliant blue light forms within. Water begins dripping from the holes in the wire cage. And it¡¯s dripping... There is almost a foot sized puddle now ¡­ Is there any way to make this go faster?
Lakebed: Mana evaporation rate: [fast], medium, long Water source flow rate: [low], moderate, high, extreme
I mentally push the orb to high and everything goes nuts. The orb sucks away mana in a massive burst as the space floods with water blasting from the globe in jets so powerful they almost reach the rim of the lake. Terrified, I can feel my consciousness begin to slip as energy is ripped away¡­ Then, all at once it fades down to a trickle, smaller even then the flow of mana I am gaining from my new rooms. Shaking my head mentally I can see the lake is full, the tunnel is filled with a thundering river blasting out in a arc from the chasm wall before plummeting to the churning water far below. The chasm is filled more than a dozen meters deep, the pounding water having carved a noticable divoit into the floor on one side where it struck the rock. Mist cascades from the waterfall, drenching the lower portions of the chasm. From the chasm, a stream of brilliant blue energy stretch from any bit of water back to the source in the lake, mana returning to flow again. A mental command sets the orb to moderate flow again. Watching the dew disappear from the stone as quickly as it lands. I also set the evaporation to slow, and the number of ribbons of light drops tremendously. The blast of water slows as the water level in the lake drops to just barely flow through the tunnel. The sides of the tunnel at their former water level are blasted smoothe now, probably a result of the tiny bits of sand and stone carried by the water from the lakebed crevices by the current. Dribbles of water flow and pool in crevices in the rock even as the sound of falling water fades to a dull roar echoing through the caverns. It is perfect for my flora. On the dry stones near the shore of the lake I leave patches of sand lichen. Sand Lichen is not much to look at, a dull rusty growth of thin mossy looking fuzz, it¡¯s white fungal roots cling to the dry rock in an explosion of growth that makes the tan stone look like it¡¯s rusting metal on fast forward. Dungeon Lichen is a bit more interesting, flat cloverlike grey leaves cling to damp crevices in the rock of the chasm and tunnel, pale black threads spiral outwards like a net towards any tiny specks of mana-charged ore, and gemstone. Thumb-sized points of blue light mark the caps of manashrooms on the lakebed, ceilings, and lower chasm, their own pale white roots creeping into the rock seeking denser mana. The pale blue light is not much, but it is the only light in the caverns aside from the glowing water orb itself and lends the pale limestone caverns an eerie feeling. The flora is not much, and it will do nothing to defend me aside from emitting a steady flow of mana, but it is strangely peaceful to look at. Many of the mushrooms don¡¯t seem to like being underwater, and quite a few die, their pieces floating about the gently swirling waters. That¡¯s about 400 MP down the drain if I am to guess. Only a few of the deeper ones hold on in places with little current in the water. The lake, with tiny lights above, and a scarce few below... I feel drawn to it- the place in my dungeon with by far the most mana.
Move core to [Lake Room] for 50MP? Yes No
Yes. The moment I think to confirm my choice the pillar and gemstone in the entranceway slides into the ground and shoots along the floor, down the stairs, down more stairs, across the wall of the chasm, along the ceiling of the tunnel, and forms a second pillar smack dab in the center of the domed ceiling, copper branches twisting out to grasp my core as I silently stop suspended twelve meters over the water, directly above the source of the lake¡¯s water. The pale grey of my stone seems to gleam, and shine with hints of blue in its depths where it sits wrapped in rootlike growths of copper wire. As the copper branches still the ribbons of mana in the room start to spiral into my core like a whirlpool. This is going to hurt isn¡¯t it¡­ A tidal wave of energy crashes through my body scattering any rational thought as every nerve in my body ignites in an unbelievably amazing sensation, my vision going white. Overflowing energy erupts from my core, blasting through the dungeon in waves before crashing into me setting me off again and again. Slowly the waves lessen and subside as my brain starts working again. I definitely have a body now because it feels like my limbs are made of jelly. Now I know- mana buildup absorbed when really low on mana definitely does not cause pain. It feels amazing, but the intensity is to much for me to feel comfortable enjoying it. Plus there¡¯s the apparent after effects: for the first time since I woke up in that small tan cave I actually feel worn out. My incorporeal limbs feel like they are made of lead but I myself to roll over on the rough cobblestone shore, my body passing through some rocks and lichen as I do. The mushrooms on the ceiling are very pretty, like blue stars glowing amidst the shadowed tan sky. I lie there on the shore for a bit staring at the false stars softly glowing above me. There is a blue box blinking in the corner of my vision like it¡¯s tabbed out or something. Too worn out to bother swiping at it I just ask the box to open.
Dungeon Core moved to area of critical mana density! Warning: Mana Overload! Initiating release of excess mana! +1400XP you are now level five. 4000DP gained! You have added flora to your dungeon, An ecosystem can now form! +100XP +100DP Room: Lakebed has become the dungeon core room and unlocked new upgrades! Skill: Mental form I unlocked at level five due to dungeon actions!
Yup. Tabbed out. I gained four levels and a shit ton of DP. A glance tells me my core is a lot larger than before having grown to the size of a football. The gem gleems a wonderful midnight blue swirled with shifting grey that makes me think of a cloudy night sky. I can feel the rest of the dungeon, the flora feeds on mana, and gently returns it purer, better than before. This is the start of my garden isn¡¯t it? So blue, what were those upgrades you keep mentioning? The ones for this room?This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
Core room [Lake] Available upgrades:
Core Room Upgrade: Oasis 1000DP Unlocked by starting biome: Desert, highest water element concentration in region, Ecology This core room is the only source of water in the desert for at least twenty kilometers. Life flourishes in this tiny patch of paradise. Increases growth, and evolution of living organisms in ecosystems fed by this source. Unlocks further upgrades
Upgrade Water source to Elemental Mana Conduit 0DP Unlocked by Core Room Upgrade Current element: Water. Mana conduits gather mana and can store it for later use. Conduits can be used to siphon mana to the core without requiring the core to remain on the lowest level of the dungeon. Elemental mana conduits with sufficient mana stored may over time generate magical anomalies.
Mana-enriched water 0DP Unlocked due to extreme concentration of local mana WARNING: Enriched water may siphon off local mana! The waters are filled by life-giving mana promoting healing, and regeneration. Mana rich water is a common ingredient in potions.
Mineral-enriched water (copper) 200DP Unlocked due to copper ore content of surrounding rock WARNING: Contact with Mineral rich water increases damage from lightning attacks! This water is full of minerals from the surrounding rock. Grants slight regenerative properties and promotes growth of living organisms that make use of these minerals.
Nice. All of these look really useful and this should make things grow much faster. I seem to remember that springs attract tons of creatures from all over and hopefully this will get me some monsters soon. It¡¯s a lot of DP but it¡¯s fine. I will just need to be more careful after this. Blue? Purchase all please. My DP drops by seventeen hundred down to2945 points as the room around me shifts again- the glowing orb at the bottom of the pool sinks and flattens becoming a half-meter oval mirror framed with copper at the bottom of the pool as the water itself seems to sparkle and gleam in the low light of the manashrooms. I can feel mana flow further through the dungeon almost stealing away my own before it floods back greater then before and I start to regain some feeling in my limbs. Good, I spent far too much time in my last life unable to move on my own.
New Entrance Upgrades unlocked!
Two entrance upgrades have been locked!
Now that¡¯s just annoying. Upgrades unlock further upgrades so it¡¯s easy to try and buy them all up isn¡¯t it? Worse, as I slowly recover from the mana¡­ Incident¡­ I realize I just spent a ridiculous amount of DP- something that is going to get harder and harder to acquire since I only seem to get any when I level up. With my mind still foggy from the event I didn¡¯t even stop to consider if it was a good idea to waste such a valuable resource. Post-incident fog fading from my mind I start to realize that I still only have two actual rooms, and a door that connects to nothing. Anyone with wings, or someone skilled at climbing could just hop on over to the tunnel leading to my core room. Somehow I doubt my core can be inaccessible since that would be too easy, so I will need to make a path around if I want to fix this. Considering everything so far there is no way things could be that easy right Blue?
WARNING: Dungeon core must have accessible path from the dungeon entrance!
Thanks Blue. Likewise, my rooms don¡¯t actually have anything in the way of dangers to keep out intruders unless you count smooth wet stonework and lack of railings as a threat. Maybe if adventurers wore shoes made of soap. I need to make it so people can¡¯t just enter my core room, but water can still flow out through the tunnel and fill the reservoir. A grate made of thick copper bars should prevent access, maybe able to open out so people can go right back to the entrance of the dungeon? Yah that seems like a good idea. I push myself up off the cobblestone and stretch as I float off through the lake room wall over to the large open platform with its massive smooth stone doors across from the entrance. The doors are just carvings in a wall right now, they don¡¯t even have hinges. A test is needed, then rooms leading down, to a sort of mini-dungeon leading to my real garden, and through that my core. First I think, the door needs to lead to a large grand hall, fifty meters long, twenty wide, and thirty high. A grand hall to dwarf my entrance way where I can have secondary paths leading off into ¡®ruins¡¯ and eventually to my garden. Multiple paths will allow me to have long looping sections to confuse and entrap intruders, as well as giving my creations places to hide. Pushing forwards I am forced to remove the door entirely as stone is cored away and disappears. I can probably add a new one later. Eight enormous pillars hold the vaulted ceiling far above. Massive columns of hexagonal rock carved and worn carefully to give the place an ancient, ruined majesty. A smaller pillar holding a stone brasier to light the room lies dark and unlit before each column. The walls are chipped and cracked in places while the tiled floor is scarred adding to the overall effect making the room seem as though it has lain buried here for millennia. The cracking, and wearing spreads with a thought, creeping out the empty doorway changing the courtyard outside it, then the bridge. Cracks, wear, and divots make their way up the stairs into the entrance of my dungeon as I turn to the doorway of the great hall and construct an enormous copper door it¡¯s great hinges opening inwards so the door may be barred until intruders solve the puzzle. As the aging effect finishes I feel a wave of exhaustion roll over me- no I need to finish this door! A geometric pattern of hexagons etches itself into each door, framed by smooth copper as six copper bars, each thicker then my hand slide from the walls behind the door barring it. Enormous gears of my only metal, enchanted to withstand the strain of their use link up below to a single enormous gear that will be turned by completing the puzzle. On the inside of the room, there is a massive circle with a small pedestal, and four spokes on either side to allow the door to be opened and shut from within. The puzzle itself is simple in concept but mechanically quite complex. Attempting to make a puzzle that is too difficult, or unsolvable seems as though it would be considered blocking the path to my core, so I have gone with a simple one On each side of the door is a raised copper plate. Pressing one will retract three bars while it is pressed but they will very quickly slide back into place when they are not. It takes a significant amount of weight to push them down, around fifty kilos worth? It¡¯s not exact since I am testing it with limestone blocks. I think I got the amount to be about as heavy as a person? In any case it will require weighing both switches down, at which point the doors will open. When the concealed plate surrounding the arc of the doors is stepped on the doors will slam shut and car again until it is opened from the inside, or the switches are pressed and released again. Admittedly the slamming doors is just me being a bit of a bitch and trying to scare people, plus it¡¯s dark in that room since there isn¡¯t any light, and the opening mechanism on each side is in the corners¡­ Eh I¡¯m sure it won¡¯t be a problem. I¡¯m not actually sure how I know what gears are, but I seem to be quite familiar with them. At the very least it should startle some people and get them to leave. If someone decides they don¡¯t dare split the party to open the door, well that¡¯s their problem. Loners, or groups of two will just have to figure out some way around it.
New trap added: Puzzle door. 500MP x current puzzle doors
New trap added: Weight Sensor.
Cool. Now I just need to make this actually lead somewhere. An identical copper door marks the opposite end of the hall, similarly barred. This one requires the placement of two copper slabs that will be in other parts of the first floor. Four smaller unlocked copper doors that simply close on their own after a short while are placed across from one another, two to a side on either wall of the hallway. On the left wall if one were entering the great hall, one side contains a short hallway to some stairs leading down to a ten meter square storage room. The hall is much like the doors - only three meters tall, and two wide. Worn, and unadorned except for small brasiers set into the walls every five meters. The brasiers are unlit and empty of course. The only thing that room has going for it is the trap- there is a pressure plate the same stone as the floor about half a meter long and as wide as the room¡¯s doors, just inside. Stepping on it closes the doors very quickly, but a person could just jump over it once they know it¡¯s there. The lure to this trap I actually had to buy from the store. Barrels and bins made of copper stuff the room. Naturally I don¡¯t actually have anything to put -in- these containers, but that¡¯s not visible from the door anyway. I actually feel kinda bad about that, so I fill one barrel with water laced with lots of copper and seal it shut with it¡¯s lid, and place some desert lichen in the corners of the room.
New room Templates added: Ruined storeroom, Simple ruin hallway
New Objects added: Sealable copper barrel, stackable copper bins
New trap added: Slamming door, Pressure plate
Wait so my previous pressure sensors didn¡¯t count?
New Dungeon Template added: -Strange Desert Ruins- Set template as standard for non-cavern portions of the dungeon? All newly created structures will automatically use the -Strange Desert Ruins- aesthetic for no mana cost.
Yes No
Hell yes! Just for that I am placing some blocks of copper in one precariously stacked bin for some lucky adventurer to find. Thank you Blue. Now I don¡¯t have to go through an ruin-ify everything when I make it. Clearing out walls containing ore and replacing them with plain limestone leads to exhaustion. It also uses a fair bit of mana. Though I do really need to get something besides copper, and limestone if I want to build things. That can come later though. I am tired, my dungeon is incomplete still, and my only trap is pathetic but at least I don¡¯t have to deal with perfect-fucking-hospital-floors anymore. I have only copper and limestone to build with, but at least it isn¡¯t steel, rubber, marble, and concrete. The current structure reminds me of a tomb- dark, ancient, and dead. An elaborate mausoleum for some long dead ruler of great wealth. A little bit on the nose considering I am a dead girl, but it works. The storage room off one side like that is odd, but the trap makes it seem intentional. Even so, I feel like I need to do something else. Beyond the door a large room takes shape, similar to a central courtyard or a city square. This will be the heart of the tomb. A full forty meters square, held up by four massive pillars a ways from the corners of the room. Each hexagonal pillar almost two meters across. At the far end, on a raised dais I leave a massive stone coffin, less than a meter wide, and two meters long. I have no treasure to place within, no coins, or items. But a tomb needs someone to lie within. I do not have the body, but copper twists and creeps to form the proper shape of bones within the coffin. Familiar bones, from a girl who should not have lived as long as she did. Chips in the ribs from falling down trying to stand, pores and hollows in the bone where it never fully formed. The bones fall out of place as soon as I make them, resting gently on the bottom of the coffin. There are shackles of copper holding the arm and leg bones together, liked by chain and held fast to the stone above her head, and between her legs by large copper bolts screwed into the stone. Almost as though she was held captive alive as she slowly wasted away in an elaborate grave right? A dark joke that somehow makes me feel some closure. The old me is dead, buried in the coffin and her memories should stay behind. My tomb must have a way to enter it, as well as treasure to fool people into leaving should they get this far. The storeroom hallway would only make sense if there was a room it had to go around, and the entire area is greatly lacking complexity. A second long hallway across from the storeroom, a bunk room of stone slab like beds each with a copper skeleton of a woman, each slightly different then the others. In one corner the metallic bones of a hand clutch a metal tablet etched with the image of a human heart with a tiny hole in one side going all the way through the metal. Almost like the walls of the heart never formed right, and the heart¡¯s owner was bedridden as a result. Two side rooms, one clearly a chapel of some kind. Stone benches to either side of an aisle leading up to a pedestal with a hexagonal podium topped with copper and a raised slab for an alter.. The walls behind the altar are honeycombed with hexagonal holes each a few hands deep, perfect for scrolls. A copper door on one side leads to a second, smaller bedchamber with a single sleeping slab, a lone skeleton, and the other tablet. This tablet a bone, hollow and malformed. The image is honeycombed with divorts on both sides as though the bone never filled in right. There is a stone chest in the corner, it¡¯s bottom is a weight sensor but I don¡¯t actually have anything to put in it right now. When pressed and released the floor will slide away, as the bed and it¡¯s skeleton slide into a special recess in the wall that is formed by retracting segments. There is a very deep hole below the floor, probably going to end up leading to the garden far below. The last room is simple, a long room with a stone bench and table for eating. Copper plates, knives and forks wait for seventeen people, the same number as copper skeletons in the complex. In the far wall, in a small cubby there is an empty copper tablet that does not fit the doors. In the room behind the doors, inside the coffin, below the skull of the girl there is a hidden place for it. For a tablet containing nothing at all. The tablet rests on a small pressure sensor, just as the side walls, floor, and ceiling rest inside a massive cylinder attached to an enormous gear. Should the tablet be removed the door to the room will shut, and the entire room barring the entry door wall, and the wall with the cubby will start to rotate faster and faster. The room will stop rotating after it has spun twenty times, the power for rotation being produced by an enormous counterweight, and the very careful balancing of the gears holding the entire room up. Not sure how to reset the counterweight though.
New Room templates added: Single ruin bedroom Ruin Dorm room Ruin Chapel
New trap added: Room trap rotating room. Cost scales with size, requires power
Hey Blue? Is there an upgrade to automatically reset the counterweight if the tablet is put back?
Upgrade chapel trap: Rotating room to reset automatically for 20DP? Putting the trigger item back will deactivate the trap. Yes No
Yup. Good way to spend 20DP. The tablet will cause the wall behind my coffin to open, revealing a staircase down to a rough tunnel that leads back to my core room. The tunnel leading off is now made inaccessible by a enormous copper-etched stone slab over the opening, with a sluice for the water at the bottom. Attempts to enter that way would need to swim up the current of the waterfall through the water pressure. The slab itself is marked with copper-filled carvings of waves, with dots within. A image that kinda sort of looks like my lake. Eventually I am going to make the hidden tunnel lead somewhere else and have my core room accessible only from the garden, but for now I can focus on actually creating the garden first. Then maybe I can make my first floor suck less. Without any decent traps, treasure or monsters I can''t really do much unless I get creative. I can''t help but feel proud of my creations, but it still is kinda pathetic. I am going to need to re-do this tomb once I have a better idea of how to do this dungeon thing.