Do Not Enter

“Stay here food!” Bunny commanded her enthralled goat as she dismounted it.

The group moved carefully past the dungeon threshold. Suo took point. Despite its lower level the slime’s damage reduction made it a natural defender. Feathers, as the next best fighter, moved at his side.

The goblin guard at the door was dead in a pool of its own green blood. Its short sword was still in its hand. The goblin hadn’t been taken unaware. It had fought. Though judging by the deep wound on its back, it hadn’t been a match for its opponent. Though shirtless, it did have the crude short sword and leather pants Baal had crafted. That was fairly good equipment for a low level goblin. Judging from the outcome of the fight, Baal doubted better armor would have made much of a difference.

Besides the body there were no other clues in the entryway. There were no sounds save for the faint noise of the waterfall and their own restless breathing. For the first time the dungeon seemed a cold, lifeless, hostile place. Slowly they crept to the spire. The entry level, still devoid of construction save for the stairs and the small divot next to the door, was empty and gave no hints at what had transpired.

The choice now was up or down. Above only the altar room and his own quarters waited, few spaces for an ambush. The group split up as they climbing both the spiraling staircases. There was nothing out of the ordinary in the open altar room and the altar itself remained undisturbed. Baal wasn’t sure if it was even possible to disturb the solid black slab, but none the less he was grateful nothing had happened to the legendary artifact. His own room was equally unmolested.

Again both groups took separate staircases down, past the entry level, and to the production level.

Even before reaching the ground he could see nothing out of the ordinary on this level either. The central room was clear. The training arena was empty as well and showed no signs of disturbance. Following the curve of the room, he peeked into the newly carved hallway still waiting for the mess hall and barracks to be constructed. It was likewise empty.

Moving further around the room he came to the hallway leading to the workshops and storage. Lots of blind corners there. Suo again moved first as they swept the rooms. The magical and item workshops were as empty as the rest of the dungeon, but it was clear someone had been there. Shelves and storage chests were disturbed as if someone was looking for something. The storage warehouse, however...

Oh dear gods

The room was a disaster. Shelves had been tossed. Crates had been smashed. The resources he had spent so much time and effort gathering lay in heaps. There could be no doubt now. Baal knew of only one **** this mindlessly destructive.

Adventurers

He quickly pulled up the dungeon inventory screen

Dungeon Inventory:
443/500
Badger claw x 1 (uncommon)
Goat Meat x1 (common)
Goat wool x1 (common)
Rat fang x 5 - (common )
Fox paw x 1 - (common)
Rabbit hide x 2 - (common)
Rabbit paw x 2 - (common)
Cyclops crow feather x 4 - (common)
Empty Bottle x22 - (common)
Pine Wood x 78 - (common)
Queasy Berry x 8 - (common)
Stone x 235- (common)
Sweet Grass x 30 - (common)
Creeping Moss x 18 - (uncommon)
Scrap Ore x 35 - (uncommon)

He growled as he scanned the list. All of the rare gems were missing along with some of the uncommon materials. His own inventory seemed linked to the dungeon so even the resources he had gathered today had been here. Thankfully the goblins still had their own resources they had gathered but this...

“Fuck!” He screamed in a whisper as he realized the unique piece of obsidian he had been hoarding since he had nearly died was also missing.

Fuck him for being too cautious to use the valuable item. Fuck the thief that stole it. Fuck all adventurers!

Cleaning this mess would have to wait. The thief could still be present and there was still no sign of his other followers.

Aside from his constant soft growling the groups now moved silently to the lowest level. There was more noise and distraction as the constant roar of the waterfall filling the pool overwhelmed Baal’s grumbling. There was still no sign of...

A flash shot out from one of the darkened tunnels the golems had dug, borrowing strait towards the orc. Baal was slow to react as the object streaked towards him. However the dexterous Suo had not strayed from its master’s side and quickly launched itself to intercept the flash. It embedded itself in the slime’s gelatinous body with a slurp as Suo fell back to the ground.

The goblins quickly formed a defensive line towards the door. Baal readied a spell himself as he spared a glance to check the slime. He still had a healing potion if it needed...

Suo was shaking violently. Or rather the object now stuck in the translucent slime was shaking, trying to vibrate itself free.

“Spit it out!” He barked at the slime.

The goblins turned in confusion and were rewarding by a small splash of slime as the newly discharged Bubble Bee shook itself clean.

*Buzz*

The elemental hummed weakly and landed in Baal’s outstretched hand.

“Boss?” The cautious call came from the same darkened cave entrance.

“Boss!” The three goblins shouted in relief as they crept into the light. Baal was relieved to see one cradled his infant daughter. He also noted the larger goblin infant though he didn’t truly care as much about the welfare of that child.

“Explain!” Baal commanded the survivors. “What happened here?”

“Adventurer come!”

“Kill watch-gob!”

“Air bug warn!”

Oh dear gods they were talking in turns, nodding and agreeing with each other.

“We run!”

“Hide in cave!”

“Adventurer not find us!”

Baal rubbed his eyes as he tried to follow the narrative. The goblin on watch duty had apparently at least slowed the solo adventurer enough to give the others a chance to run. Added with their head start from being a level down in the training arena, they were just able to collect the children and make it to the cave tunnels to hide in the darkness. The adventurer was either unable or unwilling to follow them into the caves and had instead took his time looting the dungeon.

The surviving goblins had remained hidden for hours even after there was no sign of the adventurer. Although the trespasser seemed long gone, Baal still ordered the swift air elemental to patrol the dungeon and report any dangers.

His first priority was to check what resources they had remaining. The second group of goblins produced another two dozen units of scrap ore as well as nearly one hundred of the small stones. He now had more stone than he could even fit in the dungeon inventory. Feathers had also killed more of the camouflaging Igneleons giving several units of lizard meat and an

Igneleon Skin - ??? (Rare)

Checking the new items would have to wait. As would the construction of the barracks and mess. Instead, with the new resources, he put the goblins to work building the hallway extension from the crafting area then the trap workshop beyond. The rest of the goblins were put to work repairing the damage to the store room and picking up the scattered resources.

Baal then headed back to the entrance. The body of dead goblin remained, but that would also have to wait. The thick wooden doors could be locked and barred but with the way he and the goblins had been coming and going they had taken to leaving the entrance open. Not that a piece of wood would do much to keep a determined adventurer out.

The orc went to the wooden double doors and checked the construction options. He was hoping for a nice upgrade option: something sturdier, even more defensible. Most of the really impressive options remained grayed out, but there was now an option for a portcullis; a strong grated metal door made of scrap ore. He selected the new door but was met with another alert.

Error: Invalid Construction!
Cannot overlap existing build.

Ok this was going to require some thought. The wooden door kept the dungeon sealed from the elements, helped disguise the entrance, and kept light from leaking out. The portcullis would be useless for those but it would provide much better defensive protection. They needed to be able to move freely, defend quickly, and most importantly create a better system for keeping watch. One couldn’t see in with the current doors, but that meant he also couldn’t see out. The portcullis would also prevent that issue.

Baal pondered as he paced the entryway and stroked his black goatee. Both had their pros and cons. Somehow he needed them both. And he needed to protect the watchmen. The dead goblin had bought his fellows time, but it was basically a sacrificial pawn. Baal didn’t necessarily mind sacrificing them, but not uselessly. These were his pawns after all.

As he stared down the entryway he suddenly saw a new solution. He could have both. Baal left the wooden door as it was and strode to the opposite end of the hallway, the opening to the entry level of his spire, and again selected the metal gate. He set the blueprint but waited for the construction. The goblins were all busy but this was just as important as their work, if not more so. **** then.

“Bee!” He shouted.

Within seconds the small wind elemental came buzzing.

“Go find the golems and bring them here.”

The bubble bee immediately zipped away to find the two dust golems in the cavern labyrinth below. Baal knew the earth elemental would be as slow as the wind elemental was fast. He decided against waiting for them to return. Instead he moved down to the production level of the spire.

He avoided the crafting area where the goblins were working and went to the opposite side. The long hallway there was empty pending construction of the mess hall, armory, and three barracks rooms. However, his intentions lay elsewhere. The first door on either side of the hall was pending construction for a small one room spiraling staircase. His original plan was to use these smaller stairs to eventually connect the inner areas outside of the main spire. Now, their importance had increased. He picked the waiting stair construction to his left next to the first barrack plan. Pulling up the blueprints he extended the stars up a story, and again, and finally a fourth time. This meant the narrow stairs now ended at the second story of the entrance level, but safely hidden behind the spire’s wall of course. From there he designed a short curved hallway that would follow the outside wall of the spire towards the entrance. Finally the hallway ended with a long rectangular room just above the dungeon entryway and matching its dimensions. All of this new construction would take a large chunk of his accumulated resources, but it was necessary. After all he had even more plans once these rooms were done.

There was still no sign of the elementals so he returned to the entryway and began construction of the portcullis. This item alone took a large chunk of the scrap ore, and due to its high cost and his many penalties, construction was slow.

Despite his constant hammering the bar had barely moved by the time the bee returned leading the two golems. Upon seeing its master the first golem broke into a sprint, though with its short stubby legs it still moved at a snail’s pace. The second golem seemed less enthusiastic as it lagged behind. The golem saluted and the small dusty pebbles that made up its body seemed to fidget as it waited for an order.

“Build!” Baal commanded as he motioned to the gate.

He had nearly forgotten the racket these creatures could produce. Their inhumanly rapid pounding far outpaced his own methodical hammer strikes. However the much improved pace of construction more than made up for the ringing in his ears.

With the additional help, the portcullis was complete in short order. Thick metal bars were riveted together in a patchwork pattern. Like other objects made of the scrap ore, the gate was discolored and twisted. Pieces occasionally lifted away at odd angles. But it was thick and sturdy, an imposing fortification to block future trespassers.

“Suo,” Baal called to the slime who sat waiting in the nearby alcove. “You’re on guard duty.”

“Susuo!” The slime bubbled in reply.

Baal moved the golems down to the next level of the spire and set them to work on the tall mini stairwell and rooms beyond then went to check the goblins. The warehouse was still in disarray and the hallway extension to the trap workshop was barely half complete. Even Bunny and Feathers were helping when they weren’t distracted taking verbal shots at each other. The orc might not have been much help to the golems, but his strength and crafting was high above the goblins's. Baal took the stone hammer out of his inventory and went to work.

The construction took them deep into the night. The crafting hallway was expanded and the trap workshop took its place next to the item workshop. The tireless golems finished their construction all the way to the hidden room above the entryway and were dismissed back into the depths of the ever expanding labrynth. The store room was repaired and the resources put away. Rather than continue the warehouse expansion or hallway intersection pending on this side of the level, Baal sent the goblins to begin work on the still waiting mess hall. Though they made little progress before they collapsed for the night.

Baal went to examine the new trap workshop. Like the other crafting rooms it was a medium sized square. However, unlike the other rooms, rather than having three tables aligned along the walls; this room had a large double table placed in its center. The tables were littered with paper diagrams, tools, and odds and ends. The walls were cluttered with more chests and shelves as well as more diagrams joined with netting and strange contraptions that held pieces of half assembled traps of spikes and metal teeth.

He went to the table and scrolled through the new list of item options. Of course most of them were inaccessible. He lacked either the skills, the materials, or both more often than not. The menus were also slightly more involved. Not only did he need to design and craft the trap, but also the type of trigger. Scrolling back to the top of the list he picked one of the easier designs: an arrow trap with a simple stone plate trigger.

Several minutes of pounding and he was rewarded with an item bag appearing on the table in front of him.

Arrow Trap - Rank F

He wondered if he had higher quality wood or ore if it would result in a better trap rank, but still this was better than nothing. He placed the bag into his inventory then moved two doors down to the magic workshop. He placed the new trap on the enchanting table and open the menu. He was pleased to see several new options.

Minor Paralysis Arrow Trap - Rank E

Minor Poison Arrow Trap - Rank E

Either upgrade would take one of the potions he had created days earlier. Both sounded good, but the greater benefit to the goblin guards would probably be an easy to hit target. He therefore chose the paralysis option. For the price of a little time, a little mana, and one of the bottles in his inventory, the trap was quickly upgraded.

The orc left the crafting area and went to check the other new construction. The small staircase was a tight narrow spiral, only one person of his size would be able to climb or descend at a time. Two goblins might be able to pass abreast, but even just one of his larger orc cousins would have difficulty navigating the tight confines. Each floor the stairs leveled off for a patch to allow a door, but all the openings save for the bottom and top were still filled with stone. He had to stop for a moment at the curved hallway at the top to gather himself before continuing. Even with his stamina that dizzying climb was a bitch. The room beyond the hallway was long, narrow, and featureless save for the rough cut stone and metal sconces for lighting.

He moved to the center of the room near the front wall, just above where someone would be if they stood in front of the portcullis. For a unit of stone he altered the floor into a sloping groove. Defenders above would have a clear view of the room below, but attackers below would have a difficult time launching ranges attacks back. He placed a total of four of these ‘**** holes’ along the floor, two more approaching the center of the hallway and one just in front of the wooden doors.

Baal then placed his hand on the wall connected to the outside cliff beyond the doors. This would be trickier. He finally selected another narrow angled window, an arrow slit, and payed the price of more stone to disguise the portals from the outside. Inside more stone and wood was payed to create a narrow screen to shield these windows from the lights of the inside. Lastly, he moved to the opposite wall connecting to the second floor of the entrance spire level and added three more of the narrow arrow slits. Pulling up the dungeon blueprints again, he selected the portcullis below. As it stood now, there was a large wooden wheel just next to the metal gate and connected to it with a roughly forged chain. He selected that wheel from the blueprint and moved it from the ground floor to his current room. If someone or something did manage to infiltrate his dungeon again, he didn’t want to make it that easy for them to open the gate.

They would need more ranged weapons, bows or javelins or such, but for now they would have to make do with the excess of stones and the status potions he had remaining. He used the newly materialized wheel to open the portcullis then began the trek down, around, and back up; to get to the entryway. The dead goblin had finally decomposed into a loot bag. That had taken much longer than normal. Ball wasn't sure if it was some quirk of the goblin, the way it was killed, or a dungeon mechanic. He didn't exactly care at the moment either. He ignored the meager bag and took the trap out of his inventory. Looking around the entry hall, he carefully chose the location for the trap and the plate trigger. Eventually he settled on a spot just in front of the gate. The trigger plate was a small smooth circle of stone in the otherwise square cut floor, while a small series of notches in the wall to his left marked the presence of the paralyzing arrows primed to ambush whoever stood in his place.

He sent the bee to summon Feathers and the trickster goblin. They would have had at least a few hours to rest by now. Before he retired for the night he would need to explain the improvements to the watchmen; and, while Suo was a stalwart minion, he didn’t trust the slime to comprehend the situation.

The elemental lead the two goblins back to him within moments. The trickster was still rubbing the sleep from his eyes and Feathers looked even more irritable than usual. Baal explain the trap as well as the guard room above. He had Feathers take the loot of the fallen goblin. She could distribute it to the next watch. Then, before setting them to stand watch, he ordered them to close the gate as soon as they made it up to the room, then he stood in spire and waited. Several more minutes passed before Feathers waived down to him from the interior arrow slit. The small goblin barely reached the bottom of the window. He’d need to do something about that, but not tonight. As the gate slowly began to close in front of him, he turned to the training arena. Again he summoned a skeleton to earn experience for him. Finally done, he climbed the spire to his own quarters. Whether it understood it had been relieved, or it was just happy to see its master again, Suo followed behind the orc.

He stopped in his room and stared at his bed for a moment. Bunny was sleeping, curled up around little Ashteroth, in his fur blankets. He was slightly miffed by the goblin inviting herself into his bed, but her soft whimpering calmed his temper. He unequipped his clothing as he moved into bed beside them.

It had been a long for them all, and not a good one. He had lost the most valuable items he had stored. He had lost a goblin follower. Somewhere in the caves below was the bug he had allowed in, doing only gods knew what. And worst of all, his location was now known. It wasn’t like he could just pick up the dungeon and move.

And the charm spell eventually wore off the forgotten goat and it escaped into the night.