Dungeon Discovered!

Turns out I’m getting a better deal out of this scheme than I thought. The Adventurers are now obligated to help me move my cart through the woods. That’s now three strapping young men to push it forward, and one lady to lead the horse. In e back I have the cauldron cooking away at a blue slurry, and somewhere amongst the lumber and nails is Cyrus, keeping very still.

Melli the magic user squawks with excitement. The dowsing crystal we’ve been following for the last two hours lifts and directs us further up the hill. The horse and the men groan, but go to work pushing it up up and over the hill.

We come to a cliff, and clear as day in the side of the cliff is a large crack that leads to the top, creating the opening for a cave. A classic dungeon.

What dungeons are, no one is entirely sure. They pop up from time to time around the world. Often loaded with loot, always loaded with danger. Now a days when much wonder has been expunged from the world, this is how new magic enters. They tend to fester, the longer a dungeon exists the further it digs itself into reality, more room , more treasure, more monsters.

Golden Oasis, was built around Oasis Tower, a dungeon hundreds of years old. The city has strict laws about how much of the dungeon can be explored and looted at a time, to maintain the resource.

The kingdom however isn’t so liberal with the dungeons. The various adventuring guilds are given rewards to shut down dungeons as soon as they appear. Any guilds found exploiting a dungeon is treated very unkindly by the inquisition. Afterall these places produce monsters, and magical artifacts they have a hard time regulating.

“It’s really happening!” Cob, one of the swordsmen abandons his post behind the right wheel and runs to the cave mouth.

Kal and I both grunt, and push the cart further until it rests in the flat ground sitting before the mouth of the cave.

There was nothing ominous about the thing. I’d always imagined a sinister flog floating around these wounds, but it looked like any other crack.

The three of the started to gear up, which I took as my sign to finish up the potion. I’m sure you’re familiar with my game by now. As the potion is finishing up I call upon the power of the cauldron to corrupt it. Turning it into a potion of lust.

Truthfully I’m feeling a little skittish about the whole thing. A dungeon is a huge prize, and I’m afraid going after will cause me to act rashly. I want so badly to claim what’s inside for myself, but that same instinct is going to get me killed. I could poison or **** them, but that could very easily go wrong. Either one of the would escape to report my crime, or more likely, someone would end up stabbing me.

It seems to me my best shot here is to be true to my word. I’m gonna have to let this dungeon slip through my fingers.

“Don’t waste it.” I toss the mana potion to Melli, while Cob tosses me some coin in return.

“Thanks.” She gives me a smile and stows the potion in her robes. An awkward moment of silence fills the area. The kind where you leave a stranger you just met to become a rich super human. Or the type where you leave a bunch of strangers you just met to march to their ****.

But we can’t exactly all go home and get drinks can we? Eventually they buck up, tighten their belts and give me a nod.

I return it and watch them vanish into the darkness of the cave.

After that I get to work. I’m cautious about them coming back so I keep Cyrus hidden and start unloading the cart. After a few hours I have the cart empty and a spot cleared of grass and rocks. I get to work on an alchemical compound that’ll use as the floor of my hut. By combining dirt with a binding agent you get a sort of liquid rock that you can pour into an area, once it hardens you’ve got a nice foundation for a building.

After that I retire for the night, and when I wake up there’s still no sign of the party. That’s not a great sign, for them, but they could just be cautious with their first delve. The signs, get worse after two days, and after three I’m **** to accept the truth. Those three brave adventurers are dead.

I gaze into the deep dark hole on which I’m about to build my home, and wonder what horror can be down there. A magic user, even a 0-star is a powerful asset. They could not have gone down easily.

“Cyrus.” I say to my tiny companion. “We’re going to need to build a gate.