2/3 Deem 2026/05/03(Sun)11:23 No. 1126175 ID: 60c867
File 177780741430.png - (252.32KB , 900x650 , blobs_and_boulders.png )

>Tell the troops to assemble! Inspect them and see who’s fit for duty.
I'm able to quickly marshall Kali, Linea and some of my golems.

When did my dungeon become infested with preposterously-shaped gigantic women?!

"You are stressed, Deem?" Moriko says, bending over to inspect me.

I eye her and my other denizens warily, lest a second of my denizens decide I am looking particularly grabbable today. "Olan is outside!"

My hammerai straightens up and thumps her chest. "Then we'll show them what this dungeon is all about!"

"Do you think you can fight like that?" I ask her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kali says from the side.

Linea whistles. "Is there a problem, Deem?"

I feel like something is gnawing on me. I don't have time for this.

>Remember, this run is rigged anyway - they don’t have to win, they just have to lose gracefully.
That's right, arguments with snarky slimes will have to wait. I think my hammerai might be moving in certain ways just to get my attention too as she starts getting the others organised. Every time I look at her she seems extra bouncy. Has everyone's brains gone rotten at some point? I have to flee from a frank conversation about what exactly Moriko wants from me too. There are enemies about!

>Okay, look, we agree you don't run that sort of dungeon, and you certainly should do all you can to avoid looking that way, but this guy radiates the aura of someone who might be into that sort of thing.
>I'm not saying we should lean into it! Absolutely not. But we shouldn't, like, vehemently deny it or anything. If he makes an assumption that goes in our favor, that's all the better, right?
>Its not that sort of dungeon, no. But you could hint at it being so.
Ngah!

>Get everyone into position, use magic to get everyone into shape, place the loot, clean everything up.
Argh we'll have to work with what we've got, since a mix of slimes and golems was planned as the opener. That'll give some time to locate my missing denizens, and move Hin and my newly recruited monsters out of harm's way. Being down Hin is really hurting my flexibility. I have those eggs as an option still...

But before anything, I need more time!

>Do a safety briefing.
>Possibly stall for time with a chat over tea... though it IS breakfast so he might've eaten already...
>We do need to verify exactly how this tour is supposed to go- are they both fighting? Are they both carrying resurrection charms?
I have some things I'll need to ask Olan anyway.

3/3 Deem 2026/05/03(Sun)11:24 No. 1126177 ID: 60c867
File 177780747311.png - (82.71KB , 900x600 , pancake_is_not_an_option.png )

>Showing up on time is an amateur move.
>Showing up late is a power play.
>Showing up early? What a shrewd man, he wants to see you at your worst!
He has not earned my affection with this move and he is very far from seeing my at my worst!

>To that end, whoever is plumpened, get some costumes, tasteful ones, and get to the front door to distract while everyone else gets organized.
I'm heading to the entrance now to intercept Olan, his suspicious-looking companion, and their imminent threat to my mental and spiritual well-being. I need to stall them. Should I go it alone, or take someone with me?

My thoughts cloud with dread at either thought.

>>1126174
There's an obvious explanation here. Hin was abusing potions to stay awake, and you dispelled that so now she's sleeping normally. Didn't we have coffee or something?
Well, it's either that or somehow you've got a magical effect that causes sleepiness, but I doubt it.

>>1126174
>It must have been extrapolated from the real potion tests!
Hmm, yet she isn't in alien form. So either the alien form she got wore off, or your dream heavily exaggerated its effects and they aren't immediately obvious from looking at her now.

>>1126177
First, ask why they're early. Tell them one of your denizens is incapacitated for unclear reasons so you can't give them the full experience... and you may need a moment to find a few. Last night was potion testing and things got out of hand. (that should be a decent enough explanation)
So give them a choice- they can see you at your best if they wait for a bit, or they can see how you adapt to being caught at a disadvantage.

>alone?
Fuck no, meet them with a battle group. They might attack without even bothering to discuss things, and it would be within their rights of the Labyrinth Game, wouldn't it? You don't want to get banished before you've even rallied your troops!
If a fight breaks out, apply some buffs but retreat before they can break through to attack you. Come to think of it, that's a decent strategy, for there to be a unit that can apply buffs to allies, but they don't stick around past the beginning of the fight, and retreat to support the next group in the dungeon, and so on until they're at the last group and can't run anymore.

Take the bustiest one with you

Bring Moriko, so you’re not outnumbered. Surely she would never embarrass her boss in front of a client.

If you're wondering what's going on, we developed an addictive sex-enhancing potion and one of its effects is hindering nearby witnesses' ability to understand what debauchery they're looking at.
We're gonna be rich.

Take one of the giant golems with you.

Bring Moriko, she's always been the most level headed. At least on matters other than herself.

she's the most intimidating anyway

1/5 Deem 2026/05/19(Tue)14:52 No. 1126997 ID: d0b006
File 177920234674.png - (92.64KB , 800x800 , mystery_solved.png )

>There's an obvious explanation here. Hin was abusing potions to stay awake, and you dispelled that so now she's sleeping normally. Didn't we have coffee or something?
>Well, it's either that or somehow you've got a magical effect that causes sleepiness, but I doubt it.
I see.

I think I understand then.

2/5 Deem 2026/05/19(Tue)14:54 No. 1126999 ID: d0b006
File 177920249774.png - (139.20KB , 850x750 , pancake_was_also_there.png )

>Bring Moriko, she's always been the most level headed.
>She's the most intimidating anyway.
>Take the bustiest one with you.
"Moriko, you might as well come along." I say.

"I'll show them all that I've got!" She bounces to my side. This was a mistake. I regret this already. She is certainly intimidating I suppose. I might have to put my denizens on a diet if things like this are really going to happen. I resolutely ignore her.

Moriko frowns as Pancake rolls back into place to cover the old dungeon entrance behind us. "Is something wrong?"

I huff. "Yes, everything is wrong, "It doesn't matter anyway. but we'll see about fixing that shortly."

"Do you need a hug?"

I feel an inexplicable yearning. "N-no!"

>She isn't in alien form.
I would expect a potion to wear off overnight for most cases, so that's right. It's not like Hin's transformation where she should be a lizard until after our upcoming little dungeon tour.

Olan and his mystery companion are ahead.

3/5 Deem 2026/05/19(Tue)14:55 No. 1127000 ID: d0b006
File 177920254736.png - (126.52KB , 800x800 , choosing_violence.png )

>Surely she would never embarrass her boss in front of a client.
I'm not going to let it come to that.

>If a fight breaks out-
I club Olan with my sword. Fittingly he crumples like a puppet with his strings cut.

"I know you now." I say to his companion. "You should have run away and never come back."

I am still dreaming.

I'm embarrassed to see I've almost fallen to such a trick. Something creeping into my dreams to ambush me. My fits of sleep from lack of mana and the bad dreams plaguing me must have looked too tempting.

I thought that night hag had fled far from here, or died from its wounds. How dare it think it's worthy to strike at me again.

"You stole that priest girl from me!" she shrieks. "You took my eye!"

"I should have torn you to pieces after all." I say. "Or you should have saved me the time and just crawled off somewhere to die."

4/5 Deem 2026/05/19(Tue)14:58 No. 1127001 ID: d0b006
File 177920273305.png - (125.62KB , 800x800 , and_you_have_no_friends.png )

The world darkens. It stinks of delirious magic. I'm not impressed. I don't have to jump in front of a long-wound nightmare curse to shield some idiot girl this time.

"But then I crept about the edges of the wretched dreams of an ancient, frightful power and I realised the truth. You're weak. You're all but used up! You and your fears are all just pitiful, you rotten old husk!"

I shift uncertainly, where is this unwarranted confidence coming from? Does this demon really think that it can catch me in some trap with with my eyes right on it?

"And the most pathetic thing is you're not even wrong. Everything you fear will happen, and it is all your fault! Your pets don't see you with the terror you are due. They will misuse your gifts. They might offer you their love but your cold, misshapen heart won't accept it!"

My head is whirling. How dare it, how could it know? It's not true, I-

"And then they are going to leave you!"

My chest hurts. My head hurts.

"You can see it, and you know it is coming, but you're so mentally feeble you'll never do anything about it! Because you are afraid of them! Because your heart is the wrong kind! Because you're broken, and you know you'll never be whole again! Because you couldn't tell them, even if you tried!"

"You're the cursed child of a vanished people and you will never-"

5/5 Deem 2026/05/19(Tue)14:59 No. 1127002 ID: d0b006
File 177920275317.png - (45.34KB , 900x600 , choosing_violence_again.png )

I don't have to hear this! I won't allow this!

1) Hurt it.

2) Kill it.

3) Tear it to pieces.

Ouch, forced to acknowledge the elephant in the room! 3's the most viscerally satisfying, go for it.

>>1127002
There are other ways to shut it up, such as occupying its mouth.
> 4) Kiss it

Rip and tear, until it is done.
Then utilize its fragments for something embarrassing, like making an imp

Take her other eye.

>>1127001
>"And then they are going to leave you!"
Are we meant to be included in this? because if so, she's dead wrong. We're here to stay, you're not getting rid of us easily.

>>1127002
Just make sure you're attacking the right thing, Deem. This looks like a setup. What if you're sleepwalking?

this thing's talking utter rot. shred it

>>1127012
I agree with this. Try to not accidentally kill your denizens!

>>1127020
Indeed - it seems too smart to simply goad you into killing it; it likely has something up its sleeve. Be careful.

>>1127012
If she is sleepwalking then she has already punched Olan, so it can't get much worse.
Hurt it, this parasite isn't worth expending even one percent of your power.

>>1127025
>so it can't get much worse.
Accidentally killing one of our denizens is EXACTLY how it can get much worse!

>>1127041
Don't worry, they're insured.

4) Ask her if she wants bigger boobies.

1/5 Deem 2026/05/21(Thu)06:48 No. 1127053 ID: 983ae4
File 177934611164.png - (193.06KB , 1000x600 , seal.png )

Something is talking to me. Something is gloating. Something is urging me to take action. Something is whispering awful temptations. Something is annoying me. I can't focus on the words. I don't want to hear the words.

My chest hurts. I cannot feel my Heart beat. It's cold. It hurts. I can't breathe. Where am I? Where is the rest of me?! Where has everyone gone? Don't leave me!

Hush now.

Your heart is still. No need to remember pain.

Forget your
f
e
a
r, abandon your hatr-
ed

- sleep away
the ages -

- kin
d
e
r to yourself,

and
to the worl-

I do not listen to you! I refuse to let a world exist that favours you!

2/5 Deem 2026/05/21(Thu)06:49 No. 1127054 ID: 983ae4
File 177934617377.png - (74.94KB , 1000x600 , stare.png )

>Try to not accidentally kill your denizens!
NO-ONE LEAVES

>Are we meant to be included in this?
NO-ONE LEAVES

>It seems too smart to simply goad you into killing it; it likely has something up its sleeve. Be careful.
WRONG

WRONG

STUPID SPITEFUL

WRETCHED

STINGING THING

IT

SAID

- DON'T LISTEN -

IT

HURTS

>Kiss it
NO

3/5 Deem 2026/05/21(Thu)06:50 No. 1127055 ID: 983ae4
File 177934622620.png - (85.89KB , 1000x600 , grab.png )

>This thing's talking utter rot. Shred it
SICK OF THE

NOISES IT MAKES

GRABBING GRASPING

HURT

IT

KILL IT

>Rip and tear, until it is done.
THIS TIME

I

TEAR IT TO

PIECES

4/5 Deem 2026/05/21(Thu)06:50 No. 1127056 ID: 983ae4
File 177934624922.png - (5.31KB , 1000x550 , kill.png )

...

5/5 Deem 2026/05/21(Thu)06:52 No. 1127057 ID: 983ae4
File 177934632911.png - (137.83KB , 900x900 , wake_up_sleepyhead.png )

Awareness creeps slowly back into my mind.

I am awake this time.

I feel empty. Listless.

I am so tired of feeling tired.

I should do away with sleep entirely. That might be best. I spent most of the past two thousand years asleep, and I am a fool to constantly let sleep sneak up on me so soon after.

My golem body feels bad today. I can barely see. Noises are too loud or too quiet. I feel disconnected, disjointed. I lie in this bed as scattered impressions of that nightmare continue to settle uneasily on my waking mind.

I wish they would not. I should be better than some silly trick like that.

>Then utilize its fragments for something embarrassing, like making an imp
>Take her other eye.
Gained Night Hag Eye. Its accusing stare will help bad dreams come true. Cursed.

...

It's gross and wet in my hand. It is making a mess of my sheets.

>Ask her if she wants bigger boobies.
Leave me alone.

I don't even have the excuse that it was some long wound curse this time. I should get up, I should stop dwelling on this. I should find out what stupid situations my denizens got into that inspired my nightmares. I should make sure we have a plan for if Olan really does come early.

It's all so difficult.

Maybe I should lie here a little longer.

If the titties motivate you to get out of bed and get Olan contingencies into place then bigger boobies it is. Back to work, Deem.

>>1127057
Nah, now is not the time to be alone with your thoughts.

>>1127057
Deem, you need to know that we love you, even if we love teasing you too. It's not fair what happened to you. Yes, I am saying this, even knowing that I am probably the soul of one of your denizens that you've bound to yourself somehow via some kind of horrible necromancy. You don't have to worry about me leaving. I'd never leave you like this.

That said, you do need to talk to someone about your trauma, before the seal breaks. It would be embarrassing for you to admit weakness, this is true. It would be MORE embarrassing for you to go berserk, again, and alienate everyone you've managed to gather. Much less likely to recover from, as well. They'd never let you live it down, even if they forgave you.
You can even talk to US about your trauma, even though we're not as good as a living person at being a shoulder to cry on. We've got no shoulders! Anyway, it's the most private way for you to vent. We can't exactly tell anyone else.

Considering we saw cracks in the seal, you should go check on your heart.
In case you didn't hear that, please check on your heart, for reasons.

>feeling terrible
Well, if nothing's wrong with your heart, try eating something? Or putting that eye somewhere secure?

>cursed eye
Odd, I don't remember getting one last time you fought the Night Hag, despite it saying you took its eye. Did someone else take it?
Also, weird that it died so easy and nothing bad happened...? Was it really that overconfident? Or did you catch it before it could do anything, and it was merely a doomed enemy defiantly/spitefully trying to deal as much emotional damage as it could before it died?

>what if Olan really comes early?
I mean, do the same things I guess. Preemptively this time. Make sure everyone is recovered well enough from potions in general, do as much boob-dispelling as you can manage, and then meet him in battle.

Oh, another thing. Something you said worries me. Do you want to destroy the world? I thought you just wanted to kill the Sky.

You do realize that, if people grow to like you, telling them what the Sky did to you and your people would cause them to hate the Sky as well, right?

When was the last time you got laid?

Your rage is overwhelming when your personality isn't shackling it. You need to get therapy for this or the hag's going to keep exploiting it for power. She already infected you with a curse, don't let her make the same hack over and over.

You really do need to lighten the curse load you are carrying. Bury that hag eye for the time being and do your dungeon rounds.
Perhaps leave this body in the meditation chamber while you pilot the other golems for a while. Can’t make a plan without seeing the shape of your denizens.

>>1127057
>Leave me alone.
We won't. We can't. We don't want to, either. For better or worse, you're stuck with us. Remember it, engrave it into your mind: we don't leave.

Long-term, you can work your heart over the forge to hammer it into the right shape. For now, defy the sky power and the night terrors by having a life.

1/4 Deem 2026/08/04(Tue)12:22 No. 1130303 ID: 5d40b3
File 178584613899.png - (118.64KB , 1000x750 , thinking_hard_or_hardly_thinking.png )

>Deem, you need to know that we love you, even if we love teasing you too. It's not fair what happened to you. Yes, I am saying this, even knowing that I am probably the soul of one of your denizens that you've bound to yourself somehow via some kind of horrible necromancy. You don't have to worry about me leaving. I'd never leave you like this.
I am adrift, wandering about old corridors of thought in the maze of mind I have constructed. I shouldn't be doing this. I should be doing more practical things. It isn't fair. My broken Heart aches. It isn't fair, it isn't fair, IT ISN'T -

- I don't want to go that way.

...

What did you say?

You were asking me about necromancy? Golemetry and necromancy are entwined. However, I have no particular talent with necromancy. One tries to create life anew and the other tries to restore what has been lost. It's fundamentally pathetic, like a pitiful child trying to reassemble a broken vase. They're left with just a cracked, fractured semblance pieced together from whatever little is left after their loss.

An eddy in the earth-pulse makes my Heart throb. It hurts. It reminds me of my own weakness. The aching cold edge in my Heart where mana, thought and motion bleed away. I feel a stab of self-loathing. I should think about something else.

...

>You do realize that, if people grow to like you, telling them what the Sky did to you and your people would cause them to hate the Sky as well, right?
'Liking' someone never moved heaven and earth.

>You do need to talk to someone about your trauma, before the seal breaks.
You are presumptuous today! You have no idea what you are talking about! I am older than any of you. My 'trauma' is older than you. That hateful binding is -

Be still, calm your Heart, let yourself -

- No, not that way either.

...

>Something you said worries me. Do you want to destroy the world? I thought you just wanted to kill the Sky.
I wonder. How many times has the world been destroyed? I suppose it's simply a matter of perspective. Someone's world is always ending somewhere.

Can the earth be flooded with monsters? Can the mountains fall? Can the seas boil? Would such a blaze reach to the heavens? And if not, what then?

A different method would be required.

2/4 Deem 2026/08/04(Tue)12:24 No. 1130304 ID: 5d40b3
File 178584624338.png - (129.21KB , 720x1000 , shes_talking_to_the_voices_again.png )

>Now is not the time to be alone with your thoughts.
Awareness creeps slowly back into my mind.

I am awake this time.

I am ill at ease. I have slumbered but only to claw my way out of nightmares. My thoughts are jumbled and agitated. I feel as if I have been here before. A peculiar sense of resentment plagues me.

>Also, weird that night hag died so easy and nothing bad happened...? Was it really that overconfident?
It was a terrible showing on my part. I realised it had me in a dream and yet it still caught me off guard. I only killed it through brute strength rather than any sort of cunning or cleverness. I hope it hasn't left any more parting gifts.

>Long-term, you can work your heart over the forge to hammer it into the right shape.
I am not hitting my precious Heart with a hammer.

My Heart is as fine as it can be.

>When was the last time you got laid?
HOW DO YOU THINK A DUNGEON WOULD GET LAID?!

>>Leave me alone.
>We won't. We can't. We don't want to, either. For better or worse, you're stuck with us. Remember it, engrave it into your mind: we don't leave.
I don't know what has brought on such ignorant pluck so early in the day, but there are things I should be doing.

My golem body does not want to move in any way that does not resemble an invalid. Though the night hag has been killed, I feel as though this has jarred or damaged my connection to my golem body. I should eat a chrysopear when I have a moment.

>If the titties motivate you to get out of bed and get Olan contingencies into place then bigger boobies it is. Back to work, Deem.
I'm not going to give myself or anyone else bigger boobies. If my dream was even vaguely accurate there's been too much of that already. I do need to make sure I'm ready if Olan is early though.

>Can’t make a plan without seeing the shape of your denizens.
I resort to having my attendant golem drop the hag eye in a spare jar, and then steady my wobbling steps.

3/4 Deem 2026/08/04(Tue)12:25 No. 1130305 ID: 5d40b3
File 178584635071.png - (86.56KB , 1000x750 , deja_vu.png )

My hobbling progress is interrupted as Reisarf skids into the doorway.

"Oh Deem, you're awake!" my alienist says. "We need your help!"

I sigh. "What happened?"

"Moriko overdosed a little on the new potions during testing last night. The good news is we discovered a very odd interaction where potions her imp takes actually get copied over to her. The bad news is she's currently stuck in a starspawn form. Oh sorry I didn't tell you the new potions yet. One-"

"Focus on Moriko for now. Have you identified why she's stuck yet?"

"Yes. Merud and I have looked at her already. It's because she also took a potion to eat rocks. She ate a lot, and her body is resisting changing back to avoid the risk of injury. Also she ended up generating extra mana as a starspawn and storing it as more body mass which is also preventing her changing back. We need to get her to spit up any rocks still in her stomach and drain the excess mana."

I blink. "Well done. Why haven't you done that yet?"

"She's not letting us!" Reisarf says. "She might be still disorientated, and the Covetous Ring might be pushing her to hoard things too. We were hoping you can get through to her."

I nod and start hobbling in that direction. One other intrusive thought occurs to me. "Did you use any of the potions?" I ask my alienist, looking them up and down.

"Of course not, I was the one taking notes."

My nightmare wasn't entirely accurate then.

4/4 Deem 2026/08/04(Tue)12:26 No. 1130306 ID: 5d40b3
File 178584640404.png - (75.21KB , 1000x750 , tsuchimoriko_real.png )

The coiled up slug-snake mostly blocking the entrance to my Thaumatorium tells me parts of my nightmare were distressingly accurate.

Moriko is coiled up and head hunkered down on herself, eyes squeezed shut as she tries to block out Merud's attempts to reason with her. A hammer-like tail tipped with with additional eyes slowly wags back and forth behind her. Compared to her wariness about demons, this transformation seems to be causing her much less agitation.

The main wrinkle in approach is deciding what to convince Moriko to do with that excess mana.

I am not fond of demanding such tribute, but I could accept it to replenish my own depleted stock of mana. This would reactivate my False Idol form as well.

Alternatively Moriko's imp is closely connected to her, and a large influx of such compatible mana may help the imp develop a more advanced form.

Finally, this does present an opportunity. If the mana can be corralled into a distinct part of the body - a tail leaps immediately to mind - the rest of her can be reverted while maintaining a feature that might be a springboard for further advancement.

>>1130306
hmm quite the predicament.
keeping the mana to develop the imp could be fun, and might help mend Morikos connection to her lost demonic ancestry,however, im not sure how long moriko should stay in this form...

ok now THIS might be a bad idea, but what if she transferred the stored mana to the imp itself since they are connected?

>>1130306
Or, hear me out, eldritch horrorknockers.

>>1130306
Oh? You know, it seems like Moriko put a ring on it. ‘It’ being some weird alien phalange, but still. Does that make you jealous, Deem?

>>1130306
Hey, uh, question. Why do we need to change her back? She looks pretty fucking cool. That's not gonna hurt our image any, and if she can still fight like that, what's the problem? If she likes the form enough you could see if you can figure out how to make it permanent?

If it really must be done, you can convince her to spit up the rocks by offering something as a trade.

Out of the options presented I guess upgrade the imp. It's not a super useful combatant at the moment, and while it's usually best to focus on strengths, the imp is... well, not going away.

If you wanted to go back to sleep, Moriko’s coils would be the perfect place for it.
Take the tribute, it’ll make you less fatigued and provide a useful outlet for all that hoarding - showing fealty to her dungeon mistress.
But, if she were to keep a part of this transformation, the tendrils on those head-fins… they’re kinda like horns. And the tendrils could act like the animated hair she had trouble with, only these might be easier to adapt to since she took well to this form?

>>1130308
Mana is stored in the knockers…

>HOW DO YOU THINK A DUNGEON WOULD GET LAID?!
I'm sure you could ask Moriko for ideas on the matter.

Hammer tail? two hammer style? ooh that opens up such possibilities

but you can't get started until Moriko cooperates. Try a gentle approach. give her a hug and reassure her. She's a valued and admired member of the team and we need her back in shape