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File 148738690382.png - (55.48KB , 600x400 , dungeoner_ch3.png )
780479 No. 780479 ID: dd5b4d

http://www.tgchan.org/wiki/Dungeoneer

My dungeon is finally coming together.
Expand all images
>>
No. 780480 ID: dd5b4d
File 148738696334.png - (24.19KB , 800x600 , deems_cool_dungeon_entrance.png )
780480

Out here in the mountains, I have now assembled the three core components of a dungeon.

There is my Dungeon Heart. It is the petrified core of my being and with it I control the dungeon's functions and store its accumulated mana. I have a tiny hoard, I need its gold to tap the earth-pulse's power and convert it into mana. And finally I have the Resurrection Matrix, the first physical embodiment of my servants' covenant with me and the means by which I safeguard their lives should they fall in my service.

But this is not a very good dungeon. My Heart Chamber is a single room from the entrance!

A true dungeon is a labyrinth, a winding maze designed to let mana flow unhindered through it while baffling and delaying intruders. This makes it easier to marshal the dungeon's defenders and maximises the mana that can be extracted from the invaders.

This dungeon of mine has to grow. If I force an elemental affinity and pursue a specific theme, I'll be able to develop in certain directions faster and some dungeon features will be easier to build. There are six elements but I only have compatibility with four of them so I'll present the options now.
>>
No. 780481 ID: dd5b4d
File 148738708519.png - (40.19KB , 800x500 , i_personally_recommend_bulbasaur.png )
780481

Earth. The most natural of elements for me, stone and dirt and loam and clay. A versatile element where the dungeon can take many forms, whether it be cavernous, massive construction, muddy and wet or sandy and desert-like. This would be best suited to direct manipulation of the earth-pulse, allowing me to affect monster types, spawning and behaviours in the area and would also allow me faster pursuit of golemetry.

Fire. An element of motion and energy. Fire consumes, transforms and purifies. Environmental hazards are natural to fire dungeons, whether it be lava or simple heat. As fire is naturally suited to sudden upwellings of power and illumination, it is excellent for pursuing magic item creation and the teaching of skills from me to my minions.

Shadow. The element of mystery and darkness. Things without form, things that elude understanding. It is the most mystical of the options available to me and thus is well suited help my servants develop their own unique skills. A shadow dungeon would be full of secrets and distorted areas to bewilder invaders. It confronts them with opposite they cannot directly oppose and lends itself well to curses.

Water. An element of the sky, however it is the counterpart to earth so I have some comprehension of it. Like earth, it is associated with cultivation. It would be an excellent fit if I wished to pursue alchemy and potions. It would also focus on the development of my monsters. A water dungeon presents a changeable nature, with elements such as underwater passages and ice or overgrown vegetation to bar progress.

There's nothing stopping me from gradually building up multiple affinities but for the moment I can only do one.
>>
No. 780485 ID: 9145ba

Shadow, to complement your training of Alkaline in this mystic element and to develop unique and powerful minions.

Also it obscures the fact that this dungeon's freaking empty and tiny.
>>
No. 780486 ID: 0d1514

>>780481
Shadow! Let's go chuuni!
>>
No. 780487 ID: d79f26

earth, a get a solid foundation before you try anything fancy. as you noted, you can still handle mud so a bog for the slimes can be done even without water specialization.
>>
No. 780488 ID: 9876c4

Darkhorse vote for Earth.

Things'd be different if you had a volcano or glacier. But ya don't.
>>
No. 780492 ID: 14f8aa

Let's go Earth for now. Best to start with playing to your strengths.
>>
No. 780493 ID: 3abd97

Honestly, earth seems the most natural fit. It helps you build the dungeon, harness the earth pulse, make your golems. And actually having control of over monster spawns is very tempting.

The other best contender is shadow. Focus on your minions, and build up their strengths. Lead not through your own strength, but through what you can cultivate in those you lead. Honestly, it's a good fit for the progress you've made with them so far.

I'm torn.
>>
No. 780497 ID: 2dcc3b

Water, because overgrowth is cool.
>>
No. 780499 ID: 798cf2

>>780481
Fire fire fire!

Lava forges and magma slimes and ash clouds, oh my!

Moats and lakes and fountains are also a lot more impressive when they're made with molten rock instead of just water.
>>
No. 780502 ID: 7f917c

>>780481
Water, it would go very well with Alkaline.

It'd also make it easier to make money via totally-not-breast-enlarging potions.
>>
No. 780503 ID: b412df

I'd say earth, I'm tempted by fire but you're still just starting out, so you should probably work to your strengths. Plus better golemetry means you can improve your golem bod even more.
>>
No. 780505 ID: ba506f

let's start with earth since that's the element you have the most affinity for.
>>
No. 780511 ID: a8bc5c

Gotta say, the choice between shadow and earth is hard.

But I'm going to lean towards earth. We've only just gotten started. We need to expand. We need more worker golems. We need more monsters, materials and gold.

Earth affinity satisfies all of these demands in one way or another, and it's not like we're locked in to only one element for the entire quest.
>>
No. 780512 ID: 398fe1

>>780481
Aw jeez. These are like picking what party members to boost.
Earth: Good for you and Merud, side bonus of more monsters/better control of monsters. Might make the town tolerate your presence better since you can keep the monster spawns from raging out of control or producing monsters that would endanger the town. It would also allow us to populate the dungeon with golems and more monsters, assuming we can capture more of them. This might also attract the attention of Tor Rokall if we can spawn some monsters with valuable hides.
Fire: Good for Hin. Might make us more money by producing then selling magic items. We could attract more adventurers by putting magic items in the dungeon as loot, or just use them to bolster the hoard via intrinsic value.
Shadow: This one's well rounded. It boosts everyone's unique qualities. Might favor Stargazer, Reisarf, and Moriko. The curse thing might intimidate your new friends though. You haven't even brought those up yet! Maybe we should wait on that.
Water: Good for Alkaline, Belphejar, and Chakarchelou. Stargazer might like the easy access to water. It might also allow us to make money, by producing then selling potions to town, but that's Seleni's job. We might be better off trying to sell rare ingredients to her and Izakikk instead. Heck, if we get enough good ones maybe Izakikk will come help us out.

Earth and Water would work well to start with. We have both earth and water present already, and they both have the potential to bolster relations with town.

I'm thinking we should start with Earth. Boosting golems means we can excavate and expand the dungeon faster, and we could try to spawn good monsters to recruit this way, and we can keep the town happy by controlling monster spawns in ways they approve of. It's just an all-around good choice.


Hey, can you describe what the themes would be like for hybrid dungeons? What would Water/Fire be like? Or Water/Shadow? I suspect Earth doesn't really change things much thematically.
>>
No. 780515 ID: 89b351

>>780481
Earth really seems like the logical choice, there's plenty to work with here, you need more rooms right now and it's frankly your comfort zone.
Unless you hit lava during expansion, shadow is probably the next ideal; you currently have a solid core of elites rather than a swarm of mooks.
>>
No. 780522 ID: d79f26

>>780515
that's cause alkaline hasn't hit puberty yet so she isn't spitting out our mook horde.
>>
No. 780527 ID: 0d1514

>>780486
We have a spooky shadow slime, an eldritch thing, and a living cauldron. I already voted here but we're well set up for spooky shadow shenanigans
>>
No. 780547 ID: 12b116

Earth will get up and running faster, we can worry about the other ones later on.
>>
No. 780553 ID: 094652

Go with shadow magic for now. Your dungeon only has a few rooms, so use smoke and mirrors to confuse the adventurers into thinking they're exploring new places.
>>
No. 780595 ID: b7883c

Earth, because
1. Improved golemetry means more minions (which even with slime would be good for variety) and more workforce to fix our low low room count.
2. Keeping our monster spawns from causing trouble would improve our ability to keep the town a useful asset rather than a source of opposition. First impressions are important in such matters.

Shadow is a solid second choice though.
>>
No. 780639 ID: e4abe1

shadow!
>>
No. 780643 ID: 9411c6

I'd say either Earth for minmaxing, or Fire for the items and skills angle.
>>
No. 780650 ID: 6be3d1

>>780481
earth.

i'll eventually want to branch into water, but for now start with the basics.
>>
No. 780679 ID: dd5b4d
File 148742175359.png - (38.83KB , 500x520 , deem_talky.png )
780679

I should perhaps emphasise that the choice of element is a decision on what is going to be a key focus in the dungeon's development.

Selecting an element lets me do a few things related to that element more efficiently. But choosing an element other than water doesn't mean I'm excluded from making potions and it's a similar story with advancing my golemetry, tutoring my servants, advancing my monsters, making magic items, conducting wide scale geomantic engineering and so on and so forth. I simply won't be doing it as often or as well.

>Things'd be different if you had a volcano or glacier. But ya don't.
I could make a volcano or a glacier?

>Hey, can you describe what the themes would be like for hybrid dungeons? What would Water/Fire be like? Or Water/Shadow? I suspect Earth doesn't really change things much thematically.
Well, some of it would be watery and some of it would be fiery? It might be a contrast of fire and ice or perhaps it might feature steam as an element, whether via mechanisms or some sort of hot spring. Water and Shadow might be swampy or be a flooded crypt or use fragile ice floors and bottomless pits or simply be a dark cave behind a waterfall or...
>>
No. 780680 ID: 798cf2

>>780679
F I R E!

Explosive growth! Transformation and Purification! Expand beyond the bounds of the dirt magic that has already led you to failure and ruin once before!

Seek the flame deep beneath the earth and become stronger than you have ever been!

Also, lava slimes.
>>
No. 780681 ID: 34576f
780681

Is affinity seperate from theme? Earth's benefits are the best in my opinion, but dirt and sand isn't the most aesthetically pleasing choice.
>>
No. 780682 ID: 7f917c

>>780679
But don't you want to advance your empire of shady potions? Water for the win!
>>
No. 780693 ID: a8bc5c

>>780681
Yeah, because the ageless, prideful and experienced dungeon will settle for masonry efforts funded by the lowest bidder when it comes to making her lair.
>>
No. 780694 ID: 7afa80

I'd say shadow, because right now with our lack of a large amount of servants and rooms, illusions would truly help us out
>>
No. 780698 ID: e45836

Earth or Shadow
>>
No. 780703 ID: 804a8c

Voting Earth, entirely based on the fact improved Golemetry means stronger Deem Body.

Also Water Dungeons suck.
>>
No. 780705 ID: c655d4

Shadow
>>
No. 780709 ID: 91ee5f

>>780703
>Also Water Dungeons suck.
*insert LOZ:OOT Water Temple PTSD flashback here*
>>
No. 780711 ID: 9145ba

>some sort of hot spring.
Yes! We could style ourselves as Deem's Abandoned Shrine in the Valley of Curses, guarding a mythical hot spring with magical knocker enhancing qualities!

Still voting Shadow though.
>>
No. 780749 ID: cdddb5

Hard to choose for me between Water and Earth.
I'm most inclined towards Water, since it seems like we'll be able to sustain the most losses, and right now that's arguably our largest issue...
Though something to note for later... Sky and Earth elements are opposed. Resinarf and Stargazer seem most aligned to Water. And the seal on you was Sky magic...Hrrrm...Also makes Resinarf's old villiage somewhat interesting as potential recruitment fodder if we really need it...
>>
No. 780843 ID: 7f9a74

Earth, add in shadow later
>>
No. 780847 ID: 91cfcf

Earth seems practical, given the concerns about our core, and it'd let us make more golems for regular mooks.
>>
No. 780863 ID: 45b631

Earth is the obvious and correct choice. Our magic generation has been limited because the monster spawns are a threat to us, and earth lets us ameliorate the spawns, which means we can expand faster. Earth also improves golems, which are a major factor in excavation, and thus, more rooms, more precious materials being mined, larger horde, more magic, more golems... And getting our heart deeper into the mountain would be nice sooner rather than later because the more established we are the more unpleasant moving will be.

So I vote Fire, because Hin is amazing and magic items are amazing and sturdy metal doors/chandeliers/traps/murals/battlements are amazing and a cute little slime bow for Alkaline to wear would be amazing and Deem is amazing so clearly this is where our closest affinity lies.
>>
No. 780923 ID: e66267

There's really no choice but earth. We can't take shadow, cause too many of subordinates would not be cool with us running a dungeon that is "evil" (don't bother explaining shadow and evil aren't the same thing, it's more that Merud and Moriko wouldn't be down for shadow). Fire would be okay but plays to none of our strengths and water... well we aren't gonna focus are efforts on the gulper and we spend enough time and energy on Alkaline as is, who can adjust elementally as she matures.

It's gotta be earth. We can have a river feature later and volcanic vents further down, once we are massive and sprawling. For now, earth, even if that seems boring. We can make up for the simplicity with bizzarre arcitecture.
>>
No. 780927 ID: 9876c4

>>780679
>I could make a volcano or a glacier?
But it makes little sense to do so. An affinity for a huge power reservoir is practical in a way that making your own could never be.

Doubling down on Erf.
>>
No. 780936 ID: 9145ba

>>780923
I'm sure they'd be fine with it. They already know they'll be playing antagonists to anyone who enters the dungeon, appearances are just that: appearances. Plus as the minion-boosting route it comes with benefits for them in particular.
>>
No. 781124 ID: f488d3
File
Removed

>>780679
>all these scrubs not running a shadow/earth build
>laughingancestors.jpg
>>
No. 781125 ID: 9145ba

>>781124
>posting images in /quest/
>>/questdis/94347
>>
No. 781126 ID: f488d3

>>781125
happy? >>781124
>>
No. 781198 ID: 398fe1

>>780679
You made it sound like we could only control monster spawns if we picked Earth. If we can always do that, just not as well, then I vote for Water. Water lends to plant growth, which is the closest thing to the horrible poison/acid/fungus dungeon I want.

Also you can do cool things with water that isn't just forcing the adventurers to swim everywhere or ice floors everywhere with annoying ice physics. Hydraulic mechanisms! Floating block puzzles! Flooding rooms to drown intruders!
>>
No. 781207 ID: d36af7

Definitely water. In the short term, a better alchemy setup will help avoid any more embarrassing potion side effects, medium term it would boost both Alkaline and Reisarf/Stargazer who are all relatively fragile but have been extremely loyal and reliable within the limits of their abilities, and long term you could add in some fire and develop that isolated valley further up in the mountains into a steamy alien jungle surrounded by frozen wastes, forcing brave explorers to slow down and reconfigure all their protective equipment at a critical time.
>>
No. 781208 ID: 14f8aa

Still voting Earth myself, but I'm liking the future subtheme of fire.
>>
No. 781255 ID: 45b631

Please remember that water is a sky element, and the sky is evil and bad and feeble and stupid and wrong.
>>
No. 781323 ID: 6bfd54

I vote fire. The focus on environmental hazards will work well with our small, boss-heavy team, and more importantly the bonus to magical item creation will give us a much-needed source of money and treasure.
>>
No. 781325 ID: 595d54

We already have Earth, so Shadow. Shadow/Earth hybrid should be great.
>>
No. 781414 ID: dd5b4d
File 148759513524.png - (27.05KB , 800x600 , maintaining_a_state_of_readiness.png )
781414

>Honestly, earth seems the most natural fit. It helps you build the dungeon, harness the earth pulse, make your golems. And actually having control of over monster spawns is very tempting.
Yes, The element of Earth is comforting to me. I need workers, I need to improve this golem body of mine and I could make devil bears go extinct.

Earth! I'm going to deepen my connection with Earth!

----------------------------------------
New Ability Gained!
----------------------------------------
Stoneforging: By slowly infusing it with her mana, Deem can shape earth and stone like clay. Rooms will be slowly improved over time. Golems that have not been provided equipment will be better armed. Deem can easily create small items for the dungeon such as pots and vases.

----------------------------------------

I don't have enough mana to do anything with geomancy at the moment. Once I'm powered up with mana from adventurers, that will be the time for that.

Merud and Moriko have finally returned from their supply run into town. They look tired from their journey so I take the opportunity to show them to the new bedroom and Resurrection Matrix. I swing open the door and -

Moriko sweeps in ahead of me, hammer ready. There's a screech of terror; Belphejar flees and cowers in the corner.

"I see you, demon!" Moriko calls to the cauldron gulper.

I squeeze forward to get between them "Wait! This is Belphejar Doyle, it's a cauldron gulper that I tamed!"

Everyone freezes for a moment. "I take it you came up with the name?" Merud asks. Moriko lowers her hammer.

"How'd you know?"

"I had a feeling."

I think Moriko made a noise. I turn but she's straight faced. Belphe stays in the corner. I think I need to get it more used to my other minions.

I walk to the end and turn to face Merud and Moriko. "As you can see, the bedroom's done. Everyone's sharing a room for now. Hin and Reisarf have already picked out their spots but I suppose that's fair, they did most of the digging."

"What is... that?" Merud says, pointing at the sarcophagus at the back.

"It's the Resurrection Matrix!"

They're silent.
>>
No. 781415 ID: dd5b4d
File 148759528833.png - (22.87KB , 800x550 , its_very_nice.png )
781415

"Would you like to know how it works?" I prompt.

Merud nods.

"Ahem. Death occurs when the link between body and soul is completely severed. The purpose of the Matrix is to intervene before this can happen. When life is imperilled, the soul enters a state of crisis. Body and soul will thoughtlessly burn their resources to preserve themselves." I open the sarcophagus and step inside. "The Resurrection Matrix creates a refuge for a soul that has been linked to my dungeon. When endangered, it will flee to the Matrix and the surge of energy reinforcing their connection allows the body to follow. This moment of crisis allows the resurrectee to shed most curse magic affecting them and the matrix floods them with healing magic, allowing them to recuperate before they step outside again."

Moriko looks thoughtful. "Have you ever failed to revive someone?"

"No."

"You sound confident."

"It is impossible for me to fail." I say.

Merud winces. "That's tempting fate."

"I set my own fate."

"And you designed it yourself?" Moriko asks.

"Well, Hin helped."

"It's very... nice." Merud ventures.

"Thank you." I clap my hands together. "Well, I'll let you rest for now."

I see them glance at the sarcophagus again as I leave. Belphe slips out after me, right on my heels.

While I am dedicating myself to the element of Earth first, I think it would be good to add a second element early into my dungeon's development. That will affect how I want Alkaline, Chakarchelou and - to a lesser extent - Belphejar to develop and what monster species I want to encourage in the area. I should think about what I want to do with it so I can have the pieces in place once I am ready to add it. Again, my options are Fire, Shadow and Water.

Fire is good for industry and tutelage, meaning my dungeon would be better at creating magic items and I would find it easier to pass skills on to my servants. Fire dungeons make heavy use of environmental hazards and are suited to an aggressive style as fire is the most violent of the elements.

Water is closely associated with life. I would find it easier to develop my monsters and grow ingredients for alchemy. It's an element that take a variety of forms like earth. For example my dungeon might feature frozen areas, dense vegetation or simply underwater sections.

Shadow is focused on secrets and the unknown. This focus on initiation into mysteries and exploration would help my minions develop their own unique abilities. A shadow dungeon uses secret areas, warped physics and debilitating effects to disorientate and defeat attackers.
>>
No. 781418 ID: 57f342

I like shadow.
>>
No. 781420 ID: 34576f

Water, for the A E S T H E T I C.
>>
No. 781421 ID: 7f917c

>>781415
Water!
Life! Mud baths! Ingredients for potions that totally don't enhance knockers!

Also of course, water for our living friends.
>>
No. 781422 ID: 3d2d5f

Shadow. Earth/Shadow the best. Construction, golems, trickery, and fostering the growth of our minions / lieutenants.
>>
No. 781427 ID: 54dc5b

water is wet, so im voting water
>>
No. 781435 ID: d79f26

shadow, get stargazer to work on setting up some crazy zones that only make sense to a starspawn.
>>
No. 781436 ID: 677f51

Shadow.
>>
No. 781461 ID: 4a0ed9

Shadow. It nicely balances out Earth, with subtlety for Earth's straightforwardness and boss focus for Earth's golem minions. Also, think about the non-Euclidian pit traps!
>>
No. 781462 ID: 398fe1

I still want water because horrible poisonous hellhole dungeon. Let's make a verdant Valley ripe for Harvest.
>>
No. 781466 ID: 804a8c

Shadow. Stargazer and Alkaline Shadow Synergy is pretty sweet, since some small curses supercharged by Shadow should shoot Alkaline's reversion matrix into overdrive or something.

We do want people to want to come to the dungeon, so massive plumes of flame and environmental dangers that require preparation to take care of before an attempt puts a barrier to entry, so adventurers can't just get drunk at the tavern and decide 'hey let's hit up the local dungeon' because that'd lead to charred corpses. Alcohol is flammable.

And water dungeons suck.
>>
No. 781469 ID: 7f9a74

Shadow!
>>
No. 781470 ID: cdddb5

FIRE...is sadly losing out. Rats.
I'm honestly inclined to Water-lots of support boosters on top of Earth boosters should be an effective thing.
On the flipside...Shadow. If Earth lets us control monsters to our advantage, Shadow is how we raise Champions of our cause. Not to mention secret areas could help protect anyone not in the dungeon rotation, while we twist physics to crea some truly clever traps and set-ups.
>I vote Shadow.
>>
No. 781476 ID: 65ec8d

Heart!

... no?
>>
No. 781507 ID: 45b631

Here I thought more earth would be an option.

Fire. Because Hin is best Denizen and magic items are best items. Also to better refine our minerals into valuables.

Ooooh, ooh, time to test out your enhanced control over the Earth-Pulse. Tell Moriko that you want to deepen your connection with her. Tell her to go to your heart, lie down, relax, and focus upon your presence. Then push your presence into her through the earth-pulse.

Using her sensitivity to the earth-pulse for communication would be useful. Stargazer might be monster enough to become bound to you as Alkaline is, but more likely, as a foreigner, she has even less connection to the Earth-Pulse than most. Still, no harm in trying, you could even do both Moriko and Stargazer together to save time...

Oh, and you may have forgotten to mention that the resurrection matrix has a limited range, unless you can design one of those badge systems...
>>
No. 781511 ID: 9145ba

Shadow! Developing unique skills instead of teaching your existing ones to minions is good for diversification. Also water is a sky element, and the sky is evil and bad and feeble and stupid and wrong.

And who doesn't love seeeeecret areaaaaas?
>>
No. 781514 ID: 0d9279

Shadow and earth means your tiny dungeon becomes a sprawling labyrinth in the adventurer's mind. You can then create modular events for the adventuring parties to explore as you goad them into the same two rooms over and over and over...
>>
No. 781536 ID: 2c520d

Fire. We industrial relovution now boyos.
>>
No. 781542 ID: ba506f

fire because I really want to see if we can make fire slimes.
>>
No. 781547 ID: 798cf2

>>781415
F I R E F I R E F I R E.

it has flash and style that water and shadow just don't.

And, you know, living in a cozy, warm, well-lit whatever is a lot better than living in a damp or dark cave.

Also, it's a fuckin' dungeon.

If adventurers get caught in bullshit illusions for an hour and make no progress they're just gonna leave and not come back. Reputation fuckin' matters here; we have to make an impression on the people that show up before we murder them so they can tell all of their adventurer buddies how fucking awesome the lavafalls in the boss room were (or whatever).
>>
No. 781559 ID: b7883c

>Heart!
That's already our secret 0th element. We are, after all, a dungeon HEART.
>>
No. 781569 ID: 0d1514

Shadow!
>>
No. 781576 ID: 91ee5f

>>781559
I thought it was the 5th Element!
>>
No. 781579 ID: 14f8aa

DOUBLE EARTH POWER
jk fire.
>>
No. 781608 ID: 6bfd54

>>781415
Fire.
>>
No. 781624 ID: 79a07e

I think I'm gonna say Shadow.
>>
No. 781686 ID: f0a433

>>781415
water.
>>
No. 781733 ID: 65ba11

>>781415
Water
>>
No. 781743 ID: da1652

>>781415
Between earth and shadow the dungeon could be accessible at your leisure
>>
No. 781769 ID: b15da4

All hail Shadow! Heroes can rise again!

Kids these days have no taste in dungeon decor. Well we're bringing eldritch back, baby! That said, maybe you should hang a privacy curtain around the sarcophagus so the living and the recently-dead can rest in peace.
>>
No. 781778 ID: d6afc2

Hmmm, both fire and shadow appeal to me.

Fire. Planning willl be already dificout enough without noneuclidean layout.
>>
No. 781779 ID: e45836

shadow
>>
No. 781795 ID: 952ab0

I'm gonna be sad if shadow isn't in this thing SOMEWHERE
>>
No. 781800 ID: 6bfd54

>>781415
Fire.
>>
No. 781877 ID: c655d4

Shadow
>>
No. 781878 ID: 3abd97

>"It is impossible for me to fail." I say.
What happens if more than one of yours falls? Does the resurrection matrix have a queue?

>>781415
Man, what's their problem. Mortals. You'd think a physical symbol of your commitment to keeping them alive would be reassuring, not unsettling.
>>
No. 781885 ID: 91ee5f

>>781415
Have a hurt expression on your face and ask them, "What's that look for? Don't you trust me to save your lives?"
>>
No. 781886 ID: 91ee5f

>>781885
Also I vote Shadow.
>>
No. 781934 ID: d79f26

>>781885
maybe ask how they feel about that pool in front of the church, then explain how that thing is just a poor imitation of a real matrix. theirs requires a physical object to bind to, and a sacrifice to activate it every time, while this baby will keep working even if you have nothing on you.
>>
No. 781948 ID: 12b116

Water, we can grow all kinds of glowing mushrooms. What other dungeons have random potions as a major feature? There's gonna be some people that will want to go in just to drink random potions like an idiot, there's always those guys. Plus we could offer free beer to draw people in and send them in drunk.
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No. 781950 ID: 398fe1

>>781415
HEY WAIT A MINUTE

If we make a Shadow dungeon, isn't that going to make us reliant on things that only work once? Once an illusion is seen through, it can't be used again. Secret areas are found and the knowledge retained. Warped physics can be accounted for, as well. We'd have to keep changing shit, and that's annoying and possibly expensive.

This isn't the case for Water, which presents "a changeable nature", and Fire seems too aggressive to care about whether or not the adventurers have made a return visit or not.
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No. 781954 ID: d79f26

>>781950
not really. let's say we have 3 lion head statues, you need to reach into their mouths to progress, one triggers a fight, one poisons you, and one opens the door, switching which of the three does what randomly after each party goes through can be done super easily, because the parts of all three options are already in all three lions, we just toggle which is which magically, deem can probably sub-routine shit like that if it's built right. now apply that concept to the entire dungeon, all the rooms become modular, the floor shifts and changes every time a party goes through a room, but not because we tear down the room and build a new one, but because the room was built in such a way that it could shift with minimal energy requirements.
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No. 781974 ID: 1226ae

Shadow
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No. 781982 ID: 031add

As much as I prefer water as an element I feel we should go for fire. Potions are useful but they only have one use per, pot enchanted items are forever. As for shadow I think our followers have enough doubts without devoting ourselves to what is commonly believed to be the element of evil.
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No. 782045 ID: 45b631

>>781954
I feel that guessing is bad for The Labyrinth Game. Guess correctly and they pass the challenge with no challenge, guess incorrectly and they have a failure with no attachment.

But, hrmm... Mystic fogs that prevent the use of a single sense? Illusory monsters to bulk up numbers? Shifting murals to confuse and disorient? It is probably a good idea to change things around regardless. Even a simple challenge can grow stale once everyone knows about it so this problem is not unique to shadow. And shadow would probably offer some more malleable construction options. High-end curses probably include memory tampering. It may not be too far-fetched to hope for a memory fuzzening curse with results similar to alcohol...
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No. 782103 ID: 34f6b6

>>781415
As much as I like the idea of a lava castle, Shadow is the vote, let intruders know the deep dark places of the world are not for the weak of mind or might
>>
No. 782369 ID: fef726

I shall vote for Shadow.
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No. 782388 ID: b412df

I vote fire for the second element, go full dorf fort. Traps, Masonry, Molten metal, and Lava flows.
>>
No. 782470 ID: 2120ee

Chuuni Shadow
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No. 782690 ID: e66267

Again, I worry our followers will balk at the idea of a shadow dungeon. The shadow element just doesn't match an honorable hamurai and I can imagine all of our subordinates having problems with it.

I'm voting fire.
>>
No. 782695 ID: 96c896

>>782690
It does match an honorable hammurai with demon blood.
>>
No. 782718 ID: 45b631

Shadow probably has things that are more like augments than lies. Like, making a hammerai seem slower than they actually are, or larger. It is somewhat deceptive, but is mostly just throwing off your opponents aim. I don't doubt that she will be outnumbered on many occasions, so such augments are just evening up the odds. Especially something like making illusionary duplicates of herself or others. Still voting fire because *heart* Hin, but I expect that Moriko would get over being a shadow monster so long as we don't mess too much with her hair, or convince her that demons are awesome and she should embrace it...
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No. 782799 ID: dd5b4d
File 148800512298.png - (23.20KB , 800x600 , a_collection_of_things.png )
782799

>Have a hurt expression on your face and ask them, "What's that look for? Don't you trust me to save your lives?"
They're resting. But you're right, it's truly unfair.

>Shadow and earth means your tiny dungeon becomes a sprawling labyrinth in the adventurer's mind. You can then create modular events for the adventuring parties to explore as you goad them into the same two rooms over and over and over...
I would expect the dungeon to be significantly expanded by the time I'm able to add Shadow!

>Shadow, get stargazer to work on setting up some crazy zones that only make sense to a starspawn.
Yes, Reisarf and Stargazer's space warping magic would definitely make it easier to make a shadow-aspected dungeon.

>And who doesn't love seeeeecret areaaaaas?
I'll watch those adventurers trying to pry their way into my most secret places and laugh at them!

>Shadow. It nicely balances out Earth, with subtlety for Earth's straightforwardness and boss focus for Earth's golem minions.
Yes, strength and subtlety. My stronger servants all have interesting bases for development and it would be good to see how I can best foster that. I am decided. In the future, I will dedicate myself to darkness and add the element of Shadow to my Earth dungeon!

While Merud and Moriko rest, I take the opportunity to inventory anything particularly magical or unusual we have.

Crystal Lens: A basic lens for scanning creatures.
Focus Medallion: A medallion for trainee mages that resists the activation of spell channels. It reduces chance of my spells misfiring.
Covetous Ring: Improved physical attributes, mana regeneration and dragonish things if allowed to hoard gold. Currently equipped by Chakarchelou. Yet to have much of an effect as he has very little gold.
Pretty Rock: The first uncut garnet Alkaline found. I've kept it aside from the others.
Weightless Plaque: A magical plaque that can be attached to things to make them lighter.
Milky Potions of Fullness: A batch of potions of satiation: a day's worth of food in a convenient bottle. Causes drowsiness. Causes swelling in women.
Alien Jelly: A jar containing Stargazer's internal substance (flesh?) that she cut off to close up her wound. I don't know what to do with this.
Raw Mana: A jar with my shed raw mana - precipitated magic that's leaked from my damaged Dungeon Heart. It reacts unpredictably with things it comes into contact with.
Boss Key: Hin's prototype. Comes with a matching lock. The enchantment isn't finished yet.

Hin has her mace as well. She's also made me a spear to replace the orichalcum sword I lost fighting the devil bear. I'm still bitter about that.

I take look through the supplies Merud and Moriko have brought back as well. It seems they were travelling fairly light?

There's two chests replacing the large one I sent off to be sold. The alchemical kit is in one of them. It's delicate so I leave it in its case for the moment. Together with the chests is a small cage of chickens. That's good thinking. I didn't specifically request it but the eggs and occasional meat from them will be handy. Aside from that it's just some more fabric and some metal blanks for Hin. I find my repaired outfit so I put it back on. There's quite a bit of leftover gold too - 52 gold. Perhaps there wasn't much to be had in town?

I add the gold to my hoard, bringing it back up to 291 gold.
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No. 782801 ID: dd5b4d
File 148800549819.png - (22.20KB , 500x800 , new_final_boss.png )
782801

>Again, I worry our followers will balk at the idea of a shadow dungeon. The shadow element just doesn't match an honourable hammerai and I can imagine all of our subordinates having problems with it.
Dark is not evil. And Moriko's actually got a strong affinity towards shadow, it's the basis of several of her techniques. For challenges involving her I can allow her to veto any additional effects.

>I expect that Moriko would get over being a shadow monster so long as we don't mess too much with her hair, or convince her that demons are awesome and she should embrace it...
She is sensitive about her demon blood. But since she doesn't know that I know about it, that is a beast to be tackled another day.

>Man, what's their problem. Mortals. You'd think a physical symbol of your commitment to keeping them alive would be reassuring, not unsettling.
That thought has been eating away at me.

That's it. I'm decided. I'll confront them!

I get a chicken out of the cage and get my doubting humans together. This feels like a waste of mana but I suppose it'll be worth it to put their doubts to rest.

Pacing holding the chicken, I turn to address them. The chicken is not being entirely cooperative. "I couldn't help but notice a lot of you seem worried about the efficacy of the Resurrection Matrix so I want to make sure everyone's got confidence that it will be there to protect them."

I hold out the chicken. "Look at this denizen of my dungeon."

I break the chicken's neck.
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No. 782802 ID: dd5b4d
File 148800562824.png - (33.69KB , 800x500 , that_poor_chicken.png )
782802

"It's met with a terrible fate, hasn't it?"

"Oh Deem." Hin says.

The chicken vanishes in a puff of smoke. They're being awfully quiet. Moriko's concentrating, is she trying to sense what happened?

>Ooooh, ooh, time to test out your enhanced control over the Earth-Pulse. Tell Moriko that you want to deepen your connection with her. Tell her to go to your heart, lie down, relax, and focus upon your presence. Then push your presence into her through the earth-pulse.
Now's not the time. Maybe later.

>What happens if more than one of yours falls? Does the resurrection matrix have a queue?
Yes. It's not ideal so I left space to eventually add a second sarcophagus.

>Oh, and you may have forgotten to mention that the resurrection matrix has a limited range, unless you can design one of those badge systems...
Technically the fountains have a limited range too. It's just longer.

>Maybe ask how they feel about that pool in front of the church, then explain how that thing is just a poor imitation of a real matrix. theirs requires a physical object to bind to, and a sacrifice to activate it every time, while this baby will keep working even if you have nothing on you.
I'd best speak up. "And now it's gone to the matrix to revive. You think the fountains are reliable, right? My matrix has several advantages. It doesn't require any gold or a token for its use. The only limitation is the lower range and I can only use it on servants of my dungeon."

Merud has a question, probably about the details. "Yes?" I say.

"Wouldn't a beetle or something similar have been better than putting a chicken through that?"

I frown. "Bugs lack desperation."

Reisarf puts up his hand. "How did you get the chicken to agree to be your servant?"

This isn't going how I expected.

There's a distant 'bwork!' from the bedroom. I brush off the stray feathers clinging to me. "It's just a chicken! I forced it to! Anyway, as you can see, there's nothing to worry about."
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No. 782803 ID: dd5b4d
File 148800569282.png - (25.11KB , 1000x1000 , a_hapless_explorer_is_approaching_fast.png )
782803

A hero draws near!

What?! No! NO!!

I'm not ready! This is too soon! This is far too soon!

"Is something the matter?" Merud says.

"There's an adventurer out there!"

Nothing's finished, almost everyone's in my would-be final boss chamber, there's stuff all over the place and the only thing between this intruder and here is my warrior golem that's positioned outside. I need to do something, several somethings!
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No. 782804 ID: 78a3e5

Make the golem give the adventurer a quiz to enter the dungeon. buy time.
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No. 782808 ID: 7f917c

>>782803
Create a makeshift sign and have a golem carry it to the entrance!

Have it say something like this: "We apologize, but Deem's Dungeon of Devilish Dangers is not yet open, we ask that you turn around and return at a later date."
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No. 782811 ID: 3abd97

Are you sure it's a hero, Deem? You're not about to murder a hapless traveler because you didn't have time to calibrate your sensors, yet, right?

First priority is to use your golem to try and get a good look at the hero. An estimate of what they are and what they're capable of will shape our rushed response. Are they a warrior, a mage...?
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No. 782813 ID: 65ba11

I dont suppose Merud has any spare golems we could use to lure the adventurer on a merry chase to keep them busy while we get some things ready?
Maybe have Chakarchelou harass them using the tunnels?
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No. 782814 ID: 1226ae

>>782804
PERFECT. This is great. Have it give the standard, "ANSWER MY QUESTIONS TO PASS, HERO!"
>>
No. 782816 ID: 91ee5f

What if it's not an adventurer? It could be a weary traveler that found a conveniently located cave to rest in because they're too tired to make it to town?

Just panic and say, "Oh no! I'm not ready for an adventurer to plunder my depths yet! I'm practically naked!"
>>
No. 782818 ID: 0b99d7

>>782803
maybe it's a dungeon denizen applicant rather than an adventurer.

Either way, surely your warrior golem is a decent time-buyer for a random solo explorer.

Places everyone! anyone not on the fight roster go grab some our not-loot and go hide
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No. 782821 ID: 57f342

It's not so bad. The golem will slow the enemy enough to reposition your denizens.
I don't know if the boss fight rituals are ready, but either way you will be needed in this chamber. Hin just recovered from her sickness, so let's not stress her with the responsibility of be the last protector of our treasures. Moriko just returned from her journey, but she makes a more impressive boss than Reinsarf and Stargaze, first impressions and all that.
Let's put Chakarchelou, Reisarf and Stargazer protecting the first corridor. The quasidragon can cover the main offensive and the alienist can give support.
I would prefer to keep our slime princess out of this fight, so probable at the end of that lake, but her abilities would work well guarding the entrance to the treasury room with Merud.
Hin and Belphejar can draw the adventurer in the direction of the lake or attack his rear if he chose to ignore them.
The worker golems can get busy recovering anything important lying around to safekeeping with the treasure or in the room. One of them should remove the noisy chicken from the supposedly secret resting room.
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No. 782822 ID: b7883c

Plan A: I don't suppose we can just have our golem say or post a sign saying "We are currently closed for renovations. Please come back in [a week or something]'s time."?
Plan A2: If you do post such a notice and the adventurer rudely ignores it, would it still be against dungeon etiquette just have all your fighters (aside from the Warrior Golem) wait in the boss room to firmly tell the adventurer to leave and beat them down as a group if they don't?

Plan B: If we are obliged to provide as much of a proper dungeon experience as possible despite the circumstances (or if being closed is worse than being highly underprepared), our encounter layout should be Warrior Golem as door guard along with Chark if he can get there in time, Reisarf as the mid-encounter in the junction (due to the narrow corridor impeding dodging), and Moriko with some enhancement and the two worker golems as backup for the final boss fight (since she is our strongest fighter). Everyone else should pile into the bedroom under a sealing designation, maybe with a fraction of the gold hoard as a backup, though a backup is only applicable if we have a way to keep the adventurer from looting our heart if they win. Would it be viable to hide our heart in the sealed room for this encounter? (How does heart looting prevention work in a prepared dungeon, by the way? Are the schemes about embedding it in a fountain or light fixture actually normal security precautions?)
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No. 782833 ID: 9522b5

Have the warrior golem get a real good look at this supposed hero. Make damn sure it is, infact, a hero instead of a travelling salesman, soliciting sky priest or, and potentially worse of all, a horde of angry cuckoo's.
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No. 782839 ID: 9145ba

Shoot, so we can't eat the same chicken over and over.
Okay, Reisarf, Stargazer, get that boss key over to the end of the water tunnel! The enchantment isn't done, but is the lock in place? We can just bluff that it's important anyway.

Here's the plan: space yourselves evenly down the hall and throw yourselves at the adventurer one at a time, to accommodate the sarcophagus' limited capacity for revival. How long do we have to wait between resurrections, Deem?

Moriko, you're going to be the first boss fight. Hin, go with Deem to meet the adventurer at the door. You'll be the first fight, alongside Deem's warrior golem. Deem, can you help her out with your main body, or do you need to hang back to give Moriko her reinforcements? And camouflage the staff quarters if yo have time.
Alkaline, I want you to stay in the staff quarters for this one.
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No. 782849 ID: 45b631

I am not sure that we can get into the staff room, it may be locked until the intruder leaves...

Have the warrior threaten them and then fight, send char to the front to cover the warrior golem's retreat if it is losing.

Have Char fight defensively and flee once the warrior golem is free and heal the warrior golem.

Have the warrior golem fight to the death with the two worker golems watching from the two passages.

The two workers should do the "one of use speaks the truth and one of us lies" bit. Just have the one that speaks the truth cover the water passage, they will assume that the truth path is correct, they always fall for that.

Boss-mode Moriko and have her attack from one side while Belph attacks from the other. Try to leave an opening for them to escape, you don't want them thinking you are pulling too much of an unfair ambush by surrounding them, but crushing them between Moriko and Belph should be enough to stop a sane challenge and yet only a single boss and one escort should be within the realm of a plausible fight.

Don't let them explore into the water or to our chamber entrance, we are not ready to let them go that far.
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No. 782868 ID: d36af7

Activate the warrior golem, defensive stance, backing away if pressed but no further than halfway to the intersection. If possible, stall for additional time with riddles, highly formal state-your-name-rank-and-title, reason-for-coming-here sorts of challenges and so on.

Hustle Alkaline, and anybody else who wants to be a noncombatant for the first run, into the staff room (along with any supplies it would be particularly inconvenient to have plundered) and seal it up. Send Moriko out to the intersection, since she's probably the scariest even without buffs, and have her carry the boss key in a really visible way, as a bluff. Belphejar and the worker golem should hide just below the surface of the pool (or only partially submerged, if necessary to avoid diluting Belphejar's contents) for a possible ambush.

Once everybody's heading toward their stations, start prepping boss-level buffs for whoever's still standing around. How useful could the chickens be, as close-combat support for Reisarf and Stargazer? I mean, they're technically a type of dinosaur, they've got claws and beaks, they'll eat meat, and they can almost fly.
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No. 782907 ID: 45b631

The chickens are useful for being adorable. But it is true that they are terrifying to anything smaller than them, and can hunt in an uncoordinated but terrifyingly enthusiastic pack. Sadly, bulking them up to an imposing size would be too much effort unless there is some sort of bonus to such things. Perhaps they could be granted a venom or curse?
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No. 783062 ID: 96c896

If we can't use the key to force the adventurer to take the route we want, then let's ambush them just after the fork in the road. Have forces waiting down each path, so that once they go down one path, the other group can come up behind them for a pincer attack.

Only problem with this plan is Reisarf might have a hard time attacking without friendly fire issues.
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No. 783070 ID: 804a8c

Give the adventurer a fetch quest for something innocuous! He'll have to scour the entire continent for random items to trade with random people until he finally finds someone willing to part with their artisinally crafted cheese wheel. That'd buy at least five hours.
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No. 783097 ID: d79f26

form a 'door' at the left intersection and put a 'lever' at the end of the right. they are both actually golems and aren't connected. it's just when they flip the lever you let the door golem crumble 'open'. may not be properly shaped but they aren't moving by themselves so they should be too energy intensive.
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No. 783195 ID: d8f4d2

Diplomacy! It would be really embarrassing to subject them to an undesired adventurer trial if this is someone who killed the devil bear and is returning your sword.

I suggest that we plan a reception area in future to sort out the different kinds of arrivals, and make sure that all involved receive the appropriate treatment. It would also be nice to have some kind of scrying or foretelling overwatch so that we don't get surprised by unexpected visitors.
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No. 783280 ID: 094652

>I'll watch those adventurers trying to pry their way into my most secret places and laugh at them!
OH DAMN, that was a bad choice of words!

>A hero draws near!
TIME FOR WORK!!!

Your golem should act incredibly stupid and / or absentminded, then attack the adventurer while his back is turned. If that doesn't work, have your other minions take evasive action for the rest of the run to distract and tire the adventurer.

Begin by selecting a single squad member to charge the opponent (and find out if they have area attack spells). Have one of your other squad members come up with a deceptive persona as to trick the adventurer into thinking they got lost in the dungeon and would like to party up with them, and then relay back intel about the adventurer's inventory and skills. Alkaline will now begin her very first combat role in the dungeon - climbing above the doorway to the boss room and preparing to glomp the adventurer. Everyone else, prepare to bum-rush the adventurer. Deem, place large alcoves in the boss room, then everyone scramble for the top.
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No. 783372 ID: dd5b4d
File 148820235548.png - (36.53KB , 800x600 , does_this_look_like_the_face_of_mercy.png )
783372

>Are you sure it's a hero, Deem? You're not about to murder a hapless traveller because you didn't have time to calibrate your sensors, yet, right?
Don't make me laugh!

>Have the warrior golem get a real good look at this supposed hero. Make damn sure it is, in fact, a hero instead of a travelling salesman, soliciting sky priest or, and potentially worse of all, a horde of angry cuckoo's.
I focus on my golem. It's an independent model but with some effort I can ride its senses.

The long grass rustles and a hapless adventurer emerges!

"Nyaha! My compass never lies!" she says, apparently for her own benefit. "A new dungeon!"

A catfolk. Some kind of explorer? Perhaps she lives in this area. In town one was mentioned to me as a possible servant to recruit after all. I don't like the look on her face. There's a claw-like mechanism on her left arm and a bulging bag at her hip. I would suspect it's full of potions or bombs. The claw gauntlet has a chain integrated into it, it probably fires and retracts the claw.

>Give the adventurer a fetch quest for something innocuous! He'll have to scour the entire continent for random items to trade with random people until he finally finds someone willing to part with their artisanally crafted cheese wheel. That'd buy at least five hours.
What kind of plan is that?!

>Make the golem give the adventurer a quiz to enter the dungeon. Buy time.
It can't talk!

>Create a makeshift sign and have a golem carry it to the entrance!
I can't write! I instruct my golem to knock down the sign Merud put outside the dungeon.

The cat pulls out a bomb. "Nyohohoho, you can't trick me! Sorry Miss Golem," she says to my warrior golem, "but I'm going to be taking all your stuff!"
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No. 783373 ID: dd5b4d
File 148820241750.png - (31.12KB , 800x600 , recommended_theme_spear_of_justice.png )
783373

If they're out here in the middle of the wilderness on their own, I don't want to underestimate them! I start my sluggish mana circulating, my Heart will be able to layer reinforcements on my last line of defence if I can buy enough time. Tension's thrumming through me, I can't afford to lose!

>Just panic and say, "Oh no! I'm not ready for an adventurer to plunder my depths yet! I'm practically naked!"
"No-one is going to be plundering my depths today!"

>Okay, Reisarf, Stargazer, get that boss key over to the end of the water tunnel! The enchantment isn't done, but is the lock in place? We can just bluff that it's important anyway.
I put the key in one of the chests.

"Reisarf, I need you and Stargazer to take this chest to the other room. To the end of the flooded passage if you can! Then be ready for a fight!"

He nods and Stargazer transforms to carry it.

>Let's put Chakarchelou, Reisarf and Stargazer protecting the first corridor. The quasidragon can cover the main offensive and the alienist can give support.
Hmm, my golem's not doing well. "Chakarchelou, go with them! You're covering the corridor!"

He grunts and bounds after the pair.
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No. 783374 ID: dd5b4d
File 148820264667.png - (45.39KB , 800x600 , dungeon_maniac_mode_active.png )
783374

>Form a 'door' at the left intersection and put a 'lever' at the end of the right. They are both actually golems and aren't connected. It's just when they flip the lever you let the door golem crumble 'open'.
Where materials are lacking, mana and brute force will do! I'll use the key instead.

I turn to my golemeter. "Merud! Make a door! Use the lock and whatever stone you need in a golem!"

Merud shies back. "It won't be a very good-"

Irrelevant! "Just make it your best attempt at indestructible and able to roll!" I push him toward the rubble pile.

"Calm down Deem! You'll have another accident!"

My Heart is stirring, I won't do anything like that!

>I don't know if the boss fight rituals are ready, but either way you will be needed in this chamber. Hin just recovered from her sickness, so let's not stress her with the responsibility of be the last protector of our treasures. Moriko just returned from her journey, but she makes a more impressive boss than Reisarf and Stargaze, first impressions and all that.
"Moriko, you're the last line of defence! Stay here and I'll use reinforcement on you."

She blinks once. "Understood."

>Deem, can you help out with your main body, or do you need to hang back to give Moriko her reinforcements? And camouflage the staff quarters if yo have time.
My Heart casts the spell. I'll be sealing the bedroom as soon as the supplies and anyone who's sitting this out is inside.

>The worker golems can get busy recovering anything important lying around to safekeeping with the treasure or in the room. One of them should remove the noisy chicken from the supposedly secret resting room.
My worker golem lurches into activity.

>How long do we have to wait between resurrections, Deem?
A few minutes! It takes the resurrected some time to recover after a resurrection though.

>How useful could the chickens be, as close-combat support for Reisarf and Stargazer? I mean, they're technically a type of dinosaur, they've got claws and beaks, they'll eat meat, and they can almost fly.
I'm not so desperate as to be throwing chickens at my enemies!
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No. 783375 ID: dd5b4d
File 148820276466.png - (19.54KB , 800x520 , the_bwork_came_from_inside_the_building.png )
783375

Ngaaah!

The chicken charges me the moment the bedroom door is open. What happened to resurrection sickness?! I'm under attack! Moriko, save me!

I haven't made up my mind what to do with Alkaline, Hin, Belphejar or my golem body yet. I need things out there to stall the adventurer so I can get the reinforcement complete and hide anything fragile, seeing she's throwing bombs around! The tents and some camp supplies are still set up in the space before the flooded passage too. I might have to write them off. If I'm sending anyone out of my Heart Chamber, I need to do so immediately so I can close and seal the door!
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No. 783376 ID: 7f917c

>>783375
You made the mistake of angering a fowl beast! Pray that it does not attract a flock to assault you.

I think all you can do is wait and hope Moriko bats a bomb back into the cat's face.

Oh an also prepare some food potions in a chest for the brave adventurer.
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No. 783380 ID: 57f342

Safari-Link-cat-girl... She is cute.
Since she is using a magical compass we may not be able to misdirect her to the water.
Are bombs effective against golems or living creatures? Real life logic would suggest clay and rock would suffer less from shockwave than animal, but video-game logic suggest the opposite.
I think Hin should team up with Belphejar for several reasons: his potions won't be very effect on their own, he know Hin and might as well learn to trust her, and she is the only one crazy enough to subject herself to his side-effects.
Alkaline should accompany Merud. He doesn't fight, his golems do, so if we decide not to involve the princess he can escape with her.
You should serve as support to Moriko.
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No. 783381 ID: 0555b9

That chicken is officially your servant, and you will tolerate NO INSUBORDINATION from a minion during a raid! Petrify that chicken with a gaze. Then back in the bedroom for you, lest you actually put it out there.

Merud, you could make a Snorlax-type golem with a very large but recognizable belly. All Deem said was it has to roll...

Okay Alkaline, you can join in against this adventurer! Perhaps her bombs can teach you a trick or two about the Bad Egg technique.

First of all, door golem: Step. Aside. Retaliate if she strikes first, but otherwise let her pass. You'll ambush her from behind during a later fight.

Alkaline, Deem: You're up to bat first. Deem will get a good look at this adventurer, and Alkaline's cuteness will lower her defenses! Well, until the tentacles come out to play. Better run to meet her! Bring that analytical lens too, but don't drop it as loot - hand it off to a worker golem before your fight begins in earnest.

Hin, Belphejar: Lay in ambush among the camping supplies. If we had an actual cauldron, hide it. When Belphejar attacks, that's your cue Hin: Come out of your tent and yell, in your best ogre voice: "WHAT are ye doing in my CAMP?" Belphejar's positive potion effects should assist you, and do so more effectively due to Giant Blood.

Chakarchelou, Worker Golems: Random encounter! You'll be somewhere before the boss "door." The REAL trick here will be the warrior golem ambushing from behind. Merud, if you have any golems you'd like to throw at this minion-heavy fight they would be appreciated. Yes, even the pack mules.
>>
No. 783399 ID: 1226ae

>>783375
Fascinating. Perhaps the sheer negligence of Sky Power in recent years has strengthened Earth Power enough that you can now TRIVIALLY resurrect anyone any number of times! This has fascinating ramifications, but more importantly, that chicken is a minion and is assaulting its boss. Punch it in the face to remind it who is in charge of the resurrection machine and then plot to dump a bunch of reinforcement spells into it later for fun.
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No. 783412 ID: 91ee5f

>>783372
I guess next time, the sign should clearly state that the dungeon is still under construction and any would be dungeon crawlers should come back some other time.

>>783375
I think Alkaline, Hin, and Belphejar should sit this one out.

Alkaline because she's still practically a child and isn't ready for this yet. Even if the resurrection matrix revives her, her childlike mind will be traumatized by the whole ordeal and she'll freeze up anytime there's a fight, even practice fights, because she'll be scared of dying again.

Belphejar doesn't seem like he could put up much of a fight anymore, since he got weaker when you tamed him.

And Hin because you need someone to watch Alkaline and Belphejar to make sure they don't get into any trouble. And to make sure Belphejar doesn't try to eat Alkaline.

>hide anything fragile
Make sure your heart is hidden so that it's not mistaken for part of the reward the adventurer gets for beating the boss and clearing the dungeon.

Pffft, ha ha ha ha, yeah right, as if she'll be able to beat a reinforced Moriko all by herself! XD
>>
No. 783414 ID: d36af7

Your shard-golem should be outside the heart chamber, so you can more effectively coordinate the delaying action and support it with your magic. Finish setting up Moriko's reinforcement through the main portion of your heart.

Can Belphejar cough up an oil slick, or some glue, or expanding foam or something, as a terrain hazard for the entrance hallway?

Can you remotely soften some stone on the ceiling such that a layer of gravel will crumble loose and fall down when a bomb goes off nearby? Not to actually compromise the structure, just enough to scare someone who doesn't know geology quite so well as you do into thinking something might be unstable, and thus being more cautious with their explosives.

Or, if they actually want to tear this whole place down (that line about the compass suggests they've made a habit of seeking out new dungeons), an apparent instability might provoke them into revealing that, and wasting ammo early in the game.
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No. 783429 ID: 45b631

Well that compass is clearly cheating. you are probably too busy with the boss-mode enchantments to make a scarf-golem for the job so the worker-golems will have to do it. Have them walk into the middle of the first junction battle with orders to acquire the compass and then hide it under the water. Studying it later would be nice.

Also it may be possible to deceive the compass by manipulating the earth-pulse. This might be important if the challenger is aiming to rush your heart-chamber and is willing to explode a few doors to do so...

>>783414
Alkaline can make glue and oil! Ask her to make some glue eggs for the others and then spread some oil around the corridor to your heart-chamber. That stuff is flammable and slippery, which should make explosives a bit less safe and manoeuvring a bit less reliable. Starting a fight while she is half-way through a slimy corridor, especially against someone who is fire-resistant, should be quite effective.

You and that chicken are adorable together. You don't have many vitals to peck at and it should be quite clean after its revival so just ignore/hug it.
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No. 785043 ID: 3abd97

>she's throwing bombs around
Can you set up a fake "bombable wall" to distract her and waste a few of her bombs? A few cracks in a wall, the suggestion of a passage behind it.

>The tents and some camp supplies are still set up in the space before the flooded passage too
Won't she loot them? If we kill her, you get them back. Unless she's nuts enough to blow up everything.

>I haven't made up my mind what to do with Alkaline, Hin, Belphejar or my golem body yet
If Alkaline goes into puddle or shadow mode, she could offer surprise support for one of the others, or otherwise harry your enemy without exposing herself. Or we could just keep the kid from getting killed.

Hide Belphejar on a stone ledge above a door. He can be a trap. Surprise chemical bath when walking under.

Hin. Um. Could we set up a fake shop stall, use her as an npc? We can't put more up than junk at this point, but it could be a chance to gather intel on the adventurer or stall her.

>and the chicken
Throw it out the door and lock it. Cats and birds are natural enemies, it should eventually turn on her.
>>
No. 785106 ID: 91ee5f

>>785043
>Hin. Um. Could we set up a fake shop stall, use her as an npc? We can't put more up than junk at this point, but it could be a chance to gather intel on the adventurer or stall her.
Wouldn't that just encourage the cat girl and/or other adventurers to attack Hin and try to take her stuff for free?

I think it would be a waste of time unless there was a way to prevent that from happening.
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No. 785209 ID: 45b631

I think that stealing from a shop would be cheating, so there is no need to be fair about it. Heady stone plates dropping over the doorway, boss-mode Hin, catapult a fusillade of glue and slime eggs from the walls, drop the ceiling on the whole area if they win. And after all of that their struggle to survive should have been glorious, and you wouldn't keep much more than a basic repair forge, some basic spare equipment, and a supply of consumable restoratives there. I very much like the idea of establishing Hin as a dungeon merchant but it seems really early for that, and I don't know the rules for interaction between denizen and intruder.

Sadly, it seems too involved to use against this attack and Deem is a bit short to justify resupplies. Not to mention that Hin is still recovering. And our best comoddity, restoring the gear that has been tarnished in the trek to reach here, would require equipment that has yet to be constructed.

I wonder if someone can overdose on those potions...
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No. 785476 ID: 804a8c

Vote chicken for dungeon boss! Most dangerous minion, bar none.
>>
No. 789015 ID: d9d492
File 149002001648.png - (40.71KB , 800x550 , everythings_under_control.png )
789015

>You and that chicken are adorable together. You don't have many vitals to peck at and it should be quite clean after its revival so just ignore/hug it.
I am not, it is not and I will not hug anything.

>Well that compass is clearly cheating.
A geomantic compass isn't anything to panic over.

>You made the mistake of angering a fowl beast! Pray that it does not attract a flock to assault you.
What kind of creature do you think that wretched chicken is?!

>Oh and also prepare some food potions in a chest for the brave adventurer.
I suppose it might make her drowsy but no, absolutely not.

>I wonder if someone can overdose on those potions...
If I'm in a position to force-feed someone potions then I've already won!

>Vote chicken for dungeon boss! Most dangerous minion, bar none.
Stop wasting my time with these ridiculous ideas!

>Can you remotely soften some stone on the ceiling such that a layer of gravel will crumble loose and fall down when a bomb goes off nearby? Not to actually compromise the structure, just enough to scare someone who doesn't know geology quite so well as you do into thinking something might be unstable, and thus being more cautious with their explosives.
I cannot. My magic's too slow.

>Can Belphejar cough up an oil slick, or some glue, or expanding foam or something, as a terrain hazard for the entrance hallway?
>Alkaline can make glue and oil! Ask her to make some glue eggs for the others and then spread some oil around the corridor to your heart-chamber.
Not a bad idea, but I don't think I was clear enough. I need to close the entrance to the Heart Chamber right now and seal it so that adventurer goes looking for the key. My golem outside is not going to hold together much longer. Unless I'm abandoning Alkaline on the other side of it, trapping the corridor is no good. Doing something inside might be possible.

"Merud, how's that golem coming?"

"Give me a minute." he mumbles.

"You have fifteen seconds! There's a cat and she's throwing bombs and I don't want her in here until we're ready!"

My golem was just destroyed. Hang in there Chakarchelou. I don't think Reisarf and Stargazer have gotten the chest to its hiding spot yet.

>>Are bombs effective against golems or living creatures?
Golems are resistant unless they have a vulnerable spot, but my golems are not especially tough.
>>
No. 789016 ID: d9d492
File 149002033406.png - (71.11KB , 800x600 , just_go_and_rough_her_up_a_bit_ok.png )
789016

>>The tents and some camp supplies are still set up in the space before the flooded passage too
>Won't she loot them? If we kill her, you get them back. Unless she's nuts enough to blow up everything.
It's a little unpredictable what they'll drop when they die. They're more likely to lose things they've just picked up but it's not guaranteed.

>I guess next time, the sign should clearly state that the dungeon is still under construction and any would be dungeon crawlers should come back some other time.
I'll have some proper dungeon ready by the time there's a next time!

>I think Hin should team up with Belphejar for several reasons: his potions won't be very effect on their own, he know Hin and might as well learn to trust her, and she is the only one crazy enough to subject herself to his side-effects.
"Hin, we need more time. Can you get to the old camp-site with Belphe? It'll back you up."

"Can't we just gang up on this adventurer?" Hin says.

"I want to resolve this like a dungeon, not look like a pack of bandits! I already tried reasoning with her! And if she's strong, Moriko backed by high grade reinforcement is the best defence we can muster! I know this isn't what you're here for, but we need to get rid of her."

Hin shrugs. "OK."

I push her towards the door. "She's got bombs and a grappling hook so she'll be hopping all over the place like a demented gremlin. If you can just wear her down a bit or force her to reveal what other tricks she's got up her sleeve, that's enough. Belphe, enhance Hin as much as you can. Defence first, then more physical enhancements."

Belphe rattles its lid nervously and skitters out after Hin. Merud's door golem rolls shut after them.

>Alkaline's still practically a child and isn't ready for this yet. Even if the resurrection matrix revives her, her childlike mind will be traumatised by the whole ordeal and she'll freeze up any time there's a fight, even practice fights, because she'll be scared of dying again.
Alkaline catches my eye and hoists her big stick out of the shrinking pile of goods being moved into the bedroom.

I take the club off her. "No Alkaline, you'd better stay out of this."

>Alkaline should accompany Merud. He doesn't fight, his golems do, so if we decide not to involve the princess he can escape with her.
"Merud, keep an eye on her would you? I need to set up the Sealing Designation."

"Wat?" Alkaline says.

"It's a magical seal, Alkaline." Merud says to her. "It helps hold the door until the right condition's met." He leads her off, explaining more as he does.

I scrutinise Merud's handiwork with a critical eye. His disc shaped golem waves at me with one undersized limb. I suppose it's technically a door. This will be the most shoddy seal I've ever done.

Chakarchelou didn't go so well. The narrow corridors and bombs were not to his advantage, along with use of that chain claw to cling to the ceiling and evade his counter-attacks. He got one good scorch breath in but that was it. This cat is clearly experienced.
>>
No. 789017 ID: d9d492
File 149002046057.png - (25.68KB , 800x600 , hindered.png )
789017

My sense of an adventurer's position is vague if they're not in combat. The explorer's taken longer to find Hin than I thought she would. After defeating Chakarchelou, I think I heard a tap on the door but she seems to have taken a while to work her way over in the other direction. Paranoid about traps?

From Reisarf and Stargazer I feel they seem to be staying in the flooded passage. What are they up to? My sense of my denizens is quite vague too. Until the earth pulse stirs, they are difficult for me to perceive and my ability to communicate is practically non-existent. At the height of a battle, perhaps, I can give them a little push but that's it the limit of my abilities.

The earth pulse is stirring! My attention fixates on Hin and Belphe, facing off against the invader. My, what a sight.
A stoneskin potion for defence. A good choice, Belphe. A huge boost to toughness at the cost of some speed. But the second enhancement is lacklustre. It looks like it was a simple potion of enlargement but Hin's only a little bigger despite her giant blood. It must have been half baked.

"Nyaha! You with the witch's cauldron! What are you, a troll-wife? Well you're not going to cook me!"

Hin opens her mouth but only a sound like grinding pebbles come out. Belphe's unstabilised potions do have a lot of rough edges after all.

Back in my Heart Chamber, I tap Moriko on the shoulder. "Well, our enemy's an idiot."

>Make sure your heart is hidden so that it's not mistaken for part of the reward the adventurer gets for beating the boss and clearing the dungeon.
It's very difficult to move it at short notice. And I'll be in a lot of trouble if I lose my gold anyway.

>Pffft, ha ha ha ha, yeah right, as if she'll be able to beat a reinforced Moriko all by herself!
I'm not going to take any chances.

>You should serve as support to Moriko.
I'm not sure if that's a good idea. This explorer is strong even if she is an idiot and she knows how to make good use of her tools. This weak golem body is definitely outclassed. I probably am better off focusing my effort on making sure Moriko's prepared.

Moriko sits cross-legged by my Heart. "A fearsome fool then?" The mana is circulating properly through my Heart now, it's built up momentum. It's time to start layering up reinforcement magic.

I've previously practiced a dragon-scales spell on Moriko to improve her toughness and magic resistance. The animated hair I trialled would be effective in deflecting bombs but it unnerved Moriko. There was a golemetry substitute we were going to practice but there just hasn't been time. Aside from that the only thing I've tried with her is a minor physical boost. It may not be wise to experiment too much.

I still haven't seen much of what the invader's capable of, which is worrying. I'm sure she's got some trump card. Hopefully Hin can draw it out so we can prepare a counter-
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No. 789019 ID: d9d492
File 149002055756.png - (26.55KB , 650x750 , lzrd.png )
789019

I hear a reptile screech of utter dismay from the bedroom.

My quasi-dragon bursts into my Heart Chamber, slides drunkenly sideways as he tries to turn ninety degrees on the stone floor and lunges at the golem-door.

It's obvious to me what could cause this sort of desperation. "Chakarchelou," I say, "did you hide your gold somewhere in the tunnel?"

He head-butts the golem serving as a door. "Grrrrrrrronk!" That's a yes. That adventurer must have found it.

"I can't open the door and you're in no condition to fight, Chakarchelou."

"GRRONNK, SKKRONK!"

I don't know how to handle this.
>>
No. 789022 ID: d36af7

Give Chakarchelou one of the satiation potions. Less likely to cause trouble if he's half asleep.
>>
No. 789029 ID: d8f4d2

Can we hide Chakarchelou in the ceiling as a last-ditch ambush attack in case the kitty makes a break for your heart? Giving our lizard an actual plan to attack under might get him focused.
>>
No. 789035 ID: 398fe1

>>789019
Tell him it'll be alright. He can have the gold the adventurer drops when she dies.
>>
No. 789043 ID: 965ca1

You don't need to reinforce moriko's hair. Not only is it a bad idea for personal reasons, it's also overrated.

Give her speed and defense. If it comes down to it, moriko can probably just smack the bombs back at the cat and away from her.
>>
No. 789044 ID: b15da4

We'll work him into the boss fight. Perhaps he can provide a sacrificial power-up to Moriko? We'll call this style Crouching Hammer, Hidden Quasi-Dragon. Whatever this physical boost for Moriko you mentioned is, throw that in too.

Doyle: Use ranged 'splash' attacks to keep kitty off the ceiling and in Hin's range. Lingering potions also reduce her mobility on the ground, counteracting Hin's speed deficit.
Hin: Try using unarmed combat, keep those hands open for bomb deflecting/throwing back. Perhaps even grappling? Anyway, make the mace disappear so it can make a surprise comeback later.

Perhaps Chakarchelou should dig a series of access tunnels, small crawlspaces meant for diminuitive dungeon servitors to spread through out the dungeon when they respawn. Even if adventurers get in, they'll have no room to maneuver while Chakarchelou bites their face off.
>>
No. 789045 ID: 0555b9
789045

Unfortunately, both untrained golemetry and demonic hair would detract from her effectiveness. Try to exhaust her supply on Hin, and Moriko will just have to rely on her earth pulse sense to avoid the rest.
Oh, whoops. In a far off land, near the rim of the sky, the Stoneskin enchantment raises resistance to potion effects as well. In the future, it would be best to apply the size enchantment first.
>>
No. 789077 ID: a363ac

>>789015
Deem just put the chicken in the Boss room with Moriko we swear it will seal her bombs. Also pet your lzrd.
>>
No. 789087 ID: 8d4593

Don't you worry, we'll get it back.
Also, hes quite frisky after being res'd. Maybe he can be sent back out?
>>
No. 789094 ID: 45b631

Can you give Moriko an earth-warping spell? Being able to detatch that grapple or put a little sinkhole under a foot could really help with closing distance. If that wouldn't work, either due to magic limitations or Moriko's experience or whatever, maybe just some basic firebolts from a finger. Going into this without ranged harassment seems like a bad idea.
>>
No. 789112 ID: cdddb5

instead of reinforcing moriko, why not set up some traps in there? Something basic like 'step her, rune goes boom' or something and warn moriko beforehand what they are.
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No. 789121 ID: ba506f

would it be in bad taste to have him jump out and surprise attack the adventure as soon as she opens the door? Tell him he will have to wait here until she opens the door but let him know that she will open the door and he can try and get his gold back then. It would also buy you a few more moments to enhance our boss some more.

But yeah defiantly give her the dragon scales but ask her about the hair. If she's ok with it give it to her, if not the just give her the small physical boast as well.
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No. 789130 ID: 91ee5f

>>789019
Here's an idea to practice later: a team of Chakarchelou and a rider on his back to be the boss fight. Just need to make Chakarchelou big enough to ride on and give enough practice time for whoever is the rider so that they don't get flung off of Chakarchelou.

Too bad we didn't think of this sooner for Moriko to be the rider. You can't do it now because since Moriko didn't get any practice, she might get thrown off.
>>
No. 789133 ID: 91ee5f

>>789130
Also, how well are Hin and Belphe doing against the cat girl? Are they doing any damage to her or is she giving them a hard time?
>>
No. 789137 ID: 7f917c

>>789019
I really must insist that we try to hide a random (read: satiation potion) on her path, she's seems likely to drink random stuff she finds, and she'd probably suffer a negative effect to her coordination and kinesthetic sense.
>>
No. 789140 ID: 91ee5f

>>789137
>satiation potion
Hey, you're right. When the swelling kicks in, she'll be off balance!

What do you think about that idea Deem? XD
>>
No. 789268 ID: d79f26

several things at play, the odds of dropping recent things AND the need to drop gold/valuables to activate the resurrection talisman means odds are good she will drop most of the gold she picked up and then some to pay for the talisman.

anyway, chin scratches to calm him down, then hopefully with the adrenaline going away the rez sickness will hit him and he will want to go so sleep.
>>
No. 789292 ID: b15da4

>>789017
Oh, and... no wonder the earth pulse is a-flutter. You just can't help but admire that imposing stature and chiseled stone skin. Can you, Deem?
>>
No. 789321 ID: d6afc2

>>789019

Satiation potion could helpagainst our overactive quasidragon.
>>
No. 789922 ID: 45b631

Well, it has finally happened! Is it everything you had hoped? Are you getting plenty of mana from this struggle?
Oh! but you will need to give up some of your gold for Char's horde. And all that mana is leaking out of your heart! If you don't spend it now it will just be wasted! You need to expand, and summon more golems, and weaken the earth for mining, and sense ores. But Moriko needs boss mode Now! All your mana is pouring out as you think! Panic panic panic panic pnanic!!!
>>
No. 790255 ID: 45b631

You could leave some slime eggs around. Make some delicious ones for Moriko to use and some glue ones for when the adventurer decides to be clever and use a healing egg for themselves...
>>
No. 790445 ID: 3abd97

>It's a little unpredictable what they'll drop when they die. They're more likely to lose things they've just picked up but it's not guaranteed.
Where does the stuff go when someone dies, if it isn't still there with their body? Adventurers get magic inventories for stuff?

>I'll have some proper dungeon ready by the time there's a next time!
Unless there's someone else not far behind this one.

>Chakarchelou didn't go so well.
>Hey Hin you wanna go get killed stalling for me
Our poor minions.

>>789017
Tried but true is probably better for Moriko than chancy innovation, or things that throw her off. She fights with skill, you want to allow her to leverage that.

>>789019
Well at least your resurrection chamber is fast. It's been only minutes since he got blown up.

Get your slime to cuddle him into submission.
>>
No. 790524 ID: 45b631

I believe that adventurers do not leave corpses unless they fail to bring a charm, or maybe if they don't have enough to pay for it? Could we mug people into a permanent grave if we feel the need? Like if they set up a pool at your entrance, bring enough charms to last for years, and have a stated goal of using your heart as the centrepiece of a new revival pool in the middle of a sky temple?
>>
No. 790580 ID: d79f26

>>790524
if that happened we would send someone out the service entrance and blow the pool up. also charms last forever, you just use money to power them.
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No. 794997 ID: d9d492
File 149191212876.png - (31.79KB , 800x550 , crisis_management.png )
794997

I don't have time for this.

>I really must insist that we try to hide a random item (read: satiation potion) on the cat's path, she's seems likely to drink random stuff she finds, and she'd probably suffer a negative effect to her coordination and kinaesthetic sense.
I refuse.

>What do you think about that idea Deem? XD
Don't make stupid faces at me.

>He's quite frisky after being res'd. Maybe he can be sent back out?
I'd prefer not to. Multiple resurrections in quick succession drains health.

>Give Chakarchelou one of the satiation potions. Less likely to cause trouble if he's half asleep.
Fine. If someone's going to drink one of these it can be him. I get my fractious quasidragon in a headlock and force a potion down his throat.

>Anyway, chin scratches to calm him down, then hopefully with the adrenaline going away the rez sickness will hit him and he will want to go so sleep.
>Tell him it'll be alright. He can have the gold the adventurer drops when she dies.
I turn the headlock into a hug to scratch Chakarchelou's chin and reassure him that he'll definitely get his gold back and he did a good job fighting. Now he's lying on the ground, making lizard snores. I'll have to drag him to the bedroom.

>Here's an idea to practice later: a team of Chakarchelou and a rider on his back to be the boss fight. Just need to make Chakarchelou big enough to ride on and give enough practice time for whoever is the rider so that they don't get flung off of Chakarchelou.
I will have to try that. Later.

>How well are Hin and Belphe doing against the cat girl? Are they doing any damage to her or is she giving them a hard time?
The cat's aggressive. Belphe's been tipped over. It was trying to spread some patches of hazardous liquid but the adventurer used her bombs. She forced Hin and Belphe to split up then went in for the kill. Experienced, clearly. She's got some sort of cleansing wind spell to dispel curses too. Seems it'd be effective protection against gas attacks and some water attacks. I'm not surprised. Solo adventurers need to be survivable.

Now Hin and the explorer are now having trouble doing much damage to each other. Hin's having trouble catching the cat since the stoneskin's made her clumsier but in return the cat's having trouble hurting her. It seems she usually relies on the firepower of her bombs. Ultimately that's in my favour - she can't carry an unlimited supply of bombs and I need the time to prepare my final boss.

The cat's keeping up a flurry of questions and observations but that's progressing about as much - Hin's been silenced by a side effect of the stoneskin potion.

Endure it, Hin!
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No. 794998 ID: d9d492
File 149191241439.png - (25.93KB , 800x500 , never_trust_anything_that_smiles_all_the_time.png )
794998

>Oh, whoops. In a far off land, near the rim of the sky, the Stoneskin enchantment raises resistance to potion effects as well. In the future, it would be best to apply the size enchantment first.
Stoneskin only gives physical resistance and a little advantage against things that would affect flesh. It was just a weaker than expected potion. Two potions is about Belphe's limit by the looks of things.

>Oh, and... no wonder the earth pulse is a-flutter. You just can't help but admire that imposing stature and chiselled stone skin. Can you, Deem?
Of course. I have excellent minions! I feel the earth-pulse slowly strengthening as I watch.

Pairing Hin and Belphe has been effective because her Giant Blood is most useful when there's strengthening spells available. Unfortunately I picked Hin as a blacksmith, not a fighter and this is starting to show why. She's having trouble closing the gap now. She can be efficiently strengthened but she doesn't know any special techniques for combat. So she has raw strength and toughness but she doesn't many options to surprise her opponent or to vary her attacks. Hin might take time to wear down but she's got little chance for an upset.

The cat on the other hand...

Bombs have all but vanished - the cat must have decided to conserve them, keeping up a flurry of grapple shots and darting in and out again for attacks. Hin's getting frustrated from the chip attacks and trying to catch her acrobatic, talkative foe. I think this was the plan, the cat's smarter than she looks. Hin overextends and suddenly the grapple latches onto Hin's foot. My off balance half ogre is tripped.

Out comes another bomb at last, tossed with an underhand throw. Wait, magic! The cat pumps power into her bomb and taps her thumb into her closed fist.

"Detonation!"

The bomb skids into Hin's side and explodes with several times its usual force. Hin's defeated.

The cat decided to spend mana to save time and bombs. Explorers like this are painful to plan around, since they typically have various tools and speciality equipment and tend to learn a handful of rote spells as well. Frequently weird ones. I suspect this spell would work on any object she's touched but obviously bombs work better.

The fight's over, but I am able to cling on to the location of the adventurer this time. The fight damaged the tent Hin was hiding in but I had my golem pack everything else into a hole and then deactivate on top of it to protect it. I will be annoyed if she finds it but I suppose I'll be compensated by the time she had to spend searching.
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No. 795000 ID: d9d492
File 149191255438.png - (16.21KB , 800x600 , spooksarf.png )
795000

No, she's taken just a moment to recuperate and found Reisarf in the flooded passage.

Ah, that's what he was doing staying down here. He's made three ice platforms he can stand on to fire spells at her while she has to trudge through waist deep water. The timing's going to be very tricky to bomb him without it just sliding off into the water. And if he would be hit by an attack, his Spatial Warp is likely to trigger and teleport him to another platform instead.

Clever boy.

I don't see Stargazer though. She must be hiding in the dark water using Independent Action. She had to use it to carry the boss key chest up to the end of the passage so it makes sense. Is that his replacement spellcasting focus? It looks like a toy.

I'm not sure if there's still a chance of the warp dumping him in the water too. It should try to deposit him on safe ground in range but is water safe? That might be another reason to lurk.

The earth-pulse is stirring! This fight should be something!

"Nyaaah! I don't trust finding a kid in such a creepy place! I'm going to beat you up!"

The cat doesn't let the unfair circumstances phase her, hooking the ceiling when she can to pull herself quickly forward and even diving under water for protection from the scatter-shot magic missile blasts of Reisarf's Stray Illume.
>>
No. 795003 ID: d9d492
File 149191280133.png - (21.94KB , 800x500 , oh_there_she_is.png )
795003

Haha, there she is! Reisarf used his Evil Eye instead and, in the moment of paralysis, Stargazer bursts out of the water behind the explorer.

My alienist was speaking too mildly when he said Stargazer can make simple forms bigger. What am I looking at here, a ten foot long eel? And she has a mouth after all. And teeth.

Those teeth try to clamp down on the arm with the claw gauntlet!

Mana flow from the cat then secondary activation. She's used a magic item. A vaguely humanoid faceted crystalline shell appears around her. Stargazer clamps down and then shudders - she can't bite through it.

"Bad fishie! You can't eat me!" The cat starts punching Stargazer with her barrier encrusted free hand.

It's as I thought. I don't think Reisarf and Stargazer can win this.

It was a good use of the flooded passage but the difference in strength is too much. That barrier's strong. And, hmmm, yes it blocks curses as well. Reisarf just tried to curse her. It must be expensive to use in terms of mana.

Stargazer silently sinks back into the water. Several seconds later the vaguely cat like crystalline shape turns back into the adventurer. It clearly can't be quickly switched off so I assume there's a delay before it can be reapplied. If she can conserve its use well she should be able to shrug off Reisarf's stronger spells, she has her cleansing wind to counter his curses and an implication I didn't properly consider at the time is she can also use Detonation to make her bombs explode in mid air. I think the wind spell might be able to knock the water back briefly too. I'm glad they found out about the barrier and they'll definitely soften her up though.

"What do you taste like?!" the explorer says.

Oh, she's biting Stargazer now!

"Stargazer!" Reisarf says.

"Bleagh, how do you like that?!"
>>
No. 795005 ID: d9d492
File 149191304191.png - (44.41KB , 800x500 , yes_i_can_make_a_boss_out_of_you.png )
795005

I don't have much time left now. I'm confident in Moriko's victory but I can't get careless. I need to finalise what options I'm applying.

>Deem just put the chicken in the Boss room with Moriko we swear it will seal her bombs.
That chicken is going to be victory dinner if you don't shut up!

>Instead of reinforcing moriko, why not set up some traps in there? Something basic like 'step her, rune goes boom' or something and warn Moriko beforehand what they are.
I can only really cast golemetry and reinforcement on short notice like this.

>Give her speed and defense. If it comes down to it, Moriko can probably just smack the bombs back at the cat and away from her.
Yes, with that and her mobility, Moriko should be hard to bomb. That detonation spell is a concern though. She has the dragon scales spell but maybe I should consider improving her defence further.

>Whatever this physical boost for Moriko you mentioned is, throw that in too.
It's difficult for me to boost her raw attributes as she's much higher level than me so I settled for making her about Hin's height during the practice run.

>Definitely give her the dragon scales but ask her about the hair.
"How do you feel about that hair animation spell?" I say to her. "I think it would be useful for deflection and to bind up that cat. I know I said there was a golemetry option but we haven't had time to try it."

Merud pipes up. "Actually, while we were travelling to town and back, we practised it a little! If you'd like me to control it, I think it's polished enough to be usable."

It's good they've been so proactive but this also annoys me for some reason! I don't have the time to pin it down.

>Can you give Moriko an earth-warping spell? Being able to detach that grapple or put a little sinkhole under a foot could really help with closing distance. If that wouldn't work, either due to magic limitations or Moriko's experience or whatever, maybe just some basic firebolts from a finger. Going into this without ranged harassment seems like a bad idea.
I have two simple options I can think of. One's a tremor - I can have Moriko create a shockwave through the ground, either targeted or omnidirectional. The main weakness is it can be jumped over. The other is a missile enhancement - it'll add force to projectiles she hits with her hammer. I'll need to give her some stone balls to shoot.

It seems the biggest danger is the cat's detonation spell and whatever last tricks she might have up her sleeve. I don't think the barrier's much to be concerned about - Moriko doesn't have any single strong attacks and the cleansing wind will just be a gust of wind.

So the last decisions are do I want to give Moriko a ranged attack, do I want to use the animated hair or this cloth golem Merud has worked on and is there anything else I should fine-tune or add?
>>
No. 795011 ID: 63e337

>>795005
cloth golem.
about the ranged attack, i like the counter attack option.
>>
No. 795013 ID: ba506f

Give the cloth golem a once over and let her use that. I mean the whole reason we brought Merud along was to help take some of the weight off you when dealing with dungeon things and helping you save time and magic buy helping buff up some of your minions does help. Plus it would probably be easier on Moriko since she wouldn't be freaked out by the golem as she would be with the hair letting her focus more.
>>
No. 795016 ID: d79f26

what would happen if the force spell is overlaid on the detonation spell?
>>
No. 795026 ID: 70983e

You do realize Merud, this will make you a target during the fight. Likely before Moriko, too. I just wanted to make sure you're aware of that. Okay, do it.
That cleansing wind won't dispel reinforcements, right? Or have any unintended effect on someone with curse ancestry?
Go with the missile option and make a neat little stack of cannonballs for her use. In a pinch, your head could also be used as a projectile.
The best counter to an explosion is another explosion, unless Moriko can hit it out of the air before Detonate finishes. Can you do that? Can Moriko explode, twice?
>>
No. 795036 ID: 8d4593

Form a hiding spot for Moriko to spring from when the cat enters.
Enlarge the chicken.
When the cat opens the door, she will only see a really big chicken. When she inevitably starts talking shit to it, Moriko can spring from cover for the first strike.
>>
No. 795037 ID: 031add

Instruct her not to try to catch or even deflect the bombs just dodge, and be wary for the adventurer using the wind spell to change the bombs direction mid-air.
>>
No. 795039 ID: 398fe1

>>795005
Merud is the weak link in this coming fight, I think. If he controls the hair it'll be difficult for him to defend himself, won't it? I'm thinking he should play to his strengths and use the cloth golem. That'll give us a good example of how he fares in a straight up fight, which will allow us to use him more effectively in the future.
>>
No. 795049 ID: 9917c4

That cat has worn out her welcome. Share everything you've learned with Moriko, so she has an advantage while you increase moriko's toughness even further.

If nothing else merud/thrown chicken can be useful for either interrupting the cat or providing moriko an opportunity to get some hits in.
>>
No. 795115 ID: 3abd97

A personal shield, bombs, grappling hook, wind magic, exploding magic, speed... it seems like she's higher level than any of our guys. Or at least, she has a way more versatile tool-kit. None of ours are really specced for soloing a dungeon.

>detonation spells tricks
Things to be aware of and/or to be prepared to counter:

*Cat being desperate enough to detonate her grapple after grabbing your boss. The hook is harder to dodge.
*Detonating the surface she's standing on or touching (part of the floor, or the wall). Could allow her to attack even when she wouldn't otherwise be able to, to functionally set invisible mines.
*Using explosions to propel herself
*Attempting to detonate pieces of Moriko's equipment
*Detonating a handful of dust or sand as a blinding attack rather than an attack-attack (being able to shield her eyes in a hurry might be necessary)

Honestly, yeah, making sure Moriko can tank a surprise blast or few is probably needed. There will be one.

>I feel the earth-pulse slowly strengthening as I watch.
Deem likes to watch.

>That chicken is going to be victory dinner if you don't shut up!
The body won't disappear when it respawns? Cool, renewable food source. And a perpetually annoyed minion.

>do I want to use the animated hair or this cloth golem Merud has worked on
Is either going to get ruined by say, a bomb going off, or being cut with wind?

Honestly, if you put Moriko off balance with the enchantment she's not comfortable with, the cat is good enough to exploit that. The problem is: if we use Merud, how do we keep her from just taking him out? Does he need to see to control this spell? Can he operate from another room? Can you control it? Does it get wired to just follow Moriko's lead?

>omnidirectional shockwave
Actually, since you know your enemy relies on the grapple for mobility? An attack designed specifically to foul or loose the grapple's hold on things could be used to slip her up at a crucial moment. It would have to work on more than just the floor, though. (A pulse across the stone in the room, the stone stills and smooths, turning frictionless).
>>
No. 795116 ID: d79f26

on the flip side, that shield is something moriko actually can deal with herself with her ability "Hollow the Mountain" assuming she can even activate it without moriko being able to use her "Break the Flow"

and if she keeps the fight in close she can prevent most bombs unless the cat is crazy and lets the splash damage hit her.
>>
No. 795463 ID: 7f917c

Be ready to bribe the adventurer with a potion in case she goes for your heart.
>>
No. 795490 ID: 0555b9

>>795463
Before you reject this outright: It's your knocker potions or your life. Just let her take the potion.
>>
No. 795497 ID: cdddb5

hrrm. I'm inclined to give Moriko the projectile attack, since that pesky kitty seems to like hiding on the ceiling as a defensive measure, and with her using bombs and that grappling hook, she's fine fighting from range, moriko would have to close the gap.
The quake stomp sounds fun but honestly that cat's reliant on dodging-she's not going to stand her ground if she can help it so we don't need that power. The hair thing...It WOULD be viable if it weren't for that Detonation trick the cat has, but since she has it it means unpredictable explosion times that would render that sort of defense mostly useless.
A ranged attack to force her into the crystal state seems best-since she can't really move in crystal form, it should allow Moriko to close in and attack, and from there, kitty gets mauled unless she gets away, in which case she gets pelted some more.
>>
No. 795748 ID: 031add

What we need to do is trick the cat into grappling one of them and then grab and hold the chain, this way the only way the cat can use it is to drag herself in a perfectly straight line into melee range.
>>
No. 795990 ID: d9d492
File 149223736483.png - (27.13KB , 800x560 , dragging_dragons.png )
795990

I start dragging Chakarchelou to the bedroom. Need to get my Heart Chamber cleared. Why are you so heavy, Chakarchelou? I think I'll need my other golem to help. Moriko starts to get up to help me.

"Stay down!" I say. I pause. "Ah, ahem. Please sit still so I can finish up the magic I'm using on you."

>Form a hiding spot for Moriko to spring from when the cat enters. Enlarge the chicken. When the cat ope-
No.

>Be ready to bribe the adventurer with a potion in case she goes for your heart.
Unnecessary!

>Give the cloth golem a once over and let her use that. I mean the whole reason we brought Merud along was to help take some of the weight off you when dealing with dungeon things and helping you save time and magic buy helping buff up some of your minions does help. Plus it would probably be easier on Moriko since she wouldn't be freaked out by the golem as she would be with the hair letting her focus more.
That's all true. "Merud, get out your golem then!" I say to him. "Our invader has a spell to set off her bombs early so we might not get much use out of it, but let's see how it performs."

>You do realise Merud, this will make you a target during the fight. Likely before Moriko, too. I just wanted to make sure you're aware of that.
No, he'll control it from the bedroom. The headache is simply that the golem would be attached to Moriko but not actually under her control. This is why I wanted to practice it with her and me. Moriko and the golem's controller won't have much ability to communicate.

>What would happen if the force spell is overlaid on the detonation spell?
The bomb would be travelling fast when it explodes. It simply adds to a projectile's momentum.

>Hrrm. I'm inclined to give Moriko the projectile attack, since that pesky kitty seems to like hiding on the ceiling as a defensive measure, and with her using bombs and that grappling hook, she's fine fighting from range, Moriko would have to close the gap.
>The quake stomp sounds fun but honestly that cat's reliant on dodging-she's not going to stand her ground if she can help it so we don't need that power.
Right, it's going to be hard to catch her with the shockwave. Projectile enhancement it is then.

>That cleansing wind won't dispel reinforcements, right? Or have any unintended effect on someone with curse ancestry?
There's no way it could possibly budge my magic. It shouldn't affect Moriko's demon blood either.
>>
No. 795991 ID: d9d492
File 149223747194.png - (25.85KB , 800x500 , pep_talk.png )
795991

>A personal shield, bombs, grappling hook, wind magic, exploding magic, speed... it seems like she's higher level than any of our guys. Or at least, she has a way more versatile tool-kit. None of ours are really specced for soloing a dungeon.
I'd say she's weaker than Moriko, even before reinforcement, but Moriko's more focused and does not own any magic items.

>>Things to be aware of and/or to be prepared to counter:
>*Cat being desperate enough to detonate her grapple after grabbing your boss. The hook is harder to dodge.
>*Detonating the surface she's standing on or touching (part of the floor, or the wall). Could allow her to attack even when she wouldn't otherwise be able to, to functionally set invisible mines.
>*Using explosions to propel herself
>*Attempting to detonate pieces of Moriko's equipment
>*Detonating a handful of dust or sand as a blinding attack rather than an attack-attack (being able to shield her eyes in a hurry might be necessary)
>Honestly, yeah, making sure Moriko can tank a surprise blast or few is probably needed. There will be one.
So many things to look out for. That spell's surprisingly versatile!

>That cat has worn out her welcome. Share everything you've learned with Moriko, so she has an advantage while you increase Moriko's toughness even further.
I have been keeping up some commentary as the fights have progressed but I make sure to specifically warn Moriko about some of the possible uses of her abilities. I've made sure to put plenty of power into the dragon scale spell.

>And if she keeps the fight in close she can prevent most bombs unless the cat is crazy and lets the splash damage hit her.
"The most important thing is watch out for her detonate spells and try to keep on top of her so she can't use her bombs easily."

>Instruct her not to try to catch or even deflect the bombs just dodge, and be wary for the adventurer using the wind spell to change the bombs direction mid-air.
"And it's probably better to dodge rather than catch or deflect her bombs, since she can set them off early. It might be worthwhile despite the risk though - she can't take nearly as much damage as you can."

>Deem likes to watch.
That reminds me!

"Oh, and one last thing! This is the final battle, so make sure you set the right mood."

Moriko looks at me. "...Set the right mood?"

How should I say this? It needs to be dramatic! To draw in full investment. To properly rouse the earth pulse, emotions should run high! She has to know how to present herself. I need to give Moriko some advice quickly, there's not long until that cat comes back.
>>
No. 795994 ID: cfe4f0

This is really your domain isn't it, Deem? Final boss-fights need terrain actively working as an attack in Moriko's benefit. I'm thinking surprise detonations, rockfalls, pitfalls, stalactite and stalagmite eruptions, and such.

Also, Moriko herself should be customarily cold and classy, but mysterious evil voices coming from random directions to taunt the catgirl and mess with her concentration is a great thing to put in a bossfight confrontation.
>>
No. 795995 ID: 7f917c

>>795991
Easy there Deem, you're only just starting out, no need for cutscenes or dialogue yet. I guess she could say something about declawing a cat..? (don't ever declaw your cats tho)

You could also tell Mori to hang onto a satiation potion for loot drops.
>>
No. 795999 ID: 91ee5f

>>795990
Uh oh. I think I see some swelling on Chakarchelou. Are you sure you didn't misidentify Chakarchelou's gender and he's actually a she?
>>
No. 796002 ID: 70983e

The cat's a very poor listener. She's probably going deaf from all those concussions. Strike a pose, then lunge when she comes in. Speech should consist of demands to submit. Perform the coup de grace with poise and grace.
>>
No. 796015 ID: ba506f

>How should I say this? It needs to be dramatic! To draw in full investment. To properly rouse the earth pulse, emotions should run high! She has to know how to present herself.
well the easiest way to explain it to her would probably to be to compare the dungeon to a dojo. She is the final boss so in a way she is like the master of a dojo and as such she not only represents herself but also the dungeon as a whole.

Now the thing I'm having trouble with is what theme we're exactly trying to go with here? I mean we literally just threw people at the cat girl to buy time with no real planning or reason other then to stale for time. But seeing as all the "major" battles so far have been your golem clone, a "troll witch" and her cauldron, a "creepy boy and his pet monster", and now what will probably look like a half dragon warrior or something like that the only thing I can honestly think of to tie everything together would be something like... hell I don't know, that this is a cave of exiles. Folk who were not accepted anywhere else so they banded together here and Moriko is these place's founder and guardian.

Or if that's to much just have Moriko glare hard at the cat girl when she enters and have her act like the cat girl has intruded on holy ground that she was protecting and then have her fight the cat girl off. Sorry but that's the most I can think of in such short notice.
>>
No. 796023 ID: d79f26

just explain she needs to make the this FEEL like it's the final battle. some "you have done well to make it this far, but you shall meet your end here. for i am moriko, hammerai master!" and then she needs to strike an intimidating pose.
>>
No. 796025 ID: 398fe1

>>795991
Tell her she just needs to be intimidating, and give a good opening phrase before the fight starts. That'll give enough time for the boss title graphic to show up.

Better keep it short. This adventurer seems like the impatient type.
>>
No. 796441 ID: d9d492
File 149241948171.png - (23.16KB , 800x550 , cat_attack.png )
796441

>Easy there Deem, you're only just starting out, no need for cutscenes or dialogue yet.
I need something!

>Now the thing I'm having trouble with is what theme we're exactly trying to go with here? I mean we literally just threw people at the cat girl to buy time with no real planning or reason other then to stale for time. But seeing as all the "major" battles so far have been your golem clone, a "troll witch" and her cauldron, a "creepy boy and his pet monster", and now what will probably look like a half dragon warrior or something like that the only thing I can honestly think of to tie everything together would be something like... hell I don't know, that this is a cave of exiles. Folk who were not accepted anywhere else so they banded together here and Moriko is these place's founder and guardian.
A theme will emerge! I'm not sure how popular that one would be with my various minions. I, I don't need to be beholden to such things at such an early stage!

>Well the easiest way to explain it to her would probably to be to compare the dungeon to a dojo. She is the final boss so in a way she is like the master of a dojo and as such she not only represents herself but also the dungeon as a whole.
"Think as if you've got someone challenging your dojo. You are representing more than just yourself. You're representing the dungeon as a whole!"

Moriko looks concerned. "But what am I representing? Nothing is finished. This is a hole in the mountain's side."

"..." I'm betrayed! H-how unspeakably cruel, Moriko!

She closes her eyes. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for."

>Tell her she just needs to be intimidating, and give a good opening phrase before the fight starts. That'll give enough time for the boss title graphic to show up.
Grr, I don't have much time. I move towards the bedroom door. "Look, there's no time! Just be intimidating and make sure you say something good before the fight starts!"

I almost cut it too fine. I close the door, check it's properly sealed and then the door-golem gives a strange noise and rolls aside. Our invader bursts in.

Here she is.
>>
No. 796442 ID: d9d492
File 149241963446.png - (42.40KB , 550x850 , all_final_bosses_get_them.png )
796442

>Better keep it short. This adventurer seems like the impatient type.
The cat speaks first, before she's even skidded to a halt. She stares at Moriko's dragon scaled and otherwise reinforced form and grins.

"As I suspected! This is a rocks, lizards and spooky things dungeon!"

"You..." Moriko says. "You should not have come here. You are trespassing in this place. You have made it this far, but you will go no further. I, Moriko Aritawa, shall bar your way. Unless you intend to make an offering of yourself to the hungry earth, turn back at once." Funny, when she was fighting me she boasted about her fighting style.

"Nyaha, of course I should have come here! My compass points to ADVENTURE! I'll take your gold and buy an offering of fish for my hungry stomach!"

"So be it then." The earth-pulse surges. Behind the cat, the golem-door rolls shut and the Sealing Designation seals it shut. I hope it's strong enough. For an enemy destruction keyed door, weak ones can be forced by using a bomb. A boss strength one shouldn't be able to be overridden like that but this is makeshift at best. Her breaking into the bedroom here would be bad too.

In this one small room, I have Merud concentrating on his ribbon-golem at the door, Chakarchelou's taking up valuable floor space sleeping, Alkaline's following me around and Belphejar's hiding next to the Resurrection Matrix feeling sorry for itself. Maybe I should give Belphe something to drink to perk it up a little.

>Uh oh. I think I see some swelling on Chakarchelou. Are you sure you didn't misidentify Chakarchelou's gender and he's actually a she?
I'm quite sure! Maybe it affects lizards differently! Lizards don't need to eat very much, maybe it was too much food?
>>
No. 796443 ID: d9d492
File 149241970349.png - (23.85KB , 800x600 , ill_refrain_from_the_obvious_puns.png )
796443

No, we have another resident. Power is squeezed through my Resurrection Matrix again, pulling Hin out of her state of limbo and flooding its interior with healing magic.

The lid of the sarcophagus inches open and Hin slouches out. She tries to speak, groans, clears her throat and then tries again. "Hey, Deem. I have a problem." Her horns have grown out. Her hair looks a little longer too. She looks worn out but that's to be expected.

"Uh, hmmm. I think the Matrix needs a little fine-tuning." I tell her. If the magic's not been absorbed properly it can spill over a little like that.

"Ah, great." she coughs weakly. That cough is still not gone? What on earth was Belphe eating to hit her with such a persistent effect. She tugs at a horn and grunts to herself. I'm not sure she has anything to cut it down if she normally grinds them down.

I feel awkward, should I be doing something here?
>>
No. 796444 ID: 7f917c

>>796443
Order her to rest. Maybe a potion if she insists, but normal food is recommended.
>>
No. 796446 ID: cfe4f0

Of course you should, you need to run the terrain hazards, don't you?
>>
No. 796447 ID: 48237d

First you should complement Hin's performance. And tell her how inspired you got from her rocky look.
Isn't an alchemy set one of the supplies Moriko and Merud bough?
As soon as you get the chance you should make some remedy for Hin. Until then she got to rest.
The booby potion may be necessary, but you know it will completely break Merud's concentration.
>>
No. 796448 ID: 1e7aa8

Uh. Hm. Okay. First of all, confidence. Secondly, ask her if she feels okay aside from being worn out.
>>
No. 796449 ID: ba506f

>>796443
order her to rest, maybe give her another one of those potions if you got any left. talk to Belphe as well and let him know he did well for his first fight and see if you can't figure out what he was munching on before he got here. Not sure how well that little investigation will pan out but hey, if we can figure something out it would go a long way to figuring out how to counter it.

Oh and I guess pay attention to the fight as well.
>>
No. 796450 ID: 5792da

>>796443
Compliment her horns! They're very becoming. And menacing!
>>
No. 796451 ID: 5792da

>>796443
Also, Boss music. Can't forget the boss music.
>>
No. 796452 ID: 5b93d3

>>796443
Don't mention the horns, Hin went out of her way to hide them and her nature. While complimenting her performance is good, don't push it too far, Hin is here because she wants to use her skills as a Blacksmith, not as a heavy.
We don't have time for potion brewing right this minute. Have Hin sit in front of you can comb/brain her hair. That should calm her down and help her rest, and emphasize the "there is only one change with your head we are paying attention to" factor.
>>
No. 796454 ID: 2120ee

>>796443
Hit Hin with some slime hugs, stat!

The fact that Alkaline will probably climb all over her and grab her horns is just bonus.
>>
No. 796468 ID: f1a4b6

>>796452
Second.
>>
No. 796478 ID: 398fe1

>>796452
Hin hasn't been hiding her nature. Her skin's blue for chrissakes. You're thinking of Moriko.

>>796443
Tell her she can leave her horns long if she wants. It's not like she's living in a human town anymore. Does she prefer them short? Maybe they could be cut down.
>>
No. 796498 ID: 9a7777

Make some stone tools for her to cut down the horns. With the mana pulse beating so strongly, you can add a little flourish to the design, maybe even commemorate her first dungeon battle with an etching of her reinforced form.

Now gently caress her by the horns.
>>
No. 796504 ID: 91ee5f

>>796442
>I'm quite sure! Maybe it affects lizards differently! Lizards don't need to eat very much, maybe it was too much food?
If it was too much, then you just made him fat.
>>
No. 796507 ID: 9a7777

Reisarf and Stargazer are okay, right? And later you should probably ask Doyle about his diet, or look up what exactly is in those giant frogs.
>>
No. 796513 ID: da1652

>>796443
the matrix 'healed' her trimmed hair, horns (probably fingernails?) and the traces of illness that remained, as the illness is also alive.
>>
No. 796547 ID: 3abd97

>A theme will emerge! I'm not sure how popular that one would be with my various minions.
I agree, branding yourself the island of misfit toys would be bad for morale.

>This is a rocks, lizards and spooky things dungeon!
Well, I guess a theme emerged.

>Funny, when she was fighting me she boasted about her fighting style.
That was a job interview. She was representing herself. Now, she's representing you. That was well done, she's got good dramatic instincts. (And remember, telling her what she did right or well after the fight is important. She wants your approval, and validation).

>>796443
Her hair looks flat, like it's badly in need of a shampoo, too. And she's got bags under her eyes too.

>I feel awkward, should I be doing something here?
Yes, you've got a minion who went outside her job description without hesitation and is now uncomfortable. She deserves positive reinforcement for the first, and sympathy and comfort for the later.

"Thank you, Hin. I know that wasn't what you signed up for, but you helped buy enough time for us to set up."

Could you make... a little hair cutting golem? Short of that, just offering a comb (and possible assistance) might be enough of a gesture.

You can ask if she want to keep the horns, but keep it neutral. Don't push either way. If she wants them off, you can offer some kind of assistance.

Is there anything you can do to aid your boss fight at this point?

Did Alien and Alienist survive their battle, or is it about to get even more crowded in here?
>>
No. 796596 ID: f66698

Deem, I know you wont want to but really, what you need to do right now is hug Hin and say "thank you". She just put herself out there for you. She didn't do it because she feels the earth pulse or wants to run the best dungeon, she did it for you, and you need to remind her she's not just a minion, she's family.
>>
No. 796737 ID: d36af7

Thank Hin specifically for buying you enough time to set up Moriko's enhancements, and the intel about that detonation spell. Tell her that she's done a good day's work - maybe not the best at the fighting, but well enough, that's not what she's here for anyway - and needs rest.

Add a hair-and-nail salon to the low priority to-do list for excavation and construction.
>>
No. 796740 ID: 094652

Send her out as support, maybe you can intimidate the cat into thinking there's an army of grouchy, trigger-happy mages!
>>
No. 796741 ID: 398fe1

Is it possible that the "curse" is a disease? Biological in nature, not magical?
>>
No. 796758 ID: d9d492
File 149259827892.png - (37.38KB , 800x500 , bedroom_party.png )
796758

>Her hair looks flat, like it's badly in need of a shampoo, too. And she's got bags under her eyes too.
Resurrection is rough on the body. I'm told it gets easier.

>First you should complement Hin's performance. And tell her how inspired you got from her rocky look.
"I couldn't have gotten ready without the time you bought. And you certainly looked the part out there." I say to encourage her. "Stoneskin suits you."

She shakes her head. "You saw that? All I did was flail around trying to catch that cat and get blown up."

"You wore down her health, her bombs and her mana, and found out about her detonation spell. I couldn't have asked any more out of you. I only wish I'd been able to warn Reisarf about it."

"...She's the most annoying person I've ever met." Hin says.

"Another important discovery!"

>Is it possible that the "curse" is a disease? Biological in nature, not magical?
I don't understand the distinction you're making.

>Could you make... a little hair cutting golem? Short of that, just offering a comb (and possible assistance) might be enough of a gesture.
>As soon as you get the chance you should make some remedy for Hin. Until then she got to rest.
>The booby potion may be necessary, but you know it will completely break Merud's concentration.
It is called a potion of satiation! And I have professionals, thank you very much! Maybe I'll present the potion as an option. It was effective in treating the symptoms of her cough, I don't want to risk a relapse.

"But I should let you rest. Can I get you anything? Some food, a comb, scissors? Maybe a nail file, or a rasp. Something to drink or one of the satiation potions?"

"Ah, just a comb and one of those potions sounds good." Hin coughs.

Maybe I shouldn't have made the offer. Belphe shifts agitatedly as I pull the potion out from our stores then settles down with a metallic whine as I hand it over to Hin. "Be careful, there's some swelling."

She predictably sculls it, stretches and and gives a huge yawn. "Ah, that's better." The side effects start to kick in. Hin hurriedly sheds her apron and starts loosening the strings on her vest to accommodate them. "Some swelling huh, Deem?"

"I did warn you!"

Hin examines her burgeoning bustline. "Can I keep them?"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

"Could you keep it down?" Merud calls from where he's sitting next to the bedroom door. "I'm trying to concentrate."

"Hahahahaha, oh Deem you're too easy to mess with." Hin says.

>Talk to Belphe as well and let him know he did well for his first fight and see if you can't figure out what he was munching on before he got here.
While Hin re-laces her vest, I check with Doyle about what it eat recently before I tamed it. Frogs, tadpoles, berries, glowing moss, willow tree bark, a leather boot, slimy mud, some eggs, a giant toadstool, witchetty grubs, wild ginger, a snake and thirteen types of beetle. Oh, and Stargazer. None of those seem like obvious culprits to me for a persistent cough.

>Maybe it affects lizards differently! Lizards don't need to eat very much, maybe it was too much food?
>If it was too much, then you just made Chakarchelou fat.
One dose of far too much food shouldn't have any long term effects.
>>
No. 796759 ID: d9d492
File 149259845569.png - (31.35KB , 600x800 , hughin.png )
796759

>Deem, I know you wont want to but really, what you need to do right now is hug Hin and say "thank you". She just put herself out there for you. She didn't do it because she feels the earth pulse or wants to run the best dungeon, she did it for you, and you need to remind her she's not just a minion, she's family.
That's not the sort of thing I do, I shouldn't... I don't really... rrrr... you're right. All I have to do is raise my arms up and wrap them around a living thing. That isn't so bad. I've hugged Alkaline. Hin is partially a creature of the earth-pulse too. I can do this.

I hug Hin.

Snug. Hrm, perhaps I should have done this sooner. Still, here I am. "Thanks Hin. I know this isn't what you're here for. It means a lot to me."

She accepts my awkward attempts at hugging and pats me on the back. "I appreciate it."

>Compliment her horns! They're very becoming. And menacing!
>Don't mention the horns, Hin went out of her way to hide them and her nature. While complimenting her performance is good, don't push it too far, Hin is here because she wants to use her skills as a Blacksmith, not as a heavy.
>Tell her she can leave her horns long if she wants. It's not like she's living in a human town any more. Does she prefer them short? Maybe they could be cut down.
"So on keeping things, what about your horns? Do you want to leave them long or trim them down?"

"I'll trim them down." Not a moment's hesitation.

That's a shame, I kind of like them. "I'll find a saw to cut them off then and then I can brew up something to treat the stumps." I tell her.

"Thanks."

>Oh and I guess pay attention to the fight as well.
I am. It's fine! Every thing's fine!

>Is there anything you can do to aid your boss fight at this point?
I can cast even more reinforcement on Moriko for a second phase, but I don't think it's necessary.

>>Funny, when Moriko was fighting me she boasted about her fighting style.
>That was a job interview. She was representing herself. Now, she's representing you. That was well done, she's got good dramatic instincts.
That's a fair point. I was worried she was ashamed of the state of my dungeon.

>>This is a rocks, lizards and spooky things dungeon!
>Well, I guess a theme emerged.
Hmmmm, I suppose that is almost a theme.
>>
No. 796760 ID: d9d492
File 149259857399.png - (29.36KB , 800x550 , reispawned.png )
796760

>Did Alien and Alienist survive their battle, or is it about to get even more crowded in here?
Speak of the devil. I feel something pass through my Resurrection Matrix again. Stargazer was defeated before Reisarf but they've been resurrected together. She is his familiar after all.

They both look worn out and I'm seeing more overgrowth on Reisarf. What a thicket of hair. I suppose he didn't have any horns to regrow.

"What's up with these side effects Deem?" Hin asks me.

"It means the restoration function is too strong. The excess power accumulates in parts of the body where it can be used up. Hair for example."

"Ah, you do have a talent for overdoing things." Reisarf says, glancing at Hin.

Everyone is so cruel today!
>>
No. 796762 ID: d9d492
File 149259863211.png - (31.76KB , 800x500 , theres_a_boss_fight_but_this_is_more_important.png )
796762

And someone needs to give this boy a sensible haircut!

Please come up with Reisarf's new hairstyle.
>>
No. 796764 ID: 48237d
File 149259953332.png - (48.28KB , 800x500 , somehow this.png )
796764

>>
No. 796765 ID: ba506f

tell them they did good and put on a good show. Ask what they would like in their fighting arena/area in the future? They seemed to work well with the water and if we could get some actual platforms to stand on that would probably be a great mini boss area... or a second boss location if our hammerai needs a breather.
>>
No. 796766 ID: 7f917c
File 149260431372.png - (21.31KB , 249x364 , Dont ask where he found the headband.png )
796766

>>796762
Might as well bundle it up for now.
>>
No. 796768 ID: 3d2d5f

>The excess power accumulates in parts of the body where it can be used up. Hair for example.
You realize, looking at Hin, he's likely under the impression this applies to chests.

>"Ah, you do have a talent for overdoing things." Reisarf says, glancing at Hin.
Better than underdoing them!

Don't forget to compliment the duo on what they did well in that fight. Positive Reinforcement is important for minion morale.

Belkie might need some too, actually, since it's smart enough to talk with. It lost twice in a short amount of time.
>>
No. 796787 ID: 0555b9

I wonder how the overgrowth's affected Stargazer and Doyle.
>>
No. 796795 ID: 398fe1

>>796762
Ah, don't neglect belphejar. Now that he's settled down tell him he did a good job too.
>>
No. 796828 ID: 91ee5f

Your matrix isn't going to accidentally revive the cat when Moriko kills her, right?
>>
No. 796905 ID: 70983e

>>796828
Were you not listening when Deem explained it only works on soulbound dungeon denizens or is that just your default state
>>
No. 796907 ID: a3d4c5

>>796905
Hey, chill. Sometimes people forget things that were last mentioned literal weeks ago.
>>
No. 796911 ID: 70983e
File 149264639313.png - (44.14KB , 804x503 , cauldron cut.png )
796911

Put Doyle on his head and give that boy a sensible haircut.
>>
No. 796923 ID: c31aac
File 149264823650.png - (7.59KB , 200x125 , 149259863211s.png )
796923

May I present, for your consideration:
Rei-suave
>>
No. 796927 ID: 5792da
File 149264928543.png - (55.43KB , 800x500 , Reisarf.png )
796927

The adventurer's shaggy ponytail is all the rage nowadays.
>>
No. 796939 ID: 12b116
File 149265295355.jpg - (114.40KB , 2800x500 , binbou.jpg )
796939

The Regent Hairdo, most powerful of all, if he can learn to control it.
>>
No. 796940 ID: 462842

>>796927
That's cute. Throwing my vote in for this.
>>
No. 796947 ID: 12b116
File 149265456777.jpg - (109.20KB , 743x500 , stargazer platinum.jpg )
796947

How about this? Cool, but intimidating.
>>
No. 796949 ID: 12b116
File 149265518995.jpg - (45.74KB , 743x500 , even crazy diamond cant fix your shit taste in ani.jpg )
796949

Or a totally sweet pompadour
>>
No. 796950 ID: 1f8505
File 149265523909.png - (36.16KB , 799x500 , Reisarf_hair.png )
796950

Faux-hawks are still in, right?
>>
No. 796951 ID: 39bd80

>>796939
I gotta throw my lot in with this one.
>>
No. 796952 ID: 12b116
File 149265597843.jpg - (46.01KB , 413x474 , touchdown.jpg )
796952

>>796950
I like this, maybe with some aviators to look real cool..
>>
No. 796953 ID: 12b116
File 149265662708.jpg - (48.49KB , 743x500 , punished reisarf.jpg )
796953

>>796950
I like this, maybe with some aviators to look real cool..
>>
No. 796954 ID: 398fe1

How about some pigtails? (not pictured)
>>
No. 796955 ID: 669253
File 149265717644.png - (53.10KB , 851x688 , chopperdave.png )
796955

>>
No. 796956 ID: 12b116
File 149265735020.jpg - (47.88KB , 743x600 , polnareisarf.jpg )
796956

This could be popular with the ladies
>>
No. 796957 ID: 669253
File 149265766423.png - (42.48KB , 851x688 , monkeybusiness.png )
796957

>>
No. 796958 ID: 12b116
File 149265780074.jpg - (50.21KB , 743x600 , like a plant.jpg )
796958

Maybe a classy look for someone who wants to live a quiet life.
>>
No. 796960 ID: 669253
File 149265830110.png - (48.39KB , 851x688 , awaken.png )
796960

AI YAI YAI YAIIII~
>>
No. 796961 ID: 12b116
File 149265854894.jpg - (55.96KB , 743x600 , but it was me.jpg )
796961

How about something more sinister?
>>
No. 796962 ID: 669253
File 149265884304.png - (41.34KB , 851x688 , free.png )
796962

>>
No. 796963 ID: 3abd97

>"Can I keep them?"
>"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"
Might be useful as an added distraction if we go with the idea of her playing part time shopkeeper when the dungeon is more established.

Also, rethink adding those potions to possible loot for adventurers to come across. The cat was all agility and dexterity. If she'd had her balance thrown off that would have been it for her!
>>
No. 796966 ID: 12b116
File 149265991935.jpg - (45.91KB , 743x600 , riehan.jpg )
796966

How about something eccentric
>>
No. 796968 ID: 5792da
File 149266039861.png - (113.65KB , 900x900 , King Me.png )
796968

Well I guess we're just posting silly hair now.
>>
No. 796972 ID: 12b116
File 149266150960.jpg - (42.40KB , 743x600 , team hair.jpg )
796972

We do need a dungeon theme....
>>
No. 796973 ID: 12b116
File 149266211480.jpg - (53.81KB , 743x600 , I ran.jpg )
796973

Deem can you do frosted tips? Because that part isn't optional.
>>
No. 796976 ID: 12b116
File 149266284440.jpg - (45.09KB , 743x600 , Klaus.jpg )
796976

Or something to terrify and disorient adventurers.
>>
No. 796977 ID: 67d5dc

>>796927
Oh man ponytails.
>>
No. 796978 ID: 12b116
File 149266323101.jpg - (48.70KB , 743x600 , diamond.jpg )
796978

Maybe add some glamor...
>>
No. 796980 ID: 12b116
File 149266393882.jpg - (45.91KB , 743x600 , stardust.jpg )
796980

Or some war paint? Either way we'd need to dye it red
>>
No. 796981 ID: 7c5acc
File 149266423197.png - (85.62KB , 800x1500 , oolala.png )
796981

Ooh la la
>>
No. 796982 ID: 7c5acc
File 149266424261.png - (39.36KB , 800x500 , bestjojo.png )
796982

I contributed
>>
No. 796984 ID: 12b116
File 149266438139.jpg - (55.76KB , 743x600 , goblin.jpg )
796984

Or we could try to attract the goblin crowd
>>
No. 796985 ID: 1f8505
File 149266441574.png - (37.22KB , 801x501 , Reisarf_hair2.png )
796985

OK OK, here's a non-jokey haircut.
>>
No. 796992 ID: 669253
File 149266479348.png - (38.68KB , 751x683 , clod.png )
796992

>>
No. 796995 ID: a363ac

>>796759
Keep hugging Hin to calm yourself down from all this SHITPOSTING Deem.
>>
No. 796997 ID: 7c5acc

>>796927
In all seriousness this seems like something he'd actually do.
>>
No. 796999 ID: 6c9581
File 149266547276.png - (16.66KB , 347x500 , bowl cut.png )
796999

Didn't notice that somebody already posted a bowl cut before this. Posting anyway.
>>
No. 797000 ID: 66adb0
File 149266548124.png - (37.86KB , 800x500 , most important clothing.png )
797000

A very important piece of clothing is needed
>>
No. 797002 ID: 91ee5f

What's sad about this is the fact if this were a clothing thing, there'd only be 1 to 4 suggestions. Meanwhile, hairstyles has 32 so far, probably more after this post.

>>796927
This looks the most realistic of all, so this is what I choose.
>>
No. 797010 ID: 2f9885

>>796927
This one is SUPER adorable...though it also makes him look like a girl.

>>796972
>>796985
These two are also acceptable.
>>
No. 797011 ID: 6c9581
File 149266845579.png - (40.53KB , 1088x584 , 3 more.png )
797011

Few more because why not?
>>
No. 797015 ID: 031add

Another vote for the Deem-cut.
>>796972
>>
No. 797021 ID: c31aac

>>796968
I'm tossing in on this, imagine if we spec'd him for speed and lightning attacks?
Like, damn
that's a contender
>>
No. 797031 ID: b7883c

>>796968
We should make a note of this one for his potential boss form.
>>
No. 797041 ID: 79a07e

>>796762

Vote this
>>796927

Although I do like the idea of
>>796968
For a boss form.
>>
No. 797042 ID: 804a8c

>>796972
Everyone should have this hair cut. Everyone.
>>
No. 797047 ID: e4abe1

>>796968
best haircute for boss form, ponytail otherwise
>>
No. 797052 ID: ba506f

>>796927
tossing my vote in with this
>>
No. 797062 ID: 0555b9

>>796972
What are the odds this is the only hairdo she knows how to do?
>>
No. 797073 ID: 8d4593

>>796968
This is perfect.
>>
No. 797077 ID: 20a222

>>797052 >>796927
Yeah, this is a great choice.
>>
No. 797092 ID: fa8f9d

>>796927
Voting for this
>>
No. 797160 ID: 669253
File 149273538107.png - (26.82KB , 751x683 , 100.png )
797160

>>
No. 797164 ID: 12b116
File 149273684717.jpg - (63.81KB , 743x600 , the legend.jpg )
797164

>>
No. 797165 ID: 12b116
File 149273727508.jpg - (68.48KB , 743x800 , despoiler.jpg )
797165

This says you mean business this time
>>
No. 797166 ID: c8b031

I'll put my vote behind >>796927 , though really, his old hairstyle was fine as well.
>>
No. 797167 ID: 12b116
File 149273766502.jpg - (45.43KB , 743x800 , objection.jpg )
797167

>>
No. 797170 ID: 669253
File 149273903373.png - (37.98KB , 751x683 , narutarded.png )
797170

>>
No. 797172 ID: 6c9581
File 149274062879.jpg - (98.83KB , 640x480 , Only option after Deem runs out of hair to style.jpg )
797172

>>
No. 797174 ID: 12b116
File 149274170654.jpg - (51.74KB , 743x800 , prince.jpg )
797174

>>796957
That's a lame hairdo, this one is much better.
>>
No. 797178 ID: 12b116
File 149274236943.jpg - (51.20KB , 743x800 , lotsa spaghetti.jpg )
797178

Just get him a cap with his initial on it
>>
No. 797186 ID: 12b116
File 149274356238.jpg - (78.12KB , 743x800 , acdc.jpg )
797186

How good is Reisarf at crying?
>>
No. 797189 ID: 12b116
File 149274430513.jpg - (64.42KB , 743x800 , awaken my masters.jpg )
797189

There are many exciting mullet variations
>>
No. 797192 ID: 12b116
File 149274503963.jpg - (37.67KB , 743x800 , kvlt.jpg )
797192

We would need some body paint but this would be pretty grim and frostbitten
>>
No. 797218 ID: 7c5acc
File 149275739344.png - (47.79KB , 800x500 , horsejojo.png )
797218

Are we missing any jojos?
>>
No. 797233 ID: a606da
File 149276750009.png - (55.55KB , 800x500 , proper reisarf.png )
797233

>>
No. 797234 ID: a606da
File 149276918053.png - (201.01KB , 800x500 , boy's got some wiry hair.png )
797234

Lookin' pretty prodigal, Reisarf.
>>
No. 797238 ID: e12db1
File 149277566138.png - (40.82KB , 800x500 , onejob.png )
797238

Guys, you had one job..
>>
No. 797247 ID: 7f917c

The situation is a bit hairy, huh?
>>
No. 797258 ID: 0d1514

>>797233
I like dis
>>
No. 797384 ID: e95cec

>>797233
>>797258

Yeah, I'm leaning a bit towards that one, now, too.
>>
No. 797388 ID: ee1b48

>>796762
Just leave the boy bald.
>>
No. 797405 ID: 5322c5

>>797233
Yes.
>>796927
Yess.
>>796984
Oh, fuck yes.
>>796960
EPIC LEVEL ENDBOSS YES.
>>796968
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vRlJrkxsqo



>>797164
Unfortunately Reisarf isnt a STR build.


But probably >>797233 if I am being totally honest.
>>
No. 797437 ID: 2120ee

>>797233
Haha, this is ridiculously cute.
>>
No. 797449 ID: 91ee5f

>>797164
>the legend
Liar! That looks nothing like Charlemagne "The Legend" Llewellyn!
>>
No. 797455 ID: 398fe1

>>797233
I'm pretty sure that's a girl's hairstyle.
>>
No. 797461 ID: 70983e

>>797233
This haircut stirs an irrational hatred of sand in me.
>>
No. 797464 ID: 595d54

>>797449
You act like you level DEX.

>>797455
Think before you talk. That sort of language is coarse and rough and irritating. It gets everywhere.

>>796927
This seems good, with >>796933 as a close second place.
>>
No. 797480 ID: e01e87

Are we really spending our time pondering the perfect haircut for Reisarf, while Moriko is getting her ass handed to her by an idiot houdini?

Construct a pitfall trap right outside the exit to the boss chamber. The irony alone should be sufficient to defeat her. put the chicken at the bottom of it
>>
No. 797495 ID: 9522b5

>>797480
We don't actually know how Moriko is doing vs the damn cat.
>>
No. 797504 ID: 398fe1

>>797461
>>797464
That's not Anakin's hairstyle though. The only similarity is the single braid.
>>
No. 797523 ID: 70983e
File 149290808366.png - (54.05KB , 804x503 , foodkoma.png )
797523

It's never too early to sell out.
>>
No. 797540 ID: 094652

>>/questdis/110848
>>797523
WHY DO I EVEN BOTHER.
>>
No. 797718 ID: 7d8168

>>796927
The sensible route. Stylish yet exceedingly low-effort. It appeals to Reisarf's laid-back sensibilities.
>>
No. 797752 ID: e01e87

>>797495

Moriko was toast the moment she went out of sight. This hero comes at the worst possible time, by chance. She pulls out surprises every time she's about to be defeated. She's a moron who keeps accidentally doing the exact right thing. Her enemies just happen to be unable to employ otherwise valid tactics. This hero has an A+ luck. The chicken is our only hope.
>>
No. 798061 ID: d9d492
File 149320579637.png - (14.79KB , 600x600 , wait_what.png )
798061

...
>>
No. 798062 ID: d9d492
File 149320582384.png - (17.25KB , 600x600 , that_is.png )
798062

That...
>>
No. 798063 ID: d9d492
File 149320586474.png - (17.09KB , 600x600 , no_that.png )
798063

...
>>
No. 798064 ID: d9d492
File 149320589421.png - (14.49KB , 600x600 , why_would_you.png )
798064

...
>>
No. 798065 ID: d9d492
File 149320592377.png - (14.33KB , 600x600 , i_dont.png )
798065

...
>>
No. 798066 ID: d9d492
File 149320596846.png - (14.07KB , 600x600 , desist.png )
798066

Do you not understand what 'sensible' means?
>>
No. 798067 ID: d9d492
File 149320615274.png - (37.23KB , 800x600 , i_guess_meruds_busy_or_something.png )
798067

>Keep hugging Hin to calm yourself down from all this SHITPOSTING Deem.
I've hugged enough for today. Alkaline seems happy to take over for me.

One of these has to work...

>>The excess power accumulates in parts of the body where it can be used up. Hair for example.
>You realise, looking at Hin, Reisarf's likely under the impression this applies to chests.
"Ah, b-better to overdo than under-do things!" I explain to Reisarf. "Hin's cough flared up so I gave her a potion. My matrix isn't set up to cause that sort of effect."

"Biiig." Alkaline burbles.

"I see." Reisarf brushes the hair out of his eyes again. "Well, as long as you're not making mountains out of molehills."

I narrow my eyes. Was that a joke?

>Might be useful as an added distraction if we go with the idea of Hin playing part-time shopkeeper when the dungeon is more established.
I'd want people to be paying attention to her goods!

"What potion?" Merud says, still facing the door.

"That's not important! Pay attention to the fight!" He grumbles something to himself but quiets down.

>I wonder how the overgrowth's affected Stargazer and Doyle.
Stargazer seems to be unaffected. Doyle's potion contents are probably skewed towards healing by it.

I turn back to Hin and Reisarf. "For the moment I'll put in a sump. It'll overflow every few times the matrix is used, but that should be a little more convenient at least." We've turned up a few semi-precious stones from our excavations, one of those should be suitable. "I might have to have another look at it to see what else I can tweak. Having such an unstable supply of mana is not helping!"

"Well, anything but horns, OK?" Hin says, stifling another yawn.

"Nohb blorns!" Alkaline agrees. She tries to reach up and tug on one. Hin fends her slimy hands off.

I nod. I don't know why she's so touchy about them. Perhaps I should throw together a talisman just for her to make sure it's redirected. Anyway, this boy needs a haircut! I set to work with the scissors. It only takes a few minutes to trim it into something presentable.

"You're surprisingly good at this, Deem." Reisarf says.

"Why shouldn't I be?"

"Well you've said before you're not exactly used to having hands."

"I'd trust you to take a shot at mine now Rei's bravely tested the way." Hin adds.

It's just hair. This isn't difficult.

>Also, rethink adding those potions to possible loot for adventurers to come across. The cat was all agility and dexterity. If she'd had her balance thrown off that would have been it for her!
If the cat drank one, if the drowsiness and other effects affected her enough and if she decided to press on instead of retreating, then Reisarf and Stargazer could have defeated her. That is a lot of ifs!
>>
No. 798068 ID: d9d492
File 149320640389.png - (31.09KB , 800x600 , oooh_cat_fight.png )
798068

>Are we really spending our time pondering the perfect haircut for Reisarf, while Moriko is getting her ass handed to her by an idiot houdini?
Of course not, that would be ridiculous.

>We don't actually know how Moriko is doing vs the damn cat.
I already said, she's doing fine!

"So how's the fight going?" Reisarf turns and asks me. Did he read my mind?

I resist the urge to rhapsodise. The earth-pulse is pounding, it's a fitting finale. I get Hin to sit in Reisarf's vacated spot. We have a wire saw here somewhere. Alkaline gets a box for me to stand on and then I tell them how it's gone so far.

Forewarned about the detonation magic, Moriko enhanced her own speed and immediately went for a full out attack. The cat was forced onto the defence, Moriko not letting her have the space to use her bombs. The cat's evasion stood her well still, but when she tried to use her claw-shot to get some distance, Moriko nailed her with one of the pebbles.

Sure her basic agility was enough to steer clear of thrown bombs now she'd measured up the cat's speed, Moriko switched to using her Void Mind to increase the precision of her attacks instead. A pebble to try and stagger the cat and then putting in a burst of energy to get close. A very effective combination! It turned out the cat could set up traps by detonating a piece of ground she's recently touched but she's only managed to get glancing hits with her bombs and traps. The tension is rising, this is delicious!

"Are you going to start a Moriko fan club next?" Hin asks.

"Hold still."

As I was saying, while I didn't want Moriko trying to catch bombs with that golem ribbon, deflection of the claw-shot has been effective. Merud even managed to give the cat a nasty surprise at one point by grabbing it! Moriko and Merud's coordination is awfully good. I need to get to the bottom of this after the fight.

>Don't forget to compliment the duo on what they did well in that fight. Positive Reinforcement is important for minion morale.
"Reisarf, Stargazer, you had some very nice tactics in your fight as well. Setting up those platforms in the flooded passage was inspired! Bogging down the enemy and concealing Stargazer at the same time. Maybe we should revisit it. I don't like how too much water will interfere with the mana cultivation but the era challenge might be worth it... hmmm." Hin, Reisarf and Stargazer share a glance as I mutter about the trade-offs to myself. Maybe loose sand instead? Hmmm.

"What's this about some platforms?" Hin says.

I run Hin through what Reisarf and Stargazer did.

Gained (Half) Ogre Horn

Well that's one down.

>Belkie might need some too, actually, since it's smart enough to talk with. It lost twice in a short amount of time.
>Ah, don't neglect Belphejar. Now that he's settled down tell him he did a good job too.
Right, I should tell Belphejar that- wait!
>>
No. 798069 ID: d9d492
File 149320668010.png - (26.26KB , 800x550 , cat_get_out.png )
798069

"Ha-HAH!"

The earth-pulse roars. Mana, I have mana!

"I take it that's good?" Hin says.

A hero has been defeated!

"Hmmm. Honestly, yes and no. That cat pretended to fumble an unlit bomb and tried to magically detonate it to blow herself and Moriko up."

"What." Hin says.

"Oh, her shield!" Reisarf says.

I nod. "Should have seen it coming. But Moriko disrupted the barrier. I didn't actually expect her to be able to do it that quickly. Between the breaking hammer strike and the explosion, it was all over for the cat." I feel the cat's departing spirit. I give it a little nudge to send it on its way to the fountain. I can afford to be magnanimous. I would estimate she's dropped 553 gold, give or take a gold piece. An excellent haul, it's more than doubled the size of my hoard! A testament to her strength and the parlous state of my hoard.

"How's Moriko?" Hin asks.

"A little exploded. She'll be fine. Give me a minute to pull down the Sealing Designation on the doors." Some of that gold was Chakarchelou's hoard. I should give some of it to him. My guess would be he had a little over fifty gold or else I would have detected it. But still, gold and mana! I have it flowing in, I have it!

I have power and I should use it while I have the chance! I feel it already seeping away. Hin's still recovering from her resurrection and other side effects and her forge is packed away. Instead I should use magic. Real magic, great magic, dungeon magic! Three spells I have which would be of use. I should cast one right away!

Delve: Dig deeper! Instantly digs a large room (the size of a boss room) or up to three smaller ones. Alternatively, can be used to reorder and rearrange rooms in the dungeon.

Empower Catalyst: Fuel for the dungeon's growth! It enhance useful qualities out of raw materials to be used in magic item creation or training of the dungeon's minions. It also can be used to upgrade an existing catalyst or transmute small amounts of copper, silver, gold or platinum into orichalcum, mithril, chrysadamant or adamantium.

Churn the Earth: The earth-pulse runs wild! Until deactivated (or a month passes), monsters are more aggressive and rarer types will be spawned. Monster growth is accelerated. Gold is much more likely to be found by digging rooms, exploring the area and defeating monsters.
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No. 798070 ID: d79f26

empower! and double down of alkaline, she will be the slimiest slime queen to have ever slimed!
>>
No. 798071 ID: 5792da

>>798069
Dig Deep. Dig Greedily.

Delve.
>>
No. 798072 ID: e4abe1

>>798071
delve three rooms!
>>
No. 798073 ID: ba506f

>Empower Catalyst
this would mean we could build better golems right? If so we can make better diggers to carve out more dungeon for us as well as make better gear for our party and better loot for future adventurers.

Speaking of, can that horn be used to for anything? like a weapon or a potion? Oh and congratulate and thank EVERYONE for helping turn this little surprise into a big success. Then finish Hin's haircut and send her off top bed already. Then make sure our dungeon boss is actually alright and not to dazed.
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No. 798075 ID: d79f26

for chak's hoard, we can ask him when he wakes up, make two piles of coins, one that is the right size one slightly bigger. if he is honest he gets the bigger pile, if he lies he gets the normal pile.

the extra gold should also help you feel less "constantly starving" because you are getting a larger input of power. oooh, maybe you can get another worker golem up and working with the extra juice, many hands makes for light work
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No. 798077 ID: db4a35

Considering we currently have neither the place for more monsters nor that many minable resources.

We simply need more Space, Dig for 3
>>
No. 798078 ID: 0555b9

>I'd want people to be paying attention to her goods!
We're in agreement, then!

Delve. Digging is the most time consuming part! Finish off the boss room, dig a chamber for backstage improvements (like a workshop, or the forge, or material storage), and a proper room to place the dungeon key in, at the end of the tunnel!
Worker golems can work on tunneling from there to the boss room (should probably start from the boss room end to retain functionality for dungeon parties) and you and Merud can focus on making more combat-oriented golems. ...And a proper door. Congrats Pancake, you're getting promoted.
>>
No. 798080 ID: 7f917c

>>798069
Empower Catalyst!
You said the belphejar's potions are probably skewed towards healing for a while, so we should whip up some food potions with an additional healing side effect.

And then perhaps give Moriko one to patch up any minor wounds she might've sustained.
As well as a couple stored as potential loot for adventurers.


No ulterior motives, promise. Although I'd suggest listening to thing song while brewing: https://youtu.be/nf670orHKcA
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No. 798084 ID: 0555b9

The dungeon's first victory is thanks to Moriko and Merud! Tonight, we feast! And maybe investigate this minion synergy from the Moriko side, and analyze it thoroughly to obtain its benefits for everyone.
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No. 798090 ID: 91ee5f

>>798069
>Churn the Earth
>Monster growth is accelerated.
I'm voting for this because we've got 3 monsters in our team (Chakarchelou, Alkaline, and Belphejar), 4 if we count Stargazer. That's half of our team! That would be really helpful in defending the dungeon next time!
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No. 798091 ID: d9d492
File 149321805765.png - (11.57KB , 450x450 , deem_ch3_advice_1.png )
798091

>Empower Catalyst would mean we could build better golems right? If so we can make better diggers to carve out more dungeon for us as well as make better gear for our party and better loot for future adventurers.
Yes, a catalyst can be used to make a better golem.

>Speaking of, can that horn be used for anything? Like a weapon or a potion?
I could use it as a potion ingredient. A potion of strengthening for example. Since the horn was forcibly regrown, it doesn't have much energy invested in it. It's not of much use for anything else unless I use Empower Catalyst on it.

>The extra gold should also help you feel less "constantly starving" because you are getting a larger input of power. Oooh, maybe you can get another worker golem up and working with the extra juice, many hands makes for light work.
Yes, more power will allow me to have more golems active at once. However there's a limit to the maximum number I can have active which I can improve by building a golemetry structure.
>>
No. 798097 ID: 0555b9

>>798092
>is there any way to secure the valley encampment?
Sealing Designations. The dungeon game has very strict anti-cheat protections.
>>
No. 798113 ID: 398fe1

I think we should use Churn the Earth. The gold from mining will be a huge boon considering the small amount we have currently, we could use the loot from extra monsters, AND we need to develop the monsters we've tamed. We're far enough away from town that it won't endanger them, right?
This relies on being able to finish the starting layout before the next adventurer comes, but we're pretty close already and with the bigger hoard we can dig faster with an extra golem or two working.

Give Chakarchelou his hoard back and instruct him to hide it in the living quarters so it can't be stolen again. Heck, you could make a little alcove for it, until everyone's set up in the valley, at which point I imagine he'll hide it somewhere in there. Speaking of which, is there any way to secure the valley encampment? It'd suck if someone snuck in and stole shit or tried to use the back entrance to bypass our layout.
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No. 798114 ID: 60700b

>>798091
>blushing Deem
Does that mean you were thinking of improving your own golem body?

Empower Catalyst
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No. 798116 ID: b15da4

>>798091
I see, a vested interest! Luckily it's an interest we share. Let's Empower a Catalyst before your afterglow ends.
>>
No. 798124 ID: b15da4

Now, beyond the gold, did she drop any good loot? Those bombs probably weren't with her for too long...
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No. 798125 ID: 8f9fd0

i'm hella against Churn the Earth before we have a stable dungeon.

Delve would be ok short term, while Empower Catalyst sounds better long term-ish.
honestly we kind of need some short term push right about now. i vote Delve.
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No. 798139 ID: 8d4593

Delve! Three rooms! Proper facilities are in order!
>>
No. 798140 ID: 91ee5f

>>798114
Maybe she's thinking of adding boobs! XD
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No. 798156 ID: 6dc8e5

I gotta say, at the slow rate excavation has been going, having three more rooms to work would would be great. Rooms with actual purpose, not having to hide all the important stuff in one tiny closet.
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No. 798159 ID: 45b631

Delve: We really aren't ready to host parties and a peskily prattling pussy presently appeared in a preacher's pool to publicly proclaim our personal presence and poorly pace.
We could get a key room, a treasury, and then a spare, maybe a workshop, a living space, golemetry for digging, slime grotto, an optional trap-room for the foolhardy?

empower catalyst sounds nice but this isn't the time. Harder golems with harder picks could dig more swiftly, but golems break, and we have limited resources. I doubt converting all our gold would be wise, messing with a hammerai's hammer seems similarly unwise, it would be useful for alchemy, but we only have the one chest at this point for loot, unless we want to take to hiding treasure in holes, and our potions tend to be unreliable, we need more experience before making them more potent. It would be the long-term choice but we have a rather urgent short-term.

Churn the earth is a big no. Last I heard of it there was a rather large bear that could probably still get bigger. Speeding up Alkaline's development could hurt forever. Even if it doesn't have the same problems as the horn's magical growth did, it still means less time to teach her new tricks.

Speaking of, we should feed one horn to Alkaline and one to Belphejar. And do it casually, just, "yes Hin, you are to be harvested for monster upgrades. Is there some reason not to?."
Does the hair carry any residual magic from the revival? If we get it into Belph quickly it might do something, or feed it to Alkaline to develop baldness or hair-growth slimes. It may not be the most respectable thing to do, but to a well-chosen victim there are few things more terrifying than a reflective scalp or yeti-legs...

Speaking of, Belph will continue to produce humorous-effect potions. Certainly the current food potions that increase food production would create misunderstandings not befitting such a noble labyrinth, but there will be other potions and some amount of compromise on the "silly potion" front would add a nice source of cheap, memorable loot. Everyone knows about the old "fight a swarm of harpies while on a rickety bridge over a pool of magma" trick, but how many labyrinths offer them the chance to face the challenge with healing potions that grow their legs by 20% for a day, or a stability potion that makes them heavier, or a flight potion that almost blinds them with feathers over their face? It is a chance for a largely unique challenge of the challenger's own choosing. In that respect it even beats the curse-dungeon that would do such things by force.

Hin has serious issues with ogres. Probably related to her father and mother. You are a mountain labyrinth, it will, at some point, be tempting to acquire ogres as monsters. it may be wise to ask Hin how she feels about that.

Can you go half-and-half? Create two rooms and upgrade the materials of one golem?
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No. 798160 ID: 45b631

>>798140
No, no potions for Deem! She is probably thinking about an upgraded Deem Duo struggling against an enhanced Moriko. She "could" just use all this power to boss-mode everyone and have a battle-royale...
>>
No. 798161 ID: b412df

Delve makes sense here I think, we need room for things both on the dungeon and living side of things, bedrooms, kitchens, infrastructure, boss rooms, etc. This should give us a huge boost to that, and probably to morale as well since that would be a clear indication of progress.
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No. 798180 ID: b7883c

Delve 3. What we are most short on right now is infrastructure, and while we are a little low on filler minions (with having support staff temp in this time) we could make up for that by adding a few pit or spike traps.

Also its a good point from >>798159 that Churn is a bad idea until we stamp out that bear.

>I don't like how too much water will interfere with the mana cultivation but the era challenge might be worth it
Would short stone pillars as platforms in the water (perhaps compensating for the lack of slipperiness by being raised a bit higher above the surface) be an effective means for mana to flow through?
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No. 798182 ID: 1e7aa8

Delve deeper to make three small rooms. Having something to show for participating in bringing down the cat should raise the morale of everyone who lost.

And don't forget to hug belphejar!
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No. 798185 ID: 214b69

Your team is ready to excavate on their own, yet they'll be unable to dig further than like two or three rooms with the current monster roster.

Churn The Earth! Having higher-level monsters investigate the area will dissuade adventurers from entering this area (and you can convince Elites that the risk of luring in the horde with loud noises isn't worth your paltry sum), and grabbing higher-level monsters will prepare digging opportunities.
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No. 798193 ID: d36af7

Delve. Open up a small room for use as Hin's new smithy (her reward for a job well done is more work, as is traditional, but also more nearly the kind of work she came here to do), and put the rest of the delve into widening the tunnel to that isolated valley. Opening that up, even just enough to crawl, would mean LOTS more defensible living space, which could then be enclosed or partitioned by carpentry instead of having to dig out each room individually.

Give Chakarchelou an even hundred gold, keeping the rest for your own hoard.
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No. 798211 ID: f66698

I don't think churn is a good idea just yet, though maybe it would give Moriko something to do during off time, but delve seems an obvious choice since we have need a lot more dungeon space and a lot more resident amenities.

Also, Deem, you are the cutest golem that has ever lived. Don't change.

Also, give your champion a kiss on the cheek. She did damn well this time and you've practically ignored her since that first battle.
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No. 798220 ID: 3abd97

>>798066
No, not at all. Why do you ask?

>>798067
>I'd want people to be paying attention to her goods!
They would be!

>I nod. I don't know why she's so touchy about them.
It doesn't really matter, at the moment. People's appearances / self images can be powerful, and accommodating hers is a relatively inexpensive show of respect. Good minion management.

>"You're surprisingly good at this, Deem." Reisarf says.
>It's just hair. This isn't difficult.
Scoff. "I sculpt the earth itself to my whims. Why do you think mere hair would be challenging?"

>"Are you going to start a Moriko fan club next?" Hin asks.
Start? No, we're going to celebrate the anniversary with a recruitment drive.

>Moriko and Merud's coordination is awfully good. I need to get to the bottom of this after the fight.
Obviously, they were practicing while they were gone, because they wanted to impress you!

>Some of that gold was Chakarchelou's hoard. I should give some of it to him. My guess would be he had a little over fifty gold or else I would have detected it.
Probably should give him a slight bonus to, to aid the covetous ring. Bump it up to 60-65 pieces?

>>798069
Delve. More rooms saves us a lot of time, and frees up minions to act on more specialized tasks instead of mining. Big morale boost and a tangible gain / display of power your followers will be able to see. (Wow! Getting killed was worth it, look at all that digging it did!).

Honestly, right at the beginning here is the only time delve will the most useful option. Later in the game it won't double or triple the size of the dungeon, and we'll have more tools for digging.
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No. 798248 ID: d79f26

>>798220
that's a good point, hair cutting is a sort of 'shaping'. and deem is really good at shape control, creation and destruction.
>>
No. 798280 ID: 12b116

We definitely need to dig more, 3 more rooms should give us more space to put stuff. Maybe Hin can make a sweet helmet with horns on it for loot. I mean, if she doesn't want them might as well use them to decorate something.
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No. 798281 ID: 70983e

Would an empowered catalyst let you level up your golem? You should leave the Level 1 ground floor as soon as possible! The Harrowers won't be level 1 when they find you.
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No. 798286 ID: a363ac

>>789015
Deem you need to hug your minions more before battle. It appears to give Hin some kind of Moral boost, you will have to see how it works on the others but Alkaline would likely receive even greater effects from the bond she feels with you.
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No. 798289 ID: d9d492
File 149329852237.png - (42.16KB , 800x500 , deem_considering.png )
798289

>Also, Deem, you are the cutest golem that has ever lived. Don't change.
Golems are not alive but of course. I am amazing!

>>blushing Deem
>Does that mean you were thinking of improving your own golem body?
No, I'm just excited!

>Would an empowered catalyst let you level up your golem? You should leave the Level 1 ground floor as soon as possible! The Harrowers won't be level 1 when they find you.
I could make a golem of that strength if I was willing to put up with a high maintenance body and my dungeon level will increase once I have two thousand gold!

>She is probably thinking about an upgraded Deem Duo struggling against an enhanced Moriko. She "could" just use all this power to boss-mode everyone and have a battle-royale...
N-no, that's wasteful! Don't tempt me with such things!!

For the moment I need to focus on the choice of magic, then attend to all these other things!

>Churn the Earth is a big no. Last I heard of it there was a rather large bear that could probably still get bigger.
Right, that awful bear might become even awfuller! That is a possibility I cannot tolerate at all. No churning until I'm ready to fight a bear then!

>Delve would be OK short term, while Empower Catalyst sounds better long term-ish. Honestly we kind of need some short term push right about now.
It can wait until I have better materials for it then!

>Delve makes sense here I think, we need room for things both on the dungeon and living side of things, bedrooms, kitchens, infrastructure, boss rooms, etc. This should give us a huge boost to that, and probably to morale as well since that would be a clear indication of progress.
Right! I will Delve. We've been crowded in here too long already. It's time to show everyone what I can really do!
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No. 798291 ID: d9d492
File 149329882146.png - (18.79KB , 960x600 , map_attack.png )
798291

Now, dungeon construction!!

To summarise, my dungeon has to be shaped to channel the earth-pulse and harvest mana from it. Similarly there's a clear progression for how adventurers should move through it.

However, there are sections that adventurers are not intended to enter. Rooms such as the Resurrection Matrix and bedrooms! The entries to these locations are concealed and placed behind a powerful lock known as a Sealing Designation. These areas have to be small relative to the size of the dungeon. In their simplest form, they are just single rooms blocked by a Sealing Designation.

Conditional Sealing Designations are used in the dungeon design as well. The simplest is requiring a key for a lock but there's others such as locked doors that are tied to a puzzle or a room that seals itself until all the enemies within have been defeated.

These are valuable because they mean the invaders can be stalled and parts of the dungeon kept inaccessible while defenders are moved to their positions, spells are cast and things are packed up.

My dungeon's very light on content. Coming from outside, there's a narrow passage that forks into the Heart Chamber on one side and the flooded chamber on the other. A room at the base of the Y would be useful as a guard post and buffer. The tunnel quickly narrows to a mere crack but I sense there's a path to some sort of isolated valley up top.

The mundane functions of day to day life will need their own space eventually: a kitchen, storerooms, a bathroom, a laundry. I should also think about the entry level dungeon functions I can build into these new rooms:

Golem Totem: An anchor point for my Heart-cast golemetry, allowing golems to be created in this room. It allows me to control more golems and non-golemeters to give basic commands to my golems. There's very few breakable parts and the golemetry embedded in the room means it's easy to present some sort of puzzle or challenge here.

Basic Forge: Hin's blacksmithing equipment placed in a room I can easily transfer large amounts of mana to. The most basic set-up for efficient magic item creation. Since anvils and a container for fire are hard to steal, as long as the tools can be locked away it's fine to be adventurer accessible.

Basic Alchemy Lab: The alchemy kit set up in a room stabilised from outside influences to allow stronger and more reliable potions to be brewed. Preferably a low traffic area. Adventurers entering the room will ruin any potions being crafted. However, I have the option to blacken the mixture, turning it into a strong but short lived curse.

Miniboss Chamber: An anchor point for my Heart-cast reinforcement magic, allowing it to be used on targets within the room. Adventurers should definitely be allowed into this room.

Gymnasium: A room set up to allow my denizens to practice a variety of physical activities. The terrain can easily be made in such a way that it provides some sort of physical challenge to invaders.

Thaumatorium: A magical gym. It can be customised to impede or enhance some types of magic when they are cast within this room. It has no effect on my magic - I'm the one lending the extra force.

Meditation Room: A quiet place for the dungeon's minions to unwind in. Faster regeneration of mana and stamina. Fights should not be conducted in this room so it's a good spot for a puzzle or simply a safe space for adventurers to catch their breath.

Treasury: A room to store gold that isn't accessible by adventurers. Simply put, it means I am not at risk of losing all my gold if an adventurer is able to defeat my final boss. Until I have one built, I can't afford to lose. There's a drop in mana harvested from invasions depending on how little gold I'm wagering.

I need the Golem Totem to boost my work-force so that's one room accounted for. I need to decide what to do with the other two rooms and where to put them. It will take some time for each function to be installed.

Combined, the three rooms will have about the same area as my Heart Chamber. I should consider any mundane functions I might be able to add in to these rooms as well, or perhaps I should set aside one of the three rooms as dedicated living space.

In summary, what and where?
>>
No. 798292 ID: 8e298b

I´d say, aside from the Totem, which should be placed in the arm leading to the Valley, we should have a Forge and Living Quarters. So Hin can get to work and we do not get into the situation again that our living utensils might be bomb by quick adventurers.

Also we should dig out a room in the Entrance with our golems, containing Char and maybe a Combat Golem as first line
>>
No. 798293 ID: 5322c5

After the totem, I would say definitely the forge.
I want to suggest a treasury for the third, but ultimately you need all the boost you can get for maximum risk, maximum reward right now, and the crew needs some living space. That said, placing the Golem room in the seam of the mountain that leads to the valley seems ideal, both for ambushing folks before they reach the boss chamber and for placing the golems close to a primary work face.

Perhaps place the Forge above the T junction, directly facing the entrance, either with a cheery flame blazing and Hin at a table doing shopkeeper things, or dark and spooky, as need may be. Can probably switch easily between those, considering the illusion focus of shadow.

Would you ever consider allowing your treasury to serve double duty as some temporary living space, perhaps a kitchen?

Also if Belph can swim or be transported across the water safely, I might consider making the key room into a larger alchemy lab.
>>
No. 798295 ID: 0555b9

1. Combination bath and laundry room. If your minions keep using that flooded passage, eventually it's gonna stink. Set this up off the near side of the flooded passage, with dedicated indoor plumbing and proper signage. Consider hiring a ghost to haunt this place for adventurers.
2. Golem Totem: Right before the boss room. Reinforcements can be spawned here, at the end of the adventurer's path, and give them a clue about where they should go. The puzzle here could involve arming animate statues with the proper tools for their situation.
3. Would the Alchemy Lab help Doyle brew stronger potions? If not, I'd rely on his natural ability a while longer and set up Hin's forge instead. A well-stocked dungeon is an attractive dungeon for adventurers. Set this up in the fork leading to the valley, for ease of access both now and when the valley is opened.

Phew. So much added, and yet so much more to do. I get the feeling we'll keep Delving after raids for a while unless you can build up the mana or get the manual labor done between adventurers. Still, it's measurable progress!
There's still the matter of Chakarchelou's gold. Give him 100 gold so there's a more pronounced effect from the ring, and hide it somewhere in the crevice leading to the valley, past the forge door - this way it still counts against the gold we wager, but isn't in the path adventurers should be taking through the dungeon (unless they have a halfling that is very poor at identifying boss doors).
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No. 798297 ID: 7f917c
File 149330290007.png - (70.72KB , 1047x719 , What are we going to do on the bed Deem.png )
798297

>>798291
Three rooms is rather limited, and besides the golem room, the treasury is probably also a must-have to prevent extended periods of dormancy.

I also do want our fellas to have a bedroom, but I'm concerned that I might have made the room too big for a sealing designation, feel free to scrap it if so. Similarly, if someone comes up with a better location for the golem room, I won't feel bad about it.

The line at the top is mostly to indicate where I've expanded the schematics upwards and sideways.
>>
No. 798304 ID: 1e7aa8

Okay. Gonna vote for hin's forge and living space as the other two rooms just to have the most bang for our (mana) buck in terms of infrastructure, morale and also PR. (See folks? Deem does care about not having to live in tents!)

And as for placement.. Well, let's start from the top.

Golem totem? Since it can pull double duty as a puzzle or challenge room it needs to go as close to the front entrance as possible. Just carve out an appropriate size to the left and right of the first corridor there and we'll make that the room.

Living space? Best place for that is probably in the section between the middle corridor and the bottom right edge of the heart chamber. An entrance/exit at both the corridor and the heart chamber will help with traffic flow immensely. And of course, dividing walls for privacy.

And as for the forge.. Noise'll probably be a concern, so let's place it somewhere along the rightmost corridor that heads to the flooded passage.
>>
No. 798309 ID: 8d4593

Slightly reduce the bedroom sizes and put the excess into the golem room. More Work/Puzzle Space.
>>
No. 798310 ID: 094652
File 149331250832.png - (33.71KB , 960x600 , Dungeon Upgrade 1.png )
798310

Build one giant R&D Lab for all your needs.

Dig a staircase around the narrow passageway, so you can lay oil vat traps when curious adventurers explore at the cost of their mobility. Connecting your resurrection matrix makes for easy access to the labs and dungeons, while the regular entrance is behind the treasure chest. This means any adventurers who want into the labs need to swim past a lake, then they must find the secret entrance even though there's a clear reward for exploring this area, then they must fight in an area connected directly to the respawn chambers. If you need more space, you can dig south and build bedrooms or kitchens protected by meters of solid rock.
>>
No. 798315 ID: 0d1514

>>798297
Can the bedrooms be enchanted as meditation rooms? Sounds like it'd make for good sleepin. I'd also switch out the treasury for a forge.
>>
No. 798316 ID: 0d1514

>>798315
Also, ASAP with the forge: enchanted pickaxes n shovels. And can we enchant the flooded room to be a permanent miniboss area since it's already excavated?
>>
No. 798321 ID: 8d4593

Actually... We could ask if the gang would rather have a couple bedrooms, or a basic forge.
>>
No. 798336 ID: d79f26
File 149332426465.png - (24.81KB , 960x600 , entry.png )
798336

upgrade the entrance to an actual room and have a door set to open when all minions in the room are defeated. for now that will be golems but can be swapped to slimes once we start getting those.
>>
No. 798338 ID: 45b631

>>798321
This is less a democracy and more Deem's body. Consultation generally doesn't hurt, mind you.

Hey, Deem, how difficult is it to move rooms? If you want to relocate the whole living-area+boss-room to somewhere more defensively deep+has-more-magma later on, and let's suppose that by that time you had a moderately complete non-combat zone, how significant would that be compared to the spell you are about to cast?
>>
No. 798339 ID: 6dc8e5
File 149332513598.png - (58.35KB , 960x600 , Deem's Dungeon v0_8.png )
798339

Don't add a room next to the Y, expand the passage into a proper room with multiple exits. Bonus points if it can have a puzzle that requires moving stuff around the room to open the door you want to use. As a hub room, it can buy us time to set stuff up every time someone wants to cross it.

A dedicated living area would be good, and digging one out by hand later is going to be hard to justify until it is causing serious morale problems. Better to get it out of the way now.

If stargazer is okay with swimming in sand, a dedicated miniboss chamber would be nice, and we can keep the flooded passage as a navigational challenge to get there.
Failing that, I would say add a forge along the path to the valley.
>>
No. 798350 ID: d36af7

Forge for Hin along the path to the valley, gym/obstacle course at the Y so adventurers will have to traverse it at least twice, living space in the ceiling above the obstacle course, accessed by retractable ladders or stairs. Inspired by the troll-wife idea, kitchen could include knives, pots of boiling oil, Belphejar, etc. pouring down on intruders while they're stuck between obstacles.

Not in favor of an alchemy lab just yet, but if (or rather, when) you do add one, the obvious low-traffic spot would be out past the key area.
>>
No. 798351 ID: 3abd97

>what build

>Basic Forge
Seems a pretty no brains force multiplier. Allows Hin to actually do what she's good at, and produces equipment and tools that can empower or be leveraged by others. Until we have a forge, Hin is your minion at the biggest disadvantage. (Fighters and mages aren't as location or infrastructure dependent as a craftsperson).

>perhaps I should set aside one of the three rooms as dedicated living space
Creature comforts are important. If this is to a be a home, your minions should have a place they can comfortably call their own. A place they feel safe. That's very good for productivity and morale. Not as exciting, dungeon wise, but it goes a long way to upgrading this from a camping trip in the wilderness to actually building something.

That's two non-adventuring rooms. The third should be something dual purpose- useful for when adventurers come crawling, and repurposable when not. I'm... thinking the golem totem would be more useful than the gym or meditation room. It's a puzzle when adventurers come crawling, but for now, it means more golem workers to assist your mortal minions and do the grunt work around here. Tunneling, cleaning, paroling, etc.
>>
No. 798352 ID: 3ce125

>>798291
Be efficient (or outright make them smaller than you want) with the size of the new rooms so you have enough power left to open up the valley passage when you activate Delve. Then we can get an early start building living quarters in the valley or otherwise developing it, and start widening the small rooms manually with golem power to make up for the stingy initial size.

Put the Golem Totem where the key is. Adventurers get to solve a puzzle to get the key instead of it being out in the open!

I agree with a Forge being next, for income, outfitting our minions, and loot. However I think you're forgetting something, Deem. Adventurers can try to steal materials or even finished products, not just tools, so there'd have to be a small storeroom connected to it with a sealing designation on it. The location of the Forge doesn't matter a whole lot but I DO think it should be easily accessible to adventurers, because it's a cool room to look at even if nothing's in it. Eye candy! Also, it tells adventurers that we are making magic items, so there IS loot other than gold to be had, and that there's a stable income for the dungeon so if they win they can expect to be able to come back later and get something out of a second win.

After that, we need to increase the power we can bring to bear. The rooms that work for that are the Midboss Room, Thaumatorium (since you can enhance our two casters in it), and maybe the Gymnasium if the terrain gives an advantage to the defender. A Treasury would be nice, but we actually have some backup funds- Chakarchelou's hoard. It should be hidden in a room protected by a sealing designation. It won't be game over if we lose, it'll just be a huge setback.
>>798350
I really like this idea. The Gymnasium is a lovely multi-purpose room when placed at that T intersection. Stargazer and Reisarf could even use the room for a fight if it's set up to take advantage of his teleportation. Raised platforms should be easy! For the obstacle course thing we really do want it to have a chance of injuring or killing intruders, though.

The fourth room we make should be the Treasury.
>>
No. 798453 ID: 12b116

We should definitely put up the forge next. Now, on the one hand there should probably be a bathroom, but on the other hand alchemy lab.
>>
No. 798464 ID: 031add

I don't have any suggestions for the short term, however I think the valley should be accessed and if it is truly enclosed then it should be made into a hub for the staff section of the dungeon. A large central garden with rooms along the sides for kitchens, housing, craft shops, etcetera.
>>
No. 798481 ID: 5792da
File 149335953647.png - (81.28KB , 960x600 , Dungeon3.png )
798481

>>798291
I vote for like, rooms with nice floors and walls and ceilings and corners. Nobody wants to live in a shitty cave.

Expanding existing rooms and corridors is more dig-efficient than digging out whole new rooms, so.

>What Build?
- Forge. Right near the entrance to the heart chamber so it's easy to pack up whatever and get it behind multiple locks before adventurers get anywhere near it. As a bonus, it's connected to the crevasse leading up to the valley, which should make a relatively convenient chimney (as long as it doesn't flood on us). Good airflow is important for a forge, both to get the temperature up, and to avoid filling the dungeon with smoke. Hexagonal rooms are dumb but whatever.

- Thaumatorium. A large chamber with a pool repurposed from the flooded area makes a decent target range for practicing shooty magic. Cleaning it up will also make it a nicer place for stargazer to swim around in, and pools are also not terrible places to get some exercise. It's not combat practice, but swimming is a good way to build up strength and endurance. Just, you know, not while people are practicing magic.

And, you know, boosted magic and a good pool for Reisarf and Stargazer's wombocombo fight. Dunno if we should install actual platforms or just let Reisarf do the ice thing when they're needed.

- Golem Totem. Right up near the front of the dungeon with some kinda puzzle to prevent adventurers from getting in too far before we're ready.

And yes, it all fits. http://imgur.com/a/VDjuP

The valley seems like more digging than we can do right now, and while it does give us access to a nice space for crew lodging and whatever, it also gives us zero dungeon-magic benefits. Seems like a project for later (or for golems to slowly chip away at).
>>
No. 798502 ID: 8f9fd0

>>798291
>Since anvils and a container for fire are hard to steal
you are underestimating adventurers. they will take anything not bolted to the floor and pry offanything that is.
>>
No. 798504 ID: d79f26

>>798502
she said it was hard to steal, she made no claim to it being impossible
>>
No. 798509 ID: 3d2d5f

>>798502
>>798504
Becomes a lot harder to steal from if we put the forge in the residential / backstage area of the dungeon we deny adventurers access to entirely with a sealing designation.

Makes more sense than having to evacuate the forge every time someone shows up. Especially since someone will inevitably show when Hin can't afford interruption (if stop now, it'll be ruined!).
>>
No. 798515 ID: 9814f3

>>798509
Assuming, of course, that for some reason we don't simply give the forge it's own set of sealing designations and keep it in a more central location away from the residential area due to noise.
>>
No. 798529 ID: b15da4

>>798509
The more we put behind Sealing Designations, the less efficient our mana gathering becomes. The forge is really a minor thing to wager - what adventurer's going to steal an anvil, let alone successfully? Hin could reforge an item if she really needed to, and the forge could be expanded into a shop or not-so-mini boss room to make it harder to steal from. I think putting it off the beaten path is the best defense - adventurers will just turn around when they find a utility room with no loot.
>>
No. 798531 ID: d69df4

Personally I liked the notion of incorporating the forge into the dungeon path itself-maybe (with Hin's permission/approval) we set it up so that when Resinarf&Stargazer are defeated, the water from their passage drains into Hin's Forge, putting out the fires that burn within it and enabling deeper passage inside...
Admittedly that's probably a thing to do further along but if we set it up now...
>>
No. 798551 ID: 417d00

>>798502
If they are capable and willing to jogg around with an anvil in their pocket, then they have earned themselves an anvil.
>>
No. 798572 ID: 45b631

It is not about whether they have earned an anvil or not- Well, maybe it is... but lugging an anvil around is not so glorious as leaping from a chandelier, hand-vaulting off of a slime that is too surprised to suck, and elegantly flinging yourself through the narrow guillotine-trapped tube in the wall without once touching the walls. The, ahem, 'glory' of hauling an anvil may not be sufficient to magic up a new anvil...

And, ultimately, we really want to have an anvil at the end of the day. Being cleaned out down to our treasury is not going to be bad as having to put our blacksmith on strike for a week while we get a new one.

And we all know how bad these delver types are. Didn't Hin mention "murder hobos"? I can just see it now...
Fighter: "Hey! A sword-maker! Thief! Find the swords!"
Wizard: "Hmmm, a forge in a dungeon, it must be mystical..."
Thief: *looks wide-eyed at the back of the fire-pit and crawls down behind it before reaching into their own sack and pulling out one of the cheap swords they have for these occasions*
"Hey, catch! Found this behind the smelter, maybe this one will be magic?"
*Promptly pokes at the back of the firepit for secret compartments while their companions are distracted.*
Mage: "It's a dungeon, there is always more to it than you think. What all is in here?"
Thief: Just hot coals and an anvil. And the coals are cooling down, I don't think there is any magic there.
Fighter: "And a sword!" *waves said sword around*
Thief: ... "And a sword..." ...
Mage: "Well it must be the anvil then... What do you suppose it is made of?"
Thief + fighter: "metal?"
mage: "There is a big difference between an iron anvil and an orichalcum anvil..."
Thief: "You think it could be orichalcum!"
Mage: "Well I don't know, I've seen orichalcum blends on occasion, but I don't know what pure orichalcum looks like..."
Thief: "PURE!!! A chunk that size would be worth more than I've ever seen!"
Mage: "Well... It could be..."
Thief: "Hey, fighter, you think? No, it has to be too heavy to carry, even for you."
Fighter: "That little thing?!"
Thief: "But anvils are famously heavy! I've never doubted your strength, but such a feat is beyond mere humans."
Fighter: "I'll! Show! This! Lump! Graaaargh!"
*Fighter has gained a level in Brute Ignorance*
- "You need not count the anvil in order to lift it, somehow you have managed the latter"
*Thief has gained a level in Fighter Mastery*
- "Fighters have many great uses, but often require 'assistance' to find them."
>>
No. 798582 ID: 0d1514

>>798551
Bags of holding, bro
>>
No. 798662 ID: 094652

>List of problems with open-source forge
What if we just trap the room with lethal explosive gasses and set the trigger to ridiculous things, e.g. falling coals if the anvil is somehow ripped from the floor it was bolted on, poison gas seeps out of five layers of reinforced wood if torn out of floor, guillotine chops anyone stupid enough to stick their head in the forge into the chimney, etc.
>>
No. 798705 ID: d79f26

>>798572
so they take the anvil and then walk into the boss room, and their DPS is carrying an anvil. stealing the incredibly heavy thing is something you do on your way OUT of the dungeon when you don't have to worry about the strong monsters popping up.

anyway, if you are really that paranoid then just add a lightning trap to a pressure plate under the anvil. if the anvil is lifted then it zaps the largest metal object in the room (anvil) and fries whoever is carrying it. and it can't be detected and disarmed because the plate is just a little button smaller then the base of the anvil.
>>
No. 798707 ID: 48237d

>>798705
Clever.
I was gonna suggest bolted the anvil to the floor, but your idea is better.
>>
No. 798738 ID: 70983e

I'm sure you all have some experience adventuring. Have any of you ever even looked at an anvil and thought, "I'm gonna loot that"? Don't be silly.
>>798705
Besides, they could detect traps with magic, push the anvil partway off the plate, then disarm the exposed trap.
>>
No. 798765 ID: d79f26

>>798738
if they are flinging detection magic around they would first detect if the anvil is worth it.
>>
No. 798775 ID: 6dc8e5

Hey guys, why don't we build a tunnel leading to a dead end, and just write "OVERTHINKING" on the wall.
>>
No. 798814 ID: 8d4593

>>798775
Nonono.
The hallway needs to wrap in around itself in a long downward spiral. At the end of th hall is a single ordinary lever. Pulling the lever will immeditly fill the whole labrinth with water while simultaneously sealing it off with stone doors at multiple points.
Overthought curiosity trap.
>>
No. 798857 ID: 45b631

Congratulations Deem! You defeated your new location's first challenger! And in a state that could reasonably be equated with nudity! Well, maybe more like a thread-bare loincloth? you should discuss this matter with your denizens, Not having a clear conversion ratio between dungeon nudity and civilised biped nudity could cost you if the issue is raised and you aren't prepared...

Isn't it nice to have a puppet with which to talk to your denizens? Instead of, umm, whatever you did before...
>>
No. 798919 ID: e136ae

>>798775
In the most elegant writing possible.
>>
No. 798958 ID: 12b116

>>798775
This is actually brilliant. Maybe in something that has to be translated.
>>
No. 798963 ID: 65ba11

Anyone thought of any good puzzles for the rooms yet?
I had an idea for one for the Forge, where it locks the adventurers in, and then they need to use specific materials provided in the room to mold a keystone to put in the door, but if thye use the wrong material or put it in the wrong lsot, it like, makes the room hotter, or exudes noxious fumes, or takes oxygen out of the room or something, or all three!
>>
No. 798966 ID: 0d1514

>>798481
you brilliant madman
>>
No. 798984 ID: d79f26

>>798963
being able to make things is a rather rare skill among adventurers. would probably count as unfair.
>>
No. 798995 ID: 65ba11

>>798984
I was thinking it could be done by just having molds in the room they could just stick a piece of lead or whatever into and heat up. Nothing intricate, enough to make like, a coin or rod shape, ya know, for the key. Not super intricate, maybe a bit time consuming?
>>
No. 799023 ID: 45b631

>>798995
And after pressing lead into moulds we can give them a complimentary sandwich and after they eat it we can give them a complimentary potion of lead-resistance that has side-effects of a spontaneous Mohawk and bright-tan sideburns and they smell of sherbet.
>>
No. 799087 ID: d36af7

>>798775
In some obscure dead language (Merud or Moriko might know a good one), and then carefully smooth out and/or polish a door-sized section of wall around the word. A fake secret door, the perfect time-waster.
>>
No. 799162 ID: b7883c

Voting forge, golem totem and living quarters (which can double as meditation if possible). The last two to increase our production abilities (and chaff minions) and the last one to keep minion morale up.
>>
No. 799325 ID: 65ba11

I wonder if we could grow plants and reagents on Golems?
>>
No. 799340 ID: e4e9bd

>>799162
This has my vote.
>>
No. 799711 ID: 45b631

Say, Deem, this is a pretty significant magical event. Might some of your minions benefit from observing?
Moriko might be able to observe your movement through the earth-pulse and learn more about what she sees of it, if that isn't embarrassing...
Merud might learn something of earth-manipulation, if he can perceive anything.
Stargazer has great perceptive ability and Reisarf might learn something of large-scale magic.
Hin could probably benefit from seeing magic travel through solid objects, you know, for crafting magic items, but she is a bit sleepy right now.
This might be the best chance you will get to expose alkaline to spellwork if we want magic-slinging slimes. Is there a way to involve her in the process? She might mature before you see another opportunity like this...
Belphejar should probably be kept away from your heart while it is spraying liquid mana all over the place. There is no need to tempt the poor thing to give you a stomach hug...
Char seems more about the gold than the magic, but magic dragons are pretty cool...
>>
No. 799786 ID: e01e87

>>799087

This is a beautiful thing that must happen. Even if we don't have a shadow dungeon, that's no excuse not to be absolutely infuriating.
>>
No. 799792 ID: 1e7aa8

>>799786 But. We want adventurers to come back so we can keep defeating them for sweet sweet mana?
>>
No. 799821 ID: a363ac

Since you are expanding the dungeon you should expand your avatar Deem grow taller like taller than Hin to show that you are better than her and her stupid boobs.
>>
No. 799890 ID: 45b631

>>799821
Nooo! Her current size is ador-erp! Umm, that is... she should conserve her, umm, if she can make more golem then it should be workers and warriors. Her personal golem should be focused on social interactions, for which her current size is currently sufficient. Aside from the ability to move under her own power and directly speak to people, her beautiful heart is superior in every way! This little toy is probably already more fancy than it needs to be. Not to mention that she shouldn't be exposing it too much. Most heroes will know better than to mess with a dungeon's heart, but many might mistake the fragment for some common magic gem that is powering a golem, and might regard it as loot!
>>
No. 799912 ID: 91ee5f

>>799821
This! XD
>>
No. 799958 ID: 3abd97

>>799890
Yes, adorpable.
>>
No. 800468 ID: d9d492
File 149425037520.png - (43.05KB , 800x550 , moriko_was_going_to_show_damage_but_it_was_too_har.png )
800468

Merud severs his connection to the ribbon-golem, stands up and dusts off his knees. He turns and pauses, looking at Hin, then Reisarf, then me.

"Deem, you're looking a little flushed." he says.

>Congratulate and thank EVERYONE for helping turn this little surprise into a big success.
"I'm just happy! Come on everyone, outside!" Well, everyone except Chakarchelou. He's still sleeping soundly. I won't disturb him.

>Isn't it nice to have a puppet with which to talk to your denizens? Instead of, umm, whatever you did before...
My communications would be far more infrequent otherwise. It is nice. I can talk and walk with my denizens and I have gold and mana and everything is wonderful.

I shoo Merud, Hin, Reisarf and Stargazer out of the bedroom, with Belphe and Alkaline taking up the rear.

Moriko's standing in the centre of the room, eyes closed. Meditating? She looks a little woozy. She did take that detonation at the end. Merud's ribbon-golem tried to protect her from the worst of the blast but it got shredded in the process.

The hammerai's eyes open and she looks at Hin. "What happened to you?"

Hin raises a hand to her head but that's not where Moriko is looking.

It's nothing to worry about so much, we won! I have mana! I step forward. "Just a potion side-effect, it should wear off soon!"

>Also, give your champion a kiss on the cheek. She did damn well this time and you've practically ignored her since that first battle.
Maybe I should, no, she's too tall. I feel that gnawing blank spot in my Heart. I won't have this mana forever.

"How are you Moriko? You did everything I could have hoped for against that cat!"

"I'm fine. She was a strong opponent but undisciplined."

>Deem you need to hug your minions more before battle. It appears to give Hin some kind of moral boost, you will have to see how it works on the others but Alkaline would likely receive even greater effects from the bond she feels with you.
It seems worth trying! For now Alkaline's hugging Moriko. She seems quite taken with the first proper boss she's seen in her life. Moriko seems slightly discomfited. Maybe I should remove Moriko from the list for these hypothetical hug trials.

"This adventurer came far sooner than any of us could have expected. Even though we weren't ready for it, you all pulled together spectacularly. Well done everyone."

>>Moriko and Merud's coordination is awfully good. I need to get to the bottom of this after the fight.
>Obviously, they were practising while they were gone, because they wanted to impress you!
Well it worked; I am impressed!

>The dungeon's first victory is thanks to Moriko and Merud! Tonight, we feast! And maybe investigate this minion synergy from the Moriko side, and analyse it thoroughly to obtain its benefits for everyone.
I look at Merud and Moriko. "That golem in particular, how did you get it to coordinate with Moriko so well?"

"It's a little based on how your golem operates." Merud says. "You see-"

Gnawing emptiness. I want to know, but there's something more important for me to do right now.
>>
No. 800469 ID: d9d492
File 149425064792.png - (30.48KB , 600x800 , deem_gets_magical.png )
800469

>Say, Deem, this is a pretty significant magical event. Might some of your minions benefit from observing?
I walk over to my Heart. "Sorry Merud, you'll have to tell me later. I don't like how quickly I'm losing mana so I need to do something with it now. This is something you'll never see outside of a dungeon. Everyone, watch closely! On second thought, step back!"

>Basic Forge seems a pretty no brains force multiplier. Allows Hin to actually do what she's good at, and produces equipment and tools that can empower or be leveraged by others. Until we have a forge, Hin is your minion at the biggest disadvantage.
True, true. For my second room, I'll make a forge!

>Someone will inevitably show when Hin can't afford interruption (if stop now, it'll be ruined!).
The most complex and valuable smithing work will be conducted right after an invasion. When my accumulated mana reaches its peak is the time to be creating magic items.

>Can the bedrooms be enchanted as meditation rooms? Sounds like it'd make for good sleeping.
Not while they're sharing space with the Resurrection Matrix. If I were to move them, I could try having small rooms off a central courtyard to do that. The extra privacy would be appreciated, I'm sure.

>Creature comforts are important. If this is to a be a home, your minions should have a place they can comfortably call their own. A place they feel safe. That's very good for productivity and morale. Not as exciting, dungeon wise, but it goes a long way to upgrading this from a camping trip in the wilderness to actually building something.
Yes, they can't live in that tiny bedroom forever. I definitely need to make more living space and more comfortable spaces a priority.

>>798481
Wait, I really want that thaumatorium! I'll leave some space so they can swim and bathe and get fresh water there too!

Strictly speaking it's not necessary for me to have my Heart fragment and my golem body here for the casting, but it makes me feel more comfortable. I must not delay any further! It's time to call up power, to use real magic!

"What are you doing?" Reisarf asks.

I rouse the mana dwelling in my poor, broken and crippled Heart to complete the Delve spell. The motionless stability of earth is an illusion, as is the steady progression of time! Let's smear it all into chaos and impose raw will upon it!

"THIS!"

The mountain shudders. Mana flows through the corridors of my body and I force it through solid stone to hollow the flesh of the mountain out more. Stone flows and reforms and vanishes. A geological epoch in seconds of time.

153G gained

Oh and some valuables left behind!
>>
No. 800470 ID: d9d492
File 149425087948.png - (17.57KB , 800x550 , deem_likes_angles.png )
800470

Merud blinks rapidly. "What just happened?!"

I let out a deep breath. Farewell mana. But I have more gold again and a much better dungeon.

"I expanded the dungeon!" I say to him. I move to the door-golem. It obediently rolls open, the last of the Sealing Designations fizzling out. "Go on, explore!"

The Golem Totem and that half finished exterior space are the only rooms before the forge. The thaumatorium has a large water cistern in the bottom right corner to hold fresh water. I made two containers next to it, one for bathing and one for easy to access drinking water.

>Perhaps place the Forge above the T junction, directly facing the entrance, either with a cheery flame blazing and Hin at a table doing shopkeeper things, or dark and spooky, as need may be.
This placement felt nice to me because it retains the option turning it into a shop with Hin as shopkeeper. It should be discovered early, especially if I expand the dungeon along that crack behind it. The only downside is that right now it doesn't leave Hin much time to lock her equipment away and get out - she might get drawn into fights.

>>I'd want people to be paying attention to her goods!
>We're in agreement, then!
Well, good!

>Since you are expanding the dungeon you should expand your avatar Deem grow taller like taller than Hin to show that you are better than her and her stupid boobs.
Don't insult my minions! No part of Hin is stupid!

>Nooo! Her current size is ador-erp! Umm, that is... she should conserve her, umm, if she can make more golem then it should be workers and warriors. Her personal golem should be focused on social interactions, for which her current size is currently sufficient.
It might be nice to overhaul my golem body but I'll have to wait until the Golem Totem is completed. I've dug out the space for the rooms but there'll be some more work before each room's functioning.

>Speaking of, we should feed one horn to Alkaline and one to Belphejar.
Hin's loitering behind the others. I snag her arm before she leaves and whisper. "Hin, by the way, do you mind what I do with your horns?"

"Nah." No hesitation yet again.

>Then finish Hin's haircut and send her off to bed already. Then make sure our dungeon boss is actually alright and not too dazed.
"Good, check the forge layout's to your liking, then come back here. I'll sort your horn and hair and then you should get some sleep."

>Hin has serious issues with ogres. Probably related to her father and mother. You are a mountain labyrinth, it will, at some point, be tempting to acquire ogres as monsters. It may be wise to ask Hin how she feels about that.
I will if the time comes. I think she's getting a little sick of the attention right now.

>>I nod. I don't know why she's so touchy about them.
>It doesn't really matter, at the moment. People's appearances / self images can be powerful, and accommodating hers is a relatively inexpensive show of respect. Good minion management.
True, it's something I should keep in mind.
>>
No. 800471 ID: d9d492
File 149425112421.png - (21.23KB , 800x500 , potion_time_part_deux.png )
800471

>Now, beyond the gold, did the cat drop any good loot? Those bombs probably weren't with her for too long...
No, only gold. It's unlikely for an adventurer to lose an item unless they're carrying an inadequate amount of gold. People do cling to their possessions.

Speaking of new items, this raw mana is accumulating at an alarming rate. I should put it to use.

>You said the Belphejar's potions are probably skewed towards healing for a while, so we should whip up some food potions with an additional healing side effect.
I could just make healing potions instead. So I will do that.

>And then perhaps give Moriko one to patch up any minor wounds she might've sustained.
>As well as a couple stored as potential loot for adventurers.
I think I should have something ready by the time everyone's getting ready for bed. I'll give one to Moriko then.

>Give Chakarchelou his hoard back and instruct him to hide it in the living quarters so it can't be stolen again. Heck, you could make a little alcove for it, until everyone's set up in the valley, at which point I imagine he'll hide it somewhere in there.
Actually, I will keep it as part of the dungeon. That means I get some benefit from it in cultivating the earth-pulse by having it exposed as a reward even though it's not part of my hoard. And it motivates Chakarchelou to fight his best.

I'll give him 100G to make up for the shock of losing it for the first time though.

Once he wakes up.

>Speaking of which, is there any way to secure the valley encampment? It'd suck if someone snuck in and stole shit or tried to use the back entrance to bypass our layout.
Doors and guardian monsters.

>Does the hair carry any residual magic from the revival?
No. It's hair.

>Speaking of, Belphe will continue to produce humorous-effect potions. Certainly the current food potions that increase food production would create misunderstandings not befitting such a noble labyrinth, but there will be other potions and some amount of compromise on the "silly potion" front would add a nice source of cheap, memorable loot.
I can't find any fault with that reasoning. I certainly need something to fill the gap until I can craft magic items. It would be wasteful not to use the raw mana. Perhaps we will stumble on some more novel effects.

First though, healing potions. Hmm, let's see. I'll use the slime milk again since it already has weak healing properties and see what else we have. I'll call Alkaline back so she can get more experience with potion making.

>And don't forget to hug Belphejar!
If my cauldron gulper does a good job here, maybe I will!

Deem is crafting healing potions. You may pick the potion's side effect. Depending on how it complements the ingredients and main effect of the potion, it might strengthen or weaken the potion's effectiveness.
>>
No. 800477 ID: 70983e

>especially if I expand the dungeon along that crack behind it
And how do you plan to do that if you've turned the entire passage into a smokestack? I hope you can shift rooms around with future Delves, otherwise getting more dungeonside (non-staff) rooms into that area is going to take some architectural gymnastics.

>Side effects
Roll 1 3-sided doctor for effect:
1: Deploy air-bags in the event of imminent impact from the front. May be triggered by anything more forceful than a light hug. Airbags will remain partially deployed until effect is ready to recast.
2: Toxin filtration with purgative effect that doubles as a short-range attack.
3: Feeling a little horse: Suffer speech impediment after drinking which leaves you prone to neighing.
>>
No. 800478 ID: 2120ee

>>800471
Slime-sweat: the potion causes the user to excrete a thin layer of slime, and possibly toxins affecting them?
>>
No. 800479 ID: 7f917c

>>800471
Healing potions bolster a person's physique, and the heart, a crucial organ required for meatbags to stay alive, resides in the torso, hence you should have the side effect be enhancing knockers.

It has the benefit of being an already known side effect as well.
>>
No. 800480 ID: a363ac

>>800471
"No part of Hin is stupid!" Then you admit that you like Hin's boobage!
for a side effect >>800478
>>
No. 800481 ID: ee721e

I´ve got some ideas.

First a potion that while it heals the injuries, the pain remains for an hour, after which it fades.

Another is that it makes the drinker hungry. Multiple potions would enhance this to ravenous. We could counter this with our food potion to ensure our fighters are not hindered.
>>
No. 800482 ID: 48237d

Potions ideas:

1. Featherweight Goliath: A potion of strength that drastically decrease the user's weight, completely messing with their balance.
Particularly terrible for mace users, potentially good for slings and trowing discs.

2. Itch Dragon Hide: Cover the user skin with powerful protective scales that cause constant discomfort.

3. Unwise Archmage: Reinforce the user's mana and spell effects but reduce intelligence.

4. Blind Bat: Increase hearing reduce vision.

5. Sensory Reinforce: Increase vision, hearing and smell but the user taste with the entire surface of their skin.

6. Wizard Eyes: Detect magic and life, but completely blind.

7. Underestimate: Reinforce willpower and dexterity but polymorph the user into a kobold.
>>
No. 800483 ID: f66698

How about a side effect of earth pulse connectedness. It would make the user more in tune with the earth pulse, but far more vulnerable to anyone using earth magic or the pulse as a weapon.
>>
No. 800484 ID: c1e532

>>800483
And by extension we can bring their centre of gravity closer to the earth by having their hips widened and butt swollen a bit, right?
>>
No. 800487 ID: 6ffa3d

>Contortionist
Greatly improves flexibility, but movements beyond basic actions produce the sound of cracking knuckles.
>>
No. 800490 ID: 3ce125

C'mon guys we already did boobs. Let's get something else this time.

>>800481
>>800478
I like these ideas.

We could also go with already-known effects of too much healing. Hair growth, etc.
Or, for something more chaotic:
Increased heart rate or jitters.
Slime exudes from all facial orifices, like a really bad slimy cold.
Hair growth, except all over the body. Sheds after a day. May or may not cover areas not normally covered by hair.
Yaoi hands.
>>
No. 800517 ID: 1e7aa8

Delayed healing potion of fizz. Takes a minute to kick in and induces hiccups.
>>
No. 800534 ID: d69df4

...Giantization? Make the tight quarters even tighter!
Aaand maaaybe kept for later use in combat.
>>
No. 800553 ID: 45b631

What is more healthy then blood!
Turns the imbiber's entire surface red.
Causes surface blood-vessels to bulge prominantly.
Causes sruface blood-vessels and any skin, fat, muscle or similar that is directly over them to become transparent.

Increases or decreases fertility by increasing or redirecting vitality.

Causes the spontaneous growth of additional features, such as noses, nails, navels, knotted hair... Would probably be cosmetic and temporary.

Swelling of stomach and cheeks for that well-fed look that is often considered healthy.

Addictive. The pure essence of righting your ills is not without its atttractive qualities...

Sensitivity: Skin is soft and flexible. Skin that has been extensively traumatised becomes leather, which is hard and tough. Skin that has been mystically healed beyond what is normally possible? Well let's just keep peas out of your stack of matresses...

Addicting touch: You radiate vitality, people like vitality, you are never short of volunteers to help you up, or down... (Bring a snorkel before making contact with slime children)

Radiant cheeks: Your cheeks(?) have a healthy glow, literally! It can be difficult to hide, or sleep, when you light up the room...

Healthy glows: Why should your cheeks get all the fun? Eyes, foreheads, feet... Knock-on-wood it won't be anything embarrassing.
>>
No. 800555 ID: 5792da

>>800471
Estus!

Which is to say, tastes like fire, burning, and pain, and leaves you feeling a little homesick, but burns the bad out in addition to healing. Arrow stuck in your gut? Not anymore!
>>
No. 800560 ID: 5a7bd1

There is one side effect, but its a pretty horrible one:

Temporary joint pain and goutlike effects if overdosed. It comes from the Healing Fluid crystalizing in the joints in sharp needlelike structures. The "healingcrystals" dissolve, healing the damage they inflicted, and deliberatly measured harm can speed up the process.
>>
No. 800563 ID: 3abd97

>>800468
Moriko's nearly got crystal abs with that buff on.

>>800470
Well, I guess we can still build nice living quarters the hard way.

>If my cauldron gulper does a good job here, maybe I will!
He lost two fights in a row. He needs a win, here. (Even if the second loss was a strategic delaying action).

>Deem is crafting healing potions. You may pick the potion's side effect.
Injured areas that are healed get temporarily stoneformed. It's like a scab or cast of partial petrification. Let's see how everyone else deals with being a golem!
>>
No. 800577 ID: 91ee5f

I know it's funny, but you guys do realize that the side effects don't have to be bad and/or silly, right? Why not some side effects that are actually helpful?

How about a healing potion that heals and causes health regeneration over a set amount of time?
>>
No. 800601 ID: d36af7

Healing potion causes open wounds to weep frothy green-black tar which stains clothing, itches like mad, and looks horribly infected, but actually cleans out and seals up the wound like the best sterile bandages... if you can avoid scratching.
>>
No. 800606 ID: c386ca

>>800471
HMM... maybe some sort of stamina potion that restores stamina/reduces fatigue? Like, especially since you have people doing a lot of hard work, having them need to be top shape at a moment's notice for any adventurers. The downside is after they try to rest after anything that would wear them down, the potion makes them more lewd/amorous and unable to rest until they burn off their restless energy.

Second potion would be a regeneration potion- it will regrow limbs/skin/lost body parts/etc in short order, but the downside is that hair/nails/horns etc will grow hilariously long and be more resistant to being trimmed after growth.

Third would be a curse removal potion- important what with devil bears being around. it removes or reduces curses/diseases- anything less than a powerful disease or curse would be removed and the powerful ones' effects would be alleviated for duration of potion. Downside being feeling a need to be physically affectionate with/love for first person they see after drinking potion for a set amount of time
>>
No. 800615 ID: d79f26

healing but the healed areas turn purple
>>
No. 800748 ID: 45b631

Concentrate the drinker's body, causing them to shrink. Just barely enough for wardrobe malfunctions.
Highly selective metabolism increases. They talk quickly. Their digestion increases compelling them to eat constantly and make frequent 'trips behind the bushes' which reduces their tolerance for long meetings or a lack of privacy. And obviously their hair and nails grow at an alarmingly accelerated rate.
>>
No. 801256 ID: d36af7

If there's enough rain up in that isolated valley, water would come straight down the new chimney and into the forge. Knowing Deem's luck, that will happen when Hin is at a critical point in some big expensive project. Might want to dig some sort of drainage channel before we learn the hard way what happens when industrial-grade enchanted items are quenched improperly.
>>
No. 801620 ID: 45b631

The excess lfe energy pools in one of the imbiber's fingers, granting it thoughts and speech. No, this isn't spontaneously generating life, that would be playing at being god Deem, this is just an extension of the victim, so its mind is much like their own. However, it is very small, which limits its complexity, and all that life-energy can be a bit pverwhelming, so they can act a bit, well, they don't really think things through before speaking. It is a bit like having a drunken commentator that you can't get rid of. Well, you could cut it off, but that would break the healing magic, which would be unfortunate given that you just had a finger cut off...
>>
No. 801835 ID: d36af7

Meanwhile, Moriko and Hin (and any spare worker-golems) should start setting up the forge. Probably tired from the fight, so tell 'em to take it slow, be careful to minimize risk of hurting themselves or damaging anything expensive. While they work, they should talk about plans for weapons, armor, tactics, all that sort of thing. Share what they learned from this adventurer, plan for the next one. Take Moriko aside and confide to her that Hin's had a mysterious persistent cough, so try to work in some breathing exercises or something.

Reisarf and Alkaline should go play around in the thaumatorium. Practice hopping between platforms. Get comfortable in the space, enjoy childhood while it lasts.

Merud can go check out the golem totem, and start working on a new guard for the front door. I'm thinking something like a face over the lintel, with big eyes so it can see adventurers coming from further away, and enough vocal capacity to recite a canned speech, maybe even challenge intruders to a contest of riddles before the door will open? Fits the earth/shadow theme, buys time for setup, starts the whole delve off on a more dignified note, chance to show off his specialty and do it right instead of that hasty slapdash work on the door-wheel. Once you've got the potions underway and stable, head out there to talk with him about the scarf trick and golemetry in general.
>>
No. 801864 ID: 45b631

You don't just tell them to play. You ask them to test it. See if they can tip or flood the platforms, see if there is room enough for Stargazer to swim while someone rides her, see if they can break any of it, and to perform every test that they can think of, and a couple more for good measure. Hopefully playing around will come as a product of trying to mess around with it as much as possible. Reisarf seems a bit too professional to go along with "play around with it". I mean, he was in a fight to the death earlier today, and not just with his hair!
>>
No. 802135 ID: 12b116

>>800471
Well, if it's something for adventurers to loot, the side effect should be earth-shattering diarrhea. Or making them sticky.
>>
No. 802144 ID: 91ee5f

>>802135
No, it should be explosive diarrhea! Literally causing an explosion! Like this: https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=lVvNI4gaEts ! XD
>>
No. 802167 ID: 45b631

Oooh, and there is trasure placement to worry about. That chest needs gold. a key just isn't enough. A couple of gold, or ideally something a bit duller, could go to the bottom of the water. Heroes might not bother getting wet if the prize is not so large. Some golds could be set into the walls of the golem totem, made to look like part of the mechanism. Some heroes will be superstitious about breaking magic stuff, and others might decide that pulling out a couple of coins is enough to break it and not bother breaking everything else to stop it from being a threat somehow, because some heroes think that everything is a threat... Could you benefit from burying some under the sign? It is a marker so it is not lame like just setting it behind featurless walls which would probably do nothing...
>>
No. 802168 ID: 0d1514

>>800471
side effect is DICK ENLARGEMENT
we gotta theme going no reason to ruin it
>>
No. 802183 ID: 3740b1

>>802168
Yes
>>
No. 802185 ID: b4b187

I see loss of color as a good side-effect: Character turns gray and becomes colorblind until the side-effect expires.
>>
No. 802186 ID: d79f26

>>802185
a reverse pleasantville, i like it.
>>
No. 802216 ID: fa8c1a
File 149493798660.png - (28.63KB , 750x600 , the_one_true_brew.png )
802216

>>especially if I expand the dungeon along that crack behind it
>And how do you plan to do that if you've turned the entire passage into a smokestack?
By partitioning it into a chimney and a corridor. What kind of amateur do you think I am?

>If there's enough rain up in that isolated valley, water would come straight down the new chimney and into the forge.
I installed some drainage but I do need to clear it fairly quickly. The flooded passage shows a lot of water got in over time.

Now then, potions!

With Alkaline by my side I quickly remind her about how alchemy is one of the subtle arts; about bringing out and intensifying traits from various ingredients but this in turn makes avoiding contamination difficult. For the more delicate mixtures, it can be something as simple as the wrong phase of the Moon or an evil wind out of the East.

Between the plentiful raw mana, the potion mix being skewed towards healing by Doyle's resurrection and Alkaline's slime milk there's not a lot of work to be done on this potion really. I ask my little slime princess to suggest an extra ingredient and she suggests eggs. She's surprised to learn that chicken eggs have hard shells, unlike the soft, squishy eggs she can produce. Both types of egg go in Doyle and she eats the shells.

I grind up Hin's horn and give it to Alkaline as well. It seems to have made her sticky slime a little stronger.

The potion is looking promising. A strong healing effect and it looks like it'll act try to purge the body of toxic influences. I can't quite pin down the mechanism by which this is achieved yet, but it's a success! As promised, I hug Doyle. Burning hot. It trembles delicately at my touch. I guess Doyle's not used to being hugged either. A kindred spirit!

I leave Alkaline alone with Doyle to monitor the simmering potion and set to work on my next important order of business: minion fashion.
>>
No. 802217 ID: fa8c1a
File 149493817633.png - (27.78KB , 750x600 , your_input_is_not_wanted.png )
802217

"Deem." Hin says.

"Yes?" I say.

"Why do you know how to cut hair?"

"Presentation is very important for a dungeon, Hin." I say, packing away the comb, scissors and Hin's other horn. "Aesthetics aren't something we've had much time for yet, but everything in a dungeon should work towards creating something special for the adventurers and the dungeon's denizens alike!"

"So that's why we've got a proper forge and a swimming pool with vaulted ceilings and everything now?"

I lean in. "Oh you noticed?" It's nice to see my architecture is appreciated.

"Gee Deem, you just carved out a thousand tons of rock. Who wouldn't notice?" Hin pauses for a moment. "Where did the rock go?"

"Away."

"Ah."

>"No part of Hin is stupid!" Then you admit that you like Hin's boobage!
Alright, I admit I like Hin's refusal to make a big fuss over the various side effects of potions and other things she's encountered so far.

Hin picks this moment to pat her chest. "Ahem, anyway. Speaking of aesthetics just how long does this swelling take to go down?"

I squint at her breasts. They're a lot smaller, which is to say still big. "It took several hours to completely wear off and that's while you were sleeping." It helps the body purge foreign influences. "You should get some rest."

She frowns a little. "I'm not an invalid. And we've still got to get everything moved into the forge!" That is one point she seems to be touchy about. Work ethic.

"You had a near death experience today." I push her towards the bedroom. "Reeeest."
>>
No. 802218 ID: fa8c1a
File 149493858348.png - (28.59KB , 800x550 , as_you_can_see_some_lines_are_SMALLER.png )
802218

I find Merud next to talk about his ribbon golem. I wonder if I should say something about cutting him off so abruptly before but the moment I approach him he happily starts explaining what he and Moriko were up to on their journey. With regards to boss teamwork, that is.

"It's actually a little based on your body, Deem." Merud says.

"Come again?"

Enthused, he launches into his explanation. "Your golem body has to tie the extremely complex pre-existing mana channels of your Heart piece to the much simpler and cruder ones that were constructed in your golem body. You're directly connected to it, but the golem still has something of an true ego in of itself. There's still something that exists to form the interface, to mediate the messages and needs between the two halves."

That implies that my golem body has it's own strange will and desires though. My self controls it, and provides it direction but because we're bound together, the golem body's false life is able to affect me in turn. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

I frown. "So you're trying to make it bind on to some of Moriko's mana channels? I don't see how you'd have had enough time to make anything useful."

"Oh that's the best part! You remember in town how I said I have a hobby of trying to make a golem speak convincingly? I haven't had much success, but the idea is it's able to convince someone that it's a person with just words."

I nod. I don't entirely understand why you'd do that, but he's being a little too self deprecating. To make their sounds have meaning - to give a golem speech - is a feat in of itself.

"Well you see the thing is it needs a lot of work in making the golem be able to read cues from people it's interacting with and select how to proceed but without being given explicit orders on what it should do."

Enlightenment dawns on me. "Ah! You've modified the golem to track Moriko's movements to make sure it doesn't get in her way?"

He beams at me. "Exactly! It needs a lot of manual intervention right now, but I think it's promising! We might even be able to make golem armour for someone to wear-"

"-That normally takes a-"

"-without being a specially trained golemeter!"

Hmmm, this gives me a lot to think about for when the Golem Totem's completed.
>>
No. 802220 ID: fa8c1a
File 149493874335.png - (53.75KB , 1080x400 , now_let_me_renovate_your_wardobe.png )
802220

The potion needs a lot more work to be stabilised but if it's going to be consumed immediately that's not an issue. Just before dinner I hand the first dose over to Moriko to try. Her skin glistens then takes a bluish tiny as glutinous sweat pours off her. She sheds her new shirt before it can get too much goo on it.

Everyone's diplomatically silent.

I poke Moriko's slimy skin. "Hmm, I guess it takes a little after Alkaline's shroud?" My hammerai's stomach growls next. "Hmm, that's to be expected too. The potion's healing strength is very good and this purging effect could be helpful seeing that bear but it is messy. Sorry Moriko, I'll show you to the bath. We'll keep some hot food set aside for you."

Moriko and I quickly walk to the thaumatorium. I make sure to point out all the features of the new facilities to Moriko to be sure she's properly appreciated my hard work. Now she's just standing there.

"Aren't you going to take the rest of your clothes off? I can have them washed while you bathe."

She keeps giving me sideline glances. "No, I'll, I'm fine. I will take care of it." Still an independent streak. Still no movement. Wait, no that's not it. Ah-hah! She's nervous about my golem body standing here! How unexpectedly shy! She is inside me after all. I excuse myself and leave her to sort out her business.

Now then, what else is there to do?

Ah, Chakarchelou's awake!
>>
No. 802221 ID: fa8c1a
File 149493890285.png - (23.20KB , 750x600 , hello_yes_gold_please_hello.png )
802221

I count out the 100 gold from my enlarged hoard. Even after removing my quasidragon's share, I have 897 gold in coins and miscellaneous uncut semi-precious gems. I'm so happy, my hoard has tripled after this little misadventure.

Chakarchelou is happy too. He bumps into my legs, almost knocking me over and then sits and looks up at me, fidgeting on the spot as he waits for me to hand over the gold. I should break the bad news right now - that his hoard is going to be at stake with each adventurer invasion.

>There is treasure placement to worry about. That chest needs gold. a key just isn't enough.
No, just the key is fine. My treasure pile is not large.

>A couple of gold, or ideally something a bit duller, could go to the bottom of the water. Heroes might not bother getting wet if the prize is not so large.
I might put a gem in the water though.

>Some gold could be set into the walls of the golem totem, made to look like part of the mechanism.
I would want to wait a little while but it might be worthwhile to put a small reward in the totem room that's hard to get at. Early challenges like that are good since they buy time for a fairly trivial amount of of gold.

>Could you benefit from burying some under the sign?
No, that's not yet enough of a part of my dungeon.

I should think about where to keep Chakarchelou's hoard though.

Obviously he'll want to defend it, so he'll be in that room if he can. The corridor is a bit too open, so I think it should be one of the three new rooms.

In the golem totem room, he'll be playing watchdog. He'll get in a lot of fights with adventurers and wandering monsters so he'll have to toughen up and be perceptive to defend his hoard.

In the forge he'll have plenty of opportunity to practice his scorching breath, helping Hin keep the forge hot.

In the thaumatorium, he might take the chance to improve his swimming. Perhaps he'll even pick up a little more awareness of magic.
>>
No. 802224 ID: b7627b

>>802221
Thaumatorium, stick his hoard underwater, he can double as a hazard when crossing the water to get the loot in the chest. Especially if he somehow gets an aquatic adaption.

You might also want to keep some satiation potions handy for future uses of the healing potions, not necessarily a 1:1 ratio, we can have small satiety vials, just enough to offset the energy expenditure caused by the rapid healing.

It's just so we don't have to prepare a large meal for one of our comrades at an odd hour.
>>
No. 802235 ID: d69df4

Hrrrm...
So I've decided we could use him as the initial encounter-while we could place him in the forge, which is tempting I think I'll vote for him as the gaurdian of the golem totem...In other words, dungeon meat-shield.
I kind of feel like we could really use another capable and competent combatant, and he'll do nicely for that purpose.
>>
No. 802237 ID: 7b95d9

>>802221

In the thaumatorium. Seems like it would be a nice little play area for him. When it's not being invaded by adventurers at least.
>>
No. 802245 ID: 1e7aa8

Let's go with sticking him in the totem golem room. This'll give him the possibility of covering Merud's exit and we can eventually incorporate his hoard into it's own puzzle in there.
>>
No. 802249 ID: 91ee5f

Hey, now that I think about it and after going through the previous threads, we never used our Crystal Lens to scan Chakarchelou, so we don't know what his stats and abilities are! If Deem could give Chakarchelou a quick scan so that we can see what he's good at, we'll have an easier time deciding where to put him in the dungeon!
>>
No. 802251 ID: 48237d

Thaumatorium. Magical training for the win.
The first room isn't the right location for treasure and the forge will become a more tempting target with loot and a quasidragon.
>>
No. 802258 ID: ba506f

kinda want to say the forge because if he can help us make more things it would give him something to do even when he's not fighting. Plus that means more loot for us to hide around the dungeon and to sell off in town for more gold and supplies.
>>
No. 802261 ID: 3d2d5f

>>802217
You just built her a shiny new forge to play with, and you expect her to rest?

>That implies that my golem body has it's own strange will and desires though. My self controls it, and provides it direction but because we're bound together, the golem body's false life is able to affect me in turn. I'm not sure how I feel about that
Welcome to life for very nearly every other living thing. They're affected by the desires, needs, and instincts of their body.

Consider an excercise in humility, or a valuable learning experience. Insight and understanding into how your minions and adventurers live ultimately helps you.

>reflexive golem armor
Well, that's clever. If he gets that working, he can combine effects with Hin to make some damn impressive equipment.

Glad he was able to learn something from your example even if you couldn't teach him directly.

>>802221
Head scratchies!

Let's put him in the forge. Every good dragon needs fire breath.
>>
No. 802278 ID: 3ce125

I say Forge.

We're not building a water dungeon so swimming won't be a super useful skill in the long run. If we put him in the totem room he'll lose his hoard basically every time an adventurer shows up because let's face it he's not gonna kill anyone on his own. If he's in the Forge then he'll be able to fight adventurers when they're at least a bit weakened, and he'll be able to train a useful skill outside of combat.
>>
No. 802286 ID: bc8e8a

>>802221
forge
>>
No. 802289 ID: 45b631

Forge. Hopefully he can train his fire resistance. The slimes will probably be vulnerable to fire, so backing it up with fire-resistant golems and dragon is good to dissuade any fire specialists.
>>
No. 802291 ID: 70983e

There's not much point in hiding gold throughout the dungeon yet, as you're already wagering all of it without a treasury.

Given the implications of his cursed dragon ring, I don't want him working in too close quarters with other staff all the time. Put him in the totem room to toughen up and get more fighting time in.

Who would benefit most in our group from Merud's golem power armour? Probably Reisarf if it can follow him through teleports, or Hin if we- hmm. If we reinforced it along with her body, I suppose. A powered exoskeleton would also be great for mining!
Speaking of mining, it's time to replenish your golem stock. Perhaps Merud can collaborate, now that you're not under a time constraint to get them up and running.

In the Totem room, set up most traps to trigger at a height above Chakarchelou, so they hinder taller adventurers without affecting our ankle-biting guard dragon. Add a tripwire and low-sweeping pendulum at the end to catch the short ones.
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No. 802313 ID: b16fc5

>By partitioning it into a chimney and a corridor.
You know, having a supply of smoke handy looks to me like a resource that can be rerouted as part of a trap or encounter. Speaking of which, Chakarchelou should stay in the forge. Smoke rises while Chakar is relatively low to the ground (and also likely heat/smoke resistant), meaning a cloud of smoke from the ceiling down to around chest high for an adventurer will be above Chark's head height, forcing adventurers to crouch or deal with a face full of heated smoke while having minimal effect on Chakar. So we can restrict smoke ventilation before/during a fight in the forge to produce a significant terrain advantage for Chakar (as opposed to the Golem Totem's statue/puzzle bits that agile adventurers might jump onto to keep out of his reach or the thaumatorium's water which works against his fire breath).
Other advantages of the forge include:
* That out of combat utility for crafting is good.
* Last fight Chakar had trouble with a lack of reach, so practicing fire breath should help with that.
* Not being the first encounter will be less stressful on Chakar in terms of gold being taken.
* There is thematic symmetry with having a fire/dark themed encounter (Chakar with fire breath, smoke cloud and maybe some golem support) to offset our water/dark themed encounter (Reisarf and Stargazer in a shadowy thaumatorium).
>>
No. 802321 ID: 5792da

>>802221
Forge. Reisarf and Stargazer already have the Thaumatorium on lock, the golem totem will have golems (duh), and I don't think Hin would mind having a quasi-dragon buddy helping to protect her workplace.

And yeah, tell him that he's gonna need to protect his hoard from adventurer scum.
>>
No. 802324 ID: 0d1514

>>802221
Forge! Would Chak take well to gold bangles and scale accents and such? More equipment for him- and maybe he can avoid losing his hoard if he's wearing it.
>>
No. 802462 ID: 3ce125

Hey deem now that death is meaningless for your minions can you use Reisarf or Merud as an ingredient for potions?
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No. 802463 ID: 0d1514

>>802462
R u d e
Merud would get mad at us again
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No. 802464 ID: 70983e

>>802462
Sadly, this is impossible for the same reason infinite chicken dinners are impossible: The body vanishes immediately after death.
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No. 802469 ID: 91ee5f

>>802464
Then what was the point of Merud and Moriko bringing those chickens here if our minions can't have chicken dinners anymore?!
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No. 802470 ID: 70983e

>>802469
Uh, eggs? You have to get the chicken before the egg.
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No. 802471 ID: 91ee5f

>>802470
Eggs are good and all, but what if someone wants to eat the chicken?
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No. 802499 ID: d79f26

you can have chicken dinners, you just need chickens that aren't bound to the rez matrix.
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No. 802663 ID: c88e6d

>>802221
Personally I like the idea of the Thaumatorium. Swimming is a valuable skill, especially underground where some adventure-jerks might cheat and try to redirect rivers into your house or something.

....Also, I want to see Chakarchelou in a wizard hat. Sue me.
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No. 802682 ID: 1a3973

I like the forge for now. Weapons forged in (quasi)dragon-fire could be pretty nice.

>>802471
Breeding stock and eating stock.
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No. 802699 ID: 45b631

That ring may be increasing Chakarchelou's gold impulses. It might have made the loss of his horde worse.
Perhaps the time has come to investigate how the ring interacts with his inherent draconic elements.
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No. 802705 ID: d36af7

Definitely forge. Doubles as a guard for the shop, and Hin's works-in-progress can be serving double duty as supplements to Chakarchelou's hoard. Brew up some potions of fire resistance for your blacksmith's safety, then start plotting out synergy between breath-weapon reinforcement, and traps which build off the existing metalworking infrastructure, toward the goal of filling the entire room with flame when Hin hits a switch. She was having trouble with cornering an evasive opponent, so a tactic that renders evasion irrelevant might be very handy.
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No. 802714 ID: 6dc8e5

>>802663
a wizard hat could happen either way, but never as a result of Deem deciding it is a wise decision. We need to get Alkaline on the case.
>>
No. 803160 ID: 12b116

Also voting for FORGE.

I'm sure he can help most there and Hin is going to want to work as soon as possible.
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No. 803856 ID: fa8c1a
File 149553453618.png - (25.06KB , 600x750 , anvil_boss_yes_me_i_am_anvil_boss.png )
803856

>If we put Chakarchelou in the totem room he'll lose his hoard basically every time an adventurer shows up because let's face it he's not gonna kill anyone on his own. If he's in the Forge then he'll be able to fight adventurers when they're at least a bit weakened, and he'll be able to train a useful skill outside of combat.
True, I don't want to stress him out that much.

>Forge. Hopefully he can train his fire resistance. The slimes will probably be vulnerable to fire, so backing it up with fire-resistant golems and dragon is good to dissuade any fire specialists.
And diversity is good on that front.

>I like the forge for now. Weapons forged in (quasi)dragon-fire could be pretty nice.
I'm sure Hin will appreciate the help in getting a fire started too.

I escort Chakarchelou to the forge, letting him know it'll be his new home and his hoard must be defended against all comers. And here's Hin.

"I thought I told you to rest." I say.

"Hey, I'm taking it easy." Hin says. "Just making sure I've got everything."

>You just built her a shiny new forge to play with, and you expect her to rest?
Hrrm, I suppose. "Well, I suppose you know what you can handle. But take care of yourself!"

Hin smiles wistfully. "Deem, you sound like my grandma." I-I do not! I've never even met the woman!

Chakarchelou seems to be laying claim to the anvil. Hin's lips narrow but then she looks at me significantly.

"Chakarchelou, no, that's Hin's!"

"Grraow!"

"I know you were first, but Hin's the boss here!"

"Hsss!"

"No, bad quasidragon!" I mime lifting something to Hin.

"Gronk!" My quasidragon wriggles in shock as Hin lifts him off the anvil. She gives him a little shake and then he slumps and goes limp with a sad little groan.

"Cheer up, Charcoal." Hin says as she sits him back on the ground. Charcoal? "There's a nice warm spot for you next to the forge here." She scratches his chin and he perks up a little.

"Sorry, he's still worked up about that adventurer." I say to Hin. "Let me know if he keeps acting up."

I set Chakarchelou's new hoard down in the corner and he paces around and sits on top of it.

"I'm sure he'll be fine." Hin says.

>Would Chak take well to gold bangles and scale accents and such? More equipment for him- and maybe he can avoid losing his hoard if he's wearing it.
Hmm, he might. I'll think about it if he behaves.

>That ring may be increasing Chakarchelou's gold impulses. It might have made the loss of his horde worse.
>Perhaps the time has come to investigate how the ring interacts with his inherent draconic elements.
Yes, that is why I gave him the ring. Since he still doesn't have much gold I need to give it more time.

>You know, having a supply of smoke handy looks to me like a resource that can be rerouted as part of a trap or encounter.
Getting soot everywhere in the forge is not ideal but I will remember that as a possibility for an adjacent room.
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No. 803859 ID: fa8c1a
File 149553492291.png - (32.92KB , 800x600 , stickman_lvl_99.png )
803859

Moriko's gotten cleaned off, everyone's eaten, I've kept my little slime princess company and now they've settled in to sleep. Time to sit and think for a while.

>You might also want to keep some satiation potions handy for future uses of the healing potions, not necessarily a 1:1 ratio, we can have small satiety vials, just enough to offset the energy expenditure caused by the rapid healing.
>It's just so we don't have to prepare a large meal for one of our comrades at an odd hour.
I suppose that makes sense. Potions aren't effective in too low a dose though.

>Glad Merud was able to learn something from your example even if you couldn't teach him directly.
I am amazing like that.

>Who would benefit most in our group from Merud's golem power armour? Probably Reisarf if it can follow him through teleports, or Hin if we- hmm. If we reinforced it along with her body, I suppose. A powered exoskeleton would also be great for mining!
Typically such armour is used by a golemeter who has specialised in controlling its movements. They're called golem knights because the conventional implementation is making super-heavy armour that would be impractical without the golem's strength assist.

The option of making one that can be worn by anyone highlights the main drawback of this approach: it interferes with spell casting. Magic users are not usually heavily armoured because (unsurprisingly) wearing something explicitly designed to isolate you from the outside world inhibits your ability to form connections to it. For a magic user, this degrades their ability to complete magical formations. Their spell casting time is increased and there can be losses in strength and fine control. It also reduces their regeneration of mana. The upside is armour innately gives the wearer a measure of magic resistance.

The work-arounds are fairly obvious: focusing on simple rote spells that can easily overcome the diffusion, using self-targeted spells (or armour targeted, which is part of why golemeters may focus on this approach) and modifying the armour to reduce the resistance to at least some types of magic.

With that in mind, a super-heavy approach would be abysmal for Reisarf as his complex spells would be severely impaired.

Moriko's a mixed case. She'd benefit from the protection but she's currently focused on mobility and it may interfere with her sensory abilities. It depends on how much agility the armour can retain. Alkaline is still in flux. Obviously heavy armour would interfere with her projectiles without careful design.

Merud could also use it effectively but he doesn't have much fighting experience. His magic can enhance golems to push its performance higher as well.

The best fits are Hin and, oddly enough, Stargazer. Neither of them really use magic when fighting. Building one for one of Stargazer's forms would also lose much of the versatility of her Independent Action, so Hin is the best choice for super-heavy armour.

In my own case, this body is not really designed for fighting but I can layer on reinforcement magic if I do need to defend my dungeon.

There is also the option of making an armour intended to offer less protection but give other benefits such as the aforementioned strength boost, built in weapons and potentially even embedded spells. That would take more time to develop however.

>>Possible golem body impulses
>Welcome to life for very nearly every other living thing. They're affected by the desires, needs, and instincts of their body.
>Consider an exercise in humility, or a valuable learning experience. Insight and understanding into how your minions and adventurers live ultimately helps you.
That doesn't mean I have to like it!
>>
No. 803861 ID: fa8c1a
File 149553515486.png - (31.62KB , 800x550 , who_are_these_people.png )
803861

It's the next morning and I feel something familiar as the earth-pulse stirs. Invaders! A hero draws - no, that's not it... Guardianship, separate from avarice. I still know this. It's...

A merchant and guards!

I rush outside. That's the shopkeeper from the town, Liana!

"Hello Deem~" she says. "I'm glad you're still liking your one clothes."

"Liana!" I say. "Hello?" She smiles when she sees I remember her name. I don't understand. "What are you doing here?"

"Ahem, I may have had something to do with that." Merud says a she comes up behind me. Was that why him and Moriko were a little late getting back? Trailblazing?

"I asked your two friends to keep it a surprise." Liana swishes a hand, dismissing it. "There were a few things that were a little hard to haul here without a caravan and I have a few more things that you might be interested in. Plus!" she says, "I wanted to see your dungeon before the road got too dangerous. So I left my son to run the shop and had a few brave warriors guide me here."

"Yo." Yes, that's Kallia. Merud's dirty minded colleague. Shrewd, she must be animating that golem horse as well. Saves needing to hire a horse. There's a strange masked figure lurking behind the caravan. I think that's Izakikk? I never had the opportunity to meet them in town. I think the local potion maker was supposed to be looking out for them.

Liana turns and calls back over her shoulder. "Ophelia, we're here."

Something in the dark interior of the caravan stirs. I feel a sudden danger. I've felt this only once before, but when?
>>
No. 803862 ID: fa8c1a
File 149553518048.png - (31.07KB , 700x700 , all_stations_alert.png )
803862

Some wretched thing stinking of sanctity bursts out of the caravan and lunges at me.

"Aaah, she's so cute!"

HELP, I AM UNDER ATTACK!
>>
No. 803865 ID: ba506f

quick, use the earth pulse to have your golem body be absorbed into the earth and have it reemerge inside your dungeon so you can hide from this new attacker.
>>
No. 803868 ID: 48237d

Yes, you so cute!

They should have warned you. It's good to have access to a merchant but at the moment you may not need to buy enough stuff to make their trip worth.

Since they came to see the dungeon ask if they intent to participate in the Labyrinth Game. If not, then you can invite them to the thaumatorium. Don't let them enter the forge.
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No. 803871 ID: 0d1514

Heavy armor for stargazer would be cool! Some heavy tank form for Reisarf to hide behind and then when they manage to bash it up it launches a fast wiggly tooth noodle, the switch from str end to agi could catch people off guard.

Introduce Izakikk to Doyle and raw mana liquid bottle thingies.

Accept your terrible huggy fate. Small discomfort now can lead to future safety and benefits.
>>
No. 803872 ID: 70983e

Hiss, sky-magic! It even perverts the sacred ritual of hugging!
Tell her to back off with all the respect you can muster.

Well, we have potions and more gold to barter with. Let's see the goods! We're hoping to retain at least 50% of our profit from the last run, however. We still need to invest in more mana generation.

Tell Izakikk we hope to see him in our halls someday. It would be good to advertise our dungeon by word of mouth for now to stay under the radar, and have enough time to prepare before adventurers start raiding again. ...Oh, do you speak his language?
>>
No. 803873 ID: 70983e

Also, ask if they know of a catventurer that passed through town recently.
>>
No. 803874 ID: 0d1514

>>803861
Also give Kallia a satiation potion. Wink as you do. Very heavy winking.
>>
No. 803875 ID: eb30d6

>>803862
And here you have incentive to enhan- I mean make your golem body not look like a child.
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No. 803885 ID: 91ee5f

>>803856
>"Deem, you sound like my grandma."
>I-I do not!
What she meant by that is you worry about her health constantly, which must be something her grandma does. In other words, Hin is saying you're very caring.

>Charcoal?
What? You didn't honestly expect everyone to be able to pronounce Chakarchelou correctly, did you? Hin gave Chakarchelou a nickname that she can pronounce correctly.

>>803862
Calm down! No attacking the hugger, you'll make a bad impression! We need them to like you just in case we ever need to ask for their help in the future!

Also, Liana said she had things you might be interested in, but I have a feeling that they're not free handouts. Let's see what she's got and how much it'll cost.
>>
No. 803893 ID: 8d4593

Ewwwwww Sky Mana.
Get it off Get it off!
>>
No. 803894 ID: 3d2d5f

>shop comes to you instead of the other way around
Well that's super convenient. Clearly you have had the correct impression on these people for them to go out of their way to accommodate you.

>I wanted to see your dungeon before the road got too dangerous.
They're welcome to look around, but no revealing all your secrets to the next adventurer to come through town.

...or if you're going to sell information, bilk them for it and give me a cut.

(The indoor swimming pool after a mountain hike will probably be an unexpected and popular surprise).

>>803862
It's a sky powers priestess!

Hugging is what you do to win over minions, and you are not going to be her minion. Unless she's offering to be your minion?

Try not to hold her alignment against her, the puny mortals need to get healing magic from somewhere and the secrets of the earth are better hidden than the propogandizing self promoting sky. They don't know any better.

>>803874
Giving her a healing potion as a thank you without telling her about the side effects would be an excellent prank.
>>
No. 803907 ID: 1e7aa8

Don't freak out. You are not under attack. But she is being VERY impertinent about your personal space. Ask her to remove herself and inquiry as to if she's the head of her church or just an acolyte.
>>
No. 803908 ID: b7627b

>>803862
Oh god that's a sky priest of some other shenanigans. Quick! Enhance knockers to scare them off!
>>
No. 803917 ID: 031add

Place one hand on the attackers face and press firmly away from yourself, it doesn't appear to be very strong so this should be enough to fend it off.
>>
No. 803919 ID: 3ce125

>>803862
Tell the sky-mage to unhand you, with as much barely restrained hostility as you can manage.

She's probably here to help you, though. Merud has likely noticed that something sky-related is wrong with you, and has brought a specialist to examine your Heart.
>>
No. 803924 ID: 0b99d7

>>803862
>I've felt this only once before, but when?
>Some wretched thing stinking of sanctity

Well the newcomer is marked.
Try not to dwell too hard on it right now Deem, hold that unease at arm's length, since any direct acknowledgement of that symbol seems to trigger a defence of some kind, something to make you forget.
>>
No. 803925 ID: da1652

Maybe Chakarchelou could make use of Merud's golem armor idea. He isn't likely to start casting spells anytime soon.
>>
No. 803937 ID: 1e7aa8

>>803925
In addition to impacting spell use, it's also *heavy* and Chakarchelou would need training to use it effectively.

Probably not a good idea.
>>
No. 803944 ID: 8cb228

"Miss, please respect my personal boundaries and unhand me and give me space!"

"Miss, you must know that I have a... major, major bias against sky magic and those who serve it. As you have done me no personal harm, and I wish to be a good host, I must insist that our... interactions be full of formality and decorum!"

After all, the rules of formality and decorum, as well as the rules of hospitality and the obligations of the guest, are specifically there so hated enemies can be in one another's presence without descending into violence. USE THEM FOR THAT PURPOSE!
>>
No. 803945 ID: 45b631

Ew! She even has stars in her eyes.

Aaargh! push it away! push it away! Oh, you were just thinking about potions and had one in your hand, and it went into her mouth?

or...

Quick! Dilute her sanctity with something distilled from the blood of the earth! Pa'otion! Pa'ower!

> use potion on priest

Hin refuses to take a rest. It seems like time to perform the slime-meld. Maybe it would teach Alkaline more about absorbing skills. And I bet that Kallia likes to watch...

Oh, and this is a great chance to get rid of your more embarrassing potions, provided that Liana agrees to keep your involvement with them secret. And honestly, who doesn't have the odd alchemical mishap?

You might want to apologise for getting your one clothes mauled by a bear. It would also behoove mentioningtht there is a bear in the vicinity, and the path may therefore be less safe than hoped, but invite most of them to stay while you organise an expedition to remove the bear. ideally you can take it back for a ritual sacrifice to The Amazing Deem and gain all its glorious energy...

Plan B:
You are surrounded by sky-power. There is no escape. Scream and huddle into a ball. You have been a ball for millenia and endured all that the sky could do to you.

We need to find a way to get Deem to attempt to put herself back together while the priest can see. We won't have many friendly encounters with sky-faction... Oh, and Deem, I was really impressed with that tiny golem you made when you first woke up, I realise now that tiny golems are difficult.
>>
No. 803980 ID: a363ac

>>803862
"THE SKY GODS ARE ATTACKING! MINIONS STAB IT BEFORE IT GETS TO MY HEART!"
>>
No. 803997 ID: 45b631

>>803980
Yes, this, all of this. The skys have fallen upon you, your are utterly doomed, defilement and destruction are imminent. It is well past time for panicking, but that just means that you need to push your panic to further and greater heights to make up for lost time, and doubly so because of all the time you are about to lose, on account of being completely doomed. You are outnumbered, out gunned, completely unprepared and surrounded with nought but a flimsy hint of a dungeon that was almost conquered by a lone stray kitten. You've been brave, Earthknows youve faced challeneges with courage, but the jig is up, the game is over, your number's come, the large lady's done with her final encore, there is noaght left but to go out flailing and screaming and completely losing your mana control...
>>
No. 804115 ID: 339f31

>>803862
enhance knockers to dislodge her arm!
>>
No. 804146 ID: 8f8886

>>803862
It has you grappled quickly reverse the grapple then pin it to the ground where it will be weaker, but be sure to stay on top to block it connection to the sky. Then if it submits to you offer it mercy as your newest minion.
>>
No. 804147 ID: 7b95d9

>>803862
She's just being annoying. Just shrug her off.
>>
No. 804153 ID: d36af7

>>804115
That won't be enough! Chain-cast at least half of those reinforcement spells from the lab accident with the mana battery. You're outdoors, so excessive size won't be a problem.
>>
No. 804158 ID: d69df4

Take a breath and then say something like this:
"Please remove yourself from my personal space please. I do not know you and I am not comfortable with you hugging me from behind like this."
>>
No. 804164 ID: d6afc2

>>803862
I think... the proper and responsible respone would be: "Help! Bad touch! BAD TOUCH!"
>>
No. 804165 ID: 91ee5f

Remain calm! Don't show the sky magic user that you're afraid or nervous! You can't let her know of your broken heart and your current weakened state!
>>
No. 804172 ID: 12b116

Scream like a grabbed frog then bite her on the arm!
>>
No. 804210 ID: 45b631

Your terrors combined... I am, Captain Panic!

Terror 1: mauled by a bear: get your denizens to safety! Lock the dungeon!

Terror 2: Your body stolen: Call to and enhance the monsters within your immediate vicinity! That grasshopper. Invoke your power and increase its volume by an order of magnitude! That blade of grass. Double its strength, speed, and agility!

Terror 3: Broken power: Engage bossmode!
Bonus Boss Bonanza: Bleem's Band's Bounties! Grant Deem the powers of all boss modes!
Deem: Spider-skirt, giant arms, and crown; Chakarchelou: Enhance teeth; Merud: Living Clothes; Hin: Size, 'Size'; Stargazer: Hammer-feet; Reisarf: Manifest an almost-physical staff symbolising your bond to the pulse of this place, your presence across the caverns, and the hopes you share with your denizens; Moriko: dragon scales and living hair; Alkaline: a storm of tentacles; Belphejar: spit pure mana!

Terror 4: They see what you are: Call forth a sphere of shadow and flame, to cast the skies away from this plane.

Terror 5: Alone and broken, the sky insists: Summon a tiny golem to carry your pieces.

N.B. Symptoms include bleeding from heart and eyes, unconsciousness, extreme mana deficiencies, and being surrounded by golem faces that are probably watching you.

Alternatively, send Alkaline out in her Hin outfit. She is resistant to curses and should be able to attract all the nearby hugs to herself.
>>
No. 804212 ID: 3ce125

Maybe don't panic?

Also yeah Chakarchelou seems like the best bet for a golem suit, unless Hin wants to fight adventurers frequently.
>>
No. 804298 ID: 7d8168

You've got combat experience, you should know how to deal with this!

When grabbed from behind, take hold of your attackers arms to you to limit their mobility, thrust your hips back into theirs to offbalance them, then turn your shoulders to the side to roll them over your back onto the ground. It's even more effective if you act quickly and take advantage of the momentum of their approach!
>>
No. 804325 ID: dd4df2

Freeze in panic for a few moments, Deem. Close off your senses to the feeling of the sky, repress the bad memories. Listen to us, let our voices distract you, until you find a way to extract yourself.

I guess this is the priestess or an acolyte from that old temple in town. Technically, wouldn't she be of some new kind of faith and not aligned to the old sky-powers? Didn't Merud or someone mention some manner of upheaval that restructured the faith long ago? Maybe the new powers are NOT after you? It's been a long time. Maybe they've even forgotten about you - or never knew about you - even if you haven't forgotten them.

Regardless...

>>804165

Yes. You've been bushwhacked and caught flat-footed, and you don't know the magnitude of the threat, or lack thereof. You do not appear under immediate threat - your heart is safe - and you should not expose your weaknesses.

If it's too intolerable, to gain a chance to recover your balance, you could try wriggling your way out of her grasp and flee while saying you just remembered you've left potions on boil, maybe, you'll be back as soon as you've checked. Come back with a few of the potions of satiation and anything you think you might want to sell to the merchant, and 'shyly' avoid the priestess from then on. Have one of your subordinates distract or interact with her until you can not wig out in her presence.

Undignified perhaps, but it might be better to let them think you were flustered by a touchy-feely stranger than outright scared and panicked by a respected community and spiritual figure.
>>
No. 804526 ID: 45b631

>>804212
This is just right, there is no need to panic. Your heart is still safely bound to its chamber. The can't be any known magic that could rip your life out through your exposed heart-fragment. And it is quite certain that it is a mere accidence that led her hand to grasp at your injury. She doesn't look like a Harrower either. No doubt an organisation dedicated solely to murdering dungeons would look more intimidating. Well, I, for one, have never heard anything about them using stealth and misdirection to lull a dungeon into abandoning its scant few defences. It goes without saying that all but one of your recent challengers were turned away before they shared a room with your naked heart. Indeed, this is but one agent of The Sky. If they truly meant you harm would they not have sent the innumerable hordes that they have at their disposal? If they didn't want dungeons, why would they produce those fountains that so trivialise the threat that dungeons pose? Why, to even make them they must have collaborated with enough of a dungeon to sustain a ressurection matrix. Amognst the group, only Kallia knows your true nature, and she never seemed like an ally of the sky, and I know of no sky-based means to take the information from her. So clearly there is no need to worry at all!
>>
No. 804527 ID: 1e7aa8

>>804526
MOST of her heart is in it's chamber. The broken off piece is what's animating her golem-avatar. And as established previously, anything affect one will affect the other.
>>
No. 804832 ID: fa8c1a
File 149596159852.png - (46.01KB , 800x500 , oh_hey_its_that_thing_you_cant_tell_deem_about.png )
804832

>I guess this is the priestess or an acolyte from that old temple in town. Technically, wouldn't she be of some new kind of faith and not aligned to the old sky-powers? Didn't Merud or someone mention some manner of upheaval that restructured the faith long ago? Maybe the new powers are NOT after you? It's been a long time. Maybe they've even forgotten about you - or never knew about you - even if you haven't forgotten them.
I don't like it anyway!

>Well the newcomer is marked.
>Try not to dwell too hard on it right now Deem, hold that unease at arm's length, since any direct acknowledgement of that symbol seems to trigger a defence of some kind, something to make you forget.
Do you think I'm afraid of some stylised sunburst? Don't be absurd. It is the sensation, the stench, the aura about her that I absolutely detest!!!

>She's probably here to help you, though. Merud has likely noticed that something sky-related is wrong with you, and has brought a specialist to examine your Heart.
Don't presume to tell me there's anything wrong with me! I would know it. And in knowing it, there is nothing in this world that would sto-

Be still.

Sleep and disappear.

There is nothing left for you here.

>>
No. 804833 ID: fa8c1a
File 149596172086.png - (26.01KB , 800x550 , deem_didnt_ask_for_this.png )
804833

ALKALINE, NO.

>Quick, use the earth pulse to have your golem body be absorbed into the earth and have it re-emerge inside your dungeon so you can hide from this new attacker.
If I could do that then maybe I would.

>Yes, you so cute!
I am not cute!

>And here you have incentive to enhan- I mean make your golem body not look like a child.
And I am not a child!

>Accept your terrible huggy fate. Small discomfort now can lead to future safety and benefits.
'Small', hah! Urrrrgh. Well, I don't want to make a scene and upset Alkaline. I will endure it then.

>Tell her to back off with all the respect you can muster.
"I fear you have the advantage of me." I say to this girl reeking of the sky.

"Hi, I'm Ophelia!" She doesn't let go.

Chakarchelou growls at her. "No Chakarchelou. Bad!" I say. Don't listen to me Chakarchelou. Good Chakarchelou, keep it up. You're a good boy.

"Ah, Deem. This is my daughter, Ophelia." Liana says. "She's an acolyte at the church."

"I can tell." I say, struggling not to grit my teeth. "I'm sure she's very talented."
My arms are still trapped so I nod at Alkaline. "You two have met before. This is Alkaline."

"Hallo!" Alkaline waves back.

"Oh, the little royal jelly?" Liana says. "She talks? Hello Alkaline!" She looks back at me. "They grow up so fast, don't they?" Liana's daughter finally releases me. Alkaline remains attached to me. I will permit this.

>Also, ask if they know of a catventurer that passed through town recently.
"You wouldn't have seen a cat explorer pass through town by the way?" I ask. "We had an unexpected encounter just yesterday."

"No, no-one's been through except Tor on his normal visit. I think he was in town the same time as you." So much for that.

"Well, you must be tired from your trip. Please rest. Merud will show you around. Excuse me for a few minutes, there's some things I need to get together."

I gracefully make my escape.
>>
No. 804834 ID: fa8c1a
File 149596191744.png - (14.09KB , 800x500 , sell_some_junk.png )
804834

>Tell Izakikk we hope to see him in our halls someday. It would be good to advertise our dungeon by word of mouth for now to stay under the radar, and have enough time to prepare before adventurers start raiding again. ...Oh, do you speak his language?
I don't see why I wouldn't. I'll sort other business first, then I will meet Izakikk and catch up with Kallia. I'm sure she's busy catching up with Merud anyway.

Things to sell, let's see. I have the healing potions, the satiation potions and some odds and ends. There's that garnet Alkaline found. No, I don't think I'll sell that.

I have the pot containing Stargazer's chopped off tail and, oh, I forgot I had this. I found the pot of raw mana tainted slime as well. I'd better just keep it sealed for the moment. I haven't opened it since Alkaline's accident. I'll ask about these and the raw mana itself.

I could possibly sell the weightless plaque too. It's been useful for moving large rocks without having to break them up, but the gold it brings might be more useful.

Liana looks over the Weightless Plaque and offers me 150G for it.

"I have a few potions you might be interested in too." I tell Liana. "One's a satiation potion but it causes drowsiness and swelling of the bust in women and the other's a good healing potion but the drinker sweats out any impurities in the body as a slimy substance."

"Sorry Deem, but you don't have an apothecary's license, do you?" she says.

"Ah, no."

"I can't resell any potions made by someone that doesn't hold one. It's a guarantee of quality control, you see! There's nothing stopping you making private sales though. Maybe you should take a few along next time you're in town!"

A little disappointing but I suppose I should have expected something like this. "I also have raw mana. Do you know anyone who might want to buy that?"

"Hmm, no. It's not very useful considering how hard it is to produce. I could give you 20G for a sample in the hopes I find a buyer?"

Since I haven't investigated what the alien jelly and tainted slime might be used for and Liana doesn't know either she's not interested in buying.
>>
No. 804835 ID: fa8c1a
File 149596212179.png - (27.74KB , 800x600 , buy_some_stuff.png )
804835

"That mimic egg has sold, but I have plenty of other things you might be interested in!" Liana tells me. "If you spend 500G, there's a 10% discount~"

Bomb Seedling (200G): A plant that produces a large explosive seed that can be processed into bombs. With extra care, the explosive compounds of the interior can be extracted and processed. It only thrives in place where the earth pulse is strong.

"We had a fireworks seller pass through town," Liana explains, "and I convinced him to part with a seedling. I thought to myself 'What might liven a dungeon up more than some explosions?'"

Damaged Bangle of Fixity (200G): An accessory that resists changes to the wearer's physical form. It provides resistance to such effects, stops shapechangers from changing shape and sustains any changes to the wearer until the bangle is removed, using their mana to fuel it. The clasp has been damaged; it can only be taken off at dawn or dusk.

"This was a commission for Mr Nemellan's son but his latest girlfriend broke it when she broke up with him. It was quite a scandal! It was originally intended for cosmetic uses, but it seemed you might get some use out of it." Nemellan? I think that was the name of the banker in town with the poorly insulated treasure vault.

Exotic Mushrooms (100G): Rare mushrooms from the toxic jungles of the southern continent. These specific mushrooms are non-toxic and can be cultivated as ingredients for a variety of strengthening potions. They need special care to raise. You can also eat the ones that haven't made the grade.

"I'm actually selling these on dear Izakikk's behalf. If you buy them, you'll also get instructions on their care and how to best use them."

Healing Potions (50G): Half a dozen potions that rejuvenate the drinker's health. They have no side effects.
Mana Potions (50G): Half a dozen potions that replenish the drinker's mana. They have no side effects.

"I know you have an alchemy kit of your own now but thought some reliable potions might be useful for you."

Gem-cutting Tools (70G): Cutting, carving and polishing tools for fine-detail stone and gem-work. Includes a stand, vices and a magnifying lens.

"With all this digging and exploring you've been up to, I'm sure you've found a few precious stones already. This will definitely help you prepare them for making jewellery and it'll be useful for decorating your dungeon as well!"

Gardening Tools (60G): A variety of tools for cultivating plants. Fertiliser, weed killer and a selection of basic seeds are included.

"If you want to be self sufficient, these will definitely come in handy! The fertiliser is a special mix made by our apothecary. You can also get a bag of extra fertiliser for 20G!"

Box of Second-hand Books (20G): Liana tells me it's mainly cheaply produced fiction, with a handful of outdated reference books.

"Merud suggested this. You have to make your own fun out here, these might help. Boredom's a fierce monster, isn't it?"

This is difficult. I have 897G and I can sell a jar of raw mana for 20G and the Weightless Plaque for 150G. Liana didn't want to buy my potions since she can't sell them. I don't want to go too low on gold either.
>>
No. 804836 ID: 5b93d3

>>804835
897G
>Exotic Mushrooms (100G)
>Healing Potions (50G) x2 = (100G)
>Gem-cutting Tools (70G)
>Gardening Tools (60G)
>Box of Second-hand Books (20G)

= 547G

Practical dungeoneering!

Since Deem's re-enforcement are so useful the Bangle of Fixity is not really worth it. The Bomb Seedling could be useful, but it's not really vital and might even hang around for us to buy later.
>>
No. 804837 ID: 3ce125

>>804835
Get that offered 170 gold. We'll have 1067 afterwards. I think we can afford to splurge a little.

Buy a bomb plant and the mushrooms, those both match the dungeon's affinity- Earth for bombs, Dark for mushrooms. I feel as though Alkaline could eat the bombs for fire affinity.
300g
Gem-cutting tools are an investment for growing your hoard. Gardening tools further boost alchemy. These will both pay off over time, I think they're worth it.
that's 430...
Get the books and it adds up to 450, then the 10% discount will allow us to buy a pack of mana potions for free. Or health potions... I'm not sure which would be more useful. Could we get 3 of each?

Ask how we would get an apothecary's license.
I wonder how we could take advantage of the Fixity bangle? Would it be efficient to maintain reinforcement magic with it?
>>
No. 804838 ID: a363ac

>>804834
refuse to go any lower than 300G for the plauge. Let Hin pitch its usefulness in construction of large buildings or in removing ruble she likely has more experience with hagling and the workings of human socity.
get those gem cutting tools for making your treasure truely shine when you have some free time, get the gardening kit because you will need some vegitables if you want these fleshy ones to live here, and the books because the fleshy humans and Alkaline could use them especially alkaline it could lead to a smarter slime population.
No on the bombs because cave dungeon. hold off on the mushrooms till you have a working food farm.
grab 2 mana and 2 health potions just in case
>>
No. 804840 ID: 103a6a

Buy exactly 500G worth of stuff. That's about half our profit from the run, plus the profit from the amulet and the sample.

- Bangle of Fixity: 200: Training tool for Alkaline! I wouldn't recommend using it with Stargazer. When it sustains changes using their own mana, I guess this means that someone else could cast a transformation, and use the target's mana instead of their own to keep it running... but is it as efficient? Someone with low mana might be quickly weakened by extensive changes.
-Mushrooms: 100: Deem likes exotic mushrooms for their rounded tops.
-Gardening - 60: How else are you going to keep these mushrooms tended? Also, we can dream of a farm in the hidden valley someday.
-Gem cutting tools: 70: Alkaline's gem deserves some love! (Though oddly enough, on most markets the uncut gem is more valuable) Plus, your eyes could use a trim.
-Books: 20: I feel we'll be missing out on some top quality reference materials otherwise.
-Mana Potions: 50: To fill out the list. Try to avoid chugging these all at once, Deem - would they even be a drop in the bucket for you? At worst, they can be dungeon loot. Your mages aren't really the sort that need the boost. (Reisarf burns too quickly, and Merud too slowly).

A bomb plant would flatten a dungeon more than liven it up. You've cleared enough cavern rubble for two lifetimes already!
>>
No. 804841 ID: 48237d

The Bomb Seedling are incredible annoying to deal with and can be a nightmare in the hands of adventurers. Nevertheless explosives greatly improve our capacity of dig tunnels. Buy that.
You want the Exotic Mushrooms, of course, but not the instructions. The side effects give personality to otherwise unremarkable dungeon loot.
The Gardening Tools will accompany well those plants and fungi.
And Merud can have his Second-hand Books, though you would prefer him to ask you directly next time.
>>
No. 804842 ID: b7627b

>>804835
Bangle: 200
Mushrooms: 100
Gem and Gardening Tools: 130
Box of Books: 20
Mana Potion: 50

Discount: -50

Total: 450

Let's also sell the raw mana, maybe she can secure a buyer for us.



I'm not entirely sure when or how the bangle might come in handy, but I definitely feel like it will. Deem, with your experience, can you tell us if there's any danger to the wearer if they run out of mana while it's active?
And be sure to tell everyone not to put it on after drinking a potion with side effects, as it would cause the effects to not dissipate normally.

Gardening tools would be for making a small interior and exterior garden for food and other necessities, we also don't know the exact conditions the shrooms require, but perhaps one of our peeps can tell us?

The books are largely to help teaching Alkaline to read if you consider that important. Although perhaps someone else should turn the pages for her so she doesn't accidentally digest the pages or get them wet?


As much as I'd like the bomb seedlings, I think we've had enough explosions for now.



(And while you're not a child, your golem does resemble one in stature)
>>
No. 804843 ID: 1e7aa8

Sell the raw mana and the weightless plaque for another 170G.

Buy everything but the damaged bangle and the potions. That'll leave us with 617G.

Yeah it's a HUGE gold hit but everything will be useful for the long and short term development of the dungeon.

(assuming people don't start blowing themselves up with the bomb seedling)

But screw the bangle. Do not want.
>>
No. 804844 ID: d8ce3a

>>804835
I'd say Go ahead and sell that Raw mana, since its not exactly hard to come by at the moment, and if she finds a buyer, they might let us in on a possible use we dont know? Or at least a customer.
Those Mushroom seeds seem like a great choice. The Gardening tools too.
The Gem Cutting tools seem useful too, since we know theres gems around here. And Now that we have the forge we can actually have Hin make stuff to set them in.
Cant decide whether to get the Bomb Seedling, though they could be useful for clearing out more of the dungeon. And we could possibly make some kind of gunpowdery stuff with them too?
>>
No. 804845 ID: 0d1514

>>804835
The bomb plant has a very important use: Mining. Especially if we stir the earth it'll pay for itself. Get that and the mushrooms and the tools and the books. Fuck consumables.
>>
No. 804846 ID: 0d1514

>>804845
Also get the bangle and shapeshift chak so he has big diggy mole claws and have him dig around and mine gold. He has a gold sense, right?
>>
No. 804847 ID: 5792da

>>804835
Sell plaque, acquire mushrooms, books, and gold.

Money is literally power for deem. We don't want to get rid of it.

The mushrooms will be good for potions and spookyness and the books will be good for keeping our dungeoneers happy.

The raw mana is very good for potions and 20 gold is a pittance - we can make our own potions and come away better in every way.

The rest is just kind of extraneous. Our dungeon doesn't need floral arrangements, we have like one good gem, we have a literal resurrection chamber to keep everyone alive, and we don't want or need more explosions going off in deem's dank dungeon. The bangle is of equally questionable usefulness.
>>
No. 804849 ID: 0d1514

>>804846
And fertilizer.
Buy everything except the potions basically.
>>
No. 804850 ID: 5792da

>>804835
>>804847
And most importantly, we dragged a blacksmith up here and just chose to make a smithy instead of other potentially useful rooms.

Hin can make tools. Hin can make magical artifacts with deem's help. We don't need to buy this stuff, we can make our own.
>>
No. 804851 ID: 103a6a

You know what, throw in another 18G for that fertilizer too. I bet we can find more creative uses for magic guano than making mushrooms grow faster.
>>
No. 804852 ID: 0d1514

>>804850
Ask Hin if she can make the tools first. I don't mind penny pinching a little but it'd suck we were were all 'make jewelworking stuff' and she's all 'I can make shovels and swords only?'
>>
No. 804853 ID: 1e7aa8

>>804850
Can't make seeds, weed killer and fertilizer out of thin air. What're we gonna feed everyone with? The normal and resurrection bound chicken?
>>
No. 804854 ID: ba506f

>>804832
hey deem, future note. Stay away from anyone related to the sky church. Like at least arms length away. I mean if they make you that uncomfortable then it's probably better so you don't get needlessly stressed out. You got enough on your plate without having a panic attack.

>>804835
Bomb Seedling (200G):
Exotic Mushrooms (100G)
Gem-cutting Tools (70G)
Gardening Tools (60G)
Box of Second-hand Books (20G)
and sell the mana for 20G. that should leave us with 467G and give us a ton of things we could use to make that many back and help the dungeon. I mean the mushrooms will give us more potion options to sell/litter the dungeon with, same with the bomb plant. The gem cutting tools will let us make some jewelry as well as making some of the thing Hin makes look more expensive. We're already buying to sets of plants to the gardening tools only make sense, and finally I think we should get the books just so you can try and catch up a little on what happen since you took a 1000 year dirt nap. I mean she said most were fiction right? You could probably find a few non fiction books in their and if not then you can give them to your crew on their down time... or use them to teach Alkaline how to read.
>>
No. 804858 ID: d36af7

Sell the raw mana sample (not so much for the immediate payoff but for the longer-term prospect of converting leakage into profit), but hold on to the plaque. There's more construction and other heavy work yet to be done.

Buy the mushrooms, tools, and books, but no potions (make your own!), no defective trinkets, and no bombs. Save the gold for mission-critical stuff instead of getting distracted by dangerous gimmicks.

What would it take for Belphejar to become a licensed apothecary? Probably not easy, but once you set it up, jump through the bureaucratic hoops and so on, that could bring in a useful amount of money with very little risk. Even if you don't plan to rely on that kind of income stream, it'd be a nice hedge against the risk of some adventurer cleaning out your hoard.
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No. 804868 ID: 7b95d9

>>804836
I like this setup the most.
>>
No. 804869 ID: b2bf87

>Buy
-Bomb Seedling (200G) - Good for mining. Also extracting compounds for possible alchemical uses.
-Exotic Mushrooms (100G) - Alchemy and food.
-Box o' books (20G) - Some form of entertainment for during downtime is good for morale.

Agreeing with >>804852. Go and ask Hin if she's able to make jem-cutting or gardening tools before buying either.

>Sell
Raw mana. It's not like we're doing anything with it right now.
>>
No. 804891 ID: 3ce125

>>804885
I'm not following your math, here.
200+100+70+60+20+20=470. Not enough for the discount.
>>
No. 804893 ID: 8d4593

>>804891
Thanks for the catch!
*Redoes math*
I seem to have both added and subtracted the 170 gold from selling the plaque and the raw mana, making the gross cost artificially higher.
That's what I get for trying to math in my head after not sleeping.

----


Sell the mana and plaque. With our increased Golem power the plaque isn't as necessary.
Buy everything (Including 1 extra fertilizer) except the bangle and the health potions. (As we can make those.)
You will get the 10% discount and end up with a net change of -298G Leaving us with 599G

Honestly most of this stuff is totally essential at this stage. Not only that, but if properly cared for the bomb seedling and the mushrooms could possibly combined into a powerful potion with Belphy, and then that could potentially be used to give Alkaline some very unique properties.
>>
No. 804896 ID: 094652

The bangle COULD be useful as an interrogation tool or a means of temporarily changing a member of your crew into a boss monster for a half-day, but the mana cost and broken clasp minimum duration means this could kill your party member after a few minutes and still drain ludicrous amounts of mana from the resurrection chamber. Offer to fix the damn thing with your new smith chamber but don't buy it.

Your dungeon is Earth-based, so invest in plants and fungi early and sell the excess later. Buy the bomb seedling, the fungi, and the gardening tools. Plant your fungi in the training room. If you can, try to use mirrors to shed sunlight into the training room so you can grow bomb plants indoors. For extra confusion, paint some targets in the training room so the adventurers get confused about what they're supposed to do with the bombs and mirrors to get the secret chest to open.
>>
No. 804899 ID: 3abd97

>oh_hey_its_that_thing_you_cant_tell_deem_about
Yes, but this time we triggered it front of a bunch of people, some of whom might have the senses to perceive something going on. Go go npc problem solvers! Investigate the weird sky magic you may have just noticed.

>Ophelia
A portentous name. Why didn't you drown yourself in a moat like you were supposed to, instead of subjecting me to this humiliation?

>apothecary's license
Out of curiosity, how much trouble are those to acquire? Possibly something we could do in the future if we're going to be exporting potions for money. (A nominal fee and some paperwork is simple, for example, while a large fee and and a multi-year apprenticeship program would be prohibitive).

>Bomb Seedling
Possibly there are clever ways to use this, and we could use them for our own mining too, but if we're an earth / shadow dungeon, that means a lot of focus on traps and misdirection and giving adventures bombs just lets them blow right through our preparations! Plus it just increases the necessary repair work after each run.

Not really want.

>Damaged Bangle of Fixity
>The clasp has been damaged; it can only be taken off at dawn or dusk.
Is that within Hin's ability to repair? It we don't buy that, we might be able to make a little gold getting paid to do the repair work. Its resale value would go up without the time limitation.

Overall, doesn't seem worth the money for us. Too narrow an application, and with the time constraint, you really have to know in advance when it will be needed, and as a dungeon we're always on the defensive.

>exotic mushrooms
I think we need to inquire as to where they grow before we consider buying them. If they grow in caves, great! If they grow in the open air, or need a specific climate controlled room, I don't think we've expanded enough for that to be viable.

Potentially worth it? Depends on growth conditions, but renewable reagents for potions and slime-buffs are good.

>Box of Second-hand Books (20G)
Worth it. Cheap, and gives minions with down time (or who have been ordered to rest) something to do without going crazy. Might also be useful for educating Alkaline.

>Mana Potions (50G)
Good option to have. We have a variety of options for healing, but this lets us charge a caster back up in a situation where we need them if they're already dry.

>Gem-cutting Tools (70G)
>Gardening Tools (60G)
Obviously check with Hin if she could make her own tools, and on what timescale. Because we're largely trading gold to save manufacturing time.

That aside, seems a good trade. The gem cutters are something Hin can use and will eventually pay for themselves, and being self sufficient in feeding your dungeon is pretty much a requirement. (How did you handle that in the past)? The seeds might be more valuable than the tools.

>I can sell a jar of raw mana for 20G
We generate raw mana at a pretty steady clip, right? And we're not even selling it all?

Not a great deal, but gold is gold, and it might be worth it to feel out if there are any interested takers in town. (If there are, the next sale might be for more).

>sell Weightless Plaque for 150G
Part of me hates selling useful equipment, but the gold charging Deem's core is probably more valuable long term than the assistance in moving rocks.
>>
No. 804902 ID: 45b631

The bomb seedling sounds great. A pit of fire-potion could make up for the lack of lava, bombs could help a lot with mining, provided that you have someone amazing enough to read the weaknesses and limits of the stone and suppress faults that might spread the damage to unwated places. And there will probably never be a time when mining is irrelevant. The bomb plant should also be very good elementally. Giving alkaline explosive eggs could have, well, she would need to be trained in how dangerous they were... But it could also be a great affinity for sudden activity. The mushrooms would be good for general strength but the bomb essence could probably be turned towards sudden motions, to concentrate its effect to actual strikes, or jumping, or various other sudden bursts.
Downside: can the bomb-plant be kept away from heroes? We can't stop them from bringing their own bombs, but it would be nice not to be giving them more, nor attracting the ones looiking for ingredients... And it isn't cheap.

Fixity seems mostly like a training tool. It cold have utility for giving chakarchelou a carrying or digging limb, or some sort of vocal organ, but that is a large amount of our current gold for a small benefit. We can probably make our own later.
What would be nice, however, would be training with it. Amorphs need to learn how to maintain their forms by themsselves while doing complex tastks, but somet hings just aren't practical to train at all. You could train Alkaline to use climbing claws or a weapon or spring-legs or something that she lacks the skill to maintain for long enough to train with but might be able to form for long enough to use briefly. And maybe Hin could use a second pair of arms? Antoher thing is that it could let Reisarf develop an area-affecting curse of formlessness without risk to himself.

Speaking of training, do you still need your magic inhibiting necklace? Though even then, it mightbe good for teaching slimes to use magic or something...
Oh, would it be possible to take away Chakarchelou's ring without making a very sad dragon? Given the uncertain benefits and gold-use it might be a better candidate for selling than the weight-reducer.
Can any saleable parts be extracted from a devilbear?
Has the clay bandage for your heart transmuted into anything valuable?
If you boss-mode Reisarf then Kallia might pay for his shirt/staff, it is a pretty interesting enchantment...
Do you need both of your eyes?

The mushrooms are a no-brainer. You are training an alchemist and have a magic cauldron...

You can make your own potions. They may have issues, you should ask Moriko if she would be able to fight effectively under all that slime... You have made all your potions so far from Belphejar, which is great for limited ingredients and powerful effects, but you should do some work with the alchemy kit instead to get some of the basics. it should be possible to distil healing slime into something potent and dilute pure mana into something palatable. It would be very nice to have reliable potions, but gold is life and you have alternatives.

Gem-cutting tools are very nice for increasing the value of your gems(but maybe keep that garnet as a pretty rock...) but there are a couple of questions to address. Can Hin make such tools herself? Your first smithy may not be up to the task, though eventually you will enhance it beyond mortal ken... Do you have a gem-cutter? Hin may well be trained in it, but perhaps not... Or someone else might be willing to learn. Really, gem-cutting can wait until you have a large store of them. It will probably pay for itself in time though.

Gardening supplies are a must. It will enhance your farming ability a great deal and you don't want to be reliant upon external farms that will attract giant rodents and expose your denizens to bears.

Books... Merud probably just wants to teach your to read for some reason, but it is true that the others could use some entertainment, and even after the books have been read, their content can be discussed. Not to mention that stories can be a good source of inspiration, or bad source, no doubt Alkaline will go through her hero/royalty phase if she absorbs too many stories and it is probably uncomfortable to have slimes swinging from your chandeliers...

Selling the pure mana could be a risk. A buyer is someone who wants the product, sometimes people who want something don't stop at purchasing it...

The Weightless Plaque is very nice, not just for hauling but also maintenance. Rock-fall traps don't reset themselves, umm, do they? You have a better idea than us what gold is worth. Can 150 gold worth of golem lift more than the plaque?

Finally, this is a pretty convenient visit. You want to do business to encourage more visitors, well, except for her evil daughter.

Oh, isn't it about time that you had your experts take a look at that explosion that happens when you try to reassemble yourself? At the least you would expect Merud to see a lot of your cleavage. I don't think that you have given Reisarf and Stargazer a good chance to examine your body either... And maybe the Acolyte should be there... And moriko and Hin are both accustomed to studying magical entities, living flows and patterned structures respectively, which you, while far beyond either, bare similarities to both.
...
Buy everything except the potions, sell nothing except the mana.
>>
No. 804915 ID: bb18a2

>>804835
Bomb Seedling
Exotic Mushrooms
Healing Potions
Gem-cutting Tools
Gardening Tools
Box of Second-hand Books
This works out to exactly 500G before discount.

Sell the mana. Don't sell the plaque, it's proven very useful so far.
>>
No. 804920 ID: 3ce125

>>804837
I'll modify this suggestion to add in buying the extra fertilizer.
>>
No. 804981 ID: d8ce3a

>>804899
>> but if we're an earth / shadow dungeon, that means a lot of focus on traps and misdirection and giving adventures bombs just lets them blow right through our preparations!

Thats not necessarily what an Earth/Shadow dungeon means. Theres more to the implications of Shadow than traps, and it not really a unique or interesting specialization, so we shouldnt lock ourselves into that method of thought.
>>
No. 805011 ID: 339f31

Bomb Seedling
Exotic Mushrooms
Gem-cutting Tools (it will eventually pay for itself)
Box of Second-hand Books (mostly for teaching alky to read)
and nothing else. we don't really need anything else so it'd be better to keep the gold.
>>
No. 805128 ID: b7883c

Seconding most of >>804915
Bomb Seedling create bombs which are generated value as loot drops or resale (maybe check now to confirm if we can sell extras). While bombs might have some risk of trap damage, they would allow secret rooms behind destructible walls which seem like they would be good earth pulse.
Exotic Mushrooms make strength potions for generated value as loot drops or use in boss prep. The food supply is also good for basic infrastructure.
Gem-cutting Tools are long-term wealth generators. Just make sure that someone on our crew knows how to use them or can pick it up without too much trouble. Hin's or Merud's crafting skills will probably translate to some extent but it is good to make sure.
Gardening Tools are basic infrastructure and are work well with the other plants.
Box of Second-hand Books would be good for Alkaline's learning and general minion morale.
Healing Potions honestly don't seem that useful for us aside from loot drops since we can make our own potions and have a rez matrix, but they bring the cost from 450 to 450 + discount so we might as well.
Sell the mana since we have more than we can currently use, and if someone buys the sample there might be more of a market for it in the future.
I am ambivalent on selling the plaque. It has some utility for mining and has long-term potential for eventually using its enchatment in a puzzle, but its immediate utility seems maybe smaller than the mana benefits of 150g.
>>
No. 805143 ID: d79f26

>>805128
actually, deem herself may be good at gem-cutting. shaping stone is a thing she is really good at, and gems are a kind of stone. really shiny, but still stones.
>>
No. 805145 ID: 3ce125

...I just had a concern. Does "strong earth-pulse" just mean "in a dungeon" or do we need a fire affinity room for it?
>>
No. 805147 ID: be0718

We can almost afford that bangle of fixity from sales profit alone, so buy that, the books, the fertilizer, shrooms, and gem-cutting tools for -240 gold. Can Hin make gardening tools? Remember, the gem-cutting tools are also stone-cutting tools, and we can use them right away to start carving art.
>>
No. 805169 ID: d8ce3a

>>805147
That makes me wonder if we could make an entire golem out of semi-precious stones? Or if there would be any advantages to doing so, besides looking fly.
>>
No. 805207 ID: 031add

>>805169
We could use it on the main body as a defence mechanism, as it stands if Deem's main body is defeated the hero may attempt to steal the heart shard thinking it important however if she were covered in them the adventurer would realize it was quicker and easier to just take some gems from the money pile rather than spend hours trying to pry them out of a golem.
>>
No. 805234 ID: fa8c1a
File 149623561036.png - (19.00KB , 800x500 , you_bought_the_things.png )
805234

>And while you're not a child, your golem does resemble one in stature
This body was designed to be compact and efficient!

>Speaking of training, do you still need your magic inhibiting necklace?
Yes.

>Has the clay bandage for your heart transmuted into anything valuable?
The mana-enriched clay might be useful for golems but in that case I should keep it for my own use.

>Ask how we would get an apothecary's license.
"So if I did want to get an apothecary's license, how would I do that?" I ask Liana.

"It's usually at least a three year apprenticeship and you have to register with the guild." she says. "You can apply for recognition of prior training but that's expensive! It's 500G just to take the exam and you'd have to travel to a larger town for it." Out of reach for the moment then.

>Buy a bomb plant and the mushrooms, those both match the dungeon's affinity- Earth for bombs, Dark for mushrooms. I feel as though Alkaline could eat the bombs for fire affinity.
Hmm, yes for progressing the advancement of my dungeon itself and for potions and guiding Alkaline's growth those both sound very useful. I'll have to think about putting in some breakable walls.

>It just increases the necessary repair work after each run.
You're underestimating how sturdy a dungeon is.

>Gem-cutting tools are an investment for growing your hoard. Gardening tools further boost alchemy. These will both pay off over time, I think they're worth it.
I don't like the expense but that's true too.

>Obviously check with Hin if she could make her own tools, and on what time-scale.
She could make some of the tools but there's bits and pieces like the fertiliser and the grinding wheel that would be difficult to substitute.

>The 10% discount will allow us to buy a pack of mana potions for free. Or health potions... I'm not sure which would be more useful. Could we get 3 of each?
Well, it's free so I'll ask for half and half. The healing potions I've made are a problem to use in a fight because of that slime sweat.

I point out my purchases and make myself hand over the 450G.

"Oh Deem, you don't have to make that sort of face!" Liana says as she pulls the items off the shelves.

>Part of me hates selling useful equipment, but the gold charging Deem's core is probably more valuable long term than the assistance in moving rocks.
>I'd say Go ahead and sell that Raw mana, since its not exactly hard to come by at the moment, and if she finds a buyer, they might let us in on a possible use we don't know? Or at least a customer.
I've just spent a lot of gold so I need to recoup my losses.

"I'd like to sell the raw mana and the plaque as well." I say back and eagerly accept back a little over a third of my expenditures. My hoard is now 617G.

Liana looks over the plaque. "Hmm, good repair work. Who's Esra?"

"We found some remains, a few years old. He might have been Esra."

"Oh, yes. Merud mentioned it. That's why Ophelia's here." I think Merud needs to stop talking to people about things.

>Is the bangle within Hin's ability to repair? It we don't buy that, we might be able to make a little gold getting paid to do the repair work. Its resale value would go up without the time limitation.
Hmmm. "Actually, we would be able to repair that bangle for you?" I suggest to Liana. "It will be a few weeks until we next visit town though."

Liana scratches her chin. "Hmm. Hin doess good work." She puts the bangle on the counter. "If you can fix it and bring it back to town within a month, I'll pay you 100G."

Hohoho, we'll get a little use out of it at least.

>Deem, with your experience, can you tell us if there's any danger to the wearer if they run out of mana while it's active?
It'd hurt them but the transformation should also start degrading quickly.

Well, that's my shopping settled then.

I wonder if I should speak with Kallia or with Izakikk next.
>>
No. 805235 ID: be0718

Speak with Kallia, you two can catch up. By the by, you have a potion she absolutely must try. The first one's free.
Also, you can find a little more out about Izakikk. What was he like on the trip over?
>>
No. 805236 ID: 3d2d5f

Kallia first. You actually know her, and you owe her some gratitude for helping arrange this.
>>
No. 805243 ID: fa8c1a
File 149624136527.png - (17.24KB , 600x560 , deem_book_oversight.png )
805243

>And Merud can have his Second-hand Books, though you would prefer him to ask you directly next time.
>Worth it. Cheap, and gives minions with down time (or who have been ordered to rest) something to do without going crazy. Might also be useful for educating Alkaline.
>I feel we'll be missing out on some top quality reference materials otherwise.
Oh and yes, I asked Liana to throw these in too. Though what use is a slime who can read?
>>
No. 805245 ID: 8d4593

>>805243
A slime queen is an investment. Any education you give your slime helps protect that investment.

Also Deem, I just thought of Something...
Now that you have a forge and a smith, why don't you make you make a gold plug for your heart? It might hold mana better. Also, would it be possible to make a plug out of many layers of thin, specially shaped gold sheets? Each layer could have artificial mana channels etched in, perhaps improving your magical capabilities and further reducing leakage.
>>
No. 805246 ID: 844e25

>>805245
That sounds like a decent idea, to at very least, consider.
>>
No. 805247 ID: 339f31

>>805243
reading begets intelligence. you got intelligent via other methods, but had you learned to read you'd have learned that reading would have made you even smarter than you already are.
>>
No. 805249 ID: d79f26

not everyone is a thousand years old with knowledge won through a lifetime of experience. books are a fast way to gain knowledge.
>>
No. 805260 ID: ba506f

>>805243
Though what use is a slime who can read?
A slime that can entertain itself when your not around so you don't have to worry about her getting into things she shouldn't out of boredom. Also their's no real down side to having her knowing how to read either.

Oh and see Kallia first I guess.
>>
No. 805288 ID: 3ce125

I'd agree with not bothering to teach Alkaline to read, at least for now. You should focus more on teaching her how to talk first.

>I'll sort other business first, then I will meet Izakikk and catch up with Kallia.
Don't change your mind. Like you said Kallia will want to talk to Merud.
>>
No. 805295 ID: 45b631

Reading is usefuul for communication. You could have some plates affixed to a wall. You would just have to waggle your wall a little to make one of them rock back and forth to send a message. Or maybe you could do something with bells? Now, the same could be done with coloured strips or pictures, but written words are more compact and generally less ambiguous. You can't walk your golem around to everyone keeping them updated to invaders' movements and abilities in the midst of The Game. Although it might be possible to build some form of communication magic or sound channels through your body...

She could also leave slimy messages to heroes. A clue to tempt them to a greater challenge, a taunt to compel them recklessly forwards as they seek to catch that mischieviously elusive slime boss, a cryptic message to leave them standing around puzzling a conundrum right in the middle of a perfect ambush location, some friendly banter to test their conviction to monster slaying... Truly, with her shadow slick she seems by far the most mobile of your denizens. Directing that towards indirectly interfereing with heroes could be put to all manner of ends.
Then there is the prospect of giving her reference and study materials concerning alchemical ingredients.

And, well, you could learn with her... You do still want to restore yourself, do you not? That would leave you without a golem capable of conversation. Written language would be more easily achived through manipulating your walls, such as by the aforementioned plates and bells, and perhaps you could even manipulate illusion traps for the purpose of conversing with your denizens. I rather suspect that their morale would plummet were they deprived of your social graces. And then there is the freedom to leave a message for others. It would be rather a waste to spend gold hiring someone to convey a message when you could have just left a note in their room.
>>
No. 805304 ID: 91ee5f

>>805243
Reading and writing are important and useful skills to have!

But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you little Miss Illiterate?
>>
No. 805309 ID: 3abd97

>>805243
A slime that can read is a slime who isn't spending her every moment jumping a person for attention.

Plus smart minions are better than not.
>>
No. 805351 ID: 1e7aa8

Before we even consider teaching alkaline (and ourselves) how to read, we make sure that alkaline can handle stuff without staining it or worse.

(She is a liquid, after all!)
>>
No. 805364 ID: 4e9a6d

>>805304

A slime is a terrible thing to waste.
>>
No. 805366 ID: 5792da

>>805234
Talk to Kallia. Offer her one of the satiation potions in thanks.
>>
No. 805373 ID: 45b631

Knowing what I do of Kallia, telling her the tragic tale of the satiation potions and how tragically unusuable they are in public would all but guarantee that she will return someday. I just have this strange feeling that she would want to hear more stories like that...

Start with Kallia anyway, you should have plenty of time with Izzy while going ofer the mushroom instructions.
>>
No. 805386 ID: d36af7

When you talk to Izakkik, mention Hin's persistent cough. A "toxic jungle" where people wear filter masks full-time seems like exactly the kind of place where every competent doctor would know a lot about respiratory problems.
>>
No. 805408 ID: fa8c1a
File 149632692299.png - (20.07KB , 800x550 , consult_your_doctor_first.png )
805408

>Reading and writing are important and useful skills to have!
>But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you little Miss Illiterate?
I don't care for your tone!

>A slime that can read is a slime who isn't spending her every moment jumping a person for attention.
So now you're saying I should leave her alone with naught but ink stained paper for company?

>A slime that can entertain itself when your not around so you don't have to worry about her getting into things she shouldn't out of boredom. Also there's no real downside to having her knowing how to read either.
Hmm, I suppose.

>Before we even consider teaching Alkaline (and ourselves) how to read, we make sure that Alkaline can handle stuff without staining it or worse.
If she's struggling I think she should be able to use her toxic shroud like gloves. It's less permeable than regular slime.

>Now that you have a forge and a smith, why don't you make you make a gold plug for your heart? It might hold mana better. Also, would it be possible to make a plug out of many layers of thin, specially shaped gold sheets? Each layer could have artificial mana channels etched in, perhaps improving your magical capabilities and further reducing leakage.
Gold won't insulate it. I picked clay because it's porous and fairly non-reactive - it'll leech it away slowly instead of letting it sit and fester. It might be worth examining gold threads and sheets to try to complete some of my damaged mana channels at some point, but it'd have to be embedded in a matrix of something else.

>Kallia first. You actually know her, and you owe her some gratitude for helping arrange this.
I find her in the thaumatorium.

"Hey Deem, you guys get a swimming pool? I'm jealous!"

It was definitely the right thing to build, everyone seems to be impressed by it! "Oh, it hasn't even been used yet. I only put just put it in."

"Maybe I should give it a whirl then. First in the dungeon pool, yeah. Anyway, how's things? Merud keeping his hands to himself?"

I might take the chance to tease her back for once. "He's been very gentle."

She pauses a fraction of a second too long and then decides that it was a joke. "Yeah, loves his work old Merud does. I hear you've been busy too. Running around the woods, picking fights with bears and taming evil pots. Must be exciting huh?"

"There's frogs too. They're a little easier to handle. We're still setting up really, I'll be much happier once things have settled down a little."

>By the by, you have a potion she absolutely must try. The first one's free.
I suppose I might as well get some use out of these potions. She's got the sort of dirty mind that would be attracted to these things.

"I'm not sure if you want it, but I thought I might give you this as thanks." I hold out the satiation potion. "It's not much and it's a little flawed, but it's the first thing to come out of my dungeon."

Kallia accepts it. "Oh yeah I heard about these."

I'm about to ask who from but she drinks the potion on the spot, yawns and then burps genteelly. Then she pats her chest expectantly. Well, she's reliable at least.

"How is it?"

"Delicious! How'd you get it to taste like that, Deem?"

"Luck of the draw."
>>
No. 805409 ID: fa8c1a
File 149632712721.png - (21.46KB , 800x600 , real_talk.png )
805409

>Also, you can find a little more out about Izakikk. What was he like on the trip over?
"So how about yourself? How's the life of a caravan guard? Getting along with Izakikk? What are they like?"

"Eh, he's OK. Good shot. Can't speak the language very well yet. Keeps to himself. Spends a lot of time tending to his 'shrooms. Eats alone. Sleeps in this weird little tent. I tried to peek on him to see what he looks like under the mask, but the air in the tent was bad. Eyes were watering all night. Seems he knows his potions though, Seleni's real happy to have him around."

"Anyway, trip here wasn't too bad. No bears. I volunteered myself to run the golem-horse. Merud didn't want to dawdle in town too much so him and that tall lady left once he'd organised everything."

Kallia pauses a moment and then looks at me more seriously.

"Hey look Deem. About Merud. That stuff with finding those bones. It's bugging him more than he's letting on. He's the type who thinks all problems have got to have solutions. That's why the little girl's here. She's a medium. To see if those old bones hold any answers to why they're here."

Why does Merud have to keep acting like this is any of his business? And he just had to bring that wretched priest here too!

Kallia folds her arms over her chest and looks back conspiratorially at me. "Look, when he asks just say yes, OK? Don't tell him I told you. He was going to try and talk you into it and he was sure you'd get mad."

I don't know. I still don't like it. I don't think anything good's going to come out of it. The best conditions are here, where they died, but it's old and they died violently so the answers are going to be garbled. Maybe its worth it just to quiet down Merud's concerns.

"And are you selling these potions?"

Hmm, well I have seven satiation potions left and Liana was selling potions for just over 8G a bottle. These are less useful than healing potions though.
>>
No. 805410 ID: be0718

As an unlicensed seller, sell them at 6G a bottle. A fair discount, but the value of a potion that replaces a whole meal is not to be underestimated.
You should come up with a catchy name for these things. Maybe, Swollent Green?
>>
No. 805411 ID: 262ceb

Tease by asking her if there's someone she wants to impress.

Besides that... hmm. I don't suppose you have any guess what a meal is worth, do you? It's not exactly high cuisine so it's worth on that level would be about equal to rations. But it also serves as a cosmetic item/marital aid/confidence booster which might be worth more. You probably don't know the market value for those. You could ask her.

It's probably not worth that much, really.
>>
No. 805412 ID: be0718

You may not like the sky-magic, but like the resurrection amulets this seance is another useful function that is commonplace and doesn't cause you any harm so it's best to tolerate its presence. Besides, aren't you curious what these old bones have to say? There's still a little mystery surrounding the origins of this cave.

...Wait, should a little girl be performing medium duties on a dead adventurer? Will she be conscious of what goes on during the ritual?
>>
No. 805414 ID: b7627b

>>805411
Never underestimate what a perverted noble might be willing to pay for something like this.

And I guess we can probably part with a couple of satiation potions, I assume she intends to study the side effect? How many samples would she need for research?
>>
No. 805417 ID: 3ce125

>>805409
Some may see the chest swelling as a benefit, Deem. Don't undersell your potions!

15g each. Haggle if she thinks that's too much.
>>
No. 805429 ID: 3d2d5f

>>805409
>Bones
Admit to Kallia you handled that poorly.

It doesn't matter if the bones are important or if we can really do anything for whoever they once were. You minions feelings matter, or at least they should, if you want their loyalty.

Let Merud try to make a difference.

>Are you selling these?
Illicitly, perhaps, as you lack a proper licence. Why, you want more?
>>
No. 805440 ID: a363ac

Deem ask around to see if there is anyone in the dungeon who you can commission for a series of paintings of Alkaline one now one when she grows to teenage slime and one for when she is all grown up into a big slime girl.
>>
No. 805441 ID: 8d4593

Offer to sell a few. Have her make you an offer.

Also, yeah Merud has been continuing to show signs of emotional distress.

His business or not he's only human, and at this stage it's terribly important to nip moral issues in the bud.

Let them do their little ritual.
At the very least it will help put Merud's mind at ease. Besides that who knows? Perhaps a story or even secrets will come of it.
>>
No. 805483 ID: 45b631

It seems likely that there will be heroes who use sky magic, some of whome might even perform involved rituals of some sort within you. Things like protecting a campsite or breaking a curse or something...

Unless there is a way to completely prevent the magic in your body you are going to need to learn to endure it. Even if you could it would risk giving you a dangerous reputation, these mortals do love their churches... You may as well start with something that doesn't relate to you directly and just try to keep it out of your own influence.

Finally, all of these invaders, with the possible exception of Izakikk, seem to be vulnerable to cuteness. DEPLOY THE SLIME CHILD!
>>
No. 805489 ID: 094652

Sell the potions for TWENTY GOLD. Do you realize how ludicrously rare effective breast expansion potions are in the MULTIVERSE, let alone your world? AND you're giving her a 33% discount because she's your friend, sell the rest for thirty a bottle and jack up the prices when you get your license.

Let them see the damn skeleton, but be sure to place it in a secure location. Like two feet above the forge.
>>
No. 805499 ID: 0d1514

>>805409
Grumble about being an old dungeon and not used to TALKING to the humans. Also, ask her what she thinks the potions are worth and sell her for 25% less cuz unlicensed. Goodwill is more important than small change.
>>
No. 805503 ID: 5792da

>>805409
Five or six gold per bottle. She's a friend, they're joke potions of dubious usefulness, and we're unlicensed weirdos living in a hole in a mountain; we're not exactly going to get a better offer anytime soon.

And perhaps more importantly, we don't want to insult her by listing some outlandish price.

Keep at least one of 'em around, but otherwise sell as many as possible.
>>
No. 805539 ID: 45b631

Mention to Kallia that while you appreciate the humour of a few odd sideeffects here and there, that you would like to be thought of as a, umm, grand and portentious challenge against the ages where heroes of courage and cunning pit themselves against the grinding stone and terrifying depths? Rather than a joke-vendor of embarrassing and lewd products... If she could possibly manage to avoid spreading too many lewd rumours I am sure it would be appreciated.

Also bear in mind that we can't promise to make any more of any of our current potions. Belphejar is extremely useful, but not someone that you go to when you want to perform the same action over and over again while expecting the same outcome...
>>
No. 805566 ID: d36af7

Merud wants to get this skeleton issue sorted out so badly, he's willing to cut deals with sky-power users behind your back. Don't give him a reason to do any more of that kind of thing. Issuing an order you know won't be obeyed just undermines your own authority.

Wait for him to ask, then magnanimously permit the seance before he can even get warmed up for an argument. Furthermore, volunteer to do everything you can to make sure the ceremony goes smoothly, whether in terms of setup, raw power, or simply staying respectfully out of the way. Prove the totality of your control over this situation by handling it delicately, with discipline.

Afterward, once the guests have left, icily remind Merud that he's working for you, and this is your dungeon. Establish an official policy that any significant contact with priests should be reported promptly rather than left as a "surprise." Respect is a two-way street: now that you've proven how willing you are to respect his feelings about the dead, he needs to respect your feelings about hugs and the sky-power by, at minimum, giving fair warning, instead of conspiring to sneak up and try to "help" you even worse than Hin did.
>>
No. 805567 ID: 855334

>>805566
This is the best idea on how to handle the situation.

In fact, might as well gather everyone else for a quick staff meeting about surprise inviting over the sky power clergy.

And if they ask WHY, just tell them the story of when you first woke up. (Don't forget to mention the explosion!)
>>
No. 805585 ID: be0718

>>805567
What explosion?

(Deem does not remember the explosion, or any incidents like it.)
>>
No. 805592 ID: 45b631

You could consider giving Kallia a tour. She didn't get much chance to see your heart last time and you hadn't properly expanded into a dungeon at the time so she never got to see you use rooms to complete your channels. Your golem totem is probably very interesting to a golemeter too, even if you are still constructing it. Even the thaumatorium is relevant to her interests.
You could even consider a sparring match. You may have learned something since you last fought her, you did defeat a devilbear since then afterall! (Devilbear wanted meat, devilbear did not get meat. Deem wanted denizens, Deem retained denizens. Deem: 1; Bear: 0)
>>
No. 805823 ID: 5b93d3

>>805429
>Illicitly, perhaps, as you lack a proper licence. Why, you want more?
Deem selling the potions privately is perfectly, legal, she just can't supply them to someone to resell.
>>
No. 805826 ID: b7883c

>Potions
If she doesn't suggest a price 5 or 6 gold makes sense, as a ~25% reduction from official potions. (If we sell them all, we do have regular food for the minions to last us until the mushroom farm is running, right?)

>>805566
Yep. Humor him this time, but when the guests are gone make sure he knows not to do this sort of thing again without your permission.
>>
No. 805834 ID: 91ee5f

>>805826
>Yep. Humor him this time, but when the guests are gone make sure he knows not to do this sort of thing again without your permission.
Probably the best thing to do is to explain how Earth Pulse and Sky Power don't mix very well.
>>
No. 805849 ID: 45b631

>>805834
Verily, secrets have hurt you before. Make it clear to everyone that you have personal issues with Sky-Power. And try to be polite about it, even the acolyte is probably an otherwise decent person, aside from their hereditary hugging impulse. Watch your back around Liana too, she clearly wanted a hug back when you first met.
>>
No. 806584 ID: 12b116

Definitely sell as many sketchy potions as you can, 5-6G apiece sounds pretty good.

You should definitely explain to Merud after they are gone. Go ahead and let the thing happen. Maybe the skeleton can give us some useful info? Too bad it can't walk around and spook people.
>>
No. 806999 ID: de04d8

>>805408
>>805503
Oh, and ye, let her in the pool if she wants.

Maybe even have a weird cave pool party.
>>
No. 807000 ID: 0d1514

>>806999
Grills pool party
>>
No. 807008 ID: 45b631

I don't think that Deem would benefit from a pool party. It would make her golem soggy and water is evil, so she can't even enjoy being the bathwater...
>>
No. 807009 ID: 3ce125

>>807008
Hey, Water isn't evil! It's somewhat close to Earth, even.
>>
No. 807567 ID: 0d1514

>>807009
Have you ever heard of CLOUDS?
>>
No. 807623 ID: b27cac
File 149734752220.png - (26.71KB , 800x600 , no_not_ever.png )
807623

>Probably the best thing to do is to explain how Earth Pulse and Sky Power don't mix very well.
...

>Verily, secrets have hurt you before. Make it clear to everyone that you have personal issues with Sky-Power. And try to be polite about it, even the acolyte is probably an otherwise decent person, aside from their hereditary hugging impulse.
No. They don't have to know, no-one has to know.

>Watch your back around Liana too, she clearly wanted a hug back when you first met.
I knew I had felt that sense of danger before!

>You may not like the sky-magic, but like the resurrection amulets this seance is another useful function that is commonplace and doesn't cause you any harm so it's best to tolerate its presence. Besides, aren't you curious what these old bones have to say? There's still a little mystery surrounding the origins of this cave.
I don't think anything good is going to come of trying to dig up the past.

>It doesn't matter if the bones are important or if we can really do anything for whoever they once were. You minions feelings matter, or at least they should, if you want their loyalty.
>Let Merud try to make a difference.
Hrrrrm. I suppose it can't hurt to let him try.

>Also, yeah Merud has been continuing to show signs of emotional distress.
>His business or not he's only human, and at this stage it's terribly important to nip moral issues in the bud.
Fine then. For him.

>...Wait, should a little girl be performing medium duties on a dead adventurer? Will she be conscious of what goes on during the ritual?
It's just necromancy.
>>
No. 807624 ID: b27cac
File 149734768576.png - (18.04KB , 800x550 , seriously_why_the_food_question.png )
807624

>Never underestimate what a perverted noble might be willing to pay for something like this.
>Some may see the chest swelling as a benefit, Deem. Don't undersell your potions!
Yes and they'd buy cosmetic potions actually intended to do that.

>Five or six gold per bottle. She's a friend, they're joke potions of dubious usefulness, and we're unlicensed weirdos living in a hole in a mountain; we're not exactly going to get a better offer any-time soon.
>And perhaps more importantly, we don't want to insult her by listing some outlandish price.
"I'll sell you all seven I have left for 40 gold." I tell the visiting golemeter.

Kallia looks undecided. "I have a question. Do they still work if you put them in food?"

"They're a simple potion, so they shouldn't degrade if you insist on adulterating them like that. They probably would take longer to have an effect though." Magical meals can be effective, but there's usually more to it than pouring a potion all over it.

That apparently clinched the deal. "I'll take 'em."

"Do I want to know why you wanted to know that?"

"Some day, Deem, I'll have to teach you about the fine art of pranking."

It's none of my concern. I turn to go fetch them.

>Admit to Kallia you handled that poorly.
I pause. "Oh, and thanks Kallia. About Merud. I didn't handle that well the first time, and I don't think anyone wants a repeat performance."

"No problem. Just keep him out of trouble, OK?"

>Oh, and ye, let her in the pool if she wants.
"Oh and feel free to go swimming if you want."
>>
No. 807625 ID: b27cac
File 149734790761.png - (23.16KB , 800x500 , cool_pool.png )
807625

>You could consider giving Kallia a tour.
>You could even consider a sparring match.
Kallia never seemed as interested in the theory side of things as Merud. And she looked more likely to take a nap than get in a fight. By the time I return she's shed her golemeter robes and is lazily paddling around. Well she's extra buoyant at least.

She makes her way to the edge. "Yeah just leave them there's good."

>Tease by asking her if there's someone she wants to impress.
Strange Kallia normally wears such concealing clothes then. "Trying to impress someone?"

She looks up at me and wiggles her eyebrows. "You've stolen my heart with your swimming pool, sass and sketchy potions. Jump in so I can explore your architecture, if you know what I mean." It's followed by splashing some water at me.

I adroitly sidestep the water. "I'm fine here. And don't use them all at once. They're meant to be a satiation potion."

"Sometimes you gotta go a week without eating, Deem."

>Mention to Kallia that while you appreciate the humour of a few odd side-effects here and there, that you would like to be thought of as a, umm, grand and portentious challenge against the ages where heroes of courage and cunning pit themselves against the grinding stone and terrifying depths? Rather than a joke-vendor of embarrassing and lewd products... If she could possibly manage to avoid spreading too many lewd rumours I am sure it would be appreciated.
I sigh. "Well, whatever you think is best. Just... please don't tell anyone where you got them. I want my dungeon to stand on its own merits, not be known as that boob dungeon."

"Now now Deem, a chest is something to be treasured in a dungeon." She grins. "But sure, my lips are sealed. I will talk about the pool though."

"That's fine. Feel free to mention the giant eel too."

Kallia twitches but does not start looking for a transformed Stargazer or any other hypothetical aquatic monsters. Instead she squints at me and smirks. "Giant eels in your cavern huh? You dirty soul." It's like I'm back in town again.

>You should come up with a catchy name for these things. Maybe, Swollent Green?
They might never exist again. Enjoy your Swollent Green, Kallia.

"Just the one. I'll leave you to it. I need to see a man about a mushroom."
>>
No. 807627 ID: b27cac
File 149734801836.png - (23.00KB , 800x600 , the_verdict_is_guilty.png )
807627

I seek Izakikk and Merud intercepts me instead.

>Merud wants to get this skeleton issue sorted out so badly, he's willing to cut deals with sky-power users behind your back. Don't give him a reason to do any more of that kind of thing. Issuing an order you know won't be obeyed just undermines your own authority.
>Wait for him to ask, then magnanimously permit the seance before he can even get warmed up for an argument. Furthermore, volunteer to do everything you can to make sure the ceremony goes smoothly, whether in terms of setup, raw power, or simply staying respectfully out of the way. Prove the totality of your control over this situation by handling it delicately, with discipline.
"Deem," he says, "I need to talk to you about something. About those bones..."

"You asked that," I resist the urge to slip in 'wretched', "priest to come along to try for a seance?"

He stares at me in shock. "There wasn't a chance to ask-"

"I'll allow it."

>Afterward, once the guests have left, icily remind Merud that he's working for you, and this is your dungeon. Establish an official policy that any significant contact with priests should be reported promptly rather than left as a "surprise." Respect is a two-way street: now that you've proven how willing you are to respect his feelings about the dead, he needs to respect your feelings about hugs and the sky-power by, at minimum, giving fair warning, instead of conspiring to sneak up and try to "help" you even worse than Hin did.
I start walking towards my Heart Chamber, towards somewhere more private. "But Merud, this is my dungeon. I should know if you're going to do these things. We're in a precarious state right now and there's things I need to consider that you might not know about. Don't go and decide for yourself that it's better to seek forgiveness than permission." I sigh. "I set those bones aside when I dug out the thaumatorium so we could bury them properly because I knew you were concerned about them. And I'll help with this seance too. Try to show me the same respect."

He's silent. Maybe he's trying to figure out what the best thing to say is with that big wizard brain of his, or maybe it's a sign of a guilty conscience.

"Kallia's in the thaumatorium." I say. "You two should catch up while you have the chance."

He takes the dismissal for what it is.

Now back to mushrooms.
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No. 807628 ID: b27cac
File 149734817722.png - (32.83KB , 800x550 , ask_me_anything_about_mushrooms.png )
807628

I locate the tray of exotic mushrooms and with it in hand I go on to locate Izakikk.

"Hello I'm Deem. You're Izakikk, right?"

"Yes, yes! Hah-llo!"

I set the mushrooms down. "I understand you were going to give some guidance on how best to use these?"

Izakikk clenches their fists in excitement and squats next to the tray. "Mushyrooms, it is very good mushyrooms! Health-full and life-providing! Even grow of the mushyrooms for soaking the magic. Many use. Biggen of man. Is help for small man too. Up of strong-ness. Again of growth. See of things. And for rupture of wizard."

I blink. Did I hear that right. "Rupture?"

"Yes. Of rupture! To make the magics comes out." Some sort of magical aid?

"First, I tell you. How is care of mushyrooms." Izakikk gently prods one of the mushrooms. "Very important. It is not tree, it is fruit!"

Izakikk looks at me and I wait for Izakikk to explain this.

Izakikk taps their fingers together then pokes in the dirt with one gloved finger. "Mushyrooms is fruit of the... mycelium, what is word? The soil-tree! Breed of soil-tree is special, to make many of the fruits!"

I nod. Right, the mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of the fungus which is in the ground.

"This soil is the grind-up of tree! Grow in log, in rot of tree, with wetness." Izakikk cups their hands and then squeezes them together. "Big grow for eating but to squeeze the magic-ness, the soil-tree, it must struggle! It have right food and the struggle to squeeze in the magic-ness!"

I nod, slower. I think that means they're not going to concentrate much magic if they're not forced to?

Izakikk mutters something quickly under their breath. "Am I talking to a wall? Little rocky-headed child, does she have stones for a brain? Bah!" I don't know if I should let that pass.

Izakikk straightens up and holds out both hands, fingers pointed up. "I try again. You tell me of potion and I tell you of the preparation?"

Well Izakikk already gave me a vague description of some uses. I guess I need to ask some more specific uses.
>>
No. 807629 ID: b7627b

>>807628

Specific questions, alright.
Is it a white rot fungus? Or will less lignocellulosic biomass also work for the fungus?

And you need to keep them starved and slow-growing if you just want them to produce whatever alchemical compounds it might produce, likely a mechanic to ensure survival in adverse times rather than attempting to proliferate when there's an abundance of nutrients?
Sort of like an inverse crabtree effect.

I'd suggest at least two plots for the fungus then, one for food, and one for alchemical fuckery.


With regards to potions, a more reliable healing potion would be useful to have around, and perhaps something to cure illness.
>>
No. 807630 ID: 262ceb

Ask about the biggening of man, and hope it's some sort of giant growth potion, rather than a... let's say, partial giant growth potion.

Didn't you say something about maybe speaking his language? Might be better than him trying to speak in the local one.
>>
No. 807631 ID: 3ce125

>>807628
They're obviously not very good at speaking in the common tongue or whatever this is. Ask them to speak in their native language. You said you could understand it, right? Heck, I think the muttering was in their native language, so you do appear to understand it.
You should probably explain you're familiar with alchemy and plant growth.

Alright, obviously we'd like to make bog standard mana potions with these things. What about potions that increase the strength of spells, though? Or a potion that recovers mana but not all at once? Or... maybe something offensive? Like, a potion that can be thrown to explode upon an enemy caster to nullify their casting ability? What about a potion that nullifies magic effects on the drinker- either a one-time dispel or a continuous antimagic buff.
>>
No. 807634 ID: be0718

I wonder if we could enhance the effect of potions on everyone if we used some of Hin's blood to make them. ...Blood in general might be what we're missing to make healing potions of our own! Just try not to get Doyle hooked on the stuff.

Well, size reinforcement potions that don't mute the user would be good. Health potions and potions to boost magic strength would be good too. Let's just get specifics on a few and then general guidelines for how to attune for a particular stat in the future, as we won't have too many mushrooms to start with.

That's another good question: What growth pattern is most conducive to growing a lot more mushroom stock quickly?
>>
No. 807636 ID: 8dc95a

>>807628
tell him to speak in his native tongue, his accent is attrocious and you'll still be able to understand him
>>
No. 807645 ID: 0d1514

>Biggen of man. Is help for small man too. Up of strong-ness.

REISARF GETS MUSCLES POTION
ask if it shrinks his balls tho
>>
No. 807649 ID: 3d2d5f

>seriously_why_the_food_question
As a trap, Deem! She intends to drug someone unawares. Like a spike pit in a dungeon, except boobs in food.

>"Am I talking to a wall? Little rocky-headed child, does she have stones for a brain? Bah!" I don't know if I should let that pass.
In his defense, you've just been nodding so he has no idea if you get what he's saying. Plus, the language barrier and never having met an intelligent golem before would bring added doubt.

Short, not a child. I'm the oldest person here, actually.

...silly thought, but you're old. Any chance you might have encountered or know his native tongue from your past? It's a moment's awkwardness to try, but a big bonus if he can speak naturally to you.

>Biggen of man. Is help for small man too. Up of strong-ness. Again of growth. See of things. And for rupture of wizard.
Might as well ask about all the varients so we can choose how to grow them later. We may change things up as our needs change and/or we get other resources. Or when we can afford to maintain more than one plot of mushrooms.

So, we can breed mushrooms for enlargement, strengthening, sight, and wizard-boost.

Might want to ask what kind of sight enhancement is offered. Prophetic trances? Darksight? Seeing through illusions?
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No. 807655 ID: d36af7

"I know what the word 'mycelium' means. If you could just go ahead and explain things in your native language, this will be easier for both of us. As for specific potion effects, I'm interested in a full spread of combat-relevant effects - strength, speed, mana recovery, all that sort of thing - but the most immediate issue on my mind is that my blacksmith has a mild but persistent cough which hasn't cleared up even under powerful healing magic."
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No. 807677 ID: 91ee5f

>>807623
>No. They don't have to know, no-one has to know.
So you want another repeat of what happened with Hin and your heart? Wow, I thought you were supposed to be smart. You've gotta tell them, otherwise it's going to keep happening again and again and again.....
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No. 807737 ID: b7883c

By magic come out of wizard does he mean come out and be stronger or come out and be gone?
>>
No. 807738 ID: 91ee5f

>>807677
In fact, you'd better address this Earth Pulse hates Sky Power thing now, otherwise next time you send someone to town, they might come back with a new recruit that specializes in only Sky Power stuff!

Or before your dungeon dwellers try to invite Ophelia to join the dungeon!
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No. 807740 ID: ba506f

>I don't think anything good is going to come of trying to dig up the past.
snrrk. Oh irony, how I love thee

but yeah anyways, as for mushrooms. Ask how to make healing and magic potions from them as those will probably see the most use by both your own team and wondering adventures.
>>
No. 807741 ID: 45b631

>>807628
Green-on-green Mushroom wallpaper! We now know what your farm's walls must look like!

There may be some advantage in allowing Izakikk to continue to believe that you can't understand their monologue...
Then again, you are here for knowledge, and their terrible translation is harming that. There is unlikely to be any great secrets that you can exploit and there is a sore dearth of people recognising how amazing your are.

Could a mage-rupture be referring to the same phenomena as your cleavage? If there are treatments that could improve your cleavage issues then you need to pursue that!

Does Izakikk know anything about combining mushrooms with living cauldrons? It seems liek a bit of a niche field but is relevant to your situation.

Are there potions which could enhance one's receptiveness to magical influences? It might backfire against magical heroes but if you could bolster the effects of boss-mode against muscle-brains...

Can potions help with smithing? Can they imbue magic into a material?

How do mushrooms respond to other materials? Especially slime-products and what you know of locally grown materials and reagets that you believe could be acquired and cultivated. Are there any elements that they shouldn't be mixed with?

Can toxins be extracted from these mushrooms? What of hallucinogens? Those can be marvellously subtle...

Is there any way to breed ambulatory mushroom monsters?

Do the mushrooms possess any combat potential in their curren state? Never overlook the hazard of a plume of spores...

Would mushrooms gain any properties from beign grown in the corpse of a demon-bear?
>>
No. 807742 ID: 3abd97

>>807627
As long as you don't tell him, he has no idea sky powers are bad. Is it really his fault he's been lied to his whole life? Stupid pervasive sky power propaganda.
>>
No. 807815 ID: d8ce3a

>>807623
>I don't think anything good is going to come of trying to dig up the past.
Digging up the past could be a description of your entire existence, Deem. If lying to your minions is bad, lying to yourself is even worse, just dont do it.
>>
No. 807820 ID: 094652

Mushroom spores: how should we cultivate them within closed spaces or dense walls?

I don't understand what conditions are required to force mana collection. Do you need to starve them or something? Throw them next to a magic-based weather condition and wait for them to adapt?

Ask for instructions to cultivate healing shrooms and poisonous shrooms of the same color. Get adventurers to trust the shrooms at the start, then laugh as they eat the instant-death shrooms right next to the treasure room.
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No. 807912 ID: 45b631

Also ask about mushroom cooking. You never know when there will be too many things to do and all your denizens wil be busy or incapacitated. Your most important work is, of course, performed from your heart, leaving your golem somewhat free to perform low-intenisty tasks such as watching some mushrooms boil and being nearby in case an injured denizen requires assistance.
>>
No. 814788 ID: b27cac
File 149977606116.png - (22.10KB , 600x800 , awkwardness.png )
814788

>Digging up the past could be a description of your entire existence, Deem. If lying to your minions is bad, lying to yourself is even worse, just don't do it.
Bah.

>>No. They don't have to know, no-one has to know.
>So you want another repeat of what happened with Hin and your heart? Wow, I thought you were supposed to be smart. You've gotta tell them, otherwise it's going to keep happening again and again and again.....
I don't care, I will not.

>As long as you don't tell him, he has no idea sky powers are bad. Is it really his fault he's been lied to his whole life? Stupid pervasive sky power propaganda.
Words are weak. It's always personal tragedy that moves someone to rebellion.

>Didn't you say something about maybe speaking his language? Might be better than him trying to speak in the local one.
"I am not a child, a wall, nor do I have rocks for brains."

Izakikk freezes. "You, you understood that?"

I nod.

Izakikk grabs me in a bear-hug. "Uwah, you know a real tongue. The barbarians here, they are a sea of nonsense! They chatter like dragon-flies! You, have you felt the shade of the pillar trees, felt the breath of-"

I pat Izakikk's back. This is the only way I'm getting out of this. "There, there. I just have a gift for languages. I tell you what, before you leave I'll see if I can teach you a few more words at least."

"Thank you, thank you!"

Once Izakikk settles down, they explain their mushrooms in earnest.

"Mushrooms may seem to just spring up overnight," Iakikk says, "but we who dwell in the Rotwood know all too well that such sudden growth is the end result of long preparation. The mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of the carefully spread and extended mycelium living in the ground and other material it has infiltrated.

"These specific mushrooms, we call them kindly mushrooms, have been carefully chosen and cultivated for their benign nature and their ability to decompose dangerous material without becoming tainted by it. Mushrooms feed upon decay, they're very useful for breaking down substances that are rich in magic but possessed of an undesirable nature. Cursed ground, the viscera of monsters, such things can be decomposed by them. As I have said, they are kindly, they must be protected from pests and hazards for they have little ability to defend themselves.

"The process will be much slower and their mushrooms will only have little magical power if easier food is available. That is why scarcity brings out the best in them: they will scavenge from harder to decompose material and concentrate power to wait for conditions to improve."

Simple enough - they need material that is rich in mana and should not be provided with material that is easier to break down so they absorb as much mana as possible.
In a pinch they could simply be starved to make them spore less often but with more potent mushrooms.

>Can potions help with smithing? Can they imbue magic into a material?
Well, yes, various alchemical substances are often used to prepare materials to be fashioned into a magical item.

>Do the mushrooms possess any combat potential in their current state? Never overlook the hazard of a plume of spores...
They're not puffballs and they're not toxic. So no. Perhaps someone might stand on one and slip over. Or punch one and have it collapse on them if it was especially large.

>Is there any way to breed ambulatory mushroom monsters?
Well, yes. I would usually start by finding an ambulatory mushroom monster and then encouraging it to spread its spores around.

>That's another good question: What growth pattern is most conducive to growing a lot more mushroom stock quickly?
They're usually cultivated in stacks of damp logs out of direct sunlight. I'd just have to let them spore without harvesting them.
>>
No. 814790 ID: b27cac
File 149977626844.png - (38.09KB , 800x600 , mushroom_mushroom_mushroom.png )
814790

I sit down to absorb as much as I can of Izakikk's knowledge of mushroomy potions.

>With regards to potions, a more reliable healing potion would be useful to have around, and perhaps something to cure illness.
To be clear I should quickly explain that for injuries and minor illnesses, there's two types of healing potion. The first is for emergencies. It heals wounds and gives a quick burst of energy at the coast of depleting the body's resources. The second is to help recovery. It helps the user replenish their reserves, assists long term regrowth and accelerates recovery. It's sometimes called a potion of regeneration, though it often confused with potions intended to give a sustained burst of healing ability.

According to Izakikk the mushrooms would be suitable for such a recovery potion.

A general purpose curse removing potion could be made by processing some of the mycelium but that will reduce mushroom yields until it regrows. Dealing with stronger curses or diseases typically needs a tailored potion however.

>Ask about the biggening of man, and hope it's some sort of giant growth potion, rather than a... let's say, partial giant growth potion.
It's a potion that enlarges the drinker. Sudden growth is a very basic property of mushrooms so it's simple to make. And yes, there is also a medicine can that be made to treat impotence.

>Combat-relevant effects - strength, speed, mana recovery, all that sort of thing
Unfortunately it's not well suited to mana recovery. The mushrooms absorb magical power fine but it's mostly expressed in a few specialised effects.

The first combat-relevant potion gives a boost of strength and speed. Izakikk calls it a bloodrush potion as it improves circulation. It makes the drinker slightly more vulnerable to injury as a result. The second gives a large boost to strength and causes some increase to muscular bulk so it may not be a good idea with some armour.

>REISARF GETS MUSCLES POTION
>ask if it shrinks his balls tho
I think Izakikk's thankful to me for offering the language lessons, since they ask me to not spread this outside my dungeon. There's a special rite involving an extended period of synchronisation and purification followed by several days of performing feats of strength and consuming a special mushroom broth based on the previous potions to permanently increase physical prowess.

I don't know if that'd be the best fit for Reisarf though. Someone who has cultivated personal power still only has a limited number of mana channels. Wizards keep most untethered to be twisted into spells while warriors have those channels bound tightly into their mind, body and tools to reinforce them.

He is physically underdeveloped though.

>Potions to boost magic strength would be good too.
The potion for 'rupture of wizard' (as Izakikk previously called it) is a magical accelerant. It forces more mana to be cycled through mana channels faster, increasing the casting speed and strength of spells. The downsides are it stresses the channels, lowers the mana efficiency and the small tears it causes can develop into something worse if overused.

>A potion that can be thrown to explode upon an enemy caster to nullify their casting ability? What about a potion that nullifies magic effects on the drinker- either a one-time dispel or a continuous antimagic buff.
It might be possible to modify the rupture potion to cause, well, ruptures. I'd have to experiment to make it take effect on being splashed with it instead of drinking it. The others won't be possible with just these mushrooms, even if I use the mycelium. It's simply not voracious enough.

>Might want to ask what kind of sight enhancement is offered. Prophetic trances? Darksight? Seeing through illusions?
This one's quite difficult to make. It requires the mushrooms, the mycelium and samples of the feedstock. It always to you see spiritual contamination - traces left behind by others on anything they have interacted with. Normally unseen lines of influence and connection. It's very useful for investigating an area and for the study of metaphysical phenomena.

>Are there potions which could enhance one's receptiveness to magical influences? It might backfire against magical heroes but if you could bolster the effects of boss-mode against muscle-brains...
That would be a potion of vulnerability. Perhaps by modifying some of the other potions I might be able to do something there. Alkaline's slime might be a useful ingredient too, dissolution of boundaries. Hmmmm. Izakikk doesn't know any recipes for it.

I think I might turn into a mushroom after listening to all of this.

Is there anything else I should ask Izakikk? And secondly, should I ask anyone along for Izakikk's language lesson? A conversational partner would be useful and I might need a chaperone to protect me from these grabby strangers.
>>
No. 814797 ID: d79f26

yes, get alkaline to join in, she can practice her words too.
>>
No. 814806 ID: d8ce3a

>>814790
Yeah, bring alkaline. And ask how long Izakikk is going to be in the area. He should swing by again to check on our progress later. Also, ask himif hes seen Any interesting monsters in the area, we might want to try and capture them, for the dungeon, or to feed the mushrooms.
>>
No. 814828 ID: be0718

Does damage to a person's mana channels outlast 'resurrection' by the earth pulse? Could it even interfere with the process if it progressed drastically enough?

Thirding Alkaline! She'll make sure those grabby hands stick to one place.
>>
No. 814870 ID: 45b631

Alkaline might... dominate the lesson. It would be a wonderful experience, but Izakikk doesn't have an abundance of time. Perhaps it might be good to prepare a distraction if the lessons become too unfocused? Maybe a test to determine if additional honey and pancakes will have additional benefits to Alkaline's abilities? Perhaps Hin and/or Merud could handle the experiment?

Moriko probably has experience with multiple languages, so would be a good escort for you. The merchant likely has some experience of Izakikk's language, and might continue to interact with him, so there could be a lot of benefit there for Izakikk and some familiarity might help the lessons, so long as she doesn't butcher his language constantly. But she may bring her pet sky-priest along, and they both look like the physically affectionate sort, so do bring a bodyguard.

Kallia and Merud are both somewhat scholarly, so they might, potentially, be interested in languages, but probably in more of an academic sense than a practical sense, except when it comes to practical jokes, Kallia would probably love to know if there are any inter-language innuendoes that she could use to make Izakikk uncomfortable while theoretically speaking normally in her own language...
>>
No. 814948 ID: d36af7

>anything else I should ask Izakikk?
Get Hin's persistent cough checked out. Any doctor who wears a gas mask full-time and sleeps in a pressurized tent full of noxious chemicals would have to know a thing or two about respiratory problems.
>>
No. 814967 ID: 3ce125

>>814948
Worth a shot.
>>
No. 815384 ID: 5792da

>>814790
... could we use the mycelium to make golems? Like, either as the main material in place of clay, or as the rock accents? It's like half dirt, so it might work?

It'd maybe keep deem's leaky mana under control a bit more, or do other wonky and cool things with spell channels?
>>
No. 815564 ID: 8beaac

We could easily feed this kindly mushrooms with the leakage of our dungeon core. This could become pretty important, should the corebleed increase with more income.
>>
No. 815588 ID: c7c14d

>>814790
>language lessons
i want Alkaline in there.
>>
No. 815693 ID: b7627b

>>815384
I feel like that might eventually turn Deem into a walking biohazard as the fungus continues to grow, and mushrooms appear. It could perhaps also encroach on the channels in the shard over time? I probably worry too much.

I agree with James that it wouldn't hurt to ask Kikk about Hin's condition, even if he's more mad mycologist than doctor.
>>
No. 816193 ID: 5b93d3

>>815693
You say that like Acquired True Body: Mushroom Golem Deem is a danger rather than a goal.
>>
No. 816206 ID: 45b631

>>816193
No matter how much I look, I just can't see how a mushroom golem can fit as much innuendo inside itself as a dungeon can...
>>
No. 830069 ID: 673643
File 150521577253.png - (23.32KB , 800x550 , throat_poke.png )
830069

>We could easily feed this kindly mushrooms with the leakage of our dungeon core. This could become pretty important, should the corebleed increase with more income.
Yes that would be pragmatic.

>Does damage to a person's mana channels outlast 'resurrection' by the earth pulse? Could it even interfere with the process if it progressed drastically enough?
Somewhat. Resurrection depletes the body's resources so while they'd show temporary recovery they'd be more vulnerable to damage and long term effects from repeated use.

>Get Hin's persistent cough checked out. Any doctor who wears a gas mask full-time and sleeps in a pressurised tent full of noxious chemicals would have to know a thing or two about respiratory problems.

"Hmm." Izakikk pronounces.

"Hmmm?" I say.

"Is bug."

"Bug as in sickness," Hin says, "or-"

"No, bug! Gristleworm! Wrapping throat!"

I've never heard of those.

Izakikk flaps their hands like fins. "Swims through flesh. Like fishie. Is found in fishie!"

"Maybe you should explain this to me in your own language."

Hin leans forward. "Hey, I want to hear this."

"Hin, do you want accurate information or needlessly alarming pidgin?"

While Hin is looking conflicted, I abscond with our temporary doctor.

It turns out a gristleworm is an aquatic parasite that can phase through flesh. They're most commonly found in deep sea fish. They can't survive long out of a host and generally have to keep it weakened to stop it forcing them out. They don't normally migrate into humans. They can't survive well in them. It's taken up residence around her throat, the irritation is making it harder for Hin to eat and it's probably stealing some food. So the good news is I was right: it's an exotic illness but Hin really does just need bed rest and to eat properly to recover. And maybe to have a big rock ready when it's forced out.

I don't think Hin would appreciate me putting it to her that way.

The biggest unsolved mystery is how Hin caught it off Doyle. Maybe that final curse just left her more vulnerable to it? But I very much doubt Hin's been eating some bad seafood. Spontaneous generation? Maybe Doyle ate something weird. Can it get in frogs?
>>
No. 830070 ID: 673643
File 150521601788.png - (31.28KB , 800x550 , final_form_deem_discourse.png )
830070

>Yeah, bring Alkaline. And ask how long Izakikk is going to be in the area. He should swing by again to check on our progress later. Also, ask him if hes seen Any interesting monsters in the area, we might want to try and capture them, for the dungeon, or to feed the mushrooms.
>Thirding Alkaline! She'll make sure those grabby hands stick to one place.
I find Alkaline. She was with that priest child so it's good I could remove her from bad influences.

Izakikk is startled when I show up, royal jelly in tow. They shy back when I come around the corner, seeing Alkaline suddenly so close.

"Is something the matter?"

"Oh. Yes. You see, the slimies in my home. They have danger. No shape, the thinking is taken up by poison. Talk is chemical, very toxins. The slimies that look like a thing, they are the most danger!"

I think I followed that. Maybe. Alchemical and toxic slimes are common in Izakikk's homeland but they trade off that specialisation for being very dumb. The smarter and more complex ones are very dangerous

I wave a hand in my approximate vicinity a step behind and find Alkaline. I pat her shoulder. "Well you have nothing to worry about from Alkaline here."

"Yes, is good pet."

"Pet?" Alkaline says. She seems a little put out.

"If we're to have language lessons, perhaps you should talk in your own language most of the time and I can say it back to you translated." Hmm, I just realised I don't know what anyone calls the local tongue. I shall have to ask Merud later.

"Ah, yes. I was going to say that such beast taming is a useful skill for someone of your profession. I started at a young age. I remember when I was a child my first pet was a bumblemoth. Beautiful insects they are, they collect nectar from the night blooming flowers."

I have to concentrate here to say it right. I repeat Izakikk's word back to them. Izakikk nods along as I do. "Have you seen any creatures that've caught your interest here?"

"No, we were attacked by frogs and I thought I saw an interesting beetle but I couldn't leave the caravan to investigate it."

Alkaline's looking between me and Izakikk in confusion.

"Hello Alkaline. Do you want to say something?" Izakikk says.

"Blonguhr?" Alkaline says.

"No, hello." I say.

"Blon-"

"Hello." Izkikk says.

"Hello!"

"Yes, very good!"

I decide to focus building up some of Izakikk's technical vocabulary next - mushyrooms are mushrooms and the mycelium is mycelium, that sort of thing and general conversational words. Alkaline seems a little bored by the vocabulary work but enjoys the store acting.

Izakikk's very appreciative but thankfully seems still nervous about getting too close while I have Alkaline with me.

>... could we use the mycelium to make golems? Like, either as the main material in place of clay, or as the rock accents? It's like half dirt, so it might work?
On the topic of mycelium, golems cannot be made out of living things.

There's something that rarely happens with old, abandoned golems in natural settings. These overgrown golems keep functioning long after they should have worn out and broken down and frequently deviate from their original tasks. It seems they somehow refine one of the higher tiers of golemetry on their own and create a symbiosis with their surroundings.

Attempts to recreate the conditions haven't been particularly successful.

>It'd maybe keep Deem's leaky mana under control a bit more, or do other wonky and cool things with spell channels?
>I feel like that might eventually turn Deem into a walking biohazard as the fungus continues to grow, and mushrooms appear. It could perhaps also encroach on the channels in the shard over time? I probably worry too much.
I don't think I want to infest this body with mushrooms. I'm already not happy that it may have a non-zero amount of will of its own.
>>
No. 830071 ID: 673643
File 150521613722.png - (19.90KB , 600x750 , tell_me_your_secrets.png )
830071

Once that's concluded, a select group has to wait up until the middle of the night so that the séance can be conducted. I still don't think this is a good idea but this is my dungeon so I'm going to be here. I entrust the remains to Ophelia and she sequesters herself with the bones in a circle of salt.

"I think I'm almost ready. There won't be much time to discuss during the channelling so just remember you must not, under any circumstances, cross the circle."

"We just need to know who they were and what they were doing here." Merud says.

Merud, I'm doing this for your sake. Come up with some proper questions. He's not approaching this correctly at all.

I don't especially care for this, but perhaps I should give him some guidance.

Interrogation of the dead is troublesome at the best of times. The soul is long departed so in this case Lianna's clerical daughter will be feeding whatever scraps of spirit were trapped within the corpse with her own energy. This will make its own uniqueness coarsen and degrade so with such old remains we've only got one attempt at this.

Any spirit she raises will not be rational and will be traumatised by its death. Questions about its death are unlikely to be coherent. If there was anything it was attempting to hide in life it'll still attempt to hide them in death. Ghosts are trapped in the past and easy to deceive however. Something to help remind them is often useful too.
>>
No. 830080 ID: be0718

Okaaay, Doyle's going to need some de-lousing before anyone drinks from him again. When it's time for the phase-shifting parasite to come out, try putting Hin to sleep again with a fresh batch of 'satiation' potions. The only question is, which end does it leave through?
Here are five questions for the dead:
1. Why did you enter this cave?
2. Who gave you the plaque, Esra?
3. Do you have any friends that I could hire as spooky ghosts?
4. Why were you running around naked except for a charm?
5. Chocolate or vanilla?
>>
No. 830081 ID: 094652

>>830069
Careful, Deem. Parasites do things to their hosts, things that can make them more susceptible to disease if the parasites are purged. Or it could alter her brain chemistry, introduce further viral diseases, lay its eggs in her throat which can then spread to the lungs and eat as they grow from vocal stimulation, etc.

Doesn't matter how stupid a species is, give them an easy programming language and they will evolve a way to exploit it, often in ugly but creative ways.

I suggest you take it out immediately, followed by small doses of its venom and pheromones to wean her off the stuff in case it was doing something to her.

>>830071
Great. Try to bluff your way into getting intel - find out what the spirit sees as inconsequential, trivial, or good means of healthy gossip. Work on these things and keep an ear out for anything that seems like a security code - if they know anything, just tell them its been hundreds of years and those codes are stale by now, but they make for funny jokes so you'd really like to hear how stupid people get when nobody judges their private passphrases. Once the seance reaches the halfway mark, begin the fun part of interrogation and move towards an uncomfortable subject. Write down every word as the skull goes from nervous to incoherent insanity, then stay silent and let them talk to themselves about all the things they don't want you to hear but are too freaked to remember you are listening.
>>
No. 830133 ID: d79f26

the magic token should have been their's so they will recognize it.
>>
No. 830142 ID: 3ce125

>>830071
>reminder
Well there's the pendant and the chest.

Ask it if it got the loot. C'mon man did you get the chest open or what? The boss is waiting.
Who's their next of kin?
>>
No. 830150 ID: c88e6d

>>830080
Hey, yeah! It WAS naked, we didn't even find any scraps of cloth! "Why are you naked?!"
>>
No. 830169 ID: 3ae3fd

Squee!! They will likely resist an interrogation. What do we know? The chest certainly seems to have been hidden, and rather excessively at that. This seems to be the middle of nowhere and it was in the back of a cave, on a raised platform, that almost certainly required some competent swimming to get to. We do not know if they were coming or going, they could have been retrieving the chest or storing it, but the plaque suggest that they were going to do something with the chest, or rocks, rather than just retrieving or storing a single ring. They may have been attempting to open the gap that they were crushed by.
We could potentially "loosen" the spirit using the plaque... "Ersa, may this token help you shed your burdens and fly far from here" Perhaps ask it if it knows any anagrams of "Ersa"? I mean, I wouldn't want to be named "sear", but then it could be a keepsake and mocking would be traumatic and shut it down...

Try to portray yourself as the companion it always wanted...
"What does that inscription mean anyway?" It sounds pretty ominous, as though they were running away from a bad life, and a friend gifted it to them before they departed, likely to never meet again. Or it could be some sort of in-joke, or they took it off of a corpse...
"You never talk about you home?" If one assumes that their home-life was too restrictive for their tastes...
"Is it really worth all this just to hide some ring?" Perhaps they will explain their grand plans for the ring that will make this chest gauntlet sensible outside of a dungeon.
"Where are you heading to after all this is done?" May tell us who they are and where they are going, what places they know, names of acquaintances...

Flesh-phasing is a useful ability. If we kill the parasite, then we should probably feed it to alkaline. Alternatively we could try to get it into a monster, like one of those giant frogs or something. Or... Can Deem just whammy it like she did with her chickens? Or maybe it already is whammied considering that it was revived by the "denizens only" process... It doesn't seem like an overly complex organisms, and we certainly aren't going to let it continue to weaken our blacksmith so plan be is extermination and it is hardly in a position to escape, so the old carrot and stick comes with a big stick and it is probably worth getting ahold of a carrot in exchange for a particularly unusual curse, especially if we can mutate it to be more capable of infecting challengers. Also, this might be an opportunity to practise detection skills and magics. Given that there is a noticeable-sized critter than nobody has sensed, our awareness could use some tweaking.
>>
No. 830295 ID: 3abd97

>And maybe to have a big rock ready when it's forced out.
Why kill it, when you can capture it and inflict it and its spawn on adventurers?

>I'm already not happy that it may have a non-zero amount of will of its own.
If you consider it a part of you, maybe you won't be so bothered by it? It's only appropriate you should have will, after all.

>I still don't think this is a good idea but this is my dungeon so I'm going to be here.
Sign of a good boss.

>Come up with some proper questions. He's not approaching this correctly at all.
>I don't especially care for this, but perhaps I should give him some guidance.
Seems the smart thing to do. If he's only got one shot at this, laying out some clear rules / guidelines to work off of might help.
>>
No. 830306 ID: b7627b

Just one question: "In the event of your untimely and abrupt demise, how would you like your remains to be dealt with? A traditional burial, burned on a pyre, interment in a tomb or something else?"
>>
No. 830312 ID: a98542

>>830071
Okay so.

Step 1: Ask (both the merchantlady and clericface) if we can use the pendant to make the ghoasty man remember things better.
Step 2: Try to avoid letting the ghost become aware that it is dead. People tend to not react well to being dead. Just like, converse with it like it's a normal (but dazed and confused) person.
Step 3: Introduce ourselves (in a very general way - "hello I am Deem and these are my friends", not "hello I am Deem the Dungeon and these are my murderlackeys") and ask goast who it is.
Step 4: Show the ghost the pendant. Say we found it, ask if it is theirs.
Step 5: Ask the ghost how/why it got here - we are quite a ways from town, after all.
Step 6: ?????

And maybe we can just reinforce Hin to force the worm out? But like, specifically reinforce deem while excluding the worm. If it piggybacked the resurrect, it might just piggyback the reinforcement and make bad things happen. Ask Izakikk about it.

>Why kill it, when you can capture it and inflict it and its spawn on adventurers?
No. People don't come to dungeons to get parasites. Dungeons thrive on popularity. We don't want people telling other people about the gnarly flesh-crawling throat parasite they got at our dungeon. That's not okay.
>>
No. 830328 ID: b9b4da

>>830312
Fame, infamy, whatever gets their attention. I think it'd fit right in with the shadow dungeon theme. We should be a responsible dungeon, however, and ensure that its children are sterile and short-lived so it doesn't leave with adventurers that leave the dungeon's confines. Maybe up-size it a little with the earth pulse's wild magics. A totally responsible mad science experiment!
The creature isn't really flesh-crawling either, it's flesh-phasing. Is there a spell that would let us phase through flesh too and grab the interdimensional parasite?
>>
No. 830349 ID: 8d4593

We should see if we can feed the worms to Alkaline.
Phase Slime!
Both useful and terrifying!
>>
No. 830355 ID: be0718

>>830328
How about that curse of formlessness experiment?
>>
No. 830389 ID: 3ae3fd

Alkaline's body is inherently, umm, digestive? So the formlessness experiment might make it very difficult for a parasite to persist within the resultant gestalt...
>>
No. 831444 ID: 72a4bf
File 150582365614.png - (26.48KB , 800x550 , seance_advice.png )
831444

>Here are five questions for the dead:
>1. Why did you enter this cave?
>2. Who gave you the plaque, Esra?
>3. Do you have any friends that I could hire as spooky ghosts?
>4. Why were you running around naked except for a charm?
>5. Chocolate or vanilla?
Why are you so useless?

>Try to portray yourself as the companion it always wanted...
No. Its presence here is an entirely unwanted intrusion.

>Who's their next of kin?
Just one question: "In the event of your untimely and abrupt demise, how would you like your remains to be dealt with? A traditional burial, burned on a pyre, interment in a tomb or something else?"
If you want coherent answers out of a ghost you don't want to be confronting it with thoughts of its death.

>Well there's the pendant and the chest.
>Ask it if it got the loot. C'mon man did you get the chest open or what? The boss is waiting.
>What do we know? The chest certainly seems to have been hidden, and rather excessively at that. This seems to be the middle of nowhere and it was in the back of a cave, on a raised platform, that almost certainly required some competent swimming to get to. We do not know if they were coming or going, they could have been retrieving the chest or storing it, but the plaque suggest that they were going to do something with the chest, or rocks, rather than just retrieving or storing a single ring. They may have been attempting to open the gap that they were crushed by.
Right. The inscription said "Esra, may this token help you shed your burdens and fly far from here" and it's possible this person was Esra. They were definitely equipped to move the chest but it's puzzling there was no key with it. In addition to that, it was filled with rocks aside from that one ring. Were they deceived somehow?

We no longer have the chest, but I ask Liana if we can borrow the plaque and I call up Chakarchelou so we have the Covetous Ring. I keep the ring attached to the quasidragon, of course. With Chakarchelou, that brings our séance witnesses to five: myself, Merud, Moriko, Liana and Chakarchelou. Hin and Kallia both said they were tired, I put Alkaline to bed hours ago and Izakikk wasn't interested. Doyle is a pot. I think Reisarf and Stargazer are off doing their own thing.

>"What does that inscription mean anyway?" It sounds pretty ominous, as though they were running away from a bad life, and a friend gifted it to them before they departed, likely to never meet again. Or it could be some sort of in-joke, or they took it off of a corpse...
That's a good question, I entrust it to Merud to ask along with the plaque itself.

>"Is it really worth all this just to hide some ring?" Perhaps they will explain their grand plans for the ring that will make this chest gauntlet sensible outside of a dungeon.
>"Where are you heading to after all this is done?" May tell us who they are and where they are going, what places they know, names of acquaintances...
>Show the ghost the pendant. Say we found it, ask if it is theirs.
>Ask the ghost how/why it got here - we are quite a ways from town, after all.
I pass those along to Merud to ask as well.

Well I've done all I will, I wash my hands of this. Merud's looking very serious. Good luck Merud.
>>
No. 831445 ID: 72a4bf
File 150582375065.png - (35.27KB , 800x550 , worm_actual_size.png )
831445

That priest girl is starting. There's an annoying chant involved. She seems to be struggling - these are old bones after all. I said I'll witness this but I'm not going to speak up unless I absolutely have to. I have other important matters to think about anyway.

>Okaaay, Doyle's going to need some de-lousing before anyone drinks from him again. When it's time for the phase-shifting parasite to come out, try putting Hin to sleep again with a fresh batch of 'satiation' potions. The only question is, which end does it leave through?
I'm not making up a batch of potions just for that and it can travel through flesh, it doesn't does need to go through any ends.

>Maybe we can just reinforce Hin to force the worm out? But like, specifically reinforce Deem while excluding the worm. If it piggybacked the resurrect, it might just piggyback the reinforcement and make bad things happen.
If parasites were easy to separate from their hosts' bodies, they wouldn't be particularly successful parasites. I said it'll come out on its own.

>How about that curse of formlessness experiment?
>Alkaline's body is inherently, umm, digestive? So the formlessness experiment might make it very difficult for a parasite to persist within the resultant gestalt...
That might work but all Hin needs is to eat properly and get some bed rest.

>Why kill it, when you can capture it and inflict it and its spawn on adventurers?
Why would I do that when it does nothing particularly inconvenient within the span of time they'd be in my dungeon?

>No. People don't come to dungeons to get parasites. Dungeons thrive on popularity. We don't want people telling other people about the gnarly flesh-crawling throat parasite they got at our dungeon. That's not okay.
Yes, it seems it'd only be counter-productive.

>The creature isn't really flesh-crawling either, it's flesh-phasing. Is there a spell that would let us phase through flesh too and grab the interdimensional parasite?
Not one I can cast.

>We should see if we can feed the worms to Alkaline.
>Phase Slime! Both useful and terrifying!
I don't know if it'd do that, but I might as well.
>>
No. 831446 ID: 72a4bf
File 150582385267.png - (38.27KB , 800x550 , deem_toes_confirmed.png )
831446

The séance is not going well at all.

I haven't been paying too much attention but so far it seems all we know is this person was called Esra and they were after that chest.

On this side of the salt circle normality reigns but on the other the borders of life and death are blurred. Colour's muted, sound's distorted, breezes search uncertainly around the edge of this intrusion from another world.

There's muffled whispers and interrogations as Ophelia attempts to make sense out of the remains, touching the candle of her life to old ashes in the hopes of drawing out an ember. Merud's right at the edge of the circle too, voice raised as he repeats the questions as Ophelia wrestles with making the dead speak. Idiot. I'm standing here to make sure he doesn't take so much as a single absent minded half a step closer and breach the circle.

Trust a priest to mangle basic necromancy.

Wait...

Something isn't right.
>>
No. 831448 ID: 72a4bf
File 150582392740.png - (28.92KB , 800x550 , normal_interrogation_procedure.png )
831448

Something is very wrong.

There's something else nesting in those old bones. The wind howls as something fastens greedily on to the link of warmth and motion and life Ophelia's unwittingly held out to it.
What is it? Some succubus? A night hag boiled down into a curse? Is this what really killed Esra? How has it held on to such strength for so long? Did I make it stir, waking the earth-pulse as I have?

Before he can do anything, I shove Merud back. Liana cries out in alarm but Chakarchelou moves between her and her daughter, growling at the new threat. Moriko raises her hammer but wavers, clearly uncertain of what to do.

Ophelia is the only one in danger right now. A spirit can't cross the circle. I don't owe her anything. I didn't invite her here, I didn't ask her to do this, I knew raising up these old bones was a bad idea!
>>
No. 831449 ID: 72a4bf
File 150582397376.png - (29.83KB , 800x500 , crossing_the_circle.png )
831449

This cannot continue.

I break into the circle.

The wind howls. The air thickens as my own spiritual pressure invades. I tear away the link between Ophelia and that abdead thing and toss her outside. My grip tightens on the interloper. Maybe I should tear you to pieces, huh?

It squirms desperately and tosses something from deep inside itself at me.
>>
No. 831450 ID: 72a4bf
File 150582401077.png - (18.08KB , 800x550 , hiiiiiii.png )
831450

A thick darkness stinking of delirium washes over everything.

END CHAPTER THREE
>>
No. 831453 ID: 094652

whathaveyoudone
>>
No. 831460 ID: 2fe26a

Oh my god, they killed Alice! Those dirty bastards!
>>
No. 831474 ID: 91ee5f

Somehow, I get the feeling saying, "I told you this wasn't a good idea!" just doesn't quite say it.
>>
No. 831514 ID: 3ce125

>>831450
Excellent! A new monster to recruit! Pummel it into submission, Deem.
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No. 831516 ID: 1e7aa8

Cast in the name of deem, ye guilty.
>>
No. 831563 ID: 3abd97

>Trust a priest to mangle basic necromancy.
She is a child, Deem. They can't all be slimey wunderkinds.

>I knew raising up these old bones was a bad idea!
Deem's first words on waking up gets to be a very satisfied "I told you so".
>>
No. 831759 ID: ce04f2

>>831563
Actually, her first words should be used to check if everyone is ok. In case they are, then Deem can truly say it. If not, then it is time for damage control
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