I was super proud of my Room of Rust trap room and my Wheel of Fortune luck puzzle and they had worked exactly as intended.

The Wheel of Fortune had 22 slices and to get the key one needed to land on a green slice. With 6 green slices - and 8 each of red and yellow - it normally would have given one roughly a 27% chance of getting the key. While there was no consequence to landing on another color in this version of the wheel, in later versions I wanted there to be consequences for getting red.

Now, in my Dungeon, the luck of sapients was bent already. When spinning my Wheel of Fortune this change in luck was amplified fivefold. As such, the odds were still 27% for people with karma levels between 26% and 74%. For karma levels of 75% or higher the chance of getting the key was about 41%, while 25% or lower only had around 13.5% chance.

If they hadn't decided to break my puzzle, they would have been stuck spinning the wheel as it resets every 5th minute until they finally got the key, or they would have been forced to give up. Instead they got the 'everything gets extra Toughness' penalty.

They even walked straight past two keys while exploring the fortress. I didn't even think I had hidden them that well. The Party just hadn't looked for them.

The Room of Rust would curse all metal leaving the room to rust whenever it hit something else or got hit by something. That is unless it was 'disarmed' by having the metal removed from the room by one of my creatures or my sapient 'family'. The curse would last a day, but any rusting would still be there after the curse had disappeared.

By the 5th hit under the curse the metal would be completely rusty but would still hold its form. By the 6th it would turn to dust. I hadn't realized, however, that the curse could be stacked. The elven Party had left The Room of Rust twice and so had gotten double the curse. As such their weapons had turned to dust in half the time.

With the three 3rd tiers now weaponless and their shields and armor soon breaking down as well - the wood in the shields hadn't been harmed but with the metal gone, the wood would fall to the ground - it stood to be a fairer fight. While my two remaining kobolds had shields and weapons - one had a sword, one a spear - the fight was still three against two with the three being vastly higher levels.

I knew my kobolds wouldn't be able to win the battle, but I hoped they might be able to take out one more elf before getting defeated. After all, the elves had no weapons left, and my kobolds had 215% Toughness. There seemed to be a decent chance, one more elf could be killed. So, I ordered my kobolds to focus their attacks on the Fighter, as he was the most wounded.

The sword kobold's last act was to turn the Fighter's armor to dust after which the kobold was punched to death. The spear kobold then got its spear thrusted into the chest of the now unarmored Fighter, puncturing his lung. With a fist from said elf the spear kobold turned into loot like the rest of its clan had.

The Scout tried to do some first aid to save the life of the Fighter but couldn't stop blood from entering his lung. Realizing this the Scout decided they needed to get Hagwin outside the Dungeon and so he could get actual medical attention. Andrathath started carrying the wounded Fighter, an act which agitated the wound and made it bleed more. As they reached the back courtyard the Fighter started to cough violently. Plenty of blood came up and I wanted to look away. I couldn't, though. I would always be looking after all.

The 13 level 1 dragonets in the courtyard had no such problems, however, and turned away from the sight of the dying man.

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Before the locked door had been rammed open like the ones before, the Fighter had died.

I didn't regret it. He might not have been as bad as the Mage. But he had still lived a life of crime.

That doesn't mean I like watching him slowly drown in his own blood.

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It had been almost 3 hours since the 3rd tier Party had entered the Dungeon. At this point lieutenant Tanithil Alnus had given up on them ever coming out. The Dungeon was unnatural and Tanithil wanted nothing more to do with it.

It was getting late, though, so the lieutenant had decided the platoon would stay for the night and leave in the morning. Not directly home, though. They would do a larger sweep of the area while looking for traces from the run-away slaves. Finding the slaves might soothe over the embarrassment of failing to complete a 1st tier Dungeon.

A simple dinner had just been served when Erlan and Andrathath appeared next to the Dungeon Portal covered in blood and weaponless.

Tanithil was relieved they had survived, but the lack of 2 of their Party confirmed the lieutenant's suspicion of the extra danger associated with this Dungeon.

"Medic!" Tanithil called. Normally he would call the field medic Mr. Populus like he had been asked but shouting ‘medic’ would make him aware someone needed medical attention and to come in a hurry.

Tanithil would get the report from the 2 survivors once they had gotten their wounds cleaned.

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A puzzle was attempted!

You have gained 12 EXP.

First of Your Kind rewards you 3 EXP.

35 level 6 creatures have died.

You have gained 210 EXP.

First of Your Kind rewards you 42 EXP.

Creature Designer rewards you 21 EXP.

1 level 25 sapient has been killed in your Dungeon.

You have gained 2,500 EXP.

First of Your Kind rewards you 250 EXP.

The remaining 2 elves had, upon realizing the death of the 3rd, looted the dead body and raced to The Fake Core to get out. They didn't even look in the direction of my hidden, unfinished 4th Floor.

Satisfied, I checked my status.

Personal Status Level: 11 EXP needed for level up: 5,000/5,000 Additional EXP: 16,338 Mana payment needed for level up: 0/1,400 Mana: 247/700 Mana regeneration: 245 per hour Floors: 3/6 Allowed number of sapients in each Floor: 4 Floor Details Achievements Mission Dungeon Rules

My mana regeneration can't keep up with my EXP gain like this. For a moment I reconsidered focusing on filling out my 4th Floor and instead getting some more levels, but I discarded the thought. I hadn't been able to kill all of them after all and the next Party would surely be stronger.

Though, now that they have reached my Core I wonder if they will continue. It sounded like the 3 elven Parties had simply been told to scout me out.

But I can't really know what they'll actually do next…

I suppose I'll just inform the Tribe that I once again survived against the elves. That always makes them happy to hear.

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2 days had passed without any elven Parties appearing, so on the morning of the 3rd day an older rhinoman, bearing the name Molgroor, had bravely volunteered to venture outside the Dungeon and take a look. When he returned, he reported he had seen clear signs that the elves had made camp around the Portal and that the camp was now gone.

To be on the safe side the Tribe sent a dozen adults out in every direction. Only when all 12 had reappeared unharmed and having seen no elves did the Tribe relax and celebrate their survival and continued freedom.

And mine too. I was their god and protector, so they made me the guest of honor. Well… sort of. I didn't have a body they could party with so instead they toasted in my name.

Many times…

It might be a good thing they don't have any alcohol. The Tribe was drunk on joy and alcohol would surely have made it worse. Instead of alcohol the Tribe were drinking yak milk or the watered-down fruit and/or berry juice of their choice. Water had been added to the juice to make the supply last longer. At the time they didn't know how long they would be stuck on my 4th Floor and the environment didn't reset as long as sapients were present on the Floor. And this was whether they were considered family or not. Luckily, my creatures were able to transport yak milk, fruit, nuts, and wild vegetables from the previous Floors, so the Tribe wasn't ever actually in danger of starvation. They would just eventually forcefully have become vegetarian.

Having deemed the Surface World safe once more, the Tribe thanked me for my hospitality and moved back out the next day.

This was good timing as I had nothing more, I could add to the 4th Floor, and I had even leveled up once. With no more danger from the elves I soon declared the 4th Floor finished and focused on leveling up till I stopped having the EXP for it.

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"What do we have here?! A Party of beastkin!" Said the stone, 2-dimensional kobold-face. Emerald and her Party - which had at this point been renamed 'Emerald's Party' or simply 'the Party' by the Tribe and I - had just gone through the grain field in the 3rd room of the 4th Floor when the stone face spoke up. The Party had resumed their normal bidaily visit to the Dungeon to gather food for the Tribe and this was their first visit to the finished 4th Floor. The design had gone through drastic changes since the Tribe had left, but the creatures were the same as they had been while the Tribe was there.

"Come in, come in!" The kobold-face continued. The knobless, stone door, the kobold-face was etched on to, opened up letting the Party pass through to the next room.

And hid the ugly blobfish totem behind the now open door.

Begdar stopped up before entering and seeing this the rest stopped as well.

"You're a puzzle door, right?" Begdar asked.

"Indeed!"

"But you're just letting us through?"

"Of course!"

"But-!" The lupinekin exclaimed, confused.

On the other side of the talking door a kobold - this one of flesh and blood - wearing the typical green dragon leather armor that the kobolds of this Dungeon wore, appeared. "It's The Door of Speciesism, ma'am." It informed Begdar.

"Speciesism?"

"Yes, ma'am! The Door will let people in or not based on their species. All beastkin will be let in immediately, while all elves will be refused. It is still a puzzle door though, so any elves will have a chance to convince The Door it is wrong in stereotyping all elves. Right now Mother Core has only seen beastkin and elves, though, and has very little information on any other species. As such, they will have to successfully argue for their species' virtues before being allowed to enter. The purpose of the puzzle is to make people realize that speciesism and stereotyping is unfair and wrong. Only if you-" The kobold was about to say more but cut itself off mid-sentence. "Of course Mother Core! Forgive me. I shall say no more on the matter!" The kobold then nodded to the Party and turned around.

Zaktak shrugged her shoulders and was the first to go through the open door with Emerald right behind her.

This is an individual puzzle.

You failed to solve a puzzle.

Due to the Dungeon Rule 'Experiencing Peace' you have been rewarded double the amount of EXP and loot you would have gotten if you killed all the creatures in the room you just left.

Experiencing Peace rewards you 88 EXP.

"I failed the puzzle?!" Zaktak exclaimed, confused. "But the door is open?"

The Party looked to Begdar for answers. Something the lupinekin had gotten quite used to and in fact filled her with pride.

"I didn't get the System message about failing the puzzle,-" Begdar had the habit of speaking her thought process out loud. "-which means the puzzle is individualized, right?" Begdar looked at Zaktak, who gave a confirming nod. "And the kobold told us the purpose of the puzzle is to make people realize that speciesism… is wrong." The lupinekin looked shocked and a bit horrified as she finished her sentence. For a moment she said nothing as she blinked rapidly. Then she announced her answer in a quiet voice. "To solve the puzzle, we have to realize it's wrong to believe that all elves are evil…"

"But they are!" Thenac exclaimed, her hand unconsciously touching the fake part of her nose-horn.

"Have you met every elf, Thenac?" Morghar asked.

"No… But all I have-"

"No 2 people are the same, Thenac!" The ursakin interrupted. "If the only ursakin you had met was Khaogthoc would you think me just as bad?"

"No! Of course not!"

"Because you know I'm nothing like him! But what if you didn't know me at all? What if you had met plenty of ursakin who acted like Khaogthoc? Would that suddenly make me like him too? Even if all other ursakin were evil it would be unfair to me, to judge me based on others' actions! And while many elves are clearly assholes, I'm sure, there are some who are not!" With those words the compassionate ursakin walked through the open door.

This is an individual puzzle.

You have solved a puzzle!

You have gained 8 EXP.

Due to the Dungeon Rule 'Experiencing Peace' you have been rewarded double the amount of EXP and loot you would have gotten if you killed all the creatures in the room you just left.

Experiencing Peace rewards you 88 EXP.

Morghar then turned to smile at Begdar. "Just like you said!"

Begdar smiled back and nodded once to herself. "Then the question becomes: Is the realization enough or does it have to be said out loud?"

The kobold had left, and The Door of Speciesism stayed quiet. Without a word Nalir walked through the door opening. The felinekin then turned around and gave a nod and a - small - proud smile to his mate.

"Okay then!" With a smile on her face and her gray tail wagging, Begdar skipped into the next room.

Taozcec closed his eyes and focused for a moment, accepting the truth Morghar had spoken, before following Begdar through The Door.

Neither Thenac nor Zaktak could successfully convince themselves that not all elves were in some way evil. The rest of their Party decided to help them work through their hate of elves at a later time. Right now, they had a job to do.

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All I knew about the behavior of elves I had heard from run-away elven slaves or observed from - what appeared to be - elven soldiers. Meaning I had one biased source and a small sample from a very specific part of elven life. I didn't know how they recruited people to their military, so I couldn't know if it was full of criminals!

So I really had too little knowledge on elven behavior and culture to judge them on. They might have had some good reason for everything that had happened. Though I doubt it excuses their actions. The elven Scout with a karma level of 67% had given me hope not all elves were assholes. And that was not just based on his karma level. I had also noticed he had only attacked my creatures in self-defense or in defense of his Party. Though, it might have been a good thing the Mage's karma level went down to 10% that quickly, making all my creatures attack him. And that when the Mage died, the kobolds had already been angered. That way the remaining 2 couldn't report back my secrets. After all, it could have compromised the Tribe's safety had the elves become too curious. I knew fully well I had an unusual Dungeon.

The Scout reminded me of the dangers of stereotyping and made me want to share the lesson with others. And so I made The Door of Speciesism.

Don't tell them the answer! The meaning of The Door of Speciesism is that you have to learn the lesson, not simply be told the answer!

"Of course Mother Core! Forgive me. I shall say no more on the matter!"

It's okay. You can tell people how The Door reacts to other species, but please refrain from actually giving them the solution.

"I will Mother Core!" The kobold started going around The Kobold Training Camp sharing 'Mother Core's wisdom' to the other kobolds.

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Only half a day had passed since the Tribe moved back to the Surface World and I had already run out of excess EXP. Emerald and her Party had visited twice, just as they normally would, so I was already pretty close to another level up.

Status, please!

Personal Status Level: 14 EXP needed for level up: 8,782/8,900 Mana payment needed for level up: 2,000/2,000 Mana: 0/1,000 Mana regeneration: 350 per hour Floors: 4/7 Allowed number of sapients in each Floor: 6 Floor Details Achievements Mission Dungeon Rules

I had made sure I had enough mana to immediately level up next time Emerald's Party came by.

In the meantime I'll work on my 5th Floor! Finally I'll have a Boss!