During the construction of a new dungeon town you will doubtlessly receive an endless stream of suggestions from the well-meaning but ignorant. The following are a few specific suggestions which you are likely to receive, and why you absolutely should not do them.

Suggestion: Block the dungeon entrance.

This idea pops up with regularity, particularly before proper bulwarks have been constructed or during increases in activity, colloquially known as 'waves'. The flaw with this plan is twofold. First, once the entrance is closed the beasts will simply continue to spawn, and the problem will grow worse. When the dungeon finally breaks out, the problem may be impossible to contain. Second, through unknown means a dungeon is capable of detecting if it has an unobstructed path to the surface. Should it find none, it will work to create a new entrance. The location of the new exit is unpredictable and will make your existing static defenses useless.

Suggestion: Flood the dungeon with water/magma/toxic chemicals/etc

Attempted frequently in the past, dungeons are able to adapt surprisingly quickly to changes in the environment. As the dungeon shifts its beasts to be able to survive in this hostile new environment, the net effect is almost always more dangerous beasts and a dungeon which is perilous for Sapient delvers.

Suggestion: Build a camp inside the dungeon

-Excerpt from Making a Labyrinth Town: From Outpost to Metropolis

The Great Magician Magnus hunched over as he walked down the wide hall, face nearly pressed against the recording artifact they had been given by the scribe.

"What are you doing with that thing? Don't tell me you're trying to find some way to cheat on top of everything else?"

"Huh?" Magnus looked up to Cain, face blank. After registering what was said, stood straight in mock surprise. "Who, me? Cheat! Why I would never!" Leaning back down to examine the artifact, he continued in a softer voice. "Mostly because I wouldn't get away with it. This thing would be easy enough to fiddle with, but that fox Videre works in this town. I could probably dupe Leader Ghul, but not her."

Finished with his examination, Magnus unceremoniously chucked it over his shoulder. "You hold on to it, Sibilia. You're the most responsible." Halfway through its arc, the artifact simply vanished.

Nearing the end of the hall, Cain adjusted his armor and shifted to his majestic walking style, drilled into him through years of tutoring. Beside him, Magnus hunched just-so, giving the look of aged wisdom without appearing decrepit. Behind, Sibilia shimmered as she allowed herself to be slightly perceptible.

As they entered the room, eight soldiers stood guard while two struggled to haul the corpse of a massive insect beast to the side. Upon his appearance, all present saluted and stood at attention. As a result, the soldiers carrying the corpse nearly toppled over.

Nodding slightly at the soldiers, Cain proceeded without comment towards the dungeon entrance.

The stairs descended for dozens of units, lit sparsely by torches set into the well-crafted stone stairs. The stairs themselves did not connect to the cave wall, hanging instead from the roof of the fortress above. Below, flashes of movement could be seen in the gap between the cave wall and the stairs. As Mud and Jabrax neared the bottom of the stairs, the tunnel wall finally pulled away, revealing dozens of the large caterpillar monsters crawling over each other and clinging to the cave walls.

"Jabrax, let's use the same tactic with the Goblins."

Once around the bend of the stairs and out of view of the soldiers, the trio relaxed.

"If one surged up recently, it's likely going to be a mess down there," commented Magnus, pulling out his short wand.

Cain nodded gravely and readied his spear and shield. "I hope those two in front of us aren't getting in over their head. They looked young."

Magnus jabbed Cain hard in the ribs with his wand. "Fool! Don't go underestimating delvers. If you think somebody is weak just because they're young you won't live long." Peering over the edge of the stairs, he continued softly. "That said... we should be prepared to help them deal with the swarm when we reach the bottom."

What they saw when they reached the bottom surprised even Magnus.

Dozens of beast corpses lay around the cave floor, rapidly being reabsorbed by the dungeon.

"Oh my... it seems I need to take my own advice." Hopping the short distance from the bottom of the hanging stairs to the cave floor, Magnus hunched down to examine one of the fresher corpses.

Cain followed behind, scanning the area for danger. "We were only a few minutes behind them, how did they clear this many enemies so quickly? And we didn't even hear the sound of battle. Don't these things screech when angered?"

"Hmm." The Great Magician poked the corpses with his wand and rolled it to its side. "They put them to sleep with a spell then assassinated them with precise blows." Standing up briskly, the old man scanned the room. "The method is simple but their speed is impressive. It seems we'll have some competition for that contest."

From one of the many tunnels that converged on the entrance tunnel a single caterpillar beast emerged. Spotting the party, it screeched. In the next instant, its head was crushed by Cain's shield, sending a spray of green slime onto the surrounding cave walls. "Perfect! This would be no fun without a rival to overcome."

"And it will make for a better story," added Magnus, pointing his wand at a beast as it appeared from a different tunnel. As the spell struck, the best contorted and twisted for a moment. A wet pop rang out as the beast abruptly turned inside-out.

The third beast to appear simply fell over dead, with no apparent injury.

With Cain at the lead, the trio proceeded down a randomly selected tunnel, invigored to earn achievements.

Mud consulted the map it had purchased from the Association as it suffocated another caterpillar monster. The golem ignored the beasts useless flailing and considered its path forward.

"Jabrax, should we prioritize the number of kills or experience gain?"

The demon spit out a large chunk of monster flesh she had just bitten from the neck of a beast. "Let's go lower, I don't like killing these things. They're too cute."

The golem turned its attention towards its contracted demon. "How cute the enemies are is not relevant to our efficiency." Finally, the beast Mud was attached to stopped moving and fell limp.

[Experience Gained: 0]

Swiftly, Mud lept to a new monsters head and repeated the process. The bites and scratches of the multitude of surrounding monsters bounced harmlessly off of the golem's stone-like surface.

Reaching out, Jabrax stabbed claws deep into the brains of two caterpillar and wrapped her legs around a third. "I'll be able to fight with less restraint if I can fight something gross, though. You should see me fighting a human when I don't need to hold back." Leaning forward, she ripped out the throat of the beast held between her legs with her jagged teeth.

Although the argument wasn't very convincing, it would at the very least be worthwhile to scout the stronger parts of the dungeon.

"We will descend to a lower level."

Putting away the memorized map, Mud finished off the beast it was riding with a thrust of its dagger from inside its own body.

[Hidden Weapon Skill increased to level 4]