Mr. Whiskers POV

“King, you going to do the exploring honors again?” I asked.

“No problem.” He said, heading straight through the portal.

“You really think that there’s going to be traps on the other side?” Shocker asked.

“Yes. Up until now has been safe to get us to lower our guard. It’s what I would do.” I answered with a shrug as King popped back out of the portal.

“Empty room with a barrier. Still underwater.”

“Alright, let’s see what they have in store for us now.” Leading the way, weall headed through the portal. The other side was just how King described it. A room large enough for everyone to be comfortable, with a rounded door protected by a magic wall. Once we all made our way in, a stone glowed in front of the wall and a blue hologram appeared.

“Welcome to floor 9! In the interest of making things fair, it was agreed that I appear as a hologram to give you some explanations about this floor. If you look to your left, you will see a cloud of red inside a protective case. This, is a sample of the Red Tide. Unfortunately for your group, this is very different from the pink tide you met earlier. This one rapidly spreads, and produces toxins that will kill you swiftly. In order to get past this level, you will have to find and activate ten octagonal buttons. The buttons will glow green when pressed, and you will get a notification in the bottom of your screen letting everyone know how many buttons have been pressed. Pressing all ten will release a purging cloud that will kill the tide while leaving your group alone.”

“Other things to note. Buoyancy has been returned to normal for this floor, so you may remove your armor and swim around if you are so inclined. I do believe ten minutes to find ten buttons will be sufficient. Good luck!”

When the hologram finished speaking, the magic wall disappeared to reveal a long, circular corridor covered in clams. Branching tunnels split off at random locations down the tunnel.

“Split up, find the buttons, and keep a map of where you go!” I shouted, taking the first step towards the tunnel.

“HWHAT?”

“YEEEAAAAHHHH!”

“OOOOKAAAAAYYY!”

“YEAAAAAH!”

“LUDA!”

A cacophony of voices assaulted us as soon as I finished speaking. Good God, he made the clams talk too.

Lil’ clam

Level 1

These annoying creatures respond to noise, and respond in one word as loud as they can. Once started, they have been known to go on for hours.

A sheet of ice froze everything along the walls, and I turned to see an irate Ice Queen. “I hate those annoying bastards.” She growled, stepping into the frozen tunnel.

“Dahahahahahaha!” We all started looking around for the source of that high pitched laughter.

“Just ignore it. We have more things to worry about.” I ordered, heading off as the laughter followed us down the hallway. I’m sure it wouldn’t be the only distraction on this level. The raid darted forward, most people placing the majority of their armor in their inventories. I did the same, finding it much easier to swim than to try and walk along the bottom. I took the first right, and then immediately took the left branch that went slightly upward.

I swam up for a few feet before it levelled off, and I could see through bits of quartz into the room below as Citadel and Peppermint explored down there. The room I was in widened to about ten feet, but kept the same tunnel shape. I slowed down a bit, looking everywhere for buttons. The place was oddly devoid of life, but I did find a few grated vents that were occasionally sending red puffs of algae into the main tunnels. I swam for nearly two minutes, before coming to a dead end.

The room below was visible, and I saw Peppermint swim up to a pedestal in the middle of the room. “Oh no, don’t do it!” I tried shouting, knocking on the quartz. The button she was about to push was round, not octagonal! Sure enough, as soon as she pressed the button a cage of curved bones surrounded her, trapping her within. To add insult to injury, a panel slid open just out of her reach with one of the buttons!

Buttons pressed: 1

I looked back through the quartz, to see an ice stick extending from her cage to press the button. Not bad. I started to swim back the way I came, but it was taking a lot longer. I hadn’t noticed it, but there was as subtle current moving towards the dead end. Along the bottom of the tunnel, a river of red was flowing, growing as the red tide started building up. I swam up to the top of the tunnel, wanting to avoid getting poisoned.

“Gah!” I grunted as I felt a shock run through me. Damnit! I was too focused on the red tide below! Several other shocks kept assaulting me, and I was paralyzed. I could only move my eyes, and I saw purple strands of something slowly wrapping around my body. Health draining, I couldn’t do anything as more and more of the purple things tied me up.

Violet strangler

An odd species of aquatic plant, the violet strangler first subdues its prey with electrical shocks. It then wraps and constricts until the creature dies. It then leaches nutrients from the body as it decomposes.

The last thing I saw before getting the death notification was a turtle skeleton wrapped in the same plants hidden behind a rock, two rusted swords at its feet.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Raid has wiped!

Raid leader, you have wiped while not in a boss battle. As punishment, the raid will be resurrected at the last safe spot with the maximum resurrection debuff. Each raid member has been given a number, and rolls have decided who gets resurrected. This will continue, using resurrection scrolls until a healer is resurrected. A second roll of the same number will resurrect the number above if even and the number below if odd first. If that spot is empty, then the next adjacent spot will be resurrected followed by two spots away until an unoccupied spot is found.

1

Mr. Whiskers

11

Blackthumb

21

DeathFromAbove

2

Crimson King

12

SirMixALalalot

22

GoldGuard

3

Citadel

13

Grandelf

23

OhMightySmiter

4

Raider Dave

14

SpiceMix

24

LadyFisticuffs

5

Darkmoon Lucy

15

PeppermintYork

25

EricDaRad

6

TisButAScratch

16

NotABandaid

26

PlayWithMe

7

Cinderfy

17

Dr. HealYaButt

27

ChaosBringer

8

Ice Queen

18

HolyDungeonDiver

28

GotYerBack

9

Brock Onyx

19

NaughtyNurseJess

29

Shieldwall

10

Brosef Brostar

20

ShockerSnipe

30

HitMe

Total resurrection scrolls used: 4

Debuffs:

Resurrection penalties: -30% defense, -2.5% attack

Gaia’s blessing: +25% defense

Moradin’s blessing: +25% attack

Total: -5% defense, +22.5% attack

Warning!

Your raid has surpassed 100 deaths. Due to your callous disregard for life, Thanatos has become angered with your group. As punishment, further resurrections will consume 2 scrolls. Resurrections from healers will have double the cooldown.

“Well, that sucks.” I muttered, looking around to see that everyone else had the same angry face that I was expecting. “I take it everyone got those notifications?”

“Seriously? Double the cost in resurrection scrolls? This is bullshit.” Diver grumped.

“Not like you care!” Ice Queen scoffed at him. “You’re a healer, you just have to wait a few more minutes before casting it.”

“Well I hope that five of you don’t die within ten minutes then, or else we’re going to start hitting a lot more problems with penalties!”

“ENOUGH!” Dave shouted, stepping between them. “No more fighting about this, we are just going to have to be extra cautious. Now, I think everyone should draw what they’ve explored, and what traps they found. Let’s see how much of that area we actually got.”

“Not just traps, but any dangers and any buttons you managed to find.” I said. “I ended up getting killed by a seaweed that paralyzes and strangles you.”

“Heh, went the way of the turtle did ya?” Brosef asked. “I saw a skeleton with two rusted sais that had been strangled by those same plants.”

“Sais? No, it was two short chains.”

“I saw one with a stick of coral.”

“It doesn’t matter, just know to avoid it.” I interrupted. “Dave, would you mind combining all the maps that we have? We can go over it together.”

“I did find what caused all that annoying laughing.” Spice Mix said. “It was a yellow sponge. I found a room of them circling starfish and laughing. A little whirlpool to gather them up and a stone coffin shut them up nicely though.”

“Next run, we send out scouts only. After fifteen minutes, we will send the healers through to resurrect you and see if we can cut down on deaths that way.” I said. “Focus on exploration, it looks like there were at least two branches off that main tunnel that we didn’t get to explore.”

After studying the map for a few minutes, our three scouts headed out. Less than a minute later, and the portal sent all three of them back.

“No good.” King said, shaking his head. “The wall will only lower when the entire raid is there, and the hologram guaranteed that the portal back would be sealed. Looks like it’s an all in floor.”

“Damn. Alright, everyone have a copy of the map? I want this entire floor absolutely mapped this run, hopefully you find a few buttons as well. Peppermint, do you want to go ahead and hit that button you found?”

“I can do that, but how did you know I hit one?”

“I was above you looking through the glass ceiling.” I said. “Ok everyone, that leaves nine buttons we have to find and press. Let’s get going.”

Once again the druids opened the portal, and we all filed through. Everyone again removed most of their equipment, and I dropped the wall with a touch when everyone was ready. Ice Queen froze all of those annoying clams before they could get going, and we set off once again. Most of the raid went through to the unexplored parts, but a few others and myself went down paths that had unexplored branches. Soon I found myself alone in a long, straight tunnel that seemed endless.

After about a minute and a half, I felt the gossamer strands of a spiderweb on my face. Acting on instinct, I flailed about and felt a tug. Walls behind me started dropping down in series, and I frantically swam for my life. I was able to make it through one door before the closing series passed me, leaving me trapped in the tunnel.

“Fucking hell.” I growled, searching for anything that would help. There was nothing by the door in front of me, and I wasted nearly two minutes giving it a thorough search. The door leading backwards had an arrow on the ceiling pointing back the way I came. “Damnit. Well, no way out and I’m already stuck in a trap.” I grumbled, pressing the button. The door leading back opened up, and I traveled backward to the next door. Repeating myself six times, I was back at the beginning of the tunnel. Once I opened up the last door, the remaining doors opened as well. “Oh you bastard. In order to move forward, you have to go all the way back to the beginning of the tunnel.” By this point, the water had taken on a light red hue, and I had a poison notification.

Buttons pressed: 4

You have died.

Raid has wiped!

Respawning according to previous rules.

Resurrection scrolls used: 10 x 2 debuff = 20

“Goddamnit!” I growled out. “We just spent 20 resurrection scrolls! We can’t afford another wipe. Someone give me some good news.”

“We found three more buttons, but they’re all trapped.” Lucy said. “I found one hidden in a recess, but as soon as I pushed it the wall closed in and trapped my hand.”

“I had one where I had to snake my hand through an electrified cage.” Heal answered.

“One was behind four gates controlled by five levers. Each pull activates specific gates. I can do it again, it won’t take me long.” Shocker said.

“Ok. That puts us at four total. Did we get eyes on any of the others?” Nobody answered, much to my dismay. “Alright, did we at least plot out the entirety of the system?”

“Still working on that.” Dave said. “Give me five minutes to compare maps, and I can let you know.”

“Ok.” I replied, taking a calming breath. “I found an annoying trap, but with another person there I think it won’t be too big of a deal. I’m almost positive there will be a button at the end of the tunnel.”

“I’ll go with you, what do I have to do?” Brock said.

“If you set off the trap, a series of doors shuts. You can backtrack, and the last door opens up all of them and resets everything. I want you to hang out by the entrance and reset it for me.”

“Easy enough.”

“Good news. Unless the tunnel you are in splits, we have the entire thing mapped.” Dave said, stepping closer. “There’s no rhyme or reason for locations, but here’s what we have.”

“Good work everyone. Let’s do this then. Known locations of buttons get a single person sent there. Preferably someone able to avoid the traps. Pair up for dead ends, and find those buttons.”

Once again the druids charged the gate, and we ventured into the annoying level. “Ice Queen.” I spoke before dropping the wall. “Hold off on killing the clams right away. I want someone to check the length of the hallway there.”

“You think there’s? Of course there is. Where else would you hide a button that you have to press but in the middle of the most annoying life forms in the dungeon. Fine, I’ll leave the bastards alive.”

I nodded at her and dropped the wall. Brosef followed me along to the tunnel I had found earlier. “See that button there?” I asked pointing to the arrow. “That’s what you need to press, but give it a bit so that all the doors shut. Hopefully we won’t need it.” He nodded, and I started down the tunnel once more.

When I got to the place I thought I triggered the trap last time, I slowed down a bit and started looking for tripwires. I couldn’t find the one I triggered, so I just sunk down towards the bottom. Holding my breath to avoid getting poisoned from the slowly building tide, I swam until I felt I was clear and headed up. At the three quarters point, I felt my foot tug on another wire and heard the doors start to shut. By the time I had untangled myself, the two doors between myself and the end of the tunnel had closed.

Brosef waited ten seconds, and I started hearing all of the doors open once again. Slipping through, I turned and gave Brosef a wave. The room I found myself in was covered in coral, and I could see the button I needed to press. I was going to have to swim through a maze of razor sharp coral and hit the button.

Buttons pressed: 9

A very welcome notification came after the world’s most painful maze. Some parts I almost had to be a human contortionist just to get through. By the time I had made it back out of the coral, I had lost half of my health. Closing my eyes, I accepted the inevitable. We had missed one button. We would have to do it all one more time.

Raid has wiped!

Respawning according to previous rules.

Resurrection scrolls used: 2 x 2 debuff = 4

Maximum debuff reached: -5% attack, -5% defense

“This is a fucking disaster.” I grumbled, looking at the notice. “Congrats everyone, we managed to max out the debuffs. We’re still going to try and avoid getting any more penalties. Got it?”

Nobody spoke, other than to head over to where Dave was updating his map. Once that was done, he walked back and showed it to me. “Any idea where the last one is?” I asked. I noted my contribution, pointing out the issues I had found.

Nobody answered. Nobody came forward. I studied the map, trying to figure out a pattern. Anything. It would take far too much work to be completely random. People always had a bias, a tendency towards repetition.

“Ummm.” I looked up to see a nervous Jess standing in front of me. “Has anyone checked the first room we enter?”

“Ha! Ha ha! Of course, that’s where it has to be. Distract us with an incredibly complex maze of things, full of traps and distractions, and leave something we need to press right under our noses.” Everyone took a few steps back at my maniacal laughter, but whatever. “Jess, you get to search the starting room for that button. Everyone else, split up and hit the buttons you’ve found. Brosef, you are with me getting the doors if I set off the trap again.”

Though I seemed excited, nobody else in the raid had my enthusiasm. Probably having three wipes on one floor. Or maybe that we were already down to 49 resurrection scrolls. Didn’t matter, we had to be nearing the end of the dungeon.

As soon as we were in the floor entrance, Jess and some others started looking around for the hidden button. I gave them plenty of time to scour the entire room. “Damnit! It’s gotta be here!” Jess screamed in frustration.

“Relax. Check again after the wall is lowered. I’m sure they wouldn’t want to give us a head start.” I tried to calm her down. “Everyone ready? Let’s do this.” Slapping the wall, I shot off down the corridor of shouting clams. For some reason, they didn’t seem quite as annoying this time.

The rest of the level went smoothly. I managed to get through the tunnel without triggering the door trap, and hit the button. Nervous as a turkey in November, I watched as the button count rose. Seven. Eight. Nine.

All buttons found!

Congratulations! The purifying compound has been released and the red tide has been purged! This level will not have to be redone, and the entire raid will be teleported together to the next level.

With a flash, we all found ourselves together at a landing spot on the side of a mountain. Ice cold winds cut at our exposed skin, stealing away all heat in moments. As we frantically equipped our gear, the mages worked swiftly to set up wind blocks while Lucy summoned sprites to help us fight the cold. Shivering, I took stock of where we were. Across the clearing was a path leading up the side of the mountain, to a massive cave partially hidden by the swirling snow.

“From the bottom of the sea to the top of the mountains. What’s next?”