I was a new skeleton from what I could tell, and I'd been wandering for hours. I had been feeling lucky to have found two other companions, although they were equally as confused about what they should be doing with their newfound life, just as I was. All we had been doing for a few hours was wandering the halls aimlessly. I thought I had seen a light off in the distance, but it had disappeared before we reached it, and it was nowhere to be found. Thus, our group of three had gone back to wandering.

It was only a few minutes after this, that we were approached by another skeleton, walking with much more confidence than our group had been. It was almost like he owned the place, as his bones clacked against the stone gray floor.

"You all seem like you're fresh from the cemetary." The unknown skeleton spoke, before they stood in front of us, his voice sounding in our minds, or whatever constituted our minds. To be honest, it frightened me a little how it worked, but I was intrigued nonetheless, as the three of us hadn't been able to speak to each other at all, so we had been communicating through a rather poor game of charades.

"If you wish to communicate to others, simply believe that they will be heard, command them to be heard, and they shall be." The knowledgeable skeleton wasn't just looking at us, but was glancing down either side of the hall we had been walking through, as if he were looking for something. When asked about it, he simply responded with "I'm a scout, so this is what I do in order to make sure I stay safe while on this floor, since dungeoneers tend to be a dangerous lot, especially for a new bag a bones like you three. As such, I'm also here with an offer for the three of you."

I looked to my two companions, who all shared my confusion, in the way their skulls were set. It was surprisingly easy to read others. I turned my attention back to the skeleton in front of us, who had patiently waited before giving us the offer.

"Should you be willing to fight for, be loyal to, serve, and obey the commands of our leader, we can offer you shelter, protection, armor, weapons, and some much needed comrades, judging from the look of you. It might seem like you're being sold into slavery with this offer, but trust me, you're not. Our leader has simply been gathering us so that we can eventually take back our floor from the invaders, and push them out of our dungeon. Our goal, is victory. For all monsters. So, what do you say?" He held out his hand toward us.

While our options didn't sound great, it would be nice to have someone explaining to us what's going on, and it didn't seem like we had many other options, as we'd been wandering for several hours already.

I was the first to clasp his outstretched hand, our bones clacking against each other. "I accept." The first words I spoke, and they were that which might very well be my salvation. The others were quick to do the same.

"Good. You can call me Kellor. Follow me, I'll take you back to our base of operations. From there, Broken Skull will decide what to do with you." The name of whoever he mentioned sounded odd. I wasn't sure if it was because they had a broken skull, or some other reason. Either way, we followed behind him as he turned around, and began moving, his footsteps noticeably more quiet than before, to the point that they sounded muffled to our senses, or at least, to my own.

We passed by a few other groups of skeletons as we followed Kellor through the several different halls. Every time we did, he would stop us and try to convince more to join us. Only two others did so, the rest stating that they preferred to take their chances. Every time we got out of ear-shot, Kellor would mutter something about them not living to see the next night. It made me a bit nervous, as I wasn't sure if we would be fighting them, or if he meant something else. Nobody asked him to explain.

Finally, we arrived at some stairs, although I could see further down, there was a light that was steadily getting closer to us. Kellor had very quickly pulled us to the side, telling us not to make a sound, and to not attack no matter what. He also said that any of us who did attack wouldn't be joining us at the base of operations, even if we survived.

When the light crested the top of the stairs, I realized why he had warned us. A group of four men and three women, all living, no less, were walking back up through the second floor. I instinctively felt an urge to strike out at them, but I did my best to hold back, although I wasn't entirely certain as to why we weren't ripping and tearing them apart like the worthless meatbags they were.

I realized after a moment that Kellor had his hand gripping my collarbone tight. A second later, I also realized that I had been about to take off towards the group of humans. I forced myself to look away from them, and took a few steps back. Kellor released his grip on my collarbone. The others seemed like they had been ready to attack as well, but resisted it a bit better than I had.

Kellor didn't comment on our resistance of our own desires to kill and maim those who were inside our floor, or lack thereof in my case, instead leading us forward again, this time taking us down the stairs, to what he said was the third floor of the dungeon, a place populated by goblins that we shouldn't antagonize, according to the words of Broken Skull.

I was getting curious at this point about who their leader was, and how he could've obtained the respect of Kellor, who had gathered the five of us together. "What kind of person is this Broken Skull?" The question came slowly, as I wasn't sure whether asking was okay or not. My thoughts were quickly proven negative, as Kellor replied fairly easily.

"Well, it depends on how you see him. As a leader, I see him as swift, and decisive. He deals with traitors quickly, and tries to create plans on the spot, and most of them aren't that bad, based on the information he has. However, if you're asking about him personally, I'd say he's a bit distant to everyone, and that he's very focused on survival, to the point that you might think he's downright mean. Still, he's committed to ensuring that we have a chance to win against those who've invaded our home. He's also bearing the burden of naming everyone, a task which I've noticed causes him to feel actual pain, despite the fact that he's just like us. I imagine that means it hurts quite a bit, so him bearing with it earns him points with me. I'm certainly happy that I don't feel the pain of having my body broken during battle." Kellor led us down several more halls, which were slightly larger and wider than the second floor halls.

I was a bit surprised that he answered without any hostility, as he seemed to firmly believe the words of this Broken Skull, and more so that he had so much to say in general. I'd have to see this leader of theirs for myself though, in order to decide whether it was a good idea to accept the offer in the first place. Still, it wasn't like I had many options, especially now that I was in a place that I was completely unfamiliar with, and might not be able to get back to the second floor without running into some sort of trouble.

It took us roughly another thirty minutes before we stood before a wall, where Kellor pressed his hand into what previously looked like just another part of the wall, that moved inward, before a section of it started sliding downward, just wide enough for two people to fit through at the same time.

Inside, I saw over a dozen other skeletons, all dressed in varying degrees of armor. Five of them had sheets of cloth wrapped around them, acting as makeshfit bags, while in the back, eight grim looking skeletons surrounded the skeleton of a woman, who seemed to be meditating on a bed. Finally, my eye sockets landed on a solitary skeleton, sitting away from the others, keeping a whetstone close, while using a knife to sharpen what looked like a makeshift spear, and a small pile of bones that seemed to have been recently cut out of a corpse, with some flint and steel, along with some tinder nearby. His bony hands were wet, and there was some blood on the ground next to a half filled waterskin. There was also a wet rag, red from what I guessed was also blood.

Kellor led us inside, and right up to the solitary skeleton, who was inspecting the makeshift weapon he was crafting. I noticed one of the beds was missing some of its frame. The spear seemed suspiciously like the missing piece from the bed. It was surprisingly creative, given the apparent lack of resources in the room, other than what I had already seen.

"Broken Skull, sir. I've found some more recruits." Kellor spoke firmly, and the skeleton known as Broken Skull looked us over, before setting both the knife and spear down.

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As I scanned the five new recruits that Kellor had brought to me, I remembered a phrase that felt rather adequate for helping them understand what they would be fighting for in the future, as I was able to guess that they weren't all that old, considering the fact that they were fidgeting rather awkwardly. So I stood, and took a metaphorical deep breath, before focusing on the skeleton on the far left.

Time to turn on the leadership. Here we go.

"When you think of victory, think not of what the present is, but of what you want the future to be. By my authority as the skeleton, Broken Skull, I name you."

Attempting to name Skeleton, Lvl. 1... Mp required: 5... Continue? Y/N

Yes.