Gem and Chesu watched with bated breath as the first tentative groups of adventurers approached. Chesu had helped him set it up so they could both watch them through his core.

At first it was just one set of boots meandering around outside of his entrance, but more appeared within his area of influence.

They seemed… afraid.

Four of the adventurers were what Chesu called “plain-ass Humans” while the other was something called Urkin. The Humans came in a variety of shapes and colors, with one having hair like firelight, two of the others sporting long golden braids, and the last one having deep, almost black scruff just on the top of its head. The last one’s skin, too, was dark, almost the same shade as the bark of the trees Gem had growing in his forest.

The Urkin was a humanoid, with long hooved digitigrade legs. Their skin was dark gray and they had no decorative fur or hair. They wore metal armor that was decorated with thin bands of a different sort of metal. It gave them a much stronger appearance than the others, although that could have been the way they were coldly glaring at the closed door while their companions huddled against the wall and looked warily to the sky.

“Why’s it closed?” the Urkin said in a gruff voice that was delightfully feminine. She ran the palm of her hand across her scalp as if seeking hair to tug in frustration.

The Human with flames for hair shrugged. “Maybe we’re too early? We aren’t even supposed to be here.”

“Thanks, Mark. Incredibly insightful.” The Urkin rolled her eyes.

Gem thought to Chesu.

“A little,” the wisp said, although he shrugged as soon as he said it. “Adventurers don’t know dungeons are sentient… in every place other than Sleyn. And we really shouldn’t go about telling them, but you can likely play it loose with the rules. There’s a bit of an emergency and all.”

Gem looked to his Quest log, winced, and then mentally flicked the door open.

The gate was bisected, and so it swung inwards slowly to allow the adventurers entrance.

But instead of hurrying inside, the Urkin held up a hand to her companions and looked to either side of the darkened entrance. “I don’t like this.”

“Yes, well, I don’t like being out here with the flying shadow monsters,” one of the two golden-braided Humans said. “Likara doesn’t either. So let’s go already.”

As if summoned by the words of the other, the second golden-braided Human nodded her head but said nothing. She returned to looking skittishly out across the sky as if the Ostrum would appear any moment.

“Scared by a couple of inorganic demons; get a grip,” the Urkin said under her breath, with another pointed roll of her eyes. She turned back to the gate. “Alright. Mark, you take point. Check for traps or whatever your thieving kind does.”

“Um, ow. I’m a Rogue, not a Thief.”

“Literally don’t care,” the Urkin said with a singsong tone, as if this were some old argument. She turned to the golden-braided Humans. “Likara, focus on managing your mana. Doesn’t help us to burst through the first few encounters quickly if you’re unable to maintain it. And Dinara, be sure to focus on the same thing as the rest of the group. Arrows don’t exactly grow on trees.”

The skittish golden-haired Human bowed her head but the other seemed fit to argue.

At least, until the Urkin growled at her and Dinara lost all interest in continuing to speak.

“Lars, my friend.” The Urkin’s words were spoken with a fond reverence, and she touched her chest in a way that could have been a salute. “I would be honored if you had my back in this encounter.”

The last human—the one with the black scruff for hair—smiled wide and warm at the Urkin. “Of course, Tabeth. I’d be honored as well.”

“Oh my god, you two, get a room.”

Mark’s words were punctured by giggles from Dinara and Likara.

The Urkin, Tabeth, whirled on the fire-headed Rogue and gnashed her teeth. “That’s enough! We aren’t even inside and you’re already pissing me off, Human. I will pick you up and throw you off this bridge before you can even scream!”

Lars placed a hand to her shoulder and Tabeth immediately stilled. “It’s fine, Tabeth. The young one does not mean what he says; he masks his fear with humor and seeks to distract you.” Despite his proper words, the dark-skinned Human looked amused. “If you get angry and injure him, he’ll return to the city to seek aid and another party, and thus not have to fight here.”

“Tch,” Mark said, throwing his head back. “You think you know everything, old man. Well I’m not scared. I just don’t want to go in there.” He pointed one crooked finger at the open gate. “It looks… unsafe. For the ladies.”

Tabeth rolled her eyes once more but Dinara and Likara seemed impressed by his antics.

“I am not walking back almost a thousand blocks because my Rogue got too scared to go into the dungeon.” Tabeth stepped towards Mark, her eyes narrowed. “Go. Now. Check for traps. Lead the way. Or I will toss you in and see how you fare.”

The Human named Mark seemed to want to argue for another moment, but then Tabeth’s hands reached for him and he yelped and rushed inside the entrance.

As soon as he crossed into the dungeon, Gem was flooded with a handful of new quests.

Quest Available: Not Like This. Eliminate an entire party of adventurers with your dungeon mobs or traps. Reward: 100 xp baseline (Repeatable, Daily)

Quest Available: Only The Smart Survive. Eliminate all but one member of a party of adventurers with your dungeon mobs or traps. This single member must survive to exit your area of influence for you to complete this quest. Reward: 100 xp baseline (Repeatable, Daily)

Quest Available: Testing The Waters. Have a party of adventurers retreat from your dungeon after clearing a room without any deaths. Reward: 100 xp baseline (Repeatable, Daily)

Quest Available: Leader Of The Pack. Awarded when a single party of adventurers kills your boss, even if someone dies during the encounter. Reward: 100 xp baseline (Repeatable, Daily)

Quest Available: Caught Like A Moth In A Bath. Trap an adventurer. Reward: 100 xp baseline (Repeatable, Daily)

All quests will reset at Sleyn-local sunrise. Experience awarded will be modified based on number of repetitions and party level relative to the mob levels they fight, as well as any other experience modifiers. Accept all quests? Yes / No.

He quickly accepted the quests without thinking too much about them. Since they were repeatable, and issued daily, there really wasn't much he could do to actively complete them. They were just there to reward additional experience for being a dungeon.

Gem felt a bit embarrassed as the Rogue looked around. He knew the small entrance was currently empty, and it felt a little silly. But Gem hadn’t had time to populate it with plants, what with all the excitement of building.

“It’s clear,” Mark shouted over his shoulder.

“God’s above, could you be any louder?” Tabeth led the rest of the group into the entrance.

“Says you.”

“Sorry we can’t all be Rogues,” the Urkin said with another roll of her eyes.

“You’ll want to make sure you light up your entrance,” Chesu said to Gem. “Get some decorations in there, too.”

The wisp nodded. “Understandable, kid.”

They both fell silent and returned to watching the adventurers slowly poke around. It seemed none of them had thought to bring a lamp or torch, so they stumbled around in the near-pitch dark until Mark found the entrance that led into the proper dungeon.

Gem wished he could experience the dungeon from the perspective of the adventurers. As the room opened up around them, filled with the sights and sounds of a forest, the group of them stared in awe and excitement. It had to be like stepping into a new world.

“Damn, this dungeon is aesthetic aye-eff. Not what I was expecting from a Forest Dungeon.”

Mark’s companions nodded or made small sounds of agreement.

“I do like this approach,” Lars said. “I’ve seen depictions of Forest Dungeons in a few books. None of them looked like this.” He reached behind him and withdrew a small hard-bound book from his belt. Lars held it in one hand, his other poised above the page as if waiting. “Shall we delve?”