Mystiq:

Ah. No wonder the New Gods never got here… The poor thing hasn’t even finished its first floor!

:ETHER[INTRA]:

:ETHER[INTER]:

~~~Objectives~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Create Floor[1] CORE ROOM [✔] DEFENSE LAYER ROOMS [✔] TUNNELS [✔] CREATURES [✔] ENHANCEMENTS~[✔]

%UNUSED%ETHER%[...]% ENTRANCE Begin Next Floor

<<~DUNGEON~MANAGEMENT~>>

ENVIROMENT:~Underground[EARTH]

POTENTIAL: LOW

CREATURE SELECTION: GIANTS

FLOORS COMPLETED: 0

Oh goodie. Low Potential. I’ll have to fix that… Right after I ensure the place stays closed. Or at least kinda closed. No need for anyone to know I’m here…

Dungeons had been built for a variety of purposes. They’d generate faith and record new magics, but also were designed to prevent Mana stagnation.

Mana is energy, the energy of magic. It could be used to produce all sorts of effects, often with strange or incongruous causes. A bit of chanting and some finger wiggling won’t do much on its own, but with a bit of Mana that mage might be casting a fireball.

How did that happen? Intent? An ancient language? The blessings of alien beings?

Mystiq didn’t care. She was the Elder Goddess of Magic, not finger wiggling. She was what is, or what could be. Not what was.

In any case, in the course of its natural usage - or lack thereof - Mana could become attuned to specific elements. The full list was miles long… But suffice to say Mana attuned to water struggled to produce a sandstorm.

To keep the mortals happy, and to harvest for her other projects, Mystiq had crafted a creature capable of producing and manipulating Mana attuned Mana… otherwise known as Ether.

Ether did not naturally exist. It took very specific circumstances for Mana to attune to itself, and while it was quite useful afterwards it took an entirely different series of specific circumstances to prevent Ether from degrading. The Mana the Mana attuned to could attune to a different…

In any case! Again…

Dungeons were originally created around a delicate Ether-producing process. One which, try as she might, Mystiq could not manage to circumvent as a finger.

So. It’s not staying closed. It’s gotta open up… But maybe not for everything…?

Dungeon Stone was a major part of the “Ether Isolation Functionality” that allowed for Dungeons to exist in the first place. With a few tweeks, and a small ritual to cover the entrance…

I might just be able to hide out here indefinitely.

<<~DUNGEON~MANAGEMENT~>>

POTENTIAL: LOW

Well maybe not here exactly… But I’ll fix that once I’m sure this nice young lad won’t get me killed opening his front door…

Dungeon:

A finger has appeared.

Neat? I guess…? Did I do that…?

Just as it was beginning to worry about splurging precious Ether on a lesser carcass, the thing started moving around!

Uhh… STOP!

… LEAVE?

Please…? Huh…

Whatever it was, accidental summon or otherwise, it did not seem capable of following its commands.

Just as the Core was contemplating its potential as an Ogre dessert, a wave of PITY washed across its mind.

Self-conscious in a way that it did not understand, the Dungeon grew even more confused when it was filled with DETERMINATION moments later.

What…?

It was only once the pinky began to inch its way out of the core room that the Core finally understood. The growing FRUSTRATION was a big giveaway.

I’m connected to a finger? And it’s getting mad…?

The Dungeon had no way of knowing this, but Mystiq had already grown very tired of being a finger. And even more so being forced to physically move around as a finger.

It only made it halfway into the next room before coming to a halt. The FRUSTRATION suddenly fell away, being replaced by CURIOSITY and hints of PRIDE…

<<~ALERT!~>>

LOOK!

LOOK!

HEY!~LISTEN!

LOOK!

Oh, that’s not going to get annoying at all.

Already observing the finger, the Core was at a loss for what it was supposed to do.

<<~ALERT!~>>

LOOK!

LOOK!

HEY!~LISTEN!

LOOK!

Ok. “Do Nothing” is apparently the wrong answer.

With the FRUSTRATION rebuilding, the Core decided to take decisive action. It manipulated the Dungeon Stone around the pinky to drag it back into the core room.

Mystiq did not approve.

The surge of ANGER faded quickly enough, to once again be replaced with PITY. The Dungeon was not exactly happy about that, but it stopped the annoying messages.

Good enough for me!

The now unwelcome invader resumed squiggling its way back across the next room. The FRUSTRATION was not so much rebuilding as it was... escalating. Erupting, even.

The Dungeon tried its best to ignore the invasive emotion. It was busy prodding the Ogre out of its latest feast fugue. It refused to stop eating, but at least its mass now blocked the finger’s path into the bone filled room.

This made it all the more baffling when the finger managed to squirm right on by.

When it finally reached the Ogre, all it took was a tap for the invader to get its attention. The savage creature took a single glance over its shoulder before freezing in place.

It stopped eating, it stopped breathing, and heck. It even dropped its carcass for the first time. When the finger again started moving, the blood-covered behemoth leapt up faster than it ever had before. It quickly began to… flee in terror. Rushing to get as far away as it could, the Ogre made it to the wall before attempting to claw its way out.

Dumbfounded, the young gem watched as the pesky invader sauntered its way past the frantic creature. The Ogrillon, luckily enough, didn’t behave like the Ogre.

They wasted no time freezing in place, deciding to try and hide behind the piles of harvested pheasant immediately.

Hmm… they seem at least a little calmer… perhaps it’s their intelligence? Maybe if they were better armed…?

<<~GIANT~SELECTION:~FLOOR[1]~>>

HALF-OGRE

HALF-OGRES are the product of Human and Ogre breeding. While not as physically capable as their Ogre parent, every HALF-OGRE is born with impressive strength coupled with a Human mind.

HALF-OGRES rarely tend to push said mind to the same heights as a Human, often struggling to control their Ogre's self-control.

OGRILLON

OGRILLONS are the product of Orc and Ogre breeding. Natural OGRILLON rarely inherit the physical attributes of their Ogre parentage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dungeon-Born OGRILLON all hold an Ogre's strength, barely contained in an Orcish body.

OGRE

OGRES are huge, savage humanoids. Their incredibly muscular frame and great size make them dangerous enough on their own, and deadly as a group.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OGRES are often underestimated by the truly mighty. This is often their last mistake.

Well hold on.

:ETHER[INTER]:

I’ve got the Ether for three more intelligent creatures, an empty room, a pest which needs squashing, and a new smart selection to try out…

:ETHER[INTER]:

Three ethereal light shows later, and three stalagmites rose within the core room. The humanoids which soon emerged looked like mini Ogres, with their dusty yellow skin and sharpened teeth, but the lack of unbridled furiosity gave away their more affable parentage. The addition of tunics, vests, trousers, and boots helped.

The first to emerge was a bit shorter and slimmer than the others, and could be considered muscular if one had never met an Ogrillon. It also had a pair of fleshy protrusions offering additional protection to the front of its ribcage, or so the Core assumed that was what they were for. Unlike the other two, it actually had hair on top of its head: shorn thin until reaching behind the ears and transitioning into something styled as a rope.

Those other two were identical in every way. Each was slightly beefer than the outlier, possessing thick arms nearly half the size of an Ogrillon’s. Both had thick patches of fur running along their jaws, starting at their ears and ending at mouths filled with sharp teeth. Neither of them had tunics for whatever strange reason.

Perhaps they overheat more easily…?

With the trio of summonings completed, the Core decided to forgo its traditional SUPPORT enhancement. What it needed was extra whapping potential, and EQUIPMENT would certainly provide it.

<<~ENHANCEMENT~SELECTION~>>

HALF-OGRE[NOVICE]:

ENVIRONMENTAL

[EARTH]

Natural Half-Ogres hold no affinity for Mana.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOVICE Half-Ogres carry the potential to grow Mana affinities. Until that potential is realized an infusion of Earth Mana will result in interesting, yet costly abilities.

EQUIPMENT

Half-Ogres are at worst eaten by their Ogre parent, or at best eke out a modest life on the fringes of Human society. Finding a well-armed Half-Ogre is not difficult, but it is rare to see one in quality armor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOVICE Half-Ogres are able to utilize most weapons or armors with ease, but struggle to use heavy armor without significant penalties.

SUPPORT

Half-Ogres normally procure a variety of resources for their, or their family's use. Provided some of those resources, unnatural Half-Ogres will find their own use for them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOVICE Half-Ogres will utilize everything they have available to their utmost physical potential. Objects with metaphysical potential will be harvested, but underutilized.

In an effort to maximize their whap-ability, it chose the largest weapon available to the first Half-Ogre: a quarterstaff. As their older sibling shuddered through the process of becoming armed, the Dungeon discovered a similar-looking weapon available on the other two’s list. It looked like a staff with an extra hunk of metal on the end: a spear.

Once all three were done panting, it ordered them into the next room.

With all three of them at the doorway, there’s no way it’ll slip by!

<<~ALERT!~>>

Look who it is…

The finger had done something to the end of its tunnel. The Ether there was arranged in an intricate pattern, one which seemed to loop in on itself as the Core examined it more closely-

LOOK!

LOOK!

HEY!~LISTEN!

LOOK!

Or at least it tried to look closer. It was having difficulty ignoring the grating message, but the feeling of DETERMINATION was not much to go on.

Shrugging its metaphorical shoulders, the Dungeon decided it might as well look over its objectives.

~~~Objectives~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Create Floor[1] CORE ROOM [✔] DEFENSE LAYER [✔] ENTRANCE Begin Next Floor

Huh…

Mystiq:

I forgot how hard it is to communicate with the young ones... hopefully once its potential grows it'll figure out how to properly speak…

Mystiq had, with no help from the foolish baby Dungeon, managed to set up a quick fix to her upcoming “Hunted Down by New Gods” problem. By modifying an outdated feature designed to further regulate Mana emissions, she ensured both her and the Dungeon’s presence would remain unannounced to the outside world.

She even managed to modify the standard “Entrance Creation Logic.” Now instead of an elaborate set of stairs, a magic elevating platform, or even a flashy portal… it would just be a deep hole!

No need to advertise to adventurers. Hells, if we’re lucky it’ll tunnel up into an abandoned well. Now… if it would just MAKE THE ENTRANCE ALREADY!

Mystiq had been pinging the Dungeon repeatedly with her Guide privileges, but to no avail.

Holy Hell… This thing better not be broken…

Adjusting such a thing would not normally be terribly difficult. Yet, unlike her previous modifications to older systems, changing a new tool she had barely started working on as an Elder Goddess…

That’ll take some doing. And waste time I could be spending on more important things…

There were two more key features Mystiq needed to get online if she was to reclaim her place as a Deity.

One: she needed to funnel excess Ether into her currently diminished body.

Two: she needed to get the Reconstitution system activated.

Raising a Dungeon’s Potential was… a very difficult task. The automated process that seeded Cores across the known worlds could not produce perfect Dungeons every time.

Could it have been improved? Probably. But it worked well enough. Or rather, it had before it was likely destroyed or stolen…

I hope those idiots didn’t break anything… Otherwise they’ll start to wish I had just killed them…

Reconstitution was the result of an interesting thought experiment and a boring Luncheon. It took Ether to make and run Dungeons.

Yet Dungeons also produced and stored Ether.

Would it be effective to have Dungeons produce other Dungeons?

No. Dungeons could not effectively reproduce on their own. Their “soul” was not sturdy enough to mingle with another’s, regardless of their potential. At best they could make incomplete copies. Enough to ensure a Dungeon could continue running, but not enough to create anything new.

Reconstruction took that fault and ran with it.

Create enough floors to overpower the process, at least five, and then rebirth the core elsewhere. If it left a partial mind behind, even an originally Low Potential Dungeon could become overwhelmingly powerful.

Mystiq had never fully implemented the system. The potential to fill worlds with bland, unchanging monster pits had not excited her at the time.

But at the time I had more than one Dungeon. A lot more…

Before she could take a depressing trip down memory lane, the Core finally placed the Entrance where she asked.

:ETHER[INTRA]:

:ETHER[INTER]:

As a simple hole appeared above her, Mystiq started making her way back to the safety of the core room.

Holy Hell there’s a lot I’ll need to change… No need for the Magic recordings… And I better make sure no stealth kid or speed freak can just waltz through here… Maybe the Boss feature…?