The Watcher, Estremon, requests entrance. Allow?

Y/N

They had barely begun their next round of building when the request came in. Graverra hadn’t even found the chance to try asking about the whole thought reading thing - though she knew she probably wouldn’t have asked it outright just yet, anyway. There were things she wanted to test first. Things she really couldn’t do with Estremon around. And what was with that title? She’d never heard that before.

Even Hecrux shuddered a little as the request pressed into their collective awareness for a second time. Like an insistent pounding at their dungeon door. But if Graverra herself wasn’t allowed to walk her own dungeon, that must have meant Estremon would be up there, in the lair…

“Wait, wait, wait!” Graverra banishes her grimoire away as if that could stop Hecrux from accepting too soon. “Why is she here? We’re not done yet! What did we do? Did we mess up? I told you we were fleshwarping too much! Or the-”

Even though Hecrux speaks over her, he’s far more blasé about the entire situation. “She just wants to check in. She set the timer, she knows we aren’t done yet.”

“Is that… allowed?” Technically, she supposes that if Estremon made the rules about dungeons and who could and couldn’t run them, then whatever she decided must be allowed. It was still rude to show up unannounced, however. Though Hecrux certainly didn’t seem as startled… “Did you know this would happen?”

“I knew she would, eventually. She can’t just release us into the wild sight unseen, but I thought we’d simply cross that bridge once we got there. It’s not as if we could build any faster…”

Graverra frowns, wanting to shirk some of the blame onto Hecrux for not warning her it was even a possibility… but she guesses he was right. She can’t really think of much she would have done differently. Not within the realm of possibility, anyway. Or what she’d been allowed to know.

“What happens if we say no?” She still has to ask.

“I imagine she’ll be very upset. This is more of a formality than a genuine request.”

Graverra grumbles to herself but does the displeasure of allowing Estremon entrance. Really, she is curious about how all this was about to work, or what she could get Estremon to tell her now, but a little time to prepare would have been nice…

She wasn’t prepared for the instantaneous appearance of what had to be Estremon’s chosen avatar. Blinding light flashes into existence in the primary core’s chamber, the source already feeling impossibly large for the space, but if anyone was going to go bending the laws of a dungeon’s reality… Graverra yelps and immediately holds up her hands to shield her eyes.

Estremon’s sultry chuckle filled the lair a little too quickly. “Poor thing… All this and you still leave yourself looking like that.”

Graverra wants to summon back her grimoire to hide behind, but that just seemed like giving Estremon more to complain about in the end.

“Though I can’t say you’re much of an improvement, are you sixty-six?” Even with less tells than Hecrux as to her expression, Graverra could hear a wicked little smirk in that tone.

Graverra scowls but looks over to Hecrux before deciding whether to correct the entity. The core’s singular eye doesn’t seem to have as much trouble with the light, leading Graverra to believe there was some augmentation she’d missed. Though in her own defense, Graverra had never realized how often a dungeon core might have to interface with blindingly bright god-ish entities.

“How can we be of service, Estremon?”

“Only a routine little check up. If things had gone according to plan, this would be your release day…”

Graverra scowls all the harder, looking again from Hecrux to as much of Estremon as she could handle with her eyes a little more adjusted to the light. It wasn’t just the bounce off Hecrux’s fleshy walls; the entity had chosen pink to identify herself with. Graverra knows she shouldn’t, because there were plenty of her own aesthetic choices to complain about and if that thought reading thing really was still on the table… But she can’t help a little internal groan and eye roll as she realizes this.

“We aren’t done yet.” She reminds. Hecrux had already said she knew as much, but something told Graverra that wasn’t really going to be taken into account as much as she would have liked. It’d already been like pulling teeth to get Hecrux to see her vision and at least he’d had the idea of letting her help in the first place.

“Oh no, of course not. Why, you haven’t even finished filling out your defenders yet…” Estremon begins flashing through the dungeon’s information, causing a head rush for Graverra and the crystal ball still sitting at her feet to flash rapidly.

Dungeon - Name Undecided Location: Undetermined Dungeon Tier: Pewter (7) Theme: Grotesque Specialization: [Undecided] Total Mana Reserves: 7,000 (7.5% / hr) Regeneration Boosts: Chunk of Fallen Meteor - 0.5% /hr Mobs: 3/7 [See Further Mobs Info] Traps: 2/4 [See Further Traps Info] Drops: Undetermined [See Dungeon Layout] Puzzles: [Unlocked at Copper Tier] Questlines: [Unlocked at Gold Tier] Dungeon Will Be Placed In… [166:17:04]

Unnamed Dungeon’s Mobs

Moggiard

‘Mastiff Defender (Undead)’

Dralzekk

‘Mastiff Defender (Undead)’

Ravaging Homunculus (Undead)

Damages Dealt: Physical

Resistances: Necrotic

Health: 500

Pack Tactics

Damages Dealt: Physical

Resistances: Necrotic

Health: 500

Pack Tactics

Damages Dealt: Physical

Resistances: Necrotic

Health: 800

Sloughed Slime

(Conditional)

Damages Dealt: Acid, Poison

Immunities: Acid, Poison

Resistances: Physical

Health: 300

Split

“Defenders?”

“Mm. That’s right. We thought it might confuse you if we didn’t keep some things familiar to you. You adventurers call them mobs.” Estremon laughs as if something in there was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard, but with the emphasis on confuse, familiar, adventurers, and mobs it was hard to tell which that might be.

“We?” That one just squeaks out. Graverra knows better than to take that kind of bait… At least, she’d thought she’d known better. Of course, Hecrux had his own talking to at the start of all this and she still had no idea what got said, just that clearly the dungeon core had more say in the details than he’d let on.

As he floats next to her, any sidelong glances are hard to see, but the way he huffs has that tone that indicates he doesn’t want to be discussing this right now - if ever. It doesn’t match at all with what he says next. “She told me that if we changed so much after having just been very mortal you, Graverra wouldn’t recover. I didn’t want just any secondary core, so accommodations had to be made.”

Graverra’s mouth had already dropped open to argue before he’d quite finished. But she finds herself conflicted. If he really had chosen her over just the mana jump she had brought with her… That was maybe a better gesture than any of the cosmetic fixes he’d done on her behalf since. He still could have just told her, though. It was beginning to feel like there were a greater number of things he just could have told her the longer this little check in went on… And it hadn’t been going very long at all.

Of course, Estremon can’t leave her to think much further than those two thoughts. “Yes, yes, she’s very special and you’re very in love. It has yet to be seen if this has any real benefit to anyone…” She flicks through the traps and hazards. Graverra’s eye twitches.

“We’ve only just shifted our focus to defenders, er- mobs.” Hecrux continues to do the talking. “Or, we were just about to…”

Graverra frowns. He hadn’t had a problem adjusting to whatever these changes were before. “We can level them on their own like keeper classes, can’t we?” She asks Estremon, finding it hard to keep the strain out of her voice. She couldn’t be that fragile. “I don’t understand the purpose of all the skill lines, Hecrux said cores don’t use…”

She trails off as an itemized list of everything they’d built scrolls through the collective consciousness of the room, as well as the crystal ball flicking through it again.

“Really?” Estremon asks. “Because it looks like you’ve been taking some fun liberties with some of them.”

Oozing Flesh Trap - Entrance

Fleshy Mound - Courtyard

Fleshy Mound - Courtyard

Fleshy Mound - Entry Hall

Fleshy Mound - Entry Hall

Fleshy Mound - Crypt

Ravaging Homunculus - Crypt

…

The list continues to rattle off every other instance of fleshwarping within the dungeon.

“That was my doing, actually.” Hecrux pipes up again. Graverra hadn’t even considered taking the blame for it, but now it’s reminded her that technically using the skill like that had been her idea.

“Of course it was.” The entity sighs, but Graverra still wasn’t sure where they’d fallen with that. Obviously, Hecrux had some sort of history with the concept of fleshwarping, not that he’d tell her. But Estremon certainly knew it…

“Why set it up so we’re allowed to do things like that if we aren’t supposed to?” Graverra has to ask. Hecrux had already given his theory on the matter once, but while they had the source of everything right there in his lair, it couldn’t hurt to ask… She hoped.

“Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. I wasn’t aware we needed rules about cores merging with adventurers but, well, here we all are.” Another huff. Graverra recounts to herself everything they’d built just to see how much longer this might take. “But no, given the declared theme of your dungeon, I had foreseen this… Just perhaps not so quickly.”

For a moment, Graverra feels a swell of pride that she’d actually impressed Estremon. She looks over to Hecrux with a self-satisfied smirk, half expecting the core to congratulate her as well, but he doesn’t.

The list continues on, longer than Graverra thinks it honestly should. If Estremon were in charge of these things, surely she could have done this from the comfort of… where ever it was she existed.

“Hoping to be placed in Drethi I see…” She comments idly as the interior embellishments filter through.

“Not necessarily.” Hecrux answers just as nonchalantly, but it makes Graverra squint again. The fact that Estremon had brought it up had to mean something. And why hadn’t he jumped on that the way he had the fleshwarping?

“Cores don’t leave their dungeons, dear.” The slightly darker glow of the entity’s many pupils flick over in Graverra’s direction. “Even if they choose to keep up a mortal appearance.”

“I- I know. I didn’t-“

“She meant nothing by it.” Hecrux cuts her off. Maybe now it’s not so much that he doesn’t want to be discussing things as much as he’d rather she didn’t.

Estremon hums doubtfully. “And what if I sent you somewhere familiar? You don’t think that would be a bit of a temptation? We all know impulse control isn’t exactly either of yours’ strong suit…”

“We don’t have to be in Drethi.” Graverra offers, because she hadn’t even realized that might have been an option. “Maybe if we knew where we were being placed, we’d have something to aim for…”

“And this is how you’d aim for Drethi?” The entity scoffs, and Graverra grows even more flustered. She wants to ask what was so terrible about what they’d done thus far, so they could fix it. If they could fix it. Why did it feel like there was some test she’d taken without realizing it? That wasn’t fair.

“We weren’t aiming for anywhere because I didn’t know that was something we could do.” Graverra’s tone is strained again, but she’s looking at Hecrux. Even if he had done so intentionally before, he could have owned up to it now. She still didn’t understand why it was such a terrible thing no matter who had done it, but she wasn’t about to be made to feel even more stupid for asking.

Hecrux clucks as if to chide, but she’s not sure who. “You can’t blame her for wanting to make the dungeon more homey.”

“It’s a dungeon sixty-six, not a home. If all she wanted was to expand her decorating skills, there were easier ways of going about that.”

“I didn’t.” Graverra mumbles and crosses her arms, but she has a feeling even if she’d said it at full volume. Nobody would listen to her, anyway. It’s why she feels emboldened enough to add, “And he goes by Hecrux now.”

“Hm.” Estremon sounds as though she should have been smirking. She still seems to address Hecrux, though. “Also not the kind of domesticating I was hoping for.”

“She’s named the dogs too.” He sounds like he means to br proud of that fact, but Graverra already knows Estremon wouldn’t be impressed. So why say it at all?

“A dungeon, sixty-six, not a home.” Is all she echoes.

The itemizing continues long enough that Graverra no longer feels it makes a difference whether she stands or sits. If she didn’t already know they were nearing the end, she might have tried walking out and back to her own chambers. It didn’t seem either would care. All the same, she sits and pulls the crystal ball into her lap, laying over it with her cheek pressed to the glass, not really watching the items flash by either. She decides she hates this and if there is a next time, she will definitely be suggesting some changes, for everyone’s benefit.

Finally, Estremon sighs with an air of completion. “Well, it’s not very cohesive, is it?”

“There may have been some overwhelm to contend with, but we’ve got a handle on it now.”

“It’s almost as if there’s a reason we begin at the beginning…” She closes out the list and returns their attention to the overall status of the dungeon. “You certainly didn’t need any more mana after the merge. You’re awfully spread out for a dungeon of your level, but you lack the defenses of one…”

There’s a bit of a pause where she’d expected Hecrux to jump in again, but he doesn’t. Graverra sits up. “That’s why we have another week… don’t we?”

“I did say that, didn’t I?” The entity sounds as though she regrets it now. “I suppose if you started focusing like you claim you will, stop getting distracted by all this frivolity. A little advice, furniture and wallpapers won’t earn you any extra EXP.”

She can’t be sure, but Graverra thinks there’s a pointed look in her crystal ball’s direction. She hugs it a little tighter and scowls. “Well, I can’t see my EXP anymore. And you know if there’s something we should be doing that we aren’t, maybe you should just tell us…”

“How else is your darling dungeon core supposed to learn his lesson, dear? I mean, you’re already proof he hasn’t learned a thing.”

“What lesson?”

Estremon giggles and her multitude of eyes squint up as if they’re all smiling somehow. “Did I ruin your fun, sixty-six? I guess I’d better leave you two lovebirds to figure it out together.”

Estremon barely pops out of existence before Graverra practically jumps back to her feet to face the dungeon core, hands already fisting at her sides. “You did so know she was coming!”

“Eventually, yes.” Hecrux doesn’t turn to face her. “Not the exact moment.”

“You could have said something!”

“Would it have changed anything?”

Honestly, she doesn’t know anymore. Maybe it wasn’t the dungeon they needed to worry about, but the two of them instead. They should have gotten their story straight - now that Graverra knows there was a story to get straight at all. “That’s not the point! You’re still keeping things from me! And I didn’t make us do anything you said I did, unless she liked it. Then you decided it was your idea!”

“We’re all the same dungeon, it won’t matter in the end.”

“Obviously, it matters to you. Because you know more than you’re telling me! Aren’t I doing good enough?!” Maybe there were other reasons not to tell her things. She’d thought about that before, but by now she really had thought they were working together. Towards the same goals.

It takes Hecrux a moment of thought before he answers, “No, actually. You’re still over complicating everything. You were never supposed to be this involved and probably made us look very bad. It isn’t supposed to be fun, or pretty, or whatever else you think you’re doing.”

“You did all that detailing stuff without me! I asked! I asked if we were trying for too much and I tried to rein us back in! You’re the one who kept doing things without my permission!”

“First, I don’t need your permission to do anything. I am the primary core. Second, I only had to keep doing those things to distract you from meddling with the actual building.”

“You wouldn’t have figured anything out without me!”

“It wouldn’t have been so needlessly complicated without you.”

“Fine! Call Estremon back and she can give me my own needlessly complicated dungeon and you can start all over at zero! Apparently she’d like that because then you wouldn’t be using me to cheat… I don’t even know!” There is a flash of fear that maybe he would and then she’s not entirely sure if that whole dungeon of her own offer was still on the table… But it would have been better than his, even if she had to start back at zero too.

Hecrux says nothing, at least not immediately. She should have taken it to mean that he didn’t really want that, that he was maybe reconsidering what he’d just said… But Graverra was still too angry, even if that did turn out to be the case. With a final growl of frustration, she storms back to the door leading to her chambers and slams it behind her.

“How was- Bad. It went bad.” Capo sounds off as she continues through her honestly not that large room, manifesting for herself another door on the opposite wall - the front door of their dungeon - which she pushes through without another moment’s hesitation.