Name: Natasha

Race: Mandrill lvl 3

XP: 0

Size: 70

Type: Beast

Faction: Unaligned

Armor: 0

HP: 18

Strength: 4/Speed: 8/Endurance: 5/Magic: 1/Plasticity: 1/Luck 6

Senses: Vision 3, hearing 3, smell 2, taste 1, touch 2

Abilities: Balance 2, omnivorous 1, aposematism 1, innate magic 1

Skills: Bite 1, strike 2, grapple 2, throw 1, climb 1, sneak 1, hide 1, dash 1

Spells: Bluster 3

Another few minutes of weird deep breathing exercises and trying to get my bluster to activate without screaming. I felt like an idiot screaming at a wall and rolling a rock around, but I did eventually get to the point where I could do it without screaming. I still needed to take a deep breath in and blow out, but I didn’t need to alert the whole forest any more. That said, the bluster spell isn’t exactly quiet either. I gave a couple satisfied hoots, once again scanning over the area to make sure no one encroached on my time screaming at rocks. Luckily for me, the rest of the jungle seemed to be avoiding the crazy monkey.

My chest swelled with pride, chin tipped up as I felt that I’d mastered my new skill, sauntering on back to my new monkey family with a sense of accomplishment felt only by great inventors, and babies who just beat their dad at arm wrestling. I was taking to this new life as a monkey surprisingly well and I’d even avoided having some major sort of existential crisis over it. I’m sure at some point that’s going to hit me like a sock full of nickels, but for now I have magic. Which is more than I can say for my past life.

I trot like a short legged cat back to the colony, but for the first time as I came into the little clearing it was empty. I instinctively stayed hidden in the brush instead of revealing myself, peeking out into the trees to see, surely enough, they were all perched on branches, looking down from above. I had only seen this before once, when humans came through, which told me being on the ground was bad. Either it’s more humans or something similarly scary. I watched as the same group of humans as before came through. One soldier looking guy, two archers, and the mage. From here on the ground and my new eyes I could get a better look at them.

The soldier was wearing a set of chainmail, one big wooden shield gripped at the center, and a short sword that looked more like a machete. He had a helmet on that gave that cartoony look of being kind of just a metal cap with a spoon for a nose. Must have been in his late teens with the beard only growing from his chin. The first archer looked to be wearing a thick coat, much too thick for this jungle heat. All white and heavily stitched, he looked like a pillow in a mesh bag. A short bow and a quiver hanging from his hip. The second looked more like a thin teenager trying to cosplay Aragorn at the start of the Lord of the rings. The mage was wearing a hood and scarf that covered most of their face, and a long overcoat that reached their knees. A pair of thick leather gloves and boots made sure the only skin I could see was the bridge of the nose.

My initial hesitancy was overtaken by my remembering what I’d wanted to do yesterday, that being to follow them back into the cave if they were going there again. I may not be able to see in the dark, but surely they will have a lantern or a light spell or something. All I (theoretically) have to do is stand back, let them do their thing, and sneak in behind them after it’s all done. Then I can see what the heck is going on in there. After all, if they’re going into a dungeon, it has to be for something right? No one would risk their lives for nothing. The main thing would be to keep close enough to benefit from the light, and far enough to not get caught. Cause I have no illusions that I can fight a group of four adventurers as a tiny monkey, with or without magic.

So then, I wait, watching them walk by and head on back to the cave entrance. I very gingerly follow behind them, trying to air on the side of caution when it comes to safety. After all, archers in games always have really high stats when it comes to tracking and perception in general. No sense in being needlessly risky. They step in and down the stone hall, the mage pulling out a large torch, wrapping a cloth around the head and quickly lighting it. It looked less like a fantasy movie torch and more like a giant corn dog on a cartoonishly long stick that they lit on fire.

I kept back, watching the expedition descend into the darkness, and the giant rats sprinted around the corner. Interestingly however no one seemed to engage with the rats except the soldier up front. He jumped in alone and imposed himself between the rats and the group. The rats tried to bite at him, but the solid wood was pulled back, and the thin steel rim crashed into the maw with a crack. The second tried as well but the fangs did nothing to the chain, one swift hack from the machete chopping diagonally through the back, nearly bisecting it. Both of those rats I would have called stronger than me, and he had simply batted them away like nothing.

That’s when I came to question my idea of how novice these adventurers were. I had assumed they were just starting out, and heading into a dungeon to cut their teeth, but from the look of it, they’d done this a lot. Maybe since they were here yesterday and today, I should assume they’ve done the same going back maybe months. The idea of which made me add a couple extra feet’s distance, but as they rounded the corner, I picked up again to make sure I didn’t lose them. I peeked my face around the edge which yesterday was pitch black, and saw them heading further in, the sound of their soldier clearing the way echoing off the cave walls.

Makkerache cave

Dungeon level 10

I was very hesitant to follow, part of me saying this was a very stupid idea, and I would be better off following the wolf above the cliff, but another part of me said that this was my best chance to get more info on how this world works. So I followed, trying to keep around corners, hearing the group speak in their foreign language. Funnily enough it actually sounded more like Tolkien elvish, which to me was a bit of bittersweet irony all things considered. I could tell they were pretty casual in their conversation, but the soldier seemed frustrated. Which I suppose is understandable, as right now he’s doing all the work.

As soon as they round another corner, I let my hand follow the wall and peek around to try and keep up with their progress. This time when I looked around, it wasn’t just some snaking corridor but an open cavern with several tunnels attached to it. The four of them already looked like they knew where they were going, heading to the direct center of the room and forming a circle with their backs together. A few moments later the room echoed with the sound of skittering and I tensed, I knew that sound. Everyone who’s played a video game knows that sound.

Spiders the size of dogs began to descend from the ceiling towards the group, and I finally got to see all four in action. Both archers were picking them off before they reached the floor, but they weren’t fast enough to catch them all, the mage cast a spell of some sort, and the soldier’s legs started to glow white. He moved with uncanny speed to intercept the ones that made it to the floor, chopping them apart in a single swing before dashing over to the next to do the same. Though as fast as he was, one or two still broke through, and to my surprise the mage was the one who stepped up, raising the staff and setting it aglow with a bright yellow energy and batting the spiders away like a golf club.

It was a minute and probably fifty spiders later that the room became quiet, and they wasted no time continuing on. I however noticed that a couple spiders after they’d died there was a little flash, and something had dropped beside them. The humans had just disregarded them and continued, but I quickly went to check, and found what it was. I came to the closest one to the entrance, and the spider had dropped a pair of gloves. Why a spider had gloves was beyond me. They were clearly much too big for a monkey, but all the same I stuffed them in my bindle. I’ll look at them later.

I followed the group, not wanting to be left in a room full of dead spiders in pitch blackness, and they went to the next tunnel which immediately bent at a 90 degree angle into another open space, but to my surprise it wasn’t a cavern. There was a wooden door. It looked old and rotten, but it was real all the same. I shifted uncomfortably, the bend where I was hiding was about ten feet behind the group, the closest I’d actually been to them, and just had to hope they didn’t turn around for any reason.

The door opened and they stepped in, and I waited for them to go before moving, but my eyes widened as I saw the door closing behind them, leaving me in pitch darkness. Without a second thought I followed the wall with one hand to the door, feeling around it for a handle. Blindly groping at the wood, I actually had to climb up the rotted wooden bracing in hopes that I could get lucky. Eventually I found the handle, pushing it down and jamming my foot against the frame for it to swing open.

I dropped to the floor and scurried in, half in a rush to follow the humans who had gotten a head start on me. Luckily however the room inside was clear, looking like some kind of mine type of setup. Where the walls actually looked hewn into shape and wooden pillars periodically stood every ten feet or so. I could see some hundred feet ahead the humans were walking and talking, their light becoming more distant. The only reason I could see at all was that there were apparently torches lining the walls as well. Not enough to really light the place up, but enough that I could see my own hands.

I dashed forward, and was surprised by my sudden burst of speed. I had been so eager to test my bluster before that I’d forgotten to test my new dash. It felt nice to actually take advantage of my high speed for once, but after doing so, I realized how noisy it was, the loud plap of my palm against stone echoing off the cave walls. I had to stop the dash immediately after I started and just briskly trot after the humans so as not to catch their attention, which meant they were getting gradually further from me. Curse my darn tiny legs.

I chewed at my lip, hoping they wouldn’t turn a corner, when I saw them stop, the Aragorn clone kneeling down and looking at something. My guess was that they were tracking some sort of creature, which did not exactly bode well for me if the humans didn’t know where it was. Come to think of it, there were a lot of things I didn’t consider before coming down here. For someone who's been trying really hard to stay alive, I’ve made a lot of decisions that are very counterproductive.

I dismissed the thought, after all, I’m already here. No sense in just dwelling on negativity right now when I should be focused on actually getting out of here alive. Luckily being knelt there means I had time to catch up to them a bit, scampering forward again to hide between the pillars. I watched them stand up, exchanging a few words as I was only thirty feet behind now. I expected them to continue down but one of them came up to one of the torches on the wall and gave it a tug, the seemingly sheer stone wall gave off a dull thunk as dust displaced and the stone began to depress in a thin arch, revealing the secret door behind it.

Okay, good to know, secret doors, puzzles, traps and such are actually things that exist here. Which is cool, but also even more dangerous than I thought. I watched the group pile into the tiny entrance, the pillow man having to turn sideways to squeeze through. For me it wasn’t an issue, being a monkey. I just waited for them to go before peeking in and seeing the stairs descend to a small platform with a large chest with elaborate carvings in the wood. Now even I could tell this chest would be trapped.

The soldier walked up in front of it as Aragorn-ish knelt down to supposedly start picking the lock. When you’re in a game, lockpicking is always pretty fast, just a dice roll or a few seconds of a minigame or something, but watching someone actually do it took quite a while. I must have sat there for ten minutes before I heard the loud clunk and the box opened. They exchanged some words, reaching in and pulling out what looked like a jewel encrusted key. It certainly looked important, but to me it was just something shiny.

As soon as they had the key, they turned and started back up the stairs. I scrambled back, hiding behind the nearest pillar and climbing up to the top of it just as they came out and got back into their formation, headed down the corridor again. If I were still human I would be sweating bullets. I waited for them to be a good ten seconds ahead of me before climbing back down to follow, letting out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. My back tensed as the mage glanced backwards, but they didn’t seem to spot me from behind the pillar. One benefit to being small.

The group continued to a fork in the path and went to the right side without a question. They had clearly done this dungeon several times, having memorized the path, and knowing where all the secret doors and stuff are. And now, thanks to them, so do I. Making a mental note of everything I see. I would no doubt be making my way through here myself at some point after a few level ups. The only real problem I see is how to do so before the humans get to it, so very early in the morning. A problem for another day.

I watch as they go down the right path and immediately hear the soldier fighting. I stalk up to the bend and look down the hall to see him taking on about five skeletons armed with swords. Which tells me that the undead are both real and a problem. He didn’t seem to be having much trouble though, other than how much he was moving to keep from being surrounded. The two archers had put away their bows and drawn swords. Pillow man drawing two short swords and Arargorn-ish had a longsword, but both were standing back to let the soldier handle it.

With a few deft maneuvers and targeted strikes, the soldier was able to cripple the skeletons. Hacking off arms and legs until they weren’t able to come after him, and then finishing them off. He was left breathing heavily and grumbling under his breath but relatively untouched beyond a few nicks. The pillow man responded followed by a laugh, the rest laughing with him, save the soldier who looked unamused. I really wish I could tell what they were saying, both because I could use the info, but watching them laugh, I could also use some human interaction. Being in the middle of a deadly fantasy world wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to deal with, much less alone.

The group came to a big pair of double doors but this time larger and less shaudy. It looked like it was less of a door in a mine and more of a proper dungeon. Which just made me wonder who built all this down here. Surely there must be a reason. Unless dungeons just spawn in this world randomly generated or something. It would be weird but not unthinkable. After all, I kind of just spawned in too, so I’m hardly one to judge in that respect.

And as the doors swung open, the rush of wind blew out their torch but the light inside came beaming out, bathing the group in a pale blue. They stepped in, and I followed shortly after. The room ahead looked like it was made with solid blue tinted bricks and baroque stone archways. High vaulted ceilings and a chandelier hanging from it, covered in a dozen candles setting the room aglow in blue flames. In the walls there were inlets just about at chest height for the humans, where sat a number of rotted coffins in various states of disrepair. It was creepy.

I very gingerly followed them into the room, watching the humans casually move ahead as if this was just a Tuesday. I suppose for them it must be, if they’ve done this a number of times before, but it didn’t make me feel any less unnerved. It was like there was a foreboding to the place that was just intrinsic to medieval looking structures that said you weren’t supposed to be there. Which, to be fair, I really wasn’t supposed to be here.

The air was damp and musty, filled with that sickly sweet smell of rot and mold. It lingered in the cold air like it was trying to politely urge me to leave. The sound of every footstep of the humans echoed loudly down the way, clacking with each step and then again with each echo. I, on the other hand, made it a point to not make any extra noise. As alerting the humans was the very last thing I would want. Not only for the fact that they would likely try and kill me, but also I couldn’t even run away given the pitch black we had to traverse to get here.

They continued on and I was likely straining my sneak 1 skill to the fullest to keep from being spotted. A knee high simian the size of a dog in a big echoing chamber. Where before I’d given them a wide berth, now I was giving them practically the whole room to themselves. My whole plan of trying to gain more info about this world wasn’t going exactly as planned. So far what I know is that this dungeon is in fact a dungeon. Stunning discovery there, but what else had I even managed to learn? Adventurers are dangerous? I already knew that.

My thoughts were interrupted, pulling me back into reality with the sound of sliding stone from all of the walls. My instincts from years of playing rpgs before immediately screamed ambush. Naturally as a monkey, I climbed up the nearest pillar to scramble away from oncoming danger. The ceiling must have been fifty feet up, so I only went up about twenty, clinging on for dear life as I watched the coffins open and skeletal archers stepped out of their coffins drawing short bows, and with quivers hanging loosely from a belt around their pelvic bones.

The humans, which were now at the center of the room, each ducked behind a pillar as the skeletons raised their bows, nocking an arrow. Most of them turned toward the humans to try and peek at them around a corner, but a few looked up, right to where I was. Red face must have blanched pale at the sight of them aiming towards me, but I quickly circled the pillar so the arrows hit the stone instead. I could hear the string pulled taught again and dashed straight up, trying to reach the full fifty feet up in hopes that they would turn their attention back towards the humans, and so that they didn’t alert said humans to my position.

I climbed thirty more feet in just a few seconds, reaching the vaulted ceiling as I heard arrows clatter below me. I spared a glance around to see if I could spot the humans, but it was all flying arrows and shouting, ducking between pillars. Once I reached the very top, I had hoped that I would have lost their attention, but instead was met with the blurring black form of something, or rather many somethings unfurling from the roof. Bats, dozens of tiny bats. They fled away from me, but the flapping of dozens of tiny wings made quite a ruckus. The already chaotic battlefield below was awash with deafening noise.

I felt bad about causing a problem for the adventurers for a moment before hearing an arrow clatter against the stone very near to my arm. I look down and see two skeletons circling to get a better aim at me. I circled around the pillar to stay out of sight but there was the original skeleton that shot at me and was now aiming as well. I felt a startled monkey noise rising in my throat but kept it in, instead playing a game of funny doors with skeletal archers, circling around the pillar every time one gets a bead on me.

My breathing slowly became labored and I knew that if this continued I was going to get caught eventually. So I looked for a way out of this situation. The distance between the pillars was too far to jump, but the ceilings were vaulted. I could see the seams between the pillars protruding along the decorative arches. Without even a thought, I leapt up towards the ceiling, catching my fingers around the seam and hauling my legs up to grab with my feet as well. Never have I been more thankful for having thumbs on my feet. I used the seam to sidle my way over to the highest point on the ceiling and back down on the other side before jumping to the next pillar, sliding down slightly before catching myself.

The skeletons below were still after me as I glanced back, but as soon as I had gotten them closer to the humans, they turned their attention to the battle proper instead of one silly monkey. The bats however were still being a nuisance fluttering around me and while not attacking, still making a ruckus which made sneaking very hard. So I swiped out like king Kong attacking airplanes. Which wasn’t very effective. They were way too fast for me to grab ahold of. As much as I didn’t want to, I was going to have to make some noise to clear some noise.

I take in one deep breath, aiming generally in the direction of the swarm and sharply exhaling. A sharp gust of wind shot forwards and a majority of the swarm was scattered like dust. It was much more effective against them than it was against the stone I had practice on. The ones I’d hit were halfway across the room, and wobbling through the air, clearly discombobulated. The last few that I didn’t get promptly dispersed, not wanting to be caught up by the wind as well. Finally I was out of danger again… or at least immediate danger.

I looked down to see if the humans had paid any attention to the noise, and they did seem to notice it, but while they were swiveling their heads, none were looking at me, and were still paying much more attention to the skeletons. It didn’t take too much longer for them to clear out the last of them, which I had hoped would mean we would move on to the next room, but taking one look around, I saw only one door, the one we came through. The humans however, knew what they were doing, taking the key they’d grabbed from the ornate chest and pressing it into a tiny hole in the center of the floor, causing the back wall to alight blue, and a door to appear. The blue stone covered in spikes and intricate carvings, the door had an air of finality to it. I knew immediately what it was.

A boss door.