Dungeon Deposed Read online

  “Alright. Yeah, sorry. Bad on my part. You’re not wrong there. I’ll do that in the future. But hey, you didn’t tell me how your invitation went. Did they agree? Manage to catch any?” Ryker asked, hoping to the gods she’d let him change the subject.

  Wynne brightened considerably at his question. He had no doubt that she realized he was changing the subject.

  “They did, actually. Several plan on coming over tonight after the adventurers clear out. I’ll capture them then,” Wynne said with a negligent flick of her left hand.

  “Oh? Any plans for them? Right now we have three wings to the dungeon. I’m not quite sure what they could do or offer, but it might be nice having one over each area? You’d get to play lord overseer over them of course. Lady overseer? Whatever.”

  Wynne bobbed her head at that and looked like she was deep in thought. “I’m not sure.”

  “Well, you do that. I’m curious as to what the guild people are saying. With those changes last night, and the amount of energy their clear teams are putting in, the reach of the dungeon is significantly further. I can actually see everyone in the inn, and partway down the road.”

  “Be careful there, if you put too much effort into what you can see, they’ll realize it. Try to keep it at a passive level?” Wynne asked.

  “Yeah, I can do that. It’s not as if I can’t just walk over anyways. Not a dungeon, remember?”

  Getting up, Ryker adjusted his clothes quickly. He’d been losing a bit of weight lately. All this running around was doing wonders for him. He was actually getting fairly close to his weight when he used to be in the guild.

  Effortlessly, he dismissed the anti-scrying ward, and left his office.

  Almost running down Adele in the process.

  She had been standing right outside of the office with her hand on the doorknob.

  “Hello there,” Ryker said as neutrally as possible.

  Was she trying to spy or was she—

  “Ah, good. I was worried I was going to have to start pounding on the door. Do you realize there are times where people knock and you just don’t answer? Anyways. Listen well, farmer. The temples have all sent representatives to negotiate for the rights to start a gathering here. And proselytize of course. You’re going to need to figure out which of the faiths you allow here,” she said. “But that’s all your problem, and I don’t really care. I imagine Claire is probably about to give them a tour of the surrounding lands and possible sites. I’m betting they’re in the stables.”

  Adele harrumphed and then turned on her heel.

  “I’m really just telling you so my dear ‘family member’ doesn’t take the opportunity for herself. As for the queen… the only thing our royal cousin will want is for you to at least have one temple. More for the safety of the citizens than anything. The Royal Guard will hold their own services,” she finished.

  Waving her hand at him, she left. “I’ll be out riding if you need me. And don’t bother me unless you really do need me.”

  Ryker watched her go. It wasn’t even sunrise yet and she was planning to go out riding?

  She and Claire really have it in for each other, don’t they? Or is the envoy position here that important?

  Sitting there grumpily, Ryker waited in the common room. Some of the people Edwin had hired on were employees who would work here in the inn. As soon as they showed up for their shifts, Ryker would be leaving it in their capable hands.

  He now had several chores to do today. Religion, money, and prostitution.

  The irony isn’t lost on me. I simply just don’t care anymore.

  ***

  Sure enough, Ryker found all the emissaries of the temples in the stables, getting ready to mount up, with Claire at the head.

  Making sure that Claire saw him, and was aware of what was going on, he subtly motioned with his hand to his farmhouse, then he had left. There would be no room for her to misunderstand anything, or to assume anything.

  Of course he wasn’t sure she would have done something anyways.

  Adele might be playing off my fears in the same way Claire is using my attraction to her.

  Ryker drew a wrist across his brow and leaned over his hoe. Stopping by his home, he changed into his farming clothes. He’d hated farming at first. Despised it, even. Now though, he found it fulfilling.

  It gave him an accomplished feeling.

  He didn’t run a big farm, but he did run a successful one. One that he had had to carve out with his own hands.

  On a damn hill.

  That he swore was mostly rock.

  “Master Ryker, if I might introduce you to some guests?” Claire called out.

  Following the sound of her voice, he found Claire and the religious heads all standing at one of the stone fences.

  Blowing out a breath, Ryker mopped at his face with his hands and then brushed them on his work pants. Walking over, he slung his hoe over his left shoulder. Drawing up close to them, he gave them a polite bow of his head.

  “I’d offer to shake your hands, but I’m afraid you’d come away with enough dirt to start your own farm,” Ryker said.

  The group of nine of the “most holy” had various reactions to what he said. Three of them put their hands behind their backs at that. Two actually lifted their hands and held them out to Ryker. One middle aged woman hopped the fence and gave him a hug while laughing.

  “If a priestess of the harvest couldn’t greet a farmer, I think I’d need to leave the priesthood,” she said, releasing him.

  Ryker couldn’t help but grin at that, and at her action.

  Moving to the fence, he made it a point to shake the hands of the two who had immediately held out their hands.

  “As you know, I’m Ryker,” he said, eying the nine of them. “I’ll make this quick and easy. I will hold true to my loyalty of the Queendom of Dale. Beyond that, I’d like to have a neutral city when it comes to religion.”

  Several of the priests seemed taken aback at that. Ryker knew for a fact that quite a few had been killed in the behind the scenes religious war that was ongoing between the light and dark gods and goddesses.

  “I’ll not prevent anyone from worshiping whoever they worship here. But I’ll be limiting who is allowed a temple, and to preach. Please forgive me, this isn’t a slight on your churches, or your beliefs, but merely a wish for neutrality,” Ryker said. “I’ll make it easy for you all. If your god or goddess is currently involved in the civil war that’s torn the Empire to shreds, you’ll not receive permission to erect a temple.”

  “So…” said the most holy of the church of light. “You’ll not allow either side a temple, but you’ll not prevent worship in a home.”

  “That’s right. I’ll not stop anyone from having their beliefs. If I find someone trying to aggressively convert people though, I’ll engage the Royal Guards and have everyone associated with those people sent off to the capital for Her Majesty’s mercy,” Ryker said.

  The man frowned and looked annoyed. Bowing his head incrementally to Ryker, he left. Following behind him were five more.

  Claire sent a worried look his way but said nothing. Technically, she had no say in this. This had nothing to do with Her Majesty’s interest.

  After the six left, there were three who remained. The priestess who hugged him was there, as were two who had shaken his hand.

  “Please name yourself, and then who your benefactor is. After that, we’ll discuss temple placement,” Ryker said.

  The woman next to him smiled at him. “I’m called May, and I serve Damia, Lady of Nature and Harvests.”

  That’s fine. If anything, that’s a good one to have here. She’s neutral. Truly neutral.

  Ryker said nothing, and instead looked to the two men at the fence.

  “Name’s Chance,” said the older of the two men. He was clearly in his late forties but had the demeanor of an ex-adventurer. “I serve Harrison, the Lord of Trials.”

  And sometimes luck. Appropriate that he�
��ll remain here then, given what I’m building.

  The last man was younger, short, and on the smaller side of the spectrum.

  “I’m Fin, and I serve she who is Mercy and Grace, Tali.”

  Also good. This ended up a lot better than I thought it would. That’s always the problem when you have as many pantheons as countries though.

  Ryker held out his left hand. “I welcome you. As for your temples, forgive me but I’m no planner. I’ll put you in touch with the right people, but that’s about the extent of my involvement. I’ll make that connection tonight. For now though, I’m afraid there isn’t much I can do. The majority of everyone who’s been hired on are working on building their homes or businesses. We hired a large number of carpenters to work as building managers and direct the construction.”

  The city was going up rapidly. The majority of its inhabitants were living in tents right now. He wasn’t sure what these intrepid holy men and women had brought with them, but he sure hoped tents were on the list.

  “As for your stay, the inn is full. Every room has a party in it. We’re already in the process of expanding the inn to accommodate four times as many people, but that’s some time off.”

  All three emissaries accepted that without a negative look amongst them.

  “I have no problems sleeping amongst nature. It’ll be like a camping trip, and since the Royal Guard is on hand, I venture to say this might be the safest camping trip I’ve been on in a long time,” said May. “I’ll not take more of your time, and I look forward to meeting your planner later.”

  May hopped the fence lightly, and started back down the hill. Chance and Fin fell in behind her.

  And apparently she leads that trio.

  Claire waited a whole two seconds before giving him a pouty frown.

  “I don’t think it was wise to discount the others,” she said.

  “You know what, you might be right. But I’m not one for politics. And that would have been a real barrel full of bullshit if I let them all remain. Or only some of them, but not others. By removing them all, I effectively end the problem before it begins,” Ryker said.

  “I realize that you don’t like politics, but sometimes it’s necessary to better our own position,” Claire said with a touch of heat in her voice.

  “Maybe. Maybe not. Doesn’t matter. I’ve made my choice and they can fuck off. Now, I need to get back to my carrots. They don’t tend themselves you know,” Ryker said. Not giving her a chance to reply, he trudged off back to the row he was working on.

  And with that, maybe she’ll realize how much she pissed me off with her earlier shenanigans.

  Grunting, Ryker brought the hoe down into the dirt, and set to work on his farm.

  ***

  Sitting in the secret alcove in his office, Ryker stared at the Minotaur in the corner.

  She was a recent addition. He’d put her there to watch over him and make sure he wasn’t attacked while he was surfing his dungeon.

  “I know I made you as a random construct, but I think the settings for your boobs got maximized,” Ryker said to no one.

  Looking at her armored chest, he felt strange about the enormity of them. He knew Minotaurs were big creatures, but this seemed big even for them. Then again, for all he knew, she was petite for her race. It wasn’t like he made it a hobby to find and hit on Minotaur women.

  Black hair, pale blue eyes, a distinctly animal-like face, long furry ears, and black horns were all normal enough At least as far as he thought Minotaurs went.

  Standing up he walked over and stared up into her blank face.

  “Kinda… cute, like… a puppy?” he asked. Reaching up he touched the fur on her face. “Huh… alright. Kinda weird.”

  Shrugging his shoulders, Ryker sat down in his chair, and called up a magical image of the dungeon on the table in front of him.

  Ryker needed to do a cursory inspection of his dungeon.

  Nothing was out of the ordinary, but he found it enjoyable to go through it and make small changes.

  A tweak here, a change there.

  Modifying a blueprint for a Hob to be a bit more aggressive, or less. Truth be told he was considering how to set it up so the blueprints would randomly produce anything in a set range.

  A blueprint that generates blueprints.

  Killing the thought with a shrug, he gave up on it for now. It was a problem to tackle in the future.

  Near the herb room, where the actual dungeon core lay, Ryker felt a presence he didn’t know. Or at least didn’t recognize.

  There were three of them.

  Similar to Wynne, but not her.

  Are these her little friends?

  Curious about the situation, Ryker let his awareness float closer. He knew they wouldn’t be able to detect him, but he still kept his distance.

  “—ally is blank. What’d you do?” asked one of them.

  “Only you could manage to break a dungeon core. You’re a poor excuse for a dungeon fairy,” said a second.

  “Come on, it’s not that bad. Is it?” asked Wynne.

  Oh you charming little actress you.

  Ryker carefully, and as quietly as he could, began constructing a shield around the herb garden. At the same time, he began laying the groundwork to nullify all teleportations in the same area.

  Wynne had said she could handle it, but he wasn’t one to let something go wrong due to a lack of proper planning.

  “Were you not listening? It’s blank! There’s nothing there,” said the first voice again.

  “Now, now. Let’s be civil. She asked us here to assist, not berate her. Even if she is a failure,” said a third voice.

  Heh. Yeah, not going to feel bad about turning those three into dungeon slaves in the least.

  The spell was going up quickly, both aspects of it.

  “I need your help. Okay? I need it. If you don’t mind, could you three take a peek into it? I’d be ever so appreciative of it,” Wynne said earnestly.

  “Oh, fine,” said the second voice.

  Ryker got close enough that he could actually see the four of them all gathered around the dungeon core.

  “We’ll see what we can. No promises, and you owe us a portion of your mana allowance for the next three months if we manage to fix this,” said the third. “Not like it’ll be much anyways. This dungeon is overgrown for its age. It’s probably tapped out.”

  I’ll show you overgrown, you miserable little cunt.

  Waiting, Ryker could barely keep himself in check. He wanted to let loose the spell and seal them in.

  But no, this was Wynne’s play.

  Reaching out along their bond, he gave her the tiniest nudge. Enclosing the smallest bit of emotion, that of anticipation, he hoped she’d get the idea.

  What he got back was a sense of victory. Smug victory.

  Ryker didn’t know how to interpret that, so he waited instead.

  “What’s… what’s this? This core isn’t broken at all!” shouted the first.

  “What are you doing?” asked the second.

  “What am I doing? I’m binding you. Binding you and sealing you to do the bidding of myself and my partner,” Wynne said.

  Taking that as his cue, Ryker activated the spell.

  A shield locking everything inside came into existence, at the same time that an anti-teleportation matrix formed.

  “I can’t leave!” screamed the third.

  “My spells don’t work!” shouted the first.

  Wynne started laughing hysterically. The sound was chilling.

  Or so Ryker imagined. To him it sounded like everything he wanted his own laugh to be when he got his revenge.

  Seconds passed, and Ryker felt the change.

  The bond he had created with Wynne shifted, and three dungeon fairies were crammed into a lower tier beneath himself and Wynne. All of their energy was being fed upwards to the dungeon and Wynne. Layer upon layer of binding magic was looping around those three Fairies.

&n
bsp; Wynne wasn’t taking chances, and coiled them up in it till they were drowning in the magical contract.

  “There,” said his partner. Clapping her hands together, she washed them against each other, as if being done with the situation. “Now you three are my personal dungeon fairies. You’ll each receive some responsibilities to handle for now. I haven’t decided what to do with you yet. Should you fail, I’ll put you into a beast core and sell you to an adventurer as a skill.”

  Vicious. And a good idea. Can I make copies of the filled beast cores now that I have blueprints for them? Can I sell them as skill crystals?

  Dismissing the magic, Ryker floated off back to his dungeon.

  He wanted to tweak the dialogue for the minotaur a bit more. Especially on asking him for a quest.

  Still doesn’t feel right. Almost though.

  Chapter 8 - Custom Equipment -

  Wynne had been right of course. Even if he didn’t want to ever say that aloud.

  The dustup from the dungeon that didn’t act like a dungeon was delayed. But only by the time it took for a letter to travel from the dungeon to Warrenton.

  Expensive teleportation portals began opening up in front of the inn within days of that.

  Daily portals.

  From all over the continent.

  The Royal Guard had descended upon those travelers immediately, fearing it was an invasion. That it was the Dark Lord of the North himself come to call on them.

  Each and every portal that opened up was greeted by the Royal Guards and immediately investigated.

  Adele told him privately that one of their number had left to request additional forces. She didn’t understand it, but the commotion the guild was causing had all the guards on edge.

  Hordes of guild members came in non-stop from everywhere, as well as church leaders and government officials. They all began spilling out of each and every portal.

  On top of that, it seemed as if a flood of civilians were coming through as well. Apparently someone had gotten enterprising about it and was selling tickets for the portals. Ryker imagined it was done to offset the costs of the spell’s requirements, no small number of which were precious stones infused with magic.