Dungeon Annihilation 7

Hey Guys! I was working on Azaria but I had so many interruptions that I couldn't make much headway on it yesterday. Now that my two weeks are in, I have to make sure the person replacing me knows what they're doing. So it has been a bit annoying. 

Chapter 7

Louella

I had to tell the villagers that the goblins were defeated by the new dungeon but none of them risked my ire by making any moves without consulting me. I needed to have a lot of plans in place before we started calling in adventurers and the more time I had to plan, the better. With that thought over a month passed before I sent out my messages to the guilds. 

The dungeon had grown considerably while I worked out the contracts for the guilds. Ezal told me it was over a hundred and fifty meters tall now. A striking blue light lined the bottom two floors in straight lines that turned at perfect angles. The hunters that watched it only saw a few goblins leave during the month and each time they came back with various things stuffed in a sack.

One of the hunters saw what looked like a human dressed in bones. The poor man refused to be a look out ever since. Claimed that the creature was going to take his soul when it looked directly at him. He was still making visits to the priest for his nerves. 

After the last hunter left for the day, I turned to Ezal. “This dungeon appears to like the dark element.”

“Pity. The nearest fire element dungeon is almost three months travel from here,” she replied with a laugh.

“I guess I’ll need to request a larger presence from the church. Which means more money than I can afford to pay at the moment.” I glanced the chest on my desk. It had been full of gold from my father when I’d told him I’d make myself scarce. I guess I should be glad he even gave me this chest full. Either way, it was almost empty now. If the dungeon didn’t turn a profit then I might not be lord here much longer.

“We can charge a tax to the adventurers entering the dungeon,” Ezal suggested handing me a cup of tea.

“Yes, I plan to later, but for now we need to attract as many people as we can here. If business takes off, then we’ll be able to afford a bit from that avenue of taxing.”

“I understand. I just hope the mortality rate isn’t too high. People won’t go into a dungeon if they have too high a chance to die.” 

“Yeah, that is the one thing I’m concerned about considering our first visit to the place.” I bit my nail as the worry gnawed at my chest. People weren’t going to like a dark aspected dungeon this close to the deadlands. Hopefully, it will just be a harder goblin dungeon. People hated yet loved the one to the south. There were a lot of the monsters, but they were easy to kill. 

I had nothing to do while I waited so I leaned back and put a book on my face as I tried to take a nap. I wasn’t sure how long I was out, but a knock at the door roused me. I lifted the book slightly to see Ezal answer the door. Three people I hadn’t seen since I left Lecazar stood outside. 

I jumped up and moved over to the door as Talinda, Nastok, and Iveta came in. I gave Talinda and Iveta a quick hug as Ezal had been the only real friend I had since coming to this mudhole. “I’m so glad you guys accepted!” 

“When you explained the situation, we couldn’t pass it up. How many people get to be at the initial creation of a dungeon town. The Inns of Thads is still talked about to this day,” Talinda said with a board smile.

The daughter of a famous Elven inn’s branch family. She had the looks, but they were only good to a human’s standards. To the elves, Talinda was quite common. She was the tallest of the group at nearly two meters with sun blond hair. If she wore male clothing, it would be hard to tell she was a female due to her flat chest. 

“Aye, Me shop in the city wasn’t happening for a few more years. Thought to me self that I should strike while the iron was hot,” Nastok said patting the forging hammer on his belt. A dwarf from the Bronzestone clan, he had left the clan to start his forge his own way. He would never admit this, but I knew it was because he loved Talinda. Dwarves and Elves didn’t exactly hate each other, but marriage was still frowned upon.

“Well… It seemed like a good change,” said the last person of the group. Iveta was a human like me. I would never say this to her face, but her beauty matched Talinda’s. She was a wind mage that worked as a bodyguard. Last I heard, she was about to break into tier two. 

“Come! Let’s chat over some tea.” I motioned for them to come to the dining room.

~~~

Another two weeks passed before any more changes happened. My friends were staying in the manor with me. When Talinda and Nastok asked to share the same room, I had to make them spill all the details. It was a happier moment for what felt like a bleak few months from my life back home.

A hunter had reported this morning that a caravan of people was spotted moving into the valley from Thonaca. I, of course, waited for them at the edge of the village. I didn’t want anyone thinking they could decide something without my input. I might be a bought noble, but I was still a noble.

Bringing up the front of the caravan was a group of thirty or forty people. They wore bright golden colored armor and leather with a sun rising over the horizon on their flags. The Golden Dawn. They would be the first guild I needed to talk to as it would make dealing with the rest considerably easier if I had armed forces at my command.

Behind them with robes of all colors collected in various batches of people, was the Mage’s Guild. They would be the biggest headache of this group and were the people I wanted to deal with last. If they threw a fit, I would make sure I favored the Lightning mage’s branch no matter what. 

After that was the various other guilds that would be needed to construct a city. The builder’s, alchemy, herbalist, and more each had a section of the caravan to themselves. Finally, bringing up the rear was the adventurers. I was surprised when I counted nearly two hundred. Most beginning dungeons only got a few dozen for the first few weeks. 

The caravan came to a stop on the edge of the village. I moved forward to the commander of the Golden Dawn. “Hello. I’m looking for Commander Baden.”

A woman that dismounted from her horse. “Baroness. Commander Baden was sent as a replacement for another mission. I am the commander selected to replace him. Commander Yin, at your service.”

“I see. I will ask for a briefing later. For now can I request you help get these people organized?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Commander Yin said. She turned to her soldiers. “Get some lines picketed! Twenty meters for the smaller guilds. Give the builders a hundred. They’ll need the space!” 

“Yes Ma’am!”

I nodded in appreciation to Commander Yin’s quick orders. I didn’t feel too bad about the swap anymore. I’d never met Baden, but Commander Yin made a good first impression. A gathering of villagers moved forward and volunteered to help unload the cargo. Some guilds accepted the help while others turned it away. The main one to accept was the builder’s guild.

A few hours passed before everyone was situated. I made my way over to the Builders’ guild. They would be the busiest for the foreseeable future. A man showed me in to an old dwarf that looked like he’d seen the world a few times.

“Ye be the baroness lass, then?” the old dwarf asked with a puff of smoke from a pipe.

“Just Baroness, or lady,” I replied with a frown. Damn Thonacans and their bought titles. No one would respect me until I raised my damn rank.

The dwarf eyed me. “The name be Thradgrum Marbleshaper. I be the best city planner this side of the world’s spine. Most call me Thrad.”

“I was worried I would get a nobody, but this makes thing easier. I have some locations set aside for a few buildings. After that, I want this to be a town in two fortnights.”

Thrad raised his eyebrow. “Why aim for a town when ye could have a city?” he asked taking a drag from his pipe. 

“I plan to have a city. Since you’re the best you can build me a town that can easily grow into a city. Or is your title self-proclaimed?” I asked crossing my arms. 

Thrad starred at me for several long breathes. “Aye. I hope that dungeon drops some nice gold. Two fortnights is expensive.”

“I figured,” I said with a short chuckle. Thrad and I worked out the details for several hours after that. Being the best also had its drawbacks. He wanted everything to up to capital standards. If I allowed that it would take months for them to build a single building. I wasn’t worried about looks for now. Other people could pay for looks. 

With the builder’s guild taken care of, I moved on to the next headache, the Mage’s Guild. Set up in a over the top tent that was bigger than every building in town, the ground around the tent was already scorched from spells that had either not worked or worked too well. You could never tell with the mage’s guild.

A young assistant led me inside the tent that was actually separated into various different rooms. I was brought straight back to what looked like the largest room in the tent building. A plaque was set next to the entrance. Guildmaster Jacqueline. “The master is ready to see you,” the assistant lifted the divide up and let me through. 

A woman laid on a couch while she worked magic of some sort in the air above her. She glanced at me then back to her spell. “Welcome, Baron Louella. A pleasure to meet you.” 

I had seen beautiful women and men in the capital but Jacqueline really topped them. With golden skin, blond hair and a body I was sure many men would kill for, she projected an aura of lust. Even I had a hard time stopping my eyes from wandering. 

“A pleasure to meet you as well. What are you doing?” I asked turning my attention to the spell. 

“I have a lot of enemies. I’m making sure they can’t peek on me,” she replied. The spell grew then burst into motes of light that coated the tent’s surface. 

“I’m wondering if its safe to have you in my little valley,” I said with a small laugh.

“You’ll be fine my dear. But let’s get to the nitty gritty. I’m sure you know the deal. We need a tower, we have eight full branches here with us. I would recommend you build a tower that is atleast that many floors.”

“How much is the mage’s guild footing?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. Towers meant to house mages weren’t cheap. 

“We will cover sixty percent of the cost,” Jacqueline answered without missing a beat.

I thought about some of the other towns that had a mage’s tower. I was sure the guild had covered seventy percent of the cost. I looked at her to argue the point but saw the look in her eye. I swallowed what I was going to say and nodded. “That feels reasonable.”

“Lovely! I knew I would like you!” 

~~~

“Please let the guild master be easier,” I mumbled as I approached the adventurer’s Guild section of the tent city. I came to the biggest tent that had the master symbol on it. “Hello!?” 

“Enter!”

I walked in to a see a woman with cat features sitting at a desk. “Hello, I am Baroness Louella. Pleased to meet you,” I said holding my hand out.

“Cassandra, but you can call me Cassie! Nice to meet you!” 

I let out a breath when she seemed to be normal. “What do you need to get started on the dungeon?” I asked. If the dungeon didn’t give out some gold then I would have a lot of issues very soon.

“Nothing. Most of the parties will start diving within the next couple days. I do need you to write everything you saw and experienced during your short dive. Every bit of information helps.”

“Of course. Then where would you like to build the adventurer’s guild?”

“The closer to the dungeon the better. I heard it’s pretty far up the mountain face?”

I nodded. “Yes. It took us a good hour from the forest line to get to it. There is a decent ledge around the tower, but not many parties will be able to assemble there at a time.”

“Then we’ll set up outside of town, next to the forest line,” Cassie said after debating for a time.

“Sounds good. I’ll let the builders now.”