No Need for a Core?

Mordecai opened his eyes to find himself in a familiar antechamber decorated in deep, rich colors with just a little bit of gilding along the edges. His presence felt a little bit ‘thinner’ than his limited memories would suggest, but he hadn’t become a devotee of Ozuran’s until well after he’d made his first awakened avatar, and hadn’t ever tried this meditation using just a normal avatar before.

There was only one way out, as the entire purpose of this room was to give dreaming visitors a chance to orient themselves, and after Mordecai double-checked himself to make sure that his subconscious hadn’t changed his form in any unexpected ways he stepped through the curtained doorway.

The twilight courtyard in front of him hadn’t changed in overall appearance either, but then most gods felt little need to change designs they were happy with. Or Ozuran had made a reflection that Mordecai would be familiar with. Either way, Mordecai was happy to see this familiar place again. Casually meandering paths of soft white stone and high-arched bridges made their way through a carefully crafted and tended landscape of small trees, gently gurgling streams filled with brightly colored fish, and sculptures of rock and sand. These paths brought a visitor to a large covered pavilion of red and gold decorated with ribbons of cloth and strings of paper lanterns in a variety of colors. In the center of that pavilion sat a throne, upon which a nine-tailed kitsune sat and waited for Mordecai.

But there was something new here. To Ozuran’s right stood a six-tailed kitsune girl in a dark purple belted tunic and well-fitted but loose-legged leather pants that tucked into short boots, and one of those tails had a familiar form of smokey shadow instead of being a normal fox tail. On Ozuran’s left side stood a human girl with long blue hair wearing a shin-length, slightly lacy black dress and heavy boots.

Mordecai walked along the most direct route to the pavilion and bowed deeply right before the steps leading up to it. “Good evening Lord Ozuran.” Mordecai said as he held the bow, eyes down so that he could barely make out Ozuran’s hands. Normally he would not have been quite this formal, but things had been tense of late.

There was a pause just a beat longer than normal before he heard a sigh from Ozuran. “Enough. Stand up. I won’t pretend my ire has disappeared entirely, I had to wait over two thousand years before I could finally yell at you properly only to find you making a cozy little home with two beautiful new wives you’d managed to rope into helping you out. But I am not going to make you stand on formalities either, we know each other far too well. And outside of that particular issue, you’ve always served me well. Let me introduce you to two of my newest devotees, from a far-distant realm.” Ozuran’s description had both young women giving Mordecai curious looks, but they held their obvious questions for now.

Mordecai straightened from his bow as Ozuran continued. “This is Tsukiko,” the kitsune started to curtsy before she remembered that she was not wearing a dress and bowed instead, “And this is Zelda.” The blue-haired girl curtsied with reasonable grace but a slight awkwardness that showed she didn’t do it often. “I would like you both to meet a long-time priest and friend of mine, Mordecai.” Mordecai bowed briefly to each of the girls, then looked back to Ozuran.

“So, ‘rare’ was the new description I believe?” Mordecai couldn’t resist the temptation to tease. Ozuran had already indicated he wanted to work towards normalizing their relationship again, and if they weren’t going to be formal, well, Mordecai was not terribly inclined towards subservience. “Has the position of my lord and master’s favorite been stolen away?” He asked as he glanced toward Tsukiko and her shadow-touched tail.

Ozuran gave him a level stare for a moment, then completely ignored the question. “So what has brought you to the realm of dream and shadows this night? You’ve been rather busy so while I am actually happy to see you again, I doubt this is just a social visit.” Tsukiko was pretending to straighten her clothing while Zelda smirked at her discomfiture.

“What is the purpose of a Living Dungeon, what is the relationship between dungeon magic and Intent, and a thought has been bugging me recently about the creative aspect of dungeon magic.” Mordecai said simply, and let that statement hang there with its implied questions.

“Wait wait, living dungeon? Oz, wha-” Tsukiko began, then coughed when the god gave her a pointed look. The kitsune girl then proceeded to pretend that she’d not just given him a nickname. “Um, Ozuran. What does he mean by a living dungeon?” Mordecai was amused by the nickname, which also changed that first syllable from ‘oh-z’ to ‘ah-z’, but given that Ozuran did not seem to care for it, let none of his amusement show. For now.

The god shook his head at the girl’s slip, then answered her question, making sure that Zelda could hear him as well, given how she was curiously leaning in. “You would not know of them, as your realm does not have them. But in my home realm, there are creatures of crystal and magic who gain dominion over a small space, and the creatures that live there. They also gain the ability to form avatars for their mind to control, as their real body is an immobile crystal sphere. What you see before you is Mordecai’s avatar, shaped through his dreams much as your own bodies here have been shaped of yours.”

Now Ozuran turned his attention back to Mordecai and smiled. “You know, I was expecting you to have figured some of that out a long time ago, but you had stopped thinking about how your magic worked when you didn’t have a pressing goal. Maybe this new life is going to do you good in more ways than one.” He paused thoughtfully then rose from his seat. “This may take a while, let us go to a more comfortable setting. This will be the first time for you two, there’s been much else to show you.”

Ozuran led his guests towards the back of the pavilion, where a discrete door awaited in the wall of the courtyard. The door opened upon a different outdoor scene, a thick forest just barely lit by the moon and the occasional luminescent insect or fungus. It would be too dark for most to see comfortably in, but it was no trouble for Mordecai, and judging by their reactions both of the girls could see just fine too.

The sight brought a painful sort of relieved happiness to Mordecai. The courtyard was for greeting visitors, this area was private and special to Ozuran. Despite their earlier words, Mordecai still felt uncertain about where in Ozuran’s graces he sat, and he knew he wouldn’t be invited here, if the god was still terribly unhappy with him.

As the group started to move forward, Mordecai suddenly jumped a little, making a strangled sound as he tried to control his reaction. The others turned to look at him with various levels of surprise and concern as Mordecai regained his composure. “I apologize, one of my wives was being badly behaved.”

“Stop that!” he sent, but the giggling, not very sincere sounding apology he got in reply was not as comforting as he’d like.

The focus of Ozuran’s eyes shifted for a moment, then he smirked. “Oh, I see. You do not get any sympathy from me in that regard. You’ll have to cope with your torment.” At the bemused looks of his other guests, Ozuran gave a partial explanation. “Because of his nature, Mordecai is not fully asleep. So he is able to notice things going on near his body, and one of his two wives decided to amuse herself. The result is as you can see.” He gestured toward the somewhat disgruntled Mordecai before heading back toward the woods. “Come on now.”

There was but a single trail to follow, and when all had passed inside the door behind them vanished, leaving only the trees. The trail led to a small clearing with several large sitting cushions artfully strewn about upon a large rug in the center of the clearing. Off to the side was a small, outdoor brick oven, the top of which was being used to heat water for tea. A woman in a flowing dress of shadows tended to the tea.

“Feel free to look around or to join us.” Ozuran said to Tsukiko and Zelda. “We’re going to be discussing some matters that have little bearing upon your world, but you are free to join the conversation if you want.” The young women looked at each other, then at the mysteriously glowing forest around them, and promptly headed off to go exploring together, moving in experienced synchronization.

Mordecai glanced after the disappearing pair, noting the change in body language. “Not pampered city dwellers I take it.” He said, then settled onto one of the cushions.

“No,” Ozuran replied as he settled onto a cushion nearby. “And exploring together should keep them from fighting like sisters for a little while. They are part of the leadership of a traveling circus actually, and have been involved with fixing the mistakes of a dead god.” The line was delivered with rather deliberate casualness.

Mordecai couldn’t help but stare at his lord for a moment. “That makes me want to ask so many questions, but I suspect that would take far too long for tonight’s business.”

Ozuran nodded. “Indeed.” He smiled slightly. “It’s probably best that they left, Zelda might have been distracted otherwise.” Mordecai’s god seemed rather amused at some private joke, and he puzzled over it while the woman who had been tending to the kettle now glided gracefully around the cushions to kneel down and smoothly place a small table next to them and position a silver tray with teapot and cups upon it.

Mordecai accepted his cup and gave the woman a nod. “Thank you.” Then he paused and looked at the woman more closely. This close up, the shadow dress no longer hid the presence of the woman’s wings, or the thin tail she kept coiled about her waist, and small, almost cute horns could be seen poking through her hair. A simple touch of fiendish blood could put such marks upon mortal flesh, but there was a faint aura that marked a fiend who was not actively hiding it, and Mordecai knew how to pick up it. “A succubus, my lord?” He asked in confusion.

“For now. She’s in training, and becoming something more. Mordecai, this is Lena. Lena, this is an old friend of mine, Mordecai.”

“A pleasure to meet a friend of my lord’s.” Lena murmured as she finished serving the tea, then rose. “I hope you enjoy your visit.” She turned and walked back to where she had been before, settling on a cushion set off a little ways from the oven to wait until her services were needed.

Mordecai couldn’t resist a question this time. “I have to know at least the basic story on this.”

Ozuran chuckled. “It’s simpler than you might think. Lena comes from the same realm as Tsukiko and Zelda. Their party had captured the succubus, and she made promises to them in exchange for being released. They had her swear in my name, directly to one of my other devotees in that group. Lena had not heard of me before and assumed I was some new or minor deity and that she could readily break a promise made in my name without consequence. She was quite wrong, and I was quite incentivized to act given how few contacts I had on that world at that time. Then I had to figure out what to do with her. And you know me, Mordecai, I care about choices. So I showed her a potential future version of herself, a more elegant and less fearful creature if she chose to learn and work for it. She agreed.”

“And the work she is doing now?”

“Multifaceted; patience, the satisfaction of doing a job done well for its own sake instead of a reward, how to serve without being subservient, self-restraint, how to observe and to truly listen to what is being said instead of hearing just the words, or what one expects or hopes the words to be saying, etc.”

“So, the dangerous sort of diplomatic being then,” Mordecai replied with a smile. “Thank you for indulging in my curiosity, and I hope you will indulge me a bit more.”

“Mmm,” Ozuran replied thoughtfully before sipping at his tea. “I need to go into some background to explain your questions in full, and some of what I will say will be considered Secret Lore, with all the attendant responsibility thereof.”

Mordecai considered that for a moment but was not surprised. While knowledge and comprehension were necessary parts of free will, knowledge could also be dangerous. Secret Lore was to be handed out judiciously, and a bearer of said lore was at least in part responsible if anyone they gifted with the knowledge abused it. “I understand.”

Ozuran nodded, then explained. “The creation lore that all of the progenitor deities have passed down is correct, but of necessity extremely lacking in detail. One of those details is Li’s part in establishing the balance of the universe. Father invited him to the early moments of creation, and simply had his friend talk with him and tell him some of Li’s favorite stories, thus introducing a benign influence of chaos.” He smiled. “And understand, this part is second-hand, as my sister and I came about later in the creation cycle. But as it was told to me, part of Li’s influence was to weave in the possibility of Living Dungeons.”

Mordecai nodded, this lined up with what Ozuran had said during his last surprise visit. “So before your mother and aunt seduced Zagaroth.”

The kitsune deity’s face took on a slightly pained expression. “Please, even the gods do not wish to discuss their parents ‘relations’. That part is explained well enough elsewhere, and I will not be going into it here.” He took a breath and then continued. “Towards the end of the first phase of the creation cycle, Father examined the potential consequences of such creations, and recognized that unchecked Living Dungeons would be very dangerous, yet neither did he wish to attempt to undo Li’s contribution. He considered if he should make rules or give another dominion, and, well, I get my talent for seeing future patterns from him, so he chose to delay that decision and temporarily repressed them. In good time, he gave the design and implementation of those rules to me, and only when my work was complete did he allow them to begin to manifest.”

“I see.” Mordecai replied, choosing to not point out that this implied Zagaroth had an insight he was about to be seduced. He sipped at his tea, then paused. “That honey tastes familiar.”

Ozuran flashed him a grin. “Well, as long as I am currently giving you so much of my personal attention, I might as well take advantage of sampling interesting things you produce. Which brings up a point, generally the monitoring of a dungeon is taken care of by one of my umabel, with one usually being sufficient for all the living dungeons on a given world, but all things considered, it seemed appropriate to give you a touch more of my attention. The two of you now have a dedicated umabel, who keeps me updated quite regularly.”

That was, well, not a horrible thing, but still a touch disconcerting. “Understandable. I hope we will not have to inconvenience your servant for too long.” Mordecai also trusted that the divine shade had a sense of discretion.

“Indeed. So, now we have context for my making decisions. I enjoy being efficient where appropriate, so your species has several purposes in the world, in addition to the freedom to find your personal focus in life. The first is as a limited mana sink. Without refinement or limitation, Li’s concept of a dungeon core was a potentially endless devourer of energy to use for their own purpose. With constraints and rules, a dungeon becomes a natural regulator instead, easily absorbing excess mana in their area. This synergizes with another purpose, a place for the strong to find a way to contest against challenges without encouraging rampant hunting and endless warring. I hold no illusions that it would ever put an end to such things, merely to mitigate. And it has worked, with at least one notable exception.” Ozuran gave Mordecai a pointed look, then took a moment to enjoy his tea.

Ah. Well. That would be another layer of what upset Ozuran. A purpose was not the same as a rule, but his war would have been directly in opposition to that purpose. On the flip side, it could be said that the cult had declared war on him first, but Mordecai had other options available to him. He had technically chosen to escalate, but, well, he certainly had reason to be enraged. A situation with endless shades of gray and differences of opinion.

After giving Mordecai a moment to take in that information, Ozuran continued. “Similarly, a dungeon’s ability to forge mana directly into matter can be a way to trade for hard-to-get materials, reducing the need to war over limited supplies. I was also hoping that mortal experimenters would be more inclined to work with dungeons for creating new life forms and such, but I have seen minimal impact in that regard. There are some very ‘interesting’ hybrids running about that have not been trialed in a dungeon environment first.” Ozuran shook his head at that. “And somehow, in every single world with sufficiently talented mages, someone has decided it’s a great idea to put bird heads onto bears. Owls, Eagles, even parrots! Thankfully the only wizard who managed to get a terror bird’s head to grow on a large enough bear’s body was promptly eaten before he could repeat the mistake and make a breeding pair."

It gave Mordecai something to think about. He’d never considered suggesting to a mage that they could work together on creating new creatures, but would a dungeon actually need a wizard’s help beyond providing ideas? And any imaginative person could do that. But it seems that Ozuran had already realized that particular part of his idea had failed. “That makes sense, though I am not currently seeing why you gave us avatars then.”

“Oh, that’s simple, Mordecai.” Ozuran’s smile was very gentle now, and a touch paternal. “You and your kind are my responsibility, but I am also responsible towards you. An isolated being in a remote location that dealt too much in death would have great difficulty in being a person. In a dungeon’s rawest form, an avatar inside of your own environment would not have been an uncommon development, but an avatar that could leave would have been very rare and difficult. So I used the weight of the rules and limitations I imposed to make that part easier. I never saw your species as simply things, I wanted you to be able to live fully as well, and I could give you all this at least.”

“Oh.” Mordecai shifted his weight slightly, taken off guard. “Well, on behalf of all of us, I thank you then.” That sounded so awkward and formal, but what do you say to something like that? Words of gratitude seemed insufficient for the task. “I, well, I don’t know what else to say.” While having a body that could go out and meet people and form close bonds did have its downsides, the pain of loss was far outweighed by the joy that could be found in that more expanded life. Mordecai stared down into his tea, feeling at a bit of a loss. It meant so much to him, and he felt his eyes start to water. This simple decision, this act of kindness to give a little more personal meaning to a dungeon’s life, it was so much of who he was.

“It’s okay.” Ozuran said softly, then put his cup aside and rose to move next to Mordecai and wrap an arm around his shoulder, pulling him close. “I know things have been difficult, but you should know that I am proud of you. And it’s why your actions angered me so much, it hurt to have you break my trust, and to see you break your own codes by hurting so many innocents in your war. But that doesn’t change how I feel about you.”

Mordecai’s emotional perspective shifted slightly at that moment. He’d long seen Ozuran as not just a god to worship, but a respected figure to look up to and as a friend. But now, for the first time in his long existence, this dungeon understood what it was like to have a father, and he cried. Despite having done his best to be a father before, he’d never felt this side of the relationship, and it was more precious to him than he’d have ever expected.

Ozuran held him while Lena brought over some hand towels and patted his shoulder sympathetically before giving them some space again. When Mordecai recovered, Ozuran resumed his seat and waited patiently. “I’m sorry for that, I don’t know why that affected me so much.” Mordecai was embarrassed and felt out of sorts, and didn’t know what to do with himself suddenly.

“It’s alright.” Ozuran said. “I understand. I see you all as my children to a certain extent, but I also do not wish to impose my will upon any of you. You are one of the few who have not only chosen to be my follower, and then a devotee, but to also know me more personally. And it makes me very happy that you have.”

Mordecai nodded, then took a breath. “Well, I guess we should move on to the next part of why I am here. So, about intent and the nature of dungeon magic and its rules…”

Ozuran chuckled. “Yes, it’s as you suspect. My values of placing the spirit of a bargain or rule above the letter means you can bend the rules, within limits. But you do have to make the intent explicitly clear first. It’s automatic, if subject to review for abuse, so it is dependent upon your understanding of your intent. As for the details and exact limits, well, that I think is best for you to discover.”

“That is fair and more interesting for me. So, the last question that has been working its way into my mind.” He hesitated, not sure exactly how to phrase it without sounding potentially arrogant, so started to lead the way there instead of asking directly. “So, dungeons have enormous capabilities in creation magics. We can even generate real life, life that has a spirit or soul according to its nature.” Ozuran nodded, his expression calm and giving no clue as to his thoughts.

Which Mordecai interpreted as meaning that Ozuran knew exactly where this was going, but Mordecai had to actually ask, or at least get closer to the question. “And some of what you said previously has made me realize that you could only have directly intervened in my war with significant effort.” He paused, but Ozuran still waited silently. “Why would a god find it so difficult to interfere with a living dungeon?”

Ozuran’s response was more of a twitch of his lips than a real smile. “Now, that last part is thankfully rarer for dungeons to realize, and even more thankfully you are asking, not acting. There are some wrong conclusions that can be made which has driven more than a few dungeons mad. That never ends well.” He sighed somewhat morosely. “And I rather wish you hadn’t made those connections, but at least you didn’t realize it when you were enraged. Let’s make one thing clear first. You. Are. Not. Gods.”

Mordecai winced at the emphasis, but nodded in understanding. Ozuran continued, “While you wield powers of creation and limited abilities to warp reality itself, dungeons do not have the Divine Spark, making for a qualitative difference in ability, and even a dungeon the size of an entire world is still lacking in nigh infinite magnitudes of raw power. But for a non divinity, a dungeon’s abilities inside of its territory are immensely powerful. For a god to clash with a dungeon is to have the powers of creation clashing, backed by wills with the knowledge and ability to shape the nature of reality. A full deity would always win such a contest if acting at their full strength, but there would be immense backlash.”

Then he gestured towards Mordecai. “You were an extremely powerful dungeon, and acting in your full power. The ability to defend yourself from invaders with a Break is not an ability that empowers you. It is the removal of a limiter. With as aggressive as you were being, shoving all your power out into the rest of the world, I couldn’t have even walked an avatar in through your gate without our wills and powers clashing enough to damage the continent. So while yes, I could have intervened, it would have been a case of the cure being worse than the disease.”

Limiter? Hmm. “And the discrete differences in monster strength by floors?” This pattern was beginning to finally make sense, and that restriction was also lifted during a break.

“Similar, though in this case in part to create both a more fair environment for challenges, and to challenge the dungeons to be more creative. Your current dual-core existence with Kazue has some potential to break the intended power curve, but you’ve already been responsible about not doing that, so I have seen no reason to start creating special rules unless it somehow happens again and that other party is less responsible.”

They sat in quiet for a moment as Mordecai tried to think of anything else relevant. “I have one last question then, I think. My third route, how does that fit with your intent?” Part of him didn’t want to bring it up in case Ozuran did have something to say about it, but this was one bandage best taken off early if needed.

“Oh, that’s fine. It’s reasonably clever, is intended for emergency use only, and while it does give you some advantages it also gives you the challenge of needing to keep on guard, as the monsters there are a potential danger to the rest of the dungeon. Good choice on setting up a system to keep aggressive scavengers fed enough to not try hard to escape.”

“Thank you. Hmm. Well, that finishes what I had to ask.” He didn’t know what else to say after that, but it seemed Ozuran had something he’d been wanting to say.

“Excellent. Now, onto other matters. Mordecai, I owe you an apology.” Mordecai was caught off guard, and could only stare as Ozuran continued. “While my ire is justified on many levels, in addition to you being a priest I consider you a very dear friend. Yet twice now I have been to your home without being a good guest, and that is not acceptable. I am sorry.” Ozuran bowed his head, and Mordecai hastily responded.

“No, no, it’s okay my lord. I understand, and while I don’t think you need my forgiveness considering the situation if you want it, you more than have it.” Having one's god apologize to you was disconcerting.

Ozuran shook his head. “I am glad you feel that way, but I did not behave appropriately. And, well,” He smiled a bit. “I am the sort who needs to balance the scales. I am choosing my own way to do so of course, and I think you will recognize my touch when the time is right, but as for outcomes,” Here Ozuran shrugged. “Well, I am providing opportunities for choices. Locked fates and unavoidable prophecies are anathema to the way the universe was created, so I can not tell for sure what will happen. But I am doing my best to help you out in the long run.”

While Mordecai did not doubt Ozuran’s sincerity, he also did not doubt that Ozuran chose to tug events towards a path that would help himself as well in some way. The trickery of a kitsune, the stubbornness of a dragon, the power of a god, and the caring of a friend. What was one to do in the face of such forces, except to accept it? “Thank you.” He replied, once more feeling the words to be inadequate.

Ozuran smiled. “You are more than welcome. And that takes care of everything we need to have cleared off the table, so I want a touch of gossip.” Mordecai raised a brow in surprise, with perhaps a bit of wary caution. “I’ve been rather curious, my friend. As much as it irritated me given my already sour mood at the time, I am a touch impressed that you wound up married to two women you barely knew in as many days, immediately after being awakened from two thousand years of sleep. What has your personal life been like? You’ve seemed happy, but we’ve not had the chance to talk, and this is very different from anything you experienced before.”

Mordecai chucked as he relaxed. “Well, you are right about me being happy. At first, I was just happy to be alive and free of the spell, so I was more than willing to help out the women who had helped me out. But that bond,” He shook his head. “I truly did intend the marriage ceremony to be mostly a carrier for more energy. But when layered with the others, it reinforced their strength in ways I wasn’t expecting. The ease of knowing each other's sincere feelings, making it nearly impossible to misinterpret each other, the closeness and emotional intimacy of having our souls linked that tightly, and simply everything that was happening, it was hard to not love them.” He considered a moment. “Well, I can see some combinations of people having the opposite effect, but thankfully not us.”

It was good to be able to talk with Ozuran like this again. He hadn’t liked how things had been between them but had not wanted to presume too much, so had delayed visiting until he’d had questions that he needed answers to. The time seems to have helped his god’s temper cool a bit as well. So they talked for hours more, awakening old habits. He wouldn’t be coming too often, not with the current pace of his life, but it was nice to have this retreat available to him once more.