The Dramatic Dungeon - A Dungeon Core Story

“And that is more or less what happened.” Larissa finishes her summary. It has been several hours since she returned from the dungeon, binding and gagging Baerdur, giving us a brief overview and then going to sleep.

“So, in conclusion, this whole mission has gone south entirely. Are we packing up camp and leaving?” Simon asks.

“Not yet.” Larissa continues. “First, we should wake up the collaborator here, and then, based on what he has to say, we have to report to Aresmouth. I don’t have a skill for it, but I have items to allow for communication in my [Hoard]. I don’t have any skills that would be handy for getting him to talk, so I guess our only way to extract information quickly is to threaten him.”

She scoffs a little, before continuing.

“If any of you have any helpful skills, feel free to employ them, other than that, leave the talking to me. There are things that are going on here, and we need a fuller picture.”

All of us nod, nervously.

Allea and Simon glance at each other and wordlessly shift their position for Allea to be obscured by his broad form.

She likely is going to focus all her senses on the unconscious mage lying bound before us on the ground, trying to discern truth from falsehood.

I for my part begin channeling essence. A chill mist rises around me as I do, and I get ready to deploy my skills to potentially bind the dwarf should he break free.

Astrid simply hefts her axe onto her shoulder and gives a lopsided grin.

Seeing that we are all prepared however we can, the rogue gives us a nod and pulls out a knife before stabbing it into the dwarfs’ hand, causing him to wake with a scream of pain that is muffled by the cloth gag around his mouth.

Slowly reaching up to his face with her free hand, trailing it with her dagger that is dripping blood, she grasps the gag at the same time as she sets her blade to his throat.

“Now, Baerdur, I heard a thing or two during our dungeon run there that I would like some elaboration on. I will only ask once. You will answer to the fullest of your knowledge or shut your mouth, understood? If you cooperate, I will reflect that in my report to the authorities. Have I made myself clear?”

He visibly gulps and nods, slowly.

“Great.”

She pulls down the gag, allowing him to take in a wheezing breath before delivering her first question.

“To summarize: Marcus was a cultist, sent to destroy the dungeon. He secured your cooperation with threats. You reluctantly agreed in order to protect someone. Who was he threatening you with?”

“Ah… it’s too late now, anyways. I am so sorry…” Baerdur begins, before being cut of by Larrissa with a gripped collar and a good bit of pressure on the knife pressed against his throat.

“I said” she spits, her voice acidic and cold, “you answer or you shut up. Which will it be?”

“Ah, I’ll cooperate. I’ll talk! Please. It’s them!”

It takes me a second to realize what he is saying, and a further few to compute that he is looking at us.

“Us?” Simon seemed to arrive at the same conclusion at the same time.

“Yes, that's right! You all! He said his cultist friends were going to be coming for us after the dungeon was dealt with… for “cleanup”. Promised that, if I were to help him, you all would be left alone, free to “escape” and flee to Aresmouth.” the man half sobbed, half screamed. “My fate was sealed already, so I… I agreed.”

“And you just believed him?” Larissa hisses, incensed.

“I have a truth-discerning skill. “Judge of Purity”. Normally it's for appraising gems, but it can discern lies as well. Helpful when dealing with swindlers. He was serious. They are gonna be here any moment now.”

Allea whipped her head around in the direction of the walls, and the forest beyond. She runs towards the walls and leaps atop, before focusing on something in the distance.

“Shit, he is right. Something is moving out there, encircling this place. Still several hundred meters away, so I can’t make out anything but a direction of general activity. They don’t try to hide themselves either, otherwise I wouldn’t even be able to know at this distance.” she reports after returning to the group, her scowl deepening.

Shit.

My thought is echoed by Astrid who is more vocal about it.

“Right, what are our options? Can we break through the encirclement and run?” Simon asks, desperate to come up with a plan for our survival. You can see the gears spinning in his head.

“We don’t know what we are up against. Wait a second.”

Larissa produces a scroll from thin air and pulses some essence through it, causing the scroll to disintegrate and the spellform inside to activate.

For a brief moment, she has a faraway look on her face, before her eyes sharpen once more and she focuses on all of us.

“Undead. With a group of necromancers at the center. Mostly zombies and skeletons, but some were higher tier. One of them looked like a death knight.”

“… Shit.”