DungeonCultist

FINAL CORE - Chapter 14

Added 2022-05-11 06:31:10 +0000 UTC

[Floor Three]

The prayer hall

A large temple, lined with altars and pews. This is an optional combat area. Monsters in this room are not aggressive unless provoked.

Capacity: {08} Monster-Points

0 TRAPS

Room Effect: Removes all negative magical STATUS effects upon entering

Monster-Point prices per monster

F-Rank: 1
D-Rank: 4
C-Rank: 8
B-Rank: 16
A-Rank: 32
S-Rank: 64
SSS-Rank: 128

Isaiah looks around the third floor of the tower. This is where the forge was, but that has been moved down below the ground. Now, this space has been converted into a holy place of worship. The idea is that it will function similarly to the shrine outside, but inside of the tower and far more potently.

Water runs down the walls, dribbling out of many spigots. The floor is a stone platform, but there are many metal grids revealing the floors below. The streams of water run down through them, flowing down to the bottom of the tower. In the center of the ceiling above, a large, half-spherical indent hangs down. A trickle of water runs down from a hole in its center, running over an altar in the center of the room.

There is a catch, in that the monsters of this floor are apparently non-aggressive. So they won’t attack unless attacked first. Isaiah supposes this makes sense, given the environment.

“Not bad, right?” asks a voice from the side. Teal.

“I… I don’t - are you sure about this?” asks a strange voice, belonging to the dark-elf, Rorate. Isaiah turns to look. The two of them are behind a curtain.

“Am I sure?!” asks Teal. “Would the will of the divine be wrong?”

“…No… I guess not…” says Rorate.

“There you go then!” replies Teal and pulls the curtain to the side. “Ta-da!”

Rorate stands there awkwardly, her arms out at her side, looking down at herself. She’s been cleaned up, her hair and body are both washed. She’s wearing a clean, simple priestess’ robe that Teal had made, woven from fibers of the forest and from the looted bodies of the goblins. She lifts her head, looking over at Isaiah and then around the ornate prayer hall. It suits her well.

“Good work, Teal,” says Isaiah. It looks at Rorate, gesturing to the tower. “You are safe here. Stay for as long as you like.”

She looks down at herself. “I wasn’t really expecting to ever become a priestess,” she says. “I haven’t really lived a pious life, you know?”

Isaiah tilts its head. “Then now is your chance.”

It taps the floor with a talon.

[Spirit of Light]

Class: Spirit
Element: HOLY
Type: Presence
Category: Ghost*
Level: 03
HP: 04/04
SOUL: 50/50
Rank: F

Spirits are elemental presences, made up out of pure magic. They have no physical body and can not be hurt by physical attacks because of this. They are only vulnerable to magic. Spirits are not aggressive entities, but they will attack anything that disrupts the sanctity of their home.

*Ghosts are immune to physical damage

Eight long, flowing presences appear and begin to float around the room. They drift up towards the ceiling and begin flying around the statues and through the grates. While the uthra are spherical things, these spirits are more stretched out and longer and flow like tepid gusts of wind.

They seem like calm, gentle things and begin to make their way around Rorate who watches in wide eyed fascination as they flow around her body, grazing past her hair and fingers.

________________________________________________________

[Floor Four]

The purifying basin

A large, half-spherical basin, full of holy water.

Capacity: {10} Monster-Points

0 TRAPS

Room Effect: Drains the SOUL-POINTS of any intruders in the water at a rate of 1/SECOND

Monster-Point prices per monster

F-Rank: 1
D-Rank: 4
C-Rank: 8
B-Rank: 16
A-Rank: 32
S-Rank: 64
SSS-Rank: 128

Isaiah looks at the room on floor four of the tower. It’s simple, compared to the others. Here by the door is a small platform and in the middle of the room, encompassing its entire span, is a large pool of crystal-clear water.

A Melusine, like the one in the river below, swims through it. On the far side of the room are two gargoyle archers.

To cross the water, one must either navigate over several floating stone platforms that are adrift, or try to swim across it.

Isaiah opens its wings and simply flies to the next floor.

________________________________________________________

[Floor Five]{CHALLENGE ROOM}

The ritual chamber

An ornate ritual chamber. Stained glass windows line the walls, their depictions giving credence to the purpose of this place.

Capacity: {12} Monster-Points

0 TRAPS

Challenge Room: Upon incursion, the door will seal and the monsters on this floor will attempt to summon a divine entity to defend the floor. Any intruders must defeat the ritual casters before completion of their ritual.

Failure to do so will result in the summoning of a B-rank sub-boss entity.
Success will be rewarded with an additional, high-quality treasure chest.

Monster-Point prices per monster

F-Rank: 1
D-Rank: 4
C-Rank: 8
B-Rank: 16
A-Rank: 32
S-Rank: 64
SSS-Rank: 128

Isaiah looks around the room. In the center of it is a raised platform with several small pillars rising in ascending elevation in an upward spiral. On top of each pillar sits a monster and in the center of them, on the raised platform, an intricate sigil is carved into the stones.

The walls are lined with colorful stained glass windows that water trickles past. The windows show depictions of angelic entities and creatures and the tower. They show the life of Isaiah as a human and as a blackbird and as what it is now. A small window in the corner even has a depiction of Rorate.

The uthra really went all out with this one.

[Shadowy Monk]

Class: Spirit
Element: HOLY
Type: Humanoid
Category: Spell-caster, warder
Level: 05
HP: 30/30
SOUL: 44/44
Rank: C-

Shadowy monks are reminiscent of a humanoid species and can range from any breed. They wear nondescript religious iconography and aren’t actually real people. Rather, they are entities created by a magical force, taking the shape of something person-like and acting in the mannerisms of such a creature.

The monks are interesting.

They look like humans, dark-elves and even an orc.

Isaiah flies up to one, looking at it. The man simply goes about his business, chanting some non-descriptive words as he continues to lift his hands towards the pedestal.

“Not bad, right?” asks Crystal. Isaiah looks towards the uthra. “Because we have a humanoid now, we can start making fake ones too,” it says.

“Fake?” asks Isaiah, looking back at the monk. He certainly looks like a real human.

“Yeah. They’re not really real humans,” says Crystal. “They’re made with dungeon-magic. So they work like any other monster, but just in a human shape,” it explains. “They’re great for floors like this, where we’re selling a narrative,” it says, framing Isaiah with its fingers.

Isaiah looks back at the monks.

It certainly is interesting. The uthra appear to be telling a story with the design of the tower.

“What is the sub-boss?” asks Isaiah, pointing at the pedestal.

“That?” Crystal spins a finger. “A light elemental, probably. We can also do something more physical, like a holy drake. No dragons until later, we don’t have the budget yet.”

Isaiah thinks for a moment. “Can you make it random?”

“Random? Sure, we can do that,” says Crystal. “Let’s say… three things. So if they fail the challenge, it’ll either be a light-elemental, a holy-drake or, uh… I dunno, the reanimated spirit of a paladin?” it suggests. “That’ll keep them on their toes. If each fight has a different pattern, they won’t be able to adjust as easily. It’ll help our defenses.”

Isaiah nods. “Proceed. Thank you, Crystal.”

“Will do,” says Crystal, flying away.

Their first boss-room, apart from Isaiah’s roost. Well, a ‘challenge room’. These aren’t exactly boss-rooms, but are rather exactly what their name implies. Dungeons aren’t just rooms with monsters in them, sometimes there are mechanics and puzzles involved that need to be solved or beaten. Challenge rooms are a complex variant of these kinds of chambers.

That being said, on floor ten, there is going to be an actual boss-room, with a real, large, significant monster. But that’s not a problem for now.

Isaiah flies up to the next floor, returning to its roost. The tower is progressing well.

It lands on the very-big-tree and stares out over the world.

The landscape around the tower is becoming ornate and well cared for. The buildings are filling the space nicely and the road and gardens are well tended to. The hallowed ground causes the territory of the dungeon to stand separate from the forest in a beautiful way.

This whole place, even the graveyard, has a tinge of something sacred and whole to it. Something good.

Isaiah only hopes that the humans will see it this way too.

And as it has that thought, its eyes wandering back down to the ground far down below, it sees a curious face poking out into the landscape, followed by another.

— Children, an orc and a human, by the looks of it.

Isaiah isn’t sure how they avoided the wisps, but the two of them wander in for a moment, finding their way to the shrine. The orc, a girl, stops there and grabs the boy, before he can wander off. She lowers her head in prayer, clasping her hands together for a moment.

The boy rolls his eyes, but winces as she elbows him in the side and yanks him over.

He lowers his head too, standing there for a moment.

[Prayers]

A prayer has been said at the shrine.

+2 EXP

Isaiah smiles, watching as they wander around the grounds for a little. The two of them play and explore. Isaiah orders the uthra to make sure they don’t get killed by any monsters and then, after a few hours, the two children wander away, leaving back the way they came.

“Sure we shouldn’t kill them, boss?” asks Red. “They’re gonna tell everyone about us,” it says, watching together with Isaiah as they walk into the forest again.

“No,” says Isaiah. “This is good,” it explains. “This is what we want.”

Their first human contact has been peaceful.

“Escort them in secret. Make sure they leave unharmed,” orders Isaiah.

“If you say so,” says Red, flying off after them.

A pair of boots walks up the staircase. Isaiah turns its head, looking at Rorate who is soaked to the bone and looks very rough.

“…It’s really hard to get all the way up here,” she says. Her new robe is dripping with water and has some cuts and tears in it.

“Are you well?” asks Isaiah.

“Yeah, I was just wondering,” says Rorate. Isaiah tilts its head. “…What exactly am I supposed to be praying to?” she asks.

The two of them stare at each other for a time.

“Me,” replies Isaiah, staring back out over the world as the tower rises up another floor. “You are supposed to be praying to me.”