Blood & Chlorophyll Ch. 20 - Reflection

So, last time, I was able to cheat at the start of the chapter by showing everyone getting ready for their first delve. I wasn't able to do that this time, and we start right in the middle of it.

I will say, though, I'm having more fun writing out the Dungeon bits than I expected. It's definitely still outside my area of expertise (character drama and dialogue) but it's been fun thinking of what the dungeon looks like, as well as how it acts. I did a lot of thinking about various dungeons I've seen in video games, and I tried to come up with something that will still be interesting in a written story.

It was also nice to revisit Kat's love of delving. It was one of the first things I established about her (after all the angst, of course) and it's been great seeing her finally get to delve. In particular, I'm happy with the decision to make the dungeon feel like a peaceful forest, as I think it reinforces the interesting dichotomy between Kat and Alicia.

After a bit of exploring, where I take the chance to detail how the layout of the dungeon works, we also find our first big obstacle. I'm proud of the theming of the door blocking their path, I think it feels like something you might find in an actual dungeon.

But, without the key, there's not much for them to do. Sadly, this means its time for another fight! I tried to give this one a very different feel from the fight against the wolves. Firstly, there are far more than three boars, and they move very differently. Alicia also reacts to the presence differently, creating a maze of barriers, which is something I've been excited to play around with. However, in my efforts to keep the fight interesting, I also had to find a way to threaten Kat, who can safely avoid all ground threats by flying.

I think the wasps and the boars together made a pretty interesting fight. I also tried my best, both in this chapter and the last, to show that our heroes are competent, but not spectacular delvers yet. They're still a little rough around the edges, and the fights are just tough enough to keep them on their toes.

They take just enough damage to decide to back out for the day, but that still means they have to get to the entrance. With the previous two fights setting the tone, and sapping some of their resources away, this was the fight that I really intended to be a nasty one.

This time it's a single, massive monster, and it's powerful enough to shrug off the effects of some of Kat's spells. In my opinion, larger monsters are also bigger threats than many, little threats due to how Alicia's barriers work. Any attack Alicia tries to block is going to sap a ton of her HP, and she can't try to corral this bear into predictable patterns due to how big it is.

This fight was also another great chance to show the inexperience of our girls. They're not terrible delvers, but they're not used to thinking under pressure, and I think this comes across most clearly with Alicia's new ability. She attempts to slow down the bear with her Wall of Thorns, and the blasting fruit pods end up injuring Kat and Tab. This, sadly, knocks them out of commission for just long enough for the bear to isolate Alicia and knock her to the ground.

This scene, more than anything, was hopefully a very tense one for everyone. I wanted to make it clear that they were losing this fight, and had nothing changed, their first delve would have been their last.

Thankfully, we have a surprise new character! Who might this new cutie be? Well, it's Roxy! I've been excited to introduce her into the story, and next chapter we'll have time to really dig into who she is and why she's here. In the meantime, if nothing, it sure is lucky she was around the save the day, right?

Nyx <3