After rounding up the Achievements section, I'm back to the the main-menu, wondering what portion of it I should inspect next:
){}---------------------------------{}(
General Dungeon Information){}---------------------------------{}(
- Info Screen
- Map
- Soul Management
- Item List
- Item Creation
- Construction Menu
- Creature Spowners
- Creature Overview
- Relocate Core
- Lords Powers
- Research
- Achievements
- Alarms
There are some entries left to check: "Lord's Powers" sounds quite intriguing. "Alarms" is rather self-explaining. And to "Relocate the Core", I first need to decide where I want to place it. "Research" sounds rather complicated, so I think I'll go for the others first. These are all that are left.
I decide to give "Alarms" a quick look, just to be done with it, and inspect "Lords Powers" afterwards:
Well, most of these "Powers" I already had discovered on my own, except of one: "Teleportation". It seems to allow me to change my position instantly. [That sounds convenient.] Not that I need it right now, but if my so-called "dungeon" grows larger, it may become necessary. [Lets give it a try!...]
I select it and instantly get a screen as an answer:
"Advanced Creature control" - 1500 DP
- Allows more freedom in controlling spawned creatures.
I decide to give "Alarms" a quick look, just to be done with it, and inspect "Lords Powers" afterwards:
){}---------------------------------{}(
List of available alarms:
Hostile entity gets close to the Dungeon - ON / OFF
Research completed - ON / OFF
A contract with a creature is formed - ON / OFF
A new creature is spawned - ON / OFF
A dungeon-creature dies - ON / OFF
Achievement conditions reached - ON / OFF
A new soul is acquired - ON / OFF
Alarm appearance:
Voice / Notification / Silent Alarm
){}---------------------------------{}(
Like expected, it's just a list of notifications. Here I can choose, what I want to be informed about. I don't feel like changing any of it right now, and move directly to the next one:
){}---------------------------------{}(
Lords Powers:
Dungeon Control
-Allows to inspect and manipulate dungeon functions.
Teleportation
-Move quickly around the dungeon.
Levitation
-Carry Objects around.
Dark Vision
-Allows to see clearly in unlit places.
Telepathy
-Communicate with spiritual beings.
){}---------------------------------{}(
Well, most of these "Powers" I already had discovered on my own, except of one: "Teleportation". It seems to allow me to change my position instantly. [That sounds convenient.] Not that I need it right now, but if my so-called "dungeon" grows larger, it may become necessary. [Lets give it a try!...]
I select it and instantly get a screen as an answer:
){}--------------------------------------------{}(
State location to teleport to:
Floor: [Floor 1]
Room: [Room 1]
Cost: 5 DP
){}--------------------------------------------{}(
Ah, I need to put in coordinates, and can only go to designated rooms. To make this useful, I need a few more rooms. If I remember right, they didn't cost anything. It's different with the teleportation here. I would need to pay for it. I wonder if the price will go up with the distance rising ... But that's not important right now. This will be another thing to examine more in detail later. I should consider making a "to-do-list" of all the piling up things, that need a closer inspection.
Going back to the main menu again ... [What else we had? Ah, right, the complicate sounding one ... "Research"!] Without hesitation, the research-menu is opened:
(---------Research---------)
"Advanced Creature control" - 1500 DP
- Allows more freedom in controlling spawned creatures.
"Creature Abilities" - 1000 DP
- Allows to invoke Abilities in contracted creatures.
- Allows to invoke Abilities in contracted creatures.
"Plant creation" - 500 DP
- Gives access to the "Plants menu", for creation of different plants, useful and decorative.
... ... ...
(A.N.: To see the whole list, please click here: "Research List")
- Gives access to the "Plants menu", for creation of different plants, useful and decorative.
... ... ...
(A.N.: To see the whole list, please click here: "Research List")
[Another long list ...] Who ever created this system really seemed to like lists. [I'm sure at this point, that if my time runs up, I'll get a list of options about how I want to pass away.] I scroll through the list, while silently joking with myself. Sarcasm actually makes this whole weirdness a bit easier to swallow. [There are again a lot of wired entries ...] But this time, there are at least some explanations added. Obviously, there are costs included to. [Lets see ...] Like with the Achievements, I pick some random entries, to get an overall overview of the whole thing:
---------------------------------------
"Plant creation" - 500 DP
- Gives access to the "Plants menu", for creation of different plants, useful and decorative.
---------------------------------------
So for 500 DP I would be allowed to create plants. [Interesting.] Maybe this will give me excess to food sources, that can be grown underground? Better to keep this one in mind ...
---------------------------------------
"Compendium" - 300 DP
- Gives access to the "Compendium menu" which stores information of different kinds.
---------------------------------------
[Now, that sounds interesting.] I suppose it keeps track of everything I encounter. It may become very helpful with time.
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"Biomancy" - 4000 DP
- Allows manipulation of body functions.
---------------------------------------
[Whoa, that's expensive, I totally can't afford that one!] I also don't quite understand what it's suppose to do. The description is quite vague. Looking further, there are a lot of others with similar prices. [Isn't there something cheaper?] I scroll further, while looking for smaller numbers ...
---------------------------------------
"Dungeon Core Color" - 10 DP
- Allows to change the color of the dungeon core.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Plant creation" - 500 DP
- Gives access to the "Plants menu", for creation of different plants, useful and decorative.
---------------------------------------
So for 500 DP I would be allowed to create plants. [Interesting.] Maybe this will give me excess to food sources, that can be grown underground? Better to keep this one in mind ...
---------------------------------------
"Compendium" - 300 DP
- Gives access to the "Compendium menu" which stores information of different kinds.
---------------------------------------
[Now, that sounds interesting.] I suppose it keeps track of everything I encounter. It may become very helpful with time.
---------------------------------------
"Biomancy" - 4000 DP
- Allows manipulation of body functions.
---------------------------------------
[Whoa, that's expensive, I totally can't afford that one!] I also don't quite understand what it's suppose to do. The description is quite vague. Looking further, there are a lot of others with similar prices. [Isn't there something cheaper?] I scroll further, while looking for smaller numbers ...
---------------------------------------
"Dungeon Core Color" - 10 DP
- Allows to change the color of the dungeon core.
[What the ...] Well, while it is cheap, it also is totally useless ... [Isn't there something cheap AND useful?!]
---------------------------------------
"Scribing" (Lords Power) - 50 DP
- Allows to transfer thoughts into written information.
---------------------------------------
[Speaking about the to-do-list ...] It also is a Lords Power. So additional powers are gained through research, I guess. [What else do we have? ...] There are some other cheap options, but the one with the lowest price is at the very bottom of the list:
---------------------------------------
"Lottery" - 5 DP
- Allows to draw lotteries with random rewards.
---------------------------------------
I don't know if I really need a lottery, but there's not much to go wrong with just 5 DP. I will choose this one first, just to get a feeling of how this whole research thing works, and figure out the rest of them afterwards.
After selecting the lottery-research and confirming my choice on the following screen, 5 DP are subtracted from my balance. Beneath the lottery-research appears a small bar, that begins to fill itself very, VERY slowly. I remember there being an entry in the alarm section, that should announce a finished research. [This will take a while ...] And here I got an idea. [This screams for an experiment!] What happens if I suddenly decide to research something else instead?
I choose another cheap research:
---------------------------------------
"Clock" - 25 DP
- Always know the exact time.
---------------------------------------
[Wow, that's a useful one ...] After confirming my choice one more time, a progress bar shows up beneath the newly chosen project again. Though, the progress on the Lottery is stopped, it is not abandoned, and no progress is lost. [So I can't research more then one thing at once ...] That's still a good outcome, it would be a nuisance to pay the research cost a second time, for an already started research! While thinking over it, I notice that the progress on the new research is much slower. [Does it depend on the research cost?] At least, I don't see another possible reason for it. After changing back to Lottery, simply because it will be finished sooner, I close the menus. I would need to get back to it ... soon. It would definitely need closer inspection. Especially the research and achievements sections will surely have some gems to discover.
But it really is some complicated system. There's no way, something like that develops by itself. [I wonder who set it up? ...] With this, the though that I might be spawned by another dungeon returns. If this is really my reason of existence, than my creator is probably not far away ...
I leave the core-room and rise up into the air, as high as I can, and look around. It's the first time that I try to get a clearer understanding of my surroundings like that. While I'm specifically looking for hints of another dungeon, it's also not a bad thing to know what else there is, beyond the reach of my domain.
Because I don't have a compass, or any other means of telling the precise direction, I'll just decide that the forest will be in the "north". So looking south from here, there are mostly plains with just a few groups of trees here and there. At the far end there is a forest and a coast behind it, followed by a deep blue sea. There are also some small lakes, that are scattered through the scenery here and there, connected by a few streams that smoothly run along the lower pars of the area towards the coast. I think I can see small ruined buildings among some trees in one point, but it's too far away to make it out with the naked eye, it could also be just some rock formations ...
I guess the coast of the see, or ocean, or what ever body of water lies beyond that forest down the hill, is about 50 - 100 Kilometers away from my position. It's really hard to tell the distance, because of the uneven terrain. To the east and west, the landscape appears more hilly, which prevents me from seeing very far. Though, In the east, there is more vegetation, while the west shows mostly grassland and some snowy mountaintops in the far distance. The Path, which passes by my tower, is trailing closely to the forests border to both sides.
... The whole scenery looks peaceful ...
Sadly, I can't tell what is beyond that forest in the "north". The trees are to high too look over them. If the tower would be just one floor higher, it would probably be enough to get a glimpse. I look over to the half-collapsed structure ... [Maybe this could easily be done ...] While most of the third floor fell down to the second, a part of it is still in place. Though, the stairway is mostly gone, I don't need it to move up there. If I just claim it, it should raise my maximum reach by another 3-4 meters.
I open up the menu, and paint the broken, almost none-existent third tower-floor in my colors and get an instant result. The invisible ceiling gets evaluated by another store immediately. But after rising up to its top, I encounter another disappointment: The trees deeper inside the forest are higher then the ones at the border, and even with this high I can still not see very far.
But it also gives me a pleasant surprise: By going a bit higher, I can make out two other constructions behind the hills. There are two more towers, one to the east and one to the west. This is probably, where the path leads. They don't seem to be in a good condition as well, but it's hard to tell how high, or in what shape they are, as I can only see their very tops, lurking out between groups of trees. After I set up a proper foundation, I could maybe ask the Ashrani to go and take a look at this locations. Maybe there are some useful things to scavenge. [That reminds me ...] There is still a lot of stuff in the tower, that I should look through, if I have some more time to my disposal.
I could probably add another few stores to the tower, to get the needed high, and see what the north has to offer, but since I decided to avoid unnecessary attention, I'll refrain from doing so ... At least for now. But aside from the locations, that would need to be scouted, there's no obvious trace of another dungeon in the area. Of course, if the residing Dungeon-Master decided to go unnoticed, like I did, then his home wouldn't be found just by looking around the landscape.
[If there's another dungeon nearby, then we will probably discover it sooner or later ...] After a moment, I chuckle slightly over the word "we". I already associate myself with the Ashranie. [Well, who else should I associate myself with?]
The Sun is leisurely traveling around the blue sky. But dark clouds are forming on the horizon behind the coast. They somehow give off an impression, that they will bring more then just a few raindrops. There is probably a storm forming. At least, that is what my intuition tells me.
[Orsha sure takes her time ...] While I wait for her, I look at my small area from above, imagining how lively it may become in a not-so-distant future. And to my surprise, a silent guest appears on the stage: The black spider, that kept me company in the core-room just a short while ago is - to my big surprise - climbing out of the window of the second floor. At lest I think it's the same one ...
At first, it's movements are hesitant. It comes out little by little, to see if it's save to come out. Then, with a marvelous leap , it jumps down to the floor and makes another jump to the dead harpy. [ ... Hey little fellow! I thought you where gone ...] He (or she?) carefully observes the dead creature, and slowly begins to cover it in thin strings of spider web. The fast and precise movements make the process really interesting to watch. [Fascinating.]
It doesn't get far with it, though. After just a few minutes it suddenly stops, freezes for a moment and then quickly retreats to the window it came from, while jumping on the wall first and then running up in a flash. The whole disappearance lasted no longer then two seconds. [Whoa, what's up boy?] Some moments later, a whole group of Lizard-man leaves the forest coming towards my tower. With the spider acting like that when someone is nearby ... [It's almost like having a watchdog.] I silently smile at the thought.
Aside from Orsha, who is leading upfront and the already familiar guards, there are about a dozen others, who are carrying bundles of different things. I can make out pelts and fabric, sticks and cords, and a multitude of smaller things, that I'm not able to identify. Well it's obvious, that if they move in into their new home, they are bringing all of their stuff along. Bringing some of the heavier things upfront is not a bad idea, it will mean less chaos later. Or are they intending to stay already? I wouldn't mind that either.
I was thinking about greeting Orsha as soon as she enters my territory, but she seems busy talking with the others, so I'll wait with that. For the time being, I watch them (still from far above) as they place their stuff on the ground in front of the tower and get comfortable. Surprisingly, no one enters the underground caves, or even the tower. They also look all unfamiliar, I don't think I saw any of them before. Some of them seem very young, others very old, but I'm not certain about that since it's still difficult for me to tell them apart.
After the guards took position, Orsha moves into the core room. [Ah - I guess, she's ready.] As I follow her inside, I see her sitting on the floor near the entrance in a respectful posture, like she did last time.
Me: [Greetings Orsha, welcome back.]
She twitches in surprise, but seems to be glad to hear my voice.
Orsha: [... Orsha thanks the great spirit.]
She seems to be a bit tense. But she is always like that when we meet. She usually loosens up after we talk a little.
Me: [I see, you brought some friends along. Are they intending to stay?]
Orsha: [Yes! If the great spirit Kalifos allows it ...]
Isn't that what we agreed on? Well, while I'm at it, I can as well make it a bit flashy ...
Me: [... Tell your people that I, "Kalifos", as a friend of the Ashranie, welcome them with open arms and a warm heart. They can make this place their home, as long as they don't disrupt the peace of my domain.]
I first thought, I overdid it, but she seems overjoyed with my answer. Is it because of my speech, or had she doubted our agreement? As if I would back away from it after spending all that sweet DP ...
Orsha: [Yes! Orsha will tell!]
With this she jumps up and runs off to the others. [... Sometimes, you are just like a small child!] I laugh to myself at that, as I follow her outside ...
Orsha: [... The great spirit thinks, Orcha is child? ...]
Crap! I forgot to cancel the connection ...
Me: [Ahm ... yes! But I mean it as a compliment. Like ... you are "honest" like child!]
... Did she bought it? ...Well it was not a lie after all.
Orsha: [... Orsha is thankful to the great spirit ...]
Well, that sounds positive ... Why do I still feel like I messed up? I cancel our link, to avoid saying something unnecessary again.
Next, she talks to her companions and the guards and I hear a little cheer from them. After their short talk, the guards go on their usual guarding routine, and the others pick up their bags and bundles and embark on their way into the caves. I found it interesting, that everyone who enters the tower bows down their heads first, and then moves on, starting with Orsha. It is not a bow of worship, but more of respect, like a greeting. Maybe another tradition in their culture? ...
As they enter the underground, some of their lanterns, or "fire-to-carry" like Orsha refers to them, get sparked and light their way as they move to the rooms that were prepared for them, closely inspecting every corner of their new home. Finally there, they begin to unpack their stuff, while Orsha seems to give instructions.
In their faces, I can see some uneasiness, and I can't blame them. It's like that human soldier said, they got chased out of their previous home in the swamps, just recently. Now they are probably wondering, if this will really become a home for them, or if it's just another temporary base. This would explain the small amount of belongings, they brought along. If it would become necessary to leave, there wouldn't be too much stuff to carry. For me, they resemble more refugees, them migrants ... [They sure had some rough times ...]
It makes me want to protect them even more!
-------------------------------------------------------
A.N.:
Whoow, with this the Menu is completed (for now). Don't worry, more details of how the system works will follow. I just don't want to strike you dead with explanations, this is not a scince-book after all.
Again, if you think that something's missing in the Menus, feel free to tell me in the Comments. It can still be added as an unlock-able feature trough research or achievements.
-------------------------------------------------------
A.N.:
Whoow, with this the Menu is completed (for now). Don't worry, more details of how the system works will follow. I just don't want to strike you dead with explanations, this is not a scince-book after all.
Again, if you think that something's missing in the Menus, feel free to tell me in the Comments. It can still be added as an unlock-able feature trough research or achievements.
Thanks for the chapter, yet spider bro is back!
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome. ^_^
Delete