Alexander sat in the, for lack of a better description, throne of the dungeon. The dark onyx furniture shone in the fiery light of the core room. Veins of magma illuminated the walls as the moat of lava gurgle around him. The oppressive heat had coated his face in a light sheen of sweat, even though he was only scanning through prompts and windows, his eyes darting over the information being relayed from elsewhere in the dungeon.
The labrynth was under siege, well, not a true siege but the army that was deployed to slaughter his family had long since found the cave. With the sightings of monsters within and the recent crowning of a Dungeon Lord path it didn't take the soldiers any real brain power to connect the two events. Thanks to the basic nature of dungeons no more than groups of ten could enter at once which kept the simple maze from being over run. From the observation windows, the goblins and kobolds were holding their own, but the soldiers were being equally smart, retreating before any could die.
Sighing he flipped to another battle scene, kobolds were harassing one of the more lost parties. The little reptiles made excellent trappers and ambushes but over all were weak in combat. On average, a kobold was around three feet tall and quite thin, so it took most of the available forces just to handle a couple of the full grown soldiers. It fell on roving goblin parties to take advantage of the groups being ambushed, where none were available the kobolds used delaying tactics to keep a group from rushing past their defensive line.
Rubbing his tired eyes he almost jumped as a pair of hands gripped his shoulders kneading them slowly. The press of a leather clad pair of breasts pressed to the back of his head. Glancing up he saw the teasing face of his succubus, Jansea, "Troubled Master?"
Alexander frowned all the more as the demon pressed against him, his head deforming the soft contour of her bust, the leather top that barely held them from spilling forth had somehow vanished leaving the pliable warm flesh to caress his hair. "Trying to see what I can do to help my minions, I've had to replace a few goblins already and we've only managed to kill one or two of the soldiers, we've not gained anything."
Jansea flicked her gaze over his views then pointed to one on the outskirts, "It looks like one of the dark dwarves have uncovered something there."
Alexander nodded without looking, "I noticed earlier, they broke into some sort of natural mine, unfortunately it needs an upgrade to process it into anything the minions can use. We need merits, but the soldiers are ensuring none of the wounded die here."
Jansea frowned seeing the issue, the soldiers wouldn't die in the dungeon so her Master couldn't reap their energy. But they were free to kill his kobolds and goblins which slowly lowered his resources, eventually he would be unable to replace what was killed. Her dark eyes raked the screens with a frown, worst of all she couldn't help, she was bound to this chamber, the labyrinth was out of bounds so she couldn't help. "Master will either have to lead directly or risk involving himself."
Alexander shook his head turning to regard his dungeon menu, the builder screen was pretty sparse but rather than continuing to play the armies game he started spending what points remained. Through out the maze a bunch of new minions started to take form, they were all tier one but that was the point, he needed an army to stop an army rather than relying on a guerilla resistance that was being whittled away. Looking to the windows he nodded see a party of troops get drowned in goblins and beasts. Rather than bring in more kobolds he had spread his merits between another handful of goblins and a handful of low tier monstrous wolves.
The purchase had a synergy that rather than summon two different groups instead summoned goblin calvary. The wolf riders became an available option and the squad quickly tore through the tunnels leaping upon the troops, Alexander was quick to redeploy his kobolds near the exit, if even one soldier escaped the surprise of the wolf riders would be lost and chances were high he'd lose this game of attrition. Sitting back rubbing his head against Jansea's breasts he looked up. "How are unit upgrades handled? Those wolf riders weren't in the list before."
Jansea nodded, "New units come about in a few ways. Like you just discovered if you hire minions that synergize they create a new option. Typically however more units become available when you level up the dungeon. There are two other ways, but they are external. First, giving gear to your minions can make geared units available. Take the goblins, give them armor, swords and shields and you'd likely be able to buy goblin infantry rather than the base savages you currently use."
Jansea then pointed to the dungeon management window, "The other way is in the minions themselves. When they kill for you they gain experience and level up. Thing is when they reach certain milestones minions can evolve. These evolutions depend on experiences and stimuli. For example, say a minion experiences excessive use of fire magic, their evolution may well involve a fire elemental variation which is then added to the roster so you can forgo experimenting with exterior stimulus."
Alexander rubbed his chin in thought, "Maybe we should station a few of the minions in here, that might pose some results, but that's after this shit storm is passed."
Turning back to the windows he noted his merits had increased, he was still a pauper but if the army had any where a stubborn commander he'd get more merits before they backed off. With the most recent party wiped out he pulled his kobolds from the main entry, no sense getting them wiped out by a party in bound. Scratching his head in thought he shifted his forces around keeping the wolf riders in reserve for clean up. Turning his attention to the dark dwarves and the new mine he glanced to Jansea, "So how do dungeon mines work? Like regular ones?"
Jansea shook her head, "Unlike actual mines a dungeon mine is an constant resource, every few days you will get material from it, the amount dependent upon the workers assigned to it. It won't run dry but eventually certain resource nodes get abandoned for better ones."
Alexander looked at the mine bringing up its stats, "A copper mine? Pity, if it was iron we'd have a great way to arm our monsters."
Jansea nodded looking it over, "Still, copper can be useful and if nothing else will allow you to sell for money or merits."
Alexander blinked turning on the throne, "Wait a second, merits can be bought?"
Jansea nodded briskly, "It requires a specialized merchant but yes. Most everything in the dungeon can give you merits to use. In fact, without certain merchants, special dungeon options won't be available."
Alexander frowned scrolling along the window his eyes taking over the information, "Anything else special I should know?"
Jansea shrugged with a smile, "Depends what you mean Master, everything about the path is special in it's own right. If you want specific information you are required to ask."
Alexander stretched slowly pushing the succubus back from his head as he considered what he wanted to know, putting his thoughts in order he dismissed the panel's and stood looking to his guide, ignoring the squirm such a gaze caused her to react with, "I feel there is something about dungeons I'm not clear on, the path of death seems to be a foil for the other paths, does that mean at one age it coexisted with the others?"
Jansea nodded simply, "Such is so Master, there was never a consideration of demonic or saintly originally. We were all just path followers. The problem rose... hrm. You know, I honestly don't know how long it's been? Anyways some time in history the various Dungeon Lords united to try and do the standard conquer the world thing. They failed and their path was cast down. Of course that did not change the nature of the oath, it is no different than other paths other than how the world now hates it."
Alexander turned to the crystal pillar, his dungeons 'core', placing his hand on the warm crystal he focused his thoughts, "Dungeon One, empower." As the word left his lips he felt his energy dip, as if sucked from his body into the pillar which pulsed with light. This pulse radiated up and down from the center spreading out through the dungeon as Jansea moved to support him. "As I surmised, the Dungeon Lord can buff his minions can't he?"
Jansea shivered as she felt his energy pouring into her and nodded guiding him across an obsidian bridge to his bed chamber, "Yes, like the other paths, ours too can give a temporary buff. Ours is particularly draining Master as instead of an apprentice or squire, the Path of Death empowers the dungeon. The bigger the dungeon, the worse the drain on you. As a weak base Lord, I'm honestly surprised you're still concious after buffing your forces."
Alexander gave a mirthless smile as she helped him to lay down, it was through sheer stubbornness that he denied the closing of his eyes, he simply felt like he'd run a marathon at full speed for several hours. His body felt completely wrung out, his mind was a haze that was coherent yet fuzzy. He knew he needed to study the effect but it could wait, looking to the squirming succubus who looked like she was debating crawling into bed with him he sighed, "Keep your eye on the dungeon Jansea, while I rest I expect to return to a thriving dungeon."
With Jansea leaving in a pout, Alexander laid back and closed his eyes willing the information screens that formerly swam before his face to reopen in his mind. Looking over information panel he thought about what to do next...
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Dungeon One
Owner: Alexander Cowens, Deaths Chosen
Guide: Jansea, Tier 5 Demon (Succubus)
Levels: One
Terrain: Cavern Labrynth, Demonic Core, Royal Bedchamber
Population: 53
Special Features: Starter Copper Mine
Available Dungeon Merits: 5,000
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Sighing inside he focused over onto the builder menu, dropping another five hundred merits on five more dark dwarves which he sent to the copper mine. Biting the bullet he also dropped a full two thousand merits on a team of Teir One Skeletal Warriors, these he sent out to guard the core chamber door while the orcs were transferred to organize those worthless goblins better. With twenty five hundred merit left he held back, saving this amount in case the invading soldiers decimated his monsters.
Opening his eyes, staring at the gilded ceiling he wondered what else he could do. Reopening the unit shop he scanned the Teir Two list, the first option that had jumped out at him had been orcs, but maybe there was something else he could use to throw off the invaders and secure his dungeon. Blinking lightly he considered that thought... His dungeon? Grumbling under his breath he felt like the more he did the more he lost. There had to be something he could do to get things back on track, being a recluse strategy gamer didn't appeal to him.
Closing the windows he considered calling Jansea back in, he needed more information but he was too tired to put off the succubus. He'd be lying if he said he had had no impure thoughts about his guardian. She was a demon literally designed for carnal pleasures and after a full day of running and not dying he really needed to let off some steam. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to touch her. For one thing, being sucked literally dry was the predominant fear he had about bedding the succubus... but on the other side was the name he gave her. Since she was his dungeon guide he opted to create a name closer to himself, Jan after his mother and sea after Thersea. When he thought of both it was hard for him to stay in the mood, so it was a dual layer of protection for times like this when his will was weaker.
Maybe killing Ingrid had been too hasty...