Cat Core 2, Introduction.

Here we go, the cats are back. I will need some more named kitties for Florence's newest dungeon, so if you would like to see your pets join the ranks of the dungeon defenders, leave me a comment with your cat's name and a description of them. I can't guarantee they will be used, but I will do my best to include those that volunteer for duty.


Introduction.

“My master, the adventurers draw close,” A voice hissed.

“They are of no consequence, a minor disturbance that I will deal with should they make it past my defenses. On to more important matters than witless adventuring parties. It is time that I send you to your new home, work hard and teach your charge so that you both may become more powerful and thus serve me better,” Berikoz ordered.

“As you command, so shall it be done, master,” the voice replied. A sickly green glow penetrated the darkness, revealing a cloaked figure. A portal opened and once the figure stepped through, it snapped shut, returning the chamber to darkness. The darkness didn’t matter to Berikoz, he was no longer constrained by things such as vision. Mana flowed through his body, allowing him perfect awareness of everything nearby. That awareness could focus on more than just this deep outpost, he could see through his other agents, those that went about the world doing his bidding.

The chamber shook as something exploded nearby. With a sigh of annoyance, Berikoz released a bit of his power and torches burning with green flame ignited around the chamber. In the growing light, Berikoz continued his latest experiment. There had been many failures, but also the occasional success in his work. When you had the potential to live forever, a few minor setbacks no longer mattered in the grand scheme of things.

The subject of his experiment whimpered, it was a simple human, one abducted for this purpose by a spell he had crafted. His spell had sought out a viable candidate for the experiment, but in hindsight, he should have spent more time to narrow down the spell’s parameters. Had he the chance to do things over, he would have excluded any personages of high standing from the list of potential candidates. Alas, this young lady was a princess or some such. The mortal powers that controlled this world rarely troubled him, or even knew of his existence, but upon capturing this young maiden, he had brought the wrath of a powerful kingdom down upon himself.

Normally, when a powerful mortal had cause to pursue Berikoz, he would find their pitiful actions amusing, but his work was at a critical juncture and he couldn’t be bothered with the constant intrusions of adventurers hired by his captive’s father. To make matters worse, this king’s pockets were deep enough to hire groups that were somewhat competent. This latest group had tracked him down to this redoubt, a long-abandoned fortress which sported a surprisingly vast underground complex.

When he had taken this complex over as one of his workshops, Berikoz had found it swarming with various creatures that loved to call the dark places of the world their home. He slaughtered some but kept the more powerful ones as slaves to defend his work. The enslaved creatures had been reinforced by several of his undead minions. Up until now, the combination of defenders had been enough to keep explorers and the like away. Normally, the more powerful adventuring groups were focused on dungeons that they could exploit over and over again, rather than a single location full of dangerous creatures and traps that may or may not have any treasure for them.

“My father will kill you for what you’ve done to me,” the girl squealed.

“None of that, I have no time for another of your rants. We had a deal, didn’t we? I would prevent my experiments from causing you pain, and you would refrain from your mindless banter. Do you wish to renegotiate our deal?” Berikoz replied, dispelling the magic he had in place to keep her from feeling the pain that his work inflicted on her body.

She screamed louder than before as the pain wracked her body. Berikoz let this go on for a bit, to reinforce his argument. He knew that lesser beings would see this action as cruel and evil, but it was solely a means to an end. The feelings of this girl were of no more consequence to him than the feelings of a dying ant were to the simple human that stepped on it. After an appropriate amount of time had passed, he reinstated his enchantment, granting the young lady respite from her torment.

“There, now I suggest you remain quiet unless you wish me to reverse the enchantment permanently. We will continue once I’ve dealt with this latest batch of your father’s minions,” Berikoz said as the wall to his chamber shattered, allowing water to flood in along with the body of the creature that resided in the nearby underground lake.

“That was a shame, I had plans for the deep fiend,” Berikoz lamented. Rare creatures such as that beastie were difficult to find and even more difficult to bend to his will. It was a powerful monster, and the fact that the adventuring party had defeated it meant they were more dangerous than he initially assessed. It was time to activate a contingency while battling them directly.

Some magic tried to repulse his attempt; a spell crafted specifically to sever his being from its waiting phylactery. But Berikoz had planned for this, his connection instead going to one of the new vessels whose power was masked by another force. A heavily armored man entered through the shattered wall. A golden glow surrounded him, as several enchantments enhanced his armor. A broadsword with a blade of black light was held in one hand, while a heavy, golden shield fashioned as the mouth of a lion was in the other.

Thankfully, the adventurer didn’t spout threats or condemnations, they simply attacked the moment he spotted Berikoz. Contingency spells activated now that he was under direct attack, shields protecting him from various forms of energy snapped into place even as a barrage of battle spells flowed forth from his hand. There were the usual suspects, magic missiles, magical arrows created from acid or poison, a traditional fireball, a cone of cold, and finally, a bolt of pure necromantic energy.

All his attacks splashed off the adventurer’s defenses. While none had penetrated, Berikoz could feel the enchantments around the human wavering. Before he could expend another multi-cast spell, Berikoz was blasted by magical attacks from a new pair of adventurers entering his domain. One was completely covered in robes, only a pair of bright white glowing eyes were seen behind the dark grey garb. The other wore armor almost as heavy as the lead adventurer wore. It was a mage of some sort, and a divine caster belonging to some good-aligned deity.

If there were these three, that meant one more that he couldn’t see. Given the lack of ranged firepower pelting him other than the spells, he assumed that meant a rogue or assassin of some type. The screech of a blade dragging over his magical barriers was heard as the assassin made herself known. With powerful enchantments woven into them, the assassin’s blades stripped away several of Berikoz’ magical protections even as he unleashed a concussive wave from his body, causing the assassin to stumble back the power slamming into her. Even his mana enhanced vision had trouble keeping track of the assassin, her form just a blur of darkness that his focus refused to latch onto.

The warrior had reached him now, flames pouring from the lion mouth of his shield as the black energy of his blade hacked through the final protective barriers around Berikoz. Contingency spells activated, replacing some, but not all his protections, and Berikoz fired off a wilting death spell. The warrior gurgled in pain and collapsed to the ground as all the fluid was pulled from his body. It was a messy but effective spell, one that penetrated whatever magical protections that remained on the warrior.

While he had been dealing with the warrior, the mage continued to pepper him with various spells designed to negate magic. The assassin recovered and drove her blades deep into his back. Being undead meant that Berikoz couldn’t feel pain, but he could feel large portions of his health being sucked into the weapons, the blades draining away his dark energy. With a thought, Berikoz summoned his last minions, a half dozen enhanced ghouls appeared around him, and immediately piled onto the assassin, claws and teeth seeking the tender flesh beneath the attackers’ limited armor.

A pillar of light summoned by divine magic dropped down on them all, causing his ghouls to erupt in flame and even burning away what flesh still covered Berikoz’ form. He had underestimated this group, they had prepared well to defeat him, and if his phylactery had been of the normal variety, he would be doomed. Instead, he would just face a bit of a delay, and sadly, lose his latest experiment in the process. With a thought, Berikoz sent out a series of instructions to his minions around the world and at the same time woke the mountain beneath him.

This ancient fortress had been chosen for his workshop for good reason, it had inadvertently been built upon the surface of a dormant volcano. While the mountain slept with only the occasional rumble. Berikoz had been able to tap into its power, a power he now woke to full effect. He watched the last of his health get blasted and hacked away by the adventurers even as the hot lava began to burst through the floor. His soul was pulled toward the designated phylactery, but the process took just long enough to grant him the satisfaction of watching the party of adventurers become consumed by the molten rock filling the chamber. They were powerful and prepared for a lich, but they hadn’t even considered the need to also be prepared for a volcano.

***

Deep inside another mountain, a dungeon core prepared for a fresh group of adventurers to enter. It was a slime core, and having just gained level twenty, it was excited to show off its latest floor. Before it could remove the stone covering its entrance and welcome in the waiting parties of adventurers, pain began to be felt deep inside its gem. At first, it was almost like a tiny itch felt in the center of its core, but as the seconds passed, the pain became more and more intense as a second presence asserted itself inside the cramped confines of the core gem.

The dungeon core panicked, remembering its pact with the lich, one where he had been granted several resources he desperately needed as well as some new mobs for his dungeon. Now, his side of the bargain was coming into play as the lich began to rebuild himself in the core turned phylactery. The process would be a slow and drawn out one, the rebuilding of a being as powerful as Berikoz took time. Fear gripped the dungeon core as the power of lich grew and his own faded, being slowly consumed to help bring the undead abomination back into existence.