Lewd Dungeon, Chapter 358

Chapter 358 – After-Action

Peter Franks was once more sitting in Lord Kuronoth’s cathedral in Swamptown, holding court, as it were, with the various teams that were here to dive the dungeon. Gracie’s team, the Azure Flames, had managed to get all the way to the boss room of the Pyramid floor. They’d been forced to use their escape charms to get out of there, once the fight turned bad, but they’d gotten out without any casualties, meaning that they could try again, once the cooldown on the charms was up.

Since they weren’t going anywhere for a while, he’d organized another meeting, so that they could share everything they’d learned. That was one of the main goals of the Adventurer’s Guild, after all. Sharing information between parties made everything and everyone safer, because what you didn’t know could kill you.

“All right, settle down folks. We all know why we’re here.” Yes, it was the same way he’d started the last meeting. Of course, that was how he started every meeting. He only held meetings like this when they were important, and anyone invited to them either knew about the general topic already, or was smart enough to shut up and listen.

Looking around the room, he nodded, once, seeing that everyone was beginning to quiet down. The Azure Flames were sitting up front, since they were the ones with the new information. The Golden Sabers, Thunderbats, and Greyfangs were all there, along with the Crimson Claws, the Greencloaks, and the Mistwalkers. They even had several teams from other areas who had come through the portal network once they heard about the new floors.

Of course, one of the new arrivals was someone he had not been expecting. Catalina Zorita, the guildmaster of the Los Angeles branch of the Guild, was there, with the Demonthralls, her party. As the higher-ranking member of the Guild, she could have been the one leading the meeting, but she claimed to be here as an Adventurer, not as leader of the LA branch. It also gave her a reason to keep doting on her four-year-old daughter, who already had wings and a tail, like her mother, and was just starting to grow horns.

Tearing his eyes away from the Greater Succubus and her people, Peter took a breath, and continued. “Now, as you all know, the Azure Flames took the lead in trying to make it through the Pyramid, and to the new floors beyond. And, as you might have guessed, they were forced to come back early, with Escape Charms, but they were still able to get a lot of valuable information, which they’re here to share with you. So listen up, or you might not be as lucky as they were when you go in!”

That got everyone’s eyes on him, even the newcomers. Good. If only half of what Gracie had told him in her initial report was true, then they were going to need every edge that they could get to make it past the Pharaoh and into the new floors.

“Before I call the Azure Flames up to give their report, I want to make a few general statements, just so everyone is on the same page. First, ask questions if you don’t understand something, or even just slightly unclear on what it means. This meeting is so that you all get the information you need to get through the dungeon with as low a chance of dying as possible.

“Second, remember that what the Azure Flames experienced may be different from what you’ll find on your runs. We already know that some elements of the floors change each time you go into the dungeon. Not just Goblin Town, but the different floors where you have to collect things always randomize the locations, and the location of the ‘trap rooms’ on the desert chasm floor, which give you a quick route to the bottom of the canyon, are never in the same place twice.

“That said, the traps in some of the more established areas of the dungeon, like the ‘gauntlets’ on the first floor, or inside the Water Temple once the water has drained, are in the same place each time, so don’t discount maps. However, we still lose people to those ‘known’ traps. Not as many as we used to, but it still happens on a regular basis. Those deaths can be largely broken down into two groups: those who failed to purge the different aphrodisiacs and other ‘fun’ things the dungeon throws at you, and those who got cocky and failed to respect the dungeon. So, keep a healthy respect for the dangers, or you’ll wind up either dead, or spending an extended period in the Breeding Halls.”

He saw some of the groups nodding, mostly the locals. The out-of-towners mostly wore looks of concern, but even the ones who weren’t did appear to be paying attention, at least. Probably as good as it was going to get without him literally threatening them or something. Time to get the ball rolling, then.

“Gracie? You’re up.”

The leader of the Azure Flames stood, and moved up to the front as he took a seat. He was probably the only adventurer in the room that didn’t have a party that he dove with. Most of his XP came from helping clear monsters from the surrounding swampland, which he could do a day at a time, instead of being away from his post for days at a time. Still, even if he didn’t actively dive the dungeon, he still needed to learn all this information, after all, so he could pass it on to new adventurers, or those visiting from elsewhere.

“Right,” she said. “For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Gracie Dixon, Level 27 Azure Flame Sorceress and Battleslave Commander, and leader of the Azure Flames. And we managed to fight through to the boss room of the fifteenth floor of the dungeon, what we’re calling the Pyramid floor.”

She took a breath, and said, “First of all, we can confirm that flight spells do not trigger Shai-Hulud spawning, meaning you can use it to cross the open desert stage easier. However, the portal to escape the floor doesn’t spawn until Shai-Hulud does. This means that if you’re flying, you’ll need to use one of those ‘thumper’ devices to get him to show up. Just make sure you set enough of a delay so you can get well away before it starts. We almost got caught when the worm came up from under us.”

One of the adventurers from the out-of-town groups, the Fortune Hunters, spoke up. “What is the delay between setting the device and the boss spawning?”

“Unknown, and probably variable. So, I would suggest people set a long enough delay that they can easily escape the area, just in case. Thirty seconds to a minute should be good, with the flight spells on System Shop. Can’t promise anything about personal skills, and we still haven’t tested mechanical means of flight.”

“Any advice on how to fight Shai-Hulud?” That was another new face, one of the Highblades.

“Best advice we have is don’t. Everything we’ve seen says that Shai-Hulud is an optional boss. You don’t have to fight him, just survive him. I wouldn’t try fighting him without some heavy artillery or more powerful magic than I have. Hide’s too thick for melee weapons, and arrows are going to do shit all to it. And the thing can swallow you whole and not even notice.”

Looking back at the crowd, she continued, “Once we got through to the Pyramid floor, things were just as the Pilgrim reported. A horde of undead, not terribly strong, but definitely a lot of them, and seemingly no end. Best strategy is to cut your way forward, towards the Pyramid, and keep moving, not letting yourself get bogged down. If you can’t make it to the Pyramid, you should use Escape Charms and get out, because you simply aren’t ready for what comes after.”

Fortunately, no one seemed offended by that. Which was good. Anyone who had survived dungeon diving this long knows that you need to admit when you can’t handle something. Those who didn’t, usually died.

“Once you get to the altar at the base of the Pyramid, the undead turn to sand and disappear. So, you get there, and you’ll be able to catch your breath. Of course, that leads us to the altar, and the sacrifice you’ll need to get into the Pyramid.

“Now, sacrifices. If you want a one-time pass, then you can pay one hundred gold per person, or accept a random curse for the duration of the floor. We didn’t pick either of those options, but you can probably count on the curse being similar to what people have dealt with on the Water Temple floor.

“For a permanent, or at least semi-permanent pass, then you need to do more. You can let one of your party members get knocked up by the undead, but the pass only works if the mother-to-be carries the child to term, and after that only as long as the child lives. Which means no cleansing potions, and you are going to have to keep the child safe and healthy.

“Which brings us to the big one. You can sacrifice a sapient being that isn’t part of the dungeon, killing them on the altar. This gets you a permanent pass, but goes away if someone raises or resurrects the sacrificed being. Fortunately, we tested it with one of the goblins from Boca Raton, and it works just fine, so you don’t have to worry about any legal troubles.”

She took a breath, and said, “The reason I said these were semi-permanent, instead of permanent, is because they apply only to team members present during the sacrifice, and there are ways for the pass to be revoked. What this means is that if you add a new member, or are escorting someone, or whatever, then a new sacrifice will need to be made. One thing we don’t know is whether someone brought back by resurrection magic will still have their pass or not, so it is best to have a spare goblin in a capture ball, just in case.”

She clapped her hands, and her party members stood up, before moving along the aisles, handing out paper packets. “My team is passing out copies of the map we made of the Pyramid, including all the way to the Boss room. We have marked the locations of all traps we’ve found, and the way to disarm or bypass them.”

Her voice went grave, her expression hard. “I want to make one thing crystal clear. The traps in the Pyramid are on a whole different level from other traps in the dungeon. These are designed to kill, pure and simple. The first trap we ran into had a pressure plate, that set off a delayed trap door, behind the trigger. Meaning it was designed to catch people a couple steps behind whoever set it off. The bottom of the pit trap had barbed spikes of dungeon stone, making it so that removing someone from the trap would have a good chance of killing them. There was also a button at the edge which sealed the trap shut, and likely dooming anyone in the pit.

“The miniboss fight is a fight against a human mummy along the Dark Priestess class path, with Fighter path mummies protecting her. However, one member of your party will get teleported to the altar in the room at the start of the fight. You have to rescue them quickly, as attendants will enter, with the tools to conduct the mummification process. That process involves removing things like your heart and brains, so it will kill you if it gets to that point. Also, both times the miniboss has been fought, it was the party leader that got put on the altar. We don’t know if this was random chance, or if it was specifically targeted, but you should be aware of it, all the same.”

She took a breath, and said, “Finally, there’s the boss. The room starts in a checkerboard pattern, with a platform in the middle. Black tiles give curses, white tiles are safe. But the tiles change color during the fight, and the pattern changes, as well. The platform is surrounded by a barrier, blocking magic in and out, but not projectiles. Boss is a Mummy Lord on the Warlock path, with a soul magic focus, and he has a healer, archer, and two fighters as attendants, and weaker adds spawn throughout the fight. This means you need your spellcasters and healers to get in close with the melee types, where they’re all at risk.

“Of special note is the healer. They’re a Dark Priest path, so their spells heal the undead and harm you. In our fight, the Dark Priest used a spell which our Priest identified as [Dark Tide], healing the undead and giving a knockback effect to living creatures caught in it. Several of us got thrown off the platform and cursed because of that, or the follow-up attack from the defenders.

“It is our opinion that the boss should be treated as a party-on-party fight. Healer should be the immediate focus, and any silence or magic-canceling effects that you can bring to bear should be used on both the healer and the Boss. Otherwise, you may end up like us, and get thrown off the platform, and cursed.”

Catalina, the LA guildmaster, cleared her throat, and asked, “What curses were there?”

“We witnessed a laughing curse, poison curse, petrification curse, and an effect like the stripping field on the first floor. All seemingly random, and none of them immediately fatal or life-threatening. However, so much of the party getting cursed all at once was game-changing, so we used escape charms to get out of there.”

“Smart,” the guildmaster nodded. “Always better to retreat, and figure out a new approach when things go off the rails. And now, everyone else knows more, and can plan better. Spells or items to resist knockback effects seem like a must-have for that encounter.”