Lewd Dungeon, Book 15 prologue

Prologue – Trade Chat

(Adventurer’s Guild Official Forums, Miami Branch)

SunnyBunz, MightyMouse, ImAPally, DontYouWantMe, AsaAkiraIsBae, BestGirl, LatinHeat, Salty, Backpage, Craig34, l33tpally, Anonymous3, Anonymous4, RedFox, Kimiko, DonnyJuan, Crusader, BadCompany, HurricaneGal, Ambassador, Scholar, Righteous, Id10t, Satyr, DarkEnchanter, RangerMiguel, ScoopGirl, VenusFlyTramp, MagicMike, TsundereHealer, Max, LightningLegacy, SwiftTaylor, Domino, Bacchus, Aegis, Temptation, and Lord_Kickass are in the chat.

Kimiko: Is it just me, or has the Dungeon gotten a lot tougher lately?

DonnyJuan: Dunno about that. There are a couple new traps, sure, but the bad ones are easy to avoid, especially if you have one of the Demon’s followers in your party.

Crusader: Why would anyone associate with followers of that madman?

Temptation: Mad-demon, thank you very much.

Bacchus: Because his servants have ways to get around some of the more deadly traps on the first few floors.

Craig34: And they save time going through the Black Temple.

Salty: I hate to admit it, but that trap with the spinning logs with blades all over them would be nasty as hell if your last name wasn’t Croft.

Id10t: Which is why the statue is there. Gives you an easy out, to get past it, without people dying.

VenusFlyTramp: So, what does the dungeon get out of it? I mean, the system says that they feed on deaths, right?

Temptation: Yes and no. Dungeons feed on death, certainly, but they also gain power the longer people stay within their halls, and the more power those people throw around while they do so. And prayers are a form of power as well.

Aegis: You mean that their prayers empower you.

Temptation: Naturally. But I’ve never hidden that fact. You’d be amazed at some of the information I’ve been able to discover, through the Dungeon.

BadCompany: Wait, what do you mean you’ve discovered more information through the Dungeon?

Temptation: Do you think you have the same access to the System that a wolf does, BadCompany?

BadCompany: Well, no. But—

Temptation: Exactly. Why would you assume that a Dungeon would have access to the same type of information that a human would?

BadCompany: But you aren’t a dungeon!

Temptation: Ah, suffice to say that the Dungeon moves according to my will. And, because of that, I have access to information that you do not.

AsaAkiraIsBae: As much fun as it is to listen to Temptation toy with people, was anyone else in Swamptown last night outside, around 2AM?

BestGirl: No, I was in my bed by then. Well, maybe not MY bed, but a bed.

LatinHeat: Spicy!

AsaAkiraIsBae: I was just wondering, because I think I saw something. There were some strange lights, but no sound that I could hear. Looked like some kind of spaceship, like when the Ambassadors came to town, but I was pretty drunk.

Ambassador: None of our people have gone to Swamptown since our initial dive. Not from lack of interest, of course, but because the dungeon has not progressed to the point that it can prove a reliable challenge to our people. No offense.

Temptation: None taken. I was happy that I challenged you as much as I did. And you gave me very valuable combat data on what high-level adventurers can be capable of.

Ambassador: Well, at any rate, the… supplies that we agreed to provide the Dungeon have not arrived yet, so that wouldn’t be a ship here on official business from our side, if it was one.

Anonymous3: Are we sure a space ship even came down? I mean, AsaAkiraIsBae admitted he was drunk at the time. Drunk people see a lot of crap that isn’t there.

AsaAkiraIsBae: Hey! I was drunk, but I’m pretty sure I wasn’t ‘see spaceships that aren’t there’ drunk!

Anonymous4: Did you get probed? It is ok to tell us if you got probed. We won’t make fun of you.

AsaAkiraIsBae: There was no probing!

Scholar: Fascinating that we have actual aliens on the chat, but someone saying they saw a UFO is being treated like they’re crazy.

Temptation: Especially since there really was an alien spaceship that set down outside of Swamptown last night.

Anonymous4: What?

Anonymous3: WHAT?

BestGirl: No WAY!

AsaAkiraIsBae: I KNEW IT! IN YOUR FACE, ANONS!

Scholar: How did you know this, if you don’t mind my asking?

Temptation: Well, it isn’t like I haven’t already told people that I can view the area surrounding my domain if I choose to. Usually, I just let people do their own thing, without spying on them. After all, I wouldn’t have any fun if I knew the tricks people were trying to pull before they even entered my halls. But I do keep an eye out for interesting things.

LatinHeat: And a spaceship qualifies as interesting, sure.

Temptation: Actually, I noticed them by the fact that the three aliens on board were way more powerful than anyone else in the surrounding area. Set off a couple alarms I had set for myself.

Scholar: You set up alarms to warn you if more powerful creatures came near?

Temptation: Naturally. Of course, I was expecting it to be one of the big monsters of the swamp, but it worked on the aliens.

ScoopGirl: Ooh! So, there are unknown aliens coming from outer space to visit Swamptown? Anyone know why they’re here?

Temptation: Well, they had a really stealthy vessel. If I hadn’t set the alarms, I probably wouldn’t have noticed them. And if I hadn’t been ‘looking’ straight at them, I’d never have seen them.

AsaAkiraIsBae: Yeah, that’s how it was for me, too! I could, like, barely see it, and, if I looked away, I thought I’d lose it altogether!

Ambassador: That sounds like a passive cloak technique. Unless directly observed, it is very hard to detect, and has minimal power outlays. Of course, speed is also limited, especially in atmosphere, but the groups that use it are typically convinced that it is worth the trade-off.

ScoopGirl: So, probably not well-wishers or people wishing us welcome to the galactic family. I wonder what they’re up to?

Temptation: Oh, it is obvious. They are here to raid my dungeon. It is the only thing worth, well, anything for miles around. As for why they want to come to my dungeon, well, that depends on who they are.

ScoopGirl: Ooh, a mystery! I smell a scoop!