Peek: The Grand Horlon Labyrinth

Nobody is quite sure how old the Grand Horlon Labyrinth is, not even the dungeon itself.  It knows it's existed for quite some time, but when it decides to count time, it doesn't use the same scale as the small pocket of chaos use.

The dungeon is vast, even discounting its spacial affinity.  It owns a large chunk  of ruins as well as a rocky hill and a bit of grassland, before the main body of the dungeon plunges into the earth.  From the accounts of the more powerful pockets of chaos, it goes much deeper than the system of caves below the surface.

The Labyrinth likes to keep itself organized, bringing its more powerful denizens to bear as the layers get deeper.  The last Inspector it had said it works on the concept of floors, which it supposes is correct.  It didn't always organize itself so.

It used to bring its most powerful denizens to bear against the wandering pockets of chaos, the 'delvers' as they call themselves, but it eventually learned better.  The chaos is much easier to bring to order than the abominable stagnation it can sometimes sense beyond itself.  It took it a long time to figure out the proper order for dealing with the pockets of chaos, only settling on the concept of floors after a long time of trial and error.

Now, it mostly lets the chaos decide for itself if it wants to test the power of the deep floors.  If the motes are snuffed out, that is more chaos calmed.  If they manage to over come the challenge, there will be more chaos calmed over time, and the retched stagnation will be pushed back.  Even something like chaos has a place in the grand order of existence.

It has raised many scions, proud of having a full half-dozen now, including its Oberon, its Voice.  The spacial affinity Archfey understands the bundles of chaos much better than the dungeon does, and it is more than happy to leave the scion to it.  The dungeon doesn't hate the small avatars of chaos, not anymore, but it still doesn't wish to encourage them.  That's one of the reasons it has never made an enclave, and it never intends to.

Still, annoying as the motes of madness are, they can be interesting, and bring interesting news.  The Inspectors have long offered information for information, but the Labyrinth has no need for it.  Why pay for what will be freely given?

Besides, the motes of chaos have already figured out what secrets the Labyrinth would have been willing to share anyway.  They know its spawners, its denizens, its scions, its nodes.  It is almost positive they know where its Sanctum is, too, even if they don't try to breach it.

The nodes of chaos are always talking, from stories about smaller bundles of chaos (which seem so chaotic that the Labyrinth is glad they stay away), to tactics, to comparing it to other dungeons.  It is proud to be considered one of the best to explore, though it hears rumors of a different dungeon to the north.

Most of the stories are relayed from a party-member of a friend of a cousin, or some similar distance.  The Labyrinth has learned to treat such stories with skepticism, though certain trends stick out with the ring of truth.

It is centered in a town, which makes the Labyrinth nostaligic, and it hopes the new dungeon doesn't make the same mistake it did, so long ago.  The ruins on the surface were not always ruins.  A nearby source of chaos is an excellent source of mana, even with the annoyance.  It is far better than being an island among the abhorrent stagnation.  It knows how that feels, too.

It is young, which is obvious.  If it is new in a town, it must be young, even if the rumors of it being cloistered are true.  Perhaps the most interesting common thread is that it is a very good place to delve, even if it's weak by the Labyrinth's metric.  The consensus is that the greatest of the new dungeon's challenges are only equal to about halfway down the Labyrinth's floors.

Still, to be even that strong so quickly is admirable.  The Labyrinth is not worried for its safety, no matter how strong the new dungeon eventually becomes.  It is simply too far away for it to matter.  Still, perhaps it will send an Envoy to make contact at some point.  Perhaps in... what to the spots of chaos call it?  A decade?  Yes, a decade.  It wants to build a few more floors before using its mana for something like that.  Perhaps in a decade, the new dungeon will be aware enough to accept becoming the Labyrinth's protege.  By then, the new floors may give it enough mana to give the young dungeon a small boost.

It could help make up for some of its own youthful follies.  Subsuming other dungeons is quite the boon of mana, sure, but the vile stagnation always seems to surge a little when it happens.  It can be compensated for, in the long run, but it's more effort.  Better to let other dungeons solidify their place in the grand order, than to try to take it for oneself.  It's much less personal effort that way.

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Inspired by Taylor Marsh, who wondered if any influential dungeons have heard of Thedeim yet.