Peek: The Wandering Dungeon

Sit and listen, hear the tale of one of the strangest dungeons I've ever delved!  Yes, our Wanderlands have many unique dungeons, but the Principalities have one that just sticks with me.  It is a dungeon that feels the same wanderlust we do!

Deep in the heartland of the Principalities, they say the dungeon started as a tree, or perhaps a small copse of trees, nearby a trade route.  Merchants and other travelers would stop by for a quick and simple delve: kill a few birds, pick a few fruit, and be on their way.

It grew and expanded over time, and would put up more of a fight for those delvers who wished to have a true delve, yet would allow travelers to pass through with little interference.  A few simple fights, a few picked fruit, and those passing through would be able to pass through, even as it started to encroach on and claim parts of the road as itself.

It eventually became one of the few dungeons I know of that actually has a dual classification from the Dungeoneers: toybox on the road, belligerent off the trail.  It eventually chose a dryad as its Voice, who was finally able to reveal what the dungeon wanted.

It wanted to experience new things, mostly.  The variety of people and reasons for traveling were of great interest to the dungeon, which is why it treats travelers so differently from true delvers.  It bears the true delvers no true malice, yet feels no real bond with them, unlike its feeling towards those who wander.

For a time, everything seemed to be ordinary for the extraordinary dungeon with two classifications, but the people really should have seen the change coming.  The Voice started to ask what would happen if a core left its territory.  Unfortunately, nobody truly knows.  Not for nobody ever trying, but for the simple fact that nobody; core, delver, denizen or otherwise, had witnessed an attempt and survived to tell of it.  Only the devastation after ever could tell the tale.

That seemed to quiet the Voice, but it is not the only way a dungeon can acquire information.  The dungeon birds watching passing caravans didn't draw any attention, but the dungeon was coming up with a plan.

It longed to meet new people, to see new things, but how can it do that if it's stuck in place?  It doesn't matter that it's a well-traveled trade route, the dungeon knew there was more out there to see!

Delvers starting telling tales of odd things deeper in the trees, of strange and strong beasts, of disturbing twisted things of wood and steel.  The danger was the same, just as the safety of the road was the same, and so it was taken as another quirk of the dungeon.

Until one morning, the forest seemed to be abandoned.  It was still a dungeon, but there was almost nothing to actually indicate it, aside from the feel.  The denizens were few and weak, the special trees and bushes greatly weakened.  At first, they feared it had somehow been successfully attacked by the invaders each dungeon must deal with, yet rangers could find invaders seeming to be just as confused as the delvers.

It wasn't until the delvers returned to the road that they felt something off.  The dungeon borders were different than they usually are.  Curious yet wary, they followed the feeling down the road, where they found a large convoy.

But it was no simple convoy.  It was the dungeon!  It has fashioned huge wagons for itself, and was claiming the road as it slowly traveled!  They eventually got the Voice to explain.  The dungeon had been inspired by a traveling circus, of all things!  Large things could be moved, so the dungeon decided to move its large things and go seek out the new experiences it desired.

It would stop sometimes and claim an area, creating a temporary dungeon for actual delvers when it felt it needed more mana.  It would make various nodes along the roads it traveled, to help keep itself fed by feeding others.  It would let the furthest parts behind it simply wither and be reclaimed by the world, even as it would claim more territory where it would travel.

And so it still wanders, sampling the eclectic mix of peoples in the Beastkin Principalities.  I hope it comes to our Wanderlands some day, to meet our kindred spirit.  By which I mean it certainly will eventually, I just hope it is a day that I will get to see.

~Onthar, Orc Bard Historian