DungeonCultist

Chapter 95

The collective vibration of the squeaking mischief of rats above me rings out in a unified symphony, the high pitch of their conjoined voices creating a distinct vibration that is different from any of the machinery, that is different from any of the heavy hammering and thrusting of the heavy foundry pumping the black lifeblood of the dungeon through its many pipes like veins from a thrashing heart. It is ominous, unanimous as the hundred and then some tiny voices come together in agreement o...

Chapter 94

The further I depart from the slop I leave behind me, the fainter the churning of the poison water grows. My body aches in a way that is unnatural for the creature that I am. Slimes, oozes don’t really have the capacity to feel pain. But here it is nonetheless. Ache, a straining pull on the liquid that makes up my body as if I was on the brink of starvation. As if I was on the brink of dehydration. But I know I am fine. I am fine. It’s just the poison my body has gotten used to, it’s ju...

Chapter 93

There are many of us here, we are all individuals but we are all the same. We are all disgusting, broken things. Unwanted by the dungeon, unwanted by everything. Everyone. Yet here we all are, together in this bleak mire in which we wallow as a collective. A collection of miserable existences, tied to the substance that has birthed us. Putrescence. Bound to it and unable to leave, unable to escape its power. The seductive lure of the black liquid, the nourishment, the quenching. It is all we ...

Chapter 92

Whirring gears and grinding mechanisms fill the encapsulated space with a heavy, dense pressure. As if the air around me, around us was compressing and pressing tighter with every surge of the pistons just outside, with every crank of the levers surrounding the pipe. A deep series of vibrations that shoot out through the many ducts and metallic joints resonate through my wet form, causing me to tremor and shiver like a dying man. Like the final surge of life was running through my body as my ...

Chapter 91

Wow. Okay. Uh.

I float, my ethereal presence once more in the void between my last life and the next. The vague shapeless form that I am, just a massless ball of thoughts drifting through some black ink, outside of the plane of the living. Anyways, uh, moving on from that.

Uh.

Yeah.

Hmm.

I’m trying to gather my thoughts here, okay? I mean, I guess thief-girl was always pretty intense but uh… hmm. Yeah. Ye...

Chapter 90

Okay, well this was unexpected I think as I continue crawling backwards away from the creature pressing herself against the glass pane of the menu; her fists still smashing against it. Can a menu break? I don’t know, I’ve never seen it happen. But there’s a crack there so that’s good enough for me to accept that it can I think as I watch the split grow just a little wider with every thud.

I still haven’t gotten up, my mind still racing with the events that have just...

Chapter 89

Okay, well that sounded just a little bit ominous and a little bit creepy I think to myself as the intonation of her voice plays back through my mind again; my body pressed against the rattling door to stop her from getting in. The thrashing stops and I stand there in quiet worry again, wondering what’s going to happen now. Did she give up? Should I make a run for it?

Wait.

A run for it to where, exactly?

I look back up the incline behind m...

Chapter 88

My soft leather boots thud against the large-stone floors as I sprint down the corridor, doing my best not to step on any of the cracks between the brickwork. You know how it is, don’t want to break my mother’s back after all. Poor woman had to work all of her life, the last thing she needs is back pain. I stop in my tracks. What am I thinking? Shaking my head, I adjust my very spooky hood back straight and then keep going forward.

The fortress is on high alert now, many ...

Chapter 87

“Hey Georg! Wait!”

I stop and turn around to the side as I hear the heavily accented voice call me from a doorway.

“What’s the hurry? Hold on, can I get your opinion on something real quick?” asks the man in the doorway to the small alchemical laboratory.

“I don’t really have time, Valnik, kind of busy right now, you know?” I answer waving back to him, but my pace slowed.

“Ah! Come on! Don’t be like that! ...

Chapter 86

The fight goes on like this for a while, the golem charing towards the thief who manages to easily dodges every single one of its heavy strikes and charges, the gigantic metal being is simply much too slow to strike her in any of its attempts, let alone catch her agile form which is darting around us like a mosquito on a summer’s evening. Every attack she lands on the golem leaves light scars in the metal body of the construct; every strike resounds out in a metal clanking and spark-casting...

Chapter 85

There is a gentle patter of two old leather boots against the stone, the only sign giving credence to the presence of the coming thief. The room is bright and decently lit from the warm hue of the industrial machinery flowing with magma and viscus goo. Hammering sounds ring out as part of the ambiance as the great-works continue their thrashing in order to fulfill whatever grand design they were made to do by their progenitor.

As I stare into the darkness behind us, high up o...

Chapter 84

Arrows fly by me, each just barely missing my scampering form. The ring of each silver-tipped arrow striking the metal gears I run across like the ringing of a crystal bell, each a deathly finger pointed towards my frantic heart telling it that they were meant for it. Each clink and toll is a sign of the midnight to come and I run, against the winding of the gear before jumping over across the span to the next.

As I soar through the air for that second my eyes find their way ...

Chapter 83

I run up the same secret staircase as before and I am uncertain as to what I should expect. In a sense I am wary about moving on higher. I am unsure why I am here again, why I haven’t respawned somewhere else. Why I haven’t respawned as something else. I was in that nightmare and I died there, thankfully in probably the nicest way possible, but now I’m here again.

Hmm.

I guess Nichodemus was there because he was one of my lives? Does that mean I was… ...

Chaper 82

I can’t help but stare at the desecrated body of the frozen goblin submerged deep in the ice before me. I remember him. That has to be the same creature, right? I look at the talisman around his neck, the one each goblin carries. I’m sure those are the same symbols, I’m sure this is the same goblin. I don’t know what to do with these thoughts apart from feel a strange sense of horror I can’t quite put into words. The minotaur, the spider-kin, the drake, now this. Now him. Were these...

Secondary Story - Chapter 4

Pen runs as fast she can, the world around her literally falling apart as she sprints down the breaking walkway, her hands never leaving the crystal to grab onto the railing or to try and steady her balance. Rather she opts to run in full sprint, to jump and land with bent knees on the walkways below that creak louder and louder the deeper she goes as the sounds of the collapse behind her continue. As the sounds of the collapse behind her become louder and louder like the trampling of a metal...

Chapter 81

The thought is absurd right? Why wouldn’t I be in the dungeon anymore. After all, I’ve only always ever been in the dungeon. It’s all I know. All I can do is be a creature of the proverbial depths. Everyone has to make a living somehow, right? And this is how I make mine. In a sense. But, no, I took the stairs up from the floor below so that means this one is connected to that one, right? That means I’m still in the dungeon, right?

Right?

I scamper fo...

Chapter 80

Basically at this point I am just full on sprinting, burning the little energy I have left in my tiny rat body to escape. Just running and running as I look for a way out. The ice is everywhere though, the sounds of the monstrosity are everywhere. I wonder, how long have I been alive at this point? What a long life this is. I suppose the hero-party should be at the dungeon-master by now, if not they should be very close. Very, very close. Right?

Just this once, I am thankful ...

Chapter 79

Uh, okay. So there are eyes staring at me out of my menu, guy. That’s weird, right? I feel like that’s weird. For sure. Right? Yeah. Yeah I think so. Apart from that, this is the worst state I’ve ever seen it in and uh, well, the map isn’t of much use if I’m gonna be honest with you. Feeling somewhat uncomfortable at the many eyes staring at me, unblinking and flickering in the glitchy menu, I run by paw against the glass pane, which reminds me of the slick ice beneath me, and swipe...

Chapter 78

Scurrying over the ice, my nails that are digging into the surface as I run are the only things stopping me slipping and falling down flat on my pointy, but beautiful, rat face. The frozen floors beneath me are sleek and smooth. My tiny body aches already from the burn of the icy air around me. The sewer was cold, but there were many brothers there. There were many pipes and fumes there. The only thing now that can keep me warm is my eternal love for queen-queen.

But I guess ...

Chapter 77

The steps are much larger this time than the last pair I went up, these clearly not having been made with a rat in mind by whatever dark creator crafted them. As I awkwardly push myself up the steps that I feel are human sized, I listen closely awaiting the sound of boots thudding behind me in pursuit. But I don’t hear any. I guess the fire-elemental stopped her, the thief, from pursuing me after all, one way or the other.

I suppose I know that means that the creature I esc...

Chapter 76

Slight edit to last chapter. The door is now hidden behind one of the tapestries because that makes more sense

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It’s a struggle friend, to say the least; to drag this burning log backwards up this incredibly gradual incline. If I was literally anything else I doubt I would have even noticed it, but as a rat my size, well, these things make a bigger difference to my day to day than you might think. I wonder what this place is. There’s ob...

Chapter 75

What an odd creature fire-elementals are I think looking at the curious little flame that is subduing itself down to only a small glimmer, in order to burn less of her sustenance away. Magical creatures are odd to me friend, I mean I was just a ghost and all but, you know? There’s nothing there. It’s just fire. So where does the thinking happen? The emotions? The talking? That’s dungeon magic in action right there. Living, breathing dungeon magic in the shape of fire.

A...

Chapter 74

Standing on the edge of the table I hop down onto the chair, my little body thudding against the wood as I drop down. Then again a second time as I spring down to the floor. Blood splashes around in the air, coating my already gross fur as I land. My feet feel sticky and wet, which is fine since I’m used to it; having lived in a sewer all of my life and all.

Scampering across the room I scurry-scurry as I hurry-hurry to the other side, running beneath the brazier over to th...

Chapter 73

There is a surprised shriek from the priestess, who is just a little squeamish apparently. The hero who reached out to stop the one closest to him is now on the ground trying to stop the man’s bleeding. What a great guy. He calls to the priestess, who is still processing the situation, only for the wizard to shout something back and stop her mid-motion. They seem to be at odds about the situation. The monk is standing in the doorway, rather indifferent to everything. The thief, well, she is...

Chapter 72

Sprinting up the staircase as fast as I can, knowing I am living on borrowed time as always, I don’t stop to admire the architecture as one might say. This staircase I am rising upward, this tiny little construction fit only for a creature my size. Perfectly made for a rat and a rat alone. Well… maybe a ghost too? But not much else. It’s not much larger than one of the pipes I just came out of. The hero couldn’t even fit his boot in here.

So what does that mean? It me...

Chapter 71

Well, that happened. At least I got to die to white-magic again which was nice. But on the other hand I failed to learn anything. So… the same as always? The more things change the more they stay the same I guess.

So, guy, can we talk? I feel like we need to talk. It’s not you, it’s me, okay? Okay. So, I can’t help but feel like some force, some cosmic being is pulling my strings here. Just a little, you know? Some cruel overlord closing the curtain before my eyes eve...

Chapter 70

I look at the group of humans walking past me, walking down the way; I assume towards the chamber of the rat-queen. Did I just understand them? The priestess and the monk? I float after them, gliding behind them just above the surface of the green water. I’ve never understood them before. Does that mean I’m some kind of human-ghost?

Wait.

If there are human ghosts, does that mean there are like… slime ghosts? Rat ghosts? What about me? Do I leave a ghos...

Chapter 69

Well. Okay. This isn’t going great. Uh. Hmm. Let’s just chalk it up to being unlucky? Ah. Everything feels… bad.

Once again I fall down below, returning to the dungeon and coming into a new body and life. I open my eyes and look around. Ah! A skeleton today. Nice! Okay. Uh. Looking around I see that I’m the labyrinth for like the millionth time. Well, whatever. Okay! Let’s get going I think to myself, dragging my rusted mace along behind me.

Somethi...

Chapter 68

I die.

In an instant I am ripped from this strange mortal coil and am flung up into the all encompassing darkness that is the ‘other side’. Only after my spirit shoots out of me as if propelled by the force of the explosion itself, as I fly and spiral wildly out of control into that place, only then do I stop moving, stop being. Only then do I have a second to gather myself and to collect my thoughts. Only then do I have a second to leave the emotionality of the goblin el...

Chapter 67

Gold coins fly around us, rolling and falling down to the floor below as we dig into the heap of treasure that is piled high against the wall. Soon enough I see it, the tip of the dark-metal spear buried in the mound of treasure beneath us. Together we both grab the weapon by the neck just beneath the blade and pull, struggling to release it free from the grave it found itself in. This was a lot easier when I was a minotaur. This thing is pretty heavy.

But as my second hand r...