Dungeon 42

A Little Fun

Chapter 187

It wasn’t until the next sunset that I got to watch the bats leave the mountain in a great cloud. Access to the outdoors suited them and the farm mentioned a sudden drastic drop in undesirable insects. That was just a perk though, truthfully they were just fun to watch and I liked the dramatic flair of it.

Not that I’d been idle after adding an exit for them. I’d tinkered with it, making it like a natural cave. They’d also been recategorized from boss of the green stacks to environmental hazard.

The floor plan edit remained stalled, but that wasn’t too much of a concern. Selecting a new boss was the bigger issue, but not one I felt rushed about. The bats would still do the job until I figured out what I wanted to do.

In the meantime I’d added in a couple interesting mushroom options to increase the overall hazard while I was at it. Nothing outright lethal, but a couple with hallucinogenic or mildly toxic spores. The rest were edible or medicinal, though in fairness the difference between poison and medicine was the dose so some of those were toxic too before processing.

Mostly on a whim I extended the mushrooms down into the moles area after making sure none of them were harmful to them. It wasn’t like any of them would die permanently, I just didn’t want them suffering if they accidently were exposed. Or purposely for that matter, an adventurer with some imagination might get up to some messed up stuff with the right materials.

I added some crystal formations mostly because I liked the way they looked. They grew larger the deeper one went. None of it interfered with anything strategic, but I couldn’t say they added a lot either aside from a couple of floor minor plan changes. Still, it was better than sitting idle just because I was low on inspiration and certainly more fun.

The insects for the mole levels also got an upgrade in terms of strength and variety. Something the moles enjoyed as well. Prey variety apparently added to their fun. None of the insects were set to respawn aside from a couple of the stronger ones like Squish. Replacements for the rest were supplied by nests which would rebuild if destroyed.

Considering what I’d done already, I dropped down to the lava layers to visit the hounds. This time it wasn’t just for cuddles, though those happened too. The puppies were still really young in my opinion, but big enough to explore.

They also already ranked C and would grow into B’s like their parents. It wouldn’t be too hard to add some weaker monsters for them to chase around and hunt once they were a bit older. It might also give Stalin and Blackmoor an outlet for their bloodlust.

I was mobbed by the hounds as soon as I arrived but they eventually let me sit up and talk.

“So, should I add some prey animals?” I asked Stalin and Blackmoor. They’d listened almost patiently to my explanation of what I’d been doing on other layers.

“YES! YES! YES!” they both yipped together, running excited circles around me.

Once the hounds were done thanking me, I started adding creatures. I mostly selected the environment's equivalent of herbivores, creatures that just fed on heat itself. There were a couple of lizards and a few other animals that fit the bill, but I avoided ones that would defend in groups.

The options weren’t impressive given that the strongest pack creature in the classifications I was looking at were fire rats. I doubted the fire rats would give the puppies much trouble, but didn’t want to risk it.

The rats brought to mind the tutorial and I shuddered. I’d seen more people die horribly since then. If I still occasionally smelled a phantom wisp of bbq, that was probably normal. Or possibly I had a little ptsd about it. Either way, it was my dungeon and I wasn’t going to examine that thought line any further than I had to.

“Mistress! Can't we have something stronger to hunt?” Stalin asked, begging a little.

“Yeah, just not on this layer. I’m adding stronger options to the area’s the puppies can't get to,” I assured him. My choices were a bit limited since I still had some restrictions about what I’d place until the area was larger.

The creatures I was selecting would be little more than annoyances for adventurers who made it so far, but would make decent sport for the hounds. My choices were also limited just a bit by ethics or squeamishness, depending on how you looked at it.

As much as I liked the hounds and wanted them to have fun, I wasn’t going to sacrifice something sapient to amuse them. Doing that would just be cruel, and using respawn would make it worse. The skeletons couldn’t feel pain, but living creatures very much could.

With the new prey animals in place, I decided to take a moment to observe how the hounds and their puppies reacted to the changes.

“Alright, everything should be good to go. Have fun!” I called out. The hounds had been waiting in their den since they couldn’t contain their excitement while they waited. Having literally released the hounds, I just stood back and watched the mayhem unfold.

The puppies were immediately on the hunt and quickly chasing small lizards among the rocks. Stalin and Blackmoor were doing the same, but more aggressively. I couldn't help but smile at the sight of the puppies, their tails wagging with excitement.

With the hounds and their puppies contentedly hunting their new prey, I turned my attention back to the other layers of the dungeon. I really had been fretting, as Henry had so bluntly pointed out.

An idea finally occurred to me, I merged the bats and moles into a single stack rather than treating them as separate. That was mostly a classification difference at first. The layer designs were thematically similar and I’d honestly been treating the bats more like a miniboss in the first place.

It wasn’t until I moved the bats area down to the moles boss room that things really felt different. I expanded the room and raised the ceiling to accommodate both creatures more easily. After that I was punching holes in things to give the Bats more avenues to travel between the layers.

I still had to add some additional swarms to really make it work though. By the end I’d nearly tripled their original population, but I didn’t mind. They weren’t expensive and honestly I felt like they really added to the ambiance of everything.

I took account of all the changes I’d made. The entry layer was untouched, it served its purpose nicely as it was. The blue stack’s three gathering layers were similar left alone. The green stack, the first set of real challenges, was now six layers in total. All of them were a bit larger than before with higher ceilings to accommodate the bats.

It only cost a few extra titles since I was mostly just fiddling with existing layouts. The aesthetic changes were more pronounced, but I wasn’t concerned. It wasn’t like I needed to worry about everything matching up.

No one who’d gotten so far had lived to tell the tale. Besides, the dungeon being what it was, anyone who noticed a change would likely just chalk it up to magic and leave it there.

I still didn’t have much in the way of creative energy, but I definitely felt better now. Looking at the yellow stacks I still fought down a wince. All of its layers were all basically stubs since I’d decided to increase the number. An idea that was quickly followed by a total lack of motivation.

I couldn’t help but laugh at myself. Looking at the bat layout I hadn’t implemented, I moved it to the top of the yellow stack. It wasn’t much more than a maze at this point, but it was better than nothing.

Using my other surplus tiles I made similar layouts. Little more than time eating mazes that wouldn’t be much of a challenge beyond the navigation issue they presented. Still, it was something and knocking them out only took a few hours altogether.

I could make something better later. For the moment it was enough that I had increased my defenses a bit. As if agreeing with me, I felt a lowkey hum of anxiety lighten a little. I assumed it was just me being restless but now I had to wonder if it wasn’t my instincts as a dungeon master acting up.

I laughed again, not really sure but glad it had gotten better. I’d keep working on things, that was a given, but I’d try and not let myself feel so cornered again. It was nice to know that Henry would speak up if he noticed something was wrong, but it wasn’t something I wanted to depend on.

Occasionally it was fine, but I needed to take care of myself as an individual much as everything else. Letting myself get twisted up in my head wasn’t going to do anyone any favors. Selfcare being basic to mental health and all that

Stretching then twisting my body into a boneless pretzel configuration to really get all the kinks out, I sighed. I felt accomplished and was very much done with actual work for the moment. It was time I went and saw what the dungeon denizens and townsfolk were up to.

After all, all work and no play would make 42 a dull girl.