Dungeon 42

As Agony's visit drew near, I was working on some housekeeping tasks. One of the big ones was getting the teleport pads sorted out and color-coding them. I'd found an option in their settings to restrict how they could be used.

I set the majority of them to only allow repeat visitors to use them both ways. If someone made it through a layer to a safe zone, they wouldn't have to fully restart their progress if they returned to attempt another delve.

The change meant I had to edit how the boss rooms were accessed, however. I didn't want people abusing the privilege to farm bosses. For that, they'd have to restart the section and work their way back to the encounter.

Thankfully the store had a couple of options to restrict backtracking. I didn't have to reinvent the wheel, and quickly installed some magic barriers. While I was at it, a nasty thought occurred to me. I felt a little shiver of anticipation. I'd definitely need to show Agony my idea when he arrived.

When the last of the heavy lifting I'd be able to complete was done, I settled in to work on some lower-priority tasks. I'd put off selecting materials to encourage low-level gathers in the blue stack. It was a project that was hard to get excited about when I had other more engaging design work still on the list.

Despite my lack of enthusiasm, I got to it. First, I researched and picked out deposits of minerals, moss, fungi, and anything else cave-appropriate that people had a use for. That turned into me trying to find matching entries in my store. I got lucky and their were a fair amount.

Once placement started, I got into it and found myself having fun. It was like when I fussed with the lighting. It didn't seem like much, but it added to the environment in interesting and subtle ways. It removed an uncomfortable sense of sterility I'd been struggling with without knowing exactly what the problem was.

Pleased with the effect, I ended up re-sculpted the environment to include more natural elements. It wasn't possible or even desirable to remove all traces of intentional design. The difference was now it felt lived in and integrated.

By the end, I didn't even mind that my alterations came with a cost. Five mana a day in upkeep to maintain the generous respawn rates I'd set for materials wasn’t much. Everything I'd placed would be routinely available but not inexhaustible.

The day Agony was due to arrive, I felt relaxed. The nerves that first came when the notice arrived were long gone. Instead of hurrying to decorate, I was in my chamber of machinations doing layout work.

There was a long list of other things I could be doing, but I found the activity grounding. I had plenty to show Agony already. It was better to be a calm and happy host than frantically trying to impress.

When the hour of Agony's arrival finally arrived, I realized I didn't know how a visit actually worked. Of course, I could have texted him to ask, but it just hadn't occurred to me. That pulled a groan out of me as I knew I'd been thoughtless.

With only a couple of minutes left until Agony would arrive, I sent him a text but didn't expect a reply. Or at least not one soon enough to matter. I hoped he’d show up near me, but if he arrived somewhere else, I'd just go find him when he appeared.

When the timer on the request hit zero, I felt a shiver roll through me. A swirling vortex of darkness laced with faint colors had silently appeared. A shrill doorbell sounded, surprising me so much that I just stood staring dumbly. I looked for a knob or other means of admitting my guest but didn't find one.

"Come in?" I said tentatively. The vortex cleared to reveal an arctic environment. I was too confused by the scene to notice something had hit me. Looking down, I found Agony shivering as he huddled against my chest, his glow looking dull.

"Felicity!" He said through chattering, something. I assumed teeth, but I'd never noticed anything though I could clearly hear a sound like it. Scooping him into my hands, I brought him over to the lava pool and set him down in it. Steam rose off of him, and he immediately perked up, his body taking on a brighter intensity.

"What happened?" I asked after a couple of minutes. He was making happy little sounds, so I hadn't wanted to rush him while he recovered. Like the hounds, he was able to sink into the superheated rock like it was water.

"Portal misrouted the first time," Agony said as he floated in the pool, then let himself sink underneath.

"Happens so much it's basically normal, but that sucked," He added. I realized the lava wasn't impeding his ability to talk. That was a bridge too far, and I felt my mind cramp up at the sight.

"Why does it behave like water when…." I mumbled to myself, scooping some up in my hand to have it run out rather than ooze. It hadn't behaved like this when the heroes in the tutorial encountered it.

"Because magic and shit," Agony said helpfully as he came back up to the surface. Because magic. Yeah, using my brain wasn’t going to solve this one so much as invite further trauma.

“Noted… And you cuss now?" I asked, surprised to hear him say shit. I was numb to the word generally, but it was shocking coming from him.

"Did I? Shit, fuck, cock sucking hell! Alright, I'm free of the auto censor!" Agony chirped. He rose up out of the lava to shake himself like one of the hounds. I laughed as much at the shaking as the enthusiastic cussing.

The hounds had appeared, curious to see the much-anticipated guest was. My original plan had been to take Agony on a tour almost immediately, but the hounds had other ideas.

"Come with us! We know the best places!" Blackmoor yapped.

"Well, uhm… 42?" Agony asked, looking torn.

"Feel free. Nothing I've got planned is on a timer," I said simply. Agony nodded then the three were taking off to explore. I felt a warmth at the sight that had nothing to do with ambient heat.

I was proud of the hound's layer. I'd been slowly adding to it with both lava and non-lava tiles to give the hounds room to run. It was definitely one of my passion projects, second only to the necropolis.

Left on my own for a bit, I poked at the lava pool with my tail. It sank in with only the barest suggestion of resistance. The way it behaved was brain-stabby uncomfortable if I thought about it, so I just didn't.

Instead, I settled in like it was a hot tub. A soothing feeling of warmth enveloped me. It was an hour before Agony and the hounds were done with their little adventure. When they got back, Agony recounted the highlights, pleased with everything I'd set up.

"Do you feel up to exploring some of the colder parts of the dungeon? I hadn't considered that they might make you uncomfortable," I asked. In the tutorial, he'd moved around freely regardless of temperature. Because of that, it hadn't seemed like something I needed to worry about. Now, after seeing him half-frozen, I felt cautious.

"Oh, no, I'll be perfectly fine. I'm synced with your dungeon’s mana now, so while this area feels fantastic, I won't be uncomfortable elsewhere. Like these guys," Agony explained. He gave the hounds tiny pats. I felt relatively sure they couldn't feel them since they didn't immediately mob him for more.

"Alright then, ready for the grand tour?" I asked. Agony shot over to rest on my shoulder.

"Lead on, Mistress," Agony chirped. Amused, I tilted my head, and he leaned into the gesture like a hug. I could feel the faintest suggestion of contact and warmth, which was welcome after enduring my general numbness for so long.

The first stop was nearby, so I didn't have anything to narrate. I just floated over and gestured dramatically at the waiting area I'd installed.

"Well, this is my chamber of machinations. Not too exciting, but if you're interested in a beverage, it's the place to go," I chirped. Once we were past the waiting room, Agony left my shoulder to get a better look on his own.

Unlike when I was first getting started, the designs on the wall were neater. On one side, I had the scale drawings of the different layers. The completed ones were filled in with proper maps. Those still in progress were left blank.

The layouts I was still working on were featured on the opposite wall. Instead of single drawings for each, I had thumbnails and rough sketches grouped and color-coded. Numbers corresponding to their place in the overall design. They kept the drawings and what they were for from tangling or getting lost.

The back wall was taken up by plans for the temple. The overall design of the exterior was settled though it needed refinement. What had me hung up with that project was the interior layout. Part of me wanted the simplicity of a single large room, but that wasn't a realistic design.

Places of worship needed the ability to serve a variety of functions in my own world. I wasn't even sure how the goddess would usually be worshipped on this one. I needed to do more research before I committed to anything.

Anything but the giant statue I'd already installed inside it. In a fit of inspiration, I'd created an abbreviated version of the exterior triptych. My eventual plan was to make it a fountain, but I was a ways off from being done with it enough to fuss with water element placement. Depending on what my research turned up, I might change its design or remove it.

"I can't say no one's ever done it, but this is literally the first time I've seen a DM map things like this," Agony said, giving me a grin. He'd been flitting about taking in everything while I lounged on the couch with a chaos soda.

"Most just wing it from what I've seen," Agony added. I winced at that.

"Ah, I can't do that. I'd lose my mind. Or, at the very least, track of everything I had going on," I said honestly. It could work on a smaller project, but I couldn't imagine doing something this big that way. I'd been suffering through using the art interface alone at first, but that was still documenting my process.

"Yeah, I can see why. You don't do things halfway," Agony said, chuckling as he gestured at the wall. Wanting to be a good host, I held up a can of chaos soda.

"A friend, Steve, sent me this. Want some?" I asked. When Agony nodded, I made a tiny cup and poured it for him. He watched me in amusement but accepted without apparent issue.

"Was he your recruiter?" Agony asked. He took a long drink, then sighed, apparently enjoying whatever flavor came up.

"Yeah, he seems…nice," I hedged. I only had a general impression and didn't really know much about Steve. He might have been an absolute douche canoe once you got to actually know him. I hoped not. My friend's list had exactly three entries at the moment, and I was reluctant to give one up.

"He's super awkward, but yeah, I'd call him nice. He's usually good to his placements," Agony said and finished his drink. I offered him more, but he declined. Then, turning around to look at the wall with the temple on it, he burst out laughing.

"What?" I asked, confused by his response.

"Nothing, it's great. Just… When it's done, make sure you send Steve a pic. He'll love it," Agony assured me. I looked at him narrowly while he grinned impishly. I tilted my head as I decided I wouldn't be doing that anytime soon. I considered Agony a friend, but his vibe was very 'shit starting for fun' at the moment.

"I'll think about it," I hedged.

"Boo, you're no fun," Agony replied, but laughed despite his words. There wasn't anything serious in his tone. Yep, I definitely wasn't going to walk into this trap, though I'd have been lying if I wasn't curious about why it was a trap.

Agony looked at me with a kind of knowing grin, like he could see the suggestion had gotten its hooks in me. I gave him a soft poke, and Agony hissed, which was a mistake on his part. It was adorable.