Dungeon Life

Chapter Six: Making Friends

Ill admit: elf guy shook me up with his cryptic parting words. Well, at least it seems to confirm that my core and my Sanctum are important. Definitely keeping it Secret for now. Some of his other words also make me curious. He mentioned other rooms. Other rooms like what? If theyre anything like the Sanctum, Ill probably want to keep them secret, too. And, if theyre anything like the Sanctum, the room can be tiny.

I set my queen to digging out a few extra chambers for me, and to keep expanding the Sanctum. The Core is about a golfball now, so I cant get complacent with the chamber its in. I wouldnt want it to get stuck. It actually doesnt take long for the first chamber to be finished, and when I focus on it, I see a couple interesting options: Library and Lab.

Hows that supposed to work? Well, no time like the present. I designate the first chamber as a Library, and it pops up as a Secret Library. Cool. A small scrap of paper also appears in my library. I focus in on it as I wonder what it does.

Whats this?

Oh. Its like a little notepad. Uh erase? Ah, good, that worked. I dont exactly have enough paper to just go putting useless questions like that on it. The second chamber is about finished now, too, so I designate it as a Lab, and sure enough, its now my Secret Lab. No papers appear in it, though. How do I make it work, then? I poke around with it a bit, though I dont get anything to pop up. Until an ant wanders through with a bit of mushroom in her mandibles. Combine, eh? Well, that has all sorts of interesting implications. I tell the queen to send a few workers to get some of the herbs from the patch and a bit of the spell spores, because I think its experimenting time!

No, wait its visitor time. Oh hey, its the kids. Theyre looking better now, too. Rhonda has a simple little robe on and a wand that doesnt still have bark on it. Freddie has some clothes that look similar to denim on, and a little wooden shield to go with his club. It still has bark on it, but its a bit thicker and has a decent knot on the business end. Seems like a good upgrade in gear to me.

This time, interestingly enough, its Freddie who seems uncertain about being here. Really, Rhonda? Thats what you want as a familiar?

Well no, actually. Freddie seems to relax at her reply, at least until she continues. That was a Scion, so I cant make that my familiar. But there might be a different big spider like that to tame. Freddie visibly shudders at the idea of taming a spider, and Im curious. A familiar? Interesting. I have been getting a decent number of odd larger spiders recently.

So how do we go about taming one, then? Beat it up and nurse it back to health? Rhonda looks aghast at the idea. What? No! I have to befriend it!

How do you befriend a spider? Freddie asks incredulously, and Rhonda looks a bit bashful. Im, uh not sure. Old Staiven has a bunch of books on familiars, but he says he believes in learning on the job. Freddie doesnt look very impressed about her mentor, and Rhonda cant help but speak up to defend him. He didnt send me out with nothing, though! He said I should find out what my familiar wants, and provide it.

Then whats a spider want, besides to crawl on peoples faces while theyre trying to sleep? asks Freddie, shuddering once again. Rhonda just giggles. Well food and safety, I guess? But these arent just normal spiders here. They also want to guard their dungeon.

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But if theyre your familiar, wont they not be able to stay here to guard the dungeon?

Um kinda. But I had an idea for that!

The bucket?

The bucket! she exclaims with joy, brandishing a wooden bucket with a small plank over the top.

So hows that help the spider defend the dungeon?

Well just catch some invaders, then feed them to a spider!

Without feeding us to the spiders, too, Freddie deadpans. Rhonda simply smiles and nods, and he rolls his eyes before continuing. OK, so whats an invader? Uh us?

She shakes her head. No, were delvers. Were kinda supposed to be here. Invaders want the core. Old Staiven said with a new dungeon, mice are probably the biggest invaders.

We saw rats, though. Thosere bigger.

Those are denizens, theyre also supposed to be there. Lets try to catch a mouse out here, then try to find a big spider to feed! Huh, thats interesting. I set my crows to leave the kids alone and observe, giving them a chance to catch something.

Hey, what about this big bug, instead? asks Freddie, holding up a large hissing roach in his hand. Rhonda recoils a bit before steeling herself. Thatd probably work? With that, she removes the plank, and Freddie plops it in the bucket.

I mentally shrug and leave them to their hunting, because I can also sense my two reagents are in the lab now. I even have a use for the scrap of paper in the library! Let me see Ochredill and Spell Spore

Ochredill + Spell Spore = ?

Perfect. Hey, ants. Come chew these two things up and mush them together. Im amazing at science. A couple worker ants come to do my bidding, and theyre soon chewing and mushing. Its taking a while though, so I go see what the kids are up to.

I never expected a bucket of roaches and mice to be so easily identifiable by the sound, but it is. The kids look pretty proud of themselves, too. So, we have spider treats. Whats the next step? asks Freddie, seeming a bit more at ease. Kid seems the type to prefer doing than just talking, but at least hes smart enough to know to follow a plan.

Well now we go inside and look for big spiders, and see if any of them are tameable. Freddie still doesnt like the quest, but hes not backing down, good lad. Well, lets go then. He leads the way back to my porch and heads inside, casting a weary look at my various denizens. I have them stand down, despite the big bucket of invaders they have, and the two start looking around.

What kind of spider are we looking for, anyway?

I think I want some kind of hunting spider. Weavers are cool, but I dont want to have to deal with webs everywhere.

So how do we find one of those?

Well theyll be hunting, I guess? A hunter, eh? Well, the best laid plans of mice and men, as they say. Sure, I have a couple large wolfspiders wandering around, about the size of a hand. Thosere probably exactly what she wants. But that bucket also gives me an idea to make their quest a bit harder.

Dont look at me like that. Im still a dungeon, not a supermarket. Or a pet store. I send one of my wolfspiders to scurry through the room to get their attention. Then I send a couple more. Theyre kids, not the elf guy. I cant expect them to spot everything. Freddie actually is the one to spot the 5th spider I send through. Like that one?

Yes! Don't lose it! Rhonda says with excitement and dashes after the spider. They both try to be quiet, but have you ever heard a kid be fast? They can be fast or quiet, not both. Still, I get them to the kitchen, where my little trap is set for them. I do have a couple wolfspiders milling about, mostly because they hadnt wandered out after I had sent them yet.

The real fun is up on the ceiling. Adorable little newbies havent learned the importance of looking up yet. Rhonda hands Freddie the bucket, who puts his club away to take. Kid has a good mentor. If you have to choose between a weapon or your shield, take the shield. Rhonda removes the plank and levitates out a roach, and tries to coax one of the wolfspiders to come eat it. Freddie is keeping a look out, but I dont think the kid has a great spot check, you know?

On the ceiling, my little traps prepare themselves. Ogre-faced Spiders are cool. They have the usual eight eyes, but two of them are huge. Probably because they dont make normal webs and dont do the normal hunting like wolfspiders. They make nets. And they need those eyes to aim those nets.

While Freddie is looking away from the bucket, and Rhonda is distracted, one of the spiders descends, opens her net and plucks a mouse from the bucket without being noticed. She returns to the ceiling and quickly enjoys her meal, before preparing another net.

Come on tasty invader to eat! tries Rhonda, having little luck feeding the spiders.

Maybe they prefer the mice? suggests Freddie, even as another mouse is plucked from the bucket without him noticing. Rhonda sighs and returns to the bucket, tossing the roach back in and levitating out a mouse. I hope so, she says, sounding worried that her plan wont work.

I know the wolfspiders do prefer the mice, but the ogres dont really care either way. The two young delvers return their focus to the wolfspiders, while another net plucks out a few roaches. The wolfspiders immediately notice the mouse, and the nearest one prepares to pounce. There you g-Eep!

I guess she wasnt prepared for them to move quite that quickly. Probably fortunate for her that she was levitating the thing. The mouse is dispatched with a crunch and quickly eaten, and I can actually see a little bar over the spider's head starting to fill.

Its working! Quick give her excited face turns to one of confusion then concern as she turns back towards Freddie. Sitting on the bucket for stability, her dragline keeping her weight off it, one of the ogre-faced spiders is staring at Rhonda as she chews on a mouse.

Freddie says Rhonda, not wanting to startle her friend. I, however, can see the little taming bar fill, and silently laugh as it looks like Freddie gets a notice.

Taming complete? Wha-AAAHHH! His outburst scatters the wolfspiders as he backs away from the bucket and his new tame. She simply holds the bucket now, and reaches a leg in to pluck out a roach to eat as she watches her new master and his party member.