Dungeon Master (Karma System)

Hizon opened the Goblin Foundry to adventurers three days after Brannik returned.

He did not announce the coming dungeon battle, while it was unlikely there was always a chance that the fungal dungeon had contracted adventurers inside Max’s dungeon. The adventurers entering the new instance believed they were testing another attraction in the Undercity. Hizon used their attempts to find problems his own creatures had learned to avoid.

The first party broke a steam line in the upper workshop and filled an entire corridor with scalding vapor. Goblin workers knew which emergency valves to close. The adventurers did not, and the vapor concealed them long enough to bypass a defensive position.

The second party used ice magic to jam two moving partitions at once. The mechanisms survived, but the goblins operating them could not force either wall to move.

The third party discovered that an ember slime would follow heated metal. They threw a furnace hook past a group of defenders and watched the slime abandon its channel to chase it.

The Artificer objected to all three solutions.

Hizon allowed two of them to remain.

”The steam line needs a guard plate.” Hizon said. ”Breaking one pipe should not disable the corridor. The partitions remain as they are. If a mage spends enough power to freeze both tracks, the party earned the opening.”

The Artificer pointed toward the ember slime contained behind a grate. ”And this?”

”Move the emergency furnace hooks away from the channel. Adventurers may bring their own heated metal if they think of it.”

The Artificer made the changes while complaining quietly about people who used tools incorrectly.

The public tests accomplished more than revealing weaknesses. They forced foundry crews to operate without the Artificer directing every movement. During a regular dungeon attempt, he would begin inside the Ant Hill. If the foundry collapsed without him, it would never serve as a final defensive level.

After seven days of public attempts, three parties reached the Forgeguard.

None defeated him.

One party forced him away from the center of his chamber, but the red lines marking his protected position moved with him until he reached the inner door. The Forgeguard planted his shield there and refused to yield another step.

The adventurers died with the core route still sealed behind him.

Hizon closed the foundry for one day of maintenance.

The dungeon battle would begin after that day.

Brannik’s maps covered the table in the control room. The Artificer had placed pieces of colored stone over the known junctions. Smaller markers represented fungal guards, moths, Stalkers, and the tall figure seen beside the underground stream.

”Heat will destroy exposed cords.” The Artificer said. ”It will not help if they grow beneath the floor.”

”The valley has prepared burn lines.” Hizon said.

”The Ant Hill does not.”

”Because fire moving through those tunnels would kill our people before it reached the fungus.”

Brannik tapped one of the junction markers. ”Cutting these slowed everything connected to them. The smaller strands repaired the damage, but not immediately.”

”Then we do not need to burn the entire network.” Hizon said. ”We separate pieces of it and destroy the creatures before they reconnect.”

The goblin king leaned over the table. His presence strengthened every goblin and hobgoblin inside his aura, making him one of Hizon’s most valuable defenders.

”Where do you want me?”

Hizon considered placing him in the valley. The open battlefield would allow his aura to reach the largest number of creatures. It would also expose him early.

”Begin behind the first valley line.” Hizon said. ”Withdraw before the enemy reaches the Ant Hill. You will defend the central tunnels after that.”

The goblin king frowned. ”You expect us to lose the valley?”

”I expect the enemy to enter with half of everything it controls. If it cannot take one level, then we choose a weak opponent.”

”We did choose a weak opponent.” The king said.

”We chose an opponent we believe we can defeat. That is not the same thing.”

Hizon had believed Max was weak because he relied on instances to limit adventures and stop them from over running him. He would not repeat the mistake by treating limited information as proof.

The defense valley received the last equipment purchased before the challenge. Fire pots were buried along prepared strips of ground. Armored covers protected the triggering mechanisms from spores and corrosive growth. Goblin Trappers marked retreat lanes that could be closed behind the defenders.

Hizon purchased additional filter masks for his officers and the crews controlling the largest mechanisms. He could not protect every goblin from airborne attacks. Trying would consume the DP needed for the battle itself.

The Foundry received additional fuel, replacement filters, and sealed stores of clean water. The Ant Hill received oil, cutting tools, and carts positioned along the planned withdrawal routes.

Hizon kept a reserve of DP even though he could not spend it once the challenge began. If the fungal dungeon chose to delay its response or if new information appeared before he issued the challenge, the reserve gave him room to adapt. He would not empty his core merely because preparations felt complete.

Defense was only one possible outcome.

Because Hizon would issue the challenge, the opposing Dungeon Master would decide which dungeon received the first attack. Hizon believed the fungal Dungeon Master would choose to invade, but believing something did not excuse him from preparing for the opposite.

He removed the valley markers from the table and replaced them with the forces available for an immediate assault.

Dungeon rules would allow Hizon to lead only half of his manpower into Fungal Hollow if the opposing Dungeon Master chose to defend. The remaining creatures would stay behind, prepared for an enemy counterattack if Hizon’s invading force was defeated.

”The Forgeguard stays here under either choice.” Hizon said.

The Artificer looked toward him. ”You purchased him to defend the last chamber. That is obvious.”

”It also means I cannot bring one of my strongest creatures into Fungal Hollow.”

”Then do not fail before you need him.”

Brannik moved markers into two groups. The scouts, selected Bombardier Beetles, and several trained hobgoblin units joined Hizon’s attacking force. The goblin king remained with the dungeon because his aura would strengthen the much larger number of goblins left behind.

The Artificer stayed with the Ant Hill and Foundry. His machines could defend those levels without him during public operation, but a dungeon battle was the reason he had built many of their hidden controls.

Hizon studied the smaller attacking force.

If the fungal Dungeon Master chose to defend, Hizon would enter unfamiliar terrain without first reducing the enemy’s numbers. His scouts would guide the assault toward the known junctions. The Bombardier Beetles would open contaminated routes, and the hobgoblins would protect the goblins carrying tools needed to sever the network.

”If we attack first, we do not try to clear every chamber.” Hizon said. ”We damage the junctions, force the network to reveal what it protects, and continue toward the core. If our advance fails, the survivors withdraw before the enemy enters our dungeon.”

Brannik finished dividing the markers. ”It will not be as favorable as defending first.”

”No. But it will not be a surprise.”

Hizon restored the valley markers. He still expected the fungal Dungeon Master to attack. Preparing the second plan made that expectation a judgment rather than a gamble.

When every assignment had been reviewed, Hizon went to Max.

Max met him in the monitoring room beneath Sanctuary. Displays showed activity throughout the dungeon. Adventurers moved through duplicated copies of Fey Nights, Orc Highlands, the third level, and Dread Fort. Other screens showed caravans arriving in Sanctuary and people traveling across Corathen.

Hizon placed Brannik’s map on the table.

”The scouts found the creature we believe is the Dungeon Master.” Hizon said. ”The dungeon operates through fungal junctions that pass information between its creatures. We are prepared to defend against an invasion and to attack if it chooses the other role.”

Max examined the marked network. ”How certain are you?”

”Certain enough to issue the challenge. Not certain enough to believe everything will follow the plan.”

”That is usually how plans work.”

Hizon waited while Max read the scouts’ report.

”Do you want anything from my dungeon?” Max asked.

”No.”

”You answered quickly.”

”I chose the target. If my creatures cannot defend my core or claim the enemy’s, then another force under your command will only conceal the problem.”

Max looked toward the displays showing Hizon’s levels. ”I will be watching. If the battle turns into something that threatens more than your dungeon, I will step in.”

”It will not.”

”I hope you are right.”

There was no insult in the answer. Max had allowed Hizon to control his own dungeon, earn his own DP, and create his own attractions. He was also responsible for everything connected beneath Crag Dungeon. Allowing Hizon to lead did not require him to ignore a disaster.

”I will notify you before I begin.” Hizon said.

He returned to the Undercity and spent the next several hours inspecting each defensive level.

The Forgeguard waited in his chamber wearing armor produced inside the foundry. The plates surrounding his shield arm were thicker than those protecting his weapon side. Channels ran from his boots to his shoulders, ready to carry heat and power from the floor beneath him.

”How long can you hold the chamber?” Hizon asked.

”Until I am defeated.”

”That answer tells me nothing.”

”Then ask the enemy after they fail to move me.”

Hizon accepted that the Forgeguard was ready.

The Artificer stood in the Ant Hill’s final workshop, surrounded by carts carrying tools and unfinished mechanisms. Each cart had a place in the retreat order. Nothing essential would depend upon goblins deciding what to take while enemies approached.

”If this position is breached, leave it.” Hizon said.

The Artificer did not look away from the mechanism he was adjusting. ”I know the plan.”

”You know the machines. I am reminding you that they are not worth your life.”

The Artificer finally looked at him. ”They will all be restored after the battle. I will not. Not until it ends.”

”Good.”

At the valley, Brannik inspected the routes leading back to the Ant Hill. The goblin king waited with the reserve. Bullet ant riders moved between prepared positions while Bombardier Beetles settled behind earthen barriers.

Hizon returned to his control room.

He sent Max a brief notice.

Then he opened the challenge command, selected the independent dungeon beneath the eastern forest, and approved the cost.

[Challenge target confirmed.]

[Fungal Hollow has been challenged to a Dungeon Battle.]

[DP expenditures for both dungeons have been frozen.]

[The challenged Dungeon Master will select his role.]

Hizon studied the newly revealed name.

Fungal Hollow.

The dungeon finally had something he could call it.