Dungeon Life

I look through the eyes of my scions at everyone gathered, and can’t help but feel humbled. Having everyone gathered puts the upcoming battle into perspective. There’s a lot of people willing to risk everything for this, and that only counts the ones actively here for this ceremony.

Every single one of my wayward dwellers is here, from support to combatants, but they’re not the only ones. There’s a surprising number of adventurers joining in this, too. I didn’t realize any had converted. Or maybe I didn’t want to think about that. Probably the second option. I’d probably be trying to discourage them, if I didn’t want to get every iota of help for this that I can.

Everyone is gathered in a large cavern well outside the Maw’s territory, with Aranya and my scions in a loose circle in the center. I can even feel Violet, Hullbreak, and the Southwood paying close attention to the various bonds with me, each lending their support in their own way.

Support isn’t even limited to the people here, either. Even with the adventurer’s guild waiting in the tunnels for their chance to join the fighting, there are plenty of other delvers back home. They’re not exactly master combatants, but my denizens understand how to set a proper difficulty curve by now.

Rezlar even has his guards helping escort crafting groups, with Rhonda and Freddie joining his Larrez disguise to give more support. Those three are currently tearing through the lava labyrinth, dealing with traps and encounters, generally having fun and helping to keep my mana flowing.

It’s intimidating, if I’m honest, having everyone raring to go. But it’s way too late to get cold feet for this. Teemo? Let’s do it.

My Voice nods from Aranya’s shoulder, and speaks. “Butterfly Effect.” My gathered scions echo him in their ways, using the same skill as my High Priestess opens her eyes and looks up at everyone gathered around her.

“In an ancient tale, a single nail leads to the downfall of a kingdom.”

A lot of people take the butterfly effect to be a time travel thing. If you go back into the past and step on a butterfly, oops, humanity never existed. I always likened it to the myth of a butterfly flapping its wings on one side of the globe and causing hurricanes on the other side. Whatever the origin, the basic principle is the same: small causes can have big effects.

“Butterfly Effect,” repeats Teemo, my scions following up with their own uses of the skill.

“A blacksmith runs out of nails for horseshoes, and so the shoe is not as secure as it would need to be.”

Combination skills are powerful. I’ve seen all kinds of groups bring attacks together to decisively end a fight in a spectacular way. I even wonder if Rocky is comboing with himself sometimes with his advanced moves. Teemo’s Butterfly Effect is a weird skill, though, in that I think it combos with itself. With just one person, it takes a bit of setup. When multiple people contribute to the setup, though…

“Butterfly Effect.”

“The horse throws the shoe at the worst possible time, creating a gap in a charge.”

I can feel the air tingle with power already, though it’s mostly through Thing’s senses. He can feel not only the mana from my scions, but also the faith of the gathered dwellers and adventurers. They know vaguely that we’re doing something big, but I didn’t give out the details of it just yet.

“Butterfly Effect.”

“With the charge broken, the tide of battle is turned. It’s only a matter of time before the army is routed.”

The tension in the gathered believers slowly turns to confidence, as even they can feel that something is happening. Fluffles can feel the energy swirling, and taps into his Conduit title to ensure he can manage the flow properly. My mana dips as he draws on it. It’s just a drop in the bucket right now, but I don’t think it’s going to stay like that.

“Butterfly Effect.”

“With no army to protect it, a vital supply route is captured.”

Rocky reaches and helps Fluffles with the flow of energy. He might not be an expert in Fate affinity, but he’s only been getting better and better at translating the stability of his boxing stance into stability in his magic. Fluffles must be the foundation of this, but Rocky helps ensure the growing structure can float like a butterfly before delivering a sting stronger than any bee. Nova pitches in at this point, too, adding her burgeoning sense of art to Rocky’s established martial sense, bringing a unique kind of structure and stability to the effort. The structure takes a bite out of my stockpiled mana, instead of just a nibble. It’s only going to get more expensive from here.

“Butterfly Effect.”

“With the supply line lost, other armies find themselves wanting for far more than just nails. The whole front is unsustainable.”

Queen and Thing assist now, each intimately familiar with complex magical constructs. They are used to working with physical media to impart their magical effect, but Rocky, Nova and Fluffles are all more than willing to follow their guidance and hold the threads as they form. The threads thicken to ropes and cables as my mana rushes through them, intermingling with the faith of those gathered.

“Butterfly Effect.”

“The front is a loss, and the cities of the kingdom fall, one by one… until only the capital remains.”

The floodgates open as Honey, Slash, and Leo add their efforts to the brewing spell. Slash knows how to sense the earth and air, the vibrations of life echoing through each. It’s so much information, far too much for Fluffles to handle on his own, but Honey is up to the task. It’s sorted, categorized, and organized for Fluffles to understand. While Honey is the mistress of understanding what is, Leo is a commander and understands how things will react. The thick cables of mana fray to tiny threads, spreading over the area and beyond, slowly encompassing the Maw and its territory in a delicate net of possibilities.

“Surrounded on all sides, the capital has no chance. When the fighting is over, it’s razed to the ground.”

“Butterfly Effect!”

Aranya’s eyes glow orange as she helps direct the faith of the gathered dwellers and adventurers, and Fluffles’ eyes do the same as he spreads his wings wide. My mana plummets from the draw, but it’s too late to slow down now, let alone stop. I draw from the ally pool as my own mana almost bottoms out. I can feel the threads pulse in time with the flow from the shared pool.

Violet tries to contribute to the cause, her mana a trickle among raging rapids, but every mote matters. Hullbreak follows right behind her, his own flow not enough to stem the tide, but at least enough to slow it, if only just. The Southwood opens his own mana holds, the initial influx actually enough to fight back the drain for a few moments, before it too is swallowed by the ravenous spell we’re casting.

I nervously watch as the shared mana drains away, uncertain what I’ll do if all that’s left is Violet’s college fund. That’s hers, not mine! The demarcation has really only been in my head, but I still can’t go taking that from her!

And yet the stores dip and dip, wane and wane, until finally stopping. It took everything except for Violet’s college fund. If this wasn’t a major Fate magic, I’d be suspicious about that. I don’t really have a chance to focus on that, though, as the magic finally stabilizes. I realize all my scions have glowing orange eyes for a few moments, before Aranya speaks up once more.

“Small causes can have big effects. Small mistakes can topple kingdoms. A single stroke of bad luck can devastate even the strongest foe. What can go wrong, will go wrong.”

The threads burst into orange motes with the declaration, settling into everything in… I don’t even know how big of an area. Combination skills seem to be more than the sum of their parts, and we had a lot of parts in this one. Each of my scions, contributions from each of my dungeon friends, and the combined faith of probably a hundred people. It all seems to just barely be enough, or maybe the effect is proportional to how much effort we put into it. Considering when the drain stopped, that’s a distinct possibility. I feel the name of the attack before Teemo can utter it, and I’m equally relieved it worked, and worried about what we’ve just unleashed.

Teemo’s voice seems to reverberate through reality itself as he declares the combination attack finished.

“Murphy’s Law.”