Dungeons Are Bad Business

Brice Gilbert was the first person to visit Vee the next morning. The [Toy Maker] was carrying an old and battered tool box in one hand and a thick stack of papers in the other. He proudly presented the latter to Vee, and said, "I made some more mockups of original '[Hero]' characters. Tell me what you think of them."

Vee did so, taking the papers and looking at the first sheet. It depicted a salamander with two tails and a spear-sword weapon that was nearly as thick as she was. Her armor looked simple enough – a black, jagged jerkin – and Brice had given her the name "Veilee Skywind."

Beneath the name was a short biography. Apparently this fictitious Veilee was a [Dragonslayer] of great renown, overcoming two of the beasts and a [Witch] in single combat.

Raising an eyebrow, Vee looked at Brice. "This is…florid."

The [Toy Maker] shrugged. "I figured that they might be more interesting if they had stories, and once I started thinking like that I decided that we might as well make them exciting. Is it too much?"

"I'm not sure," Vee admitted. "My first instinct is to say that we should probably dial it down a bit, but maybe you've got the right of it. Alforde, come here for a second and take a look at this. Tell me what you think."

The armorsoul did as Vee requested, and nodded his helmet enthusiastically when he set Veilee's picture down.

"I like it a lot! Having a backstory makes her more interesting for sure."

Vee tapped the brim of his hat. "Any thoughts, Reginald?"

"In theory it's fine," the hat said slowly, "but we'll have to be careful as we make more. It won't be hard to keep track of them at first, but if they're all going to be as complicated as this we're going to have a heck of a time keeping their stories consistent as the roster grows. It won't do us any favors if the stories end up contradicting each other or anything like that. There are definitely a lot of people out there with pretty high Pedantic stats who can make our lives miserable if we do."

Vee nodded. "That's a good point. I think we might be able to get ahead of that with good planning, though. I can probably have Cecil record all of their stories, and then we can cross check them and make sure that we're not making any mistakes as we expand in the future."

"If you're actually diligent about recording everything," Reginald said. "It might be a good idea if you have your own backup too, Brice."

The [Toy Maker] grinned. "That's fair. Here, take a look at the rest of them too. I was thinking we'd drip feed them out. You know, make two or three at a time and release them, then wait a while and do some more."

They were all quiet for the next few minutes, while Vee read through the list of other possibilities. In addition to Veilee, he also quite liked Yagot Darkspine – an Elkin [Spell-Mace] who carried a two sided weapon that looked like the sun on one side and the moon on the other – and Orzo Graypaw, who was a portly kitrekin [Rogue] who carried a knife in each paw and a third one in his mouth.

The rest weren't bad designs by any means, but those were the three that stood out the most to Vee. Alforde and Reginald agreed with him, and Brice set those aside to start working on. They agreed to make two hundred and fifty of each, and with that done it was time for them to pick a location for the dunpla production facility.

"I was thinking that it'd be nice to be close to the dungeon itself," Brice said as they headed out to the strip and looked at each space in turn. "That way it wouldn't really be in the way or anything. Since it's mostly just for working, it doesn't make sense to give up any of your best spots, you know?"

Ultimately, they settled on one that was indeed right next to the dungeon, and Brice took out a piece of chalk to mock out the rough proportions for the layout he wanted.

Walking along with the [Toy Maker], Vee asked questions about how he could support Brice's efforts, and detailed a few of his thoughts about devices he could craft to improve the production speed and quality consistency of the figures. His ideas were still rather nebulous, but Brice helped him solidify them: he needed help making rods of ectoplasm, since forming the sheets into them by hand was tricky and time consuming.

"And if you could rig up something to make sure that the edges of the sheets are all square that'd be a big help too," Brice said. "Sometimes they're a little slanted, and it's a nightmare for me to get the pieces together when they're like that."

Vee promised to do what he could, and after about an hour Brice left with his directions given and his tool chest left inside the building. He promised to return before the end of the week to get started on the next batch of dunpla figures.

After Brice left, Vee summoned his orchestra and relayed the [Toy Maker]'s instructions for how the place was to be laid out. Do and the other [Dungeon Maintainers] listened carefully and got to work as soon as he finished. Their first task was to deliver the sheets of ectoplasm Vee and Cog had made, and a few of the fiends went to do that while Do started portioning out the other tasks.

When he was satisfied that his minions had the matter under control, Vee left, returning with Alforde and Reginald to Crestheart tower.

"What's on the agenda for the rest of the day, boss?"

Vee hadn't given it too much thought. The biggest looming problem he had to solve was finding other occupants for the Westown strip, but after the difficulty they'd had finding a [Smith] to come and set up shop he wasn't particularly eager to go back out and bash his head against a fresh wall.

Was there anything here in the dungeon that he could take care of? Were there any tasks he'd been putting off?

He looked around, shaking his head. Honestly, there really weren't. He supposed he could dust his office and organize a few of the trinkets scattered about, but that wasn't really productive.

Similarly, he could tinker with Crestheart's layout a little bit, but there wasn't much to be done there either. He'd been pleased with the layout that he'd used in the circuit for the most part, and making the tweaks and small changes he'd been considering didn't feel like a good use of time.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Thankfully, he was relieved from his duty to choose what to do a few minutes later, when Torres knocked on his office door and announced that he'd decided to come and set up shop on the strip.

With an internal sigh of relief, Vee got up to show the [Stationer] the spaces that were still available.

"No, no, this one won't do either. Take me back to the third one we looked at. I want to consider the ceiling more carefully."

Vee rolled his eyes. He was already regretting his decision to extend an invitation to Torres: the [Stationer] made pickiness look like an art form, and sought some sort of "aesthetic" that he could neither live without nor explain. Vee had tried multiple times to figure out what it might be, but Torres had simply glared at him while twirling his mustache and muttering about how art couldn't be rushed or explained.

Trudging back up the strip, Vee led Torres back to the building he'd requested and waited around while the man agonized over something that was apparently "beyond the capacity of mere words to express" for an impossibly long time before Torres appeared to give up.

"No, I'm afraid this one simply will not do. This ceiling is too coarse for my tastes, and I simply cannot imagine it being acceptable under any circumstances. Onward, Mister Vales!"

In every way that Brice had been easygoing, Torres was difficult. He complained incessantly about everything – the pitch of the floor, the thickness of the windows, even the sharpness of a building's corners.

"I refuse to surround myself with ugliness," he explained, meeting Vee's furious glare with an earnest expression. "It is a matter of the heart and soul, Mister Vales. I simply must ensure that my future location sparks joy else it will not be worth the effort in the slightest."

Forty five grueling minutes later, Torres finally found his location. It was the first shop on the strip, barely a stone's throw from the gate and quite small. Vee eyes – which had been derided as "utilitarian facsimiles of real artistry – saw nothing different about the place compared to any of the other spots on the strip, but he was thrilled that the [Stationer] had finally made his choice.

"When do you think you'll be able to start moving in your stuff?" Vee asked. "Will you need any help? I'd be happy to rent a carriage or a cart to help you move over your supplies."

"Torres thought for a moment, twirling one of the edges of his mustache. "I can begin bringing my things over in four days. I have other matters to attend to before then, but will not require any assistance with moving my goods, tools, and supplies. However, would it be possible for you and your associates to assemble some basic bits of furniture for me? I'd be happy to give you a list of the things I need."

"We'd be happy to. Just give me the measurements and my fiends will take care of it."

Interestingly, for all of his talk of art, beauty, and the subjective nature of existence, he also had the potential for clear measurements and details. Over the next few minutes he furnished Vee with a list that included an artisanal countertop – made of dark wood and exactly three inches thick – four chairs, two workbenches, six display cases, and half a dozen other things that were necessary for his work.

Wondering if Do or any of the other [Dungeon Maintainers] might end up earning themselves the [Carpenter] class on account of all this work, Vee took the list and promised Torres that they'd get it all done as quickly as possible.

Then, of course, there was the matter of the rent, and Vee was relieved that Torres didn't try to renegotiate their previous agreement. He'd pay thirty percent of his revenue unless-slash-until he started earning the three gold fleurs a month that Vee had originally wanted.

With a firm handshake, the matter was sealed, bringing Vee one step closer to getting the strip fully occupied.

With that done, the [Dungeon Master] decided to go ahead and call it a day. There were still five spots that hadn't been spoken for in the slightest, and the [Dungeon Master] saw no choice but to go back into the city and solicit tenants again the next day.

He sighed. Hopefully it wasn't going to be too much of a pain.

Main Character Sheets:

Main Character Sheets (Unchanged):

Vee Vales:

Primary Class: Ghost Smith (Self), Level 10

Secondary Class: Dungeon Master (Oar's Crest), Level 25

Tertiary Class: Guy-Who-Takes-Things-WAY-Too-Far (Self), Level 8

Might: 18

Wit: 42

Faith: 25

Adventurousness: 7

Ambition: 16

Plotting: 22

Charisma: 18

Devious Mind: 30

Leadership: 21

Guts: 16

Intimidating Presence: 12

Citizenship: 25

Public Relations: 8

Determination: 7

Persuasiveness: 6

Bargaining: 7

Patience: 4

Competitive Spirit: 1

Pragmatism: 1

<3<3 Infatuation <3<3

Alforde Armorsoul:

Primary Class: Hammer Specialist (Self), Level 6

Secondary Class: Right-hand man (Vee Vales), Level 20

Tertiary Class: Dungeon Champion (Oar's Crest), Level 18

Additional Class: Glaciernaut (Sacha Silverblade), Level 14

Might: 62

Wit: 17

Faith: 27

Adventurousness (Bound – Vee Vales): 9

Endurance: 36

Intimidating Presence: 16

Heart of a Champion: 15

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 10

Vigilance: 11

Vanity: 2

Single-Mindedness: 1

Reginald:

Primary Class: Core Spirit (Unknown), Level ???

#$&Q#$)(@#$#@#$%!@#$##%#%()@#$**@@##

Secondary Class: Loudmouth (Self), Level 43

Tertiary Class: Majordomo (Vee Vales), Level 21

Additional Class: Announcer (Vee Vales), Level 14

Additional Class: Hyperthymesiac (Self), Level 5

Additional Class: Curmudgeon (Vee Vales), Level 1

Might: 3

Wit: 38

Faith: 17

Ambition: 29

Greed: 24

Deceptiveness: 28

Manipulativeness: 42

$#&*!@!!: !!!

Loyalty: 49

Patience: 11

Irritability: 27

Remorsefulness: 17

Expository Prowess: 23

Pragmatism: #@$%@$

Hop@#!! @#$@!@#

@#$@%%^

#4^5#*&_!+++#(@$#

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 10