Dungeons Are Bad Business

On his way back to the boarding house, Vee felt something pulling on him in the ethereal. It grew stronger as he approached the turn that led to the one of the many decayed neighborhoods back in Oar's Crest proper that he usually skipped, and after a moment's pause Vee decided to follow it and see where it led.

The street was long and winding, and Vee activated [Third Sight] as he passed by the decrepit and damaged buildings, blinking at the thickness of ectoplasm in the air. The dilapidated structures were nothing new, but the ghosts of hopeful people of all kinds holding signs – long faded and tattered – stood out to the [Dungeon Master] as he walked by.

– Forge – Coming Soon!

The future of Oar's –

Fine dining and – await! Opening next –

Several places looked like they were halfway through being renovated, their promises perpetually unfulfilled and surrounded by rotting, splintered wood and cracked stone. A quick look around revealed a few broken stained glass images in their upper windows, and Vee couldn't help but sigh. So many opportunities stifled, so much potential squandered.

He deactivated his skill and stood still for a few seconds, shaking his head to clear his vision. [Third Sight] had a way of giving him a headache sometimes if the ectoplasm was too thick or he kept it active for too long, but thankfully it didn't stick around for long. The first thing he saw with a clear head was yet another sign. Most of the letters had fallen off, but Vee could still make out the word Golden. That...didn't really tell him much.

There were a few people nearby, but they were all occupied by their own business, and Vee felt no desire to try and strike up any sort of conversation. Instead, he quickened his pace, following the curve of the road until he came to a large boarded-up building with three entrances and a staircase in front that reminded him of the local adventurer's guild. The walls were covered with obscene graffiti, and a towering bronze statue of a muscular figure had been heavily vandalized. It was missing one of its arms and half of its face, along with various other chunks across its body. In one of its hands was some sort of trinket, but it was so broken that Vee couldn't figure out what it was supposed to be.

To the [Dungeon Master]'s surprise – which was potentially undeserved– Sculla was sitting next to the disfigured bronze creation, smoking her pipe with her eyes closed. The ogre looked contemplative, and Vee felt a twinge of guilt as he walked over and sat on the step beneath her own.

"Fancy seeing you here," he said after a moment, forcing himself to smile.

The ogre snorted, opening her eyes and looking down at Vee. Though not unpleasant, there was a heaviness in her gaze that Vee had only ever experienced once before.

She blew out a long stream of smoke. Something about it -- the bitterness, perhaps? -- reminded Vee of a temple he'd occasionally attended with his family as a child. The details were fuzzy, but Vee knew that it hadn't been for Gawain or Piper like almost every other temple he'd ever set foot inside. "Why's that? It's not like I'm chained to the boarding house you know. Sometimes I feel like wandering, and more often than not I end up here when I do."

Vee shrugged. "I suppose that's fair. What is this place anyway? Or rather, what was it?"

Sculla looked back at the building, then shook her head. "Just a broken promise. Nothing special. Believe it or not, this was supposed to be the beating heart of a new Oar's Crest a couple…years ago. A bunch of well-meaning people came together with their grandiose plans and seemingly infinite Optimism and started building. They were going to bring new industries to the city, revitalize the economy. You know how it goes."

Vee looked around. "What happened?"

"What always happens in situations like this. Their Idealism collided with reality and was found wanting. Tale as old as time."

She tapped out the ashes of her pipe and refilled it with fresh leaf from the bag on her hip. A snap of her fingers produced sparks – a nifty trick, that; Vee hadn't heard her use any sort of skill – and she took a few quick puffs. "Now, tell me, what's on your mind, little drelemah? You looked like one of your ghosts when you left the boarding house this morning."

The strange word triggered Vee's memory. "Drelemah. You called me that before, back before I unlocked my quest to improve the city."

Sculla nodded. "I did. How's the progress on that coming, by the way? I know you were busy with that circuit thing of yours, but I still see a lot of the same problems that were here when you got it."

She smiled, though there was no warmth in it, and when she next spoke there was more than a touch of judgement in her voice. "Have you run into reality too?"

"I suppose you could say that," Vee mumbled. "As much as I hate to admit it."

"Is it the result of your meeting with Sacre?"

Vee nodded, explaining the situation as best he could. Though she hadn't asked, Sculla listened to him as he went through his options one by one, detailing their strengths and their weaknesses.

When he finished, Vee shook his head and sighed. "It just feels like everything I was working so hard for got yanked out from underneath my feet without any warning. How am I supposed to keep Sacre out of Westown?"

He gestured around. "How am I supposed to avoid...well, this?"

The weight in the ogre's gaze increased, and the Expectation on Vee's shoulder stirred. "That's the question, isn't it? You'd best figure it out soon though, a month is a lot less time than you think."

Vee ran his hand through his hair. "I know. Uh…this might be a long shot but I don't suppose you have any sage advice or wisdom for me, do you?"

That earned an earnest chuckle from Sculla. "That's quite the question for a man who doesn't seem to have any gold on hand. What do I look like, a [Consultant]? The days of me offering my advice to those who ask are long passed, and I have no desire to revisit them. The only person who can solve your problems is you."

She closed her eyes once more. "I will offer a thought, though, as someone who's seen this type of thing before. All of your potential solutions are direct, which is why they struggle. Perhaps you'll find better luck if you consider a different approach. Keep thinking about it, eh?"

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Sensing that the conversation was over, Vee got up too and thanked the ogre for the talk. He would have been lying if he'd said it had been helpful, but the [Dungeon Master] was grateful for it all the same.

Tucking his hands into his pockets, Vee walked the rest of the way to the boarding house and headed up to his room. Alforde and Reginald were playing cards at the table inside, and they both looked relieved to see him.

Letting out a long, theatrical sigh, Reginald set down his hand and closed his eyes. "Oh thank Gawain that you're back, boss. This guy just doesn't know how to have fun."

"Creatively cheating and lying about it when you get caught is not fun!" Alforde hissed, his eyes shining. The air in the room grew slightly chilly, and Vee held up his hands.

"How'd the thinking go?" Vee's [Majordomo] asked. "Did you come up with an awesome plan?"

"Not really," Vee said, pulling back a chair and sitting down. He was still turning Sculla's "advice" over in his mind. What could he do that wasn't direct? "I did design a new ghost for the dungeon though, and then I went over to the menagerie and talked to Kai. He wants some help to expand, and I'm going to have my medium section head over there tonight."

"What's the good in expanding the menagerie if Sacre's goons are just going to take over all of Westown?" Reginald asked. "Seems kind of like we'd be better off filling the place with miasma or something and making their life miserable when they try to move in."

Vee rubbed his chin, thinking. Now that was an idea, though not an especially good one. Toxic gasses were, generally speaking, a deterrent for bringing people into an area.

The hat looked at Vee and waited for a moment, then said, "Unrelated: you want to join us? If so, we can go ahead and start over."

"Sure," Vee said quickly, scooping up the cards and shuffling them. "What's the game? Horses?"

"Why don't we try Three Flag Tower instead?" Alforde suggested. "I've got some dice here and it's been ages since I've played that."

"Fine by me," said Reginald.

Vee started to deal. Like many others, Three Flag Tower was a game in which you drew and discarded cards with the goal of collecting sets of three or four. Everyone used the same deck, and the first person to make six sets was the winner. Some cards had special effects based on their number or suit, and also several situations that required the player to roll a pair of dice.

Despite the claim made by avid players that it was a contest of skill, Three Flag Tower was made for gamblers; randomness often played an outsize role in determining the victor of a given match. Still, it was fun, and the three friends played the first few hands without talking much. Vee relished the opportunity to focus on nothing but his cards.

On the sixth rotation of play, Reginald made the first set. "Three reds. Knuckle ascending to blade."

With a snicker, he placed his cards on the table, drew three more from the deck, and the game went on, though now that the first set had been made the rest were sure to come faster and faster.

Before long, Reginald had made five sets while Alforde and Vee were both stuck at two.

"I'm telling you," Alforde muttered. "He's cheating."

Vee watched his [Majordomo]'s next draw carefully. He didn't see anything suspicious, but that didn't necessarily mean much. Reginald considered cheating an artform, and was constantly trying to find new ways to do it without getting caught.

"Discarding one," Reginald said, dropping a card face down on the table and taking another from the deck. Alforde discarded two, and then it was Vee's turn.

He considered his hand carefully. It wasn't very good. He had two thirds or three quarters of several sets, but most of the cards he could have used to complete them had already been played. In other words, his hand was essentially useless junk, and now he had the unpleasant decision of figuring out which one to abandon in the hopes of drawing into something else.

Oddly, staring at the cards planted the seed of an idea in his head. There was no room in his hand for new cards.

Perhaps he didn't need to stop Sacre from coming into Westown; maybe it would be enough to simply make it so that there was nowhere he could go. After all, if there were no empty spaces for the [Honest Businessman] to get a foothold, there was nothing for Vee to worry about.

"I think I've got it," Vee said, setting his cards down and looking at his friends. "I think I've got a way to handle the Sacre situation."

[Plotting +1!]

Main Character Sheets:

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: 16

Wit: 42

Faith: 25

Adventurousness: 7

Ambition: 16

Plotting: 22 (+1)

Charisma: 18

Devious Mind: 30

Leadership: 22

Guts: 16

Intimidating Presence: 11

Citizenship: 24

Public Relations: 8

Determination: 7

Persuasiveness: 6

Bargaining: 5

Patience: 3

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 19

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

Additional Class: Glaciernaut (Sacha Silverblade), Level 13

Might: 60

Wit: 16

Faith: 27 (-1)

Adventurousness (Bound – Vee Vales): 9

Endurance: 34

Intimidating Presence: 16

Heart of a Champion: 15

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 9

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

Might: 2

Wit: 37

Faith: 17

Ambition: 29

Greed: 24

Deceptiveness: 28 (+1)

Manipulativeness: 42

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

Loyalty: 47

Patience: 11

Irritability: 26

Remorsefulness: 17

Expository Prowess: 23

#%$Pragmatism*#$: @#61$5

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

@#$@%%^

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

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 9