SSD 5.04 - Advice For a God

Getting things out early this week, because I am going camping over the weekend, and didn't want to deprive you all of the chapter.

Hope you enjoy it.

==Zidaun==

My heart burned with an unprecedented worship, a cleansing flame that erased all doubts, all fears. How could I feel anything else when confronted with such impossibility, with such power wrested from The System?

Certainly, I had been shocked, repeatedly, to learn how much Caden had grown, how he had leveraged his knowledge into power, wielding his mind like lock picks, working within all the tiny gaps to unlock the true potential of a dungeon, skipping hundreds of years of buildup.

And he had been human… the strangest bit of all. Not that is mattered now, he was more than merely human, twinned with a dungeon soul and bound inextricably.

Though, whoever this “Tam” really is…

It should have been impossible, no more than a deranged experiment, to meld a dungeon and human together. And yet, he had succeeded.

Though the system had to fix it later, when it started to fall apart.

Only natural, Caden and Exsan were too strong to be contained with such mortal magic, The System needed to intervene to make it stable.

That was what made it more than some terrible abomination. The System had acted, giving its divine blessing and creating a true merge, something that was stronger than either would have been alone.

Caden was looking uncomfortable again, and I toned down my gaze, the obviousness of my devotion.

Caden could have ordered me to stop, to act differently, and I would have had to obey, but it was obvious that he valued my autonomy, even with what I had said. It had been the only order he had given me so far, and it was simply to be truly honest.

I felt shame for it now, that I had said that a human and dungeon merged together was an abomination. If Tam’s work were the only hand in making it, perhaps that would be true, though it was obvious that Caden was special, called from another world.

It probably would have been fine, if it was just him, though the loss of Exsan would have been a great tragedy. Not sure if I can even call Caden human, if they were all so skillful in that other world. Or perhaps he was simply different, more, and meant for greater things.

Still, those thoughts were from before I understood, before I knew that The Divine System of Balance had acted directly, saving the lives of them both, seeing something that had to be saved.

I didn’t understand everything that Caden had told me, much of it outside of what I knew, but that didn’t matter. Caden could handle those matters, while I did what I could to help.

And, at the moment, that was to offer advice.

“You will want to level up to level nine, but then stop there,” I said. “When you go up to level ten things will change. Some of the prices for abilities will increase. Not everything, and the degree will depend on how you are judged. Still, it is better to purchase what you can before reaching the first threshold.”

Caden nodded, switching from the faint shifting discomfort to the more stately aura of contemplation.

Don’t worry, you will grow used to the worship that is your due, though I will do all that I can to make you comfortable until then…

I thought then, for a moment, on my old attitude, how I hadn’t wanted to be joined with a dungeon, not really, just wanting to explore. Certainly, I was happy to help my people, and grateful to serve, but I hadn’t wanted this.

So blind… to think I have the chance to serve someone so magnificent, forever.

And I wouldn’t even need to give up the exploring, not really, Caden had built a dungeon of wonders, and while it was much more recently designed than I had imagined possible, I still had yet to see everything that had been made. And, though I had yet to ask, saving my concerns until after Caden’s, as was only proper, I might be able to have something I had longed for.

Firi.

“In addition,” I continued, “while what you achieve is used to judge you, you are also rewarded for exceptional accomplishments. I have no doubt you will be given magnificent rewards. Just reaching level ten before a single year has passed… I think you will be the first dungeon to ever do that, and the first human, too… probably the first sapient being… it depends on how some of the denizens of the Antre Gloom develop…”

“The ant-er gloom?” Caden said, drawing out the first word. “Huh, that is translating to a word in English, but it isn’t actually a word I know. Just a fancy word for caves, caverns, that kind of thing. Must be system shenanigans, probably drawing from my memories somewhere.”

He looking directly at me.

“I assume it has some specific meaning, here?”

“Yes,” I replied. “The Antre Gloom is where various uncivilized races dwell. The Antre Gloom is dense with mana, and those that dwell there are adapted to it, so they don’t leave for the surface. The surface world probably wouldn’t worry about it at all if it didn’t contain a wealth of resources: various rare minerals, gems, magical animals and plants, as well as many dangerous monsters.”

“Some form of Underworld,” Caden said, thoughtfully.

“Ah, sort of,” I said, “but the actual Underworld is something different.”

Caden turned to me, curious.

“What is the Underworld?”

“From what you said…,” I trailed off, from another world, he wouldn’t know, “Sorry, Caden, you wouldn’t know. The Underworld is the domain of Otga, a place of fiery hells, where those too devoted to chaos are punished, before they return to the Cycle of Souls.”

Caden gave me a complicated look.

Not sure what he is thinking.

“Is that an actual physical place, could one get there, by tunneling through the world? Does… it was Shurum, right?” he said, continuing at my nod. “Does he have something similar?”

“It is a place where souls dwell,” I said, slowly. “I… don’t actually know if it is a physical place. Probably not, if it is meant for souls… And, yes, Shurum has something similar, the Waste, the frozen hells, a perfect frozen plane of blinding light and perfect order, the closer you were to order, the colder and more blinding the light becomes, scouring your attachment to order from your soul, drawing it out into the Wastes.”

“Right…” Caden said, drawing out the word. “Not sure I want to know, but what roles does Yamosh,” he stopped at my flinch, “Did I say that wrong?” at my nod he sighed. “It was Yamash…?” He continued at my nod. “Right, so what role does he play in all this?”

“They are the god of balance, both male and female, and neither, and parent to Otga and Shurum. They created all the sapients, but we proved unworthy, unable to master the same balance. Even Otga and Shurum embodied aspects of the world, failing to fully master the power of their parent. So he set them to rule over the world, each ruling for a time, and reminding the world that too much of either would destroy it. He created the Divine System of Balance, to act as a fair instrument of his hand in the world.

“As far as souls, he watches over the Final Vale, a place where souls in balance come to rest, to live in harmony with creation, and each other.”

“Sounds like you memorized all this,” Caden said with a smile, “how do dungeons fit in with everything else?”

“Yes,” I said, “I was taught all this when I became a full Adar, awakening to sapience. They didn’t need to teach me that dungeon’s are sacred, however. I knew that from the beginning, it was simply part of me. I was taught how they fit into everything else, however. Ultimately, the Adar venerate dungeons as an extension of Yamash, a portion of his hand in the works of creation, and a physical embodiment of balance. A dungeon is dangerous, but it always grants rewards in proportion to the danger faced. If a dungeon is not delved regularly, they place that danger into the world, and then collapse to deprive the world of the opportunity that has been squandered. Yet, they always return eventually, offering another chance to the world, forming their own self contained version of the cycle.

“They are meant as an example, a way to highlight what things ought to be, that balance is the only way. To delve too deep, to go beyond one’s means, this leads to to failure and death. And yet, to not try, leads to the removal of the opportunity, and the promised reward becomes punishment.”

Caden absently ran a hand through his hair, the stone strands flowing around his fingers in a flawless mimicry.

“Okay,” he said, after a moment, “I’ll probably need to know more of this later, what people think of dungeons… It will change how they try to interact with me. I’m sure at least some people will try to come talk with me…”

Be surprised if some weren’t on their way already.

“but I’ll let the Adar at least do the initial sorting, figuring out what they want. I interrupted your advise… got sidetracked. Please continue.”

I started to bow toward him then caught myself, turning it into a nod.

“Yes, of course. And I am happy to answer any questions you have. Uh… right. So your accomplishments are taken into account. So you may want to try to accomplish more, build up the dungeon, explore any abilities you gain from leveling up to level nine, work on the city we discussed, whatever you can think of that may do grand or new things.

“As far as other relevant advice, the rewards are larger than what dungeons usually offer for the current levels of danger. I could have a list made, of what it normally looks like. Of course, any changes are up to you, if you want to offer higher rewards, then that is your right.”

“Thank you, Zidaun,” Caden said, smiling at me, “I can do that, and yes, I’ll take that list when you can get to it. For now, you have been overseeing the Adar, maintaining order, and such. Eventually I will have the Adar live in the city, it will be easy enough to have their own private district, but I can imagine there might be some things that need to be addressed now, so what can I do to help? And, is there anything that I can do to help you?”

My heart beat faster in my chest, a tremor fluttering out through my flesh, quivering into my bones, and reaching down to make my hands gently shift. I wanted to ask, right away, but my duty came first, I must see to my people, and those the dungeon would have me oversee.

“We are shaping dwellings, and other infrastructure, at the moment,” I said, “We have been retrieving various food sources from the dungeon, but even with multiple slots, it has been difficult to get enough to feed everyone. Some merchants have started to show up, selling food, among other things, but none are hauling nearly enough for the growing population. They won’t be able to manage that until roads are connected to the entrances.”

I stopped for a moment, considering.

“Normally,” I said, “that wouldn’t happen at all. Only the closest dungeons usually have significant roads that lead to them. A small path would have naturally formed as various merchants brought things out to sell at the dungeon, and various abilities would be used to clear away rocks and debris, or to cut through an obstacle that would make things take much longer, and a small town would form around the entrance, with the government administrating it in combination with the Adventurers Guild. The government would have taxed the adventurers and used some of the money to defend the new outpost.

“With your dungeon, just because it can cater to so many different levels of adventurer, it would have been different. Truly popular dungeons, or those with strategic resources like iron, lumber, and so on, end up with roads, regardless of where they are, but it wouldn’t have been a priority. After a few seasons some people with earth and construction related classes would have been sent to make the road. Then the road itself, to go this far, would probably have taken a few weeks to get built.

“I know some of the other Adar and adventurers found iron deposits in the Meadow, so there would have been a road just for that… None of the trees in the Meadow persist after being cut, at least not without some high level stabilization, but does that change elsewhere?”

Caden nodded before answering.

“The Wandering Woods can be logged, though only so much can be taken by any one group in a day.” He smiled, sporting a wicked grin. “Of course, they need to move the logs through the tunnels to get them out, so it will require breaking them into smaller pieces, or the application of some skill. And what was that about stabilization?”

“Stabilization prevents things from decaying, making it so that people can harvest items from a dungeon that it doesn’t normal leave as loot. Stabilizing something requires all the mana that was invested in its creation, and the more valuable something is, the harder it is to do. Still, the dungeon gets a benefit out of it, too. They get a list of all the valuable things stabilized, automatically populating the loot menu, helping them understand what things are worth, and to provide those things more easily. And when monsters are killed, then stabilized, which is the primary loot people get from most dungeons, apart from coins, bits of things copied from adventurer’s, and such, then the various parts of the monster are categorized, according to what they can be used for.

“As for the rest, skills can do almost anything,” I said. “I have no doubt some will find a way to move the larger and more valuable logs, or use skills that separate and then rejoin them. Still, the obstacle would require some work to get the reward. The iron deposits in the Meadow are quite small, so they are scaled well enough for the minimal danger.

“Still, to continue back to the issue of food and the road… The dungeon acts as a pass through the mountains, and a substantially faster and better one than what used to be the only alternative. Both governments are going to hurry to secure the entrances, and that means wagons full of supplies, for infrastructure, food, and materials to keep records. If only to tax the merchants, and because the various merchants and nobles heavily invested in trade will be pushing for it, the government will be moving fast.

“Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if the roads are already under construction. And probably with more and better people assigned than normal. The roads might well be finished in the next week or two. Still until then, more adventurers will be reaching here, on foot or otherwise, and so food with be an issue. We, also, made many connections to the sewers that underlie the Grotto, building bathrooms. We also connected to fountains to draw out drinking water and build bathing facilities, which I hope is okay?”

“Yes,” he said with a smile, “of course. It’s already become clear I’ll need to completely redesign the area. Make more bathrooms, build connections, do whatever you need. For now, I’ll make more of the food in the dungeon harvestable.”

Even with everything we had built, adventurers had complained about needing to wait. No one had tried to just relieve themselves in random corner or street though, not after the first couple people tried it and found out the consequences.

Having everything you excreted suddenly drop on your head was an exceptional deterrent.

Without that, even with plenty of bathrooms, some people would have chosen to go wherever they wanted. I would have claimed it was impossible to prevent humans from doing that, but I had been proven wrong. The Adar, of course, would never contribute to unsanitary conditions and harm the community.

Just requires the power of a god to stop some people from disrespecting everyone else… Seems about right, sadly.

I didn’t say any of that, of course, instead simply voicing thanks for his generosity.

“Anything else for the Adar or the adventurers?”

“Yes,” I said, “The head of the adventurer’s guild, the one for Froa,” before he could ask I expanded my response to add context, “the country the to north, wants to meet with you. He is… unconventional, and… exuberant, but is quite powerful, as far as I can tell, so offending him may have negative consequences. I believe we could handle him, if it came to that, but is would likely prove destructive.”

Caden narrowed his eyes at me.

“Is that likely, would he attack you for an offense?”

I thought back to the ball of barely contained energy and chaos, considering.

“No,” I said, “he is eccentric, but seemed to be quite pleasant, overall. I doubt he would attack for anything less than a truly serious matter, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he made things more difficult if offended, or merely unable to sate his curiosity. For someone to reach his level of power… they are used to getting what they want. I doubt he would have been assigned here against his will, he probably wanted something more exciting.”

The thought brought a smile to my lips.

“With how important this dungeon will be,” I said, “I suspect the guild head will be extremely regretful that they gave it to him. He was probably up for a transfer, but they couldn’t force it through. The guild head probably offered him the choice of any dungeon outpost he wanted, just to get him out of the capital.”

Caden laughed, the sound bright but echoing oddly, like laughter heard from the other end of long hall, the sound bouncing back and forth.

“And then I was an option, so I get to deal with him. No a problem,” he said, “I’ll take an eccentric, who is merely curious and well intentioned, even if they are powerful, over someone malicious any day. What else?”

“With the blanket permission to shape the Grotto as needed, we should be able to manage. We were trying not to disrupt the atmosphere you cultivated. As for myself…”

I hesitated for a moment, sweat making my hands slightly damp, slick between my fingers where they rubbed against each other with restless motion.

“I wanted to ask about Firi...”