Twenty days since the dark elf invasion, and life within the kingdom of Stoicus continues its course.
A legion of 200 laborers and sculptors gathers at the east entrance of the outer wall. In front of the crowd sits a wooden stage, and off to the side are dismantled scaffolding, along with pickaxes, hammers, and steel maces, waiting to be used. The man tasked with leading this army of workers is a former leader of the artisans' guild, a muscular, aging man who only needs the use of his strong vocal cords to get the works underway.
"It took our ancestors more than a century to sculpt Stoicus! We will repeat the feat, in a stone twice as hard, and in a fraction of that time!" He raises a finger and exclaims, "Before winter arrives, Stoicus will once again look towards the Great Rift with fury and disdain!"
The workers chant in unison as a sign of support. How could they not be happy? The pay would be substantial and they would be supported by priests chanting psalms to reduce fatigue, as well as heal any wounds or amputations, and a healer to ensure everyone received high-calorie meals they could burn while working—a hundred workers by day and a hundred workers by night.
To prevent the residents of nearby houses from suffering insomnia due to the drilling noise, King Marc's government hired a team of mages to cast a magical sound-blocking field, keeping the racket contained within a dome of violet energy.
Moving on to other matters: Axiel, the second captain, was placed in charge of leading a few expeditions into the Underdark. He was accompanied by a hand-picked group—trusted men and women, discreet soldiers. The expeditions lasted only a few days, and the main order was simple to understand: kill everything in sight. They razed a fledgling kobold village, set fire to the rudimentary houses, and spared neither women, elders, nor children. Axiel only spared the life of one young adult kobold, healthy enough to survive alone and spread the news of the massacre. Axiel's squad also identified a dark elf outpost, which they raided when the sentries fell asleep and reduced to ashes.
The inhabitants of the Underdark understood it was not safe to approach the surface, and these actions were meant to refresh their memory on that fact. This was important to the humans, especially now that the mines in the Great Rift had reopened.
A lot of new labor was needed; the bulk of the miners died the day of the invasion, or were enslaved, and knowing how cruel the dark elves are, the lucky ones were those who reunited with the gods on that fateful day. The mine owners doubled the wages, but no one wanted to risk their lives in the stony bowels; they preferred to try their luck getting a safer job carving the walls.
To resume mineral extraction, the mine owners struck a deal with the king.
In the united kingdoms, the buying and selling of slaves was illegal, but to avoid conflicts with human societies outside the union—societies that practice slavery without issue—owning slaves is not prohibited as long as they are acquired outside the kingdoms' jurisdiction. The mine owners had always been interested in obtaining slaves to work their domains, and although they pleaded their case citing laws and wielding lawyers, they never received Marc's permission.
But since there is no recovery without money, this time the proprietors managed to twist the king's arm and order several batches of slaves who would soon arrive to live and work in the Great Rift. The only condition was an increase in the tax on profits, raising the tribute from 20% to 30%. The owners reluctantly accepted.
Changes were not only happening on the surface; beneath the castle, the Dungeon Core continues progressing slowly but surely.
---Jimbo the Dungeon Core LV 1
-Ether: 90/100
-Active connections:
--Dowmy the Imp LV 7
--Hilda the Fourth Captain LV 31
On floor 1, there is no longer just one available path, there are three. The original route was now marked by a green sign as the easy path, for novices. So harmless that Dowmy usually goes to play there, and the greatest danger is usually the imp pushing you while the goblins are throwing rocks. Dowmy was all smiles, scaring the rookie soldiers who would freeze and tremble on the narrow stone path.
A young boy, who recently joined the army in order to make the dark elves pay for the invasion, hasn't moved from the center of the narrow rock for two minutes, shaking like a fawn, unable to tear his gaze away from the illusory abyss flanking him. Dowmy sneaks up from behind in a crouch, hands raised.
"BOO!"
She shoves him. The young soldier lets out a shriek and falls toward the moss cushion hidden in the gloom. The imp flees the scene laughing, though it's not as if the soldiers can punish the creature for her pranks. Captain Hilda was clear when explaining the severe reprimands anyone who laid a finger on the imp would receive.
Dowmy had always been very wary of Hilda, but today the imp was flashing her biggest smiles at her. All because of the pink dress Dowmy is now wearing, complete with straps and bows that flutter when she shakes her little wings.
«Cute. Was it your little sister's, or your daughter's?»
Jimbo asks Hilda. They are in the starting chamber; both are tracking the happy girl with their eyes.
"I don't have children... And the dress was mine, from my childhood," Hilda replies without a trace of emotion in her face or voice.
«Huh, really?»
Hilda faces Jim's presence and nods slowly.
«It's just hard for me to imagine you wearing a dress.»
"What about the new route, Dungeon Core?" Hilda changes the subject.
«Ah! Yes. The third route.»
They turn toward the back wall.
On the left is the entrance to the green route, the trials for beginners. In the middle of the wall is the entrance to the yellow route, the intermediate difficulty. But what Hilda wants to talk about is the route located on the right, the one with the red mark, a path that remains un-inaugurated, and the reason is simple:
In hard trials, the risk of death is real.