"Ultimately, your theme will find you. You don't have to go looking for it." — Richard Russo

  *Hmm, well, that could give you some interesting options down the line, at least. Ruins of previous civilizations are often a popular theme for dungeons, though they aren’t usually very realistic, I think. Most of them wouldn’t be very accurate representations or have worked well as actual settlements unless the dungeons formed where the ruins already existed. That probably happens with some regularity, but after that initial layer any expansions would be based on the understanding of the dungeon itself, so it would either be repetitive or nearly pure fantasy.

  On the other hand, you could set it up with a more library or university-based theme, though that would obviously be tougher at the outset. If you can get them up and running, it would likely snowball as you draw in scholars from all over.

  You could also just set a nature-based theme; as a naturalist, I’d imagine that holds some appeal, though your knowledge of the local wildlife might take a bit to develop. That should grow quickly if you work on it, though. It would likely make sense to coordinate a theme with one or more of your basic titles, though that’s hardly a requirement – other dungeons focus commonly on reflecting the local environment or working from a single base species of dungeon monster, but expectations for sapient dungeons tend to involve greater degrees of creativity. You can plan ahead much more effectively, obviously. *

  *Do I need a theme, Aven? At the moment at least, it feels like a theme might need to wait a while, since my options are kind of limited. I like the idea of having a theme that builds with my titles, but I haven’t made much progress with them. I don't really want to get pinned down, just yet, anyways. I suppose planning for the long term makes sense, though. What sort of time frame do most dungeons face in leveling up and developing a theme? How do I even do that anyways? *

  The fairy slowed in its flitting movements for a moment, scratching its head. A passing look of concentration and the narrowing of its glowing yellow eyes showed some thought put into its answer.

  *Leveling for a dungeon is generally a bit more literal than for most creatures. You’ll find that your level will go up organically as you expand your spatial volume. Most dungeons either build down, in classic dungeon style, or spread out in what is often called a field dungeon. Realistically, almost every dungeon does at least some of each. Sapient dungeons even more so, though a lot depends on their individual goals. Non-sapient dungeons, and that’s probably better than 95% of them, will tend to level slowly (on the order of decades per level) unless they happen to form in particularly lucky locations with abnormally high mana flows and close to major population centers.

  You’re in a high mana area, just as a side effect of the magic required to keep a sky island afloat. On the other hand, you’re not going to get many visitors from the lands below the island, I wouldn’t think. Reliable rumors have it that there’s a dragon at the top of the island, and they’re not to be messed with. At higher levels or with an interesting enough theme, you might attract visitors who’ll risk it, but beginners won’t be able to manage access to the island in the first place; the location will make you a draw for a certain class of dungeon tourist and some dungeon pilgrims, but it may be a while before word gets out.*

  I found that concept startling. *Dungeon tourists! That’s a thing? Of course that’s a thing... People with more money than sense and an obsessive bent. Ugh. And what the heck is a dungeon pilgrim? I mean, the individual words make sense, but what kind of religion asks followers to visit new dungeons? Shouldn’t they focus on the bigger, older ones with more history behind them? *

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  *It’s not as bad as all that. Tourists do require some management, but they also bring some positives to the dungeon economy. As for the pilgrims, most of them are adherents of the God of All Dungeons; it’s not a shock, surely, that dungeons, being durable and inscrutable sources of power and death, have drawn attention from several religions? You, yourself, being classified as a divinely touched dungeon will almost certainly draw pilgrims from the adherents of whatever deity you’re affiliated with, once someone figures out who that is. Until then, you’ll just get visitors who worship the God of All Dungeons (though really, he/she is mostly in charge of the non-aligned, non-sapient dungeons; don’t expect any direct interventions from Them, for better or for worse).

  Anyways, we’ve gotten a bit off topic. Your leveling speed will mostly depend on how hard you work to expand and how much mana you extract from the local environment and any visitors you get. Given your current progress, I’d expect you to pick up a couple of levels a year, for the first few years; it takes more for each new level, as I’m sure you’d expect. If you start making progress on your title quests or, even better, your divine quest, those tend to come with helpful rewards as well. They won’t generally level you directly, but they’ll enable you to make more interesting features and draw in more visitors.

  To that end, I should note that I can help, at least a bit. I can offer you some quests of my own, though they’ll be modest. The advantage is that you can speak with me, and we can try to make the rewards work with whatever your goals are.

  So, let’s start with the basics. What sort of creatures do you think you want to start with as your primary inhabitants/defenders? *

  My mind races for a moment, like an engine with the load removed. Snapping back into gear, I realize that I just don’t have enough information.

  *Ooh, tough question. I’m assuming I have some limits. Judging from the quests I’ve gotten so far, I’m assuming I’m going to be limited to low-tier creatures, at least to start? *

  *Yes, that’s certainly true. For the time being at least, you’ll be restricted to Tier 1 and Tier 2 creatures, Vay. As much because that’s all your mana levels can support as anything else. As you expand, so will your options – and as you’ll find, while your individual creatures can’t power up directly, you’ll be able to make new ones of existing types bigger and stronger, smarter and stealthier and so forth. *

  That’s food for thought, and no doubt. The fact remains that, at the moment, I’m limited to ground squirrels, badgers, and slimes. Which reminds me – I should be able to finish a quest by creating a ground squirrel and a grass slime. That should buy me my first Tier 2 creature. Still, that’s going to have to wait until I’m done with this conversation. I need to get as much information as I can, since Aven won’t be taking up permanent residence.

  *Well, I do like the idea of focusing on flying creatures, at least for starters. It seems like that has some long-term potential for a sky island, as well as for my naturalist title. I don’t think I can overspecialize, though, as I’ll need some ground support (and underground support). That should make scouting for ruins on the surface easier too. Before I forget, how many tiers are there, and how are creatures sorted into them? *

  Aven chuckled, zipping animatedly around my core room before responding. *Theoretically, there’s no cap to the tier system. That said, from your perspective at least, tiers are defined by a logarithmic scale of mana cost, which obviously is reflected in the power (and usually size/magical ability/intelligence) of the creature in question. Tier 1 creatures will have a starting mana cost ranging from 1 to 10, tier 2 from 11 to 100, tier 3 up to 1000, tier 4 up to 10,000, and so on. If there really is a dragon at the top of the mountain, it likely would fall around tier 7 or 8. By the time you hit tier 10, you’d probably be talking about deities, effectively. Anyways, let’s set you up with a quest before I have to head out.*

  [New Quest: Complete three quests in three days; Reward: Blueprint for Tier 2 Flying Creature]

  Good luck! I’ll be back in a few days to check up on you! *