“Life and death: they are one, at core entwined. Who understands himself from his own strain presses himself into a drop of wine and throws himself into the purest flame.”

  Rainer Maria Rilke

  He slid down the short drop from the wall, balancing on the edge of the currently secured trap. The granite badger stationed in my core room gave him a polite growl of greeting and backed into the northwest corner, allowing the elven ranger to skirt the edge of the tiger trap uninterrupted. That brought him around next to my core and adjacent to the lesser mimic.

  “The trap is easy enough to spot for a trained adventurer, but I suspect the badger would be capable of knocking a fair percentage of people into the trap anyways. You’ve really done a good job of integrating your traps with your mobile defenders. And you’ve got a treasure chest here serving to also distract their attention?”

  **RED**

  “No? Oh, I see. A lesser mimic! Very nice. Again, most adventurers wouldn’t expect that this early in a dungeon, though they should at least be wary of traps! This place could easily be a death trap for a lower-level solo adventurer, though I think a full party should be able to manage reasonably well.

  And I see that you have your core at least partially protected. Do you mind if I come closer and take a look? I promise that I will not touch the core itself.”

  **GREEN**

  Not much point in questioning his integrity at this point, though I did feel my dungeon instincts screaming at me to keep him away. He approached the pedestal holding my core in its modest defensive shell and peered in at me.

  “Pale blue with gold and black. Hmm, never seen that particular combination before.”

  **YELLOW**

  “Oh, you have questions about that? Most dungeons have only a single color; that said, having three is unusual, but not exactly rare. Well, color in a dungeon core is supposed to reflect some basic affinities of the dungeon, though the color associations are a source of debate and the various shades and tones make it even more confusing. The gold and black are generally associated with life and death, respectively, or sometimes light and darkness, depending on who you ask. Blue can have all kinds of meanings, ranging from water to sky to raw mana. Here, given your location, I’d tend to guess a primary association with the sky, but that’s not an entirely safe bet. You might also note that while you might have those affinities, nothing prevents you from pursuing other themes, they just might not be as efficient for you.

  In terms of size, you’re perfectly normal for a core about to start a second floor. As you expand, your core will grow; theoretically, what is happening is a crystallization of pure mana accreting. That’s one reason dungeon cores represent a constant temptation to certain crafters.

  Do you mind if I cast my identify spell on you now?”

  **RED**

  In my mana sight, watching the spell form around his eyes was an interesting effect, forming something of a glowing spectral green mask that ramped to a bright glow, then faded away suddenly, leaving him looking a bit tired and pensive, but otherwise normal.

  “Well, it didn’t give me much information, though it does confirm those things you’ve told me about your level and that I’ve inferred from my inspection. You’re on the verge of reaching a second level, you’ve been divinely placed by an indeterminate deity, and you have affinities with sky/air, life, and death. I get the sense you may have leanings toward a fourth affinity, but the effect was too small to register clearly – maybe raw force or mana?”

  He sighed, rolled his head to crack his neck, and suddenly grinned in the direction of my core.

  “Now, if I recall correctly, you should have one more room – the one you’re unsure about adding to?”

  **GREEN**

  “I’d like to take a look at it before returning to the core room to lay out our ‘gifts’, if that’s okay?”

  **GREEN**

  The anticipation of receiving new blueprints and conveying my general preferences was killing me, but I had enough emotional maturity to be able to delay gratification, at least for a bit!

  The dungeon inspector had obviously noted the passage leading off from the southeast corner of the room and made his way cautiously to the final room.

  “Oh, I see. You’ve created a rest area for adventurers who make it this far, and I’m assuming that the couple of steps that don’t lead anywhere yet are intended to proceed to the second floor?”

  **GREEN**

  “Very thoughtful, though given the scale of the first floor, you probably won’t get many people taking you up on it. Well, if they run into trouble or are low-level enough to need to recover their mana before proceeding you might, but it would more likely be for a couple of hours, rather than overnight. Are those latrines in the corners?”

  **GREEN**

  “That will be appreciated. Adventurers tend to overcome their shyness about such things, since few dungeons accommodate them in this way. Non-sapient dungeons tend not to recognize the utility of such things. My only suggestion would be that the addition of a clean water source would be appreciated here, as this room is a bit far from the water source. Showers would be good too, but that’s asking too much and shouldn’t be necessary at this point. Keep it in mind for lower levels, though.”

  **GREEN**

  “Okay, I’m going to head back to the core room, and we can begin the final stage of your inspection. I’d imagine it’ll be your favorite part, since I’ll be giving you a fairly wide array of materials to work with.”

  My inspector, and I was starting to think of him a little possessively, backtracked the few meters to my core room, knelt down between my core and the tiger trap and opened up the belt pouch from which he’d already taken a 6-foot pole. I felt like a kid coming downstairs on Christmas morning, and I briefly wondered if they had a local equivalent.

  My attention quickly refocused, though, as he began describing the procedure he wanted to follow.

  “I’m going to lay out a range of items, grouped into several clusters. I’d ask that you wait until I have everything out before you begin absorbing things. Once that’s done, I will ask you to identify the group you are most interested in and choose the object from that group you are most interested in. We’ll work our way entirely through the group and proceed to the next highest priority. The process will be a bit rough but should serve to give us a sense of your overall interests. I will ask that you flash a green light twice for clusters you are very interested in, once for ones you like but are less invested in. Use a yellow light for clusters you are willing to accept, but have no special interest in. The red light, if you care to use it, should indicate resources you are generally opposed to using. Got it?”

  **GREEN** X3

  “Ha, ha! Excited, huh? Can’t blame you, this is the fun part, and it will generally have positive ramifications for you down the line. As the knowledge spreads, adventurers will generally try to bring you materials you are interested in to help build some goodwill and that will fit in with whatever theme you develop. I should note that this is, obviously, at least somewhat self-interested on our part; we obviously want you to have access to the kinds of things we want you to provide for us!” He smiled cheerfully with a crooked, self-deprecating grin, and his long ears twitched slightly in what I assumed was amusement.

  With that, he laid out a dozen clusters of representative objects, each containing three items. Eying them up, metaphorically speaking, they appeared to represent the following categories: precious metals, gemstones, magic items, alchemical ingredients, weapons, armor, food, fabrics, basic adventuring gear, religious symbols, books covering basic regional lore, and, I think, remains of sapient beings.

  I’m fairly sure he was surprised when I flashed my green light twice and selected a book entitled “Sky Islands and their Mysterious Past”. I followed that up with “Modern Geopolitics of Relnis, The Prime Lands”, and “Annotated History of Zaipruniel and its Glories”.

  Quest Completed: Find a Library; Reward: Skill – Speedread

  New Quest: Expand Your Collection – Collect 5 additional written documents; Reward: Scholar-related blueprint

  Oh, nice. I’d almost forgotten the quest to find three legible books; I guess the definition of a library is pretty flexible. The new skill was one I was a bit torn about. It could definitely be handy, but in the absence of significant numbers of books, all it did was mean I could go through my available books faster than I’d like. And I did.

  Skill: Speedread lvl 0 --> lvl 1

  Local Lore: 1 --> 4

  Regional Lore: 2 --> 5

  Global Lore: 0 --> 3

  Still lots to learn, of course.

  “Hmm, a scholarly bent. That’s quite unusual, but not unprecedented for a divinely placed dungeon. And you’re full of surprises anyways. All right, so what’s next up?”

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  I opted for two green lights again and chose a bag of holding – the allure of magic items being too great to resist. I didn’t really need one, but if I could figure out some of the dimensional magics involved, it had a lot of potential. And besides, it’s a perpetual favorite for adventurers in nearly every fantasy game or novel...

  Blueprint acquired: Lesser Bag of Holding

  I followed that choice with a modest pair of rings that allowed for short-distance private oral communication between the wearers.

  Blueprint acquired: Lesser Paired Whisper Rings

  And the last choice in that category, a simple cloak offering a boost to hiding in shadows.

  Blueprint acquired: Lesser Cloak of Concealment

  “Magic items are a much more popular starting point. I should note that these are all quite modest but will still be a heavy drain on your resources to create, judging from other dungeons. You probably won’t want to generate more than one or two per floor for the time being.”

  That felt correct to me. Without checking the mana cost directly, I could still tell they were going to be a major investment for some time to come.

  “Shall we move on?”

  *GREEN*

  I paused a few beats, so that he would recognize the answer for what it was. Then I blinked green once more and moved into the alchemical ingredients

  Blueprint Acquired: Lesser Manashroom

  Sadly, it didn’t seem there would be any way for me to make direct use of the mana these would absorb and store, and in fact, they’d tend to reduce the ambient mana available for me to capture, but that didn’t seem likely to be an issue unless I went overboard in producing them. This might be something I wait to produce until I get a bit deeper and mana flow isn’t such a constraint. I could tell these fungi wanted to be raised in the dark, ideally in decomposing flesh. They were quite small but had a distinctive bluish bioluminescence to them.

  Blueprint Acquired: Lesser Healmint

  Mana cost for this one would be less of an issue, but despite being a hardy member of the mint family, this one felt susceptible to overharvesting and relatively slow growth. The square stem fit the family, but it otherwise didn’t look much like other mints I was familiar with, having a very dark purple leaf. It seemed happiest in a darker, shaded setting with deep, mana-rich soils and good drainage.

  Blueprint Acquired: Bleedgrass

  Despite the ominous name, sharp edges, and distinguishing reddish tint, this plant was fairly innocuous. Unlike the other two, this didn’t seem to draw on the ambient mana any more than normal plants, with its effects being entirely pharmacological. Specifically, it had a blood-thinning effect, that could be condensed into a nasty blade coating. This one had less strict growing requirements and would make do in almost any conditions, as long as they weren’t too dry or too dark.

  “Hmm. Alchemy too? Do you have a particular interest in attracting wizards and alchemists?”

  *RED*

  “So almost anyone with a formal education, then?”

  *GREEN*

  “Well, I won’t lie. That’s going to be a relatively small proportion of most adventuring groups, particularly at lower levels. We do have some basic educational standards, but true scholars tend to find more peaceful paths to knowledge, outside of a few thrill-seekers. That said, if we make your preferences known, you might draw some in, and at the very least, adventurers will bring you books.”

  *GREEN*

  “So where to next?”

  I paused for a moment, not feeling a particular draw to the other categories, but made a quick decision.

  I blinked one green light and absorbed the small incense burner in the shape of an elf with a series of cervine attributes – antlers, big swiveling ears, and feet ending in delicate hooves. There seemed to be incense residue on the palm of his outstretched hand.

  Blueprint acquired: Censer of Venali Ollalynn

  Blueprint acquired: Molded Fine Paste Ceramic

  Blueprint acquired: Sandalwood Incense

  “That’s Venali Ollalyn, god of natural animals, and a favorite local deity in Zaipruniel, particularly among druids and more traditional sylvan elves.”

  Next, I opted for a large coin or smallish medal stamped with an old-fashioned set of scales hanging from an axe. My guess was for a deity of justice, from the symbolism, and that was soon verified.

  Blueprint acquired: Token of Voldrat Axelord

  Blueprint acquired: Wrought iron

  “Voldrat Axelord, god of righteous battle among the dwarves of the Deep Iron. I think they just like the traditional solid feel of wrought iron. They’re certainly capable of much more challenging forge work.”

  Well, that answered one recently formulated question about the level of technology, at least.

  And the last item in this section is a small ivory figurine depicting a horned woman with bat-like wings wrapped around her torso with a rather defiant gaze etched in with delicate detailing. It seemed like there might also be the suggestion of a tail curling around her legs to her clawed feet.

  Blueprint acquired: Figurine of Fayavla

  Blueprint acquired: Dwarf Mastodont Ivory

  Ornthalas flushed a bit and admitted a general lack of knowledge of which deity this represented. I was more curious as to why I was given the blueprint for the ivory, but not the whole mastodont. I guess that’s a bit greedy of me, but it seemed like it could be fun.

  “I think it’s a locaI goddess worshipped by one of the gargoyle tribes in the Coldspires. To be honest, I just liked the look of It when I was selecting items from the guild’s stores. I’m guessing that you’re not interested in any of these deities specifically, but you wanted to signal a general interest in the divine in order to hopefully further your divine mission?”

  **GREEN** X2

  “Makes sense to me. Still interested in any of the others?”

  I signaled my general interest and proceeded through most of the remaining groups. Precious metals earned me blueprints for gold, silver, and copper – the basics. Gemstones similarly provided small samples of diamond, ruby, and emerald. These seemed generally useful, and I suspected they might be a benefit in trying to attract visitors, though production costs seemed to be relatively high; I wasn’t sure if that was set to avoid destabilizing local economies or if it reflected some inherent functionality of mana use.

  “Those are always popular choices, though we do ask that you limit your production to fairly modest levels – by preference no more than 3 gems a month per level and no bigger than my thumbnail. Likewise, not more than 200 g of gold, 500 g of silver, and 1 kilo of copper per month per level, ideally scaling with the difficulty of the delve. We’d also ask that you avoid producing your own coinage, as that has prompted issues in the past. For whatever reason, non-sapient dungeons tend to limit themselves naturally to acceptable levels. Less critically, we’d appreciate it if the gems were issued in rough form, like we gave you, to prevent putting craftsmen out of work. You’ll likely get examples of cut gemstones eventually, but we recommend those for the fifth level or lower.”

  **GREEN**

  That all seemed perfectly sensible to me, and while I wanted to draw in visitors, I really was hoping for a more intellectual sort, and not those directly motivated by greed. I wasn’t really sure how likely that was, but I’d see what I could do to push it in that direction.

  I followed that up with weapons, armor, and basic adventuring gear, none of which I really wanted to focus on, but they seemed like an expected part of the whole dungeon thing. That secured me blueprints for basic elven steel longswords, basic elven throwing daggers, and basic elven longbow arrows. As a side benefit, the arrow gave me blueprints for goose feathers and hickory shafts; the dagger's hilt provided a blueprint for sharkskin (I’m guessing good for grip). The goose feathers actually gave me a blueprint for domestic goose, as well. I guess if the material isn’t too processed, I can get the blueprint.

  The main pieces of armor turned out to be a basic boiled leather cuirass, basic reinforced leather helm, and basic boiled leather greaves. The helmet also provided a blueprint for quilted cotton, which might be useful for the rest areas. I also gained a blueprint for a simple brass buckle, of which each element had several.

  The basic adventuring gear was even simpler, representing a short length of basic hemp rope, a simple brass lantern, and an iron prybar. Alongside the original blueprints, I also gained one for the hemp plant. I didn’t receive ones for brass or iron, which seemed odd, though I got the sense I could reshape these objects however I’d like after I produced them.

  I hit up the fabrics next, figuring those might come in handy for general production of things like bedding, upholstery, or bookbinding – as well as clothing, though I hadn’t ever been known for my fashion sense. I was given swatches of denim, linen, and silk in their raw, undyed state. I found embedded seed fragments in both the denim and linen, and secured blueprints for cotton and flax, respectively. No luck on the silkworms, though!

  The food seemed like basic preserved rations including pork jerky, a basic hard loaf brown wheat bread, and the real prize - a handful of trail mix. No luck on getting a blueprint for pigs, but I did get ones for einkorn wheat, red groundnut, giant sunflower, brown walnut, apricot, and red grapes.

  That left me, finally, facing a small collection of the remains of apparently sapient beings.

  **RED** **YELLOW**

  “You have ethical concerns? I appreciate that, frankly. The first two of these are pieces of goblin skull and lizardman talon; those species are technically sapient but are often produced by dungeons in a subsapient state and are invariably hostile to all other species. In any event those beings have no discernible attachment to the remains of their dead. They are generally abandoned where they fall when not simply devoured. The third is a fingerbone from an elf, it is true, but these were all secured from dungeon-spawned creatures - in this case, a skeleton; dungeon skeletons appear to have never actually been alive in the first place and represent the least offensive variety of undead. We still don’t actually recommend their use, but it was decided to present them as an option.”

  Reassured that they represented dungeon-spawned creatures in a subsapient state, I absorbed all three, finding them each to provide blueprints of T2 dungeon creatures.

  Blueprint acquired: Lesser Cave Goblin

  Blueprint acquired: Lesser Dungeon Kobold

  Blueprint acquired: Lesser Skeleton (Elven)

  I was starting to get a sense of the difference between T1 and T2, finally. T1 seemed to consist entirely of natural animals with no particular magical affinities. T2 seemed to include animals with some basic magical affinity or subsapient creatures capable of some limited initiative – functioning kind of like a dumber AI character and with some of the same issues unless directly controlled. I got the clear sense that I was a long way off being able to create truly independent, sapient creatures, if I ever could.

  That was probably for the best, frankly. Despite the astounding powers of creation given to me as a core, I didn’t feel like I was suitable for that level of divine power. I felt responsible enough for the creatures I’d created already; having actual independent, sapient beings that I’d created would likely drive me to extremes in their defense – to the point it would likely not be good for them as a group or even as individuals. Admittedly, as an archaeologist I tended to take a long view of things, knowing that death comes for all creatures in the end, but that doesn’t preclude recognizing the power and trauma of the individual experiences of members of a society.

  Oof. Got a bit sidetracked in my own personal philosophy, there. Something of an occupational hazard, I suppose. I wasn’t sure if I’d spawn any of the humanoid creatures in, but I figured it might be handy to have something available with opposable thumbs. Practical considerations might trump some of my more minor ethical concerns, after all.

  In any event, that philosophical side trip didn’t take up much time, fortunately, as the Dungeon Inspector continued his spiel.

  “That concludes the gift giving portion of the assessment process, I’m afraid. I’ll jot down some notes for my fairly copious paperwork, and let you know what my preliminary assessment will be, okay? Then I’d like to ask some final questions about your plans, both in the short term and in the longer term, before I head back.”

  I could see his shoulders droop momentarily at the thought of the paperwork ahead of him. I felt a bit bad for him, as I assumed that my unusual nature was likely to require additional hours of work for him – hopefully compensated for by the novelty of an intelligent, interested dungeon. Even if we couldn't really carry on a conversation...