Why are you special?

"Oh, sorry to wake you up, Dolly, but shouldn't you be in the Rope Trick?"

"Eh, I like sleeping under the stars, Wally was on watch, and you need a trapper enough that he's not going to do anything now even if he happens to be the sort inclined to take advantage of a sleeping lady, which he doesn't seem to be." Most of that's even true.

"You have a lot of faith in your logic… and in his."

Not really, but I can pretend, "Wally’s a wizard, isn't he? The bookish types tend to think things through, he'll know the logic of the situation."

"Oh yes, Wally’s very smart, but that’s not the same thing as being wise… I've seen him do some very foolish things because he doesn't always remember to think things through… but you're right enough on the other half, he's not going to bother a sleeping beauty like yourself," Carter whispers the next bit, but my ears are really sensitive, "He lacks the courage to make a move even when a lady's awake."

Ah, so that's why he wasn't flirting. Convenient for me. Although… doesn't Carter's statement kind of imply… oh boy. Well… Life mentioned she was planning on going after 'lezbos', so showing some interest might be a good thing… I just need to be sure not to go too far with the charade. I'm definitely not interested in kissing or letting anyone in 'down there'.

… but the ride earlier did feel amazing…

"And you have more courage, I presume?" I flutter my eyes a little, smile, tilting my head a bit and leaning to exaggerate my already generous curves.

Carter takes a breath, and whispers to himself again, "Bad luck in the dungeon indeed… but this one was sent by The Blessed Mother…" and speaks in a normal tone, "Work first, then play, Dolly. I'll take you out for a fine feast and treat you right once we're back in town… but we need to stay sharp for now. Relaxing too much could kill us all." He drops to a whisper again, "But you sure are a tempting trollop."

I put on my best pouting face, but speak, "So… was your last trapper hard of hearing? You have a bad habit of whispering."

Carter turns beat red, "So you heard that, then?"

"Every word. But relax, it's an endearing trait: It means you're never going to successfully lie to me.  I might take you up on that dinner… but you’re right, we should survive the dungeon first," Hopefully I'm not laying it on too thick, “I’ve never gone down a dungeon in this region, and have never needed to kill a dungeon heart before; what can I expect?” I make sure to look at him with interest.

“Traps, obviously.  Also monsters, locked doors… dungeons tend to cluster their monsters around whichever plane leaks the worst on the heart.  This one’s been left to fester too long, and has started spitting out monsters, so it’s going to be bad.  The guildmaster was quite hesitant to give it to us, but was lacking options; this one has been sending out infernal beasts, specifically, that have caused serious trouble before other groups were able to take them out.  That’s not an entirely reliable indicator of what we’ll find, though; sometimes they shift.  The dungeon’s heart is always guarded by a boss monster.  Well, not always ‘boss’ in the sense that it tells everything else what’s going on, but a bigger and tougher monster than the rest in the area.  Sometimes the creature knows why it’s there, other times not.”

Seems like a good time to add a question to make it sound like I’m actually interested, “Why is it there?”

Carter’s warming up, good… “Because it’s feeding, whether it knows it or not.  The dungeon heart is the source of the planar leaks that give rise to the dungeon,” Yeah, Wally talked about that, “and the creatures the heart spawns grow stronger the longer they stay near it.  The beast in the room doesn’t catch all the leakage - which is a good thing, as it’s much better when the hazards are spread out - and so the rest of the dungeon also exists.  Of course, the same applies to the treasure in the boss room… so while this dungeon is going to be very, very bad in terms of monsters… it’s also going to be very, very good, in terms of treasure.  They’re tied to each other, you see, as the heart itself is just a thing, neither good nor evil.”  

Something’s bothering me… “Sounds like we’re in for a grand old time, but… why destroy the heart?  Why not just clear the place out and ‘reset it’ like whoever manages this area was supposed to be doing all along?”

Carter shakes his head, “A good thought, but it doesn’t work out in practice.  Wally could explain this better, but… the heart kind of ‘remembers’ how strong it was.  The cracks in planar boundaries that release the energies that spawn the monsters get wider the longer the creatures aren’t cleaned out, so it’d be a nasty dungeon again very quickly after cleaning.  No… when they get this bad, they need to be destroyed and rebuilt.”

Another thing… “So does destroying the heart mean this area is going to lose all magic until someone builds another dungeon heart?”

Carter sighs, “Yes, which is why this isn’t done lightly.  Dungeon hearts are placed so that the mana fields overlap a bit.  We’re going to have to walk about a third of the way back to collect our pay.  The poor saps that live in this area are likely going to be without their lights for a bit over a month, though.  They can live without that, but they’ll also be lacking in healing and such.  The sick will need to travel a day or two before they can reach a healer.  Still… the loss of magic will be temporary, but the deaths by wandering monsters are forever.  So yeah, needs to be done.”

I let the sadness show on my face.  I like having magic… which is kind of why I took Unassailable Power.  I should be fine, but everyone else… I wonder if I can share? Channel the Gift is a spell, and it'd be running on my power… but that's for later.

Hmm…  pretty sure we got about a hundred miles in today… so we're going to need to walk like thirty miles, and the ranges overlap? "What kind of a range does a dungeon have?"

"It varies. The stronger the heart, the longer the range. When they first start out, maybe ten miles or so.  The one we're about to kill? It could have been feeding your items where we started, but that’s because it's been permitted to grow wild."

"And we're not going to have magic after we kill the heart?"

"Correct."

"Will the monsters all vanish?"

"Not immediately, no. They'll get sick and die eventually without it… but most of them can feel that, and will wander away in search of another dungeon heart.  They'll be hungry and angry."

I blink, "That sounds bad."

"It is very bad. Standard protocol for a termination is to kill everything that moves before attacking the heart. That also lets us run quick after we smash it, as the dungeon will start collapsing shortly thereafter."

"We'll need to move quickly, then… so what does a dungeon heart actually look like?"

Carter pauses at that, "Are you sure you've done a delve before?"

Yes and no, "I come from very far away, and don't exactly trust anything my last party leader said or showed me." Yes, I'm a lying liar who lies. Because I'd rather not die. AGAIN. Let's move on.

Carter humms a bit, "Can't miss it. It'll be a big crystal, connected to the wall, floor, or ceiling, that slowly pulses with light. Exactly how big depends on the dungeon… a new dungeon still being cultivated will be about the size of your fist…" he glances at my hands, and amends that, "my fist, anyway. This one… well, it'll probably be bigger than you are."

OK, yes, that will be easy to recognize, "Have they ever been hidden, like … covered with an Illusory Wall or something?"

Carter shakes his head, "None that I've encountered. Most of the time a dungeon heart is a good thing, everyone wants them there, there's no reason to hide it. Besides, they literally radiate magic. You can't hide them with it."

"Some monsters are smart… what if one figures out we're after the heart, and buries it in rocks or something?"

Carter goes silent for a while, "Well… let’s hope that doesn't happen. If it does… we'll have time to search. It takes a while for fresh monsters to spawn, and they'll start close to the heart."

"As long as we have a plan, I guess."

We sit and chat for the rest of his shift; I make sure to constantly seem 'interested' so as to make a nice solid cover if anyone accuses me of liking girls. It's annoying, but hey: I have the skill and Charisma to pull off a great Bluff.

As Carter starts to climb the rope to get Paul up, I lay back down and pretend to take a nap….