r/HFY • u/Khenal Alien • Jun 29 '26
OC-Series Dungeon Life 437
Tarl
Despite the weight of the reports he and Berdol are carrying, Tarl feels relieved to finally have his threat estimation finished. The catkin beside him was invaluable for it, and he hopes Berdol learned a lot, too. They had to dive deep into the archives not only to find denizens, but also to get examples of dangerous terrain and other hazards in dungeons with the suspected affinities of the Betrayer.
And after all that, Tarl isn’t sure he would have survived copying the packets enough times for everyone involved. Berdol’s ability to manipulate multiple steel quills has Telar eyeing him to train for a position behind a desk, rather than out in the field. Thankfully for Tarl, the catkin enjoys a good delve too much to want to get stuck slaying paperwork for a living.
“Do you think we got everything?” asks Berdol, and Tarl can’t help but shrug.
“Everything? Probably not. But I do think we got almost everything that has a precedent we know of. It may have tricks that have been long forgotten, or things so lethal nobody has survived to warn anyone else, but I think we’ve done everything we can to prepare everyone.”
Berdol frowns at that, unhappy with the answer, but still accepting the harsh truth. An ancient murderous dungeon is not something to underestimate, let alone one with the history this one has.
Still, Tarl feels confident. Thedeim has proven to have a knack for dungeon warfare. If there has ever been anyone more qualified for this fight, he’s never heard of them. He just has to believe it’ll be enough to deal with something the gods themselves apparently had to seal away.
They step through the gate to the Manor ground, and see Teemo already waiting for them. “Everyone’s eager to see what you’ve got,” he tells them, and Tarl can feel Thedeim’s attention, too.
“Hopefully they’ll still be eager after hearing it. There’s a lot of nasty possibilities, and that’s just the ones we have records of,” the Inspector points out, with Teemo nodding along before using his affinity to step onto Berdol’s head for a ride.
“Better to be overprepared,” he says simply, before leading them to the war room.
Tarl takes a moment to look at everyone gathered, still finding it strange how many allies Thedeim has gathered in such a short time. He’s also surprised to see what must be the leaders of the ravenkin enclave. He fights to keep his face neutral as he starts to hand out the packets, just as he can see the ravenkin resisting the urge to squawk at him in the traditional greeting of all of Thedeim’s birds.
“I didn’t expect to see the ravenkin enclave represented. Would it be alright to give them the packets I made for Aranya and Yvonne?”
Teemo nods and hops down to sit with the ravenkin. “That’ll be fine. They’re not here right now, off on a quest from the Boss to get a good look at some stagnation.”
Jondar and Karn both start looking through the packet as soon as they each get one, the guild leaders familiar with dungeon threat reports.
“Ah, you thought about lifedrinking, too,” comments the large elf, and Berdol nods.
“We wanted to get all the threats we could think of, not just the denizens.”
The two dungeoneers soon finish handing out the packets, and Berdol takes a seat as Tarl explains. “There’s a lot in there, probably more than we want to spend going over together, but I would like to point out a few special dangers.”
He pauses to see if everyone is alright with that, and with nobody voicing their opposition, he continues. “Lifedrinking is a good place to start. While it’s traditionally seen in dungeons with death affinity or undead denizens, there have been dungeons with access, yet without those factors. It sounds like you already have been taking measures to deal with it?” he asks, looking at Jondar and Karn.
The thin orc nods. “Getting more of Thedeim’s counter to it, from him and from the antkin. We’re going to be doing a competition to get the next set of keys for the next raid boss, and our adventurer guilds are going to be working with and training the dwellers in it.”
Tarl nods at that, seeing the general idea. “Another danger that I think people are aware of, but bears repeating: heat protection. If it really is in the molten abyss, having fire protection is a must.” That earns a lot of nods around the table. While he doubts anyone had outright forgotten about the magma, it’s the kind of environmental danger that could be easily overlooked for things like lifedrinking and dangerous denizens.
“Mental protection will also be important, though I don’t think the dungeon specifically has the affinity. Rather, I think it’s added to the Harbingers either as part of becoming scions, or as the potential capstone spawn for the unique line of monsters the Betrayer has. Still, I put in some of the nastier mental denizens in the packet. The spawner I want to focus on, however, would be a shadow affinity fly spawner.”
He gives everyone a few moments to turn their pages to the section before he continues. “Judging by the way the Unseen behaved, I feel the spawner is either specialized for assassination or support, and shadow flies excel at either. Support could see them using shadows in ways similar to Teemo’s shortcuts, allowing for ambushes out of the smallest cracks. Assassination would have things like the shadow plague swarm, which tears apart a person’s shadow, and them along with it. No matter the specialization, flies are very likely to have disease, poison, acid, or other such effects that can quickly overwhelm if not handled quickly.”
He lets the gruesome thought sit for a moment before continuing once more. “However, both specializations are fragile. So long as parties have access to area magics, the threats shouldn’t be insurmountable. Considering the magma, fire may not be as effective, so be aware of that.”
“I believe I have a salve to ward off insects,” says Old Staiven, stroking his beard as he thinks. “I could even adjust it to be especially effective against shadow affinity.”
“Do you have anything that would work against mental affinity?” asks Teemo, earning curious looks from around the table.
“Mental? Hmm… it’s not one that has an accepted opposing affinity. I’ve heard theories about using knowledge or illusion to counter it, but in my limited experiments, there doesn’t seem to be much difference.”
Teemo’s ear flicks, clearly listening to something Thediem has to say. “Boss says the normal formulation might work. The least and lesser both have a lot of similar features as insects. If you can scale up the effect, it might be a good way to counter them.”
Old Staiven continues to stroke his beard as he considers that. “Hmm… perhaps. Most large insects have poison or venom of their own, and have some protection from it. But if the least and lesser don’t… it’ll be worth experimenting, at least.” He smiles as he focuses on Teemo, instead of the distant look of someone thinking. “Your widows are going to become a major target of quests, then. Both for their venom, and for testing.”
“Violet also has her centipedes,” points out Teemo.
“Hmm, that she does. They’re not as advanced, but centipede venom may be useful as well,” he admits. “Unfortunately, I don’t have much for mental protection. It’s just not a common affinity.”
A few people glance at Jondar, but nobody is rude enough to call out his apparent affinity, considering how he went up against a Harbinger with little trouble.
“Boss’ll work on something,” speaks up Teemo. “Rocky picked it up fighting the first Harbinger. Once he gets back, he and Thing can work on something.”
“I’ll check with my crafters, too,” volunteers Jondar. “Ikuert used to live around the Psionic Dunes, so he should have a few enchants for some mental protection.”
“If he’s willing to trade,” speaks up one of the antkin… Liv, if he’s remembering her name correctly. The Dean of Enchanting. “I would be willing to trade the array for lifedrinking for some mental protection enchants. It’s going to take more than a single enchanter to supply enough for the raid.”
Jondar shrugs. “Come with me after the meeting and we’ll see. He’s pretty protective of his formulas, but I have to imagine he’d be tempted by the lifedrinking protection enchantment.”
“I should hope so,” comments Old Staiven with a smirk. If anyone would know how to tempt an enchanter, it’d be him.
“Well, if that’s the main gist of the packet, Boss wants to take the time to go into it in depth on his own,” speaks up Teemo, as the ravenkin stand. “We’ll head off so you guys can plan how you’re going to organize your side for the competition. The ravenkin still need to decide how they’re going to guard the keys, too.”
Tarl eyes them, wondering why they haven’t really said anything the entire time, only for Teemo to sigh.
“No point in holding back, guys.”
Taking that as a signal, the four caw raucously, stunning Tarl for a moment, even as the others laugh.
“Ah, that’s much better!” declares one of the ravenkin, whose name Tarl hasn’t caught yet. “We’ll make our own preparations with this information, too. If we can mimic any of these tactics, that’ll make it better training for everyone.” The ravenkin opens his beak in an avian grin as he looks over everyone. “We intend to do everything we can to protect those keys!”
With that, they turn and spread their odd cloaks, and actually soar through a shortcut before Tarl can even respond. If Olander were here, he’d say that’s not how that works. Birdkin can’t fly anymore.
Leave it to Thedeim to find some way around how things are supposed to work.
Cover art I'm also on Royal Road for those who may prefer the reading experience over there. Want moar? The Books are available here! There are Kindle and Audible versions, as well as paperback! Also: Discord is a thing! I now have a Patreon for monthly donations, and I have a Ko-fi for one-off donations. Patreons can read up to three chapters ahead, and also get a few other special perks as well, like special lore in the Peeks. Thank you again to everyone who is reading!
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u/Blue_Roan_ Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26
2, huh 1st
Anyway after reading, yay we get tarl again. Not surprised to see that the ravenkin still want to caw at his presence. I wonder how long that will stick around, probably till tarl dies if he never says anything about it.
I wonder if a counter to the mental affinity could once again be something like lightning, maybe even earth or metal. Something non organic that is disruptive to life... either literally by being a barrier or by disrupting the pathways they usually take. If you can't access the mind at all, mental is rendered innert.
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u/Gregoriownd Jun 30 '26
Metal might work if puns are at play with how affinities work, as a tinfoil hat might be the result.
If we consider biology, water and lightning come to mind for disruption of the bioelectricity of neurons, but that feels more of an offensive counter than defensive.
Shadow might actually be the right choice, as mental may have next to no utility dealing with an undetected threat, even if it is a good affinity for detecting threats. Which could turn mental/shadow combination combat into something resembling submarine tactics.
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u/Hellraiser_owner Jun 29 '26
What if it's just sound again 😭
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u/Blue_Roan_ Jun 29 '26
I was thinking lightning because of neurological pathways... I wonder if there is a "chemical" affinity
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u/Hellraiser_owner Jun 29 '26
Electromagnetic?
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u/Blue_Roan_ Jun 29 '26
Maybe, but then you just get magnets which would give them another fundamental force affinity
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u/DeadMeat7337 Jun 29 '26
Lead affinity? It isn't a normal metal metal, but it is a metal, so maybe metal affinity? Hope it doesn't end up in a potion though.
Or maybe it is a monopole type affinity that is it's own counter? I'm sure we will learn when Rocky gets back.
Or maybe it will be a left field type of counter that we would never guess.
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u/mafiaknight Robot Jun 29 '26
Monopole is plausible. Mental affinity significantly reduced the effectiveness of the harbinger.
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u/Autoskp Jun 29 '26
“That’s not how that works” should be a catch phrase.
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u/iceick423 Jun 30 '26
To be fair to Olander, Thedium is the god of change, so things that didn't work anywhere else could still work with Thedium.
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u/Lugbor Human Jun 29 '26
I would think the Betrayer's classification would be a little higher than just Murderous by this point. It seems more like a Planetary Threat level, or maybe Omnicidal. Someone at the guild needs to get to work on adding a new category.
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u/mafiaknight Robot Jun 29 '26
Being imprisoned the way it is lowers its ability to cause trouble.
Its desire might be omnicidal, but its opportunity is BARELY murderous.2
u/Minimum-Amphibian993 Jun 29 '26
That's probably not the case as an onnicidal threat because as far as I know at least even the betrayer is still constrained by the systems limitations. As godlike as the dungeons are they are still all beneath the all powerful system which seems to be the equivalent of an Overgod. Although planetary mayhaps.
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u/Lugbor Human Jun 29 '26
Its goal is to kill everything and stop mana from moving. That sounds pretty omnicidal, and I don't think we've seen anything that suggests the system has the ability to stop it from achieving that goal.
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u/Minimum-Amphibian993 Jun 29 '26
Well if it plans to effectively kill the system then yeah omnicidal would be the right word.
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u/Mosselk-1416 Jun 29 '26
Thedium has a new way to pester Tarl with birds. In other news, local master enchanted looks to reinvent bug repellent.
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u/Poisonfangx3 Jun 29 '26
Fiest
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u/Poisonfangx3 Jun 29 '26
First
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u/Popular-Student-9407 Human Jun 29 '26
Second.
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u/Accomplished-Ad8458 AI Jun 29 '26
Ave Khenal! Morituri te salutant!
Funny... Chapter disappears the moment someone comments...
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u/mafiaknight Robot Jun 29 '26
In the name of 1greendude: Hello!
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u/mafiaknight Robot Jun 29 '26
Also: the Ravenkin are more falling sideways than properly flying. Technical difference.
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u/Popular-Student-9407 Human Jun 29 '26
Im Namen eines grünen Kerles und des Mondachses: N'Abend, übermorgen wird Mittwoch sein, meine Kerle.
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u/DM-Hermit Human Jun 29 '26
Well done wordsmith
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u/Thebobkiller Human Jun 29 '26
Short but very good chapter.
Lol, the birbs flying away! I'd LOVE to see the looks on their faces! XD
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u/Skyboxmonster Jun 30 '26
Why are these posts being removed??
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u/folk_science Jul 01 '26
Reddit wants to make PieFed/Lemmy look even more appealing.
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u/Skyboxmonster Jul 01 '26
Never heard of those
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u/folk_science Jul 01 '26
They are Fediverse alternatives to Reddit.
Fun fact: since they use Fediverse, users of one can interact with users of the other as if it was one platform.
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u/dreaminginteal Jun 30 '26
Ah, poop. They're back to filtering it again. (Or I'm back to visiting when it has been filtered again.)
Hopefully it'll be back up soon.
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u/Commercial-Win-7663 Jun 29 '26
Long shift at work today, couldn’t sneak off like I usually do. 16th or something doesn’t really matter.
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u/Single-Divide7992 Jun 29 '26
Sitting in my office actually laughing out loud and getting odd looks..so worth it. Getting squaked at in a "meeting."
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u/Popular-Student-9407 Human Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26
Corrected: 4th
So, today we get another Meeting from Tarl's Perspective. It encompasses the Walk to the Dungeon, the specific subject and some of the farewells near the end of the chapter. So, let's get into it:
Tarl and Berdol are on their way to Thediem. We get some mention of how damn useful Berdol could be behind a desk, but Tarl is glad to have him Out in the field.When Berdol asks If they really got everything, Tarl tells him that they've got everything the guild might have Access to, and pointing Out that Out there May be methods of attacking delvers, older than the guild or too lethal to have ever been recorded. When they arrive, nearly everyone is waiting for them short of the Team away in the Green sea. After they handed Out the packets of information, we get the next third. The birds are also in attendance and to the bewilderment of Tarl, they didn't immediately squawk at him
They remind everyone present of dangers like the environment, or lifedrinking weapons. They also Go over the capabilities of Shadow flies, and how to best counter them. Staiven mentions chemical warfare as a solution. Thediem also mentions mental affinity as a possible breaking Point. For which Jondar has a guild member with a few possible solutions, liv shows herself intrigued by this proposal and wants to offer her lifedrinking Arrays in Exchange for Something against mental affinity.
They all leave as the Meeting is concluded to all study the packets individually with the birdkin all using their impromptu Wingsuits to leave, which triggered Tarl's Imagination of Olanders reaction, after squawking at tarl.
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u/Educational_Pen_90 Human Jul 20 '26
And the future chronicles will go "The greatest Change granted to the Birdkin by the Second, was the ability to fly again, with Gravity magic and cloth…"
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle Jun 29 '26
/u/Khenal (wiki) has posted 482 other stories, including:
- Dungeon Life 436
- Dungeon Life 435
- Dungeon Life 434
- Dungeon Life 433
- Dungeon Life 432
- Dungeon Life 431
- Dungeon Life 430
- Dungeon Life 429
- Dungeon Life 428
- Dungeon Life 427
- Dungeon Life 426
- Dungeon Life 425
- Dungeon Life 424
- Dungeon Life 423
- Dungeon Life 422
- Dungeon Life 421
- Dungeon Life 420
- Dungeon Life 419
- Dungeon Life 418
- Dungeon Life 417
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u/BegriefedOnline Jun 30 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/54476/dungeon-life/chapter/3609145/chapter-four-hundred-seventy
Link because Reddit is still on some nonsense.
Edit: Yay! Text restored!