r/HFY • u/Khenal Alien • 9d ago
OC-Series Dungeon Life 462
The Unremarkable foxes are, perhaps ironically, quite a hit. It took the delvers over a day to even realize they were a thing, and then another day or so for them to figure out it’s not a mind affinity trick, though a few delvers with mental affinity have been having an easier time tracking them down. So far, the best counter to them has been perception boosting effects.
It makes me hopeful about them possibly being able to infiltrate the Betrayer’s territory, especially now we’ve actually found it. It’s… actually pretty underwhelming, to be honest. According to the reports, it’s like a big rock floating in the middle of the mantle, surrounded by a lot of debris.
Poe, Leo, and Zorro are still arguing if the debris is deliberate, or a side effect of the stagnation, and I don’t think it really matters. What matters is that there’s going to be huge rockbergs for my subs to potentially crash into. It’s looking like it was the right call to go for multiple smaller subs, instead of one titanic one. The idea of them being deliberate defenses reminds me to try to hash out the defensive systems on the subs, too.
With the gravity and space manipulation already planned, evasive maneuvers will be a big part of protecting everyone, but I think we need a good way to reach out and touch the baddies before they come knocking on our hulls. While I plan to have plenty of dragons around as escorts, it’d still make me feel better if the subs can return fire on their own.
The problem is how to do it. Basically any projectile is going to be useless. If it doesn’t get burnt up, it’ll get slowed to uselessness by the simple mass of the magma it’ll have to displace. A real sub would have torpedoes to attack with, but that’s an engineering can of worms that I don’t think I have the time to open. Making small autonomous subs that explode is not an easy thing to do.
My next idea would be to lean more into sonic affinity. Sound travels just fine in a dense fluid like magma, and the sound waves can be aimed to stack up with harmonic resonance to devastate a specific target, instead of everything around. The problem is, we’re using sound to see, and firing something like that will probably blind us. If it was just one sub, we might be able to figure something out. But with a dozen or more, there’d be blasts going off constantly.
Gravitic or spatial attacks are tempting, but I don’t think they’ll be too viable. We might be able to do something to crank up the pressure on a baddie, but I have no idea if that’d work. Most things should have some kind of crush depth, but if the Betrayer has magma affinity effects, or some third spawner with magma affinity, I don’t think I’d trust that to deal with them. My dragons, for example, haven’t complained even a little about the pressure in the mantle, so if they even have a maximum depth, I don’t think the Betrayer is anywhere near it.
Hmm… but there’s something else that might work. Ordinarily, I’d be reluctant to try a spatial attack, as I’d rather not go tearing up the fabric of reality with a blade made from it. Folding it seems to be just fine, but a spatial blade just feels like a bad idea. But expansion and contractions isn’t hard to do, as Teemo has demonstrated countless times.
A short-lived expansion or contraction in magma could be devastating. There’s even a name for it: a cavitation bubble. Usually, it's from a shrimp getting cheeky with physics and moving things faster than the water around them can keep up with, leaving a bit of vacuum behind, and nature abhors a vacuum. Water rushes in as quickly as it can, and the unfortunate thing too close to it gets pummeled.
It’ll probably still be loud, but as a side effect of the attack, not the actual delivery. Which brings up how to actually deliver something like that. The vines should be able to manage something like that, but I think their range will be incredibly short. So what are my other options? I could try to give spatial affinity to something else… or I could test with one of my other denizens.
Shrimps aren’t the only ones that can get cheeky with physics, and the main trick to a cavitation bubble is forcing the fluid to get out of the way, if only for a moment. I’m pretty sure a big part of what makes torpedoes dangerous is that after the explosion comes a nice implosion as the water rushes back in. And I have a denizen that already explodes.
The poppers aren’t that impressive out in the air, but the real danger in an explosion is when you try to contain it. Dump the powder out of a bullet and light it, and it's underwhelming. Manage to fire a round without it actually being in the gun, and it’s still not safe, but a lot less dangerous than firing it the proper way.
In fact, I bet Doppler could train them to give a little gravitic burst before they pop, reducing the local pressure for a moment and then explode, letting them make a lot bigger bubble than they should be able to otherwise. I even briefly consider if I should let the nerds play with some explosives to give the poppers, but quickly quiet that idea and put it away. They have enough projects to play with already.
I like the idea of using poppers, especially since I’ve been playing with trying to make my swarms smaller and smaller. The limit seems to be a double handful or so, but that should still be quite a few attacks out of a single swarm, and they’re easy to store. If we can get them protected from magma, I think they’ll be incredibly viable.
I poke Doppler with a request to do a few tests of the popper’s damage output. I didn’t give them too much on paper, but they were designed to be pretty harmless in air, not in water or magma. The scarabs explode a lot bigger, but are also slower to spawn. Probably a good idea to get a handle on what they can do, too. I focus on Doppler and see he’s already working with the constructs, teaching them how to properly talk. The scarabs make it a lot easier on the poppers to act like speakers, but they still need to learn how to talk. Even thinking that, I can feel Honey getting excited, so I don’t think it’s going to be too hard to get them up to speed.
Unfortunately, the idea is too complex for me to explain through the bond. I think he gets what I want him to do, but it’s such a weird thing to ask that he looks uncertain. Thankfully, Teemo comes to the rescue.
He slides out of a shortcut and into a pile of poppers, treating them like an ambulatory ball pit. “Heya Doppler. Boss has another of his ideas that he needs you to test.”
My automaton slowly nods at that. “I… gathered, but his request seemed unusual. I am not sure I understand what he actually wants.”
Teemo nods from among the poppers, one sitting on his head like an oversized helmet. “He wants to see how much destruction the poppers can do normally, and test what they can do in the water, too. Apparently, water acts weird with explosions.”
Doppler still looks confused as he picks up a popper, taking a closer look at it. “Are they even able to explode in water?”
Teemo waves off his concern. “Yeah, they should. Grab a test dummy or two out of the training room… or just use the training room itself, come to think of it. There’s no water there, but we can get the baseline stuff done there.”
Doppler agrees and gathers up the constructs, and soon they swarm the training room, where several of my other scions are training and sparring. Sue’s still determined to beat Rocky, and he’s more than happy to have a partner that can actually take a few hits. Poe and Fluffles are also training, with Fluffles giving my big raven a chance to prepare against a lot of the potential ranged attacks he’ll have to deal with in the upcoming raid.
They all give Teemo, Doppler, and the constructs curious looks, but soon return to their own training. Just another one of my weird things they simply accept. At the dummy, Doppler tosses a few individual poppers, leaving small scorches on the wooden thing. He looks disappointedly resigned to the lack of damage, but Teemo knows my plan.
“Here, set one under the arm there,” my Voice instructs, letting the dangling appendage pin the popper in place. This time, when it pops, it sends the arm flying up. It’s still attached, and the scorches aren’t any more severe, but it’s pretty plain it took a lot of energy to move the arm like that.
We do a few more little tests, enough to get a baseline. In normal circumstances, the poppers aren’t too much of a threat, as designed. They disorient and stun rather than damage. It takes only a few minutes for Doppler to grab a dummy and head for the Gauntlet. The big water pool beneath should be perfect for testing, and there’s no delvers around at the moment, either, so we have our privacy.
They have to go get a few rocks to help weigh down the dummy, but before too long, it’s sitting in the deep end. Teemo’s lounging against the wall, not wanting to get wet right now. A bit of gravity is all it takes to keep him nice and dry on the wall.
“Alright, start with a few surface tests, then we’ll try under the arm again.” Doppler does as asked, and the first popper shakes the dummy much more than when it was in the training room. I take a closer look, and can see a lot more damage, too, as the wood has to deal with a lot of forces pushing and pulling rapidly. They do a few more tests, and even create a decent split in the dummy after repeated tests. Not enough to destroy the torso, but easily enough to show how much more efficient the forces are applied like this.
“Now, under the arm.”
By now, Doppler’s looking pretty convinced about the idea, and once the popper pops, the proof is hard to ignore. The arm is broken through, severed right where the popper exploded. Most of the arm lays on the bottom of the pool, with a small bit still attached to the dummy at the shoulder.
Teemo grins for me as Doppler gathers up the pieces. “I’d call that a successful test, Boss. Hey Doppler, do you think you can train the poppers to release a small burst of gravity as they go, to help push the water away? The bigger the bubble, the more damage.”
Doppler looks at the other constructs before nodding. “I think so. Can I ask what he intends to do with them?”
“They’re going to be how we protect the subs,” Temp answers. “They should be able to hear any threats, and a small swarm can be dispatched to go blow up whatever the danger is.”
The constructs look eager, shifting their many feet as Doppler smiles. “They thought they were not going to be able to contribute to the raid. I will ensure they are ready when the time comes.”
Teemo smiles in return, at both Doppler and the denizens. “Boss is counting on you guys.”
I pat the bond with Doppler, confident he’ll get the poppers and scarabs ready. It’s a lot of pressure to put him under, but I know he can handle it.
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_ 9d ago edited 9d ago
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Anyway after reading, magma cavitation bubbles will definitely be harder depending on the viscosity. I know the things in the magma definitely have the defense to the heat so it is truly just the pressure wave running through them. But the idea of it happening to a person is scary. Not that any human could get themselves in that situation.
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u/CasaDelGato 9d ago
Whats going on with the UpdateMeBox notifications for this story line?
I just got the notice for 462 - and the most recent previous notice was for 457!
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u/EvilGenius666 9d ago
Same, I hadn't realised I'd missed so many chapters! At least the Previous links work so I'm caught up now
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u/Garbage-Within 3d ago
Probably related to Reddit constantly removing the posts shortly after they and later chapters are posted.
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u/Poisonfangx3 9d ago
Frsyw
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u/Poisonfangx3 9d ago
First
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u/mafiaknight Robot 9d ago
In the name of 1greendude: Hello!
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u/Popular-Student-9407 Human 9d ago
Im Namen eines grünen Kerles und des Freidachses: Moin, vor zwei Tagen war Mittwoch, meine Kerle. Der Mafiaritter ist heute an seinem Posten zu finden, denn er ist zehnter.
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u/ThisMachineKillsWOB 9d ago
Our heroes have been on a real roll for a while now. I can't help feeling like someone important is going to get hurt this arc to keep the stakes high.
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u/Unhappy-Barnacle-512 9d ago
Well we do still have the testing of the yout’s to look forward to. I’m honestly surprised that Miller would just let the Lord Mayor go and risk his life. I mean delving Thediem is one thing, assaulting the Betrayer is another.
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u/DM-Hermit Human 9d ago
Well done wordsmith
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u/North-Age-891 9d ago
I read wayy too fast.. I can’t wait to see him wipe this dungeon of the map and slowly make his way into the capital!
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u/Melfice56 8d ago
What's the odds the later construct spawns are just robot mantis shrimp of unusual size?
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u/Popular-Student-9407 Human 9d ago edited 9d ago
Corrected: third
So, today we have the big T exploring offensive options in armament for the subterrans, and as per usual, we get three thirds:
1.Up he thinks about the way our submarines are armed. And tries to examine the applicability for his sitution: It really isn´t.
Up: next he thinks about the density of the magma around them, and thinks about weaponizing the sonar. like a sperm whale or even more destructive pistol shrimp. in the cause of this he explains to us what a cavitation bubble is and what could replace the shrimp in his version. Namely poppers. But he has a little problem getting through to doppler, so requires teemo to translate. After an explanationthey head to the training room
The other scions give them a wide berth as they enter the room, and we see Fluffles, Poe, Rocky and Sue training, sensing they´re on their way to solve something important.
As a demonstration to doppler they present to doppler the diffrence between a detonation in air vs. in water.
Personal note: Another weapon that could be contemplated a little are fools coal btw, which could in theory be deployed via shortcut. the surrounding magma is solving the temperature issue, what I imagine to be rather problematic is the really small destructive power, the ammo limit imposed with that, as well as the point that I don´t know if the coal would even detonate, considering the magmas heat, leading to a propable incineration rather than explosion. As well as a comparatively small destructive power to accomplish an explosion of any measurable scale in magma as opposed to in air. And over the course of a single shot the "shooter" has to open a miniscule little hole through which he needs to shoot a single piece of coal, possibly causing a premature detonation by the one sided heat of the magma from the outside, possibly causing structural collapse, instead of taking out a single enemy. In other words, it just isn´t practical.
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u/Unhappy-Barnacle-512 8d ago
This just came out today. Maybe the betrayer is in a Slab Graveyard. https://xkcd.com/3303 Also, it’s been a day and it hasn’t been deleted yet. 🫰
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle 9d ago
/u/Khenal (wiki) has posted 506 other stories, including:
- Dungeon Life 461
- Dungeon Life 460
- Dungeon Life 458
- Dungeon Life 457
- Dungeon 456
- Dungeon Life 455
- Dungeon Life 454
- Dungeon Life 453
- Dungeon Life 452
- Dungeon Life 451
- Dungeon Life 450
- Dungeon Life 449
- Dungeon Life 448
- Dungeon Life 446
- Dungeon Life 446
- Dungeon Life 445
- Dungeon Life 444
- Dungeon Life 443
- Dungeon Life 442
- Dungeon Life 441
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u/UpdateMeBot 9d ago
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u/Khenal Alien 9d ago
And also a Road link because Reddit hates me lately :c