The Dungeon Artists

Dungeon 1 - Room 1

He felt bad for leaving, he really did. Barb, his partner could attest to that, but it was too late to turn back. Unless, of course, they had a rope or a ladder to climb themselves out of the hole they had just fallen in.

"Nope, not even a rope would work," Barb said.

"You sure?" asked Werth. "We could lasso some rock up there and pull ourselves out, I reckon."

"Well, I reckon you're wrong," Barb fired back. She was a little peeved having abruptly been thrown into a dungeon so soon. Beforehand, the two were told that once they leave their town, a dungeon can appear out of nowhere, and that what lies inside would be enough to lure them into. However, the two had planned out that they would analyze the dungeon from outside before they delved in.

"How unlucky," Barb said, feeling the ancient text that was slathered on the walls like jelly on a sandwich. "Ya know, when the Guide warned us about a random dungeon, I thought we would have a choice of taking it on. I guess they're called random for a reason."

"I wouldn't consider this random by any means," Werth said. "This is definitely a trap. One hundred percent. Someone dug a hole from this room to the surface, and they even laid out a somewhat soft padding for us to fall into. It's clear that whoever dug this hole wanted us to survive the fall."

He stretched his back and pressed against various parts of his body, checking for any bruises. "Judging by the books that we've read, we're in an enemy room. But there's no enemies."

"You think so?" said Barb.

Werth nodded. "For sure. Look at the floor." The floor beneath them was made up of stone tablets, a few of which had been flipped. "Zombies or mummies are supposed to rise from here, but as you can see, there are none."

"So, what you're saying is: someone came to the dungeon, cleared it out, dug this hole which we fell into, all for what, exactly?"

Werth shrugged his shoulders, then searched the floor for the items that scattered from his bag from the fall. "Damn, there goes some perfectly good potions," he said, sighing. Broken glass and a red, foamy liquid spilt across the stone tablets, seeping into the dirt and mud that sealed the flooring together.

"We should find a rope or a ladder, quickly, and get out of here while we still can."

"But what would someone want from us?" Barb asked desperately. Her arms were shaking so badly that she could barely hold onto the handle of her mace.

"Dunno. It could be anything. It doesn't matter. We've got to get out of here and alert someone from town. A hidden dungeon this close to home is bad news. Let's be lucky it was us to fall in, and not any of the elders. Can you imagine? They'd break their backs falling down here from that height."

The two scanned the room for anything that would help them climb back out from the hole they fell in. But there was nothing around, just the branches and leaves that had been used to cover up the trap hole. Without much to do, Werth suggested that they check out one of the adjacent rooms for some supplies.

"You're crazy!" shouted Barb. "Weren't you just saying how we shouldn't delve into this place any deeper?"

"Well, we don't have much of a choice, do we? We very much can't sit around here forever. If we check out the rooms next to this one, we might find something that we can use to climb out of here."

Barb gulped. "But that means... We might run into some enemies, right?"

Werth nodded his head and pressed his ear against the door. "I can't hear anything, but that doesn't guarantee our safety."

There were two doors that connected to the room they were currently in, one of which that seemed to lead to an ominous hallway, and one that was suspiciously quiet. There was no source of light, aside from the outdoor light that shone from above. Once they stepped out of this room, they'd have to rely on their ears until they found a way to light a torch.

"What about the other room?" asked Barb. "Should we check over there?"

There was a door that looked as though it was attacked by something large. Pieces of wooden planks dangled from the nails and metal that were binding it to the wall.

"It's up to you," Werth said. "Are you prepared for an encounter?"

"An encounter?"

"Yeah, like with whatever might've ripped that door to shreds." Werth watched as Barb's knees bent towards each other and her legs shook as if they were in the middle of a quake. It was important to be realistic in dungeons, he thought. Of course, spouting out only the negative would lower the group's morale, rendering them unwilling to fight. Barb had been through basic training, and there was no doubt in Werth's mind that she could handle whatever might be down that hallway. Faith was perhaps the most important factor when it came to exploring a dungeon; without it, you might as well be dead already, especially if there is no escape. Seldom do dungeons allow for escape. Those that do were not properly crafted.

She swallowed a gulp of spit and felt it as it traveled down into her stomach. "There's a good chance that whatever caused that damage, is already dead, right? Whoever came here before us wouldn't have just left it alive, would they have?"

Again, there was no way to know for sure, so Werth said nothing. "I'll leave it to you, Barb. Give it a moment to decide. Worst comes worst, we return here if things get too hairy and reassess our options."

Suddenly, her legs straightened, and her strength returned, allowing her to hold her mace properly in front of her. "Let's go," she said confidently.

Werth breathed a sigh of relief, looking into the sky from the trap hole. "Thank you, Lord," he whispered.