To Rebuild a Mageocracy

Four

^^ 'Emperor' Arden Arcata ^^

— Arcata, Royal Castle, Grand Hall —

A seemingly endless pile of paperwork sat in front of the Royal Scribe, but this was no deterrent; this was a normal days work, managing a city that functioned as a kingdom. The scribe was experienced in this work, and had been doing this same job for the past thirty years, so to be honest, the amount of work had actually shrank to around half of what it was when she started, with the territories failing and being reclaimed by the wilderness or other countries, or simply proclaiming their independence.

A messenger burst through the doors today, though, which was highly irregular; the boy rushed to the Scribe's desk, evading the Guard's attempts at capturing him, and slammed a report down in front of the Scribe, ignoring the scattered documents and ruined filing system he'd caused. "A Dungeon Spawned in the Entertainment District and Killed Duchess Anitra the Storm!!!"

The guards stopped trying to seize him, shocked, and the Scribe snatched the report, reading it in a mere second due to her massive Int and Dex stats, then bolted out of her seat, dragging the messenger with her towards the room behind hers, the Grand Hall, where the Emperor and his advisers were currently discussing matters of National security. Or drinking, but who would know? Well, anyone who burst through the doors and physically threw a young messenger boy at the Marshal of the city's Military, that's who.

The marshal dropped his glass of expensive enchanted whiskey in favor of catching the boy, and the Emperor watched the boy fly in a slow, -to him at least,- arc through the air, before looking at the heaving Scribe with a raised eyebrow. "I'm sure there's a reason you're chucking around small boys?"

"Your daughter Anitra the Storm is dead, for one, and your youngest granddaughter is believed to be missing, but not dead. A Dungeon Spawned on top of her Tavern, and the Church of Stone and Ore has already dispatched a force to clear it entirely, at the order of their deity, and, so they say, Muradin themself."

The emperor frowned slowly, several different skills activating to calm his mind and help him think subjectively about the situation. Grief made very poor decisions, after all. "That is... concerning... a dungeon has never spawned inside of the city before, to my knowledge... why now? Anitra should have been capable of sensing such a thing and running away in time... unless something was inhibiting her? As for the Church of Stone and Ore, and their clearing of the dungeon... it doesn't make much sense for them to do such a thing altruistically, but they've been known in the past to do things simply for 'The Good of All', as vague as that is... and Anitra the Younger is missing, you say? We don't believe she was with her mother?"

"Not in the Tavern, no; she was believed to be in a room upstairs, sleeping at the time of the incident. Her whereabouts are currently-"

——————————————————————————
—System Message—
Disciple of Muradin, Anitra the Younger, has Founded the First Human-Made Dungeon in the city of Arcata, the Fallen Mageocracy!!!
(((The Dungeon Merchant awaits their first customers...)))
—
Title Awarded: Dungeon Master
Effects: Dungeons you make are far more profitable, and contain a storefront for the Dungeon Merchant, an extra dimensional merchant who buys exclusively from the Disciples of Muradin, and sells their goods to anyone who is willing to brave your dungeon and pay their steep prices.
—
Dungeon Item Trade and Upgrade System unlocked: Items can be given to the Dimensional Merchant, alongside payment in the form of Mana Crystals, and an upgraded version will be received in return, empowered in ratio to the Mana Crystals given.
—
The Dungeon Merchant will now accept requests from non-disciples of Muradin to process all remaining Monster Corpses within the dungeon, post-clearing, for a Fee of 50% Mana Regeneration Rate for two days or a Tier Four Mana Crystal!!!
——————————————————————————