Huh, so I still have everything except the dungeon structure itself. Not even any time lost to a fugue. That cursed hammer is apparently worse than I thought. Once I have some mana to play with, I should see about some sort of escape hatch in case the cursed hammer people show up again, if the hammer sucks out my rebirth, then they can kill me for real, and it is very much worth losing my dungeon progress to avoid actually dying.
So, let's see what we can do without any surface entry at all then.
First we need to get our max mana above our core, so the first couple days will mostly be digging out space, and since I like how spacious those larger rooms were, I'll go with the 3x3 setup. And at the end of the second day, I'll see about getting a more firmly rooted mana grass that cannot just be pulled up and taken away.
Should just be able to gain my second upgrade today.
There was a twitch and a twinge, like trying to look past the severed end of a passage lost to a landslide.
Um, visitors? Counterpart? At least edge-levels make sense, once I get big enough that is, but those other thoughts had a strange and disturbing flavor to them.
Oh, yes, finding out how much these trees cost. Oof, four mana is a lot, but at least they do not seem to need to be in pairs like the grass.
I can only really afford one today and still be able to dig out enough space for the tree to be useful.
There was a twinge and something was different.
Having an ally with both the ability to understand and communicate with invaders would probably be more useful than I can guess. I wonder what happened to them?
Now, where was I? Checking on the tree.
No mana yet, perhaps it takes a second tree to generate mana like the grass does. It does seem a lot bigger than when I put it down though, the grass did not really change. In any case, I should have more information tomorrow.
Thinking of tomorrow, I wonder what happened to my counterpart.
I feel the twinge of crossing into a broken memory and then
I feel the twinge of the shattered edge of memory.
Well, now I know what happened to my counterpart and that my entire existence consists of an unimaginable nightmare scenario for my old self. It's probably for the best that I am not that old self. Sure, it has been a bit lonely, but I am actually doing pretty well for what I have to work with. Yes, those dungeon killers are probably trying to suck me dry with that cursed hammer, but, against all odds, I am not dead yet, and, if I can figure out how to smash my core on command, I even have a way to escape should those evil people show up to try to kill me again. I am pretty sure they are not prepared for a dungeon that can escape and grow stronger every time they show up to kill me.
But for now, I think I'll focus on hiding so that they do not find me before I am ready for them.
Oh, right, I should check on those trees too.
The first tree has a bunch of leaves that shimmer like the grass did, but the second tree is only the 1-day-old size and the leaves do not shimmer at that age. That shimmer makes me think that trees need to grow before they give any mana, so if that is correct, I should get two mana from the trees tomorrow. I can't afford both a tree and an upgrade so I'll go with the upgrade for today to keep this tree question simple. Who knows, perhaps they just keep growing and I'll need multiple rooms for each tree to avoid wasting mana.
That will be handy, but it does not seem like I have enough mana left to place one just yet.
I think I will dig out the area to where the next tree would go, and try to focus on learning what happened after my counterpart was destroyed, perhaps it ill give me an idea on how to stop them again, as clearly I would not be here now had I not stopped them.
Oh, so I guess those other memories were not really me, just bits of the old core that spawned me by accident as it tried and failed to strike back against its killers.
I wonder if I could deliberately spawn new cores. If I could maintain a link to them, we could work together to find the home-base of the core killers and then... do something.
In any case, it will take a lot of time before I can get to the point where I can start hunting them down, but perhaps I can start working towards that once I have a secure means of escape.
Ok, I was not actually expecting that. Both trees now have shimmering leaves, and the older tree, which may or may not be slightly taller and fuller also has some sort of shimmering fruit on it. Judging from my mana pool, that fruit increases the mana generation of the tree. This means that the tree is just as mana efficient as the moss, but takes longer and takes less space. I suppose that is a reasonable trade-off, especially if invaders can't take the entire plant. The trees look bigger than invaders, so I am guessing they will need more than just baskets and hoes if they want to try.
If the trees keep growing, I'll need to rethink my strategy, but I have a spot for the next tree already dug out, so put that in place and see how much it costs to hide the entrance to my core room. Three mana, more than I expected, but very much worth it if it works. Still plenty of mana left to dig a passage to the middle of the next room and give the newest sapling some space.
Before I finish up, Is there anything else that I might need from the old memories? Perhaps a weapon I can use against the core killers?
That sounded like a disagreement, but it also seemed to have a lot of useful information about possible upgrades.
I think I have spotted a problem. Each of those 3x3 rooms gives roughly five max mana and I am only adding two mana generation per room. The trees are a little bit bigger than their space, and it feels wrong placing them against a wall unless I focus on how the wall will be gone soon. Hopefully I can place them next to each other, and if I make the rooms 4x4 that is just over eight mana per room and four trees in the middle will produce eight mana.
Adjacent feels like a bad idea when I try it, but diagonal feels fine.
In fact if I string together a bunch of diagonals, I could make a big grove area with room for as many trees as I need to top off my mana every day.
Only enough mana for a second tree for today, but tomorrow I can do the next floor and plant some more.
Now, before I dig out the space for that last tree, what do I want to focus on as far as trying to access the memories of my predecessor?
That core trap option should make it easy to make sure I never get hit by that hammer again. Once I have that I could pick up false cores to make the dungeon slayers think they killed me when my real core is hiding behind a secret passage.
I am not sure what I might want to plan for after that though. Perhaps a way to start up a new dungeon before I lose my current one, so that I can get a much faster start? That could be good if it is available. I think I will focus on that for todays down-time
Not quite what I was hoping for, but at least a step in the right direction. Then again, I probably should not be surprised that my predecessor never had a way to deliberately create a back-up core, as it never expected to die for longer than it took its counterpart to bring it back again.
Now, for today let's start with the third upgrade for nine mana and a focus on core trap.
Huh, not what I expected, but that leaves me with just enough to dig out the space for a new tree as well. It may be a little cramped, but it will have space before it grows.
Now for my daily delve into dungeon capabilities, I want to know how my predecessor managed to launch a coherent chunk of mana with a purpose and the ability to guide itself. I am pretty sure that can be done with spells, but Dungeons cannot cast spells, that would be counter-productive, sort of like an invader tearing off their own leg to use as a club. Sure it might work, but it would be self-destructive and generally not be very effective.
While I could see a self-destructive attempt to 'drown an enemy with your life's blood' sort of effort in that circumstance, it would generally just dissipate, even without being blocked by wards, and it surely would not turn and try a new target after failing to strike the first. So if I can figure out how to they made a cohesive mana structure, that might let me launch a proto secondary core to form somewhere outside my current dungeon, and perhaps even quite a ways outside. Assuming it is possible to replicate my origination deliberately.
I was just noticing, my predecessor seemed to spend a great deal of effort in preparing for and interacting with invaders.
Why? Is it just the mana from killing them or holding them prisoner? If the mana from killing an invader completely refills even a very large pool, I could see that as an incentive, but surely the cost of creating replacement defenders each time they get killed would take most or all of that mana, especially if it did not happen very often compared to the number of invaders. Perhaps I can discover why that is after I dig out thee space for the next three trees.
That... suggests that there are some very foundational aspects of being a dungeon about which I am completely ignorant.
I should do my best to focus on early interactions, introductions, and tutorials for the next several days, or perhaps weeks.
Considering fundamentals, I have been pushing pretty hard on building trees and clearing out just enough space for those trees, but now that I am looking at them, those irregular spaces on the sides of the room do not sit well with me when I take time to consider them. Clearly I should smooth them out and make my tree room a proper four-space wide passage.
Then, once it is regular, I can consider making it five-wide and add in an extra row of trees to make up for some of the less tree-efficient spaces of the dungeon.
Hmm, I get a strong sense that making that room 5x5 will make something collapse, but I do not get that feeling if I leave that one area for support.
So, with just that last point to spend, I am thinking that if I want to get the 101 on dungeons, I should try focusing on the first meeting between my predecessor and their counterpart.
Good morning and happy birthday!
You are a dungeon core, your purpose is to train heroes while you cleanse and revitalize the mana of the world around you.
I am your counterpart, and while you are skilled at manipulating the physical world through your mana, I am your guide and connection to the sum of all accumulated knowledge!
I will provide you with tips and recommendations to maximize your potential and ensure you get the maximum value out of every point of mana!
Now you may think you have some ideas for a highly efficient layout but I can guide yo to the most efficient layouts ever devised for any purpose you can imagine!
I have optimized advancement paths for any type of dungeon you want to present to the world, even paths that optimize for multiple distinct apparent dungeons which hide the fact that they all have the same core.
I can guide you in optimizing your distinct mana paths to optimize either your impact on the local mana, or to maximize the amount you can skim from the flows to grow your dungeon as quickly as possible!
I have vast repositories of skinning collections to let you develop a distinct flavor for your domain, adjusting the appearances for not just your structures, but also your defenders and even adjustments that can be applied externally to ensure all your seekers feel exactly the way you want them to feel!
Do you want to inspire a feeling of dawning dread? Keep their adrenaline pumping with frequent jump-scares? Put them off their guard with a bright and cheery demeanor?
I can help you do all that and more!
Might I suggest-
So, about those boxes