City Dungeon: Ch 46 - Dawn of a new age

 Now not only our citizens but all the immigrants and travelers staying at our place now knew of what this place was. Few even ran off the very day Lolth attacked and seeing what we all were. Most stayed because of the hospitality and opportunities we provided despite the incident. Regardless it was now a public knowledge around Friscos and Tranmire that this town was being built by monsters and human together and was a home to both. Most did not believe what they heard, many thought the humans were slaved, some thought the monsters were slaved and few were curious and wanted to check the city out.

People started to flock in from both sides, even from distant lands. Business and tourism was flourishing. Monsters hiding in the dark came forth looking for shelter and better lives. With this many people and monster joining us construction progressed further, doubled the speed and spread through out the land. Workers in every sector of the city farming, construction, hospitality, defense, etc increased every day. Soon we had a medium city with proper planning and infrastructure going on for us. 

But all were not admirers, we had made enemies with the officers from both sides. They did not appreciate monsters hanging by and living humane lives and send threats in many forms to get rid of us. But with strong allies and growing army of our own we dealt with them before anything big could gain momentum. Although there was something big definitely brewing between us neighbors. As I heard, the kings of both nations were amassing soldiers and resources for a big war to invade our city.

A month after end of Zuggtmoy's reign and coronation of new queen Lolth, she comes by to pay a visit and discusses her plans of construction of dungeon.

"So you are planning to build a dungeon in the dark forest?"

"It's already under construction as we speak, what I want now is people coming to my dungeon."

"Wait a minute I can't send my people to go die in your dungeon."

"What? No, hon. Not your people. Just adventures and so called heroes who seek treasures in the dungeons. I don't care if its your people or anywhere else. I just want to built roads from here to Cold Forest Dungeon and Portland as well through my forest. That's all."

"Hmm..." Sounded interesting.

She continued. "That way, your town would be a hub for adventurers travelling to my dungeon, or Cold Forest and Portland on top of Friscos and Tranmire."

"Sounds good. We could use better roads and connections to the north. Let's do it. We will help with the road as well."

With that handled we also advertise new dungeons being found in the forest. And soon new group of people started to flock in. So called "Dungeon Hunters". These paying customers demanded quality food, quality rooms, finest weapons, strongest armors, and most potent potions. Soon they were the cream of the crop of our business flourishing in the city. They brought more merchants and businesses than we ever could provide on our own. With reasonable taxes we were happy to allow merchants to setup shops and services in our town. 

On the other hand, as a new startup dungeon Dark Forest Dungeon was setup to be more rewarding and forgiving for now. Zuggtmoy had horded all the resources she could from this huge forest without sharing it to anyone except for her self, which Lolth could spread them all around her dungeon and reward Dungeon Hunters for defeating her minions. Lolth, and her dungeon would in return feed off on life essence found on her dungeon dwellers blood and other fluids. She had developed a technique, or may be she was built that way being a spider goddess and all, to feed on her prey without killing them. Now her dungeon would do that for her. Quite impressive if you ask me. What a web she built. 

As a result, there was a dawn of a new age, age of Dungeon Hunters. Adventurers of all levels and skills were happy to be exploring this large dungeon and they brought back crystals, ores and all sorts of rewards to sell back to the market here. We used them to produce even better and variety of goods and services. Our city was getting bigger and better every day.

==== End of Volume 1 ====

City Dungeon: Ch 45 - The fight continues

 The beast full of rage and anger seemed to see nothing but that ugly spider in front of him and charged right at it.

Second General, Orwan of the Baphomet

Orwan runs towards Lolth without giving a second thought. They have a huge fight for about an hour but while Orwan seemed like he could keep it up, Lolth didn't. Soon, she was down on the ground and Orwan had her pinned and I jumped and pointed the sword up her neck.

"It's over. I don't want unnecessary blood in our hands. If you give up your conquest and let us be I will let you live."

"It's not that easy, that old, bitch queen Zuggtmoy won't let it be as it is even if I go back."

Upon learning more about her queen and her tyranny we were glad we used portal to get here. Other wise we were supposed to pass through her kingdom to get here from Doherndere. We would have been food to her fungi. She has been spreading uncontrolled and unchallenged through out the vast forest north from here bordering Portland to east and Cold Forest dungeon to north. She is the reason the roads up there were less travelled.

As things continued I don't remember the exact point when but we ended up deciding to do a coup against Zuggtmoy. Suddenly Lolth was our best buddy. Her spiders were helping fix up the wrecking. It was strange at first but we are not all monsters inside, however we look from the outside. 

After a week of resting and preparation, the fight continues but not in Archeaven, on wards towards the dark forest of Zuggtmoy. It was a huge fight expanding all over the forest from all sides. It was part civil war part invasion from our side. Lolth and her supporters were the main cavalry and Archaven and Doherndere gave support from either sides. 

After a month long battle we finally defeated Zuggtmoy and Lolth was the new queen of the Dark Forest. New rule set new rules now, the forest is going to be more permissive and friendly. It was to allow humans passage through without any harm. Vegetation and wild life promised to flourish and instead of feeding off everything, a healthy ecosystem was to be established. All under worthy queen Lolth and her allies. That's us guys good job. Let's head back home.

Next: City Dungeon: Ch 46 - Dawn of a new age

City Dungeon: Ch 44 - Lolth vs Spike

 

I, Young Demon Lord Spike

 

I may lose my dungeon either way but need to fight right now. Need to protect the people here.

I shoot myself at full speed towards Lolth, dodging her projectiles with speed alone. I tried to cut off one of her legs and like Viredeo it shook my hand bad as if it was pure steel. It was obvious she knew everyone would go for legs first. She made her legs her weapons. And did really good job at that. She tried to jab her legs right into my chest couple of times as I kept dodging them left and right.

"Walls!!!" I create a force field around her to limit her movement and she jumped right out of it. She was as agile as she was strong. I needed reach her demon body instead of her spider parts. I focused my super strength on my legs and made a jump-dash towards her main body. She judged my movement and dodged my attack but I as finally able to make a cut.

Frantic, Lolth began spreading sticky webs all around. Now I couldn't move as quick while hers increased even more. I kept going for her body and she kept up her defense and attacks at me as well. I was slowly chipping at her but at this rate I was going to be the first one to tire out. 

All the guys helped chip more damage whenever they could but it was looking obvious now that we were losing. As I was thinking of solutions I got distracted and one of her legs penetrated through my belly. 

Dang Ferrit! Is this it for me? Viredeo jumps in and picks me off the leg that was hoisting me up in air like a prize. He puts me down and says

"Heal yourself and prepare to retreat for now. I will hold it off as long as I can."

Fuck he's gonna die, everyone's gonna die. I can heal through this if I can focus my remaining magic on healing but it's gonna drain me out probably. I won't be able to do anything else even if I heal then. Is there anything else I could do with this magic instead? Maybe something else is there to heal me up in my inventory. Inventory! My eyes immediately go towards:

[ General 1/2 ]

Fuck it, I am gonna kill this bitch. Using everything I got I open up the summoning portal looking for someone strong enough to fight Lolth.

Horns appeared out of the portal and pair of claws struggled hard to climb up the ground where the portal appeared. Soon appeared a Goristro beast that looked like a demonic bull which was as big as the Lolth herself.

Next: City Dungeon: Ch 45 - The fight continues

City Dungeon: Ch 43 - Appearance of another Dungeon Lord

 Couple of weeks and we had more monsters smuggled into our districts than what we originally were. At this rate the humans are definitely gonna find out. As days go by, I am troubled with how things are moving ahead and thinking hard how to resolve this problem. It's not that we can deny our own brethren sanctuary, or can send back the people in hope of making a living here. The best solution would be everyone acknowledging what Archeaven truly is. A common home for humans and monsters alike. A peaceful heaven for the homeless and the outcasts. If only there was a way to tell everyone in a way they would accept it.

"BOOOOOOM!!!"

"Master, there are enemies at the gate."

Enemies? What enemies, did we have enemies? I tried recalling who could it be as I ran towards the gate. As it came to view, the big sturdy gate, so I thought, was no more, only pieces of it blown everywhere. I rushed in and saw a stand off between our guys and a single giant spider like monster.

She was far above any of us and we won't stand a chance against such a monster. So the only thing I saw possible to get out of this was talk to talk her.

"Who are you? What do you want here?" I spoke as calmly as possible though it was very hard at the moment.

"Are you in charge here tiny demon."

Of course she can see through the disguise. 

"Yes, how can I be of service."

"From now on your dungeon is belongs to us, you'll submit your crystal and leave immediately if you wish to live."

"Who is us? Where are you from?"

"Allow me to introduce your new owners, I am Lolth, I serve my queen Zuggtmoy of the Fungus Dungeon. I have noticed few of my prisoners fleeing here and thanks to them your stupid dungeon is going to be ours now. What kind of dungeon is this anyway. Serves you right."

"Look, we don't have much but is there a way other than violence? Anything we can offer to establish peaceful co-existence"

"I don't have time or authority to bargain with you." She sighs and screams out. "Go forth and kill them all" as she sends out massive amount of spiderlings all around.

Boom!!! A massive fireball hits the ground in front of her, killing almost half of her just spawned spiderlings.

"Are you sure you want to fight us" Jordan made an intro. "Your spiders don't look fire proof."

Lolth spits out sticky fluid at high speed towards Jordan in spite and Jordan quickly dodges. As expected the ground sizzled and smoked. 

Thwaak!!! Viredeo tries to cut one of her legs off, taking her by surprise. It was as if her legs were made of steel but she did feel that cut and annoyed she gave him a good round kick. It was so quick, Viredeo was not able to dodge on time and was thrown off quite a few meters back. Gnas and Laria pulled out a couple move one jumping and attacking from above and another dashing straight at her to distract her. Lolth was more careful this time around and was able to parry both. 

As more spiders came out from every where almost everyone of us including non citizen humans were fighting one as of now. If it weren't for those spiders coming one after another we could have focused on Lolth and may be we could have stood a chance. At this rate she will pick us off one by one. Looks like I have to lose my disguise and go all out.

Next: City Dungeon: Ch 44 - Lolth vs Spike

 

City Dungeon: Ch 42 - A messenger from Dohrendere

 Few weeks had passed and now we not only basic infrastructure and houses but also a recreational pool and few parks being built. The city I visioned was going to be as beautiful as modern and eco-friendly. Everything was going smooth and suddenly one day a messenger arrives from Dohrendere in the dark of the night, scared of being noticed as being a dwarf, by the humans. After reaching the outer gates now big and strong held high by iron chains and big pulleys, the man states his affairs and was immediately brought to me. Knowing someone from their home town was here, Derrek and Amber rush in as well.

"Lord, Spike, I was sent by Tallymund of Doherndere"

"Uncle Tally?" Derrek shouted in surprise.

"Yes, he's the uncle of Derrek and is very ill, he wants to meet his nephew just once before anything bad happens to him"

"Oh no!!! I have to go at once." Derrek began to move around frantically.

"Yes of course I hope nothing bad happens to him. Derrek you may go immediately." I thought if there was anything better I could do to help him than just give him the permission to leave. Of course, I should send Jordan first with haste and just use a portal for rest of the guys.

[ Jordan, I need you to go to Doherndere right away. Need to portal Derrek and Amber there to their family. ]

[ Yes, I will head there right away. ]

I used to wonder how Jordan travelled as fast as he did, and later found out he was combining his telekinetic and blast abilities to push himself in air as if he was flying. Well it sort of was but more like big jumps I guess. Now, that I have become way more powerful than before, Jordan has too become as powerful. Plus he can borrow my powers when required and for this I gave everything I had.

I told Derrek about my plan and they agreed. They packed whatever they thought would be required to take and waited patiently though it was very hard. It would take minimum a week on carriage if it moved at top speed day and night but for Viredeo, road mattered not and he could dash in a straight line.

About an hour later Jordan communicates his status.

[ I've reached Doherndere. I am outside his uncle's place. ] Jordan was panting just a little. I could tell he was trying to control it.

[ Are you ready to create a portal? ] 

[ Just a second. ]

I gathered Derrek and his wife and when ready sent them through the portal. I told them to take as many days you guys need and Jordan will be there to get you guys back here. They thanked me for it and put Eberk in-charge and told him to take good care of businesses for couple of days. 

This was a good thing in disguise that happened to us. Now we know we need to build medical facilities in our city because of this, sickness hasn't been a problem so far but we need to be prepared. Also, with a portal to Doherndere idea now we know we can portal any where we need by just sending Jordan there. Should I feel bad for Jordan? May be we will use it only when required. We should make most of it when we do sent him somewhere. I decided the dwarves could go back home on rotation such that work is not halted here. They gladly accepted and used this, Everyday one of them would go back and another would come back, with carriages of things they needed here. More of the dwarves came along hearing what was happening. And at the end of a week there was more than 50 dwarves living in our city. Even Tallymund, Derrek's uncle was here. Once inside the dungeon I could use my power to heal him to full health as well. 

News spread like a wild fire in Doherndere. What I did was a sign of great friendship and good relation among two cities. Soon we would have big investors being interested in our lands which I had to put off for a while because we were not ready for creating big ruckus around the place we are at, among Humans.

Little did I know we were failing miserably at that. Another couple of week after becoming famous in Doherndere, now not humans but others were starting to flock in. It started with few run away fairies, looking for shelter. Thank god we only had Viredeo and Henry's men at gate at that time. From now on we will need to make sure only our citizens are working at the gate. We can keep hired humans on payed work around the gates. Also we might need a special carriage for our special guests that brings them straight towards administrative and industrial blocks.

Next: City Dungeon: Ch 43 - Appearance of another Dungeon Lord

City Dungeon: Ch 41 - Monetization

 About a month has passed since we started building our city in Archeaven and the city the construction is going good. We have few proper shops and lodging areas setup as of now. We are building residential houses one after another, and we will keep at it even after all our houses are built, to sell later. But we don't have good flow of people to our place. We had few people looking for job join us during this time. The only proper money we make is when we send carriages of our goods and extra crops to Tranmire and Friscos. Business with Tranmire has been good because of Henry handling it, but with Friscos it's rather only for keeping face than profit.

The main attraction of the town has definitely become our tavern. It's more like a restaurant now. Good food and drinks for every one to enjoy, all the guys even after having their own houses and kitchens they mostly come here for dinner together, which is nice. Now that we have  source of income for the city, we have decided to build a economic system as well. We are going to monetize our jobs and products within ourselves. This means salaries for the work, a tiny percentage as tax, and with the money they earn buy food and other services as they desire.

It was becoming hard to explain how money was not a thing here to our new comers until now. Now, money is going to be very important and also we are not creating our own money to be clear. We are using the same gold and silver coins used all around the continent, so guys can do whatever with that money they earn. Earning money won't be difficult too. You are getting money for what you're already doing daily, growing and selling crops, cooking and selling meals, builders building, forgers forging, shopkeepers doing business, everything can make money from their goods and services.

Suddenly with money involved, things have gotten more serious. Everything have started to seem more valuable than before. A sense of healthy competition among the people as well as urgency in their work. Importance of trade and relationship with our neighboring cities have gone up a level. More people have started to flock in looking for their own chances of earning money. Apparently, words began to spread from our own people to their relatives and they are looking for better opportunities of earning money in Archeaven.

With new people arriving almost daily, some to do business, some to work, most just to visit this new place, there was no way I could offer land and home for free to all. Those who lived amongst their relatives who already have their houses in here were lucky not to pay rent in lodges, not that they were expensive. They being full almost all the time showed our generosity in welcoming new people. I would now sell land and houses only to selected people of choice but anyone can stay, work and earn money.

Soon, the authorities and the merchants from the neighboring cities had began to take notice of us. They will want to take control of what we have or open business of their own in our town take control of the market. That's definitely what they will try to do sooner or later and we need to be prepared to defend our selves and be ready for anything.

Next: City Dungeon: Ch 42 - A messenger from Dohrendere