Chapter 4 - Touring the Facilities

The carriage traveled down a side street, and then turned onto an access road that led deeper into the estate. It finally stopped in a small area consisting of a carriage house, stables, and a small ornate cottage. The forest was so thick that it completely obscured the main estate, but Kassandra and Bella didn’t seem concerned. They waited patiently for me to get my stuff out of the back, and re-rig George’s gear, before leading us to the nearby building.

“This is the staff entrance,” Kassandra said, gesturing to the unassuming building. “Anyone that wants to go into town, or live offsite, will come through here.” As we approached the front of the cottage I noticed that the door was flanked by two massive figures, Mithril golems. One of them would flatten any professional adventuring party without much issue; Two could flatten a small army. The golem’s eyes glowed faintly as we approached, but they didn’t move to stop us.

Kassandra pulled open the door, allowing everyone else to enter ahead of her. The interior of the building was built out of some sort of granite, and trimmed with light wood. It was something I would have expected to see in a palace, not the back area of a dungeon.

While I was inspecting the area, Kassandra came in. She stretched her arms high in the air, and as she did her shape changed; Her shapely legs changed to a long serpentine tail, a second pair of arms appeared below the first, these ones stretching forward, and pinky-turquoise scales erupted from her skin everywhere below the neck. She smiled, revealing her previously hidden fangs, “It’s good to be home!”

Bella cleared her throat across the room, she was noticeably less corporeal than before. “Mmhmm. I’m glad to be in range of the suppression magic, so I can talk normally again.” She smiled, an act that was a tiny bit unnerving when I could see her skull through her face. I decided to keep that to myself. “Feel free to transform back into your true form here, or you can stick with the humanoid form if you’re more comfortable in it. No one is going to judge you around here,” Bella said. I nodded, but didn’t bother changing. I honestly preferred my humanoid form these days, it was comfortable for me. I really only changed back in the evenings to sleep.

While the two women were stretching out, George took notice of Bella’s changes. I guess I hadn't exposed him to enough undead people, because I saw him reach a limb out to poke her out of curiosity. I quickly stepped between the two, smacking George’s leg while shooting him a dirty look. The big spider just growled with irritation, but didn’t attempt it again.

“This way. I’ll give you a tour on the way to Lanivia’s office.” Kassandra gestured to a large set of stairs at the end of the room, before slowly slithering down them. At the bottom of the stairs was a small group of Mycelium Marauders. A couple of the tall, spindly, mushroom people waved at us as we passed.

“The manor is a professional, or Class A dungeon, which means there are eight separate areas, or ‘floors’ that adventuring parties need to clear in order to complete the raid,” Bella explained as she floated down the hallway. “The first ‘floor’ is the forest, which is Voss’s territory, and must be completed before you arrive at the manor proper.” She gestured at an offshoot passageway, “Since the forest is so large, it has its own set of projection rooms away from the main complex.”

She continued floating down the passageway, passing through the closed doors at the end of the hall. George, who had been following closely behind her, growled in frustration at the barrier, until I opened it for him. Bella was waiting on the other side, looking sheepish. “Sorry, I forget not everyone is incorporeal sometimes.” Bella floated over to a railing nearby and swept an arm like she was introducing a stage play. “Welcome to the main hub.”

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I stepped up next to her, and looked out across the area. We were on the second level of a fairly massive room. There were dozens of different races running back and forth between the doors down below. In the center was a massive raised office surrounded by glass windows and filled with crystalline screens. Since we were at the same level, one of the technicians inside waved at us warmly, and not knowing exactly what to do in this sort of situation, I waved back.

“That’s the control room,” Kassandra said as she slid up next to me, “It sits directly over the leyline node to help manage the magical distribution to the various facilities. They record all the adventurer runs then pass them on to our broadcasting associates.”

As she led me towards a set of stairs she pointed at a few of the doors around the perimeter. “Unlike most dungeons, the six middle ‘floors’ are paired up into three wings, and can be tackled in any order. There’s a separate projection room for each wing. I’m the boss of the baths floor and, if you decide to join us, you’ll be the boss of the ballroom.”

When we reached the main floor she pointed at a pair of double doors located opposite the projection rooms. “Those doors lead to the employee rest facilities. Kitchens, private rooms, lounges, and more. Lanivia takes the happiness of her employees very seriously.”

There were a couple dozen people milling around as we crossed the main atrium, towards a huge set of double doors, sitting at the back between the different projection rooms. Alraunes, Wraiths, Sirens, and even the occasional Horror, it was quite the selection of heavy hitters. This would not be an easy dungeon to complete, even for professional adventuring teams.

“This is Lanivia’s area. She asked to speak to you privately when you arrived, so this is where we go separate ways. Just follow the stairs down, the only thing down there is Lanivia’s study, you can’t miss it. Once you’re done, you’ll be able to find us in the lounge area. Good luck.” Kassandra opened the door for me, and then waved goodbye as I passed through. A few seconds later the door slammed closed, leaving me in inky darkness. Unlike the rest of the complex, which was constructed using modern techniques and crystal lighting, this place was old. Really old. It might have even predated the city above.

The stairs down were lit by black fire torches and, while being old and worn, they were completely stable. They spiraled downwards, far into the depths, ending at a worn wooden door. Unsure what to do, I knocked. There was no reply for several long seconds, so I leaned forward to knock again, but before I could, the door swung open.

Beyond the door was an unfathomably large library. It was odd, like the geometry and angles didn’t quite look right. There was a central platform just hanging in the middle of the room, and all around it were bookcases that were so tall I couldn’t see either the bottom or the top, they just appeared to continue infinitely. The sight made me dizzy, so I did the only thing I could, and ignored it.

As I approached the central platform I caught a glimpse of a single figure, dressed in an ornate purple and gold robe, sitting at a massive ornate table. Books floated down from the surrounding bookcases, opened for her to read, then returned to their places when she was done. The woman was barely moving, a single finger slowly traced the words she was reading, but her head never moved. The books smoothly slid under her hand, into her line of sight when she wanted to read them, then flew away when she was done. I felt a little disturbed watching this process, and having everything occur in complete silence didn’t help.

When I was a few feet away from her table the tomes around her simultaneously slammed closed, making me flinch. Her head slowly rose, until she was looking me directly in the eyes. She had the visage of a young dark elf woman, with light purple eyes that glowed with an inner fire. “Welcome Talia,” the woman’s voice echoed with power, “I am Lanivia, Lich, and owner of the Wailing Manor.”