First things first, the winner of that contest was Space, with his entry:
Gormegan's going to have a small dungeon, not very well built. Curious as to his apparent lack of competency, you send spies into his domain, only to find, against all expectations, Gormegan's apparently considering
defecting to the heroes' side.That
traitor.It is now your unholy duty to flush out that wuss and show him the error of his ways. Perhaps a few eternities of servitude as the lavatory cleaner for your foulest demons and servants will prove enlightening.
Now, let's find out what really happened.
Chapter VII: “Caverns”At last I encounter another keeper in this land. Keeper Gormegan has been battling Lord Sigmund for some time at the next destination on my route:
“Emberglow. In this land, Keeper Gormegan is currently under siege by Lord Sigmund and his allies. A lack of foresight has found this rival of ours falling foul of both the creatures, and the land itself within this treacherous realm. Although his position now looks irretrievable, perhaps when he falls his old dungeon will be of some use to us.”
In order to get a good vantage point against Keeper Gormegan, I sacrifice security and establish my dungeon heart very close to his territory. This proves to be an unwise move – my imps quickly uncover a tunnel leading to the nearby portal; apparently Gormegan had already come for it, but I claimed it back for my own.
This tunnel is a problem – I have no defences and here is a direct route straight from the enemy dungeon! A giant almost immediately comes to my turf, wishing to attack.
Fortunately, a group of goblins come through the portal to my realm almost immediately, and they destroy the giant. They bear interesting news: Keeper Gormegan has already been defeated.
But whence come the giant? Apparently, Lord Sigmund had struck a deal with the giants that inhabited his mountainous land. They serve him in exchange for small offerings of gold and trinkets, despite the bloodthirsty nature that would have made them valuable allies. I intend to show them the error of their ways.
My imps come to claim the abandoned remains of Gormegan’s dungeon. Two more giants stalk its halls, picking over the remains. I have my small force defeat them both, so that I can fully claim the dungeon.
Gormegan’s dungeon has many flaws in its design. To begin with, he lacked a prison, making his torture chamber useless for everything except entertaining his mistresses. If that was indeed his goal, it is little surprise he was slain so easily. I build a prison in the bedrock near my own dungeon heart to make up for this deficit. He also had poorly-sized rooms; his library and training room were tiny. To fix this, I construct a large training room in what remains of the workable rock and replace the old one with a second library.
His final fault was that many of his rooms opened onto lava. This is a volcanic realm, and while lava is a barrier to many, giants are able to wade through it with their heavily-reinforced boots. However, these entrances do hide my own dungeon’s weakness:
The portal adjacent to my heart also opens out onto the lava. Luckily, any giants hoping to invade will try to walk through the dungeon filled with my loyal minions instead of go around to find my heart.
With the giants in the area now gone, a new creature comes to join me.
The hot-blooded salamander can swim happily through lava, and they are good fighters. They are attracted by the training room, but have not been available until now.I set my sights to defending the weak spots in my new dungeon’s design by placing traps. The most convenient places for them are across the lava, and upon bridging it I find another obstacle for me.
Wooden bridges have a limited lifespan over lava. They will, after a minute or so, burn away. If a creature is standing on it that cannot walk through lava, it will take damage until it can get to land.While arranging the traps, my warlocks discover a new spell. This allows me to see what is behind the locked doors blocking passages that were apparently used by Lord Sigmund to battle Gormegan.
Sight of Evil gives you a limited-time view of any spot on the map. You cannot interact with what you see, however.I batter down the doors, intending to rebuild my own in their place.
The corridors are quite bare, so I turn my attention back to the lava rivers. I find something on a small island in the lava...
It is a small object, red and spiky. It matches the shard of the Talisman that I found in Elmshadow! I have another piece of it! Though it doesn’t seem to have much power...
My attention is drawn away from it. A battle! It appears the corridors were occupied after all. Two giants – one in each corridor – threaten my dungeon, but my forces are now built up and they are no match for me.
At the end of each corridor I find a locked door. There are three, and they all open onto the same room, which my Sight of Evil reveals to be an occupied guard room. Apparently Lord Sigmund is as dense as Gormegan – why build a guard room then prevent the guards from reaching any approaching enemies?
A firefly scout reports that four giants are invading across the lava. This could be a challenge...
When they reach my territory, I drop all of my creatures by them. With my full dungeon against them, they go down in minutes. It is satisfying to see my whole army in operation, but a chore to move them about myself. I have my warlocks look for a spell that could do this for me.
After some time, and several conversions of giants, I find that my lair is full. It simply cannot accommodate any more creatures. There is also no land left in which to construct a sizable new room. However, there is the guard room not far away.
I again send in my forces to batter down the locked doors and slay the guards. I sustain a few losses, but the battle goes my way. The guard room is claimed, and I replace it with a new lair.
The surviving guards are tortured for information. One of them reveals the location of a hero portal before dying of sheer agony.
Apparently he took a secret to the grave – this “hero portal” is the location of Lord Sigmund’s stronghold. Not wasting any time, I have my own giants batter down the door leading into my new lair which appears to lead south, towards Sigmund.
It is an oddly tough door, but I ignore that fact for now. I am made aware that a labyrinth of caverns marks the route to Lord Sigmund, but I have Sight of Evil to help me avoid the more dangerous traps and dead ends.
Another giant finds its way into my dungeon. However, my warlocks have been pulling their weight, and revealed to me the Call To Arms spell. I use it here.
Call To Arms summons all of your creatures in a radius to a specific spot. When upgraded, it summons all of your creatures in the map to the spot. They must travel there by themselves, however; they do not just teleport unless they have the spell themselves.While my creatures deal with the intruder, I have my imps follow the right path through the labyrinth. I come across a particularly formidable opponent awaiting me.
I need a wooden bridge to cross the lava, and many of my creatures will not move off it to battle – especially the warlocks, who prefer to attack from range. Time is therefore crucial. Nevertheless, my minions prove victorious once again, defeating the wizard and smashing the barricades he hid behind. The wizard was powerful though – I decide to introduce him to my torturers.
Eventually, and after some further battles of little note, I reach Lord Sigmund’s stronghold.
For a hero, Sigmund at least has style. He’s established his seat of power in the middle of a moat of lava. Still, even with only temporary bridges, this is no barrier to my mighty force. With my Call To Arms, I have my entire dungeon invade his stronghold.
Sigmund has spared no expense. A cadre of powerful heroes, including the mightiest giants, fight at his side. The battle is long, and exciting – I could not do it justice by speech alone. Nevertheless, know that my minions emerge victorious, reduced in number but still eager to battle, and the Horned Reaper returns to claim the portal gem.
With the presence of the mighty Reaper, the two talisman shards I have collected both react – they hum and grow warm. As I take them both out, they meld together, into a seamless, inseparable item. This section of the talisman glows with energy once again, and I am sure that Horny will join me in the next realm. I look forward to it already.
More flavour text!
“A lost soul has entered your dungeon. Oh... no, it’s wandered out again.”
I have no idea at all what could trigger it.
In case you were wondering, the hidden realm is a Duckshoot game – you possess a warlock and attack heroes parading beyond a lake of lava.
