Terse Elements

A young creeping vine lay on a small, clear patch of ground near the base of a large tree. The tree, vine, and ground sat midway through a small forest which itself was mostly surrounded by farmland. One moment later, the vine and patch of ground disappeared. If anyone had been around to watch, they would have seen the space at the base of tree go through an odd stretch, then twist, then shrink down to a vanishing point. If arcane researchers had been present with sensitive and subtle devices, they could have commented on measurements of “Oscillating Mana Flux” and correlations with “Interconceptual Densities”. Anyone with only ordinary ears would not have noticed anything at all except perhaps a short breeze. However, entities with sufficient perspective and expanded senses would have gotten a much clearer idea of what had occurred and those entities might have described it to lesser entities as a sort of bubbling sound.

*bloop*

The cause of this bubbling sound was the creation of a miniature world, tacked in place on the side of the regular, larger world. A wobbliness to the air at the base of the large tree was the only evidence of the connection between the regular world and the miniature world. Inside the miniature world, the entity known as the “System” was taking advantage of an opportunity.

_ Initializing Dungeon _

_ Deconstructing Available Components _

All the material that had been caught in the miniature world was torn apart into energy and concepts and then dropped in a metaphysical blender of sorts. After the blending, the wildly fluctuating slurry was compressed down into a small orb. The orb was perfectly smooth chrome, or perhaps it was glass. In any case, the orb was shiny and reflective. The orb did not seem to reflect its surroundings, however, rather it reflected something that couldn’t quite be seen.

_ Dungeon Core Complete _

_ Proceeding with Dungeon Creation _

The dungeon core automatically, instinctually, created a floor of loamy soil and a small mound of that soil under itself to hold itself in place. The core created a sufficient amount of air to fill the small space and added dim light (coming from nowhere in particular) to match the forest “outside”. A few small green vines poked up through the mound of dirt and cradled the orb before turning and growing slowly across the floor. Mana from the core flowed down into the vines and roots, following the flow of water around the giant plant. This mana fortified the tissues of the vines and improved their functions beyond natural.

_ Assigning Dungeon Agent _

A tiny humanoid figure appeared in a flash of light. The figure immediately fell to the ground, unconscious. Filthy clothes wrapped the figure and gave off terrible odors of booze, blood, and other things. The growing vines instinctively moved to go around the figure, pulling back from mysterious vapors let forth by an outsized burp. The vines gradually filled up the ground space. Leaves and tendrils reached up high and crowded together, filling the air space. As the vines cycled water and mana around, there were high and low mana waves. In the low mana waves, some leaves turned yellow and dropped to the ground. In the high mana waves, new leaves grew to take the empty places.

_ Dungeon Capacity Reached. Select Void-Claim Mechanism _

After a minute with no response from the dungeon core, the System seemed to turn to the figure on the ground.

_ Select Void-Claim Mechanism _

The figure did not respond.

_ SELECT VOID-CLAIM MECHANISM _

The System repeatedly prompted the tiny figure to respond. Eventually, the figure let out a loud groan and rolled over. The face (under a thick layer of dirt) had sharp features and large eyes under violently violet hair. The clothes unwrapped to show that they were not clothes but were little fairy wings. The actual clothes were as filthy as the wings and otherwise had no discernible features. Altogether, the figure looked like a fairy that had been dipped in mud and then rolled in other, fouler substances. The dungeon fairy blinked slowly a few times, struggling to focus on something.

_ ASSIST YOUR ASSIGNED DUNGEON _

“Alright. Alright! Shutup ya damn…” The fairy’s face turned green for a moment as it tried not to vomit. “Damn fairy school. Damn loans. Damn everything”. The fairy took a couple tries to get up on hands and knees. The fairy did vomit then. A stream of sparkly slugs flew out of the fairy’s mouth and popped with the sound of a bird chirping. Coughing, the fairy said, “Gods, was I in tha’ sewer?” The fairy continued to mutter to itself as it turned its head toward the Dungeon core and the vines all around.

_ Select Void-Claim Mechanism _

“Dungeon core. Okay. Right” The fairy sat up, took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. The fairy had another green face moment as it pulled out a small, diamond potion vial. The fairy’s face turned to a look of sullen disappointment. “Well, looks like ya got the hang of it. No point in fairies.” The fairy turned to the System (which was everywhere) and said “Randomize” as it closed its eyes and lay down.

_ Selection Required. Select Void-Cl… _

“RANDOMIZE ALL” the fairy nearly shouted the words, grabbing at its head. The fairy let out another groan then drank the entire small vial. “Hibernate…” the fairy whispered and then passed out.

_ Are You Sure? Yes/No _

_ Random Selection. “Yes” Selected _

_ Select Void-Claim Mechanism _

_ Random Selection. "Multi-Worldlet Pathways" Selected. Description: With this void-claim mechanism, dungeon worldlet ‘free growth’ size is restricted and overall worldlet growth is slowed. In exchange, the dungeon core can push against the edge of the worldlet to trigger the creation of a subsidiary worldlet. This action can be repeated multiple times in each worldlet. Subsidiary worldlets are considered equivalent to ‘floors’ in the default dungeon configuration and should have similarities with neighboring worldlets (though this is not guaranteed). WARNING: This void-claim mechanism increases the odds of interactions with void artifacts which will have unpredictable effects on dungeon worldlets. Consult your dungeon fairy frequently as you expand your dungeon in order to minimize risk. _

Basic knowledge of how to claim the void trickled into the dungeon core. If the dungeon core had been sapient, this would have been the basis of training and education. If the dungeon core had been at least sentient, it could have been trained or guided to claim the void. The dungeon core was neither of these; it was mindless. In the metaphysical blender that the System had used to prepare ingredients for the dungeon core, the concept of the young vine had mixed into the concept of the dungeon core consciousness and colored it very green. The dungeon core was driving forward with the instincts of a plant.

The walls of the worldlet begin to shift as the vines pushed outwards again. The roots of the vine pushed a little deeper into the ground, but it wasn’t the type of vine that would root deeply. As the longer vines stretched out, they sent out roots to pull in water and nutrients that would sustain the expansion. Over the next few days, the vines cradling the dungeon core thickened and twisted to create a spheroid space around the core. Thick vine walls closed around the core (and the comatose fairy), cutting them off from the rest of the worldlet. As the worldlet grew, the amount of mana the core was pushing out also grew.

In a short time (short to plants anyway), one of the large vines ran into an obstruction and could grow no further in that direction. The tip of the vine pushed leaves and small roots at the obstruction like it would if it had run into a stone or log. This action pulled in more mana than the other vines and concentrated it right up against the obstruction. The roots strained, seeking to push into cracks and force them apart.

*bloop*