The Survivor Becomes a Dungeon

Reyvyre Eldestent/Elf Mage POV

A dungeon core? One intelligent enough to carry a conversation has a name and can even resurrect the dead… Just what have I stumbled across? Reyvyre was just out here to cripple the efforts of those damned fools. How'd she ended up crossing an unknown dungeon?

"Vitmori huh, well, I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, but considering the circumstances, I can't say I'd mean it." Her gaze follows the green orb of light, assuming it represents the core for now while glancing around the almost wholly natural cavern she finds herself in. "Well, what do you want with me?" She asks the ball of light, pushing up to her feet to stand with dignity.

The core is silent for a good while before she hears its voice echoing in her skull. She's not usually one to be presumptuous, but it sounds masculine. 'I want to learn… I need information about this world if I'm going to survive it from now on.'

This world? Survive? That is such odd phrasing. She thinks, slowly gathering her composure as Vitmori continues.

'You're no bandit, and neither is the Bull Man, the minotaur... Reonim, if your memories serve me right. I could not discern your motives beyond the scrolls I found, so tell me, why were you with them?'

She massages her temples, the dungeon doesn't seem to know volume control yet, and it's giving her a bit of a headache. "Wait, you were commanding that elemental prowler? The black cat?" She asked with growing understanding. This dungeon must've had experience with bandits before to attack so viciously on sight.

She could feel the dungeon's impatience, but it decided to answer her anyway. 'You mean Basti? So that's what she's called.. Yes, she is my right hand.'

She shudders as she remembers how quickly that prowler managed to dispatch her. No wonder a named mana beast like that would give anyone a run for their money, especially under the guidance of an intelligent core. "Alright, no, I'm not a Bandit, and neither is Reonim. We are here under the orders of his Majesty, Emperor Ferodias."

There is a pregnant pause, and she can feel that the core isn't satisfied with just that much info. With a sigh, she runs her fingers through her hair and continues. "His Majesty offered these criminals a pardon if they could serve the empire in disrupting the chain of supply between the Gaian Theocracy and the Hegemony of The Blue Sun. They are the two remaining political powers that stand in his Majesty's path of unification on this continent."

There is another long pause, her head starting to ache as vague notions of history unfamiliar to her throbbing in her skull before the core speaks up. 'What justification does your Emperor have to seek unification?'

Well, it looks like Vitmori isn't unreasonable. Perhaps I'll be able to walk away if I can convince him. "There is movement across the ocean on other continents, a superpower over there is likely gearing up to engage in a path of domination, and Emperor Ferodias seeks to prevent that from happening to us by unifying the land and protecting our borders."

There is more silence before Vitmori echoes in her skull again. 'Tell me about the Theocracy and the Hegemony.'

She sighs with some relief, just happy Vitmori is so willing to engage in dialogue rather than outright killing her or something. Before she continues, though, she feels movement behind her and notices that her chair is suddenly there. Huh... Guess he did go to my tent.. She looked at the green ball of light and nodded with vague appreciation as she settled in. "The Theocracy is a bunch of zealous bastards that believe in the Supreme Power of Life Magic users. While most are unaware of this belief and practice, the ArchBishops and those in power hold disdain and disgust towards people with animalistic features, seeing them as sub-sentient beings. It is a public secret that beast folks will occasionally disappear, but no one questions it, lest they face the attention of the Religious Police."

She pauses, listening for a response; when she doesn't hear one, she continues. "The Hegemony is a collective of extremely wealthy merchants and traders, with an elected figurehead to run international contacts and business. Their capital is a major port city, with ships launching into the rest of the world. They publicly have an active slave trade and get most of their beastkin slaves from the Theocracy. However, officially their publicly known trade deals with the Theocracy are in luxury goods, food, and alchemical ingredients for potions. For now, we three nations are publicly in peacetime, but we've seen an escalation of trade which points towards a secret alliance."

She can feel the mind of Vitmori slowly processing everything she's told him. Unease creeps along the back of her skull the longer she has to wait. She almost lets out a sigh of relief when her headaches from the core respond to her. 'You certainly believe everything you've told me, and I don't feel you have any reason to lie to me.'

She nods slowly. "So what does that mean for me?"

More silence, but then Vitmori responds, much to the ache of her head. 'I will help you ambush the caravan if what you say corroborates what I see. We will discuss things further.'

She let the faintest glimmer of a smile creep on her face. Cooperating with a Dungeon isn't the worst possible outcome in this exchange. "I can live with that... Oh! Speaking of which, I want my friend back too. Reonim. Are you able to do that? Like you did for me?" She asks, pleading with Vitmori. She's known the young minotaur for much of his life and doesn't want to lose him so soon.

Vitmori is silent for a while, though she soon hears a soft thump. Turning to look, she sees the corpse of her dear friend Reonim and rushes over to him. A lump forms in her throat as she looks over the brutal nature of his injuries until she notices them start to fade. Rubbing her eyes clear, she adjusts her sight and looks to see a massive amount of mana being poured into him. She follows the path of the mana to somewhere above them before seeing Reonim twitch and convulse when suddenly his mana heart is reignited, and she's scooting back as he sits up with a start, a ring of emerald green forming around his right shoulder "W-where am I?! What happened?"

"Easy, friend, it's going to be okay... You're fine now." She says soothingly, rubbing the guy's upper back before stepping away, tears of relief forming in her eyes until she wipes them away, noticing a path forming of light orbs leading them away from this place. "Come, we have a lot to discuss."