Lewd Dungeon, Chapter 221 (Patreon)

Chapter 221 – Necropolis

The Dark Necropolis had been restricted ever since the people of Fort Myers, Miami, and surrounding areas completed the consecrated barriers and wards. It was necessary to keep the out-of-control ritual from overflowing the entire peninsula with undead. Ironically, it was that restriction that sped up the conversion of the Necropolis from a simple site that regularly spawned mostly-mindless undead into a dungeon.

Oh, the conversion would have happened eventually. There was too much power in the area, thanks to the ritual. The ritual had managed to tap into a ley line, and became self-sustaining. If someone had the knowledge and power, they could have ended it there, but by the time the Ambassadors arrived, the only way to end it would have been orbital bombardment glassing the entire area.

No, the conversion would have happened eventually. Without the restriction of the barriers to hem in the tide of undead, it probably would have been something like fifty or sixty years from the ritual’s inception to an actual dungeon forming. But, the barriers accelerated the timetable, as the restrictions actually focused the energies of the ritual. Without that ‘spillage’ and loss of energy to the outside, what would have taken decades happened in months, as the energy crystalized into the core.

People did not go into the Necropolis, of course, so the young dungeon did not have any people to feed off of. However, the same tap into the ley line that sustained the ritual now sustained the dungeon, and its influence quickly spread to the limits of the barrier. No one noticed, because people did not go out to the Necropolis, but the dungeon began feeding off the barrier itself.

The dungeon was young, feral, animalistic. It acted on instinct, and its instincts were driven by the need to break free and consume. This was not out of place for a young dungeon, of course. It was usually only later, as they ‘woke up’, that they learned restraint. This was balanced by the fact that young dungeons almost always were weak things, starting off with the simplest monsters, and only a few of them, allowing even rookie adventurers to overcome their challenges.

The Dark Necropolis, however, was not your typical dungeon. Because of the ritual, and the later restriction, there were many, MANY undead around, and some of them were intelligent. These were the souls of the adventurers who had died beating back the undead, or protecting the warders as they erected the barrier. Their souls had been twisted and turned into undead creatures themselves.

Some of these twisted souls bound themselves to the dungeon. With thinking minds to guide its mindless minions, the Dungeon-Bound began wiping out the ‘unaffiliated’ undead, or capturing and converting them to the cause. Meanwhile, the dungeon used the mana, anima, and experience gained from this to grow in power. Soon, only ‘dungeon-bound’ and ‘dungeon-made’ undead existed inside the barrier.

Of course, this wasn’t information that was available to the general public. After all, once the barrier went up, there was no reason to bother with the area. If someone wanted to go and mess with undead, there was always the broken dungeon up in Orlando. Because of how the dungeon was broken, simply putting a barrier up to lock the undead away was far more problematic, so they always needed people to beat back the horde.

Father Jacobs, High Priest of Kuronoth, did not know how his Lord came by the information. Most likely, it was because of some kind of special magic only available to gods or dungeons. Either way, it mattered little. He had come to them, and bade them go to the Necropolis and seek out the core, or the dungeon master, if they could find it.

“Master, the barrier!”

Father Jacobs stroked his pet, Carla’s hair. “Yes, my dear. It appears that the barrier has been weakened substantially. You can see the dark mana clawing at the holy mana, wearing it away. I believe that some of the more powerful undead in the dungeon could force their way through, if they wanted to. In another month or two, the barrier will likely fail completely, unless something is done.”

Mary chuckled. “Are we going to do anything?”

Father Jacobs shook his head. “No, that is not what the Lord asks of us. The barrier will fall, and the dungeon inside will be able to behave like a normal dungeon. The Lord wishes for us to make contact with the dungeon, so He can guide it in its growth, and keep it from being labeled as a renegade.”

Brad grunted. “Makes sense. The Lord wouldn’t want rogue dungeons near His own, since that would reflect badly on Him, even if they weren’t related.”

Mark grinned. “Well, in that case, we better get to work.”

You have entered the Dark Necropolis dungeon.

For   being the first to discover this dungeon, you gain 1000 XP.

Together, they stepped through the barrier (which was made so that it only kept undead in, rather than keeping anyone out). Before them, the pyramid of the Necropolis rose up, over two hundred feet into the air. The stones of the pyramid were not native to the Everglades, of course. They had been part of the original botched summoning that brought the Necropolis to Earth, and, somehow, Father Jacobs did not think that the summoner had much input on their composition.

In truth, from a distance the only thing remarkable about the Necropolis was the stonework that made up the pyramid. The pyramid itself was fairly standard for one used by the empires of South and Central America, after all, but the pyramid’s blackish-green coloration made the necropolis very distinctive. It almost looked like some kind of corrupted granite, but the actual source was verified to be stone from some unknown plane of reality.

Regardless, the pyramid had blood red engravings on every wall. Some were pictures, showing scenes of bloody sacrifice, and others were pictographs that were probably a message in some alien tongue. That was all part of the Necropolis, before it became a dungeon. Even the braziers lining the staircase leading to the top of the temple, with their green flames, was part of the original design.

Farther Jacobs immediately noticed something different about the temple, from the last time they were here, collecting undead for the Lord. Gone were the mindless undead roaming around, like some kind of mob. Indeed, the closest thing to an undead they saw in the ‘grounds’ around the temple was at the base of the pyramid.

It was a massive doorway, almost twenty feet tall and fifteen feet wide, made of the leg and arm bones of humans. The door was inset about twenty-two feet back from the outermost edge of the pyramid, and on either side the stone angled outward, forming a V in the pyramid that drew all eyes to the door. To either side of the doorway, the main staircase ran up, before merging above it, and leading to the top of the pyramid.

The door was sealed shut. Not just pushed to, or using some kind of lock and key, but actually sealed, with magic. There was an ominous black aura hovering over the doors. It would take a great deal of work to open the doors from the outside.

In front of the entranceway was a stone basin, about waist high, made of the same stone as the rest. On either side of the basin’s rim, there was an iron spike, about three inches long and extremely sharp. That was… interesting.

“Look here! These pictures are not the same as the others!”

Gathering around where Mary was standing, they examined the engravings on either side of the doorway. Indeed, the scenes pictured here were of a different artist that was trying, and failing, to ape the art style of the original pictures. It looked crude, amateurish in comparison. Each picture showed figures which looked to be people, in four different scenes, two on each side of the sloped ‘hall’.

The first scene to the left showed a man placing gold in the basin. Some kind of flames were in the basin, and the skeletal door opened behind it. A way into the pyramid, perhaps? Underneath this scene was another one, where the man was leaving the door, and it sealed itself behind him, with the glowing aura.

The second scene showed a man at the basin, his hands impaled upon the spikes. His body was limp, but a spectral figure was there, floating towards the door, which was now opening. Below that was the specter floating back, and inhabiting the body once again. So, probably a second way to get through the door, but this time as a ghost?

On the right side, the first picture showed a man with a sword cutting off his own arm into the basin, with the door opening. Quite a bit more forbidding than the other one, for sure. Below, there was a picture of the one-armed man returning, and the door opening without any issue.

Finally, the last picture showed an altar at the top of the pyramid, with several people surrounding the altar. There was a sacrifice on the altar, with a blade in their torso for each person pictured there. Below, the picture showed those people now each wearing a matching necklace of some kind, and the door opening for them.

Carla frowned, as she looked over the pictures. “I think this is telling us how to get past the door. The dungeon is sealed, unless you pay a price. I think these two, on the left, are temporary passes. Pay the price once, and you have your ticket for the day. But if you leave and come back, you have to pay again.”

Stephanie nodded, seeing where the magus was going with this. “Then, the ones on the right must be the way to get permanent admittance! Sacrifice an arm, and you can come and go as you please. Sacrifice a person, and your group gets some marker that allows you to enter the pyramid as well.”

Brad frowned. “This is a lot more advanced than the ‘newborn’ dungeons we’ve been in before. This is more like something you’d see in the Lord’s dungeon.”

Father Jacobs nodded. “This dungeon is likely different from the normal dungeons. According to the Lord, there are former humans who have bound themselves to the dungeon. Why, he wouldn’t say, but if they are now leading the dungeon’s forces, they could have had some influence on its development.”

“Don’t forget the ritual,” Carla said. “We don’t know how much influence the ritual had on the dungeon itself. Obviously, with it being an undead dungeon, the ritual had to influence it somewhat, but it could run deeper than that.”

“You’re right, Carla,” Mary grinned. “We know that the undead, and the pyramid itself have played some influence in the dungeon’s development already, but don’t forget the barrier! The barrier sealed the undead and their energy inside, and basically forced the dungeon’s creation into high gear. I’d be surprised if it didn’t have seals or barriers all over the place. It is all this dungeon knows, after all!”

“So,” Brad said, “Which option do we pick?”

Father Jacobs laughed. “As if there was any doubt. May as well go with the option that allows us right of reentry, if Lord Kuronoth wills it.”

Mark grinned. “Not to mention, it would be a shame if those supplies that we acquired went to waste.”

“That, too. As a bonus, if the altar is not already consecrated to a god, we can use the time to dedicate it to Lord Kuronoth, and bless this dungeon with His grace!”

“Excellent plan, Father. Let’s get going! That sacrifice isn’t going to stab herself!”