Chrysalis

The practice of Delving into the Dungeon is as old as the Rending. No sooner had the desperate struggle for survival begun than people were throwing themselves into the depths, desperate to find the tools they needed to fight back against the onslaught.

Most died, but some didn't, and even fewer actually became good at plunging into the depths. Being able to descend, fight, gather materials, and return alive, was exceptionally valuable, and therefore lucrative.

Just like that, the practice of Dungeon Delving as an enterprise was born. At first it was largely unorganised and unregulated, but as the devastation of the Rending began to fade, and exploration became safer and more common, the delvers began to cooperate and merge, forming societies, organisations and guilds, to ensure they were treated fairly and to protect their interests from interlopers.

Over centuries, these groups gradually converged to form the major Delving associations that still exist in modern times. The Mercenary Guild remains the largest and most powerful, most who seek materials or wish to lay contracts against certain monsters will always post the task within their halls.

- Excerpt from "Society and the Dungeon" by Antuar

"Hoo boy," Drake's eyes shot up as he beheld the new entry on the board.

His voice drew eyes, which led to further exclamations in turn, attracting yet more, until a crowd gathered, mercs discussing the new development.

Turning his back on the glowing bounty board, Drake made his way back to the table around which the rest of his crew sat.

"Not sure I appreciate that glint in your eye, mate," Lacos drawled, the scaly-skinned Brathian's eyes sharpening as he sensed a development.

"Contract just went up. Big one."

The group turned in their seats to look at the crowd gathered around the board, now four people deep.

"Holy heck. Look at them go. This must be for huge money! How much is it? Wait, don't tell me. Actually, tell me. No! Shut up! There's no way it's worth the trouble."

Drake smiled.

"Are you done, Elly? At least let me give you the information before you make a decision."

"No way." She held up a hand, then thought better of it and raised both, for increased emphasis. "Big numbers have a detrimental effect on the merc mind. Ninety percent of deaths happen on big jobs at least seventy percent of the time."

"Did you make up those numbers?"

"Yes. But my point stands! Big reward means big danger. We don't need to take the risk right now."

"What is it?" Lacos said, waving off Elly as she began to squawk in protest. "I wanna know, Elly, shut it."

"Alright then." Drake pulled up a chair and helped himself to a few taro chips, the rich life-mana inside tingling in his mouth before it suffused his being. "This job is going to bring in a heck of a lot of eyes, and I think more than a few will go for it, but that doesn't matter so much, since the reward is general rather than specific."

"Unusual." Lacos stroked his scaled chin.

"True. The job was posted by the Path. Seems they've detected some beasty evolving out near the tree."

"Which tree?" Elly broke in.

"The tree," Drake emphasised.

"Oh."

"Whatever it is, it's pretty big, estimated at max Rare or early Mythic."

The listening pair sucked in a long breath. Monsters at that stage of evolution were a big deal. Deadly, hard to kill, but worth a fortune if you could pull it off. A mythic core would let them live like royalty for a decade.

Lacos frowned.

"Mythic.... That's dangerous."

"It's still evolving. As of this moment, there's no need to tangle with the monster. If we can get to it before it wakes up, it's free money."

"That's what everyone always thinks," Elly scoffed. "How many times have we heard stories of delvers walking up to an evolving beast, only for the thing to wake up right before they stab it? Did they post an estimated time on the job?"

Reluctant, Drake shook his head.

"There, too dangerous, end of story."

"Now hold on a second," he said, "there's more to it than just the big beast, although that's the main prize. For whatever reason, this monster is being guarded by thousands and thousands of weaker creatures."

Elly stared at him.

"That makes it infinitely worse," she said. "Are you out of your mind?"

"Except, the Path is willing to pay bounty on all of them. Not just the biggin'."

"They what now?" Lacos sat up straight.

Drake grinned.

"Tier four or five, the bulk of them. Thousands. If we can pick off ten or so, that'll be a year's worth of income in one job."

"Everyone is going to want a piece of this," Lacos said.

"Which makes it better, not worse. Thousands of delvers crawling over the mountain will make life easier for us, help spread the heat. If we come at it from the far side, keep as much distance between us and the tree as possible, we can cash in."

Elly was frowning.

"I don't like this," she said, "something feels off. We've got a giant monster sleeping in a mountain crawling with thousands of defenders, and we don't know when it'll wake up. This is weird behaviour for monsters."

Lacos nodded thoughtfully.

"But still worth investigating," he said. "I think we pass on word to the boss. There's likely to be an expedition mounted for this, which will help with travel and support, and he can get us on there. I'm not saying we're going," he held up a hand to Elly before she could protest, "I'm saying we should check it out. Even if we get all the way out there and don't like what we see, it will hardly have cost us anything with the fees being split so many ways. Fair?"

"Fine," the other grumbled as she sat back and took a long pull from her mug.