"You are acting quite robust for someone who had just met the floor in an impromptu nap." The Mentor's amused voice drifted from behind the rapidly walking Ranma.
"Shut up.." Ranma kept his flush down. He had only been out a few minutes, but it was enough to completely eliminate any respect The Mentor and Horny might have built up over the little stunt he had pulled with Seras. "Do ya think that The Tailor would be able to make them a few things?" Ranma looked over his shoulder in curiosity. "Skuld needs to gain weight first, but after they get cleaned up they won't have any clothing to wear."
"Perhaps." The Mentor allowed the change in subject as he inclined his non-existent head. "The insane one might insult him, but after she cleans up she might look attractive enough to intrigue him. An artist loves a decent canvas after all. The vampire however should be able to conjure her own clothing soon enough. Now that she is no longer starving." Here the mentor chuckled slightly.
"Pshh." Ranma shook his head as he finally reached his destination, the dungeon heart. Next time he would be more careful with how much blood he gave. "Ok, now what were you saying about finding our rivals?" Ranma tilted his head as he looked at The Mentor.
"A keeper will live so long as his dungeon heart is alive." The spirit began to lecture as he floated around Ranma. "It is there that they have their power, and there that their power is greatest. To truly destroy a keeper one must destroy or capture the dungeon heart. There is no other option. Your murderous spree at the slave auction only angered the other keepers, and now we must finish the strike. Otherwise...." The Mentor trailed off there as he let the young keeper fill in the blanks.
"All right." All traces of good humor left Ranma as he was reminded of the events earlier. "So I haveta find em and make sure that they stay down."
"Correct, and to do that we will need more forces than just Horny and your newest pets." The Mentor chuckled darkly. "While you could have hired some more forces at Skid Row, we must now attract more minions the old fashioned way. First, you should re-familiarize yourself with your dungeon. That is why we are here. Later you will be able to direct your imps and use your keeper magic anywhere, but for now here is the best place for maximum affect."
"All right then." Ranma dropped into a meditation position and closing his eyes he began to concentrate. Ever since he had joined with the dungeon heart he had been aware of what went on in his dungeon. Now though he was focusing and re-learning what made it up. Every imp and room, every floor and wall, from his dungeon heart, to his bath.... Where Seras and Skuld were washing up....
"Keeper?" The Mentor would have blinked if he had eyes. It took only a moment before for him to connect the dots, but when he did he had to bite down a chuckle.
Ranma shook his head violently. He really hadn't known that he could zoom in his dungeon sight like that. He could feel his face flushing violently. Finally though he pulled his attention away from the bathroom and took a deep breath. "Ok, now what?"
"First you must build a Hatchery, and a Lair for your creatures to sleep in." The Mentor chuckled softly as he spoke. "These rooms don't have to be large yet, but they will supply your forces with the basic necessities without the need for you to direct them into your inner sanctum."
"Huh?" Ranma blinked his eyes open. "Why wouldn't I want them in there?" The inner sanctum was huge after all.
"Several reasons actually." Shrugging his ghostly shoulders the spirit continued. "Most important among those are that Horny and your pet Greater Vampire will not be good company, and the simple fact that most dungeon dwellers are not particularly hygienic."
Ranma blanched slightly at the thought of Horny in close proximity with another creature. "I think I get it." Sending mental directions to the imps Ranma smiled slightly as two moderate sized rooms were carved out of the stone quickly. "At least I got the room building down now."
A lot of the Keeping was hardwired into the dungeon heart actually, and there were blueprints for almost all the basic rooms built right into the walls. It was just a matter of concentrating and making sure that the proper pattern was specified. He still didn't understand why gold was needed, but thinking about it where it was going made his head hurt, so he was content to ignore it for now.
"Once you have those two rooms made you can start to lure in creatures, but there are other rooms you can make as well. I would suggest you make full use of the fact that we currently have near unlimited funds." The spirit grinned with a malicious glee. "Make all of them."
"Umm." Ranma shrugged and began to issue orders. "I think this is going to take awhile. The first rooms are barely started right now."
"The imps are fast workers, but even they cannot tunnel through solid stone with anything resembling quickness. The first room should be done by the end of the day. If you have given the order to build every room we should have everything inside the week. Until then there are two more things we have to do."
"Really?" Ranma stretched out, hearing a few joints crack in the process.
"First we have to place a lure at the portal. Simply direct it to start calling out, and creatures that like what rooms you have built will start to join your cause."
"And second?"
The Mentor gave a ghostly grin. "There is one keeper that is particularly weak and cowardly. He should be easy prey for what few forces you have right now. A perfect beginning to your new reign of terror."
Ranma gave the ghost a flat look.
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(Posted Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:13)
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