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INTRUSION SCORE: MORTALS SLAIN: 4 MORTALS ESCAPED: 7

NEW CONSTRUCT PATTERN QUALITIES ACQUIRED/UPGRADED: WANDS: A- SWORDS: A AXES: B+ CLOTHING: A POTIONS: A POISONS: A-

LIMITED ITEMS OBTAINED: WAND OF WALLS MORTAL SOULS: 4 MANA CAP INCREASED BY 26 TO 469

KNOWLEDGE OBTAINED: LIGHT COMBAT SKILLS: SEAFALL DUELIST (UNRANKED)

MAGIC COMBAT SKILLS: VENOMANCER (UNRANKED), BARRIER MAGE (UNRANKED), METALLOMANCER (UNRANKED)

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------------------------ ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: RAIDERS 1

YOU HAVE SURVIVED AN INTRUSION INVOLVING AT LEAST EIGHT MORTALS AND TWO DUNGEON FLOORS. ONE 'RAID CHALLENGE MODE' USAGE UNLOCKED. RAID CHALLENGE MODES ARE AUTOMATICALLY TRIGGERED WHEN A PARTY OF EIGHT OR MORE MORTALS ENTER A FLOOR OR GUARDIAN BATTLE. ------------------------

------------------------ ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: RAIDERS 2

YOU HAVE SURVIVED AN INTRUSION INVOLVING AT LEAST TEN MORTALS AND THREE DUNGEON FLOORS. EMERGENCY CORE BARRIER UNLOCKED. BARRIER IS ACTIVATED WHEN A PARTY OF EIGHT OR MORE MORTALS ENTERS THE CORE CHAMBER. ------------------------

------------------------ ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: DEEP DELVERS 1

A PARTY OF FOUR OR MORE MORTALS HAS CLEARED AT LEAST FIVE FLOORS IN A SINGLE INTRUSION. 'STREAK MODE' UNLOCKED, ALLOWING GUARDIAN REWARDS TO BE AUTOMATICALLY INCREASED FOR EVERY GUARDIAN DEFEATED IN A SINGLE INTRUSION PAST THE THIRD. ------------------------

------------------------ ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: TRADITIONAL DUNGEON 1

AT LEAST FIVE MORTALS HAVE BEEN SIMULTANEOUSLY KEPT DISARMED AND RESTRAINED WITHIN THE DUNGEON. UNARMED, RESTRAINED MORTALS MAY BE MARKED AS 'CAPTURED', ALLOWING INTRUSION COMPLETION WITHOUT THEIR EXIT FROM THE DUNGEON BOUNDS. ------------------------

------------------------ ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: ALL THE WAY THROUGH 1

WHILE HAVING MORE THAN FIVE FLOORS, A PARTY HAS GONE THE FULL ROUTE FROM THE DUNGEON ENTRANCE TO THE CORE CHAMBER. ADDITIONAL FLOOR UNLOCKED. ------------------------

Tizzy groans as she stirs in her comfortable bed - a thought that causes her immediate panic the moment she's awake enough to process the sensation. She keeps her eyes closed, just in case she needs to feign sleep, but the scout is certain that something has to be terribly wrong. She's certainly a little disoriented, but she's fairly confident that the last time she was awake there were no beds in her immediate vicinity. Thinking back, she recalls entering the core chamber...and then a ridiculously handsome human appeared? It gets a little fuzzy around there, leading Tizzy to conclude that the distracting man probably kicked her ass.

So...did the party succeed, and Prince Thaddeus took her back to the inn to rest? That...seems unlikely. Carrying her all the way down the mountain and back to town? The half-imp is aware she's not particularly large a burden, but surely he would have tried to rouse her first before trying to move her. Did they succeed, and the prince talked the dungeon into caring for the wounded before they made their final departure from the realm? Possible, but considering the state they were in the last time she saw them, Tizzy can't bring herself to feel that optimistic about her party's chances. That would appear to leave one major possibility.

Tizzy had been slain and turned into one of the dungeon's guardians.

The thought sends a rush of panic and adrenaline through her small frame. "Ahhh! I don't want to be a monster!"

"Well, I'm certainly glad to hear that, but I don't think our opinion of you is that low, Miss Barrelbottom. Also, I'm glad to see that your ribs have healed, if you're able to make that much noise."

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Tizzy half-rolls over on the bed and finally opens her eyes, immediately recognizing the rabbit-eared form of Priestess Deylia standing nearby. The room they're in isn't familiar to her - a small chamber with bare stone walls, candle lighting, and no furniture other than the bed and a dresser - but it's fairly easy to conclude that they are still within the dungeon somewhere. Also that she's alone in a room with a dungeon guardian and probably has been for some time. "What - what happened? Where am I?"

Deylia walks over to the bed, taking a look at the scout before answering. "You're on Floor Five, well, to be specific you're currently in a rest chamber attached to the shrine. You've been brought here for healing - while I'm not sorry to say it, you may not be happy to learn that your quest ended in a failure. You in particular were quite badly off by the end of it."

"So...you mean I died?"

That question does manage to surprise the priestess. "Pardon? No! I spent quite a bit of effort on healing you, you know! At least you didn't lose any limbs, but half of your ribs and one of your arms was broken, and one of your lungs was punctured. You would have died without treatment in the near future, I can say that."

"Oh." Tizzy takes a moment to check herself over, feeling at her limbs and chest. Nothing feels injured - in fact she'd say she feels quite good, actually. Of course, that physical feeling doesn't quite extend to her emotional state. "...Why?"

"Well...because your 'prince' asked for it, as a condition of his surrender. And because, to be frank, even Xenia Worthy isn't entirely blase about slaying possible relations of hers, which I can understand."

"Oh, well, that's good, I suppose...wait." Tizzy's eyes widen as a realization strikes her. "Wait, Prince Thaddeus surrendered to heal me!? I made us lose!?"

"Gods, some people just can't accept good news, apparently." Deylia lifts her face to the ceiling. "Might I have a chair? It seems this may take a moment or two." As if the gods were indeed listening to her prayers a simple chair does indeed appear next to the bed, and Deylia slips into it before resuming her conversation. "Firstly, while you may have been the worst off, the rest of your party was hardly any better. You're aware that Thaddeus lost an arm, I'm sure. That fencer was down a hand, and your warrior barely had it in her to swing her blade. Had Sincere and Xenia expended even the slightest effort I'm sure none of you would have survived."

The scout frowns as she reflects on the cost of their failure. "It was almost that bad anyhow, wasn't it? You did heal Norlash too, right? So...five of us made it? Less than half our party, and that was the number we had after all the other losses we've taken since getting here. Unholy hells, if I'd known only five of us would make it out of all the dozens of us that set off, I would've stayed home for sure."

"Well, it's not that bad. Violetta and Hylii are alive, of course. Also, I suppose it doesn't hurt to tell you this now, but Ruckus has been a guest of ours for some time now."

Tizzy grimaces. "That asshole survived? Fuck, I suppose he would, if anyone." She shakes her head and looks up at her healer. "I suppose that's a little better than I was thinking. But...what happens to us now? You heal us, send us on our way, and then...that's it?"

Deylia shrugs. "I can't entirely answer that. It's my understanding that Violetta no longer wishes to follow your prince, and I suspect Ruckus feels the same. As for the rest of you, I suppose that's up to you...except to be honest, I'm not entirely sure as to the fate of the prince himself."

That comment makes Tizzy sit up in her bed with concern. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The rabbit-woman chuckles. "Just that it's a matter above my paygrade, is all..."

Prince Thaddeus sits on the floor and stares at a statue. It's a little uncouth for nobility to do such a thing, but quite frankly the man is exhausted, and there's no other furniture in the room save for said statue. Not that it's a small space - at a guess the prince would say the chamber is intended for training, given the lightly padded floors and walls. There's no weapons or training dummies however, or even an exit out. That's probably an illusion, given that a dungeon has to always offer adventurers a path to an exit, but frankly the man is too tired to go searching the walls for hidden doors or switches. The dungeon's healer had helped stabilize his missing arm but not re-attached it, and he's hardly about to go looking for a fight in his current state.

The statue meanwhile is enough of a mystery to distract him from his other concerns. It's of a human male, for certain, probably in his thirties or so. He wears garb that reminds Thaddeus of ancient noble fashions, although not as elaborate as one would normally wear for a portrait or a sculpture. Beyond that however the figure is a complete unknown to him, but he very much doubts it was placed here randomly. So the prince sits, rests, and thinks about the man in front of him - and tries not to think about the implications of his failure.

That thinking is interrupted when a woman's voice suddenly speaks up from behind him. "Like my work? I'll be honest, after all this time my memory's probably faded a little. Didn't get the perfect recall until after becoming a dungeon, and it ain't retroactive. Pretty sure I got pretty close, though."

Thaddeus quickly rises to his feet and spins around to see a familiar woman in black-and-white tones. He's fairly certain as to her identity, but just to confirm, he asks again. "Xenia Worthy? Beg my forgiveness, but...this is you and not a creation or an imitator, yes?"

The woman snorts at the phrasing. "You're gonna be needing to beg a lot of forgiveness, kiddo. But yeah, me in the flesh. We only talked for like ten minutes earlier, so fortunately I've still got some avatar time left to burn for the week. It seems like everyone's as healed as they're gonna be, so seemed time to check back in. So, like the statue?"

The prince nods as he glances back at it. "It's...very well crafted, my lady. I don't know who it's supposed to represent, however?"

The question draws a confused look from the avatar. "Seriously? All this and you don't even know who your 'glorious ancestor' was? This is - was - my son, Harold. He didn't go by Worthy as a family name the last time I was around, but I'm guessing that changed after I...checked out."

Thaddeus eyes the statue again. "Harold Worthy? I...ah, I see. There is one portrait, yes, but of a much older man. And it was not so detailed as this. I see the resemblance now that you mention it, however."

"That's something, I guess." Xenia steps up alongside Thaddeus and takes a look at the statue herself. "If there was anyone who wanted the 'Worthy line' to be important in Seven Cities politics...it must've been him. I never wanted it, never pushed for it for him or anyone else. If you wanted an ancestor to lead you to former glories, it should have been his soul you were hunting down, not mine."

"With all due respect, King Harold was a fine leader...but even if his soul remained intact after death like yours...he was not the champion you were, and are. No one less would have sufficed."

Xenia smirks. "Well, someone's gonna have to do some sufficing, given that we've established that I sure ain't fuckin' goin' back. Is your inferiority complex really so bad that you couldn't give it a try yourself?"

The prince frowns, taking a moment to consider his response. "...It's a moot point, really. I can't go back now."

The reincarnator gives her descendant some side-eye. "Eh? How the hell you'd plan to get me back then, if that's the case?"

"It's not a...a question of the magic. It's..." Thaddeus sighs, and again takes a while before continuing. "I didn't leave on this quest all on my own, you know. I had...companions, friends, allies. Many of them nobility of their own, even a few cousins. They...none of them even made it to my stop at the realm of the Fallen Tower."

While she's not entirely sure if she wants to hear the entire sob story, curiosity does drive Xenia forward. "So...what went so wrong, then?"

Thaddeus looks at one of the amulets around his neck. "We lost a third of the expedition on our first realm-crossing. They just...never appeared. We corrected the spell after that, but afterwards it was just...mundane, I suppose. Worthy of a ballad, truly, so many brave battles and adventures and struggles..." The prince breathes deeply. "But I led them poorly and one by one they fell. I swore I'd grant them all a grand memorial when I returned."

"And now that oath doesn't count for shit, hrmm?"

The prince turns to look the avatar in the eyes. "What memorial could I grant them now? Behold these brave men and women, who followed a fool and died for nothing? If we'd at least had some success...but I lack even that." He turns back to the statue before continuing. "And even of my new companions, I'd still be returning alone. Your Core Guardian informed me that Violetta and Ruckus have already determined to leave my service. Nor can I blame them, or the others. I'm grateful to hear your healer could reattach Reed's hand, but he lost a father. Hylii a lover. Norlash, Nalain...Tizzy, I've taken them all realms from their friends and family and provided them with nothing."

"You might be surprised. I think there's more loyalty there than you might expect. That being said...for what it's worth, I don't think you should plan on going home anytime soon either."

Now it's the prince's turn to form a surprised expression. "I...assume this means something other than you deciding that you're going to slay me after all?"

Xenia gives the man a grin. "Well, you're right about one thing. You do suck."

"...At least we have some small measure of agreement, then."

"Now, your swordplay's pretty damn good. I was watching you, and while you probably never really got pushed to your limits, I can see why you passed yourself off as a Supreme-tier Challenger. As a basic-ass adventurer or hell, even a Hero, I think you'd have potential."

"...But?"

"But your leadership skills are absolutely F-tier. You got hyper-fixated, drowned in the sunk-cost fallacy. You treated people like tools, you took risks you couldn't back up, you started thinking you were the main character and Fate was ultimately working in your favor. Dude, if anyone here's a main character it's gotta be me, and I'm telling you, Fate has bent me over and fucked me in the ass more times than I could count. If you wanna succeed, you gotta plan for failure."

The prince furrows his brow. "I suppose I can see the wisdom in that, but...is this leading somewhere?"

"Yes, so shut up." Xenia points a finger at the man's chest. "A man like you might be able to lead a city-state in times of peace. If times get hard though and you're in charge? You're right, you ain't cut out for the job. But if you want to go home and bring a leader with you, it ain't gonna be me, so it's gonna hafta be you." Thaddeus looks about to ask another question, so Xenia pokes him in the chest to keep him quiet. "So I'm gonna do what a dungeon's meant to do. I'm gonna test you, I'm gonna challenge you, and I'm gonna make you the best version of yourself that you can be."

She leans in close with a grin on her face, but it's not one that brings the prince any solace. "And first off, given the laundry list of issues you've currently got, that means I'm gonna have to break you. So I hope you've got it in you for the long haul."

The man swallows. "...Where do we begin?"

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