Azure: Gunner

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that a stable dungeon is always the exact same Level. In fact, just like any other dungeon, its Level will drop when it’s looted or the main Quest is completed. And if the Level goes down too much, it will still fucking collapse, squandering millions of eagles in potential profits.

Assuming you don’t fuck things up however, it will begin to absorb mana as soon as it’s unoccupied, and its Level will start to increase. The difference between a stable and rising dungeon is simply that the stable dungeon’s Level will plateau without rupturing.

It is widely accepted that a stable dungeon will eventually whither and fail, though no one understands how or why this happens. Dungeoneers claim that it's essential for a dungeon to be entered regularly. Since this aligns nicely with what the owners want – maximum profit – no one has ever tested this claim, to my knowledge anyway.

- Delver’s Guild Handbook, Section 10.3 – “Basics of Dungeon Management”

I resolutely stuck to the left-hand path at every turn. There were more than a few of those, along with occasional rooms containing more slithering horrors. I never faced more than two at once, and didn’t have much trouble dispatching them with my cutlass. Being twice their Level no doubt helped.

Along the way I encountered several stairs, all leading down, which I tested carefully with my trap-finder before descending. As I reached the bottom of the third set of stairs, I stored the big stick back into my Inventory and quietly drew my cutlass. The bottom of these stairs intersected a corridor running perpendicular to the steps. I couldn’t see anything except the blank wall in front of me, though it did seem a bit less dim than the tunnels above had been.

I led with my armored left forearm, my heavy curved blade held back in my right, like I’d been taught. If something grabbed ahold of me, I wanted to have my sword arm free to… encourage it to let go. The preparation did me absolutely no good when something flashed out from behind the corner, latching onto my forearm with an iron grip.

Before I could react I was yanked out and around, then my back slammed hard against the wall. My barrier flared as it absorbed the impact, and then my eyes widened as I found a spear tip at my throat and a huge figure looming over me in the dark.

“Hey!” I tried to protest, but it came out more like a squeak. I glared up at G’hala, opening my mouth to tell her to let me go. Her spear vanished and her other huge hand clamped over my mouth.

“Prove you’re really Az,” she whispered, voice full of menace.