Tiny Dungeon

Cormac Torgir watched the rest of the Council of Five deliberate, disgusted with their weakness. There was a Dungeon, a solution to all of their problems, sitting a mere three days travel from the Mother Tree and they continued to deliberate.

Slamming his fist down on the table, the [Leprechaun] rose to his feet and raised his voice. “What are ye blatherin' on and on for eh?! How long has it been since the tall folk locked us out of their Dungeons? Over a century that’s how long! Why are we still deliberatin’? Let’s set up a strike force and claim it!”

Horace, the [Fairy] he had interrupted, turned and scowled at him. “So you would have us send in a force without scouting first? For all we know this is a trap set by the archmage who lives in that cabin. He has hunted us before. Successfully, I might add.” The Fairy shook his head. “I do not wish to sacrifice our kin on speculation even if my son was certain it was indeed a Dungeon.”

Two other heads nodded at this. One of them was Olga, one of the [Daoine] or Good Folk as they called themselves, which the [Leprechaun] thought was rather presumptuous of them. She was a 3rd Stage Evolution of a [Light Elven] and one of the more powerful ones, hence her position on the council. Cormac still found her to be insufferable.

The other was Maric the [Asrai] from where he lounged in his little pool of water. He was also a 3rd Stage Evolution, a far cry from the [Undine] 1st Stage.

They were both inconsequential. Olga rarely wanted conflict and Maric was a slothful coward. If it couldn’t be reached by water then he couldn’t be bothered.

Cormac focused his gaze on the one who hadn’t nodded, Dialgar of the [Slua Sidhe]. As the commander of the Fairy Host and one of the only fairies at Mother Tree with a 4th Stage Evolution, he was the highest evolved being out of all of them and commanded the military arm of their dwindling community.

As if feeling his eyes on him Dialgar spoke, “Do not look to me for support in this Cormac. I will not pull my Elites from their duties for a shot in the dark. I will not risk losing the Mother Tree to some monster because I sent half of them off to confront an archmage in his home.”

His dark red eyes turned to Cormac and the [Leprechaun] felt the rank of the Fairy bear down on him before turning away. “I do however agree that some scouting should be done. If there is a threat to the Mother Tree present in this situation then we should be made aware of it.”

Cormac sat down and stewed as a vote was called to send out scouts. When called upon to vote he stood again. “If you all insist on being weak then fine you have my vote. But this is a mistake. We cannot fuel even the most basic of evolutions among our kin."

"The Mother Tree is growing too old to sustain our population; you all know what that means. When she no longer produces the amount of Aether Dust we need then we will all starve! All that will be left of us will be our Stage 1 kin. Think of that before you dismiss me out of hand next time.”

With his final words said he departed, stalking down the tunnels that made up the inside of the Mother Tree. Behind him, he heard the others begin to discuss the scouting operation and he scoffed. Blitherin' fools the lot of them. They could scout all they wanted.

When Cormac was Keeper of the Core they would have to listen to him then. He licked his lips, fantasizing about all the Aether that a Dungeon could put out. Not to mention the creatures it contained. They wouldn't dare mock him with such an army at his disposal.

The [Leprechaun] dove into the caverns that made up the inside of the Mother Tree. He would have to seek out some worthy Delvers to join him. They would be easy enough to bribe. They couldn’t be Stage 3 like himself but perhaps a large number of Stage 2s would be enough. After all, he didn’t want them to get any ideas of betrayal.

He had a few trinkets saved away and the lure of fresh Aether would entice even the most recalcitrant of them to join him. There were plenty of malcontents who desired the ability to Delve once more. They would obey him or they would get nothing. Cormac smiled wickedly. Oh yes, the Council of Five would rue the day they didn’t listen to him.

***********

"So what do you think?" Horace asked the others cautiously, eyeing the tunnel by which Cormac had stormed off.

"He will most certainly go after the Core of the Dungeon," Olga declared. "He has always desired more power even when we had plenty to go around."

"He was right though," Maric drawled sleepily. "Mother Tree isn't getting any younger. We have held on due to the Fairy Host's strength, but we are fading." His sleepy eyes held sorrow. "Without a change, we will perish as Cormac said."

"We have agreed to scout out the situation. Let us continue to do so," Declared Dialgar. "Cormac will set out with a crew. They will inevitably be weaker than he is and will provide an adequate test of the Dungeon's capability. If there is something in the Dungeon that can pose a threat to him then we will have been right to be cautious. If he succeeds we will need people on hand to resist him and claim the Core for the Mother Tree. Either way one of us will need to take on this task and I cannot do it. I am needed here in case the Pack Matron comes sniffing around again."

"I will do it," Horace said, determined. "My son knows the way and I still have a few contacts here from my adventuring days. I'm sure they will be thrilled at the chance to Delve and will understand the threat posed by Cormac controlling a Dungeon Core."

After looking around the table and receiving affirming nods Horace stood. "Then I will be off. I want to be ready to move once Cormac has begun to move out."

Dialgar nodded. "That would be wise my friend. May the Mother Tree guide your journey." Horace nodded and departed moving quickly towards his quarters. His old battleax had hung on his mantel for far too long. It would be good to have it in his hands once again.