Peek: No Solos (Patreon)

Ah, it looks like we have our first new batch of kids with classes! What'd you all get? Fighters, archers, oh a wind mage? Very nice. And I see a tamer, unless you're going to tell me that illusion fox is following you because it wants to eat you?

That's what I thought. You know, taming classes always remind me of a strange dungeon deep in the Principalities. For the longest time, it was classified as a brutal belligerent, always trying to kill any delvers that would try to enter it. They're still not sure why it reacts so strongly, or at least none of the Dungeoneers knew why the last time I was there. Anyway, a tamer came through, a bearkin with a tamed pyrofalcon. When he came out, he was confused and asked several times if he was in the correct dungeon.

Yes, the dangerous belligerant, they told him. No, it was a very peaceful toybox, he countered.

They compared notes, wondering if maybe a second dungeon spawned overlapping, maybe some strong spatial affinity or something else odd like that. But no, he reported the same monsters, the same nodes, the same layout as the Dungeoneers were aware of, and much more besides. Few had gotten very deep, but the unnamed bearkin got deep enough to even see the core: a simple green hexagonal pillar, about two feet tall.

Of course, the Dungeoneers sent their Inspector, wondering if maybe the dungeon had a change of heart, but he came back quickly, saying the denizens were as violent as ever. The bearkin went back in, and soon came back out saying the denizens were still docile, as far as he could tell.

Clearly something was going on, so the Dungeoneers asked the bearkin to escort the Inspector, and there they made the breakthrough. The denizens immediately attacked the Inspector, but completely ignored the bearkin and his companion. The Inspector fled, and the bearkin decided to have his pyrohawk try to communicate with the denizens, to see what was going on.

Now, he was hardly talking with the voice, but even the lowest denizen understands the basics of what their dungeon wants from them. Apparently, the delvers confuse the dungeon, so it drives them away. It understands they make more mana for it, but it's still weary of them and thinks them to be some odd form of invader, though the denizens couldn't say why.

So why ignore the bearkin?

The answer was exactly the kind of strange and direct thing that seems so obvious in hindsight, yet impossible to understand without being told. The pyrohawk was escorting the bearkin, so the dungeon decided the bearkin must be fine.

So he went back to the Dungeoneers, told them what was happening, collected a large payment, and went on his way. And the Dungeoneers started experimenting. Would a single tamer allow an entire group in without hassle?

No. No it wouldn't. What about a swarm tamer? Still no. They went through all sorts of different variations, but in the end, it seemed that only those with a proper companion would be allowed to delve without issue. In most situations, that would make the dungeon incredibly niche and someone like myself would have never gone inside.

But delvers are clever, and will come up with things to get what they want. And an enterprising otterkin came up with an idea. What about transferring companions? It's not commonly done, as most people need to tame a denizen themself for the bond to properly form, but there are a few classes that can transfer bonds, and she had the ability. And she had plenty of muckfrogs to transfer to people who wanted to get at the difficult nodes of the dungeon.

Muckfrogs are perfect for this sort of thing, you see. They are perfectly happy to sit in a pocket, peering out, and that's enough for the dungeon to recognize them as a chaperone. They're also kinda cute, in that stoic frog sense, where you can't tell if there's nothing going on in their head, or everything.

Anyway, the otterkin would sell the frogs and transfer the bonds to people, and once they finish, she was happy to buy them back for a small difference, effectively renting them out, or let the people continue on with their new bond. I never saw anyone keep theirs, though I did consider it.

Unfortunately, a muckfrog is better suited to swamps, not our Wanderlands. Still, it was a unique enough experience that I still like when we camp by various ponds and lakes, and I can hear the amphibious serenade at night. It makes me wonder if I could have made it work, and had an extra voice for my songs.

~Onthar, orc bard historian