Dungeon Overlord (OLD Version) Chapter 15 - Duskendale (Patreon)

"Dungeon.

A unique place of Magic and wonder that first appeared in the Westeros three years before the Conquest of the Westeros. The first appearance of the Dungeon in Westeros happened in the Isle of Faces, which lay on God's Eye Lake near the place where Harrenahl stood hundreds of years ago.

For centuries, many have attempted to study the Dungeon, but none have managed to discover how it came into existence or what the purpose of this mysterious place that once appeared on the Isle of Faces is.

But what it is?

Many scholars would say that Dungeon is a very complex labyrinth located in different dimensions made with Magic. It is the only place in the world that is the constant source of the various beasts, though that statement is now false because, during the centuries, many creatures like Goblins, Gnolls, and Kobolds spread across the Westeros and Essos from the Dungeon.

We call these ones the Wild Monsters because they are descendants of the original Dungeon Creatures, and their strength is not on the same level as the creatures that are found within the Dungeon.

The Dungeon is seemingly alive, spawning monsters from the walls and ceilings and repairing itself on its own. The Dungeon is vast, with the floors becoming progressively larger the deeper it gets. It takes at least one month's worth of days for a party to reach the 3rd Layer, the Garden Layer. Going to the Dungoen alone is not advised because even the 1st Layer of the Dungeon that houses ordinary Dungeon Creatures like Goblins is extremely dangerous for anyone who doesn't know Magic or is not a skilled warrior with Magic Gear.

Since the appearance of the Dungeon in Westeros, many wonderous Magical items have been brought back from the depths of the hell that the Dungeon was. Several times in history, nobility or kingdoms tried to either monopolize it or, under the direction of the Faith of the Seven, destroy it as an unholy abomination.

The most notable was the attempt shortly before the start of the Conquest of Westeros by Aegon the Conqueror and his wife Rhaeyns Targaryen, which was the Holy March of the Faith of Seven on the Dungeon where they managed to mobilize an army of more than 100,000 from the Kingdom of Reach, Kingdom of Rock, Kingdom of Vale of Arryn and some parts of the Kingdom of Stormlands and local Lords of the Riverlands that supported the zealous Septons of the Seven.

As many expected, the Crusade of the Faith of the Seven ended in absolute catastrophe, as from the army of 100,000 only a few Warrior Sons returned alive as if they were allowed to return by the Dungeon Master, a being that was ruler of the Dungeon.

What followed after was the historic occasion because was then when a portal appeared above several important Septs across Westeros, and from there, countless monsters poured out, destroying everything in their path.

In the end, the Faith of the Seven was culled down to a great degree, and the subsequent Conquest by Aegon Targaryen destroyed what had remained from the influence of the Faith of Seven when he destroyed few of the loyal pious Houses and installed many Laws that were specifically targeting the deconstruction of the Faith of Seven which was slowly but surely being replaced by the Church of the Great Old One that worshipped the creator of the Dungeon."

- Excerpts from the book by Archmaester Perestan, Dungeon and Its Influence on Westeros and Rest of the World, Year 300 After the Conquest

***

Kingdom of the Isles and the Rivers

It has been a few days since Archaon and Ornstein left the Dungeon as they travelled to their first destination, which was the Duskendale. From there, on the local port, they would travel to the Dragonstone, the place where the so-called Dragonstone were living, as Archaon wanted to meet them.

Aside from satiating his very own curiosity, there was also the topic of the Valyrian Legacy in the Fire Magic because, according to the lore, the Valyrians should have developed the Fire Magic and Blood Magic to extreme levels.

Obtaining such knowledge would do him only good because it was free power that he could obtain from this world. Archaon has decided that he would take a maximum from this world because it was the starting world that was meant for him to become as strong as possible.

Even though the world of A Song of Ice and Fire seemed to be weak at first glance, there was a lot hidden underneath.

The Blood Magic of the Valyrian Freehold was on such a high level that it allowed the Dragonlords to tame the local dragons, allowed them to obtain an affinity for Magic, and allowed them to be prone to be immune toward more mundane diseases and other stuff.

Because of the state of the Kingdom of the Isles and the Rivers, during their journey towards the Duskendale, Archaon, and Ornstein encountered a lot of bandits and brigands on the roads.

It wasn't surprising that the attacks on the Isle of Faces ended catastrophically for the Kingdom of the Isles and the Rivers. The reavers of the Iron Islands had fewer numbers and were forced to keep an eye on the nobles of the Riverlands, who had some of their military power intact.

Even though King Harren Hoare suspected that they were intentionally being slow at answering the call, at the same time, now the numbers were really against their odds. So, he needed to put a lot of his manpower that still remained to counterbalance the forces of the Riverlandese Nobles.

Still, the situation with the bandits was becoming rather annoying for Archaon because almost every few kilometers, there would be someone attempting to rob them, as it seemed that taking Ornstein wasn't the best idea.

At least they managed to get a pair of horses for the faster transition after encountering the first group of bandits on the road.

With his shining, polished golden armor, he was like a beacon to anyone who wanted to rob them. It was no wonder because it was made from the sort of gold in the Lands of the Ancient Lords, and the armor itself was considered the pinnacle of Lordranian blacksmithing. 

Not to mention it was also heavily enchanted and made with ancient Magic of the Lordran.

Even from the first look, it was armor that looked immensely valuable for anyone that looked at it, because it looked like something that perhaps only the Emperors or Patriarchs of the Dragonlord Houses would bring to the combat.

Though dealing with the bandits while being a certain annoyance to both Archaon and Ornstein, not even a single one of the bandits was able to withstand a single blow from the two of them due to their immense power. 

And if Archaon was bored enough, he would start shooting Pyromancies at them, which always provided interesting results. Right now, they were not far from the Duskendale, which was a rather important castle and a small adjusted port town in Westeros.

Duskendale is a large port town off the coast of Blackwater Bay. It is located southeast of Harrenhal and Darkylin in the Kingdom of the Isles and the Rivers. The Duskendale port served as one of the main connection points between Westeros and Essos, and it was one of the bigger centers of trade with the Free Cities.

"Should we be avoiding going through the Duskendale, My Lord?"

Previously, when Ornstein addressed Archaon, there was some sense of falsehood and mocking in his words when he addressed him, because even though Ornstein served Archaon in this world, he wasn't thinking of him as his Lord.

Though now, after several months of training and fighting, Ornstein changed his attitude to a certain degree, and Archaon could see there were beginnings of loyalty. Ornstein was more complicated than Artorias the Abysswalker, who was more grateful for being pulled out of the Abyss.

The power of the Abyss has corrupted the silver knight too much, so the moment he got salvation from the hell that the Abyss, it was relatively easy to obtain his loyalty. Ornstein meanwhile was different, because he was true knight to his Lord even after his own death and death of his Lord, Lord Gwyn.

"Maybe... we have enough gold from looting the corpses of the bandits and some taken from the Dungeon. Depending on the situation with the local nobles if they let us pass without problems or not. If not, then we will destroy them, if yes we proceed to find the ship that would take us to the Dragonstone."

Archaon stated as he looked at the distance, where he could see the silhouette of the Duskendale.

[Quest Issued by the Patron God.]

[Quest: Future of the Planetos

Objective Choice Alternative 1: Reintroduce the Dungeon Creatures to the wider Planetos and facilitate the return of the Magic into the Planetos. Doing this can have unforeseen consequences for the Planetos, and the world could regain its Magic with enough circulation, effectively evolving from the Low Magic World (Decay) to even Mid Magic World.

Reward: Permanent Dungeon Entrance (Host can create a permanent entrance to the Dungeon so the natives can access the Dungeon even if the Dungeon is no longer located in the same world as the natives)

Objective Choice Alternative 2: Continue on the original path of the Quest Fate Stealer of draining all Magic from the Planetos as planned.

Reward: Heart of the Flame Atromach King (The Heart of the Flame Atromach King could be used to evolve and strengthen the Pyromancy Flame of the Host to Epic)

NOTE: The Host can choose only one alternative.]

Suddenly, as he sat on the horse, he got the mission from the Dungeon System from his Patron God, and this time, it looked rather interesting because both of the alternatives had their pros and cons. 

The reward for the second choice was especially appealing because evolving his [Pyromancy Flame (R)] to the [Epic] was something that he found incredibly appealing and also something that would give him tremendous power-up that would be crucial at a later date.

Yet he saw that there could be unprecedented benefits for the first alternative. Yeah, it would be rather hard to pull off because Magic was dying in this world, but if his Patron God deemed this as an alternative, then it should be possible.

If the Magic was restored or, rather, if it was resuscitated, then the Planetos would become a true Low Magic World, which would, in turn, allow Archaon to farm far more Dungeon Echoes than he could imagine.

The best thing around it was the fact that with this, he could take control of the entire world from the shadows and cultivate the local population of the Planetos.

Like a shadow player, he could cautiously raise the strength and power of the local population as he deemed it to fit and create an entire world, which would constantly generate a staggering amount of Dungeon Echoes for him.

In the end, Archaon always considered himself the long-term player above everything else and wasn't really interested in the short-term benefits, no matter how appealing the [Heart of the Flame Atromach King] appeared to him.

So, he clicked on the first option.

[Host has chosen Objective Choice Alternative 1 as his Quest for the Quest: Future of the Planetos.]

Just as he chose Objective Choice Alternative 1, he was swarmed by the notifications from the updated system Quests. What made Archaon pause was the fact that it came right now, before his trip to the Dragonstone.

This prompted Archaon to think, that there was something happening on the Dragonstone that would decide the fate of his and decide the heading of his Dungeon in this world.

[Quest Table Updated.]

[Quest: Future of the Planetos

Objective: Reintroduce the Dungeon Creatures to the wider Planetos and facilitate the return of the Magic into the Planetos. Doing this can have unforeseen consequences for the Planetos, and the world could regain its Magic with enough circulation, effectively evolving from the Low Magic World (Decay) to even Mid Magic World.

Reward: Permanent Dungeon Entrance (Host can create a permanent entrance to the Dungeon so the natives can access the Dungeon even if the Dungeon is no longer located in the same world as the natives)]

[Quest: Fate Stealer - Destroy the Song

Objectives:

1st - Destroy the Song of Ice and Fire and render the prophecy useless

Rewards: Advancement to the next world

2nd - Upgrade the Dungeon to the Rare

Reward: ???

3rd - Defeat and Kill Night King, R'hllor and ???

Progress: 0/3

Reward: Alpha Stigma]

The only thing that has changed on the [Quest - Fate Stealer - Destroy the Song] was the description of the 2nd Object of the Quest. Aside from that, everything has remained the same.

"Is everything alright, My Lord? There are some people approaching on horseback, seeing their numbers and equipment; they should be soldiers of the local Lord."

Archaon was woken from his thoughts by Ornstein's voice because he realized that he had been once again daydreaming. He immediately looked in the direction where Ornstein was looking and, indeed, noticed that there was a small group of people heading their way.

All of them were dressed in rather similar clothing, though both Archaon and Ornstein noticed that neither of them wore full-body armor. Instead, they were wearing a mixture of leather armor parts and chainmail.

Which was rather common for the low-budged troops or for those who couldn't afford to equip their troops in a better and superior manner. It wasn't really that weird in this world because, based on everything that they ever encountered, especially in the aspect of enemies that invaded their Dungeon, this was standard for most of the lords.

"What do you think they want?"

Archaon asked as he looked at the five men that were approaching horseback, but he didn't think that they were going to create problems for them. On the contrary, he thought that they were here to invite them or at least intercept them and ask them about their purpose.

In the end, they were too eye-catching, not only due to Ornstein's extravagant golden armor but also due to the aristocratic-looking outfit that Archaon was wearing. It was a Victorian-style outfit worn by the Royalty of the Vilebloods of the Cainhurst.

"Most probably, they are going to intercept us and question us about our purpose here... for the real combat, there are too few of them, especially if they wanted to capture us."

The former leader of the Four Knights of Gwyn spoke with certainty as he was aware that the soldiers were here not to fight. He knew that if they really wanted to fight to the death, they would have brought more men because even from a single look, Ornstein looked pretty menacing.

Soon enough, several of the riders had already arrived at them and looked at Archaon and Ornstein rather carefully because of their appearance. Archaon noticed that they were most probably considering them to be nobles of some kind.

And Ornstein looked pretty menacing and dangerous on his own, so they approached rather carefully at first. 

"We greet you in the name of my Lord Darklyn, Lord of the Duskendale and vassal of the King of the Isles and the Rivers. Who are you travellers?"

One of the riders stated as he shouted at Archaon and Ornstein, who were approaching the Duskendale.

"This is Lord Archaon of the House Carian; I am Sir Ornstein and protector of My Lord."

Ornsteins stepped forward and introduced Archaon using the surname that Archaon had given him. When Archaon was reincarnated as what he was and as Dungeon Overlord, he was named just as 'Archaon'.

The surname Carian was something that Archaon gave to himself because he needed to have a surname, and Carian was the name of the Royal House Carian from the Elder Ring because it sounded pretty cool.

"And what does your Lord want in these ends? These times are rather dangerous after the appearance of that haunted place on the Isle of Faces."

The rider of the House Darklyn stated as he looked at the heavily armored duo and thought that House Carian must be some noble house from the Essos. A lot of the Nobles from the Essos were right now coming to Westeros in search of things that had appeared in the Isle of Faces.

The Dunskendale welcomed many these past weeks, and since the destruction of King Harren's expeditionary forces in the Dungeon, the number of various people trying their luck in here from the Essos has increased day by day.

"Only passing through to the ports and leaving back home to the Essos. If you allow us to pass without any obstructions, you will be heavily rewarded."

As there were only a few of the riders, looking at the enormous armored form of Ornstein and the Dragon Slayer Halberd that was on his back, the riders of the House Darklyn decided to let them pass.

In the end, fighting them would be impossible, and everyone preferred to keep their heads on their necks. At the same time, the prospect of some additional coin was never that bad.

"Then come after us, and we will escort Your Lordship to the port in the Duskendale directly."

As was said, both Archaon, now named Archaon Carian, and Ornstein, the Dragonslayer, who was still unknown to the broader population of this world, traveled after the several riders from the House Darklyn to the Duskendale. 

It wasn't that long before they finally arrived at the bustling town of Duskendale, which ceased to be just a long town and small port, but now, it was being transformed into a smaller town already, and with the current influx of people, it won't be long before it would become a proper city.