It took three weeks until they reached a small fort on the border of the desert. There were almost one hundred soldiers, and their main duty was to keep an eye on bandits and desert monsters. Sometimes, like now, they check caravans going through. When they spot merchants, they send runners with news to the city of Freyharf. The town was one day away, and it was enough time for preparation for anyone waiting for the caravan.

  The next day, they reached the walls of Frayharf. This big city, housing almost twenty thousand people, has decent walls guarded by many towers of various sizes. It also has an adequate garrison of soldiers and a decent lord who quite skillfully governs the city and the land around it.

  The captain of guards waited patiently at the northern gate for the first group of adventurers from the caravan. Usually, leaders and some helpers carry the most urgent packages. Sometimes, they are wounded, but thank the gods, not this time. The captain observed something odd when the caravan stopped half a mile from the city and started building camp. They weren't reading packages for delivery. Instead, only a small group of people approach the gate.

  After usual greetings and checking everyone's path, the captain asked.

  "Commander, everything is alright? Why is no one reading goods for sale?"

  "We bring some urgent news for temples and guilds. I don't think anyone will buy or sell anything today. I don't know how people will react, but maybe warn your people that they could have more work for the next day or two."

  "Good or bad news?"

  "Good one. A wonderful one." Smiled priestess.

  After they cross the gate, they go straight to the center of town, where the most important buildings are placed. In the center was the palace of the lord. Around were placed temples and headquarters of the most important guilds. Commander, Shewa, and Thuldir escorted merchants to their guild building and only then split. For some reason, no one bothered them on their trip through town. There was something in their serious faces that stopped people from approaching them.

  Shewa goes to the temple of the Lady. At the gate to the garden stood an apprentice priest whose job was to help anyone who approached the temple.

  "I am Master Priestess Shewa." She introduced herself. "I need to speak with the grand master of this temple. I brought joyful and urgent news."

  "Of course, priestess. You can find him in the inner garden. There, you can leave your backpack and weapon." He shows her strongbox in a small building next to the gate. Sheva left her belongings and, without shoes, entered the temple.

  After a few moments, she found an old halfling. His rob indicates his status as a grand priest.

  "Grand priest, I presume?" She asked.

  "Yes, I am." He smiled. "I am Sigeric, and you are, priestess?"

  "I am Shewa. Freshly leveled master priestess and I bring joyful and urgent news."

  "Oh my. Please sit down, my dear I have a hunch it will be a lengthy talk."

  "It will be." She agreed after finding a spot where she didn't crush any flowers. "I was traveling with a caravan through a great desert. We just arrived."

  "Yes. There was a runner. What happened?"

  Shewa took a deep breath.

  "The Lady appointed a dungeon core to manage On Taram oasis."

  The Grand priest looked at her surprised and then started to laugh.

  "That is indeed joyful news. Please tell me everything you know. I am sure adventurers took a quick look at what is there."

  "We not only took a look at what is inside. We spend three days resting there." Shewa laughed, seeing the old man's shocked face. "Mistress of the dungeon at a one-mile distance from the statue of goddess claimed land, and you will never believe me, but she doesn’t claim statute or bushes growing next to it. According to Commander Lucius, she did not move or alter the pond that was located at the old oasis. She built a temple for goddesses from grass and surrounded it with an orchard full of birds and small animals. Everything that she surrounded with high walls. You can enter an oasis through eight enormous gate towers, but they are not typical barracks, they are warehouses with supplies for caravans, and inside along walls are stables for animals full of fresh hay and grassland where you can pitch tents. She even prepared fountains with fresh water and dry firewood."

  "But what about monsters?" He asked.

  "That is a mystery I don't understand. You see, the rest of her floors are underground. Because that aboveground floor is a safe zone, there weren't any monsters."

  "It’s not a mystery," Halfling answered. "It’s not widespread knowledge because it is useless for anyone. Dungeons need all their floors to defend themself because of the remote places where they usually appear. And if the dungeons are located near populated areas, there is no need for them to provide any assistance to adventurers. It is useless because dungeons must decide about it before they contact anyone, so there is no way to tell them that and eventually negotiate the creation of such a floor. Wait, you said floors, not one floor. Do you want to say?" The Grand Priest realizes something.

  "Yes." Shewa smiled. "She had a second patron, The Smith."

  "Ah, that unusual partnership. But the extra floor should compensate for her sacrifice."

  "According to the commander, and I agree with him for her, it’s not a sacrifice. No one with bad intentions or simple bandits can safely enter the oasis due to the law of hospitality. And the nearest oasis is a week away."

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  "You could be right. They probably won't be prepared for it, especially since no dungeon master does that. They probably will think that everything inside is just a prize. Oh boy, what a nasty surprise it will be." Grand Priest smiled.

  "There is more." Shewa gets serious. "Dungeon Mistress attracted the attention of two more gods, the goddess of arts. And the god of knowledge."

  "How old is this dungeon?"

  "We found her four days after her arrival. There was a big elemental storm."

  "We need to be careful with this dungeon."

  "Very careful," Shewa said and handed a scroll with a prophecy.

  The Grand Priest looked at her and then took a scroll. Unfold it and read a short message.

  "Yes. Very careful indeed. At least it is a good prophecy. Warning, yes, but only about what will happen when we stop following gods teachings. Well, young priestess. There's a lot of work ahead of us.

  "Yes, Grand Priest. I will help as best as I can. However, after meeting with the Dungeon Mistress, I saw how superficial my knowledge was. I must find a temple where I learn the knowledge I lack. Maybe I will even go to the citadel of the rising sun?"

  "That’s ambitious. Regrettably, I and my temple won't teach you too much. So your choice could be right. There will be an official messenger with this prophecy In a few days. Paladins of The Sun will want your account anyway, so join them."

  "Yes, Grand Priest. I will do that."

  At the same time, in the Forge Temple of The Smith.

  Thuldir kicks the main door with enough force for the door to hit a wall with a loud bang.

  "Where is this lazy ass who calls himself grandmaster of this forge temple!" He screamed loud enough to be heard over the noise of the forge.

  "You little piece of shit. You better have a good excuse for disturbing the work of my forge, or I shave your beard with the dullest sword I can find!" Scream at him, a muscular dwarf with the insignia of a god ancestor.

  "You will be shaving yourself, old fart! I found a new dungeon, and our god ancestor is its patron!"

  In forge, all work stops immediately.

  "Who said it is break time? Move, you lazy shits! If I find one piece of scrap today, I will shave you all because I'm in the mood for some shaving!" The forge master screams at his fellow smiths and priests. "And you go with me to inner forge. We have a lot of things to discuss."

  "You have no idea." Laugh Thuldir.

  The inner forge was reserved for Grand Smith and also his living quarters. There, he poured tankards of ale for both of them.

  "I’m Rakdrun, Grand Master of this forge temple." He said, giving one tankard to Thuldir.

  "I'm shield bearer Thuldir." He takes the tankard and drinks ale in one go. "At last, ale and not some water. However, I admit that the water from the dungeon oasis was good."

  "Oasis, huh? But there is only one consecrated oasis, and it is dedicated…" Grand Master stopped in mid-sentence. "Fuck, you telling me that this dungeon has two patrons?"

  "Exactly. It's in On Taram oasis. Well, technically, it is On Taram Dungeon right now. Oh, and two more gods liked her."

  Rakdrun, for a moment, stood speechless. Then he poured two tankards of ale and drank them in one go.

  "That's better. You said to her. So, woman?"

  "Yeh. She looks like a young, short human. But I bet that in her veins, even now, dwarven blood flows what she did with her dungeon. First, she claimed was land around an old oasis, something one mile long."

  "Nice start, but nothing special."

  "Then surrounded it with walls ten yards high and ten yards thick, and built eight towers around sixty yards wide and maybe almost one hundred high with a strange bulbous roof. Under the spire there, she placed a sun crystal as a lighthouse for travelers. You want more. Everything is clad in deep blue ceramic tile. They are not your typical dungeon type. Every tile is different, and she recreated every possible imperfection you will find in works of this scale."

  "She passes, but tower dungeons are weak."

  Thuldir laugh.

  "But she isn't a tower dungeon. Like every proud dwarf, she said fuck rules, and the rest of her floors she built underground."

  "That is not against the rules. It's just stupid, and no dungeon does that."

  "For her will work because, you see, she declares her ground floor as a safe zone, and she is in the middle of the fucking desert. So every stupid piece of shit trying to mess with her is dead because he will die delving, or he will die because of lack of water. And for anyone nice, she has an oasis that even kings will be happy."

  "And merchants have money for adventurers and mercenaries to keep away any stupid piece of shit. Fuck. If they will persuade the adventurers guild, there will be a permanent outpost soon."

  "According to Commander Lucius, the adventurers guild will do it anyway. There is one serious matter. You see, we took a short delve on her first floor. Nothing big, just three rooms. We were even lucky to find the shrine of The Smith."

  "We need to drink for that." After the next tankard. "Ok. Tell me that it was looking at least decent."

  "Better. I bet that half of the temples will be trying something similar. At first glance, it looks typical, with a statue and an anvil in the middle. It's a little dark because there are only two burning fire pit bowls, and the walls, ceiling, and floor are made of polished metal. But then you start to see pictures on the walls. But it’s not a painting. She used different metals and alloys to depict all possible crafter jobs. She does that same, on the statue's surface, but with crafter tools."

  "Fuck, I need to see that. Even if it's just dungeon magic cheating, I need to see that." Grand Master starts mumbling. "What else?"

  "The rest of the floor is alright too. Made entirely from metal, and traps are purely mechanical. There was one trap that I wanted to sell you." He took a piece of parchment with some sketches and a few notes. "Sawmills and carpenters could be interested. Maybe some enchanters try to make those disks strong enough to cut even stone?"

  "I will buy it. Sawmills are unlikely because they need big saws, but smaller ones for planks, for example, should be easy. How many of you were there?"

  "Five, but the commander forfeited any prize."

  "How adventurers split their money, it's their problem. I will give you ten gold."

  "Great. But before you pay me." Thuldir gives him a scroll.

  The Grand Master curiously took it, unfolded, and read. Then start coursing for a few minutes. Only after a few tankards did he calm down enough to continue the discussion.

  "Take gold. Law is law. And you will need it because I want to shave you. What else do you want to drop on me?"

  "I swear that I will bring the prophecy to The First Forge. Well, depending on how real it is."

  "How real!? It's genuine. It's fucking warning from the gods. From now on, anyone doing something new will need to think not twice but ten times about the consequences. Enough sitting and talking like some old grannies. It's time for some smelting and smithing."

  "Great, I can go to get drunk." Thuldir stands up.

  "You don’t go anywhere. You will be assisting me."

  "I'm not your apprentice."

  "You are a dwarf or not?"

  "Of course I am. I was born in the forge. I saw my path for the first time in the forge. I bet that my parents fuck in the forge to have me!"

  "The third one is doubtful. If they did, you'd be a blacksmith. But two from three should be enough. Move your ass to the bellows. I need to smelt some gold."