It was early in the morning when the largest adventuring party Worthy Dungeon had ever seen gathered before its door. Not exactly the crack of dawn - even now the climb to the dungeon could still be occasionally treacherous, and Prince Thaddeus hardly wanted to lose a party member to a slip down the mountain on a day like today just because it was still too dark to see. Not to mention the man wanted his party to be well-rested, and Tizzy and Linda in particular had tired themselves out the night before by practicing their ace-up-the-sleeve technique. But he expected it to be a long day of dungeon delving, and so he'd brooked no complaint from those wondering if perhaps they could defeat Xenia Worthy after a good lunch instead.

  Before stepping forward to challenge the dungeon's watching door, the prince first turns to survey his team. He has to admit, he's worried about the fact that Linda and Tizzy are his only remaining followers who qualify as a local 'Master'-tier Challenger, as today they'd be facing fights that lower-ranked adventurers were never meant to suffer. What they lack in quality however they still have in quantity, and a full dozen hardened fighters now stand ready to battle.

  Aside from the Prince himself and his two closest companions, there's the dark elves, Hylii and Gerliari, as well as the green-skinned 'high' elf, Tannis. Norlash and Nalain stand not far away, the half-orcs looking indistinguishable from those native to this realm. Liani stands in the back, a hood protecting her pale skin from the worst of the sun's rays. There's a few more humans to round out the group as well - the warlock Violetta, the fencer Lyman Blair, and his son Reed. All in all the group boasts a decent mix of magic and melee-based fighters, although Thaddeus wouldn't have minded a dedicated healer or two to round things out. Hylii's body altering-spells could do in a pinch, but the prince had made sure that everyone was carrying their own supply of healing potions before they'd left. This could perhaps be their final battle after all, so there was no point in holding supplies back.

  Seeing that everyone is still in good shape after the climb, the nobleman turns and approaches the first challenge of the day - not that it should be anything more than a formality. "Hail, guardian of Worthy Dungeon! As I promised, I have returned. Today we shall prove our strength to our ancestor, and have her hear our words! Today, we shall not be denied!"

  Doorman gives him a smirk, but somehow the expression doesn't seem as warm as it normally would. "Is that so? Have you come to, perhaps, inform us that you've discovered a way to have Xenia aid you without the destruction of this place and its occupants being an inherent result of your plans?"

  Thaddeus carefully manages his expression, holding back a frown. His best mages had been far too busy to do any real research into how one might transplant an entire dungeon system, let alone to another realm, but there had hardly been any point in even trying once they'd been forced to admit the difficulties. No one had ever done such a thing as far as anyone knew, and researching it even with Xenia's cooperation could have taken months - and she was anything but cooperative, unfortunately. Thaddeus was unwilling to wait that long - if transplanting Xenia's core also brought along her guardians with her, then it would be an excellent bonus, but if not then it would simply be the cost they'd have to pay.

  "I'm afraid not. Yet Xenia Worthy's duties call her, even across the ages and the realms. Her place is not here, but home with those who would cherish and worship her. The Kingdom of Seven Cities needs her leadership, and I will see my quest fulfilled. Now - provide us with a shortcut portal to Floor Eight, please. All here have completed up to and including Floor Seven...if perhaps not all in a particularly traditional manner."

  "Hrmm, hrmm. Well, first I have a riddle for you." The door grins, and this time his smile is outright mean. "Guess who didn't do their homework on how dungeon shortcut portals work?"

  A chill shivers its way up Prince Thaddeus's spine, although he again does his best not to show his thoughts on his face. "...Gods." Guessing where this is going, the man sighs. "Is it myself?"

  "Ding ding, we have a winner! You see, my lord, shortcut portals are a bit of an...enticement. An encouragement for high-tier Challengers to visit a dungeon, given that many of them have no desire to re-clear half a dozen floors that are entirely beneath them every time they make an attempt on the place. But it's a privilege, not a right. A privilege Worthy Dungeon has decided not to extend to you today. You may of course challenge the dungeon if you wish - but you'll be starting at Floor One."

  This time it's Tizzy's turn to freeze, as most of the eyes in the expedition turn to her. As the scout primarily responsible for researching the dungeon system, it had been she whom everyone had relied upon for this sort of information. When Thaddeus himself turns to look at the half-imp, her voice comes out in something of a squeak. "No - no one ever said anything like that! It wasn't in any of the books I read either! I swear!"

  "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me! You're telling me we've gotta go back through all - " Norlash's complaining is brought to a quick halt by a raised hand from Thaddeus. His other hand is clenched into a fist, and it takes him a moment to control his own anger, but the prince realizes it's not Tizzy that he's truly upset with.

  "This is...a setback. If anyone's, the fault is mine, I did not devote enough time and resources to doing a fuller study of the rules which guide a dungeon. But this changes nothing. Our previous efforts were not wasted, for we have already beaten the higher floors and will find them trivial now. We also have more than enough supplies to last us for a longer expedition, even if we weren't quite planning on it. If we must challenge and defeat the entire dungeon in a day - then we shall do so, and today shall be that day."

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  "Well, you earn points for courage, if not wisdom. To those who challenge us today - I wish you good luck." Doorman gives the group a wink, and with that he glides open. The sight beyond is a familiar one to everyone present, the hollow-pyramid-shaped room populated by flying dog-bird hybrids. One of the most harmless rooms in the dungeon, as even Initiates never failed to clear at least this much. And yet, none of the party seem particularly eager to step inside today.

  Lyman peers inside the darker chamber. "So, who wants to bet that everything's been turned up to skull-fuck levels of difficulty for us, hrmm?"

  Tizzy shakes her head. "I am sure about this much - a dungeon can't just make itself impossible to clear. If they could, at least some of them would, but it doesn't happen. A dungeon floor can only be so hard."

  Thaddeus nods in agreement. "It's not the difficulty that should alarm us, but the potential for surprises. We may have been here before - but everyone keep your eyes open. A change in design could be hidden at any turn." With that said the prince steps through the door himself, his shield and sword at the ready. As usual the Barkbirds begin to dive at him the moment he enters, each easily slain by a single swing of his blade, and several other members quickly follow along in order to join in on the easy kills.

  The first chamber is cleared quickly, but the hall that follows with its infamous 'giant sawblade' trap marks the first apparent change in the dungeon. Previously, the blade trap was linked to a pressure plate on the floor. Avoid the plate, avoid the trap. Today as the party approaches the hall, they find the blade already active and spinning back and forth down the hall - and joined by two others on the opposite wall, placed at different heights.

  Nalain scoffs at the sight. "Is this still an 'Initiate' level challenge? You can't dodge all of those, and now you can't avoid triggering the trap either. What's the trick?"

  "It doesn't really matter what the trick is." Thaddeus turns his head back towards the group and shouts. "Gerliari!"

  "Yup? Ah, I see. Haha, an easy one, alright." With a few quick motions the 'Metal Mage' sends a wave of energy down the hall. At first it seems to have no apparent effect on the dungeon, but after a moment each of the blades begins to shudder and slow. The noise they emit seems to grow, a sound of hidden mechanisms struggling against the bindings of magic, but eventually it's the mechanisms that break. With three crashes in short succession each of the traps collapses, the blades tilting at angles within their travel slits before jamming entirely. Observing her handiwork, Gerliari nods. "Well, there's part of the trick. The traps were weak, it barely took me any energy at all to snap their vital bits. Perhaps because it went for quantity over quality?"

  "We can guess at the mechanics behind dungeon traps at a later time. Do you sense any other traps in the hall, Gerliari?"

  The dark elf and Tizzy both do a quick analysis of the damaged hallway, but find nothing to report to their liege. "That's all for this hall, my lord."

  Thaddeus nods. "Then onward - mind the blades, of course, they are still sharp."

  With Tizzy taking the lead the party then continues on through the rest of the floor, finding it modified in ways rather similar to the hall. Nothing had been radically redesigned, nor is the difficulty beyond what they can handle...but everything is just a little bit different. There's no Water Slime hiding a key in the Slip-n-Slide room, instead, an Earth Slime turns out to be concealing it within a small cubbyhole on one of the walls. The skeleton 'maze' has a new layout, and a new twist on its old ambushes. This time skeleton vermin fall from holes in the ceiling, scrabbling for eyeballs and noses, while large slimes block the way forward.

  Against even just a standard-sized team the changes would still not be enough to make the floor truly dangerous, but they do serve to put the full party on edge. Each door, wall, ceiling and floor is carefully checked by multiple members of the group, some with magic, some with their mundane senses, searching for more traps and tricks. When one is found it's almost a relief, with the fear of the unknown pressed back at least one more step. The floor remains a short one though, and so it's not long before the group reaches the door sealing the way to the first floor guardian.

  The 'bribe' that had once been placed there to encourage Challengers to leave had long since been removed, replaced with a simple warning, but as Tizzy approaches she finds that something new now awaits them instead. "Huh, what's this? A basket full of charm necklaces? Why would we be stupid enough to put on - oh, there's a sign." She's about to read it out to the crowd, but Tannis steps forward and beats her to it.

  "'Good Luck Charms. Each Challenger who defeats a Guardian while wearing one shall receive a token for each charm they wear. A party who reaches the core chamber having earned at least one hundred tokens in a single intrusion shall have their petition to the dungeon master heard.' Good luck charms, my ass." The green-skinned elf snorts, his color-changing illusion having been dispelled once they'd entered the dungeon. "Even we've heard about the luck-switching effect this dungeon possesses!"

  There's several nods of agreement at this, but Thaddeus has his own analysis. "This is it - the olive branch, the game. Worthy is challenging us. Nine floors, plus wandering bosses, and twelve of us. If we each wear one we'll have more than a hundred tokens by the end, and Xenia will grant us our request." The man sighs in relief. "She has not entirely denied us."

  Reed raises a hand. "And what if we don't all make it all nine floors? We can lose some, but not a lot..."

  The half-orc Norlash answers that question. "It says one for every charm you have on, meaning you don't need to just have one. If someone falls, we collect their charm and their tokens and re-distribute." The scarred man frowns. "Although I imagine wearing multiple will make things even worse for you. Do we play this game, prince?"

  Thaddeus doesn't need long to consider it. "We will. We'll play, and we'll win. Everyone take one and put it on. Even with such a handicap, today our quest will be complete. Now - prepare to face the first guardian of the dungeon!"

  really wrong.