Dungeon Master (Karma System)

Aderic did not answer until Siv returned from the edge of the battlement.

"Two harpies above us." The quickling said quietly. "One more behind their tower. Gnolls moved down the stairs when their leader raised his hand."

The minotaur waited across the gap between the walls. He wore layered bronze armor and carried a two-handed axe across his back. Two reptilian fighters stood beside him. A beastkin healer remained several steps behind, surrounded by three gnolls. The harpies made no effort to conceal the two Siv had already reported.

"We can fight over every path." The minotaur called. "Or share what we learn and reach the final gate together."

Aderic stepped forward without leaving the protection of the ward mage. "How many seals do you hold?"

The minotaur smiled. "Enough to make cooperation valuable."

"Then show one."

"After we agree to terms."

Neither answer provided information.

The rival leader introduced himself as Varkesh. He said his team had entered from the eastern side of the city and encountered guardians stronger than those near the outer platforms. He proposed combining forces until they possessed seven seals, opening the final gate, and settling any remaining competition beyond it.

"What guardians?" Aderic asked.

"Stone soldiers. Animated by the towers."

"How many?"

"Enough that neither team should face them alone."

The elf ranger watched the harpies rather than Varkesh. One had drifted closer to the tower holding Max’s team. The other climbed higher until the pale sky made judging distance difficult.

The orc shaman touched two fingers to the wall. A faint mark glowed in the stone near the approach Varkesh indicated.

Control magic.

It had been placed recently.

Aderic asked where Varkesh wanted the teams positioned.

The minotaur described a simple formation. Max’s bulwark and shieldthane would hold the central passage. Varkesh’s reptilian fighters would support them. The remaining members would attack from the raised walls.

It sounded reasonable until Siv returned from another quick circuit.

"The central passage narrows behind the first turn." She murmured. "Walls cut off the high positions. Their gnolls are already moving toward a side route that reaches our rear."

Varkesh intended to place Max’s front line where it could absorb the guardians while his own team controlled the exits.

If Max’s group won, Varkesh could take the seals afterward.

If they lost, his team would learn what guarded the route without sacrificing its strongest fighters.

Aderic looked toward the distant light above the next seal. "We will take a different path."

Varkesh’s expression remained pleasant. "There is no different path."

"Then we will make one."

The shieldthane moved first. He struck a cracked section of battlement with the reinforced edge of his shield. The spellblade followed with a controlled blow. Stone broke away, revealing the roof of a lower building close enough for the bulwark to reach with a rope.

Varkesh’s harpies descended.

The elf ranger drew and fired before either crossed the gap. His first arrow passed in front of the nearer harpy’s face, forcing her back without wounding her. The warning established that the approach had been seen.

"We offered cooperation." Varkesh said.

"You offered us the front of your ambush." Aderic replied.

The minotaur removed the axe from his back.

His healer caught his arm.

The rival team had expected deception to provide an easy advantage. An open battle on the battlements risked injuries before either group reached the seals. Varkesh reconsidered.

"You are cautious." He said.

"We are still ten."

The answer ended the discussion.

Max’s team descended to the lower roof. The ward mage placed a temporary barrier over the gap after the last member crossed. It would not stop a determined pursuit, but it would expose anyone attempting one.

The route carried them through a collapsed residence and into a street running beneath the fortress wall. Siv moved ahead. The ranger watched the roofs behind them.

Varkesh did not follow immediately.

That worried Aderic more than an attack would have.

The next seal light hovered above a square containing three headless statues. No stone soldiers waited there. The streets around it remained empty.

Siv stopped before entering.

"Tracks." She said. "Gnolls. They passed through and circled back."

The rival team had reached the square earlier. Varkesh’s claim about the eastern route might have been true, but he had concealed how thoroughly his scouts knew the area.

The shaman found another control mark beneath loose rubble.

Dagna examined it. "This does not activate the statues. It calls something from below."

The minotaur had directed them toward a staged danger even after the failed negotiation.

Aderic ordered the team onto the surrounding roofs before Dagna disturbed the mark. The runesmith altered two lines and attached a short delay. Then the group moved to the far side of the square.

The control mark activated behind them.

Stone split around the statues. Four long-limbed creatures climbed from chambers beneath the street. They found no team trapped in the square. Instead, their movement drew the attention of Varkesh’s harpies circling above the wall.

One creature leapt toward the nearest winged scout.

The harpy escaped, but her shout revealed the rival team’s position.

Varkesh had followed along the upper route with most of his force.

The elf ranger pointed without speaking. Max’s group continued away from the square while the creatures turned toward the louder team above them.

They did not attempt to steal Varkesh’s seals or force a battle. Aderic’s priority remained the challenge, not punishing an enemy for intentions they had already defeated.

The third seal waited inside a tower with no visible entrance.

As Dagna and the ward mage examined its outer runes, a bell sounded elsewhere in the city.

Another seal had been claimed.

Four lights remained above the ruins. Max’s team possessed two. Varkesh’s team possessed an unknown number. At least one other group still moved through the dungeon.

The challenge was no longer simply a search for seven guarded objects.

Every seal changed the value of every team carrying one.

Aderic positioned the bulwark and shieldthane at the approach while the others began opening the tower.

Across the ruined city, Varkesh’s minotaur silhouette appeared briefly on the wall.

He watched Max’s team enter.

Then he disappeared from view.

Inside the tower, the path rose around a hollow center filled with suspended stone platforms. The third seal gleamed near the top. Reaching it would require the team to climb while exposed to anyone entering behind them.

Aderic assigned the ranger and Siv to watch separate approaches. The shieldthane remained near the lower entrance. The others began moving upward under Dagna’s direction.

Varkesh had failed to trick them into the first ambush. He had also learned that they carried at least two seals, possessed a skilled runesmith, and would avoid unnecessary combat.

Max’s team had learned less about him.

That imbalance ensured the next encounter would be more dangerous than the first.

The shieldthane heard stone shift below.

He raised one fist. Everyone on the platforms stopped.

The sound came from outside the tower rather than the entrance. A harpy passed one of the narrow openings, staying far enough away that the ranger could not take a reliable shot. She was counting levels and watching the team’s progress.

Aderic changed the order of ascent. The spellblade and shaman moved toward the seal while Dagna remained lower with the ward mage. If Varkesh attacked through the entrance, he would meet the bulwark and shieldthane. If his harpies entered above, the ranger and Siv would see them first.

The rival team had offered cooperation because it expected Max’s group to be useful. Refusal did not remove that calculation. It merely forced Varkesh to find a less convenient way to spend their strength.

Aderic intended to make every attempt cost him more than it gained.

The runesmith found that the suspended platforms reacted to the weight of the seal. Removing it would cause the upper half of the tower to rotate and close the lower exit. Dagna could stop the rotation, but doing so required remaining at the mechanism after the others descended.

"No." Aderic said.

"I can catch up before it closes." Dagna replied.

"Or Varkesh can enter while you are alone. Find another method."

The ward mage studied the runes and discovered that the mechanism counted distributed weight rather than recognizing the seal itself. Packs, spare stones, and two pieces of the shieldthane’s heavy armor could replace it. The plan would slow them and leave equipment behind, but it would keep the team together.

While they worked, the harpy made another pass.

The ranger did not fire. Revealing the full range of his bow would give Varkesh information for no benefit. He merely stepped into the opening with an arrow ready. The scout withdrew.

Below, the hidden control mark in the square released a second group of creatures. Their distant roars mixed with the sound of Varkesh’s team fighting. The rival leader had lost the advantage of surprise and now had to choose between following Max’s group or dealing with the danger he intended for them.

Aderic expected him to do both.

The third seal came free.

The tower began to turn, stopped when the replacement weight settled, and left the route open. Dagna collected her tools. The team descended before Varkesh could learn they had succeeded.

Another bell rang during their descent.

One of the four remaining lights vanished.

The bronze display on the bulwark’s seal case now showed three claimed disks. The team needed four more, but fewer unclaimed lights remained above the city than the number required.

"Someone else carries what we need." The elf spellblade said.

"Yes." Aderic replied.

The challenge would eventually force the teams together even if none accepted an alliance.

That made Varkesh’s restraint temporary.

When Max’s team reached the street, Siv found a gnoll’s trail leading away from the tower rather than toward it. Varkesh had sent at least one tracker ahead while the harpies watched from above.

Aderic changed direction twice, crossed a canal through a half-submerged building, and sent Siv back along their own trail to identify where pursuit resumed. The quickling returned with a strip of red cloth taken from a marker tied beneath a bridge.

The gnoll was not merely following them. He was marking their route for the rest of the rival team.

Dagna wrapped the cloth around a loose stone and left it at the entrance to a collapsed tunnel leading away from their real path. The ward mage added a trace of the same magic clinging to the seals.

They did not expect the deception to delay Varkesh for long. It only needed to make his tracker verify every later marker instead of trusting the first glance.

The team moved toward the nearest remaining light.

Behind them, a harpy descended toward the false trail.

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