KEEPER KUROKI
KEEPER POST
Kuroki watched as a creature approached his beating heart. Out of all his creatures, Kuroki would rate the Pope to be amongst his more reliable and trustworthy.
"I must apologize, Keeper Kuroki, but I must take leave of your dungeon and services. Something seems amiss, and I must return to my fellow friends and allies to discuss a certain matter with them. I am sorry to having to depart so soon and in your hour of need. I will pray for your safety. May good fortune be with you, Keeper Kuroki."
"Something is always amiss, my bile demon. The only variable is what exactly. Your departure is unfortunate and your presence shall be sorely missed.
Heroes that stand idly by the wayside whilst that vermin invades their realm? Self-righteous lawful crusaders letting both brigands and the undead loiter unckecked within the bounds of their territories? What, indeed, is amiss? If it wasn't for the unseemly migraine I had when I entered this realm... well I might have seen it sooner. So Pleasant must either be a blind fool, or a scheming worm. We shall soon find out, I'm sure. With a little foresight and a lick of luck we might still be able to turn it to our advanatge.
"A POPE HAS LEFT YOUR DUNGEON"
The leaving of his bile demon, however, was followed by the arrival of another creature drawn by his most recently built room. She introduced herself as Yidra. "Feel free to put me to work. I enjoy reading and I don't mind interrogation, but I'm not like other Mistresses. I have other means of finding out information rather than inflicting pain but it best works on males... Also, I would appreciate it if you do not slap me, please. I prefer my honor and dignity to be kept intact. That is all."
"Loyalty and Respect are the only qualities that I seek from those in my service; not only to me but to your fellow creatures. All else is secondary. You seek respect? It is a given freely in this realm to those who give it just as freely to others."
Kuroki turned his attention away from Yidra and set his consciousness adrift.
Those who find themselves incapable? Those I have little patience for.
"A TROLL HAS LEFT YOUR DUNGEON"
What? Grot? Kuroki looked in on his Workshop to see his longtime manufacturer still hard at work. No; It must have been Ortype...
Suddenly Dregs was at his heart stating that he was urgently needed elsewhere or something to that effect.
"A GOBLIN HAS LEFT YOUR DUNGEON"
Do they know something I don't? No. I trust Oliran and Dreggory in this instance - if they knew something it would not have been in their interest to keep it from me and they have a loyal bent. I have no doubt they would have told me. Good creatures.
The Keeper decided that now was as good a time as any to bolster his gold reserves further. He cast Create Gold five times - almost emptying the tank of mana. There wasn't even enough for the most basic of spellcasting.
998, 502, 720, 598 and 847. Acceptable.
Another voice - the Black Knight's reply.
"You could not have asked for a better candidate; I will go. But first, allow me some time to recuperate. Afterwards, tell me where I must head forth to locate this Portal Settlement, the name of the creature I will be replacing, and any other necessary information. It may also be necessary to build a bridge, if you have wealth to spare, as the water will greatly hinder my progress. I doubt I should stray away from the dungeon for too long, for your own safety."
Kuroki decided to wait until she'd had sufficent time to rest before he addressed her.
"Keeper?"
Asifet had been tracking down Rattus's scout the last time Kuroki had checked. He had been pleased. Now the warlock had him trapped. It certainly seemed an impressive feat given the spells at his minion's disposal. Kuroki didn't have the mana leftover to help him out however.
"A DARK ELF HAS BECOME ANGRY"
These Dark Elves are tempremental. You try your best to instruct your creatures and help them grow and then they just give you the silent treatment; a slight cold, my metaphysical ass! Every time I try to speak with her... disrespectful; I might as well have been talking to the toadstools.
Kuroki realised letting Electra stay was probably a mistake, but he'd been trying to throw her a bone...
"A DARK ELF HAS LEFT YOUR DUNGEON"
Ungrateful harpie! Never apologised, never owned up, never even batted an eyelid!
You're getting emotional again, Master.
IF SHE WERE STILL HERE I WOULD JUST GO AND... thank you, Mentor.
Any time, Sir.
A grating voice intruded; "Yeah yeah blah blah blah. I'm gonna be blunt here, Kuroki..."
The Mentor cringed; the Keeper wouldn't react well at all to this right now. Full well he knew his Keeper's bezerk button.
"...I don't like you. I'm sure the feeling is mutual, but I only decided to help you because I don't like Rattus even more. In fact, I hate him! So much that I only have one condition if you want my help. Let me be the one to kill him. That's all I ask. I don't care about Gold or whatever."
The Mentor began to speak calmy and soothingly.
Tranquility, Keeper. You are standing in the middle of an empty fort...
"Oh and another thing; Don't order me around. I'll do as I please. And I ain't gonna go in some stupid Library to read books. That's boring. I'm going to kill. Keep your Imps out of my way if you love them soooo much."
The Mentor upped his efforts, still trying to keep the whole relaxing calming aura. In the Heart Chamber, Kuroki's heart rate increased.
...the stillness of the aftermath of battle. The only sound you hear...
Electra started laughing.
"Oh my, looks like you don't even know how to manage your own creatures properly!"
...is blood dripping from your crimson blade. You are at peace and...
"Definitely not! Hahahaha! How amusing! Looks like you need my help now. I can get you back your adorable little elf if you say please... with enthusiasm of course! Oh and don't even think about saying no. With Rattus closing in and a sudden drop in fighters, you don't have much of a choice! But until then, I'm going to shoot down some of my former "friends". I bet they'll love to see me again! This is gonna be fun!"
Oh no, not for you it won't be...
...you are surronded by corpses; a field of foes laid to rest. You've vanquished everyone and now...
The Mentor knew Kuroki very well. A decade ago Rattus had first betrayed him and shattered the fragile covenant of Keepers to which they had both belonged. It had been a slaughter. Kuroki had escaped, but his apprentice had not. Afterwards he was a changed. For one thing he avoided the great coalitions of the day, but it was more than that. A raging desire for vengeance now burned beneath his calculated, logical and deceptively calm exterior and sometimes creatures got scorched.
Now certainly looked like one of those times.
...you're prize is within your grasp. You feel renewed and the knowledge of what you have accomplished swells...
Shut uppp, Mentor!
Kuroki had spent years trying to corner, Rattus, and now that he had the Mentor could feel the better part of him slipping into the wake of his raging emotions.
The Keeper watched her dealing with Flattery.
"Kuroki, I've captured one of Rattus' Flies. Are we even now? Want me to hunt down his Imps too to set the record straight!? Oh but that's not all! I've some more important information that I gained from the Fly! But it'll cost you your dignity if you want to get your probably filthy hands on it! Ahahahaha! I love this place already!"
Suddenly... he relaxed. He was a frenzied tempest of infuriated calm. He picked up the goblin and dropped her softly near the edge of his territory next to a quartet of Rattus's imps.
"You do that," he replied pleasantly before he continued - voice filled with genuine-seeming concern for his creature; "Just watch out for Rattus's main force on the way back. We wouldn't want you to get hurt now."
NEW SPELL RESEARCHED
Excellent... we have Protect.
Mentor spoke shrewdly.
You're going to kill her.
It was a statement of fact. Kuroki smiled - a rare occurance.
Not yet; let's let her be useful first. There will be time enough for that later, I should think.
You're going to tell the rest of your creatures that she is a double agent and have them all turn on her in the middle of the final battle.
There is irony in there somewhere. I was toying with the idea. You know me too well.
Whilst I commend your change of heart; Treachery isn't honourable... or am I missing something?
She brings dishonour to my dungeon in her actions. She is rabble and she shames us all. I warned her when I released her the consequences of bad behaviour. I'm a 'Keeper' of my word, so to speak. I intend to honour that contract even if Niea has reneged on her part... especially now that she has!
That sounds a bit like weasel-wording, but I'm not complaining. What of the fly?
Having very little health in the first place, healing a fly required perhaps the least mana of any spell and his reserves had recovered some. Kuroki cast heal on Flattery and dropped him immediately into the Torture Chamber. He was immediately strapped in by the new torturer - one who came with excellent credentials. Time would tell if he was worth his salt.
Electra had gotten the truth by tricking him, but the Keeper fully intended to get it by making him squeal. Whatever unimportant tidbit of information that the insufferable goblin had managed to acquire, he would have too in a short time. All the while she would be distracted chasing down Rattus's finest.
The Keeper addressed another of his creatures;
"Ahhh, Yidra - do you mind if I put you to work? I want you to help out the new torturer by keeping other creatures out while he goes to work interrogating one of our prisoners. It is a simple task, but I do need it done and there will be bonus pay - and you will have proved your reliability beyond a doubt. You can even join in with the interrogation if you want to."
After dropping a 50 gold bonus on Asifet for his initiative in both cornering Rattus's scout and in his research. Electra's reward for taking him down was not killing her immediately - especially as she professed not to care about gold. Kuroki now spoke to the Black Knight;
"You will be filling in for Eixe - a goblin in my service. It is a long way to the Portal settlement and a bridge is somewhat infeasible. If you really don't want to walk you could have some of my imps carry you, I suppose. I wouldn't know the details of the competition as my influence doesn't extend that far. That you'll have to work out on your own..."
DUNGEON SUMMARY________________________
Heart Health: 100%
Gold Held: 10,643 (+5,230 Mining)(+3,692 Spell)(-50 Bonus) out of a capacity of 70,000
Spells Researched: Create Imp [Basic], Create Gold [Inherent], Sight of Evil [Inherent], Speed Monster, Heal, Lightning, Protect
Rooms Researched: Combat Pit [Inherent] Hatchery, Bridge, Lair, Library, Workshop, Treasury, Workshop, Guard Room, Prison, Torture Chamber, Scavenger Room [Pending]
Available Creatures: Fly, Firefly, Goblin, Spider, Beetle, Warlock, Troll, Bile Demon, Demon Spawn, Orc, Dark Elf, Black Knight, Skeleton, Mistress, Ghost
Convertable/Transferable Heroes: Tunneler, Dwarf, Human Archer, Barbarian, Giant, Guard, Elven Archer, Wizard, Knight,
Current Creatures: 18 + 11 Imps
Annika (AoO's Warlock), Asifet (MC's Warlock), Tarik (AoO's Warlock), Electra (MGR's Goblin), Eixe (Evi's Goblin), Beetlington (SF2's Beetle), Grot (MC's Troll), Keeyai (Dram's Demon Spawn), Zaral (AoO's Demon Spawn), The Black Knight (MGR's Black Knight), Yidra (MGR's Mistress)
Mdukos (EJ's Goblin), Kosov (DL's Warlock), Chuckles (W-H's Spider)
Other Stuff
Death Count: 4 + 4 Imps
Ririi (MGR's Goblin), Buzzard (MC's Firefly), Scutus (Moth's Beetle), Luna (MGR's Goblin),
Imprisoned Enemies:
Jim Bob, the Level 4 Goblin
Finland, the Level 1 Troll
Flattery, the Level 2 Fly
Trap Crates:
Imps:
Imp 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 & 10 Gold Mining
Imp 11 Expanding
Imp 9 Workshop Duty.