The Whimsical Dungeon

Crystal spent the time before the arrival of the two groups making a few alterations to the prison. They were mostly layout related changes, though she did change a few other things as well.
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Both groups were guided by skeletons to the teleportation circle at the centre of the ship"s main deck. They were then brought down to the prison in groups of five, the apparent limit of the teleportation gate. The groups needed to wait a full minute between each teleportation.

Tina"s crew looked cautious as they reluctantly made their way through the ship, towards its brig.

In the end, only one of her crew had refused to become the dungeon"s prisoner, instead choosing to stay behind on the island, Desmond, for reasons he didn"t explain to Tina.

The n.o.ble"s crew, on the other hand, were all present and accounted for, yet they showed no emotion at all, each only having the same glazed-over expression.

The prison"s design was somewhat simple. It consisted of a large rectangular area positioned against the floor"s rear wall, taking up almost a third of the floor"s area.

A large hallway extended from its only entrance, extending all the way to the opposite end of the ship, where Crystal currently stood.

The hallway was segmented into five smaller cells, each of which would require a key to pa.s.s through it to the next cell, after which they could reach the large rectangular one.

On either side of the hallway, two additional large cells existed, equal in size to the first. They were positioned parallel to each other, on opposite sides of the segmented hall, and perpendicular to the first, larger cell. They, like the first cell, were similarly accessible via the final cell of the segmented hallway.

Crystal decided to call the three large cells, "Stern-brig," "Port-brig," and "Star-brig," accordingly. Star-brig, the one on her left when facing the brig, would contain people she liked. Port-brig, the one on her right, would contain people she disliked. Stern-brig would contain people she felt neutral about. The conditions in each cell would reflect her opinion on the cell"s occupants, as well.

After both groups were lead through the segmented hall, they were secured within the neutral area, Stern-brig.

Moments after the cell"s door closed, there was a sudden "thudding" sound. The sound of the slave collars worn by the n.o.ble"s crew all suddenly removing themselves, dropping to the floor all at once.

The event was courtesy of Daisy"s negotiating with the n.o.ble, within the ship"s original brig.

A short while later Daisy met Crystal at the prison, escorting someone as she arrived.

Crystal took note of the purple, collar-shaped, bruise, around the elf"s throat. Eventually, the lich began to speak.

"I regret to inform you that this elf, miss Trueleaf, killed the n.o.ble shortly after she awoke," she said to Crystal, giving a small, fake, apologetic bow, as she did so, "my apologies, mistress."

The elf didn"t deny the lich"s words.

After giving a small bow of her own, she, miss Trueleaf, spoke as well.

"Th...nk y... f...r s...v...g ...us," she whispered, occasionally stopping to gasp for air. Her throat seemingly damaged from the collar"s "punishment."

Crystal, not being a total idiot, knew there was more to the n.o.ble"s death than what Daisy had said.

However, she also knew that the lich was just helping in her own way, and there were exceptions to every rule, even her rule about suffering...

If the n.o.ble had actually been a decent person, or useful in some way, she would have needed to reprimand Daisy for her actions, whatever they may be. However, him being the way he was...

Crystal decided to let the matter go.

"No problem," she replied to the elf with a small smile, not really sure about how she should treat the elf, "though, we"re not really saving you."

"And I"m sorry for having to lock you up," she apologized, "it"s necessary for my survival... but I"m still sorry."

The elf smiled slightly as well, gently shaking her head as if to deny Crystal"s words. In her current state, it was impossible to describe what it was like to be under the control of a slave collar.

The elf then walked into the prison of her own volition, closing the gate behind her.

Crystal was glad that she wasn"t hated by the elf, and that, as only demihuman slaves had survived from the n.o.ble"s ship, that the two imprisoned crews also got along quite well with each other.

The imp opened her prison"s related menu to check if everything was as it should be.

[Total Guards: 24

Prisoners: 67

Average prisoner DP value: 125

DP gen rate: 0.5%/hr: 42 DP

Bonus DP gen rate: 0.5%/day: 42 DP

Warden: Nameless Pirate Ghost – Grants 60% physical resistance to prison minions, prison sub-wardens, and prison structures.

Star-brig sub-warden: Nameless skeleton – Grants 30%, darkness magic resistance, and fatigue resistance, Star-brig minions and structures.

Stern-brig sub-warden: Nameless skeleton – Grants 30%, darkness magic resistance, and fatigue resistance, to Stern-brig minions and structures.

Port-brig sub-warden: Nameless skeleton – Grants 30%, darkness magic resistance, and fatigue resistance, to Port-brig minions and structures.]

Crystal had, while waiting for Tinand-friends to arrive, set the pirate ghost, which she had previously accidentally summoned, and subsequently forgotten about, as her prison"s boss/warden.

His duty was simple. To survive. All three large cells would be automatically unlocked if he failed to do so. It was a job which he seemed very under-qualified for. Though the bonus he offered to the prison was nice.

She knew she would need to find a replacement for the position eventually.

Crystal felt that, while somewhat sentient, he really only had the mental capacity of a half-asleep ten-year-old, and he couldn"t do anything but follow simple orders. He couldn"t even talk.

He looked like Santa Claus, if he were translucent, and cosplaying as a pirate.

There were also three mini-boss/sub-warden positions, one for each of the three large cells. They existed within the cells themselves, alongside the prisoners. They also, apparently, influenced their a.s.signed cell in the same way the warden influenced the entire prison. They acted as the last line of defence against prisoners escaping.

Crystal just filled the role with a few random skeletons as there was no reason not to.

Mostly satisfied with her work, other than the warden, and sub-wardens, Crystal quickly summoned a few barrels of food, clothing, medical supplies, and blankets for the prisoners, and then teleported alongside Daisy to the main deck via the teleportation circle.

She could always further improve the conditions later on.

The imp stretched upon arriving on the ship"s main deck, taking in a breath of fresh air as she did so. The lich, meanwhile, made her way to the ship"s recently-repaired helm.

Once again she ordered the ship to move forwards, and once again it obeyed, eagerly extending its sail with no help from the ship"s skeletal crew

Daisy could feel the ship as it transitioned from the waters of the island"s river to those of the ocean. It was the first time in two hundred years that the lich had actually left the island.

She felt a subtle weight leave her shoulders as she did so.

Crystal felt the transition too, though ironically, not as strongly as Daisy had, despite she-herself being an actual part of the ship.

This was because, while Crystal was, in a sense, the ship itself, like she had previously stated to Daisy during their first meeting with Tina. She could still technically abandon it if she wanted to.

Daisy, on the other hand, was bound to the ship itself via her very name. She was also bound to the dungeon core, and she would certainly die if Crystal did. However, she was bound to the ship, as well. She didn"t really know what would happen if it were to be destroyed, only that she would be essentially crippled if she got more then a certain distance away from it.

Such was the reason she didn"t scold the imp regarding her purchase of the thirteen non-linear floors, despite them being such an obvious waste of DP.

From what she had heard from Alexa, those floors were bound to the ship itself, and they would vanish if Crystal ever abandoned it, most of the DP never being able to be recovered. Thus, it strengthened the connection between the two, and reduced the chance of Crystal one-day choosing to leave the Ashen Maiden, and Daisy, behind.

As Daisy thought existentially about many things, her mistress, Crystal, was having thoughts of a slightly different nature.

"Ah, I forgot about the other monkeys," Crystal remembered upon noticing the lone monkey on her shoulder.

She, however, said nothing, as she didn"t want to ruin the moment for Daisy. The food costs for an entire island of monkeys would also have surely added up, given time, if she had chosen to bring them along.

The lone monkey also didn"t seem to mind leaving the island.

"Ah, well, I"m sure we"ll end up back here eventually," predicted Crystal. She then turned her back on the island, removing the map she had previously found, as she did so.

"Now then," she began, turning to the lich, "where to first?"

...On a side note. The skeletal swordfish, which had been summoned alongside the pirate ghost, was thrown overboard, and now swam alongside the ship, while the two brittle pirate skeletons, at some point unknown to Crystal, shattered due to their own actions.

The three summoned crabs were left to wander as they pleased... on the island, where they had been left by Crystal to fend for themselves.