The gangway was in place while Summer looked over her small retinue standing ready. They would be the first ones off the Friends Delight this afternoon. The clipper ship had made all speed with only two thirds of the passengers it would normally hold in its direct route to Angels Landing from Gemport as she had bought out the rest of its passenger berths when she had boarded the ship so it would sail all the sooner.

  She turned to see the docks of one of the greatest ports in the world. The great port of Abigail, Angels Landing and the thousands of ships that were berthed or setting sail at this moment. The docks were awash with the sounds and smell of the busy waterways but she saw the full company of House Skye men, a horse with wagons and a carriage waiting for her.

  For she brought with her the first great treasures of the Desanigh Dungeon to Abigail. Enough to make her minor noble house into a major one in one leap if her father played their new wealth and strength right.

  Kara walked up to her and nodded. Her tall and far to pretty bodyguard of years stood in her full burnished plate and gave her a slight bow as she looked over their greeting.

  “We are ready, when you are my Lady” Kara said.

  Summer smoothed out her jeans and made sure her long sleeve blouse with its embroidered green vest was straight before she put on her white boater hat that matched her long white fur jacket. It was well into winter now and she could feel the sting of the cold ocean air on her exposed cheeks.

  “Do you think he is here himself?” she asked as she delayed a moment longer. No more dungeons or adventures for her for the foreseeable future.

  “I expect Lord Skye is wondering why you are taking so long and I expect the other passengers are also getting impatient my Lady.”

  “Fine Kara you win, lets go” She said after a soft sigh before she stepped onto the gangway and back into her old life.

  They walked free of the ship and down the long busy dock until they could reach their escort. Summer went straight to her family's carriage as Kara took care of their all important baggage.

  “Welcome home Mis” her fathers valet said before she got there.

  Summer smiled at the familiar older man. “Oh it's good to see you Dan, how is your family?”

  “They are doing well young Mis and your adventures have sounded grand. I hope you and Autumn are well.” The kindly if slightly portly older man asked. He was bundled up from the cold in a thick fine wool coat and coal black scarf .

  “We are well Dan, we must get some hot coco and gossip before I leave for the Scholiria” she said as she stepped up to the carriage as he opened its door.

  “Of course” Dan said half bowing as she entered.

  “Summer! Oh it's good to see you” her father said half standing in the carriage as she entered it.

  They hugged briefly before they took their seats across from each other. This carriage was big enough to sit six comfortably but her fathers side was full with his half desk and papers while a box took up one of the seats on her side.

  The interior of the carriage had soft blue velvet with fine wool threading for the seats that went well with the polished rose wood that made up most of the interior. It was their family's finest carriage and nearly two hundred years old which told the world that they were an old and small noble house for now. One of the many Gold rated weapons she had brought could buy five new superior carriages. She smiled at the thought.

  They had done it, well to be fair Sir Mills had killed that abomination and gained the majority of this loot but Atumen and her had been the ones tasked to go to the Desanigh dungeon and check in on Franco. And they had been greatly rewarded for it with levels and gear. Enough to shake the foundation of one of the greatest kingdoms in the world.

  “Oh your mother says she loves you and wishes she could be here but she is busy with your siblings and securing our estates.” Her father said as he looked over some papers in front of him.

  “I understand,” Summer said.

  “Well we have almost a full week to get back to the capital and the Scholiria started two weeks ago but I am looking forward to hearing about your adventures and your thoughts on how we should handle this windfall. You must find yourself a son of the High Houses to marry. Not a Jenson thank you very much” Her father laughed. Amused at himself

  He coughed to clear his thought “but almost any other will do. I can hold off your mother this school year but we must have an engagement by school's end.”

  “Of course father,” she said as she looked out the window. She sighed softly to herself as cold rain started to fall from the cloudy sky. It was going to be a long week and a hard carriage ride.

  ********

  “How long has it been since we were done here?” Franco asked as he looked over the drastic changes he found around every corner.

  “It can't be much more than a month,” Joscelin said. Mild surprise in her voice as well. She wore her full deep brown armor including her new enchanted under armor while she walked with a large backpack.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  She was by far the shortest of their group and in her late twenties she was the oldest of them, well by maturity at least. Just over five feet tall her dark heart shaped face was lined at the eyes where her blue eyes seemed to glow by comparison. She held her long dark curly hair back in a tight complex braid so that her helmet could go on easily. Her armor made her look a bit bell shaped even if she was in fact very skinny as the back of it was lined with items she could pull from a pocket on her adventure’s belt.

  She wore her Relic grade shooter's aide on her right forearm. Turning her family's Silver rated auto crossbow into as deadly a weapon as any of them carried.

  They were all carrying as much as they could because they planned to spend the next few months down in the dungeon living in the new outpost and because they were told everything was at least 15% more expensive from the two merchants that had been allowed to set up in the outpost compared to the town which was already at least 15% more expensive than Gemport.

  To be an adventurer was to burn gold as had been made clear by the Sea Dreamer armor that Franco and Oaken wore. They had traded a Gold rated dagger that would make any [Rogue] or [Assassin] go mad with envy to The Wrath of Pele, a Gold ranked team for their armor while still being paid tens of thousands of gold. The dark blue armor made from the sea monster was as tough as enchanted plate but lighter and with much greater magic resistance to it.

  Joscelin led their group as they walked down a wide stone hallway that had been almost fully cut out of the mountain. The old path made from Stone Scarabs over the millennium had now completely been replaced by a gential slope downwards following the path they had found all those months ago. It was beautiful seeing the shades of grey change as they walked.

  Lights were evenly placed along the twenty foot wide path. With clear stopping points with benches along the way and water out lets cut into the floors in case water got into the tunnels somehow. It was truly unrecognizable and the work put into it was amazing. Three shifts were going non-stop and more workers were coming with every caravan. With the Expedition paying twice the daily rate as in Gemport it was understandable.

  The amount of money the Expedition was putting into here was astounding but it was already profitable enough to justify it and they had only really explored a half looted first floor.

  “Has anyone heard any good rumeros about the second floor yet?” Franco asked.

  “The Gold rankers are keeping quiet but I heard each door leads to a miles long hallway filled with traps and monsters.” Maph said as he adjusted his pack on his back. His golden elven breastplate giving off a faint glow even in this well let hallway.

  The tall. 6’6 elf looked 18 at best but was over 50 in reality. Barely old enough to be considered an adult by his people. He wore his bright green and gold cloak over his Relic grade chestplate. While his longsword hung at his side from his adventurer’s belt. His elongated head and ears seemed more prominent while he wore the ancient armor of his people.

  Franco looked at the tall elf. He always got a feeling of a bird looking at him when Maph turned his head. Interacting with Maph was interesting. Here was a being that had lived over twice as long as he had but still often came off as a teenager in some ways. In a fight he was a seasoned [Warrior] and in most ways acted as a man with real lived experiences while it was even clearer to Franco that Maph’s relationship with Joscelin was his first experience in one.

  Oaken trilled in amusement. “What that’s barely a rumor, I hear hear that at the end of them they lead to huge caverns teaming with life and monsters”

  Of all of them Oaken would know as his father Helmric was the leader of said Expedition and the reason Franco had been put on this team after he had awoken without the memories of his past.

  Oaken’s glossy brown fur was well covered by the under armor and the Sea Dreamer armor he wore. One of his two large upper arms held open a spell book. The Relic spell book he had gotten as his reward from the Jade temple while his third slender arm that was just under his large right arm traced the words on the page of the book as he walked and read. He had learned another two spells over the last few months, magic shield and heal. Along with the spell quick step he had vastly improved and was well on his way to becoming a true [Wizard]. Soon he would learn his fourth and final spell from the book as Franco had paid to learn one of the five it offered.

  Oaken was a few inches shorter than Franco and his large dark eyes were keen with intelligence while the faded scar that crossed part of his yellowish duck like bill changed color as he talked. His tail swing back and forth in excitement.

  “No, treasures uncovered yet?” Franco asked.

  He had done a lot of reading this last month. Some of it on history but mostly on dungeons to better get a sense of what to expect. Dungeons built like this one were often the worst or the easiest. Anything built by people failed after enough time. No one was perfect and thus they could break down in ways that made life easier or a lot harder on Adventurers, but dungeons built by or with the guidance of Gods and demons were very different things.

  The Desanigh Dungeon seemed to fall between the two and built dungeons often had loot or bait as it often was deep inside their many dangerous ways.

  They walked on trading gossip as they passed through one more check point before they reached a chasm that led to the Jade temple in one direction and the dungeon in the other.

  “So this was the place that changed your lives huh” Faye asked as she straightened out her cowboy hat.

  “Just imagine if you had gone left instead of right”

  “Always choose the right, every true adventure knows that” Oaken said as he let his wide hard tail bump her as he turned to walk down towards the dungeon.

  She laughed as the group turned to follow him.,

  Even here work had been done to expand the pathway with real effort in making the path to the Jade temple as grand as the temple itself. Old half broken statues had been found and placed along the path. The people they depicted were mostly Kimber even if most were unrecognizable in their condition. Who they were was unknown but it was still debated if reusing them was a good idea. These were the old heroes of one of the great sins of the past.

  They soon passed through the large guarded gate to enter the first floor of the dungeon laid out before them. They saw a city slowly awakening again. Even from the top of the stairs they could see a dozen work groups of different sizes working on projects around this floor of the city. Cutting away the maze like nature of the place to reopen ancient roads or to make new ones. All under the dancing lights of the many crystals that made up the ceiling hundreds of feet above them that cast and reflected enough light to make the massive craven feel like a cloudy afternoon.

  The workers had found almost half as much loot and wealth as the adventurers had as they broke open old buildings or found undiscovered safes and other hiding spots.

  Franco’s team the Stone Eaters descended the stairs and he could see their destination far in the distance, still miles away as a path had been cleared straight to it. The center of the first floor and the stairs to the second. Where the first of four large outposts had been built within sight of those downward stairs.

  From here it looked like a castle. High walls with towers on the corners and two large keep-like buildings in the center. With at least a block around it cleared down to the floor to keep its sightlines clear. He knew it was larger than it looked but it would be his home for the foreseeable future as they explored the second floor of the dungeon. He could feel his heart start to beat a bit faster and the urge to skip stairs as he descended was almost too great to ignore but he felt it. Fate and adventure called him again and he smiled in excitement.