Dungeon Master (Karma System)

Max had intended to spend the morning waiting to see if Rod and his party would attempt level 3 of his dungeon. Instead, he found twelve adventurers waiting outside his manor.

Anna stood beside the front door with her clipboard held against her chest. "There were only four when I came downstairs."

"What do they want?" Max asked.

"They want to speak to whoever is in charge of the Sanctuary." She explained

"Business?" He asked.

"No, they have complaints."

"Eh?"

The first person she allowed inside was a young healer named Sera. A broad man in metal armor followed her, accompanied by three members of his party.

Sera placed a key on Max’s desk. "I left Bright Spear yesterday. Valon changed the lock on our storage room before I could collect my equipment."

Valon folded his arms. "She left without warning after we paid for her potions and training. Her things stay with us until she pays back what she owes."

"I never agreed to repay any of that," Sera said. "The party covered everyone’s supplies."

"While you were part of the party."

"That is normally how parties work."

Max wanted to groan. Was it really necessary for him to deal with things like this. When he shot Anna a look, she responded in kind. He quickly understood her meaning, if he didn’t deal with this, then who else would?

Max raised one hand before they could begin shouting over each other. "What equipment is yours?"

"A healing staff, two robes, my travel chest, and several books."

Valon shook his head. "The staff was bought after she joined us."

"With my share of our reward."

Max opened the dungeon menu and searched the storage building’s records. He could see who rented the room and when people entered it, but the Dungeon Core had not tracked every conversation or exchange that occurred inside. The magical staff in question had first entered the dungeon in Sera’s hands three months ago. That made one part simple.

"The staff belonged to her before she joined your party," Max said. "The robes, chest, and books are registered to her as well. You will return them."

Valon frowned. "What about the money she owes us?"

"Show me the agreement she signed."

"It was an understanding among adventurers."

"Apparently not everyone understood." Max replied.

The warrior’s frown deepened, but he had no written contract or registered party agreement. Max ordered him to return Sera’s belongings before sunset. He refused to invent a debt based on one side’s description of an argument. Neither of them looked entirely satisfied when they left.

"That went well." Anna said.

"One of them glared at me the entire way out. What happened? Aren’t people supposed to be afraid of Dungeon Masters."

"They both left without shouting. I am counting it as a success." His wife replied.

The next complaint involved a fire lizard familiar that had crawled through an open window and slept in someone’s clean laundry. The familiar’s owner insisted it was not his fault that the blankets had caught fire because the lizard had not been ordered to burn them.

Max stared at the man. "It is your familiar."

"Technically, he acts independently."

The small red lizard sat on the man’s shoulder and released a puff of smoke.

"Then technically, both of you can spend the next week sleeping outside unless you replace everything."

The man agreed to pay for the damaged bedding.

The third case was somehow worse. Two parties had covered the public noticeboards with accusations after a failed run through Fey Nights. One claimed the other had sold them a false map. The accused party claimed the map had been accurate until a group of quicklings changed the trail markers.

"They do that." Max said, referring to the quicklings.

The angry swordswoman standing before him pointed toward the man beside her. "He knew they did that and never warned us."

"You bought a map of the forest. You did not buy me." The seller said.

"We want him banned from selling maps."

"I want them banned from telling everyone that I am a thief."

Max rubbed his forehead as if he could rub away these issues. He had created a village where nobody could draw a weapon, cast an offensive spell, or physically attack anyone else. He had assumed that would make the Sanctuary peaceful.

He had badly underestimated how much trouble people could cause without hitting each other.

Quin arrived during the fourth complaint. The swordsman carried a mug of coffee and stopped when he saw the line extending away from the manor.

"What happened? Did you start giving away free lessons?" Quin asked.

"They want me to settle their arguments."

Quin glanced at Anna. "How long has he been doing this?"

"Almost two hours."

"And nobody has been sent through a portal into the lake?"

"Not yet." Max said.

"Impressive." The swordsman said, remarking on his bosses restraint.

The latest argument concerned ownership of a silver medallion recovered from a dryad’s grove. One adventurer had found it. Another had identified the hidden enchantment. A third claimed it belonged to the party because all five of them had helped complete the level.

"Who did the reward system assign it to?" Max asked.

"It wasn’t a completion reward. I found it beneath a tree." The first adventurer said.

"But it was while we were all specifically searching for loot." The second added.

Quin took a slow drink of coffee. "This is why experienced parties decide how incidental treasure will be divided before entering a dungeon."

The third adventurer nodded his head. "We did. Everything was supposed to be divided equally."

"That only applied to coins and materials."

"You never said that."

"You never asked."

Max looked toward Quin. "What would an adventurers’ guild do?"

"Ask to see their party agreement."

"They do not have one."

"Then the guild would charge all three of them for wasting its time before giving the medallion to whoever physically found it."

The first adventurer smiled.

Quin continued. "Unless the guild master preferred one of the others."

The smile disappeared.

Max ordered them to leave the medallion in the Sanctuary’s storage building until they reached an agreement. All three protested. Since this was the first time he had seen them agree on something, it convinced him that this was the fairest temporary decision available.

The next petitioner had spent twenty minutes waiting only to ask who controlled the benches beside the village fountain. A group of adventurers began meeting there every morning and refused to move when elderly residents wanted to sit. The benches were public, nobody had reserved them, and the Dungeon Core did not consider being inconsiderate a violation of the Sanctuary’s protections.

Max told these people that they could use the benches when they were free and directed Anna to place several more around the square. It solved the immediate complaint without answering the larger question of who was allowed to control shared spaces.

By then, Max understood why city governments employed so many clerks. Most problems were not difficult. They were simply too numerous and too petty for one person to handle all of them.

When they were gone, Max leaned back in his chair and stretched. He wished all this wasn’t his responsibility. Who knows, maybe there was some monster he could summon that was great at dealing with these kinds of issues. He would have to look into it.

Anna placed another sheet on the desk. "We also have complaints about people blocking public paths with market stalls, rooms being subleased without permission, visitors pretending to represent the dungeon, and one man who keeps following a female archer around the village."

"Has he attacked her?"

"He cannot. The Sanctuary stops him from touching her. That does not prevent him from standing outside her home or following her everywhere she goes."

Max questioned the Dungeon Core directly.

[The individual has not performed an action classified as an attack. Sanctuary protections prevent physical assault, damaging abilities, hostile spells, and weapon use. They do not interpret conversation, proximity, reputation, ownership disputes, or social agreements.]

"Can I order the system to keep him a hundred meters away from her?"

[Yes. Administrative restrictions can be applied by the Dungeon Master.]

That would stop this particular problem. It would not help the next person who found a different way to torment someone without technically attacking them. Max also disliked the idea of creating personal restrictions whenever someone made an accusation. He needed to know what had happened before using the dungeon to control where a person could walk.

Max’s mood darkened. "Give him one warning. If he continues, send him to Orc camp."

Quin lowered his mug. "The camp where the Orcs are cutting timber and quarrying stone?"

"That’s the one." Max replied.

"For how long?" Quin questioned.

"A week for the first offense. Longer if he refuses to learn."

Anna wrote it down. "Forced labor may discourage repeat behavior."

It would also keep the offender inside the dungeon and earning Max DP while producing something useful. Max could not see any reason to throw a troublesome adventurer outside when the person could spend some time carrying rocks instead.

"You are smiling," Quin said.

"I found a solution that helps everyone."

"I am sure the man carrying rocks will appreciate your concern."

Another knock came from the front door.

Max considered opening a portal and hiding somewhere in Fey Nights. Before he could act, the Dungeon Core chimed.

[A party has entered Level 3: Dwarven Airship.]

[First entry requirement has been fulfilled.]

[The requirements you preset have been achieved. Launching Dwarven Skyyard.]

The ground shifted beneath the manor.

Everyone in the room turned toward the windows. Beyond the village, near the outer edge of the Sanctuary, a stone tower began rising from the earth. Brass platforms unfolded from its sides while narrow bridges extended into open air. A wide docking ring formed around the top.

Six miniature airships appeared beside it, each one suspended beneath a long oval balloon.

People abandoned the line outside the manor and hurried toward the new structure.

Max stood and walked to the window.

The list of complaints remained on his desk, but nobody was knocking on his door anymore.

"That solved the crowd problem." Max said.

Anna picked up her clipboard. "Temporarily."

Quin finished his coffee. "While you briefly mentioned what you planned to do with the skyyard, I want to head over and take a closer look."

Max opened a portal to the base of the new tower and stepped through followed by Anna and Quin. He was eager to see how people would react to the newest attraction. When the first party entered the Orc Highlands, he launched the arena, receiving a positive response. Hopefully the Dwarven Skyyard would be received in the same manner.