Chapter 7.3 - Power at a Price

Summer had peaked. In a rare moment, there was no open conflict on the continent of Terra.

The groups of youths from the GWA had decided to avoid interloping into Haven's surrounding territories, and were now focused on hunting monsters, foraging resources, and working to level up without fighting. Dana's report stated that this was a plan, as the youths they had thrown Haven's way had been quickly obliterated, so the plan was to stop for a few months, and add a few cycles of growth before they chucked more soldiers to the meat grinder. By Mora's reports this was all done to probe Haven's abilities. And thankfully the one responsible for the 5 year report on the Haven Containment initiative in the GWA was NighMora, a changeling spy so deep in their government, she was now beyond reproach.

In the Northern Kingdoms, General Marcus had taken control of the three ceded territories of the GWA and built his fortifications. It seemed that he planned to hold this land. It was then that Serin had received another report. Ston was being contracted to produce weapons, armor, potions, all of the things required for war. But the reports from his scouts stated that there were no large armies training. Sure, there were the standing armies and guards posted at key positions, but everywhere within the Northern Kingdoms, soldiers were practicing together in groups no larger than 20. Serin was confused by the reports. It was larger than an average adventuring party, but smaller than an army unit. The groups were even balanced like an adventuring party. But Serin was sure that there weren't any quests for groups like that. He was sure because his people had been working to seize every single medium and high level quest they could find within the Northern Kingdoms. With the right for his adventurers to travel through the Northern Kingdoms unimpeded by law, Haven's adventurers were excited to take on the tasks for a few reasons. Firstly it spread Haven's goodwill to the burbs and towns of the Northern Kingdoms. Second it allowed for Adventurers to follow the same path to success their Sovereign had taken so many years ago. And Third, Serin was offering a fairly significant bounty for completion of quests on foreign soil. Each rank of the adventurer's guild a team earned completing quests on foreign soil, Serin would take them on a level 50 dungeon run and let them keep 100% of materials, to include all runestones. This reward alone was amazing. But it was also necessary, since Haven's Adventurer's guild boards were barren of any tasks not internally generated to increase the base stats of the recently plated. Other than the Dungeon first dive rewards, which Serin had claimed for himself at the capital dungeon and the training dungeon leaderboard was currently owned by the Misfits that is.

In Haven, other than the odd drunken scuffle or injured dungeon diver, Haven was quiet. Most of its citizens were enjoying the warm summer air, the Lakeside resort, a bit of fishing and picnics, and overall just a peaceful Summer. However 'Peaceful' might have been to the pleasure of the dhamphir and the Demis, the Elves and the Planetouched. However peace meant stagnation for the changelings, who patiently waited for their chance to enter the dungeon or their chance to take foreign quests. Peace meant loneliness for the Forged, as they required a king's ransom to give one of their brothers a body, or the sacrifice of a plated soul to bring more of their kind to life, both of which were difficult when there was no conflict. And of course for the Parasites, with peace it was both good and bad. Good because it gave them a chance for outreach at their embassies. Bad because without the fear of conflict, the benefits of providing space for a 'passenger' or an agreement for partial active time did not seem as worth it.

It seemed that whether it was peace or conflict, there was no group that would be happy. Serin lamented that there was no 'controlled conflict' like the sustained border dispute between the GWA and the Northern Kingdoms, or the 'controlled conflict' of the capital dungeon.

It was then that he saw the notice. It was delivered through his kingdom management system. Normally external messages were requests for aid or trade and the like. This was something completely different.

[The Sarween Technocracy formally invites the people of Haven to participate in the Morat Raid Dungeon!

The Capital City of Morat succumbed to its own failings, and has been converted into a large scale Dungeon! This dungeon is full of monsters to slay and treasures to take! Even better, the monsters of the dungeon and the treasures they guard replenish after each group that enters.

Entry Requirements

Entry Fee: 50,000 credits per participant, Maximum party size of 20. (This includes Porters!)

Minimum Recommended Level: 30

Exit Requirements: 20% of materials harvested

Unsure if it is worth it? See the results for yourselves. By Divines, the following have been genuine materials pulled from the dungeon (Team of 20, Average level 40, 13 KIA)

…

…]

Serin read what was there. It was like the materials of the capital Dungeon, but the lower levels. Serin would say that the rewards were similar to several runs to levels 30-50 or lower. And it was all from 1 run. Serin smiled. He thought through a few things. The first was that if they used a 'gate' spell a team could evacuate from deep inside the raid dungeon without having to backtrack while wounded.

And nowhere in the listed runestones was the skill [Inventory].

A wicked smile creeped over Serin's face as he called a meeting for his advisors.

Today Haven would create a plan to perform a heist of the Raid Dungeon. And for that. There would need to be a bit of preparation.

A Team of twenty. He would have to take a diverse team. Were there traps? What about Haven's defenses? Serin nodded as he mused over these questions. He would take the 20 best dungeon runners in the city, and with that he would practice. They would want to ensure that everyone was able to work together, and they would have to start preparing soon, as increasing the level in the general skill [inventory] took an immense amount of time. But if they planned this out, they would be able to take full advantage of their enemy's resource and getting a head start on the raid dungeon's deeper secrets.

And it was better to do it now before the enemy truly figured out what they had.

***