Demon Dungeon 1

Endless silence, endless fog, and endless screaming. A cacophony of voices, a cacophony of thoughts. Such is the world of demons, an ethereal place close to, but not of, the world of humankind. There, the manifestations of human vice wait to be summoned, eager to spread their influence among the sheep.

Murmur was one such demon, a manifestation of lust, a succubus. She was not a particularly strong demon, as demons go, but she had her share of exploits in the human world. Her latest excursion had ended rather abruptly, unsummoning via application of sword to the stomach, but luckily for her, demons were mostly immortal.

Demons are, fundamentally, ethereal beings. While they can manifest a physical body for themselves if provided a vessel, none of the harm that body takes caries over to the demon proper. Once the vessel is destroyed, the demon simply returns to their ethereal state and, without anything left to anchor them to the human world, is pulled swiftly back to the demon world no worse for wear.

As a lesser succubus, Murmur was no stranger to this sort of "death". As long as she had enough fun while "alive", she considered the experience worthwhile. But she was always up for more fun, so when she felt the tug of a summoning, she leaped at it, letting it pull her to it's destination.

Imagine her surprise when, at the other end of the summoning, there was not a intricately carved circle surrounded by one or more black robbed men chanting mysteriously, but rather a place much like the one she had left. Only quieter, much quieter. There was fog, but no screams, no voices, no thoughts. Murmur couldn't feel even a single demon other than herself, an experience she was not at all familiar with. Needless to say, she freaked out a bit.

"Where am I? Is this the demon world? But there's no one else here! What sort of demon world doesn't have any demons in it!?"

As Murmur fretted out loud to herself, the fog thinned, revealing slightly more of her surroundings. She appeared to be in a dingy alley, the sort every city has somewhere or another. And resting on the filthy stone was something completely out of place, a crystalline sphere, glowing with a faint light. Intrigued, Murmur reached out to it, and just as she was about to make contact-

> Dungeon [Sigma] established
> Slaving host to dungeon system
  Error: Cannot overwrite host name
  Error: Instability in name subsystem
  Error: Loss of contact with name subsystem
  Error: Lost of contact with slaving subsystem
  Error: Lost of
> Dungeon [Murmur] established

"...What?"



They say a demon's name has power, and they, whomever they might be, are not wrong. But the power a demon's name carries is not something that can be wielded against the demon in question, no, a demon _is_ their name, and the power of the name is the power of the demon itself.

The fledgling dungeon tried to erase Murmur's name, to replace it with it's own, and in doing so overwrite her identity and corrupt her to it's purpose. But instead, it touched the very core of Murmur's being, and stained itself in her colors. In a battle of corruption, how could a demon lose?



"What just happened? Did I... do something? I don't think I did? I just touched the orb, that's it! But there was that weird voice, and didn't it say something about a dungeon? Is this a dungeon, then? But it's just an alley? Can an alley even be a dungeon? And if it is a dungeon, where's it's Will? I've been in dungeons before, and they always have a Will! But I'm the only one here! You can't have a dungeon without a Will!

"...Wait. That voice. Was _that_ the Will? Didn't it say something about overwriting a name? Oh. Oh. So I guess that's why I feel strangely full... I _ate_ the dungeon's Will. I mean, serves it right, but where does that leave me? Don't tell me I have to be the Will now. I absolutely did not sign up for that! But this orb, I guess it's the dungeon's core? And it's looking _mighty_ demonic now...

"I can't believe I became a dungeon? What's even up with that!? I'm a succubus, not some sort of... dungeon master or something! Ugh, whatever, I'm here now, so I might as well try and make the best of it. I did make it to the human world after all, more or less. Instead of going out to get the cuties, I just have to bring them to me! Simple!

"Wait, wait, this is important. Can I still manifest? The physical body of a dungeon is it's core, right? I can't have sex if I'm just an orb! Okay, calm down, I can make this work. Dungeons can make all sorts of shit, right? So I'll just make a vessel. A nice, normal, not-an-orb vessel, and I'll manifest, and I won't be an orb, and I'll be able to have all the sex I want.

"So... how do I make things again??"



With the dungeon's original Will gone, so too was it's knowledge of the inner workings of a dungeon. But necessity is the mother of invention, and there was no way, in or out of hell, Murmur was going to stay an orb.

After some tinkering, Murmur managed to form a suitable vessel: a simple and slightly obscene statuette made of nondescript stone. With a few expressions of hope, she gathered her ethereal self up and dove into the statuette, spreading out to fill it up entirely. And as she did so, the statuette expanded and warped, until a demon stood in it's place.

With tanned skin and blonde hair, Murmur was far from the succubi of lore. Were it not for her large, spiraling horns, she'd be indistinguishable from a human. She even lacked the wings and tail so common among her ilk. Few, however, would mistake her for anything but a succubus. Horns aside, her figure and fashion sense both were far beyond human capability.

> Lesser succubus [Murmur] spawned?

"Uh, what's with the question mark? I mean, I guess calling me a dungeon monster is kind of pushing it, seeing as how I'm also the dungeon and stuff. So sure, whatever, I can deal. But now I feel kind of exposed? Which I can't really say I've ever felt before... I guess it's because I'm a dungeon now? Why would a dungeon feel exposed?

"Oh, probably because my core's all out in the open like this. They usually hide them away behind all sorts of traps and baddies. So... I guess I should set some of that stuff up? I think I know how to do that now? Lets start shaping this alley into something less... gross.

"But what'd be good? Personally, I'd go for a brothel, but that doesn't feel right somehow. Stupid dungeon feelings! Lets see, what's like a brothel, but more... dungeon-y. Twistier. With alleys, and hidden alcoves, and- got it! A red light district! It's perfect! I can make it as twisty and confusing as my dungeon-self wants, and as flashy and licentious as I want! Lets go!"

> Changing dungeon theme to [red light district]

Change spread out from the core in ripples, painting over the dingy alley with subdued flair. While the dungeon remained, fundamentally, an alley, it's crumbling brick walls had been rebuilt and it's uneven stone street had been repaved. Windows, dotted every so often along the walls, let out dull yellow light and cast the silhouettes of strange figures onto the street below. A faint chattering, as if from distance voices, filled the air, and unmarked doors sprung up alongside mysterious signs advertising unknown products in an unreadable language.

"Huh, I was hoping for something a bit more sparkly, but I guess it _is_ still a dungeon. And I do like the mood, it reminds me of illicit black markets and auction houses. Hmm! All right, I can make this work! First up, I've got to hide this core somewhere. I guess I can turn one of these doors into an actual room?"

> Create core room?

"Sounds good to me!"

With a silent shudder, the space behind one of the unmarked doors expanded, forming a moderately sized room. A large, circular bed grew up from the center of the room, draped in velvet and silk, and gaudy tapestries grew down from the ceiling to cover the walls. Like moss, plush carpeting covered the bare floor, and a single yellow lantern grew down over the bed. Within the lantern, where a flame would be, was a circular depression, a empty space awaiting something to be put inside.

"Oh-kay! Now _this_ is more like it! Man, this is comfortable. It's been ages since I've gotten to sleep on something this soft. Not since I was playing around with that prince, I don't think. Well, it's pretty clear where I'm supposed to put the core, so lets get this show on the road!"

Murmur placed the core into the hanging lantern and closed the door. As she did, the room filled with soft yellow light, completing the ambiance. Murmur flopped down on the soft bed and rolled around a bit, getting comfortable.

"Ahh, that feels good~ And that annoying exposed feeling is gone, too. But I guess I can't _just_ relax here, I've still got Important Dungeon Business to attend to. Traps... aren't really my style, so lets go for monsters! Another lesser demon or two should take care of things for the time being, it's just an alley after all, nothing too dangerous should just wander in."

> Spawning lesser demon []
  Error: Insufficient mana

"Insufficient what? Mana? What do you mean, insufficient mana? What's the point of a dungeon if it can't spawn monsters??"

> Too much mana spent changing dungeon theme

"Oh don't give me that! That was _necessary_ you hear me, necessary! Fine, what _can_ you summon? Help a succubus out, here!"

> Spawning... imps?

"Go for it."

> Spawning imp pack
> Imps x5 spawned

The air twisted, and before her eyes five imps popped into existence. They looked around, unsure of themselves, before noting Murmur and snapping to attention. Each imp was tiny, no more than 2 feet tall, with red skin, wings, a spade-tipped tail, and short stubby horns. Their large eyes gave off a childish appearance, one belied by their mouths full of razor sharp teeth.

"Hmm, not bad. Not bad at all! I can work with this! Alright, you lot, go out into the alley and hide... huh, I guess there isn't really anything for you to hide behind, is there? Well, I guess it doesn't really matter. Just wait near the entrance and jump anything that wanders in. If they're cute, leave them for me, otherwise, you can do whatever you want."

The imps grinned broadly, saluted their mother, creator, and boss, and scampered out into the dungeon. Murmur laid back on her bed, closed her eyes, and relaxed.

"Haaa, can I take a break now? Sure I was only summoned a couple of hours ago, but man, this dungeon stuff really takes it out of you... The imps will let me know if anything important happens, so I'm just... going to... nod off..."