=========================================================== Dungeon Keeper Ranma
Chapter 05: Captured
By A-kun
===========================================================
There were few creatures referred to as the Elite. In fact, one
could usually name an elite creature, if one tried. However, the
elites could not be enticed to join just ANYONE so easily. It took
more than raw cash.
It took a personalized room, special attention to their ELITE
standing (meaning much higher pay for doing equal work) and many other
annoying things. In all, it was like having an uptight and arrogant
asshole of an employee who knew they were better than everything you
had and took more than full advantage of it.
Take for instance, the reknowned dark knight, Kaleb; the King of
rogues, Gervaise; the Duke of vampires, Kessler van Doom; and the
Skeleton Lord, Bane.
Most keepers usually got annoyed as all hell with theirs and
either fired them or sent them the most dangerous missions they could
get to justify their expense. Elites knew this usually came, and
either never came back or managed to finish the mission, then demanded
triple their normal inflated salary because of the danger involved.
This lead to them being fired quite often.
There were some elites that weren't arrogant, just demanding.
These elites were more often tolerated, but not often.
Take, for instance, the master warlock, Almeric. He was a genius
when it came to tactical movements and had directed many successful
attacks. Unfortunately, his daily cost of 1,000 gold was a bit
expensive. He was usually hired on for an important battle. It saved
the average keeper quite a bit on daily expenses, but the cost of 9,800
gold for a one time fee was almost as painful.
There was the great goblin fighter, Grubb, who wanted a large
room and his own food supply. The elite troll Knud and the elite Bile
Demon Bloz were reknowned for their smithing talents, but Knud wanted
his own workshop and room and Bloz wanted a ton of food (even for Bile
Demons).
And then, there were the elites who allowed some negotiation in
their fees.
The salamander, Furnace, had to have his own training room and
lair, but he lessened his fee if his lair was near a lava flow. The
mistress, Dominique, desired her own torture chamber and her choice of
prisoners to 'keep'. If no questions were asked, her fee was fairly
low.
The dark elf, Zenobia, enjoyed training while on the job. If her
demands were met, she was more than just a good guard. She'd
slaughtered many thieves and rogues trying to sneak past her.
Indeed, for all of the trouble one had in keeping them happy, an
elite could be well worth the expense to entice them. They never
questioned one's mission, so long as they were sufficiently well off.
Ranma considered the dark elf before him. He'd heard of Zenobia,
the only dark elf who had long luscious black hair, keen eyesight, and
a desire for combat that was said to rival that of a dark knight or
dark angel.
"I see..." Ranma commented. He couldn't see why, though.
The idea of a dark elf wanting to join his ranks wasn't anywhere
near insane. Her price was, for the most part, reasonable, and he
couldn't, for the life of him, think of a reason not to hire her.
After all, her fee was only slightly more than the usual. And her
reputation proceeded her.
But as far as Ranma had heard, elites didn't usually come and
_request_ employment. They usually had to be contacted with an offer,
and if they were already employed, the offer had to be better than
their current employment.
Ranma decided to shrug it off. He had more than a fair number of
recruits these days, what with the steady advancement of his army, and
the concept that he'd enticed an elite to join him through his own
reputation was reasonable enough.
"Very well. I agree to your terms. I'll have a guard post made
with your specifications by tomorrow." Ranma answered.
Zenobia smiled, "It will be a pleasure to work for you, Keeper
Ranma. I know it will be."
Ranma watched her leave with a bit of confusion, but he chose to
ignored it.
"Now, the next portal gem..." Ranma murmurred, fingering the
half-completed gate gem that he kept in an extra-dimensional pocket.
"There are four rival keepers this time, Keeper. One of them has
the portal gem, so we will have to crush all of them." Lundar
explained.
Ranma frowned slightly, "I suppose we will. Prepare an invasion
group. We're going to make this swift and painful."
Princess Mina was outraged. Lord Titus had sent word of his
defeat at the hands of Ranma's growing forces, and of Ranma's request
for peace in exchange for the remaining portal gems. And she could see
from her family's reactions, they were equally angry. Her three
brothers clenched their swords, her two sisters looked indignant and
her father... his expression was that of pure fury.
"The very nerve of this keeper 'Ranma'! To ask for the most
sacred artifacts in this land as if they were mere baubles! Contact
our remaining lords and tell them to increase their numbers
immediately! We'll crush this fool while the kingdom is still
salvageable!" King Reginald ordered.
"Yes, my liege!" the messenger responded.
The warrior king motioned to his entire court, "Leave me be! I
need time to calm down!"
As soon as the door closed behind his third son, Reginald's angry
face became one of depression. He knew his forces were no longer
strong enough. When he'd strode forth over forty years ago to crush
the keepers of the land, he and his men had been in their prime. Now,
he had few friends left and his portal gems, the family heirlooms that
he had been hoping to use to reconstruct the entire continent into a
strong kingdom, were scattered about the land. Only five of the gems
were not already in the hands of evil.
Reginald hoped that Lord Tiberius or Lord Volstag could end
Ranma's reign of terror. If they couldn't, there were precious few
that could.
It had been one month since the utter destruction of keepers
Morgana, Drakon, Mayl, Bruxiel, Malachi and Malleus. One would say
that it was a quick set of victories. Ranma would agree.
The advance, since Lord Titus sent word of the King's negative
response to the peaceful conclusion, had left Ranma rather unfeeling
towards the imminent destruction of Reginald's kingdom. He'd also
developed a rather vicious method to deal with his 'fellow' keepers,
all of whom were deplorable insects that deserved worse than their
eventual banishment.
The spark had started back in the five-way battle between Ranma,
Morgana, Drakon, Mayl and Bruxiel. Ranma had been leading one of the
major assaults on the enemy when he'd found Bruxiel's prison and
torture chambers.
In Ranma's mind, there was a significant difference between
capturing an enemy fighter and capturing civilians. Bruxiel's prison
was full of children and terrified mothers. His torture chamber had
three farmers and several of their sons. All of whom knew about as
much about fighting as Ranma knew about quantum physics.
Save for Drakon and Malleus, all of the keepers had done the
same. Drakon and Malleus, however, had simply killed villagers and
left their corpses in graveyards to entice vampires to join them.
Ranma had since developed a hatred for his 'fellow' keepers.
But since the fall of the first two groups of keepers, he'd been
hearing rumors of a powerful family of keepers, lead by an old keeper
known as Nemesis. Until Ranma came along, Nemesis had been the primary
opponent to the king and his men.
Now, Nemesis was yesterday's news. Ranma had claimed over half
of the continent while the most Nemesis had managed was 1/4th before
being driven back.
"Keeper," Lunder spoke up, catching Ranma's attention.
He turned from his ruminations to see Lundar and Horny standing
side by side.
"What is it?" Ranma inquired.
Horny marched forward and handed a small amulet to Ranma, before
giving Ranma a lopsided smile and kneeling.
"Horny has finally decided that you are worthy of being his
keeper. That amulet will let you summon him to any land that you lay
claim to." Lundar answered.
"That's great, big guy. Nice to have you on the team. And it
couldn't have come at a better time. My knights tell me that Lord
Tiberius is an awesome fighter. We'll need your strength to take him
down." Ranma replied, putting the amulet next to the gate gem.
"Keeper, you should be wary when using that amulet. Sending
Horny requires a lot of power. Roughly half of the temporary Dungeon
Heart's full capacity, to be exact." Lundar explained.
"Right. I'll try and keep that in mind." Ranma responded.
Lord Volstag was not hungry, but he forced himself to eat,
regardless. The three princesses of King Reginald had come to visit
his fortress, without protection, while Keeper Ranma was said to be at
the edges of his territory. And considering that Lord Tiberius had
sent word of the same thing a day before his keep was reported to have
fallen, Volstag was right to worry.
Worse, the princesses seemed less than willing to leave, even
with the threat of doom hovering nearby. Unlike Reginald's sons, who
were all trained as swordsmen, Reginald's daughters, Honey, Mina and
Relena, had split up their interests into swordsmanship, sorcery and
priestesshood respectively.
As a team, they were not half bad. Prior to Ranma's rising,
they'd aided in the destruction of a keeper known as Gargoyle, who had
relied heavily on magical traps and doors, and very little on his
actual forces. Of course, his forces had been the first to die, half
from starvation during the fight and the other half from a combination
of injuries and disease. Even his skeletons had been rotting away,
which should not have been possible.
Still, the victory was enough to allow them the opportunity to
act on their own.
Lord Volstag was still not comforted. If Ranma claimed his keep,
he didn't want to be remembered as "the blithering idiot who allowed
King Reginald's daughters to be captured/killed".
"You seem uneasy, Lord Volstag." Mina commented, twirling a lock
of long golden hair with idle interest as she picked at her meal. Lord
Volstag had, despite himself, had his chefs splurge on an elegant meal.
The last thing he wanted to do was insult the King's daughters with a
mundane meal.
Little did he knew that a mundane meal was precisely what the
princesses wanted. Eating elegant meals while others made without
didn't please them in the least.
"I know you think it rude of me, princess, but I cannot help but
feel uneasy with Ranma's forces on the edge of my domain. Tiberius was
no less prepared than I and he fell in a single day." Lord Volstag
responded.
"Surely you aren't worried." the golden-haired Honey huffed.
"HE HAS CONQUERED OVER TWO-THIRDS OF THE CONTINENT! IF NOW IS
NOT THE TIME TO WORRY, THEN WHEN IS?!" Volstag demanded angrily.
"He's only a single keeper. Surely when he and Nemesis clash,
they will annihilate each other." Honey responded.
"Princess, one should never rely on one's other enemies to
eliminate one's most dangerous enemy. Nemesis, at his height, had one-
fourth of the continent, but fell when trying to expand it further
because he had neither the money nor the manpower. Ranma has most of
the continent and has yet to be held even once." Volstag answered.
The brown-haired sister, Relena, spoke up, "He's right. Ranma's
forces are well-trained. Nemesis got too big for his britches, but
Ranma is much more cautious. He turns his enemies into his allies and
strikes fear into our most valiant. I'm glad he has yet to turn to the
undead for power, for then he would have unlimited soldiers to dispose
against our warriors." Relena commented.
"Thank you, Princess Relena, it is nice to see one of you three
are keeping Ranma's achievements in mind." Lord Volstag stated.
"Sir! An advance unit of dark knights is approaching!" a guard
called, barely containing his hysterical fear.
"Then we'll simply have to see how good they are when they're
ambushed." Mina commented.
Lord Volstag paused on his way to the door as he heard that
comment.
"What?" Volstag asked.
"Surely you don't think our father would send us unguarded at a
time like this. We are good, but we know better than that. Our elite
guards have been waiting for a chance like this to see if Ranma's men
are truly as powerful as he has lead us to believe." Mina replied
nonchalantly.
"SIR! We...we've captured his dark knights!" another guard, much
more surprised and hysterical than the first, announced.
"I guess we should greet them." Honey commented, standing.
The other two princess rose and nodded.
"Ranchan?" Maidel asked.
"Yeah?" Ranma inquired as he recuperated.
He gazed down to see a concerned look on Maidel's face, "What?"
Maidel looked up into his blue-grey eyes, "Well, it's just
that... it's really good when we're doing it, but... can we try it when
we're both girls?"
"Huh?" Ranma asked.
"I'd really like to have sex with you when we're both girls."
Maidel answered.
Before Ranma could even think of a response, Lundar hurried into
the room, "Keeper, your dark knights were ambushed by Lord Volstag's
men!"
"WHAT?!" Ranma snarled, all but leaping out of bed. A snap of
his fingers, he was dressed and at his Dungeon Heart with Lundar. He
focused on the leader of the black knights he'd sent and instantly saw
them being hauled into Volstag's fortress. Worse, he couldn't call
them back because their combined lifeforce was very low.
"He dares attack a diplomatic envoy? I'll kill him myself!"
Ranma seethed.
Ranma was angry. No, he was beyond angry. Angry would've meant
someone would just get beaten up. Ranma was furious. Volstag had the
audacity to ambush his men and take them captive! This insult would
not go unpunished!
"HORNY! We're going to pound some ass!" Ranma snarled.
"Excellent, I've been feeling a bit randy." Horny chuckled.
That made Ranma pause, despite his anger.
"......... do you have to live up to your nickname?" Ranma asked.
Horny simply gave a toothy grin.
"Come on, we've got to gather a strike team." Ranma declared.
When they arrived in the courtyard, they saw several black
knights on their knees with their helmets removed. Scorch marks were
visible on their black armor, if only because their normal armor was
much more polished.
One gazed, no, glared up at Lord Volstag and the princesses, "We
came on a mission of peace, you nincompoops! We were here to offer you
a peaceful resolution in exchange for the portal gem! But, now, you're
all screwed!"
"What makes you so certain of that, dark knight?" Mina huffed.
"Because not only do we make up less than even an eighth of his
dark knights, we were also caught off-guard. When Ranma comes, and
believe me, he will come, he'll be most furious at your less than
honorable attack." the leader spat back.
Honey and Mina laughed.
"In fact," another commented with a wide grin, "he'll probably
bring the Reaper with him."
That brought all of the laughter to a halt. Relena stared at the
man, "The Reaper?"
"Horny to us, he's our pal." a third spoke up.
There was an old legend of a master Keeper who had once conquered
the entire continent, just like Ranma was close to doing. He had a
powerful and nearly invulnerable warrior-servant who was only
remembered as The Reaper. Old age, though, was said to be the downfall
of the keeper and he was beaten back when his health failed until he
was but a memory.
But The Reaper was still remembered. It was his name that used
to scare children into behaving. And it was said that very few
warriors possessed the power to slow him, let alone beat him. But the
Reaper had to be over five hundred years old, too old even for most
demons to still have their full power.
"That's impossible!" Honey snapped suddenly, "The Reaper was
slain hundreds of years ago, along with his keeper."
The lead dark knight sneered back, "Slain? The Reaper is
immortal, princess. And now he's coming to get you... And he's not
the most dangerous. Ranma is."
Lord Volstag felt a knot form in his stomach. Ranma would come.
And Volstag knew he was no match for the keeper.
Volstag's fortress was under siege in less than two hours after
the capture of Ranma's dark knights. Lord Volstag knew his instincts
had been right. It was a pity he was now dead on the floor.
Mina cast another fireball down the corridor, then ducked aside
as several more flew back. Honey growled in impotent fury as arrows
and lightning followed the hail of fireballs while Relena prayed to her
goddess above that they wouldn't die.
They'd taken refuge near one of the prisons, hoping against hope
that Ranma wouldn't be thorough in his sweep and they could get away.
No such luck.
Ranma's forces watched from above to make sure no one escaped
above ground and his forces below ground were trained to make clean
sweeps.
"Great plan, Honey. Let's set an ambush for a dangerous and
overly powerful keeper!" Mina snapped at her sister.
Honey glared at her blonde sister, "I wasn't the one who thought
we should set up an ambush _above_ ground!"
"Please! If we're going to die, let's not fight!" Relena begged.
The sound of metal boots coming down the corridor echoed like a
clock about to strike twelve in the dead of night.
"HIYAH!" Honey cried, swinging her blade at neck level.
The imp wearing metal boots chittered out a laugh as Honey's
blade missed completely and rolled away before the angry swordswoman
could attack. Then, Honey noticed her sword was missing something.
The blade.
Horny smiled pleasantly at the blonde while holding the blade to
Honey's sword. Honey whimpered and backed away, but caught the heavy
end of Horny's scythe. She let out a "whuffle" as her lungs were
vacated of air and fell to the floor, gasping for breath.
Twirling his scythe nonchalantly, Horny caught Relena under the
chin and struck Mina on top of her head with the not-pointy end of his
scythe.
"I swear, Ranma is the softest keeper I know. But, he's also one
of the best." Horny commented, before knocking Honey out.
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Next time, Ranma has the three princesses of King Reginald and
Reginald wants them back. But two rival keepers also want the
princesses. It's a four-way battle of large proportions as Ranma takes
on Keeper Geld, Keeper Ventrius and Lord Pureheart!
Easy Cheat: Win the level automatically by pressing CTRL+ALT+C at
the same time, then type in "donotfear
thereaper". If you've done it correctly, the movie-style
margins will appear. You'll only get points for what you've
accomplished, which will look mighty tiny if you use this at the start
of the level.
If a fight breaks out on your territory, your imps can drag any
of your fallen allies back to their lair to recover. This is a
lifesaver on levels where you don't get a portal.
Each of the hidden lands in the game have a little mini-game
inside of them. The narrator says they're supposed to be for
'relaxation', but they're rather nerve-wracking. These are rather hard
to master and require a lot of retries to win. If you start to doubt
your ability to win, use the "do not fear the reaper" cheat. The level
will end and you'll get points for what you've managed to accomplish.
Secret Land #1 - The level titled "Fear" (Level 3? 5?). A game
of Golf with Boulders. You've only got two and a half minutes to play.
Secret Land #2 - The level titled "Caverns" (Level 7?).
Duckshoot with a possessed Warlock. To win more easily, use the cheat
"feel the power". A time limit is given before two Level 5 knights
charge you from opposite ends of the room.
Secret Land #3 - The level titled "Smashing" (Level 10?). You
possess a Dark Angel to go through a maze. To win more easily, use the
cheat "feel the power".
Secret Land #4 - The level titled "Conversion" (Level 13?).
Crush the dwarves with the boulders. You've only got six minutes.
Secret Land #5 - You must set your computer to a day with a Full
Moon. I kid you not. You only get one salamander to protect your land
from an endless hoard of thirty enemy imps and you can't lose more than
two rooms. I usually use "ha ha thisaway ha ha thataway" and "i
believe its magic", then summon a ton of imps before using "feel the
power" I send the imps after their evil counterparts and keep making
more.
Next Time: Hints on better building and the necessary parts!
(
geocities.com/tokyo/island) (
geocities.com/tokyo)