Sir Reginald's departure left a strange and wonderful quietness in the dungeon.
With his... unique... training complete and the Silver Griffins' gratitude secured in the form of a shiny new whistle, my dungeon finally felt like it was back to normal. Or, what passed for normal these days.
The next few days were blissfully, wonderfully boring but great. The tourists came, they queued politely, they napped, they bought tea, and they left five-star reviews in the guestbook. Kaelen washed dishes with the silent, focused grace of a zen master. Zazu and Pip spent their free time in the Dreamscape, practicing the lessons they had learned. Sir Crumplebuns, having no one to heroically defend, start to telling slightly exaggerated stories of his battle with the gryphon to a rapt audience of tourist children.
My DP reserves were slowly climbing, and I was finally getting long, uninterrupted time's of blissful core-sleep. It was perfect.
'This is the life, Mochi!' FaeLina's voice buzzed happily in my mind as she reviewed the week's profits. 'We're stable, respected, and profitable! Nothing can possibly go wrong now!'
I should have known she was making a bad omen.
It was during one of these perfectly peaceful afternoons that the entrance chimed. The alert was not hostile, but it was strange. It felt heavy with emotion.
+--------------------------------------+
| VISITOR ALERT! |
|--------------------------------------|
| TYPE: Unidentified Noble Lord (x1) |
| GUARDS: (x2) |
| DISTANCE: At Entrance |
| THREAT: None |
| INTENT: Desperate. Pleading. |
+--------------------------------------+
A man I had never seen before swept into the dungeon, his two heavily armed guards following closely behind. He was a human noble and that much was clear from the fine silk-and-velvet cut of his clothes. But his robes were disheveled and stained with dust from travel. His face, which was probably handsome under normal circumstances, was pale and etched with the deep lines of a man who most likely hadn't slept for a very long time.
His presence immediately changed the atmosphere of the dungeon. The cheerful chatter of the tourists quite down. The adventurers stand up before their seats with a wary respect.
But the noble ignored all of them. He marched directly to the center of the main chamber, his desperate eyes locking onto my core's containment field. Then, in a shocking move that made several of the onlookers gasp, the powerful nobleman fell to his knees.
"Dungeon Core!" he cried, his voice is raw and Echoes in the silent chamber.
"They call you a Sanctuary! A place of healing! I have traveled for five days without rest. I beg of you, you are my last hope! You must help my son!"
FaeLina's psychic voice was a single, high-pitched squeak in my mind. 'Mochi, that's Lord Valerius! He's a Royal Duke! He's one of the most powerful and respected men in the entire kingdom!'
The Duke, unaware of my fairy's frantic commentary, looked up at my core, his eyes filled with a father's desperate hope.
"My son, Elian," he said, his voice cracking. "He is afflicted with a terrible curse. For over a year, he has not had a single night of peaceful sleep. He is plagued by relentless, terrifying nightmares that drain his life and spirit. He was dying before our very eyes."
He took a ragged breath. "The finest mages in the capital are baffled by this problem and The most devout clerics of the Sun Goddess also have offered their prayers and healing, but they all have failed. No one can able to help him. Then I heard the stories from the Silver Griffins. A tale of a knight cured of an 'incurable' mental affliction."
He bowed his head low, a powerful Duke on his knees before my stony form.
"They say you can enter the minds of the sleeping," he begged. "That you can bring peace where there is only terror. Please... I will give you anything. Just save my son from his nightmares."
And suddenly a new, unexpected quest notification appeared before me. It wasn't a request from a guild or a notice from the DLRB. It felt... heavier. More important.
[A FATHER'S PLEA]
[Objective: Cure the cursed nightmares of the Duke's son, Elian.]
[Reward: Immense gratitude from a Royal Duke, a fortune of gold and dp , a massive boost to your Sanctuary's reputation.]
[Risk: The curse afflicting the boy's mind is of an unknown, and potentially hostile, origin. Entering his Dreamscape could be extremely dangerous to your own core.]
Now my quiet, peaceful life was officially over, Again.