Dungeon Running (Practice)

A common practice among Adventurers involving invading Dungeons and fighting the residents and their defenses, Dungeon Running was historically done to limit the populations of Monsters active in a region and gather valuable Hoardgild and was thus heavily encouraged by local communities and Adventurer Guilds. In much of the world during the modern era it has taken on a nonlethal, sport-like form where Adventurers challenge Dungeons using special Peacewards that prevent injury to either the Adventurers or the Monsters as a means of gathering Hoardgild and testing one's limits. Monsters are often amenable to this with the caveat that should they manage to defeat these would-be challengers, they are allowed to keep the Peaceward-generated Hoardgild produced by fallen Adventurers and to mate with them. Something that often is quite amenable to the Adventurers themselves. Furthermore, this often serves as a method for both parties to improve their combat capabilities, and for Monsters to test and improve their Dungeon's defensive measures, which is incredibly useful in this world plagued by Beasts.

Dungeon Running is also referred to as Dungeon Crawling, though this latter term carries with it connotations of the historical practice of killing Monsters in Dungeons prior to the era of the current Overlord, and as such is less commonly used by most Adventurers.

## Origins of the Practice

The exact origins of Dungeon Running have been lost to history, as the practice was likely performed during previous Ages. However, during the current Age, it is thought to have been developed at the dawn of the Age and coincided with the discovery of the Monster-generated Demiplanes that would eventually be labeled Dungeons. As the Races of Man spread across the globe, they carried the practice with them as a means of suppressing Monster threats in an area and making it possible to inhabit new territories.

## Variations

### Dungeon Crawling - Traditional Dungeon Running

More commonly called Dungeon Crawling, this practice can essentially be described as a form of murderous home invasion and is primarily promoted and performed by extremely conservative or traditional societies, authorities, and organizations that adhere to the belief that Monsters are the manifestations of sin or are otherwise mortal enemies of the Races of Man. These groups organize mercenaries, unscrupulous Adventurers, or military units under their control and send them unannounced into Dungeons with the intent to kill the inhabitants and Dungeon Master and pillage Hoardgild. The active extermination of all Monsters within the targeted Dungeon is *usually* the intent, though there have been instances in the past of Nobles repeatedly pillaging the same Dungeon by leaving weaker Monsters and juveniles alive to repopulate it, creating a renewable resource. However, in cases of territorial expansion or reclamation, such institutions normally seek to destroy the Dungeon itself by slaughtering its inhabitants and then flushing the Ley Lines that feed it, reverting the environment to its pre-Dungeon state and destroying the demiplane entirely.

Monsters are naturally terrified of such practices and uniformly opposed to them. Individuals who've survived such events often develop deep-seated resentments of some, or even *all,* Men, and are prone to pursuing their own vendettas in kind. Dungeons that survive a major Dungeon Crawl, sometimes referred to as a "Crusade," often organize and retaliate with a similar degree of violence when able, especially if they can identify and target the participants and organizers. Such Dungeons may become *extremely* hostile to Men, resorting to abduction in pursuit of mates and carrying out extensive operations to dismantle offending (or even simply *neighboring*) human settlements, transform or corrupt the innocent, and execute those deemed threats.

#### Crusades

When applied to Dungeon Running, a Crusade indicates a military action carried out against a Dungeon. These are most often organized by religious institutions or secular governments for the purposes of reducing Monster population and influence on their communities, seizing material wealth, and expanding territory. They have become less common since the appearance of Beasts and have been in decline for the last five centuries but are sometimes still organized. They were quite common further in the past, with some communities organizing annual Crusades against local Dungeons with heavy Adventurer involvement.

### Modern Dungeon Running

Modern Dungeon Running is has evolved into something of a symbiotic relationship between Adventurers and Monsters in more open-minded territories. Under these conditions, Adventurers issue requests and seek approval from a Dungeon's leadership, allow for a preparation period, and then invade the Dungeon within a designated timeframe. Monsters not wishing or unable to fight or have their property at risk decline to participate and seclude their possessions, while those volunteering are organized and stationed by their Floor Masters and Dungeon Master into defensive formations and patrols, traps are primed, and defensive magic activated in preparation. Finally, the Dungeon Master will establish a Peaceward, marking and protecting the participants and nonparticipants for the duration of their Run.

Once the Run begins, the Adventurers attempt to challenge the gauntlet presented by the Dungeon's residents as they are best able, and for those same residents to defend themselves and their home. This normally involves the actions traditionally associated with conflicts between Men and Monsters of the previous eras; direct combat, stealth, strategy, tactics, magic, and manipulation. However, it's also common for Monsters *not* participating in these events directly to spectate, and even profit from, such actions. They may open their shops to Adventurers, make inns or campsites available, and even open pop-up brothels in an attempt to entice potential partners. Monsters who aren't participating and objects forbiddent to take and places that have restricted access are marked as off-limits in the perceptions of those under the effects of the Run's Peaceward.

Dungeon Runs normally end when all participants on one side are defeated or another predetermined criteria has been met. These commonly include the Adventurers reaching a specified point in the Dungeon, such as the entrance to a specific Floor, acquiring desired Hoardgild and resigning, or the defeat of a particular participating Monster, but in the case of *certain* Partys may actually be things like "every member of the group has found a suitable partner(s) for the evening." Adventurers leaving the Dungeon are understood to have resigned from the Run, as doing so ends the effects of the Peaceward on them (and them only). Should they return, even while the Run is ongoing, they will not be subject to its effects, for good or ill. Dungeons often restrict access to the outsiders during the timeframe of a Dungeon Run, requiring any visitors to agree to be noncombatants under its rules for the duration as a matter of safety.

It is common for Dungeons to reject approval of Runs until they can recover from previous Runs or in times of hardship or during unusual events. It is also common for Dungeon Masters to prohibit participants with known histories of misbehavior or harassment, both among Adventurers and their own Monsters. Monsters sometimes participate as Adventurers, particularly if they were formerly human or are romantically involved with another Adventurer in their Party.

Some Dungeons have a standing Peaceward in effect to which Adventurers can sign on to, allowing for spontaneous Runs. These are relatively uncommon, but becoming more so as a means to better test the Dungeons' normal security measures, as opposed to their crisis response and preparation.

#### Standard Procedure

1. Adventurers make a request of the Dungeon's leadership, often through a proxy, to Run the Dungeon and the desired criteria for ending the Run. These proxies may include Monster acquaintances or even their Guild in places where Adventurer Guilds have peaceful contact with regional Dungeons. They may also include established avenues, such as individuals in human settlements who are on friendly terms with the Dungeon's residents and have a means of contacting them.
2. The Dungeon Master makes an initial determination to accept and approve the request. Rejecting a request here is not uncommon for a variety of reasons.
3. The Dungeon Master records the names of the Adventurers and notifies the Dungeon's residents, simultaneously asking for volunteer defenders. If sufficient defenders are found to satisfy the Dungeon Master needs, then they are set to work preparing defenses for the Run. Noncombatants begin preparing any services they may wish to provide to the Adventurers.
4. The conditions of the Peaceward are negotiated and signed with Mana by all participants. "Negotiations" tend to involve personal choices on what is essentially a checklist, though it's common for Adventurers to discuss amongst themselves what conditions they will or won't take and for Monsters to negotiate squads as a single participant. Different participants may have different conditions under the same Peaceward's contract. These negotiations include the time period in which the Peaceward will be effective after activation and the conditions that terminate it.
5. The Dungeon Master issues final approval and activates the Peaceward.
6. The Adventurers enter the Dungeon, usually as a group, at some point during the approved window, and attempt to defeat the Dungeon's defenses and complete the victory conditions set for them in the Peaceward. Meanwhile, the participating residents of the Dungeon attempt to find and defeat the Adventurers through the methods available to them.
7. The conditions for the termination of the Peaceward are met and its effects end. Participants become immediately aware of this event as the magically-granted ability to distinguish between participants and those who aren't fades rapidly as the Dungeon's magical energies revert to normal.
8. Adventurers leave the Dungeon, often assisted by the Dungeon Master's ability to manipulate the environment. It is unheard of for Adventurers who have adhered to the rules and etiquette a Peaceward to be attacked or otherwise harassed when leaving a Dungeon after a Run. This does not, however, mean that there are no cases of Adventurers *lingering* in a Dungeon afterwards instead of leaving, for their own reasons.
9. The Dungeon residents begin making any repairs and other adjustments needed to set the Dungeon back to its normal condition.

#### Types of Runs

##### Standard Runs

The most commonly authorized type of Dungeon Run, standard Runs involve a usually-small group of Adventurers going through the previously mentioned approval process and with a relatively conventional goal. These pit the Adventurers against the Dungeon's defenses as they would be during a crisis, with the residents given time to prepare to repel an attack.

##### Assaults

Among the most common types of Dungeon Runs, Assaults are nonetheless not widely approved by Dungeon Masters. However, they're among the most effective at displaying the weaknesses of a Dungeon's defenses against unexpected attacks. Assaults occur when a Dungeon Master establishes a "standing" Peaceward that anyone can sign onto without individual negotiations taking place, allowing Adventurers who agree to the conditions to conduct a Run *without having to notify the Dungeon Master*. This means that the Dungeon isn't given preparation time, a chance to gather volunteer defenders, or even *warning* that a Run will happen, let alone when or by whom. Monsters who volunteered under the standing Peaceward must respond to the Adventurers as if they were repelling a surprise attack *because they are.* This is quite popular with Adventurers and is most commonly seen in Dungeons where the Dungeon Master has made a point of establishing some degree of regular defenses and security measures.

##### Delves

Delves may be structured as Assaults or standard Runs but are distinct in that they do not have conventional victory or defeat conditions outside of the invaders' resignation or defeat. In essence, a Delve is a sort of "survival" Run in which the participants try to last as long as possible within the Dungeon. This is normally done for resource collection purposes; the invaders usually try to avoid conflict and instead focus on collecting Hoardgild, especially resources like Elementite and natural resources. Delving is *also* used as a way to covertly immigrate to or hide in a Dungeon, for those who need to disappear without leaving much of a trace. Delves are often something of a hide-and-seek game for their defenders, when the goal isn't to simply let someone quietly disappear into the Dungeon while still sheltering them from, say, Taint.

##### Raids

Massive Runs carried out by large groups that exceed the normal Party size range, Raids are almost always structured around defeating specific targets. These are usually the Floor Masters or Dungeon Master, but may actually be someone else. Raids are an extreme stress test of the Dungeon's defenses, akin to fighting a military force, and thus are seen as important but challenging for the Dungeon's security.

##### Etiquette and Common Practice

* It is often forbidden, and frequently penalized, for participants to cause significant harm to physical structures in a Dungeon. Participants who do so are likely to be banned from further Runs in that Dungeon, be they invaders or defenders. Traps are normally exempted from this rule. Monsters live in their Dungeons; they do not appreciate damage to their homes and property, even if the Dungeon tends to repair structures it has itself produced over time.
* While participants are protected from giving and receiving actual harm from one another and most traps, there are still risks from environmental factors and hazards, such as drowning or death by falling from a height that was not part of a trap for example. In these situations, Peacewards normally stipulate a temporary ceasefire to attempt to rescue those so endangered. Actual deaths invariably end a Run.
* In instances in which Beasts are found within a Dungeon, both sides are expected to cooperate to kill the creature(s) before resuming. As Beasts are not subject to Peacewards, being no party to them, they're as much of a threat to everyone as usual.
* It is customary for Adventurers to determine how they will distribute Hoardgild prior to initiating the Run. It is also customary for Monsters to determine how they will determine sex rights to defeated Adventurers when volunteering. While most Monsters prefer to claim the right to mate with their vanquished foes individually, some choose to operate as a group in order to allow all participants to have a turn with those they defeat, and still others have been known to give the right they won to another individual, often a weaker Monster or one that didn't participate for reasons other than already having a sex partner.
* It is common for nonparticipant Monsters to spectate Dungeon Runs, cheering on both invaders and defenders as they see fit. This can, and often does, include lewd displays meant to distract or entice invaders.
* It is customary for Floor Masters and Dungeon Masters to participate as defenders in Dungeon Runs, even when not seeking sex partners. They are commonly treated as goals for terminating a Peaceward by Adventurers. This causes some Floor Masters, and even some Dungeon Masters, to retire upon finding a suitable mate, or otherwise find a suitable surrogate for the role.
* It is not unheard of for Adventurers to exchange additional sex acts for Hoardgild produced by their own defeats of those of their allies.
* It is common practice to allow Adventurers unwilling to be sexually used by the Monster or Monsters that defeated them to be allowed to buy their chastity through their earned Hoardgild, personal wealth and possessions, and service agreements. Many Monsters request such payments in semen from male Adventurers, insisting on using themselves as masturbation aids in the hope of seducing their prey.
* It is common practice to allow invaders to place privacy restrictions on where they have sex should they be defeated by a Monster during their run. Monsters often lack much of a concept of modesty or public indecency (instead finding public sex somewhat inconvenient, as it tends to trigger orgies among Monsters that witness it) and so are likely willing to have sex with their vanquished opponents on the spot. However, many Adventurers find this disturbing and are usually allowed to specify that such acts occur in the nearest available private space. Some Dungeons even have structures and secluded spaces created specifically for this in recent years.
* It is common practice to allow participants to prohibit specific sex acts from being performed on them should they lose. There must, however, *always* be *something* that can be done with participants of any gender, most commonly manual stimulation. The structure of Dungeon Running does not always result in pairings one would prefer, but Dungeon Masters have generally learned that keeping Adventurers happy keeps them coming back. If participants have *no* compatible approved sex acts, the defeated Adventurer is expected to compensate their vanquisher in some other way.
* It is common for defeated defenders to make themselves immediately available for sex alongside their Hoardgild as a reward for Adventurers that defeat them. That *is* what most defenders agree to participate for, after all, and if they can get it even when they've lost, it might as well be a win. Adventurers who take both Hoardgild and have sex with a defeated foe are often said to have "plundered booty," or gotten "loot and booty." These phrases are thought to be of Wayfarer origin.
* It is poor etiquette to interrupt participants having sex. It is also considered poor etiquette to withdraw from or stop combat or other activities for such an act to begin or finish. It still happens. Monsters sometimes have difficulty containing themselves in this regard, to the point that they may leave or even outright ignore an ongoing battle just to fuck their conquest as soon as possible. This can, and has, led to total collapses of encounters as Monster discipline collapses into the desire to rut, making them easier to fight. Adventurers have been known to exploit this by initiating sex with defeated foes and using the display to break enemy coordination and cohesion.
* It is considered fair play for an Adventurer who has been defeated and "killed" to be "revived" by a companion with healing capabilities to rejoin the Run, even if said companion *does not* possess the sorts of abilities that would be able to revive the dead. This is true of Monsters as well.
* It is common for Dungeon Masters to include an option on Peaceward agreements that can allow Adventurers to be protected from Taint and pregnancy during their Run. This is done in an attempt to reduce aversion to sex with Monsters in the hopes that more Adventurers will participate over time and choose to stay should they lose... or choose to mate with Monsters they've defeated, even just once.
* It is common practice for business-operating Monsters not participating in the defense of their Dungeon to open their shops and services to invading Adventurers as well as the defenders. Since individuals who have agreed to a Peaceward are by their very nature not a threat to the Dungeon and its population, such entrepreneurs have no reason *not* to cater to them. Inns and restaurants within a Dungeon, as well as other shops, are often considered "safe zones" where combat isn't allowed, making it possible for them to serve both invaders and defenders. Inns in particular tend to be favored as places for victorious Monsters to take their conquests for their privacy-seeking rewards.