B8.
This is part of the #Dungeon23 challenge in which you make one room to a dungeon every day for a year. In an effort to link my memories to the creation, I am also writing a personal journal entry with each room that may or may not be related.
You don’t have to read that part.
B8.
There is no door to this room. It’s wide open.
It smells of rotten food, though none is visible.
The floor of this room is covered in a crisscross of thin ropes. The ceiling is filled with sharp metal stuff hanging by the same thin ropes. Trip a wire, trip a sharp pointy object into your dome.
The southern wall has been partially collapsed by rocks emerging through the floor, revealing what was a hallway. The hallway itself has been blocked off by more stone piercing through the floor.
The white painted line that serves as a border between Riglum and Ashfoot territories. This means that this hallway is apart of Ashfoot territory, but can’t be entered or exited without going through Riglum space.
There are two Ashfoot Goblin spies trapped in that hallway.
Sufnin & Bleeks
They were sent to investigate the origins of the brain spider. Unfortunately some of the Ashfoot were turned by the spider, before the Riglum were able to trap it.
Need someone to smuggle them out of here, though whether or not they’d actually repay such a favor is unclear. They’re fucking creepy like that.
Both are being secretly fed by Grg in room B7. Which is driving everyone crazy. They should’ve starved by now. So Ashfoot think they’re some kind of heroes of strong constitution. The Riglum would like to know more but they trapped the room too well to investigate.
2/8/23
My boys had their last day of school in Chicago today. I think this was the toughest day emotionally, but I didn’t see it coming.
For most of the day I was running around. First I had to take my car in to get some it fixed. During my whirlwind 48 hours of driving to my new home and back again, my car stalled out a couple of times. Great timing. So I take it in and it’s a cheap fix, I think, but it’s more time fucking around with something that isn’t packing.
After that I drove out to a suburb where my movers are located to pick up some complimentary boxes. This was kind of my test drive to see if any of the car problems were going to persist. Thankfully nothing happened and that new load was taken off my mind.
By the time all this was over I went to pick my youngest son up from school. He’s in third grade.
When he saw me he ran to me and behind him a large group of classmates ran with him. He gave me a big hug, and when he pulled away several of his close friends swarmed him with more hugs and goodbyes.
I started choking up and realized I was about to start crying in this playground in front of all these kids and their parents. We walked off, tears streaming down my face and my son looked up at me and smiled. He said his friends cried today too. But he knew it was all going to be okay.
I think the gravity of that hit us both because we stopped talking until we got down the block and into the car.
He said “Dad… I got a lump in my throat.”
I reached back and grabbed his calf, because it was the closest body part I could reach and we both smiled and stopped holding back our tears.
I’ll probably explain more over the course of this diary what this city has meant to me, but first in foremost it is where I became a father. It’s where I learned to not be so selfish and really learn sacrifice, responsibility and unconditional love.
I met a lot of people here. People who’ve seen me at my best and at my worst. And I realized I probably won’t see any of them again before I leave.
There’s no time.
And I don’t want to reach out.
Is that Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’ playing in the background?
Yes, damn it. It just queued up in the mix. I can’t change it now. Gotta ride it out. ‘Black Sheep’ by Metric is next.
Anyway… we get home, and my son put his hand on my shoulder and said like some kind of sage, “It’s okay to be sad because it’s going to be okay later.”
I said, “Bro, I just told you that. Earlier.”
“Really?”
I said “Yeah, you didn’t make it up on your own.”
He said “Well it’s good to remember.”
This fuckin’ guy.
So that was today.
See you tomorrow.
-jae
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