"For Lord Afrael!" the knight screamed as he the troop of heroes down the long corridor that lead into the dungeon. Just at the side of the brave knight stood Price Afrael, named after his father and new Lord of the Land. Behind them came Guardsmen, knights, dwarves, a pair of wizards, and samurai warriors.
The Imps were waiting eagerly for the chores that would follow the battle, the goblins, trolls, warlocks, salamanders, and the newest addition, the demon spawns, waited eagerly for the heroes to get past the first line of defense, the traps. His minions knew that some of the heroes were to be left alive so that the Keeper could begin the next phase of his dungeon, but not all were to be spared.
***
The Dungeon Heart liked this strategy; it meant the Keeper was still well aware of his position. Attempting to rule a dungeon full of monsters without letting them fulfill their bloodlust would be suicidal. A new creature had since entered the Dungeon, a Bile Demon. These fat demons were wide, had no legs, extremely long arms that they used to push their bulk around, and out of the sides of their heads two long horns protruded that they hung spiked morning star balls from. The last of their power came, nasty enough, from their farts. The creatures could release a gas as corrosive and deadly as a dragons breath. Three of the thick creatures now inhabited the dungeon, and their power was indeed impressive.
The dungeon was expanding nicely now, in addition to the basic rooms of the hatchery, lairs, library, training room, workshop, and treasury, the Keeper had expanded to a combat pit, four guard rooms, a prison, and a torture chamber. With a success against this group of heroes, he expected the Keeper to expand further and hopefully create a Dark Temple and a Scavenger room. Little known to the Keeper, four Dark Knights, accompanied by two Mistresses were waiting just outside the dungeon, waiting to see the results of this battle, to determine if the keeper was worthy of their service.
***
As the Heroes broke through the first door, they stepped into the long tunnel and instantly it was filled with a green noxious gas. Quickly, the wizards found the trap and blasted it away. Further into the tunnel, a bolt of electrical energy flattened one of the knights, but that trap was quickly destroyed by the heroes as well. Then, just before the second door, the boulder trap was released. Four heroes died under the weight of the rolling rock before a wizards spell transformed the rock into mud. Then the second door was reached. The heavy steel door stood strong under the attacks of the heroes, but it eventually fell inwards, and the heroes again moved forward, this time more cautiously.
Behind two secret doors, crafted by the ingenious trolls, the Keepers minions, his soldiers waited eagerly for Keeper Aldain to unlock the doors and release them onto the heroes. In the Keeper's large disembodied hand, the three bile demons waited, they knew the plan and were eager to play their part.
The first heroes had now passed beyond the secret doors and the middle of the group was now lined up with the doors. The keeper unlocked the doors silently and as they slide open silently, his minions surged forward, bloodlust in their screams of battle. As the heroes had their attention pulled to the two sides, Aldain dropped his Bile Demons right in the center of the heroes. The Demons began thrashing their heads, their horns and the heaving morning stars hanging from the flattening heroes to the ground. As their heads mowed down their foes, the bile demons released their deadly gasses.
Fireballs and lightning bolts flew as the Keeper's warlocks engaged in magical battle with the hero wizards. Heroes and Minions alike fell, but the Keeper had his own magic to aid in the melee. Healing spells and attack spells alike covered the melee and in the end, the heroes were soundly defeated and the Keeper lost only a few of his own.
Then came the imps, rounding up first the few heroes that had been beaten, but not yet dead. Then came the corpses, first stripping them of their equipment and any gold they happen to be carrying, then taking their bodies to the graveyard. Then finally, the magical walls and floors of the dungeon absorbed the blood of the battle and the Dungeon Heart hummed with contentment.
Taking a quick look over his minions and making sure they were all healed and ready to go back to work, Aldain then moved to the prison where he found two royal guardsmen, two wizards, three knights, and the prince himself. Three quick healing spells and the Prince and the Guardsmen were fully healed from the battle.
"New Creatures have entered your Dungeon." Aldain heard from the Dungeon Heart. Quickly moving to look at his new additions, there stood a pair of Mistresses and four Dark Knights. With a mental grin, Aldain showed them the dungeon and allowed the dark knights to explore while he went back and gathered up the Prince and the two guardsmen and took them to the Torture Chamber. There, Aldain placed the prince and the two guardsman in the tender care of the mistresses.
***
In the passing of two days, the four knights and the two wizards left in the prison died of starvation and through the magic of the Heart, rose again as skeletons in the service of Aldain. Two more days passed and the mistresses had tortured information from the prince (which he died shortly after) and through their skilled hands had twisted and converted the minds of the guardsmen, and they now patrolled the halls of the Dungeon.
The Heart was becoming more and more satisfied with Aldain. The majority of the minions were now quite skilled in combat, magical research was coming along quite quickly, and the workshop buzzed at a frenzied pace. This land was soon going to belong to the Keeper, and more lands would follow. One more true test was coming, and he was nearly at the gate!
