Dungeon Master (Karma System)

The first person to fall from a horse at the Dawnhoof Riding Grounds was Perrin.

He accomplished it before the attraction officially opened.

Captain Sylwen had agreed to inspect the course with his party. Perrin mounted the same patient gelding he had ridden on The Elven Road, adjusted his feet as instructed, and announced that the animal already knew him.

The gelding stepped sideways while Perrin was looking at the spectators.

He landed in the grass.

Sylwen looked down from her gray mare. ”It does know you.”

Max stood beside Anna at the edge of the training field. He considered removing Perrin’s fall from the public demonstration record. Then the gate opened and several hundred people entered in time to see Perrin climb back into the saddle.

There was no point.

The Dawnhoof Riding Grounds occupied a wide section of the Sanctuary’s western fields. A stable complex and four fenced training areas stood near the entrance. Beyond them, marked trails spread into the Sanctuary’s different environments.

One climbed the low hills before circling the lake. Another entered the forest and crossed a set of shallow streams. A longer route followed the Sanctuary’s outer edge, entered the Undercity along a broad upper avenue, emerged near the snow mountain, and returned across open grassland.

The trails were not permanent tracks.

Stone markers sank into the ground when a race ended. Temporary bridges folded away. Gates changed which turns remained open. A party could learn how to ride the short hill course without memorizing the route that would appear during the next competition.

Max had no interest in creating horse racing on a clean oval.

The attraction was supposed to teach people how to travel.

A row of rules appeared beside the stable entrance.

[Dawnhoof Riding Grounds]

[Open riding instruction is available each day.]

[Training mounts may only leave the grounds on an active marked trail.]

[Trail races are completed by teams of five.]

[All five riders must finish for a team to receive a completion time.]

[Race routes and obstacles will change.]

[Sanctuary protections remain active.]

The final rule did not prevent someone from falling. It prevented the fall from breaking bones or allowing another rider to trample them. A layer of pale light slowed Perrin before he struck the ground. His pride received no similar protection.

Elven instructors waited inside the fenced areas. They wore Dawnhoof colors without the armor used on Level Three. Each handled a small group based on experience rather than class.

The beginner field filled first.

The riding grounds did not divide lessons by combat class. A warrior’s strength did not teach a horse where to turn. A healer still needed to reach someone without colliding with the rider beside them. Archers and mages could practice using ranged abilities later, but only after they learned to control speed and direction without both hands on the reins.

One heavily armored adventurer asked for a stronger horse before attempting to mount the first one.

The elven instructor looked at the man, looked at the horse, and assigned him a wooden practice saddle that did not move at all. He remained there until he could sit without pulling himself upright by the reins.

No one laughed where the instructor could see them.

Warriors approached the horses as if strength would solve balance. Archers wanted to know when they could practice firing at speed. Mages asked whether the training mounts resisted spells. Healers asked where the animals kept their medical supplies.

The instructors gave all of them the same answer.

”Learn to walk.”

Mira stood beside a chestnut mare and offered it half an apple.

The horse accepted the food, searched her hands for more, and began chewing the end of her sleeve.

”I think she likes me.” Mira said.

Garrick pulled the cloth free. ”She likes the apple.”

Anna had invited them to the opening because Mira had been watching the new gates form from the guesthouse. They joined the public lesson with everyone else.

Mira wore riding trousers purchased from a Sanctuary tailor that morning. Garrick wore the expression of a grandfather calculating every possible way a horse could injure someone under magical protection.

”You do not have to ride.” He told her.

”Neither do you.”

”I am here to make sure you are safe.”

The elven instructor placed him beside an old white gelding that moved slowly enough to make standing still look hurried.

Mira laughed until her mare stole the second apple from her pocket.

Max and Anna entered a smaller field with Quin. Max had tested the rules through the dungeon menu and watched several eternal souls ride the trails before deployment. That did not make the skill appear in his body.

Anna mounted without using the provided step.

Her years with the church had included travel between villages where portals and carriages were unavailable. She adjusted the reins, touched one heel to the mare’s side, and crossed the field at an easy walk.

Max looked at his horse.

”You never mentioned that.”

”You never asked.”

Quin examined his saddle from both sides. ”I have ridden creatures before.”

The black horse assigned to him pinned its ears.

”Were they horses?” Max asked.

”Not exactly.”

”Did they object to being ridden?”

”Frequently.”

Anna returned before Quin could describe them. She helped Max adjust one stirrup and reminded him not to pull both reins every time the horse moved its head.

Max’s first circuit was slow. He did not mind. The attraction did not become less impressive because its creator needed the beginner field.

People still made room when he passed. Several bowed from their saddles with varying success.

”Please keep both hands on the horse.” Max told one adventurer who nearly fell while trying to show respect.

”Yes, Dungeon Master.”

By midday, the instructors allowed Perrin’s party onto the shortest trail.

They had spent the morning repeating formation changes at a walk and then a trot. Their first Level Three attempt taught them that five riders could not behave like five people running beside one another. A horse needed room to turn. A sudden stop affected everyone behind it. Moving toward a threat could open a larger gap somewhere else.

The practice route forced them to learn those lessons without Razorwings overhead.

Five colored posts marked the start. Perrin took the center position instead of automatically leading. The scout rode forward where she could read the terrain. The healer remained behind the shield bearer. Their mage occupied the side with the clearest view over the other riders.

The first obstacle was a fallen tree across the trail.

Perrin tried to jump it.

His gelding stopped.

The other four went around.

Their second circuit was better.

They recognized the narrow bridge before reaching it and crossed in a single line. The scout called a patch of loose stone on the downhill turn. When the mage’s horse became nervous beside the lake, nobody crowded him from behind.

They completed the route without losing a rider.

Their time was terrible.

The board recorded it anyway.

[Practice completion: 38 minutes, 14 seconds.]

[All riders finished.]

Perrin looked at the empty race rankings. ”When does the first real competition begin?”

”Three days.” Sylwen said.

”We can improve in three days.”

His healer guided her mare past him. ”We can learn to stay on the horses in three days.”

”That is an improvement.”

The open lessons continued into the afternoon. Max left the field only after confirming that the attraction worked without his attention.

He met Anna and Quin inside the stable office, where the next part of the system waited.

The Dawnhoof mounts belonged to the attraction. They could not be taken into Corathen. Their purpose was teaching adventurers to use the mounts available on Level Five.

Those required separate rules.

Max opened the proposed mount interface.

[Personal travel mount]

[Noncombat classification]

[Summoning time: 30 seconds]

[Summoning unavailable while combat-locked.]

[Mount will dismiss after receiving significant damage.]

[Dismissal cooldown applies.]

[Mount cannot attack or provide combat skills.]

The exact amount of damage varied by mount quality. A basic horse disappeared after one or two solid hits. Better mounts could survive rough terrain or a glancing attack, but none would carry an adventurer through an active battle.

Dismissal protected the creature from permanent harm. It also removed the rider’s transportation until the cooldown ended.

”People will try to use them as shields,” Quin said.

”Once.” Max replied. ”Then they will walk for the rest of the cooldown.”

Not every animal in Corathen qualified. Ordinary horses, pack lizards, and other living creatures remained part of the persistent world. They needed food and could be injured. Stable owners in major cities would offer personal mount contracts for animals created through the summon system. Other mounts could be earned through quests or faction reputation.

The contract bound the travel form to its owner without turning every creature in the country into something disposable.

Flying mounts used longer summoning times and stricter conditions. Max intended to add them gradually in regions where adventurers could earn them. He did not want new arrivals purchasing wings beside the starter village and flying directly over every road, border, and mountain he built.

Miniature dwarven airships belonged to a different category.

They did not disappear when damaged. They required fuel, maintenance, and a crew of five people who knew how to operate them. If one broke in the wilderness, its owners had to repair it or pay someone to recover it.

”The dwarven dealer approved the prize?” Anna asked.

Max displayed the new notice for the Skyyard’s next Monthly Grand Race.

[Adventurer first-place prize: Twenty-percent purchase voucher for one five-person dwarven airship.]

[Voucher redeemable at the Ironcloud Stronghold dealership.]

[Purchase, crew certification, fuel, and all remaining costs are the responsibility of the winners.]

The discount did not hand anyone an airship. It gave a qualified racing team a reason to travel to a dwarven stronghold and spend a considerable amount of dungeon currency there.

Brakka’s Forgeflight had won the first Grand Race, but the dwarven crew already owned its ship and did not qualify for an adventurer prize. Five Knots had finished less than a quarter of a second behind them. They would have another chance next month.

”What about people who do not own a mount or airship?” Quin asked.

”They can rent a horse, join a caravan, pay for a riverboat, or use the large airships.”

Every major city in Corathen had an airport for full-sized dwarven vessels. They followed dedicated routes and published schedules. A passenger could pay to travel from a big city to the capital or from the capital to a dwarven city. The ship would not divert to a remote ruin, wait for a party’s quest, or make an unscheduled landing beside a village.

Transportation would become an economy rather than a single solution.

Max approved the personal-mount framework. The Corathian stables connected to it one region at a time.

Outside the office, Mira’s mare followed the marked trail at a careful walk. Mira sat straighter than she had that morning. Garrick rode beside her on the old white gelding, one hand close enough to catch her even though the Sanctuary would never let her fall hard enough to need him.

Anna watched them through the window.

”Are you going back out?” Max asked.

”Mira wants to try the lake trail.”

Max looked toward his own horse, which was eating grass beside the fence.

”Slowly?”

Anna smiled. ”Very slowly.”

The dungeon could wait for one circuit.