After Schnupfen's introduction and recommendation, the shadow ceded the floor to the two goblins, at which point things took an interesting turn. The smaller and more malformed of the two seemed to have a tentative grasp on reality. While she managed to give her name when prompted, the feeble young thing was clearly neither sound of mind nor body, a far more literal newborn than the rest of the newly-summoned dungeon keepers. Schnupfen watched from his dark corner in silent amazement as Zoppy promptly overexerted and exhausted herself, down for the count. If the shadow had any semblance of human empathy, he might have pitied the poor fool, but at the moment the question on his ethereal mind was [i]why?[/i] The spectacle did not inspire a great deal of confidence in the dungeon core, specifically its decision-making process for recruitment, if indeed there was some form of design in play.

Things got even more chaotic when the second goblin, Zogi, jumped in to take responsibility, shift blame, and beg forgiveness for the little mutant's transgressions. To Schnupfen, the senior goblin's kowtowing seemed like a serious overreaction. By her own admission the meek, rather childish dungeon spirit was just a helper after all, more of a clerk than a boss. But...perhaps the old adage about deceiving appearances held sway here? Part of Schnupfen couldn't help but be suspicious. Maybe Zogi knew more about the dungeon's true nature than he let on, and something sinister lurked behind the little creature's furry facade? No, surely not...but just to be sure, Schnupfen resolved to be a bit more respectful. It was no skin off his back, after all, and even in the dark depths of a dungeon the golden rule -treat others how you wish to be treated- shone through.

Compared to those two, the introduction of the Oracle came with all the gravitas that one might expect of such an otherworldly entity. When its scarlet star phased into the core chamber and swept around the room, examining the entity's compatriots, Schnupfen instinctively shrank back from its searing hydrogen gaze. When he pressed himself against the wall, the shadow became two-dimensional, his enormous nose oriented sideways as a handful of eyes manifested in an involuntary defensive response. Starlight and darkness were natural enemies, after all, opposing sides of the same cosmic coin. Fortunately, his fear faded somewhat as the Oracle proceeded to demystify itself a bit, its odd speech patterns, grandiose verbiage, and reliance on dice painting a quainter, quirkier picture than its first impression implied. Still, its ability to manipulate reality -as demonstrated by its pillow conjuration- was nothing to shake a stick at.

It seemed fate was on Schnupfen's side, though, as the Oracle's dice decided upon his own name suggestion, and the dungeon spirit proceeded to adopt it. The shadow's eyes looked a little smug as he drifted back out of his wall, prior to his peepers' de-manifestation. "How serendipitous. 'Kleine' means 'little one', naturally! A term of...endearment, yes." He was somewhat paranoid of her thinking that he might be passive-aggressively mocking her, which wouldn't have been one hundred percent untruthful, but hopefully she -and the others- would assume the best.

In truth, the dungeons' new denizens had bigger fish to fry. After officially receiving the dungeon's authority, which made Schnupfen shiver and sniffle as though as a chill had run down his shadowy spine, Kleine alerted the motley crew of dungeon keepers to an unexpected intrusion. Schnupfen, distracted as he attempted to internalize all the nitty-gritty details, almost didn't hear her at first. Only when he turned his sizable schnoz in the direction of Kleine's weightless scrying mirror, bug a couple eyes out, and behold the young adventurer's foray for himself did the reality of the situation really sink in.

"WHAT!?" Schnupfen manifested several pairs of hands that he clamped to his head as eyes bulged out between his fingers, all pointed in random directions. In that instant he also realized that the boy might even be close enough to hear him, so he reduced his voice to a panicked, incredulous whisper. "There's an intruder already? He's already here? Oh, this is terrible, terrible, terrible! Sure, he looks like your everyday brat, but we're fresh out of the oven ourselves--no mobs, no gear, no traps, no power! It's basically a straight line here! And the closest thing we have to frontline fighters are goblins and a couple of rats? Oh Mother Void, why must you play such tricks on me!?" With a miserable groan, the shadow blew his nose on the rags of his sleeve, then flicked the ectoplasm away. 

He took a deep breath as his eyes closed, his nostrils flaring as he drew in as much air as he could to try and clear his head. "No, no, no, don't despair just yet. All this blasted magic's making my poor head spin. Even if we lack might, we've got the brains to make this happen." He prodded his temples with clawed index fingers from either side, then turned toward the dungeon core. "Not to mention the means. We must make haste and summon as fast as possible. We must requisition variety of minions, items to kit them out, and traps to set up with the time they buy us." Schnupfen glanced at the siphonophore. "Beseech that 'holy Fate' for good fortune on our behalf, won't you, Oracle? Or your reunion with THEM will be expedient." He turned his nose toward the core room's entrance. "I can buy some time. I doubt I can meaningfully harm that jackanapes, but the reverse should be true as well. Today, he will learn that fear has a name--and that it is Schnupfen."

Letting out some snarling, ominous laughter, Schnupfen drifted away into the darkness, headed away from the core chamber and toward the main entrance. Once the dungeon expanded and assumed a more strategically sound, labyrinthine layout, being incorporeal would shave a lot more off his travel time, but he could still move fast, like leaves tumbling on a chilly autumn breeze. He doubted that an ordinary human could glimpse him in the gloom, but nevertheless he avoided the corridor's center, floating in a straight line through each room just under the ceiling until an unmistakably human shape slipped into the radius of his blindsight. Then he stopped, perfectly silent and still, practically imperceptible even if the kid did think to look upward, and took a moment to examine the intruder.

As expected, the situation was bad, not because the adventurer seemed especially capable, confident, or well-armed, but because he still posed a real threat in spite of his paltry abilities and gear. If this dungeon really fell to a brat with a wooden sword, maybe Schnupfen and the others deserved to die. After arriving and finding himself in what appeared to be a dead-end chamber, the boy had evidently been smart, creative, or lucky enough to trial-and-error his way through the first illusory wall. One more, and he would be able to see the core itself. The only thing in his way was his own preconceived notion that a second illusory wall couldn't possibly be directly ahead from the first one.

That, and Schnupfen, of course.

The shadow could waste no more time. As the boy neared the center of the second rightmost chamber, Schnupfen drifted down and around him, giving him a wide berth. His pitch-black claws plucked a small stone from the floor, which he hurled down the hall that the intruder had come through. Thanks to his meager strength it didn't go far, but it made enough of a clatter that the boy stopped cold and whipped around with a sound somewhere between a yelp and a gasp. "Who's there?"

Silence was his only reply. A couple seconds passed before he dared to breath. "Knew I should've brought a torch," he muttered. The little wall sconces made it bright enough that he could find his way, but they left lots of dark corners. When he turned to continue, he heard the sound of claws scraping on stone. This time he rushed toward the wall the sound was coming from, but when he got there he found no sign of any monsters. The next moment, another clatter from a thrown pebble, in front of him this time. "Enough!" he called into the darkness as he stepped forward. He clenched his fist as he waved his sword. "Come out and face me! I'm not scared of you!"

[i][b]"Are you lost, little lamb?"[/b][/i]

The voice was raspy, ethereal, and monstrously inhuman, with only a trace of Schnupfen's accent. It seemed to come from several directions, thanks to the multiple mouths the shadow had manifested on extended arms to whisper with. When he heard it the kid jumped, looking around in all directions to try and pinpoint the source, his teeth clenched as goosebumps races across his skin.

[i][b]"You're awfully far from home,"[/b][/i] the evil voice drawled. [b][i]"Aren't you afraid of the dark?"[/i][/b]

"No!" the boy barked into the darkness, defiant. "I'm not afraid of anyone anymore!" To prove it, he began to move, walking along the room's perimeter with one hand against the wall, trying to feel for illusions.

Schnupfen knew he had to act fast to stop him. He floated down, approaching the adventurer from behind. He wanted to manifest a half-dozen arms and slash him with pitch-black claws, or perhaps close his fingers around the brat's throat and choke the life from him, but if his strength proved insufficient it would only toughen the stubborn kid's resolve. [b][i]"Oh, little lamb,"[/i][/b] he murmured as he reached out to tap the boy on the shoulder. [b][i]"You should be."[/i][/b]

"Aah!"

Alarmed, the adventurer's fight-or-flight reflex kicked in, and he chose fight. He whirled around, and his wooden sword swept through the shadowy, tattered mass of Schnupfen's body. The specter cackled as he cascaded downward, becoming a two-dimensional blotch on the floor beneath and around the intruder. Psychedelic eyes bulged out of the shadow, looking around wildly before fixating on the young man above them. [b][i]"I see you!"[/i][/b]

"Gah! Ahh! Hah! HAH!" The boy went for the eyes, first stabbing at them with his sword, them just stomping on them with his boots. No matter how many times he tried, though, his attacks never seemed to have any effect. If an eye disappeared, a new one just appeared elsewhere in a fantastical game of whack-a-mole. It wasn't long, though, before his panic -and his efforts- began to wane.

Schnupfen's eyes blinked at him. [b][i]"Why have you stopped?"[/i][/b]

"It's a trick," the intruder muttered, his eyes lighting up. "Just like the walls!"

The shadow's eyes narrowed. [b][i]"Oh, foolish little lamb. Your nightmare has only just begun..."[/i][/b]

The adventurer crossed his arms. "If you could actually hurt me, you wouldn't need to try and scare me off!" He began to move. "And like I said before, I'm not scared!"

[i][b]"Wait, hold on-"[/b][/i] Schnupfen's voice started to falter as he hurried to manifest hands that rose from the shadow to grasp at the boy's feet and legs, only for him to kick loose pretty easily. He did stumble, but as luck would have it, he stumbled straight toward the second illusory wall. Schnupfen tried to grab at him to no avail, his voice lapsing completely. "Oh, for fuck's sake..."