===========================================================	Dungeon Keeper Ranma
	Chapter 05: Captured
	By A-kun
	===========================================================

	There were few creatures referred to as the Elite.  In fact, one 
could usually name an elite creature, if one tried.  However, the 
elites could not be enticed to join just ANYONE so easily.  It took 
more than raw cash.
	It took a personalized room, special attention to their ELITE 
standing (meaning much higher pay for doing equal work) and many other 
annoying things.  In all, it was like having an uptight and arrogant 
asshole of an employee who knew they were better than everything you 
had and took more than full advantage of it.
	Take for instance, the reknowned dark knight, Kaleb; the King of 
rogues, Gervaise; the Duke of vampires, Kessler van Doom; and the 
Skeleton Lord, Bane.
	Most keepers usually got annoyed as all hell with theirs and 
either fired them or sent them the most dangerous missions they could 
get to justify their expense.  Elites knew this usually came, and 
either never came back or managed to finish the mission, then demanded 
triple their normal inflated salary because of the danger involved.
	This lead to them being fired quite often.
	There were some elites that weren't arrogant, just demanding.  
These elites were more often tolerated, but not often.
	Take, for instance, the master warlock, Almeric.  He was a genius 
when it came to tactical movements and had directed many successful 
attacks.  Unfortunately, his daily cost of 1,000 gold was a bit 
expensive.  He was usually hired on for an important battle.  It saved 
the average keeper quite a bit on daily expenses, but the cost of 9,800 
gold for a one time fee was almost as painful.
	There was the great goblin fighter, Grubb, who wanted a large 
room and his own food supply.  The elite troll Knud and the elite Bile 
Demon Bloz were reknowned for their smithing talents, but Knud wanted 
his own workshop and room and Bloz wanted a ton of food (even for Bile 
Demons).
	And then, there were the elites who allowed some negotiation in 
their fees.
	The salamander, Furnace, had to have his own training room and 
lair, but he lessened his fee if his lair was near a lava flow.  The 
mistress, Dominique, desired her own torture chamber and her choice of 
prisoners to 'keep'.  If no questions were asked, her fee was fairly 
low.
	The dark elf, Zenobia, enjoyed training while on the job.  If her 
demands were met, she was more than just a good guard.  She'd 
slaughtered many thieves and rogues trying to sneak past her.
	Indeed, for all of the trouble one had in keeping them happy, an 
elite could be well worth the expense to entice them.  They never 
questioned one's mission, so long as they were sufficiently well off.

	Ranma considered the dark elf before him.  He'd heard of Zenobia, 
the only dark elf who had long luscious black hair, keen eyesight, and 
a desire for combat that was said to rival that of a dark knight or 
dark angel.
	"I see..." Ranma commented.  He couldn't see why, though.
	The idea of a dark elf wanting to join his ranks wasn't anywhere 
near insane.  Her price was, for the most part, reasonable, and he 
couldn't, for the life of him, think of a reason not to hire her.  
After all, her fee was only slightly more than the usual.  And her 
reputation proceeded her.
	But as far as Ranma had heard, elites didn't usually come and 
_request_ employment.  They usually had to be contacted with an offer, 
and if they were already employed, the offer had to be better than 
their current employment.
	Ranma decided to shrug it off.  He had more than a fair number of 
recruits these days, what with the steady advancement of his army, and 
the concept that he'd enticed an elite to join him through his own 
reputation was reasonable enough.
	"Very well.  I agree to your terms.  I'll have a guard post made 
with your specifications by tomorrow." Ranma answered.
	Zenobia smiled, "It will be a pleasure to work for you, Keeper 
Ranma.  I know it will be."
	Ranma watched her leave with a bit of confusion, but he chose to 
ignored it.
	"Now, the next portal gem..." Ranma murmurred, fingering the 
half-completed gate gem that he kept in an extra-dimensional pocket.
	"There are four rival keepers this time, Keeper.  One of them has 
the portal gem, so we will have to crush all of them." Lundar 
explained.
	Ranma frowned slightly, "I suppose we will.  Prepare an invasion 
group.  We're going to make this swift and painful."

	Princess Mina was outraged.  Lord Titus had sent word of his 
defeat at the hands of Ranma's growing forces, and of Ranma's request 
for peace in exchange for the remaining portal gems.  And she could see 
from her family's reactions, they were equally angry.  Her three 
brothers clenched their swords, her two sisters looked indignant and 
her father... his expression was that of pure fury.
	"The very nerve of this keeper 'Ranma'!  To ask for the most 
sacred artifacts in this land as if they were mere baubles!  Contact 
our remaining lords and tell them to increase their numbers 
immediately!  We'll crush this fool while the kingdom is still 
salvageable!" King Reginald ordered.
	"Yes, my liege!" the messenger responded.
	The warrior king motioned to his entire court, "Leave me be!  I 
need time to calm down!"
	As soon as the door closed behind his third son, Reginald's angry 
face became one of depression.  He knew his forces were no longer 
strong enough.  When he'd strode forth over forty years ago to crush 
the keepers of the land, he and his men had been in their prime.  Now, 
he had few friends left and his portal gems, the family heirlooms that 
he had been hoping to use to reconstruct the entire continent into a 
strong kingdom, were scattered about the land.  Only five of the gems 
were not already in the hands of evil.
	Reginald hoped that Lord Tiberius or Lord Volstag could end 
Ranma's reign of terror.  If they couldn't, there were precious few 
that could.

	It had been one month since the utter destruction of keepers 
Morgana, Drakon, Mayl, Bruxiel, Malachi and Malleus.  One would say 
that it was a quick set of victories.  Ranma would agree.
	The advance, since Lord Titus sent word of the King's negative 
response to the peaceful conclusion, had left Ranma rather unfeeling 
towards the imminent destruction of Reginald's kingdom.  He'd also 
developed a rather vicious method to deal with his 'fellow' keepers, 
all of whom were deplorable insects that deserved worse than their 
eventual banishment.
	The spark had started back in the five-way battle between Ranma, 
Morgana, Drakon, Mayl and Bruxiel.  Ranma had been leading one of the 
major assaults on the enemy when he'd found Bruxiel's prison and 
torture chambers.
	In Ranma's mind, there was a significant difference between 
capturing an enemy fighter and capturing civilians.  Bruxiel's prison 
was full of children and terrified mothers.  His torture chamber had 
three farmers and several of their sons.  All of whom knew about as 
much about fighting as Ranma knew about quantum physics.
	Save for Drakon and Malleus, all of the keepers had done the 
same.  Drakon and Malleus, however, had simply killed villagers and 
left their corpses in graveyards to entice vampires to join them.
	Ranma had since developed a hatred for his 'fellow' keepers.
	But since the fall of the first two groups of keepers, he'd been 
hearing rumors of a powerful family of keepers, lead by an old keeper 
known as Nemesis.  Until Ranma came along, Nemesis had been the primary 
opponent to the king and his men.
	Now, Nemesis was yesterday's news.  Ranma had claimed over half 
of the continent while the most Nemesis had managed was 1/4th before 
being driven back.
	"Keeper," Lunder spoke up, catching Ranma's attention.
	He turned from his ruminations to see Lundar and Horny standing 
side by side.
	"What is it?" Ranma inquired.
	Horny marched forward and handed a small amulet to Ranma, before 
giving Ranma a lopsided smile and kneeling.
	"Horny has finally decided that you are worthy of being his 
keeper.  That amulet will let you summon him to any land that you lay 
claim to." Lundar answered.
	"That's great, big guy.  Nice to have you on the team.  And it 
couldn't have come at a better time.  My knights tell me that Lord 
Tiberius is an awesome fighter.  We'll need your strength to take him 
down." Ranma replied, putting the amulet next to the gate gem.
	"Keeper, you should be wary when using that amulet.  Sending 
Horny requires a lot of power.  Roughly half of the temporary Dungeon 
Heart's full capacity, to be exact." Lundar explained.
	"Right.  I'll try and keep that in mind." Ranma responded.

	Lord Volstag was not hungry, but he forced himself to eat, 
regardless.  The three princesses of King Reginald had come to visit 
his fortress, without protection, while Keeper Ranma was said to be at 
the edges of his territory.  And considering that Lord Tiberius had 
sent word of the same thing a day before his keep was reported to have 
fallen, Volstag was right to worry.
	Worse, the princesses seemed less than willing to leave, even 
with the threat of doom hovering nearby.  Unlike Reginald's sons, who 
were all trained as swordsmen, Reginald's daughters, Honey, Mina and 
Relena, had split up their interests into swordsmanship, sorcery and 
priestesshood respectively.
	As a team, they were not half bad.  Prior to Ranma's rising, 
they'd aided in the destruction of a keeper known as Gargoyle, who had 
relied heavily on magical traps and doors, and very little on his 
actual forces.  Of course, his forces had been the first to die, half 
from starvation during the fight and the other half from a combination 
of injuries and disease.  Even his skeletons had been rotting away, 
which should not have been possible.
	Still, the victory was enough to allow them the opportunity to 
act on their own.
	Lord Volstag was still not comforted.  If Ranma claimed his keep, 
he didn't want to be remembered as "the blithering idiot who allowed 
King Reginald's daughters to be captured/killed".
	"You seem uneasy, Lord Volstag." Mina commented, twirling a lock 
of long golden hair with idle interest as she picked at her meal.  Lord 
Volstag had, despite himself, had his chefs splurge on an elegant meal.  
The last thing he wanted to do was insult the King's daughters with a 
mundane meal.
	Little did he knew that a mundane meal was precisely what the 
princesses wanted.  Eating elegant meals while others made without 
didn't please them in the least.
	"I know you think it rude of me, princess, but I cannot help but 
feel uneasy with Ranma's forces on the edge of my domain.  Tiberius was 
no less prepared than I and he fell in a single day." Lord Volstag 
responded.
	"Surely you aren't worried." the golden-haired Honey huffed.
	"HE HAS CONQUERED OVER TWO-THIRDS OF THE CONTINENT!  IF NOW IS 
NOT THE TIME TO WORRY, THEN WHEN IS?!" Volstag demanded angrily.
	"He's only a single keeper.  Surely when he and Nemesis clash, 
they will annihilate each other." Honey responded.
	"Princess, one should never rely on one's other enemies to 
eliminate one's most dangerous enemy.  Nemesis, at his height, had one-
fourth of the continent, but fell when trying to expand it further 
because he had neither the money nor the manpower.  Ranma has most of 
the continent and has yet to be held even once." Volstag answered.
	The brown-haired sister, Relena, spoke up, "He's right.  Ranma's 
forces are well-trained.  Nemesis got too big for his britches, but 
Ranma is much more cautious.  He turns his enemies into his allies and 
strikes fear into our most valiant.  I'm glad he has yet to turn to the 
undead for power, for then he would have unlimited soldiers to dispose 
against our warriors." Relena commented.
	"Thank you, Princess Relena, it is nice to see one of you three 
are keeping Ranma's achievements in mind." Lord Volstag stated.
	 "Sir!  An advance unit of dark knights is approaching!" a guard 
called, barely containing his hysterical fear.
	"Then we'll simply have to see how good they are when they're 
ambushed." Mina commented.
	Lord Volstag paused on his way to the door as he heard that 
comment.
	"What?" Volstag asked.
	"Surely you don't think our father would send us unguarded at a 
time like this.  We are good, but we know better than that.  Our elite 
guards have been waiting for a chance like this to see if Ranma's men 
are truly as powerful as he has lead us to believe." Mina replied 
nonchalantly.
	"SIR!  We...we've captured his dark knights!" another guard, much 
more surprised and hysterical than the first, announced.
	"I guess we should greet them." Honey commented, standing.
	The other two princess rose and nodded.

	"Ranchan?" Maidel asked.
	"Yeah?" Ranma inquired as he recuperated.
	He gazed down to see a concerned look on Maidel's face, "What?"
	Maidel looked up into his blue-grey eyes, "Well, it's just 
that... it's really good when we're doing it, but... can we try it when 
we're both girls?"
	"Huh?" Ranma asked.
	"I'd really like to have sex with you when we're both girls." 
Maidel answered.
	Before Ranma could even think of a response, Lundar hurried into 
the room, "Keeper, your dark knights were ambushed by Lord Volstag's 
men!"
	"WHAT?!" Ranma snarled, all but leaping out of bed.  A snap of 
his fingers, he was dressed and at his Dungeon Heart with Lundar.  He 
focused on the leader of the black knights he'd sent and instantly saw 
them being hauled into Volstag's fortress.  Worse, he couldn't call 
them back because their combined lifeforce was very low.
	"He dares attack a diplomatic envoy?  I'll kill him myself!" 
Ranma seethed.
	Ranma was angry.  No, he was beyond angry.  Angry would've meant 
someone would just get beaten up.  Ranma was furious.  Volstag had the 
audacity to ambush his men and take them captive!  This insult would 
not go unpunished!
	"HORNY!  We're going to pound some ass!" Ranma snarled.
	"Excellent, I've been feeling a bit randy." Horny chuckled.
	That made Ranma pause, despite his anger.
	"......... do you have to live up to your nickname?" Ranma asked.
	Horny simply gave a toothy grin.
	"Come on, we've got to gather a strike team." Ranma declared.

	When they arrived in the courtyard, they saw several black 
knights on their knees with their helmets removed.  Scorch marks were 
visible on their black armor, if only because their normal armor was 
much more polished.
	One gazed, no, glared up at Lord Volstag and the princesses, "We 
came on a mission of peace, you nincompoops!  We were here to offer you 
a peaceful resolution in exchange for the portal gem!  But, now, you're 
all screwed!"
	"What makes you so certain of that, dark knight?" Mina huffed.
	"Because not only do we make up less than even an eighth of his 
dark knights, we were also caught off-guard.  When Ranma comes, and 
believe me, he will come, he'll be most furious at your less than 
honorable attack." the leader spat back.
	Honey and Mina laughed.
	"In fact," another commented with a wide grin, "he'll probably 
bring the Reaper with him."
	That brought all of the laughter to a halt.  Relena stared at the 
man, "The Reaper?"
	"Horny to us, he's our pal." a third spoke up.
	There was an old legend of a master Keeper who had once conquered 
the entire continent, just like Ranma was close to doing.  He had a 
powerful and nearly invulnerable warrior-servant who was only 
remembered as The Reaper.  Old age, though, was said to be the downfall 
of the keeper and he was beaten back when his health failed until he 
was but a memory.
	But The Reaper was still remembered.  It was his name that used 
to scare children into behaving.  And it was said that very few 
warriors possessed the power to slow him, let alone beat him.  But the 
Reaper had to be over five hundred years old, too old even for most 
demons to still have their full power.
	"That's impossible!" Honey snapped suddenly, "The Reaper was 
slain hundreds of years ago, along with his keeper."
	The lead dark knight sneered back, "Slain?  The Reaper is 
immortal, princess.  And now he's coming to get you...  And he's not 
the most dangerous.  Ranma is."
	Lord Volstag felt a knot form in his stomach.  Ranma would come.  
And Volstag knew he was no match for the keeper.

	Volstag's fortress was under siege in less than two hours after 
the capture of Ranma's dark knights.  Lord Volstag knew his instincts 
had been right.  It was a pity he was now dead on the floor.
	Mina cast another fireball down the corridor, then ducked aside 
as several more flew back.  Honey growled in impotent fury as arrows 
and lightning followed the hail of fireballs while Relena prayed to her 
goddess above that they wouldn't die.
	They'd taken refuge near one of the prisons, hoping against hope 
that Ranma wouldn't be thorough in his sweep and they could get away.
	No such luck.
	Ranma's forces watched from above to make sure no one escaped 
above ground and his forces below ground were trained to make clean 
sweeps.
	"Great plan, Honey.  Let's set an ambush for a dangerous and 
overly powerful keeper!" Mina snapped at her sister.
	Honey glared at her blonde sister, "I wasn't the one who thought 
we should set up an ambush _above_ ground!"
	"Please!  If we're going to die, let's not fight!" Relena begged.
	The sound of metal boots coming down the corridor echoed like a 
clock about to strike twelve in the dead of night.
	"HIYAH!" Honey cried, swinging her blade at neck level.
	The imp wearing metal boots chittered out a laugh as Honey's 
blade missed completely and rolled away before the angry swordswoman 
could attack.  Then, Honey noticed her sword was missing something.  
The blade.
	Horny smiled pleasantly at the blonde while holding the blade to 
Honey's sword.  Honey whimpered and backed away, but caught the heavy 
end of Horny's scythe.  She let out a "whuffle" as her lungs were 
vacated of air and fell to the floor, gasping for breath.
	Twirling his scythe nonchalantly, Horny caught Relena under the 
chin and struck Mina on top of her head with the not-pointy end of his 
scythe.
	"I swear, Ranma is the softest keeper I know.  But, he's also one 
of the best." Horny commented, before knocking Honey out.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

	Next time, Ranma has the three princesses of King Reginald and 
Reginald wants them back.  But two rival keepers also want the 
princesses.  It's a four-way battle of large proportions as Ranma takes 
on Keeper Geld, Keeper Ventrius and Lord Pureheart!

	Easy Cheat: Win the level automatically by pressing CTRL+ALT+C at 
the same time, then type in "do<space bar>not<space bar>fear<space bar>
the<space bar>reaper".  If you've done it correctly, the movie-style 
margins will appear.  You'll only get points for what you've 
accomplished, which will look mighty tiny if you use this at the start 
of the level.
	If a fight breaks out on your territory, your imps can drag any 
of your fallen allies back to their lair to recover.  This is a 
lifesaver on levels where you don't get a portal.

	Each of the hidden lands in the game have a little mini-game 
inside of them.  The narrator says they're supposed to be for 
'relaxation', but they're rather nerve-wracking.  These are rather hard 
to master and require a lot of retries to win.  If you start to doubt 
your ability to win, use the "do not fear the reaper" cheat.  The level 
will end and you'll get points for what you've managed to accomplish.
	Secret Land #1 - The level titled "Fear" (Level 3? 5?).  A game 
of Golf with Boulders.  You've only got two and a half minutes to play.
	Secret Land #2 - The level titled "Caverns" (Level 7?).  
Duckshoot with a possessed Warlock.  To win more easily, use the cheat 
"feel the power".  A time limit is given before two Level 5 knights 
charge you from opposite ends of the room.
	Secret Land #3 - The level titled "Smashing" (Level 10?).  You 
possess a Dark Angel to go through a maze.  To win more easily, use the 
cheat "feel the power".
	Secret Land #4 - The level titled "Conversion" (Level 13?).  
Crush the dwarves with the boulders.  You've only got six minutes.
	Secret Land #5 - You must set your computer to a day with a Full 
Moon.  I kid you not.  You only get one salamander to protect your land 
from an endless hoard of thirty enemy imps and you can't lose more than 
two rooms.  I usually use "ha ha thisaway ha ha thataway" and "i 
believe its magic", then summon a ton of imps before using "feel the 
power"  I send the imps after their evil counterparts and keep making 
more.

	Next Time: Hints on better building and the necessary parts!