The knights frowned as they dismounted.  The fort should have 
been further along than three rows of stones for the outermost walls, a 
lot of tamped down land and a staircase that led down and out of sight.
	"Lord Antonious?" the youngest and newest knight, Benjamin, 
called.
	"He's obviously not up here, otherwise he would have greeted us, 
Benjamin.  Go and check his basement.  We'll look around." his senior, 
Kevin, ordered.
	Benjamin sighed.  Being the youngest, he was given the most shit 
work when there weren't any squires to hand it off to.  He began 
walking past the wall towards the gaping hole that led below ground 
when he caught sight of something in the wild grass that hadn't yet 
been removed.
	"Hey, isn't this a dwarven axe?" Benjamin asked, hefting the 
object by it's wooden handle.
	Ian and David agreed.  The dwarves were the only ones who 
regularly had double-headed axes.
	"But there's no body or any blood stains on either the axe or the 
ground, meaning they dropped it.  And we all know that a dwarf would 
sooner part with bread than part with his axe, so something must have 
spooked them but good." Kevin commented.
	Benjamin held the axe in his left hand as he descended into the 
basement of Lord Antonious' 'keep', drawing his sword with his right.  
There were only two rooms.  The first was supposedly a food storage, 
but it had been picked clean.  The other was for the Hero Gate, which 
allowed the king's men to enter and begin tunnelling for keepers.
	The Hero Gate was destroyed and Lord Antonious lay dead not five 
feet away.  Benjamin glanced about the area nervously, prodding the 
walls to test if there were any secret doors or hidden traps.  Finally, 
when he couldn't find even one door or trap, he sheathed his sword and 
examined the fallen lord's body.
	The cuts were surrounded by dents or bruises, implying that the 
weapon or weapons used had been somewhat dull or at least not sharpened 
to the degree that Benjamin's own blade was.
	He sighed.  Goblins.  They were one of the few races that 
possessed swords, but lacked the knowledge of keeping the swords sharp.  
Unless they worked with a troll, they tended to bludgeon opponents half 
to death, while nicking them the rest of the way.
	Benjamin growled.  Not good news.  Goblins and dwarves hated each 
other with a vengence, but goblins alone wouldn't have been enough to 
scare dwarves away.  Meaning that something bigger and nastier had been 
down here and that implied a Keeper.
	Benjamin headed up the stairs.  They needed to head for Lord 
Darius' keep and alert the lord of the presense of a keeper.

	Ukyou couldn't help but notice the inherent flaws of the standard 
training rooms.  Which, while versatile in the number of targets, there 
was no real threat and the only things one truly gained from training 
in one was mostly endurance and strength.  Some speed came from dodging 
the heavy maces attached to the arms of the training dummies, but 
ultimately, it was very limited.  The moving targets on the wall taught 
the marksmen and warlocks how to hit opponents that moved, but 
ultimately, it was futile.
	Which was why she changed the training room into something 
more... useful.  It'd taken her a bit of effort, but her control of 
manifestations of her dungeon impressed even Lundar.  Most keepers 
could only affect what appeared more often in say, a torture chamber.
	The goblins that entered her training room were a bit put off as 
the usual training gear was absent.  In it's place were swinging maces 
dangling from the ceiling or sticking from the walls or floor, wooden 
dummies that had automated defenses, and occassional floating disk.  
And that was just the general area, there seemed to be some sort of 
track at the far end of the training room.
	"It's simple.  Dodge the maces, hit the dummy, then run back." 
Ukyou explained.
	The goblins looked hesistantly at each other, before Bagor 
decided to try it.  He raced forward, getting grazed by two of the 
swinging maces before striking the dummy and dashing back, this time 
getting struck in the right arm by a mace, which sent him tumbling to 
the floor.
	"See?  Much more difficult and thus, better training." Ukyou 
declared, before healing Bagor, "Don't worry, I'll be on hand to heal 
you up."
	The goblins decided that if Bagor was confident enough to do it, 
they should try.

	The trip to Lord Darius' had been rather uneventful.  The 
villages seemed quiet and peaceful, but Benjamin couldn't help but get 
the distinct feeling of resentment from the villagers that they'd 
passed on the road.  The townsfolk _did_ seem a bit poorer than 
average.
	And it was quite obvious why as they reached Lord Darius' keep.  
A more appaling display of wasted money had yet to be seen by Benjamin 
as he saw statues, carvings and designs on almost everything in the 
castle.
	The group of knights were led into a dining hall that was massive 
and had two small banners for the King, but sixteen for Darius.  As 
they were seated, Benjamin noticed further how much money Darius had 
wasted.
	The cups had elborate designs of dragons, tigers, wolves and 
such, and they _and_ the silver...nay, GOLDENware were the least 
extravagant items in the entire keep.  Benjamin sat uneasily in his 
seat while his fellow knights seemed to take no notice.  Servants 
entered with platters holding all but the finest of roasts and cooked 
chicken.
	"Pardon my delay.  I just finished dealing with a number of 
artisans to carve my image in white marble." Lord Darius declared, 
smiling confidently as he strode into the dining hall.
	"It is of no trouble." Ian responded, both men missing Benjamin's 
angry glare.
	"Well, then, let's eat.  We can discuss business when we're 
through." Darius answered.
	Benjamin picked half-heartedly at his meal.  The meal itself was 
fine, but the golden utensils were a bit much.  No, everything he'd 
seen was a bit much.  Lord Darius was no doubt taxing his people as 
much as he could to make a grand display for visitors, when it was his 
people that he should be worried about.  Though the people liked King 
Reginald, it was still possible for a lynch mob to storm the fort.
	Lord Avaricious was almost as bad.  The lord had wasted most of 
the money given to him to build his fort on gambling.  All he had 
managed to construct was a basement for his fort and some defenses.  
Were his land not filled with gold, it was likely that his men would've 
left instead of taking IOUs.
	"So, tell me, what is it that has brought you here?" Lord Darius 
inquired.
	"To tell the truth, Lord Darius, we bring news quite foul.  It 
would seem that Lord Antonius was slain by goblins, and his men scared 
off by something even more terrifying.  One dwarf even left his axe 
behind.  The incident has the markings of a keeper all over it and we 
believe that you are the next probable target." Kevin explained.
	Lord Darius' smile faded, "That is indeed foul news.  I'd best 
tell my men to begin searching for such a fiend, lest they ambush us as 
well."
	"We thank you for the meal.  However, we must continue on.  While 
you are indeed the next probable target, the other lords in the 
surrounding lands also need to be warned, in case the keeper tries to 
trick us all by moving at random." Ian stated.
	"Hmm, that is true.  Fare thee well on your journey, good 
knights, and may the next time we meet be under more glad tidings." 
Lord Darius responded.
	Well, Benjamin reflected, Lord Darius had manners, at least.  It 
didn't make up for what he was doing to the villages, but it proved 
that he wasn't without some good qualities.
	Ian turned to Kevin and Ben, "You two head to Lord Constantine's 
Keep Fear.  I'll go and inform Lord Avaricious and David will contact 
Lord Ludwig."
	"Are you sure?" Ben inquired.
	"This news must be spread quickly.  Messengers would move faster, 
but there's the threat of interception by monsters." Ian answered.
	The young knight had to agree.  Even if the roads were peaceful, 
keepers could attack at any time.

	Ukyou took to the library with her warlocks.  It was strange, but 
Lundar had gotten the feeling that she should study magic beyond what 
she would be able to use as a keeper.
	Lundar was even further impressed at her rate of growth in the 
magical arts, as she was wielding spells that even the mightiest of 
warlocks were incapable of using and some spells that were nigh-
legendary back when the Avatar War occurred.  Her skill at using spells 
was so great that she was capable of using spells at less than roughly 
10% of their normal cost with 100% of their effect.
	Such a promising keeper was going to be quite devastating when 
they began the campaigns.  Even the Elite Royal Guard would not stand 
long against her.
	Ukyou, for her part, was growing more and more impatient.  The 
spells were almost too easy to figure out.  It was like reading a "See 
Dick Run" level book.  Even her warlocks were astounded at how fast she 
was learning.  
	Such was the might of their keeper.
	Lundar couldn't help but smile.  A brilliant mind, powerful magic 
and with an army trained much better than average, they would surely 
crush the King's defenses like a boulder crushed an imp.
	Finally, Ukyou got fed up.  She'd learned and committed to memory 
over two hundred spells in these last two weeks and both her goblins 
and warlocks had reached their limit of training using her facility.  
Even her newly created obstacle course, meant to teach teamwork and 
speed of action, were of little challenge to her minions.  She knew how 
to make everything that she would need in the future, including a 
graveyard, prison and torture chamber.
	It was finally time to take care of Lord Darius and continue on 
her path back to her homeworld.

	Lord Darius was not fond of visiting the dwarves that were 
preparing the underground staging post, which would, in time, be used 
to send search parties to seek out and destroy evil keepers.  The 
simple reason was that he disliked dwarves.
	He didn't hate them altogether, but they tended to be rather 
foul-mouthed and disrespectful to a lot of people, Lord Darius 
included.  The only things they really liked were other dwarves and 
people who liked being underground.  They simply tolerated everything 
else.
	That was the most critical and broad view of the dwarves.  They 
also enjoyed good food, drink and anyone else who enjoyed the same 
thing was designated as "drinking buddy".
	One thing dwarves didn't particularly like as a group were 
pretentious twits, like Lord Darius, who wasted his money on a 
aesthetics first, his fashion second, everything else third or lower.  
It was one of the reasons they also didn't like elves, who seemed 
almost afraid to get dirty.
	But, they truly hated goblins, who'd learned that dwarves made 
good things, thus stealing from them got the goblins the same good 
things.  Nearly every goblin clan had gotten half their armor and most 
of their sharper swords from dwarves.
	"How do it go?" Darius inquired.
	The dwarven captain, Gerwall, turned to Darius, "We're almost 
complete.  The gate's support pillars just have to be inspected again 
and then the roof can be placed on it."
	"Good, good, and be on the lookout for keepers.  Send word if you 
see even an imp." Lord Darius began loudly before crouching and 
whispering to the captain, "Word has it that a keeper killed Lord 
Antonius and _something_ scared his dwarves enough for some to leave 
their weapons behind."
	Captain Gerwall frowned.  Dwarves hated leaving behind weapons 
because every dwarf knew how long it took to make a good weapon.  It 
took days to make a good weapon from scratch and only a minute to lose 
it to some thieving goblin.
	Lord Darius returned to his full height, "In any event, should 
evil keepers stalk our land, it is my duty as it's Lord to strike it 
down."
	Lord Darius turned and returned to his keep, leaving Captain 
Gerwall something to consider.

	Benjamin had not been feeling too confident when Kevin had made 
the suggestion that he instead go to see Lord Ironhelm.  Benjamin had 
tried protesting, but Kevin was, while only by a single year, still 
older than him and thus, was designated as their 'leader'.
	No, he wasn't feeling confident at all.
	Then again, it was nice to be alone.  After all, his fellow 
knights weren't around to impress their opinions or shit work on him 
and he felt one knight riding through town was more likely to be 
ignored as an everyday sort of occurance.  There was no need to worry 
the townsfolk into thinking that a battle group was needed to deal with 
anything.
	It was getting late, though.  He decided to stop at an inn for 
the night.  He climbed off his horse and led it to the stable.  An 
eager stableboy appeared.
	"How much to take care of his for tonight?" Benjamin inquired.
	"Six silver, sire." the stableboy answered.
	"I'm a knight, not a Lord, boy.  Take good care of him." Benjamin 
responded, handing the boy a gold piece.
	"But, sire, this is way too much-" the stableboy began.
	"Keep it." Benjamin told the boy.
	"Thank you, milord!" the stableboy called to him.
	Benjamin walked towards the inn proper and was glad to take his 
helmet off.  It was comfortable for the first half-hour, but a 
nightmare in the midday sun.  Unfortunately, he had to get used to 
wearing in all sorts of weather in case monsters attacked.  He couldn't 
afford to stop in battle to take off his helmet and wipe his brow.
	As he entered, he took notice of the low patronage.  There were a 
few goblins in the inn, but so long as they didn't cause trouble, most
humanoids were allowed into small towns like this.  There was also a 
person wearing an all-concealing brown robe sitting in a secluded 
corner, no doubt either trying to be inconspicuous or trying to draw 
attention.  The latter occurred more often by accident.
	The goblins seemed nervous at his presense and though the robed 
figure didn't appear to be nervous, Benjamin could tell that they'd 
gripped their mug's handle a bit tighter.  No doubt, both groups 
expected him to start something.
	"Innkeeper, a room.  I don't care what it's like, so long as the 
bed is clean." Benjamin told the man at the bar.
	"I'll get a boy on it right away." the innkeeper answered 
quickly, no doubt equally nervous that trouble may start, "Can I get 
you anything else?"
	"Aye, a round for the entire house." Benjamin declared, handing 
the innkeeper four gold coins.
	The innkeeper looked at him nervously and whispered, "Shall I-"
	"Whatever you can pour in the open.  I have been riding all day 
and the last thing I desire is any kind of trouble.  I'd rather take a 
nap in your stable than start anything." Benjamin answered, loud enough 
for the entire inn to hear.
	With that, Benjamin found a seat facing away from the door and 
sat down, before setting his helmet on the table, reclining slightly 
and closing his eyes.  He could sense that the goblins and the 
myserious robed person had relaxed when the barkeep poured their mugs 
in the open.  The tension had been cut in half.
	"Milord..." the innkeeper began.
	"Is that room ready?" Benjamin asked, opening his eyes with some 
effort.
	The innkeeper nodded.
	"Very well, then, I shall retire." Benjamin stated, standing, 
collecting his helmet and following the innkeeper to the prepared 
bedroom.

	The battle had been short and brutal.  There were mighty dwarven 
warriors, make no mistake, but none were in Lord Darius' employment.
	Lord Darius himself had been surprised at how powerful the 
goblins and warlocks had been, prior to his death.  Ordinarily, when 
goblins and warlocks worked together, there were always a few mishaps, 
fireballs hitting goblins instead of dwarves, or goblins not protecting 
warlocks from a charge, allowing the heroes to capitalize on the mistakes and win the battle.
	There had been no mistakes.  The warlocks gave warnings, allowing 
the goblins to duck or move aside, and the goblins blocked passage to 
all.  And that had been just their tactics.  Their actual fighting 
skills had been astonishing.
	Normal goblins charged and beat at an opponent until they or 
their foe were dead.  The goblins under the keeper's control had slid 
in, struck quickly, then backed away before counteracts could be made, 
only to repeat the tactic again and again, inbetween dodging fireballs.
	Sadly, Lord Darius was rotting in a graveyard while his keep was 
being captured and his dwarves were being converted.
	Ukyou had been a bit uneasy about actual killing.  However, as 
Lundar had pointed out, the likelyhood of Lord Darius joining her were 
low.  And even if he did join, he would likely be more of a problem 
than an aid.
	The keep had literally no defenses, save the dwarves and Darius.  
Literally no one else had any fighting capability at all.  Which had 
been quite pitiful.
	The keep was well designed, but as Ukyou surveyed her winnings, 
she found herself ordering imps to take everything Darius had purchased 
and put it to better use.  The banners would become sewing thread to 
repair clothing, the gold would be melted into coins, the kitchen staff 
would make normal meals and the scupltures would be sold to merchants 
who wanted them.
	"The second portal gem is now ours." Lundar declared.
	"That's nice." Ukyou responded, non-chalantly.
	"You don't seem too pleased, keeper." Lundar commented.
	"Sorry, it's just that... this guy's keep looks like the innards 
alone cost millions more than the construction.  And to think that he 
was supposed to be responsible for guarding all of Sing Song against 
keepers, when all he had to defend it were some dwarves and himself." 
Ukyou commented.
	"Indeed.  With all the money that went into purchasing all this, 
he could have hired an entire battalion of mercenaries to do his 
fighting for him." Lundar agreed.
	"And we wouldn't have done nearly as well." Ukyou commented.
	Lundar murmurred an agreement, "Lord Antonius at least had the 
excuse that his keep was still under construction."

	It hadn't taken Benjamin very long to eat or head into the city 
to buy food for his trip and it had taken even less time to figure out 
that he was being followed by the mysterious robed figure from the 
previous night.
	It was usually the case when one did nothing that was expected 
that one attracted attention.  Benjamin had drawn the attention of the 
mysterious figure by not starting a fight and instead buying everyone 
drinks before going to bed and actually sleeping.
	However, the town was rather busy that morning and as Benjamin 
turned a corner with his food in a handy sack, he bumped into the 
mysterious figure, knocking them onto their rump and causing their hood 
to fall back, revealing a rather beautiful woman.  He also caught a 
small glimpse of black latex boots, indicating that the woman was 
likely a Mistress.
	"I'm so sorry, I should have looked where I was going." Benjamin 
apologized before helping the woman up.
	"Good day." Benjamin told her, stepping around and heading for 
the stable where he'd left his horse.
	He stopped when he felt arms wrap around his torso and a blade 
press against his throat, "You did that on purpose."
	"No, I did that by accident.  I knew you were following me, but 
as I said the night before, I have no desire to start a fight." 
Benjamin answered calmly.
	"Don't give me that.  Every other knight-" she began.
	"That's every other knight.  I am _not_ every other knight.  I 
have no desire to start a quarrel." Benjamin answered, resuming his 
walk to the stables.
	"Stop!" she yelped, moving her claws away from his throat, before 
she lost her grip on him and fell to her rump again.  He paused and 
turned back to her.  He gripped her by the shoulders and hoisted her up 
to her feet, before letting her go.
	"I told you, I have no desire to start a quarrel." Benjamin told 
her, before turning back and walking to the stables.
	She watched him leave and retracted her claws, before stroking 
her chin thoughtfully.  He had been telling the truth the entire time, 
especially the part about not being like every other knight.  Any other 
knight would have attacked her right back the instant she tailed or 
threatened them.
	He was definitely worth watching, she decided with a smile.  Oh 
yes, he would be worth watching.  When Dominique found someone 
interesting, they rarely disappointed her.

=======================================================================

	Next time on Dungeon Keeper Ukyou!
	Ukyou's assault continues with Lord Avaricious and Lord Ludwig!
	Kevin finds out a disturbing fact about Lord Constantine!
	Benjamin meets with Lord Ironhelm and continues on!
	And we find more alterations to Ukyou's dungeon!