It really had not taken much convincing for Nillaren to take his caravan north and up to where Blue was supposed to be located. Not that he could think of disobeying a Summit, but Nillaren had been more than sufficiently impressed by Blue and his Voice. To feel like they were wandering deep inside a dungeon was disturbing, but the subtle differences from the Great Dungeons he was familiar with and the complete lack of any hostile monsters made it bearable.

The friendly monsters, he’d already met.

As the caravan wound its way toward the Surface, he caught a glimpse of their living area and was surprised by how primitive it was. He would have thought that Blue could provide better arrangements for his people. In fact, Nillaren knew that he could provide better arrangements for his people, considering some of what he’d seen inside the Hedron. So why he didn’t for the Scalemind was an odd mystery.

Still, it was a gap that he could exploit, and he added it to his many mental notes to see about trading some architectural expertise the next time he came by. The Scalemind didn’t seem like they would appreciate steel webs like the Leyn did, but there was surely someone in Kallindakari or one of the scattered settlements of the Underneath who had more staid tastes.

The portal to the Surface made Nillaren wonder where, exactly, the Scalemind were located. They’d gone through some odd transitions to get there in the first place, and he could feel the weight of truly mighty mountains above. His feet told him there were thick veins of metal and deposits of gems about, but the Scalemind weren’t digging for them. It was a tremendously rich area, when the north near the Void Great Dungeon was supposed to be a desert.

Since he was being a good and gracious guest, he could only look longingly at the good, smooth stone beneath his feet before stepping through the portal to the Surface. While their maps of the Surface that far north were not very good, and Leyn eyesight was far better up close than far away, Nillaren was very, very certain the towering walls visible in every direction were not supposed to be there. They probably weren’t supposed to be possible.

“Welcome to the Caldera!” Ambassador One-Eye-Green said cheerfully. “Mister Blue has set up places for you to stay, and Voice Shayma said that you can claim any space on the marble. There aren’t any other people yet but there will be! We were a little surprised that you came so quickly.”

“There will be no issues with that,” Nillaren assured her. He’d brought most of his family, save the ones who were recovering, and hired on a number of other lower-caste by special permission from, and the blessing of, Keleeheem himself. They were outfitted for over a year away from any Underneath civilization, provided there was enough hunting around or food and water available for purchase.

Purchasing was the preferred method. They were a trade caravan after all, and when reaching a new market there was always a chance to find some exotic foodstuffs they could take back with them. Besides which, they were not lacking in funds. Keleeheem had loaded them up with a Summit’s ransom, in addition to the investments made by the rest of Nillaren’s family.

He rapped quick orders with his feet, then realized he had to wait for the rest of the caravan to come through for that to be effective. It did take some time, considering how many there were, but once they were all milling about and blinking at the sky overhead he issued orders for them to follow him and One-Eye-Green to the nearest set of buildings.

Pleasingly, they were built and furnished to Underneath aesthetics, lacking windows and having multiple levels with lower ceilings than most Surfacers preferred. The furniture was not exactly luxurious, but most Surfacers didn’t really know how to make a proper hammock anyway and they’d brought their own. The big open spaces and levels below the entrance were more than good enough for them, especially since there was so much room.

Nillaren gave his lower-castes time to secure and furnish the interiors before ordering the caravan to deploy its goods out on the giant market square. Although there was nobody else there yet, that just meant that they had first pick of locations, and the inscribed circles made it clear that location was not arbitrary.

He had to wonder exactly how big a trading concern Blue was expecting with some of the circles, but it didn’t take him very long to find one near the middle that had the appropriate number of subsections and he had people deploy their tents and tables. In most places he might be somewhat worried about the lack of solid walls and the ability to ward off pickpockets and sneak-thieves, but with Blue that was no issue. At least he assumed so. Nillaren certainly didn’t want to be the one to be caught making trouble inside a Power’s domain.

“Caravan leader,” said one of cousins, who was already aspiring to Star. “I would not impugn the Summit’s judgement, but it seems very suspect that there is nobody here.”

“Normally I would agree with you,” Nillaren said, indulging him due to how close he was to rising to the next caste level. “But look around you. Spatial magic on a scale unseen before. That there is nobody here now is no guarantee of the future when he can simply teleport entire cities into the area.”

“That seems a rather prodigal use of mana,” was the response. Nillaren rapped the Facet’s carapace lightly.

“You did notice the portals we came through, didn’t you? Use your thinking parts, not your claws!”

“Yes, Star.” The Facet ducked down and then scurried off to help setting things up. Nillaren sighed, eyeing the massive walls that surrounded them, walls that seemed to hold up the very sky. Hopefully, this trip would open up his family’s minds and not just enrich their purses.