It took longer than either of them had anticipated for Vysala to return. By then the sun had sunk low and the moons were plainly visible in the sky, and the Witch was too tired to do much more than crawl into her bed. She didn’t even want to take the shards and advance to Copper - just grumbled some swears before falling asleep.

Zaria understood that limitation of mortals, but it was still vexing. She found herself at an odd impasse - she did not need to sleep. For most dungeons, they could spend this time expanding their area of influence or tinkering with mob set ups, but Zaria had little she wanted to change in that regard.

Zaria could select the Cauldron upgrade right now, see how it worked, but she wanted to wait for Vysala to wake up so they could look over the list together. There were a few minor changes Zaria wanted to make - ideas she was hoping to surprise Vysala with. Those took an hour. So, with nothing else to do, Zaria decided the best option would be to take advantage of the one thing no other dungeon could do.

She went for a walk.

Even though her legs didn’t cramp - in fact, while resting, she could forget they existed - it felt good to stand up and stretch them. She moved carefully to avoid rousing Vysala and then set off to wander the area around the Tower. It sat in the middle of a valley that, in some bygone day, had probably been a forest. Over time, however, the Coven had cut down most of the trees for various construction projects. She kept herself from going too close to the tower to avoid panicking anyone.

Cestmir’s voice in her mind drew her attention.

Zaria admitted.

Cestmir chuckled. He paused.

Zaria did so.

Cestmir said.

Zaria sent him the image of a furrowed brow. anything guarding such an important place?>

Cestmir laughed.

Zaria tried to picture a snake of that length, but her mind failed to impose it upon reality.

Zaria laughed at the thought.

Cestmir said, stressing the change in verbs.

Cestmir, once again, laughed. Cestmir’s focus on Zaria became a bit more intense.

Zaria looked upwards.

Cestmir said.

Zaria sent him a wordless question.

Zaria shifted a bit.

Cestmir granted.

Zaria said. something for me and the moon in the future.>

Cestmir asked.

Zaria said, sending a smile with the words to make it clear she was kidding.

Cestmir sighed.

Cestmir laughed.

Zaria asked.

Zaria said.

One last time, Cestmir chuckled.

Zaria did. The meadows to the south of the Tower were her favorite find of the walk - they were beautifully lush, and swarmed by insects that flashed with light intermittently. She spent a good chunk of time just watching them. They looked like fireflies, but from their behavior, they had more a purpose than the aimless wanderings of those. She followed their path back a bit, staying clear of disturbing any trees, until she saw it - a hive in the branches, full of thousands of the insects blinking on and off.

By then, however, dawn was approaching, and their activity was starting to die down. Zaria headed back to where she’d rested the night before and settled in.

Vysala woke up not long after. Zaria gave her privacy as she dressed and waited for the Witch to emerge. She did so by climbing the ladder to the attic and opening the hatch. She had a bit of smoked meat she’d brought with her, a long tube of jerky that she held in her mouth like a cigar. “Morning. Did you go for a walk last night?” she asked.

Zaria slid into the Babamorph and nodded. “How’d you know?”

“I had a dream I was on a boat. It was nice. My father was a river merchant, and I always slept well on boats.” The witch rubbed her eyes. “Don’t expect me to always be this pleasant in the morning. I’ve been compared to a rabid bear upon waking more than once. I’ve also had people say the comparison was unfavorable - to the bear.”

“Noted. At least you didn’t get a mimic waking you up this time.”

Vysala shuddered. “If that never happens again, I’ll be perfectly content with that. Still. Thank you for the walk. It helped with the nightmares.”

Zaria cocked her head. “Nightmares?”

“I know what becoming your Striga means. I know the things I’ll see. Yesterday drove that home. I’m good at putting it aside when needed. But…” Vysala’s gaze grew distant for a moment, then she shook her head. “It is what it is. So. Do you want to show me the Cauldron?”

“Don’t you want to advance?”

Vysala smiled. “I do, but you don’t sleep. My advancement will take a minute - I’ll be sitting there, staring ahead like a damn fool, as I sort through the options in my head. I already made you wait long enough.”

“Appreciate it,” Zaria said. She pulled up the upgrade menu and selected Baba’s Cauldron. The first prompt told her to select the object that would be her cauldron. Since she’d constructed it the night before, that was no problem. Almost immediately it started to fill with liquid - at the same time, Zaria felt a pull on her core. The fluid filling the cauldron was bright blue. Not the color of water - but actual blue, so striking it was almost opaque.

At the same time, words flooded her vision.

25% of your available mana has been placed into the Cauldron. The Cauldron’s mana regenerates on a per-minute basis, not the per hour of normal dungeon mana, but can only be used to cast cauldron spells. In an emergency, the Cauldron can be overturned, refunding the mana currently inside, but it will not refill until your mana has recharged.

NOTICE: No elemental energies detected. Mana is currently untyped. Place a mob heart of the appropriate element in the Cauldron to unlock hidden spells and modify some existing ones. Please note that cauldron’s element can only be changed once per day. The heart of a Sapient or Beast may unlock additional options.

Available Spells:

Scry: Activating scry allows you to reveal an area of your expanded map, letting you pierce the fog surrounding your vision. Revealed area is visible for one minute. Once revealed, the same area cannot be targeted for 24 hours 10 Mana per use. Neural Hex: You afflict a target with a minor curse. Can be cast on any target you can perceive directly, not via your map or by scrying. The targeted creature gains a chance for any action to cause a slight disrupting in its nervous system, causing motions to momentarily become erratic. Lasts for (1 * Tier, Currently 1) minute. 10 Mana per use. Panic Beasts: You can cause a group of up to (5 * Tier, Currently 5) non-cored animals without a rider you can see, either normally or thought Scry, to become panicked and flee the area, taking the shortest available route away from the nearest Sapient settlement. Any sapient trampled by panicked beasts who suffered lethal damage awards you experience. While the beasts' panic can cause other nearby animals to panic as well, experience is only awarded for those panicked by your spell. Wears off after the animal is one mile from any Sapient settlement or ten minutes have passed, whichever comes first. Panicked beasts gain the benefit of your cauldron’s current element. 10 Mana per use. Enrage Beasts: You can cause a group of up to (2 * Tier, Currently 2) non-cored animals without a rider you can see, either normally or thought Scry, to become enraged and violent, taking the shortest available route to the nearest Sapient settlement or Fissure and attacking the first Sapient or Demon it sees. It will not stop attacking until it or the Sapient are dead. Any Sapient or Demon trampled by enraged beasts who suffered lethal damage awards you experience. While the beasts’ rage can cause other nearby animals to act erratically as well, experience is only awarded for those enraged by your spell. Spell lasts until the Enraged beast has been slain or ten minutes have passed, whichever comes first. Enraged beasts gain the benefit of your cauldron’s current element. 10 Mana per use. Unnerving Dreams: You cause a group of up to (5 * Tier, currently 5) sleeping Sapients to suffering debilitating nightmares. While under the effect of unnerving dreams, the Sapient gains no benefit from sleeping, even if it is cast shortly before they wake up, and the memories of the nightmare do not fade upon waking. Upon afflicting Unnerving dreams on a subject, they are immune to the effects of Unnerving dreams for two nights. 5 Mana per use. Accursed Cackle: Your Babamorph points at the target and cackles. The target is afflicted by an attack associated with your chosen element. Current Effect (Untyped): Malevolent spirits batter your target, bludgeoning them from multiple angles for the duration of your cackle. The target must be able to see or hear your Babamorph for the spell to function. 5 mana per second. Curse the Land: An area of vegetation (20 * Tier, Currently 20) square feet becomes cursed and hostile to any Sapient or Animal that enters it. It takes twice as long for any being to cross this cursed terrain as plants try to constrain their movement. This curse does not impact your Striga, though other allied sapients may be. Lasts one minute. 10 Mana per use. [INSERT HEART TO SEE MORE OPTIONS]

Zaria created a page and transcribed everything for Vysala to read over. The Witch whistled under her breath. “I can see some powerful uses for these.”

“I’m really looking forward to Enrage Beasts,” Zaria said. “Can’t test that one safely here, but… when we’re close by to the Reclaimers, maybe I’ll be able to find a few to drive wild and send in on the heels of the flood.”

“That’d be delightful. If nothing else, they should have horses.” Vysala read a bit more. “I wonder if Panic Beasts can work on ones that are pulling a cart. They’re not technically being ridden, so it could be a loophole we could exploit.”

“Worth testing.” Zaria looked over the list. “Unfortunately, I don’t see many I can actually test this close to the Tower. But I do want to try Scry. I wonder if I can use it through my extended map vision with Cestmir.”

“Can’t hurt to try, right?” Vysala said. “Want me to pick up your core again?”

“I had a better idea last night. Incidentally, moving my core up here without waking you was not easy. You sleep like the dead, though. Didn’t even notice the candleman. But pull that cloth over there.”

Vysala did so. Underneath was a large, crystal orb, set onto a stand that was rooted to the floor so it couldn’t fall over. In the center sat Zaria’s core. With the crystal surrounding it set up the way it was, it magnified her Core, looking like it was many times larger than it had been the night before. “A crystal ball,” Vysala said, a smile spreading across her lips. “I’ll be the envy of the Coven.”

“I thought you might be. And when we need to relocate me, or you need to put the rune on me for the bond, I can just dissolve the crystal and reform it later. I had to leave a hole in the bottom so I’m still connected to the rest of the dungeon - system wouldn’t let me make it a perfect seal.”

Vysala nodded and sat in the chair, looking into the crystal ball. Zaria pulled up her map and focused on the Reclaimer Encampment. Might as well start with their target.

Then she cast Scry.

Instantly the fog surrounding the area vanished, and Zaria could see people. She couldn’t access their nameplates to see their tiers, unfortunately, but she could at least see them. This was, undoubtedly, a military camp, built around a large structure that had to be the entrance to the long-dead dungeon Penara had mentioned. The tents were in neat rows, and men were actively working on walls around them, slowly converting them into something closer to homes. There were no horses Zaria could see.

There was also a tension in the air. The men and women who weren’t at work were all dressed like the five Zaria had seen before. They were standing guard near the dungeon entrance. That must be where the portal was.

Already Zaria was glad she had scried. A problem with the flooding plan was becoming obvious - it could fill the dungeon, burying it under water. They’d have to find a solution for that.

Just as her Scry vision was about to fade, two people came out of the old dungeon. One was a man who radiated confidence. He had to be the leader of the group. The other was… not a man. Not a man at all. It moved more like an ape than a man, walking on its knuckles. There was a chain around its throat, attaching it to the man’s wrist like some kind of shackle.

Most notable, however, were the horns it had in place of eyes. A demon.

Vysala gasped, and Zaria returned to the Babamorph’s body to ball her hands into fists.

The Reclaimers had a tame demon.