Oh, I wonder who’s there? It doesn’t feel like elf guy. For one, there’s too many feet. I focus, and see an actual party, neat! First inside is some kind of half-bird person with a bow. Probably their version of elf guy. She has a modest-but-noticeable swell at her chest to make me call her a her under that leather armor. I’d make a white-meat joke, if I could make it not sound cannibalistic.

Behind her is a dwarven fighter. Big beard, big axe, big shield, smol legs: dwarf. Him and the birb give a wary eye around the dawn-lit yard, looking more serious than the elf guy ever did. Behind him comes an elf… or maybe half-elf? She doesn’t look as graceful as elf guy, but definitely has the ears. Maybe it’s because he’s such a high level? Or because he’s a… rogue or something. Either way, she’s definitely a caster. She’s got a blue robe with some embroidery, but not the conical brimmed hat. Her staff is painted white with a bunch of small gems bedazzled at the top. Is she a light mage? Or maybe she’s not specialized? That’d be interesting. I haven’t seen anyone do multiple elements yet.

Wait, they brought the kids? Poe peers down from his nest as he awakens and confirms it: that’s Rhonda and Freddie. It’s not like there’s a second pair of kids with spiders following them around. Fiona, the net-casting ogre-faced spider has gotten a bit bigger, and seems to have marked Freddie’s shield with one of her webs. At least the kid doesn’t seem scared of spiders anymore. Rhonda’s jumping spider, Lucas, is riding on her hat, his big eyes keeping a lookout.

“Did we have to bring them?” asks birb lady, and I agree. I mean, adult supervision is probably a good idea, but that party looks like they want a more traditional dungeon crawling experience. I don’t think bring-your-kids-to-work-day is a thing here.

“Hey,” speaks up Freddie as he looks around. “The only person who's been in and out of here more than us is the Guild Inspector!” I mean… he’s not wrong.

The dwarf chuckles and motions for Freddie to stand next to him. “Alright, Laddie. You’re our guide, so guide us. We’re here t’ take a look ‘round and try n’ see if aught has happened t’yer dungeon between inspections. So, what d’you see?”

Freddie and Rhonda both look around, and their spiders do as well. Aw, they’re so cute. I’m glad they got spiders, the kids have terrible spot checks. Fiona and Lucas have great vision, I just don’t know if they can alert the kids to anything besides simple threats. Rhonda speaks up first.

“Well… there’s a lot more activity outside than there was before. Last time, we didn’t get the feeling of a dungeon until we went inside, but now we feel it passing the gate.”

“Yeah,” continues Freddie, pointing up. “There’s also birds and stuff now, too. Look at the size of that raven up there.” All eyes turn to Poe, who preens himself a bit. No, I don’t think you have a fanclub, Poe. Well, maybe the birb lady. She’s squinting at you.

“Raven Scion. Doesn’t look hostile. You kids said they all were staring at people a week ago?” Huh, I don’t remember that. The kids do, though, and nod their heads.

“Yeah, one afternoon the whole energy of the place shifted. It went back to normal, but people have been nervous ever since.” Rhonda fidgets and leans out like she could see around the house from the gate. “Should we look around a bit more outside before going in?”

Birb and dwarf both nod at that suggestion, and the caster lady speaks up. “Alright, Ragnar and Freddie in front, Yvone, Rhonda, and myself in back.” Freddie looks a bit nervous about that, but doesn’t make any moves to return to the back. Ragnar just smiles and nudges the boy with his shield.

“Ach, dinae worry, lad. If aught happens, I’ll protect ye. It’s m’job, after all!” he says with a laugh, which helps Freddie loosen up a bit. Now, I’m all for a nice field trip and tour, but I need some mana! Where’s my weakest viper… Ah, there you are! You and a couple rats, let’s give the party a nice encounter to gauge their skill.

“Movement,” warns Yvone the birb as she nocks an arrow, and the front line readies their shields. Around the corner come my little chosen fight: a level one viper and two level two rats! Pretty sure elf guy could handle that fight without even batting an eye, but the party seems to be taking it seriously. Or at least taking the viper seriously.

“Leave the snake t’me, lad. I can handle a wee poison. Keep the rats off our squishies, aye?”

“Uh… aye?” Freddie replies. I can practically see his practicing running through his head as he slowly advances. Looks like good form to me, but I haven’t exactly trained with a shield. “Fiona, net the left one.” He hardly finishes before she does just that, immobilizing the one rat, though it doesn’t look like it’ll stick for long.

Ragnar swings at the snake and misses, and takes the counter on his shield, keeping its attention nicely. Freddie is luckier and hits the rat with his hatchet, before Rhonda sends a little icicle to finish the rodent off. Yvone catches my snake with an arrow in the… neck? Do snakes have necks? Not far below the head, and that seems to end the little noodle. I’m a bit sad to see the little guy bite it like that, but I needs me some mana, and he’s given me quite a bit for the cause.

The other caster doesn’t get to do anything before my rat escapes the web, and then escapes the encounter, giving me a nice bit of mana for the whole thing. Elf lady speaks up. “I sensed hardly any malice in that encounter. What do you think, Yvone?”

“No. If the dungeon was murderous, it could have sent far more than a weak viper and a few rats. Just the raven scion up there may be able to handle all of us.” Oh, don’t puff up at that compliment, Poe. You’re probably not *that* tough… though you are level three. I think these guys are level one. I still can’t quite tell.

The encounter finished, the party soon rounds the corner, and I see them all stop and stare. I wonder what has their attention? There’s the ochredill patch by the house, which isn’t anything to be stunned by. They can see the anthill from there, though I don’t think that’s it, either. They can see the hedge maze from there, but it’s hardly knee-high yet. There’s the various herb and tree nodes in there, and the couple chests, too. Maybe they like the look of the chests?

Oh, nope. It’s not that. It’s Tiny. He’s very plainly sunning himself not far from his webbed up copse of trees. Rhonda manages to put to words what everyone is thinking.

“...That’s a big spider.”

“I think that’s the one that was guarding the spell spores the first time,” adds Freddie.

“Well… I dinae think yer dungeon has gone murderous on ye. That thing would’a been a much more deadly fight than the snake and rats.” Everyone nods, and Yvone squints at Tiny.

“That is strange, though. I’ve never heard of a dungeon growing such a large bramble field. Nor having such weak chests guarded by something like that.” Elf lady nods.

“I think that’s a question beyond our expertise. Perhaps we should check the house? If it really has been a while since anyone has delved, there should be some very nice rewards inside.” Oh yes! Poppa needs moar mana! You guys might level from some encounters, too. Hey Poe! Coda! Get me a few weaker fliers inside! I’ma rally the spiders and see if the party knows to look up, and see if the kids learned that lesson.

Turns out, the kids did learn the lesson, and the party hadn’t yet. Thanks to Rhonda and Freddie, they spot the ambush of ceiling spiders. Elf lady gets webbed, but everyone gets out of the fight with all their hp intact, and I get some more mana. Yvone finds the rotten floor board, and the looks on everyone’s faces was worth far more than the mana I got for it.

There is loot a-plenty for them, too, and I think everyone is going to be able to get some kind of upgrade for their gear after this. Rhonda finds some stonelily petals in a drawer and gasps at them, so I guess they’re a good ingredient. I still haven’t found a use for them yet, but I will eventually. Or rather, Queen will, eventually.

At the stairs up, I toss a spider swarm at them. I was starting to get concerned it might be too much for them, until Rhonda and the elf lady cast their spells. Rhonda casts a freezing gale, while the elf calls her spell earth pulse. Then the two raise their implements together and shout “Avalanche!”

For a moment, I’m worried they might have overdone it. I don’t think I’m rated for avalanches. Thankfully, it just seems to be the name for a combined earth/ice spell, and the swarm is frozen and/or squished. I wonder if I should tone things down, but I think that’s about the difficulty I want for a decent encounter for them. The next few are fairly simple: a few bats, a few crows, a dire rat guarding a room with more containers than usual.

While they work on that, I decide to change the encounter in the attic. I like the rat swarm, but I don’t think the party is quite equipped for a boss swarm encounter. If they don’t smoke it like the spiders, everyone will be pretty quickly overwhelmed. Besides, I have a good idea for a different boss.

Ragnar is the first to climb the ladder to the attic, and he goes nice and slow. He’s not exactly a stealth master, but I’m also not exactly going to let the encounter just rush him as soon as he’s spotted. His eyes widen as he sees what I have in store, and he quietly climbs back down the ladder.

“What’d you see?” asks Yvone, and Ragnar exhales. “Two dire rats, lightning enhanced.” Looks are exchanged as everyone weighs their options. On the one hand, there’s a chest up there with quite a bit of loot by now. On the other, there’s some pretty serious potential pain between them and it. Ragnar seems to get an idea.

“Aelara… you know protection from elements, aye? Can y’ teach the lass?”

The elf lady, apparently Aelara, considers that for a few moments. “Perhaps. It’s not a particularly difficult spell. Would your master disapprove, Rhonda?” she asks the girl, not wanting to step on the toes of the one she’s apprenticed to.

“Well… he does believe in learning on the job,” admits Rhonda, and Aelara smiles. “Ah, he sounds wise then. Now, I’ll only be showing you how to protect from electricity for now. You can work against any element, but that will take a bit more time to teach than we have.”

I pay attention, too, and write what I can in my library. Fluffles will be practicing this later, definitely. I’m pretty sure the rats’ lightning will still do some damage to the group, but it should be much more manageable for them now. The casters look pretty tired by the time they’re done, though. “I’m afraid we’ll be down to simple cantrips for the fight itself,” apologizes Aelara, and Rhonda nods. Personally, I’m impressed the kid had enough to cast it on two people.

As the party starts to ascend, Freddie offers a plan. “I think I can keep the attention of one of them, with Lucas and Fiona’s help. You guys can focus on the other with Ragnar, then get mine?” Ragnar chuckles. “They’ll focus yours first, lad. I’m nae gonna let ye try to tank one o’ those for longer than needed.”

Yvone and Aelara nod, and Freddie nods as well. Ragnar is the first to climb onto the landing, and the time for planning is over. I keep the rats from leaping forward, letting the party climb up and organize themselves briefly, then allow the rats to attack.

Yeesh, are those dire rats or pikachus? Definitely glad they had the foresight to protect from lightning. Everyone looks a bit crispier than they’d prefer, but nobody is grievously wounded, even if Ragnar’s beard is smoking. Him and Freddie leap to their plan, and it seems my rats need to recharge after that. Yvone looks like she has something up her sleeve as she takes a few precious seconds to focus on the rat being harried by Freddie and the spiders.

“True Strike!” she shouts before losing the arrow, right into the eye of the one being ganged up on. It had taken a few other attacks from the others while she prepared, and that attack of hers finishes the first dire rat off. Over with Ragnar, I’m not quite sure how he’s doing, actually. He’s been bitten several times, and though he’s bleeding, he’s laughing and I think swearing at the rat in dwarven. He doesn’t look too concerned about his blood slowly leaking out, and it looks like his hp, while below half, are pretty stable there.

Yvone doesn’t have another true strike in her, apparently, but everyone’s combined efforts soon finish the second one off as well. As the mana rolls in for me, I see Ragnar stagger, his hp dipping dangerously. I think he has some ability to let him put off damage for a bit? Aelara is on him quickly, though, and even with only cantrips she gets him stabilized.

“Ach, that was a good fight,” he says, taking a seat on the floor, not even bothering with the chest. Speaking of, I make sure Teemo isn’t planning a hit and run on whoever opens it. I needn’t have worried, though. Looks like he’s in the maze, blazing trails for the thieving dire rats.

Yvone nods, cautiously approaching the chest. “Good thing Aelara insisted we bring our guides. I don’t think we could have handled that on our own.” The two kids exchange looks before Freddie speaks up.

“I… think you would have. Last time we were here, it sounded like a swarm was up here. And you guys haven’t seen what’s in the basement. This dungeon…” he trails off, uncertain of his dungeoneering knowledge. Rhonda, though, soon picks up the slack.

“It doesn’t do normal dungeon things. The first time we were here, we went into the basement to get some spell spores. There was a huge swarm of spiders watching us the whole time, but they didn’t advance. Well, not until I got enough spores for Old Staiven. Then the spider scion crawled out of the wall and the swarm started to advance. We ran. I don’t think they even climbed the stairs to come after us.”

Freddie nods. “Yeah. They had us, but let us go, after scaring us half to death.” He shrugs as Yvone seems to decide the chest is safe, and opens it. “This dungeon’s weird, but I don’t think it wants to just kill people.”

“It’s generous with loot as well,” adds Yvone as she pulls out a nice shield from the chest, and the sound of coins sliding off it as she pulls it out can be heard clearly around the attic.

“That looks like a good shield for Mr. Ragnar,” says Freddie, and the dwarf chuckles and shakes his head. “I’d never hear the end of it if I ever used anything but mah family shield, Laddie. I think it’s about enough to cover yer guide’s fees, though, aye?” he says, looking to the other two adults, who both share a small grin and nod.

“I’m sure we’ll find something in that chest to pay young Rhonda as well.” She holds up her hands before the two can try to refuse. “It’s non-negotiable, young ones. Even if it wasn’t guild policy, none of us would be comfortable with you two not getting at least some share of the loot after putting your lives on the line with us.”

The two kids look a bit bashful about that, I guess they never really considered that their lives could be on the line. I mean, they weren’t. Even if I had to spend all my mana to call the rats off and loot myself for potions, I wouldn’t let the kids get hurt. Still, I like this party. I hope they come back. Good role models for the kids.

They take their time looting and have a bit of a rest to divy everything out. Rhonda gets herself a nice scroll of Frozen Armor, which Aelara says her master should be able to teach her how to transfer it to her spellbook more permanently. Freddie, of course, gets his shield. The party gets most of the coins and potions, which the kids are more than fine with. They have full pockets from the other containers anyway.

They leave, and I send a few blackbirds after them on an expedition to see where they go. Looks like the longest expedition I’ve assigned yet. I also have a huge pile of mana after all that, my core is looking more like a softball now. I’m pretty sure I’ll be fine in the chimney until about basketball size, so I have a fair bit of time left. Still, if people start coming back to delve, I’ll finish the maze sooner than I thought.