Alright, Neverrest, knock it off. I know those various undead trying to get in are from you, not from just other underground stuff. I know it’s probing me, trying to figure out what’s up with me, so I do my best to be inconsistent. I leave Jello in what appears to be the most direct tunnel connecting us, only having her move to let a few of my own expedition bats down the tunnel, and to return.

If I’m reading the map right, which is a big if, admittedly, that tunnel seems to run more or less straight towards Neverrest. I’ve seen a few other hands in the tunnels, though, so I know there’s more than one route. I mostly let the various slimes deal with them, not wanting to tip my hand too much about what I have available.

Some manage to get deep enough that I can have spiders get them. It’s a bit nerve-wracking to let them get that close to my Sanctum, but there’s no real risk of it being discovered. There’s just too many spiders around from the spawner for any hand to have a chance at getting in. I hope.

In an attempt to get a better idea of what I’m dealing with, I even decide to send Teemo on an expedition to scout what he can and return quickly. It costs a fair bit of mana to send him out, but I’m confident the little guy can sneak in better than the bats and get me more information than just where our borders sit.

While he and the kids and Aranya are out, I try to keep myself occupied with running dungeon stuff. That doesn’t take very much of my attention, though. Woe is me, I have too competent of scions and everything is running like a Swiss clock!

Coda is still minding the various herbalism nodes, between organizing the subterranean bats. Tiny is doing his thing in the maze. Delvers have actually gotten brave enough to run multiple parties at a time, trusting in safety in numbers. One group of each set is practically guaranteed to be captured, but the total mana from them gathering stuff has increased, so I’m not gonna complain.

Poe has been keeping track of the yard and my birb expeditions, and has been helping map out Neverrest’s borders and what can be seen from the sky. By all accounts, it’s a typical large cemetery with gravestones and the occasional mausoleum. One or multiple of them probably have tunnel access, but we don’t have any way to tell from the sky.

Jello is just happily eating whatever undead try to get through her tunnel, and the numbers are slowly increasing. I don’t like it, but there’s not a lot I can do about it yet. At least they’re feeding Jello nicely. Fluffles is mostly wandering and practicing his magic. I think he’s fully mastered that protection from elements spell, which will be useful, I’m sure.

And Queen is… actually, what is Queen up to? I know she’s doing alchemy stuff, but I don’t know exactly what. The ants are looking pretty excited over at the lab, though. Alright, let me see… Healing goop is still being produced, and healing ants are being produced with it, good. Bottled lightning production also continues apace, excellent.

What’s your third little set up doing, Queen? I see rough bits of iron, and some coal from the forge upstairs, so I guess you’re still trying to play with steel? Oh hey, I think you managed to make some. That little group there is looking very excited and pleased with themselves over the little bit of metal in their jaws.

I watch, fascinated, as the ants start to puke out a little puddle of liquid in a dish. At first, I think it’s water, but it has a strange tint to it. Are her workers actually able to hold various chemicals for her? That’d be cool. I know normal ants can store water and food. With an Alchemist queen, it’d make sense for her to have some that can store chemicals.

Once they’re satisfied with the amount of liquid, the ones with the steel come over and nudge the bit of metal into the liquid. Slowly, it starts to dissolve, and the puddle starts to look more like mercury than off-color water. Did she somehow make liquid steel?

The ants are all very excited at the reaction, which is understandable, and a group of majors march up to the little dish. I imagine they might give a little speech in ant, or get a speech in ant from Queen, before they dip their mandibles in the liquid.

At first, I think they’re just getting a coating of steel, which would be pretty cool. However, I take a closer look, and see their mandibles are fully transmuting to steel! Or at least iron. I can’t exactly zoom in far enough to pick out carbon in the iron atoms. They even make little clanking sounds as they test their new jaws. Good work, Queen! See if you can get enough of that to transmute one of the mandibles from the scythemaw. That could be a really nice weapon for Aranya.

Speaking of, looks like she’s back! It also looks like the kids had other things they needed to do, because I don’t see them. I send Fluffles to go greet her, and she smiles at him as the two head to the Sanctum. Once there, she sits on her bed for a moment to gather her thoughts before speaking to my core.

“Oh Sanctuary… I bring troubling news. The Fallen one is truly a blight. Despite the efforts of the people of this town, it has destroyed several other Sanctuaries in its history. The people can’t even expunge it, as only a Sanctuary can truly harm another. I fear it, my Sanctuary. I’ve only just found you, and you’re under attack from an experienced foe… and I can do little to help,” she finishes, seeming to be ashamed of herself.

I have Fluffles curl up on her lap, since I can’t think of much else to try to comfort her. I can’t exactly just put an arm over her and tell her everything will be alright. At least it seems to help her some, and she gives Fluffles a small smile as she rests a hand on him. “Thank you…”

Before I can dwell much on what she’s said, though, Teemo returns, and his report is pretty concerning. Unsurprisingly, there are at least two different spawners for undead: skeletons and zombies. Actually, make that three. The hands are their own thing, seems like. Neverrest also has plaguerats, which thankfully only give diseases on bite, not from their fleas, so at least no bubonic plague to deal with.

It also has wasp spawners, which is especially obnoxious. It seems he’s been harassing me for a while, though all he could bring to bear before the tunnels was the wasps. It seems to only have two scions, but they seem like they’re very powerful. One is a four-armed skeleton that seems to be wearing the best stuff the dungeon has gotten off of slain delvers. Teemo saw it practicing on a headstone, and there was no headstone by the time it was done just a few seconds later.

The other appears to be a lich, or some other form of fleshy undead with magic, so I’m gonna call it a lich. It seems to prefer a lab in one of the mausoleums, though it looks to be more an enchantment lab than an alchemy one. I want enchantments. Looks like crystals are a big thing for that, so I make a mental note to look into that. Maybe Fluffles could handle duties like that?

Back to the report. It seems like it’s gathering its denizens, too, as there were tons of undead feet for Teemo to hide behind and scurry around. He even managed to find its Sanctum! Sounds like it doesn’t care about keeping it a secret, either, as it’s simply in a large sarcophagus in the most central crypt. The skeleton scion guards it, so that’s going to be a thing to deal with.

With his report finished, Teemo starts to resume his duties, when he notices something, and so do I. Something feels off. I do a quick look around, and everything seems to be fine. Aranya’s gasp draws my attention, and I look at where she’s focussed. The map?

Oh. Our borders are touching now. He’s expanded his claim in the tunnels.