From the moment she opened her eyes tonight, Aranya looked… excited? Nervous? Proud? Let’s go with complicated, yeah. She ate her traditional breakfast of a couple webbed mice, and definitely did a little prayer and stuff before tucking in to her meal. She went and cleaned herself up a bit, and now she’s about to enter the ratling Enclave.

The guards at the entrance give her respectful bows and allow her to pass, and she gives them each a smile and respectful nod, before heading inside. The place has changed a lot over the last couple days. Their little farming area is coming along great. They’ve got a good half-dozen stacked racks of mushroom plots now. Nothing is making mushrooms yet, but the mycelium is growing rapidly through the dirt and detritus.

They’ve been making beds as well, in a very similar style as what I made for my Residents. Much like the clothing, it’s a bit rougher, but still seems to work just fine. They all piled together the first night, but they’ve actually been more or less pairing off with their beds since then. It seems like each bunk bed is a couple. They haven’t done the nasty yet, but I get the feeling they’re just waiting for the right time before bumping uglies.

The leader ratling is somehow older than the others. He’s hardly hunched and withered, but his muzzle definitely has a bit of gray to the end of it. He also has… it’s larger than a walking stick, but it’s not exactly a staff, either. The end curls a bit, starting a little above his head level, and comes back down in a crook, ending at the height it started. In the center hangs a small orange gemstone, ground by hand into a rough sphere.

He smiles as he sees Aranya, and opens his arms wide. “Ah, Chosen Aranya! Sanctuary smile upon you!”

My kobold in white smiles back and embraces him. “Larx! Sanctuary smile upon you as well! Is everyone ready for the ceremony?” He smiles and nods before rapping the butt of his stick against the floor. The guards head inside, and I move Fluffles to guard their entrance. I don’t think anything will actually interrupt, but if this goes how I think it will go, I’m going to be having some extra responsibilities here very soon.

The ratlings gather around the back, and Aranya and Larx stand in front of the rear wall, which now has a simple orange circle drawn on it. The two can see Fluffles coiled in front of the doorway, facing outward for any potential threats. Larx looks to be fighting being awed, while Aranya smiles, and gestures for the other ratlings to look. “The Sanctuary approves. It guards us as we prepare to commit ourselves, ensuring our safety for this ceremony.”

There are murmurings as they look at Fluffles, and he adjusts his wings to get a bit more comfortable, and totally not to just show off a bit. Right, Fluffles? Larx raps his staff against the floor again to get their attention, and speaks.

“The Sanctuary blessed us with this gift, this chance to be more than mere denizens. There are challenges and trials with this blessing, but also gifts. The gift of will. The gift of choice. The trials of sustenance. The trials of our mortality. The Sanctuary does not simply brush the trials aside, for it knows the trials bring strength. We, all of us, have changed, but we all remember our earlier times. We all remember bringing ore to the smelter, watching the intense heat transform the odd rocks into purified metals. We all remember the effort to shape that metal into useful form, and how much more useful it was than the odd rocks they came from.

“We are odd rocks no longer. We have been forged, purified, and shaped by hands more refined than the ones we used to have, and more than the ones we’ve been gifted with now. And we have been guided by one Chosen by the Sanctuary,” he says before stepping aside slightly, letting Aranya step forward.

She still looks a bit nervous to me, but she’s putting on a pretty strong face. Public speaking is never the easiest. “I’ve been proud to help guide you. The Sanctuary gave you the same blessing kobolds received so very long ago. Our legends say we were much simpler before being blessed with our own will. It was terrifying to be given the blessing, but our Sanctuaries guided and helped us, and when they gave the blessing to others, we guided and helped them as well.

“It has been my great honor to serve the Sanctuary and guide you through the terror that is understanding. Would that I could give you direct missives from the Sanctuary’s Voice, but it is quiet. But that does not mean it doesn’t communicate.” She opens her arms wide to indicate all around them.

“It leads by example! Defend yourselves, but do not needlessly kill. Do not be afraid to try something new. Be clever. Outsiders are not automatically bad. See the opportunities to help, and so to be helped in the future.” She gives a small bow and steps aside, letting Larx retake the center stage. He raises his staff high before continuing.

“We all remember the glory of our Sanctuary’s Heart, even as the memory of its location has faded. We remember the gentle and warm glow, the slow swirling of its depths, the mesmerizing presence it has. We give it thanks as we step forward, and will continue to give it thanks as we can, and follow its will as we can.”

He raps his staff on the floor three times before raising it again, outward instead of upward. He slowly sweeps it over the little congregation as he continues. “We are ratlings no more. We are Ratkin, and we Dwell in our Sanctuary. It is our home, our Sanctuary, and we will do all we can to please it.”

One last rapping of the staff on the floor, and the progress bars wink out. Just like he said: they’re Ratkin now, and are Dwellers instead of Denizens. I can’t give them orders anymore, either. I technically could, up until the bars finished, but it was getting more and more expensive to do so. I hadn’t told them to do anything since the bars started, but still.

Aranya is changed, too. Not physically, though. She’s still a beautiful little red kobold in a white robe. But now she also has a title: High Priestess. She and the ratkin start to sing a little song, and I can feel my mana flow increase. I thought they might give me some mana, but that’s pretty good. Their small congregation gives me the kind of mana generation I’d get from a fairly slow delver day, which is nothing to sneeze at, especially once I get delvers returning.

I tell Fluffles he can go back to wandering and helping Jello as the guards return to their post. They watch him glide off with wonder, before taking their position on either side of the door. I watch them all for a few more minutes, trying to collect my thoughts on my new Dwellers.

I always worried Aranya might start a cult around me. It’s not a creepy cult, at least. Kinda embarrassing, but I at least seem to be providing a good enough example that they aren’t trying to sacrifice anyone, but still…

What do I do now?