The public gauntlet is getting close to being finished. I’ve made it a lot simpler and easier than the one attached to the jail. Once the trio finally frees themselves, I’ll probably open that one up to everyone, too. The mana gains are decent, but with the investment I put in, I don’t think it’s especially dangerous for other dungeons to try similar.

It might even encourage other dungeons to capture instead of kill delvers, who knows? The trio has also managed to get past the wave log, too. The troll tripped and managed to cling to the log and did a few spins before it stalled out on him. So now they know to just grab on from the start.

It’s funny seeing them look so unstable when they get off. Nobody has fallen into the water because of it, though. They all just take a seat to let the world stop spinning, and try to figure out the next obstacle: my own take on the salmon ladder.

If I had just left the stick free, they’d just take it and probably try something stupid. So instead of a little ladder of pegs they have to try to climb, I have it set in a track with the most basic of ratcheting systems. It’s basically a bunch of hinges. They’ll let the stick move up past them, but when gravity puts its foot down, the hinge blocks it from falling further.

And the trio has no idea what to do about it. I’m pretty sure Vnarl and Hark could do pull-ups with enough vigor to climb, but I don’t know about Mlynda. None of them have actually figured out how it works yet. It’s not exactly an intuitive thing to try if you haven’t seen the show. So far, they’ve just been jumping to it, climbing on top of the bar, and looking around confused.

If they don’t figure it out in a day or two, I’ll probably have Teemo tell them what to do.

The expeditions in the tunnels are getting closer to whatever the weirdness is. They’ve been taking it carefully, making sure the weirdness isn’t just from them going deeper into the tunnels. The regular wolves seem to be a lot better at getting info than the lesser ones, so I’ve been having the lessers come join in my encounters.

Freddie and Rhonda have been enjoying them a lot, and the kids are actually starting to go and encounter my undead, too. They’ve even gone a couple rounds with Rocky, though they haven’t won yet. I’ve been keeping him from practicing his magic on them too much, just going with his basic fire and ice punches. Once he gets better at it, I’m going to explain to him thermal shock. He might even be figuring that out on his own. He likes to alternate hot and cold punches, though that might just be because he alternates his hands to actually throw them.

_____________

Elsewhere

____________

Giants stalk in the unknown. Mushroom and centipede have valiantly fought off the soft invaders of teeth and claw, but outside has much more terrifying things in store. The perceptions of the purple shard have encompassed the cavern, but there is a void in one of the sides. And outside that void lurk giants.

Centipedes have tried to brave the outside, but it is disorienting and confusing beyond the safety of the influence of the shard. Sounds can be heard, rumbles can be felt, shadows can be seen… the beasts of teeth and claw are among the least of the threats from outside.

So what can be done?

__________

Leo

___________

The prisoners are behaving… at least as well as can be expected. They eat the stew the ratkin provide, and attempt the gauntlet, bickering the entire time. Leo still enjoys watching them fail, but to be honest, managing the expeditions is so much more interesting.

The new wolves are eager to prove themselves to him and to the Alpha, and they’ve been working well with the ratkin. Leo is pretty sure they’re going to be taming many of the wolves properly, rather than being like that halfling and enthralling them. It’s good for both of them, really.

The wolves have way better senses than the ratkin, and the ratkin have thumbs and pockets to bring things back. One of the first wolf expeditions tried to bring back a few mushrooms, but what wasn’t accidentally swallowed was too slobbery to be useful, and the wolf that swallowed his had a very unpleasant time.

The next expedition returns as scheduled, and make their report. They’ve been tracking the scent with the help of the ratkin, and believe they’ve actually found the source! Leo’s excitement to accomplish this for his new Alpha is quickly tempered when the wolves tell him what the source is, though.

It’s a dungeon. A pup that hasn’t even opened its eyes yet. They had considered destroying it, but that would be a fight, and Leo had made sure to impress on them Poe’s advice to avoid fights. Leo would have told them to just end it before it can be a threat… but he gets the feeling Alpha Thedeim won’t do that. He can’t imagine what his Alpha will *actually* do, but he won’t need to even try.

He mentally tucks his tail and gives his report through the empathic bond. He can feel the mild disapproval of him showing his belly like that, but Poe says the Alpha isn’t likely to act on it. He doesn’t like to stand on protocol often, which only encourages him and Poe to keep doing it. They want to show their respect, after all.

Alpha Thedeim seems intrigued by the news, and many emotions and concepts flitter through the bond, too quickly to comprehend, before it settles down. Leo is to send expeditions to keep the pup safe, but to not enter its domain.

He can also feel the Alpha reach for the Voice, and actually send him on an expedition, too.

____________

The Office of Dungeon Affairs

_____________

Telar works at her desk, industriously transcribing Tarl’s reports to go into the official record, and preparing to transcribe from the official record regarding both Hullbreak Harbor and the Southwood. Thedeim expressed interest in information on them, and while she’d prefer to keep Hullbreak’s details quiet, they might be able to barter at least some information to at least get a look at Thedeim’s core.

Most dungeons have at least some trick to keep their cores safe. The most obvious is a dedicated scion to attack any that get too close, while the second is to simply hide it. Most do both, like with Neverrest. Sure, its true core was close to the false one, but an effort was at least made to keep it hidden.

“Where’s Elf Guy?” asks a voice from nowhere, and Telar only just manages to not upend her inkwell over the papers in her surprise. She looks around the small room that is the public face of the Dungeoneer’s Guild, but can’t find the source of the voice. A whistle calls her attention to the top of a shelf of pamphlets, and she sees a rat?

“Yep, it’s me. I’m Teemo, the Voice of Thedeim.” Telar stares for a few moments, her mind racing to try to remember the protocols for talking to a dungeon’s Voice. Teemo, however, doesn’t let her get her legs underneath her, and repeats his question.

“Where’s Elf Guy? You know, the Inspector? Tarl?”

“Er… he’s off to the Southwood to give it the information it requested,” tries the elf, wishing she had gotten more training in how to actually talk to a dungeon and its Voice. She’s supposed to be directly dealing with people, not dungeons! At least she doesn’t seem to have offended it yet.

Teemo nods. “Right right, didn’t think he’d be off so quickly. You’re part of the ODA, right?”

“ODA?” she asks, confused.

“The Office of Dungeon Affairs. That’s what he calls you guys. He knows you’re the Dungeoneer’s Guild, but that still doesn’t stop him from calling you that.”

That raises so many questions, Telar doesn’t even know where to start. She latches onto the one thing he said that makes any actual sense. “Yes, I’m part of the Dungeoneer’s Guild. I and the guildmistress for this particular branch. How can the Dungeoneer’s Guild assist you, Voice Teemo of Thedeim?” Oh sure, now her training kicks in.

“Well, the Boss found a dungeon in the deep tunnels. A baby one, apparently. He wants to know what to do about it.”

“He found another dungeon?!”