I only half pay attention to what the lady tells the kids, though I do at least catch that her name is Telar. I kinda already know the basics of dungeons just from experience, and from how Elf Guy behaved in those early inspections: beat up a few things, gather a few things, take a look around… that’s about it.

It’s difficult to pay too much attention over there when the terrible trio are making unexpected progress in the gauntlet. They still haven’t figured out how to do the salmon ladder properly, but they seem to have an idea that will probably work… in theory, at least. They’re formulating and practicing in their cell area right now.

“Do you two have any better ideas?” asks Vnarl, though without the usual snarl. Hark shakes his head, and Mlynda just sighs.

“I know there’s more to it than just a bar. It goes into the wall weirdly. I just can’t figure out what it does,” she says, and Vnarl just shrugs.

“If you figure it out, maybe we’ll try something else, but this is our best bet right now.” The halfling wants to argue, but she knows she doesn’t have any other ideas at the moment. Hark is looking more relaxed than the first day they were all put in here. He’s probably glad mommy and daddy aren’t fighting as much anymore.

He carefully positions his feet and almost takes a low horse stance, then nods at Vnarl. “Well, let’s get to work. Once we can do this on normal ground, we can try doing it on that bar.”

The troll nods and climbs onto the elf’s shoulders and takes a similar squatting stance. The two look really unstable, and Hark has to adjust his feet a couple times before he stabilizes. Vnarl is still a bit wobbly, though. They decide that’s good enough for the moment, and he motions for Mlynda to climb up. She still doesn’t look like she likes this plan, but she climbs her two party-members and squats on Vnarl’s shoulders.

The trio compares notes, starting with Hark, as they all try to keep their little pyramid/tower going. “I think getting Vnarl into position is going to be the big hurdle.” The troll glowers a bit, but grudgingly nods.

“Yeah… Mlynda climbing up isn’t much of an issue with how light she is, but me climbing onto Hark is… awkward.” The halfling thinks for a few moments before speaking up.

“Try it closer to the wall, then? It’ll give you something else to try to use for support,” she suggests, and the guys consider that.

“That could work,” says Hark, and the three get their feet back on the ground before moving to the wall to try the suggestion. With a hand on the wall, Hark is much more stable, and Vnarl has a much easier time climbing up, too. The halfling scurries up and plants herself on the top, and the three smile in triumph before Vnarl speaks up.

“And then we stand, I lift Mlynda as high as I can, and she just has to hang on until Hark can climb up!”

“Easier said than done…” grumbles Mlynda, but she seems on board with the plan.

Not the intended way to get past it, but if they start actually working together as a team, rehabilitation might actually be an option. It’s actually the next obstacle that’s supposed to teach them to start working together, but I’m not going to complain about them getting their act together a little early, even if they’re overthinking the salmon ladder.

The next obstacle for them is a cargo net conveyor belt. I have a cargo net that loops around two free-spinning things, letting it move like a conveyor belt when someone tries to climb. I think someone could, theoretically, climb it fast enough to get to the top on their own, but have you ever seen someone try to climb a cargo net with speed? It’s hilarious. The solution for that one is simple: just have someone hold the net to keep it from moving.

I had expected that one to take them a couple tries to figure out, but now I think they’ll barely be slowed down by the challenge. After that will come the last of the ninja challenges. I had considered a warped wall kind of thing, but that’d put the shorter races at a severe disadvantage. Instead, I’ve come up with what I’m calling the wedge climb.

It’s kinda like a spider climb, where there are two walls close enough that you have to wedge your arms and legs to keep yourself from falling, but the walls aren’t parallel. It looks like a big wedge has been taken out of the wall, which will also make it harder to actually wedge yourself into it. That one will probably also take them a while to get through

The next couple hours, I just busy myself with working on the public gauntlet. People could probably run it now, but I want to get a bit of polish first. It’s looking pretty rough right now. The aranea have been pretty interested in it lately, too. They haven’t given any quests for it yet, but they have woven a few large pads and placed them around the platforms. I need to figure out some kind of water-proofing if I don’t want them having to constantly replace the things. Maybe Queen can do something? Or Thing? I poke them both with ideas, and suggest they look at the library for more. Honey has finally cataloged everything, and has been wanting to send expeditions to get more books, but I haven’t let her. I don’t need her to go and steal a library. I’m hoping I can get Telar to get me a line to a book dealer eventually.

Not right now, though. Looks like she’s done teaching the basics, so the kids are ready to go take a look at the little dungeon. A couple of the ratkin are going with them, so at least nothing nasty in the tunnels should be able to surprise them.

Elsewhere

Giants stalk at the bounds of perception. The soft invaders could be crushed underfoot of the titans that lurk outside. The master of the fungus and centipedes is wary. It’s vulnerable. But how can it hide better? It’s already hidden behind many caps, what else can it do?

The giants are content to lurk no longer. The first enters, and it towers over everything. It is green and has a wide mushroom cap. Could… it actually be friendly? Mushrooms are good. What follows the enormous mushroom is definitely not a mushroom. While it is also green, it has no cap, and it towers over the walking mushroom.

It rumbles, and the walking mushroom rumbles back. Uncertain, the master of fungus and centipede sends a wave of defenders to stop the intruders. They don’t feel like an existential threat like the invaders, but they should still be driven back.

The centipedes answer the call and move to assault the titans, but they are destroyed by ice. The master gets a lot of energy from that, and so starts to send waves of valiant centipedes to assault the intruders. They only rumble at each other as they walk around inside, and it’s not long until the titanic walking mushroom finds the shard of purple. It was plucking its smaller kin and happened upon the fragment.

It rumbles and the not-mushroom comes and looks. In desperation, the master sends all its forces, but to no avail. However, the two don’t harm the shard. With the energy gained, it regrows the mushrooms hiding itself, and the outsiders leave it alone and leave.

What are those enormous outsiders? The master is stronger after their visit. It must strengthen its denizens. Stronger mushrooms, stronger centipedes. Should it kill the invaders, if they return? The fragment is much stronger after their visit, so should it try to get them to return many times? Mushrooms use outsiders to spread their spores without needing to kill. Can the master gain from the outsiders without destroying them? Are they truly friends? But only fungus and centipede are friends… right?