"Welcome to my Sanctuary." I stepped onto the stone landing and waved my draconian squad through. They entered in a loose-knit group, looking around curiously. "Um, Coatli will find you rooms. Don't go through these doors - " I pointed to the Path and Crossroads portals, " - without permission."

"Yes, sir!" The response, unlike their formation, was crisp and unified. I blinked in surprise, but Coatli just smiled and nodded. He led them towards the manor, and I followed behind.

The six villagers were a mish-mash visually, their scales ranging from dark ocher to a mottled lavender, their physiques varying from bulky to slim. I'd heard their names, but they hadn't really stuck; maybe after a few days I'd remember who was who. They all wore leather, and each carried an obsidian-tipped spear. Despite their primitive look, their coordination was sophisticated; as I watched, they surreptitiously surveyed the area and maintained careful watch.

"They're a good start." Yse was again, to my mild discomfort, riding on my shoulder. "They've got teamwork, and they'll obey Coatli."

"He seems to know how to motivate them." I looked back at the portals, wondering if I should bar them or something. Deciding against it, I stepped into the manor.

"Will we try for another mark today?" Yse leaped to the wall and scurried along beside me, keeping up easily.

"I'd love to." I recalled how I'd re-created the runes. "But I'm out of magic, and I don't know how long I'll need to recover. Scouting would be good, though, and Coatli might remember where some are. We should also hunt some, or maybe trade for food in Crossroads. I'd also like steel spears, and maybe try to— Oh, that's new."

I stopped at the end of the corridor. Ahead, the manor's wide central hall ran from the tall, arched windows at one end, to the ostentatious main doors at the other. I wasn't really sure how to open those, which was why we'd come in a side door. None of that had changed from yesterday.

However, there was a new pedestal at the windowed end, sitting in a pool of sunlight.

"Your lectern?" Yse turned the corner, moving towards the pedestal in scurries and hops. "Didn't you have one already? You've claimed territory, right?"

"Not much." I followed, shoving my hands in my pockets. "When I repaired the mark, my territory went from tiny to small. The Voice said something about 'new management options'. "

"Well," Yse landed on the pedestal and crawled across it. "Cuahuli used his for administering his dungeon. Give it a try, maybe?"

"My idea exactly." I stepped into the sunlight and looked the thing over. It was a simple slab of slate, raised to chest-height on a wrought-iron stand. I stared at it for a minute. "Um. How?"

"I think you need to use the Heart." Yse turned to me, but paused. "Shoulder? Please?"

I held out my arm, and she scurried up my sleeve.

I fished the Heart of out my breast pocket and looked at it for a moment, before setting it on the lectern. There was a feeling like clearing my ears - but all through my head - and light blossomed over the slab. It started as a swarm of glowing points, but quickly coalescing into two rough shapes, which began rotating slowly.

"My… territory?" I frowned. There was a vague resemblence; the first section was a thin crescent, like the caldera lip. The second was much larger, with a ragged edge that reminded me of the coast by the draconian village.

"I think it's a map? Try waving your hands over the slate. Cuahuli could do all sorts of stuff with gestures."

"Alright." I made a vague motion, feeling a little foolish. But to my surprise, the lights responded immediately, rotating in response. "Huh, neat."

After messing around for a few minutes, I'd basically gotten the hang of it. I could rotate the projection with an open palm, or drag it around with a closed hand. If I used two hands, I could adjust the scale.

"Maybe that's what all this space is for?" I grabbed and moved towards the center of the room. The map followed easily, and I expanded it until it was as tall as me, taking up a sizable chunk of the floor.

"What else does this thing do?" I asked Yse, moving back to the lectern.

"All sorts of stuff." Yse scurried a small circle on my arm, and I tried not to shiver. "You should be able to see how many monsters you have, and set gates and things."

"These probably do something?" A selection of sigils had lit up on the pedestal, glowing in dim earth-tones. "Of course, there's no manual." I sighed and tapped one.

The projection rippled, like drops in a pond, and grew larger. The landscape filled in, dimmer grays growing between the brighter green shapes that marked territory. The topography was rough but it was obviously the rest of the island, showing the whole coastline and archipelago. The area even spread into the ocean, until it hit a blocky boundary, marked in red.

"Cool." I could see the same from atop the volcano, but it was still neat.

I tapped the next sigil.

The projection pulsed once, and nothing happened.

I tapped it again.

Same.

"Maybe that one's for after you establish your dungeon?" Yse said. "Cuahuli's map would wobble like that when he re-arranged his connections."

"Oh?" I tapped another sigil, and got nothing. "What do you mean by connections?"

"Well…" Yse tapped a foreleg thoughtfully. "The dungeon is based on your marks, but It's separate from your domain. I think it's a different space. I investigated it with Carmine, but we couldn't unravel exactly how it works. It mirrors the area it's based on, but if something in the dungeon is broken, the domain isn't affected. It's like… a separate instance."

"Huh." I rubbed my jaw. "Is that why we couldn't build proper campsites in the dungeon I explored? Whenever we left, any clearings we'd cut or rocks we'd carried would just… reset."

"Probably, yes. Plants are sometimes re-created, but not the monsters; you have to add those separately. You should be able to make areas by linking up marks on this map, but you might need more."

"Neat." I tapped another sigil, and this time got something. A handful of glowing blue spots lit up on the map, four bright ones inside my territory, and several dimmer ones outside it.

"Or maybe you can do it now!" Yse exclaimed. "Those are your marks, right?"

"Well, some of them." I closer. "I made these three on the caldera, and this - " I pointed " - is near the draconian village… huh." When I poked at the dot, it had begun glowing. Right, gestures.

When I pulled my finger back, the light stuck to the tip, elongating as I moved. I waved my hand and the glow followed, stretching but staying wire-straight. After a moment, I touched another dot.

There was a silent pulse and the light stuck, a glowing blue line stretched across the map.

"What did I just do?"

"I think you set up a dungeon connection." Yse gave an eight-legged shrug. "Try one of the others."

This time, when the line appeared, I walked away. After a moment, it faded out. I tried connecting it to one of the dimmer dots outside my territory. No response. I linked two dots at the top of the caldera, creating another bright line. When I touched the center, it wobbled; when I an end, the line came away. I flicked my fingers and it dispersed.

"I only watched Cuahuli use this a few times," Yse said quietly. "He would re-arrange the dungeon, but it was always sort of spontaneous, not something we all gathered up for."

"Mmm."

"I always wanted to know more about the Heart, how it worked, what it's purpose was, but he wasn't really interested. He had big dreams, but this… it was a means to an end. A path to walk, not a journey to enjoy."

"Why was he so driven?" I asked absently, walking back to the podium and poking a few more sigils. Nothing else responded.

"His people." She sighed. "He was the last of a dying dynasty, and he did everything for his people. And they repaid him with..." Her voice turned bitter, and she fell silent.

I wasn't sure how to respond to that, so I walked back to the map.

"I guess… these are inactive marks?" I pointed to the dimmer dots on the projection.

"I think so." Yse nodded. "If they are, this will be very useful. I hope the rest of the marks are as easy to restore as the one in the village."

"…Right." I thought of the bayonet blob and gave a dry laugh. "Easy."

"So, are they any good?"

We were in Crossroads, sitting at a corner table in a dirty pub. A dozen clay jars, filled with mana potions, were arrayed in front of me. Yse was moving from one to another, testing each in turn.

"They'll work, I guess." She finished her survey and tapped her legs pensively. "I'm not particularly happy with the quality, but they're not outright toxic. They'll restore your magic, and as long as you're careful, you should be fine. If your eyes start itching… you've had too much."

"Good enough." I re-stoppered the containers. "I told you we could find mana potions here."

"It's not that I didn't believe you, but wow. Even though Coatli warned me, I'm still adjusting to how much Crossroads has grown." Yse scanned the room. "Wonder what happened."

"It has been several hundred years."

"Yes, but it feels like last week. Maybe in a couple months it'll seem more real... But I still think this is a bit extreme, even so."

"Most likely someone realized there was money to be made trading, and broke down the old system." I took a sip of my drink and winced. I was wearing a deep hood to hide my humanity. It seemed to be working somewhat.

However, the bartender had given me... I had no idea. Some drink a human would never touch. It tasted like equal parts vinegar, honey, and mold; totally vile. But I kept sipping it in a sort of stunned disbelief. A few minutes after each taste, my brain would start doubting my memory. Surely it wasn't that bad, right? I should taste it again.

No, it totally was.

"...so..." Yse paced uncertainly.

"Yeah?"

"We're done, right? We can go?"

"Mmmm..." I packed the mana potions away. Our main goal, potions to claim the island faster, had been found. "We can… but I had another idea too, if you don't mind."

"Does it relate to why we're in this dive?" Yse waved at our less-than-clean surroundings.

"Indirectly, yes." I smiled. "To our left; see the guy with the buckler? I spotted him cutting purses in the market, and followed him here."

The thief I'd tailed was vaguely goblinoid, with rough gray skin and drab clothes. He was brazenly counting pneuma tokens from one stolen purse to another, separating coins, rings, and other trinkets into neat piles.

"Why?" Yse looked up, cocking her head.

"I'm curious who he sells to," I admitted. "Maybe we can make some contacts, get some information. I want to confirm my suspicion about what Crossroads underground scene is about. I haven't seen any unified peacekeeping force, but that's not so important as— Oh, he's leaving."

Our mark was re-filling his pockets, tucking bundles into his clothes and tying purses to his belt. He slipped out the back; we followed a moment later.

"...Huh?" I looked up and down the street. It was empty.

"…He cast an invisibility spell." Yse said, waving her feelers through the air. "I'm almost impressed; it was very quiet. Maybe he's got a good wand. Go left, but don't hurry."

"I know how to tail," I retorted, shoving my hands in my pockets and sauntering after. In the city, blend into the crowd and don't act 'sneaky'.

"Right, right. But also," Yse turned a small circle on my lapel. "I can trace him without being near him. Give him a moment's lead, so even if he looks back, he won't see us following."

"Oh." I nodded and slowed a bit more. I hadn't considered how easy it would be for an invisible person to watch for followers.

We wound our way through the alleys and byways of Crossroads. Yse directed me at each intersection, and I slipped past pedestrians and between carts, slowly but surely tracing a path into the center of the city.

The thief was surprisingly careful. Yse explained how he'd doubled back a few times, circled buildings, and even looped his way through a particularly magical area, and any of those maneuvers would have thrown off a less skilled tracker.

"Not that I wasn't impressed before, but damn." I looked down at her diminutive form. "You're quite the magician."

"We all have our specialties." She preened slightly. "I am a mighty hunter, I'll have you know."

What finally stopped us wasn't any particular trick; the end of the trail was an entirely mundane guardpost.

"And that's that, I guess." I frowned. Up ahead, two heavily armed insectoids flanked a small arch, spears crossed. The message was clear: no entry. Of course, anyone invisible could have simply ducked through, but… we weren't. "I don't feel like fighting or bluffing my way in. Ideas?"

"Hmm." Yse thought for a moment. "Well, maybe he came out a again? A different gate?"

I looked up and down the street. The zone our target had entered was built from dark wood, flashed with gold, and it stretched for several blocks. I could see a half-dozen gates, all similarly guarded. And that was just this side.

"If we snoop too much, the guards will get annoyed."

"Well..." She thought some more. "I'll use a wide-area spell. and check all the doors at once. It's less accurate, though."

"Do it." I moved along, trying to look inconspicuous. "I honestly didn't expect to spend this long," I muttered. "But now I'm curious. This is too much security for a simple thief."

"So maybe he's not a simple thief," Yse replied absently. She was waving her legs, and I felt a tingle of energy through my coat as she martialed her magics.

"Right, yeah, but what is he? Why all the secrecy? If he's not a cutpurse, what was he actually after in the market? I have a theory, see; Crossroads doesn't seem to have 'law' in the way most human cities do. Which is interesting, because it means that there's not really anything illegal here. Sure, you'll be in trouble if you're caught stealing - but that's because there's no law against murder, not because guards will haul you away."

"Hmm." Yse was obviously distracted, but I continued.

"So I wondered, what does Crossroads' underground actually run on? I haven't verified it, but I think—"

"I'm getting… something." Yse interrupted me, tapping her legs pensively. "Something weird, I'm not sure what. Go that way."

We skirted the edge of the wall, staying well clear of the guarded entrances. I paused as we rounded the corner; ahead of us was a gap, one of the places where the city's 'ground' gave way to white void.

"Move up to the edge." Yse waved me forwards. "It's there. Let me just…" She began another spell.

I over and reached out. My fingers skated across an invisible wall, just like the barrier around my own Sanctuary's island.

"Close your eyes a moment." Yse said. I complied, and felt something like silk settle over my face as her spell took hold.

"…ah?" When I looked again, a winding stair hung in the void, connected to 'land' by a narrow bridge. Mere inches from my fingers, a stone arch and door blocked the bridge, polished so smooth I couldn't even feel the joint between the magical barrier and the physical one.

On the door was inscribed three words: "All Things Forgotten."

"…Holy crow." I blinked, then looked down at Yse. "This is invisible to everyone else, right?"

"Correct."

"I wonder who… how…"

"Why?"

"No, the why is perfectly clear." I shook my head. "I was saying earlier; I think I know what Crossroads' underground runs on. This is a perfect example." I nodded brushed my fingers across the words on the door.

"It's all about intrigue."