Mary concentrated, the entrance for folding deep was irritating. She checked the mental map that her scouts had provided and came to a decision. She sank the room containing the gate and replaced the original chamber with a corridor that bent back on itself several times and ended in a spiral staircase leading to the entry chamber. She decorated the corridor with the story or King Midas and his golden touch in her now customary manga style.

In the new entrance chamber she placed a hidden door hiding a three hundred meter corridor that ended just short of a deep pool the local river ran through. Then she created large hole and opened an entrance near the bottom of the pool. The hole quickly filled creating a small underground pool. Then almost in a throwaway gesture she added a few adapted plants to keep the water fresh and filtered.

Robin managed to find one badger ‘folk that had learned how to use Mary’s latest marvel and recruited her and obtained a roll of copper wire covered in some rubbery substance, a small box with a plunger and a block of some grey flexible stuff. Crazy Lou the meerkat folk tagged along with the badger. That with his squad, the priest and himself made fourteen. Hopefully that should prove enough especially as Mother had other folk already there.

Robin and his augmented squad stepped through the portal into the mock turtle dungeon then through the one leading to Folding Deep.

Robin opened the secret door and Faaron closed it when everyone was in the corridor. At the other end they had a surprise, they found a woman floating on her back in the pool contemplating the dimly illuminated ceiling whilst a second was sitting on the edge combing her hair.

“Look sister, the dungeon folk have arrived.”

There was some negotiation, mostly between the naiads and Mary after Robin and his squad had left via the underwater entrance. In return for a few more chambers, most completely flooded and a second concealed entrance the naiads were happy to defend their new home and allow Mary’s people access.

Robin and his folk were able to enter the city of Folding Deep easily, the presence of the dungeon in the city and now of the enigmatic one just outside meant that the guards were used to groups of strange people coming and going. They collected the modest toll for entering the city and the only delay was due to them checking the purity of the previously unencountered bits.

They were easily able to make contact with their predecessors and Tony the leader of the rat-men confirmed that there was, not a shrine but a small and flourishing temple to Vortexius Blackbeard present in the slums.

Captain Goodfellow spent the two days till the destined attack day making plans and coming to truly appreciate the ability of the man-rats when it came to ferreting out secrets.

* * *

By the time they caught up with her men Massina had made two decisions, first she was going to get that speed through water spell of Joey’s even if she had to twist his tentacles off, and two she was going to kill Sildanus for letting them get into this mess. Even the damned octopi knew the pirates were coming as they had proved by coming to check them out and incidentally saving her and she suspected everyone who might survive this debacle. If the dungeon had warned Pete and his octopi then for certain sure the dwarves had been warned.

The three women came into sight of their men just as they entered the dungeon and as Sharkspawn and his band of mercenaries peeled off to accompany the flagship that just like last time was planning to wait outside the dungeon.

Massina and the two women with her spent a futile few minutes trying to persuade Joey to accompany them into the dungeon but he was adamant in his refusal to do so. Massina couldn’t really blame him, she was the only adventurer present and he had already spent a great deal of magic to enable them to get here so quickly. And he wasn’t a resident of New Town.

So the three women entered the dungeon and chased their men. At least there didn’t seem to be many if any pirates present under the waves.

When they made contact they could see far below many monsters pacing the fleet. Massina was soon talking to her party members and the word spread. The inhabitants of New Town decided to abandon the fleet and get back home leaving vengeance for another day.

The dungeon had other things on her mind and barely gave them any notice.

This time Mary vowed, the coward in command is not going to get away!

* * * INTERLUDE 1 * * *

Markus was just leaving his parent’s house when his little sister confronted him. Asa planted herself in the middle of the path with her hands on her hips and glared at him.

“Markus will you tell your little friend that we don’t need firewood, he’s only making work for me when he places piles of branches and things on the driveway and path for me to find.”

Markus only just succeeded in hiding his grin at the little tearaway that had arrived after his parents grew careless thinking children were a thing of the past.

“But Asa why don’t you just ignore them.”

“Huh! An’ when papa arrives home for the office he’ll havta get out of the car and remove the rubbish before he can park, or mama, will she havta drop the shopping to get rid of it? AND I’LL get blamed for IT!”

“Um... Sorry I’ll speak with Alaric,” said a highly amused Markus.

Asa nodded once decisively, “And will you stop those blue screens from asking me if I wanna be a little Angel or a little Hellion. I’m a good little girl, just ask mama.”

Markus felt as if he’d just had a bucket of cold water dumped on his head and he just gaped in shock. ‘Um... Alaric?’

Asa glared at Markus and looked somewhat satisfied at his reaction, “Gotta go, me an’ Pia are going to watch Pia’s sister and her Gardetanz group.” And with that Asa was off. She tore across the road with barely a look joining her best friend Pia, and received a scolding from Pia’s mother in regards to her road crossing habits.

Markus watched a, he hoped, suitably chastised Asa being driven away his mind blank.

‘Alaric?’

‘It’s your fault boss. You said yes when the System asked you wanted it to influence your family and friends to proceed in a fashion that would fit in with your dungeon to be.’

‘Asa? Little Hellion? It fits but what is a little Hellion? And her friends?’

‘Dunno boss, some kind of devil or demon I guess. And yes you said yes to the option that opened up from the family and friends one, that their closest family and friends be offered the option. Offered, not influenced to accept like the first.’

Markus turned round and re-entered his parents house, it would seem he had things to confess and discuss.

* * * INTERLUDE 2 * * *

Mary was feeling a bit overwhelmed, she had been surprised at how her parents had closed ranks and taken over her legal defence headache. Papa had surprised her when he had said he would set her up with a patents attorney that he knew and trusted.

Her new attorneys had taken the case and they had even returned her deposit. They were willing to do the job for the storage device and the magic sensor she had cobbled up, though she had to provide them with an updated improved version within the month and have to offer them any upgrades she came up with at cost. They did insist on testing their detector against her pen and she could see their relief when it detected the enchanted pen.

She didn’t tell them that she could think of several ways to enchant things that wouldn’t show up on any detector she could come up with at this time. After all she had a far better inbuilt detector, all she had to do was expand her domain briefly.

The next surprise came at lunch when her stepmom Jenny turned out to be a very junior partner in a firm of Patent Attorneys. It took some effort to convince her of the truth and Jenny too was horrified by the pen. Honestly was a pen that could recover its ink really that scary. She promised Jenny a magic sniffer before she left for home.

A phone call to Mac indicated that their favourite beaches were still infested with two legged annoyances so fishing was still out. She could almost swear she was feeling withdrawal symptoms. She felt like breaking something, preferably the ambulating annoyances on the beach. Maybe she could claim it and launch a Deep Ones invasion. After enjoying the vision the idea gave her she reluctantly discarded it. She had no idea how to generate Deep Ones.

So late in the afternoon she went for a walk and her wandering steps took her too the park, the south-east corner had been completely changed, most of the surrounding vegetation had been ruthlessly cut back or simply eliminated and a tall barbed wire topped chain link fence had been erected around the dungeon entrance. Two mobile home type office things had been parked close to the fence and several people were wandering around while a pair of bored looking cops kept the curious at bay.

Mary settled down in the now familiar bench and was ignored by the ducks that had by now learned that she wasn’t a source of food. She looked around seeing the usual sight of parents walking kids and people walking dogs and avoiding the ever present joggers.

She checked the spot where she had created the first access to the decoy and smiled, the disturbed earth still welcomed her so extruded a tendril of her manna and reached for the dungeon below. Contact!

« Hello Dr Macquarie, are you willing to talk? I’m Mary and I’m also a dungeon on Parthia thanks to that blue haired cow. »

Dr Charles Macquarie jerked in surprise when his domain was contacted by a tendril of manna that reeked of dungeon, then he choked with internal laughter at the so aptly described goddess.

« Yes Mary I’m willing to talk, I was on Diavlo. There was absolutely nothing that could have been done. The planet died. It was horrible. »

Mary blinked as the pictures hit her, ‘Hey me, you might find this interestin’. Then she just sent everything up her link.

The two exchanged information and Mary saw no reason not to update Macquarie on anything she knew or suspected. As to his complaint that he needed a companion she had no immediate solution but she promised to have a word with a pixie she knew. As for his lack of energy she found to her surprise that she did.

“Hey bich, you ugly cunt wees gonna get you for what ya did to our bros!”

Mary’s eyes flashed open just as she flexed her tendril of manna. She came to her feet and growled, “what do you scumbags want?”

Feeling brave due to his backing by his four followers Tash brandished his knife and said, “gonna cut ya, an cut ya til ya die bitch.”

Mary’s hand flashed out and her hand closed round his forearm to the sound of breaking bones and threw him down the newly open tunnel. After the five thugs had been delivered to Macquarie she sealed the tunnel once again before heading home.