I have an idea for how to help Violet. It’s not exactly the kind of thing I think my scions would expect of me, which is actually kinda hilarious. They’re all expecting something big and complex, or some strange concept that makes no sense to them. My idea is probably going to disappoint them for how simple it is… and maybe for how long it took me to come up with it.

It’s a door. Just build a big stone door at the entrance to her main cave. It won’t even lock. I can’t lock my door, after all, so I’m not going to provoke the system by trying a work around. It hasn’t popped anything up at me in a while, so I don’t know if it’s giving me the silent treatment, or if I’m just behaving better now.

But yeah, I want to build a door for Violet. Just a simple thing that opens outward. To a scythemaw, it should just look like a weird wall. It’ll probably get a couple gashes in it, but that should be all they do. Her cave isn’t really connected anywhere else, it’s not a thoroughfare, just a little cave on the side.

Of course, building a door for her is another matter. In theory it’s pretty simple: big hinges, two stone slabs, bam easy. In practice: I need to make hinges strong enough to support a huge slab of rock and still be able to move with the friction of all that weight. And I kinda need it to open outward, not inward. If it opens inward, a scythemaw could just push it open, which would be bad.

I’ll probably end up using something like a vault hinge for the two doors… At least I think vault doors work like this. No, not a big gear that has to be rolled out of the way. Lower-case v vault, like a bank. Basically, one entire side will be a hinge. Lots of points to hold weight, lots of stability. The downside is needing everything to line up perfectly to open smoothly, but I don’t think I have much other option.

I wonder if metal or stone would work better for the hinge. This will require some testing…

Tarl

The elven dungeon inspector smiles as Fourdock comes into view from atop the final hill in his way. The travel to and from the Southwood is long, but it was worth it. The Southwood needs some help with the new invaders it’s somehow attracted, and Thedeim seems just the type to be willing to lend a hand.

He smiles as he imagines the crazy things Thedeim might do to aid the Southwood. He especially enjoys the absurdity of the idea of using bats to carry hands to drop on whatever foes need to be dealt with, literally lending the Southwood hundreds or thousands of hands, instead of just one.

The image, along with home in sight, helps put a spring in his step, and soon he’s opening the door to the Dungeoneer’s Guild. At her desk, sits Telar, looking a bit sleep-deprived, but not too worse for wear.

“Thedeim keeping you up at night, Telar?” he says with a smile as he moves to relax in a chair. She sighs before answering.

“Only tangentially. He’s been busy since you left, but he’s easy enough to work with, for the most part. What’s been keeping me up is trying to learn and follow the regulations for actually interacting with a dungeon!” She glares at the pile of regulatory books stacked on one side of her desk, like everything is their fault. To be fair, it mostly is.

Tarl just laughs at that. “That’s why inspectors have to apprentice before they can work on their own. It takes experience to understand which regulations can be bent, which ones to follow, and which ones to ignore completely.”

Telar looks scandalized just by the thought of ignoring a regulation, so Tarl continues before she can work herself up into a huff. “What’s he been wanting to talk to you about?”

“He wants information about… everything! He wants to know about other dungeons, the surrounding area, the kingdom, beyond the kingdom…”

“Well, at least there’s only two dungeons to tell him about.”

This time it’s Telar who has the mischievous smirk. “True, but that’s only because he’s the expert on the third one that’s shown up.”

Tarl freezes for a moment, then leans forward on his chair. “A new dungeon? Do I need to go and inspect it?”

“Eventually, but it’s not too pressing. Thedeim’s Voice told me he found a new dungeon in the deeps, and it only recently graduated from being nascent. Dungeon Thedeim has been guiding it, and Rhonda and Freddie have been acting as provisional inspectors. I’ve been teaching them what I can of the basics, and everything seems to be going well with it so far.”

“Give me details! What spawners does it have? How big is it? Does it have any scions yet? What’s Thedeim been teaching it?!” he presses, emphasizing the last question.

“It has centipede and fungal denizens so far. Yes, fungal denizens, not nodes. It does have an animal node, though.” She pauses to rifle through some papers before finding the report. “Cave rabbits, to be specific. They’ve attracted deep stoats, but Thedeim has been helping the dungeon deal with them. Ah, yes. He’s also made her his protege.”

Tarl rolls his eyes at that. “Because we need more dungeons like Thedeim.” Telar smirk and nods.

“I think we do, yes.”

After a few moments thought, Tarl agrees. “...yeah, we do. He’s hard on the paperwork, but that’s really it.”

“You’re telling me,” says Telar, nodding at the stack of scrolls on a different part of her desk. “I’ve been compiling as much information as I can, but I’m uncertain what knowledge I should actually offer.”

Tarl gets up and looks at her desk. “Do you have any reports on Thedeim? I can relax and look them over now, and go inspect him and the new dungeon tomorrow.”

Telar stands and hands him a couple scrolls before heading towards the back rooms. “Would you like any tea? A few gatherers have given me a nice blend that goes well with the bee scion’s honey. It’s somehow both relaxing and focusing. I feel like I’ve been running on nothing else for the last week.”

“Sure, I’ll try some,” he says as he accepts the scrolls and gets to reading. “Hmm… good, none of his denizens nor dwellers were involved with the new dungeon for a while… mentor and protege relationship established… looking like a toybox in training, which could be interesting. There’s a lot of good stuff to be had that far down, but most dungeons that deep are belligerent at best.

“Wolf scion is a Warden, interesting. I haven’t seen that title before. Usually it’d be a Jailor or maybe Inquisitor in charge of a prison. Jello has been seen on the surface? Odd, but she’s peaceful enough, and earned enough of a reputation among the Crystal Shield followers that people leave her alone…

“Expeditions have been changing? Strange… but that lines up with wanting more information. Bee scion is involved in them, seems to be gathering samples of all sorts of things? I’ll need to look into that tomorrow, then. Ah, thank you,” he says with a smile at Telar as she hands him a hot cup of tea. He takes a sip and is greeted with a gentle sweetness alongside a bright and acidic undertone.

“Ah, that is nice,” he says, and Telar nods.

“Anything of particular note?” she asks, and he shakes his head.

“Nothing so far, but I’m not too deep into it yet.”

She leaves him to his reading as she organizes her desk.

He takes another sip before returning to the scrolls. “Let me see, where was I… ah. Scion activity. Uptick in lightning affinity denizens, ant scion has likely expanded the lab.” He pulls out his note-stone and speaks into it. “Note: attempt to barter information to get a look at the secret lab as well as Thedeim’s core. Oh, and the bee scion's work with expeditions.” With that, he sets the stone on his lap as he resumes perusing.

“Raven Scion’s new titles recorded, do not engage in combat.” He laughs at how understated the official record is on what Poe can do. “Oh, a new scion? An earth elemental scion named Slash? Not Bash?” He looks over to Telar who just shakes her head at his suggestion of a typo.

“Thedeim probably has something weird planned for him already, then.” He squints as he looks at the next entry, and reads it aloud. “Rocky: zombie scion, boxer. Affinities: Fate, Fire, Ice?”

Telar just nods at that, but Tarl frowns. “He has ice affinity now?”

She gives him a confused look. “Hasn’t he always?”

“No. When I tested him, he only had fire. Have other ice affinity denizens been spotted?” He flips through the scrolls while Telar thinks, before she shakes her head. “I don’t believe so. There have been some with metal transmutations, but nothing else with ice.”

Tarl frowns at the scrolls for a few more seconds. “He’s done something that I’m pretty sure is impossible.” Telar smirks at that, but it fades as the Inspector doesn’t seem to share in the humor. “Ice and fire are opposing affinities. A scion with both is rare, but not unheard of. A scion gaining an opposing affinity, however, is. If it was alchemical, we’d see other denizens with it, too. With this, though…”

He picks up his note stone once more. “Note: ask and barter with Thedeim for the knowledge of what he’s done with Rocky to grant him an opposing affinity.”