After the morning’s excitement, delver activity is… different. Most of the gatherer delvers are basically delving like everything is the same. I dunno if they managed to sleep through the whole thing, or if they think it’s something that doesn’t really concern them. Either way, they’re all happily delving and gathering, and it’s situation normal on that front.

The crystal shield guys are also more or less normal, though they seem to be enjoying the return of the more ordinary undead. I think their lower-level members were having difficulties with the vined skeletons and fungal zombies, and their resistance to a lot of anti-undead stuff. With the normal skellies not needing to go harass Hullbreak, they can train a lot smoother now.

I probably shouldn’t be surprised the more adventure-y delvers are taking a break to evaluate. Fluffles put on quite a show with that storm. He’s picked up wind and storm affinity both, as well as a new title: Stormeater

I’m pretty sure he could easily expand to get lightning, water, and probably thunder/sonic, too, but he’s been training with Rocky enough to see my boxer working on his ‘fundamentals’. I think he agrees that he should focus a bit more on truly mastering his new affinities before trying to expand out to new ones. A strong house needs a strong foundation, right?

And speaking of strong foundations, I’m working on managing that with Hullbreak. I think what he has now should be a good stepping stone for getting back into the black, as far as mana is concerned. His dwellers are still looking pretty uncertain about things, but Yendo is trying to raise their spirits about the whole affair. It looks like most of them are just going to explore Hullbreak and the changes, while Yendo actually has convinced a few to go explore a bit outside! I consider sending one of my scions out with them, but decide not to. They need to take some steps on their own, even if they don’t have feet.

Hullbreak is building up a good head of worry over it, but he hasn’t tried to stop them nor send the First Mate out with them. She has her jaws full trying to keep the dwellers calm already. My new vassal is trying to distract himself by looking at the various new nodes and refreshed spawners. I can still feel a good knot of worry through the bond, but there’s also a bit of… I think ‘peace’ is a bit strong of a word, but something along those lines.

I’m probably going to try to keep new changes on hold for the moment there, let them try to get a feel for their new normal. Hullbreak will have to deal with new delvers eventually, but for now, I want him to get a bit more comfortable with the idea of a new way, first.

I think his first delvers might be my own dwellers, though I’ll need to wait for the leaders to get back before I can even float the idea… and I’ll need Teemo to get back for that, too. I nudge him about that, and he just nods from atop the First Mate’s dorsal fin before speaking up.

“The Boss wants me to start heading back so he can give people more details and plan stuff with his own dwellers. You have everything in fin?” he asks with a smirk, and the First Mate smirks and nods.

“Yes, Teemo. The Captain should be fine with his new Sanctum and the dwellers just need time to adjust.” She pauses for a moment, uncertain, before continuing. “...The Admiral is really fine with the Captain revealing his Sanctum to his dwellers?”

Teemo nods. “Yeah. He keeps his own pretty secret, but he’s not going to force Hullbreak to do the same. Besides, him and the merfolk are too close for the Boss to expect them to be able to just cut ties.”

“What are the Admiral’s further plans for the Captain?” she presses, looking like she’s worried she’s pushing too hard. She deflates a bit as Teemo chuckles.

“Heh, I dunno if I’d call any of it a ‘plan’, but he has some vague ideas. Long term: he wants to normalize delving again. He knows that’s going to take a bit of time, probably for you and Fourdock both, but the sooner he starts, the sooner it’ll be done. For the next couple days, he’s gonna just let you guys try to adjust… though you might see a visit from his own dwellers, heh.”

“I admit to wanting to meet them and hear their development,” the shark states.

“Cool. Welp, I’m outta here. You guys go ahead and explore and adjust. It’s different, I know, but the Boss is pretty good at different.” With that, he releases her fin and starts shortcutting his way towards the beachhead. Oh man, I should probably clean that up some… or maybe leave it as it is and eventually get Hullbreak to expand to it. Could be a good spot for small encounters or something.

As Teemo makes his way back, my prodigals return as a group. Aranya, Yvonne, Aelara, and Ragnar, along with the skinny orc guildmaster Karn; as well as Larx, Vernew, Folarn, Norloke, and Tarl. My dwellers all inhale and sigh at being back home, and Aranya and Yvonne both look happy to be back, too. Ragnar and Aelara smile as they see the activity of the gatherer delvers, while Karn looks like he’s scheming… or just looking. He’s kinda hard to get a read on. Tarl has his business face on as he approaches the porch.

“Dungeon Thedeim, the Dungeoneer’s Guild would ask you bring forth your Voice, so we may talk about what happened today,” he says solemnly. I don’t think I’m in trouble, but there’s definitely a lot to talk about, he’s not wrong there. I poke Fluffles to lead them to the public war room. Hopefully they’ll see Teemo’s location and understand that they’re on hold until he can get back.

My wingnoodle uncoils from atop the belfry and glides down, and the orc tenses for a moment as he sees my scion. “That’s not the Voice. The Voice was the rat, right?”

Larx chuckles and nods. “Indeed, Teemo is the Voice. Lord Thedeim tends to use his Conduit when Teemo isn’t immediately available.” Tarl nods at that, and Karn relaxes slightly… and stumbles a bit as Ragnar elbows him.

“Calm down, Guildmaster. Th’ Conduit’s perfectly safe!”

Karn looks like he strongly disagrees, but doesn’t voice it with Fluffles settling on the ground before them. My noodle gives the gathered group a hiss and motions with his tail for them to follow him, which they do. The walk is quiet, but thankfully not very long, and soon they all can take seats around the map table. Fluffles points at Teemo’s location, and though they can see him moving much more quickly than he should be able to, thanks to the shortcut, it’s still going to be a bit until he arrives.

Tarl sees that and sighs, deflating a bit in his chair, but doesn’t speak up yet. Karn follows suit, but I can tell he’s feigning being relaxed. There’s still a bit of tension to him, and his eyes keep wandering to Fluffles. Yeah, he probably saw what Fluffles did, or has had a bunch of reports on it.

The silence grows more than a little awkward, and soon Larx does what he does best. “Tarl, you said there was a merfolk enclave in Hullbreak?”

It takes the elf a moment to realize he’s being addressed, then he nods. “Yes, Hullbreak Harbor had a merfolk enclave.”

“Has,” corrects the aged ratkin, pointing at the area that is still clearly labeled. Tarl squints as he scrutinizes the map, then is forced to nod.

“Right, has.” After a moment, he groans and rubs his face with his hands. “Vassalized, not subsumed, then.”

Folarn quirks an eyeridge at that. “You’d prefer the Weaver subsume Hullbreak?”

Tarl sighs. “I don’t know. I mean… it’ll probably be better for everyone with him vassalized instead, but it’s going to be a mess for a while… not to mention all the paperwork…” he finishes with a grumble.

Aranya laughs at that. “You have a whole year to prepare for it, right?”

“Oh boy, a stay of execution,” replies Tarl flatly, earning a laugh from everyone, and the tension mostly evaporates. Karn still keeps an eye on Fluffles, but I don’t see his fingers twitching anymore.

“Well, we can at least tell him what’s been going on in the town,” says the Guildmaster, deciding he'd rather talk than just wait. “He might not be able to talk, but he can still listen, yeah?”

Aranya nods, and Karn continues.

“Well, on the adventurer side of things at least, people are uncertain. Feelings are mixed. On the one hand, Thedeim dealt with a threat to the town. On the other hand, it’s arguably a threat he caused, and there’s a potential new threat.”

“Fluffles,” says Yvonne as a statement, not a question. She’s probably noticed Karn’s unease. He nods at her.

“Yeah. Everyone has known he’s a Conduit, but knowing it and understanding it are two different things. Most of the guild can only guess at the actual power needed to do what he did, but there’s a couple people with Storm affinity that could feel what he was doing.”

If I had blood, it’d run cold at that. Did I accidentally let out the secret of affinities and science linking them?

“They could feel Fluffles there taking apart the storm and focusing it. I’ve heard of mages being able to steal the strength of an enemy’s spell to power their own, but it’s the kind of talk you hear rumors about, not something you get to watch unfold out in the bay.”

I relax a bit at that, and feel Fluffles relax some, too. They’re not putting it together just yet, seems like, so that’s good.

“Are they scared of the Weaver?” asks Norloke, and Karn shrugs.

“I wouldn’t call it scared, but they’re definitely reevaluating how they feel about him. The various storm affinities seem to be in awe, especially Basger. That’s the shaman,” he clarifies as he glances at Aranya, who nods in recognition. “He’s probably going to try to come visit Fluffles for wisdom or something. I doubt he’ll be the last.”

Fluffles looks surprised at that, and I laugh to myself as I imagine a Fluffles fanclub. I feel a bit of indignance through the bond at that, which only makes me laugh more.

“So yeah,” finishes Karn, “things with the guild are going to be a bit messy for a couple days as people adjust.”

There are various nods around the table, and it takes a few seconds for someone to speak up and put in their two cents. Said person is Tarl.

“The Dungoneer’s Guild, officially, doesn’t have much opinion now that it’s plain that Hullbreak has been vassalized. It’ll be more paperwork for me and Telar, mostly Telar, but that comes with the job. Unofficially, I think the townsfolk are going to have a reaction to this, as well as the Mayor.”

Folarn sighs and speaks up. “The people we helped evacuate, while appreciative of the help, seemed to want to know what the town government was doing about all this. We didn’t have any answers to give them. While some were upset with us, most were understanding and seemed to be saving their ire for a different target.”

Tarl nods at that. “Most towns with an active dungeon, like Thedeim, will create and prepare various contingency plans for things just like this. Even without a potential dungeon clash, there are always potential monster attacks or brigand sieges, other things that could pose an existential crisis for the town. As far as I’m aware… Fourdock doesn’t have any plans.”

Karn speaks up to add “I don’t know of any, either. I called a Raid Party once Aranya and Yvonne explained the situation, because I couldn’t think of anything else to get a response going any quicker.”

Aelara groans after hearing that, drawing the eyes of everyone gathered. “I understand what you two are hinting at. It really is going to be a mess for a while, isn’t it.” Tarl and Karn both nod, though everyone else looks confused. After a few moments, Aelara continues.

“Thedeim has accidentally stepped on the toes of the Mayor, and he may or may not see it as an accident. The dungeon identified a threat, organized a response to protect the entire town, and dealt with the threat, all before the Mayor could even get out a statement. He snubbed the established political power, making it look both weak and incompetent, and he did so publicly.”

Glances are exchanged around the table as that sinks in. It’s not a very charitable interpretation of what happened, but it’s also not inaccurate. I’ve been deliberately trying to stay out of anything with the local government or politics, but that might have just led to me accidentally jumping into it with both feet.