The next few days are that weird mix of relaxing and busy, I don’t know how else to describe it. Teemo returns, and spends most of the first day tending to Honey’s notes and the other little things she wanted him to do. Queen and Coda each even take the time to go over what seeds and clippings were sent back, too, with Teemo letting them know there will be a lot more over the coming weeks.

The lighthouse gets officially underway, with Coda doing a more detailed survey and sinking some holes to give the foundation more support. The masons have a bit of adjusting to do to work with my Civil Artificer, and Teemo spends much of that day explaining what Coda wants them to do. A few leave, thinking they know better than my scions, but most are eager to learn. The ones that left even try to return after hearing about the strange mortar that is the concrete, but the Quartermaster is happy to play bouncer. I make sure they know they just need to give Coda a proper apology if they want to learn from him directly. We’ll see if any of them swallow their pride or not.

The Lava Labyrinth is also getting going, too. The ratlings and even some of the aranea assist Queen and Thing with their work, with the magmyrm mostly helping Coda at night, since he can’t really have the masons doing much with the sun down. And I’m pretty sure the low temperatures at night can mess with the initial set for the concrete. I should probably ask Teemo to make some temporary shortcuts for the wyrms, if Coda needs to warm the area up to make things work properly.

As expected, Fluffles isn’t very into metalworking. I don’t think he hates it, but it seems like it’s a pretty passive interest. Jello, however, seems to be very into it. Whenever Legs is in there working on a new iteration of the detachable spearhead, Jello is in there, too, eager to help make it work, and to learn. From what I can gather through the bond, I think the idea of shaping things appeals to her. As long as she’s enjoying herself, I’m not going to complain, especially if it means I can unlock my own metalworks.

The ratkin and spiderkin continue their build up as well. I don’t know if they have the time to go through something like actual boot camp, but they’re certainly not slacking on training. Folarn and Vernew both are working their recruits hard to ensure they keep as safe as possible. The ratkin are redoubling their efforts with making weapons and armor, though I make sure Teemo lets them know there will be a new weapon for both the jumping spiders and the ratkin archers. The ratkin still seem to prefer throwing knives, but the promise of a new kind of bow has more of them interested. I’m also curious if they could field some support classes. It’s weird to think of them as kinda my priests, but if they can do the same kind of thing that Aranya can do, they could help turn the tide of a battle.

And speaking of Aranya: she and the rest of the party return from their scouting mission. According to them, the swamps slowly give way to basically a mushroom rainforest or jungle. I’m not certain what the technical difference is between those, actually…

Anyway, it’s not ringing any bells for Aranya, so they’re all pretty sure they have a ways to go before we trip over her old dungeon. Aelara and Ragnar head out to relax at the guild, and Aranya and Yvonne prepare to do the same in the secret base. Much as I’d like to let them enjoy some well-earned rest, I need to ask them both about the weird invader the Southwood is dealing with. Teemo would rather relax, too, but this problem isn’t going to go away if we just ignore it. In fact, it’ll probably get worse.

I share in Teemo’s sigh, but Aranya and Yvonne might know about the things.

“Is something wrong?” asks the birdwoman, eying my Voice as he relaxes on her shoulder.

“No… well, yes, but not immediately. There’s something the Boss wants you to look at. You too, Aranya. It’s about the invaders in the Southwood. Maybe the Rangers or kobold legends know about it. It’s weird. I’ll get Honey’s notes and meet you in the base, ok?” At their nods, he hops off and slips through a shortcut. I tell him to take his time, letting them get to the base and relax a bit.

When Teemo returns, my two Residents look over the notes. At first glance, Yvonne looks confused, and Aranya looks disgusted. “How does Honey know what its insides look like?” asks the kobold, and Teemo can’t help but chuckle.

“By dissecting one with Leo’s help. Me and the Stag didn’t stick around for it. I’m happy to only get the gory details, rather than the actual gore. Do any of the legends have anything like this? Or anything with an unknown or maybe unknowable type?”

Aranya slowly shakes her head. “No… but if even Lord Thedeim can’t discern its type, it can’t be anything good.”

Yvonne nods at that and takes the notes to look at them closer, and Teemo speaks up. “Do you recognize anything about it, Yvonne?”

“No, and that’s what concerns me.” Teemo and Aranya exchange a glance and let Yvonne concentrate. She takes the time to go over Honey’s notes in detail, and it’s not hard to guess that it’s not good.

She eventually sighs and sets the notes down. “It’s…” she takes a moment to sigh again and tries to organize her thoughts. “I’ve seen some insects and read about some fish that don’t actually eat. For the insects, it’s the final adult stage, and they spend the larval or pupal stages eating and storing energy, before taking their adult form to find a mate and die to make room for the next generation. But if Honey’s notes are correct, these aren’t mating. It makes no sense…”

“The Boss says it does, but not a happy kind of sense. Could these be drones of some kind? Their adult stage more designed to defend a hive, rather than have their own kids?”

“Maybe… but I doubt it. The only kind of disposable warrior I can think of would be in bees, but the ordinary bees do much more than fight, and even their disposability is more as a self-sacrificial attack, rather than simply starving after some amount of time.” Yvonne frowns at that for a moment. “I wonder if Aelara might know something. I’ve heard summoning classes often have a timer on their summons. I always assumed they would simply vanish after a time, but I’ve never met anyone with that kind of class. She might have met some in school… Can I show her these notes?”

“Yeah, he’s fine with that. If she doesn’t know, the Office of Dungeon Affairs is probably our last chance to get answers. Well, last chance that doesn’t involve kicking down the door to this thing's nest and getting answers the old fashioned way.”

My Residents smirk at that, and Aranya speaks up. “I’d like to come along, too. Not for the discussion, but for a good bath. I started getting itchy this morning, so my shed won’t be far away. A good warm soak will give me some relief until it’s time.”

“I’ll tag along, too, if you don’t mind. It’ll save you from having to explain it again, at least if Aelara knows anything,” declares Teemo before he hops onto Yvonne’s shoulder. She rubs a finger under his chin and smiles as she nods.

“Then we should go. We might be able to catch Aelara before she gets her own warm bath. Otherwise, we’ll have to wait until the morning.” With the mood lightened at least a bit, they all set off to the Guild. True to her prediction, they just manage to catch Aelara on her way to the baths, carrying a bag with a towel and what seems to me like an entire alchemist’s shop worth of various bottles. She doesn’t play around when it comes to a good soak.

Aelara brightens at her friends. “Yvonne! Aranya! Come to join me for some luxury?”

“Perhaps, but I need to delay you first, if you don’t mind?” asks the birdwoman. Aelara gives a longing look to where she was headed, then sighs and deflates a bit.

“I do mind, but this sounds more important.” She straightens her back, laying her pout aside for now. “What do you need?”

“For you to look at this. The guild library might be the best place?” suggests Yvonne as she holds up the loose notes. The elf gives one last longing look towards her original destination, before nodding and following the others. I can’t help but feel a pang of sympathy as it seems the library is in exactly the opposite direction as the baths.

Once in the library and looking over the notes, though, it seems she has a new focus.

“What… is this?” she asks, knowing she has something strange, but not knowing what.

“Maybe you should tell us what you think it is, first?” suggests Aranya, earning a small frown from the elf. She folds her arms and drums her fingers on herself as she thinks, and soon transitions to voicing her inner monologue.

“Well… it’s not a normal bug, even I can tell that. Yvonne could have told you if it was that simple. It also gives me the creeps. Something about it just feels wrong in some way. Why do you think I might know what it is?” she asks with suspicion, her eyes falling on Teemo. My Residents exchange a look before Yvonne answers.

“I thought it could be some strange kind of summon? Did any of your peers have a summoning class?”

“Hmm,” hmms Aelara, her brows furrowed as she chases down that line of thought. “I suppose it could be a summon, or maybe a golem. One of my classmates was an earth summoner. We’d talk about the differences in our magic a lot. There was also a demonstration once, with a summoner and golemancer, both with shadow affinity. The details went over my head, but I could picture maybe someone with life affinity either summoning or making a golem like this? Is that what this is? Some kind of life golem?”

“We don’t know,” answers Teemo simply, and Aelara tries not to let her eyes bug out of her head, which gets more difficult as he continues. “It’s the invader that the Southwood is having to deal with. It didn’t say anything about it being a summon, and the Boss can’t read the type. Neither can the Southwood.”

Aelara’s frown deepens at that. “I believe its type should be summon, or maybe elemental. Or golem, I suppose. I don’t know much about dungeons, but I can’t imagine those type would be difficult for one to comprehend…”

Her eyes suddenly widen before she slouches, looking defeated. “We’re going to go investigate, aren’t we,” she states, not even making it a question.

“No,” answers Yvonne, to the surprise of everyone, myself included.

“No?” asks Aranya, recovering quicker than the others.

Yvonne shakes her head. “While we could decide to go investigate, I don’t know that it would do us much good. Honey is already investigating these things, and there are apparently enough of them to make even an established dungeon like the Southwood ask for help. Even as a toybox, it should know how to deal with invaders. I don’t know that we’d be able to stem a tide that it’s having trouble with, especially now that Thedeim is offering aid.”

Aelara eyes her friend for a few long moments, before Yvonne relents. “And I’m honestly a bit scared of these things. Even something like a tunnel horror still has the biology and instincts to do more than just kill. These things… look to only exist for that purpose. One, we could handle, maybe even a dozen… but there are surely far more than that to deal with.”

Aelara looks relieved to hear that, while Aranya looks conflicted. The elf isn’t going to let my kobold stew in her thoughts for long, though, and stands, grabbing a hand of both of Residents.

“Then there’s nothing to delay us all enjoying a nice bath after a long quest!”

Teemo hops off Yvonne’s shoulder and gathers up the notes. “Then I’ll get these back to the Boss. You ladies enjoy yourselves,” he says with a smile.

“But the invaders,” tries Aranya, only to be shot down by Yvonne.

“We can decide what we’re going to do about them later. Aelara’s baths are a rare treat. She swears she doesn’t use any magic nor alchemy in them, but I don’t see how she can make them so rejuvenating otherwise.”

A look of temptation crosses Aranya’s face as she scratches her nose without seeming to realize. Aelara grins and pounces on the weakness.

“I bet I can whip up something to help with your shed, too!”

Teemo waves as Aranya lets the two drag her off, and makes his way back to me and the library. I’m actually a bit relieved they don’t want to go fight the invaders, or at least not just charge headlong into them. Even if they’re not too dangerous for their size, they’re still big enough to be dangerous. And with the numbers the Southwood seems to be dealing with, that danger only ratchets higher. I’m going to need to beef up what I send sooner rather than later, I think. Not only to keep them safe, but to try to keep ahead of any other nasty surprises. If there was a big variety in the beginning with the invaders, there’s no reason they won’t spring something else new and even more dangerous.