North of Southwood

Many underestimate what earth elementals can do. They see the stony exterior and conclude all they can do is crush and smash, with even the clever ones only being able to add impale to the list of abilities.

In the defense of those who think that way, most earth elementals would agree. Their nature suggests they should deal with problems rather directly. The rockslides may not be especially intelligent, even by low-tier spawn standards, but even they can tell Dungeon Thedeim uses them in a strange way.

An especially bright one even suggested they could respawn and find themselves listed as rock piles instead of slides, for all the movement they don’t do. Still, it’s hardly unpleasant work. While their nature may demand threats be neutralized quickly, it also suggests patience and a willingness to simply observe. Rocks are not the most proactive elements of nature.

And the tactic has proven effective. Their infiltration of Hullbreak showed that they can even quietly slip inside a hostile dungeon and remain undetected. It’s even simpler to stay hidden in the forest, as they can simply stay under the piles of needles and other detritus, gather under thick brambles, or even slowly move through the loamy soil, despite the extra solidity provided by the current cold.

They’re also getting used to cooperating with other denizens to bring back their observations. The slimes were interesting to work with when under the waves. They’re another denizen that can be easily underestimated and most-often used for simple blunt work, but their similar ability to stay still and remain under notice was invaluable in the past, even if it’s not especially relevant at the moment. The rockslides feel for their fellow denizens and their inability to work well under these cold conditions, but at least there is another denizen type that can do that work here.

The wyrms are strange to work with. Even though they share the bond with Dungeon Thedeim, there is an instinctual fear of the unique variety of dragon. Magma is an odd cousin to earth, sometimes cooling to become more, sometimes heating earth and making more magma. The Librarian has even suggested wyrms could be a natural predator for living rockslides, though she thankfully never tried to get the wyrms to test that hypothesis.

Despite how uncomfortable it can be to be near the wyrms, the slides can’t pretend they don’t work well together. Not only do the wyrms bring their reports back to the Warden, but they also can scout ahead and help guide the rockslides to more places to observe.

In fact, that is the current mission. The forward wyrms have been able to roughly map out a growing cavern around the entrance for the invaders, but the Warden has not allowed them to breach into the chambers to see what is going on. The reports from the wyrms make little sense, which is why the Warden is playing it very safe.

A large excavation would suggest a large force, but the wyrms report much fewer moving sources of vibrations than there should be. They are light, too, suggesting it’s not simply some huge single source of the noise. The only motion can be detected at the limits of the chamber as the invaders keep digging, as well as the movement to ferry the freed stone to the surface.

Some of the slides wonder if the movement might be something large with many feet, like the centipedes of the Dungeon Thedeim’s Protege. So many feet could make something large sound like many smaller things, after all.

The Warden also thought of this, and that is why the latest mission is to try to map the individual sources better, to see if they can rule out anything. Well, part of the latest mission, at least. The wyrms are constantly on the move, as they have to ferry back the reports, so they can’t keep a precise eye on all the movement inside, just that the movement there seems much less than it should be.

Which is why several of the smaller rockslides are having the harrowing experience of being moved by the wyrms. While the slides can slowly slip through rock on their own, time is of the essence. The wyrms are the only other denizens able to move so quickly through the rock without disturbing it, otherwise the tunnelbores would be used.

The unhappy rockslides would rather risk discovery than be carried in the tri-hinged jaws of the wyrms as they move through the earth. Unfortunately, they aren’t making the decisions. They won’t even be harmed from the experience, aside from possibly emotionally.

It is a relief for the slides as they get deposited in the rock around the growing chamber. The wyrms situate their allies above and below the excavations, rather than in the way, and soon the earth elementals can devote their time to listening to the vibrations.

The slides even slowly move themselves around to get into better positions. As the wall of the cavity slowly expands, some find themselves too far away to be able to listen as well to the movements, so some repositioning is required.

The vibrations make little sense to the rockslides, which only makes them listen more intently. The walls continue to expand, which is something easily observed even by the passing wyrms. There is a steady rumble of reinforcements, also something the wyrms can observe. The oddity comes in where the reinforcements go. They seem to simply… vanish! They don't like giving that report, but it is all they can give, at least preliminarily. Their pride as spies pushes them to watch closer, and to try to think of what could possibly be happening.

Are the reinforcements simply dying? Is the expanding space in the earth just a mass grave? The dead don’t move, after all, so they would lose track of them, but the slides don’t put much stock in that theory. While it could explain the lack of movement, this is supposed to be an invading army. If they were losing so many troops, they should either fall back or launch a desperate attack, but they’re doing neither.

The rockslides think as several wyrms glide through the rock, letting them know they’re off to scout down the trail of the invaders and try to find the true source. The slides acknowledge it as politely as they can, but they are more concerned with the mystery of the reinforcements.

Perhaps they’re missing something in their observations? They stopped trying to track specific movements once it became obvious they were not dealing with some huge centipede, but perhaps they should look closer and try to find exactly what is happening.

So they start tracking random individuals, each slide paying careful attention as the current target comes into their range, and being ready to resume their vigil once it comes back. Surprisingly, they start seeing a pattern, though the purpose still eludes them.

A fresh reinforcement will start by gathering rubble and taking it to the surface, and repeat this many times as the diggers work. While some of the invaders do appear to drop dead in the work, it’s not difficult to follow the sound of the body being dragged away and disposed of on the surface. For the haulers that don’t drop, they eventually take their place in the line of diggers. And this is where the slides make their discovery.

The digging invaders don’t keep stepping forward to keep digging. Once they have their spot, they dig away the earth in their reach… and then they stop. They don’t simply stop digging, they seem to stop everything. At first, the slides think the digging invaders must die on the spot, but each other death has been accompanied by a heavy thud before the sound of dragging away the body.

The invaders are just standing there? Why? The slides continue to observe, and even track one as it drags away what must be a corpse. Once the invader returns, it takes the vacated spot, and ceases all movement like its predecessor. Perhaps they’re sleeping, somehow? It doesn’t feel quite right to the slides, but they at least have something more concrete to report: the invaders are filling the space as quickly as they dig it, and standing still once their portion of the work is finished.

In retrospect, the rockslides suppose they should have expected something like that. Holding still and being beneath notice is what they do, they shouldn’t be surprised they’re not the only ones to figure out how well that works.

They flag down a group of wyrms who are moving quickly towards them from the trail of the reinforcements, and start to give their reports, only to find the wyrms a bit antsy to continue to give their own.

Why?

The answer is concerning. The movements of the invaders so far has been light tik tik tiking of the sharp limbs jabbing into the ground to give them the grip to move. Far down the tunnel, though, there is a new sound of movement.

Thud! Scraaaaape…

Something large and different is coming. The rockslides quickly give their discovery, and the denizens don’t need to be the Warden to know these two pieces of information could be very important. The wyrms take off, leaving the slides to continue their watch, and try to figure out what to do.

The bright one suggests trying to prepare for the battle ahead. While they don’t know many of the details, even they can figure out it’d be a bad idea to let all the invaders wake up and join the battle. So they quietly work to subtly destabilize what they can of the large cavern. They don’t think they’ll be able to destroy even a significant fraction of the invaders, but every little bit helps.

And the idea appeals to their nature. Crushing a foe is not exactly elegant, but it is effective. Besides, they are living rockslides. The only arguable difference between them and a cave-in is if there is a roof.