At sunrise, I see Rhonda and Freddie enter my main gate, followed by those three that I watched in the labyrinth the other day. The three don’t seem very deterred, and the kids look pretty eager to test themselves against my tougher stuff. Even something strong like a Jakob’s Ladder snake has to actually attack to potentially endanger them. The wyrms can be a threat just by getting too close. They seem to have taken precautions, at least.

Vieds eyes a vial that looks like it contains liquid fire, looking uncertain. “Are you sure these are safe? I’m pretty sure I’ve thrown things like this at monsters before…”

Rhonda giggles while Lucas chitters an admonishment at the changeling. “I’m sure. Master Staiven himself brewed these to help us gather as many of the herbs in the labyrinth as possible. He’s had a lot of requests for strong fire resist potions, so he needs good ingredients.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t want to join with us himself. The other crafters wanted to see the materials in person,” rumbles Wold, the large bearkin looking up at Poe on his perch near the chimney.

“Well, I am his apprentice. If he can trust anyone else to get the herbs, it’d be me,” points out Rhonda, and Vieds finally accepts the truth as he slips the vial into a belt pouch.

The group moves to the porch to peruse the hanging quests, which has Gerlfi in a good mood as he browses. “It’s still strange to me to see a dungeon handing out quests like this.”

“It’s the aranea, not the dungeon,” points out Freddie, which earns a chuckle from the older goblin.

“Which is why it’s so strange. Usually, it’s fey offering deals like this. I’m not sure if it’s a shame or a relief that there’s no fey to be had here.” He pauses as he peers at an herbalism quest in the labyrinth to gather some fool’s coal. “Should we all get an herbalism quest?”

Rhonda looks at the board he’s looking at. “That one should be easy enough, even if you don’t have much herbalism experience. The hardest part of gathering fool’s coal is in finding it… and I guess in keeping it away from too much heat while we’re there.”

Freddie accepts a quest for a couple wyrm mandibles, while Wold takes one for a wyrm hide. How would he even get a hide from one of my wyrms? Gerlfi looks uncertain at the fool’s coal quest.

“I think keeping them away from heat will be a problem, don’t you?”

Rhonda shrugs and accepts a quest for a more delicate fiery herb. “It takes sustained heat to set them off. A couple attacks shouldn’t make them pop, but setting them on fire will get them to explode eventually.”

Gerlfi gingerly accepts the quest, looking like he thinks the little board will explode, too. “If you say so. I don’t have much herbalism experience. No crafting options have really captured my attention,” he admits.

“He prefers to gather fey,” jokes Veids as he takes a fool’s coal quest, too.

“How does that even work?” asks Freddie as they move into the manor proper, where I greet them with a small rat swarm. His question is left hanging while they deal with my warm-up encounter. They work well together, though, with Freddie, Fiona and Wold holding off the swarm while Vieds and Rhonda send a few area attacks to deal with the foes. Gerlfi mostly is on overwatch, keeping an eye on the battle and calling out tactical advice. Before long, the swarm is dispersed, and they resume their delve.

“You were asking about contracting with fey?” he asks the young orc as they move through the house, checking cabinets and drawers for any goodies. When Freddie nods, he continues. “The short version is that I’m a summoner. We deal with magic differently than most others you’ve seen, I imagine. I’m illusion affinity, which can be a bit awkward for a summoner. An illusion mage can simply create their illusions and work to trick their foes, but I need an outside anchor for my magic.

“That anchor gives just a bit of reality to my illusions, making them true summons. There’s a lot of different anchors to use, and ways to get those anchors. For me, dealing with fey has worked the best.” He draws Freddie’s attention to his various crystals.

“These let me communicate with the various fey I’ve formed a deal with. I call them forth, offer a payment, and they lend a small piece of themselves to give my illusions weight.”

“And their dungeons just let them do that?” further questions Freddie.

Gerlfi nods. “I don’t know the specifics, but it earns mana for their dungeon. That’s all I’ve really needed to know. You could probably ask the Dungeoneers if you want the details. Of course, the fey want more than that. They want something for themselves, too. The simpler fey are usually happy with bread, milk, and honey, and they’re great for support roles. Fighting fey usually want more than that, so I tend to save them for trouble.”

I interrupt their conversation with a trio of widows in the basement. Wold and Freddie can keep two of the big arachnids busy, but Fiona is a bit out of her league to keep the third one occupied. Gerlfi quickly speaks into one of his crystals as Rhonda, Lucas, and Vieds try to keep the widow at bay.

“Sprig, please help us hold back this widow. I offer bread, milk, and honey, once we’re back at the guild.” I watch his mana flow and swirl, his explanation for how he summons making it all make sense, and a twiggy little bush pops through the stones of the basement, quickly resolving into a vaguely humanoid shape.

With the sprig’s help, they manage to corral the widow. My spider doesn’t seem to know how to bite the little bushy fey, giving Fiona the time to entangle her legs in webbing. With the breathing room that gives, Rhonda and Vieds are quick to finish that widow off, then take out the other two.

Freddie gets Rhonda’s help to try to remove the venom gland from one of their fallen foes, while Vieds watches with interest.

“Your magic is interesting, Rhonda. I’ve never seen someone weave opposing affinities like that before.”

Rhonda absently nods as she works on heating the widow’s head properly, trying to copy her master’s technique with Freddie’s guidance. I think it looks a little overdone compared to what Staiven did on his delve, but it was definitely quicker than if the orc tried to just hack the thing out.

With the other two dissipating already, Rhonda responds to the changeling as they all resume marching. “Thank you. It’s part of my class. I… guess you could say weaving affinities is a big part of how it works.”

Vieds nods as they head into the tunnels. “I can see that. I can also see what you meant about your fire affinity needing work.” Rhonda winces at that, and he gives her a reassuring smile. “That you can get opposing affinities to cooperate at all is impressive. Wold?”

He speaks up and looks to his fuzzy companion, who grunts in acknowledgement.

“Can you try to keep a bit of distance in the next encounter? And Freddie, too? Can you do that?” he honestly asks, and Freddie nods.

“It’s more effort, but I can. It sounds like you have something you want to try?”

The changeling nods, and lets a bit of pride slip into his tone. “I’d like to show the Ice Sage how fire is more than just burning things to a crisp.”

Gerlfi is all too happy to burst his friend’s bubble with a friendly jab. “Maybe we should drink those potions.” Vieds glares while the goblin grins, and the changeling is the first to look away.

“...it might not be the worst idea. We’re not too far from the labyrinth anyway.” I nudge a couple rockslides to get in their path, and the delvers quickly toss back their fire resist potions before continuing on their way. Fiona points out my denizens as the group gets close, and Freddie takes a deep breath as he prepares.

“Rockslides. They’re not too dangerous, but they’re tough and hard to corral. Can you follow my lead please, Mr Wold?”

The bearkin looks curious as he nods, taking a position beside Freddie. “Shield Wall!” declares the orc, and Fiona eagerly moves to support the ethereal shields. Wold looks surprised for a moment, before following suit. The rockslides rumble forward, but the shield wall holds, at least for the moment.

Vieds takes that moment, and a few more, to prepare his attack. I can feel a lot of mana moving, and Rhonda’s eyes follow the flows, drinking in what the changeling is trying to show her.

“Fire is so much more than mere heat! Heatwave!” he shouts and conjures a rolling wall of fire that pushes the rockslides back. Freddie moves to advance, but Wold places a hand on his shoulder and shakes his head. The reason why becomes apparent as Vieds’ nest attack lands.

“Explosion!” The piled up rockslides suddenly fly apart with a sharp crack and fiery woosh as their group cohesion is sundered from the force of the attack. My little denizens decide that’s enough fun for today and scatter, leaving an awed Rhonda and a smug Vieds watching them go.

“There, you see? Sure, heat is a big part of fire, but you have to appreciate a good explosion every so often, too.”

“Sure, you can appreciate them. You’ve never lost your eyebrows to them,” snarks Gerlfi, and Vieds snarks right back.

“Missing eyebrows is better than what that lesser chimera would have done to you.”

The banter is lost to Rhonda, who has her notebook out and is scribbling like mad. Wold lets his friends bleed off adrenaline with their usual ribbing, staying out of it as he gives Freddie a considering look.

“I've never seen a skill like that before.”

Freddie looks a bit bashful. “Yeah… it’s part of my class. I work really well with other melee fighters, like Larrez.”

“It’s good. I usually don’t get to enjoy melee teamwork. Coordinating is difficult.”

Freddie smiles at that. “That’s what a phalanx is all about. Each shield supports the next, and The Shield supports us all.”

“You should talk with Gerlfi, once he’s done bickering and we’re ready to move on. If you work well with numbers, he can provide them.” They both look over to the two, who look to be winding down their fun, before Wold speaks again. “If we’re to reach the depths of the labyrinth, we may need all the help we can get.”