It takes Teemo about a day to get to Leo, which gives him about a day to prep him for the two refugees. Sure, prisoners, but I don’t see much point in pretending they’re anything else at this point. Yvonne and company have already undone Merrik’s hand binds. I think the two young adults are a bit too marveled by the stories of the surface to try anything.

It also helps that Lechula is likable. I wouldn’t go so far as to call her adorkable, but there is a bit of that thirst for knowledge combined with a bit of awkward innocence. She’s mostly interested in getting defense advice from Ragnar, though she’ll answer questions for Aelara or Yvonne when they ask.

Merrik is a lot more subdued than Lechula, but there’s an intense hunger for knowledge in him, too. He tends to alternate between asking Aelara about magic and asking Yvonne about ranged attacks. Lechula let it slip that he’s a Steelmage, and after a deep sigh and a shake of his head, he agreed to give a little demonstration. I was expecting him to be very similar to Berdol, but aside from sharing an affinity, they seem to work a lot differently.

Berdol needs metal around to control, but Merrik basically summons it. He says he technically can manipulate metal that already exists, but it’s much easier for him to summon it. I don’t know if that makes him a summoner or what, but whatever he technically is, his techniques sure look effective to me. He has a couple simple attacks that call a short-lived weapon that appears near his target, swings (or stabs), then vanishes. He also has what I like to think of as a blender attack that fills an area with slashing metal. He calls it a bladewall, I’d probably call it an unbound blender, but the effect is the same: don’t go in.

Ragnar, of course, waded in with a wide smile. Aelara just gave him an ‘oh you’ look, and Yvonne just shook her head at him. Lechula and Merrik about panicked, but after he dismissed the wall, they saw his beard wasn’t even trimmed from the damage. I’m not sure if that makes Lechula and Merrik low level, or Ragnar and crew high. Possibly a bit of both, even.

I’m feeling confident in them being refugees after that. If they were spies, they’d probably be a bit nervous after that show, even if only for themselves. The two, instead, seem to be even more relaxed. I’m pretty sure they feel like they have some actual protection from the Maw now. Nova has been noticing them sleeping better, at least.

As for Lechula’s class, Ragnar says she’s a pretty standard Shieldbearer, without her even saying so. Her look of surprise and his laugh pretty much confirmed it. It’s a bit different from his class, in that it relies on heavier armor to not take damage in the first place, instead of regenerating a lot of it like Ragnar does. She even asked him about it, though he was pretty sparse on the details.

I get the feeling it’s less that he doesn’t want to help her, and more that he doesn’t want to inflict his particular fighting style on anyone else. It sure seems effective, just as it seems like he takes at least a bit of a beating with each fight. It must be sustainable somehow, but I probably shouldn’t be surprised if the guy who works to take all the hits doesn’t want to see someone else shoulder all that pain.

I relay all of that to Teemo once he gets to Leo, which takes a good chunk of the night for him to do. Honey takes notes, because of course she does, and Teemo meets Leo's eyes once he finishes regaling him with all the info.

“So, what do you think?”

Leo stands and paces, his ears flicking as he thinks. After a few minutes, Honey buzzes and seems to pull him from his thoughts, and he gives a tired growl.

“Yeah, ‘complicated’ is about how the Boss feels, too. Let’s break it down to be less complicated, yeah? First… I guess is does it change any of the plans for dealing with the Maw?”

Honey does a little mocking dance and Leo grins and wuffs. Teemo snorts before translating.

“They say there needs to be a plan in the first place before it can change.” Leo gives a grumble, looking a bit more serious with his reply.

“Still not enough for a real plan yet, hmm? Well, just be careful and don’t get caught, but you already know that. Anything in specific you want to ask the two when they get here?”

This time it’s mostly Honey who answers, giving a dance and pointing at a sheaf of papers that I’m certain already have a ton of questions. Teemo smirks at my reply and relays it.

“The Boss says to ease up, or else they’ll be wanting to seek refuge from us, too. What do you two think of taking them in?”

Leo tilts his head and Honey buzzes in a questionmark.

“I mean, not literally. The Boss isn’t going to make residents of strangers, no matter how upstanding they seem to be.”

Leo nods and sits, his ears flicking for a moment before he gives a quiet bark.

“Fair enough. It’s not like anyone is going to try to just send them back. The Enclaves might adopt them or something, otherwise I guess they’ll move into Fourdock and maybe join the adventurer’s guild?”

Maybe they’ll become cooks instead. They have lots of turns of phrase and idioms involving food.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Huh.” Leo and Honey both give Teemo expectant looks, so he explains after a few moments. “Boss says they might become chefs or something. Lots of food-based sayings.”

Honey notes that down, while Leo looks thoughtful.

“That give you any ideas, Leo?” My Warden shrugs and chuffs.

“Need to talk to them first? Fair. How about the reinforcements? The basilisks are looking pretty strong. And there’s the dwellers…”

All three scions look a bit uncomfortable at that, but Teemo powers on. “You can’t just leave them here at Southwood. They’ll go off on their own.”

Leo whines at that and reluctantly nods, causing Honey to droop a bit in the air. Leo wuffs and nods at the pile of maps, getting a nod from Teemo.

“Ah. He says he won’t know exactly what to do with them until they have a better idea of the cave systems down there. If the battlefield is going to be some big open cave, that’s one thing, but a series of tight tunnels would be another.”

Eew, I never considered the possibility of narrow tunnels. It’d be like urban fighting and give the defenders a huge leg up. I don’t think the idea of a carbine would really work with something like a crossbow. Bow skills might make the compound bows effective. Either way, it’d probably be a good idea to have them train in tight quarters once they get here.

Teemo relays that, with Leo and Honey both nodding. “They say that’s their basic idea, until they can make an actual attack plan. It’ll also depend on how much the Maw and its forces can shape the battlefield. If they have earth mages, things could get ugly fast.”

Yeah. And if they’re not completely stupid, they’ll protect any earth mages with all they’ve got. Underground, having a monopoly on earth magic would be like having air superiority: not a whole lot a foe can do if you have it.

My Voice echoes me again, and again the two planning scions nod. “At least we should have a better idea of what the Maw has access to once they get here and can answer some more directed questions, instead of just idle chatter.”

Any plans for dealing with that Redcap? I’d suggest cold iron, but nobody seems to consider that a thing.

Teemo shrugs. “Probably need to throw Fluffles at it, especially if it’s a Conduit like you said they said.”

Leo grunts and woofs as Honey dances in the air, making Teemo tap his chin in thought. “That’s a good point. We’ll probably want to be ready to face him and the Harbinger at the same time. Fluffles and Rocky could probably take them, but it’d also probably be a messy fight. Leo suggested keeping Slash with them. The most skeletal outline of a plan is to use those three as part of our main force to keep the Maw’s attention, and use a sneakier force to try to head straight for the core.”

Oh, that reminds me: should we ask Southwood if he wants to make the Stag a Conduit?

“Hmm. I mean, he’d probably like to, but the Stag isn’t exactly… sneaky.” Leo nods and Honey bobs in the air in agreement.

We can ask. I don’t think Hullbreak or Violet would be ready for that right now. Hullbreak would only be able to send the Quartermaster, who also isn’t exactly built like solid snake. Violet might send Onyx, but that’d be a long way from home. She hasn’t shown much interest in this fight, either, so I think she’s wanting to focus on growing and securing what she has, instead of trying to get a Conduit.

“Who were you thinking for us to try for it, Boss?”

Probably you or Nova. I don’t know how sneaky someone would have to be to get all the way to the Maw’s core, or if it’s even an option. Honestly, if anyone gets the chance, they should take it. Anyone could use the power boost, and I just want to have that dungeon dealt with. It’s probably going to be too much of a fight for us to be able to actually decide for ourselves who gets to do it.

“Me?!” exclaims Teemo, missing the rest of what I said. Leo and Honey nod a third time, and he gives them a glare. “Don’t pretend like that’s your plan, too!” Leo just grins as Honey digs out a scrap of paper with a list of likely Conduits. She even has Teemo at the top, followed by Nova.

I pat the bond with Honey, glad to have a second opinion for who will likely be the one to take the core. Did you catch the rest of what I said, Teemo?

“Yeah, I got it. Hopefully Nova will be the one to get it, but it makes sense that whoever gets a good chance should just take it. The Maw probably won’t make it easy on us.”

“Does that include me?” asks the Stag as he enters the little clearing Leo and Honey have been using as their operating base, and Teemo smiles and nods.

“If you’re gonna be there, yeah! The Boss was even considering trying to sneak you in.”

The Stag looks a bit surprised at that, and tilts his head as he listens to the Southwood. He doesn’t look too happy about what he’s hearing, but he relays it anyway. “My Lord says I should remain here, in case this Maw manages to sneak something through. I’d rather go and fight… but my Lord is not wrong. I am ill suited for fighting in caves, especially if they’re as tight as you’ve indicated they could be. He’s considered making a second scion for the task, but the mana He’d need to spend to raise it to a decent level would be… considerable.”

Yeah… probably even by my standards.

Teemo gives an understanding nod. “Still, you want to send some of your illusion foxes along at least? They won’t be as quick as a scion, but having extra sneakiness wouldn’t be a bad thing. Maybe they’ll even meet the requirement for a Conduit if you make them a scion after they drain the Maw.”

The Stag smiles. “My Lord is willing to help, and will happily take what He can from the Maw, but He expects it will be one of yours to finish the Maw. Whatever forces you may wish, my Lord is willing to commit, within reason.”

“Cool. Right now, I don’t think we have anything set in stone, but the bears and the foxes will probably have good uses in there.”

Leo nods at that, earning another smile from the Stag. “Then I shall return to my duties, though my Lord would request I be present at the interrogation of the prisoners. He may have His own insights and questions.”

“Probably a good idea, yeah. We could even practice a technique the Boss knows.”

“Oh?” asks the Stag, looking interested as my Voice grins.

“It probably won’t be too necessary for these two, but good cop/bad cop is supposed to be a good way to get info out of someone. You’d make a good bad cop.”

The Stag frowns at that for a moment, before his ear flicks and he sighs. “Explain. My Lord is interested, though the term makes little sense.”

Teemo’s smile widens and he hops onto the Stag’s head. “This is going to be great, just you wait.”