Teemo chats with Tarl and Telar for a few more minutes, before taking his leave. I was hoping we’d be able to ask Berdol a couple questions about metal affinity, but it seems he’s delving right now. I take a few minutes to search for him while Teemo heads to the Adventurer’s Guild, and I only just spot him before Teemo pops out of a shortcut. The catkin is exploring the lava labyrinth, so I think we’ll have plenty of time to finish with the guild before trying to catch up to him to ask about metal affinity.

My Voice scurries through the door and weaves through a variety of feet as he makes for the bar. To Teemo’s ears, the bar is pretty loud, and it seems a lot busier than I was expecting it to be. He climbs up next to a hyenakin… or is she a gnoll? Is there a difference? My confusion doesn’t distract Teemo as he gets Karn’s attention.

“Hey Karn!”

“Oh hey, Teemo! I’ll get to you after this round, unless it’s important?” he asks as he gathers a double-fistfull of mugs.

“It’s important, but not really time sensitive.” Karn quickly fills the mugs and slams them on the bar.

“Six ales! Come get it yourself, I got stuff to do!” Chuckles resound as a large party gets up to get their refreshments, and Karn comes over to Teemo’s end of the bar. “So, what’s up? Or do you want to head to my office?”

I think it’ll be fine to speak here. There isn’t really anything we need to keep secret from the adventurers.

“Here’s fine. The Boss finally has a better idea of when to strike the Maw.”

Karn raises an eyebrow. “The Maw? Is that what the dungeon is calling itself?”

“Yeah, and it’s quite a piece of work. It’s metal affinity, and has the Harbinger, which is a mind affinity monstrosity.”

The thin orc whistles at that. “A nasty combination. What kind of level?”

Teemo shrugs. “Pretty strong, but Rocky was able to obliterate it on his own, so a pretty far step from him.”

The guildmaster rubs his chin as he considers that, and Teemo can see several of the bar patrons looking thoughtful as well. If they’re thinking, might as well give more information. “We talked to Tarl about the denizens, too, and he didn’t seem too worried. Some of the compositions will be nasty, but he didn’t seem to think it was anything insurmountable.”

“Yeah? What’s the worst of the denizens?”

“Thinlinks, pricklethorns, and forgemasters. He thinks they’ll probably form groups, but the tunnels should hopefully keep them from getting too overwhelming.”

Karn frowns at the list. “Hmm… that is pretty nasty, but there should be more than a few groups who ought to be able to handle something like that. Anything else?”

“Well, we don’t expect the Harbinger to be on the front lines, but it’s possible. There’s also a redcap scion that seems to be a real nasty one, too. Oh, and you should be getting groups coming back soon with info on the dungeon and the caves and such. A couple groups are helping with better intel gathering. We’re hoping to be able to attack in as soon as a week, if we can find the kobold enclave.”

“Aranya doesn’t know where it is?” asks the orc, looking surprised.

Teemo sighs and shakes his head. “No. Inside the Maw itself, but aside from that, she doesn’t remember. She wasn’t one of the ones allowed out into the dungeon and the town outside it. When she fled, she wasn’t exactly making a map, either. All she really knows is the core isn’t inside the enclave, or at least not visibly so.”

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Hmm. A town, you said?”

“Yeah, emancipated dwellers, worships the Maw. Most of them are civilians. The Boss isn’t sure if he should try to leave securing it to you guys, or try to do that himself.”

“Fair, that kind of thing can get real messy. My guilders are great at their jobs, but any mistake can lead to a tragedy. I’ll try asking the Shieldies if they want to join for that part of the mission. They’re a lot better at being organized and are used to having the defenses to be able to react, instead of having to act first like most adventurers do.”

“Yeah, that’d probably be for the best. You guys are a lot more used to just kicking butt, but the Shield followers actively train in public relations. It’d probably be a good idea to have a few groups of adventurers around to help them out, though. The rest, Boss was hoping to use to potentially attack the Maw itself, try to open a route for his heavy hitting scions to come and actually bring the fight to it.”

Karn nods, looking like he’s mentally sorting a couple lists. “The newer groups will be good to help the Shieldies. Not the kids, they don’t need to get mixed up in this. I have a few groups transitioning away from being mercs that should be able to do what might need to be done…” He trails off for a few moments before his eyes latch back onto Teemo.

“For the assault, I think basically any of my established parties should be good. Did Vnarl’s group say what they were going to do?”

“Yeah, they’re helping with a forward base for spying. They’re not especially good at being sneaky, but if anything nasty manages to find the base, they’ll make sure everyone gets out. For the actual attack, they haven’t said, but I can’t imagine them wanting to be anywhere besides the front line.”

Karn chuckles at that. “Yeah, I don’t think they’d let that kind of opportunity slip by. How are you going to keep the adventurers from giving the Maw a whole bunch of mana from killing the denizens?”

“We’re going to be pairing them up with some of the Boss’ denizens. I don’t know if that’ll let the entire group count as invaders or not, but it should at least make the Maw take some kind of a loss on each encounter.”

“Hmm, experience splitting is complicated enough without adding that kind of variable in. The Maw only getting half the return is probably a reasonable assumption?”

Teemo nods. “That’s what the Boss is figuring, yeah. The exact numbers vary a bit, but only getting half the payback of mana from a lost denizen should be a net loss for the Maw. If we’re lucky, it’ll count the entire group as invaders and it’ll get nothing, but we’ll have to see.”

“Anything else?”

“Oh, Tarl said he’s working on a primer pamphlet thing for how to handle the Maw’s denizens, and he says anyone interested in going should buy one.”

Karn smiles at that. “I’ll make sure everyone knows, and probably buy a couple copies for the library, too. That Maw probably won’t stick around for much longer, but I’m always looking to make the guild bestiary more complete.”

“How many adventurers do you think will want to come and help?”

Karn laughs at that and raises his voice. “If any of you were somehow not eavesdropping, Thedeim is putting out a call for adventurers to help put a stop to a hostile dungeon calling itself the Maw. The delve is going to be a tough one, but you’ll have at least a few of Thedeim’s own denizens to tag along with each party! There will also be a need for some help in securing a town, and probably room for runners and other logistics work!”

The bar goes silent at his proclamation, and Karn smirks at Teemo before he continues. “Who wants to go?”

Every hand in the guild raises, and Teemo can even hear the sounds of boots up the stairs scrambling to get down to signal their own desire to come fight. Karn’s grin only widens as he sees the expected response.

“I’m gonna have to force a lottery to keep someone behind with me. Not only are you offering a new adventure to a guild founded to find things like that, but you’re also the best delve anyone here has ever had, Thedeim. You might not be an adventurer, but you’re still practically family to a lot of the people here. Aranya’s one of us, too. Her people are in trouble. Adventurers might have a reputation for being flighty or unreliable, but we protect our own. You saved Yvonne, don’t think any of us have forgotten that. We can’t buy you a round as thanks, but we can definitely go kick some butt to show our appreciation.”

His wide smile softens to one of pride in his guild as everyone raises a glass, and he raises an empty mug as well. “Besides, this is going to be an adventure nobody is going to want to miss. The Slim Chance Guild always defies the odds!”

The hall erupts in a cheer as Teemo and I both are a bit dumbfounded. I’ve always tried to treat the adventurers right, but I somehow never expected them to reciprocate, especially not with a situation as dangerous as this. I guess… that kind of attitude, of doing what needs doing, no matter the danger, is just what makes an adventurer an adventurer.