Chapter Fourteen: From Bellow

So, uh… I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but it wasn't an earthquake. The various Delvers around looked really worried, and what encounters were happening, I just had my denizens run away. Tiny ushered a couple herbalists out of the maze and is now sitting at the entrance. Maybe I should make some more minor libraries at the various entrances to let people know when certain areas are closed.

Most of the Delvers took the hint to leave, and the stink eye from Poe and the other ravens got everyone else away from the potentially dangerous spots. There's still some looky-Lous, but they're far enough back to ignore for now. Everything seems to be intact, and the Expeditions I had out are returning and saying the town seems to be fine, too. I'm not sure how much I trust their definition of 'fine', but nothing seems to have collapsed. It's not like I could do much to help anyway.

The expansion definitely took, at least. There's now a ragged cave in the yard, and I have Poe and the unoccupied vipers keeping a close eye on it. I can still extend my senses into my new section, but I don't sense any new invaders just yet. I do, at least, have a new spawner.

Because there's always a ten-by-ten foot room for jello. Yerp, I got a slime spawner. I, of course, spend the mana to get a slime paragon, too. She looks like someone took a mixing bowl and filled it with jello, then just turned it out onto the floor. She's kinda cute, in an adorable blob kinda way. The more passive slimes are looking like they'll be more oozes, though, kinda puddles and such. Maybe I'll get some other varieties as I upgrade it? I don't need Dragon Warrior slimes with eyes and a mouth, but an actual gelatinous cube would be cool.

As I take in my new expansion, though, I start to get a feel for how my new invaders might get in. There are passages I can't sense down, like how I can't sense much past my gate or my walls. So I guess there's an actual underground to be had. I get basically every bat that's not of the fruit variety to fly down into the cave and set up shop, and get a bunch of my spiders in there, too. Roaches and mice look like they'll spawn pretty thick down here. I don't think moles will, though. Most of the caves are fully stone, which is pretty cool.

Fluffles and Teemo get to work doing their things down here, too. Teemo keeps finding little cracks and crevices to make into shortcuts for my denizens, which helps everyone get into position to deal with the new infestations. New infestations are also why I'm not making any nodes just yet.

I remember how the herbs started attracting the mice. I don't want to make ore or gem nodes and attract… I don't know what. At least not until I'm better prepared. I need to get me a few more tough mobs to guard the various bits. The basement swarm I'll leave there for now, to help guard the chest.. Tiny? You can head back into the maze, I think everything here is covered, at least for now. Coda, I need you to make sure the bats sweep the new caves with sonar as regularly as possible, so your belfry is upgraded again now.

Queen, keep doing your thing with the alchemy. See if you can manage anything to get through stone. My core is getting big enough that I'd like to move it again. Yeah, it didn't stay there as long as I had hopped, but I guess that just means we're growing at a good pace, right?

Oh hey, Fluffles. Can you use your telekinesis and stuff to work through rock? I'm gonna need *something* if I'm going to get a new Secret Sanctum. I think the town mostly trusts me enough to make my Sanctum more public, but I want to make sure everyone still feels that way after the quake.

Most of the Delvers wander off after we go back to DefCon: Normalcy. I don't really blame them. Sun's getting close to setting now, I think. I do get some nighttime Delvers, but most like the day. Probably because most of my stuff doesn't care about light levels very much.

Jello is just kinda wandering the caves right now, absorbing mice and roaches as she goes. I wonder what I'll do with her. She's kinda weird compared to my other scions, but maybe because I just don't know what to do with her. I know what bats do, what spiders do, birds, etc. I dunno how slimes do.

Oop, nighttime Delver. Let's go see who it is. Huh, they're not at the gate? And a second Delver now, too. Where… oh! They must be down in the caves! I focus down there, and I find them. I'm also not quite sure what's going on.

For just a moment, I worry one of the kids managed to get down there somehow, but they're not wearing tattered clothing anymore. Nor do they have a tail. Or scales. Or darkvision, I'm pretty sure. Whatever it is, though, it's bipedal and has clothes. And is running from… that thing.

What's that thing? I dunno. It kinda reminds me of an ankheg, which is basically a pincherbug that could go toe to toe with Tiny. But this is more reptilian, I think. Scales are a big tip off. I'ma call it a scythemaw until someone puts a book on cave critters in my library. It's big, scaly, and has two big mandible things at its mouth, in addition to the more usual sharp teeth for eating things that have an opinion about being eaten.

How the crap does that thing count as a Delver?! The smaller one's screams refocuses my train of thought. Questions later, action now! Fluffles, Teemo, Jello! Go help the little lizard person! Queen, I'm gonna need medic ants on the double! Tiny, get your spinnerets down here yesterday! Coda, make sure everyone is doing what they should be doing! You're my Poe for pointing out nasty things down here!

Fluffles and Teemo make fast time towards the lizard person, with Jello… not making fast time at all. She's definitely going to be posted at one of the cave passages once I get everything better handled down here. She's not exactly a rapid responder.

Coda pings a little cave that the scythe-maw shouldn't be able to fit into, and Queen gets the medic ants headed that way. I send a few rats to give them a ride, as they're way quicker than ants. Tiny is moving as quickly as he can, but he was near the center of the maze, so he'll be a couple minutes.

Fluffles and Teemo get to the lizard person first, which isn't much of a surprise. With Teemo's trails, the two can get basically anywhere in the dungeon within a minute or two, and they were already in the caves. What is a surprise, though, is that Fluffles just levitates the terrified person and all three start dashing along Teemo's trails.

The rescued Delver is screaming at the top of their lungs, but they're at least safe in Fluffle's magic. The scythemaw keeps running down the larger tunnel for several more seconds before it realizes its prey has vanished. Uh… apparently, it's not going to accept that answer.

The thing starts tearing at my rock walls, either in frustration or because it thinks it senses its prey. Well, that's not gonna fly, buddy. Say hello to Tiny. He doesn't roar or anything like the scythemaw, but that tackle announces his presence pretty effectively, in my opinion. Fluffles sinks his fangs, too, before scuttling back out of retaliation range.

The hostile Delver growls at Tiny, and I can see the venom has slowed it. Just be careful, Tiny. I think all I can really support you with is some medical ants, and they're still en-route. I can see him working on a web, but it'll be a bit before he'll have it ready, and in a fight, seconds pass like eternities.

The scythemaw bellows and charges forward, lunging at Tiny's face. The big guy gets a leg in the way, which I think saves his life. The leg is bitten through and the maw starts messily scarfing it down. With its mouth occupied, though, Tiny lumbers forward to deliver another envenomed bite. He leaves a thick web across the passage behind him as he scuttles past his foe, and now the hostile Delver finds itself with its back against a wall. No, worse: a normal wall won't stick you to it if you press your back to it.

I don't think the thing is quite that smart, though. Or Tiny's bites are slowing it down more than I thought. Come to think of it, a spider that big would be very bad news for anything of similar size if it got to bite it. The scythemaw might be resistant, but I dunno. I'm not an expert in giant lizards with swords coming out of their face.

It finishes the leg and growls at Tiny again, and I see my spiderbro lift his front slightly. What's he up to? I don't get to ask any more silly questions before the lizard lunges forward again. For a moment, I worry Tiny will lose another leg, but he's a smart spider.

Just like he learned how to deal with elf guy's Shadow Blade, he has a plan for this thing's lunging attack. He tips himself over backwards as it rushes forward, letting him bring all seven legs to bear. That's a lot of hydraulics to catch a lot of lizard, and it works. He grabs it around the neck to keep from losing any more pieces, his other legs curling under its belly before he flings it backwards and into the web!

It crashes through, but I'm pretty sure that was the plan. It's not quite immobile, but with webbing and venom, it's not going anywhere. Tiny strolls up and bites it a few more times as he webs it more, and I let him enjoy his victory. Ah, there's my medic ants. See what you can do for Tiny. I'ma go check on our other Delver.

In the little cavern, Fluffles has let the fleeing Delver back to the floor, where they promptly scramble to the back wall. As I focus in, I see that she is a girl. Uh, make that a woman, definitely. Is she a kobold? She certainly looks like it. Fluffles and Teemo simply watch her from the only entrance/exit to the little cavern, not making any hostile moves.

I can hardly blame her for being terrified still, though. A snek and a rat snatched her up easier than the scythemaw did. She could probably hear the bellows and fight Tiny gave it, too. As the silence stretches on, broken only by her ragged breathing, she starts to slump to the floor. She manages to say something before she seems to pass out

"Sanctuary."