Chapter Twenty: The Meeting

I need information. I think the kobold could go out and get it, but I don't know how to ask her, and I don't know how the town would react to her wandering around. And, considering I need info on that cemetery dungeon, I wouldn't want her to head out without a weapon. No, the claw pickaxe doesn't count.

I do have an idea, though. I put a notice on the flier on my front door.

Freddie and Rhonda, I have need of you. If you are willing to help, please wave and get the attention of Poe, my Raven Scion, and follow the next Scion to approach you.

Yeah, a bit weird, even for me, but I don't know what else to do. I am, at least, pretty sure it counts as a quest, though. It cost me more mana than it usually does to write stuff. Thankfully, the kids are pretty regular delvers, and they show up an hour or so after dawn to do stuff. I figure Rhonda is in constant need of herbalism stuff, and Freddie is more than happy to help keep her safe and get better goodies.

When the two read the flier, however, they look very nervous.

"What do you think it means, Freddie?" asks Rhonda, looking about as sure of herself as the first time I saw her. I'm not sure I've ever seen Freddie look so concerned.

"I… I don't know. I mean, dungeons are supposed to be aware, but I've never heard of one that wants to... talk?" He looks up to Poe, and around the house, like the answer will be on the grass. "Should we do it?"

Rhonda looks incredibly uncomfortable, and I half expect the two to simply leave, but she seems to come to a decision, and I don't think she likes it much. "I think we should. Everyone knows this dungeon is weird, but nobody knows why. If we can somehow talk with it, maybe we'll learn something?"

Freddie nods at that, looking curious about what I could want, but also wary about dungeon danger. Their decision made, they step out more into the grass and wave at Poe. He peers down at the two and caws at them, and I send Fluffles to go meet them.

While he's on the way, I get Teemo down to the secret base to try to relay some instructions to the kobold. Looks like she's simply perusing the crafting book, looking at the diagrams for various things. When Teemo squeaks at her, she practically falls over herself to stand at attention, and I can't help but smile to myself at her being so formal.

Alright Teemo. I need her to get the map and for you two to head to a random cavern in the underground. Maybe the spring pool room? That's a nice room, and the little glowing fungus has really taken a liking to it, so the kids should be able to see, at least. I'll need them to see, too.

Teemo squeaks at the kobold again, and scrabbles at the wall underneath the map like he's trying to climb up to it. I'm pretty sure he could make it himself, but I need someone who can actually talk with the kids, so she might as well carry the map and project at least some kind of authority.

She looks confused as she watches him pretend to fail to climb the wall, before she looks up and sees the map. She slowly approaches, looking like she's worried she shouldn't, but she's interacted with Teemo enough to know he only squeaks when he wants her attention for something important. When she carefully removes it from the wall, Teemo gives another squeak and heads for the flap, and she follows, seeming to be a bit baffled.

While they were preparing, Fluffles was heading up to meet with the kids. Freddie gives him a wary eye, remembering how he was transported from the maze to the gate when Tiny got him. Rhonda doesn't look too upset about him, though. She's never been carried around by him.

He leads them through the house and down into the tunnels, and the kids are very nervous as they walk through the basement. I'm just glad they followed Fluffles down that way. Yeah, it's the fastest way to the spring, but there's still some pretty strong stuff hanging out in there, giving the kids looks. I don't let them do more than just look, though. They're practically guests right now, so be nice.

The kobold has just gotten herself comfortable on the floor when the kids come in, and she looks at Teemo and Fluffles, confused. The kids, for their parts, look at the spidersilk-clad kobold with equal confusion, and a bit of awe. They've probably never seen a robe like that before, and probably also never seen a kobold, either. I haven't seen any others in the various other delvers, at least.

The kobold speaks up first. "Who are you two?"

"I'm Freddie, and this is Rhonda," pipes up Freddie, doing his tanky duty of taking attention when Rhonda doesn't know how to handle it. Girl is terminally introverted. "Who are you?"

"I'm Aranya, chosen Resident of this Sanctuary," the kobold responds with a bit of pride in her voice. The kids, though, still look confused and look around the room.

"This spring?"

Aranya sighs. "Not just the spring. The manor, the tunnels, the maze, the yard, everything on this side of those walls; all are part of this Sanctuary."

Realization seems to light up Rhonda's face. "Oh, the Dungeon!" She shrinks back a bit as all the eyes in the small cavern focus on her. "It, uh… it asked us to come down here. It said it needs our help?" The three look like they're uncertain how the kids could help me, before Teemo squeaks at Aranya. The sound reminds her what he had her bring, and so she looks to him as she holds the folded map up, clearly uncertain if she should show the kids.

Fluffles, however, never learned to not be grabby with his not-hands, and so simply plucks the map from her hand with his telekinesis, and spreads it on the floor for the three to see.

"Woah… it's a map of Fourdock," says Freddie as he peers at the small map. "It even knows where we live?" he asks with a start, seeing his church and Rhonda's shop clearly labeled. Rhonda points out a few other labels.

"And the Dungeoneer and Adventurer guilds. And… a lot of stuff, actually." Fluffles lazily waves his tail over the map to get their attention, before tapping the tip against the area with the graveyard dungeon. The kids' eyes widen as they realize where he's indicating.

"Neverrest Boneyard? You don't want us to go there, do you? The place is full of undead! It's supposed to be murderous, too, so guards keep people out as much as they keep the zombies and stuff in!" Freddie seems to know a lot about the place. It'd make sense, I guess. If your church is named after a crystal shield, you're probably expected to be able to protect people, so of course they'd be all over knowing about something dangerous like this Neverrest.

Aranya's eyes widen at the description of the other dungeon. "A fallen Sanctuary? So close?" She looks deeply concerned, so I pay a bit more attention. She seems to know a lot more about dungeons than anyone else in this conversation.

Rhonda looks a bit confused at her reaction. "Why wouldn't it be? Dungeons tend to form in places on the outskirts of activity, so a graveyard or an abandoned building would make sense to be dungeons." She seems to pause as she thinks back to some of her lessons with her master.

"Old Staiven has mentioned this isn't the first time a dungeon has been in this spot, though. Nobody knows what happened, but none of the others ever seemed to get as established as the current one." Elf guy's cryptic warning about losing a good dungeon echoes in my memory, and I wonder if the various invaders are more of a potential threat than I had originally thought. I mean, I knew to keep them away from my core, but that was more instinct and wanting to keep creepy thingies away from whatever it was they wanted to get close to.

Aranya nods solemnly. "Fallen Sanctuaries are… well, fallen. They despise and destroy, instead of nurture and care. Legends say kobold society was shattered by a fallen Sanctuary attacking its brethren. It was defeated and destroyed, but so too was the unity the Sanctuaries had created. Infighting and suspicion overcame camaraderie, and my people fled or were cast out of the Sanctuaries."

Dungeon wars? That doesn't sound good. Oh… what sounds worse, though, is that Jello wants me to know she's found a new invader: a skeletal hand.