Chapter Four-Hundred Seventeen (Patreon)

Much as I hate to bring down the mood, this is supposedly a business meeting, or something along those lines.  I don’t have powerpoint or spreadsheets… mostly because Honey is busy with other things right now.  Still, things need to be discussed and this definitely couldn’t just be an email.

“Alrighty, with that nice meal out of the way, we should probably talk about what we’re supposed to talk about yeah?”  Teemo speaks up and gets everyone’s attention, and they actually look attentive, just another way to tell this isn’t actually a business meeting.  “I don’t remember who’s all read in on what, but if you’re here, you’re fine to learn, if you don’t know already.  We’ve had suspicions since fighting the Maw, but Rezlar’s recent vision at seeing Boss’ core has all but confirmed it: the Betrayer is making moves.”

Teemo pauses to look around, and while nobody looks happy at the announcement, I think only a few people actually know what the Betrayer is.  Aranya speaks up, happy to give some context.

“Long ago, the First Sanctuary created life as we know it, and created other Sanctuaries, too.  But one didn’t like the wonderful chaos of life, and preferred the stagnation.  So it plotted and schemed, and when the time was right, it struck down the First, and would have stilled everything if not for the combined efforts of many Sanctuaries and deities.  They couldn’t destroy it, so they sealed it.  But it seems, after so long, it has started to seep through the cracks of its prison, slip its restraints, and work toward stilling everything once more.”

Larx, Folarn, and Ed grimly nod, the leaders of my ratkin, spiderkin, and antkin familiar with the kobold creation myth.  Though from what Order has confirmed and implied, ‘myth’ might be the wrong term here.

“What can we do?” asks Karn, the thin orc thinking about the fight with the Maw, which his guild was pivotal in.  “Do we attack it like the Maw and try to drain mana from it while you go for the core?”

Teemo shakes his head.  “If we knew how to get there, maybe.  But from what we can tell, it’s in what you guys call the molten abyss.”

That earns winces across the table, and Ragnar speaks his mind first.  “Th’ molt’n Abyss?  I dinnae think we c’n do much fer that...”

“Yeah… Boss is looking into options.  But even more than the problems of getting in there, it’s a big area to search, and we probably won’t be the first ones to have gone looking.  His wyrms can start the search, but the most likely way to find it will be to trace it back from its own scouts… or attacks.”

Old Staiven frowns at that.  “You think it will attack?”

“Probably?  Boss definitely messed up its plans with the Maw, and it seemed to notice Rezlar in the vision.  I wouldn’t go putting money against it trying something at some point.”

Rezlar nods.  “Which is why I’m planning to refocus my energies on building the Hold, and ensuring it can hold all of Fourdock against a prolonged siege.”

Old Staiven nods at that, the wizened ratkin stroking his chin in thought.  “I’ll make sure to make some extra healing potions so you can have a stockpile then, too.”

“The enclaves are also looking into perfecting the composite armor Lord Thedeim gave us for the attack on the Maw,” speaks up Larx, with nods from Folarn and Ed.  “We’re still figuring out how to produce the metallic honeycomb at scale, but the spiderkin are able to weave through it well, and the resin is simple enough to employ.  Thing is still perfecting the layering of enchantments, too, but the antkin are picking it up quickly.”

Old Staiven looks intrigued.  “I had heard about that armor, but I haven’t had a chance to examine it myself.  Would you mind if I did?”

Headmaster Ed smiles at him.  “The antkin college would be honored to have your expertise in this.  Dean Liv, especially.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“We also need to keep an eye out at sea,” speaks up Teemo, keeping the momentum of the meeting going.  “While our best entrance to the abyss will be through the volcanic area outside the antkin enclave, Rezlar’s vision made it seem like the Betrayer might have a thermal vent or something out in the ocean to slip its agents through.  A new Harbinger, or even just aquatic versions of the spawns we’ve already seen could be bad news.”

Yvonne speaks, the hawkkin woman speaking from her own area of expertise.  “Most of the Rangers are specialized to deal with the forests and mountains in the area, but there are a few who deal with the ocean.  With the trade routes opening back up after your work with Hullbreak Harbor, I wouldn’t be surprised if more come through.”

“I know some of Hullbreak’s merfolk want to join or make a satellite guild for the Rangers,” points out Teemo.  “I dunno what all that entails, but can you help make that happen?”

Yvonne smiles and nods.  “I think so.  Merfolk make excellent marine Rangers, and I think we could get them trained up without too much issue.”

“How do you plan to combat the Betrayer?” asks Tarl, the elven Inspector looking grim at the idea of a truly hostile dungeon.  The only person at the table who probably knows more about dungeons than him would be Olander, and he’s the Inspector to the Crown!

“Mostly just try to spot it before it can do anything too serious, and crush it before any information can get back.  If we’re lucky, it won’t have any scions to be able to take field reports for it.  Otherwise… we’ll probably have another Harbinger fight on our hands.”

Olander nods and speaks.  “Anything that can withstand three of your scions is not something to be taken lightly, even if it was riding the high of having just subsumed the Maw.  The Betrayer may even have several Harbingers to send to scout us, if it really has been around for so long.  I’ll tell His Majesty about this when I go deliver the former Earl to him, but I don’t know what help he can even offer for something like this.  Fighting dungeons is a tricky proposition in the first place, let alone one that’s been alive for who knows how long, and actively scheming the entire time.”

Teemo nods at that.  “Yeah, Boss isn’t very happy about it either.  We haven’t really been on the back foot like this since Neverrest, but he can’t think of too much to fix that before any attacks happen.  We might get lucky and it’ll be slow enough for us to track down, but it’s not really a good idea to bet on an enemy being incompetent.”

“So we need to prepare, and be ready to protect everyone,” says Freddie, the young orc looking just as determined as his friends.

“Pretty much, yeah.  Thankfully, with the former Earl out of the picture, Boss can get back to improving the dungeon and giving people the tools they need to get themselves ready.  Which reminds me: what’s going on with the Calm Seas guild?”

Karn shrugs and speaks up first.  “Jondar’s taking the helm pretty well, but I think they’re going to be lucky to be half their current size in a month’s time.  A lot of them were basically mercenaries for Paulte, and with him no longer filling their pockets, they’ll leave to find someone who will.  The ones that stay will be proper adventurers, at least.”

“There won’t be any hard feelings between your guild and his?” asks Teemo, earning a shake of the head from Karn.

“Nah.  He’s already released Gerlfi’s group and the trophy back to me, and made it clear he intends to run things a lot differently than Paulte did.  Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if I actually lose a few of my stronger parties to him once everything is said and done.  He’s clearly aiming to cater to stronger parties, while I’m having a lot of fun organizing the casuals and the civilians.  I’m hardly going to abandon the strong ones I have, but I don’t know if I can handle a guild big enough to properly care for such a wide range of levels.  We’ll have to see, but I don’t think he’s going to be a problem.”

“That’s good to hear.  Anyone have anything else they want to bring up?” asks Teemo looking over the others.

“I have something,” speaks up Torlon, the local priest for the Crystal Shield.  “I believe the Shield wants to bring more paladins and paladins-in-training to delve you.”

That’s an easy decision.  “The more the merrier.  The fighting in the tunnels of Silvervein could have been a disaster, but the Shield’s guys acted like it was just another day on the job.  If we do end up surprised by the Betrayer, a bunch of Shield guys will mean a lot more safe civilians.”

Torlon smiles.  “It was pretty sure you’d say that, but wanted to make sure.  Are you going to upgrade your undead spawners any time soon, by any chance?”

Teemo chuckles and nods.  “Probably, and probably a lot of the other spawners, too.  We have no idea how strong the Betrayer is, so we should try to get everyone as strong as we can.  Maybe another enclave or two, too.  Boss just needs to figure out what he wants to do.”

There are nods all around the table at that, and it seems like there’s nothing else to really talk about, so people get up and start making plans together, like Staiven and Ed comparing schedules to see when he can come take a look at the enchantments for the armor.  In a similar vein, Teemo waves over Rezlar.

“So, when are the thieves guild supposed to show up?”

“Sometime in the next few nights.”

“Alrighty, Zorro will make sure to keep an eye out for them.  Boss has a plan that’ll involve Slash and Sue, and if the thieves aren’t utter idiots, they should understand where they stand by the end.”

Rezlar smiles.  “Excellent.  What do you need me to do?”

Teemo leans in.  “Alright, so, it’ll go like this…”