Chapter Four-Hundred Seventy-Two (Patreon)

Poe wants my attention, and at first, I think he’s found something in the developing tactics of everyone that he can abuse.  Then I wonder if he has a really cool idea for his upcoming raid that he wants to share.  Seeing him with Leo and Zorro has me thinking it’s probably the former, but Teemo bursts my bubble when he finally gets to the war room to translate.

“The scout birds are saying the backup from the other deities are about a day out now.”  It takes me a few moments to even understand what Teemo’s talking about, but his smirk when I remember tells me that he didn’t forget that the Shield, Order, Laermali and the Raven promised some support.

How many?  And are they all represented?

Teemo’s smirk widens slightly, but he doesn’t call me out, and lets me at least pretend to be on the ball as he repeats the question, and listens to the answer.  “They don’t know if it’s all of them, but there’s definitely four different uniforms on display, so at the minimum, it’s the first wave from all of them.”

Poe and the others lay out what they have, with Teemo explaining when the simple illustrations and illusions from Zorro aren’t enough.  Unsurprisingly, the Shield is the bulk of the people on the way, with them numbering more than the other three combined.  Most of them look to be frontline fighters and tanks, though there’s a good number of priests and other support classes.

Order is the next largest group, with most of them looking like they’re more used to ledgers than combat, though the expeditions did spot a few with proper weapons.  Honestly, I’m looking forward to seeing these guys in action.  While my scions have been good at creating and protecting information lines, delvers and dwellers will need a lot more than that to be effective.  Food, water, healing, and all the little things people need are going to be vital, and I think Order’s guys are going to be instrumental to making sure everyone has them.

Laermali’s people are the next largest group, a couple dozen or so.  I spot a few who look more like librarians than mages, but the vast bulk of them have fancy robes and intricate staves, wands, rods, tomes, and other things to help them focus their magic.  I think they’re mostly going to be the offense specialists, though I’ll be a bit disappointed if they don’t have any spells to help shape the battlefield, too.

The last group clearly belong to the Raven, with them all either being ravenkin, or wearing raven masks.  From the reports, they all look like brooding edgelords, but they seem to easily mingle and chat with the other groups.  I’m excited to see what they do in action, and curious what they’ll think of Grim and my ravenkin… and of Poe, come to think of it.

Leo points out their probable route to Fourdock, which isn’t difficult with the road and all, and his question is implied without Teemo needing to voice it: What are we going to do about them?

I’d like to roll out the red carpet, but the only one we have is in the cathedral, and isn’t long enough anyway.  I have to imagine Torlon is expecting at least the Shield guys, and might be having a slumber party with the others, too?  Ordinarily, Aranya would be receiving at least some of them, but I actually don’t know what my own priesthood was planning.

We should probably fix that.  Teemo, please check in with Larx, and then you two might check in with Torlon, too, and see if we should go out and meet them and bring them here more quickly.

“On it, Boss.  Good job with the scouting, guys.  Boss definitely remembered about the reinforcements.  Unrelatedly, I’m gonna go see what Larx and Torlon are up to.”

My three scions chuckle at me as Teemo goes, and I turn my attention to Larx and his small room in the cathedral.  He still moves back and forth between the cathedral and the enclave, but it looks like he’s stepping up to keep things running smoothly while Aranya is away.

He smiles as I focus on him, but doesn’t look up until Teemo slips out of a shortcut and onto his desk.  “Ah, hello, Teemo.  Did Lord Thedeim need something?”

My Voice nods.  “Yeah, the delegations from the other deities are about a day out, and Boss only just realized he hasn’t made any plans for how to receive them.”

Teemo ignores my lamentations about being thrown under the bus as Larx chuckles.  “Torlon and Aranya have already made arrangements.  The Shield church has enough room for everyone, though we do have rooms here to accommodate any that may wish to visit.”

“Should we go get them?  It’d be a day on foot, but I could probably get them to the Shield church in about an hour… well, two hours.  I’ll need to get to them in the first place.”

Larx smiles and stands, using his staff as a walking stick.  “They would probably appreciate it, though we should check with Torlon, first.”

“That’s about what Boss figured, yeah.  You wanna come along?”

“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble.”

Teemo effortlessly shortcuts to the top of the staff.  “Then let’s get going!”

It only takes them a minute or two to get to the big blessed shortcut outside the cathedral, and even less time to get through that and out onto the streets of Fourdock.  Larx nods at people as he goes, and more than a few point out Teemo on his staff as well.  My Voice doesn’t make any more shortcuts, though he does mess with the distance a bit to make it easier on Larx.  Before long, they get to the church, where Freddie is actually sweeping the steps and acting as greeter.

Teemo hasn’t been through many times, but it still feels weird to not have the old wolfkin there.  Freddie brightens as he spots us, setting aside the broom to greet Larx with a handshake.

“Elder Larx!  I hope you’re doing well?”

“That I am, young Freddie,” he answers with a grandfatherly smile.  “Is Torlon available?  The delegations are a day away by foot, but only about two hours away by Teemo, if you’re ready to take them?”

“Oh!  I think he’s in his office finalizing a few things for that.  Do you know the way there?”

Larx nods.  “I do, thank you lad.”

“Later, Freddie!” waves Teemo as the orc steps aside, giving a polite nod to him as well.  Ordinarily, all three would be happy to just chat, but everyone has business to attend to.  I’m sure they’ll catch up later, probably over some more of Larx’ cookies.

They head through the complex to Torlon’s office, where a knock gets them let in by the gnome.  “Ah, Larx!  Teemo!  To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Poe’s birds spotted the reinforcements from the Shield and the others about a day out.  If you’re ready for them, I should be able to bring them here in about two hours,” explains Teemo.

“Oh?  That would certainly be helpful.  I know the adventurers weren’t sure if they’d be able to participate in the raid training, so I know they’ll be glad to get them as soon as possible.  I’ll need to stay here to get things ready for them, though.”

“Will they know to expect me?”

“They should.  The Shield hasn’t told me all It’s plans, but It must have mentioned you when It told them to come here.”

“You wanna come for that, too, Larx?”

The aged ratkin shakes his head.  “I should help with the preparations, and let the guilds know, too.  And I wouldn’t want to slow you down.  Even with your affinity, I can only walk so quickly and for so long.”

“Pft, I’m sure you could outlast Freddie on a march.  You’re not nearly as fragile as you like to pretend!”

Larx chuckles and shakes his head.  “I’m also not nearly as hale as you like to pretend.”

They laugh at the banter and I smile to myself as well, and soon Teemo sets off, by which I mean he comes back to get a pack of wolves and some spatial vines.  Laying down a stable shortcut so quickly is more than even Teemo can manage, but he can lay it down quickly and let the vines stabilize it.  And it’ll be simple enough to take back down once everyone’s here.

Once he has his posse, they make good time running down the road, laying a quick shortcut along the way.  Teemo’s been getting better and better at that, with all the practice he gets from how ragged I run him sometimes.  The vines have clearly been practicing, too, as they quickly plant themselves and get to reinforcing before they recede out of sight.

Teemo’s estimation is pretty spot on, as about an hour later, I can see the gleam on the armor of the Shield followers.  They clearly noticed something happening, but didn’t know exactly what, as they’re in a defensive formation, the other followers protected behind the dense wall of shields.

I can’t see any faces, but I can still feel the momentary confusion in the air once Teemo pops out of the shortcut.  However, it looks like Torlon was right, as soon a tall elven priest of the Shield steps through the defensive formation.  He looks every bit like a Tolkien elf, though I don’t think they ever looked uncertain about anything.  Still, he tries to maintain his dignity as he closes the distance.

“Herald Teemo?”

My Voice and Herald taps his chin for a moment before nodding.  “I suppose so, yeah.  Just Teemo’s fine.  What’s your name?”

The elf is momentarily taken aback from the informality, but recovers quickly with a smile.  “The Shield warned me you weren’t formal, but It truly understated it.  I am Biluin, Priest of the Holy Crystal Shield.  It tells me you need allies for a formidable foe?”

Teemo nods.  “That we do.  But we can talk about that, later.  Boss asked me to make you guys a shortcut to Fourdock.  Instead of getting there tomorrow, you can be there in an hour, if you’ll follow me.”

“...’Boss’?” Biluin asks, confused.

“Thedeim, yeah.”

The elf chuckles and shakes his head.  “I wonder if all Heralds are like you.  But yes, we would all appreciate being done with the road as soon as possible.”  He turns and waves at the others, and the formation slowly opens up, with everyone walking forward to see what’s going on.  Biluin even offers his hand for Teemo to jump onto, which he happily does, and he raises my Voice for all to see.

“Thedeim has sent his Herald to guide us to Fourdock more quickly!”  Tired cheers erupt, and nobody argues against following along as Teemo guides them toward the entrance.

“Now, it will look a bit weird in there, and don’t mind the wolves and vines.  They’re with me, and are helping keep the shortcut stable before we take it down.  Boss doesn’t like leaving them out like this.  The only permanent one outside his borders is the one to the Southwood.”

“Another dungeon?  The Holy Shield explained some of the situation, but I admit I do not understand much.  I’ve only even been in belligerent dungeons,” the elf admits as he steps into the shortcut.

“Eh, don’t worry if you don’t get it.  If you actually knew a lot about dungeons, Boss would probably just confuse you more, not less.  Did the Shield explain about the Betrayer?”

Biluin nods.  “As much as It knows, which admittedly is not much, as It achieved apotheosis well after that was supposed to be settled.  An ancient murderous dungeon that is likely hidden within the Molten Abyss?”

“That’s the basics, yeah.  We have a few kobold legends to go off of, and we dealt with some of its denizens and scions, but there’s not a whole lot more we actually know, just things we can guess.”

He nods at that.  “I’ve helped starve a few murderous dungeons, and information is always sparse.  Still, the Holy Shield said you’ve dealt with other dungeons before, so we are to follow your directions in this.”

Teemo smiles.  “Awesome.  Once you guys get to the Shield church and get settled in, you can meet the delvers and the dwellers.  They’re training right now with a friendly competition with the Boss.  I’ll let them explain it, especially since Boss and I are trying to stay in the dark so things can stay fair.”

“Ah, I look forward to learning the details, then.  Adventurers are individually strong, but often lack cohesion in large groups.  There’s a reason most parties are trios.  I’m looking forward to seeing how they manage to organize in large groups.”

Teemo grins wide.  “You’re gonna love the raid boss, then!  The last one was a hit with everyone!”

“Last raid boss?”  The elf looks concerned before steeling himself.  “It sounds like there is much for me and the others to learn.”

“Always.  But that’s part of the fun.”

Biluin’s steely visage softens into a small smile.  “Indeed, it is.”