Chapter Four-Hundred Seventy-Eight (Patreon)

Doppler definitely done good.  Not only did he get me a good look at the knot, but he even managed to undo it!  It’s a pretty clever bit of acoustics, too, to feel how tightly it was all wadded up and then vibrate it apart using its own tension.  I wonder if the Rangers do something similar, or if they have to manually take them apart?  Either way, we’ve got a good answer for it, and I think Doppler will have more than a few Rangers wanting to learn his trick once they hear about it.

It makes me want to do something special for him.  I take a few moments to find my notes for the helmet I wanted to make him, but it doesn’t take me too long to discard it.  While I still think it’s a cool idea, I’m not sure it’ll be as useful for him as the axe is for Slash.  But I have a better idea that should work out great: I’ll design the next spawn for my gravity constructs.

And seeing how drained he is after undoing the knot, I even have a goal in mind for the upgrade.  I made them from the start to be able to combine together and become more than the sum of their parts, even if I didn’t know what else I’d want from them.  But now I know that I want to have them regulate energy, maybe store it.  Doppler is drained either from using too much mana, or from not being efficient enough with it, possibly even both.

I’m inclined to think both, especially once I take a closer look at the poppers.  I never really designed them to try to be efficient.  I designed them to use all their power and pop.  Considering that, it’s a wonder Doppler’s been able to moderate them at all.  So I’ll make the next spawn with that in mind, and probably give them a bit of extra mana storage, too.

I keep with the beetle look, making the next spawn a bit bigger.  I’m going to want extra room for the mana storage.  I also need to make sure I give their legs a bit more mana conductivity, so they can more easily move the energy around.  It takes me a few tries to come up with a good mana battery based on gravity, and it’s not until I decide to try the simplest solution that it works.

My first idea was to try something similar to the gravitic power source, using gravitational acceleration to produce power.  If I nudge the masses closer, they’ll spin faster, more energy, right?  But that’s more kinetic than gravitic.  So I try to scale down the concept behind a black hole.

Not that I’m making singularities here.  Gravity starts compressing things well before everything collapses down to nothing.  It’s difficult to make it only compress mana, and I need to reinforce the shell quite a bit to make it stable, but it ends up compressing mana similar to what I’d imagine the inside of a star is… minus all the fusion.

I even take a moment in the designer to see if I actually can make mana fuse, but if it’s possible, it’s way beyond what a little tier two spawn can manage.  I spend a good few hours fiddling with the specifics of everything, tweaking the legs, adjusting the compressor, smoothing out the gathering and releasing of mana, and turning the next spawn into combination regulators and batteries.  Batterator?  Regulaterries?  I can do better than that for the name.

Bangers wouldn’t be the worst name.  They’ll make pretty big explosions if their compressor gets breached.  Floater is… a terrible name, now that I hear it in my head, but they’ll also be able to do a lot more gravity stuff, like floating things around.  I can hear Teemo snickering at my naming thoughts, but at least he’s not actually saying anything.

I soon decide to go with a name on the form rather than function, liking the sound of a gravitic scarab.  They’re about the size of footballs, and aren’t too expensive to upgrade to, so I lock in the design and spend the mana.  They don’t spawn as swarms, but the first one to crawl out immediately seeks out the closest popper swarm to join, and heads off to give the training delvers a bit of a surprise.

They’re effective, but not overwhelmingly so.  The scarab is easily able to throw poppers into groups, making it hard for them to have a cohesive line.  The shell is tough enough to shrug off what would kill a popper, and it’s not until the frontline fighter with a large sword gets a good hit in that the scarab explodes.  The elf is thrown back and probably broke a few ribs, and his sword is going to want the tender care of a smith, but he’ll be fine with a few potions.

I’m thinking they’ll be a good thing for the delvers to keep an eye on, though the scarabs might be a tactical weakness.  That explosion also took out the nearby poppers, so I’ll need to be careful about friendly fire, and about possible chain reactions.  Still, I’m liking the scarabs.

And if I’m going to upgrade the constructs, why not the dinos while I’m at it?  Mana is looking healthy, and though I took the time to design the dilos, I never actually spent the mana on them.  I take a moment to double-check they’re how I want them to be, including the neck frill and poison spit.  They’re a lot bigger than the compies, but that doesn’t really say much.  They’re about the size of a medium dog, maybe a little bigger than a labrador, but definitely smaller than a great dane.

Like the scarabs, they also spawn one at a time, and it looks like this one wants to run around the world fruits.  I was expecting it to maybe lob a few loogies at range before closing in, but it’s acting more like a sneaky sniper than an aggressive archer.  Instead of sticking around in fights, it likes to lob a few balls of gunk at the parties before slipping away, sowing havoc instead of trying to collect hitpoints.

It’s pretty effective, especially on the groups that don’t spot it before it gets off a shot or two.  The back row people get shut down hard if they can’t see, and having poison on top definitely doesn’t do them any favors.  The new arrivals are confused about the sudden change, but the locals who are used to how I work manage to focus through the sudden difficulty spike and make for the exit, explaining along the way that they’ll be able to make some coin by telling the Dungeoneers about the new spawn.

I watch the fun for a bit, until I get a popup I’ve been hoping to see for a while now.

We found it.

Teemo!  I’ll be back in a sec!  He waves me off as he lounges atop my core, so I slip sideways into my little nebula of space in what I’m slowly getting more comfortable calling the divine realm.  It’s an easier thing to call where the various deities hang out than anything else I can come up with.

From there, it’s pretty easy to follow Order’s directions via popup to make my way to Laermai’s domain.  I get a lot of curious looks, as well as a few interested and a couple hostile ones as well, but nobody bothers me as I head into what’s clearly a lab.  It looks more like an alchemist’s dream than a scientific laboratory, but whatever gets the job done.  Inside, I see Order, Laermali, and the Shield all triumphantly around what they’d probably call a scrying ball, but looks to me like a hologram.

“We finally tracked it down!” exclaims Laermali, still riding that high of an experiment finally going right.

“It wasn’t easy,” complains Order.

“It was, as the mortals say, like finding a needle in a hay stack, yes?” finishes the Shield as I get closer and take a look.  I give a low whistle as I really take in what they’ve been up to.

“It looks like finding a specific needle in a needle stack, wow.  Lots of stagnation and lots of mana to sift through in the mantle…”

“Mantle?” asks Laermali.

“Er… the molten abyss, right?  I’ve heard it called the mantle, probably because it shrouds the core of the planet,” I try to explain.  Laermali definitely wants to ask more, but I try to guide her back to their discovery.  “So, you really found it?”

Laermali smiles wide, happy to talk about her victory instead of trying to pick my brain.  “We did!  Having those scions allowed us to trace back the connection to the Betrayer, and this is definitely it.  I had hoped it was just some other strong dungeon… but it doesn’t look like we’re that lucky.”

I nod at that as I peer at the hologram, trying to get its position right in my head.  “Looks like it’s under the ocean well off the coast of Fourdock.  Makes sense, considering what Rezlar saw.  Can I have a copy to give to my scions?”

“You can have this one,” answers Order.  “If the location was somewhere we all had excess forces, one of us might have claimed the map.  But as it is, you are the one best positioned to use this.”

The others nod, and I smile at the trust they’re placing in me.  “Then… if there’s nothing else, I should get this to my scions so we can get some physical eyes on it.  Unless you were able to get a good idea of the layout?” I ask.  I doubt it, as it looks like a ball of magma to me, but maybe they understand it better than I do.

Unfortunately, they all shake their heads in their own way, with Laermali explaining.  “We were able to find its territory, but none of our domains give us the authority to directly observe it.  You’ll need to scout it out yourself, I’m afraid.”

I smile at that.  “I have some of the best in the business for that.”

“Do you need more reinforcements?” asks the Shield.

“I mean, I won’t say no, but I think I’m about at capacity for properly housing and training them, and I’ll need to work on a few things to let me actually transport everyone we already have once it’s time to go.”

It bobs in a nod.  “I understand.  A manned fort is a boon, but an overstuffed fort is a trap.”

“It might not be a bad idea for you guys to work on a plan B, though.  In case I fail.”

Order bobs grimly.  “We are working on informing the other pantheons and preparing their responses, but it will take time.  While I am confident they will all come to help eventually… it may be generations of mortals before it happens.”

I sigh at that.  “It takes time for big things to get moving.  Momentum is a political force as well as a physical one.  All the more reason to do this right then.  How are your people liking Fourdock so far?” I ask, changing the subject to something hopefully a bit lighter.

“My paladins and priests sing the praises of your crypts, Thedeim!  I think my church there will have to expand so I can send more of my inexperienced followers through to learn how to face undead properly!” exclaims the Shield, and I can’t help but smile.

“I’m glad!  I made it for exactly that reason!  After this is all over, I’ll probably expand the crypt area, too.”

“My scholars are raving as well, Thedeim.  Your Ice Sage has given a few lectures on affinities to them, and they’re already starting to reexamine their theories for the better.”

“I’m glad Rhonda can help.  Teaching helps her out a bunch, too.  So long as she’s willing, I’m more than happy to let them use the hall.”

“And I hope they can challenge your Rocky once he returns, too.  Rhonda speaks highly of him.”

“My own followers are complaining about the abundance of combat encounters,” says Order with a chuckle.  “They’re used to ledgers, but even the most averse have to admit it’s good practice for them.”

“I’ll probably be leaning on them a lot more here soon, also.  Poe and Leo know how to establish a supply line for what I need, but I think they’ll need the help of your people to make sure they get everything the people will need, too.”

“They’ll be glad to hear it, and I’m sure interested to see how your scions establish supply lines, too.  It’s the most difficult part of projecting power.”

I nod at that, thinking back to a few things I’ve heard about military stuff back home.  It doesn’t matter how big the guns are, an army still marches on its stomach and guns are useless without ammo.  It’d be nice if we can just kick in the door and feed the Betrayer its teeth, but we’re probably going to need to siege it, or something similar.

“Plan for the worst, hope for the best.  If your guys are ready, they can come by the manor in the morning and I’ll have Teemo translate for Poe and Leo.  That should give them the time to send the first expeditions down through the volcanic area near my antkin.”

The other three nod at that before Laermali starts going into some of the details for how they managed to track the Betrayer down.  A lot of it goes over my head, but she and they don’t mind teaching me a bit.  They even appreciate my input on mana stuff, too.  Dungeons have a different perspective on it, and I have a different perspective in general.

Experience and new perspectives meeting are how the best and biggest Changes start.