Chapter Five-Hundred Eight (Patreon)

Overall, I’m very happy with how Poe’s raid went!  The ransom isn’t exactly in theme with preparing the delvers for the Betrayer, but I wasn’t going to try to force him or tell him how his raid should go.  Besides, I think he did a great job not only preparing the delvers for the Betrayer in general, but also for the Harbingers’ ability to interrupt combo attacks.

I’m still not sure exactly how the combos work, but you can feel them incoming with a bit of Fate.  I think the Harbingers deliberately disrupt the fate of it coalescing, where Poe went for the more traditional distraction of ‘think fast!’  He’s also pointed out a major potential flaw with communication, even as he offers a solution.

The delvers are eagerly digging through the chests like kids around a Christmas tree.  And like those same kids, they’re not all that appreciative of the metaphorical socks among all the cooler, flashier toys.  The toys are coins and gems, because delvers always need some spending money, as well as personalized pieces of gear.  Almost everyone has their magma protection sorted by now, but a few people showed they needed to improve with the attack on the magma fortress.  So now they’re getting some protection courtesy of Thing and my hands.

Most of the delvers are getting more general weapons and accessories, with Poe flexing a bit of his knowledge of all of them, thanks to all the expeditions.  He’s no Santa, but he absolutely has a list checked more than twice for what the delvers will need.  The metaphorical socks in this case is something that has most of the delvers moderately confused, but it looks like Rhonda recognizes what the little pouches of feathers, vials of dust, portions of wire, and a few other odd things are for.

Yeah, the kids lasted until the end and stuck close to Aranya’s group for the whole raid.  They’re smart kids, and this isn’t their first rodeo.  I’m sure they felt even more justified in sticking with the others when they got to see the solo groups being the ones first targeted by Poe in the last phase, too.  There really is safety in numbers, and getting cut off behind enemy lines is just about the worst case scenario.

Anyway, I watch as Ragnar inspects the point of his new battle pick, everyone else going over the other loot.  Rhonda is looking at the pouches with a look of dawning realization on her face, which Freddie picks up on first.

“So are they really Poe’s feathers?” he asks, taking a guess at what has her looking like that.

“No!  Well, yes, but that’s not what these pouches are about!” she exclaims, pulling out her notebook to check on things, Lucas hopping onto a pouch to hold up each ingredient as Rhonda make sure she’s on the right track.

“What are they about, then?” asks Pul, carrying his new compound bow.  He’s certainly not going to specialize in it, but he liked it well enough in the north, so why not get him one that he can pull out when they need just a bit more range?

“It’s… well, what was the biggest difficulty of the raid?” she answers his question with her own question.

Pul shrugs as Aelara pipes up, giving her own opinion even while looking at the new mana reservoir pendant she has.  “Getting separated?”

“Coordinating,” answers Rezlar with confidence.  “It was so loud I could hardly think, let alone listen to what anyone else was planning.”

Rhonda nods, both to Rezlar and to herself as she confirms the last ingredient.  “With this stuff, any enchanter should be able to make a communication charm.”

“Like the stones that Tarl sometimes uses?” asks Freddie.

Rhonda shakes her head.  “Not exactly.  Those are a lot more stable than a charm.  They have communication affinity to either record or transmit information, and are durable and stable enough that it would take a lot to break them.  That stability comes with the cost of them being a dedicated connection.  They’ll only talk to their pair.

“But the charm is a lot more versatile.  Master Staiven told me the basics a while ago, and I only have the recipe here because I asked.  In the more dangerous belligerent dungeons, most parties will have charms that can be tucked behind the ear so they can talk if they get separated, or otherwise can’t communicate.  All the ones Master Saiven knows about either need materials from a denizen with communication affinity, a dedicated enchanter with the affinity, or material from a scion.”

That even gets Ragnar to eye the pouches with newfound respect, though he doesn’t say anything as he returns to his pick.  Freddie isn’t above saying what everyone’s thinking, though.  “No wonder Tarl doesn’t bring the transmission stone out often.”

Rhonda giggles and nods.  “Exactly!  It looks like a normal rock, but it’s probably among the more expensive pieces of equipment at the local office!”

“Can you make enough before the trial?” asks Pul, Silhouette curiously poking at the bow.

“Uh…”

Freddie laughs.  “Sounds like we need to get back and talk with Old Staiven so he can teach you.  Thedeim’s definitely going to do something to mess with us being able to talk to each other.”

The others nod at that.  “We should also run drills on working together without creating combos,” says Rezlar.  “Harbingers are said to target that, and I am sure Poe was trying to remind everyone of that fact.”

“That you should,” agrees Teemo, stepping out of a shortcut to stand beside Lucas.  He even gives the jumping spider a fistbump before he continues.  “You guys all love doing those combos, which is probably why the Betrayer worked out a way to counter them.  Heck, even we scions do it sometimes.  They’re incredibly strong, and being able to take that away could easily unbalance people who aren’t prepared.”

He smiles at the kids before he continues.  “I think you guys’ll have an easier time learning to avoid it than the more experienced delvers.  They’ve got years, sometimes decades of practice with them, it’s going to take them time to fight at their best without them.  Isn’t that right, Ragnar!”

The dwarf waves him off, too distracted by his new shiny to care about my Voice talking smack.  “So that’s what Boss is going to mostly do for the next week or so.  That, and getting everyone used to fighting alongside the denizens.  Oh, and giving tours of the sub.”

Rhonda’s eyes brighten at that.  “Are the subterrains done?!”

“Just the prototype.  Boss wants to get the delvers’ opinions of the inside and if he’s missed anything.  We did a basic test a couple days ago on our own.  Everything major seemed fine, though there’s a bunch of minor things to fix up.  If Thing, Coda, and Queen are going to need to fix those things, might as well see if the delvers have any suggestions, too.”

“Can we see it?” asks Pul, and Teemo nods.

“Of course!  Boss loves showing off his new stuff!  You can come take a look right now, in fact!”

Rezlar glances over at Ragnar and Aelara, as well as the others in their expanded group.  “We should probably try to help get the loot back, and get our shares, too.”

Biluin looks up from admiring the fancy new kinetic ring he got, and smiles at the kids.  “It would be my honor to ensure your shares are held for you.  I swear by the Holy Crystal Shield that you shall receive what you are due.”

The kids exchange those looks kids get when they don’t want to impose or be seen as kids, but also really want to do the thing the adults are giving them an excuse to do.  “If you’re sure?” asks Freddie, trying to be responsible.

Biluin smiles and nods.  “I am.  This will take some time to portion, time enough for you to see what Thedeim has to show you, at least.  I will await you in the Slim Chance hall.”

The kids aren’t going to argue about that, and eagerly follow Teemo through a shortcut, where they meet up with Yvonne and Aranya.  “Good work on the raid!” compliments Yvonne, with Aranya echoing her sentiment.

“You two should have come,” says Rezlar in a tone that says he’s talked about this before, and Aranya answers with the same tone, a wry smile on her lips.

“Lord Thediem may not have minded the impact two Residents would have had on his mana from this, but Yvonne and I would.”

“Boss really wouldn’t mind,” tries Teemo, only for Aranya to silence him with some ear rubs.

“I know, but it’s not so great a training opportunity that we would want to make Lord Thedeim pay so dearly for it.”

Yvonne nods.  “He’s going to need everything he can get, and I’d wager he made a king’s ransom from that raid.  Though if he feels so bad, he could give the both of us a communication talisman,” she teases.

“Don’t tempt him,” manages Teemo though his happy squeaks at being pet.

If I had a good working model for the charms, I’d give it to them, and to the others.  But I’ve been running Thing and the other nerds pretty ragged recently, and there’s only so many hours in a day.  We should have enough materials for them to get one made on their own, though…

“Maybe later, Boss.  We have your new toy to show off, first.”

Which, of course, encourages everyone to pick up the pace.  They’re as excited to see it as I am to show it off.  Once they all exit the shortcut into the docks, Coda wings over to squeak at them, with Teemo translating.

Teemo refuses to go over the technical details, resisting the twin onslaught of both Coda and Rhonda giving him pathetic looks.  He’s made of sterner stuff than I am.  Inside, Coda manages to get Teemo to explain a few things, just because there’s a lot of stuff to look at.

It doesn’t take too long for them to start giving feedback.

“Where do people train?” asks Pul.

“And enchant!” adds Rhonda.

“They don’t,” answers Teemo simply.  “It’s a couple days’ journey to where we’re going to set up a temporary base, then about half a day from there to the Betrayer.  We’ll set up at the base, where people can train and enchant and do whatever, and once everyone’s ready, we can attack.”

The looks on their faces change at hearing that, even Yvonne and Aranya.  I guess it’s one thing to get ready, or to have a tough raid as a bit of a shakedown, but it’s another to hear it put plainly like that.

It’s going to happen, and not at some nebulous point in the future.  We still don’t have a set date, but it manages to loom all the same.  And I bet they’re thinking of the people that didn’t make it to the end of the raid.  By now, they’re probably back at one of the guilds, laughing and hanging out.

But I think it’s only now starting to sink in for the kids that, if this were the attack on the Betrayer, they wouldn’t see those friends again in this life.  Not a lesson I want to teach my delvers, especially not the kids.  But if I don’t get them ready for it, life will teach them for me.

And life tends to be a lot less gentle with its lessons.