While Teemo chats with the scions to make sure they want to go, I keep trying to play with the mana flows. Unfortunately, ‘trying’ is the operative word, and it is very trying to get them to do anything but the broadest of changes. Even then, I’m pretty sure it’s more divinity than dungeon to be able to mess with them, even within my own borders.
I take a metaphorical step back to try to figure out what the problem is, and when looking more broadly, I can definitely feel something hindering me when I try to manually adjust the flows as a dungeon, and it clears up instantly when I tap more into the divine side of myself. I still can’t do much, I’m like a baby who hasn’t even learned to crawl yet. But when trying to do it fully as a dungeon, it’s like I’m greased up with banana peels glued to every surface.
I try to focus on what’s in the way, and it feels incredibly familiar. I actually have to poke and prod for several minutes before I finally realize what it is. It’s the system messing with me. Order said he made it specifically to keep something like the Betrayer happening again. It doesn’t only provide standardized dungeon things, but seems like it actively inhibits trying to do it manually.
It’s a little annoying, but I can’t get too upset. Even without a Betrayer, I would bet a lot of young dungeons would mess something up and explode, or suddenly shift the flows away from themselves, or any other localized disaster from changing mana flows.
So… I mean, I’m still gonna mess with them. I’m just going to be more careful with it. I think it might be a good way for me to produce my own so-called ‘miracles’ if I need to. I wonder if that’s how the others do it, maybe even how the various priests do it, too? Either way, I’ll have time for experimenting later. It looks like my scions are preparing, as is Onyx.
It also looks like Leo isn’t going. I can feel his anxiety, and try to calm him with a pat on the bond. I know he’s nervous about Honey going outside without him to watch over her, but he really is needed here. He’s still unhappy about not getting to go, but I think me agreeing with him staying has helped him accept it’s the right choice. Honey, for her part, is happily abuzz with organizing a hive to take out. It looks like Doppler has already agreed, or at least not resisted being volunteered, to integrate a hive into his popper swarm for the trip.
He’s left part of it with Honey for her to organize while he gathers more. While he is usually an uncanny approximation of a humanoid shape and size, it seems he wants to make sure he has plenty of poppers to call on if he needs to. I even remind him of the spatial vines, which has him detouring to Jello to try to get some sort of box made, which I’m sure he’ll get a few vines to spatially expand once it’s ready.
I send the same reminder to Honey, who gets even more excited and hurries off to talk with Jello and Doppler both. Why make two things for carrying denizens when they can make one to accommodate both? I chuckle as I feel ideas being tossed around, even if I don’t know the specifics. It’s only gonna be a matter of time before Coda, Thing, and Poppy get pulled into the sudden mini-project. They should have time, though.
While my scions don’t need to pack much, we have a few delvers that we still need to inform and invite. And we need to tell Hullbreak and see if he can spare the Quartermaster, if he wants to come. I don’t need to tell Violet. Onyx is already pestering and bouncing around Rocky, looking eager and excited to go. He motions at her claws and grunts, which only has her more excited before she vanishes into a shadow. I think Legs is about to have a sudden commission for even better claws, or some work on them.
Either way, we need to start telling people, and the easiest one would be my High Priestess. Said kobold is enjoying some tea and cookies with Larx and a few others, and some of the ravenkin priests, too. It looks like a meeting, but a very informal one, one which Teemo isn’t above crashing. Especially if it means he can snag a cookie or two for himself.
Instead of appearing on Aranya’s shoulder, Teemo makes his appearance on Larx’s, who smiles and offers him a cookie before my Voice can even say anything. He unashamedly takes a bite, much to the amusement of everyone gathered, as Aranya speaks up.
“Hello Teemo. Lord Thedeim is doing something, and needs me for it?” she asks, able to tell at least the gist just from our connection, but not the details. Teemo takes the time to enjoy his bite of cookie before he responds.
“Yeah. Boss wants to get a better look at some proper stagnation. Honey, Doppler, Rocky, and Onyx are going to be coming, and he’s inviting the Quartermaster and either of the Southwood’s scions, too. And if he’s hunting stagnation, he figures Yvonne will be invaluable.”
Aranya smiles. “And if he’s inviting her, why not me as well? And if the two of us, why not Ragnar and Aelara, too?”
Teemo snaps his fingers and points at her. “Exactly! He’s also thinking of inviting Tupul. The rest of his party is training or otherwise learning, but Boss hasn’t been doing that as much since the former Earl was dealt with. This could be a good way to help him grow.”
Aranya nods, tapping her chin as she thinks. “With my party and His scions, I’m sure he’ll be as safe as possible. Have you asked him yet?”
Teemo shakes his head. “Not yet. You’re closest, so we started with you. Do you think the others will want to come? Do you want to come?”
She smiles. “I’d be happy to help Lord Thedeim in this. I don’t think Yvonne will be hard to convince either. Aelara might complain about going back out to camping so soon, but she just likes to be dramatic.” She suppresses a giggle as she imagines her friend’s reaction, and take a more serious look. “Why does Lord Thedeim want to get a closer look at stagnation?”
“Because it’s pretty likely the Betrayer knows how to manipulate it. If Boss wants to counter that, he’ll need to get a good handle on it himself.”
Aranya absently nods at that, thinking about where to go. “To the Green Sea, then? We’ll have to travel rather deep. Yvonne and the Rangers just finished cleaning up everything even remotely close to the Southwood. We’ll probably need to travel a week before we find anything significant.”
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Teemo nods. “That’s about what Boss figured, yeah. The only other option would be to head out to sea, but it’ll probably be easier on everyone to hit the big green instead of the big blue.”
She smiles. “Indeed.”
“Can I come?” pipes up Vernew, who had been quietly listening. It’s so easy to forget that she’s basically the head priestess for the spiderkin enclave, despite also being the Huntsmistress.
Teemo tilts his head at her. “Are the hunters going to be alright without you?”
The small spiderkin eagerly nods. “They’ll be fine! Honestly, they don’t need me on hunts much anymore. We understand the underswamps as well as we understand our spinnerets. They know how to avoid the scythemaws both on the way out, and on the way in with a good catch, too. We’re exploring a bit past the swamps now, but that’s mostly for curiosity.”
My Voice smiles. “Boss doesn’t have a problem with it then. Make sure you bring your cold gear. It’s pretty nice here, but we’ll be going north enough that there’ll probably be snow on the trees still.”
Vernew smiles and nods at the advice, looking glad to get to contribute in her area of expertise. With her and Yvonne together, the trek through the wilderness will practically be a walk in the park.
After Vernew asking to come along, there’s not much else to talk about, so Teemo leaves them to it and heads for Pul’s place. The butcher shop isn’t super fancy, but it’s also not worn down. The sign out front is clear and legible, and though the paint isn’t the freshest, it’s still bright enough to show the quiet pride of the establishment. My favorite rat pops out in the rafters and walks around, looking down for Pul.
At the counter is the lad’s mom, disguised as the most ordinary of elves. She’s chatting with a wolfkin, haggling over prices for what sounds like a big get-together. Teemo doesn’t stick around to hear how it goes, and instead slips down into the basement where the cooler temperature naturally helps keep the meat fresh. It’s no freezer, but it’s way better than leaving things out in the sun.
There’s a lot of half carcasses hanging, looks like mostly beef and pig, though a couple lambs are in the mix as well. One wall has assorted poultry with the feathers still on, and in another wall is a heavy door where Teemo and I can hear the sounds of a cleaver going through bone.
Teemo slips through the door and spots Pul and his dad, the former minding a ledger while his dad efficiently turns a pig carcass into an assortment of cuts for an order. Similar to Pul’s mom, his dad looks painfully average for a butcher. While we watch, he effortlessly lops off a leg and trims it into a picture perfect ham, which Pul wraps in paper.
Teemo decides to stay quiet until the cleaver is set down, not wanting to startle anyone, and not wanting to have said cleaver turned on him before Pul can explain. With the break in the action, though, my Voice speaks up.
“How’re you doing, Pul?” Said changeling turns and smiles at Teemo, not noticing his father has frozen at the sound of his son’s actual name being spoken by a voice he doesn’t recognize.
“Teemo! I’m doing great! I’m just helping dad with the orders.” He holds out his hand as an invitation, and Teemo gladly shortcuts to his shoulder before nodding at the older changeling.
“Pst, you might want to explain to your dad.”
“Oh!” Pul jumps as he realizes how worried his dad looks. “Dad, this is Teemo! He’s Thedeim’s Voice, and he helped me out with the uh… the trouble we were having.”
His dad puts on a smile, but it’s not hard to see the worry there. I wonder if it feels a lot like the situation that got his family involved with the thieves guild in the first place. Still, we really did help him out, and I get the feeling Pul has been a lot happier ever since. He holds out his hand to shake, before thinking better of it and offering his finger instead.
“Tengar. Pleased to meet you. Tupul’s had a lot to say about you, Teemo. It’s hard to believe a lot of what he’s said, but things have been going well.”
Teemo chuckles and accepts the finger to shake. “Glad to hear it! Pul’s been a great help, and Boss was wondering if he’d be up for something challenging.”
Tengar doesn’t look happy at Teemo calling me Boss, but Pul doesn’t give him a chance to question it. “What’s Thediem need?”
“He’s sending a few scions and a friendly party out deep into the Green Sea to get a better look at stagnation. He’s been fighting the stuff since he was born, but he doesn’t know much about it, so he wants to get familiar with it. He’s not asking your friends, mostly because they have their mentors and training, and it’ll probably be a few weeks.”
Pul looks eager and turns to his dad. “Do you think I can go? I know things have been picking up, but they shouldn’t get too busy for at least another month, right?”
“What, exactly, will he be doing, Mr. Teemo? He’s a butcher, not an adventurer. Delving the local dungeon isn’t like going out into the wilderness.”
Teemo glances at Pul, who looks awkward. “I uh… I can handle myself in a fight, dad. And with an older group, and some of the scions, it shouldn’t be too bad.”
“Why Tupul?” he insists, and Teemo meets the eyes of the concerned father.
“Because it’ll be good for him. Boss helped him advance his class, so he’s basically Pul’s mentor in it. He’s not trying to take him away from all this. He’s trying to make sure he can always come back to it.”
“Please, dad,” adds Pul, not sure what else to say. I can see Tengar arguing with himself. The situation’s shady. But Pul says Teemo helped him. The lack of collectors speaks to how sincere the help was. It’s dangerous. Life’s dangerous.
He deflates and nods. “Alright, you can go, son. But be safe and don’t take any risks. And…” he turns his gaze to Teemo. “Make sure you call him Tupul when anyone else can hear. We’re hidden for a reason.”
Teemo solemnly nods. “I know, and so does Boss. We take keeping people safe seriously. That’s why we want to take him with us for this. He needs to learn how to keep himself safe when staying quiet isn’t an option any more.”
Tengar sighs and picks up the cleaver, turning back to the table. “When are you leaving?”
“A few days still. He’ll have time to pack and pick up whatever he needs.”
He nods and starts chopping through the ribs, making a rack for an order. “Then back to work, son. Once we finish here, you can clean up and start getting what you need.”
Pul nods. “I’ll see you later tonight, Teemo?”
Teemo nods as well. “That’ll work. The manor entrance is always a good spot to meet up. It was good to meet you, Tengar.”
He pauses his work, cleaver raised. “I hope it’s good to meet you, too. It’s been good so far, but…” he lets the cleaver fall, separating the ribs fully. “I’ve seen good turn bad too many times…”
Pul starts to speak, but Teemo shakes his head and simply points at the ledger of orders. Trying to just say something reassuring isn’t going to help now. No, it needs to be shown. And we’ll show Pul’s dad that he can trust someone who knows his family’s secret.
