Ar'Kendrithyst

The day passed quickly. Breakfast had been a working breakfast, with Vanya speaking of dungeon plans and floating lightward diagrams into the air as they all ate fancy, little bacon quiches. The Maryols asked questions, and Vanya gave answers. Soltic had to actually glare at Vanya a few times when she started talking about things such as Elemental Death, and how it related to the coral wyrm.

For Jarod and Glariol were way too interested in that.

“So they’re using Elemental Death in the dungeon?” Jarod asked, nonchalantly. “I had heard you needed to be dead to use that without killing yourself. That to use Death inside a dungeon was to kill everyone who walked inside.”

“That’s not the case at all,” Vanya said, happy to explain and barely acknowledging Soltic’s look at all. “Dungeons can use all manner of Elements safely, as long as they are sequenced correctly. In this case, using Death in a dungeon is as easy as having a Rule where the only magic that can affect delvers will be from an approved list, and then you can keep Elemental Death off of that list and you’re free to use Death anywhere you want in a dungeon at all.”

With raised eyebrows, Glariol stated, “I was unaware that you could do that with a core.”

“You can do practically anything with a dungeon core. They’re less like an extension of the current reality into another, and more like the instantiation of a reality all its own.”

Soltic cleared his throat.

Vanya went on to simpler topics.

They continued to talk for a while, but Jarod and Glariol were already completely convinced of Vanya’s knowledge as of yesterday.

Knowing what Erick now knew about Everbless and Sininindi and Quilatalap, and how an ‘Intervention’ prevented Quilatalap from knowing about how the tentacle-thing was, in fact, Everbless, the entire shape of Sininindi’s plan was rather evident. Evident to Erick, anyway. The goddess of Storm and Sea wanted to have personal tutoring for her son, done by one of the most knowledgeable persons in the world. Her plan was the plan of tens of thousands of others, over the course of Veird’s long history; whenever anyone went into Ar’Kendrithyst searching out the Archlich, this is what they wanted. This personal tutoring.

The morning talking and breakfast spilled over into lunch with Nero and surprisingly, with Barda, too. There was much joy among the family that Barda was back in the fold, though she was uncomfortable the entire time. Perhaps she was more uncomfortable due to Vanya speaking of her deeper plans for a Grand Dungeon, or maybe she was still deeply uncomfortable with the whole ‘cultist of Melemizargo’ thing that the Maryols had going on. Soltic suspected there were a whole host of other problems between Barda and Nero and the Maryols, too, but Barda didn’t speak of those problems, and no one poked at her too hard.

And now they were here, walking into Regency Castle.

Barda and Nero did not join them, though.

The castle was stunning in the way that all the grand architecture of the world was stunning, for Veird was a world of magic, and when that magic was maintained, that magic allowed for impossible architecture. Since the advent of the Node Network spellwork and of [Renew], maintaining that impossible architecture was incredibly easy.

The original castle had been a simple thing of a few keeps and towers on a simple cliff, jutting out over the southern part of the city of Storm’s Edge. Since the Node Network came about, that cliff had been expanded outward, and tens of new structures had been piled onto the cliff and the castle. It all should have crashed down into the lake below the castle, long before now, but the pile of white stone buildings and blue roofs were as sturdy as adamantium, upon that cliff.

The cliff kinda looked like a ship, crashing out of the wave of the mountain, and piled high with shipping boxes. It had no real sails, though they could have easily added that part, if they wanted. Soltic assumed that they had discussed sails and decided against them, for whatever reason. Probably because it was too on-the-nose.

“They certainly went for the ‘ship’ look, though,” Soltic said, as he stepped out of the carriage that brought them here, to the back of the castle. “I kinda like it.”

Jarod said, “It’s a controversial design, but Regent Augustive Glorious Tidewalker loves it this way, and so it is this way.”

“Will we be meeting the Regent?” Vanya asked, as she stepped out of the carriage.

“Likely not,” Gloria said. “He’s a busy man, though we might see Archmage Wiloza in the meeting with Aroido. She’s less busy these days with the Node Network making everyone’s lives easier, so she’s been dipping her hands into a lot of different duties, and dungeon overseeing is one of the circles she controls.”

Ahead of them lay a grand road made of lapis lazuli, with trees sculpted into fish lining both sides. An open gate of gold lay ahead of them, with guards on both sides of the gate. Beyond that lay the first of the white castle buildings. A pair of massive fountains rose from blue flower gardens to the left and the right. The fountains were as impressive as all the rest, for they were sculptures of oceanic beasts, spinning into each other as water poured out of tens of mouths and blowholes, to cascade down into large pools. White salt had crystallized over some of the calmer parts of those fountains, which added a sort of ‘foamy’ look. The scene caused Soltic to stop for a moment, as they walked past all that, and into the towering castle beyond.

But soon enough they were inside the first part of the castle, facing down yet another obstacle. They would have been stopped long before they got to this location, were it not for Jarod and Gloria, their escorts. But here they were, now.

A series of arches stood to the side of the main entryway, and they might prove the end of this little experiment in subterfuge. Erick had actually invented those archways himself, as a part of his anti-facestealer programs, and they were devilishly simple in their actions, and effectiveness.

A person simply walked through the five-meter corridor, calmly and solidly, and the ‘machine’ checked to see if the mana was controlled —at all— as one passed through. They were adjustable to allow certain, specific magics through; usually the ones worn by royalty or whatever. But even those spellworks were noticed by the checking magic. Erick could have made the machine only require a single step through the space, but that would mean that someone could take their spellwork off and then put it right back on. The 5 meter distance was so that a person actually had to walk the 5 meters fully exposed, while guards watched the whole time.

Vanya and Soltic both wore permanent spellwork, and they were required to remove all of that spellwork before they entered the building proper. This would be a problem for many different reasons, and there was no real easy way to get through this check without fucking it up somehow. But Erick had [Return], and so—

A high-ranking guard cleared his throat to the side of the check in station, his eyes shimmering a little with Sight spells—

“Just pass right on through, Wizard Flatt. We’ll spoof the check for you and Q.”

Erick’s heart beat hard—

And then he noticed the hundreds of tendrils of magic coming off of the head guard; he had been hiding them until this moment. He was a Mind Mage.

“Mind Mage Rodrygo, at your service. Please head on through; no one will know this happened.”

Erick chuckled a little. “Well all right then.”

And then Soltic walked through the tunnel of arches, with Vanya right behind him. No one had noticed Soltic’s hesitation, or otherwise, as he set off every single archway with his active spellwork. Vanya set off the machine, too. No one cared about either of them, though.

Aside from temporarily hiding them from all nearby viewers, Erick suspected that the guard also had some sort of circumvention against the machine sending a ‘magic detected’ signal to the places where such a spell would be received, though he couldn’t see into all the Privacy spellwork and anti-magic magics layered across the ground, and elsewhere. Whatever the case, Soltic and Vanya went through just fine.

Jarod had an issue.

As the machine beeped, the Mind Mage guard said, “Please remove your spellwork and pass through again.”

Jarod sputtered, “Ah, I had forgotten about that one,” before moving through the machine again, this time silently.

Glariol smirked and passed through without giving the machine any problems at all.

The four of them strode across the ocean-blue marble floor under salt-lamp lighting, to the designated meeting room deeper in the building. Jarod lightly spoke of what they were seeing, of the various parts of the castle, and greeted a few different people and invited them to see the presentation. The hallways were not exactly crowded, but this was a castle filled with people of all kinds, and many of them would be a part of the systems of Vanya’s Grand Dungeon when it was completed. No one accepted the invitation to see the presentation, though. Glariol eventually whispered what Soltic had already guessed; that none of these people believed that Vanya would actually be allowed to change the dungeons. Mostly, it was an uneventful walk.

And then Everbless’s tentacle [Familiar] rounded a corner in the hallway and flickered out as his eye appeared. He had found Soltic and Vanya, and he instantly began poking at the unfeeling, unseeing Soltic, thinking he could get through Soltic’s defenses.

He was almost sad when tentacle after tentacle deflected.

- - - -

Soltic stood at the side of the room, while Vanya spoke of her dungeon presentation.

Everbless had stopped trying to poke him after that first time, which Soltic was glad for. Now, Everbless hovered behind Aroido, watching Vanya’s presentation alongside the lord.

A few others were in attendance.

The Regency Archmage, Lady Wiloza Tidewalker, sat a few seats from Aroido, calmly regarding the much younger woman on stage. She hadn’t said anything aside from a casual greeting at the beginning, but she had taken notice when Soltic was introduced as a Stone Warrior. She didn’t seem to care about Vanya’s Elementalist Class, though. From those facts, it didn’t take long for Erick to remember that Wiloza was a Stone archmage. Hopefully she wouldn’t be bothering Soltic with too much of an inquisition, but Soltic could tell that she probably would. She was becoming more and more interested in Vanya’s presentation, but more so in Vanya and Soltic, than in Vanya’s words, and that meant questions of all sorts.

The other person sitting on Aroido’s other side was the Dungeon Guildmaster; an incani by the name of Larro Tizet. From his tiny grin, his happy heartbeat, and how he had spoken to Jarod earlier about ‘looks like you got a good one’, Soltic could tell that Larro was already on their side.

Aroido looked on in reluctant approval; he was ready to run Vanya through the wringer before he agreed to anything. The fact that he was willing to have a small inquisition was good news, though. Maybe.

Vanya finished with her presentation, and in the end, the room was filled with lightwards. Vanya’s main image floated in the front of the room; a top down look at the overall map of her plan for the dungeons. A few more images held to the sides, detailing the general overhead layout and depth layout of the various ‘Elemental Dungeons’ around the ‘Central City Dungeon’. All of them had empty spots for growth and for the additions of others, but the main floor plan was set.

After an hour, Vanya ended with, “I look forward to working with you, if you should all choose to accept me as a dungeon master. I thank you for your time, and I thank Sininindi for her Call to action.”

Guildmaster Larro Tizet had been waiting for a while to speak, and now he did, “I approve of her. Put her in a smaller dungeon and see what she can do. Maybe #6; that one is always near breaking.”

Archmage Wiloza ignored Larro, and asked, “Where did you learn your spellwork, Miss Vanya?”

“All over the place. Primarily in the dungeons. I do not have a formal arcanaeum accreditation, but I do have enough experience to cast almost any spell of under fourth tier.”

Wiloza’s disapproval was written upon her scrunched face. “I will be withholding my acceptance for several days while we research your public dungeons and do a thorough background check.” She pointed at the floating wardlights. “If I can find proof that you can actually do as you say, then perhaps we’ll speak again.” She got up. “I have no time for any further questions. Till another time, Aroido.” And then she left.

Aroido nodded to the archmage, and when the door had shut behind the archmage, Aroido turned back to Vanya. “The purpose of the dungeons here at Storm’s Edge are to take the Dark for all he is worth, using his spellworks to [Grow] gold and other useful items. Are you comfortable with that? Because that is the major reason for allowing the dungeons in our lands at all. It seems, to me, that you are perhaps too enamored with the learning opportunities inside dungeons.”

“I am more than capable of working with the needs of the governing land in order to make a dungeon all that it can be. Allow me, please, to guess a few things, based on what I have seen of this land.

“From my public ability to estimate how much money comes out of the dungeons, I guess that it’s maybe 9,000 gold per day, per dungeon, meaning around 38,000 per day, for all of them. You might do more at night, or you might not, but I do not know. The Regency takes 30,000 of that gold, which is a good sum, but it likely pales in comparison to a single day at the market, either lower or upper, which likely pulls in multiple millions per day, of which you take a constant, smaller amount. Still hundreds of thousands of gold per day, though. The dungeons, right now, are a minor thing.

“I can increase the production of those dungeons up to a hundred thousand gold per day, at least.

“When we get it up and running, having a False Society on Storm’s Edge’s border will be like adding another major harbor to this land.

“But let us not dismiss the learning opportunities, either; for you are correct that I appreciate those a lot more than I care for the money aspect of all of this. The Water Dungeon I plan to make will teach people how to navigate oceans and survive underwater. True [Waterbreathing] could become a commonplace spell; and I don’t mean the one where people put a bubble of air around their head and keep it [Cleanse]d, but one where people can naturally breathe water with just a bit of aura control and proper Elemental Air and Water usage. Particle Magic is also a possibility for learning [Waterbreathing], too, for the Goddess Sininindi desired that I make this dungeon a place where people can learn to truly defend themselves from whatever might come in 90 years, or more.

“For instance, the vast majority of the world still doesn’t know about aura control, and that is another thing I wish to fix. While your current Force-aspect dungeons are doing their most to make that happen, they could be doing more. I would help them do more, as a dungeon master.”

Soltic watched as Aroido almost had a rebuttal—

But Everbless’s tentacle [Familiar] poked at Aroido’s head, and became visible to mana sense. It was a thought tendril. Everbless was speaking with Aroido right now, and everyone could see that, if they bothered to look. Most people bothered to look.

Aroido said, “Pardon me, I must accept this call.” He looked to the air and started talking to Everbless. Soltic tried to catch his half of the conversation, but the man employed some sort of throat-aura-control magic, so his natural vocalizations when mentally talking were simply not there; it was almost the same thing Soltic did. Aroido’s eyes did go wide, though, in some sort of surprise by what Everbless was telling him. And then he spoke more to Everbless, with the [Scry]-eye/[Familiar] of the world tree growing agitated and relaxed and giddy and hateful, and then back to simply talking, in turns. After a full minute of talking, Everbless’s tendril retreated, and Aroido turned his attention back to the room, to Vanya. “You’ve been approved for the change of Dungeon 6. You’ll be read in on how the dungeon functions properly in the next few hours. We can begin work sometime tomorrow.”

Vanya breathed deep, smiling brightly as she said, “Thank you, sir!”

“Yes yes. Maybe when you see how unstable the whole system currently is, then you will not be thanking me so profusely.” Aroido explained, “The first thing you should know is that the 80% tax we put on the dungeons is there because we recycle that material back into the dungeon, in order to increase the number of delvers with promises of big money. We’re only able to actually support people taking maybe 50 gold per delve.”

Jarod, Glariol, Guildmaster Larro, and Soltic were still in the room, so perhaps this wasn’t that big of a deal for them all to know? Seemed like a big deal to Soltic, though. According to the faces of Jarod and Glariol, they somewhat guessed at this reality, though they were not sure until just then. Larro knew, but the guildmaster had hopes for the future.

Vanya softly exclaimed, “That’s somewhat believable… Now that you have said it and based on what I have seen.”

Aroido huffed a laugh. “Most places subsidize their dungeons due to how they rid our world of monsters, but the rate at which Storm’s Edge does it is a poorly kept secret. Maybe you can change all that Miss Vanya.” He stood. “Now! Everyone out! Except for Miss Vanya and I. The rest of the secrets to speak of are for her ears only.”

“I would ask for my man, Soltic, to remain,” Vanya said, “He would be helping me with some of the dungeon work.”

Aroido looked to Soltic, then said to Vanya, “He can come back into the room in ten minutes. This first part is for your ears only.” He shook his hand at the door. “Everyone else out! No need to wait around, either. This is going to take hours. Mister Cross, please remain outside the door.”

Larro stood first, saying, “Welcome aboard, Miss Silver. I’ll be looking forward to speaking with you about specific additions to the dungeons later.”

Jarod and Glariol left next, the two of them saying a few small words of encouragement, and then Soltic left. They closed the door behind them, and the nobles bid Soltic farewell, and he did the same to them.

And then Soltic waited outside the [Privacy]-shielded door, hoping that he wouldn’t need to do anything drastic to salvage whatever might be happening behind that door. Time slowly ticked on, and Soltic’s mind filled with worst-case scenarios, of needing to kill and evaporate and change the nation of Storm’s Edge, if they did even the smallest thing against—

The door opened.

Vanya was alive, and safe, and she was inviting him back into the room.

Aroido stood where he had been standing before. Everbless hovered behind the man like he usually did. And as the door closed behind Soltic, Everbless changed. He became visible. Red tentacles, red eyes, a wet sort of look to him.

Soltic stared at the floating thing.

Everbless said, “Hello.”

Soltic said, “… Hello. Uh. Archmage?”

Since archmages were the ones with [Familiar]s, Soltic felt his words were adequate for his cover.

Everbless chuckled. “I’m not archmage! Not yet!”

Aroido smiled a little, saying, “This is Gold Taker. He’s also the dungeon master for the dungeons. He’s also Everbless, but that last little bit of information will leak away from your minds, thanks to the Intervention on both of you.”

He said the secret so casually that Soltic didn’t have to fake his bewildered reaction.

Vanya recovered faster, saying, “This is my coworker.”

“Hello!” Everbless said, again, and even more brightly.

Soltic almost wanted to laugh. He did not, though. He feigned ignorance, saying, “Uh. The Gold Taker, eh? The one who ensures money goes back to the dungeons?”

“One and the same,” Aroido said.

Vanya said, “He’s usually invisible and intangible, but you should be able to see him if you do some Ethereal, Intangible Force-type Sight magics. I figured it out fast enough, and you already know how because of—”

“Your [Personal Ward]!” Everbless said, his tendrils spinning around his body, “It stopped me!”

“Uh. Yeah,” Soltic said, “I had problems with Ethereal, Intangible enemies before. So. Yeah. Uh.”

Everbless went ethereal and moved around the room to the other side, though a single tendril remained where he had been. He spoke through that stretched tentacle, “See me?”

“Yes,” Soltic said, his eyes tracking Everbless’s main body.

Everbless came back to this side of reality. “You see me!”

An uncomfortable question centered within Soltic’s mind. He decided to ask it, and damn the consequences. “Does this mean that you pulled people under the waves inside the dungeons and killed them?”

“Yes! They broke the rules, so I do everything against them!”

Soltic froze a little bit, unsure what to do with that information right this moment.

Vanya was serene, though. Possibly because she agreed with Everbless? But even she agreed that children shouldn’t be killing other people… And yet, Erick used Ophiel to kill other people. Ugh. This was a mess, and Soltic would be a hypocrite to say anything more than he already had.

So he would say those words later, to Vanya, in private.

Aroido was clearly uncomfortable with Everbless killing people, though, so perhaps Soltic could say those words— No wait. ‘Gold Taker’ is not ‘Everbless’. Right.

So Soltic politely asked, “Gold Taker? How old are you?”

Excitedly, Everbless said, “I am 12—”

“That is…” Aroido had begun to say, fast as he could, but not fast enough. “That is an unimportant question, Soltic. The power to work the dungeon as it should be worked is there, as is the skill, and the ability to follow the rules. Gold Taker will be our main dungeon master going forward, but he is not actually connected to the dungeons. We tried that. Him putting a repro into the dungeons was a complete disaster. The current dungeon master is me, and has always been me, from the very first year that the dungeons came into being on this land. And I mean that in a very real way. I am a reproduction of the original Aroido who died a while ago due to an assassination. My fellow repros and I have been keeping up appearances ever since.”

Soltic looked to Aroido, now, his eyes going a little wider.

Aroido was worried, embarrassed, relegated, and a whole host of other, tired emotions that he had been wearing for a long time. “I am technically both 50, and 12. Age is unimportant right now. What is more important, is that I believe that you two are also repros. Are you?”

Vanya answered for both of them, “We’re immortals trying out new lives, in this new world. That’s the only answer you’re getting out of us for that question.”

As Aroido relegated himself to that answer, and found it not a bad answer at all—

“Who were you before?!” Everbless asked, too excited by half.

“Feel free to ignore the child in all questions that are too personal,” Aroido easily said, and then he demanded, “But I will know your full allegiances.”

“No you won’t,” Vanya said, “But you can be allowed to know that I am here to make this dungeon work as well as I possibly can. I want a Grand Dungeon, Lord Aroido. I want to make that happen.”

“Are you a Shade?” Aroido asked, even though he did not want to. “Either of you?”

Everbless suddenly shrunk away, his eyes going wide. He had never considered that possibility, and now, he was, and it scared him.

Vanya said, “We are about the furthest you can get from Shades.”

Soltic pointed at himself. “Not a Shade.”

Everbless came forward a little bit, his eyes narrowing on Soltic and Vanya. “Not a Shade?”

“Not Shades at all,” Soltic said.

Aroido regarded them for a quiet moment. Then he said, “For now, that answer will suffice. If, and hopefully when, this whole arrangement seems to be working well, the Regency will have clearer answers. Even if you have to leave those answers with Archmage Wiloza Tidewalker, or with the Regent himself. FOR NOW… For now, this is acceptable.” He gestured back to the diagrams. “Tomorrow, after we clear away some morning business, we will all journey into Dungeon 6 and we will have you look over the current state of affairs. From there, we will discuss alterations and priorities, and...”

They spoke for a little over an hour, with Everble— Gold Taker offering enthusiastic, childlike, horrific additions to all the various floors and puzzles and otherwise that Vanya had already carefully planned.

More than once, Aroido said some polite thing like, “That’s not what we’re trying to do here, Gold Taker. We want the people to learn proper aura control and altering for Water. Not have them try to turn themselves into fish, to be able to solve the puzzle.”

“But fish are fun! I’ve turned people fishy and it was fun!”

Vanya carefully asked, “Did you turn them back?”

“If they complete puzzle! It’s Rules! They did not complete puzzle so they die.”

Vanya nodded, saying, “A good standard to take.”

But inwardly she was deeply, deeply concerned. Almost as much as Soltic was concerned. Soltic picked up on that. Aroido picked up on that, too.

Gold Taker did not pick up on that human emotion at all.

Eventually, the talk ended, and Soltic and Vanya left the room, the castle, and then hopped on a Platform to head back to their rooms at the Maryols. After a wonderful dinner where they spoke about the plans for the dungeon with Jarod, Glorial, Barda, and Nero, Soltic and Vanya turned in for the night.

- - - -

‘We’re going to have to purge Gold Taker from the dungeons,’ Erick sent to Quilatalap, laying there in bed; him as Soltic, Quilatalap as Vanya. ‘It’s going to be a mess.’

‘Ah. Good. I was worried you’d be against that.’

Erick blanked. ‘What— Why would I be against it?’

‘… Can I ask why you are for removing him, first?’

‘Gold Taker is a child. He should not be harming people like you would harm people to test them in a dungeon. I made sure that Yggdrasil only fought defensive wars, but I was way too harsh with Ophiel when Ophiel was becoming cognizant of what I was actually using him for. When Ophiel splits off, I’m going to ensure that he’s raised as well as I can raise a child. When Yggdrasil splits… I hope I’ve done enough to help him learn right from wrong. But Everbless—’ Erick realized not even a fraction of the way through his sudden rant at the Everbless/dungeon situation, that he had gotten way too close to the truth that Everbless is Gold Taker. Quilatalap had lost his train of thought a few sentences ago, but he pretended not to. ‘Sorry,’ Erick said, and then he went back to the simple fact that, ‘Basically, Gold Taker killing things at a very young age, and I disagree with that in so many different ways.’

‘I killed my first man when I was 10. A lot of people of this world kill their first thing at a young age; be they hunters of game, or killers of others due to the necessities of self defense.’

‘That’s different. You were powerless, learning how to be powerful. Gold Taker is powerful, and he needs to learn how to control that power, and what it means to use that power.’

‘I can agree with that assessment. But what about the ‘Rules’ that he speaks of? He’s not some wild thing, going off on his own. He has ‘Rules’, and he follows them.’

‘Mostly follows them.’

‘ ‘Mostly’ is rather good for his age.’ Quilatalap said, ‘I assume for his age, anyway. He’s certainly not a normal person to be able to touch the Script at that age. He probably got the Script at like… 5? 6, maybe?’

‘Probably sooner than that.’ Erick asked, ‘Are you against purging him from the dungeons?’

‘I want him gone. He shouldn’t be in there.’

Erick liked that. ‘Why do you want him gone?’

‘He’s doing it wrong.’

Erick laughed. Quilatalap smiled. And then, while Erick couldn’t say the full truth, he could say, ‘I believe Sininindi has you down here in order to teach Gold Taker real magic. So please, Quilatalap, don’t go teaching a child archmage how to tear the world apart.’

‘Ah. Well…’ Quilatalap breathed softly. ‘That part about [Baleful Polymorph]ing delvers into fish and then not transforming them back? That’s fine if a delver entered a death-track willingly, but only the truly crazy people do death-tracks anymore and I highly doubt that Gold Taker knows proper Trials of the Dark protocols. If he did, he wouldn’t allow the truly crazy ones onto the death tracks at all, and even if he believes himself to have the mental capacity to gauge when a person is crazy versus motivated, from what I saw in that room today, he does not have that capacity. All he has are ‘Rules’.’

‘Gods above. ‘He’s not doing the dungeon torture properly’. That’s such a weird take.’

‘Bah! You’re too soft sometimes, Erick. A little death in a safe environment is the best way to ensure that less death happens out in the open, and if people truly want to challenge themselves and be rewarded for it, then they should be allowed to do so.’

‘Don’t think we’re ever going to fully agree on that one, and that’s fine.’ Erick smiled, and then he asked the serious question, ‘But anyway: Are you going to continue going along with Sininindi’s desires, or are you ready to purge the problems in the dungeons and instantiate your own solutions?’

A bit of silence.

‘… I’m not ready to give up on doing this how she wants it done, yet. So… No purging right now. Maybe tomorrow if it looks like we can get away with it in a secure manner, without upsetting too many people.’

‘Aroido did seem rather at the end of his temper. He might be willing to cover up your actions if he knew who you were.’

‘Yes, he did seem that way, didn’t he. You know… The more I learn about the dungeons here the more I am personally offended.’

Erick smiled. ‘That subsidy thing was unexpected.’

‘YES! That! How can they fuck up growing gold in a dungeon? That’s the easiest... Hmm… I guess they do have a child trying to run the place.’

‘More like they have a mentally exhausted repro running the place, and also babysitting a demigod.’

‘Various sets of children, all overseeing each other.’

Erick chuckled.

Quilatalap sent, ‘I bet that archmage oversees the Aroidos, never letting him grow properly, either.’

‘Probably. That oversight would be a problem with bringing ‘the Aroidos’ into the fold. Now that’s a weird concept: ‘The Aroidos’.’

‘Not that weird. There are about 30 Quilatalaps running around out there.’

‘… Right.’

‘Anyway. The archmage didn’t seem to like Vanya. That could be a problem.’ Quilatalap sent, ‘Once I’m emplaced in the dungeon I’m going to rip away this seal, or whatever it is, inside my soul. It’s a doozy, though. I might need your help Wizardry-ing it away.’

‘And you will have that help, but you’re going to need to help me on the lyrics and targeting and such.’

Quilatalap yawned, laying beside Erick. ‘I can do that. You might need to go back to one of my phylacteries to do it properly, but that’s easily done.’

Erick smiled softly into the darkness of the room.

Soltic kissed Vanya on the shoulder, as he whispered, “Good night.”

Vanya giggled at the touch, then said, “Good night.”

Her eyes had already been closed for the last five minutes, and now, Soltic closed his eyes, too.

‘One last thought,’ Erick sent, ‘I would like it if we handled Gold Taker with kid sensibilities. I want to believe he can be good, if he learns how.’

‘… Well… I am a teacher, and the kid seems to enjoy learning magic...’ Quilatalap sent, ‘I’m not one to raise a child though, Erick. I’ve had to do that several times before, and that’s how you end up with people like Zenipeq Frostflower, which is a fine example, but then you get Death Throne, which is the exact counter example.’

There was a lot there in that small statement.

Mostly, it was an admission that Quilatalap did not want to raise kids, which… Had Implications.

Erick decided to say, ‘I’m probably going to have to step in here at Storm’s Edge after Sininindi removes her part of the seal. Maybe I’ll get the Arbors at Treehome involved with helping to raise Everbless, if they aren’t already. This separation from Everbless’s actions and Gold Taker’s…’

Quilatalap blinked a bit. The anti-meme had triggered.

‘Ah. Shit. Sorry, Quilatalap.’

Quilatalap stated, ‘As soon as I’m emplaced here, we are removing this intervention. It’s been difficult, letting this thingremain in my soul, listening to myself tell myself to leave it alone. It’s a lot worse when it triggers.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘I’m not angry at you, but I am getting angry at Sininindi. Some political maneuvering is expected in this sort of thing and I think I passed that rather well, but the soul control is a deeply unwelcome addition. And what’s worse, is that based on the depth of this intervention, I have been infected for a long time. Years, Erick.’

‘We’ll get it removed, and then I’ll start talking to Sininindi about getting it removed from everyone. All of Storm’s Edge— Maybe the whole world is infected.’

‘It probably is.’ With an easier tone, Quilatalap said, ‘Now go to sleep. I’m tired and I love how comfortable this bed is, and how warm you are, and I want to sleep now.’

Erick smiled in the dark. ‘It’s a pretty good bed—’

Vanya lightly slapped his arm. “Go to sleep.”

Soltic chuckled, and then he tried to sleep.

- - - -

The Archmage of the Regency, Lady Wiloza Tidewalker, was having a difficult day. It started with that interloper Vanya Silver yesterday at that meeting, and continued to become more and more problematic because Wiloza had been awake for the last 30 hours, following up with the Dungeon Guilds of Geode Bluite—

“Excuse me,” Wiloza corrected herself, “The Dungeoneer Guilds. Everyone has to have some different name for it. I swear.” She collected herself. “And now I am here, at House Benevolence, asking for a Benevolent reading of this upcoming disaster, as per our previous agreements. Honestly I would not be here if I could avoid it, but everyone is suddenly talking about this Vanya woman back home, and this dungeon shift is going to happen a lot faster than I am comfortable with it happening.” Perhaps she showed her exhaustion too much, as she had not slept at all last night. “I apologize for my brevity and attitude, but I expected to see some lesser prognosticator. Not you. I mean. I appreciate it. Just unexpected.”

Grand Prognosticator Teressa Rednail, sometimes called the Seer of Weal, sat on the other side of the table, looking as much the professional as Wiloza had been informed. She also looked younger than Wiloza had expected, but that was an orcol for you; nary a line on the face, even when facing 50, or however much time That Damned Wizard had dragged her through inside those [Hasted Shelter]s. Thankfully the Wizard was too busy running his kingdom these days to keep doing shit that would make the gods blush…

Though the world was certainly better off for King Flatt’s magics, and for all the changes caused by the Darkness and the Gods…

But Wiloza had a distinct distaste for people enacting their will upon her land, and while that resultant anger had been directed toward monsters and such for the first 60 years of her life, she was still adjusting to this new world order of the last 10 years.

“Perhaps I am overreacting,” Wiloza said, “I am simply supremely worried about the small scale disasters these days, and those damned dungeons are always disasters. I need to know if this Vanya Silver or Soltic Cross are disasters in the making.”

Prognosticator Rednail nodded. “Completely understandable. I usually focus on the good outcomes of any potential question, with only true disasters rising to the top, allowing me to see them. Are you comfortable with that?”

“I am. Probably better for my anxiety ridden mind, which is fine by me.”

Prognosticator Rednail smiled a little bit at Wiloza's disarming attitude, then she said, “Okay. Allow me a moment with the paperwork you have brought.” Miss Rednail reached down to the papers sitting on the table between them.

Those papers were the collected history of Vanya Silver and Soltic Cross; everything that Wiloza had been able to find in the last 15 hours. It was not nearly enough as it should have been, if Vanya and Soltic were real people. That lack of history was what caused Wiloza to finally enact the agreements between House Benevolence and the Regency; to come here and ask these questions. Of all the things Wiloza had been able to find, herself, personally, as she had been traveling through the Gate Network all day long to find this information, all of it only took up 5 brief pages, and 4 of those 5 were about Vanya’s publicly-found dungeons. There was also a house on the outskirts of Bluite that was abandoned, and which looked like it had been abandoned for a hundred years—

“The major thing I found, personally, when I went down there,” Wiloza said, “Was that neither of these people were well known at the Dungeoneer Guild down there! Those Guilds had records for Miss Silver and Mister Cross, but their faces were unknown.”

Prognosticator Rednail winced a little bit at that, then she finished reading the paperwork, having flipped through it and used some sort of [Reading] magic, or whatnot. Most people in power had that sort of capability these days. She set the paperwork back down. “They could be immortals who are trying out a new life. There are a lot of those falling out of Underworld and elsewhere these days.”

Wiloza sighed. “That’s the best case scenario, and it’s honestly the one I most suspect is true. I never knew there were so many damned immortals in this world until the Wizard upended everything.”

Rednail smiled. “He does have that tendency.”

“With the way Vanya spoke, I suspect that she is an immortal. She seems truly Called by My Goddess, too, though, so…” Wiloza shook her head. “I don’t know. I want to know, though. The general shape of what is to come. I want to know.”

Rednail nodded seriously. “Final question: Is there anything in particular you would like to know, aside from the stated request?”

“Not that I can think of. Any solid, general advice from House Benevolence to the Regency will be enough. We might not act on that information, but we’re asking for your Benevolent Prognostication anyway.”

“A reading won’t take much time at all, so you can either wait here, and I can do it here, or I can move to the other room, or whatever you want.”

“Please do it here.”

Rednail gave a small, half nod, then she sat back in her chair, breathed out, stared into the distance, and her eyes transformed into pools of lightning.

If it weren’t for the similarities between Benevolence and Lightning, Wiloza realized that she might have either been offended at the prognosticator’s similarity to Sininindi’s look, or charmed. Probably more charmed than offended. Who knew, though. It was what it was, and all Wiloza could do was watch, as—

Rednail blinked, and came back to herself. Then she looked down at Wiloza and startled, as though she was surprised to see Wiloza was still here, or something. And then her countenance solidified. “Have them make the dungeon into a shelter. Devote the majority of the inner lands into a truly defensible location. Somewhere that all of Storm’s Edge can shelter inside, for there is a storm coming and it is not of Sinininidi’s make at all.” Her eyes flickered to lightning again. Wiloza was unsure if the lightning had ever left as the Grand Prognosticator’s voice turned to thunder,

“The Grand Dungeon of Storm’s Edge must hold all of the life of the Archipelago, and more besides. It will be The Lighthouse, The Castle That Withstands All, The Vault In The Ground Under The Roots Of The World Tree, The Protected Cove, and more, and you, Wiloza Tidecaller, must make that happen. Through the Death that is yet to come, there will be life, or there will be nothing at all for you and yours when lightning lashes Storm’s Edge.”

For a moment, Wiloza just breathed.

Wiloza had been shocked by a great many things in her long life. When her daughter made her first tier 7 spell, called it quits, and then made tier 8 a year later, surprising everyone that she had chosen to continue learning and growing as a mage, becoming an archmage while no one was watching. Another great surprise was when Wiloza found a Shade in the castle 34 years ago, casually murdering the previous Regent. Not too long ago the Gate Network opened and the world changed overnight, and then even more in the following years; even today, Wiloza was shocked that she was able to get all the way to Bluite and back by just spending 2 gold in traveling fees.

The shock passed.

Wiloza felt a familiar chill take root in her chest. A solidification, turning malleable, as Wiloza often found herself turning. It was why she chose to become an Ooze Mage in the first place, though everyone only knew her for her Stone Magic, and that was fine. She had surprised many would-be killers when they thought they knew how to deal with Stone, and then they were suddenly surrounded by not-Stone at all.

The Grand Prognosticator had finished with her proclamation, blinked a lot, and then just breathed. Now, she waited.

Wiloza easily said, “Well then! That was unexpected.”

Miss Rednail calmly, yet rapidly, said, “We will be verifying that particular prognostication over the coming days, to ensure that it is correct. We would appreciate it if you do not go spreading that information around without regard for who you tell. Not to the public; not yet.”

“So that worried you, too, then?”

“It is not often when something like that happens… Not for years, actually. The last time was with the Blue Wizard and the attack on Oceanside, about a month prior to that event. This particular prognostication is… Half a year away, or more.”

Wiloza took that information in stride, then she gestured to the paperwork. “What about these immortals?”

Prognosticator Rednail blinked a few more times as she looked down at the papers. “Vanya will terrify you beyond belief. I suggest you tell her what I told you, and then keep others away from her and let her make the dungeon how it needs to be made.”

Wiloza frowned. “This is not what I expected when I came here—”

Prognosticator Rednail stood, saying, “House Benevolence is terribly sorry that we must cut this meeting short. You have been given the information requested. We suggest you work that information how you will. Good day, Archmage Wiloza Tidewalker.”

Wiloza was used to being brushed off in certain social situations, but she was a little irate at being brushed off here, after being given such horrible prognostications. She composed herself and stood, though, and carefully said, “I will be following up on this prognostication.”

“We will as well. Would you like to be informed of that followup?”

“… Yes.” She had not expected Miss Rednail to offer that so freely. “Thank you.”

“Good day, Archmage Tidewalker.”

Rednail took her leave.

For a long moment, Wiloza stood in the room, unsure exactly the depth of what had just happened. She understood the prognostication already; that wasn’t the problem. But prognostications were unreliable. What really worried her was the fact that Rednail just up and left, like that.

This whole event was like walking along the bottom of the ocean, back in the old days, looking for a monster that had been terrorizing the locals, and instead finding a crack in the Surface that led all the way to the Underworld itself.

Wiloza shivered at that memory.

An attendant from House Benevolence walked into the room, asking if Wiloza would like any other services from House Benevolence, and offering assistance from the House for any of her possible varied needs. He also handed over a transcript of the meeting.

Wiloza took the transcript, saying, “Nothing right now. I must be off. I must also comment that this visit was a lot less horrible, and a lot more horrible, than I imagined it would be. I will be coming back soon for clarifications of the Grand Prognosticator’s words.”

The attendant nodded, then offered, “Would you like a personal [Gate] back to Storm’s Edge? The Wizard is able to provide, if you desire.”

“… Sure. Honestly I assumed he would be too busy for me, too—”

In a flashing instant, a [Gate] opened up on the side of the room. It was wreathed in white lightning, exactly as an uncontained [Gate] was supposed to look. On the other side was the blue stone road that led to the Castle.

“… Well then!” Wiloza said, surprised yet again. And then she walked through. “Such prompt service.”

And she was back home. Just like that. Honestly she was rather glad that she didn’t need to meet the Wizard directly to get a [Gate] back home. This was rather nice.

The attendant said some more farewell words and the [Gate] closed behind her.

Wiloza strode forward, to the Castle, with a great deal of new thoughts on her mind. Her first order of business was with Rodrygo at the check in station. The Mind Mage Liaison had been the Regency’s contact with the Mind Mages for the last several years. Rodrygo continually surprised Wiloza with just how fast and how knowledgeable he could be, when he chose to be.

Sometimes, though, he was less than forthcoming, which was a continual frustration, but understandable.

Except in this case. He was very forthcoming.

“What do you mean they’re already in the dungeons!” She checked the clock on the wall. “It’s barely noon!”

“They got approval an hour ago. I was not part of that discussion, so I cannot tell you more than that. There are other issues for you to deal with, anyway.” Mind Mage Rodrygo spoke, projecting his minor amount of authority into his voice, “Since you requested that prognostication as part of the Regency/House agreements, a copy of the prognostication has already arrived in the Regent’s office. Regent Augustive Glorious Tidewalker wishes for your presence at your earliest convenience, which means now.”

Ahh. Dammit.

That Damned Wizard was probably involved in this shit show now, wasn’t he. They had managed to keep him away from the Regency for so long, at Sininindi’s request and at everyone else’s desire as well, but now… For him to break propriety so damned easily—

“I thought it would be a simple prognostication,” Wiloza said, exhausted, while the transcript of her meeting with Prognosticator Rednail held in the pockets of her robes, where a Privacy kept them in confidence. She was going to speak to the Regent at her own convenience, after she had a chance to speak with Miss Silver and to oversee the Aroidos first, but now those simple folded papers felt like an anchor dragging her down far faster than she expected to sink. “That Damned Wizard. No wonder he was so ready to [Gate] me here—” She shook her head. “Forget it.” And then she walked through the magic-checking archways, setting them off— “Bah!” she said, stepping backward, as she took out her badge of office and set it on top of her robes. She went through the detecting archways again, and this time there was no noise.

She went straight to the Regent’s offices, muttering about how everything used to be so much simpler.