Theanore and Torgog went to the tunnels after the worker elves made him better clothes, which were part of his payment for finding where the tunnels lead. Torgog had a special stick, and he threw it in the ground at the entrance of one of the tunnels. It jumped up and began to write.

No Man’s Land, gremlin tribe of Afriga the chubby.

“Oh, Afriga will have you run errands for sweets, little Thea. She is a gremlin, but as round as a barrel. Hahaha.” Said Torgog. Theanore considered this. If she had sugar grass growing at her grotto, it would have been pure profit. As it stood, her profit will be down to 5%. Still, the children would like to have more runs and thus more pocket money.

Theanore sat down by a tree stump and began to write.

Dear Afriga the gremlin,

You don’t know me, but I am Theanore, the nymph. Dungeon core of the Apple Grotto dungeon. I would like to propose a teleport between my grotto and your tribe’s lands, as well as courier services on my part. Torgog the pathfinder tells me you like candy. There is a teleport between my grotto and Mirstone, and they make lots of candy there.

Best regards,

Theanore the nymph.

“Ants, line up.” Said Theanore and an ant appeared before her.

“Take this to Afriga the gremlin. Wait for a response.” Said Theanore, and she tied the note to the ant’s back.

“Ok, grandpa Torgog. The next tunnel.” Said Theanore and the aged Ogre took the stick and threw it in the tunnel to the left to the gremlin’s.

No Man’s Land, fairy village.

“Oh, you best leave this one be, little lady. Fairies are evil to their core.” Said Torgog.

Theanore remembered Bellchime and how violent she had been and decided to agree.

“Ok, next one. There are five more left.” Said Theanore. Torgog picked up the stick, but before that, he spoke.

“You better seal the tunnel that leads to the fairy village with stone and a barrier. Least they come to plunder.” Said Torgog. Theanore whistled and an ant appeared.

“Seal this tunnel with stone.” Said Theanore and the ant went to get more ants to help with the task. Torgog threw the stick in the next tunnel, and it wrote in the soil.

Forest of plenty, Swamp Heaven inn.

“Oh, this is where Elm, Di and Dede are! I have to send an ant over there. Elm hasn’t written in a while.” Said Theanore, but Torgog shook his head.

“It is the rainy season over there, Thea. Any ant you sent will get sick with the swelling sickness and die. Wait another three months for it to end and then sent someone over there.” Said Torgog.

Theanore didn’t want to risk the lives of her ants, so she agreed silently. Torgog took the stick and threw it in the next tunnel.

No Man’s Land. Canyon Rush dungeon grounds.

“That is Luca’s dungeon! But his is a recent one. How come the stick knows there is a dungeon there?” Asked Theanore. Luca had told her that the caves had been quite natural when he got there, not a sliver of mana to be felt.

“The stick knows. Chances are whoever made these tunnels didn’t know where they were digging originally. Maybe when they first made this one, it led to a simple cave in a canyon.” Said Torgog.

Theanore nodded and Torgog threw the stick in the next tunnel. It wrote.

No Man’s Road, Badlands.

“You best seal this one too. This is where the shades and walking corpses are.” Said Torgog worried. Not that a sealed entrance would stop a shade. “Better collapse the whole tunnel.”

Theanore shuddered at the horror that awaited at the other end of the tunnel and gave the command to a passing ant to collapse it. Then, Torgog threw the stick in the next tunnel.

Forest of plenty, Underwater grove.

“Well, mostly merfolk live there. You can trade with them, I suppose.” Said Torgog, and then he got thoughtful. “But chances are half of the tunnel is flooded. Can your ants swim underwater well?”

“Not very well, no. But I can get Mari to go down the tunnel. He is a merman and can turn his legs in a tail.” Said Theanore. Now that Marinus was shunned by the surrounding mermaid tribes because he saved Luca, any hope of trading with them was dead. But if the mermaids of the forest of plenty didn’t know about that incident, then they would definitely trade with them. Theanore stopped an ant and told it to bring Marinus to her.

“Ok, last tunnel.” Said Torgog, and he threw the stick. It wrote.

No Man’s Land, Ruins of Gold Eagle.

“Impossible!” Said Torgog as he reread what the stick had written. “They are only a myth.”

“What are these ruins, grandpa Torgog?” Asked Theanore. Torgog looked excited, and Theanore wondered why.

“No Man’s Land used to be a Kingdom of Ogres and Giants, with a capital city: Gold Eagle. But the last king died a thousand years ago and the city was abandoned. The teleports to it stopped working and everyone forgot where it was. If we can reach the city and found the royal sigil, we can restore our kingdom and can have trade deals with the Dawn Empire and the forest of plenty again!”

Torgog went in the tunnel, but couldn’t make even two steps inside as it was too small.

“A human can fit in here just fine.” Mumbled the old Ogre. “Perhaps a group of adventurers?”

“There is an adventuring party that guards this grotto, grandpa Torgog. They are the forest of fireflies’ guardians. If you pay them enough, I am sure they will find your city.” Said Theanore.

Torgog clapped his hands.

“You write, I will dictate. Norgog will pay whatever they want, I am certain.” And so, Theanore began to write.

Dear Larriel,

How are you? Are the enchanted items selling well? There is an Ogre tribe that wants to hire your party. They want to find a royal sigil in the Gold Eagle ruins. There is a tunnel leading to them, don’t worry. Will you take the job?

Hugs,

Theanore.

Theanore closed the envelope and sent the letter, and she began planning a massive trip to Afriga and the mermaids of the Underwater grove.