Ah, the pitter-patter of dweller feet. I used to think pitter-patter was a quiet sound, until I watched my sister’s kids for an afternoon. Now I know it’s more like what a herd of elephants sounds like.

Whatever the volume, delvers are back! And they are trying to make up for lost time, seems like, which is fine by me. I need mana to designate someone as my Voice, and they’re handing it over like it’ll expire soon. They even tried to be extra cheeky and run a bunch of people through the maze at once, thinking Tiny can’t get them all. He didn’t quite get them all, but I think he’s made his point about playing by the unofficial rules.

And ‘defeating’ those delvers has me very close to what I need for my Voice, so I should probably sit down and actually have a think about who it will be. I’ll start with the easy ones that I won’t be doing that with.

None of my newbies will be my Voice. Honey, Grim, and Thing are all still getting used to the roles I’ve given them already. I don’t need to complicate things for them even more and try to have them talking to people, too. Besides, they’d all have their hands full even if they spawned as experts in their fields, which they aren’t.

It also won’t be Jello. While she’s friendly enough, and seems to like the delvers, she’s about as metaphorically sharp as the room-full of jello that she is. I think I want my Voice to be one of my smarter scions.

Coda is also out of the running. While he doesn’t have too much work to do right now, especially since Poe took over the underground expeditions, too, I have some plans that will be eating up his time soon. One or more gardens is the least of what I hope to put him in charge of.

Definitely not Queen. She’s sharp as a tack, but the only people who even know what she looks like are Aranya and Yvonne. While I do want to talk with them, I also want to have the option to talk to whatever delvers I need to.

Also not Fluffles. Some people like to min/max and pile all their bonuses on one thing, but I’ve never really liked putting all my eggs in one basket like that. Besides, he’s still ironing the kinks out of being a Conduit.

Which leaves three: Teemo, Tiny, and Poe.

Poe’s on the bottom of my list, mostly because the expeditions keep him busy. Aside from that, though, he’d probably be a good Voice. You don’t Marshall the troops well if you aren’t smart, after all. He’s also in a good location to talk to people, and maybe even people well outside my borders. And he can fly, so it’ll be easy to avoid/ignore anyone I don’t want to deal with.

Teemo would be a good voice just because he’s basically everywhere. He’s practically my Voice already, just with ratty miming instead of words, just because he’s the most convenient to send, pretty much no matter where someone is. He’s also sneaky, so he can ignore people I don’t want to deal with. But his sneakiness also kinda plays against being a Voice. Scouts aren’t generally the most talkative, at least not publicly.

I like the idea of Tiny being my voice just for the theme and how he works. Wanna talk to the dungeon? Step into my parlor, says the giant spider to the flies. I also feel like he’s my smartest scion, which just seems like a good idea to have for my Voice. The biggest problem is that he’s… well big. If he gets much bigger, he won’t fit inside the house anymore, and even some of the tunnels are a bit cramped for him already. Feels kinda weird for my Voice to not be able to get everywhere.

While I mull over the decision, though, I feel the cemetery gates open. Freddie walks in, looking mostly confident, and about a dozen people in robes come in after him. I guess he wasn’t joking about the church wanting to consecrate the cemetery quickly. The robed people all look at least a little nervous, even the one with a little crystal scepter thing.

“You’re certain the dungeon won’t attack us, young brother?” he asks Freddie, and the orc nods.

“We should be fine, Head Acolyte. I’ve been in this dungeon a lot, and Mr Tarl said it probably won’t have any problems with us consecrating the graveyard.”

“But it has undead scions! Several!” I can practically feel Freddie’s restraint as he doesn’t roll his eyes.

“It does, but they don’t act like undead. After the consecration ceremony, we might be able to find the groundskeeper, if you want? It looks intimidating, but never made any hostile actions.”

The head guy just suppresses a shudder at the very idea of getting close to Grim. “Perhaps some other time. The ceremony will likely leave us all drained, and I’d rather not face an undead that strong at anything other than my best.”

Freddie just shrugs, and the group cautiously walks to the rough center of the graveyard. As they go, there’s some long looks at a lot of the various graves. I’m pretty sure I got everyone who’s supposed to be in one into one, but hard to tell if they’re all in the right ones. Still, the fresh-ish graves seem to make the priests or whatever their technical ranks are a bit confused.

Not long after they reach the center, Larx actually exits the mausoleum that leads to the crypt complex, and makes a beeline for the group. Freddie points him out, and they all just kinda awkwardly stand around while the ratkin approaches. Elf Guy was saying people should leave the ratkin alone for now, but I guess he never expected them to be proactive. Imagine that, stuff in my dungeon being a bit weird.

The older ratkin peers at Freddie before smiling like he’s a grandkid. “Ah, you must be young Freddie!”

The orc is a bit taken aback at that, uncertain how to respond, but respond he does. “Uh… yes? That’s me. How do you know me?”

Larx laughs. “Chosen Aranya has talked about you and your friend, Rhonda. The Sanctuary surely approves of you two and your growth!”

“Thanks?” Freddie replies awkwardly. I guess the boy never put any points into diplomacy… or hasn’t had a chance to yet. Paladins don’t exactly get a lot of skills, at least if we’re on DnD rules.

“What are you and your friends up to, young Freddie?”

“Well… we’re going to consecrate the graveyard. Mr Tarl said the dungeon would probably not object, and the Church of the Crystal Shield has been running out of room for proper burials for years now.”

Larx seems to absently take the tip of his tail in his hand, idly playing with it kinda like twiddling his thumbs as he looks around. “I do believe Mr Tarl is correct, as none of the Scions have made themselves known to interfere. May I watch?”

Freddie shrugs and looks to the Head Acolyte, who seems more impatient to get started than worried about any trade secrets getting out.

“You may, but please stand back and do not interfere. We take this very seriously.” Larx simply smiles and steps back and takes a seat on the steps to one of the mausoleums, resting his staff across his lap as he watches.

“Oh Crystal Shield! Light of Purity! Bulwark against the dark! Defense against the unspeakable! We beseech you to bestow your blessing upon these defiled places of rest! Let them be tormented no longer, and grant all who would spend their eternal rest here the eternal rest they have earned!” The head guy raises the scepter as he speaks loudly, the others simply bow their heads and murmur quiet prayers of their own. When he finishes, a little alert pops up for me.

Form Pact with Crystal Shield? Yes/No?

Hmm. I don’t mind the shield helping keep those corpses in the ground, but I don’t think I’m up for any pacts just yet. So… no, but thanks.

The head guy frowns when the alert vanishes, and raises his voice. “Place of darkness! Begone! Flee from the Light of the Crystal Shield and cower in your dark places! This will be a holy place of peace, not your home to desecrate those who have earned their rest!”

Resist Geas? Yes/No?

Definitely resist. This one actually costs a little mana, too. But I don’t need this guy trying to muscle in on my home. The Acolyte, though, doesn’t seem to like that answer. He takes a deep breath, preparing to shout even louder I’m sure, before Larx’ voice cuts him off.

“Would you mind if I try?” he asks, giving the best kindly grandpa face I’ve seen in a while. Freddie looks a bit surprised, and the head guy looks pissed. He looks ready to give Larx an earful, but stops himself.

“Very well. It will give me time to prepare the censer and a few other holy reagents.” Larx smiles and steps forward, and gives a wink only Freddie can see before he raises his staff and speaks.

“Sanctuary, please hear my plea. Let these fallen keep the rest they have earned, and be troubled not by the woes of this world ever again.”

Consecrate Graveyard? Yes/No?

Huh… that doesn’t cost me any mana. I accept, and a faint wave of orange blooms from his staff, washing over the entire graveyard. It crashes against and around the mausoleums, rather than through them, probably because there aren't any normal corpses in there? Either way, that gave me a lot of mana! And I can see it ticking up now as well, thanks to the Consecrated Graveyard. Larx smiles and rests the butt of his staff on the ground, looking pretty pleased with himself. Freddie looks impressed.

The head guy looks like he’s gonna blow a gasket, though. “How dare you!”

Larx still wears that sweet grandpa look. “Dare? You gave me permission, my good priest,” he points out, which only angers the guy further. He starts yelling and swearing and making a scene, while the other priests slowly distance themselves from him for being so loud in a graveyard. Or maybe they notice Grim silently making his way over.

He walks up behind the screaming elf and raps the butt of his scythe on a rock, drawing his attention. The head guy simply sneers and raises his scepter. “Begone, creature of darkness!” He swings at my Scion, scepter glowing with a soft blue flame. Grim casually blocks it with his scythe, and the blue flames bloom out much like the orange wave with Larx.

Grim’s robes aren’t even ruffled from the display, and the flames die with nothing to fuel them. The Acolyte’s zeal is gone in a heartbeat, and he looks absolutely terrified as Grim leans closer. He raises a finger to his mouth and presses them to the lips he doesn’t have, and gives a quiet hiss, before straightening and simply walking away.

Only Larx’ voice and the sound of Grim’s steps can be heard. “The Scion is right. This is a cemetery. Show some manners and lower your voice, please.”