Just as suddenly as it started, the mental screeching abates, and I’m left with so many questions.

Some external entity just sealed my pipe somehow. But why would they do that?

Do I try again?

No… It’s probably best if I don’t test its patience, if it did it once, it can probably do it again.

So, what then? Do I ask Wes if he knows anything?

See, I don’t like that idea. What if is this is something very obviously dungeon core-specific? Then would I be giving myself away?

Potentially. But not knowing carries its own inherent risks. I could be in danger without even realizing it! Which is worse?

Yeah, I think I’ll take the gamble and ask about this.

Luckily, in the past three weeks, I’ve refrained from getting fully absorbed in working on my latest project and maintained mild contact with the inhabitants of Sevit, namely my primary business partner. And I really haven’t had much of a choice; the new governors have begun a myriad of city improvement projects which has increased the demand for building materials. Many of them have tried to make new deals with me, but I’ve been blowing them off. There will be a time for that in the future.

Honestly, I’m impressed by their competence. They’ve begun taxing the inhabitants, which was only a matter of time anyway, and are actually reinvesting in the community.

From my readings on Lyrian politics, I would’ve assumed, for all intents and purposes, the hereditary upper class would’ve been stuck on corruption. Boy was I wrong! Not only have the taxes been put to objectively good uses, but the efficiency with which it’s been done is astounding!

What motivates them to behave despite them holding the power to choose not to?

Furthermore, Sevit continues to grow at a rapid clip. Alongside the usual immigrants, skilled craftsmen, miners, and other artisans have been setting up shop. Curiously, smelting and metalworking has been consolidated into large ‘companies’ which is pretty advanced for their apparent technology level. Perhaps I’ve misjudged their society.

The influx goes far beyond what should be possible without state incentives. Additionally, the Watergarde Merchant’s Company has decided to build an official branch office here, alongside a few other companies of varying specializations.

To the Lyrians, profit appears to be king.

What has me most excited, though, is the arrival of numerous mages and people dealing in the arcane. First it was the combat mages sent to protect Sevit from the dangers of what I gather to be a myriad of neighboring enemy nations. Following, and as a result of their presence, came suppliers of magical equipment, materials, and literature, who I still have yet to do business with. Naturally their attendance set a snowball effect in motion; now there are arcane metallurgists working with imported (For now, it’s my understanding that the miners are hard at work prospecting the depths.) “infused metals,” a couple of runecrafters, runesmiths, (Which are apparently different.) and a team of esoteric researchers! One company has even been collaborating with Urist’s miners to excavate a suite of subterranean greenhouses for the cultivation of plants that depend on a rich concentration of mana, something a mana well is ideally suited for. I might even copy some of their infrastructure designs later; they’ve made surprisingly good use of a form of primitive hydroponics.

With these industries now established, farmers have had the opportunity to purchase agricultural implements which somehow increase crop yield on top of the already insane benefits from residing within the boundary of a massive mana well. And they don’t require mana control to operate, meaning they can be used by anyone, even those lacking mage training! Though that does make them a bit more expensive to manufacture. I definitely need to get my hands on some of those, I could put them to great use within my dungeon, especially in the leafcutter fungus gardens. Furthermore, such things as lighting runes have become commonplace in somewhat more affluent households.

I digress, it’s time to ask Wes about the mysterious entity. I can marvel at the unexpected efficiency of this not-so-primitive society later.

Weston Lomarec is sitting at a table in his headquarters eating lunch with a few administrators he’d hired to help run his new business. Waiting for a lull in their conversation over their activity ledger, I form a mental link with Wes just as he takes a bite from a dry piece of jam-slathered naan bread.

“Hey Wes, it’s Ike, I hope I’m not interrupting anything. I was wondering if you could answer a quick question of mine,” I said.

Hopefully, I’m not being annoying…

Wes paused in his chewing for a split second but promptly resumed while replying, “No worries Ike, I always appreciate speaking with you.” The benefits of mental communication are apparent.

Would he tell the truth if he didn’t enjoy it? Probably not, too bad I’m not very good at the social game.

“So, we were building a new channel for our water supply when suddenly an unknown magic force closed off our new pipe. Then someone screamed into our minds just as you and I are speaking now. Have you ever heard of anything like that?”

“Oh! That’s just Melk. He dislikes certain kinds of tampering.”

Hold up…

More baffled than before, I hesitantly ask, “…Tampering? Melk? As in, the planet Melk?”

With a brief scratch to his beard, Wes said, “What do you mean by ‘planet?’ Wait, don’t answer that; perhaps this won’t be such a quick question. I’ll tell you what; why don’t I finish lunch first so that I have plenty of time to explain everything. Is that OK with you?”

“Oh, yeah I’d appreciate that. Sorry to impose.”

“It’s nothing, I really don’t mind at all. I’ll mention when we can resume over this very link if you’ll maintain it for me.”

…

And just like that, I waited.

Now in his office, Wes said, “Alright Ike, let’s continue from before. I don’t understand your use of the word ‘planet’ to describe Melk as this has nothing to do with the heavenly bodies, so why don’t you start by telling me what you know about Melk?”

Could it be, are they still stuck on geocentrism? Irrelevant, I need to focus.

“Well, Melk is the world, no? I presume this person happens to go by the same name.”

Wes said, “What? Of course Melk is the world, but he’s the same person.”

“I’m sorry Wes, this is really confusing. Why do you refer to this entity as such?”

Closing his eyes, Wes slowly answered, “You really don’t know, do you? Melk is the god of maintenance. His body literally is the world on which we walk. He keeps the physical universe running as it should. Objects fall down, rivers lead to the sea, things like that.”

“The universe? The stars included?”

Chuckling, Wes said, “The stars aren’t of the universe, now are they, Ike? No, the heavens are not under his jurisdiction, nor are the other aspects of reality, such as society, life, and magic.”

All of that… It was all wrong. What is Wes on about?

Voicing my confusion again, I said, “But how can he be a god and the world? What exactly does he govern, how do you know his name and gender? Also, who’s jurisdiction covers the other “aspects of reality,” as you say?

“Ike, these aren’t normal questions for someone your age as I assume you aren’t a toddler. This is just how the Pantheon works, you’re civilized, how can you not know?”

Is he being a supremacist or does every race truly practice the same religion? I find the latter highly unlikely. Perhaps it’s unwise for me to admit my ignorance right now, but I don’t expect Wes to cross me, especially with our business interests tied as they are.

“I don’t know what the Pantheon is, and I don’t follow this god.”

“OK, wow, this is unreal. Of all the surprises you’ve pulled, this has got to be the biggest. Where do I even begin?” Drumming his fingers on the table in thought, Wes then said, “Well for starters, I don’t follow Melk, in fact, I don’t think any sane person does. As for who he is? He’s one of the minor gods in the pantheon and really doesn’t interact with anyone. Unless, of course, someone defiles his body, that is.”

So, the whole world is just a minor god in their religion? How odd.

“Wes, can you explain the pantheon to me?”

“That’s a tall order… While I’d love to, it’d probably take all day and I have business to see to. But I do own a book on the topic which I’d be more than happy to lend you. Are you literate Ike?

“I am literate, and I would really appreciate that Wes. I guess I’ll save any questions for after I’ve read it.”

Wes said, “Actually, I’m not all that knowledgeable on the subject myself. There is a group of esoteric researchers under the service of Zote, the god of magic, in town. They’d be much better suited to answering any theological questions you may have. From my understanding, they’re currently cataloging the wildlife in the first subterrane under Sevit. I know you don’t like to reveal yourself if you can help it, but I can absolutely guarantee they wouldn’t find anything weird about it. You’ll meet a lot of people completely at ease with remote telepathy, it’s not so rare on this side of the empire. Indeed, I’ve no doubt they would leap at the chance to speak with you. After all, they are a notoriously curious bunch.”

“Thanks again Wes, I’ll probably do exactly that. If you could just leave the book by the front door, I’ll be sure to pick it up tonight.”

“No problem Ike. Though I must say I’m amazed you know nothing of the gods, just how isolated is your village?”

It sure is bold of him to assume everyone shares his religious beliefs, but that’s probably a product of his culture, so I can’t blame him. Is it really so unlikely for someone to know little about a religion that they don’t even follow?

Actually, it probably is… Perhaps I’m the one making bold assumptions here.

“Actually, before we depart, can you explain why ‘Melk’ screamed at us? It’s somewhat urgent.”

“Oh, right. Y’all aren’t in any danger from Melk, he just likes to vocalize when you’re doing something he dislikes. As long as you’re not initiating something like another Upheaval, which I highly doubt you are, he’ll just reverse any damage you do and send a little mental shout.”

There’s that Upheaval thing again, I need to remember to find more information about that.

“I see, but what do you mean by ‘damage?’ Why would he seal our pipe?”

“Melk doesn’t like it when certain quantities of water are continuously drained into the depths. To be clear, sometimes he allows it if it suits his needs. Essentially, the output of a natural brook, river, etc. needs to remain the same. You can certainly redirect or dam it, so long as you don’t influence too much downstream. Melk likely had nothing wrong with you filling a drinking water cistern, but if you were draining a lot of water into a location it wasn’t intended, I’d wager that’s what caused him to act.”

Not seeing at all, I said, “I see, I see, what would happen if we staggered our drainage, would Melk notice something is amiss if the flow isn’t continuous?”

“He would certainly notice, you’re far from being the first to consider that particular workaround. Just as a general rule of thumb, changes which beget ‘more life’ than they destroy are allowed. But when it comes to draining into the lower levels, there’re too many variables involved to know. Most of the time, it’s not worth trying to see if Melk will approve because in the event he doesn’t, you’ve just wasted your time on a dysfunctional piece of infrastructure. My advice would be to ensure your water supply’s output is the same as your original source’s was. In other words, you’re free to change the path, just not the destination.”

“Thanks, Wes, that helps a lot. I’ll leave you to your work now!”

“Goodbye Ike, I look forward to chatting again soon. I’ll leave the book out tonight. Also, don’t forget to speak with others more often, there are many knowledgeable people in Sevit already!

…

In hindsight, religion should’ve been one of the topics I researched. Wouldn’t it have been a shame if I’d accidentally offended someone’s beliefs? It’s very possible that I already have, but luckily Wes has a measured personality.

At this point, I think I could reasonably call him a friend.

That whole conversation was a relative train wreck though, I do not think we were on the same page for the majority of it; it was rife with dissonant misunderstandings.

But at least he didn’t speak of ‘the gods’ with blind reverence, so I have high hopes that it isn’t a religion of radical fanatics.

Are these gods real, false, imaginary, or something in-between?

Melk is very much real. He is perceived as a god, and while I can’t outright deny the possibility as this is a ‘typical’ fantasy world, I have my suspicions that it’s more complex than that.

As Wes was describing Melk’s preference for maximizing life, I paired it with my own observations of ‘his’ ability to effortlessly crush my pipe alongside his telepathy.

The evidence is all there, I’d have to be blind to not theorize that he’s a dungeon core.

At least, of what I know, that’s what I’ve deemed to be his most likely identity. It goes without saying, but there is a lot I don’t know yet, which is why I still think Melk is something else. In other words, just because he shares a lot of characteristics with a ‘species’ I know of, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t share more with something I’m not yet aware of. He could be a unique existence.

To further reinforce that; I find it hard to believe a dungeon’s domain can spread across an entire planet. Let me tell you, spreading it even just a bit is no small feat!

Oh, and then there’s the issue of domain overlap. While my sample size of one is not enough to say for certain, I suspect that the domains of two dungeons can not overlap. I mean, that makes sense, right?

But to be fair, nature doesn’t care if something makes sense to people or not. That brings up the important question of whether or not dungeon cores are natural or artificial. The presence of Mr. Normal should be telling, but there’s no guaranteeing that he doesn’t affect natural species either.

Do dungeons reproduce? How was I born? Why has it taken so long for me to ponder this?

All questions for the future. But right now, I have a cistern to fix.