It took the better part of the day to get the first trade cart ready to go, mostly because I was not sure what exactly to send and how much. After much deliberation, I settled for a bunch of bars of Starsilver and a small casket of precious stones taken from the Geode cavern. I would have to get a Gem Mine ASAP if I wanted to start a large scale harvest of gems. Since it had annoyed the Crawlers when I took that many gems at once. I couldn’t say the Crawlers annoyance was without justification either, since I was taking their food away from them. I had considered giving her processed goods, but then, I had nothing that would fit the light build and small stature of her spirits. Besides, given the situation, this was hardly the time to be giving away fineries.

The cart rolled through the portal along with Granite and Rael. I couldn’t help but notice that Rael had taken the time to wash up and even shave. Well, I shouldn’t really meddle more than I had, I wished Rael the best of luck, though. I did not know how a relationship between the two would work out in the long run, but Rael was a good man and would treat Yrsha well.

As the portal closed I sighed. It had been a long day, and I was quite stressed out given today’s events. Indella and I called it a night early on, we needed rest, and we wanted as much sleep as possible in case of another attack. The rest of the dungeon was on high alert. Everyone was feeling the stress from the knowledge that an unknown entity could just show up wherever it wanted whenever it wanted like that. Hopefully, things would go back to normal soon.

The next few days passed remarkably quickly, The trade between my own and Yrsha’s dungeon had been helpful on multiple levels. I had created a side room for the party inside the tunnel leading to the village, and they had used the planks to construct several small huts in there. They had also gained several other amenities they had sorely missed, like beds. They had at first considered moving to the village on the 4th floor and shine up the houses there. But the creepy factor was just too much for their nerves when combined with the Thing’s sudden attack earlier.

Another significant piece of news was that the experiment had been a complete success. Granite had apparently reaped a massive toll on the poor spirits before finally going down. But Yrsha had apparently received quite a decent chunk of points for her effort. The Duergar was now constructing an arena outside of the fortress because of this news. I had also spent most of my TP to unlock a Tavern building and the Gem Mine. The cost had come down to 50 TP for the mine and 20 for the Tavern, so I had 2 remaining afterwards. Such a spendthrift would normally have been dangerous, but since Yrsha would send over her first combatants once the arena was complete, spending the points didn’t bother me.

The look on the faces of the Duergar when I found a suitable spot in the fortress to put the Tavern down had been one of absolute joy. It had not taken long for one of the Duergar to take up the mantle of tavern keep. I had also put one down in the Kobold village, so they too could have a place to relax. They had received it with less enthusiasm, though they were still grateful for it, since the Tavern came with a wine cellar where they could store their drinks. But then, the Kobolds also had other things to entertain themselves with.

The Gem mines had also prompted the need for more workers, so I had expanded the number of Duergar in the fort by an additional 10 workers and 10 soldiers. It ate slightly into my Essence gain, but they required it to get any use out of the mine. Besides, they could use the gems they mined as materials for magic items. Or inlay weapons and armor with magical gems to improve them even further.

Things had not improved on the god-front over the past few days, however. It was still not possible to get in contact with Mother or Archives. And a quick check through my Shared Senses told me that the entire city of Caelyn was in an uproar over the situation. No one had any answers about what was going on, it seemed. It also worried me that apparently the High Priest had fallen into a coma shortly after the connection with the gods had been severed. There was also something else going on. The Guildmaster had disappeared.

I was still not sure exactly what had gone down, but apparently the Guildmaster had lost his position after we fled the city. Something about abuse of power and other such things, well no one had seen hide nor hair of him since. They had found his house deserted. There were signs of activity in the basement, but aside from that there was no clue. The temporary Guildmaster, a woman named Arana Ravenloft, had put out a bounty for information on what was going on, and the current whereabouts of the previous guildmaster. So far, no one had claimed either bounty, if what I had overheard was true. This was getting weirder and weirder, that was for certain.

I broke the connection and shook my head slowly. Well New Guildmaster eh, might have to ask Rael about that… Or maybe Mordred or Erem would know something? Well, it couldn’t hurt to ask, I suppose. With that thought, I stood up and stretched, then I dissolved my form and moved towards the camp. As I got closer, I noticed that things had already changed in the camp now that they had actual wood to build from. Whereas before they had been using mushroom stalks and hollowed out caps for shelters and walls, they had now replaced them with wooden walls. The effect was rather noticeable, as the camp felt far more spacious now that you didn’t have to avoid giant mushroom caps all over the place. However, I couldn’t find Mordred or Erem anywhere. Looking around, I spotted Sybil over by the fire, cooking some food and chatting with a few Kobolds.

Maybe she knew? “Hey, Sybil, you wouldn’t know where Erem and Mordred went? I have some information I need to run by them.” Sybil looked up from the fire with a surprised expression before it changed to thoughtful. “I… think they went to the lake to try their hand at fishing, why?” I saw no reason to keep this secret from Sybil, since I had planned to tell them, anyway. “That asshole of a Guildmaster has lost his position and apparently disappeared into thin air when they wanted to put him on trial for various… questionable activities. No one knows where he went. I wanted some info on the temporary guildmaster in case she becomes a problem and if they knew what that bastard might do next. I would also appreciate any thoughts you might have on the subject.”

Sybil looked at me with a curious expression. “I see, well I never really met the old man outside of when the rest of the party were present, so I don’t know what he could be up to. As for this new Guildmaster, I need a bit to go on. Do you know her name?” I answered immediately. “She’s named Arana Ravenloft.” Sybil choked on her drink and spent a while coughing violently before she looked up at me with a shocked expression. “Arana Ravenloft? THE Arana Ravenloft?” I mused for a moment. “I take it this isn’t a nobody they set up as temporary Guildmaster?”

Sybil shook her head. “Arana Ravenloft is…” her voice trailed off as she shuddered. So she was potentially bad news then? Before I could ask Sybil continued. “Arana Ravenloft is the head of the Guilds internal affairs. If you break the rules of the guild, she’s the one that comes breathing down your neck to ensure a swift and harsh punishment. I don’t think the word mercy exists in her vocabulary at all, as all punishments she delivers out are the harshest they can be for your infraction.”

Sounded like the type that ruled with an iron fist. Best to be sure about this one. “Will she become a potential issue to us?” Sybil just shook her head. “I can’t say. She might want to retrieve us to get information on the old bastard, but I don’t see how she could consider that with the current crisis.” Hmm, true, this strange phenomenon was also affecting the city and probably the entire region, if not the entire world. I thanked Sybil and moved towards the lake. This had given me more to think about than I had expected. Hopefully, I could work something out before anything else went wrong.

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Stepping up the ladder set up against the bookshelf, I rummaged through the shelf for anything interesting. There were many titles that caught my eye, but I dismissed them, as I had dozens of others over the past few days. This was not the first time I had felt this strange compulsion to look through books. The last time I had found the book that had stumbled upon the old Monster Encyclopedia that I had used to make my own book. Whatever force guided me then seemed to be back now, as I quickly dismissed many books I would have eagerly read before. It was like an itch I had to scratch, a compulsion I could not deny. It had even pulled me away from the thesis I was compiling about dungeon creatures and their habitats. Well, if such a significant find was on these shelves, I would find it.

The search had been ongoing since I woke up. My stomach gurgled angrily, but I ignored it. Food could wait. As I reached out for another book, however, I felt a presence nearby and felt something gently, but undeniably pull me away towards the exit. A plaque next to the exit was hanging in mid-air with three words written on it. “Pavol, go eat.” I could only surmise that this was the mysterious Librarian that I had heard whispers about. The entity that had put the wards on these books and was even now looking over them with a covetous need that would put even dragons to shame.

Well, I had received warnings time and time again to not piss off the Librarian. Besides, from what I had seen of the aftermath of the Demon attack, I was not about to test my luck. “Fine, fine, fine, I will go get something to eat, sorry for making you worry.” The writing on the plaque changed “Not worried, you’re noisy.” Ah, right, I guess my empty stomach was complaining rather loudly, wasn’t it? Well, I nodded “I understand, I apologize, I will be back after a good meal.” The plaque changed again. “Good. Thanks, Pavol.” I shook my head as I left. That was the weirdest interaction I had ever had in my life. Well, it wasn’t like I could continue until I had eaten. Hmm, maybe I should check out that new inn in the Village? That sounded like a plan. Maybe I could even invite the others?

Twenty minutes later I was having a rather grand time with Dilly, Dally, Tarad, Lahman, Irontooth and Skye. This new inn was great, and the food was amazing. Apparently, the Kobolds who ran it had taken cooking lessons from the Kobold that made Pearl’s food. Seriously, if that Kobold was even half as good as this one, I could see why Pearl was keeping her as her personal chef. This was beyond delicious, bordering on supernatural. I refocused on the others as I snapped out of relishing this sublime steak. “… Wait, wait, wait, it gets better! I told him I could make him see stars if he would just come closer, and as he did, I punched him square in the face.” Tarad finished with a flourish and the others burst out laughing.

Damn looks like my musing had made me miss out on what Tarad was talking about. Irontooth looked over to me. He seemed more composed than the others. “Are you OK, Pavol? You seem a bit out of it.” I shook my head. “I have been trying to find a specific book in the library, but I can’t seem to locate it.” Irontooth nodded and seemed to lose interest almost immediately. Can’t say I blame him, Irontooth didn’t strike me as much of a reader. I pushed the thought away for now and just enjoyed the company, I had spent too much time with my work of late. I really needed a break.

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Xi looked at the board, I could almost see the small spirit rack their brain to figure out how to get out of the conundrum I had put them into. Yrsha was looking at the two of us playing from where she was sipping a cup of tea. Xi finally moved the Chimera and took out my Knight. “Smart choice, little one.” I commented, while scratching my beard. Xi’s two tails wagged slightly. The spirit knew this move would cost them the Chimera, but considering the situation, that was a loss the spirit would have to bear. I calmly moved my Mage over and removed his Chimera from the board. Xi couldn’t help but yip happily as the spirit moved the Dragon two squares up. “Guild Destroyed, thanks for the game, Sir. Rael.” I blinked as I looked over the board. “Huh…”

Xi was right, I had lost that, not sure how, but I had. I shook my head silently. “Thanks for the game Xi, I honestly thought I had you.” Xi nodded. “So did I, if you had used the Castle to take out the Chimera, you probably would have.” I looked at the board. Sure enough, using the Castle instead would have left the Mage in a position to intercept the Dragon. “Well, what do you know, I should probably have been more careful.” Xi yipped happily as the spirit packed away the game and sprinted out of the room.

As the spirit closed the door Yrsha put down her cup “You went easy on the little one. I know just how good of a player you truly are, there is no way Xi would have won had you played seriously.” I looked over at Yrsha. “Sometimes a minor success can be a better catalyst for growth than continued failure. A wise woman I know once said that. Besides, I was playing for fun, not to win.” Yrsha blinked for a moment before laughing. “I said that, didn’t I?” I nodded as I took a sip of my own tea. Yrsha took a deep breath to calm herself. “So, you said Pearl asked you to be the liaison between her dungeon and mine.” I put down my cup. “She did, and she had an exceedingly amused grin on her face as she did so.” Yrsha took another deep breath. “So she is attempting to play matchmaker then.” There was a slight blush in her cheeks as she spoke, and I could feel a similar heat rise in my own. “So it would seem.” I responded before we both went dead silent for a while.

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As the silence dragged on, I looked over at Rael. “We… should probably get back to work.” I said at length. Rael stood and nodded. “I can agree to that…” Rael hesitated for a moment. “For what it’s worth, I still mean what I said that day when we first met. If my life can save yours, then I will gladly give it up to save you.” Before I could say a word in response, Rael left the room. As I watched him go, I couldn’t help but think back to the vision I had back then. “I know you will, Rael, I know you will.” I whispered, hoping beyond hope that just like with the visions of Pearl, that vision would not come to pass. However, even as I did, the vision of Rael’s death replayed itself in my mind, over and over.

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The glass flew through the small office and hit the wall with a satisfying crash. One of the Guild attendants ran over and cleaned it up without a word, even as the useless sack of lard in front of me began spewing the usual excuses. “I am sorry, Lady Ravenloft, but this is beyond our expertise. Please understand, there are no records of this in the city, not even the Capitol have any records of events such as this.” I took a deep breath to steady myself. The gods had cursed this town, it had to be. How else could so much go wrong practically back-to-back?

I sighed as I buried myself in the records of the past month. From the looks of things, the run of bad luck began when this new dungeon showed up. Coincidence? Unlikely. Chance? If that was chance, then I was a Kobold. From the journal that the Guildmaster had kept in his quarters I had gleaned some more information. But even that was mostly just a mess of half inane drivel about Saol’s fanatical devotion to Inlas. Though it made it clear in the notes that Inlas had an… Obsession with the core from that dungeon. What exactly that was the cause Saol didn’t know, but apparently Inlas had gone to extreme lengths to get her hands on that Core.

The Guildmaster had captured the core, albeit briefly. Just a few days later the tamer and a dozen of the most veteran adventurers in the guild had run off back to the cores dungeon. I suspected it had something to do with the Guildmaster’s suspected Skill, but I still had no solid proof of what that skill was.

Then there was that reported spatial distortion from the area where the dungeon of that Core was located, followed by the reported appearance of Penumbras Avatar. And Just a few days later Rubolgs High Priest has a fit and falls into a coma followed by Divine magic and divine related skills just disappearing. Something was going on here and no matter how you turned and twisted, there was almost always one constant. The Dungeon. It related the cause, of that I was certain. However, how to get information I needed? With Magic on the fritz, going into a dungeon that had never tasted defeat and now also had rogue Adventurers protecting it was a tall order. Sure those Adventurers were free to return, they had after all fled because the guildmaster was targeting them. The problem was, they didn’t know that. So they would likely still treat the guild as a hostile entity. With a sigh, I buried my face in my hands This was getting me nowhere and it was getting late. It would be better to think more of this tomorrow once I had gotten a good night's rest.