When I arrived at the fourth floor, I found Latra circling Lighthouse Keep. I flew up to greet her, eager to deliver the good news. As I got closer, the usual calming sensation that Latra gave off tempered my eagerness. However, it was not enough to blunt it, as I regaled Latra with the tale of my meeting with Rinnojj. When I explained how Rinnojj had insisted I tell her, Latra gave a good-natured laugh. “That does indeed sound like our dear little brother, always so bashful and unable to express his genuine feelings.” She kept chuckling for a while longer, before she calmed down, and I finished describing the results of the crystal.

Latra seemed thoughtful during my explanation, but paid attention the entire time. I piqued her interest as I explained how the crystal caused veins to form in the hive walls. In the end, she asked me to explain it several times before it satisfied her and I could continue. By the time I finished my conversation with Latra, I had spent the better part of 3 hours with her, engrossed in explaining every detail I could remember. The conversation could have continued longer, if Archives hadn’t pointed out that I was late for dinner.

I bid Latra goodbye and transferred over to the dining room. A dish I had not seen before was waiting for me there. It was a fish dish. After hesitating for a moment, an experimental bite later, I concluded Lienru had created yet another masterpiece. That was my first thought as I tasted the food. My next thought was water for my burning tongue. This was unusual of Lienru. She didn’t make mistakes like this. What was going on? Wait, where was Lienru? When she made a new dish, she would always wait for feedback. Before I could figure out an answer, there was a commotion outside and Lienru entered, followed by a younger Kobold. Lienru was not happy, that much was obvious, considering she was dragging the younger Kobold by the scruff.

Upon seeing me and the half-eaten food, they both froze. Lienru let go of the younger Kobold and hurried over to my plate while giving me a half-panicked glance. “Lienru are so sorry, Great One! She will fix it as fast as possible, so please don’t punish Tintak, he only wished to improve the taste!” I looked at them both, Lienru was holding on to Tintak as if her life depended on it, while Tintak seemed torn between awe and fear. I recalled seeing the little guy before. He had been much smaller back then, Lienru’s younger sibling, I think. “I won’t punish him, this time, since he only wished to be helpful. However, teach him to use less spice in the future, I could almost breathe fire after a mouthful of that dish.” I gave a gentle smile. He wasn’t in trouble, he just lacked proper knowledge.

Tintak looked relieved beyond words, but also embarrassed, as Lienru led him away. It took an hour before Lienru returned with another plate of food. However, the wait was worth it. She created perfection once more, and herbs from the trade cart created a nice salad that complimented the dish. Lienru left with a satisfied smile and a spring in her step. The rest of the evening passed with no further interruptions or unexpected events. I fell asleep feeling pretty good about the day’s events. It didn’t last till midnight.

. Planar what? Confusion warred with sleep as I tried to make sense of the strange notification. . Archives screaming voice dragged my mind out. I got to my feet, while also apologizing to Indella for waking her. Now awake and alert, I could sense what the notification meant with Planar anomaly. The air itself seemed charged with some kind of energy that gave me goosebumps. Indella’s reaction was more concerning, however. She staggered and clutched her head, and I could sense the distant echoes of the searing headache she was experiencing. If this was how Indella reacted… I erected an extra mental barrier around Indella’s mind and her pain died down. “Climb on, I doubt it’s limited to just us.” Indella shook her head. *Too dizzy, besides you move faster without me, I’ll meet you at the Adventurer Camp later.*

I nodded, Archives, where is the center of the anomaly? . Hmm, so the effect could leak inside, but the anomaly itself couldn’t enter, strange. . I had to agree with Archives on that one. If Indella was this affected when she had my skills to help her resist, how was the dungeon faring? First stop, Latra. She seemed agitated about something. “Are you alright, Sister?” Latra looked at me, her calm presence now feeling uncomfortable and out of sorts. “I sense something I have not felt for eons, be careful, Little Sister. The barrier between reality and the Void has become gossamer thin tonight.” Latra gazed at me as she spoke. The graveness of her warning was unmistakable.

“I appreciate the warning, Sister, I will be careful.” I responded, as I dissolved my form and hastened through the floor towards Lighthouse Keep. It was tempting to take the shortcut and skip the third floor, however, being negligent was foolish. As I passed the Teeth of the Songstress, a horrible sight met me. The Sirens were going berserk, attacking everyone and everything within sight. The Anomaly’s doing, or someone or something else? It didn’t matter, I had to stop them, somehow. Easier said than done, however. An attempt to reason with them in their current state was pointless, killing them seemed excessive and outright cruel. While shielding their minds from the anomalous influence was beyond my abilities.

My contemplation came ended as one of my Brothers breached the surface and turned his gaze on the fighting Sirens. He lifted one of his arms and unleashed a strange distortion towards the Sirens. Nothing else could describe the strange ripple that traveled from his hand and washed over the fighting Sirens. The moment the distortion hit them, every Siren staggered, then collapsed onto the rocks, unconscious. “We HaVe ThIs FlOoR CoVerEd, SiStEr. Go AhEaD, eNgAgE tHe EnEmY.” I flew past, I shouted a quick thanks, before I dissolved my form and willed myself to the third floor. A welcome discovery awaited my arrival above. The third floor was fine. The strange atmosphere surrounding the Labyrinth erased the anomalous presence without a trace. I suspected the Labyrinth radiated a dimensional effect, however I lacked the time to investigate, so I pressed on without delay. The Duergar Stronghold didn’t suffer the effects from the anomaly either. It was satisfying to see the preparations work as intended. The totems repelled the void energies, creating large navy blue arches of energy that scattered across the cavern roof like lightning bolts across water. The Duergar themselves ignored the display and concentrated on their assigned tasks. I left them alone. The King and High Priest were handling it with no issues. I sent a simple message saying “Outstanding” before I continued onwards.

The Anomaly continued to gain strength as I ascended towards the entrance, except in Talka’s Hive. The Crystal Of Creation rejected the Void Energy as navy bolts of lightning were ricocheting off the walls and roof outside. They were unaffected by the anomaly, even outside the perimeter created by the crystal. The Void Hunter’s skill in action, no doubt about it. I materialized and hurried to Talka and relayed my requests to her without delay. Talka was instrumental to safeguarding this floor, considering her broods Skill. Aside from my Brothers and Sister, her brood alone could operate at full capacity in these conditions, something I intended to exploit. “Talka, please spread your brood out on every floor you can. Prioritize the first through third floors for a “search and destroy” patrol. Annihilate all void entities you find.” Talka chittered with something approaching glee in response. “With pleasure, Mistress, my Hive and I will enjoy the hunt.” Talka emitted a vicious screech, and the assembled Striders and Swarmlings scattered, small spheres of normality in a storm of anomalous energy. She turned back towards me as waves of determination washed off of her. “We shall not fail you, Mistress. We will find and destroy all Void Entities who are inside your domain.” Talka bowed her head and left the Hive to hunt, escorted by her Royal Guards. With Talka’s Hive taking action, I felt reassured that things would not escalate further.

The Village and Adventurer Camp worried me, however. I hoped the totems placed there could withstand the higher intensity. With a rather apprehensive feeling, I dissolved my form once more and willed myself to the Kobold Village. The sight of the village gave mixed feelings. The village was standing, however the totems were shaking so violently they created a distinct buzzing noise. I could see several Kobolds busy erecting more totems to ease the burden on those already placed. After taking stock of the situation, I realized Ssatassha has things under control. If I materialized and attempted to help, I would only cause problems since I did lack too much knowledge about woodworking to be useful. Rather than disturb Ssatassha while she conducted such a large scale operation, I headed towards the camp, dreading what I might find there.

My fears weren’t completely unfounded. The totems shielded the Adventurers, preventing them from going on a berserk rampage. But they were suffering from severe headaches and phantom pains. Just watching them all barely hanging on was making me feel sick. As I materialized, I could see Rael stagger to his feet with a determined expression, despite the pain he was resisting through force of will. He approached me, clutching his head. “Pearl, what in Rubolgs name is happening?” I gave him the rundown about the situation. Halfway through the explanation, Rael was cursing silently. “Just hang in there everyone I’ll take care of the anomaly.” I could only hope I wasn’t making a promise I couldn’t keep.

Just as I prepared to leave the camp, a beautiful, snow owl approached through the entrance to camp and transformed into Indella as it landed. So Indella had been practicing shape-shifting, impressive. “I was wondering how you planned to get off Latra after I left you. Though I will admit, I didn’t expect shape-shifting.” Indella shot me a quick smile before she focused on the rest of them. “I’ll take care of things here, you deal with the anomaly.”

I couldn’t agree more if I tried, so I quickly dissolved my form and headed out. Though I checked up on the Umbral Spiders as I passed their lair. They were rushing back and forth in their webs, seemingly restless, but were otherwise unaffected. Good, the last thing I needed was berserk Umbral Spiders. Unguul and his friends were not as resilient, but they had not become aggressive. They had actually become quite affectionate. It reminded me of felines high on catnip. They were no threat in their current state. I noticed several Striders walking through the room, heading for the floor above. After considering the situation, I concluded I could move on. Only one floor remained, but it was the least of my worries.

It reassured me that my assumption was correct; it was unaffected by the anomaly. I moved through the Magical Labyrinth and saw the Cubes and Shadows go about their usual business with no sign of strange behavior. A very reassuring sight, so close to my goal. Though as I neared the entrance to the above ground section, I couldn’t help but feel nervous. Just up those stairs was the source of my troubles. Talka’s brood were standing at the stairs, mandibles and claws clacking menacingly. I pushed ahead up the stairs. If I hesitated now, I would lose my nerve. An unexpected sight met me at the entrance. “Saol?” The old guildmaster stepped forward, with a deranged look and void energies pouring off of him. That explained where he had fled too. Before I could do anything else, Saol attacked.