I look over the maps and try to figure out what my next goal is, while the others continue to plan what to do with the mayor and such. I’m pretty sure that I could just fully ignore him and the larger government if I really wanted. Tarl said I’m my own thing and nations tend to try to stay out of dungeon business, after all. Still, I don’t want to be a jerk of a neighbor. I’m confident they can hammer and smooth things out, especially if I give the mayor the lipservice of an apology.

So… what else do I need to do? I need to sort out Hullbreak, that’s definitely a major thing I need to do. He’s all set for delvers now, but how do I actually get delvers to go delve? After the day’s events, even I’m seeing a bit less activity, and I don’t have the reputation of being dangerous to delve.

There’s also the simple fact that, even if Hullbreak had no problem with delvers, everything except the seagull spawner is under the water. But I’m pretty sure it used to be friendlier, before the accident. So how did people delve? I take a moment to look through what Tarl gave me on it, but nothing really mentions how Hullbreak was actually being delved. Were people just able to make the water potions and so delve like that?

I take a moment to get Teemo’s attention, and he hops over to Tarl while the others are discussing a few details.

“Hey Tarl… how did people delve Hullbreak?”

The elf blinks for a moment. “What? Oh, right, your new vassal. Ah… I believe most of the delving was fishing.”

“That counts?”

He nods. “A lot of aquatic dungeons are prime fishing locations. It’s a different sort of contest, but it’s still a battle between delver and denizen.”

Teemo’s thoughtful look mirrors my reaction to that. If fishing works… that could be a lot easier.

“Thanks,” says Teemo with a smile, and lets Tarl slip back into paying attention to the discussion at the table.

Fishing shouldn’t be too difficult to get going, at least. Hullbreak doesn’t seem close enough to any of the shores for it to work without a boat, but that’s at least an option. Ok… other goals.

Violet, definitely. I think she’s procrastinating expanding past her door, but now that the maws are done, I’ll probably try to encourage her to do that. From what I can tell, she’ll get the immediate cavern that’s past her borders with this expansion, and I think it’ll take another to get next to the aquifer lake. I can’t tell if she’ll be able to get the entire lake in one go, or if she’ll have to take bites, but I can definitely feel her curiosity about the water through our bond.

I also need to check the progress of the trail to the Southwood. The last reports from the expeditions was everything was progressing slowly yet smoothly. With Hullbreak no longer needing his butt kicked, I should be able to send Leo out to help direct and keep track of the progress. I should also see if Teemo can help, maybe making shortcuts between the little outposts or something. I’ll just need to be mindful of when, or even if I send him. Helping the Southwood is probably a good idea, but if Teemo’s out making shortcuts, he’s not going to be here, able to talk to people.

Come to think of it, though… I’ll need to send him to talk to the Southwood at some point. Talking is his main job, after all.

On the home front… should I work on my next enclave? It feels a bit early for that, though. My spiderkin are getting a lot more settled now, but I think I want to wait a bit longer for that.

I could expand again. I consider that for a few seconds before setting the idea aside, too. No, I should consolidate my territory and get working more on the deep caverns areas, first. My earth elemental spawner is still really low level, and I should put the finishing touches on the place before getting more.

That was always my biggest problem in games like Civilization and Stellaris: expanding too quickly, instead of developing what I have. Of course, in those, you have to war if you want to expand after the early game, as everything gets colonized. I haven’t seen another dungeon down here except for Violet. There might be more, but my gut says I won’t find another for a while.

So if there’s no pressing need to go grab everything first, I might as well make sure I develop what I have properly first. So… what do I have?

I have the main manor house and the yard, as well as the hedge maze, for the surface. Tiny’s in the maze, Poe’s on the roof, and I keep most of my low level stuff in the area; rats, snakes, birds, the occasional slime. Hmm… I never realized it, but my snake and bird spawners are pretty low level. I could get some tougher birds for… maybe the rooftop? The back of the cemetery, with the wolves? The birds will probably have to wait until I expand out past the cemetery. I just don’t have a good place for them.

Stronger snakes could be a good addition to the deep caverns, though. Right now they’re mostly elementals and a few spiders. I’ll put a pin in that for the moment, and think harder about it once I get down to brushing up in there.

Below the manor are the tunnels. Snakes in there would rule, maybe I should test in there, first. Right now, they’re mostly bats, slimes, and spiders. With the bats specialized as fruitbats, and the slimes specialized for purifying ore… it’s mostly spiders and a few of the tougher vipers and rats. I’ll see about encouraging the stalactsprites to come in, especially since they seem to do such a good job on the gremlins.

Right, I also need to get a mole and a gremlin to join… and maybe one of those cave stoats that like to eat Violet’s cave bunnies. Pin in that, back to taking stock.

Below the tunnels are the deep caverns, which really only have the rockslides and stalactsprites. Definitely need something more normal for down here. I think the snakes will be a good addition here, along with the new things, if we can get them. The access shaft also runs from the caverns up to near the entry cave in the yard. There’s also the spiderkin enclave down here, of course, with the underswamps past them. The cave lobster hatcheries seem to be working just fine, and help round out and stabilize their diet with what they hunt in the swamps. Oh, and the dire mosquito invaders. Yeah… not really in the market to add them to my spawners, thanks.

Back on the surface, there’s the cemetery. It’s mostly for ordinary cemetery things, though there is the wolf spawner in the back, as well as the zombie (technically fleshy undead, but they’re close enough to zombies for me), skeleton, and crawling hand spawners. Oh, and the second rat spawner, as well as the bee spawner.

That’s a thing I should have my ratlings do: make some apiaries. Most of the honey stuff is down in the library. Even with Honey running a tight ship in there, messes can happen. I could set up the apiaries in the back of the cemetery, and let the wolves guard them. I’ll keep it basic until I expand past the wall up there. Don’t want fights to range too far or get too loud in there.

Under the cemetery is the crypt complex, where it’s wall to wall undead, with the occasional wolf or widow thrown in for variety. I like my green skeletons and fungal zombies. They’re encouraging some new herbalism nodes in there that the Crystal Shield guys seem to love.

The ratkin enclave is deeper in, and they’re nice and established by now. They have some good mushroom beds stacked in rooms in there, and they’re cultivating all kinds of different varieties. Their staple is something that looks a lot like a portabella to me: big fat caps with short stems. There’s even a weird one that grows tall and thin that they dry out, grind, and use similar to flour. The mushroom bread is still a work in progress, but it fills bellies and supplements their hunting.

There’s Rocky’s arena down here… I should give that the polish it deserves before I go do anything else with spawners and expanding and such. It’s been dug out and the arena itself is made, but the boxing arena is still sadly missing its boxing ring. How do they even make a boxing ring? Boards with a tough silk tarp will work for now, but I’m pretty sure there’s a lot more give to the floor of a proper boxing ring.

I chew on options as my mind wanders, and my attention drifts to the underswamps past the spiderkin, reminding me of something that I’ve been idly wanting to do for a while, but seemed to far out of my reach. It’s still a ways off… but close enough for me to actually consider, now.

I’m pretty sure Aranya must have come from somewhere past the underswamps. The aquifer lake isn’t something you just cross on foot. The swamps aren’t a picnic for that either, but it’s at least feasible. Somewhere past the scythemaws, there must be more kobolds.

I look over my goals as I consider that. Hullbreak needs proper delving, get fishing boats. Violet need to expand, just give her a little push, maybe a quest for it. Spiderkin need to get settled properly, just need time. The caverns need more encounters, add in snakes and maybe moles/gremlins/both. Assimilate moles/gremlins, just need to let Jello do her work. Rocky’s arena needs finishing, shouldn’t be too difficult to get a basic ring built. The Southwood needs help, Leo can focus more on that now Hullbreak is my vassal.

Aranya’s people are out there. Find some way to contact them.