Chapter Two-Hundred Forty-Four

Dungeon Life

After all that with the adventurers, I’m feeling more motivated than ever to make the fight with the Maw a quick and decisive one, if at all possible. The adventurers probably would prefer a bit more of a fight, but I’d rather have them disappointed and all coming home. The frustrating part is that there’s probably not a lot more I can do to try to influence that particular outcome.

I’ve done a lot of planning, and my denizens, scions, and dwellers have been doing a lot of executing on those plans. There’s a few last minute things to do, and who knows, maybe the final bit of scouting will reveal some fatal flaw to exploit in the Maw, but I doubt it. The Maw is big and old, so if it had some fundamental flaw in its defenses, something would have gotten through by now, I’d imagine. Maybe it’d be something only I would notice and be able to exploit, but I feel like magic makes having any weakness like that difficult to sustain over a long period.

“You ok, Boss?” squeaks my Voice while in the middle of a shortcut.

Hmm? Oh, sorry. I’m just…

“Just running around in circles in that big mind of yours. Try to relax or something, Boss. Everyone and everything is about as prepared as we can make them now. Don’t go stressing out over something you can’t really do anything about.”

I take a deep mental breath and nod. Yeah… you’re right. It’s just easier to say than to do, you know?

Teemo barks a laugh at that. “Yeah, I know. Go watch the delvers or something. I’m gonna check and see if Rezlar is available for a meeting later. Go unwind, Boss. Waiting is hard, but it’s all we can really do right now.”

I let my attention wander over my territory, watching everything going on. People are mining, gathering, fighting, looting, chatting, crafting… the life just makes me happy to see. I don’t focus on anyone in specific, and instead just kinda soak in the atmosphere. My attention eventually drifts towards the ratkin enclave, where I notice Aranya with a mixed group of dwellers around her.

Usually, that’d mean she’s giving or about to give a sermon, but the mood feels a little different for that. It’s like just before a movie starts, rather than right before the pastor comes in. Aranya smiles as my attention falls on the group, and speaks up over the murmurs of the crowd.

The murmurings shift to have a mix of surprise and reverence, but I’m feeling a bit more confused. She’s been telling legends? About what? The red kobold smiles as she feels my confusion.

“Kobold legends, passed down from before the Maw captured us. Today, I’m going to tell our creation legend.”

Oohh, a creation myth? Those are fun. I settle in to listen, and Aranya takes a few more moments to prepare herself for the tale.

“At first, all was still. The earth, the waters, the air… the mana. Nothing moved, and though it was very stable, there was no life. Then, there was a disturbance in the mana, causing it to ripple like a tapped bowl of water. The movement was slight and small compared to all the mana, but the movement was still there.

“The ripples expanded, bouncing, reflecting, until finally chance brought enough of the ripples together to coalesce. This coalescence was the First Sanctuary, born from the confluence of still and moving mana. The First Sanctuary marveled at everything around it, observing and examining everything it could sense.

“The earth was hard and unmoving, stable and secure. It had interesting shapes and structure, but it didn’t hold the Sanctuary’s attention for too long. The air and water held its attention for even less time. This is partially because the mana was so much more interesting. The mana moved. The ripples were there, creating interesting and intriguing interactions as they moved, as fascinating as they were fleeting.

“It looked out and saw that some mana wasn’t moving. In truth, most of it was still and boring. There was so much stillness, with such a small island of motion. It started to fear the ripples would stop altogether, but looking closer relieved the First Sanctuary. It was helping move the mana, sending out its own ripples to keep the mana interesting.

“But is it fair for the mana to be the only interesting thing? If the Sanctuary can move the mana, can it move the earth? It tried, but earth is stubborn, far too stubborn for the Sanctuary to move. Perhaps it should start with something easier? The water is probably easier to move, but the air would be even easier still! Water likes to sit in its ponds, lakes, and oceans, but air seems to be happy anywhere. Not wanting to be anywhere in specific should make it easy to move, right?

“The Sanctuary tried to move the air, tried to use mana to make it react. It succeeded! Making the air move was easy! It moved the air for a time, enjoying how it could even coax the water to move at least a little. It even enjoyed how stubbornly the earth would stay still as the air moved around it. But there was a problem: the air would only move when the Sanctuary would do it itself. Can it make the air move on its own?

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“This was far more difficult. Air doesn’t mind moving, but it also doesn’t mind being still. It needs a will, a reason to move! And so the First Sanctuary wove mana into the air, trying to make it understand how much more interesting movement is! The mana slipped away from the First Sanctuary, and it thought it had failed, but then it noticed a small swirl of air, moving about on its own. It worked! The First Sanctuary had created the first air elemental!

“It made more, and eventually the air elementals learned to make more of themselves. The First Sanctuary watched them dance and frolic, their movement even disrupting the still mana! Now the First Sanctuary could truly enjoy movement without having to make it all on its own. With its success fresh in its mind, the First Sanctuary set about making a new elemental. It learned with the air how to make movement, and though water was more resistant, the First Sanctuary could get the waters to make waves, to move in rivers, to fall from clouds.

“And with it now used to motion, the First could weave will into it just like with the air. This time, the mana didn’t slip away at the end, and instead flowed smoothly into the small drop of water. The air elementals welcomed their new brethren, and the two groups worked to keep their elements moving. The First relished in the camaraderie, and wished to bring in the earth as well.

“With all the movement, even stubborn earth would sometimes try to move, though it found it much more difficult. Sand would ride the winds, but rarely moved on its own. Rain could move some of the mountains, but once it had slid down far enough, the earth went still again. This would be much more difficult to move.

“The First worked hard to make the earth move, and though it didn’t seem against the idea anymore, it still refused to move! It tried harder, and even created an earthquake, but the rumbling quickly subsided. Perhaps the Sanctuary should try making the elemental and let it work on making the earth move?

“Making a single piece of earth move quickly seemed to be impossible, as any large rock would shatter instead of flow like the water or air. The First was concerned, but the broken bits of earth didn’t seem to mind. Uncertainly, it tried again, gathering the broken bits to suffuse with will and mana, and to the Sanctuary’s surprise, it worked!

“The small earth elemental was happy to move, though it didn’t move like the other two elements. They would dance and glide, while the earth would rumble along. The Sanctuary tried to ask it why, and the earth elemental was confused. It was moving, as was its element. Wasn’t that what the First Sanctuary wanted?

“Of course, but the earth wasn’t moving at all! Then the small earth elemental told the Sanctuary to just pay more attention. The earth all around was moving, inspired by the air and water, but moving in its own way. It moves slowly, deliberately. It doesn’t need to move at the speed of the others. It will take its time with the movement.

“This was strange to the First Sanctuary, but after watching for a time, it came to appreciate the earth’s movements, as well as those of the air and water. And yet… it felt like there could be more to move. But what else was there? The mana? It’s already moving that. It thought as it watched the elements moving, and eventually noticed something interesting.

“The air’s movement brought cold air and froze some shallow water. Can ice move? It feels very different from regular water, so perhaps? The First tried to make the ice move, and immediately felt like something was wrong. It was very different from the others, not really stubborn, but… missing something. What could it be?

“It thought and observed some more, until an earth elemental brought something interesting it had found deep below: liquid rock! Very hot liquid rock! The earth elemental called it fire, but didn’t know what it was. Once it left the liquid rock, the rock became regular earth again. Seeing the fire inspired the First Sanctuary, and it realized what the ice was missing. It needed something to move with! The other elements might be happy to move with each other, but these two would need an opposite to move properly!

“It still needed some of the other elements to move well, however. The ice needed water, and the fire needed the stone, but stone is so difficult to work with! The First Sanctuary tried to get the water to take both of the new elements, but while it didn’t mind the ice, it refused the fire. Air, however, was eager to be included, and so took the fire and burst into a brilliant orange color. The Sanctuary was happy at that, but could see it needed to work quickly. The fire and ice were suffused with will and mana, each opposing the other, yet also somehow bolstering the other. The First Sanctuary released the two, and they spun off in a beautiful dance across the earth, the air, and the water!

“The First Sanctuary reveled in the new movement, seeing so many things moving, and coaxing more of the mana to move with it. The endless stillness was being beaten back. After a time, a water elemental came to the Sanctuary with something new. It was a lot like water, but green, and could move on its own, despite not being an elemental! The water elemental left it with the Sanctuary, and the First Sanctuary watched. It saw the green move towards the light, and away form the shadow, and saw another pair to release into the world. At this point, it was used to creating the elemenetals, and so the first light and shadow elementals were created.

“It continued to watch the green with its strange movements, and eventually saw some of it stop moving. Something about its movement, and lack of movement, felt fundamentally different than the difference between moving and still mana, and after watching closely, the First Sanctuary saw another pair to unleash: life and death. While the other elementals created some motion with their release, the life and death elementals created the biggest difference of all!

“New green appeared across the land, some standing tall to get more of the light it needed. Things appeared to eat the green, and things appeared to eat what ate the green.”

Aranya finally pauses the legend and smiles at the gathered dwellers. “And that is how everything came to be. Mostly. The creation of kobolds and thinking life is a different legend.” Her smile grows mischievous as she glances towards my core, despite the buildings, caves, and stone between her and it. “Maybe I’ll tell that one tomorrow?”

Aw, but I wanna hear it now!