As much as one night on the smooth ground wouldn't kill you, having a small pile to nestle in was a lot more comfortable. You decided to head out into the surrounding area and gather some more stones.

Instead to gliding down to the forest below, you clamber up the side of the cliff your cave is situated in to the small plateau some hundred feet above. While the climb upwards is tough, the journey back down while laden with stone will be much easier. The landscape here is mostly rolling shallow earth with a few scrub plants clinging to them, interspersed with grey boulders. It's to the closest of these that you head to, on a hunch.

In the past, stones would gradually accrue around these boulders, mostly as a way for halfling adventurers to restock ammunition. Occasionally they dropped tiny gems or lumps of metal. You seem to remember this changing recently, in one of the updates in the last few weeks.

As half expected, the earth around them was empty today. You examined the stone for a second, until your perception kicked in

Resource node

Common, Stone

Drops: ????, ????, ????, ????

You nodded to yourself, and brought your forelimb up to whack against the stone. Just like when you had attempted to build the goblin hut, a small message floated up from the impact point

Skill level, -45%. No Tools, -50%. Dexterity Penalty, -30%. Total harvest speed: 19%

and a progress bar appeared. You estimated you'd probably need to hit the stone about fifteen times to fill it, based on the progress one strike had given you. You settled back on your haunches as readied your forelimb again. While this was certainly more effort than just collecting things that naturally fell, it didn't look like there was much alternative for now.

Just as before, you quickly fell into a meditative rhythm, although without the added distraction of lips around your cock time passed both quicker and slower. It took only a few minutes however before the progress bar was filled for the first time. With a sift chiming noise, something that sparkled a bright blue colour flew from the boulder and landed nearby, trailing glittering light though the air. When it landed the glow disappeared, leaving behind a chunk of Stone. You quickly scooped it into your inventory, and re-examined the boulder.

Resource node (1/?)

Common, Stone

Drops: Stone, ????, ????, ????

You harvest the boulder again, and again, before something different happens.

On your fourth harvest, the sparkling object resolves into a twisted lump of black material that you identify as Scrap Ore. You look at the boulder suspiciously. It doesn't appear to have changed. But now Scrap Ore is listed under its drops next to stone.

The next time you harvest the boulder you blink is surprise as it fractures in half and crumbles, leaving behind a much smaller rock, and shooting out three more drops. They resolved into two more Stone and a second Scrap Ore, scattered over a wider area than before.

Looking at what was the boulder yet again, you see it has changed once more

Resource node, depleted (5/5), 7:59:45

Common, Stone

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Drops: Stone, Scrap Ore, ????, ????

You smile to yourself. Somehow, this was more interesting that just gathering resources the old fashioned way. You walk the short distance to the next boulder, and begin again.

Several boulders later, you are suspicious at the amount of stone you have picked up. Your inventory isn't particularly large after all.

When you open your inventory however, you are horrified to note that it's entirely empty, neither Stone nor Scrap to be found. You sit back on your haunches once more, considering. That's two times Stone has vanished from where it should have been since you got your Lair. You shuffle your wings a little, and decide to head back down and see if there is anything you missed. Instead of climbing, you simply jump, flaring your wings as you plummet to slow your fall.

Before you know it, you're back at the entrance to your cave. Oddly, a piece of Scrap Ore seemed to have fallen from above, perhaps when one of the boulders split, and is now lying next to your cave, so you pick it up too and immediately check your inventory. Sure enough, it's gone. You hum to yourself, letting smoke waft from your nostrils as you ponder.

When your lair was made, hadn't the popup then said something about resources? You try to remember, but you hadn't been paying a lot of attention. You walk back and forth, pacing your room.

Hadn't the Goblins piled their resources up when they tried to make a hut? But you couldn't do that, because you couldn't find the resources in the first place.

Eventually, you decided to try what seems to be the major mechanic of this update – gently bapping your forelimb against things.

You hit the wall of your cave, and are indeed met by another popup

Building location detected.

Available resources:

27 Stone; 6 Scrap Ore, 1 Painting Kit

Remodel Imporne_Drakeling_Cave_24.3_Location_3 into Lair Entranceway for 10 Stone, 2 Ore(Any)?

Warning! This is the required first step to unlock many of the features of the Keeps and Settlements 1.0.0.0.0.2 update!

As you pressed yes, the world lurched violently, like a ship in a sudden storm. When you found your feet once more, everything had changed.

Gone were the rough stone walls and floor. Gone was the crack through which water fell. Gone too was the indent which had served as your rudimentary shelf for almost your entire existence.

You were now stood in a roughly crafted, but unmistakably crafted, entranceway. Eight feet wide and easily twice that long, made of large stone slabs that fitted together tightly. Iron sconces lined the walls, giving off a smoky flame that illuminated your much deeper home far better than the sunlight that no longer reflected through your entranceway. Where once had been a cave entrance, now sat a stone arch tunnel, only four feet wide and six deep. In the entranceway proper, three on each side and one opposite the entrance arch, sat seven slight indents, archways, but they framed only smooth stone. You looked around in appreciation, before licking at your lips and noticing a problem. Your water source was gone,

Remembering that a spring of water had been listed as a natural resource for your cave, and guessing at the function of the archways, you walked up to the arch at the far end of the room and poked it, provoking a popup.

Building Site

Select a building:

And then a dizzying number of options, each followed by a cost. Tunnels of varying sizes and shapes were first, followed by stairs, holes both up and down and finally a large number of “Fillable Room” options. Just by scanning them you could tell it would be possible to create a maze of passageways that looped in on itself near infinitely if you so wished. Keeping your stone limit in mind, you opt for a medium sized room for 15 Stone, expecting a progress bar or another strange lurch.

Instead, you are met with more options. Firstly, you're asked if you wish to place any special features in the room. To your delight, “Water Spring” is an option. To your confusion and also delight, “Fire Spring” is also an option, although it's greyed out. Several other odd special features are listed, although you haven't a clue how you would go about obtaining them. Secondly, it asked you for the room's Theme – Your options were currently limited to “Dungeon” or “Natural”, but several other options such as “Arcane” were greyed out. Then, it asked how you wanted the room outfitted. From the cheap options like “Bare” or “Well Lit” down to the expensive “Opulence” or the intriguing “Dungeon” and “Workshop” options. You opted for “Well Lit”, using the remaining 4 ore you had.

Thinking that was the end of it, you hit enter, only to be surprised by yet another popup

Room Combo Available!

Natural Spring + Medium or Larger Room!

Would you like a Water Pool Feature in this room?

… Is that even a question?

You hit yes, and brace for another world lurch. Unfortunately, this time you're met with a progress bar. A progress bar which is evidently, once you hit it a few times, rather long. Realising that having access to water is probably more important than having fun for the next hour or so, you settle in for a long time wall-punching