I can’t believe the changeling actually found the enclave.

“Jen, Boss,” absently corrects Teemo as he studies the updated map.

Right, Jen. Not only has she infiltrated the town, but she’s found sympathizers! It doesn’t seem like they’re going to actively fight on our side, but they should be able to keep at least some of Silvervein from joining in the defense. Even more, we have not just the info for where the enclave is, but where the core is, also.

The enclave is pretty much right in the center of the Maw’s territory, and the sneaky delving scout group is trying to verify that before we make our actual move. The other scouting parties have been carefully guiding the tunnelbore ants. We’ve been going slowly, not wanting to make too much noise and arouse any suspicion. We also haven’t gotten too close to the Maw’s territory with them just yet, either.

We have a rough idea of the range the Harbinger can sense thoughts, so it’s been a tricky thing to guide the ants to dig routes that stay far enough away from the known tunnels and passages. These are going to need to be a bit of a feint, I think, thanks to where the core is: the temple complex.

The main temple entrance is in Silvervein, but it’s vast and sprawling, and has a section that goes well into the Maw’s territory. I don’t want to give the Maw credit, but it’s pretty clever. Most dungeons will have their cores deep in their territory, or nearby a valued enclave, at least from the ones I’ve seen so far. The Maw’s is actually not too far from its borders. It’s also in a kind of place that I think a lot of dungeons wouldn’t think to check.

I wasn’t expecting it to be there, at least. But from that position, it can have not only the clergy protect it, but easily bring denizens or even scions to bear for extra security. I’d also bet the lion’s share of the iron maidens are going to be in there, along with a healthy dose of denizens to slow people down. The Maw has a lot of those types, so if it can bog down any hostiles, it can bring in other forces to destroy them.

The temple complex seems to be… well, pretty complex, with lots of rooms, passages, and probably lots of secret doors to let the clergy and denizens move around freely, while confusing any would-be invaders. We know the rough way to where the core should be, but getting there is going to be easier said than done.

Leo, Honey, and Teemo are holding a bit of a briefing with the Stag, Aranya and a few other adventurers, and we’re all trying to figure out just what to do for the battle. We’re looking at probably three major fronts: Silvervein, the temple complex, and the kobold enclave. The problem is the fronts are going to overlap a lot, and we could even consider the Maw’s territory in general to be another wide front, too.

Teemo thinks out loud as I think in my own mind, trying to organize the information so far. “Alright… Silvervein itself will be mostly up to the Crystal Shield church with some adventurer and denizen help. Their job is the messy one of urban combat, finding hostiles and eliminating them, and protecting civilians. The adventurers are going to be attacking the temple complex and the ambush areas, generally sowing chaos and trying to keep the Maw from being able to mount any organized defensive effort. The dwellers and denizens, with some adventurer support, as well as Tarl and Berdol, will be going with the tunnelbores to make their own mess deeper in the Maw’s area, and try to secure the enclave.”

Leo growls as the others present nod, with the Stag speaking up next. “What will the Maw try to do to stop us?”

Honey shuffles some notes while Leo growls and yips. After a few moments, Teemo translates. “We can only guess right now, but the Maw should have two priorities: protect the enclave, and protect itself. It will probably try to protect the town as well, but it will probably be much lower in priority than those. It also definitely knows we’re snooping around, so a true surprise attack isn’t going to be an option. If we attack the town, the Maw will probably be on alert for sneak attacks, especially if it thinks we’re using only a token force there. We might be able to feign weakness at the start and get it to overcommit, sending denizens to try to flank or flood our forces in the town.”

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Honey gives a rude buzz to that idea, earning a chuckle from those who can understand her, before Teemo continues. “Yeah, Honey isn’t too sold on trying to do that, especially since the Harbinger would probably be really effective in that kind of fight. We don’t know exactly how many least the Maw has spawned now, nor do we actually know what the lessers do, if they even exist. In the winding tunnels of Silvervein, the least would probably be able to flank and overrun our forces in there. So we probably shouldn’t try to specifically draw any attacks there.”

Teemo taps the map at the two major entrances to the Maw, the ones that are sure to be the most defended. “These are probably the best places for us to try to engage the Harbinger, or at least the least. They’ll still have their potential large numbers, but at least they should only be able to attack from a few directions. This is probably where the Harbinger will be, if it’s going to be commanding the least. The scouts haven’t mentioned the least much, so either they spawn a lot slower than expected, or they’re keeping them hidden. The other place the Harbinger will probably be is around the enclave.”

My Voice gestures in the general vicinity of the target. “The whole area is basically a no-go zone, which would be a great place to keep the least. With how convoluted the tunnels in the area are, they would also give the least a huge advantage in fighting. The final place we expect the Harbinger to be is in the temple complex. Again, lots of convoluted passages, lots of ways for them to slip behind us, could be a very bad place to try to fight. That assumes the Harbinger will want to be with the least, but considering how much more effective they are when it’s around, that’s probably a safe bet.”

Teemo grimaces as Leo continues. “The risky bet comes with the Redcap. It could be stationed anywhere. If we force the Maw onto the backfoot by assaulting from multiple directions, it’ll probably have the Redcap protect either the core or the enclave, with the Harbinger at the other. The worst case scenario would be them both at once place, probably the core. Rocky and Fluffles should be able to take them, especially with Slash’s help, but that’d require correctly guessing where they’ll be. Rocky should be able to deal with the Harbinger on his own, but even he isn’t sure he could handle the Redcap solo. He’s a Conduit, after all, so it’s hard to put a number on how strong the Redcap is.”

“Can we draw them to us?” asks the Stag. “If you reveal those three scions making a line for the core, the Maw would have to consolidate or be subsumed.”

Leo wuffs and looks unhappy, and I don’t blame him as Teemo translates. “Probably, but if either is stationed around the enclave, they’ll probably kill the kobolds for mana before making for the core. We’ve got some heavy hitters, but the Maw has a lot of easy ways to delay us. If we make it clear we’re going to reach the core, the Maw will probably have time to eat the enclave for the boost.”

Everyone frowns at that information, and takes a few seconds to digest it. Keeping the Maw occupied probably won’t be too difficult, and would probably keep the scions at or near where we expect them to be. But if we make any actual progress towards the enclave or the core, it’ll collapse its forces without us being able to do much, and probably kill the kobolds, too. Attacking the enclave might make it fight to protect them, or it might just kill them and turn the entire thing into a trap for us.

I have a vague idea, and though Teemo doesn’t look like he likes it too much, he voices it to all gathered. “Do you think Nova and I could sneak into the enclave and evacuate them before the Maw notices? I’ll need an enchantment from Thing to handle the heat from her magma, but I should be able to make a shortcut even through the rock.”

Leo and Honey consider it, and Aranya speaks up. “I’ll need to come with you. They will probably be suspicious of just you and Nova, but they’ll know me. They’ll listen to me.”

Leo borks and Honey buzzes, and Teemo translates. “We’ll have to try to move them quickly, they say. The Maw will probably notice if their numbers start falling, so we won’t have long before it responds. We’ll have to gather everyone before taking the shortcut, and hope we don’t take so long the Maw notices us.”

“So we siege the Maw on all sides as a diversion, while Teemo, Nova, and Aranya make for the enclave. Once the kobolds are secure, Rocky, Fluffles, and Slash make for the core,” summarizes the Stag, earning nods from my Warden and Librarian, with a minor correction from Teemo.

“We’ll start the siege with Fluffles’ new trick. He’ll probably need all of the Boss’ scions to help combo to make it work, too. Even if he’ll be the main caster for it, me, Slash, Rocky, Thing, Nova, and Queen should help. It’s an incredibly powerful concept from the Boss, so it’ll need a lot of power to make it properly manifest.”

“I think the dwellers and I can help, too. It’s powerful, but not especially complicated, if I’m hearing Him right. I think we can help channel our faith to aid in it,” follows Aranya, her hand moving to the amulet at her neck.

Even with me still feeling a bit uncomfortable about being a focus for faith, I’m willing to take all the help I can get with this. The last thing I need is to fall to the very concept I’m hoping to hit the Maw with.