Information is starting to flow like… hmm, what is it flowing like? Water flows nicely, but my information isn’t nearly that swift nor clear. Honey and Leo are receiving and organizing the reports from the field, which makes me very glad to have both my Warden and Librarian on the case. When a report gets to them, I get a rush of information, but it’s not especially organized.
It takes me a bit of effort to focus on what’s new, organize it into a way that is actually helpful, digest it, and finally mull over what it means. With Leo and Honey receiving the reports and making their own, though, everything feels nice and organized, easy to interpret and easy to pick out the important pieces. It’s the difference between getting the messy notes from someone, versus getting a succinct presentation.
The problem is what the reports are saying. My denizens on expedition are relaying some pretty concerning things. They say there’s a lot more strong denizens than Lechula and Merrik were expecting, as well as an organized army of the guards and clergy. Were the two wrong, or lying? I can’t really see either of those options being the case, though.
The kind of numbers should be pretty obvious even to civilians, and as basically initiates into the military, the elf and dwarf should have at least a basic understanding of the numbers in the force. Lying doesn’t really track, either. Not only would it require the Maw to have planned for them to get kidnapped, but they would have had to plan exactly what to say, and be good enough actors to pull it off around the clock. The Southwood has been watching them pretty close, and from what the Stag has shared with Teemo, they don’t act any different when alone.
Additionally, the adventurers are starting to come back and give their reports, and Teemo is helping Yvonne and the others organize and consolidate that information, too. Honey would like to stop by to see what they’re doing, I’m sure, but she’s a bit busy with the denizens’ reports. From what the adventurers are saying, things seem closer to what Merrik and Lechula said: lots of civilian classes, a smattering of denizens around outside, etc. They haven’t been able to get close enough to overhear any conversations yet, but they paint a different picture than what my rockslides are creating.
So yeah, my information is more flowing like mud, and I need to figure out how to clarify it before trying to act on it. Could my rockslides be peeking into secretive locations, spying behind a false facade of normalcy and seeing the beating heart of darkness? Poetic and impressive as that sounds, I’m doubtful. Still, it can’t hurt to check.
Hey Teemo, does Aelara have a map from what the adventurers are reporting? I’d like to compare it with Honey and the reports the rockslides are giving.
“Lemme check,” he answers from Yvonne’s shoulder. Said shoulder, along with the rest of her, is perched on a branch high in a tree, feigning relaxation like a jungle cat as she keeps watch.
“Hmm?” perks up my undead birb resident, giving my Voice a curious look.
“You know where Aelara is? The Boss wants to compare maps, and she’d be the one with one, yeah?”
Yvonne nods. “She should be. She and Ragnar have been working on it, consolidating what the adventurers have, as well as with our own. I think Ragnar is still fleecing his way through the denizens and newer adventurers with Vernew, but I believe Aelara is relaxing in our tent. We haven’t had any new reports since this morning, so she should be free.”
“Cool.” With that, he hops off her shoulder and through a shortcut, and quickly pops up in the tent with Aelara. She doesn’t notice him yet, as she’s taking the chance to check on her gear and perform a little maintenance while she has a few moments to spare, humming to herself as she works. “Heya Aelara.”
She jumps a bit at his voice, but quickly realizes who’s snuck up on her. “Teemo! You startled me!”
He chuckles and gives a little dip of his head in apology. “Didn’t mean too. The Boss wanted to see if you had a map from the adventurers? He wants to make sure everyone is on the same page for what it looks like down there.”
The elf nods and picks up a rolled piece of soft leather. “This is what I have so far. Ragnar was helping with it, before he went out with Vernew to try to scam a few more people before word gets out to not challenge him to a brawl or a drinking contest, so it should be as accurate as we can get.”
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“Perfect! I’ll compare with Honey and Leo and get this back to you soon, as well as one with what we have, too.” He accepts the map in his paws for the moment, and Aelara smiles.
“I’m glad to hear it. I think most of the adventurers are wanting to stick around, but one of the lower-leveled groups is planning to head back soon, so they can get this to the guild.”
“Sweet. Oh, do you think any of the guild will want to come for the actual fighting? I think the Boss is going to bring up the medics and probably Aranya soon, so that’d be a great time for them to join in.”
“I think there will be a lot of interest. From what the adventurers are saying, there will be a lot of tight tunnels, which means strong parties will be able to shine and hold back or push through forces without getting overwhelmed.”
“Sounds about right. Leo will need to brief them for the overall plan once they get here, but the plan itself is still being drawn up, so there’s no rush. I’ll get you something like a formal request when I bring back the map?”
Aelara smiles at that and nods. “It would be appreciated. Even with that basic outline, I think a lot of adventurers will happily join the fight. Thediem has a pretty good reputation, so I doubt anyone will try to act completely independently.”
“Awesome. I’ll get this to Honey, and maybe get it back by tonight? Probably tomorrow.” Aelara nods and waves him goodbye, so my Voice slips through another shortcut to deliver the map to Leo and Honey.
“Hey guys,” he says with nonchalance as he appears in their cave, earning a buzz from Honey and a grunt from Leo. When the wolf spots what Teemo has, he pays more attention and woofs where Teemo should set it.
“Alright, let’s see what we’ve got…” mutters my Voice to himself as he rolls out the map. It’s pretty quickly clear there’s a lot of discrepancies. Tunnels the rockslides say should lead to caches and other strategic valuables seem to only lead to dead ends, according to the adventurers. The location of the main temple complex is also different, with my scouts saying it should be almost in the center of the town, but the adventurers seem to think it’s more to the south, close to where they estimate the actual dungeon to be.
I mentally frown, and I can feel and see similar unhappiness from my gathered scions. “Where are the rockslides hiding? The Boss was wondering if they’re just a lot deeper and able to see more detail than the adventurers.”
Honey buzzes around the map while Leo makes nondescript wolf sounds. “Hmm… it looks like they’re a bit deeper than the adventurers got, but there are reports on the same areas. They don’t match up. What’s going on?”
Leo gives a tired growl, sounding like he doesn’t have any ideas. Honey buzzes in a little dance, though, which Teemo nods to.
“Yeah, they can’t both be correct, so which is wrong, and why?” All of us try to think of something, but I’m stumped. My rockslides have been great scouts in the past, practically mapping out Hullbreak before we headed in, so I can’t imagine they’d get so much information wrong. On the other hand, I can’t imagine why the adventurers would be wrong, or even be lying. Sure, not all of them are cartographers, but being able to make an accurate map is a vital skill in their line of work. Sometimes just to make sure they don’t get lost, and sometimes so they can come back and get some more loot that they just couldn’t carry all at once.
And them lying wouldn’t make any sense either. I’m pretty sure them helping and getting a map back to the guild is an actual quest. I don’t think they’d fail something like that just to mess with me. As far as I can tell, most of them are at least professional acquaintances with me and wouldn’t want to make me actually upset with them. It’d be hard for them to get any delving if I ban them, especially since Hullbreak would probably follow suit, and also probably not be as gentle as I would be about keeping them out.
So what’s going on?
My musing is interrupted as Honey darts upward in the air and calls a few more of her bees to her. I watch through Teemo and Leo’s eyes as her swarm descends on the maps like they’re a small patch of delicious flowers. I can feel thoughts zipping through Honey’s mind via the bond, and it takes me a few seconds to realize what she’s doing: She’s embraced her Librarian title and is working her affinity over the two maps, trying to piece together the truth between the two.
It’s interesting to watch her work, and I can only guess as to the actual thought process running through my bee scion and her swarm. As the minutes pass, the swarm starts to shift, more of them congregating on Aelara’s map than the one from my own scouts. It starts with just a few bees migrating over, but before long, the entire swarm is covering only Aelara’s map. A few more moments later, the swarm disperses, leaving a confused and tired-looking Honey sitting on the middle of the map from the adventurers’ reports. She gives Teemo a confused buzz, which he translates after a few seconds to process the information himself.
“She says our map is wrong.”