Day 37
Lake 1 Maze
image [https://imgur.com/u3BMNUG.jpg]
Trap 1 North/South
image [https://imgur.com/kgGs6D5.jpg]
Trap 1 East/West
image [https://imgur.com/GYJt6Z4.jpg]
Lake report: 2972 spaces of shore claimed and planted with grass, should be less than fifty unclaimed spaces before finishing.
status Day 37, Mana: 5003*/5003, Water: 532/5003, Ice: 245/5003 Size: 10,007,
core 28, Forty one upgrades available
Oh, looks like I put too much into mana production and hit my cap again. As I am not getting hourly mana, it would be wasteful not to use some of that right away.
Looks like about forty mana is enough to finish the grassy shore-ring on the lake, then perhaps a couple hundred mana on expanding the paths extending from the spawning structures around Trap 1, for a nice even five hundred spaces one either side of the central area. I think that takes the detection area about a mile wide on each side of the spawn-point, unfortunately, as the box is about five miles on each side, that means only the central fifth of each side is ready to track any intruders. To fully close the box should take another eight or nine thousand mana. Feels odd to be not only considering those sorts of numbers, but also being able to produce that much mana in just a couple days.
But for now I should have enough space in my mana pool to keep me from wasting any mana before the invader-defenders leave before the end of the day.
Intruder Detected
Invader-defenders are back for the day.
The harvesters only have one cart, so probably two trips again.
Scouting Alert
A group of invaders has been detected with multiple instances of the Core-Killer symbol on display. The location and direction of travel suggests that the point of origin is a set of structures roughly one hundred miles south of Mountain 1 and roughly sixty miles north west of Trap 1. Based on their rate of travel, it will likely take them between ten and fifteen hours to get close enough to Trap 1 to be tracked.
Ok, now we know where they are coming from, and I can extend those paths until they meet, meaning that the core killers will need to take a detour to avoid being tracked. Hopefully they will arrive fast enough for that to be useful.
What if they do not?
If they do not look like they will arrive in time by the time the invader defenders leave for the day, I can try establishing an outpost close enough to that other cluster of structures to put tracking on them when they pass by on the way back to where they came from.
I will want another scouting alert if they change speed or direction, or if they are getting ready to cross my trap perimeter.
Scouting Alert
Core-killer party has stopped and set up a cloth shelter where most of the tool-users are hiding from the sun while the other tool-users do something with the beasts of burden that were carrying them.
Scouting Alert
Core-killer party has resumed travel towards Trap 1. Estimated arrival time is now an hour after invader-defender departure time.
If they stop at the same time as the invader-defender, then they may not reach my trap perimeter. I had better dispatch one of my scouts to land at a location that the core-killers traveled over that is both close to the structures where they spawned, as well as targetable from Mountain 1. Sixty miles is a lot of hops, and I would not want to place an exposed sub-core near them if I can avoid it.
Scouting Alert
Core-killer party has stopped and set up multiple cloth shelters. Beasts of burden have had equipment removed and a fire was spotted in the vicinity of the cloth structures. Scout had to return.
It is unfortunate that they did not reach my perimeter, but I should have plenty of mana to set up Trap 2 near their spawn point. It may even serve as a good point to use for deploying Retaliation 1.
Well, as the invader-defender is going away, I can probably deploy Trap 2 without too much notice.
Nice, the scout landed on a large rock, so I can make a rat-tunnel under the rock as the entrance.
No need to let the core-killers find this sub-core, so I can make it thirty deep like the trap-perimeter cores. Expand out the wings on the side to make it easier to tag the core killers on their way back, and now I have spent most of my mana on expanding new territory.
Yea, I now have more than half again as much area as I had before, so the rest of my mana should go towards expanding mana generation.
I am tempted to start claiming the lake, but any grass planted there will produce water mana, so the next best option for increasing my mana generation by over a thousand would be to put a second layer of grass around the first layer of grass around the lake.
Scouting Report
The group designated Core killers was tracked from sixty three miles North West of Trap 1 to ten miles North West of trap 1, the route followed suggests that they either pass close to Trap 1 or enter Trap 1. The group is likely to pass through the fringes of Trap 1 Northwest to approach Trap 1. This group of invaders seems to consist of fifteen quadrupeds ridden by twelve bipeds, three of which are covered with metal armor.
The scouting party consisted of twenty doves, twelve bats, twelve coyotes, four ice doves, and four Giant Ice Eagles.
Twenty doves, ten bats, twelve coyotes, four ice doves and four giant ice eagles returned.
There were no kills and no resources harvested.
Day 38
Trap 1Northwestimage [https://imgur.com/5eQZKMz.jpg]
Trap 1 South, Trap 2
image [https://imgur.com/yybZkIp.jpg]
Trap 1 East
image [https://imgur.com/lrLOhB6.jpg]
Trap 2
image [https://imgur.com/PElKE6S.jpg]
Trap 2
image [https://imgur.com/9bjfNqh.jpg]
Lake report:
100% of shore claimed to one space and planted with grass. 46% of shore claimed out to 2 spaces and planted with grass. 4244 total spaces.
status Day 38, Mana: 6250/9143, Water: 680/9143, Ice: 359/9143 Size: 18,286,
Fifty Eight upgrades available
Ok, that is pretty ridiculous, there is no good reason to keep a reserve of more than twice as many upgrades as my total core level. Especially when it looks like I can spot intruders from multiple days away, giving me plenty of time to move my main core if it looks threatened.
I will want to keep at least a thousand mana in reserve to deal with whatever the core killers decide to do, but there were several upgrades I considered to be good candidates in the past that I have not yet gotten, such as Fire, Lava, Acid, and whatever other sorts of environments or non-tool using defender types I might not have yet.
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Upgrade Complete, New Environment: Fire Upgrade Complete, New Environment: Lava Upgrade Complete, New Environment: Acid Upgrade Complete, New Environment: Poison
That sounds good!
Upgrade Complete, New Environment: Mud
I guess that can be used to slow people down.
Upgrade Complete, New Environment: Steam
Not quite sure what to do with that one.
Upgrade Complete, New Environment: Smoke
Ok I think I will need a better idea on what is available before I get any new environments, as those last two do not feel particularly useful, so let’s get some new defender types.
Upgrade Complete, New Defender: Felinoids
Hmm, those feel sort of like larger, more solitary versions of the canids, but the different attack modes might prove useful.
Upgrade Complete, New Defender: Reptiles
Those feel very different. More poison and other special abilities, like changing colors.
Upgrade Complete, New Defender: Amphibians
A class of defenders that can live both on land and in the water? That feels like we might be getting down to very niche options again, so that is probably enough for now.
So, about a third of my mana for ten upgrades. Not bad.
I should have enough let to finish the second layer of the shore grass without dipping below a thousand, but I think I will hold off for now. I have plenty of space in my pool for hourly generation, and hopefully the core killers are not ready for a dungeon that has thousands of mana available to deal with them, should they not follow my script.
Intruder Detected
There they are, I used Follow Invader on both the first invader and their mount, but it is not very useful, only giving me a better idea of where they left their spawn point. About as expected, as it had been more than a day since they left there. I did manage to verify that they crossed the area now covered by Trap 2, but that is the only useful information thus far. I tried again on the second invader, just in case, but this one threw a hand up into the air, yelling something, and their mount stopped before fully leaving my area. A moment later I lost my sense of them and their location. It seems that some of them can detect and remove such things. A few moments later, my awareness of the first invader also faded. It seems that if I put tracking on the wrong invader, they can notice and cleanse it from all of them. They do not seem to have noticed that the mount was also hit with the ability, and that I can still feel where it is, so their detection ability is clearly limited.
The first invader was not wearing metal or carrying a staff, but the second one was carrying a staff, so presumably the staff-holders can detect the Follow ability, but the ones without either can not. Unfortunately, the ability just sort of splashed off of the other riding invaders that I tried it on, so the staff holder might be protecting all of them in some way. Fortunately, they seem to have neglected the mounts, and I was able to use the ability on several of them before it became clear that I was not getting anything else of use from doing so.
On the plus side, following the mounts let me predict when they were done in the walled spawn area and were heading towards Trap 1. They took a lot longer than expected, actually, with the mounts all standing around in a group without their riders on them for an extended period. Eventually the mounts have riders again and are heading towards Trap 1. When they arrive, I discover that they are being led by the two tree-cutters who seem to be explaining something about the trees. Possibly how they appeared in groups of fifty and come back the next day if cut down. The Core killers spend a little time wandering around the trees, but they quickly zero in on the mana gathering field covering a sizable chunk of the first group of trees, finally locating the center of the field just a couple areas away from the wall.
With a quick search, they find the hidden entrance and stare at the water for several moments before the shortest member of their group is sent to the mounts to fetch something.
When they get back one of the staff-wielders hands the short invader a glowing rock, stands over them for several minutes doing something with mana and their staff.
Finally, preparations complete, the short invader sticks their head in the hole for a few moments before pulling it back out of the water, saying something, and going all the way into the water.
While all of the invaders are focused on the short one, I try using Follow Invader on one of the metal wearing ones. It takes them longer than it took the staff-holder, but they eventually go talk to one of the staff-holders and have the ability removed. I guess that shows the metal wearing ones as bad targets for the ability as well.
Curious, I use the ability on the one in the water-tunnel, and they do not seem to react. They do reverse direction once they are almost half way down.
Once the short, wet invader gats back to the surface, they talk to the same staff-holder that stood over them to cast the first spell, and has them cast a different spell, or perhaps the same spell a different way? Either way, it seems different while it is being cast, and I have no idea what either one does.
The second time, the wet invader gets down to the icy slush before pulling back. They drop their glowing rock and watch it fall to the bottom, then start the slow process of going back up.
If I were to guess, it looks like both the depth and the ice are significant impediments for the invaders. Combined with the small tunnels which seem effective at keeping out the extra-large metal armored ones, and it looks like my watery passages are an effective hindrance to the core killers.
At least as far as they go, as a short time later, the irritated seeming staff holder steps over to the space between the trees directly over the core, looks at the trees on all sides, grumbles something, and moves to the open area between the entrance and the core before they start casting again.
This time it becomes fairly apparent what the spell is doing, as the dirt starts pulling itself out of the ground and piling up under the near-by trees.
After the first couple floors, the dirt needs to get pushed further and further away from the hole to keep from falling back in.
By the fifth floor, the staff-holder is more of a held-up-by staff, and in the middle of the seventh floor, they stop, stumbling away from the hole and the dirt to go sit under one of the trees.
Then one of the other staff holders takes their place and continues digging the hole with magic.
Once they get a small opening to the area behind the water, the send down the small invader with a fresh glowing rock and they go down, doing something with their rock to conceal it from the light coming from the rock it dropped earlier? In either case they easily spot the core and call up to the others before rejoining them.
Some time later, when the staff-holders no longer seem quite so unsteady, they drop rope ladders down the hole that they dug and go to investigate the trap core.
They have a box with them, but it seems more like the larger enslavement-gadget box as opposed to the smaller and heavier core-killing-hammer box.
As they have limited room to deal with the core without being in the blast radius, I am willing to let several of them gather at the bottom of their hole. When the staff-holders enter, one of them sticks their hand through the doorway holding back the icy-slush that made the small one turn around before shivering and shaking their hand.
A good sign that none of them like the slush!
Once one of the metal-clad individuals and the box carrier join the staff holders near the core, one of the staff holders gestures towards the core with no apparent effect before the box holder opens up the box and pulls out one of those core enslavement devices.
Seems like a good time to trigger the trap.
The rocks fall, but they just bounce off of some sort of barrier between the trap and the core.
This is not good!
I cannot seem to find any other means of destroying the core. The invaders are occupying the space adjacent to the core, preventing the summoning of any defenders close enough to trigger it, and right as I am about to purchase another upgrade to give me a trap that can hit a target from the sides or bottom, the other staff-holder gestures at the core and it changes color.
I can feel that the trap-core ability has been removed, how can I destroy it now?
I try to restore the Core Trap, but it seems to be blocked somehow, leaving me helpless as I watch them affix the device to my sub-core.
With a tearing sensation, I lose all awareness of Trap 1 aside from the short invader that I was still tracking.
I need back-up options, and ‘trying to catch them in the blast’ is no longer viable. I need a wide scout network and to stand ready to abandon any core that gets approached, before they get close enough to stop me!
Upgrade Complete, New trap type: Small Projectiles Upgrade Complete, New trap type: Moving Spikes
Ok, that helps, now I can have multiple dart or arrow traps pointing at my cores, in addition to a spike trap that will just stab the core with a spike from the side or bottom.
I still refuse to let invaders approach my cores, but now I have backup options as well.
The core killers spend a lot of time separate from their mounts, with the small one spending a lot of time slouched in a chair.
It seems to have gotten to the time of day when the invader-defenders would have gone away, so it looks like the core-killers will not be heading back to their spawn point today.
That is fine, I need to replace a hundred and fifty mana generation anyway. I think I also lost some mana from my pool, but not a lot.
It takes a little more than half my remaining mana to claim and grass the lake shore out to two spaces. Then,to be as ready to deal with these people as possible, I manage nearly half of the third ring as well.
Just to reassure myself, I double-check that the lake is still fifteen floors deep, patrolled by four giant sharks, then there are another hundred floors of narrow icy mazes to traverse, filled with swaying icy-sea-weeds hiding hundreds of small, almost invisible, but highly toxic icy sea-snakes. It helps a little, but I am still very leery of the ability of the core killers to deal with or avoid my precautions.
I think I need more sharks.
Hmm, I think I can even afford more sharks. At least if I place the spawners right under the other spawners in the pre-claimed space. I have generated over a hundred hourly mana today after all.
That puts me at six giant sharks in the lake today, with another two to spawn tomorrow, each one big enough to bite one of those Core killers in half with a single bite attack.
Ok, that feels a little bit more secure, for now.
Scouting Report
The group designated Core killers was tracked from ten miles NorthWest of trap 1 to the vicinity of Trap 1. Trap 1 was lost but the group was not spotted leaving the area.
The scouting party consisted of twenty doves, twelve bats, twelve coyotes, four ice doves, and four Giant Ice Eagles.
Twenty doves, ten bats, twelve coyotes, four ice doves and four giant ice eagles returned.
There were no kills and no resources harvested.