There were three things on the docket. Knowledge, Defense, and Knowing what was going on with my neighbor in a more concrete manner.

I had my hare that were on conquest duty transition to construction and sent them to a spot that felt like a good choke point in entrance shaft. I could get a jump start since there since there were multiple intersections of old collapsed tunnels which I knew my monsters could handle. The first chamber to the right of the entrance also felt like a good place to set a map room. I wasn't clear on exactly what it did but It struck me as a good room to place near the entrance if I wanted to try and work out some sort of positive relationship with the Delvers.

Slotting the mote of power into place caused the expected drastic remodeling of the chamber. The walls smoothed themselves out, as did the floor. The Mana Well acquired a raised smooth stone edge which was inscribed with runes that, as they completed, glowed with a light blue energy. At the point of the pool closest to the door rose a small round table that held a stone sphere in a claw like aperture. Around the perimeter of the room was one long shelf dotted with small indentations that looked like they could hold similar spherical devices. As the room settled into its final form the sphere on the table began to fill with similar light blue runes and the still surface of the Mana Well filled with mist. The mist began to shift and eventually settled into a three dimensional replica of the dungeon interior. At least the parts that held my Domain. Seeing this got me excited about popping up a library. I even had the perfect spot, right next to my Core chamber. This however presented me with an issue. I was down to one Cloud Mana Pearl and I was planing to use one for my investigation of the vitapygmy.

I decided there was no use waiting around so I had my remaining two guard hare take up position flanking the vitapygmy tunnel and prepared to cast Mist Cloak on the Volpertinger. It stood and shook itself but before I could cast the spell its antlers flashed and its outline became fare less tangible. The spell didn't make the Volpertinger invisible but more like a misty heat mirage. It was probably also synergising with the Mist-walker natural stealth and when the dark environment was taken into account it was the next best thing to invisibility. It also seemed to feel less energetic under my Domain and I was fairly sure it wasn't a result of the spells effect but more a note that its own spellwork wasn't an infinite resource.

Up the tunnel they went and quickly came upon the cross road blocked by a short fence and guarded by a pair of vitapygmy. With a slight flare of power the mist that surrounded my Volpertinger and coated the ground swelled and filled the tunnel for just long enough for my monster to dart past. The guards raised their quarterstaffs and focused even harder into the white expanse that surrounded them but missed the intruder completely and once the mist had settled once again their focus and increased vigilance was directed down the tunnel in the opposite direction of the invader.

The progress was aided by the light mist that covered the ground since the swirling air current that pervaded the entire dungeon was drawing the mist that my Domain generated deep into vitapygmy territory. It flowed into the vitapygmy Habitation chamber which was a sight to see with its floor covered in a plush carped of spongy grey-green dungeon moss. Thick grey-green vines coated the ceiling dotted with little clusters of slightly bioluminescent light green berries, the thickest of which hanged down supporting gourd shaped suspended huts. They were reminiscent of weaver bird nests and their main construction material seemed to be living vines with their roofs sealed with the dungeon moss.

The walls of the chamber were dotted with dug out shelving that held all manner of simple tools and trinkets any neolithic society would want or need. Bowls and simple cutlery, spools of cord and sacks of food stuff, even a shelf with little woven or carved figurines. There were stone hammers and picks, the knives I had seen used in the ritual to summon the behemoth, and a number of farming tools that seemed to sit on their shelves unused.

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There were baskets set out filled with soil that seemed to be little gardens of some variety that were illuminated by a suspended glowing crystal similar to the ones that lit the Altar room. They were tended to by a pair of vitapygmy who frequently would nervously stopping their work to look in the direction of the chamber entrance and then to the center of the room next to the mana well where a vitapygmy stood guard wielding one of those 'enhanced' hammers.

The Volpertinger fell back and made its way to the last chamber they needed to check, The Core. Referencing my map got us there with little difficulty but I could see how I could have ended up down one of the dead ends without it. I was glad I had upgraded my core chamber before coming here since I would have felt mildly inadequate if I had seen this first.

The room itself was heavily modified the edges had been carved into and the Mana Well had been extensively expanded. It had the style of a Chinese garden with terraced edges lit by stone lanterns that held at their core one of those glowing crystals. The vines had continued along the ceiling throughout the region much like my own domain generated mist except here instead of supporting woven huts they formed loose woven spheres that provided the framework for hives of bees robed in shimmering green fuzz. The Mana Well had been expanded into a pond with six small islands linked with meandering paths of stepping stones. In the water there were fish with a smattering of luminescent scales and tiny crabs with glowing stripes along their backs. At the center of the room where in my Core chamber sat my floating core stood a large gnarled mangrove tree at whose heart sat the half shattered verdant green Core.

Kneeling at the trees base was the vitapygmy priestess in supplication. The core itself was emitting a constant low hum occasionally interspersed with disconnected words. "...Invader... ...Blue... ...Light... ...Intruder..." but mostly it would say "...Luciantsss..."

In my focus I had lost track of the time and was met with a sudden swirling of wind. I had two more Dire hare and a third Mana pearl and my Core room was filled with the tinkling of new coins. In Luciantsss' core room the same wind picked up blowing around bits of plant debris a leaves along with a flurry of iridescent bees. A surge of green thick fluid formed in the bowl of the damaged core spilling from the cracks that covered its surface down along the twisting bark and along the branches of its tree dripping down into the mana well to be met by a frenzy of little fish flashing their scales. A shiny green Life Mana Pearl formed and bounced its way down the tree into the pool to join dozens of others of its kind sitting under the mangrove roots. A glowing green sprout then forced its way up from the center of one of the little islands that quickly grew into a large leafy vegetable like a head of lettuce that at its fullest growth blossomed to reveal a new brown skinned vitapygmy. The Priestess hurried over to greet and tend to her new charge with a wrapped moss poncho under one arm and her staff in the other.

With the Priestess out of the way I saw something resting at the base of the tree among its roots. It was, what I presumed to be, the Hammer described in the prayer. It had a thick long handle made of thick braided vines that wrapped around the heavy stone head as if it had naturally grown that way. The head itself was a carved and polished stele with symbols carved into it that glowed with a verdant light. Symbols I recognized if only vaguely as from earth.

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