Cornelius glared at the map, his foot tapping out a steady rhythm on the basement floor.

Three points. Three towns. Three sightings of undead.

His foot tapped faster.

“Dalton, this map is aggravating me.”

His apprentice grunted from his position in the middle of the basement. Three earthen pillars rose from the floor, two for his hands and one for his feet.

He wasn’t particularly high, only a few feet from the ground, but Dalton couldn’t let the pillars fill in underneath. He had to keep them up with his will as he planked.

It was a good exercise, and the lad's mastery of the skill was coming along nicely.

“Maps do that, master.”

“If you still have enough focus to snark, then maybe I need to make that exercise harder,” Cornelius chuckled.

“No, no, I’m pretty sure you don’t.”

Cornelius smiled as he continued to stare a hole into the map.

“Why, master mine, is the map aggravating you?” Dalton grunted out.

“Because the necromancer is playing games. Sightings, hasty reports of spirits acting up, and the slimy feel of their magic all over, but never too much at one place.”

Cornelius traced his finger along the map. “They are being cautious. Restrained.“ He looked up at his apprentice. “Few things are more dangerous than a necromancer with self-control.”

There was a knock on the basement door, and Cornelius glanced up.

A brief thought towards his aura told him it was Madame Lillian.

“Come in.”

The door clicked, and the spider glided in, her legs tapping on the concrete floor.

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Cornelius grinned even as his stomach turned to ice.

It wasn’t her fault that her appearance made an instinctual part of his mind scream in terror.

“Dinner will be ready in half an hour.”

“Thank you.” He nodded. “Could I bother you with a question?”

She bobbed closer, her large front eyes focusing on him. “Of course! Ask away!”

She sent the impression of a grin as she eyed the map.

Cornelius pointed to the spots he’d marked out. “This is where necromancer activity has been spotted. But we haven’t caught a whiff of them moving between the towns. We have a few mages, Were’s with a nose for magic, even a Larouta offered to watch one of the roads. We’ve caught nothing.”

Cornelius moved his finger down. “I know there are a fair bit of caves around here. Is it possible they’re moving through the DownThere?”

The spider shook her torso slightly while sending the impression of a head shake.

“Maybe through some of those towns, but they can’t access Silver Spruce. There are some large caves, and there is a pathway to the greater DownThere. But a monster lives there, and she doesn’t leave.”

Cornelius eyed the woman. “A monster? What kind?”

“We don’t know. It killed nearly a quarter of our community on our journey here, but no one ever caught a peek of it.” She hesitated.

“Yes?”

“When we fled here…we expected to be pursued, but we never were….”

Cornelius blinked. “You think whatever’s down there killed your pursuers?”

She sent the impression of a shrug. “I can’t know for certain, but I think it’s likely.”

Cornelius swallowed. The DownThere was…nightmarish. He had it on good authority that parts of it were lovely. Rationally, that made sense. A cave structure spanning most of the world had to have some wonders in it.

But his own experiences in the place had been some of the worst of his life. If some ancient creature from those dark pits was sitting under his feet…

“Can it come up here?”

Lillian gave him another mental shrug. “I don’t know, I’m afraid. It never has, and most of the supernatural community here don’t know it exists.”

She paused, her legs tapping against the ground as she thought. “Personally, I believe it’s bound. Maybe even a guard put here to stop interlopers from the DownThere.”

She turned. “We’ll never know, but it’s safe to say the necromancers won’t be coming here from beneath.”

She headed for the door. “Don’t be late for dinner now!”

There was silence for several seconds as Cornelius and Dalton stared at the ground.

Finally, Dalton spoke, his voice strained. “Welp, I’m not sleeping tonight.”

Cornelius stared at the dark stone. “Same.”