I find myself sitting on the edge of my bowl again, just staring out into the clearing and forest. I’ve finished my third kettle of tea and frankly, I can't be bothered to make another. And I can't get a question out of my head that has been bugging me for some time. Just what the hell is a brundel, I never did get a straight answer from Rennie when we first met, and now of all times is when my brain decides to bring it up, gnawing at me like the name of a song I can't remember. Perhaps I needed this distraction before getting on with trying to figure out how to subjugate a small population of lizard-folk currently residing in my dungeon without paying rent.

Then again I could just leave them as a natural obstacle for any dungeon divers, but on the other side of that coin, they could become a real nuisance for me since they are just about small enough to fit in the ant tunnels. I don't really know how to proceed with building my dungeon, they are dead center in the way of my plans and I need to either remove them or pull them under my banner. Of course I could just slaughter all of them, but for some reason that doesn't sit too well with me. But again, if I wasn't here Cardinal would have dug her colony in here anyway more likely than not and eventually they would have all been slaughtered anyway, that or Cardinal, Onyx and their brood would have become lunch for the little buggers.

Perhaps I am going to have to compromise between subjugating and exterminating, because factually, as much as I'd rather not have to kill them, I can't subjugate the adults, according to discern they are sentient, which means I'll be removing a bunch of feeling, learning, and most likely emotional creatures. There could be a way to drive them out of the cave without a local genocide, but for that, I would need to find the way out of the cave to the surface under the lake. And they are CAVE kobolds, I don't know how well they would survive on the surface.

I stand from my seat and look around at the clearing one last time before walking my way back into the dungeon, each step down the stairs echoing slightly louder as I get closer to my subterranean halls. Making up my mind I decide to go on another tour through the cave, evaporating my presence into nothing and cleaning up the bandages that fall away once more as I usher my presence to the hallway and then through the wall using my little burrowing trick. Finally, back in the submerged room, I take a round or two through the expansive space, making sure there aren't any Kobolds hunting in the waters before heading to the wall with the break and sealing it up aside from a hole the size of my fist, ensuring I won't have any unwanted guests lazing about too close to my side of the dungeon but allowing me to pass through without using any mana, as I feel I'm going to be making a lot of return trips like this in the near future.

Now on the wilder side of the cave, I find myself face to face, or rather disembodied presence to face with a wide eyed Kobold, who had just watched the wall magically fill itself in with no rhyme or reason as to how or why only leaving a hole barely big enough for it to stick the tip of its snout inside. I stayed there frozen in place for a moment before I was shaken out of my stupor by the kobold swimming through me and up to the new wall, placing its hand on it as if searching for a loose panel or hidden passage and then making a decidedly annoyed grunt which came out muffled through the water before it banged its fist on the wall once in defiance and swimming off. Yeah, definitely sentient and emotional; which seemed to solidify my want to not kill them wholesale. I decided to follow the kobold again, but this time it decided to swim deeper into the lightless crevasse below where I was forced to stop following when I completely lost sight of the agile little reptile, and ended up rather disoriented.

I have no sense of up or down in my ethereal form and with no visible light I can't figure out which way I had come from. Panic began to set in as I am unable to see, hear, feel, taste, or smell anything, in complete sensory deprivation and unable to tell if I was even right side up, Logically I know I am basically physically immortal while in this form, aside from my core at least, but this line of thoughts was doesn't do my psyche any favors as I try to calm myself by just moving in a straight line. I'll find something eventually. At least I think it's a straight line, I honestly can't tell.

Eventually, I can tell that I'm not moving anymore, even with no senses I'm not able to feel that sense of motion that I've come to take for granted as just another facet of my life, almost like how breathing used to be. You don't notice until you think about it. Refocusing on my train of thought, though still no less panicked, I try to figure out if I've come into contact with my natural barrier or if it's a stone, presumably stone, wall but even with my intense staring I’m no closer to finding out, and with my seemingly little bit of progress coming to a crashing standstill, I'm back to square one. I feel out my mana and I'm at a little under three quarters of my maximum capacity, staring intensely into the pitch blackness I begin to form a small lumen crystal, the light is minuscule but since it manifests without falling into the void I can assume I'm up against a wall in the subterranean lake somewhere, I keep growing the crystal and my panic starts to subside with every centimeter the light extends.

Then after I have a small but comfortable ball of light I am given a heart attack by who I'm assuming is the same Kobold that got me into this mess swimming into my safe space with a fervor I have yet to behold from the little reptiles it wraps both of its hands around the crystal and plants its legs on the wall ripping it from its place, darting off into the dark abyss like a firefly blowing in the wind and plunging me into the consuming blackness once again. trying my darndest to not lose what little of my sanity I have left, I give chase after the quickly fading kobold, clutching the hand sized crystal to its chest as it darts through the water. I manage to catch up and keep pace now that I have a point to focus on and I can see a wild, almost crazed look in its eye, mixed with what I could only describe as terror or fear as it looks around wildly, constantly checking over its shoulder. I imagine swimming around in the pitch black with a very bright moving light source is not good for one's health down here so I hope it's heading to the surface.

To my monumental relief, my assumption was correct as the kobold practically launched itself out of the water and onto the rocky ledge that passes as a beachside in this cave, and immediately its friends run up to it from their nearby fire, after witnessing the commotion. The kobold is just lying on the ground cradling the crystal to its chest and breathing heavily, looking behind us and into the dimly shining water I see the massive alligator eel partially surface and then recede back into the depths sending a shiver down my nonexistent spine, and fostering some sounds of fear or exasperation from the others while cementing my new thalassophobia. I guess the little guy was right to get the hell out of the water once he nabbed my crystal. I turn my attention back to the kobolds, the three are all kneeling over the one on the ground and every one of them has a glint of wonder and awe in its eyes that translates one thing to me. They like the shiny.

Snapping myself out of how ridiculous and nerve wracking this little adventure was, I test my connection to my dungeon, and it's muddled, almost stuffy, I realize I should have just materialized in my sanctum and this whole little mess could have been avoided, but perhaps I can use what I learned to my advantage, turning to the kobolds still in reverie of the Lumen Crystal I can't help but feel a little bitter towards the one who nabbed my crystal while I was having a mental breakdown so I disintegrate it out of their hands causing them all to gasp or cry out in lament of the lost shiny, as they all scatter and begin turning over rocks or wading into the shallows looking for it the one who found it simply stares into its now empty hands with a blank expression like everything good in its life had just vanished into thin air, which may not entirely be false. I immediately felt bad about my decision, like I had just kicked a puppy. I formed another, much smaller, crystal and bound it onto a copper chain making the necklace appear around its neck. The surprise on its face was priceless, and it cried out once more garnering the attention of the rest who all came running back to look in awe at the crystal and shiny chain.

After all that and seeing the wide range of emotions I don't think I could kill them, at least not without a very compelling reason other than building my dungeon. I think I've finally decided what to do about the cave denizens so I leave the small group to celebrate. I take a perusal through the cave, finding a Bellinger’s Centipede, or rather a pair of them, locked in a very slow but calculated fight with each other, circling and occasionally lunging, attempting to dig their large venomous fangs into one another until one of them gains purchase. They both wrap themselves in on each other as a knotted ball of legs and body.

Remembering the information from Discern about them being cannibals, I decide to leave the winner to its meal and circle around to the nearest full kobold camp, blowing into the tent containing the young. There are two pools, one of which has a floating raft of eggs and the other is full of the tiny tadpole like juveniles, I decide to spend an hour or so weaving bindings for half of the eggs and half of the young, the collar-like sigils taking a positively minuscule amount of mana to weave compared to Cardinals, maybe it is related to size or maybe the current intelligence of the creature it's for. The finished binding rings were much less intricate than the one I needed for Cardinal. At first, I bound only the eggs as they showed no exterior changes from the mana, and then one by one I bound the juveniles and unlike the ants, they gained large iridescent flecks of orange in their irises instead of a sigil on their foreheads.

Unable to discern whether they were male or female I just chose at random, statistically I should get a decent mix. After finishing at the first camp I head around to the next few doing the same, and eventually, I’ve managed to bind around a quarter of the cave's population of young, not wanting to cause an ecological collapse if I can avoid it I decided to leave the vast majority of the young unbound. However on my way back, I see commotion from the first camp I visited and apparently, the caretakers have noticed the orange flecks in their eyes already, which was more or less to be expected I suppose with how keen they were about their young.

I decided to stay and watch instead of heading home, and I was able to witness the pair of chiefs arguing about something, the other shaking its head before arguing some more and gesturing at the pools. Eventually, the decision was made to gather the affected young in a large bowl where they were brought down to the lake and unceremoniously dumped in, possibly thinking they were diseased I guess. I was admittedly in a little bit of shock, seeing how caring they had been just to completely flip a 180 and essentially condemn these ones to almost assured death, and I wasn't the only one as the group of kobolds living at the lake had doused their fire and hid behind a large boulder half submerged in the water.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

I fly back up to the other camps and there was indeed more of the same, with every camp removing their young that I had bound and heading to the lake, panicking for the second time tonight I dive back into the water and feel around until I can find the connection to one of the little tadpoles where I decide to follow it, and then there's the pinprick in the back of my skull as one of them must have been eaten by something in the water, still following I eventually see the wall I had sealed off, and a small trail of tadpoles slipping through the hole I had left. They were finding their way to the closest point to me, which was reassuring, But I don't know if there are any predators so I head inside as well and take a look around, there are some larger fish in the deeper parts of the cave where I hollowed out the bottom and not anything else I can see that is big enough to eat the juvenile kobolds.

Acting on instinct more than actually thinking I form stone spikes from the walls and floor around the two larger fish in the room, skewering them and dissolving them, the taste was nauseating and slimy but I forced myself to power through it, trying to make sure I don't lose more of my newest little buddies, just as I'm having this thought another pinprick stabs me, followed by two more. I rush out into the greater expanse of water where I see another wave of tadpoles coming, and being assaulted by a large bass-like fish, I start heading over when the kobold I gave the necklace to darts in between the fish and more tadpoles, stabbing the fish with its spear. Regaining a sense of where it is it removes the glowing necklace and stuffs it into a pouch strapped to its leg, before gingerly cupping its free hand around a tadpole that was limping behind the others, already having lost the last quarter of its tail to some fish I'd guess.

The kobold cautiously follows the group of juveniles, keeping a lookout but it seems like it scared off the majority of the predators for the time being until it comes to the wall and tilts its head at the sight of the young swimming through the hole, taking another look at the infant in its hand it reaches out letting it swim ahead to join the rest of its siblings. This process repeats two more times as the camps, each one farther than the previous, finally make it to the water. The kobold managed to get the rest of its friends to help in herding the young to the wall, before they could make it back with the final herd...? school? I cut out a kobold-sized doorway in the wall and fill in the now gaping hole with a simple wood door, and rough stone hinges to make it hard enough to move that a stray current shouldn't blow it open but still useable as a door.

The group returned for the fifth and final time with no casualties only to stop curiously at the door, the lead kobold swimming up to it, poking hard at it with its spear, causing the door to swing open slightly. Taking a tentative look at each other before all slowly make their way into the cave, closing the door behind them, and swimming into the room proper. the group of kobolds is greeted by the swarm of tadpoles that bump and nudge them before swimming off to look for edible bits floating around, I watch for a little while and they seem to be content with just laying in the water relaxing for a bit in the company of each other and the young occasionally coming up to nudge them then swimming off.

Eventually, I make my way down to the wall again and make the hole just big enough to fit one of the tadpoles at a time and then head up to the waterline in the room, carving out a decent sized alcove with a ramp into the water, placing a stack of wood and some slabs of fish near a small circle of rocks, the sudden movement had garnered the attention of the adult kobolds in the room and they once again with caution explored the new addition to the room. Perhaps this won't turn out so bad after all I think as the group climbs out of the water and sniffs around, examining the meat and wood, slowly building a fire, and then drifting off to sleep after eating, I use Discern on the one I decided was the de-facto leader, the one I gave the necklace to.

Female Cave Kobold, Uncommon,

Kobolds are a semi-aquatic reptilian species often found in caves with natural springs or in marshes and mangrove forests, named and colored respectively for their habitat, very agile swimmers, and adept at climbing sheer surfaces they are often seen creating communities on ledges or trees overlooking bodies of water where they hunt the majority of their food. As obligate carnivores, they cannot consume vegetation, at least not before a substantial amount of processing before it is consumed.

Generally living in warring tribal societies they are very loyal to their kin, and will often pick fights with other kobolds that aren’t a part of their tribe. Tribes consist of two mature males and a number of mature females along with their offspring until the offspring reaches an age appropriate to find a group and start their own tribe, very rarely two or more tribes will join together and form a small community, but this is generally only the case in cave kobolds due to the lack of available space for multiple tribes to coexist in one cavern or cave system. Kobolds lay eggs and will guard their progeny with fierce determination, willing to throw themselves against much larger and more dangerous predators. Kobolds become sentient after their time as water-bound juveniles, leaving their spawn pool and taking part in tribe activities seems to wake the dormant half of their brain, generally taking six months as a “tadpole” or infant after leaving their egg but this process is accelerated with higher local mana densities and proper water properties, water is a requirement for the eggs to hatch, however the lack of water or substantial humidity will not kill the embryo; in times of drought, a tribe may forgo a spawning pool; allowing their eggs to dry out causing the shell to harden into a bone like material resistant to impacts. However, the embryo becomes dormant in this state and will not begin maturing until adequate hydration returns. Under perfect conditions, a clutch of eggs can hatch in as little as two weeks but as with most creatures, high density mana can reduce the amount of time needed for gestation, and can negate the adverse effects of poor environmental conditions.

Nothing new in the description, but at least I know it's female, no, she. I know she is female, and she must have one hell of a maternal instinct to go out of her way to protect a bunch of young that aren't hers. I use discern on the rest of her group; the other three are also female. Maybe the females make groups and the males have to win them over, similar to how the ants do their thing. That's a line of thought for another time though, I think to myself as I go back to my sanctum, I need to figure out what to do with the four lady kobolds, I can’t bind them to me so maybe I can somehow make a contract. Making a quick eyeball measurement I carve out a temporary Kobold height tunnel from my sanctum up and over the nursery and all the way to the water filled chamber evenly spacing lumen crystals down the path as I go, taking about an hour to rest and regenerate more mana and also to let them rest a bit longer before, as quietly as I can muster, I carve away an entrance to the tunnel, which to my credit didn't wake the kobolds, unfortunately, the mana filling the deprived chamber did as it entered in the form of a stiff breeze breathing life into the air finally connecting me properly to the room once again.

The four kobolds awaken and look around, not immediately noticing the new entrance until the one closest lets out a surprised croak at the sight of the new tunnel where there was a solid wall before. They discuss something for a while, taking glances at one another and towards the water, finally and with even more trepidation that they've shown before two of them head into the tunnel, the one with the necklace and the shortest of the group, the other two stay behind, weapons in hand. Not expecting them to have made the decision to explore so soon I hurriedly make my way down to the nursery where Cardinal is yet again laying more eggs, and strike up a conversation through the bond.

“Hey Cardinal, there's going to be some visitors soon, and I need you to not panic or overreact.” At this, she just looks at me very confused with a slight twist of her antenna and a clack of her mandibles.

“You mean the softshells from yesterday?”

“No, I mean brand new people, and they are going to be in my core room, very soon.” She immediately stiffens up and I can feel worry flooding the connection. “Like I said I need you not to panic, I'm going to try and make a contract with them, and you mustn't scare them, I don't want people with weapons, crude as they may be, to start panicking around my core.” I can tell she is mulling over my words and as she is doing this I send out feelers into the new passageway, they are almost halfway.

“I don't like this.” she says to me with no small amount of authority in her tone.

“I know, but it's very important, if it helps you feel better you can post guards at the entrance to the sanctum.” I try to reason with her as the kobolds pass the halfway mark.

“To hell with that, I'll stand guard myself, and if I feel even an antenna twitch out of place up there I’m coming inside.” Knowing this was probably the best I was going to get with her I relent and agree then head up into my sanctum. The kobolds have hit the stairs that mark the final quarter of the passage and the tension hanging in the air thickens as their pace slows. I feel Cardinal nudge me through the bond and I open the connection, but don't say anything.

“Next time can you at least converse with me about something like this first, I don't like not knowing about something like unknown people entering the most vital part of you without being able to prepare.” Her words hang in my mind for a moment before I can think of anything to say.

“I know, and I'm sorry, it was just kind of spur of the moment, I was planning on talking to you and Onyx about it before they woke up, but they were awake a lot sooner than I was expecting.” I finished speaking as the first soft footstep can be heard very close to the doorway. “Can't talk more, they're here.” I say finally before closing the connection but I can feel the equivalent of a sigh from Cardinal before it closes completely.

The first scaly foot peeks into the doorway, followed by a head and a spear. All caution is dropped by the kobold however when she sees my core, softly bathing her face in orange light and reflecting off her eyes. She quickly recomposes herself and takes a cautious step inside looking around at the furniture of my room, and clutching the spear to her chest with both hands she steps fully into the room, quietly followed by the other kobold, who had almost the exact same reaction to my core as the first one. Taking short tentative steps she inches herself closer and closer to the core until I can actually feel her breathing on me as she gazes into it.

Taking a quick glance around first like a child not wanting to get caught in the fridge at night, she reaches out and touches the surface with a pair of fingers, her short claws making soft clicks as they contact and the pads of her fingers are cold but not uncomfortable, and then her eyes widen and she looks directly at me, sitting on the floor against the wall across from her. She removes her hand and readies it on her spear, but her face turns to something like confusion and she looks at my core, then back to where I'm sitting, then back again, and gently places her hand on the core, she shivers and her eyes widen. I stand up and start walking towards her and her eyes follow me, she starts to remove her hand again so I stop and gently raise my hands, she stops moving and I continue walking over, then crouch in front of her, and place my hand on the core.

The world goes blank and I'm standing in the big grayish blue expanse that I've come to know as the inside of my mind, hearing a groan and soft curses that I can understand from behind me. I turn around to see the kobold on her knees on the floor one hand on the ground and the other on her head. Eventually, she looks around and then up at me where we make eye contact and I grin.

“First time?” I say as she finally stands up, blinking a few times.