Chapter Two-Hundred Ninety-Two

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Berdol

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He’s been looking forward to this inspection

Inspecting Thedeim is still intimidating to the catkin, and he’s not certain he’ll be able to do it justice, but the dungeon’s protege is another story.  He’s had fun sparring with Onyx, and now she’s apparently the Voice, he can’t wait to be able to hold an actual conversation with her.

And, with the paperwork finally sorted with the inspection of Hullbreak, he’s ready to check on the youngest dungeon in the area.  He’s not so sure he can say the same thing about Olander, though.  If Violet wasn’t a toybox, he’d be concerned about how distracted the elf is.  If he’s supposed to be a bodyguard, he should probably pay a bit more attention.

He can guess as to why, at least.  The elf had been very apprehensive about Thedeim, even planning to do a solo delve or two before Teemo waylaid him with the suggestion to fight Rocky.  He did his first solo delve the other day, and there’s probably only a handful of people in all of Fourdock who don’t know he accepted the quest.

A lot more people probably don’t know that he actually got a reading from Tiny, though.  Berdol didn’t even know that was a thing!  He was vaguely aware that people with strong Fate affinity could do something like that, as he was aware Tiny was supposed to be the scion with the most fate expertise.  He just never put those two threads together.

He eyes Olander as the two make for the sewer outlet to the sea, wondering what’s going on in the elf’s head.  There’s probably no harm in asking, right?

“Worried about fighting Rocky?”  Berdol would be, even if it were an ordinary challenge.  He’s read the reports of other challengers, and has no idea how someone is even supposed to fight the crazy zombie.

At least the question seems to knock Olander out of his own head, earning a confused sound before he processes the question.  “Not worried.  More… intrigued.  I’ve faced a lot of scions from other dungeons, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard one talked up as much as Rocky.  With the average level of Thedeim’s denizens, it’d be easy to think the townsfolk lack perspective on how strong scions can get… but with how odd Thedeim behaves, underestimating Rocky would be a fast way to lose.”

Berdol nods at that as they near the shoreline.  The sewer outlet isn’t exactly by the docks, but the geography makes it simplest to have the outlet near there.  Thankfully, not near enough for the smell to travel far.  “Yeah, if you don’t take the fight seriously, he’ll knock you out without much preamble.  I get the feeling he’ll want to make a show of the fight with you, especially with the notice on the board about it.”

Olander snorts.  “I’ve never seen a dungeon advertise!  Sure, more people will come to watch, but how did he even come up with something like that?”

Berdol echoes his snort as the outlet comes into view.  “That’s a question I hear around the guild a lot.  We don’t really have an answer, and I think both Tarl and Telar have given up on finding it.”

“How about you?  Do you have any ideas, or hopes of figuring him out?”

The catkin shrugs.  “Not really.  I don’t think it really needs an answer, and the surprise is part of the fun of delving him.”

“I understand that, at least.  Teemo mentioned Thedeim wanted me to not be bored, but I didn’t think he’d be able to give me any kind of a challenge.  Then he chained encounters at me throughout the entire manor, keeping me constantly moving.  I’ve never had so much fun against denizens I so outclassed.”

Berdol nods absently as he levitates out the key and unlocks the grating, though he pauses as he notices something.  He levitates his notes as Olander gives the air a few tentative sniffs.

“I don’t smell much sewage.  Either there’s a clog, or Violet is already working hard in there.”

Berdol hums as he makes his notes, agreeing.  “Yep.  Her expanding is all but official in our records, so part of this inspection will be in making it actually official.”  With his note made, he uses his affinity to open the grate, rather than touching it directly.  Violet doesn’t seem to own the sewers all the way to here, and even if she did, it’d take more time to clean it enough for him to touch.

“I’m glad towns started designing with sewer dungeons in mind,” comments Olander as they enter, the elf lighting a torch so they can easily see.

“Oh?  Haven’t they been doing that for a long time?”

Olander nods as he looks around.  “Yeah, but some of the really old cities have sewers that weren’t designed like that.  When the dungeon gets subsumed, they upgrade, but the really old sewer dungeons don’t like delvers trying to reshape their territory.  I think most town leaders would rather have an upset murderous dungeon than an unhappy sewer, so they don’t bother pressing the issue.  I was an escort in one where we had to have aqua affinity potions as well as disease and poison protection, too.”

The catkin shudders at the idea, and even the elf looks haunted by the memories for a moment before he continues.  “At least this one has plenty of headroom.”

Berdol makes a note to get some disease protection potions the next time he has to do a sewer inspection.  He doubts he’ll need them for this one… hopefully.  The air isn’t exactly pleasant, but considering they still haven’t found Violet’s borders, it could be a lot worse.  If she wasn’t actively cleaning things in her area, the stench would probably be much worse.

He pauses as he feels the change that signals entering a dungeon, and looks back at the exit with a measuring eye.  “What would you say?  About… a hundred feet from the outlet?”

Olander glances back before nodding.  “About there, yeah.  What sorts of spawns is she supposed to have?  Do you know?”

“Teemo mentioned putrid oozes and caiman, but nobody was crazy enough to try to come in here to verify on their own.”

“That glamorous duty is all yours,” replies Olander with a smirk as they continue walking, both appreciating how quickly the air is clearing.  He bars Berdol’s path with the blunt end of his glaive when he spots movement in the mostly-clear water.  “Looks like a caiman to me.  How do you want to handle it?”

Berdol makes a note of the denizen as he considers, then gently pushes the offending haft down and out of his way.  “For now, we’ll leave it alone.  If it follows her usual methods, it’s mostly there for invaders.  If it attacks, deal with it, but otherwise let it do its job.”

Olander tenses for a moment as Berdol moves his spear, before releasing his breath and shaking his head with a smile.  “Right, toybox.”

The catkin smirks as they walk past the denizen, letting it lazily swim along its patrol.  “Do they even make belligerent sewer dungeons?  I don’t think I’ve seen any examples in the books yet.”

“Eh, a couple, but you’re right.  They’re mostly cooperative.  Some are just more… cooperative than others.”  He doesn’t get a chance to elaborate as they round the corner and seem to hit a wall of stench.  The source is obvious as a large stagnant pool can be seen ahead of them, writhing with movement.

Berdol shudders at the sight, making a note as he comments.  “They don’t call them putrid oozes for nothing.”

Olander shrugs, seeming to only be bothered by the smell.  “I dunno.  I think the slimes are kinda cute.  I had a friend when I was a kid who had a domesticated one as a pet.”

“A domesticated putrid ooze?!”  Berdol recoils at the image of what kind of parent would allow that, with the image only getting more ridiculous as Olander laughs.

“Not a putrid one!  A normal one.  We liked to go out and gather a bunch of flowers to feed it to change its color.  We got in a lot of trouble one time when we took some flowers that weren’t wild, heh.”  The elf chuckles at the memory even as Berdol tries to usher them away from the wriggling pool.

His eyes twinkle in mischief as he continues.  “I’ve heard of adventurers sometimes keeping putrid oozes, though.  Just put it in a box or other container and have a bottomless chamberpot!”

Berdol gags at the idea, much to the mirth of Olander.  A second voice joins the echoing laughter as the sewer tunnel darkens, cutting off the elf as he raises his glaive.

“A portable ooze!  I wonder if I could get Violet to send them on expeditions like that, somehow.”  The shadows lengthen as the elf takes a defensive position, though Berdol’s laughter cracks his focus for a moment.

“Relax, Olander!  It’s Onyx!”

Olander does anything but relax as he keeps his eyes on his surroundings.  “That’s not a gremlin.”

“Not anymore I’m not, no.  I’m a shade now.  It’s a lot easier to get around like this.”  She slowly steps away from the wall in front of Olander, respecting the distance he can easily reach with his weapon.  Where she used to hardly reach Berdol’s waist, now she’s noticeably taller than him!  Two holes in the darkness mark her eyes, letting the two delvers see the tunnel beyond her, and a mouth cuts through the shadows when she speaks.

“It feels like it’s been a while, Berdol!  Too busy to come give me more fighting tips?”

He chuckles and nods.  “A bit, actually.  There’s a lot that goes into learning to be an inspector, and your mentor causing mischief doesn’t help things.”

Onyx’s grin stretches her face, making Olander tense up again, but Berdol ignores him and simply steps up to get a closer look at his friend and scion as she replies.  “Mischief is part of the fun!”  Her smile slips a bit for a moment, before she sighs and lets the smile shrink back to more ordinary proportions.  “Violet says it’s only sometimes fun.  Are you going to be ok?  She was worried you might freak out if I kept teasing,” she asks Olander, who slowly lowers his glaive.  He takes a few moments before replying.

“Sorry.  I haven’t had good experiences with shades before.”

Onyx slumps a little.  “Ah, sorry about that.  I’m still getting used to being a shade.  There’s just so much more I can do now!”

“On top of being a Voice,” points out Berdol, earning a happy nod.

“Yes!  That’s actually why I’m here.  Violet knows the Mentor usually has his Voice along for inspections, so I’m here!  Is there anything I can help with?”

Berdol nods and consults his notes.  “I have a whole list of things, if you don’t mind.”  She smiles at that, urging him to continue.  “Well, to start with, are there any new scions?”

“Yes, Slimy and Teeth!  They’re both a bit busy, but Slimy is just back that way, dealing with a pool.  Let me introduce you”!

Berdol starts to protest, but is cut off by a smirking Olander.  “He’d love to!  It’s his duty as an inspector to personally meet as many scions in a dungeon as he can, after all.”  Berdol’s look of betrayal earns another peal of laughter from the elf, who follows along as Onyx leads the way.

Being an inspector is not always easy.