Peek: Olander's Field Notes

In the finest suite in the finest inn in Fourdock sits a desk. Atop that desk, and strewn about other nearby surfaces like the window sill and floor, lay the field notes of the Crown Inspector, who sits in the eye of the storm. Where some prefer voice notes, or taking notes while actually in the field, Olander Wideblade has his own method. From the outside, it looks like madness, as he tends to be rather quiet on an inspection, before returning to his room to write out pages of notes to organize later.

When he was starting out as an inspector, he had dozens of wax tablets to hold his temporary notes, before he'd organize them coherently for his reports. Sometimes he still uses them, but his latest assignment has him making more notes than would allow tablets to fit in his room, and so paper it is.

It's good to have funding from the Crown.

At the center of the chaotic mess is the booklet from the local branch of the Dungeoneers, which is not free from his rampage of ink and charcoal. Hardly a line in the book has escaped his curiosity, with words crammed onto the page to voice it, or numbered notes leading somewhere in the dense forest of paper slowly consuming his suite.

Even the name of the dungeon, Thedeim, has a page of notes, trying to figure out where it could have come from. It did not slip his notice that the dungeon itself chose the name, so it must have some importance, if only he could discover it.

And that's only the first of the oddities of Thedeim. With how his spawners are specialized, he would have pegged the dungeon as a toybox, but he hasn't been able to find a single delver who hasn't had to fight denizens to get anywhere interesting in the dungeon! The only exception seems to be for those visiting the enclaves, and even then the dwellers specifically escort guests to and from the enclave.

The fights are never deadly, a fact that has a whole stack of notes devoted to it, yet are also rarely trivial. What trivial fights are had simply seem to be to gauge how tough a particular delver or group is. There are rumors of Grim making appearances outside the graveyard shortly before some encounters and somehow warding away some unfortunate accident, but little in the way of details. The closest would be the encounter with a tunnel horror, but he's already spent enough time agonizing over that particular report.

All he's been able to glean is the grudging acceptance that trying to fight Grim would, at best, be an exorcise in futility. If the skeletal scion is really powerful enough to subtly weave life, death, and fate affinities so as to make everyone question if he's even doing anything, he's powerful enough that Olander should leave it be. He's confident he could win, but why even try when all he would do is likely upset the dungeon?

Especially since there's another undead scion that seems ready, willing, and able to give him a fight. He had skipped the section on this Rocky the first time, but after hearing everyone talk the shambling corpse up, he took a closer look. What he read was a good reminder to not let his ego get ahead of himself. If the report is accurate, he would have had his rear handed to him if he approached a fight with Rocky like any other zombie scion.

Probably if he tried to treat him like a lich, too. He's heard of elemental unarmed fighters from lands across the sea, but never had the chance to face one. From what he's reading, Rocky could teach them a thing or two, and it makes him wonder just how he should prepare for their upcoming match.

He hasn't yet accepted the quest officially, but it's a foregone conclusion at this point. The adventurers like to argue about if Rocky or Fluffles are the stronger scion, and considering Fluffles is the Conduit, the argument should be settled. Yet the adventurers are pretty evenly split. Olander has faced a few conduits, so he understands the raw power they wield, yet the primary argument in Rocky's favor is his control and raw combat capability.

The prospect is enough to drive Olander to distraction, itching to just go down there and throw down the gauntlet. But he should keep his cover, and he really should try to organize this mess into a preliminary report for the Crown. Despite all the questions Thedeim himself poses, he's also a very clear answer to the question of Fourdock's taxes last year. The town is in a boom, and by all appearances, it's only getting started.

Forget simple funding for improved roads. The Crown should dust off the old sea routes and see if they're still viable. The locals are convinced the sea is going to be truly open to them once more. If the Crown helps, not only can they bet on a lot of good will, but a lot of tariffs. The King looks at a profitable and stable town a lot like Olander looks at a good fight: something to be cherished and encouraged at all reasonable cost.