Chapter Two-Hundred Sixty-Six

Finally, the agent’s here!  Waiting for him was like waiting for a repairguy to show up.  At least he can’t show up while I’m gone, seeing as I can’t really move.  Teemo and Aranya both head off to meet him as soon as he leaves with the Stag, and I try to listen in through the Southwood’s bond with him.

It doesn’t work very well.  I mostly get the feeling the Stag doesn’t care for him much, but that doesn’t really tell me a lot.  The Stag is kinda grumpy and doesn’t seem to like many people much.

Anyway, Teemo starts forging a shortcut at the outskirts of SIlvervein, now we don’t need to worry about hostiles being able to take it.  It’ll also help the locals be able to dive the Southwood easier and just make things a bit smoother all around.

“You seem a lot less nervous about this guy than usual, Boss.  He’s an Agent of Order, according to that quest.  Feeling less nervous about dealing with deities?” asks Teemo as he and Aranya walk the shortcut.  He’s rushing it, and I can feel his dissatisfaction with his work, but he’s as eager to get the Harbinger dealt with as I am.  He can take the time to smooth the shortcut out after the agent is done.

I think technically being one has kinda worn away a lot of the mystique.  Lower-case g’s seem to be closer in power to what I was expecting of an angel, and not even an archangel at that.

Teemo pauses and scratches at his ear for a second before replying.  “An agent of a god and a… strong agent of a god?  Those two feel a bit fuzzy around the edges, Boss.”

Probably for the best.  Comprehending those fully would probably be way worse for your health than even the craziest scientific theories.

“If you say so.  How do you think the meeting will go, then?”

I dunno.  I’d expect him to be pretty eager to get the Harbinger, but I don’t know what that’ll actually entail.  If he has to actually bring it somewhere, he’ll probably just grab the thing and leave.

“Probably, yeah.  What do you think, Aranya?” he asks, looking over his shoulder at my High Priestess as she follows in through the shortcut.

“I don’t know.  As part of my duties, I had been looking into the other gods well before I ever left Fourdock, but there’s not a lot of information to be had on Order,” she admits.  “He may be even less interested in empty ceremony than Lord Thedeim.  He has a main temple in the elven capital, but it’s supposed to be rather small and could be easily mistaken for an accounting firm or something similar.  His adherents worship him through ensuring order in their daily lives and in keeping things stable.  A lot of bureaucrats follow him, even though few bother proclaiming it.  There’s even a rumor the king himself is a follower.”

Ugh, I hope we don’t get a humorless paper pusher.  Sure, that kind of efficiency is good when paperwork is absolutely required, but I don’t want to have to submit a greeting in triplicate before he’ll even acknowledge us.

Teemo snorts at that image.  “Lots of boring soulless ink slingers, then?”

Aranya shakes her head for a moment, before reconsidering.  “There’s probably some, but the ones that are more clear about their devotion are supposed to be friendly enough, if often awkward around more ordinary people.”

Sounds like introverts instead of misanthropes, so that’ll be good.  I’ll take awkward friendliness over rigid regulation every day of the week.

The conversation drifts as they keep walking, since we don’t really have a lot of information to go on.  Teemo’s looking forward to meeting someone else with spatial affinity, while Aranya is looking forward to meeting a representative of a god.  I guess they both want to talk some shop, in their own ways.  While I’m pretty sure the guy isn’t a High Priest like Aranya, he’s still pretty highly positioned in a bigger and more organized institution.  Even if I don’t think I’ll be running things anything like Order, getting a peek behind the curtain should help keep things from going sideways.

Even with having to go uphill, and the distance, Teemo and Aranya are blazing through the tunnels towards the surface.  It was a good two or three day march down, but they meet the agent at around sunset, as useful as that measurement is underground.

Putting that Opener of Ways title to work, eh Teemo?

Teemo nods as the two groups approach, with the Stag giving a bow to my Voice and my High Priestess, and the gnome beside him offering one of his own before the Voice of the Southwood speaks.

“Voice Teemo, Lady Aranya.  My Lord has asked me to witness what has transpired with my own eyes.  I hope that’s agreeable?”

Teemo pshaws and waves a hand.  “Of course, Stag.  The Boss is hoping you and Silvervein will get along well so you can get some extra mana, and they can have some stable food and dungeon access while they get things figured out.”

The Stag straightens and nods.  “That would be most agreeable to my Lord.  Your shortcuts to both Fourdock and Silvervein will be most helpful.  He also hopes it’s not presumptuous to suggest one to the orcish Wanderlands at some point as well?”

Teemo taps his chin as he thinks about that.  “It’ll probably be a while for that.  The Boss has plans for his part of the Harbinger’s mana, and those’ll keep me busy for quite a bit.”

The Stag nods once more.  “My Lord understands, Voice Teemo.  He wished to raise the possibility, rather than demand anything.”

“The Boss has added it to the list.  Now, about your companion,” Teemo turns his attention to the gnome, who despite wearing what looks like a traveling robe, the cut makes me think of a business suit.

“My name is Kennith Ridgeward, and I will be acting as Lord Order’s representative.  I have to admit, I didn’t expect the fledgeling god to be a dungeon.”  He peers at Teemo for a few moments before realizing how undiplomatic that statement is.  “Er, not to insinuate-”

He’s cut off by a giggle from Aranya.  “The truth won’t offend Lord Thedeim.  He fully accepts he’s new to this.  I think he’s doing very well, though I may be a bit biased,” she says with a wink, and the gnome relaxes slightly.

“Ah, thank you.  I’m more used to dealing with dwarves and contracts than with greeting new gods.  Not that I think there are many out there used to something like that.”  Aranya nods as Teemo steps into the conversation.

“So you’re going to take the Harbinger and complete the quest the Boss got?”

Kennith nods.  “I am, though I think that may have to wait until tomorrow.  Even with this spatial working, I fear I’d be exhausted before ever reaching Silvervein.  You’re the one responsible for these shortcuts?” he asks my Voice, who nods.

“Yeah, I am, and yeah, I think we should relax and head back after some rest.  I’m Teemo, no fancy titles needed.  The Boss likes me to try to keep people grounded, especially himself.  So, how’s this going to work, anyway?”

The gnome pats a pocket of his robe.  “I have the supplies for writing up a contract with me.  Once I can confirm the entity and its imprisonment, I can formalize the exchange.  The specifics will depend on the details, which I won’t be able to get until I can see the situation with my own eyes.  My Lord was rather sparse on details, and only said you have a being He is interested in, that you had agreed to transfer it, and that I would finalize the deal.  You being a dungeon may complicate matters, though.”

“Oh?  How?” asks Teemo as he hops onto Aranya’s shoulder, and the group looks for a good spot to set up camp for the night.

“Dungeons are more tightly restrained by the system than people are, so there may be more things to consider than usual.  I could give the details if you want, but there are shelves of tomes of the minutiae that could potentially become relevant, depending on the specifics.”

Teemo and I both blanch at that, much to the amusement of Aranya.  “I believe Lord Thedeim is content to wait and see what the actual complications will be, rather than listen to an exhaustive list of potentials.”

The gnome smirks and nods.  “I had suspected, but didn’t want to presume.  And speaking of presumptions: will the shortcuts stay stable indefinitely?”

Teemo shrugs.  “Probably not indefinitely, but they don’t seem to require much more maintenance than a normal road.  I have a shortcut all the way from the Southwood to Fourdock, and just slapped together this one to Silvervein.  Then there’s the Mobius Trap I have the Harbinger in.  They’re all pretty stable.”

“Even for a ‘slapped together’ work, this shortcut is impressive.  Most spatial magic is used to make internalized spaces larger, but you seem to focus on making distances shorter?”

Teemo nods.  “Yeah.  I started as a Scout for the Boss, making shortcuts around his territory for his denizens to get to wherever they needed to get to.”

Kennith looks thoughtful before he replies.  “I’ve heard of similar classes among Rangers, though they call theirs trails.  I’ve never had a chance to study them, though.  I’m usually busy with contracts.  Seeing compression on such a scale is very interesting, especially when combined with the warping inside to make it feel like level ground.”

Teemo smirks.  “If you like the warping, wait until you see the Mobius Trap!”

“What is that?” he asks, looking intrigued.

“It’s… well, it’s complicated.  It’ll probably be simpler to show you.  If you’re experienced with spatial stuff, you should be able to handle it without any issues.”

That earns a raised eyebrow from the gnome.  “It’s a complicated spatial working, then?”

Teemo smirks as they find a small water stream coming from a wall, and so can begin making camp.  “It is, and it isn’t.  I haven’t seen anyone else talk about something like it, other than the Boss.  I haven’t met many others with spatial affinity, though, so I couldn’t tell you how unusual it is.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing it then.  Once we get camp set up, I should show you my leaguestride boots.  It’s not often spatial casters can compare notes.”

I smile at Teemo’s eagerness to get a look at those boots, and settle back to doodle some basic designs and budget for my upcoming forest of four seasons.  I do my best to keep my thoughts out of Teemo’s ear so he can focus more on geeking out about spatial magic.  He doesn’t get a chance to relax too often, so I want to let him enjoy it as much as possible when the opportunity arises.