Peek: Business as Usual

To the delvers of Thedeim, the dungeon is an oddity.  Simply being cooperative makes him a strange dungeon, and even the ordinary citizenry of Fourdock is pretty sure his growth has been quick.  But for all that the outsiders find Thedeim strange, the insiders feel similarly.

The scions are better able to grasp the strangeness of their home, thanks to their possession of higher thought.  They can think in the abstract, plan for the future, analyze the past, and have a vague idea of how a dungeon is supposed to run.  An idea that Thedeim regularly shatters on accident.

For the denizens, there is a sense of oddity to their home, but most are not quite smart enough to truly understand it.  The ratlings and aranea come close to being able to, but neither really sees the point.  The new magmyrms are still finding their place, though even they understand they shouldn't have a need to.  They still find it oddly comforting to be given the chance.

For the ordinary denizens, not the pinnacles of their respective spawners, the understanding of Thedeim's weirdness is more instinctual.  Instinct, for example, says they should destroy the delvers, or give their all in the attempt.  Yet the influence of Thedeim tells them to hold back, to retreat if able, and to never go for the finishing blow.

For many of the denizens, that's more than fine by them.  With so many focused more towards resources, their fighting instincts are lessened even without Thedeim's guiding touch.  The pack rats don't mind a fight or two as they go about their business of gathering resources, and some of the resource denizens even see the fights as a nice break.  Even though they are literally made for their jobs, a break from monotony helps them to keep their focus.

In the manor and the tunnels, encounters are more random and improvised than deeper down.  The simple number of delvers in those areas makes it difficult for the denizens to do much more than form a small group and ply the shortcuts, looking for a good group of delvers to challenge.

Deeper down, in the caverns, the denizens get more of a chance to prepare.  The wide variety of power level, both among the delvers and the denizens, requires the denizens to take the effort to put in a little thought before attacking.

A twinsnake could be a good challenge for a seasoned group of adventurers, but a group of miners would be severely injured at best, even with the healing ants and slimes always hiding in the shortcuts.  The mixed groups give the denizens the biggest pause, like the current group of miners being escorted to the marble quarry.

The twinsnake relaxing nearby continues to relax.  They know a mixed group like that will force them to hold back too much to make it worth anyone's time.  The other nearby denizens deliberate on how to challenge the group.  In the past, the best way to engage mixed groups would be something big for the adventurers, and many smaller things for the miners.

The idea cycles through the minds of the denizens, in a way not all that dissimilar to a quest being offered to delvers, and different denizens start filling roles.  This one will be an interesting encounter.  A pair of widows are exploring the caverns, but are just a little too soft to be a proper challenge to the adventurers.  However, an arcane hand is in the area, too. It has kinetic affinity, which should help the widows take a few more hits than usual.

For the miners, rockslides are the common answer, but there's also a few dire rat thieves, who should be able to mix up the seemingly simple encounter.  A bit of chaos and a bit of thievery for the miners, and a pair of two tough targets with a sneaky trick for the adventurers.

The slides and rats get into position along the path to the quarry, while the widows set up just to the side.  A mix of tactics is the key to a mixed group, and the denizens can feel themselves resonating with the intentions of Thedeim.  It will be a good challenge, but the delvers should be up to the task.  If something goes wrong, that's what the healing ants and slimes are for.

They don't worry about something going really wrong.  If something like that would happen, Grim shows up to adjust the group, or even wave them off entirely.  Yes... this will be a good challenge, and maximize the mana they can make for Thedeim.  At the end of the day, that's all any of them really want.

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Inspired by Alex Turff who wanted to see what an encounter was like from the perspective of the denizens.