Chapter Forty-Eight: Thedeim

Chapter Forty-Eight: Thedeim

Teemos done ascending! Hes not even crawled out of the rats nest before Im nudging him with what I want him to say first. Come on, say it! Please?

My rat Voice gives a sigh.

Captain Teemo on duty. But Im not a captain I think? Im pretty sure he brings up his status to look at, while Im silently celebrating at the top of my not-lungs. I calm down by the time hes done looking, and he looks a bit confused.

Honestly, I kinda am, too, but Im not concerned. Fluffles became a quatl, but Teemo is still just a rat. Not a dire rat, or a ratling, or some crazy spirit rat or something. Just a rat. Who can talk. How do you feel, Teemo?

Faster? And I can hear you more clearly. Oh? What did I sound like before?

You didnt really sound at all. Just feelings and flashes of intent. Ooohh, like an Empathic bond. Thats kinda how I hear you guys, too. Anyhow, do you have any questions for me, before we get to work?

He manages to look a bit bashful. Yeah. Uh why me? I know you were considering Poe and Tiny, but why me?The inaugural upload of this chapter took place via N0v3l-B1n.

Well, theres a couple things. One is the cult. I had a feeling my Voice would be kinda influenced by who I chose, instead of just regurgitating what I say. Poe would be a bit too regimented. He likes things ordered and planned. Tiny would probably give me an air of mystery and wisdom, but after the cult really got started, I started thinking thatd be a bad idea. So I wanted you, Teemo, to keep me grounded.

The second thing is that youre the best one to get around to actually talk to people. With your shortcuts and size, you can basically get from anywhere to anywhere in less time than itd take Tiny to even get out of his maze.

And youll be a bit of a test for delvers who want to talk to me. If they cant give you the respect you deserve as my Voice, just because they think youre a normal rat, then I dont have anything to say to them except goodbye.

Teemo takes a few minutes trying to process that. I felt his uncertainty before he ascended, so Im not really surprised he needs a bit of time to come to terms with everything.

What should I call you? he asks suddenly, and I regard him curiously. What do you mean?

Yes, the Boss name is Thedeim. You can call him that, or Boss, or Sanctuary just dont call him late for dinner? What? He looks towards my core, despite being over in the ratkin enclave, before shaking himself and continuing.

Anyway, he only really has one piece of advice for how to live. Love. Larx and Aranya both look confused at this, but at least they seem to have learned to be quiet while my Voice is talking.

And not lust. Hes not a sex sanctuary. Hes a love sanctuary, so dont go organizing big orgies or something to try to make him happy. Just love. Genuinely care for others, without needing anything back.

Aranya looks overjoyed, and Larx smiles like hes been given some great nugget of wisdom. When Teemo doesnt continue, Larx speaks up first.

A wise and caring Sanctuary Thedeim.

Aranya looks about ready to explode and starts talking a mile a minute, before Teemo gets her to quiet down long enough to get a word in edgewise.

Settle down! The Boss knows you want to talk, Aranya, but weve got stuff to do. When she looks like he just ate her puppy, he hastily continues. But we can talk in the morning, before you go to sleep, ok?

The red kobold perks up significantly at that, and I mentally smile at the three, before directing my attention elsewhere. Teemos not kidding about me having stuff to do. I got a very nice pile of mana from the priests battle with Tiny, and even more once he looted the chest.

Its enough for me to at least finish the first part of what I want for the crypt complex. The ratlings havent broken through to the crypt just yet, but it should be close. Ive also been upgrading the zombie and skeleton spawners, and theyre both ready for me to choose their specialization.

I take a closer look at my options, and notice ones that I didnt before: Fungal zombies and green skeletons. At first, I want to ignore the fungal zombies, but I actually think theyll be safe. The plague rats that Neverrest had never actually started a plague, they just could infect delvers with stuff with a bite. So I dont think Ill be accidentally shrooming the city to destruction. Im pretty sure theyll just have chances to drop mushrooms when beaten, which is kinda cool.

The green skeletons are a bit more vague. I dont think theyre just gonna be a recolor of a normal skeleton. Maybe theyll be kinda mossy? Whatever they are, theyre more intriguing than the other skeleton options. So I go ahead and upgrade the spawners. The zombies dont change much, except for growing a little mushroom on the top of their heads. Its almost cute. The skeletons actually do start developing moss, so yay for guessing!

Now all I need to do is wait for the ratlings to break through, and they can start populating the crypt complex.