Chapter Two-Hundred Seventeen

Chapter Two-Hundred Seventeen

Harlenss is true to his word, and shows up bright and early at the ratkin enclave. A pretty big portion of the enclave shows up, too, all eager to learn a bit of clotherie from an expert in the field. He looks a little intimidated by the numbers for a moment, but thats the only hint of weakness he shows the entire time hes there.

He teaches at the its still weird to call it that, but the open pulpit that Larx usually gives his sermons from. I can see his eyes linger for a few moments on the various murals around by now, but hes a pro and gives a proper lecture. He even brings groups closer when he demonstrates a particular stitch or cut, repeating for each group so they can have an example to go on.

By the end, he even has the showmanship to present Larx with a warm coat, produced as part of the lecture. He accepts it with grace, of course, and its pretty obvious that my ratkin, at least, are satisfied with the lessons. He takes a break just before lunch to, I can only assume, get some lunch, before heading down to the spiderkin enclave to give them their share of lessons.

The turnout there is much larger. Practically everyone whos not a lobster wrangler shows up, including all three of the triumvirate. Norloke is especially interested in the lessons, and asks a few technical questions that would go right over my head if I still had it. Harlenss, however, gives her succinct answers that satisfy her and earn nods from the other spiderkin.

The practical example from this one is more of a group effort than with the ratkin. Vernew gets voluntold by Norloke to get measured, which she does with only minimal grumbling. Shes definitely not grumbling by the end of the day, though. Harlenss makes one of the legs for a snow suit, and the spiderkin make the others as he continues on to the other pieces.

Theres a ton of buttons and other old-school fasteners involved, too. Getting in and out of the suit is going to be a bit of a thing. I think it might be time to introduce zippers to the world. With Jello being a Smith now, its even feasible!

I rub the rough idea on the bond with her, which seems to get her attention, and I work on trying to draw out the design for one. Its probably not a surprise theres no zippers here. Maybe someone like the king has them? Without automation, producing them could be a pain, and its a weird idea in the first place anyway.

Its also a lot more complex and precise than most give it credit for. The teeth need to be designed to interlink, but also to disengage easily when the zipper passes. I never had a reason to investigate them before meeting that truck, so the geometry involved is going to have to be made up.

She smirks and winks at my core. Youre very close to that now, by the way. Anyhow, this is actually a book with dungeons that have or used to have captured towns, and how the guild deals with them. Telar helpfully suggested I ask about the specific dungeons in the book, and then we could pounce on that loophole. Considering the imminent threat to multiple dungeons in good standing with the guild by an unknown and hostile dungeon, she could let me just borrow the entire book, instead of having to make up a packet with the information.

She smiles and glances in the direction of the library. Im going to let the bees copy it before I return it. They should be able to transcribe it quickly. Theyd better, or Honey will have a fit when she gets back. My red kobold giggles at the idea of my big ol nerd bee trying to come to terms with the idea of not getting to keep a copy, and I chuckle as well.

So, lets see what he have, hmm? We spend the rest of the day looking through the book, and I resist the urge to read ahead. Honestly, most of the captured towns arent in any real trouble. A lot of them are historical accounts of old dungeons that arent around anymore, most of them with their enclaves emancipated from the dungeon itself. We actually check the glossary for more details on that.

I dont know if Ill ever emancipate my own enclaves. While Id be happy to let them go and grow on their own, it will plainly be a long time before theyll want that, if they ever do. Its a complicated feeling, that, but mostly a happy one. Its a lot happier than some of the dungeons in the book.

Theres only a couple captured towns currently functioning today, including a trio of towns who have to periodically abandon and rebuild when their local dungeon gets too much mana and sends out a huge expedition. Im surprised they dont quarantine it and let it starve, but apparently the mana freed from adventurers killing the expedition kinda settles into the soil and the towns make serious bank farming.

Theres another belligerent one that managed to get its Voice elected mayor of the nearest town. I have no idea why, and the book doesnt have much in the way of answers. It just says the dungeon has not expanded into the town, and that the crown still gets taxes from the place, so who knows.

Theres a few historical accounts of dungeons using their captured town to go to war with other dungeons, but those records seem really old and dont offer much in the way of details. Still, it paints a pretty clear, if not very pretty, picture.

Warring with a dungeon with a captured town is messy. Rival dungeons dont understand or dont care about the difference between denizens and townsfolk. Offense or defense, dungeons will use them as they see fit. Thats going to make the eventual battle on the more unpleasant end of my expectations, then. How do you sort out an ordinary civilian from a dungeon zealot? Even worse, with the fog of war, how much does that difference really change what happens to them?

Something like that, the only winning move is not to play, but even thats not an option in this case. My best move may be to set up the chess board, watch my foes moves, and be fully prepared to kick the table over and punch them in the mouth. Itll still be a mess, but hopefully fewer pieces will be lost that way.