Trash Mountain Dungeon

Edward knew that today was going to be bad when he got reports from some of the worst of their host that one of the former Castellan's men, who they thought was innocent of the betrayal, entered the dungeon after some fool got themselves hurt. He knew that things would be even worse when the magically gifted in the camp began to feel something close to mana sickness from the turbulence coming from the dungeon, whatever the captain had done or was doing was pissing the dungeon off supremely. Initially, they were ready and set to start calming down the dungeon, maybe make a couple of easy but useful promises to it and punish the offender later, but before the diplomacy team could enter the strange merchant's shop, the dungeon ceased its anger, returning to relative normality.

Quickly we asked the representative what was going on and if we could render aid.

"I am... unable to inform you of exactly what happened, however, I have been given instructions to tell you that there are now more traitors amongst your host, traitors that seek to harm you and enslave us, and I will tell you now, it is not directed by those of this world."

Hmm, Ed had already figured that there might still be a small handful of dissenters from the pro-enslavement group, but not of this world. That had too many implications to consider, infernal influence was a natural assumption for many, not without cause, but with dungeons it could be any number of forces, it could be anything from the elemental lords to the... gods.

Edward frowned at that last thought, the many divines of the world were known to meddle and manipulate, and while that came from the stance of someone who is normally rejected by the people who get used, it was, empirically true. This was made especially true by the fact that Arthur had found a kannorite collar among the goods from the traitors, and when it came to godly ploys there was never just one god to worry about, the camp would have to worry about counterplays and traps from Kannor's competitors. This whole situation was getting extremely out of hand, he was fine with dangerous, intelligent dungeons, but the entry of the kannor cult and possibly the cult of Leighlash was something they couldn't ignore, and the chief among those was cleaning the rot from their numbers.

"We thank you and your master for informing us of this, please accept this token of our gratitude and friendship and if you don't mind, we believe we require some...camp reorganization."

A good enough save by Arthur and as the laborers set down a chest of Rak eggs he and I made our way outside, quickly entering the command tent.

"I assume you grasped what the thing was saying, Arthur?"

"Mostly, I was wondering if you had the same thoughts."

"Aye, we'll need to start going through our people and cutting out the traitors, but we'll need to be careful about any more powerful followers."

Arthur took out a large map and unfurled it on the table, putting down five figures. The first was a bird, a nightingale bird to be exact.

"As is obvious, we are here, near the apex of the Ushenk mountain's lowest peak."

He brought out another two, a small rat-shaped one and a stick.

"Our dungeon ally is here, and the remaining ogres are over there."

And setting down another two he made a board of our situation.

"Over here, we're going to imagine whatever group is supporting these traitors, and over there just past the mountains outside of our territory is Clan Ushenk, devote followers of Kruul and Bevel."

Clan Ushenk was a community of hill dwarves, industrious and thrill-seeking, this clan held a culture that was more focused on the using part of weapons and tools than making them part, but they still revered the god of tradecrafts Bevel, they just worshipped Kruul slightly more. Clan Ushenk was the original owner of this region before it was sold to the Nightingales some time ago, and had a standing agreement that they could ask for favors between the two, what Arthur had proposed is that we could bring in Clan Ushenk's help to accelerate the already overworked project, as well as potentially aid in the defense until their father could sed more forces, hopefully, traitor free. The biggest concern was that the clan was infamous to those of the surrounding region for their distaste of monsters, often destroying otherwise beneficial monster nests instead of securing them for later use.

"It's not a bad idea, but there are other factors we need to consider before approaching them, if we can't answer the right questions with good enough answers then we won't get the support we need."

"Well, what do you suggest Ed, the agreement with the dungeon is already in place, effectively dealing with that variable, you and Lily dealt with the ogres, and the threat, both inside and out, is why we need to approach them anyway."

"Yes, but perhaps we could find alternative help?"

His face scrunched up, and then Arthur understood.

"No, absolutely not! I used your familiar's talents to root out traitors, which she will now continue, but I am not making any pacts, you of all people should see the danger of such a thing."

It was not an unreasonable concern, but it was a point Ed had to at least attempt.

"Look, I'm not saying it wouldn't be dangerous, but we're dealing with divine soldiers, we need something that could tip the scales, and infernal magic could be that."

Infernal magic was not strictly equal or a fold to celestial magic, but its ability to usurp and 'taint' the magic of celestials made it invaluable when fighting against it. His own familiar Hestra was more than capable of rooting out and killing any normal servant of the gods, perhaps even strong enough to kill a few priests or a cleric before being banished, but nothing more, her strength as a succubus was manipulation and seduction. But what Hestra could do was get them in contact with more powerful demons, or if things got bad enough, a devil.

"I'm not saying we do anything drastic just yet, but we must keep our options open if things worsen. The dwarves are a solid start, but Kruulite priests and clerics rarely leave their fortress monasteries for anything less than a full-on war, and while I don't doubt that the forge or weaver priests of Bevel would be helpful, they would offer no aid in person, only tools."

Arthur was momentarily caught by that but continued after a moment.

"Perhaps-"

"Perhaps I could lend a hand if you two are done going off on tangents?"

A woman stood at the tent entrance, with dark skin, wild hair, and a breeze of magic about her that was unmistakably divine. To Arthur, he saw an attractive, if unkempt woman, to Edward, he saw a monster. Call it a bit of infernal insight, but because of his experience and exposure to hell magic Edward had become skilled in seeing through illusions. The woman before them was no doubt powerful, but the unseen beast only Ed could perceive was not a creature normally this willing to talk.

"Then tell me archid, what exactly do you bring?"

Her head and many eyes looked directly toward him, the rapid movement of her mandibles giving away her surprise.

"I am impressed then, diabolist, aside from your ilk few could see through my glamour, but that is not why I have come."

"My lady has ordered that I offer you my cloister's aid in the coming months and perhaps years. The rapid growth of your dungeon has attracted all sorts of gazes, and my lady would prefer that certain claws stay away from the young core."

"An interesting offer, with some interesting timing; tell me, what exactly does your lady desire from the Nightingale family and its future fortress, we can only provide so much at the moment. We may have to decline out of consideration for you or any of your sisters and brothers who may come."

Arthur spoke knowing full well that they had more than enough resources, but she didn't know that, and if their terms weren't agreeable or if accepting their aid would introduce more issues then they had a mostly valid excuse to fall back on.

"That won't be an issue I assure you, but my lady has asked that in exchange for our aid, our Reverend Mother be allowed to move a portion of the cloister here permanently, perhaps they could even construct a new cloister here as well. Furthermore, the Reverend Mother would ask for access to the dungeon so that our people may keep their skills sharp and their faith in the lady deepened."

That was not as bad as he had expected, but still heavy. Access to the dungeon was already a mess as it was, introducing newcomers with no real ties to his family made things even worse. At best the men and women would grumble, maybe protest, and at worst they might riot, causing a greater mess for Arthur to deal with. But it wasn't without its benefits, a cloister, or at least the people, would be extra hands to work, and the utility of a cleric was well known to even the least pious of city administrators; they kept things clean, prevented or dealt with sickness, and in areas that they often ran businesses tied to their god, if it was an option anyway.

Excluding the resource and camp issues though, the biggest problem with accepting them into the camp was that it could encourage other sects of the church to join the kannorites. Now most of the sects could be, for lack of a better term, dealt with in some way, Bevel kept things civil and honest, Kruul was only interested in war and would only join if he saw one coming, Gluut and those like her would either come later or not at all, and the more temperate sects could be bargained with, The real question was if, no scratch that, when Kannor's allied sects joined, with the possible exception of one.

Kannor has three children, Tyrannus, the god of tyranny and cruel lordship, Dominatio, the god of domination and supreme authority, and Pulchra Rex, who is the god of good kings and queens, and all three were worshipped in the capital. The question was when the tyrant and dominator would join, according to history they always did when their father was involved, but Pulchra Rex was another story. Pulchra Rex's cult was often seen as the one group that could keep the other two in check and represented the best of his father from a time when control represented less the taking of power and opportunity from others, but the creation and militainment of self-control to better oneself and help create a more ordered world.

But his thoughts were interrupted by his brother.

"If it won't be a problem there is a matter I would like to speak with my brother about. You are more than welcome the partake of what few pleasantries our camp has to offer."

"As you wish your lordship, I do find myself famished from the journey."

She was led out by a guard, being shown around the less important areas of camp.

"Now that she's gone, I have an idea, a stupid idea that might get us killed, but I think it'll work."

"Arthur, you rarely have ideas I'd consider stupid, now come and tell me what you have, we have plenty to talk about."

He took a deep breath and stood over the map.

"I think we should invite more sects to the mountain."

"Brother of mine, that is actually the worst idea I have ever heard come from your mouth, tell me more."