"Giving gifts to others is a fundamental activity, as old as humanity itself. Yet in the modern, complex world, the particulars of gift-giving can be extraordinarily challenging." ~ Andrew Weil

  Lugrub had willingly allowed me to absorb her befouled clothing AND armor, once it had been made clear that the dungeon delve was effectively complete and that I would replace them. It was a win-win situation really, as I earned blueprints of each item, and she got identical replacements; none of it was enchanted or otherwise magical, so it really was quite straightforward.

  Blueprint received: Auroch Leather Armor (female) - Pants and Jacket

  Blueprint received: Auroch Leather Boots

  Blueprint received: Linen Blouse

  Blueprint received: Cotton Socks

  Blueprint received: Cotton Undergarments (female)

  The process was a bit embarrassing, but as a dungeon, apparently no one thought it odd for me to absorb a pile of filthy clothes and effectively return them in a freshly laundered state.

  For other personal items, like her belt, jewelry and weapons (each bearing at least minor enchantments), I made do with simply absorbing the trap remnants directly from the objects. I suspected it would be fine, but I wasn’t sure I could replicate the enchantments, so I avoided the issue as best as I could. She didn’t linger, exactly, as the water wasn’t really hot enough to encourage that, but she did stay long enough to clean herself thoroughly, washing her hair twice with the shampoo that Hakdrilda had brought, and I’d long since begun producing.

  The other orcs seemed tempted upon seeing the freshly restored rogue but opted instead to continue swapping stories with Hakdrilda over whiskey and eventually dwarven lager. I provided a sampling of nuts, cheeses, bread and dried fruits and just listened in on their conversation, with Lugrub joining mid-way through.

  Hakdrilda was chortling, “So, you two brawny sorts were sliding around coated in oil, trying to fend off skeletons? And yon lass got pushed into a shallow pit, and then later doused with whatever that foul stuff was?” She shook her head. “I saw those traps in the inspection, but I hadn’t realized quite how devious they were – or how dangerous they could be – especially for us smaller, more delicate types. Right, Orbul?”

  The older, orcish mage snorted at the prospect of either of them being considered delicate, though in comparison to the barbarian and the paladin that was more or less factual. “Yes, that first trap Lugrub fell into might well have broken some bones if she didn’t have such big feet. And for a gnome like Sir Milback, there, it would have been a right nasty fall.”

  The gnome nodded in agreement. “True enough, though we small folk don’t tend to hit quite so hard, being lighter and all. Still a bigger risk for us, though – and a gnome that took any severe damage would be easy prey for the cave wyverns. You lot are just too big for them to be a real concern.”

  Shuzug chimed in for the first time in a while. “Well, I’ll need to go over it all with the dungeon when the more proscriptive part of the inspection begins, but yes – for the moment at least, and for any adventuring party likely to make it here in the first place, the traps are the real hazard. Aside from those skeletal warhorses, that is. I think those were the only dungeon creatures we encountered that represented a real threat to a well-coordinated party. Fortunately, the dungeon seems to have taken the earlier inspectors’ advice to heart and made the traps largely nonlethal – if educationally memorable enough. I’m pretty sure you guys are going to be watching out for ambushes and decoy triggers properly for a while, at any rate!”

  Lugrub winced at that but seemed in a more forgiving mood, having gotten clean. She toyed with her now glossy braid and joined the discussion. “True, though in my defense, that’s difficult to do while actively engaged with dungeon creatures. I suppose I should be glad that sapient dungeons like this one aren’t typically out to kill adventurers wholesale. I daresay that Vay probably could have come close if he’d cared to.”

  Hakdrilda muttered something under her breath. I thought it was likely on the order of “You have no idea...”, but she didn’t directly raise any of the points that had concerned her earlier. She did, however, offer them a clue and a bit of insight into her research.

  “Do you want to see the test chamber Vay built for me? His control over the air in this dungeon is truly remarkable. He can make compressed air, move it directly, even change its composition. I have wondered why he doesn’t seem to be making much use of it in his traps. I kind of assume he’s going for a more traditional feel to go along with the historical focus of the dungeon.”

  Shuzug thought that was an interesting point. “Hmm, I’ll have to bring that up to him as well. For a dungeon with a reported air affinity, he really hasn’t done a lot with it – though I suppose it might be tricky underground.”

  Hakdrilda snorted at that misunderstanding with a long-suffering air. “Bollocks! If there’s one place where the air is likely to kill you, it’s underground. No, I’m pretty sure it’s a deliberate choice on his part. We had a chat about this, more or less, a few days back. He’s pretty sure that if he started smothering or poisoning adventurers with the air, people wouldn’t come to visit. Adventurers are accustomed to the risks of dungeon creatures and more traditional traps, but ones that just have you go to sleep and never wake up are something else!”

  Lugrub shot her a quick, vaguely horrified look. “Is that something he could actually do? Just suck the air out of the room or release some scentless poison?”

  Hakdrilda winced. “Well, I suspect so, though I’m confident he wouldn’t do anything like that without fairly dire provocation. Don’t get me wrong, here. Sylvanus, and I’d guess most sapient dungeons, is an incredibly dangerous being in his own domain. Probably could take over the world if they were more mobile and motivated in that direction. That said, unless he felt directly attacked or if he got mana-starved somehow, he has no real desire to kill his delvers. As a reincarnator, in particular, he seems to empathize with adventurers more than other dungeons – even without the Guild's coercive threats of destruction for more murderous behavior. And with me, he’s been perfectly lovely to work with and as friendly as any neighbor I’ve ever had, if rather busy with his own work.”

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  Shuzug just nodded. “That tracks with what little I’ve heard about sapient dungeons. On the one hand, their intelligence makes them much more dangerous than your standard, run-of-the-mill dungeon, but that same intelligence makes it possible for them to be much less bloodthirsty, as well, with a few notable exceptions. Those tend to require really high-leveled, specialized parties to take them down. Fortunately, it’s been a couple of centuries since that was necessary – and I don’t think a divinely placed dungeon has ever been deliberately destroyed in such a manner. At least, I’ve never heard of it being necessary.”

  Lazgar shrugged. “All for the best then. Still, we’re getting a bit off topic. We should likely make a plan for what to do next. I note that there are several spaces we’ve yet to check – including behind that impressive looking door over there and whatever progress the dungeon has made on the third floor. Should we be checking those out?”

  Shuzug shook his head. “I don’t think so, Lazgar. From what Hakdrilda’s been saying, the third floor is basically just some empty spaces so far and not set up for visitors yet. And that door has the look of one we’re not intended to open – though I am curious about it. Can you tell us anything about it, Hakdrilda?”

  She looked a bit conflicted, as though she wasn’t quite sure what she was allowed to say. She chose her words carefully. “I’m pretty sure the dungeon considers that off limits without a specific invitation. I can say it leads back to some things that shouldn’t be messed with by standard adventurers – or much of anybody, really. And it’s seriously defended to keep out the uninvited.”

  Lugrub spoke up with a wicked grin. “Right then, I’m out! Clearly, I’ve got a lot to learn before I should be tackling anything he’s seriously defending – and while I’m curious, I’m not about to provoke his ire. We’ve only just got back on speaking terms, as far as I’m concerned!”

  I guess she’d been angrier about that last trap than I’d realized. At least the shower facilities had apparently helped me atone. Had it been just Shuzug, or just Sir Milback, I might have considered giving them a tour back to the gathering array. But with a whole party, including a rogue, barbarian, and mage that I didn’t know well, I wasn’t about to take a risk. Perhaps I could give Shuzug some information once the party headed out. It was getting late though, and I doubted they’d want to backtrack to the main entrance just to set up camp in the dark.

  Instead, I started quietly raising some sleeping platforms over by the maintenance access door, expanding the room somewhat to enable that.

  Orbul was the first to notice the new expansion, remarking upon the mana flows. “Looks like the dungeon is inviting us to stay here for the night, rather than pushing us back to the entrance. I will say, I think I’d prefer that, but what do you think, Miss Hakdrilda?”

  The dwarf airmage nodded in acceptance. “Well, either should be safe enough for you, but I’d not mind the company for an evening. You can catch me up on any news from outside; I’ve been kind of cut off here for a few weeks already.”

  Lugrub just laughed. “I doubt you’re all that interested in the tribal politics of the Orclands, and I don’t think any noteworthy news from Daekar drifted in before we left, did it Shuzug?”

  I supposed that in his capacity of Clan Second, he probably kept a closer eye on news from surrounding polities than your average adventurer, but he just shrugged. “Few minor raids at the border in each direction, but nothing out of the ordinary, and no particular changes to the existing patterns. Blooded a few more young orcs, lost a couple, and about the same for the dwarves and humans, I’d guess. Nobody I know personally involved, and I have no idea at all for the other side. Herds are doing well, so it’s mostly just tradition driving it for the moment.”

  Hakdrilda nodded. “Yeah, and the rulers of my people won’t push particularly unless it gets worse, or they sense a weakness. Or, you know, the humans start getting ambitious again; it’s only been twenty years since the last significant clash, so it’s probably another ten years or so until they forget the lessons they learned last time...”

  Shuzug snorted. “We have the same problems, but at least ours tend to be directed primarily internally rather than pushing on our neighbors. Of course, we got crushed the last time we united and tried to expand – so that might factor into it!”

  Hakdrilda shrugged. “That was before my time, but my parents talk about it once in a while. They’re still angry they had to ally with the elves AND humans to throw back the coalition of orcish tribes and kobold mercenaries. There’s still significant resistance to any further external connections among the older generation.”

  Orbul chimed in at that point. “Older people do tend to be more conservative – your old folks just get more time to keep moving that direction. Anyways, tell me about your research; that’s at least new and interesting!”

  That led to a solid hour, almost, of increasingly abstruse conversation about airflow and mana control that left the non-mages with a bit of a glazed expression. I took pity on them and spawned in some more substantial food, with Lugrub and Lazgar taking the lead to dispense the Redcrest-style hot food I provided – mostly spiced goat sausage and some pickled vegetables with cheese and a few maple scones to follow.

  Along with the scones, I used my logbook function to offer up final rewards for the delvers, in commemoration of my first actual delving by professional adventurers. I had felt that the rewards they’d gathered along the way weren’t really sufficient to entice repeat business, so I had been pondering what I could offer to correct that. I suspected that I had a bit more mana to work with than your average two-floor dungeon, between my various explorations and the resident Redcrests offering up mana on the regular. At the same time, I’d need better rewards, given my relative inaccessibility.

  I started by offering up a small pouch to each of the four that included small amounts of precious metals – mostly silver, with some gold and one nugget each of mithril – and an appropriate token for each of them. Lugrub got a set of mastodont ivory dice, Orbul got a small Fire Opal. Lazgar received a small effigy of Drogma in red jasper, and Ushug got a potion of stamina recovery and a bottle of whiskey. For their major reward, I’d decided to go all out, blowing through the majority of my mana reserves (though being careful not to push myself into a blood thirsty state).

  They’d just finished offering up polite thanks and shared looks of appreciative amusement when I spawned in my final offering.

  Lazgar was the first to spot it. “Oh? What’s this? Some sort of mana stone?”

  Lugrub eyed it carefully. “Not a monster’s core, anyways, though my treasure finding skill is screaming it’s valuable...”

  Orbul snatched the small, glowing golden orb from the paladin's hand with a startled look. “Is that really...?”

  Ushug just eyed her amusedly as she peered at it closely, inspecting the minute runes inscribed on its surface, until Lugrub lost patience.

  “Really WHAT, Orbul? What do you imagine it to be?”

  Orbul ignored her, looking up at her party leader instead. “We’ll have to get this properly inspected, Lazgar, but it just gave us a legitimate profit for this trip, if I’m right.”

  Lazgar nodded appreciatively. “Excellent news then. Perhaps you’d share your thoughts with us, if you’re done messing with Lugrub?”

  The older orc flashed him an uncharacteristic grin. “I’ve not seen one up close in a long time, but I’m reasonably sure this is an airship flight core – albeit a small one. Probably good for a two-person ship, if you build light.”

  He whistled, suddenly deep in thought. “That’s going to turn some heads – and prompt additional visitors. There’s only a handful of enchanters around who can turn these out, right?”

  Shuzug nodded, a bit grimly. “I’m assuming the dungeon is trying to encourage more visitors, but as a warning, I wouldn’t recommend producing more than two or three of these a year. Any more than that and he’s likely risking visits from bad actors hired by one of the enchanters who makes their living off these things.”