“In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don't try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present.” ― Lao Tzu

  It wasn’t long after Shuzug had warned me against producing too many flight cores, that the discussion had devolved into more harmless topics – mostly Ushug and Lugrub recounting the adventures they’d undertaken on this expedition.

  Hakdrilda was simultaneously appalled and amused by their obscenity-filled description of the teleportation trap and their gliding arrival on the sky island. “You did that with no wind spells to speak of at all? Just featherfall and spider climb potions? I mean, I’ve been an adventurer too, so I know the mindset. I’ve taken some crazy risks myself as a youngster, but that sounds a bit over the line to me! So many things could have gone wrong that I don’t think you have any sense of just how lucky you were!

  The orcs shared knowing glances that betrayed that awareness, but they played it up for the dwarven airmage as a demonstration of orcish bravado, focusing attention on all the most ridiculous or dangerous points and downplaying their concerns and their precautionary measures.

  Sir Milback, having heard it all before and still exhausted from his own adventure, started to beg off in order to turn in, but was stopped by an apologetic Lazgar.

  “Sorry, Sir Milback, I’ll try not to keep you, but can you give us the unclassified parts of your mission – or at least some sense of any remaining dangers there might be before you turn in? We should have let you go first.” The orcish paladin shot a rueful smile at his younger party members. “Some of us are just a bit excitable, I’m afraid.”

  Lugrub looked like she wanted to say something cutting, but instead she had the good grace to just nod at the elderly gnome – even as she threw an elbow into the side of her party leader (to little effect other than a loud clanging noise, given his plate armor.

  The gnome paladin smiled faintly at her antics but nodded his own acceptance.

  “Well, as you might have guessed, I was called because the mission involved going into spaces too small for tallfolk such as yourselves.” His audience nodded as he continued. “In fact, there are the ruins of an ancient gnomish city some ways toward the center of the island. Well, ‘ruins’ isn’t really accurate – it's pretty near completely untouched by time but abandoned for millennia. Like everyone just up and decided to leave taking their portable goods with them and sealing the place up behind them.”

  Lugrub’s fingers twitched at the thought of an entire empty city – knowing that they couldn’t possibly have taken everything of interest to a rogue such as herself. She sighed, relaxing her eager fingers. There was simply no way she’d ever be able to access a place like that.

  Lazgar chimed in with a pertinent question. “So if it’s empty, what did they need you for? Was it haunted? Infested with demons? Cultists somehow?”

  Sir Milback snorted. “Nothing like that. As you probably know, hauntings will fade with time – and after this long nothing like that remains. No cultists, either – no way to get there, frankly. And as for demons, I suppose one could linger that long if forced, but I can’t imagine it doing so without either destroying the place or tainting it with infernal mana. No, there was an extraplanar creature from the void beyond that needed sealing. It wasn’t particularly strong, I don’t think, but old, canny, and deeply frustrated. The dungeon and I got the job done, though. I’d say you’re safe enough here, but no telling what else the dungeon will run across.”

  Shuzug winced at that. “Do we need to ask it to steer clear of the central region? Or try to station a paladin here full time?”

  Sir Milback snorted. “I’d say not. There’s a risk of needing a paladin anywhere you go, after all, and there’s no evidence here to show he needs a permanent divine supervisor. And as for steering his expansion, there's no way to know which direction would be safe anyways. Far as I know, his divine mission COULD be trying to find and clean up infestations like this. I doubt it, frankly, but it could be. If nothing else, he’s already shown enough good sense in calling for assistance that I think we can trust him to do so again if it becomes necessary.”

  Shuzug nodded slowly at that, then sighed. “Well, that advice will make my report, at least the restricted, classified section of the report.”

  Sir Milback yawned deeply. “Now, if you’ve no more questions, I’m going to collapse on yon platform and sleep for at least 12 hours.”

  Hearing no objections, he did just that. And within 5 minutes the orcs were listening to his faint, delicate snoring as he tossed a bit fitfully in his blankets.”

  Shuzug looked at the other orcs with a crooked grin. “I think I’m going to follow his example. I’m going to need to start with the dungeon bright and early tomorrow, so some rest sounds good. I’d imagine you’re more tired than I am, though, so if you want me to stand first watch, I can.” He gazed over at Lazgar questioningly.

  The other paladin glanced over at Hakdrilda and shrugged. “I think that if she’s been living here for weeks, it’s likely safe enough to allow us all a good night’s sleep.”

  Shuzug looked briefly torn at that but nodded. “Fair enough.”

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  They did, in fact, all turn in fairly directly. Lazgar and Shuzug stayed up chatting for a bit longer with Hakdrilda, disappointing her a bit with a lack of news from underground. The Orclands and Daekar conducted regular trade (mostly meat exchanged for tools, as I understood it), but given their long history of raiding when not actively at war, that mostly took place at neutral trading posts. News did get passed that way, but generally rather slowly and mostly focused on the trading communities of each side. That is to say, if anything exciting had happened at the University, no one in the Orclands would hear about it anytime soon.

  The orcs had mostly been interested to hear about Hakdrilda’s interactions with me, rather than her experiments, and were intrigued to hear about the Redcrests and their newly constructed refuge. Shuzug, in particular, was interested in their arrangement, but Hakdrilda hadn’t been invited to visit, though I had kept her generally apprised of their situation as we’d been working together. I shot down his suggestion that he pay a visit to their village, though. They were still settling into a routine, and I didn’t think having a dungeon inspector and Orc clan second pay a visit was going to help settle their nerves.

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  I could tell that made him even more curious, but I don’t think he really thought I was concealing anything important, because he didn’t press me on it. If nothing else, I suspect he assumed that a clan that had been recently driven from their homes would be twitchy about outsiders for the foreseeable future.

  Another beer or two later, and the three remaining individuals said their goodnights and went to their appointed beds.

  I spent a few minutes chatting with Orentha, mostly in hopes that she’d volunteer to come act as an intermediary for a few hours. I hadn’t wanted to impose on her for their whole visit, but I was hoping to get a more satisfactory conversation with the inspector than I’d managed previously.

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  In the morning, and not particularly early at that, the adventuring party made their goodbyes to Hakdrilda and headed back to the main entrance to await the completion of Shuzug’s inspection. I was almost going to miss their antics, and I was looking forward to getting more adventurers in. I’d enjoyed their discussions and their interactions, and the direct feedback was quite helpful in adjusting the lethality of my traps.

  Sir Milback seemed a bit torn about heading back to the surface with them or staying with Shuzug. Hakdrilda wasn’t heading back anytime soon, and there was no telling when the next visitors would arrive, so he was planning to head back with the Orcs when they left. Still, while he wasn't going to have time to go exploring the more restricted areas of my explorations, he was still curious about what I was doing and what I’d been finding. In the end, he opted to stay with Shuzug, promising to stay out of the way. Shuzug didn’t seem to care, particularly since Sir Milback wasn’t really a delver and as a paladin could be trusted not to simply push his own personal interest. If anything, he was likely to help Shuzug maintain the balance between his formal assessment for the Guild and his personal take on the dungeon as a senior official of the tribe.

  We were really just getting under way with the more formal parts of the inspection interview when Orentha showed up, discreetly announcing her presence with a rap at the entryway. Hakdrilda, for her part, had retreated to her lab so as not to impede the proceedings.

  The slender avian greeted the inspector and paladin politely enough – her role as tribal shaman giving her a restrained air of authority and a default tone of acerbic wisdom when speaking with strangers. Shuzug and Sir Milback had their own variations on the tone, and I could tell the three were going to hit it off pretty quickly.

  “Greetings to you both. I’m Orentha, shaman to the Redcrest tribe, and here to help smooth out communication issues with the dungeon, by his request.” She stood calmly in the entry, hand to her shoulder in a greeting gesture I’d only seen her use with outsiders to her tribe.

  The other introduced themselves, though I’d given her a quick rundown on my visitors last night.

  “Well met. I’m Shuzug, official dungeon inspector for the Guild and clan second to Glasha the Hawk. I appreciate your help; I get the distinct impression previous inspectors felt a bit limited in the questions they could ask with his mana light system.” The substantial orc returned her hand to shoulder greeting politely and nodded towards his companion.

  The diminutive gnome paladin likewise returned the gesture before speaking. “Good morning lass. I’m Sir Milback, paladin of Zymther. The dungeon here called me in to deal with a problem he’d encountered, and I was hoping for a bit more of a discussion with him – though I’d ask you keep some of our discussion to yourself, if you would.”

  She nodded, a bit taken aback that the dungeon had both called for a paladin and had needed one in the first place. “Of course, Sir Milback. Hopefully, your mission was a success?”

  The gnome chortled. “Suppose I should have led with that. Yes, sorry. The mission was successful and as far as I know, no significant threat remains. Can’t promise you what else he may turn up, though.”

  I felt I needed to interject at that point. **There is one other point of concern, he should be made aware of. It’s not as immediately threatening, but I did encounter a settlement apparently abandoned by what I think were the original creators of the sky island – void-aspected dwarves. There’s a rather creepy statue in a chamber hosting some odd, bat-like void creatures. It’s got an unsettling vibe to it, but I didn’t feel the kind of threat from it that he just dealt with. I’d have asked him to check it out, but he was stumbling with exhaustion by the time he got through the actual mission.**

  Orentha relayed my words, and the paladin just sighed ruefully. “I’ll inquire of my lord, but something like that probably doesn’t need any direct intervention. There’s nothing inherently evil about the void and its creatures. We just don’t get along well with sapient void-dwellers; they tend to feel the same way about us as we do about them – and that tends to lead to clashes since our perspectives are so different. If you’re not feeling any threat, I’d leave them be as much as you can; I’m guessing you can’t do that, though?”

  I heaved a mental sigh of my own. **Likely not. I’m fairly confident my divine mission is going to require me to explore those original settlements and the means by which the island flies itself.**

  Shuzug butted in at that point. “So, you’ve made some progress on your divine mission then? Have you determined which deity placed you here?”

  **Ah, no, not exactly. The priests of the God of All Dungeons performed some affinity tests and found I was most closely affiliated with a deity linked to the void and to extraplanar dwarves in particular. No idea who that deity is, or whether they’re still in this plane at all. And my divine quests seem to want me to locate whatever passes for a control room and the systems that maintain this place. That chamber is, unfortunately, my best clue for the time being.**

  Shuzug nodded in understanding. “Well, we’re already starting to get into some of the topics for this interview, so why don’t I get us started a bit more formally?”

  Orentha gave him my go ahead, and he started right in.

  “As my dwarven predecessor noted, we can skip over the tests of your sapiency and the like, and having toured the dungeon and watched you deal with adventurers, I can attest to your basic adherence to the suggested protocols. For which we thank you, incidentally.” The large orc flashed a somewhat daunting grin. “I think my adventurers enjoyed the exploration, and while they had a near miss or two, I thought you did well balancing the challenge level for them. And I expect you’ll improve on that with a bit more practice.”

  **I’ll keep working on it** I assured him. **I can already see a few things that may need to be adjusted**

  He just shrugged. “That’s the nature of these things, of course. You’ll want to periodically change things up anyways, just to keep it interesting. Now, I don’t have any law codes to pass you, but the same basic practices the elves and dwarves informed you have hold for us, too. We’re just a bit less litigious, so our justice tends to be meted out either in duels or by our tribal leaders. The law for us is more of a set of working traditions and constantly reinterpreted to fit the situation – at least within the guidelines established by our ancestors.”

  Orentha nodded for me. “That’s how our tribe handles it as well, though we don’t do much dungeon delving, historically speaking.”

  Shuzug grinned at her. “Like all sensible people with better things to worry about, I suppose... We’ve covered your divine mission, and I congratulate you on making some progress on that front. Frankly, your growth rate is impressive, given how relatively inaccessible you are. I assume a lot of that is down to the Redcrests moving in? Permanent residents are a big help, I’d guess?”

  Orentha coughed. “No offense meant to the dungeon, but we’re not really intending to become permanent residents. Current thought has us staying for a year or so before departing, at least. He’s been extremely hospitable, so we have been trying to funnel him mana to help repay the favor, though.”

  Sir Milback did chime in to seek some clarification. “How many of you are there, if you don’t mind my asking? And what kind of living space has the dungeon provided?”

  She flexed her talons slowly as she pondered what to say. “Well, I don’t want to be too specific, but there are fewer than 100 of us. He’s basically carved an entire village into the side of the sky island for us. I understand it’s technically connected to the main dungeon area, but I don’t think the connection would be traversable for most adventurers. We’re largely steering clear of the main dungeon, though a few of us may begin to explore it. Frankly, the dungeon might well secure at least some permanent residents eventually, as the situation here is, frankly, better than our old aerie in many ways – even if most of my tribe members are unwilling to admit that just yet.

  Shuzug pondered that briefly before conceding her point and returning to the main topic of conversation.

  “So you’ve picked up a large number of at least temporary residents willing to come to your defense from true threats. You’ve gotten a visit from the Church of All Dungeons, and they’ve formally sanctioned your presence here. You’ve called in a gnome paladin to deal with an apparently serious discovery. Any other news since your last inspection I should be made aware of – important visitors, spaces I've missed, developing quests?”