“The eagle is wise because he looks everywhere, not somewhere. If you want to raise wise people, raise people who look everywhere, not somewhere! Let them know all the ideas, let them travel on all roads! Let them walk in the light and in the dark! Above all, let them make a habit of doubting what they have been taught!” ― Mehmet Murat Ildan

  Shuzug continued the distribution of gifts in a moderately hurried fashion. I had the distinct sense that he wanted to get back to his own lands. Whether that was because he was uncomfortable on the sky island for some reason, missing someone or something at home, or simply nervous about landing in lands not under his own jurisdiction, he kept going without providing a lot of discussion between or about the various categories of items.

  “Religious items come next. As I think I said, your next inspector is likely to come from the beastkin nation to the west of the Orclands. We get on better with them than the dwarves, elves, and humans frankly – so I’ll continue the pattern of giving you a token from at least one of their deities.”

  Blueprint received: Amulet of Khehdros, God of Chance

  It was a fairly straightforward kind of representation – a simple pewter pendant depicting a pair of 8-sided dice in mid-spin.

  “Khehdros is a favorite among rogues, gamblers, and trapfinders, so I thought this might fit your growing focus on traps. We orcs don’t have our own god of chance – the closest we get is a goddess.”

  Blueprint received: Token of Qhuuna, Goddess of Trickery

  The token was an interesting one, shaped like a coin with the same image on both sides and comprised of silver-plated lead. I wasn’t sure if the trickery was in a double-headed coin or a nominally counterfeit coin, or both, but I could clearly sense that the linkage to the divine shared by all such items was real, in any event.

  “And the last of this set is for the deity that Orbul follows – Druhena, Goddess of Fire.”

  Blueprint received: Brazier of Druhena, Goddess of Fire

  Blueprint received: Lesser Plains Salamander

  I wasn’t surprised that a goddess of fire would use a brazier for their holy symbol. I’d bet it doubled as a sacrificial altar as well. It also made sense that a people who dwelled in extensive grasslands would also have a goddess of fire. Wildfires in grasslands are no joke, after all. Similarly, making the brazier out of salamander bone and brass made sense for the theme. The salamander was a Tier 3 creature, like the wizard cat or the spectral librarian, so that was a win for me as well. None of the holy symbols offered to me were magical, in and of themselves, and I expected that was pretty standard for most basic adherents to those faiths.

  From there, Shuzug segued neatly into basic weaponry that wasn’t really that basic. He seemed to be leaning into some rogue/assassin themed items.

  Blueprint received: Orcish Garrote

  Blueprint received: Orcish Blowgun

  Blueprint received: Poison Dart (Orcish)

  Blueprint received: Orcish Stiletto

  I wasn’t sure how useful any of those would really be, since I wasn’t, you know, looking to murder people silently. Still, the blowgun and poison darts could be interesting to incorporate with my traps, though I’d probably need to swap out the current, rather nasty, batrachotoxin it was sporting.

  Similarly, the armor was representative of the kind I’d associate both with plains nomads and rogues – leaning heavily on leather with relatively minimal metal backing. The most interesting part was the blueprint that came with the leather itself – suggesting that the dark, nearly black hue of the armor was not due to dyeing, but a natural coloration of the animal skin – in this case, a large second tier reptile. It was a bit amateurishly tanned, but I was guessing that was why I could still pick up the blueprint for the creature itself.

  Blueprint received: Orcish Bracers - Leather

  Blueprint received: Orcish Helm – Reinforced Leather

  Blueprint received: Orcish Pauldrons – Leather

  Blueprint received: Giant Black Tuatara

  “I’m afraid with our mode of transport, I couldn’t really bring you any bulky gifts, so smaller pieces of armor had to be the focus.”

  I could certainly see that, having heard the tale of their arrival on the sky island. Orentha conveyed my appreciation and understanding of those limitations. Frankly, you weren’t about to catch me complaining about someone else’s beneficence – even if it was institutionally mandated and a little bit political.

  We were down to the last couple of categories now, and while I didn’t have great hopes for the food (given the limited array of preserved items I’d seen the orcs eating), I was curious about what creatures he’d thought to offer me.

  Shuzug basically admitted that his selection of food items was a bit limited, for reasons I already understood. He grinned at Orentha, “As a result, I’ve focused on some things where a little bit goes a long way, and that any true orc would appreciate...”

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Blueprint received: Orcish Garum

  Blueprint received: Orcish Arkhi

  Blueprint received: Preserved Lemon (Orcish)

  That was rather an odd array of things, most of which you’d want to use in preparing something else. I was assuming my Learn Languages skill was translating the terms into their closest equivalents in my old world, but this was still confusing. Garum, I knew from a variety of sources, was a sort of Mediterranean fish sauce made by fermenting small fish for long periods. The small bottle Shuzug passed over was firmly sealed with a waxed stopper, presumably because of the smell. Preserved lemon was common in cuisines across North Africa to the Indian subcontinent (and not one of my personal favorites, generally). I had to search my eidetic memory for reference to Arkhi, recalling that it was a kind of Mongolian vodka made from wheat or barley. I wasn’t sure what that said about orcish culture, or even orcish cuisine, but it seemed oddly fitting somehow. If nothing else, I was getting to diversify my range of flavorings and alcoholic offerings, though I still wasn’t about to take up cooking from scratch. I might add a bit of garum to my stink trap, though, to honor Lugrub’s visit.

  Shuzug didn’t seem to notice my abstraction, and he moved directly towards the final category. “Given your air affinity and your apparent interest in ambush predators and the like, I tried to find you some creatures that might help you in pursuing those general themes. You’re developing quite quickly, so two of these are tier 2 and the final one is tier 3.”

  He quickly drew out three feathers, notable mostly for their size rather than their coloration, as all three were rather nondescript with two being largely in mottled patterns of cream and brown. The third was the largest and darkest, and in my mana sight glowed golden with light mana.

  “I’m not sure how useful these will be in your underground sections, but given your location, I’d imagine you could find a use for them above ground.”

  Blueprint received: Plains Stalker

  Blueprint received: Dusky Grass-Owl

  Blueprint received: Whistling Death

  Those were, frankly, rather exciting for me. They were all birds, and all ambush predators, but each with their own approach. The Plains Stalker reminded me of a heavy-bodied secretary bird, if those stood over two meters tall and hunted terrestrially on their long legs – devouring creatures ranging from snakes to mid-sized antelope, moving carefully through the tall grass. It had some magical talent along natural lines, focusing mostly on moving silently through tall grass and with some limited ability to tangle its prey in that same grass.

  Dusky Grass-Owls were similar in some ways to the Shade Owls, both relying on surprise, but the grass-owls were focused on grasslands, rather than forests, and used a short-range sonic stun to capture their prey. The stunning effect was a novel one, relying not on loud, audible sounds but infrasonic ones that appeared to impact the nervous system of their prey directly. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to replicate it in the main dungeon area, but it was worth attempting at some point for its disorienting effect.

  And as you’d expect from the jump in tier, the Whistling Death was a whole other category – and got special mention in the Compendium of Avian Monsters that Shuzug had provided me. It was a very cool creature, even if the name was a bit overblown in what I would consider a middle school kind of way.

  It was a light-aspected predator, with a nearly 3-meter wingspan that specialized in illusion, making it so the naturally dark eagle-like raptor typically went entirely unnoticed until it impacted its prey with its powerful talons. The illusions seemed to be pretty simple ones, mostly just making them look like the sky behind them. Coupling that with a rather corvine intelligence, and it was a solid threat to creatures up to and including goblins and orcish children. That said, they were intelligent enough to steer clear of those last prey items unless they were isolated individuals as the illusions didn’t really hold up beyond the initial strike.

  Their wings did make a kind of eerie whistling noise when they stooped on a prey creature but did so in a ventriloqual sort of way that made creatures look in the wrong direction (and ideally expose the base of their skull – the preferred target). A little poking around the blueprint showed me that it was also completely under their control – at least half the time the noise was unnecessary, and a silent strike was preferred.

  I was guessing that it was also going to be right up against the edge of what the dragon would allow me to pilot around the island. Its illusion magic certainly wasn’t going to hide it from her, though they at least weren’t really competing for the same prey, generally speaking. From what I could gather, Mayphesselth focused largely on creatures the size of the grassland elk and upwards – taking large ocean creatures by preference when available and saving the limited array of larger critters on the island for moments when other game wasn’t available below (or at least without coming into conflict with organized sapients). On the upside, she didn’t have to feed all that often, and neither did the Whistling Death.

  I passed my gratitude to Shuzug through Orentha, and it wasn’t much longer before the large orc was repacking his bag and getting ready to make his goodbyes. Sir Milback, still looking a bit worn, was waiting for him patiently, and was soon in his now-accustomed spot on the back of Shuzug’s pack as they started the hike back to the entrance and the rest of the larger party.

  Another part of my somewhat distributed mind was listening in to the adventurers chatting idly about what to do with the flight core. I’d apparently thrown them for something of a loop. Expecting to be rather overleveled for a two-floor dungeon, they hadn’t really been expecting to make an actual profit from me directly. Instead, they’d been in it partly for the reward offered by the guild to accompany the inspector, partly for the bragging rights of being the first adventuring party to complete the dungeon, and partly just for the novel experience and the story to be told. I was getting the sense that regardless of class, the orcs (or at least this particular clan of orcs) had a deep reverence for a good story that was at least mostly true. That was a common feature of a lot of tribal groups – with stories providing not just entertainment but also history and practical knowledge, as well as serving to unite related groups within the larger culture.

  They weren’t really practicing their stories on each other, but there did seem to be a concrete effort being made to hash out a basic structure and identify the key elements that needed to be included – both to entertain their audience and to instruct them about dungeons in general, and me, in particular. I was amused by the thought that I was likely to enter their oral history, at least in the short term.

  Soon enough, the entire party was reunited. They signed out their visit at the entry shrine – providing simply names, dates, and a general note about the need for caution in dealing with my traps and a few larger creatures on the second floor. They specifically did NOT mention the flight core, which I appreciated as it wasn’t going to be something I could pass out with any regularity for a good while. Shuzug and Sir Milback completed the log as well, noting simply that the first was performing a standard dungeon inspection with no major concerns and the second had completed a task at the request of the dungeon and his deity, but that the concern had been resolved and the dungeon itself was not an issue.

  It appeared that it was good form and standard practice to leave this sort of basic review for anyone who hadn’t done their homework. I got the sense that nobody actually expected adventurers to arrive here without having done their homework, but given the mutable nature of dungeons, the most current information was deeply valued – even if it simply verified that no major changes had occurred. I was only a bit surprised that more detailed information wasn’t provided, but that too made a certain sense – particularly if the orcs thought my dungeon could be used as a testing ground for adventurers. And frankly, as a sapient dungeon, if the information had been too detailed, I’d have simply deleted it. I was briefly tempted to include falsified information, but there wasn’t any call to do that. I’d save that possibility for a time when it seemed like it would have more point.

  With one last wave in my general direction, the group unpacked their gliders, rechecked their straps and potions, and made their way over to the ruined pier that served as the increasingly standard docking point. They seemed much more confident in their ability to get down safely than they had in making their initial landing, and the last I saw of them, they were taking turns trying to make the most dramatic possible departure, with the siblings, in particular apparently vying for the most impressive leap, each while laughing broadly in a show of bravado. The older orcs were amused by their antics and a bit more restrained but still seemed intent on making a good show of it, particularly with the audience of curious Redcrests circling above them – with a few of the younger ones calling out some laughing suggestions.

  I heaved a mental sigh of relief mixed with chagrin – knowing I’d need to get back to work fairly directly myself. The question was – what should I do next? Work on the third floor? Study with my new reader? Take on the village of void creatures? Continue exploring towards the center? Take advantage of my new creatures to expand my knowledge of the surface? Focus on my work with Hakdrilda? Or simply try to clean up some of the loose ends I’d been willfully ignoring in order to not split my focus too far (which I had arguably failed at)?

  Some decisions and a plan seemed called for.