Worthy Core

DAY 773

As Alizz works away at signing the latest round of Challenger class level-up authorizations, she barely glances upwards when Sely opens the door to her office and steps inside. "Morning, Sely. You're a little early for your shift, aren't you?"

"Unfortunately, we've got more important matters than my shift to talk about, Alizz." The cleric in white-dyed leathers steps aside, and Alizz jolts as she recognizes the black-clad figure standing behind her.

"Taly!? Look, I don't know if you realize this, but this is a very bad time for you to be walking around the town! It doesn't seem to be public information yet, but we just got reports about an attack in the - "

Taly cuts the drider off with a wave of her hand. "In the Valleylands, yeah, we know. Xenia has an update on that, actually. Kelsey'll be joining us up in here a minute, and I'll explain what we know."

"That...doesn't sound promising. Especially if Xenia sent you out here with such urgency." Alizz moves her stack of paperwork to one side. "Are we in danger here?"

"...Yeah, though not right now. I'll - ah, here we go." Taly steps aside as the Association's kobold second-in-command comes through the door behind her. The short man gives Alizz a nod before shooting a glare at Taly.

"You're crazy coming through town here right now, you're lucky it's still early - "

"I know!" The banshee rolls her eyes. "Besides, I know how to be stealthy! I only didn't come in through the window because I didn't want to give Alizz here a heart attack! Look, Xenia had a little chat with the Dragonlord yesterday about a few things. That attack in the Valleylands being chief among them."

"I...suppose I'll accept it as being a useful thing, being able to call the Dragonlord on a whim." Alizz folds her hands on her desk, trying her best to hold them steady. "And what did...the Dragonlord have to say about the events?"

The dungeon guardian gets right to the heart of the matter. "It's part of a plan to launch a new war on the Valleylands and the Rainlands, to reconquer the continent. They've figured out how to send floor guardians outside of their home dungeons at will, and it's safe to say most if not all of the dungeons in the Domain have probably been set up to do it. We can probably expect the Domain army to be reinforced with the strongest dungeon monsters they can come up with. Worse...it seems like Grassbrook and the dungeon here will be primary targets in the invasion."

Sely curses for a moment before turning back towards her sister. "Hells! I mean, this town was always in a risky position. The only thing between here and the southern border is an unoccupied forest. Before Worthy Dungeon popped up the fort around here was primarily used just as a scouting base, or as a tripwire if the Domain actually invaded. I'm...well, I'm no soldier, but the town's never been defensible. Even now it doesn't even have a wall! How much time do you think we have?"

The look on Taly's face is grim, made worse by her undead visage. "Apparently their original plan was for winter - probably early winter, before the snow got down this far south. Apparently Highlight Mountain acted early though and fucked with the invasion schedule. As it is...however long it takes for the Dragonlord to muster their forces and march north. Probably a few weeks."

Alizz's eyes widen in realization. "Highlight Mountain was meant to be part of a coordinated attack!? That's...if every dungeon has agreed to do the same, that opens us up to rear-area attacks all over the kingdom! Not to mention the risk to Challengers - I'll need to get a report to Association headquarters right away."

"Might not be all of them." Taly raises a hand for calm. "Xenia, obviously, isn't signed up. No idea about any others, though. Uh...just in case HQ might be thinking about getting core-cracky."

Kelsey snorts. "Not enough qualified teams to crack every dungeon in the country at once anyhow! Not without involving the army...and if there's an invasion coming, they'll have other things to do. Still, at least we can make sure the villages and towns supporting the various dungeons are warned and alert. Maybe even ready to evacuate, if it comes to it."

"Yes, I'll make those recommendations in my report." Alizz pulls out a blank sheet of paper, before blinking and looking back at Taly. "...But also, is there anything we can do to assist Xenia? If...the Dragonlord has a special interest in her..."

Taly shakes her head. "We can defend ourselves - right now I'm worried more about you and the rest of the town. We don't want to see the death of Grassbrook while we hide out in our hole, you know? Hopefully, some of the other messages going out this morning will help with that as well..."

On the west side of town, in the recently-built compound housing the Church of Bounty, the clang of metal on metal fills the air. As two elves watch on, a dwarf and a quarter-succubus battle their way back and forth across the training yard.

"Kick her in the shins!"

"Stomp on her toes!"

Tolla glares angrily at her teammates as they give her their 'support'. "If you don't stop making fun about how damn tall she is compared to me, I'll go over there and show you what other kinds of anatomy I can reach!"

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Sable grins as she pushes Tolla back. "C'mon now, save the flirting for after the spar! Don't make this too easy on - oh, fuck!"

The Paladin dives back as a massive shadow crosses over them, the source revealing itself a moment later as a heavily-armored winged figure lands heavily on the grass. The form isn't bulky enough to be a draconic, and so Sable's first thought goes towards winged demons, such as a succubus or a fury. As she takes another chance to glance over those wings however, and their unique metal feathers, Sable realizes the new arrival is someone much more familiar.

"Brightsky!? Why are you here in armor? I know you've visited before, but you've always come in your priestess robes before, right?"

Opal turns to face the Paladin, and as she lifts her helmet the look on the elf's face is one of barely-suppressed emotion. "I am not here today as a priestess, Bluehair. I come today as Valkyrie Opal Brightsky - and I come as a harbinger of war."

When Jantana opens the door to the estate occupied by the Valleylands army representatives, her panicked reaction is quick to alert the others on the ground floor. "Oh fuck! It's starting! Everyone grab your weapons!"

As the minotaur runs down the hall, she passes another who's more confused than alarmed by the call. Peering at the source of the danger, Janey finds herself a little confused. "It's...just a guy wearing rabbit ears? Wait, what's starting, is this some sort of party?"

Trush sighs as he steps through the open doorway. "At ease! I come here with a message, not threats. Who's in command around here?"

It takes a few seconds, but eventually Tinsel emerges from a side room, followed by Tassa. "Not a threat, you say? These two adventurers here were just telling us yesterday about dungeons in the Valleylands spewing out guardians and attacking the locals!" The mousekin isn't in her full battle kit, but one of her hands does reach towards an emergency vial in one of her pockets. "And for the benefit of our guests - this here is Trush, Wandering Boss of Worthy Dungeon. One of the ones with a higher body count, if I ain't wrong. So mind telling us what you're doing here?"

"Tinsel - you're the ranking officer, yes?" As the mousekin nods, Trush stands a little straighter. "Then allow me to fully identify myself. I'm here not just as a guardian of Worthy Dungeon, but as Trush, Shieldbreaker, formerly of the Army of the Valleylands. As a veteran, I come with news for you to report to your superiors."

The statement causes Tassa to display even more alarm than Jantana's premature alert did, with the half-dwarf woman stepping forward to answer him. "You're betraying the dungeon's secrets to the army!? Just how bad is it?"

"I said I was here as a representative of both." The former orc glares at Tassa, and she shrinks back. "We are aware of the events in the Valleylands, and we can confirm that it was part of a Dragonlord-driven plot. Furthermore, it appears to have been a planned part of an invasion of both the Valleylands and the Rainlands. We expect this attack to occur within months at the latest, weeks at the soonest, and we expect Grassbrook and Worthy Dungeon to be primary targets in this invasion."

This finally gets Tinsel to lose some of her calm. "Here!? That's - even with the rookie squads, there's only about a dozen and a half of us here! We're here to keep a watch on things, not fight an army! We don't even have a place to set up defenses!"

Trush chuckles at her concerns. "While I can't speak on behalf of your commanders, I imagine your own task right now is to report to them and then wait for further orders. However...should the Domain attack the region while you're still here, there's no reason for you to try and fight them all on your own. While the Rainlands and Valleylands have been enemies in the past, in this, I believe you'll find that you have allies?"

"Allies...including the dungeon?" As she says it, Tassa's tone wavers between questioning and disbelieving.

"Very much so." The Rabbit Champion gives a fierce grin. "If the Domain comes seeking conquest, they will find no easy challenge awaiting them..."

"My lady, you have an urgent visitor wishing to meet with you and your husband." Although Sweet's tone is practiced and calm, something about the gnoll's announcement causes Gilda to look up quickly from her work.

"Is this related to the warning we got yesterday? Silva and her team couldn't possibly be here already, could they? ...Unless Silva had foreknowledge, I suppose..."

The bulky bodyguard in a servant's outfit shakes her head, however. "It is not your sister, I'm afraid, although this may be related. The visitor is Miss Deylia Niyen, of Worthy Dungeon."

"Deylia!?" Gilda immediately stands up from her desk and begins to move. "Of course - put her in the sitting room and fetch her some tea, I'll find my husband myself. For the dungeon to send her here, this is surely serious."

Sweet nods, and the two women each make their way to prepare for their sudden guest. It does take Raylin a bit of time to be found and to prepare himself, but it's a rather short period of time by noble standards before the couple are sitting in front of their former associate. After their initial greetings are exchanged, Raylin is the first to get to serious matters.

"This is - it's very much a surprise, Del. I know your current master has more-or-less forgiven our...past interactions, but I wouldn't expect her to use you as a messenger to us."

The rabbit-eared former maid nods as she sets down her tea. "Some of the others are busy sending messages elsewhere right now, but Xenia wanted to be sure that you would take this seriously. As the nobles administrating this region, it's important that you be informed."

Gilda asks the obvious question. "We heard about the dungeon attack across the mountains, just yesterday. Is this somehow related?"

"It is." The priestess frowns. "It seems that the Dragonlord intends to renew their war against the north, likely within a matter of weeks or months. As part of this, they have discovered a way to have dungeon monsters join and reinforce their army. Xenia is also very certain that they intend to strike here, specifically."

Rather than question the information, Gilda's first response to begin to calculate a plan of action. "Gods...I'll need to discuss this with Commander Paulados - have you sent a message to the Fort already? No? We'll see to it. We should also make plans to raise a militia..."

Raylin furrows his brow at his wife's muttering. "A militia? The Challengers, certainly, would be useful in a fight. But without walls to defend or suitable terrain, sending farmers into battle would be a massacre."

Deylia nods in agreement. "It may be better suited to have them bring in an early harvest, if they can. Of course, the dungeon is prepared to help with supplies, and I'm sure the Church of Bounty can help with the harvesting. Palain is known to respond to prayers in times of emergency."

Gilda smiles slightly at the concern, but nods. "It's good of you to think of the welfare of the commoners. Fortunately the Domain at least isn't known for wild rampages and massacres, but...there hasn't been a major war in a very long time. We can't be sure that their tactics haven't changed - never mind what the impact of dungeon monsters might be on the topic of battle or occupation. We will of course do our best to ensure that the soldiers and adventurers protect the helpless."

"That's good to know." Deylia takes a deep breath. "The last thing we need is a famine on top of everything else..."