Chapter Three-Hundred Thirty-Five

    I’m glad to see the Earl seems to be on the back foot, even if that doesn’t mean he’s out of this fight. Judging by the people he brought, and how quickly he’s getting his delving guild going, I think he meant to stomp in like he owned the place and change things over a couple days. But the stunt with the tree seems to have thrown his plans out of whack, so he’s being a lot more subtle.

    Which makes it all the more fun for me to not be subtle. People who plan a lot are easy to mess with. All you have to do is make them aware that you are aware they’re doing something, and they''ll tie themselves in knots trying to figure out exactly what you know. My way of letting him know I know is to keep a couple ravens watching his delvers whenever they delve. They haven’t done too much of that just yet, but it’s easy to see how perturbed they are when my ravens stare at them the entire time.

    Still, the Earl’s no fool. He’s moving quickly, but I don’t think he’s panicking. He’s going more slowly than I think he wants, but being able to shift his plans this quickly makes him someone to not underestimate. In fact, if it weren’t for what Zorro found, I’d think he was taking everything in stride.

    His description of the area sets off all sorts of red flags, so I have no problem at all with approving him meeting with Karn to try to get more information. The skinny orc might be a reputable leader of the local delver’s guild, but he also doesn’t hide that he was a rogue when he was still doing his own adventuring. Meeting with him is pretty simple. He’s not exactly the most formal guy out there, so Teemo and Zorro can basically just pop down to the guild for a chat, which is exactly what they do.

    The meeting is pretty quick, with Teemo relaying what Zorro found, and Karn simply saying “Thieves Guild,” like he stepped in something foul. “I have a few contacts I could check with to see if they have anything to say, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Even if they respond, it’ll be through dead dropped notes and the like.”

    “Do you think the Boss could get his own eyes and ears in there?”

    Karn sighs and shakes his head. “He’s pulled off the impossible before, but keeping out prying eyes is their biggest priority. They have standing orders to kill any animals they find in the area. Thedeim’s not the only one who can use them to spy. While there’s magic to root out that sort of thing, they’re not subtle. A few dead strays is a lot easier to explain than a privacy ward around a whole block. I wouldn’t try the rockslides, either. Earth affinity isn’t the most common around here, but there are definitely a few in the guild with it, and they’ll eventually notice.”

    Teemo frowns for me at that, the both of us going over my standard procedure for infiltration. The rockslides are great for stealth because they can just slowly move through the ground to get where they need to, and they look like rocks, so who’s going to notice? Well, paranoid earth affinity people, for one. We might be able to slip in a few living vines, but the area is full of warehouses and industrial-scale workshops, though ‘industrial scale’ is a relative term, especially when compared to back on Earth. Still, there’s not a whole lot of greenery to be had, and I kinda doubt there’s going to be a lot of potted plants inside.

    I’m kinda nervous about leaving this to Violet, but she’s the best positioned for it. Even though I don’t know if she herself understands the importance of this, Onyx and Cappy are both smart enough to be able to guide her through this kind of situation.

    But now my core is outgrowing the Secret Sanctum, so I need to move it. Coda has been working on the designs in the roots of the tree, and I’m wondering if I should make my location public. I have a lot of scions and denizens now, and a lot of ways to keep my core safe even on display. Just because the location is public, doesn’t mean just anyone can come in and take a look.

    There’s a reason to potentially reveal it, too. Way back when I first hid my core, I remember there being a pretty big drop in the mana income to come with the security. I can keep it secret and safe, like stashing cash under my mattress, or I can make it public and hopefully see my investments soar.

    It’s real tempting to try. Neverrest’s core was secret, but Hullbreak, Southwood, and even the Maw all had theirs public. Hullbreak kept his with his enclave, and even after moving it, he’s still letting them handle security, and the Maw did similar. Southwood keeps his in an idyllic glade, and even though he periodically moves it around, it’s not difficult for someone to find it. Well, as long as the Stag doesn’t stomp them into mulch for getting too close.

    Should I make mine public, too? The mana gains are very tempting. I’m still running at a good profit, but the spending spree to get the spawners going for the expansion really hammered home how expensive things are, and I already know I need to upgrade them all to get a couple more spawns before I’ll be even remotely satisfied with the Forest. I could slow down, take more time to plan things out, but that’s an easy way to fall into analysis paralysis, or just stagnate. There are so many excuses to be complacent, sit back, relax, and take a pace closer to what other dungeons do.

    On the other hand, my pace is a big part of why I’m where I am right now. Would I have been able to help everyone if I played it slow? Would I have subsumed Neverrest? Would I have been able to keep Hullbreak from starving? Could I have stopped the Maw? Would I have been able to help Rhonda and Freddie get their classes? Would I have even a single enclave right now, let alone three that are thriving?

    I think it’s pretty obvious: it’s hard to get anywhere if you aren’t moving. And public doesn’t mean insecure. People can go look at the crown jewels of England, but good luck to anyone who even considers trying to take them. And, even if my Sanctum itself is public, I can still have secret rooms for my scions, my residents, and anything else that I want to keep out of the public eye.

    So... what kind of security system can I come up with when I actually don’t want someone to eventually get through? If I could, I’d grin wide as I start sketching ideas in my library. My Sanctum might soon be public, but the security measures don’t have to be. Security through obscurity doesn’t only apply to the location, but to the methods. I let my imagination go wild as I sketch ever more devious death traps, dipping into the truly absurd with a few of them. I don’t even need to actually create most of these crazy things, either. If I slip a few out for delvers to find, they don’t need to know they don’t actually exist.

    It’s like the old gag of releasing three greased pigs in a college, labeled 1, 2, and 4. Three doesn’t need to exist to cause mayhem, and will probably cause even more madness by not existing. I wonder how paranoid the Earl would get if one of these made their way to him...