Khenal
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Chapter Two-Hundred Fifty-One
🕑 Added 2024-04-26 01:25:06 +0000 UTC___________
The Maw
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For once, the Maw is glad it has no mouth. It can only imagine how much it would be drooling at the prospect of what’s happening. The surface alliance is finally making their move, and in the Maw’s opinion, they’re already making mistakes.
Even if the Harbinger hadn’t suborned the rockslides around its territory, the surfacers are either ignoring the town or underestimating the impact they could have, as the Harbinger has found no other signs of surveillance. The Maw would have liked to station least in torpor around the small city, but the odd denizens are too unpredictable to leave in that state around the delvers. While it could get it an influx of mana from the kills, it would lose out on mana in the long run. Better to keep them near the Harbinger, where it can easily control them.
There are a few handfuls of lessers now, and though they are very good at organizing the least, their influence doesn’t extend especially far, only a hundred feet or so. More lessers would easily blanket a full army in their control, but the Maw just doesn’t have that many of them. For now, it stations them nearby the ambush sites, so they can rip apart whatever surface forces try to claim the false targets of opportunity.
They’ll have their hands caught in the cookie jar and bitten clean off.
The Harbinger itself is stationed with the clergy, prepared to defend its core against whatever feeble attack the surfacers have planned. Its other scion is stationed at the primary entrance to the Maw. The Redcap could probably eliminate the approaching foes all on his own, but any true chef should have subordinates to mind the details of the meal. The Maw intends to feed the surface invaders a bitter feast of defeat.
Its forces move and the Maw considers the powerful magic it felt wash over itself. It was an impressive display, but they must have spent themselves casting it. It doesn’t appear to be any sort of subtle poison or a massive scry, and the lack of effect has the Maw wondering if they actually failed to complete whatever they were trying to create. If so, they’ll probably retreat and regroup.
It wishes its denizens were as sneaky as the rockslides… which it now technically owns, actually. It’s far too late to make a spawner for them and get any use out of it, but the Maw can move them out to try to find the surface forces! It gleefully spends the mana to order them to do just that, eagerly awaiting what news they would have to give.
With things still quiet after the spell, the Maw takes a few moments to focus on its beloved pantry, and the delicious kobolds within. They are such a wonderful variety, ranging from staunchly loyal to it, to those young rebellious ones who think it doesn’t know their little plans for escape. The older ones keep the younger in check, mostly, not letting their youthful exuberance earn them a place on the Maw’s plate. Honestly, those are the ones least likely to catch one of the Maw's cravings. They are still delicious, as all kobolds are, but the mature kobolds are... bland isn't the right word. Just... the same. So little variety. Even the tastiest treat will grate without variety. Speaking of treats; it should treat itself after this battle. The creamy caramel of a loyal one or two, or the spicy crunchiness of a few rebels?
Both, it decides. Definitely both. They’ll pair perfectly together, a fitting dessert after the feast of consuming these invaders. Ah, and here they come!
They focus on the two main entrances to the Maw, as expected. The other entrances are too secret and too small to move any real forces into. Sliverstorms and bladesprites turn the entrances into a flensing field of destruction for any invaders that try to press forward, with the living caltrops making it impossible to try to sprint through. The Maw is saddened that only a few invaders are minced before the others hang back, outside of the killing field.
Then a needleslink reports back from expedition, from the town. Something is happening. Ah, surface delvers are attacking from that direction. An interesting idea, but having the Harbinger in the temple makes it simple to send it forth to sweep through the twisting tunnels of the settlement.
Oh? More than just the surface invaders are making their move. It shouldn’t be surprised that dissidents in the population are trying to take this chance to make their own move, but the Harbinger and a flood of least can sweep them aside just as easily.
The Maw prepares to spend the mana to order a counter, before more reports start pouring in. The rockslides have found something concerning. There is something tunneling through the rock! A lot of something! They're large enough to leave room for other invaders behind! It demands more information, taking advantage of the communication chain the slides naturally form, but the leading edge is now silent. Further demands for information only reveals more and more of the small spies are unable to respond anymore.
One manages to get a name through, shortly before there is a development at the main entrances.
The surface has a dragon spawner?! It has wyrms and basilisks! It’s glad it has no mouth for a different reason now, as it would be clenching its teeth so hard they may shatter as the information continues to come in. The rockslides are wiped out by wyrms, and the Maw can only guess what mischief those invaders will get up to now. At the main entrances, basilisks are spewing magma at the first line of defense, encasing or melting the sliverstorms, bladesprites, and caltrops!
It needs to do something about the rapid change in the battle, but what? The lessers are outside its reach now they’re on expedition to the ambush sites! And those tunnelers could let the surface dwellers make their own entrances into the Maw, wherever they like! From the last of the reports from the rockslides, it seemed the tunnelers were aiming to pierce the Maw’s demesne from practically every angle!
A chill runs through the Maw as it realizes its delicious koblds could even be a major target! Even if they don’t know exactly where the enclave is, with all the potential breaches, one of them will stumble over it by pure luck!
It orders the Redcap to protect the enclave and leave the main entrances to the denizens to hold. Keeping them would be helpful, but if the tunnelers get through, the intended entrances won’t matter!
It orders the Harbinger to tell the clergy to secure the town, then orders it to respond to the tunnelers. The least are probably its best option to counter them, either by collapsing the tunnels, or meeting them with their own tunnels and forcing combat. It moves its other denizens around, securing its own tunnels and passages as best it can. The iron maidens will work best around the enclave, where the Redcap can easily force invaders into the traps. Lodewisps will have to try to sense metal as the tunnelers get near, giving warning to other denizens so they can attack. Rust elementals are released into the town, to counter the foreign delvers and traitor townsfolk at once.
The Maw’s mood is thoroughly soured as it is forced to react to the complex attack of the surface. It’s forced to spend mana on extensive expeditions of needleslinks and bladesprites, trying to get information about what’s happening! It needs to know if the ambushes are going off properly, or if they’ve vanished like the rockslides, probably even to the same infernal wyrms!
The Harbinger seems to echo the Maw’s apprehension about the attack, and the Maw can feel it trying to figure out what was that spell that seemed to be the signal to start. Perhaps that’s all the spell was; a signal? Something like that would not be as expensive as an actual attack, and would explain how coordinated the attacks are.
Yes… it must have been a signal. That would explain so much! The Maw’s mood shifts from reflecting the Harbinger to reflecting the quiet confidence of its Voice. The attack is well planned, but the Maw’s defenses should be more than enough to repel them. It will be messier than it had expected, but some meals are all the better for how much of a mess they make.
Its clergy and the Maw's own delvers will repel the foreign delvers and subdue what townsfolk are foolish enough to try to take the opportunity to rebel. The tunnels will be annoying to deal with, but shouldn’t prove anything worse than that. They’ll be natural chokepoints, allowing its denizens to deal with the intruders with as much backup as the Maw can spawn! And with the Harbinger organizing the response with the least and some lessers, the invaders can be on the receiving end of a few coordinated attacks!
Let the invaders eat their fill of the simple bread of the Maw’s denizens! It knows this meal will have many courses, and it will be fully prepared and hungry for when the entree arrives.
Comments
AssumedPseudonym
It’s oddly fitting that the one of the first manifestations of Murphy’s Law as a spell is the Maw misinterpreting what the spell’s purpose is.
Ethan Barrow
Murphy is hard at work, the lines of thinking are already taking issue. TFTC!
