"One of the best ways to persuade others is by listening to them." ~ Dean Rusk

Hakdrilda shot Norfoth another sour look, unaware of my mental side trip, and took up the thread of conversation again. "Right. Sorry, I get a bit carried away sometimes. In any event, I won't take up much space, and I shouldn't really cause you any difficulties. I would appreciate assistance in the form of food and water, if I end up staying more than a couple of weeks, but I'll certainly try to do my part to be a good guest. I have brought some additional gifts, that I'd hope will be useful to you and knowing that you're sapient and fond of books, I'd be happy to share my small library with you as well. It's mostly fairly technical, I'm afraid, but a knowledge of air magic ought to be helpful to you in the long run. I've tentatively scheduled a pickup in a month or so, before the sky island gets too far from my home, so that would likely be the earliest I'd leave. I'd have to be making major progress to stay longer. So, what do y'say? Willing to give me a chance?"

**GREEN**

She gave a long, somewhat uneven, exhale in relief. "Thank the Blessed Forgemistress, and thank you too! I don't like to think about how long I'd be waiting for another chance even half so good!"

While I was eager to see what all she'd brought with her, there was no real hurry, and I'd just gotten plenty of gifts from Norfoth – no need to be greedy. If she was going to be here for at least a month, we'd have plenty of time to trade goods and knowledge.

She and Norfoth hoisted their packs again, and with my permission, moved her gear into the rest area I'd been setting up at the end of my intended second floor. She was pleased to find a latrine and a convenient water source, but I was fully intending to flesh the area out with a few more amenities if she was going to be a guest for a month. I hadn't played around with temperature controls much, as yet, leaving the room at a default temperature standard to the base underground temperature, but I could probably cobble something together to provide basic cold storage and hot water, at a minimum. Furnishings were even easier, and a table and chairs would likely be appreciated. I'd have to see what all she had with her before I made any real plans. If she was planning to experiment, then presumably she'd brought the necessary gear and reagents, after all.

*****

Lukash, panting lightly, perched somewhat precariously not far above the bottom end of the sky island. He could manage a level flight for hours at a time, but the vertical 2 km climb without any supporting thermal had strained his capabilities. His long, red crest fluttered in the steady breeze, and he craned his neck to look upwards determining that while the main center line of the island wasn't quite as far up as the ground was down, it was still going to be another kilometer, at least. Still, it should be an easier stretch, as the wind striking the mass of the mountain was, at least mostly, funneled upwards, providing lift. While it obviously wasn't holding up the mountainous island, it would be sufficient to do most of the heavy lifting for him.

The break was a necessary one for him, though, and not just to catch his breath. His anxiety was growing, knowing that the more challenging part of the journey was about to begin. He needed to locate an unknown, hopefully sapient, dungeon on an unfamiliar sky island in the territory of a presumably reclusive dragon – then convince all parties to allow the relocation of his tribe without giving away everything they had. "No problem", he muttered sardonically to himself. He took a deep breath, and pushed off his temporary perch, wings snapping out to catch the rising air currents, as he let the winds carry him to his fate.

*****

Hakdrilda smiled to herself, nerves finally settling. She turned to her pack, and began removing some of her supplies, setting them out cautiously – hoping that the dungeon wouldn't simply absorb them without asking or providing assurances of their replacement. She did have some things she'd wanted to gift the dungeon, at least in part in hopes of being able to sustain herself with its help.

"Dungeon, I'm going to unpack now, and I know you've agreed to let me stay, but I also want to ask that you not absorb any of my goods until I can explain which things I brought as gifts, which things I'm hoping you can absorb and use to support my efforts, and which things you likely cannot replicate. In the end, you'll likely have copies of almost everything, and that's fine, but I do have a few enchanted tools that may be irreplaceable here. Is that okay?"

***GREEN***

"Excellent. I truly appreciate your cooperation. I really didn't want to take time from my work to try to hunt and forage, and I couldn't bring both enough food for a month and all of my gear! I do have a storage ring, but it's not THAT big."

She chose one of the platforms set out for bedding and began by unrolling a rather warm looking sleeping roll and a small pillow. The adjoining one she used to set out most of her remaining personal gear – a firestarter, a small journal, light weight metal pans and dishes, a few changes of clothing, an axe and a few knives. A third platform was taken over with a variety of dried foods, and a fourth was rapidly filled with a variety of books and writing materials. The last two platforms were then dedicated to a bewildering combination of glassware and metallic devices in a variety of shapes and sizes (albeit none all that big – the largest no more than 1 meter long and vaguely cylindrical).

Hakdrilda started as a low, stone firebox with a wrought iron grate rose from the floor along the north wall and a chimney grew up and out of sight, presumably venting to the surface. Counters dug themselves out of the adjoining wall and topped themselves with a pale granite, aside from an inset cutting board of golden oak.

"Oh, you're going to spoil me," she said with a smile. "I wasn't looking forward to a month of cold meals or regular visits to the surface". She inspected the supplied cooking space, noting the shape of the flue and the nods to proper airflow. "Very nice. OH! And these panels pull out to reshape the fire box; I can restructure it to throw more heat into this space, rather than directing it towards the grate for cooking. That's really clever!" A small pile of firewood created itself a short distance away, to complete the area.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

A simple oak table and half a dozen chairs materialized in the center of the room, and the dungeon paused, presumably having exhausted all the mana it was currently willing to devote to making her life better.

*****

Throg stood, raven hair tied back in a tight braid and secured within her hood, firmly planted in the prow of the skyship she'd requisitioned from the order. It was on the small side, as these things were counted, manned by a three-being crew and carrying herself and her two selected initiates. The ship was small enough, and she was large enough, that she'd been asked to stay on the centerline, and ideally at the opposite end from everyone else. The trip wasn't going to be all that long, but it was still an overnight flight and trying to sleep on the open deck wasn't easy while also concerned about the quest she'd been given. Between the information from her god and the report of the dungeon inspector, she felt confident in making contact successfully. She was less sure that she could help the dungeon with its primary quest, as the basic divinations she'd had cast hadn't shed much light on its situation.

She squinted her eyes in an amused but tired way as she cast her yellow eyes across her companions. The crew members were two celestial elves and a gnome – all men, by sheer chance – and solid professionals who'd worked for the church for years. Decades, actually, for the elven captain. As a priest, she had committed their names to memory long ago but rarely spoke with them to avoid interrupting their work. Her companions, on the other hand, had little to do and were quietly amusing themselves by working on some handicrafts.

Kraal, one of the ravenfolk that made their home in the Cold Spires, was shaping a small length of silver wire around some dark gemstone. He'd likely enchant it once he had it completed to his satisfaction – specializing as he did in enchanting resistance buffs. Despite his overall dark appearance, he had a sharp wit and a keen sense of humor and made for an excellent travelling companion. The wind ruffled his feathers and narrowed his dark eyes, and he kept his beak pointed into the wind for comfort, but his focus was entirely on the work in his hands.

The other initiate was a bit more enigmatic. As a slimefolk, its actual name didn't parse well in the Common tongue, since slimes natively communicated more by a chemical exchange, but in non-slime circles it went generally by Blorg. Blorg's color fluctuated along with its crafting, currently most of it was a pale yellow, deepening to a truly noxious shade as it slowly concentrated its current potion into a single, finger-like pseudopod above a waiting vial. Throg could sense some of the strands of mana being infused into the liquid base and decided this was likely to be some sort of anti-venom. Blorg, noticing her focus, clarified *Specifically, an anti-venom for Jewel Viper. We're not likely to suffer from its venom, but I'm not as sure about the crew.* Its telepathic voice was distinctly androgynous, but thoughtful and friendly nevertheless. *Always best to hope for the best and plan for the worst!*

Throg responded aloud, "Yes, well, we should be there within an hour or two." She gestured broadly at the looming mountain jutting through the clouds. "Then we'll see just how prepared we are..."

Norfoth had made his farewells – first to Hakdrilda, and then to the dungeon on his way out. Pausing at the main entrance and the final set of available mana lights, he'd made a final set of formal comments – noting that the challenge rating for the dungeon didn't yet need to be raised, and suggesting that additional non-lethal traps might be an appropriate addition in keeping with the patterns set by the first floor. Once the formal inspection had been concluded, he cast a wry grin in the general direction of Vay's core.

"Well, formalities aside, I look forward to working with you for years to come; it's a challenge to get here, but I'm confident you'll be making it worth the time and effort – not just for me, but for a lot of more thoughtful types. I'd ask you to take good care of young Hakdrilda; she's got a head full of big ideas, but a practical engineer's viewpoint, and not always the best situational awareness or a lot of tact. Treat her right, and she'll likely be a big help to you, and vice versa, of course."

**GREEN** **GREEN**

"Much appreciated." He cast a glance back over his shoulder towards the small sky ship docked not far away. The crew had just begun staring off into the distance and gesticulating animatedly. "Hmm, looks like something's going on; I'd best go check in with them. If all goes well, I'll be seeing you again in about a year – Granthor willing, of course."

Returning to the skyship, Norfoth was rapidly informed that another skyship was heading towards them, likely arriving in a bit over an hour. "Too small to be pirates, I should think", offered the pilot. "Still, I'd just as soon be clear of the island and in the sky before they're too close to avoid".

Norfoth nodded his acquiescence. "Likely visitors to the dungeon, but we've no real reason to wait and find out. Take us out, at your convenience."

As it turned out, the captain had been hoping for that order, and all the preparations had already been made. They were in the air and under way in less than 10 minutes. The two ships never got within a kilometer of each other, but that was close enough for Norfoth to see the banner of the Church of All Dungeons flying from the mast.

"Makes sense." he muttered to himself. "Surprised they didn't beat me here, frankly..." He had the flag of Daekar run up but made no move to approach the other ship – preferring to head home to make his report.

Unseen by either ship, Lukash had taken up a temporary perch on a shadowed outcropping, simply watching the movements of the skyships. "Well, I'm going to assume they're all visiting the dungeon; it seems unlikely they'd be visiting the dragon, and I don't know of any other features that would draw visitors. That should make finding the dungeon easier, even if it might complicate my actual mission. Eh, talking to myself isn't going to help; I'll take a break to let that one ship clear the area first, then I'd better press on. Daekar's flag, I recognize; that other one, not so much. If nothing else, it's not from one of the local political powers." He pulled a hunk of goat jerky from his belt pouch and sawed it into manageable hunks before delicately wolfing down the bits, one at a time – interspersed with unconscious sighs at the lack of fresh meat.

It had taken another hour, almost, for the new ship to dock and offload its passengers. Lukash's eyes, sharp as they were, couldn't really make out any of the new visitors from his position several hundred meters below, but before the angle had dropped to one that impaired his view, he'd identified 6 (or maybe only 5) beings – mostly of a standard humanoid height, but with one substantially larger personage, though fully hooded and otherwise indeterminate.

"Hmm. Figure two or three flight crew, leaving another two or three visiting the dungeon. Of course, the flight crew could be part of the larger party as well – 5 or 6 is a pretty standard size for an adventuring party." His long crest feathers fluttered in the breeze as he flicked his wings in frustration. "I was really hoping to make contact with the dungeon without other onlookers, but I really can't wait for them to leave."

With that thought, he released his taloned grip, stepped away from the outcropping, and spread his dark, pinioned wings to catch the updraft and ascend. It was time to complete his mission – one way or another.

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