"Nature doesn't ask your permission; it doesn't care about your wishes, or whether you like its laws or not. You're obliged to accept it as it is, and consequently all its results as well." ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky

I had just begun marshalling my thoughts in order to articulate my goals, somewhat inchoate as they were, when the conversation was interrupted once again. An ominous aura settled over my domain, and I was suddenly made aware that Mayphesselth had clearly been keeping tabs on the comings and goings of my visitors.

Mercifully, she opted not to descend upon us directly, but either she could reach me telepathically from her lair or she was somewhere close by, yet not within my domain; I had no sense of directionality or distance beyond that. The aura she was giving off, I assume intentionally, wasn't angry or directly threatening, but it did seem irritated and a bit ominous. I was unsure just how closely I was being monitored, and I didn't know what had actually triggered her visitation, so I sent out a cautious greeting.

** Hello May. I was going to reach out to you in the next day or so. Will you be joining us in person? Or just keeping tabs on what is going on from a distance? **

I tried to keep my mental voice neutral to welcoming, though I expect at least some nervousness came through.

Her mental voice remained irritated, if not really directing that irritation at me specifically.

**You've been a very busy dungeon today, Vay. I think you'd better bring me up to speed with what's going on. Try to be concise – I'd like to keep this brief. I won't be stopping in directly, unless I decide firm action is required, and I don't think any of you want that.**

I tried to ignore that last part, as best I could, without pretending that her threat wasn't a significant one. Her aura seemed grimly amused, and I clearly wasn't convincing her that I was unconcerned.

**Of course, I'll share anything you'd like to know. I get the sense that you know, at least loosely, who's been visiting. The dwarves sent a second round of dungeon inspectors from the Adventurer's Guild. One of them is planning to stay for a while; she's an airmage looking to do some research in a dungeon with an air affinity. The other inspector and his crew left earlier this morning.

Next, I have just received a delegation from the Church of the God of All Dungeons. They're planning to stay a few days to help answer some questions and see if they can help me with my main quest. That would be the troll priestess, Throg, and her assistants - the slimefolk, Blorg, and the raven birdfolk, Kraal.** Mental images went out in accompaniment, as I identified each person.

**Finally, it's the most recent visitor who is likely to be the most concerning from your perspective. Lukash is a representative of the Redcrest tribe. They're apparently on the losing end of a war over territory and are looking for a refuge here with me. Apparently, they got a prophecy involving, and I quote "cliffs in the air", a dragon, and "a dungeon with a thirst for knowledge" and that is what led him here – or more accurately, got him sent this way. They're hoping to settle something like 80 members of the tribe here for at least a short while. I told them that would require your permission, but that I would work with them if they got your okay. I imagine they'd follow any rules you want to set, but I think they recognize it's a big request. Certainly, Lukash seems nervous about your reaction.**

I hadn't included any of the other visitors in our chat, just yet, and May's shifting attention as I named the visitors had them all visibly on edge, but Lukash was sweating visibly and his crest held flat to his skull.

If anything, her irritation seemed to build to a peak and then recede a bit. It felt as though I could almost hear her scales sliding across stone as she shifted position.

** Hmm. I'm surprised they got that clear a prophecy. Not to put too fine a point on it, the sheer weight of a dragon's presence tends to have an obscuring effect on predictive magics. And I've taken some deliberate steps myself, as well. Some god of theirs must be pushing them some support, I suppose. Ugh! I'm really not a fan of the divine interference here – I wonder if it's the same god that put YOU here? Well, I'd better chat with everyone present in order to give a verdict on the various potential residents, at least.**

At that point, Mayphesselth broadened the telepathic channel to incorporate the varied visitors. Mayphesselth apparently had sufficient broadcast power (or perhaps fine enough control?) to even reach the non-telepathic parties and enabled me to do so as well – if only temporarily.

As the one playing host, I made introductions – clearly identifying May as the dragon in possession of the sky island, and the final arbiter of all questions of residency and the conditions under which visitors were allowed to come and go.

She began by addressing the dungeon clerics, whether from respect for their divine connections or just because they were the simplest to deal with, I was unsure.

**As I assume you hoped, I have no particular issue with you, your mission, or your god. I'm uninterested in either helping or hindering you. We'd need to speak again, should you decide a permanent presence is required, but otherwise, the sooner you get Sylvanus on track for his divine mission, the happier I'll be. Frankly, the uncertainty about what that might entail is the most worrisome aspect of all this for me. The implication that the sky island NEEDS divine intervention is enough to keep me up at nights. Have you gotten any sense of which god put him here, yet? Or what the issue is?**

Throg was the most collected of my visitors by a significant degree, and she maintained a collected demeanor through that brief opening statement. That said, her colleagues looked distinctly relieved to my "eye". I admired both Throg's poise and her diplomatic reply.

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She shook her head in a slow, serious kind of way. **I'm afraid not. All we know so far is that it wasn't any of the current major pantheons who placed Sylvanus here. Of course, Mayphesselth, we'll be doing what we can to determine that while we're here. We are here to help, after all, but we will not be staying more than a few days. We obviously can't promise any clarity on Vay's mission or his patron, but we'll be trying to divine what we can. Possibly through actual divination, so ironically our chances may be better if you maintain some distance – though of course, you are always welcome to convey any concerns you may have.***

May gave the mental equivalent of an irritated shrug. **I will, if I need to, but I expect I won't. I had no plans to leave my lair for the next week or so, and if I do, I'll hunt the opposite side of the island.**

The still grouchy sounding dragon turned next to the dwarven airmage, who tensed rigidly at the weight of her attention. Her hand clenched briefly around the haft of her axe, momentarily, before she drew conscious breath and released it shakily – clearly recognizing the futility of the instinctive gesture.

May's mental voice was even and controlled, though undertones of restrained violence were present. ***My interactions with dwarves have been rather mixed, but the ones I have had issue with have nothing to do with you, as far as I know, and most of them have been dead for a very long time, in any event. So long as you stay within the dungeon's domain and away from the central mountain, and as long as your work isn't too destructive, I will approve your stay. In return, I'll expect a copy of whatever research you generate before you leave my sky island, and I reserve the right to throw you out if you become otherwise annoying. If the research promises to be a problem for me, I will need to take steps to prevent issues.***

Hakdrilda blanched a bit at the last part but mostly seemed gratified and confused.

**You want to see my research? I didn't think more than 20 or 30 dwarves, globally, were going to be interested in my research. It's mostly to do with the fine points of subterranean air flow in mines, after all.**

Hakdrilda muttered to herself, under her breath, but still audible to me, at least. "I guess that's fine. Not like she's looking to beat me to publication in the Journal of Daekaran Mining."

**Sure, that's fine. If you have critiques or insights, I'd be happy to recognize your contributions in the foreword to my thesis**

"And won't THAT be a thing to trot out at conferences for decades to come", she snorted quietly in mild disbelief.

I could practically feel May shaking her head at the dwarf's incredulity. Clearly dismissing it as irrelevant, the dragon turned her attention to the visibly nervous Lukash next, and his questioning began rather abruptly and in a somewhat suspicious tone.

**Your ENTIRE tribe intends to relocate to the sky island? And take up residence in a DUNGEON?**

Lukash took a deep, steadying breath and confirmed. **Yes. That is the hope, anyways. The tribe is currently under sporadic assault, and it hasn't been going well for us. The tribal elders sent me to scout the location of a refuge. Our shaman received a prophecy from our ancestral spirits that suggested our best chance was to move here – it references cliffs in the air, a dragon, and a dungeon. You'd have to speak with the shaman for the full prophecy. The cliffs in the air and the dragon don't seem to fit anywhere else in range, and we were simply trusting that a dungeon was here too. The shaman will be pleased to be vindicated, I guess.**

May's mental voice conveyed irritation at the continued interest of divine/supernatural powers as she responded. **I will TENTATIVELY allow it, though once your tribal leadership arrives, we'll have to negotiate some form of recompense – for me AND for the dungeon. You can assume that I'll let you stay at least until the spring arrives, barring some major issue. Any longer stay will require your tribe to become actively useful in some fashion. Tell them to give it some thought, and I will speak with them upon their arrival.**

His red crest rising in excitement, Lukash nodded an affirmative. "Of course, ma'am. You can be sure the elders will try hard to make your forbearance worthwhile. I don't know what you would consider useful, but we will start bringing our people here in a week or so, and I would expect the shaman to accompany the first arrivals. Our chief and remaining warriors will likely be fighting a rear-guard action and will be among the last to arrive – assuming things go anywhere close to plan."

Mayphesselth's mental voice seemed resigned and a bit dubious, but she merely sent, **Then I'll consider it sorted, for the time being. Let me know if there are any significant developments.**

The dragon's aura lifted abruptly, and everyone else, me included, paused for a moment to gather ourselves.

Lukash wanted to turn around and leave, immediately, but as night had just fallen and I had some planning to do, I prevailed upon him (with Throg's assistance) to speak with me for a few hours and leave in the morning.

Throg, herself, was more interested in asking about my prior interaction with Mayphesselth.

**So, she came to you in person, the first time – not simply reaching out telepathically?**

**Yes. She basically left the mountain top and sailed directly here, dropping no more than 30 meters from the entrance. I didn't even know she could reach us from a distance until just now.**

Throg, Kraal, and Blorg all shared a quick glance, before Throg continued. **I think you may have had a narrower escape than you realized, my friend. Assuming you don't have any materials she would want, the only reason I can think of for her to come in person is because she was anticipating a need to destroy you. Good job on talking her around – she, um, didn't seem like the friendliest sort.**

I winced, mentally, but had already reached that conclusion long ago. **Yes, I'm reasonably certain that if I had been a standard dungeon, I would no longer be here. She sort of hinted as much. Her general unwillingness to irritate my mysterious patron and the potential need for whatever my mission might be seems to be staying her hand. That said, she as much as said that in a worst-case scenario, she'd simply destroy me and relocate if absolutely necessary. I'm obviously hoping she'll warm up to me a bit, but I get the sense she expects to ignore me as much as possible.**

By that point, it was beginning to be a bit late in the day, and we all gathered ourselves and tried to get settled for the evening.

I took a few minutes to temporarily convert rooms 20 and 21 (the empty ones before the rest area) into temporary housing for my other guests – adding doors between each room and shaping stone sleeping platforms for each visitor along with a shared latrine between the two rooms, then left Hakdrilda to complete her own set up operations. I'd conveyed to her that I'd speak with her in greater detail in the morning, but at the moment needed to do some planning with Lukash.

I was hoping that I could squeeze at least a bit of orientation in with Throg and her compatriots as well, but it was clearly going to be a very busy few days.

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