Shame that she got away. Luzai isn't going to discuss how, right now. Minagho did, you know, teleport out; the fact that Staunton bought her time to is...not a necessary feature of the narrative right now. 

"Now that the immediate crisis is over, it would probably make sense to talk to Dyra and Feducia Rathimus about connecting the Neather villages to Kenabres proper." 

"Yeah. I guess people might get a bit concerned right now if there's people coming up through the garrison, but there's probably a solution."

"I feel like it should be possible to cut stairs, or something, into the big crack in the square..."

"Sounds like it would be harder, what with having to also widen out the passage there and get past the rats every time, but I'm not really an expert. Maybe the neathers would think the rats are a nice evening snack."

"I thought they might be, when we were passing through. Of course," she makes a slight face, "I'm used to lots of things more civilized nations consider gross. The entrance into the Grey Garrison is going to need to be handled one way or another, though." 

Fortunately, it doesn't appear to be a big enough emergency to demand immediate action, so they have time to go show the flag a little first. The biggest thing they end up doing on the way out is helping a group of civilians who got stuck because the door to the basement they were sheltering was covered in rubble, but on their way back they're set upon by insects. Unlike the cultists, they don't seem to have gotten the memo to go to ground and several centipedes decide that a group of three noisy people will make a perfectly fine meal.

Well, eat slightly higher AC than last time Luzai had to fight giant arthropods.

Or, uh, don’t, on account of that is what a tank is for.

Eat acid either way.

The insects are no more resistant to the stuff than they were several days ago, and Luzai and Villibor are better at hitting them.

Seelah has gotten much better at hitting insects. Pretty much every attack at this point lands, and in return even when they get lucky hits it doesn't really seem to be enough to injure her, which she appreciates. Pretty soon between the three of them all the enemies are dealt with, and they make it back the garrison in good time with no injuries to report.

Luzai is going to try to find Feducia Rathimus and see if he has any thoughts about connecting the Neather villages to the surface. 

It's an interesting question!

"If we're purely considering the perspective of the city, in the medium term the most efficient solution probably looks like helping them migrate to the surface. Kenabres has something of a shortage of housing right now, yes, but that's from battle damage and not space - once the city is repaired, the dynamics will go the other way around, and an infusion of hundreds of people worth of labor would go a long way towards alleviating the problem that it's not terribly likely to get as many immigrants as it used to. It would also lower friction on trade between the two populations, and if Lann and Wenduag are representative examples their combat prowess is likely more than sufficient to support them monetarily, to say nothing of the fact that they might still be able to tap into the otherwise-idle cavern ecosystem to supplement their dietary needs.

"Of course, that only covers one of the two parties involved, and if the price that Kenabres would be willing to pay for them to do it isn't enough for them to want to take the deal that limits the options. The Neathers will have some trade goods that Kenabres is likely to be willing to purchase, like mushrooms, mercenaries, or keeping the underground free of demons, but that's not enough to import much while keeping a balance of trade, and the profit margins are unlikely to be high enough to justify high initial monetary outlay to enable easy transit. The cheapest speedy option probably looks something like finding a place where the surface accessible tunnels are near a central underground location, and sinking a borehole for a pulley system. That would put pretty harsh volume limitations in place, but it might be a necessary evil."

"That makes sense. In terms of figuring out what exactly they have to trade it would probably be a good idea to talk to their cleric of Abadar, Dyra..."

He did not know that Abadar had chosen another cleric in Kenabres. Which, come to think of it, is probably also a lesson from the master of the First Vault that he has travel as a domain for a reason. 

"That does sound like a good place to start. Do you know where they reside?"

"...In...the...village? I don't know which dwelling is hers specifically." 

Well, that's less helpful than he was hoping, but at least he now knows she exists. Now he just needs to find which of their villages she lives in and where she is in said village... this is probably going to be a significant amount of time set aside, but he's paid more for less.

"Thank you. If I can verify your information, I'll deliver a finder's fee."

It doesn't occur to Luzai that "the village" is ambiguous, because she's only been to one and it's, you know, the one Lann and Wenduag are from, the one the Shield Maze connects to, it's not going to be easier to find any other Neather villages. 

"You're welcome." 

Then unless she has something else that he would pay to know or that she wants to pay him to consider, he'll get back to trying to put things in the temple back into some semblance of order. Their vaults are apparently untouched - the defenses having likely proven too much for the cultists to consider worth the effort, though he'll have to actually check to ensure it's not just that they want him to miss something - but the rest of the bank suffered about as much as you would expect from an institution to a lawful god whose cleric and guards were off elsewhere.

Yeah that tracks. Luzai will go off to find something else helpful to do. 

What her options there are depends on what she would consider a good deed, and what risks and efforts she’s willing to take in service of it. The Prelate is, of course, back on the prowl for cultists trying to slip back into hiding, but Luzai has made her opinion on his work rather clear. On the far other end of the spectrum, there are preparations being made at the Defender’s heart for a celebration tomorrow night - both due to celebrate the victory at the garrison, and that the tavern is now empty enough to host one. In between, though, there are all manner of options from helping with repairs to practicing her magic to catching up with someone she hasn’t seen recently.

--You know, catching up with someone is probably a good idea. 

She sent Anevia a letter but that was pretty much just a one-way thing, she's going to check in to make sure she and Irabeth are doing alright. 

Which is she looking for first? Irabeth is at the Garrison, having moved over her entire office from the Defender's Heart, but Anevia is off... somewhere and seems to have gotten it through peoples heads that they shouldn't say where just because the person asking looks like someone it would be fine to tell.

Okay, you know what, that's fair. How about Lann, how is Lann doing. 

"Hey," he says when he sees her. 

"Hey. How are you doing?" 

He gives her a half-smile. "Dealing. Patrolling helps. It's so--" he shakes his head as he cuts himself off. "That power was quite a rush."