Tristan

"Well," Manama's melodic voice cut in, "now that that's settled, shall we see what we've earned?"

While the thought of loot was kind of exciting, Tristan also wondered how it would work with his Core. He walked over to check on Sophie rather than follow where the others were gathering. "You really saved us back there."

Sophie shrugged. "I just saw things were going badly and did what anyone would do."

Tristan chuckled. "With all the flexibility of a true astralist. Not going to check out the loot?"

She smiled warmly at his words. "It's not really necessary with the Raid Leader holding loot privileges."

"What do you mean?"

As if in reply, Drannis sent a message through the raid chat.

Drannis: It's just [Superior Healing Potion] x2. I suggest we give one to each tank.

"But won't the tanks always be getting healed?" Tristan asked quietly.

"It's always good to have a fallback plan," Sophie replied, "just in case things go poorly... like they did with the first pull."

There was general agreement among the others, though Opie did speak up. "I'm good with that, as long as the next one goes to Xanax. I get the feeling he's going to need almost as much healing as the tanks."

"You speak wisely," the scaleborn said with a nod, "assuming you wish to defeat the enemies as rapidly as possible."

The fairy flitted over and perched upon Mister Biggs's shoulder. "Speed isn't always the best thing to aim for. Safety. Safety would be better!"

"That... is true," Laura said, a bit sheepishly. "Dead people get no loot. So I'm, uh, sorry... about what I did. Pulling aggro. Acting out of habit instead of following orders."

Cross put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed reassuringly. "You always keep me on my toes."

The dwarf raid leader inclined his head. "An apology is a good start, but know that actions rather than words are the true measure of intent. Show that you have learned, as will I, and all will be forgiven. This was but the first pull, as you well know." He pointed a bit farther down the path, toward where a few more fiery creatures were visible. "We have far to go before this day is done."

"Five more pulls before the clearing," Chessa said, clearly flipping through a few pages of hand-written notes. "Another like this, with just salamanders, and then they start incorporating butterflies and other, bigger, elemental beasts."

Drannis nodded, "I am impressed by your preparation, huntress."

"I learned a while ago how much I disliked being surprised by dungeons," she said, giving Tristan and Opie meaningful glances.

"And oozes," Tristan added. "Mostly oozes, in my case. I'm used to being surprised by dungeons and variants."

Opie cocked an eyebrow. "Wait, just how many variants have you been through now?"

Before Tristan could tick off his fingers, Drannis cleared his throat. "We should continue on. The upcoming pulls we can discuss now, but for anything beyond them, we should take a longer and more thorough approach. Upon reaching the Clearing, we shall find ourselves in a more suitable place for such discussion, especially regarding the upcoming bosses, as we will also need to finalize our path through the raid."

Chessa ruffled her papers. "And I cannot wait to go over the full strategy with you--for everything between now and then--especially if you're holding to All Sides Lose."

- - - - -

Thanks to the quick briefing, the following five trash pulls went surprisingly well, especially when compared to the struggle of the first. By the end, the group had found a fair rhythm of buffing, mana breaks, pulls, separating enemies, and burning them down one by one.

The only issues arose when Laura had one of her self-proclaimed "big crits" early in the pull, as it actually managed to yank aggro off Drannis, who hadn't built up enough of a lead yet. Luckily, the dwarf had reserved his [Taunt] for just such an occasion. Besides, no one complained when she hit such big numbers, no matter how unpredictably or rare, because then the target died much faster.

Apparently it was well known that thunder mages had damage ranges that were far larger than normal, but to Tristan that just meant lots of unpredictability. Supposedly it all averaged out in the end, especially in dungeon or raid situations where you were casting dozens, if not hundreds of spells. Tristan was glad his output was more predictable. He wondered how common it was for Laura to hit either the extreme upper or lower end of her damage range, or if it was truly random.

Once, during the final trash pull, she took three quarters of the health off a fiery butterfly in one big bolt of lightning! "It was a near-perfect roll," she explained.

"Roll?" Tristan whispered to Sophie.

"Like rolling dice," she explained. "Is that not how people in Woodsedge commonly talk about randomness?"

Tristan didn't know. He hadn't heard it before, but that was often the case in Woodsedge, so he kept quiet and learned another new thing.

The Clearing was a beautiful open field of ankle-high orange grass... and ten low-cut stumps. The stumps were all wide enough to serve as fairly comfortable seats, even for someone with Tristan's build. He couldn't help but wonder at the fact that they were arranged in a tight circle, though. Definitely too close together for any natural formation, given their width. That there were exactly ten of them also felt intentional, designed.

Laura and Cross sat together on one, and Tristan couldn't help but laugh when Chessa's daggers suddenly appeared in her hands the moment Opie took a step toward her, flashing his eyebrows twice. Opie ended up moving across the circle from her despite there being an empty stump next to her and sitting beside Tristan.

The little fairy, Kitara, looked comically small as she kicked her legs over the edge of her stump. She seemed the only one in the group that wasn't comfortable on one, fidgeting constantly. "So are we going for the full clear? That's still possible with All Sides Lose." Apparently deciding she had enough of the stump, she took to the air. "I wouldn't mind, as the XP is said to be quite good." Eventually, she landed on the shoulder of the person beside her--Sophie.

"Oh!" Sophie said, slightly startled. "I suppose--I mean, I wouldn't mind. More XP!"

"XP?" Tristan whispered from her other side. "Is that just experience?"

Her response started with a nod, but then she shook her head at him as she gave a very quiet, barely audible whisper: "Tristan, seriously, you can't ask those sorts of questions during a raid or people will think you're stupid."

"More XP would be ideal," Xanax replied to Sophie's prior remark. "I level the best in raid situations."

Drannis looked around the circle with hands held open. "Such was my original plan, too, but of course I wanted to see that it was agreeable to all. If we begin with the Loose Wilds, since we are already fairly familiar with their mobs, then we might proceed to the oozes of the Lava Flows--"

"Wait, oozes?" Tristan interrupted. "Do we have to go there? I'd rather not fight oozes."

Opie gave him an incredulous frown. "Since when?" He jerked backward, trying to look around Tristan to Sophie, but all the astralist did was shrug.

"It isn't strictly necessary," Drannis answered, "but omitting those two bosses will decrease the total XP yield, and increase the difficulty of one of the final encounters."

"I'm up for more challenges," Cross said with a grin.

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"As long as we don't try to fly too high," Kitara insisted. "I don't want to end up as one of those statistics you always hear about, with all the young folk that enter dungeons, push too hard, and are never heard from again."

Sophie spoke up quickly, "While I agree, adding a tempered challenge might work to our benefit. The higher difficulty leads to more impressive rewards, after all. In fact, this dungeon offers several hardmode options for bosses, each resulting in better loot. Sometimes it's even loot that can't be earned any other way!"

Chessa chimed in as she scanned a page full of handwritten notes. "Those two bosses are the recommended first cuts for groups seeking a higher difficulty. Their loot tables are really odd and random."

"I also wouldn't mind skipping that wing," Manama added. "Battles against oozes are usually just... gross. I have no need for sticky, acrid monsters that wish to melt my beard. And, to put it bluntly, songs about oozes stink nearly as bad as they do."

Around the circle, most of the others seemed to agree. Only Kitara remained a bit bothered by Tristan's request. "I would love to get a shot at the wand that Oozolplexx, the Ooze Queen, drops..."

"I'm sorry, did she say 'Ooze Queen'?" Opie asked. "Do oozes have freaking genders?"

Chessa, totally ignoring him, flipped one page over and began running a finger carefully across it. "That wand is only reported at a 2% drop." She looked up toward where the fairy rested on Sophie's shoulder. "I don't know that it's worth it to clear a whole extra wing for a 2% drop on the second boss."

"Besides," Opie chimed in, "you're guaranteed any other healer weapon that drops anyways, as none of them will hold a candle to my big, juicy, staff!"

He earned eye rolls from several of the party members as he waggled his weapon childishly.

Drannis began stroking the end of his beard, as though straightening it. "Perhaps skipping the oozes would be in our best interests. Making one of the later battles more challenging will indeed yield greater rewards. I also have great faith that we will overcome it. What's more, with fewer fights, we should also finish sooner. Perhaps even early enough that my wife's cooking will still be hot!"

"That will change how we have to handle the Cinderbark event though," Chessa began. "Skipping the ooze wing entirely will complicate things, at least a little."

"Will the complications be extra mechanics, more damage, or what?" Kitara asked, clearly already worried about what she'd have to heal through.

Drannis brushed both comments aside. "Cinderbark will be but a minor hurdle! We will be so prepared that our victory will be assured."

Xanax raised his scaled hand. "I, for one, would wish to hear of this complication."

Manama let out a chuckle as massive as he was. "Why? You'll just end up stabbing whatever attempts to assail us, won't you? I can't imagine anything handling that big, impressive blade of yours."

Xanax merely stared unblinkingly back at the selfless entertainer, mouth slightly agape.

"So skipping the oozes then?" Tristan asked, just for confirmation.

Hopping up to his feet on the stump, Drannis raised his sword high over his head, pointing the tip skyward. "You shall have your wish, young swordsmith!"

Cross spoke up. "So the plan is to hit the Barren Grove after the Loose Wilds?"

Drannis thrust his sword skyward again. "Indeed, fellow tank! And then we shall conclude by slaying both the Heart of the Mountain and Krushyl-threks'nalik, the water demon, within!"

"Bless you?" Kitara offered.

Ignoring that mouthful of a name, Tristan could tell that Cross seemed pleased with the raid leader's decision. Honestly, it all seemed a bit much to the swordsmith, mostly because they had come so quickly after being invited that he hadn't had time to study the raid at all.

Apparently the same could not be said for Sophie, who cleared her throat, drawing all eyes to her, and asked a question that showed she had read up on the raid. "So since we're discussing taking the more challenging ways through, I was wondering if we might consider the first hardmode encounter as well."

Chessa looked at her quizzically. "Which do you mean?"

Sophie set her shoulders back and raised her chin slightly. "In the Loose Wilds. According to my information, there's a way we can make both bosses harder and earn substantially better rewards, including an Achievement for the rest of you."

"The rest of us, but not yourself?" Chessa asked.

"I got mine a while back... in the Deepstone Mines."

Cross spoke up. "I'm always good for a hardmode."

Drannis looked at her. "What would we need to do, young astralist? I am not familiar with the hardmode of which you speak. I did not see it in the guide published by the great Dungeon Delver Dave."

Tristan bit back his smart remark about the questionable ability of the guidemaker, not willing to insult the man if Drannis thought so highly of him.

Chessa's eyebrows had practically risen to her hairline. "Wait, you don't mean trying the Salamander and Butterfly as a combo, do you?"

Sophie didn't show any emotion at all as she answered, calmly, "I do."

"It was easy to miss, Drannis, because there wasn't a whole lot about it in Dave's guide," Chessa said. "Just one little sidebar that said it was 'more than the sum of its parts.'"

"I'd request that we prepare our strategy en route," Drannis said, hopping down from his stump. "We've got several pulls yet before the first boss--"

"And we'll probably need to clear the whole room," Chessa added.

"I had planned for that anyway," Drannis responded. "We'll just do it in record time! I can practically taste my wife's stew already."

From the looks Chessa and Sophie exchanged, Tristan wasn't surprised when they eventually huddled together for a quick conversation. Chessa then turned to Drannis and began what would end up being a longer discussion of strategy, while Opie started talking to anyone who'd listen, which ended up being Manama.

"Yeah, I could probably heal it solo," he overheard Opie assuring the entertainer. "Hardmode or not. And with Kitara's help, we got this for sure!"

- - - - -

"Wait, we're going to freaking pull them both?" Opie asked, head jerking around seemingly to check in with all the other members of the raid. "At the same time? On purpose?!"

They were standing in the small safe clearing between the open glade where only the two biggest creatures of this wing remained. It had taken them a full hour to pull all the surrounding trash, leaving only the bosses. One was a much larger version of the fiery salamanders, with a tail that burned whitehot. The other was a gargantuan butterfly whose wings looked to be living flames.

[Scalding Tail, level 21] {{Flamewalker Salamander Broodmother}}

[Light Wing, level 21] {{Emberwing Butterfly Matriarch}}

"That is how the hardmode works," Sophie replied. But as calmly as she spoke, Tristan could see from the way she stared at the nearer, salamander boss that she was worried about just what that might entail.

In comparison, Mister Biggs looked absolutely majestic and unbothered beside her. His eyes were locked on the burning lizard, and Tristan couldn't help but wonder if the maned astral was already planning how he'd gather and tank all the additional baby salamander spawns.

Tristan wasn't certain he liked the plan any more than Opie. "So we'll have to dodge the salamander flame trails and the tornados from the butterfly?"

"That's also correct," Chessa said, voice firming as she looked at him. Her eyes seemed to be asking for his trust. "And the tornados turn into flame pillars if they overlap a flame trail. But otherwise, they'll be slow and telegraphed. They're easily avoidable.

"They're huge, visible circles of wind on the ground that gradually pick up speed," Chessa continued. "You won't be able to miss them."

"But if we're dealing with the Broodmother first--" Tristan began, but he was cut off by Xanax.

"I will assist in making sure you are never caught unaware," the scaleborn said, already standing in a battle stance with his greatsword in front of him, "as I will be moving into the blasts whenever possible."

"Yeah, that sounds like a wonderful idea," Opie muttered.

The scaleborn bowed his head apologetically. "Yet it will most assuredly benefit the raid by dramatically increasing my damage output."

The fairy, Kitara, bobbed up and down. "Definitely sounds worth it to me. I'll make sure to keep an eye on you, maybe drop a few extra HoTs. That sort of thing."

Sophie must have anticipated his confusion and, moving a bit closer without being super obvious about it, whispered, "HoTs are Heals over Time."

Tristan mouthed a silent Thank you to her before acknowledging both the scaleborn and fairy. "I guess I'll be fine then."

Opie had narrowed his eyes, but then chuckled lightly at Tristan. "As long as you're sure, and you don't freaking jinx us again."

From only a few paces away, where the two tanks stood practically shoulder to elbow, Drannis asked, "Are we all ready then?" He glanced toward the mana users. "This is to be our most difficult fight thus far, and I want to ensure we are all prepared."

One by one, Kitara, Opie, Laura, Manama, and Sophie all gave a nod. Xanax gave a short salute with his sword. Chessa stopped stretching long enough to say, "Yep."

Tristan rolled his neck, but when that didn't quite feel like enough to work out his nerves, he also rotated his shoulders. "Let's do this."

"And your astral?" Drannis asked Sophie.

The big bear-like astral gave a powerful roar as he reared up briefly onto his hind legs.

Sophie laughed. "If you couldn't tell, he's ready too. In fact, I think he's genuinely looking forward to this!"

Mister Biggs shook his mane and gave a throaty, "Hrrrrnh."

Cross was the last to check in. "You know I'm good to go. This will be fun!"

A broad grin spread over the dwarf's bearded face. "Then let us take to the field of battle and smite these blasted fiends! There is mighty loot to claim!"

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