"What do you make of it?" Tinpot asked.

  Shaking his head, Axel said, "It just won't work. You can't make an adamantine hollow charge that will explode on impact. The gas can't escape and blows out its own explosion. If you make the wall thin enough that an explosion can rend it, the pressure in the barrel at ignition will collapse it and it will explode."

  "We could reinforce steel with adamantine to make a more robust ball but still allow it to explode." Tinpot drew a circle, then added ribbing of adamantine to it. "That would make the molds far more complex, but ultimately use less adamantine, too."

  After nearly two hours doodling different reinforcing designs, and disregarding all of them as less than optimal, they came back to the original design and continued looking at the circle on the wax tablet together for fifteen minutes.

  "What if it was like a breastplate?" Axel reached over and picked up a stylus, then sketched two halves of a sphere. "The forces are opposite, right?" He didn't hear an immediate response from Tinpot, so added more of his thoughts. "The force in the mortar barrel is compressive, but when the charge detonates, it's expansive. The barrel will hold the two halves together and, once in the air, it will still hold since there are no strong forces until it connects with a target."

  Now Tinpot followed, and his mind ratcheted into gear fast. "That's right. We could make a two-part mortar shell that presses together, and has a lip inside to maintain its compressive strength."

  "And then, when the charge sets off the powder inside, the two halves split and it explodes." Axel felt a rush of excitement. "They will count as ammunition, which means we should be able to use the dungeon system to make them cheaper and faster than otherwise, but the metalworkers in the capital will want our design. For all the kobolds we have in here, there are more smiths and apprentices that could make these."

  "First we have to make it. We'll need a mortar to test, too. Travis?" Tinpot, having had more than his fair share of attention from the dungeon, could tell when he had it now. "We think we can do this. We'll need a mortar to test with, a good supply of adamantine, and two assistants"—he looked at Axel and got a nod—"from the capital's metalworkers. We could make our own mortar if they send a plan for it."

  "I have a favor to ask."

  Between meetings, Honor Gallant, first in line for the throne should her cousin Stewart have a very bad day, usually spoke to Travis. Though, normally, their chats were grounding and helped her understand the people she was dealing with. She'd never been asked a favor by him, and it worried her to hear him ask. "Go ahead. I can't make any promises for big things, but I'll see what I can do."

  The woman looked regal enough. Sitting as she was, the single most tell-tale sign that her mother (Stewart's aunt) had married a little further afield than most of her line, was hanging out the back of her specially tailored trousers. A fox tail was half of her father's paternal gift to her, but it was enough for her to stand out in a family almost entirely human or human-elven caste. Short-cropped dark black hair was a second sign, but a lot of folks would discount that—her auburn-haired mother was nowhere near that dark. Blue eyes looked up from her work as she waited for Travis to respond.

  "My researchers are working on the problem of explosive, adamantine mortar shells, and they need a mortar to test with. Could they have one?"

  The favor, when asked and explained, drained the stress from Honor. She let out a little laugh. "That shouldn't be a problem. I thought you were— Never mind. I'll issue a command to dispense one to you. Have one of your kobolds collect the writ—and then the mortar—whenever you need it. I want something in return."

  When Travis didn't ask, leaving her words hanging in the air, Honor slumped into her seat a little. "One of the guards said Stewart had a dragon present during meetings. I know Lady Penelope is busy, but could I have a wyvern or something? Dragon dungeons have wyverns, right?"

  Laughing, Travis admitted, "I sure do. I was going to suggest something like that. You can absolutely use them as an excuse, just write down on a piece of paper if you want them to react, I’ll look through their eyes and ask them nicely to misbehave. Oh, or you could do that yourself. I can give you a Priest class that gives you healing spells and lets you calm my monsters so they can fight more effectively."

  Blinking at the information overload, Honor turned her pencil around in her fingers, completely ignorant of how expensive the practice of writing on paper would be to most people of the kingdom. "What are the downsides to having such abilities? Would I be beholden to you?"

  "No. Many of the royal smiths are now holders of a class, as well as Elanor. I just now realized I never offered one to Stewart." Travis was a little surprised at himself for the lack. "I'll help him out with one when he returns. I might even have something new by then."

  "My next meeting isn't for an hour. How long would it take to acquire a new friend?" It was a struggle not to betray her own nerves. Her cousin had been explicit that Travis was the staunchest ally the kingdom had and that she should trust him. Honor tried, and Travis hadn't shown any reason not to, but by his own account he was new to the kingdom. Then something tickled her memory. "Wait. Priest?"

  "It'll take a few minutes. I'll ask my creatures if any want to have a friend like Elanor. Do you follow a religion?" Travis asked as Honor stood up.

  It was a stretch to admit, but Honor leaned on her cousin's words and hoped she wasn't making a mistake by trusting too much. "Officially, Scales. Unofficially, I have talked to the head priest several times about it, and I don't. It's— It's personal."

  "That's fine. It will probably just make it seem like I'm your god, but not really. I don't have that kind of power. It's all a bit confusing on that side of things, but so far none of the gods I have sort-of-met have gotten angry with me about it, so I'll just relax and mind my own business."

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  "You've met gods?" Walking, it felt a little odd to Honor to hold a conversation with someone who wasn't there physically. She'd met city avatars who could talk to their cities similarly, but she'd never thought she would experience it.

  "Sort of. When Brayden joined as one of my kobolds, Brogdar showed special interest in me. It was reassuring to know that someone who could objectively recognize evil had looked at me and found none. Then, when Felna joined, Sandwalker took more notice of me too. She—they, are literally the most cat-like cat I have ever met, mostly because they literally have all that religious power behind them, are venerated, and they know about all those things and somehow also project that they don't care."

  To Honor, it sounded like he was accusing the god of terrible behavior. Vanity, laziness, and worse. "You're not worried she might hear that?"

  Travis had long since heard different pronouns used for Sandwalker, and had no idea personally what they wanted—but was loath to correct anyone on it when he might be wrong. "From my own experience, and from hearing how Felna and Elanor consider their god, it's both correct and welcome. I don't think Sandwalker denies being the most feline of all cats. I think they take pride in it."

  "So long as I don't get caught in any smiting going on…" With two guards flanking her, Honor left the keep behind and stepped out into the city proper. She knew the way to the dungeon entrance—it was hard to miss due to the wagons queued up to enter it. "You promise you're not going to turn murderous the moment I step inside?"

  "I can't promise I won't get a situational quest to kill you, but I have been very careful about killing leaders of nations. Haven't managed a single one yet." Travis, of course, kept his dialogue for Honor alone. "Even if I was offered an extra floor. If only he didn't lose the kingdom if he died, I'd consider asking him to take one for the— Well, not so much team, but with an extra floor I could be mining divinium and platinum."

  Stopping in her tracks, Honor stared ahead without actually seeing anything. There was one thing she knew about her cousin above all other things. "Did you tell him his life would open a supply of divinium to the kingdom?" She returned the curious, raised eyebrows of her guards with a firm stare and a shake of her head.

  The serious tone she used caused Travis to pause. "No…"

  "Please don't. Don't ever tell him that. He would, without much deliberation, take you up on it. Stewart would sacrifice anything for the kingdom. How long until you can mine it without that level of sacrifice?" Relieved to hear that Travis hadn't told her cousin, Honor stepped inside the entrance and felt the awareness of a dungeon.

  She hadn't done a lot of adventuring, but being second in line to the throne had afforded her the opportunity to avail herself of a little fun. She knew what an aggressive dungeon felt like, and she certainly felt that edge now. "You really are—"

  "You mean he'd go through with that? Uh. Right. It'll only take another year at most before I'd have that unlocked. There's no reason for him to do that. Anyway, yeah, I'm really a dungeon." Travis had heard Honor say she'd delved a little, but he hadn't realized it would be enough for her to feel his dungeon-ness.

  "Yeah. You are. Weird." As she'd said the last word, Honor felt a minor hit of panic. "I don't mean you're weird. I expected more, uh, monsters." All her training in diplomacy and word craft was dashed and scattered to the winds. He had become completely disarming in how he sounded like an ordinary person.

  "Most of them are out training or taking care of personal projects. I could look, but I try to give everyone their freedom and don't intrude unless they ask. Two of my oldest friends have offered to lead you to the wyvern pens to find some friends that suit you. Unless you want wolves? I have some excellent Bloodied Wolves. Elanor quite enjoys their company. Very loyal, and they double as a bed if you're too tired to make it to your room."

  Greeting the two kobolds, who seemed friendly yet focused on each other, Honor nodded to her guards to follow along as they headed deeper. "I think a wyvern would be less likely to be interpreted as a big dog." Honor decided to indulge her curiosity and ask more about the quests. "So, did you get any situational quests for me entering? An extra floor, or maybe the ability to have extra bosses?"

  "Why? Are you looking for work as a boss? I don't have any positions open now, but if I get another floor…" Travis kept his words focused for Honor to hear.

  "I don't— How would that work? Wait, you're distracting me. Did you get a quest?"

  "There might be a quest. What sort of quest would you want me to get? Something to kill you? Maybe something to subvert you to my will so I can take over the kingdom one city at a time?"

  It was absurd. Honor had been thinking exactly that earlier, but the way Travis said it so openly made it idiotic. "It depends. Does that pay well?"

  "Oh, so you're kobold-curious?" The tone of the question earned Travis a spate of giggles from Honor. "Or would you rather be a dragon?"

  "Dragon, of course." There was no hesitation, and it surprised and sobered Honor. A dragon, she reasoned, was a huge deal. It was mighty and a powerful symbol, as her cousin was proving from the reports she read. "I can't believe I'm considering this."

  "A dragon would take another floor before I can do more of—at least I think so. That's how it seems to work. Last floor, Penelope was the big, warrior type that Fife looks like now. Next floor I figure my floor bosses could become dragons like Pen, then Pen gets to grow bigger." It was speculation, Travis knew, but it had some history to support it.

  Trying to imagine flying, and failing utterly, Honor felt like it was something she should at least attempt before considering it further. "I think I'd need to get used to flying first. So I guess that leaves me with wyvern allies?"

  The very idea of becoming a dungeon monster, should have filled her with trepidation, but she'd seen first hand how traveled Travis' monsters could be. She decided to tuck her thoughts on it aside for now, since Stewart needed her right where she was. In a future, where Stewart had a wife and enough children to have all the backup heirs he could want… She shoved the thought down more firmly with the others.

  "You could have a mix, but if your plan is to fly, go with wyverns. At least at first. You can take Priest so you can pacify them even outside the cities I'm in. Then we can talk about if you want to get some combat stuff. You've been in dungeons before, so I assume you have a style of fighting?"

  "Guns. I use a hunting rifle and a pistol, but I've had to leave my rifle for now. I can use a sword, though only well enough to get myself into more trouble than drawing it is worth."

  Having a few words to Tinpot, Travis figured he could give Honor something else to help her stand out among the nobles.

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