I. Uh.

Hm.

The webweavers scuttled away from my presence, their thoughts singing with praise as I rather hesitantly inched my way between them. Their dismembered brethren was very dead, killed by venom at least before he'd lost his limbs, but it was rather clear this had been a planned death.

So. That was something.

They turned their eight eyes in the vague direction of my point of awareness as I reached out, dissolving the dead arachnid's body; the webweaver schema flowed through me, bright and rich with information. They knew which of them were egglayers but only used neutral pronouns, seeing themselves as mere limbs of some Great Spider below, not worthy of identity or thoughts or dreams. They only existed to serve me.

I did the mental equivalent of an uncomfortable cough.

Followers. True followers, the ones that my latent dragon-heart knew I wanted, but. Well. When I'd thought of kobolds worshiping me, it had always been the vague idea of endless pampering and going out into the wide world to bring me more silver for my hoard. It hadn't exactly included ritualistic sacrifice.

But.

I'd accept it? I suppose?

Their ghostly white bodies skittered after me as I not-quite fled from the scene. I certainly wasn't fleeing. They were my creations, I was their creator, and I absolutely refused to be unnerved by whatever society they were building within that twisting web.

I tested the schema out far away from that particular tree, though.

The newest spider of my halls blinked and looked around, a neat eleven mana sitting under its pale carapace; not a terrible cost, but certainly not one I'd be continuing to spend. I'd let them reproduce on their own. I gave it a sharp little prod of the mind, sending it skittering back to the original tree, and promptly left that side of my dungeon.

I only got about halfway before something else pinged my attention.

A point of awareness, hovering over the Underlake, turned as something shifted at the edge of its vision. The lone silverhead who'd escaped from her school swam closer, curious, and my point of awareness got a front row seat as a chunk of stone shot from the darkness and impaled clean through her scale-protected head.

Interesting.

A new fish swam through the cove entrance; two feet long, bright yellow interlaced with black and grey stripes, with a narrow mouth and wide, swelling cheeks. It shot forward with whatever the exact opposite of caution was, looking all the world like it owned the place, and its gaze drifted over another poor silverhead just minding its own business near the roof. Its cheeks swelled.

Another spike of stone shot out of its mouth and struck it dead.

Well, now that was an insult I wouldn't be leaving unanswered.

Certainly not a threat on the level of Seros or the sarco, but I rather gently spread the knowledge there was an intruder through the floor, pushing barely even a suggestion into my creatures' minds, nowhere near a command. If they were at all interested in fighting some new threat, they were welcome to try.

As typical, a small army of creatures perked their heads up and swam to engage.

The silver krait arrived on scene first, snaking through the bloodline kelp; but interestingly enough, he only took a moment to eye the size of this new fish before giving up on it, swimming back to his den. A handful of greater crab hatchlings glared in frustration at the invader far above their own miniscule heights. Even the cloudskipper wisp paused in her endless running, two ear-like growths of mist cocking to the side as she stared through the water.

But it was a school of silvertooths that made the first move.

Already kicking into a blood-frenzy as the two silverhead corpses drifted to the sandy floor, dozens of them swarmed forward with red fins flailing. The fish inhaled again, cheeks bulging strangely past the various stone chunks it'd apparently just stuffed in there, and started firing. Even the silvertooths, with their increased armour and raw power, couldn't survive a single hit; lifeless some fell as the rest of the school charged.

The fish rather quickly figured out that this strategy wasn't going to work and gave it up, spinning on its tail and darting for the entrance; but the same pressure that had welcomed it so invitingly now fought against it, just enough of a current kicked up that it had to struggle to make it back to the entrance.

And silvertooths, while not particularly smart, were rather fast.

They fell upon it in a frenzy of teeth, ripping through its scales and fins with a fury. It had perhaps a second to regret its decision before it died.

The only one who regretted their decision was me, however, as I had to hurriedly dive into the midst of fangs and try to dissolve the damn thing's corpse before it was fully consumed. Bloody silvertooths.

The school snapped at each other, confusion not really a recognizable emotion past their frenzy, but the mana from the kill was enough to soothe their ruffled fins and soon they swam back off, hunting for a more tangible kill to satiate their hunger. Good riddance. Another second and I might've lost the schema.

Speaking of.

Triggerfish (Common)

Ill-tempered at best, it spits shards of stone, coral, bone, or whatever it can get at its enemies, aiming for soft spots like gills or eyes. In a pinch, it'll even use its own scales as ammunition.