Alex left some final orders with Rhyss to keep the town running while he and Claire were gone. It was impossible to say just how long the Ancestry would take. From what Bridget had said, this Ancestry was a big one. There was a good chance they’d be inside it for weeks — and the last thing Alex wanted was to come back and find out his town had gotten destroyed while he was gone.

Fortunately, that was becoming less and less likely. The townspeople of Mirrorwane weren’t as weak as they had been. They’d all been training constantly against monsters far stronger than themselves.

With Orchid to keep things in line and Mite to… well, do whatever it was Mite did, Alex was pretty sure everyone was in good hands. He was confident they’d be able to defend themselves until just about anything that could pop up until he and Claire got back.

But, just in case, he left all his Credits with Rhyss. He didn’t have any plans of using them on the expedition, and he already had a new Mirrorlands monster core to sell to Bridget if the need for wealth arose. Between the credits he could earn from that and the Boons… they had more than enough emergency plans to fund and protect the town if everything went wrong.

Alex put his bracelet back on, this time layering it over his new outfit rather than under it. He was pleased to find that the order in which he donned the items changed the priorities of which effect took precedence. His tuxedo outfit was replaced by the plain white dress shirt and black tie that he’d grown rather used to over the past few days.

Can’t go showing Bridget my disguise if I want anything to remain secret. The other Outworlders can’t know that I’m there… but she can never know that I’m not. She needs to think Claire and I are just marginally useful Nativeworlders that never do anything of any real interest. So long as she’s convinced we don’t matter too much and are just a normal addition to her team, she’ll have no reason to sell information about us. And I don’t trust Bridget not to go selling just about anything the moment it benefits her.

They also set a new pattern for usage of the Teleporter with Rhyss, this time spreading it out and only starting after five days. No matter how the Ancestry went, it was going to take a fair bit longer than their last trip. Having the Teleporter open too often was just asking for trouble.

Alex didn’t miss the fact that if things went really poorly, getting back to Mirrorwane would be difficult. The Ancestry wasn’t actually at Bridget’s town. It was at some other location. Blackreach was just where they were convening with Bridget. But nothing really worthwhile would come without risk.

We can always find a different way back to Blackreach if we really need to. It’s got an open Astral Map, so getting there from a different location in the worst possible scenario isn’t impossible.

And with that, they were off. Mite saw them off at the Teleporter. The last thing Alex caught a glimpse of before the energy enveloped him was Mite waving farewell. Then Mirrorwane was gone.

***

“You showed up,” Bridget said, sounding mildly surprised.

She stood near the door of Blackreach’s Teleporter, her eyebrow arched slightly and arms crossed in front of her chest.

Alex and Claire both shook themselves off. They’d only arrived an instant ago. Nowhere near enough time for Bridget to have been summoned… which meant she’d been waiting for them.

“Seems you beat us to it,” Claire said. “I didn’t realize we were that interesting. I hope we haven’t interfered with your other preparations. We’re not late, are we?”

“No,” Bridget said. “You have not, and you are not. We simply prefer to handle preparations earlier. Last minute plans are ones that tend to fall apart when it matters most. I trust the two of you are prepared?”

“We’re ready,” Alex said. “Where do we go from here? Is your whole group here?”

“In Blackreach? No. It’s just me here,” Bridget said with a shake of her head. “Getting all of Gentle Shadow’s members into Blackreach would be a nightmare, not to mention likely an act of invasion, not to mention the extras from your fellow Nativeworlder’s coalition. They’re all waiting for us at the Ancestry site. It’s already been connected to the Astral Map.”

“I see,” Alex said. He glanced at the arches looming over his shoulders. “And everyone else is too?”

“The other families should be present already,” Bridget confirmed. The corner of her lips pulled up. “Worried someone will recognize you?”

“Yes,” Alex said. “Killing a bunch of Outworlders right before the Ancestry doesn’t seem like a good idea. It’ll thin out the bodies we get to bring in and make us waste more effort on the less important stuff earlier in the dungeon.”

Bridget’s eyes widened. Then she let out a bark of laughter. “You sure you’re a Nativeworlder? Or was this world just incredibly dispositioned to warlike tendencies before the System arrived?”

“He’s just gotten hit on the head a few too many times,” Claire said. “But he does bring up a good point. Getting spotted would be less than ideal.”

“I know,” Bridget said, her amusement falling away. “But don’t worry. We’ve got the teleporter right now. The families have been taking turns in time windows to avoid accidentally causing conflict. I’m sure this surprises you, but Outworlders aren’t some cohesive unit. The Great Families war with each other far more than we do with Natives. This is a tenuous treaty at best. Lots of the participants in this Ancestry will hate each other, so it’s in everyone’s best interest to avoid getting too close. Our camp will be isolated.”

“Works for me,” Alex said. He paused for a moment. Bridget was part of the Gentle Shadow family. And, if he remembered correctly, there had been someone in the Assembly that Invictus had taken them to from that very same family. Her name had been Leah. At least, he was pretty sure it had been. Either way… something told him that it might not have been the best idea to advertise his presence, even to Bridget’s allies. “I don’t suppose your entire family is in on this?”

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Bridget paused for a moment. Then she shook her head. “No. They are not. There are as many branches within the families as there are outside them. Those divisions are just a bit less antagonistic.”

“Then perhaps a mask or something could be apt? To protect your interests,” Claire said, catching onto where Alex was heading. “For each of us. I’m sure you’ve got something.”

“If you’ve got the Credits—”

“We’ve got no problem showing up as we are now,” Alex said. “You don’t have the resources to waste fighting us, not to mention it would show a lot of weakness before the other families. Let’s be real. A plain mask and some robes or something aren’t going to cost you anything. Our stats are already hidden, so they don’t have to be magic.”

Bridget let out a sigh. “Fine. I’ll outfit you, but let’s get a move on already. We have a schedule to keep.”

***

A few minutes later, Alex and Claire found themselves standing upon the surface of yet another teleporter. They were both draped in travel cloaks and wearing plain white actor’s masks of hard ceramic. The outfits were far from the most original or stunning, but they’d be more than enough to conceal them from random glances.

But not one person had even looked in their direction. They, along with Bridget, were caught up in the middle of what could be only described as an absolute bustling mess. People rushed in every direction as the midday sun shone down from overhead.

A buzzing sensation built against the back of Alex’s neck. He recognized it instantly.

There was another Anomaly somewhere in the crowd. And, judging by how intense the feeling was, there was more than one. And if he could feel them… they could feel him. His eyes narrowed.

The three of them had emerged from a stone Teleporter which was really nothing more than a large flat circle in the ground with large, curved prongs rising up into the air in a ring around it like the jaws of a worm emerging from beneath the ground. The teleporter was situated in the center of a massive, sloping field within a valley of mountains that rose so high that the only patch of horizon that Alex could make out was the one directly above him.

Seas of people milled about, all gathered around banners of varying color, and the sound of a thousand different conversations at once rang out amidst the hurried preparations to draw the tension in the air taut like a bowstring.

And looming over them all was the entrance to the Ancestry.

Even though the System made no move to identify it, it would have been hard to mistake what Alex was looking at.

A pair of huge stone double doors loomed emerged from the ground at an angle so close to it that they may as well have led straight down into the earth. They were only a few degrees away from lying entirely horizontal.

The doors were easily a few hundred feet tall and adorned with general swirly designs that one might have expected to find upon the surface of a castle from a few hundred years ago. They were large enough that Alex could easily make them out — and obscure enough that he didn’t have the damn faintest clue if there was meant to be any mean or method to the designs.

They just looked swirly.

Whoa. That thing is fucking huge. What kind of guy gets a grave that big? Did he make it himself? If so… does that mean we’re looting a giant’s grave? Or is this more of an Egyptian Pyramid type thing where the dude is normal sized and he just has a really cool gravestone?

“An Ancestry,” Claire murmured from beside him, her eyes affixed on the doors. “I never thought I would have actually seen one of these so soon.”

“You’ll do a lot more than see the outside soon enough,” Bridget said. “The seal has already been removed. The doors are going to be opened tonight — which means this is a good time to go over the rules.”

“What rules?” Alex asked. “Don’t we just travel as a big group and fight shit?”

Bridget snorted. She gestured for them to walk, then started off through the camp in the direction of one of the flags. Alex and Claire followed after her.

“No,” Bridget said. “That would be incredibly tedious. And, to be frank, it would mean we’d never get anywhere. The Ancestry is huge. Our goal is to cover as much ground as possible, only gathering in larger groups for the most powerful monsters. You’ll be given a coin by our armorer. When the family needs assistance, it’ll flash and direct you toward the location your presence is required at. At other times, you can do as you will — just don’t interfere with other members of our coalition.”

Alex and Claire exchanged a glance. That sounded even better than what they’d thought this would be. They’d be able to travel almost entirely on their own for large portions of the Ancestry.

“What about loot?” Alex asked.

“Anything you’re capable of dealing with on your own isn’t going to be significant. The most powerful pieces of loot are always defended,” Bridget explained. “Your coin will also have a summons function. If you find something worthwhile, call the family. You will be rewarded with an increased cut for the discovery. It will also activate if you die.”

“Ah. Because we probably found something strong enough to be worth checking out,” Claire guessed.

Bridget nodded. “Precisely.”

“Do other families use similar methods?” Claire asked.

Bridget nodded once more. “Yes. They do.”

Which means we probably can’t go fighting the other Outworlders and killing a bunch of them without drawing the attention of their families. Good to note. That goes both ways, after all.

“I see,” Alex said. “Anything else we should know?”

“We’re all in the dark,” Bridget replied. “We don’t know much yet… but I should introduce you to our part of the faction so you know who to absolutely not kill. Alyssa is one of them, but you’ve yet to meet the other members of my coalition.”

“Does that mean the other members of Gentle Shadow…” Claire trailed off and raised an eyebrow.

Bridget sent her a sidelong glance. “Don’t do anything stupid. But if you help me get richer, I don’t give a shit what you do.”

“It’s funny. You know exactly the words I want to hear,” Alex said with a grin. “Maybe you should think about being a merchant. I think you’d probably be pretty good at it.”

Bridget just grunted. They all drew to a stop near a small camp that had been set up beneath a black flag. Blue designs flowed like rivers along its edges to gather at the center around a golden coin.

Scattered around it were several tents. With every step they took, the sensation on the back of Alex’s neck intensified. His hair stood on end and he reached for his magic almost instinctively.

Bridget came to a stop before the largest of the tents — and the location from which the sensation was strongest. Alex wasn’t sure if it was due to the proximity, but his senses were screaming at him now.

There was an Anomaly in the tent before him.

“Here we are,” Bridget said. She turned to Alex and Claire. “Just through here.”

“Through?” Alex asked suspiciously. “What, can they not come out and meet us?”

“You’ll see when you go in.” Bridget said. “And I would suggest doing that soon. He doesn’t like being kept waiting. If I have to hear the phrase ‘time is money’ one more time, I might lose my mind.”

“Who’s in here?” Claire asked.

“Is it not obvious?” Bridget asked. She looked back to the tent. “This tent belongs to, as far as I know, the only other Nativeworlder that Gentle Shadow is bringing. The River King… and I’ve heard he’s quite eager to meet you.”