After coming out of meditation, I leave my soul realm and go back to my body. The Defender that I left holding onto the broken red moss is still where I left it. I get closer to have a better look. I see that the once sticky sap has now crystallised into strands. I take it and begin to test its strength. While having a little bit of movement to it, it doesn't break no matter how hard I try. Well, this could be useful! I might be able to make all of us stronger with this!

“How goes the foraging in the expanse, Oberon?”

“We are still scouting some of the further out tunnels but we have picked clean the walls going for quite the distance. we found some of the Aphis Beetles as well but nothing we couldn’t handle.”

That's a thought, I didn’t check my progress to the next level. I'm glad Oberon didn’t get into any issues with the beetles maybe they aren’t prevalent in this area? I tell the mantis Defenders to continue guarding my heart and start to make my way back to the expanse. Once down the ramp, large piles of the flora Oberon has found are stacked high against the wall sorted into piles according to type. Two defenders are in the process of sorting through a small pile of unsorted mushrooms still left.

Some of the piles seem to be of new mushrooms but I feel my experiments with the red moss should be the priority for now. I grab a few clumps of the red moss, stick them inside a bowl moss and sit down by the start of the ramp. So, I need to figure out how long it takes for this sap to dry. The other thing is, how should I use it? As just a glue? Or maybe I could use the sap as the main component.

I pick up a rock to the side of me and use it to start crushing the red moss. The brittle exterior quickly turns into a powder and mixes into the sap to form a bright orange paste. For the first trial, I get another two rocks and dip them into the paste. I then place them together to the side of me with the dipped ends pushed together. For the second, I find a few of the small rocks lying around and throw them into the bowl. Once fully coated I put the rocks in a pile to the side of me and pour a little more of the paste on top to thoroughly coat them. For my last trial, I wonder what would happen if I powdered the rock? I use my sickle to knock a few chunks of softer rock from the wall. I then use my hands to crush it, letting the powder and small stone fall into the paste. I use my crushing rock to smash the paste together and make the bits of rock finer. I then repeat the process until the paste has taken on a more muted colour and is no longer sticky. The result of my effort is a bowl of orangey-grey dough. I work on the dough folding it in on its self be before Folding it into a loaf shape... It reminds me of the times I was forced by Sandra to help make bread for the community. Somehow she always made it fun even if it was a lot of work. I miss her...

Focus. Both of the defenders that had been sorting out the mushrooms are done and are now waiting for their next task. I quickly call over one of them, ask it to watch over my experiments and tell me when it looks like the sap is dry. While I'm waiting for the sap to harden, I walk over to the various piles of mushrooms that have been found. One by one I pick through the different piles. Some of them, I recognise from the trip I had made into the expanse. a few even remind me of some of the mushrooms from my foraging. Only one caught my attention though. It seems to be some kind of fungus that's the colour of bleached bone. A circular ‘fruit’ lies in the centre with large talon-like fronds forming a loose cage. The fruit doesn't seem useful. The talon fronds though… I try to snap one and it eventually gives out where it connects to the base. The talon itself doesn't budge one bit though no matter what I use against it. My sickle-knife doesn't even scratch it. These could be amazing! As if right on queue, Oberon comes back from his latest excursion and the defenders with him begin dumping the spoils on the ground ready to be sorted.

I leap towards him and show him the mushroom “Oberon! where did you find these?”

“ahh, that one was a recent find from deep in the expanse, it is the only one we managed to get, not due to lack of them though. Your influence does not expand far enough for us the get the others further in”

That's something to keep in mind in the future, I don't want to expand again so soon and would much rather increase my defensive force. “Add these to your foraging priority I think these fronds will be useful”

With a nod, both he and the defenders go back into the tunnels.

I start to walk up the ramp thinking I could pass the time looking out onto the expanse. the defender I left to watch my experiments though stops me.

It turns out that the sap takes roughly 30 minutes to dry. I tested each of the 3 experiments for strength and found out a few things. For starters, the two stones stuck together were strong but had an obvious weak point. The density of the stone is not consistent. The surface of the rock attached to the sap pulled away from the rest. I don't think that method is worth it. For the assortment of small rocks bathed in the sap, the result was a different story. Just like the bone fronds, no matter what I tried I just could not damage it. I even used the sickle-knife like a saw and only left a mark. The only thing was that the material itself wasn’t as easy to shape which then brings me to experiment number three. The stone-sap dough wasn’t as strong as the previous experiment but was sufficient enough that the easy shaping made up for it. Finer control of the shape should hopefully make the defenders capable of more precise movement. It's also a lot easier to work with due to the lack of stickiness. this makes it a clear winner in my eyes.

The amount of red moss that Oberon has found is just not enough. I didn't use much of the moss but the pile Oberon has managed to find is probably only enough for maybe three or four defenders. That is also how much he's found picking the passages clean of the stuff, it just not going to be sustainable. What happens if he doesn't find anymore? I can't lose such a clear material upgrade so soon after finding it. I'm unsure how to go about getting more. The obvious option would be to farm it. But would it be fast enough? I can't be waiting weeks for enough of the moss to make one defender, I really need it now. Do I have a choice though? Either I use it all up or try to farm some of it to keep a steady supply. I bring armfuls of the sorted flora up the ramp to the cave entrance. I also order the defenders that are sorting through Oberon’s latest deposit to do the same.

“Oberon, can you remember the areas that you found the red and bowl moss? Was there anything noticeable about the condition it grew in?”

“Unfortunately I do not. I do think the biggest clusters were around a light-producing mushroom though.”

Ok so maybe the light is not required but helps? Looks like I’ll have to do further testing… I finish carrying my bundle of moss up the ramp and walk into the tunnel that leads to my heart. Do I make the farm in a dedicated space? I could line this tunnel with them instead. At least that would save on both time and space. Worst comes to worst I can always move everything if it doesn't work out after the experiment.

While the two defenders are still working on bringing everything up here. I walk a little further into the tunnel and I start to create small holes on the tunnel walls going deeper towards my heart. Each hole I fill with a clump of red moss. I hope that it will take to its new environment. The humidity from the expanse has started to creep into the tunnel so I shouldn’t have issues on that front...

Once all of the red moss is planted I plant the bowl moss after it. The bowl moss is plentiful and I don't see us using as much of it as the red moss so only half is planted for now. The rest of them I leave to the side to be used for storage. I go back to the red moss and place two small glowing mushrooms into the walls opposite each other. For now, they are too young to glow but hopefully, I’ll notice a difference once they bloom. With the two most important materials planted I move to the others. Going back out towards the expanse I plant The brown shrivelled mushrooms - that I found before - next to the red moss. They grew well amongst the red moss so they should cause a problem. the rest of the mushrooms go in after in a random pattern till I reach the expanse again. Now the only one left is the bone claw one.

“Where did the talon-like mushroom grow Oberon?”

“Oh, that one seems to grow in more open areas. If the ones we could not get to are mature ones, they should get pretty big as well.”

Ok, that one is going in the middle of the plateau looking over the expanse. Once planted, I see both defenders are standing and waiting for their next order so I leave them to keep watch of the entrance and start making my way back to the heart. With nothing else to do until my farming experiment shows some results I decide I may as well go and expand my influence again. I make it about halfway until Oberon talks.

“Elysia! We have a big problem... Meet you at the expanse entrance.”

I dart back through the cave to the expanse and call all my idle defenders to the plateau. I make it there in time to see Oberon arrive but he doesn't look my way as he normally does. Instead, he stares out onto the expanse, panic radiating over our bond. I get closer, black shells glisten under what little light can escape the moving walls. An Aphis swarm is here.

Evershadows

Thanks for reading!