Kahlia frowns as she stares at the Goddess of Games and Rules. "The SGA? The Spiritual Guides and Advisors? That...association of fairies, intelligent insects, and disembodied voices? I am aware Xenia has one of those guides in her employ, as all dungeons do. But you're telling me that...floating, glowing scroll is capable of storing and manipulating divine mana?"

The alabaster-skinned goddess raises an eyebrow at Kahlia, and stage-whispers to her companions. "Hey guys, she doesn't know about the SGA. I don't think she knows about the SGA!"

Taina looks just as confused as her friend. "What am I missing? I remember having a meeting with them once, ages ago. They wanted to see if I would hire them for work as matchmakers. I figured I didn't need freelancers for that though and told em no...ain't talked to one of them directly since."

Dice gives her a smirk. "I take it then you didn't get as far as discussing what sort of payment they actually wanted then, huh?"

Ulinda's drider-like form shifts on her gilded couch as she snaps at Dice. "Trickster! Keep silent, these three have no need to hear of our dealings with the SGA! As they say, they haven't interacted with them in millennia!"

"Well they're mad at us about shit, so there's no harm in making things clear, eh?" Dice turns back towards Kahlia before the others can attempt to physically silence her. "The SGA's currency is divine mana. If you'd signed on for those matchmakers, they'd probably be skimming five percent off the top for the rest of your reign. Storing and manipulating that one little spark Worthy picked up is child's play for the SGA."

Palain strokes his stubbled chin as he thinks out loud. "Now that I think about it, it is unusual that an association of such creatures would be able to so easily maintain coherence across such a breadth of realms, as I hear they do. But I've taken a glance at these 'dungeon guides' and they seem nearly powerless as individuals? Mere conduits for a dungeon's power, completely harmless beyond its borders? They wouldn't seem to match up to even the most minor of demigods."

Dice's smile grows. "Yeah, cause fortunately this lot here has an expert negotiator - namely, me. Trust me, you don't want random spiritual guides going around all willy-nilly - they start getting tangled up in Fate, and then it's a real headache trying to clean them out. Nah, we've got em very specifically tied into the dungeon system here. They get a cut of the energy we collect from the things, and in return they help manage the...let's call it the processing that it requires to run a dungeon."

"But how?" Kahlia shakes her head. "If...if they do indeed receive payment in the form of divine energy, then it certainly proves they have resources...but those mere creatures couldn't possibly be manipulating it without destroying themselves!"

The Goddess of Games is about to open her mouth, but this time Erashi stops her with a growl, looking as if she might actually leap from her throne and directly onto the other deity. "It's not our place to spill the secrets of the SGA, rule-maker! These three do not need to know how the SGA controls their powers, just that they do." The orcish goddess looks back at the three guests. "If you're worried about the divine energy within Worthy Dungeon spilling out into the world, set yourselves at ease. The guide is more than capable of managing it."

"Fine, fine." Dice sighs at the dressing-down. "To tell the truth, it's not like we even know. Just...got a suspicion or two." She smirks again, apparently unbothered by the shouting. "Is that all you're here for, though?"

"Not even close!" Taina stands firm with her arms crossed, before pausing and looking up at Kahlia. "...We had other stuff to ask, right?"

"Indeed. For starters, why have you all been so secretive about this project of yours? You've been avoiding every meeting, every question, and on reflection you've never spoken much about your grand project. As one of the grandest workings of magic in this realm, one would expect you to be singing its praises at every opportunity, no? It has been quite successful at identifying potential warrior and magician Paragons, if I'm not mistaken. And it is...intriguing. To be honest, after my dealings with Worthy I've almost become tempted to ask to join this dungeon-designing group of yours myself."

Sandem's dwarven eyes practically bulge out of their sockets. "You - you!? Want to get into dungeon design? That's - what - that's a terrible idea!"

Kahlia gives him an unimpressed look. "And why is that? I daresay I've been having all sorts of interesting ideas. After all, if there can be dungeons for combat and magic, why not a dungeon for - "

"Your application is denied." Ulinda cuts off her fellow divinity with an absolute statement. "We will be making no further modifications to the dungeon core system, especially not of the sort that you seem to be inclined towards. Consider yourself lucky that you've found a dungeon master willing to indulge your proclivities and be satisfied with that. I'm sure you'll lose interest in a few decades anyways."

Palain frowns at the Goddess of Crafts. "You haven't actually answered our question, though. What is it you're trying to hide from the rest of the pantheon?"

"Nothing - and if we were we'd have no obligation to answer to you. Now, if we have no further matters to discuss, I declare this meeting adjourned. I'm sure I'll be seeing some of you again at the next solstice festival, until then, may your blessings be well-received."

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While Ulinda isn't crude enough to actually physically remove the guests from her realm, the order to leave is obvious, and Kahlia's not one to start a fight over a few questions - especially not one that would be five-on-three with Erashi as one of their opponents. So she simply leads the group in a collective bow, and gestures for her connection to pull them back to her garden.

"Well...I suppose that could've gone better."

"Could've gone worse, too. So this is, what did you call it, the Forever Garden? Huh, I thought there'd be like...more animals shagging or something around the place."

"Please, I - " Kahlia halts as she realizes that the woman speaking isn't Taina. "Dice!? What in the heavens are you doing here!?"

The monochrome goddess raises her hands in surrender. "Hey, here as a friend! Sent a fragment through your bridge before it closed, thought maybe we could talk a little more...away from prying eyes, right?"

Palain narrows his eyes at the gatecrasher. "You're turning on your fellow Dungeoneers?"

The woman snorts. "Pfft, please. They're just covering up their screw-ups. It's good goss, trust me - and hey, I wouldn't mind having you three owe me a favor."

Taina seems unconvinced. "Don't you mean your screw-ups, too? You are one of them, after all."

"I am now. They called me in after their prototype dungeon went way off the rails. Sandem might be the best enchanter in the damn realm, but you can't give an entity a portion of the power of a small pantheon and not expect things to go sideways! I mean hells, the thing invented a whole damn new species, and now we've got elementals all over the place, you know?" Dice puts her hands on her hips and shakes her head at the mistakes of the past.

Kahlia taps her chin. "I see - so you stepped in as Goddess of Rules to ensure that future dungeons would be more strictly confined?"

"Yup! But it wasn't all me - the SGA does a lot of the heavy lifting. Limiting the strength of the monsters, the mechanisms for repairing and replacing everything during resets, providing the juice for a lot of the magic...and not for free, of course. You might not have noticed if you haven't been playing real close attention, but you're probably missing about twenty percent of the faith you should be getting from that dungeon shrine of yours."

The Goddess of Fertility blinks. "I...suppose I've not been certain of what to expect from such a shrine, so I did not notice. But...heavens! If the SGA has been claiming twenty percent of, what, all of the faith released within a dungeon...how could they contain so much divine energy?"

"Oh, more than that! Anytime anyone gives a prayer even related to a dungeon, anywhere, they get a cut instead of it going to the Dungeoneers. Someone prays for their partner to come back in one piece? That's a commission right there. As for how they can pull it off...well...I just got a theory or two, to be honest."

Taina steps forward, eager to hear a juicy secret. "What is it? Why do they even want all that energy?"

Dice opens her mouth, and then seems to think twice. "I...look. If I'm right, then the SGA is a seriously big deal. So don't fuck around with them, right? You care about that pet dungeon of yours, yeah?"

Kahlia leads the trio in nodding. "She's an interesting and, if I may say it, a worthy partner. Perhaps you should introduce yourself to her at some point, I think you might get along."

"Cause we've got a similar sense in fashion, yeah?" Dice waves a hand in front of her white-and-black face, although she does differ from Xenia's avatar when it comes to her bright blue eyes. "Iunno, maybe I will. But anyways, my theory concerns the Paradox of Power."

The three are all familiar with the term, but Palain speaks it out loud regardless. "The fact that we divine tend to lose our sense of self the more powerful we grow. There's over a hundred of us managing this realm, so we have more freedom than most - freedom to maintain pocket realms like this one, or managing affairs in multiple core realms at once. But if we were to turn on each other and feed on each other, the increased power would result in a decrease of ego."

Dice finishes the explanation. "Until we'd almost completely lose ourselves in the mechanics of keeping a universe running, if any of us ever became the last god standing. Or if someone tried to meddle in a hundred realms at once, they'd basically go poof and turn into a law of physics. But you've probably heard that there's exceptions to every rule, of course."

The God of Harvests shakes his head. "You're speaking of Chaos Lords, Void Eaters, those sorts? The ones who pull in the exponentially greater energy they need by consuming nearby realms? Certainly we've all heard of them, but we've also heard that they inevitably burn themselves out, often quite quickly at that. I'm not sure how they're relevant."

"They're an exception, yes, but I think they're not the only one. I think, well...what if someone decided to safeguard their ego by sacrificing it from the start? A thousand faces, a thousand minds, separate but united?"

Kahlia's eyes grow wide. "You're suggesting that the SGA is the public face for...some sort of Titan? A god above gods, manipulating a thousand realms?"

"It's just a theory! But if it's right, you can guess why the others don't wanna step on their toes. But I think that's enough freebies for now." Dice leans back and scans the group. "So, what do you all do for fun around here, watch the grass grow? Who wants to play a game?"

Taina snorts. "What sort of game would we want to play against the Goddess of Games?"

The goddess in question smirks. "Strip poker?"

"...I'm in for a round."

As the Reeves retire to their private room for the night, taking their sleeping triplets with them, Xenia finds Guy at the back of the party room. "Hope you didn't feel left out, seeing as the kiddos and Laeniel couldn't see you and all that."

The floating screen bobs. "I'm quite used to it, ma'am. Frankly, I'm not sure I would know how to interact with children if I could! They're not exactly typical dungeon guests, after all."

"True...though I do seem to remember running into a fairy godmother once who was a member of the SGA. She seemed to do alright. Did you take different classes at SGA University, or something like that?"

"Haha, no, I must admit I never pursued higher education."

The dungeon master frowns. "But you do hang out with each other or something, right? You've mentioned talking to other SGA folks, I'm pretty sure."

"It's...complicated. And not exactly communication as you might conceive of it, I'll admit."

"Huh. Well, one day I'll figure it out. And I'll find out your name! I might not be making much progress on that sidequest, but we've got a lot of time left together."

"I certainly hope we do." The guide rotates, watching the party as it disperses. "But for now, I believe I'm quite happy simply being 'Guy'..."

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