Allistor also wanted to find another dungeon.  The best way to level his people up and make them strong enough to thrive here was to run them through a dungeon where they could kill dozens, if not hundreds, of mobs.   Failing that, if he could find more elite creatures like the ancient shellback, they would give good experience as well.

Ideally, he’d like to lead one of those back to the Warren and fight it from the walls.  This gave added protection to his people, with the bonus of Stronghold points when they killed it.  They got points for the dragon, but only because it attacked Candy atop the walls before flying away.

At breakfast, he told Amanda what he planned.   She argued briefly but quickly realized his mind was made up.  When they finished the meal, he gave her a hug and a brief kiss and headed for the kitchen, then the parking area.

Checking his inventory quickly, he confirmed he had healing potions, bandages, food and drink for a week.  Including half a dozen eggs that Meg had slipped him.  There was a rope, because everybody knows you need a rope when adventuring, several kinds of weapons including his trusty rebar spear, one of the radios – which he took out and plugged into the pickup he was taking – a tent, and a frying pan.   He’d picked up the cooking skill from Meg when she insisted he help her in the kitchen a few days back.  She had decided that everyone in the Warren needed to be able to cook themselves at least a basic meal if they were stuck outside foraging.

He put two extra gas cans in the back of the truck, along with a siphon and hand pump.   With that done, he was ready to roll.

A few of the kids who were playing near the cavern gates waved at him as he passed.  Max barked happily and trotted along next to the truck until Allistor told him to go back.  If the silly mutt got taken by a flying creature, the children would be crushed.

Pulling up to the outer gates, he got out of the truck to open them.  It annoyed him to have to either station someone at the gates or open and close them himself each time he went in and out.   Rather than open the gates, he leaned against them and opened his Stronghold interface.  He’d been meaning to look into this for a while, but he kept getting distracted.