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‘In the past, there were a lot of isolated places in the Undercrust. Communication and traveling were so difficult that people just didn’t do them. In fact, I’m sure that’s still the case, to a large extent. Advancing technologies make it easier and easier, but still. We’re talking about solid rock that is so thick, a man could spend his entire life trying to tunnel through to the other side and still die of old age before he gets there. And what happens when there’s a cave-in? Which is a frequent occurrence, by the way.’

‘So you’re saying the Undercrust is a breeding ground for these feldeath things?’

‘Sadly, yes. By now, I imagine there must be tens of thousands of them down there.’

‘How... uh... how dangerous are they, exactly?’

‘Depends on how many souls they were born from and how old they are,’ said Garovel. ‘But, broadly speaking, if you happen to see one, and your name’s not Sermung, you should probably just run.’

‘Seriously? They’re that strong?’

‘Potentially, yeah. And since there’s no real way to gauge their strength until you’re neck-deep into a fight with one, running is the preferred solution. But there is some good news.’

‘Really? Are some of them friendly?’

Garovel laughed. And then kept laughing. ‘Ah... no.’

‘Fuck.’

‘The good news is that they’re only REALLY dangerous if you piss them off.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘It means don’t piss them off.’

‘Yeah, I got that. I meant, more like... how do I avoid pissing them off?’

‘Well, don’t attack them.’

‘Wasn’t really planning on it.’

‘Also, don’t be named Hector. They hate that.’

‘Garovel.’

‘No, they like Garovels just fine.’

‘Please stop.’

‘Ask me a good question, and maybe I will.’

‘Agh. Alright. So... as long as we don’t attack these feldeath things first, they’ll leave us alone?’

‘No no no. If they sense us, they’ll try to kill the shit out of us. But they’ll only half-ass it, is the thing.’

‘You’ve lost me.’