You prepare for an excursion

You awaken the following day still wrapped in Ari's arms and deep in her depths and hear a groggy yawn as she starts to stir as well. You offer another round, but she mentions that Zalreanne's recent incursion is proof that you need to get back to strengthening your lair as soon as possible. You can't help but grudgingly agree, not eager to relive the feeling of suddenly becoming two-dimensional any time soon. Stepping outside your tower, you see your new self-invited resident lounging in a patch of shade between the trees while she directs several grumpy-looking fallen ones in the construction of a quaint little cottage. As you approach she gives a smug wave. "I saw your tower is presently occupied, and as you know I hate to impose. A few of these kind fellows were so gracious as to offer to build a nice home for little old me." You can't help but notice the dead body of another fallen one nearby, bruised, battered, and half-buried in a pile of egg-shaped rocks.

"I do hope, though, that you would be so gracious as to offer me accommodations more befitting my stature the moment it is convenient." You nod, not really feeling the need to get on her bad side. "Now, how can I help you and your lovely pet?" You mention the magic gear and she drops her mocking expression and adopts an at least marginally businesslike tone.

"Right, of course, dear. You see, this lovely morsel's former divine employer once had a group of supplicants who lived in the badlands on the far slopes of this very mountain. However, the wiki—sorry, the legend—tells of a foul coven of necromancers who enslaved the inhabitants and corrupted it into their fell lair. Since then, they have committed some of the most grievous of sins: desecrating holy graves, returning priestesses and even angels to foul unlife, and the like. Worst of all, I've heard whispers that they rebuffed a certain most noble and powerful sorceress in her friendly requests to be taught their dark trade." She gives a mock pout. "Now, about getting my rev—sorry, your magic artifacts—the legends say that a powerful sword and suit of mail was left deep in the priests' tomb, with proportions quite befitting for your dear companion." She waves a hand lazily and the ground in front of you cracks to form a crude map. "Oh, and do be a dear and tell them who was so kind as to refer you."

You sigh at her transparent motives for this information. You aren't quite sure whether these necromancers will be far too powerful for you given she of all people is asking you to take **** on them, but given she has no real reason to send you to a pointless **** it's more likely she just can't be bothered to go kill them again. Maybe she even wants them to realize that she can send other people in her stead? You consider declining her offer, not wanting to play into her little schemes, but given that you currently aren't able to enchant anything strong enough for Ari to really benefit from you can't afford to turn down the chance. Besides, having your minions expand your lair is mostly a matter of waiting—doubly so when a certain witch has commandeered half of them. Great. You fantasize about turning the tables on the witch, but they'll have to stay fantasies for now.

You descend back into your dungeon to review the resources you've gained over the last few weeks and decide what exactly to order your minions to do while you're gone. First, you remember that you've already completed your next summoning circle objective. It probably wasn't worth your new guest, but it's not as if you had a say in the matter. You upgrade it and it grows sharply in size. with a rune of whitish-blue light sitting on top of the reddish pentagram you're used to.

Unique Structure: Summoning Circle (Level 5)
Level 5: Can summon moderate angels and daemons, as well as groups of minor daemons.
Upgrade to Level 6: Command ten distinct unique outsiders or types of outsiders (5/10).

You frown. That reward is a bit harder, or at least currently out of your control. Much more interestingly, it looks as if you can summon more than just daemons now. You aren't sure whether you have enough mana yet, but seeing no reason not to try, you interact with the circle and attempt to summon an angel.

Summon Angel
Enter the name of the angel you would like to summon: _________

Well, so much for that plan. You only know the names of the most powerful angels of the gods, and somehow you doubt that those qualify as "moderate." You confirm that summoning individual daemons requires a name as well, while summoning groups of minor daemons requires that you know the name of the species. It seems that you'll need to do some research before you can do much here.

More interestingly, it seems as if you've unlocked the ability to place minor summoning circles, which are apparently summoning circles attuned to one specific type of daemon. While you and your champions will always appear from the main rune, this prevents you from having to have every single dead imp, fallen, and now shappazu and slimugon climb out of the floor of your throne room. You aren't sure whether having them spawn near their guard posts or in a central location is a better idea, opting to each one respawn close to their assigned location for now. It'll help in close fights, cause adventurers to have to watch their flank, and make it less likely for a small group to be able to completely shut down your dungeon for as long as they care to stay.

Finally, just past the great hall you order the construction of a huge, open pit crossed by a narrow stone bridge, leaving rickety wooden ladders and plank bridges running up and down its sides and across the chasm deeper down. This will no doubt be a long project, but it will serve as a much better defence than the existing hallways and give you somewhere relatively safe to store valuables going forwards. You aren't comfortable continuing to rely on adventurers not pilfering the entire tower if they breach your defences, and you figure the best defence against persistent adventurers is just putting your loot somewhere annoying, obscure, and out-of-the-way: a pit filled with flying imps and whatever future denizens you muster will do nicely.

With your minions now given plenty of work to do, you drag a still-sulking Tlax out of the healing fountain, bottle a few potions, stop by the armoury a new set of leathers for Ari (grabbing a few spares while you're there), and head through the iron gate and down the mountain.