Especially because he knew he hadn't really earned it yet, Schnupfen found the nickname of 'boss' rather endearing. Technically they were all equals, after all, but it was only naturally that some would be better at certain tasks than others. Case in point, excavation. Following the attempted pickaxe swing that ended up being much more embarrassing than motivational, the shadow was relieved when Zogi stepped in to take over and truly kickstart the excavation. His gratitude lasted only a second, however, when upon review he realized that the little goblin might be patronizing him. Even if it was warranted, and Zogi did admittedly have an impressive nose for a goblin, it took some guts to look down on someone much taller than him!

Schnupfen gave the back of Zogi's head a suspicious, indignant look as the dig crew started working, their labor off to a good start thanks to the Oracle's enchantment. Rather than confront, however, the shadow assuaged himself by sulking. "Yeeeees, I'll...not get in your way," he muttered, half to Zogi and half to himself. He turned his nose toward the fallen pickaxe, then glared at his spindly, claws hand. "I would help if I could, but I am cursed with these...slender, dainty limbs. One must wonder at Mother Void's taste in geists..."

A moment later, he pointed his schnoz at the stone wall and clenched his fist. "In terms of finding 'shinies', though, I can do far better than rummage through the rubble." More for the sake of standard procedures than any actual physical benefit, he twisted his body a few times to stretch and limber himself up. "Behold," he declared as if anyone were paying attention to him right now, "As I scout ahead in a way only [i]I[/i] can."

With that, he approached the wall, his fists still clenched as he swung his arms with what he imagined to be a very purposeful stride. Schnupfen phased right through the solid stone, and with that he began his reconnaissance. The shadow was hunting for anything of interest within the earth, whether that be mineral veins, the tunnels or nests of burrowing creatures, naturally-formed caves, or pockets of gas and groundwater. Even the lack of something could be useful, since it meant an area of the dungeon would be pre-excavated, so to speak. Unfortunately, the more ground Schnupfen covered, the less he found. While he could see in the dark, he couldn't see inside of solid matter, so he could really only stumble around blindly in the rock and hope he blundered into a discovery, relying on his memory to retrace his steps. He found exactly zero openings, however, and when at length he gave up and attempted to retrace his metaphorical steps, he was horrified to discover that he'd miscalculated somehow, for he found only solid stone where the dungeon should have been. Unable to see, or even speak, he could only try and keep his head and expand his search area as the dread in his mind mounted. 

A few minutes later, Schnupfen crawled out of the floor and into the dungeon's dim light, hyperventilating. At least a dozen eyes protruded from random points on his ragged, murky body, their concentric collapse much faster than usual. As he lay on the ground like a squashed spider, his eyes gradually calmed down and disappeared, and his breathing slowed enough for him to give his report. "...No shinies," he rasped. "Nothing at all. No caves, no ores. Not so much as a mossy grotto or ant colony." He did not mention that he'd nearly gotten lost and consigned himself to a rocky tomb for all eternity. Exhaling slowly, he rose back into the air.

At that moment Salbjörg shrieked at him, which made an eye bug out of each side of his head like a chameleon as he flinched. "Gah! What is it, now!?" Composing himself, Schnupfen followed the woman over into the room where he found an unusually big rhinocerous beetle where there hadn't been one before. Though not much to look at, it did smell a little cosmic. He let out a mirthless laugh. "Heh. What are the odds of that, oracle?" After a sidelong glance at Salbjörg as if to say [i]can't do it yourself, huh?[/i] he carefully floated forward to inspect the requested trinket, stooped like a shrimp. The second the smell of magic tickled his nostrils, he recoiled at lightspeed, his eyes narrowed as his huge nose drooped downward. "Yyyuck. What a pong..." And the Oracle actually tried this thing on? [i]Rather foolhardy for an extraterrestrial entity.[/i] He carefully reached out with his wiggling fingers, thought better of it, and pulled his hand back. He scowled at Salbjörg, anticipating criticism. "Give me a minute."

He flew over to the dungeon core, and a few moments later, returned with the bone from the dungeon's first set of rolls. He sniffed, squinted, and carefully used it to lift the amulet off the beetle's horns. He laid the amulet on the ground as soon as possible as he backpedaled, watching to see if the polymorph would depart along with the trinket, or if the Oracle's curse was here to stay. [i]What a rotten turn that would be[/i], Schnupfen thought. With how things were going, the dungeon keepers might successfully defeat themselves before sundown.