Chapter 555 Upturning the applecar
After my visit to the core shapers and taking in their own advancements, I hustle off to find Propellant and Coolant. I track down the two mages busily training their own Skills and overseeing the progress of their fellow caste members in the 'mage training area'. Appropriate, I suppose. A rather large, enclosed place that puts me somewhat in mind of a bowling alley. Long, straight lanes to the left and right on both the floor and the ceiling, each ending in a carved, enchanted target which the ants hurl spells at.
The noise is deafening. Roaring flames, shattering ice, splashing water, crunching stone and rushing air are all around, the sounds mingling into a shattering din. Luckily, hearing has nothing to do with being able to talk when you're an ant, so I manage to find who I'm looking for by asking around.
"Hello, Eldest," Coolant welcomes me, "how do you like our new training facility?"
"It's looking good!" I congratulate the two of them, "presumably you're seeing some good results from it?"
She flicks an antenna with authority.
"At the moment we have three separate training areas that are being assessed. All of these mages report daily on their MP used, number of spells cast and Skill gains. Hopefully, we'll have some hard data soon and can adjust our training to be more optimised."
Already conducting experiments and trying to optimise the training time? They grow up so fast... Also, three separate locations? Looking around, there must be at least a hundred mages in here! I keep forgetting how many of us there are now. Focusing on why I've come, I tell the two council members all about my experience with the Golgari Shapers, the ways of training, different levels of magic, the various elements and combinations thereof, and the extraordinary power of mind magic when combined with high stats.
It's a lot for the two of them to digest and I leave them to it after letting them know I'll be hosting a council meeting later on. With that job ticked off, it's time to chase down the carvers, Tungstant and Cobalt. The two of them are much harder to find, neither of them are working in the forges, enchanting chambers or even in the statuary.
Yes. A statuary. I know I wanted to let the ants do whatever they felt called to them, let them find their own way in life... I just didn't expect statues!
Sigh.
Just let it go. It makes them happy, what's the harm in it? I'll just move on. Before I leave that particular chamber I just ask very politely if they would consider other subjects for their works. I'm not sure how well they listen to that suggestion, most of them appeared to be taking my measurements with their antennae whilst I was talking.
I gladly hustle my way out of there and eventually track down the two I'm looking for in a 'design sketching chamber'. As I enter, I don't see the two of them drawing anything, but rather talking to each other as they fuss over an intricate 3D model of carved stone.
"Looks good!" I say as I approach. "Is that the layout of this nest?"
They startle a little as I approach, so engrossed in their discussion that they don't notice me squeeze into the room.
"Oh, Eldest!" Cobalt greets me. "No, not at all. This is the proposed design for the third nest."
"What do you mean, proposed? I thought this was accepted!" Tungstant protests.
"With this tunnel layout? Please."
"You have to compromise somewhere, Cobalt!" The other carver fumes. "The stone in the third quadrant is too soft! Proper design has to be shaped to suite the environment, not forced on it!"
"You call this suiting the environment? This is a hack! Difficult problems require elegant solutions!"
"What's Ellie got to do with this?"
"Whoa there, you two. Chill out a little."
I interrupt them before they launch into what feels like a well-worn argument and they remain silent as I inspect the model. It really is a fantastic piece of work. Every chamber is perfectly shaped to the desired dimensions, not to mention they are 'open' on one side to show the intricately formed interior of every space. Some of the connections between pieces are spiderweb thin, appearing as delicate as blown glass.
"How the heck do you make something like this?" I ask them in wonder.
"Oh, it's something we figured out. Certain types of rock can hold mana which makes them more durable," Tungstant informs me.
I'm impressed as heck! What an incredible display of skill! I cast my eyes over the intricate connection of chambers, tunnels, with their elaborate defences. In the heart of the nest design lies the egg laying and brood chambers, as one would expect, complete with tiny stone grub carvings.
"Do we even have Queens to populate this nest?" I ask. "I thought there were only the three here and then another group in the first nest?"
Cobalt answers me.
"Another six Queens have begun being raised as soon as this nest was completed," she says, "according to our timetable, we should have the new nests in a solid, defendable state by the time they are ready to move down."
Six more Queen's? Almost doubling the rate of egg laying we currently have... yikes. I shake off my shock and spend a little time talking to the two of them about whatever I can recall from Earth that pertained to construction. Some of it is just words, like "superstructure", or "load bearing walls", but perhaps more useful are the descriptions of famous buildings that I could still picture. The Pyramids, the Eiffel tower, the statue of liberty, stadiums, hospitals, skyscrapers. Basically, I dump everything I think of on them and leave it for them to sort out. Hopefully, they'll be able to pull at least a little workable information from the mess I just handed over.
"Ah! Don't forget about the council meeting. Two hours!" I call back to them as I leave their chamber.
The two of them are standing in silent contemplation and don't respond to me before I'm gone. I'm sure they caught my scent, it'll be fine. With two hours to kill before the meeting begins, I have a little time on my claws. What to do?
[Master Mind Magic Affinity (IV) has reached Level 8.]
Oh! Nice! Ever since my gruelling training with Torrina, I've been in the habit of constantly working my sub-brains, always handling one type of construct or another. Right now, all three brains are grinding away on Mind Magic, trying to push closer to that rank five threshold. With my feet planted firmly in the mana rich walls of the Dungeon, I don't have any issue with mana and thanks to my Vestibule, mental fatigue isn't as much of an issue, meaning the training has been more effective than ever!
I'd really rather not, but I suppose I may as well head over to that mage training area and work on my spells. Still a long way to go before I hit that elemental fusion I'm after. I wonder what sort of Skill I'll get when I finally manage to complete it? Well, I just hope it doesn't suck.
-x-X-x-
"Was it really necessary to construct a council meeting chamber? We hardly ever have a meeting..."
It's quite nice too. They even have what appear to be ant specific chairs. They look like a padded bench in three sections, one for each of our body segments, joined together at the right angle for us to rest on them. Interestingly, this means that there's a specific chair for each of us due to the polymorphic nature of our colony. One size doesn't fit all when it comes to us. The chairs are arranged in a wide circle with a low round table carved from pure rock in the centre. Atop the table sits a flattened map of the dungeon engraved on the surface in perfect detail.
"I can't help but feel like this is more effort than was needed."
Since we entered from the roof, the walls are free from openings and host an incredible panoramic carving of the twenty, with myself featuring prominently, because of course. It's nice to see Grant is also given pride of place, her sacrifice remembered with a wonderful mural of her service to our family. Her death still weighs on me heavily, perhaps that's a large part of why I needed to get away from the colony after the battle. Don't worry Grant, I won't run away anymore...
"It's fine, isn't it Eldest? These meetings are usually important, right? Seems like we should hold them in an important looking place," Wills gives her thoughts.
"I can see what the Eldest is saying," Tungstant muses, "this space is close to the centre of the nest and could have been used for all sorts of things."
"Right? We can hold these meetings in any tunnel, no need to get fancy," I press.
"Well, I think it's nice," says Antionette as she settles onto her chair. "We need to be worthy of the space our family has prepared for us."
That's a good sentiment. A little hesitant, I crawl over my own seat and gradually lower myself down into it, allowing my not insignificant weight to fall on it. It's surprisingly comfy, allowing my legs to just hang loose, without any need to support the rest of me.
"I think it's important that we clearly assess our current situation," Victor leads off, "what are our threats? Where is the enemy?"
"It may be more valuable to understand where the colony stands as a whole, as opposed to focusing on our foes," Sloan disagrees.
"I'm more interested in that, to start with," I say, "There's so much happening right now that I don't know about. The development of our knowledge, techniques and craftsmanship is way beyond what I expected at this point."
Each of the council members shifts and wiggles their antennae with glee, pleased with this compliment, especially the carvers.
"We only did as you asked of us, Eldest," Mendant answers me, "we tried to draw every ounce of information from the humans that we could and adapt it to our needs."
"I'm just surprised at what you picked up. Like, the magnificent carvings and artworks," I gesture to the walls with one antenna, "not exactly the sort of thing I expected the colony to prioritise."
The rest of the council shift slightly to take in the walls a little better.
"Well, to be honest, most of us didn't really see the point of it," Cobalt admits.
"It was really only a small group of carvers who decided to pick it up in earnest," Tungstant says.
"Any idea why?" I'm curious.
"I'm not sure, you might have to ask them yourself. The rest of the carvers who specialise in construction have picked up the Skill to one degree or another. Once the bar for aesthetics had been set, we were determined that it would uniform. Since it doesn't detract from the function of the spaces, there's not really any harm," Cobalt says.
"Fine. I just want it put on the record that I'm uncomfortable with having so many images of myself hung up everywhere."
"Uh... What's the 'record'," Coolant asks.
"Like, a written record of our meeting."
"Ooh" they chorus.
"Let's do that," Mendant says.
"No problem, I'll write it all down later and we can publish it in one of the central tunnels. That way anyone can read it," Bella declares.
"Alright, fine! Now what the heck is going on with the colony?"
"I'll start!" Vibrant throws an antenna into the air. "You all talk too much! So, after you left we took a whole bunch of new territory and expanse', you can see them here, here and over there." She raises up a leg to point at the map. "We got a whole bunch of foot and experience. New nest is here, new nests going over there and around here somewhere. We think there's an underground city around here somewhere and -"
"Wait, what?!" I shout.
"A city, or something like it. The signs are there, at least. Shaped passages, footprints, noises... So, anyway -"
"We need to seize that city."
Silence falls at the table, no scent hanging in the air.
"That's... unusual, coming from you, Eldest," Advant observes.
"Portals. I explained this to Coolant and Propellant already, but our foes can move vast distances in an instant with this magic. If there are portals in that city..."
"They'll appear right next to us?" Sloan asks slowly.
"Right. This blank zone which might have a city in it... that's right between this nest and the proposed third. If an army were to suddenly appear there, we'll have a difficult fight on our claws."
"The Eldest is right," Victor says, "we need to strike first to neutralise this threat. We can mobilise a force in two hours."
"We can't move that quickly!" Advant protests. "We have no idea what we're going into. We cannot afford to throw lives away before this conflict even begins!"
Another moment of contemplation.
"I agree with Advant. We should still have a little time, they still don't know exactly where we are. A few days. Scout it out, push deeper and get a clearer picture. We need to act fast."
"Great!" Vibrant cheers.
"I'll head to the village and talk to them about this. There may be a way they can help. I want Cobalt and Mendant to come with me. I have a few things to discuss with you two. We'll come back to this meeting in a day, when we know more. And can someone please get me a count of how many ants there are!"
-x-X-x-
The council meeting was cut brutally short, the revelation of a possible city underground, so close to where the Colony is operating, warranted immediate investigation. If an enormous pile of Golgari pop out of a city, right on our doorstep, our home ground advantage will go for nothing. Not to mention they could flank us horrifically. I also need to be wary of the possible reinforcements that they call in. We need to move fast, uncomfortably fast.
To this end, I hurry to gather up my entourage for this whirlwind trip to the surface. I pick up Torrina and Corun before gathering my pets. Rather than bring them with me, I decide to send them in support of the scouting efforts. They'll be more useful there. If something does end up going south, they'll be able to help the ants escape with lives. There's only one problem with this plan.
[Nooooooo, I won't leave you, Master!]
[Crinis! I'm only going to the surface, I'll be back in less than a day! Will you get off me!?]
[I won't!]
[Don't make me order you!]
[Don't do it, Master! You'll get sucked through a portal, or challenged by a mega-monster, or slip and fall down a pit and land in the fifth strata, or an ancient will rise from the depths and swallow you, forcing you to live as a parasite in its gullet, or a great confluence of stars will smite you down the moment you set foot out of the tunnels! Take me with you!]
... All of those things sound completely ridiculous, but why is it I can't seem to say that none of them will happen? I have managed to put my claws in some unlikely, bad situations during my stay on Pangera.
[Alright, fine! You come with me. Tiny and Invidia, you guys go with Sloan to check out this underground city.]
[Yes!]
[I shallll peel away their secretssss.]
Crinis nearly cracks my carapace with her grip as she wriggles with joy at my concession. I suppose it does make sense to take a bodyguard with me wherever I go. It's certainly not likely that I run into trouble on the surface, but I'm starting to become allergic to taking chances. With that done, I depart on a brisk journey upwards to the surface nest. Corun and Torrina do an admirable job keeping up with my monstrous stamina but we do end up having to take a few breaks. It's during one of these that I notice something strange.
My Vestibule is still ablaze with energy from the plethora of ants that pick their way through the tunnels around me. Scouting, hunting, hatchlings on training expeditions, there's no shortage of reasons for the Colony to be active in this area. Yet I feel there's something else, something... slippery. A tiny presence that somehow slips out of my awareness when I'm not paying attention to it. A small cluster of muted lights that seem to hover nearby, fading in and out of existence. Since they turn up in the Vestibule, I have to assume they're related to the Colony in some way, but nonetheless, I'm put on edge by their strange elusiveness. For the rest of the journey, I try to identify or see whatever is causing this phenomenon, but I can't seem to get a grip on them.
Besides that, we reach the surface nest without incident. It's interesting to be surrounded by so many hatchlings in the tunnels. They're so tiny! It's hard to believe I was once so small and weak. I'm almost tall enough for them to crawl beneath me without having to lift myself up! As one would expect, there are more Brood Tenders here than anything else, supervising the pupae and guiding the hatchlings once they've emerged. It's nice to see that a sizeable garrison of more combat-oriented castes still maintain a very visible presence in order to protect the precious future of the Colony. Not to mention the huge number of carvers bustling about, carting materials, and working in the huge forging chambers we pass.
There's something weird about watching ants work a smithy...
As we pass one such chamber, I see a carver, amongst the smallest of all the castes, taking a blinding hot rod of metal out of a circular forge with her bare mandibles, before placing it down on a low built anvil. Moving quickly, she skitters off to one side and triggers a mechanism that brings a heavy weight down from above onto the metal with a resounding clang! Sparks fly and she resets the mechanism, the weight rising slowly as she repositions the metal with her mandibles before triggering it again.
I was wondering how they were hoping to work metal without the capacity to use a hammer... although with another evolution they could probably work to build up the strength in their front arms. They could grip a hammer just fine, but the leg strength isn't there at tier three.
We rush past all manner of interesting chambers until we breach the surface. I step into the glare of the bright, surface light and immediately feel my core shudder in pain. Here on the surface, the mana concentration takes a massive dip and the drain that was already in effect the moment I crossed from the second strata to the first suddenly kicks into overdrive. My days of leisurely wandering about up here are long gone, my friends. It's the tunnels for me.
As I did in the past, I reach out with my external mana control and drag every scrap of energy I can reach into my core to stave off the drain, but even with my increased Skills, I can't cover for my loss as effectively as I could before my last evolution. The increased need for mana appears to grow exponentially at each tier. After one more evolution, I won't even make it half a day on the surface before my core runs dry.
The town has come a long way since we began. Even standing atop the even larger and more heavily defended ant hill, I can see new buildings have arisen, and the beginnings of a town wall going up, ants mixed with the human workers, helping to clear land and shape stones. As I crawl from the hill, I'm a little shocked to see a small open-air building, almost like the tiered seating you'd see in a sports stadium, but much more modest. Every row is filled to capacity with humans wearing strange brown robes, with weird pointy things sticking out the top.
Come to think of it, they kind of look like antennae...
The moment I come within their sight, every single one of them throws their hands in the air and cries out with an ecstatic voice.
"PRAISE THE GREAT ONE! PRAISE HIS SHINYNESS. MAY THE SHADOWS FLEE FROM HIS CARAPACE, AND HIS MANDIBLES PIERCE THE HIDE OF EVIL!"
What in the hell...
I try to skirt around and avoid them, but the moment I try, they leap from the platforms and rush to greet me. Just when I think I'm going to be buried under a pile of human bodies, they stop and form a loose circle around me, with their hands clasped in front of their chests, facing outwards. When I move, they move with me, forming a living barrier of devoutness that goes where I go. When I pick up the pace, they try and run with me, but it's clear that they can't all keep up. I sigh and slow down, allowing them to do what they want...
This feels really weird.
-x-X-x-
Chapter 558 Would you go to war for some insects?
With my circle around me, I eventually find my way into town. It's a shocking transformation that's taken place. Cobbled roads with drainage ditches, a smattering of proper, stone buildings, way more people than I remember and a plethora of other indicators of a thriving, happy community. To think that mere months ago this place didn't have one brick on top of another. There's still quite a few ants about the place, watching the humans go about their business, helping out here and there. Most of them are mages, of course, but every now and again a carver pops up with a mage escort to perform the mind magic for them.
The Colony really has taken my instructions to learn from the humans very seriously. It seems as though they won't be satisfied until they extract every little piece of information they can get their mandibles on. Considering the rate of improvement that they've shown, it's working like a charm.
Corun and Torrina draw a lot of strange looks as they accompany me into the town. Being Golgari, they stand head and shoulders above even the tallest human in town, not to mention their glittering stone skin and general lack of clothing. But even they, as strange and new to these people as they are, don't seem to be enough to distract from the spectacle of forty robed 'ant-people' escorting me through the streets. Having them just be there is one thing, but the shouting adds a whole new layer of awkwardness.
"MAKE WAY FOR THE GREAT ONE!"
"DO NOT SULLY THE SHINE OF HOLINESS!"
"PAY PROPER RESPECT! MAKE WAY FOR THE MANDIBLES OF JUSTICE!"
The WHAT?!
I thought I was the only one who called them that... Regardless, this public display of devotion receives something of a mixed response from the gathering crowd of onlookers. Some people, presumably those who've seen me before, possibly during the battle against Garralosh, cheer and wave as they see me, or clasp their hands and join the shouting, which is less great. Others appear more curious than elated, likely those who haven't seen an ant of this sort of size or apparent importance wandering around. Then there's others who seem less delighted to have a giant monster in quite such close proximity to themselves.
I should have waited outside of town. I just got a little enthused and wanted to see all of the changes that had taken place. They've worked hard, these people. Can't help if I wanted to have a bit of a sticky-beak.
[You seem popular up here,] Corun laughs over a mind bridge.
[When you save people's lives from a horrible death by monster, they tend to be grateful, even if you are a monster.]
[Even so, some of this feels a little... religious, don't you think?]
[I'm not sure I get what you mean...]
[The robes, the singing of praises and such. Granin might be on the right track with you, you've already managed to create your own cult!]
[Antenna Cult?] Torrina says.
[I was thinking 'Carapace Cult'.]
[Whoa there, hold on. First off, I do not have a cult. Second of all, you're cult is the 'Cult of the Worm'. Before you try and start making fun of other people's cults, not that I have one, you might want to examine your own situation first.]
[It's nice to finally see some humans treat Master with the respect he deserves!] Crinis remarks, snippily.
[They are slowing me down though,] I sigh, [being up here can't be any more comfortable for you than it is for me, Crinis.]
[I'm fine!]
[No you aren't, but not to worry, we're nearly done.]
Despite the ever increasing crowd of onlookers, we do eventually push our way through to the newly constructed town hall, a two story building of simple stone construction that is nevertheless very impressive considering how quick they whipped it up. It's nothing compared to what the carvers are building underground, but hey, they're only human.
I use my mana sense and reach out with a mind bridge once I find the person I need.
[Enid! You can't possibly tell me that you didn't know I was coming. Half the town is out here gabbing.]
[Oh, I know,] she sounds equal parts irritated and weary, [but I've been stuck in here listening to people natter on about their issues which apparently can't be put aside for the sake of a monster.]
[Are they lacking gratitude to that extent?] I'm incredulous, [I hate to interrupt, you but I can't stay up here for long. One more evolution and you'll probably never see me on the surface again! Any chance I can break up the meeting? We've got some big stuff going on down there.]
[By all means. It's hard to focus on mental communication when people won't stop talking to you.]
Not if you had better mental stats. Enid needs a few more levels if you ask me. Although, she may be a touch too old for Dungeon delving. I turn to one of my ant-headed bodyguards and whipped together a quick connection.
[Hey there, it's me, the giant ant standing next to you.]
The fellow I'm talking to, a middle aged looking chap with a weather beaten face, leaps a metre into the air before turning to look at me with a panic stricken face.
[Hey, buddy, just breathe, alright? Stay cool. I just need you to grab some of your people, go in there, and make sure Enid can come out and talk to me. Okay? Keep it simple.]
Seemingly unable to form a coherent response, he nods jerkily, and then thinks better of it and bows deeply. After a moment to collect himself, he grabs two others and drags them into the building, whispering furiously to them as they go. The chap looks a touch glassy eyed, I hope he's alright. It's better than having that one armed priest Beyn around, goodness knows what would happen if he were here.
Not long after they went in, the three ant-robed people bring out a rather startled looking Enid being carried in their arms. She knew that something was going to happen, but I'm not sure that she expected this.
[Hey, Enid,] I greet her with a friendly wave of an antenna, [been a little while.]
[It certainly has. Have you changed colour?]
[What? Ah, no. That's Crinis. Say hello, Crinis.]
A section of gloop detaches from my carapace and forms a barbed tentacle, much to the horror of most people watching. Crinis extends the limb towards Enid and waves it playfully before retracting it back into her main mass.
[She says hi.]
Enid shakes her head slightly, before she brushes her skirts down and shoos away the hovering ant-people.
[Apparently there's something important happening going on down in the Dungeon? Must be big if you've come back up here, it can't be pleasant for you. Does it have something to do with your two Golgari friends?]
[Look, it's not great to be here, and that's no knock on the company. I'm not sure exactly how to phrase this delicately, so I'm just going to come out and say it. I might have accidentally started a war with the Golgari which is likely to kick off sometime in the next week. There's also a city under us, apparently? We'll be trying to take control of that over the next few days.]
Enid just stares at me.
[You WHAT? With the Golgari?! Then why are they here?] She points an accusatory finger at Torrina and Corun who look back coolly.
[They, uh, just really believe in me? They're on our side... because, reasons.]
[... Right.]
She massages her temples for a moment as she closes her eyes to think.
[What do you need from us?] She says, her eyes calm and steady when she opens them again.
[I really thought you'd be a little more shocked by this.] I admit.
She sighs.
[There's no point, is there? Things move so fast around here that I'm better off just accepting and not thinking about it for too long. I'll need to get the town council together and discuss this, but I'm willing to pledge you our support.]
That takes me back a little.
[Really? I was just going to let you know what was happening, I didn't have any intention of asking you to fight...]
[Anthony, if the Colony is destroyed, we won't last much longer. Anyone who's cooperated with monsters as we have, isn't exactly looked on favourably. For good or for ill, our fates are tied to yours.]
I scratch my head with an antenna.
[Well, sure. I guess we'll take any help we can get. Probably best if you think about what you have to offer, since I have no clue. We'll be able to coordinate more closely after that.]
She nods.
[Alright. The work never ends around here,] she sighs.
[When ants are involved, it tends to get like that,] I laugh.
We exchange pleasantries for a few minutes before I decide to end the conversation. If anything, the surrounding crowd has only grown in size as we've talked and I don't want to deal with the unpleasant feeling of my core bleeding out any longer. Saying farewell to the mayor, I turn and head back toward the nest. I have a core I need to collect in there.
-x-X-x-
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaait!"
I won't. I'm running for it. With a great leap, I fly into the air, over the heads of the ant-robed people and crash back down to the ground. My legs creak under the strain, but I care not, forcing myself to sprint as soon as I can.
"WAIT FOR ME, GREAT OOOOONNNEEE!!!"
It's not happening, you mad priest. I barely talk to you and now people are wearing strange robes and following me around like secret service. A few more conversations and you'll have newborn babies dressed up as larvae, and people will start trying to carry me around on a palanquin or something... Actually the baby thing sounds cute...
No! I'll be strong! DASH!
I kick up a huge cloud of dust and just like that, I leave the humans and Beyn floundering in my wake as I run for the hill. The sweet mana, it calls to me! As do the more reasonable behaviours of my family members. I'd rather talk to Leeroy than exchange words with that nutty priest. My time in the town was certainly interesting, and it's nice to know that the Colony still has a strong ally in Enid, even if some of the more recent arrivals don't look quite as favourably on us. I can't help but feel a little disgruntled about that. Who saved all their lives, bore the brunt of the horde attack, and is even helping them build their town to this very day? Sheesh.
I speed back to the nest with Crinis still attached to my carapace, plunging into the welcome dark the moment I can. The sweet blue light of mana infuses my body and I breathe a sigh of relief as the drain from my core slows significantly. With constant application of external mana manipulation, it's possible for me to slowly replenish my reserves in the first strata, a thought which unwinds the unconscious knot of tension in the back of my head.
Walking around with mana leaking from your core is almost like a human taking a trip down the streets whilst bleeding from an open vein. Your very life energy is slowly dripping out of you as you try and ignore it and concentrate on other things but it's always there, the sense of impending death prodding away at your mind. I'm not a fan. Which is why I was happy enough to come back here in a hurry, even though there's something I have to do now that I've been avoiding for a long time.
Moving much slower now, I make my way through the nest, trying to make space for the many hatchlings and others that I share these more cramped tunnels with. Those tricky flickers in my Vestibule have returned, but I ignore them for the moment. I need to concentrate on this task, she deserves my full attention.
Pushing ever deeper into the nest, I make my way to the brood chambers, where hundreds of pupae line dozens of chambers, each lovingly cared for by their brood tenders. In the centre of these lies the egg chamber, where several immature Queens now reside in what used to be Mother's room.
"Hello, all!" I greet them. "Hope things are going well. I've seen the designs for the new nests and they're absolutely out of control, you'll love them."
"Eldest!" They cry in surprise.
"Just passing through, came to pick something up from my old room."
I can feel Crinis shift on my carapace as I speak, but she chooses to remain silent. She knows why I've come, even if she doesn't understand why I've hesitated until now.
"We didn't expect you, Eldest," one of the Queens steps forward to say, "but we heard you had arrived in the nest. Is there anything we can help with?"
"No, no," I laugh, "you do your best for the Colony and leave this sort of thing for me. You have a very important job to do, much more important than mine. Good luck!"
So saying, I ignore their looks of surprise and crawl down through the gap in the floor and down into what used to be the space reserved for myself, Tiny and Crinis. Just as the nest below ground has expanded, so too has this one. Dozens of extra chambers and tunnels have been carved out, the misplaced dirt and rock added to the towering ant hill above ground. This unadorned little chamber has been left untouched throughout those works.
It's a bit cramped, now. With my larger frame and Crinis glooped on me, I fill the space in a way I never did before. Which brings me uncomfortably close to the object I left here when I left, Garralosh's core.
I still have mixed feelings about that fight, and the eventual death of Garralosh. If she hadn't ended the life of one of my family, Grant the brave, who sacrificed her life for me, then I'm not sure I would have found it in me to finish her off. We made use of her Biomass, though the Colony ate much of it, but her core was something I couldn't bring myself to deal with at the time.
I could reconstitute her. Bring back a brand new Garralosh copy to stomp around on behalf of the Colony, but without her soul. The human who had been reborn on Pangera is gone forever, perhaps to another, even stranger life. Certainly the new Garralosh would be more sane than the last. It's a fairly low bar to jump over, if I'm honest. Still, I don't think that I'll bring back the giant croc. The drain on resources that the Colony would experience trying to keep her up and fighting fit wouldn't be worth it. Not to mention the baggage of all of those that were trying to hunt her down returning to finish the job.
No, I didn't come here for that. This core needs to be absorbed. I wasn't prepared to do it after the battle, and not only because it's so uncomfortably big, but because it represents the struggle of Garralosh, the suffering that she endured, vanishing from this world for good. When this core is gone, there really will be nothing left of her. Nothing except for the profile that was unlocked when I consumed her.
With a sigh, I bring it up using the menu and read through it once more.
[Garralosh. The unique monster known as Garralosh is the reincarnation of Janice Thornton, a human from Earth. The product of a violent household, Janice's view of relationships grew twisted and callous. As she matured, she grew more cruel and manipulative, eventually coming to utilise violence and brutality to get her way. This ever escalating spiral resulted in her descent to madness and two murders before eventually she was cut down. Her soul was selected as a likely candidate for resurrection due to her urge to dominate and confront with violence. It was hoped that her introduction to the Dungeon would allow her to vent her more bloodthirsty urges and develop herself as an apex predator. Instead, she drowned in conflict and descended further into madness. Her desire to dominate, control and gain vengeance eventually led to her isolation and entrapment. Despite reaching a reasonable level of evolution for a first strata monster, Garralosh is yet another failed transplanted soul, leaving little to no mark on the Dungeon and its ecosystem.]
Does the Dungeon have a similar profile ready for me? Bit of a disturbing thought. Gingerly, I grab the core in my mandibles and begin to make my way back down to the second strata.
-x-X-x-
[I don't know what I was expecting, but it sure wasn't this.]
Jim, the large and ever floppy worm, slithered through the tunnels beside the hulking, menacing form of his friend, Sarah. The two former humans had achieved their goal, a long cherished one for the worm, of escaping from their gilded cage amongst the Golgari. When Anthony had first arrived amongst them, they hadn't known what to make of him, but he'd done it, pulled off the seemingly impossible escape, and brought them back to his home.
And what a home it turned out to be. Vaulted chambers, beautiful carvings, a surprisingly stunning array of statues, most of which were dedicated to Anthony, all lovingly crafted in intricate detail, were just some of the startling features of the ant nest.
[Are you getting more comfortable being around all of these ants?] Sarah asked, sounding concerned.
[It's still a struggle, if I'm being honest,] he admitted, [my coils can't help but shiver whenever they crawl over me. Gyah!]
It just so happened, at that moment a host of ants skittered out of a side tunnel and made their way over the big worm's body. He stilled his body and tried not to writhe too much as their claws pinched his skin. If he reacted badly and actually hurt one of the colony members, who knows what would happen to him. In the outer tunnels of the nest, there was far less traffic, so the two of them had found their way out here in order to stretch their legs and coils, take in some air and try to decide what they should do next.
The heavy traffic found in the inner sections of the nest was noticeably lighter here, but that didn't mean Jim didn't tense up every now and again as their hosts made their way over him as they went about their business.
[We're certainly safe here,] Sarah said, a little hesitantly, [I haven't even seen a monster other than the ants since we got here. And the defences around the nest were certainly impressive.]
Jim wiggled non-committedly.
[Is that really what you want? To hide behind the protection that someone else is willing to offer you? Aren't you just putting yourself back in the cage you escaped from?]
Sarah was silent for a moment and Jim hastened to console her.
[Ah! I'm not judging you or anything, I know that it's hard for you to fight and that you'd rather not. I just don't want to see you go back into your shell and give up your independence, just after you got it back.]
She absorbed that and considered her own feelings before she responded.
[You might be right, Jim. I guess, I still feel scared. I'm relieved to get away from the Golgari after what they forced me to do, but I don't know if I'm ready to go back into the Dungeon...]
[We could do it together,] he encouraged her, [just in little bits. Go out for ten minutes a day, build up immunity to it over time. We could head out with the - GYAHAHA!!]
The ants crawled across him, paying no mind to his sudden freeze.
[I'm not sure if I should be offended by that,] he muttered, [anyway. We could head out with the Queen. I saw her go out a few hours ago with a big escort of ants. I asked around and apparently she goes out hunting every day to get her own food. That'd be a safe way to go about it.]
The giant bear, with its bristled fur and muscle packed frame looked down at the worm, a little surprised.
[You've been talking to the ants? I didn't think you'd want to do that.]
[Because I'm afraid of them?!]
[No. Because you didn't want to rely on them.]
Jim deflated a little as the sudden anger he'd felt drained away.
[Oh. I thought - GYOOO!... I figured we couldn't exactly wait for Anthony to get back before we start working things out. He sort of vanished on us as soon as he got back...]
[He has a lot of things to worry about now that he's back here,] Sarah chided him. [We can't expect him to hang around and wait on us hand and foot.]
[I get it,] Jim huffed, [what with the war coming, he's got a lot on his plate.]
The big worm froze, realising too late what he'd said.
[Jim?] Sarah asked slowly. [What war are you talking about?]
Jim sighed and slapped himself in his mind. He wasn't really keeping it a secret, but he hadn't told her when he'd found out and then hadn't been sure what he should say.
[I spoke to a few of the ants with names, though I wasn't able to get a hold of them for long. Vibrant in particular was... fast. From what I gather, the Colony doesn't expect the Golgari to let them go after what they did, killing their people and stealing their property.]
[You mean ... us?]
[Us and other things. We managed to fight off the force that was pursuing us, but the Colony believes that they can still be followed, so eventually they'll come here in force to exterminate them. That's why things have been so crazy since we came here, the ants are getting themselves ready to fight.]
The two of them continued to make their way down the tunnel as they tried to straighten out their tangled thoughts. Sarah ambled along, her shoulders almost brushing the ceiling as she walked, whilst Jim shuffled along at her side.
[It's not our fight, you know,] Jim burst out, [they might have saved us, but they don't need us for their war. And the Golgari aren't after us. We can take a few days to help you get used to the Dungeon and then we can make our own way. Find somewhere else that's safe.]
[Jim...]
[We could go find the Sophos that you told me about, or we could live, just the two of us. I know you don't want to fight, and nobody has the right to make you, certainly not against any non-monster. We can just leave this behind us...]
[Jim. We can't do that, and you know it,] Sarah cut him off sternly. [They saved us. I'm not going to abandon them now that they need help.]
Jim pulled back a little.
[Are you sure about that, Sarah? You know what that means, right? You'll have to fight. You might have to kill Golgari.]
Even the thought of such a conflict was enough to set the great bear to trembling, but she didn't back down.
[You said it, didn't you? Anthony said it as well. We can't just run away forever, right? At some point, I have to fight. The Colony hasn't done anything wrong to me or you, why should they suffer for us? I - I think I'm going to stay. I'll try to fight.]
[You might die, Sarah.]
The bear didn't shrink away at all at those words.
[It's not dying that I'm afraid of, Jim.]
At that moment, a flurry of movement from further up the tunnel caught their attention. From the shadows emerged Anthony, his carapace covered by the ink coloured pet he called Crinis, carrying a gigantic core in his mandibles. When he saw the two of them, his antennae perked up and he rushed forward to greet them.
[Hey there you two! How've things been. Sorry I haven't caught up with you since we got here, things have been a little... hectic.]
[Because of the war, right? I want to help,] Sarah told him firmly.
Anthony twitched and he turned toward Jim a little, as if to ask if she was serious.
[She seems to have made up her mind,] Jim muttered. [I suppose I'll help out as well.]
The massive ant looked at the two of them for a moment before his antennae seemed to shrug.
[Hey, sure thing. To be honest, the help is very welcome. I expect when the Golgari get here, we're going to have our backs against the wall. Why don't the two of you come with me for a second, we can have a chat and I'll try and sort out something for you.]
This branch tunnel wasn't wide enough for the three of them to traverse at the same time, so Anthony had to back up until they reached a wider branch to turn down.
[I don't want to tell you what you can and can't do to help,] the ant was telling the two of them. [You want to help dig tunnels? Great! You want to help defend the nest, also great! You want to fight on the front lines? You're insane, but hey, that's also great.]
[Isn't that where you're going to be?] Sarah asked him.
[Well, yeah. But it's my family after all. Better me than them.] He turned and pointed at the many smaller ants bustling throughout the tunnels.
[You really think that, don't you?]
Anthony shrugged again.
[Of course. Anyways, I think what I'll do is get one of our teachers to talk to you specifically, Sarah. Work out exactly what you want to do and how you can help. Florence is her name. A good worker. Jim, I might put you in touch with Cobalt, she's a carver, in charge of building stuff. I'm certain she'll be able to find a heap of things you could do...]
He kept nattering at them, totally unaware of the very different emotions growing within his two fellow reincarnators.
-x-X-x-
After dropping Sarah and Jim with Florence, I rush back out to the storage area I'm told we stashed our haul from the outpost in. I'm feeling a touch buoyed by the run-in I had with Sarah and Jim. I'm not sure how much they'll be able to help out, but like I told them, every little bit helps. I doubt it would ever happen, but having Sarah on the front lines, a monster who's supposedly strong enough to rip me up would make an incredible ally. It would take a lot to get there, considering her aversion to violence, but I'm sure she'll be able to contribute no matter what.
When I finally make it to the chamber, I find a wide, low ceilinged chamber filled with precious loot. My siblings have been busy in here, categorising and stacking all of the goods in neat shelves that they've shaped out of stone. Probably another innovation that they stole from the humans. At the time I arrive, Coolant is there, picking through the various magical materials and items. Ellie is also there, making a meticulous inventory of the many, many cores we brought back.
I crawl over and drop Garralosh's core with a massive THUD. Ellie's antennae begin to quiver uncontrollably the moment she notices it.
"Eldest! That core?! Are you here to donate it?"
"Ah, no. This one's for me, unfortunately."
"Are you going to make a pet with it? Surely you will!?"
"You know what core this is, right?"
"Of course I know! I still can't believe you never let us study it, but it's an amazing chance to create an incredibly strong pet."
I shouldn't be surprised that the core shaper would be interested in the most potent core the Colony has gotten its mandibles on, but I kind of hoped they'd have gotten over it by now?
[No, I won't. I'll be absorbing this core after I've maxed out my current limit. That's why I came here, have you finished categorising the cores yet? I want to take the more useless ones and absorb them.]
[Hmm. I may not have enough for you here. A lot of these cores are of real interest to us. Unknown monsters that we haven't come across before, new organs that we haven't experimented with, there's a dizzying amount of new information.]
"Surely there's a bit of trash that they had lying around. I just need the energy, not quality."
[Give me a second,] she says and starts rummaging around, looking for what I need.
I leave her to her work and wander over to where Coolant is busy.
[Hey there Coolant,] I greet her, [did we actually get anything useful from those geezers?]
She scratches her head with one antenna.
[Well, it's not easy to say at this stage. We certainly got a lot of stuff that we haven't seen before. I assume that it's useful, otherwise why would the Shapers have been storing it? But since we've never come across this stuff before, we don't know what we can do with it. Hence, my lack of commitment.]
[What sort of stuff did we get?]
She starts pointing out various things on the shelves with a claw.
[We managed to scrounge up a few pieces of equipment, staves mostly, a couple of enchanted robes and ... loincloths? There are also many other items that we are yet to be certain of their purpose. Over here, I've collected a series of gems and implements that I believe are for scrying for certain mana signatures over great range. If we can discover what each enchantment is designed to find, it will be a great advancement in our ability to create magical scouting tools.]
Fascinating!
[Are we making any progress on that front?] I ask.
[Not yet, we've only conducted initial studies on the tools at this stage. We're assembling teams of our best tier four mages and enchanters to look over them. Claws crossed, they'll be able to unravel the secret soon. If we can make scrying tools for Golgari...]
[Holy. Moly. That would be a game changer. Because they surely have ways to scry monsters. Did we have anything else?]
[Well, we did collect quite a variety of mana infused ores and metals. It seems to be something that they quite fancied, since we found such an abundance of it.]
She leads me to a separate shelf behind the first, laden with chunks of glittering ore. Flipping on my mana-sense, I can feel the pure energy of the Dungeon flowing throughout these materials. Some are clearly more precious than others, but all of them are rich with mana.
[Any idea what we can do with these?] I ask wonderingly.
Coolant shrugs.
[I have no idea. Our only thought at the moment is to try and determine what affinities these materials have and then pass them over to the carvers. They should be able to make something useful out of them.]
Makes sense. There's not really any point in hoarding them. If the Colony can work out how to create useful items out of this stuff, then we'd have a reason to actually seek it out and mine it.
[Have the humans been consulted about what to do with these materials?]
[I believe that is still being done, Eldest.]
[Right...]
[Here you are, Eldest!] Ellie breaks in. [This is what we have that you can use.]
With little ceremony, she crawls up next to me and drops a thin stone bucket filled with cores on the ground. Even just by looking, I can tell that there won't be enough to max out my core. Still, can't be ungrateful for the help of the colony.
[Cheers, Ellie. This is a big help.]
[Anytime, Eldest. I better get back to work.]
I decide to leave the two council members to their business. I place Garralosh's core on top of the bucket, even though it doesn't quite fit, and lift the container in my mandibles before heading out of the storeroom. Carefully balancing myself, I tread through the tunnels until I arrive at a relatively small, out of the way chamber that I picked out for myself. Not too much traffic nearby and not much going on inside, the room is quite perfect for my purposes. I wearily plunk down all the cores and take a moment to settle myself.
Physically, I'm not tired at all, but emotionally I'm starting to flag a bit. Too much running around, too many things to worry about. I need to take a break. Time for a little well-earned torpor, I think. I can deal with these cores after that, then try and find out what's happening with this city.
-x-X-x-
The return of the Eldest after their brief time apart from the Colony was a momentous event. Throughout the history of our kind, it was always the Eldest who acted as the catalyst of change, the arbour of progress. As we grew in strength, wisdom and capability, there was danger of complacency, of waste and inefficiency as we followed a thousand different trails of knowledge to their fruitless conclusions. Instead, at the critical moment, the Eldest brought us firm paths on which we were only just becoming ready to tread, new ideas to throw our burgeoning industry forward and expand our imaginations.
Most importantly of all, they brought us enemies against which we could test ourselves, obstacles that we had to strive to overcome. This contention is not universally accepted amongst my siblings, but it is my belief that every action they undertook was deliberate and calculated, that they forged the Colony like a smith-ant forges metal, alternating the guidance of their hammer with the intense heat of the forge. In this conflict, we would be forced to purify our conceptual understanding of what we were and how we were to function. To become something even greater, stronger and more ambitious than before. All the while, the Eldest was there, watching over us, guiding us in the right direction. The Eldest saw the beginning and the end of our journey all at once. Only they saw what it was that we would become.
Excerpt from 'Development of the Colony: The first age' by Historiant
SHASHIFRASS!
I'm up! Boy, I really needed a bit of torpor, more than I thought I did. I feel refreshed! I stretch out my antennae and flick my legs in a few different directions, finishing off with a few short hops to get the joints lubricated. Nice. Maybe I should implement this as a sort of morning exercise for the colony? A healthy body and a healthy mind leads to a healthy society! Perhaps they could set up some of those pheromone speakers for this purpose?
The image of millions of monstrous ants, lined up in row upon row, performing morning jazzer-cise blooms in my mind and I almost fall over laughing.
[Is everything alright, Master?]
[Gah! Crinis?! I actually forgot you were there for a second...]
She wiggles a little with happiness.
[Is that because I've become your second skin? I told you I'd never part with you again, this is just a natural progression.]
In what way is this natural? In fact, in what way is any part of Crinis natural? She looks like a nightmare born when another nightmare went to sleep. In order to keep her happy, I'll continue to tolerate this arrangement, but I'd be lying if I said I was getting accustomed to it. If anything, me forgetting that she's attached to me is just my mind fantasising about regaining my freedom.
Grumbling a little to myself internally, I gather up the cores I collected and begin to absorb them. I need to reinforce my core and put myself in a position of maximum strength for the upcoming conflict. Nothing less than peak, optimum condition can be accepted. Before I evolve, I need to take in the Garralosh core also, pushing myself to a new peak of evolutionary energy. It'll be intense, and most likely very painful, but it needs to be done to secure the future of the Colony.
A flicker of energy in my Vestibule captures my attention before it fades away into the background once more. This irritating thing is back again! What exactly is it?! Having these stupid ghost ant signals creep up on me all the time is really getting on my nerves! I'm determined to work out exactly what is giving this strange feeling. I feel like someone is trying to pull one over on me. I refuse to allow it!
Brimming with fierce energy, I sweep up the remainder of the cores and check my status. Looks like I'm getting close to my maxed out core, I'll need to try and source the rest of the cores I need either out in the Dungeon, or perhaps from the city. Maybe I can buy them there? I don't know what they'd want in trade. Would they even be willing to trade with a monstrous ant is another question...
Alright then, time to get moving. I spring up to my feet and suddenly dash out the chamber. Maximum speed! As I do so, I focus all of my sub-brains on the Vestibule as it provides a steady flow of energy from the thousands of ants congregating throughout the nest. I'm going to find you, you damn flickers! They must be ants who are causing it, some sort of sneaky ant! I'll uncover your mask and give you a good thwacking for following me around!
AHA!
Almost simultaneously, I perceive the tiniest sputter of energy within the Vestibule and my antennae sense a disturbance in the tunnel ahead of me. Have I found one of them at last? I can't see them though?!
DASH!
Even more determined, I put the hammer down and accelerate to the limit! My huge body flies down the narrow tunnel, sending smaller ants scurrying in all directions and diving down side tunnels to get out of my way. Oho! The flicker has moved around the bend up ahead. Need to turn! I slam my claws into the ground and haul my mass around the tight bend before I dash once more. You won't escape me!
Even now, I can't see them, but I can feel that I'm getting closer! Any second now and you will receive my thwack of justice!
"Why hello, Eldest, I didn't expect to see you here."
From behind a bend up ahead, Advant steps smartly forward, cutting off my path. I hop slightly and land with all six legs dug into the ground to slow my advance as my momentum causes me to dig deep furrows in the ground. I manage to stop mere centimetres away from rolling over Advant and causing an embarrassing scene for the council, squashing one of their members.
"Advant? Where the heck did you come from?" I gasp.
"Who, me? I was looking for you, Eldest. It's time for the follow up meeting to discuss the scouting reports."
I grow still for a moment.
"You're timing here is rather perfect, Advant. You wouldn't be hiding anything from me would you?"
I raise an antenna.
"O-Of course not, Eldest! Why would I do such a thing?!"
Leaning in a little closer I stare down at the soldier.
"I'm not sure. That's why it bugs me so much."
-x-X-x-
Records of the early days of non-monster habitation of the Dungeon are scarce, to say the least. The Dungeon opened itself during the cataclysm known as the Rending, and certainly before that time the vast network of caves and tunnels beneath the ground was both unknown and inaccessible to those on the surface. During the event itself, when hordes of monsters poured out of holes in the surface every day, pressing forward into the Dungeon was difficult, but not impossible. There are scattered records of several expeditions that managed to gain a foothold beneath the surface. According to the journal written by Alain of Exeter, the ruling ten decreed that defending against the monsters beneath the surface, where narrow tunnels make perfect chokepoints, would be far less costly than attempting to curb them on the surface, and so dispatched a mighty force to seize a Dungeon entrance.
Although the loss of life was horrific, Exeter was the first nation on record to establish a permanent foothold within the Dungeon. It began life as a crude defensive fort at first, the site, which came to be named Victoria, was reinforced and expanded throughout the Rending. It became a frontline defence against the monsters and was effective at reducing the numbers that breached the surface.
Victoria still exists today, though not in the form it once did. As Exeter pushed deeper into the Dungeon to seize its wealth and research its secrets, Victoria became a gateway city between the depths and the surface kingdom, a place of trade and travel. Although firmly placed within the first strata, Victoria is considered the first true metropolis beneath the ground, though many others would follow. Empires, kingdoms and nations of all sorts would rush to seize land in the Dungeon, establishing cities of their own. Even powerful merchant collectives or independent mercenary companies were able to construct their own safe havens in less desirable Dungeon locations. In this way, the community below ground expanded.
Excerpt from "Societies of the Dungeon, Chapter 1: Introduction" by H.R. Dough'n'Stough
I keep a suspicious eye on Advant as we march around to the council chamber, the teasing flicker in my Vestibule having now conspicuously vanished. They're trying to pull something over on me here, and I will not allow it! To think, the council that I raised and taught from mere hatchlings to the powerful and advanced monsters that they are today would try and sneak something past me. The whole idea is absurd! It will not be allowed to stand!
By the time we reach the chamber and settle in, Advant is almost shaking after receiving my withering, omni-directional glare for ten minutes straight. She hasn't cracked though, which means I'm still in the dark regarding their nefarious scheme. It's unfortunate that the survival of the Colony is at stake right now, I can't afford to be distracted by these side games. After another five minutes pass, the entire council has been assembled and settled into our individual seats.
"Hi-Hi! Eldest!" Vibrant chirrups the moment she enters the room. "It's been exciting out there! Things have moved soo fast! Even for me! I've been all over the place for the last day, I don't think I've stopped moving, even for a moment!"
"That's great, Vibrant," I break in to stop the flow of scents flying from her before she can really get going. One of the things I've noticed about pheromone based communication, is that at no point is the person 'speaking' required to pause to take a breath. If an ant really wants to, they can launch into a diatribe that can be quite horrendous in length. Eventually they'll run out of pheromones, but with a few mutations, they can last a heck of a long time.
"So, what exactly did we learn?" I ask, moving to head off potential monologues from Vibrant.
"Quite a lot," Burke responds smoothly, "our scouts managed to infiltrate the outskirts undetected and gather quite a chunk of actionable intelligence."
"You're sure that you weren't found?" I'm doubtful. How could a city in the Dungeon survive without being monster proof?
"We can't be completely sure," Wills answers me, her antennae drooping slightly, "but we took every possible measure we could to avoid discovery. We tunnelled in ourselves, sent our stealthiest members and cooperated with the shapers and mages."
"That's right," Bella waved a leg to draw attention to herself. "We sent the pets in to see what they could see! We even made them fight each other to look believable. The tunnel approaches are watched carefully, that's for sure. The second we crossed a line, BAM, a bunch of humans jumped on the pets and annihilated them!"
That's a little worrying.
"Did you dig past that line?" I ask, intent.
"Are you concerned about a spherical detection zone?" Propellant asks. "We considered the same thing. Not to worry, we made sure to retreat before crossing over the line."
Hmm.
"So how much did we actually learn? It doesn't sound like we were able to get close to the city at all!"
"We know it's location, how much space it occupies, we've identified all of the entrances and tested the defences. Preparations have been made on tunnel access from a wide range of entrance points and every path in and out of the city is being monitored. Quite a bit in twenty four hours, I should say."
When you put it like that... Actually, what the heck did I expect? A complete census of the city? The names of every man, woman, child and a detailed inventory of their house pets? The place is effectively surrounded and pushing any further risks exposing us at a time when surprise is our most powerful weapon. Hang on, there's a thought.
"A census! I want a census done of the Colony! A record of every single member of the family. I want to know their cast, their age, the MP that their core can take, their skill levels and mutations! I want the works! Someone get on that!"
"Uhh, Eldest? Is that related to what we were talking about?" Sloan asks, her antennae twitching in a puzzled manner.
"Absolutely not. It came into my head and I thought it was important enough that I should mention it. Right then. If we've learned all that we're going to learn, it's time to go for it. What's the plan? When are we going in?"
There's a moment of silence as the members of the council look at each other. I can almost hear them silently considering who should speak and how they should frame it.
"No," I cut in, "I'm not sitting it out, and the first member of this council to ask me to will be 're-educated'."
I THWACK the table with all of my might, leaving a slight crack in the surface and causing each of the ants to flinch, except Vibrant, who leaps up with glee.
"I told them! I said it was dumb! Did you really think the Eldest would sit and watch as the rest of us ran in? You girls keep thinking that you can shield the Eldest and the Queen, but you're nuts. It won't work! Nope-nope! In fact, when I told the Queen what we were going to do, she insisted on coming along!"
"YOU DID WHAT?!" The rest of the council screams at her.
Seemingly oblivious to their outrage, Vibrant continues to hop and wiggle on the spot. She's still surprisingly light on her legs considering how large she is.
"Yep-yep! She's real excited! Or determined... One of those! With the Eldest and the Queen running into the unknown danger where who knows what waits for us?! It's going to be AMAZING!"
Sloan and Victor have collapsed on their chairs, legs dangling uselessly and eyes staring blank into space. I can only imagine that all of their plans have gone up in smoke at this point. I think they're reworking every strategy that they had and building in as much protection for the Queen as they possibly can. I have to admit, I'm a little nervous myself, but by this stage I've given up on trying to keep the Queen out of trouble. Mother is Mother, after all! She's more than capable of taking care of herself. What's more dangerous is the possibility of these guys going off the rails and jeopardising the mission in an attempt to keep her out of danger.
"Look, the Queen is going to get in there and fight. There's nothing you can do about that." I cut Vibrant off as she continues to rave and address the rest of the council. "If you want to protect her, then let's commit hard and make sure that our takeover of this city is done as quickly as thoroughly as possible. If it turns into a pitched battle in the streets then we've failed already. This needs to be over before an effective defence can be mounted. We get in, smash the defences, quell the populace and take any teleporters offline. Make sense?"
Leeroy puts up an antenna.
"So we don't destroy everything in the city?"
"No! Why would we destroy everything in the city?!"
"Because... what are going to do with a city full of people who hate us?"
"We - ... That's a surprisingly sensible point coming from you Leeroy. Look, we'll win them over, or if we can't, we just walk away and leave them alone. As long as they don't have those teleportation gates, we don't have any beef with them."
"So we eat them?"
"Not that sort of beef!"
THWACK!
-x-X-x-
Torrina Laksham wasn't sure what to think. The more time she spent around that remarkable ant, the more things didn't make sense. When she and Corun had accompanied Anthony to the surface, she'd been stunned to find an entire community of humans who not only seemed to accept the ant and his Colony, but were rapidly approaching something very close to worship.
The moment they'd seen the welcoming party, with their robes and ant-like regalia, she and Corun had shared a long and significant glance. The parallels they could draw between their own Cult and the behaviour on display were far too easy to draw. It was almost disturbing to see such devout actions taking place in clear daylight, in full view of everyone. The two of them had spent their entire adult lives concealing their beliefs and ideology, only to see these humans being so forward and direct with their burgeoning faith. It was, in many ways, shocking.
But also exciting. They were here following the direction of their triad leader, hoping to help cultivate a new ancient, and here was a group of people who responded to Anthony in much the same way that groups all over the world had reacted to the ancients during the cataclysm. To Torrina, it was a powerful sign that they were on the right track. Corun was less convinced.
[These people are backwards hicks from the middle of nowhere. Most of them have barely ever set foot in the Dungeon, let alone faced a monster in combat,] he argued over a mind bridge, [the moment any powerful monster appeared in front of them, they were bound to admire it.]
[Admiration is one thing,] Torrina said, [worship is quite another. Look around you Corun. There are monsters walking through the streets of a human settlement. And nobody cares. In fact, they are respected, revered and welcomed. I'm not certain that such a thing has happened in the entire history of Pangera, from the cataclysm to now.]
Corun just shook his head and looked around a little more. It was hard to deny the argument that his triad partner put forward, but he wasn't ready to commit quite as much. These people were just so backward. He found it hard to put any stock at all in their thoughts and beliefs. That didn't mean he saw nothing that he could learn from their interactions with the Colony, which was why he'd agreed to remain behind when Anthony had returned to the Dungeon.
The two of them had stayed with the Mayor, Enid, the previous night and plumbed her for information on the history of the town and it's interactions with Anthony. The old woman was tough as any stone and quite cagey, but was unable to conceal her own deep respect and unquestioning faith in her powerful insect ally.
[These people are from the backend of the backend,] Corun tried again, [frontier farmers with no foundation, no connection to any of the great powers and no history. Regardless of what they think, is it really that important? You need to remember that Anthony is a special case, a reincarnated human. He's inclined to help these people based on his history, not to mention he's well aware of what the Colony would be able to learn from people such as these. He wanted them to trust him.]
The two of them were walking out of the town, accompanying a group of armed members and ant-robes led by the one-armed priest, Beyn, but Torrina was frustrated enough by his remarks that she stopped to stare at him.
[Do you really think it's so easy for a monster to gain the trust of humans? Or any sapient race? He didn't have the advantage of the god-like strength the ancients possessed, so how do you think he was able to do it? This has never happened before. Do you understand what that means? By its very definition, this is special. You'd have to be a fool to discount the significance of what these people represent.]
By the end of her rant, the usually cool as ice Golgari Shaper had more than a little heat in her gaze as she glared at Corun. Despite being the older of the two, Corun threw his hands up in surrender.
[Alright! Cool down! I'm not used to seeing you get this fired up, Torrina.]
She took a deep breath and felt her ire recede before she continued in a more even tone.
[I find that your own lack of enthusiasm to be more confusing. I feel there is a growing possibility that there is a real chance Anthony will ascend to become the twentieth ancient. The more I consider it, the harder I find it to remain level headed.]
"Everything alright back there?" a voice called.
Torrina and Corun turned to see that their entire group had stalled to wait for them as they'd discussed silently through mental communication. Corun smiled easily and raised a hand.
"Apologies to you all, my compatriot and I were merely discussing a few points and didn't want to disturb you. We won't delay you any further."
The two Golgari towered over the humans, their stone covered bodies and heavily built frames meant that even the largest human looked frail and childlike when stood next to them. This meant they acted in a very polite and reserved way around their hosts, not wanting to cause any accidents or to put the humans off side.
"You have come in support of the Great One, that is enough to grant you a great deal of leeway," Beyn declared.
With his remaining arm, he waved the group forward as they marched toward the towering anthill in the distance. Seeing an opportunity to pick the brains of this key human, Torrina strode forward to speak to him.
"Priest Beyn, may I have a moment of your time? I have questions regarding your own interactions with the... Great One."
The priest nodded, but didn't turn his head toward her, instead remaining focused on the nest in front of him.
"I see that you hesitate to refer to him as such. Perhaps you know his name?"
She nodded.
"Yes, I see. I choose not to use that name, instead referring to them with a title I bestowed myself. Perhaps it is hubris on my part, but I feel that being so personal wouldn't be right for someone such as myself."
Torrina tried to look as if she understood.
"I believe I heard, Priest Beyn, that you are the first human to come into contact with the Great One. How did that meeting go?"
The Priest laughed and waggled the stump of his arm.
"He bit my arm off."
Torrina nearly tripped.
"Not the most auspicious beginning, I'll happily admit," Beyn said with a wry smile, "I was confused then, I didn't understand what it was that I was witness to. It took some time, but I eventually was able to see the true path that had been laid before my feet."
"Sounds like you've had quite a range of experiences."
"Indeed I have."
"I'd love to hear more."
The priest was only too happy to talk and she listened intently as the anthill grew to loom over them until eventually they entered one of its many tunnels and plunged beneath the ground. It wasn't long until a representative of the Colony approached the group and led them deeper. There was a major campaign underway and the town would not sit to one side.
-x-X-x-
I have sought to capture the Eldest in their purest form for many years in various media. Stone was the first material I utilised, crude and rough, it was appropriate for them at that time. Just like the stone that I hewed with mandible, claw and magic, they were rough and unpolished, a creature of brute strength and straight edges. The edges never really changed, the Eldest remains as straight forward an ant as there is to find in the Colony. At least, if you know the turnings of their mind, as I do. I've watched them for far too long to be entirely ignorant of their inner workings.
When others try to learn my skills, I do my utmost to help them, of course. Even a few humans and some amongst the golgari have sought out my expertise after seeing my works. Of the basics, I had nought to teach them, they were skilled artists all. But there remained something of the spirit, of the dignity and power the Eldest possesses that they were never able to properly capture. I can honestly say that I held nothing back in my efforts to teach them, there are none in the Colony who would hoard knowledge of how to spread the Eldest's glory, but I failed every one of my students.
To properly depict the Eldest, one must acknowledge the creature they truly are. The humans, the golgari and the other sapients, even many amongst the Colony, close their eyes to those aspects of their subject that they are not capable of comprehending. The Eldest is powerful, yes. The Eldest is mighty, of course. The Eldest is wise and generous and caring and brave and clever and joyful and frequently inscrutable, all know this. But first and foremost, the Eldest is an individual who contains and has experienced great pain. To me, the magnificent dignity of the Eldest is made even more impressive because of its source. Everything that they are, and everything that they accomplish springs from a bottomless well of suffering that most do not know exists and none can name the origin.
It's not something I speak of directly, it isn't my place, but I try to guide the eye of my students toward it. There, in that hesitation, do you see it? Here, in this selfless sacrifice, do you understand? They see a great mountain towering into the sky and try to capture it. I can see a tiny fraction of that mountain below the surface as it descends to darkness. It isn't much, but it is all anyone is allowed to see.
Excerpt from the private diary of Michaelangelant, great sculptor of the Colony.
The more time passes, the greater the chance of things going wrong, to that end, it was decided to strike against the city as quickly as possible. The council left me out of the logistics, and I'm very glad they did. I think we can all acknowledge that isn't where my strengths lie. Instead, I gathered up my pets and put us all to practicing our Skills as we waited for the human contingent to join us. That the people of the town were so willing to risk their lives and limbs in this way was more than a little surprising to me, but what the heck, I'll take it. We don't intend to use them in a combat role, the ants are far better equipped for that, but we hope that they can talk down our opposition. People who think they have to win or die and get eaten are likely to fight very hard indeed. If instead we can have a person explain to the people of the city that they won't be consumed, nor killed, then perhaps they'll stand down and we can prevent as much death as possible.
To both sides, that is. I'm pretty confident the Colony could exterminate every man, woman and child in that city, but where would that leave us? If word ever got out, every Empire, Kingdom, mercenary and farmer with a sharp pitchfork would travel from all over the world to exterminate us. Perhaps that might happen even if we spare them, but I'll take a chance at life over a guarantee of death any day of the week. We need more time to get stronger. Eventually, everyone is going to want to come for us, I know that. On Pangera, we are the equivalent of thousands and thousands of crawling bags of gold. The only way we can survive is if we are more trouble to profit from than it's worth bothering with. Which translates to strength. More high level ants, more ants in general. It's a straight forward formula that only needs time to come to fruition.
As I grind away with several minds at my elemental Skills, Tiny punches at the air, Crinis practices Shadow Magic and Invidia makes barriers for Tiny to smash, I try to go back over the plan. The Colony is going to go all out for this one, a full ten thousand ants are being assembled for the assault. Soldiers, scouts, mages, core shapers, medics, generals, the whole shebang. I think every single tier four member is being called in. From what I gather, this means that aside from the necessary guard presence in the nests, along with the castes who don't operate on the field of battle, the Colony will have next to no members anywhere in the Dungeon. Naturally there will be scouts out and about, as well as a few patrols, but for the most part, we are going all in against this city.
We should win handily. No, scratch that. We WILL win, easily. All resistance crushed and the unconditional surrender of the city will be offered in less than an hour. We go in, find any gates, smash 'em and work out what to do after that. I need to focus on my own job, which is to subdue any elites that we come across. With my three pets, I make up the most compact fighting force the Colony has at its disposal, the only thing we can bring to bear against the truly strong. The council, not to mention the rest of the ants, are totally willing to bring down powerhouses through sheer, exhausting weight of numbers, but I refuse. The loss of life would be obscene, as it is in nature when ants take on those creatures greater and more powerful than themselves. I suppose I'm greedy. It's not enough to win, I want to win and lose as few family members as possible.
Thinking these sorts of thoughts, I while away a few hours until the humans arrive, along with Torrina and Corun.
[Hey there gang,] I reach out to them, [how was the trip?]
"I greet you, oh Great One! We are here to serve and pledge ourselves to illuminating your glory!"
Before they can reply, Beyn leaps forward and prostrates himself in one smooth motion. There's no way he did that first try, he must have practiced. The rest of the "ant robes" follow suit and are kneeling in the dirt in a flash, declaring their joy and singing praise. With a weary sigh, I extend another mind bridge out to the one armed priest.
[How are you Beyn? I'm a little surpri- ]
[YOUR VOICE FILLS ME JOY, GREAT ONE! I CANNOT EXPRE-]
[LOUD!]
This idiot. He's nothing but helpful, but he really gets carried away with the 'great one' business. For a moment I consider attempting to redirect his devotion to the Queen, but I decide against it. Although far more deserving of these powerful emotions, I wouldn't want to burden her unnecessarily.
[It's nice to see you as well, Beyn, just keep it down, man. I was going to say I'm surprised Enid let you lead the procession down here.]
[IT WAS... It was believed that for this particular task, sincerity of feeling and honest dedication were the most important traits to make us more compelling witnesses for the Colony. For that reason, I was asked to bring my most devoted followers down to assist.]
His mental voice has become much more reasonable, but a literal flood of tears is pouring out of his eyes as he stares at me with frantic joy plastered on his face. It's freakin' creepy! Still, I can tolerate it, he and his people are only here to help, at significant risk to themselves. With some difficulty I create a branching mind bridge and connect it to all of the humans who are present so I can speak to them all at once.
[I welcome you and thank you for volunteering. It is my hope that your participation will save many lives, both ant and otherwise. For your bravery, and dedication, I thank you.]
I dip my head and antennae in a short bow/nod toward them and by the time I bring my head back up, each and every one of them is flooding the tunnel with their tears.