Chapter 774 - A glimpse of the fourth

Travelling the wildlands of the uncultured south wasn't pleasant, dear reader, not at all! The depredation! The sheer lack of fortified beverages! I jest, readers, of course I jest. Who am I, after all? Tolly! The bold explorer of the unknown! Despite what I may have been lead to believe by the general discussion amongst the ladies in my circles, the trip wasn't nearly as terrible as I might have thought. Rolling hills, green grassland, forests alive with birds and wildlife. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was picturesque, do not be confused reader, the sparse population of those lands means that the monster population is high and we saw many such critters roaming as we flew overhead. I only mean to state that it wasn't nearly so desolate as many might have you believe.

For the journey, I travelled by Skimmer, a lovely beast by the name of Skydaisy, and her handler Barlon who was more than accommodating on the trip. A lovely gentlemen who was himself born and raised in the wild country, he proved an engaging and informative guide as the kilometres vanished beneath us. It took several weeks of travel before we reached the lands once occupied by the frontier kingdoms, small fiefdoms established a mere few hundred years ago by break away families who sought to carve out their own destiny on the edges of civilisation, battling against the monsters and the land.

There is a certain romance in it, reader, is there not? As a fearless and brave adventurer, I myself can perfectly understand the wild, untamed spirit that would cause someone to leave behind the comforts and security of home to take hold of their own fortunes! The difference being, I would never do it. I would miss my sherry and the warmth of my enchanted hearth far too much to give it up entirely. It's already as much as I can bear to be away from my comforts for the time it takes to satisfy my curiousity and bring back these missives for you, you can't ask more than me than that, my demanding readers!

On a more sombre note, it was clear when we crossed the border and began to see the devastation that was caused by the wave. Ruined town and cities, burned farmsteads and a flattened countryside were cold reminders of the tragedy that occurred here. It was such a sorry scene I needed Regilent to pass my smelling salts to dash away a case of light-headedness. I shall not dwell upon that which is past, though it pained my old heart to witness it, instead I shall return the focus of this travelogue to the bizarre present and the unknowable future!

For it wasn't long after that we began to fly over the first signs of civilisation! Newly built farmsteads with smoking chimneys, freshly ploughed fields and dark tilled soil, it was almost enough to bring a tear to my tired eyes. The unfailing spirit of the sapient! The hardy folk of the frontier, risen from the ashes like the phoenix of Avar! Although they did not do it alone… as you are well aware.

My heart fair skipped a beat when I first saw the first one, all the rumours I'd heard of this strange place flooding back all at once. Still a day away from the newly established capital of Renewal, we flew over a small village, scarcely more than a handful of farmhouses built next to each other, unremarkable in every way. Except for that one, key detail. The anthill! Quite a remarkable sight, dear reader, even for one as well travelled as I. Nothing like a crude pile of dirt that the word might evoke in your mind, not at all. This was a masterpiece! A hundred metres tall if it was an inch, every part of it reinforced and compacted until it gleamed like polished stone. And the carvings! Remarkable. Hundreds, thousands of skilful, expressive and detailed images such that my eyes couldn't quite work out what they should focus on and what should be ignored. Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous.

Then of course, there were the ants themselves! I could only see three, peeking out the top of the 'hill', watching as we flew over. It quite wet my appetite I must say, and it was with rising anticipation that I awaited our arrival in the city. You know your Tolly, reader! My thirst for adventure is unquenchable! Await my next missive, in which I detail my first impressions of possibly the most remarkable city in the world!

• Excerpt      from Chapter Two of 'Traveling Tolly in the lands of the Colony' published      in the Monthly 'Pangera Gazette'

What a strange and curious thing… examining the core reveals both more and less than I expected to see and gave me my first insights into the sorts of things that were possible in the fourth strata. I'd been told little scraps of information by Granin, who had apparently spent very little time there as a younger, more sprightly Shaper on an expedition with his superiors, but to get hold of a core and see it for myself…

I didn't even think some of this stuff was possible! And these are the sorts of creatures I'll run into when I get to the fourth stratum? Holy heck! I'm starting to resent my start as a lowly ant hatchling even more, though I suppose it worked out alright in the end.

I mean, take a look at this! So apparently a Water Spirit… thing… actually does have organs, although not of the sort that I have obviously, rather they appear to be immaterial, or part of the water itself? Somehow?

For example, let's think about musculature. I need muscles to move around, that much makes sense, but how does a giant wall of sentient water with a face on it move? With magic, of course, but that magic needs to be channelled and directed in order to be fit for purpose. That's where the Tidal Mass Manipulator organ came into play! It allowed the spirit to create micro 'tides' by shifting the water within its body around, which allowed it to move. Then came the Liquid Shaper, a different type of water within the body the spirit that it could mould into different shapes. I think this was how it was firing bolts of water at us, by forming a pressure cannon out of this stuff and then blasting away.

There appeared to be quite an array of fancy core attachments as well, ethereal organs that are more akin to magical constructs than flesh and blood. One for attracting and moulding the water, one for permeating mana throughout the body, gradually changing the water into a … I don't know the technical term here… magical water? I guess? It infused every drop of water the spirit absorbed with water mana, strengthening it and giving the creature better control over it. At least, that's what I think.

All sorts of different bits and pieces that I hadn't even considered before… The idea of being able to have a body that is essentially powered by mana alone… I suppose it makes perfect sense as you get lower down and the mana becomes more dense, but it's a different thing, seeing it for myself. Does this mean that Crinis might eventually be able to transmute her entire body into actual shadow? Just… be a living a shadow and jump out of the dark at people? That's terrifying! Or Tiny! Could he just make himself into lightning? That would be… that would be rad as heck…

What about me then? What might I become? What am I already becoming? Maybe I'll turn myself into a sentient black hole, just floating around sucking up people. Wait, that sounds wrong…

At any rate, fascinating stuff! I flag down a passing scout and have them deliver the core to the core shapers, they'll be more than a little eager to get their mandibles on it, I've no doubt about that. We check in on the pupa to find that she's developing away as expected. This time we leave Crinis behind to babysit and head out once more into the breach, keen to improve our skills and drive back the wave.

Hopefully soon this mess will be over and we can all get back to more regular action. I for one am more than a little excited to get back to the third strata and have a better look around. I'm sure there's a heap of cool things to see down there!