Note: Going to retcon the Vestibule mutations, specifically the ones that allow him to turn Will into physical strength, since the altar allows him to do that, and he’s basically never used it.
It’s been a long time since I went on a mutating spree, and if the food keeps coming, there’s going to be a lot that I can do. Without hesitation, I dive into the menu and start looking for organs to upgrade.
There’s still a fair bit of work to be done to get...
2024-06-26 00:33:09 +0000 UTC
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Well, if everyone else is winding up to go the distance, how can I do any less?
“Solant, I know you’re busy, but can you get a message out? I want some hunting parties to rustle up some Biomass for me and the gang. It’s time for us to get mutating.”
She nods slowly.
“That would be wise. We need all four of you at your best. It may not be necessary for you to wait for hunts, there is a short-term Biomass storage kept on hand for The Queen, though she seldom uses it....
2024-06-26 00:19:02 +0000 UTC
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I've gotten so regular at posting people message me when the chapter doesn't show up on monday. PROGRESS! T_T
Sorry, slow on the chaps this week.
After my brilliant ruse with The Queen, Tiny, Crinis, Invidia and I manage to sneak into the brood chamber and spend some quality time entertaining the grubs.
Ah, it soothes my soul to see the little things rolling around, wiggling with excitement, trying to escape my tickling antennae. The ...
2024-06-26 00:18:16 +0000 UTC
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The wagon rattled over the uneven backcountry roads as Tyron slept. Twenty skeletons were hitched to the front, pulling it along while drawing on his magick, but he could maintain that sort of draw forever, even in his sleep.
Walking alongside the wagon, two large, armoured figures, each burning with an inner, sickly green flame directed the lesser undead, ensuring they didn’t stray from the path. After so long beyond the rift, pushing himself to his limits and beyond, Tyron wa...
2024-06-25 02:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Well, Morrelia has gone back to the Legion, Brendant has said they won’t be launching any more tests for the time being, and the subjugation of the lower tunnels is almost done. So… I find myself kind of rudderless and without purpose for the time being.
Which means, of course, there’s nothing to stop me from tickling the grubs! Muahahahaha!
My precious stress relief, it’s been so long! Now that mother is active in the fourth, there’s an active Queen down here, wh...
2024-06-21 02:00:02 +0000 UTC
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The Nameless who had been Emelia allowed her senses to roam across the room, taking in every possible spectrum of sensory input. Like a hawk, she watched, like an owl she listened, like an ant, she scented.
There was nothing, of course. The Nameless were not so careless as to allow the slightest hint of their presence to escape. Controlling body temperature was just one of the tricks they had learned under the guidance of the Sanctum, and holding themselves so still they...
2024-06-20 02:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Georg lifted his head from the notes he’d been poring over as he heard someone rush down the vacant street toward the half-collapsed house he’d chosen to occupy. There were only a few people who came to this deserted part of town, and most of those didn’t run, narrowing the list of subjects quite a bit.
With a sigh, he pushed back his chair and ordered his zombie to pack away his things. Likely, he wouldn’t be able to get back to studying any time soon, so it may as well ...
2024-06-20 02:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Jern opened his eyes, though he wondered, not for the first time, why. It wasn’t as if he could see anything. He hadn’t seen anything in… days? Weeks? Months? Who could say? It was almost impossible to keep track of time here, and he’d stopped trying long ago.
He felt something brush against his senses, so he rose from his bed and emerged into the training hall. The Nameless One was waiting for him, as always, silent and still.
If he were to try and explain how he k...
2024-06-19 02:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Alis went to scream, but something was placed over her mouth, preventing her cry from escaping. She struggled, but it was useless, she was gripped tightly by invisible forces.
Were they invisible? Or was it that she had gone blind?! There was nothing but darkness around her, so total and complete she couldn’t see anything of herself, not even the nose in the middle of her face.
A scent reached her, so soft that it almost didn’t exist, a breath of pheromone...
2024-06-18 02:00:09 +0000 UTC
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In such dense, concentrated Death Magick, every word he spoke, every sigil he formed, resonated, like hot metal struck by a hammer. He could see it react, shift and mould itself at the behest of his words, and he carefully studied it, eyes unblinking, lest he miss the key moment.
Once more, he paused the ritual.
Were his students to attempt such a thing, Tyron would tackle them to the ground to protect them from the blowback, but such was his control that he was able ...
2024-06-18 02:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Three little squirts are kneeling in front of me. Honestly, it’s kind of hard to tell how old they are. Recognising human features gets harder and harder the longer I live this new life. They’re older than ten, but not eighteen. Probably.
These three have lived interesting lives up to this point, I can tell. Taken in by the Nameless Ones, and now this? I wonder how they got caught up in the crusade in the first place? Actually, I think I can guess. After all, we wouldn’t wa...
2024-06-18 00:58:56 +0000 UTC
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The Templars of the Great One emerging among the followers of the New Path lent greater weight to their words and deeds, a manifestation of their belief and vindication for their methods.
The acknowledgement of the system had blessed the allies of the Colony in many ways. The special Classes that became available to the priests who trained under Beyn, the ant cavalry riders, the benefits provided when the Colony fought alongside their allies, all of it affirmed the b...
2024-06-14 02:00:02 +0000 UTC
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A whirlwind of activity, a frenzy of organisation, and at the centre of it all, Solant dwelt, the eye of the storm, a calm and steadying presence who brought order to the chaos.
Washingtant rushed forward, a team of scouts behind her.
“General, we have three detachments of scouts arriving in an hour. They need deployment instructions.”
“Speak to Leonidant, she has the details.”
“I will, General.”
Subutant stepped forward, with messages fr...
2024-06-13 02:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Within the Ossuary, Tyron worked at a feverish pace. The space within the pocket dimension he’d created had seemed absurdly large at one point, but now, he didn’t have enough room for all that he wanted to do.
The equipment and tubs he had used in his study beneath Almsfield Enchantments had been installed here, as had a desk, comfortable seat and all the materials he would need for ritual casting. In addition, he had installed a glass and pliance to allow him to work on ench...
2024-06-13 02:00:01 +0000 UTC
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“Oh, I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all,” Brilliant muttered.
“What have you gotten us into this time?” Experimant groaned looking over her leader’s carapace.
“Th-th-that… looks nasty,” Assistant agreed.
Brilliant clacked her mandibles in irritation.
“I’m not investigating this because I want to,” she told them. “The Eldest asked me to work out what the Church of the Path were doing in their fancy, secr...
2024-06-12 03:11:25 +0000 UTC
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“It’s difficult to believe they were so successful.”
“You call that successful? Weren’t they supposed to conquer the fifth?”
“You know very well that it was just an exploratory mission.”
“Being able to survive down there for a few days is not nearly the same thing as making a safe path through to the sixth. If it were that easy, the Legion would have done it a thousand years ago!”
Marcus and Greyson argued back and forth as Morrelia sat and l...
2024-06-12 03:10:46 +0000 UTC
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“Is your man going to make it?”
Rell stiffened and Banner glared at him sourly.
“If I said he wasn’t, what would you say?”
Tyron shrugged.
“Waste not, want not. I wouldn’t take his spirit or anything, but the remains would be useless to everyone except me, right?”
The scout looked as though he wanted to get angry, but was simply too exhausted. Ultimately, he settled on a disgruntled “fuck” and spat to the side.
“I suppose I can’t jud...
2024-06-11 02:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Fighting for several days down in the fifth is a truly unpleasant experience. The only thing that makes it bearable is seeing the gradual transformation taking place within the purified area.
Unable to survive without native, fifth stratum mana, the poisonous moulds, toxic flowers, slime and mucous strands that cover almost every surface here have died off. Even the mucous river, thick and disgusting as it is, can’t help but be somewhat purified by the time it’s made its way ...
2024-06-10 03:38:56 +0000 UTC
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Sorry, posted wrong chapter! I'm all over the shop this week.
“Shame you can’t raise it as a minion.”
“For whatever reason, the Unseen doesn’t want me to raise anything other than humans. I’m not sure why.”
“Seems like a bit of a waste.”
“Well, I can do horses as well.”
“Horses?”
“Yes. Horses.”
“Why horses? There aren’t that many of them around.”
“Not on this side of the rift, ...
2024-06-06 02:06:01 +0000 UTC
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Last one for the week. This is five.
Things were not meant to have gone this way.
Zluth compressed himself a little as he slid to the side, carefully not looking at the gruesome scene taking place nearby. Though, try as he might, there was nothing he could do about the sound.
CRUNCH. CRUNCH. SLURP.
All Zluth really cared about in the moment was that it wasn’t him who’d been on the chopping block. When the Krath’lath was done w...
2024-06-06 02:00:02 +0000 UTC
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By the time we manage to isolate some small pieces and place them into the wuffer intake pipes, several of the lousy monsters have pulled themselves back together and I’m forced to chomp them again. Repeated exposure to toxicity and acid is really starting to take a toll on me, and I’m going to need a break sooner rather than later.
Even Tiny is struggling inside the safe-zone, his fur becoming patchy in areas where he’s been burned. Invidia is staying close by, healing and cleans...
2024-06-06 02:00:02 +0000 UTC
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These things seriously don’t want to become biomass so bad they’re going to reconstitute themselves from tiny chunks of goop?! How are they even alive?! I feel like I’m fighting the fifth stratum equivalent of Leeroy and the Immortals. Did this monster put all of its evolutionary points into cheating death?
The individual blobs writhe and roll over the floor, leaving a sizzling trail of acid behind them as they go. My fellow ants are hesitant to engage, wary of spreading toxic man...
2024-06-04 06:41:19 +0000 UTC
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“I can’t believe you survived all this time. You’ve lived quite an interesting life, Rell.”
The young man, still as stone-faced as he ever was, merely quirked up one corner of his mouth and smirked.
“I find it a little difficult to take that from you, Tyron Steelarm. To think I was standing next to slayer royalty on Victory Road.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“You can’t deny it. Look at how this lot changed their tune when they found out ...
2024-06-04 02:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Before Crinis can dive headlong into the enemy and give herself a terminal case of toxic mana poisoning, I rush back to the safe-zone, alerting the ants as I go.
“We’ve got an attack! Weird… things coming out of the river!”
Once I’m close enough, I use my antennae to try and scrape Crinis off my carapace and fling her into the purified mana, but she clings onto me, refusing to go. More accurately, she lets her body become shadow, and my antennae just slide straight throu...
2024-06-04 02:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Note: Accidently posted 1381, so I did as usual, deleted it and rescheduled it for tomorrow. I have put this note here for those who have come looking for it. Sorry about that!
The nature and origin of the Krath has been a matter of debate for many years within academic circles, yet it isn’t one that invites a scholar to delve too deeply.
Secretive to the point of obsession and more elusive than word of the Ancients themselves, t...
2024-06-03 04:18:18 +0000 UTC
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I thought it would be funny if, in the future, the Colony had a tradeable collection of plushies made to resemble notable ants.
I did not expect so many comments demanding such objects for sale!
So... I guess we're doing this.
Being frank, I'm a disorganised mess at the best of times, and commissioning work from artists and designers in the past has been a nightmare. I mean, I can barely keep my own stuff together, you think I can stay on top of artists at the ...
2024-06-03 04:17:04 +0000 UTC
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Ah, the fifth. Such a lovely place to be. I mean, the acid isn’t all that enjoyable, but what this stratum lacks in good atmosphere, it makes up for with hospitality.
A disgusting, bloated lobster comes running at me, its eyes boiling with rage, and hissing globs of unspeakable goo bubbling up from its carapace so fast the monster leaves a thick trail of ooze behind it.
I mean, what do I even do? I don’t want to bite the thing. If I actually manage to hurt it, my mandib...
2024-05-31 02:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Richard ran a critical eye over his zombie. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was looking for, but he knew his teacher had extremely high standards and was careful to iron out every flaw he could find in all that he did, so Richard aspired to do the same.
The problem was… he wasn’t exactly sure what he was looking for.
“It looks like a zombie,” Georg said flatly. “Why are you looking at it as if it were a cow you were thinking of taking to show?”
The clerk...
2024-05-30 02:00:03 +0000 UTC
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As I’ve come to expect from the Colony, their hospitality was exquisite, just exquisite! After arriving via the gate, Emilia led our little group to what I can only describe as an ant concierge (complete with an adorable little hat), who directed us to the most fitting place of residence.
“The Colony doesn’t really have ‘tourism’ or ‘hotels’ like you might find where you come from,” Emilia explained. “There aren’t that many people who want to come...
2024-05-30 02:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Hello, dear readers! It has been some time, but I greet you once more from the pages of my tome, the record of my grand adventures!
It is I, Travelling Tolly, and I continue my amazing journey in the lands of the Colony, the remarkable species of monsters who have captured imaginations and set tongues to wagging. As you are well aware, I can never resist a wagging tongue, and as such have made it my mission to thoroughly explore the lands claimed by these boneless creatures...
2024-05-29 02:00:02 +0000 UTC
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