Hmmmmm.
The battle against the ka’armodo is over. Well, I say battle, more of a skirmish really. They probably scried me acting all weird and thought they might as well see if they can knock me off. Capitalise on my apparent weakness.
I was able to quickly persuade them that I’m just fine and dandy, so they left without committing much. If I’d been a bit smarter, I could have flopped around some more and really baited them in.
My new mutations got a nice road test at l...
2022-11-27 11:48:05 +0000 UTC
View Post
Philosophants have long debated the reason the Eldest was so secretive about their mutations. There could be any number of reasons for it, though it’s extremely difficult to find evidence to support or refute one in particular. We know that the Eldest didn’t like to be seen when mutating, there are innumerable, reputable accounts of the lengths they went to in order to avoid being seen.
The guardians were frequently deployed to shield them from scrying eyes. The Eldest ...
2022-11-27 10:12:27 +0000 UTC
View Post
It’s expensive taking something from 0 to +30. Four hundred and sixty five! Just imagine that number. It wasn’t so long ago that I could barely imagine having that much Biomass ready to use.
As it is, after the hunting I’ve done with the gang and vacuuming up the food the others didn’t need, I only have enough stored away to mutate these two body parts, and only barely at that. If we hadn’t run into a few high tier monsters on our hunt, I would never have stored enoug...
2022-11-26 12:11:25 +0000 UTC
View Post
Going to punch out Chrysalis over the next few days. Been crazy busy this week!
These menus are always intimidating due to their sheer size, but I’m prepared to go the distance on this one, I can’t afford to make a mistake and pick the wrong options. There’ll be no reset after this one.
I suppose it’s technically possible to do one, but that would be a criminal waste of evolutionary energy. Basically a punch straight into my own face.
So I have to be...
2022-11-25 10:20:38 +0000 UTC
View Post
waaaay late. Soz. :S
Sword still embedded in him, Tyron staggered toward the largest building in town. He needed paper, badly.
“Kid? KID? You still alive over there? Please, by the melons of the mother, don’t be dead. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in a glass case being studied by mages. Tyron? You alive?”
“Shut… up… Dove,” the Necromancer squeezed out as he walked past.
“Oh thank FUCK. How the hell did you manage to win? S...
2022-11-24 07:13:16 +0000 UTC
View Post
After my chat with Granin and the team I say goodbye and head off onto the plains to gather my thoughts. Al tags along with us, it seems he’s interested in seeing how the current dilemma is playing out around the stratum, so he wants to see it with his own eye.
From what we’ve learned, it’s clear that the struggles experienced by the Colony here in the third are caused by an Ancient. Doesn’t sound like Arconi-douche is even actively doing something. He, or it, or whatever, is ju...
2022-11-21 09:25:42 +0000 UTC
View Post
[Well, that sounds about right,] Granin rumbles. [I’m not an expert on Arconidem by any means, but what your friend has to say tracks with what I know. If you want more detail from a cult perspective, you’d need to talk to your ka’armodo buddy.]
[I don’t recall having a ka’armodo buddy.]
[You know what I mean. Effectively, Arconidem has some sort of influence across the demons who spawn on this stratum. I don’t know how or why, but I do know that it’s true. In fact, ...
2022-11-19 04:21:26 +0000 UTC
View Post
I’m tempted to utilise my new gravity wells to help lift me up to the plate city of Roklu, but I decide not to. I’ll be damned if I appear undignified in front of the entire nest built against the pillar.
So I climb instead.
For quite some time now my ability to Grip hasn’t increased in line with my size. I’ve allowed my training to stall on this particular Skill and now I’m paying the price.
Now that my weight is up to multiple tons, I mean, I easily outmass an el...
2022-11-17 23:10:19 +0000 UTC
View Post
Again?! I have to say, I’ve had enough of these waves. Each one is worse than the last. I mean, the Colony has been able to grow rapidly thanks to the injection of experience and Biomass, but the risk rises exponentially each time. This time, we’ll be fighting across four strata at the same time!
What a nightmare.
At least, if we can find ways to block off the ascent of the monsters here in the fourth, we lessen the pressure on our territory above.
Ugh. I just realised t...
2022-11-17 10:43:52 +0000 UTC
View Post
[Fortis Adamas Scolopendra: Strong Diamond Centipede (IV). These creatures are an advanced breed of a simpler species. A Living Diamond carapace and claws are their primary attributes, along with enhanced mana sensitivity and a potent mana toxin in their tail spike. Be warned, this monster hits much harder than it looks.]
Stupid system and your stupid favouritism! Straight up Living Diamond for a carapace, along with all sorts of other fancy bits and bobs only available to monsters born...
2022-11-17 07:50:58 +0000 UTC
View Post
Another long one you lucky ducks!
“Come on.”
“I’m trying to work.”
“There’s no fucking way you don’t agree.”
“I’d really like to not be part of this conversation.”
“You don’t have a choice. I refuse to speak of anything else until this is done. You can either answer my question, or punt my soul into the great beyond, and I think we both know you still aren’t ready to do the second. So. Watching Yor suck the soul out ...
2022-11-16 04:08:09 +0000 UTC
View Post
[You have slain level 37 Fortis Adamas Scolopendra (IV).]
[You have gained XP.]
Stupid centipede! You dare oppose my glorious rise? You deserved what you got!
Although I wouldn’t really call it a glorious rise, more of an imposing hover. I’m still working out the kinks, but it won’t be long now.
Good thing I can direct and contain the energy produced by the wells to the degree I do. It took me a while to realise just what it mean...
2022-11-13 12:01:39 +0000 UTC
View Post
I am not, as you know, a religious man. The screeching priests and their endless droning on all matters ‘Path’ hold no attraction to me. I’ve no time for their words, elixirs or ‘ideas’.
I don’t care how many Levels I’d get.
Almost everything around us can be explained, we literally have a ‘System’ we can analyse, for goodness’ sake. Just because we can’t identify the origins of said System, doesn’t mean we need to assume some form of ...
2022-11-13 11:18:33 +0000 UTC
View Post
Shockingly late, I know. Everyone in the house is sick again! Just colds this time. Can't catch a break this year, I swear.
Double Chrysalis tomorrow.
There was no need to fight fair, not against opponents like these. Tyron stepped through the darkness with care, directing his minions forward, surrounding the prey.
It was almost unfair. In his eyes the bandits were torches in the dark, he knew where each and every one of them was. This close...
2022-11-12 08:13:12 +0000 UTC
View Post
You know, I always considered buying wings. Ants have wings, after all. You might be thinking to yourself, “What!? No they don’t!”, but it’s true. Male ants and young queens have wings. You can see them crawling about outside the nest after rain during mating season, or even just generally if you’re lucky. They don’t have a lot to do, these young royals. Eating and sleeping is pretty much all they’re good for.
Until they eventually take flight.
Little ants, flying al...
2022-11-08 09:54:16 +0000 UTC
View Post
As always, it was the Eldest who pushed us in directions we did not think were possible for us to go. Without them, we would never have been able to forge the alliances we did, or perhaps more significantly, turn potential enemies into staunchly neutral parties.
Especially in those first years, it was difficult for the Colony to understand the motivations of the so-called ‘civilised’ races. What did they want? What did they seek to gain? What was it that they feared to ...
2022-11-07 03:11:36 +0000 UTC
View Post
It’s a shame that I haven’t been able to enjoy the fourth stratum a little more thanks to the assault we endured from the termites. With the pressure abated and a solid, well constructed nest established, the Colony is now able to take a breath and expand out into the area. Naturally, that means fighting all the monsters which were previously suppressed by our insect rivals and their endless fields of fungus.
“Die, fiend!” I rage as I bring my reforged mandibles down on a claw-c...
2022-11-06 10:38:08 +0000 UTC
View Post
Don't want to miss it when you hit that hiiiiiiiiigh
My first nap as a tier seven, a deep and satisfying torpor that I luxuriate in. Indeed, life is only complete when one gets their eight hours! I’ve been flat out for way too long, to the point I’ve started to worry that the Torpor Police might disappear me.
That would have caused quite a stir, I’ve no doubt.
They do an incredible job of hiding, those little ninjants, but ever since I picked ...
2022-11-04 11:14:36 +0000 UTC
View Post
Tyron crouched in the bushes, Yor’s words still running circles through his head.
“It’s important that you clean up your own messes,” she told him, that feral gleam in her eye. “The Court has sent me to watch over you to some extent, to offer advice and of course to accept your request to join our association.”
She grinned then, revealing her fangs and perfectly aligned teeth.
“For that to happen, however, you must be worthy. So far, I am impr...
2022-11-03 21:49:34 +0000 UTC
View Post
Sorry for being late. These updates always take me ages to do. And here we have three of them!
It’s been a while since I checked in on my three companions, ages in fact. At tier six, they’re powerful and intelligent monsters in their own right, capable of making their own decisions about how they want to progress and grow.
And yes, I’m including Tiny in that. He’s not as dumb as he once was, though he’s still quite dim, and he’s proven that he can inve...
2022-11-01 04:40:49 +0000 UTC
View Post
The war has dragged on beyond what any thought was possible. As I look back now on those early years, I can scarce reconcile what I thought then with what I know now.
An easy conflict, over in months, I had been convinced of it. So confident. Now all of that is gone, drained out of me over the long conflict. So many have fallen in battle, so many have been lost in the depths.
I honestly can no longer recall how it started. When the first battles were fought, ...
2022-10-30 04:43:47 +0000 UTC
View Post
[Crinis… what the hell happened here?]
[Master!]
A wave of black shadow-stuff peels off the walls of the evolution chamber and rushes towards me. I flinch back, but it’s too late, and in moments I’m once again wrapped up by the overly attached murder-ball.
[Gah! At least get off of my eyes, I can’t see a damned thing.]
A few seconds later she’s adapted herself a little better to fit on my carapace, covering even the little purple glow that I still retain. It...
2022-10-28 10:26:13 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Blood and bones, that’s cold!” Tyron exclaimed as a shiver ran through his arm.
He snatched the limb back from the edge of the cart and rubbed it vigorously, encouraging the blood flow as he glared at the nothing on his right. Except it wasn’t nothing, as well he knew.
“They got you again?” Dove chuckled. “Man, these guys really know how to hold a grudge.”
“I’m not even certain they’re doing it on purpose,” Tyron muttered. “They kind of drift in pl...
2022-10-27 07:41:40 +0000 UTC
View Post
“So how does it feel, Eldest?’
I turn a little to look down at Advant. I’d never really considered before, because I’d never really had to, that the position of my eyes and shape of my head blocks my vision to the ground beneath me. Unlike a human, with a handy dandy neck, I can’t exactly look down.
So when Advant approaches close to my legs and wants to chat, I actually can’t see where she is. I lower my legs on one side to change the angle and I spot her on my left.<...
2022-10-24 10:25:10 +0000 UTC
View Post
What makes a mythic monster so powerful? There are numerous theories, some confirmed, others more nebulous, but the strength and dominance of this class of monster in the Dungeon is a long studied and generally well understood phenomenon.
At the risk of oversimplifying, we can apportion the bulk of that inordinate power to the core. After all, what classes a mythic monster as such, is its core.
At certain densities and sizes, the core of a monster undergoes a...
2022-10-23 10:26:26 +0000 UTC
View Post
The Queen recoiled as the heat flared, searing her carapace and burning her sensitive antennae and eyes. The demon roared, tongues of flame lashing the flair as healing magic flowed over the Queen once again.
Around them, the Colony and demons continued their ongoing battle. Dramatically outnumbered, the demons struggled to make any headway against the massed ranks of ants who bombarded them with acid and spells, yet the arrival of the tier seven demon had complicated the situation to n...
2022-10-21 09:18:43 +0000 UTC
View Post
Flood waters have receded and things are getting back to normal around here. Fun times were had by all. Seriously though, I was much less affected than most, I've been lucky.
Apparently we're looking at a ton of water coming down on the weekend again, so hopefully we don't have to experience round two!
Huge thanks to everyone who's joined patreon this month, sorry it's been so disrupted! I'll try to punch out as many chapters as I can.
2022-10-20 00:56:39 +0000 UTC
View Post
The boys are (boy is) back in townnnnnnnnnnnn.
Hartos looked around and was satisfied with what he saw. The mercenaries had managed to penetrate the mountain in good order, and despite the intensifying attacks from the ants, they had maintained their formation.
He couldn’t help but sneer. Those fools who’d refused to join him would be crying bloody tears when they saw the haul he returned with. Thousands and thousands of ants surrounded them already, and soon ...
2022-10-18 13:02:56 +0000 UTC
View Post
It was difficult not to get to work on the remains straight away. For a moment, he had to laugh at himself. What had he become? No sooner had he finished killing seven people than his fingers began to itch for his carving knife. He relayed the feeling to Dove when he picked up the skull and his friend commiserated in his traditional fashion.
“You were always a creepy fucker. If anything, the Necromancy has allowed you to truly express your true self. The love for carving human flesh w...
2022-10-17 10:02:55 +0000 UTC
View Post
It's really kicking off up here. Expected to lose power tomorrow. If I don't get another chapter posted tomorrow, I'll put it up the day after. Stay safe out there folks!
Rillik watched as the dense pack of mercs floated over the water on a shield toward land. He shook his head.
“Do you think they’ll be alright?” Elly asked, uncharacteristically soft-spoken.
“No,” the golgari said, his voice flat.
“I find their tactic questionable,” Lacos...
2022-10-15 10:48:35 +0000 UTC
View Post
