It would be an understatement to say that Enid was nervous. The first time her husband had taken her into the Dungeon, she'd been nervous. When smuggling Karak shells from the blue desert, she was nervous. Marching into the heart of the Colony's nest? She was distinctly nervous. When representatives had approached her about the ants wishing to engage in further cooperation with the refugees living on the surface, she'd nearly fallen out of her chair. It was true th...
2020-08-01 05:00:54 +0000 UTC
View Post
Sorry for all the delays this week. Been unwell and it's been hard to keep up. Took a day off today and feeling better, so hopefully things clear up. :(
"I still don't understand why I have to be the one to wear this," Leeroy grumbled.
"You know exactly why," Brendant was having none of her siblings nonsense, "because we asked this crafter to make it to fit you, since you're the one most in need of extra protection."...
2020-07-30 11:29:51 +0000 UTC
View Post
Edited. Expanded on a few key points.
As much as the crafter wanted to leap into further work, to practice each and every new pattern she'd learned to tease out all of the little morsels of information that could only be learned through application, she knew she couldn't. She was the first Blacksmith to reach the rank four Skill and therefore the first to unlock the new Skill specialisations, which meant she had certain obligations to the Colony.
She packed ...
2020-07-28 11:11:52 +0000 UTC
View Post
Author note: I know I owe you guys a Chrysalis chapter, it's coming! Thought I'd put a (very simple) image of the Dungeon together to make it clear what's happening.
Wallace waited and thought as his three remaining defenders began to heal and rest. The fight had left them with severe injuries and it would take hours before they'd be in a state to fight. So, he could do something about this dangerous vulnerability, and at ...
2020-07-28 01:20:49 +0000 UTC
View Post
The crafters of the Colony were an interesting and formidable bunch, to be sure. The first time I worked with them was when I had heard they were willing to provide certain materials, namely processed mana infused woods, at near cost. Being an engraver and enchanter, such a ridiculous drop in price was far too tempting to give up, even if it meant dealing with an occupying force of monsters. If my competitors were to take advantage of this new supplier...
2020-07-26 11:03:26 +0000 UTC
View Post
Deep beneath the surface, under layers of rock and stone, burned a flame that had never been seen on Pangera before. No ordinary flame, this. It did not burn, yet it's heat was unbearable. Had no colour, yet glowed bright with the light of molten steel. Made no sound, yet contained the ringing of a thousand hammers on a thousand anvils. The flame of insect industry had roared to life within the Colony of Formica Sapiens and its intensity grew day by day su...
2020-07-25 12:15:12 +0000 UTC
View Post
Author note: Hey there folks! Chrysalis will come in the morning, but in the meantime, have some more Dungeon fun. Needs an edit, I know.
ALSO. If you missed the edit I made to the poll, I made the decision to go ahead and write the top two vote getters. Namely: The forging of the first ant armor! And Beyn meets the Queen! Whoo!
Turns out, there was more than just spiders roaming the space outside hi...
2020-07-24 11:19:51 +0000 UTC
View Post
Our second outing is less experimental and much better planned than the first. Ants spread throughout the surrounding terrain in a spiral pattern, mages burning bright flames that illuminate the area and chase the shadows back, exposing the creeping spiders that seek to approach from the dark. Just as it did when I was fishing for monsters with Tiny and Crinis, the hated light brings down more creatures who seek to extinguish the painful spark and before l...
2020-07-23 11:04:17 +0000 UTC
View Post
Thanks to our advanced medical techniques, or at least, advanced compared to how primitive they were before, our wounded compatriots are back on their feet in a relatively short amount of time.
"Let me up!"
Ah, the truly wondrous cooperation that members of the same colony can display. It's heart-warming.
"I won't run! This time!"
The collective and unselfish nature of the ant is a marvel of nature. The healers see to their injured siblings not...
2020-07-22 00:16:44 +0000 UTC
View Post
The floor of this particular expanse is quite similar to the last one I was in. Long fronds of those spined weed like plants that drift and bend with the flow of shadow mana in the air. The stone coral is also present, but the huge strands of web that are anchored to the rock dominate the space that we can see. I can detect flickers of mana in just about every direction, monsters huddling away from this new invasion of their space. An interesting point, is...
2020-07-20 23:51:05 +0000 UTC
View Post
Edit - RESULT
The people have spoken! Deep beneath the surface, the mysterious forges of the Colony breathe with fire, metal and magic! One among hundreds, a single crafter labors endlessly to bring a dream to life!
I'll also do Beyn and the town council meeting the Queens. Why the heck not.
This is a bit late because I was trying to think of a few more interesting things to put on it. Hopefully a few o...
2020-07-20 00:16:52 +0000 UTC
View Post
Any person of sufficient courage, who has walked the Dungeon long enough to know it's pain and glory, will come to hunger for the power that is buried at the root of this world.
Words attributed to Gaius Magnus, founding member of the Legionem Abyssi
We're moving in. It feels nice, in a way, to be boldly adventuring where no ant has gone before alongside my fellow Colony members. We creep toward the powerful flow of mana...
2020-07-18 09:19:25 +0000 UTC
View Post
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"Dammit, Vibrant! NO! It's going to take us a while to get there, okay?! We're moving as fast as we can already. We can't go any faster than this. Just think of something else to talk about!"
A moment of blessed, blessed silence descends amongst our group as we run through the tunnels. My pets and I are all here, along with Vibrant and her whole poss...
2020-07-17 10:03:38 +0000 UTC
View Post
You might think it would be challenging to operate in a territory administered by ants. Indeed, I have heard many express such sentiments, going so far as to insinuate that I'm suffering from an affliction of the mind when I tell them otherwise. Any attempt to explain on my part is waved away as the ravings of a lunatic. Good thing they'll still trade, even if they refuse to engage it proper discourse. Gold forged by ants is still gold, as it turns out.
It just...
2020-07-15 11:10:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
The surrounding crowds, pressed together in the square, recoil with horror as Crinis makes her presence known. The fact that she snatched up the mysterious ants rather than start munching on the helpless crowd isn't enough to completely mollify their fears. Screams and indignant cries rise as they push to create distance from me and the kid who threw the stupid ball looks on with wide eyes before being dragged away but who I presume is his mother.
Whelp, time fo...
2020-07-14 07:27:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
Whaaaat!? We did it! 400 patrons has been achieved, you people are incredible! T_T
I'll put together the reward poll later in the week, even if we drop below 400 in that time. What an incredible milestone. Thanks so much to everyone for their generous support!
RinoZ
2020-07-14 03:37:20 +0000 UTC
View Post
The moment this Wallace guy revealed the locations of the gates, the Colony sprang into action. I could hear orders being snapped out as ants began to gather in teams, flooding away towards the fort on the outskirts of the city. Even my heart skipped a beat. This could be a major blunder! We'd anticipated the gates would be here, in the centre, and so they were, but we didn't foresee that there'd be more around the edge of the city! Almost all our forces are concentrated he...
2020-07-13 10:42:11 +0000 UTC
View Post
Beyn was nervous, yet exultant, but terrified whilst also experiencing a deep sense of unfurling faith. The enormity of the moment wasn't lost on him, far from it, this was the first time the holy ones, the Great One, would be exposed to the wider community of Pangera! And he, Beyn the one-armed, humble priest, was to be the spokesman, the representative that would communicate their glory to the world!
… except that he couldn't. He wasn't allowed t...
2020-07-11 11:39:22 +0000 UTC
View Post
Really should be updating this more often which I'll try to do in future.
2020-07-11 10:41:22 +0000 UTC
View Post
Author note: Thanks to everyone who decided to stick around for another month! And a huge welcome to any who have joined so far this month! You're support really means a great deal to me and motivates me to try and make Chrysalis as good as it can be!
Hope everyone enjoys the current arc as we keep this wagon rolling!
There had been little to no communication from the council, not that it was a...
2020-07-09 09:45:23 +0000 UTC
View Post
I swear I sensed something for a moment, those damn flickers that pop up in my Vestibule for a few seconds before they vanish once again. My suspicions are starting to firm on that front and I'm not happy. There'll be words with the council when this mess is done, but I can't be distracted by these… watchers right now. The Queen and I have been making quite the show of ourselves, mother has knocked down a few more buildings (I didn't imagine she had such...
2020-07-08 11:18:07 +0000 UTC
View Post
Sylvin gathered his team and as the Mercenaries began to fan out from their building he kept close with the people he trusted. Ogran was a tremendous brute of a fighter who wielded a two-handed hammer in battle, perfect for shattering the carapace defence that these ants relied on. His level wasn't the highest in the group, but his physical strength certainly was. They'd need to rely on him to crack the big ants open. Yann was the scout of the group, deadly with a bow in hand or the rapier sh...
2020-07-07 04:32:25 +0000 UTC
View Post
This place is amazing! I mean, wow, ingenuity and all that good stuff is on display in copious amounts right here. The city itself is nestled inside a gigantic egg-shaped cavern, with some sort of humungous crystal light source on the ceiling? What the heck is that thing!? Are they powering it with cores? Holy heck that must suck up a lot of mana. My entrance comes out about halfway up the side of the egg and from that point down the buildings begin to app...
2020-07-04 11:13:42 +0000 UTC
View Post
Yasmine had seen the captain focused on his work, during the more intense moments of the last wave, he'd been relentless in his energy and application, but this time something was different. Gone was the calm, determined figure that she was accustomed to, replaced by a beast with so much nervous energy he almost vibrated in place. He roared and shouted through the communication arrays and at anyone who happened to cross his path, bullying and intimidating ...
2020-07-03 10:15:23 +0000 UTC
View Post
From what I understand, we expected the gates to be abandoned at this point, so I'm more than a little shocked to find this one fully manned. Not that it did them much good, as it turned out. Surely by now the city knows exactly what is attacking them? What did they really expect gates to do? We're ants! Never happier than when we're digging!
I should also say that the generals have got together and created specialised digging teams. O...
2020-07-01 11:07:00 +0000 UTC
View Post
The captain of the Rylleh guard knew, deep in his gut, that he was dead, that everyone around him was dead. He felt as if his blood had slowed to a crawl in his veins as he stared at the projection, more red lights blooming to life each second. There were thousands of them, because of course there were. He knew what was coming. In that moment, he felt as if two divergent paths lay before him. He could surrender to the inevitable death tha...
2020-06-30 11:56:29 +0000 UTC
View Post
The Dungeon city of Rylleh is relatively young, in city terms, barely older than the expansionist kingdoms that took root above it. Formed by a collective of experienced and high level delvers, the city benefited from the protection and knowledge of these individuals, allowing it to prosper relatively quickly. Positioned in a relatively barren section of the Dungeon's first strata, the city doesn't provide much in terms of resources or prime delving gr...
2020-06-28 08:27:20 +0000 UTC
View Post
I have sought to capture the Eldest in their purist 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 ...
2020-06-27 06:41:23 +0000 UTC
View Post
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, ...
2020-06-25 11:48:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
The assault on Rylleh. From which point of view should it be told? I'm genuinely not sure.
2020-06-24 22:42:46 +0000 UTC
View Post
