Sorry about the shoddy update schedule. I'll try and get it back under control. :(
No real excuse, work is just nuts. Lousy work.
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 inaccessibl...
2020-06-24 10:54:28 +0000 UTC View Post
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 bro...
2020-06-22 11:43:08 +0000 UTC View Post
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 ...
2020-06-20 12:28:22 +0000 UTC View Post
[I don’t what 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 seeming...
2020-06-19 04:19:13 +0000 UTC View Post
"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 mo...
2020-06-17 06:55:50 +0000 UTC View Post
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 busin...
2020-06-15 11:05:21 +0000 UTC View Post
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.
T...
2020-06-14 08:05:25 +0000 UTC View Post
"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 ...
2020-06-11 13:13:26 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor note: We're closing in on 400 patrons O_O
If we get there, I'll introduce another POV poll. I have a few juicy ideas for it this time around. If you can think of another nice milestone reward, let me know!
After my visit to the core shapers and taking in their own advancements, I hustle off to find Proppelant and Coolant. I track down the two mages busily training their own Skills and overseeing the progress of their fellow caste members in...
2020-06-10 07:22:32 +0000 UTC View Post
Despite receiving the justice of my mother, I stoically endured her disapproving gaze for as long as I could manage in order to tickle grubs. Their joyful wiggles warmed my heart even as I quailed inside, anticipating another THWACK at any moment. In the end, I could only hold out for ten minutes before I slunk from the chamber, only to find myself in even more sacred territory, the egg laying room!
Victoriant and Antionette look up at me in surprise...
2020-06-08 08:29:22 +0000 UTC View Post
"Oh! Hello there Mother… I, uh, didn't expect to see you here!"
"In the brood chambers, child? Where else would I be?"
I can almost sense another thwack coming… The first one really hurt! She's had a serious increase to her physical stats since her evolution. I rub the top of my head with an antenna as I quickly ponder my response.
"Wherever you want to be, Mother?"
THWACK!
Ouch!
"You wouldn't be suggestion I would s...
2020-06-07 11:47:16 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor note: There we go, re-write complete. Sorry to drag this out and deny story progression today, but I really wasn't happy with that original chapter, I think this feels a lot better. Tomorrow's chapter will have conversation with the Queen! :3
As if the first gate wasn't impressive enough, the second one is even larger, thicker and more heavily enchanted that the first. Not to mention if positively bristles with ants in defended lookout posts. How anyone cou...
2020-06-05 05:12:21 +0000 UTC View PostChopped my own comment off when I copy pasted. -_-
There was some valid criticisms of the original 550 and I myself wasn't pleased with it, so I've broken it into two sections and will post 551 today with a lot of the content taken out of the original 550. Apologies for the mixup and this is something I don't normally do, but I was really unsatisfied with that chapter. Thanks all!
As we approach the nest I find myself in a huddle with ...
2020-06-04 10:53:20 +0000 UTC View Post
It's a long 'ol march home, over a week before it's all said and done. It wasn't hard for me to find a use for the time, however, since there was the whole 'impending war of doom and death' looming over our heads. How on Pangera I manage to stumble from one of these disasters into the next I have no idea. Am I cursed by Gandalf, the almighty voice of the System? If so, please let me know! I'm worried I'm causing more harm than good by sticking around the C...
2020-06-03 10:25:08 +0000 UTC View PostAll four of the main gang are well overdue for a stats update. Here it is!
Anthony Status page:
Name: Anthony
Level: 42 (Rare) (V)
Might: 91
Toughness: 79
Cunning: 64
Will: 45
HP: 158/158
MP: 250/250
Skills:
General:
Expert Excavation (III) Level 15; Expert Grip (III) Level 4; Expert Stealth (II)
Last stop with the Legion then back to the colony.
Donnelan and Myrrin struggled to breathe. They huddled together in a vain attempt to ward of the suffocating waves of pressure that eminated from the legionaries around them. There didn't seem to be a single guard standing at their post, or official running messages, who didn't seem as though they were a high level powerhouse with the stats of a top level delver. The two young legionaries ...
2020-06-02 05:20:58 +0000 UTC View Post
Even a now, a month after arriving in the great fortress of the Legion, Myrrin still couldn't quite believe her eyes whenever she saw it. Along with Donnelan, she trailed behind her commander as they made their way out of the remote barracks she and her fellow refugees from Liria had been billeted in. When the commander pushed open the door and strode through, the bright light flared in her eyes and she raised a hand to provide some relief. After several d...
2020-05-30 11:26:36 +0000 UTC View Post
Titus walked the long corridors of his new billet with a training report held in one hand, his fast cast in stone as usual. It was difficult though, since the corner of his mouth kept threatening to curl up as he read of his daughter's training exploits. The centurions in charge of her training had used some interesting terms, 'manic dedication', 'boundless tolerance for bloodshed' and 'disturbing disregard for pain' where a few of his favorites.
The...
2020-05-29 10:24:39 +0000 UTC View Post
Morrelia groaned as she peeled her eyes open. Her eyelids had other ideas and refused to respond to orders. Her brain and muscles immediately fell into a battle, neither side willing to budge until at last, she triumphed and forced her eyes open. A victory, but hard fought. She was already exhausted and all she'd done is open her eyes.
She wouldn't be defeated like this, not before she'd even rolled out of bed! Slowly, she grit her teeth and began to...
2020-05-27 11:09:54 +0000 UTC View Post
The tunnels are a complete mess. Huge cracks run through the stone and sections are collapsing all over the place. Before we even meet up with the main group, I know what's taken place. The moment I came under attack, the message was passed to enact the ambush on the Golgari in the other tunnel.
No point allowing the two groups of rock-people to reunite and fight together. Decisive action was called for. I objected to the Colony going to head to head...
2020-05-27 11:04:21 +0000 UTC View Post
Turns out that the tier four healers have a whole new range of tricks up their carapace. Some of them have even replaced their acid production with a variant that allows them to shoot regenerative fluids instead. They've literally got medic guns! The things that are possible in this world, I tell you. When I come around, a group of healers is clustered around me, fussing over my injuries. I immediately glance back at my shattered rear-zone and sigh with re...
2020-05-27 10:57:12 +0000 UTC View Post
Like air in a bellows, I can feel the strength within this armored figure rise and fall as he tries to control it. I think he knows as well as I do, that he doesn't have any choice but to unleash it. What will it matter if some of his people become collateral damage, if none of them are going to survive anyway? The same proposition is looming before my multifaceted eyes as well. If I don't force this guy to retreat, he'll kill every ant here, or come very ...
2020-05-26 10:12:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Well nards. I mean, even with a sword sticking in me and an angry Goglari in a fancy suit of armour staring hatefully into my eyes, all I can think of is the unwinding consequences of this action. How many ants, how many creatures, will suffer as a result? All so unnecessary! These freakin' morons!
Luckily for me, my fellow colony members are not quite as upset at the prospect of the oncoming conflict. The moment the armoured stone giant strikes me, ...
2020-05-24 10:51:13 +0000 UTC View Post
A nice, light touch. That's always the correct play. Keep it friendly, no need to shout or get angry, that stuff never defused anything. Believe me, I know. You gotta smile through the screaming, that's how you get your bacon out of the frying pan. So far, signs are good! The powerful Goglari warrior, encased in gleaming metal, is yet to stab me through the face, so let's call the initial salvo a victory!
[You would be Anthony, I presume?]
The ...
2020-05-22 11:21:54 +0000 UTC View Post
YEEEOUCH!
If someone ever told you that getting an enchanted blade through the gizzards is a good time, let me be the first to assure that isn't the case! The pain is immediate and intense and I throw my body to the side in a desperate roll, keen to dislodge that sword from my guts. Thankfully, the armoured warrior has a grip of steel and the sword pulls cleanly out as I dodge away. Tucking my legs, I spring back up to find the mysterious figur...
2020-05-21 08:05:44 +0000 UTC View PostJust in case things start to get turn south, I direct my sub-brains to start drawing on my gravitational mana. I'm not confident that I'll be able to subdue this lot, when push to shove I need a way out. As I try to shape up to the looming shadows around me, the dust that still fills the air is sucked away into a ball, leaving everyone blinking in the sudden clarity. Everyone except Tiny, who keeps swinging his fists and blasting out lightning as if nothing changed.
There are...
2020-05-21 02:10:08 +0000 UTC View Post
As I flee down the dark, cold tunnel of the second strata with my pets, I try to get a sense of the strength possessed by the Golgari behind us. The first few are just massive. Hulking titans of humanoids that seem way too large to move the way that they do. I know that unlike monsters, size doesn't equate to strength with the sapient races. At least, not directly. According to Beyn, the stats that humans possess aren't linked to their mass, but r...
2020-05-19 07:40:58 +0000 UTC View Post
"Why did I think this was a good idea?"
"I have to say, Eldest, I'm not entirely sure. I wasn't surprised when you suggested it though."
"I get the feeling that's almost an insult, Propellant…."
"I wouldn't dream of it, Eldest. My respect for you knows no bounds."
"I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not anymore."
"What's sarcastic mean?"
…
"I'm starting to think that you and the others need another round...
2020-05-18 12:28:56 +0000 UTC View Post
Things weren't going the way they were meant to. When things in the Dungeon didn't go the way they were meant to, that usually indicated something was going very wrong. There wasn't a single Dungeon delver who didn't feel the same way. As chaotic and unpredictable as the place was, there were ways to combat it, knowledge that was sure and tested over hundreds of years. When creepers were around, you packed up and tried to lose them. When Binding Spiders ap...
2020-05-17 10:53:27 +0000 UTC View Post
The ancients surfaced all over the face of Pangera, almost equidistant from each other. Wherever they rose, they caused a unique catastrophe to befall those unfortunate enough to be caught in the chaos. Yarrum consumed all in his path, Kygar caused lightning to fall for a month, burning all to ash, Morribolg turned the ground to mud over a vast area, sinking the entire city of Yallowyn beneath the ground in less than a minute. Due to the colossal damag...
2020-05-15 08:51:14 +0000 UTC View Post