Again with this? Am I fat? Are you calling me fat, you stupid Dungeon? Dammit, legs! PUSH! I force with my legs until I squeeze through the gap with a pop, and land on the other side.
Gwehehehehe.
With this gap, surely they won’t be able to catch up to me. Dash!
BOOM!
The wall explodes as an arc of blade light cuts through the rock and cuts a deep gash on the opposite wall of the tunnel.
RUN-RUN-RUN-RUN-RUN-RUN!
Part of me really wants to turn and shape up to these pests, but I’m worried. I’m too close to their base for one—not my fault, by the way—and I don’t know that I would win, especially without my pets.
Gah! They’ve forced me into unknown Dungeon territory here. This is all unexplored terrain. As I speed through, firing Wind Magic—gotta push for those Levels, combat always helps!—I search for anything that might lend me an advantage.
All I find are the usual things, shadow beasts, stupid seaweed, and deadly spike plants all over the place. Not to mention a decent number of what I’ve started to call dead fish. Smaller creatures full of Death Mana that can swim through the air riding on the Mana currents. They’re a right pain in the backside, but I’ve no time to deal with them now. I’m sure a few will latch onto my carapace, and I’ll have to blast them off later.
Just another irritating thing caused by these damn murder hobos!
I cut around the corner just in time to avoid another coordinated strike that slices into the rock as if it were paper. Yikes! Not keen to test my head against that level of strike… Aha! What’s that?
Up ahead, the tunnel opens into a major passage, and lo and behold, right in the middle, I find a HUGE root that connects the roof to the floor. I’ve never seen anything like it around this area, but this could be my chance! The soil around tree roots is usually far looser than other places, since the ground gets broken up by the roots pushing through. I might be onto something here!
I zig and zag as I run, and then skirt around the blind side of the root. This thing is massive, likely thirty metres in diameter at least. Easily enough to block sight of me. Once there, I coil my legs and spring into the air! As I descend, I pull back my mandibles as I spin together an Earth Mana Construct.
I land headfirst, digging into the soil in a frenzy of biting and shovelling with my legs even as my sub-brains weave Mana to help drill into the ground as fast as possible. DIG! DIG! DIG! Gotta get as deep as possible! No chances can be taken!
Fully immersing myself in the power of ant-zen, I dig with all the efficiency my ant body can muster, burrowing into the soil at a rate that would make Jim proud. Only when the business district has been fully submerged do I feel even remotely safe, but I don’t stop digging.
Once I feel I’ve reached a significant enough depth, I freeze, hoping against hope that they won’t be able to find me. I expand all my senses, trying to gauge what is going on around me. Only then do I notice something I really should have picked up on before.
This root has a metric truck load of Mana inside it… Like, holy moly, that is a lot of Mana. When I push my awareness inside the root, it’s almost as if the pure, dense Mana is moving inside like sap within a tree.
What the heck is this thing? And why, if it’s so loaded with Mana and totally defenceless, aren’t monsters chomping it to bits trying to get at the energy within? I raced around the thing rather quickly, but I don’t think I saw a single monster close to it…
I’m getting a bad feeling about this.
Deciding to take my chances, I angle myself and dig my way back up, squeezing out between the root and the soil. To my vast surprise, I don’t see any soldiers trying to cut me down, nor any monsters nearby. Did my digging ruse work?
Being exceptionally careful this time, I sneak my way back to where my pets left me, collapsing in a relieved heap the moment I make it. Not five minutes later, Crinis and Vibrant return.
[Hey there, Crinis,] I say, desperately acting casual. [Did you have fun?]
I’m sure I’m okay. I even triggered my healing gland on the way back to take care of any minor wounds and I thoroughly cleaned myself. Please, for the love of the bearded one, let me get away with this!
[I did. Thank you, Master.]
The mass of tentacles and death unfolds from Vibrant’s back and once again takes up residence wrapped around my abdomen.
[Did you manage to stay out of trouble, Master?]
[Trouble? Me? Of course not! Just practising magic is all I’ve been doing.]
[Hmm. Alright then.]
PHEW!
91. The Enemy Advances
The Empire of Stone endures forever. That is their claim, at least. It’s no secret that the rock-people are proud and stubborn. Proud of their history as one of the ‘Old Races’ of Pangera. They are survivors, hardy and tough, their natural advantages and the classes that tie to their race have proven to be enough to bring them through the Cataclysm, as well as the chaos that followed.
golgari youth are born much as human children are; indeed, they are similar in size, strength, and develop at a comparable pace. The children of the golgari are rarely seen by outsiders, particularly within the empire. Without those who have chosen to live away from the stronghold of their people, it’s unlikely anyone would have ever seen the natural skin colour of their children—it’s grey.
When they mature, the rock-people begin to differ more and more from a standard human. They are significantly taller and heavier. The mean height for golgari is over seven feet, with exceptionally tall individuals standing over nine. They are physically stronger, their mass reaching over two hundred kilograms even without their true skin, the name they give the mineral coating they wear.
When they come of age, young golgari participate in a bonding ceremony that fuses their skin with a rock covering. A unique property of their skin allows it to form a strong bond with minerals that melds the two substances together, essentially forming a new skin. It is a misconception that the outer stone covering is a ‘second layer’ of skin, one that the golgari themselves usually don’t bother to correct.
Their affinity to stone goes beyond their capacity to make it part of themselves. golgari society as a whole is stratified and rigidly divided. Families are split into Houses and Clans, each in constant competition with each other. Individuals are separated into Circles based on aptitude and class.
Due to their powerful physical properties and martial history, Warriors, those who fight with stamina and weapons, are esteemed, whilst those who manipulate Mana are generally disparaged. The Crafting Circle, Merchant Circle, even the Growers Circle enjoy a position of higher prestige than the mages. This is a feature almost unique to the golgari in Pangera, as generally mages are venerated, or at the very least highly respected for their prowess.
Finally, we must address the golgari affinity for working in groups, or teams of three, which they refer to as Triads, a time-honoured tradition, the origins of which cannot be determined. It is possible that not even the golgari themselves know. Only those individuals who rise to prominence in the Warriors Circle are accepted to operate outside of a Triad for an extended period, having proven their exceptionality. Such individuals are greatly respected and given the title of Blade. These are the nobles, leaders of the Houses, generals, and strategists of note.