Chrysalis

Following the scent trails the scouting parties had put down, it didn't take long for us to make our way through the twisting tunnels to where the Golgari would soon pass. We positioned ourselves in cover at an angle where we could see them coming from a good range. I didn't want to get too close to them. I wouldn't underestimate the stone-people ever again. While the majority of Warriors and Shapers had proven to be unable to damage me in small numbers now, I wasn't going to push my luck. In terms of monsters, I was quite exceptional. 99% of the Dungeon’s creations didn't get to evolve in the way I did, with a maxed out core, or possessed this many mutations. I might have started out as a measly ant, but I was starting to become stacked. It made sense to me that the average Golgari wouldn't be able to match me. But something I'd learned from Granin still gave me pause. He'd told me that most of the Shapers in the outpost were just scholars, hardly any were real Dungeon delvers. Stuck in offices and reading books all day, they had polished Skills but not many levels or combat experience.

I even suspected the Warriors I'd fought were of a similar bent. As far as I knew, they weren't members of an official Golgari military or any such thing. If anything, Coriinam Balta gave me the impression of a pampered youth who'd done far more training than fighting. A show of strength, rather than the reality. Their sword slashes might make a fancy light show, but without the proper OOMPH that raw stats provided then they simply lacked the penetrating power to deal with my carapace. If nothing else, that proved that they were under levelled.

Would that be true for all Golgari? Hell no. These were people who made their home inside the Dungeon. Shapers like Granin had seen a ton of action in the tunnels. I had little doubt he was the highest levelled Shaper inside that outpost. With the walls of the town, there had to be individuals or a group that the others depended on to do the heavy lifting keeping them safe. A militia, a defence force. Heck, maybe a fully blown army. Whoever it was, I hadn't seen them and I wasn't keen to fight them. We'd already had casualties on this rescue mission, just another thing to weigh on my conscience. If I could avoid more death amongst my family, I sure as hell would.

For now, we're only here to observe so we settle into position and wait.

Tiny isn't much good at being still… or hidden, come to think of it, so I end up sending him back up the tunnel a hundred metres or so where he promptly goes to sleep. The rest of us have more patience and watch the tunnel with sharp eyes. As promised by the scouts, the Golgari turn up an hour later, moving fast. We hear them well before we see them, the pounding of stone feet on stone making the sound more like a crunch than a thump.

entirely with metal ore! From what I'd been able to pick up about Golgari culture, finding ores capable of holding the mana required to bond it to their bodies wasn't easy. That meant high quality ores were expensive. When I'd asked Torrina how much her own ore was worth, she'd given me a strange look before explaining that asking a Golgari about their true-skin was simply not done. Before I could apologise, she'd laughed and explained it anyway. The reason her own skin wasn't complete was due to the ludicrous expense required to purchase

money to buy a Golgari

wore something I'd not seen before, a dark brown braided rope

the procession, along with a few shorter members accompanied by what were clearly their monstrous pets. In a small cluster came something that I wasn't sure I would ever see. Golgari

Does it mean their true skin is weak? Can't be! Even Granin, who'd formed his true skin from the weakest, most common ore he could, just because he was a jerk, never wore a

branch before us, the procession halts for a moment and there's a pause as various members converse. It appears as though the robed individuals are being consulted quite heavily, along with the pet keepers… interesting. After a few minutes they

do they know?"

Eldest?" A scout

us. They aren't uncertain of which

We need