Chrysalis

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, she and Corun had shared a long and significant glance. The parallels they could draw between their own Cult and the behaviour on display were far too easy to draw. It was almost disturbing to see such devout actions taking place in clear daylight, in full view of everyone. The two of them had spent their entire adult lives concealing their beliefs and ideology, only to see these humans being so forward and direct with their burgeoning faith. It was, in many ways, shocking.

But also exciting. They were here following the direction of their triad leader, hoping to help cultivate a new ancient, and here was a group of people who responded to Anthony in much the same way that groups all over the world had reacted to the ancients during the cataclysm. To Torrina, it was a powerful sign that they were on the right track. Corun was less convinced.

[These people are backwards hicks from the middle of nowhere. Most of them have barely ever set foot in the Dungeon, let alone faced a monster in combat,] he argued over a mind bridge, [the moment any powerful monster appeared in front of them, they were bound to admire it.]

[Admiration is one thing,] Torrina said, [worship is quite another. Look around you Corun. There are monsters walking through the streets of a human settlement. And nobody cares. In fact, they are respected, revered and welcomed. I'm not certain that such a thing has happened in the entire history of Pangera, from the cataclysm to now.]

Corun just shook his head and looked around a little more. It was hard to deny the argument that his triad partner put forward, but he wasn't ready to commit quite as much. These people were just so backward. He found it hard to put any stock at all in their thoughts and beliefs. That didn't mean he saw nothing that he could learn from their interactions with the Colony, which was why he'd agreed to remain behind when Anthony had returned to the Dungeon.

The two of them had stayed with the Mayor, Enid, the previous night and plumbed her for information on the history of the town and it's interactions with Anthony. The old woman was tough as any stone and quite cagey, but was unable to conceal her own deep respect and unquestioning faith in her powerful insect ally.

[These people are from the backend of the backend,] Corun tried again, [frontier farmers with no foundation, no connection to any of the great powers and no history. Regardless of what they think, is it really that important? You need to remember that Anthony is a special case, a reincarnated human. He's inclined to help these people based on his history, not to mention he's well aware of what the Colony would be able to learn from people such as these. He wanted them to trust him.]

The two of them were walking out of the town, accompanying a group of armed members and ant-robes led by the one-armed priest, Beyn, but Torrina was frustrated enough by his remarks that she stopped to stare at him.

ancients possessed, so how do you think he was able to do it? This has never happened before. Do you understand what that means?

the end of her rant, the usually cool as ice Golgari Shaper had more than a little heat in her gaze as she glared at Corun. Despite being the older

not used to seeing

deep breath and felt her ire recede before she continued

real chance Anthony will ascend to become the twentieth ancient. The more I consider it, the harder I find it to remain

alright back there?"

to see that their entire group had stalled to wait for them as they'd

merely discussing a few points and didn't want to disturb you. We won't

even the largest human looked frail and childlike when stood next to them. This meant they acted in a very polite and reserved way

have come in support of the Great One, that is enough to grant you a great deal of leeway," Beyn

his remaining arm, he waved the group forward as they marched toward the towering anthill in the distance. Seeing an opportunity to pick the brains of this key human, Torrina strode forward to

moment of your time? I

her,

to refer to him as such. Perhaps you

She nodded.

with a title I bestowed myself. Perhaps

tried to look as if