Chrysalis

Hello my dear readers! I hope you are all well, snug, warm, and ready for another rendition of my adventures amongst the Colony. Within the second stratum, the ants certainly had built a kingdom for themselves. The wonders of Anthome seemed endless, and with Emilia as my ever patient guide, we wandered the many tunnels and chambers, visiting historical sites, admiring the most incredibly detailed sculptures, carvings and artwork I think I have ever seen.

Nobody would have expected the soul of an artist to live within the body of a monster, certainly not me, but I was quite moved by some of the works I saw, almost all of them depicting the ‘Eldest’ at some point in their journey.

“Many of the most celebrated pieces produced by the Colony were created by Michaelangelant. She was perhaps the first ant to really dedicate herself to artistic pursuits. Most of the carvings in the old nest were done by her and her acolytes,” Emilia informed me.

“She single-handedly… well I suppose she didn’t have any hands now, did she? She was solely responsible for this aspect of the Colony’s culture?”

The young woman nodded pleasantly.

“That’s right. At least, as far as we know. At the time this nest was built, there wasn’t that much civilian access. By the time more people were allowed inside, the bulk of the work was completed, so no one can truthfully say they saw it being done.”

I cannot emphasise enough, my precious audience, just how remarkable some of these works are. The attention to detail, the intricately fine work, the patience required to complete such work was simply inhuman! Which I suppose is no surprise, given that the artist was no human!

But it wasn’t just fine artworks that Emilia entertained me and my escorts with as we acclimated to the mana. One fine afternoon, we were invited out to witness a truly remarkable event.

“Have you witnessed a live sporting event?” Emilia asked me innocuously as we departed.

Now, I’m sure you understand where I’m coming from, reader, when my nose rose somewhat into the air as I stated proudly: “Of course!”

I make my home in the Golden City, as you well know, and we are a proud bunch, I am ashamed to say. Here we were, in one of the most frontier areas of the continent, and alongside a young woman who likely hadn’t travelled more than a hundred kilometres from Renewal. I described with great pride and flowery language the great contests held in the famed Arena.

of tens of thousands of adoring fans. The spectacle! The whole

on, Emilia simply

explanation, “I had hoped you would have such experience. The

Not just people, but ants also. From the teleportation chambers, there

to Emilia, “is this

of Colony-culture might be uncovered. For so many

sort,” I was assured. “The Stadium

times per WEEK?” I

course. Tunnel Ball

rising a hundred metres to a cavernous, vaulted dome. Before us, the enormous wall, entirely adorned with carvings, swept away to the left and right. Scene after scene of ants, humans, golgari, bruan’chii and even the elusive Folk engaged in some sort of activity, usually holding a strangely carved rock, covered the

was the exterior wall of the Stadium, were large statues that loomed over the passing spectators. Again, a curious mix of races

the sport in a serious way. Some statues are quite revered. If you look down there,

colossal ant looking down haughtily on

legend. To our left, though we can’t see it from here, is the statue of perhaps the greatest ever player. Jordant. She doesn’t play anymore, but she is fondly remembered. On the other side of the Stadium, in

the main

Not

invented

lands, and then entranced their allies. Even now, his humble visage watches over the grand entrance to

bewildered escorts as we made our way into the Stadium. We joined the hurrying throngs, the buzz of energy high as we walked with purpose. It was clear from the clothing and paraphernalia of the audience that the two teams playing today were represented by

seats. From what I recall, we simply followed several winding tunnels that branched several times, and there we were. Emilia later explained the finest ant engineers had worked tirelessly on the most efficient system for funnelling the