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.

warriors on the face of Pangera in front of tens of thousands of adoring fans. The spectacle! The whole city could be rumbling for weeks after a particularly amazing bout. Of course I knew about

on, Emilia simply nodded

had hoped you would have such experience. The Stadium can be a little overwhelming for people who

through became wider and wider as more and more people filed into it. Not just people, but ants also. From the teleportation chambers, there was a flowing stream

of people,” I noted to Emilia, “is this a particularly noteworthy event we are

what secrets of Colony-culture might be uncovered. For so many

nothing of the sort,” I was assured. “The Stadium hosts matches three or four times a

times

Ball

adorned with carvings, swept away to the left and right. Scene after scene of ants, humans, golgari, bruan’chii

open space, ringing what I assumed was the exterior wall of the Stadium, were large statues that loomed over the passing spectators. Again, a curious mix of races and individuals. I remarked on it to Emilia, though it was becoming difficult to hear each other over the hum of the crowd. There were SO

serious way. Some statues are quite revered. If you

ant

Eldest competed in an official event. They retired immediately afterwards, but the story has become something of a legend. To our left, though we can’t see it from here, is the statue of perhaps the greatest ever

main entrance,”

Not at

who invented

simple ant training exercise into the sport that took over the Ant controlled lands, and then entranced their allies. Even now, his humble visage watches over the

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

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