Chrysalis

My first glimpse of Freehill pretty much confirmed everything that Marzban had said about it. The place is huge. Now, I’m no geologist, and I can’t tell you what size any of the mountains on Earth were, or how wide, or their circumference. However, I seriously doubt that any mountain from my previous planet holds a candle to the behemoths that hold up the third stratum. I mean, the pillars in the third were pretty damn impressive on their own, but the third is stacked in layers, the fourth is just one vast open space held up by freakin’ huge mountains.

And this particular mountain is dang near covered by the city of Freehill. Not further up, obviously, but the base of the thing is a forest of mixed housing. A totally eclectic mix of housing styles dots the slope as far as my eyes can see. Weird pagoda-looking things, tents, log cabin-like constructions, all grouped into little districts without any apparent rhyme or reason.

Despite the disorganised nature of it all, I can tell the place is packed. There must be millions of people on that mountain. Clearly, the Folk aren’t just surviving in the Dungeon, they are thriving.

I remark as much to Marzban.

[The Folk appear to be pretty darn prosperous, judging by the size of the place. Do you guys do a lot of trade with them?]

[They are strong fighters with a reputation for martial prowess,] he nods, [which is well earned. As a result, there aren’t many who are willing to poke the beast, so to speak.]

[Yes, we do a fair amount of trade with them,] Eran adds the, in her view, more important information, [though the Folk aren’t huge consumers of most goods. They prefer to live a humbler existence than most of the races. Even their leaders aren’t fond of grand displays of wealth.]

Sounds like they might get along with the Colony in that sense. The Queens are treated better than anyone else in the family and that’s mostly against their wishes. They’d joyfully live just the same as every other ant if we’d let them. Bah!

the deck of the barge, I can see Eran as she leaves the ship and meets the person in charge. Obviously, they had word the fleet was going

allowed on the land at one time be

[Of course it is!]

almost a week! If the Folk demand I stick woolly mittens

Heh.

as it turns out. I pick my way forward, one step at a time, while the brathian try to counterbalance the weight as to avoid capsizing their biggest barge. It takes ten minutes, but finally my legs touch down on solid ground and I can’t help

order of business…

badly the need for ant cleanliness had engrained itself in me. Normally I don’t even think about it, my legs just move on their own while I’m thinking about

I’m finally satisfied with the state of my carapace, antennae and legs. Nothing cleans quite like fresh formic acid. Cleansed and ready to go, I take a good look around me for the first time. The dock is bustling, which is to be expected. My siblings have been busy unloading the fleet, stacking the crates in neat rows along the stone quay I’m standing on. The brathians are also

wolfish features, and I’d assumed that all the Folk looked like that, but apparently I was quite wrong. In fact, looking around, there don’t seem to be many rules at

than the others. I see a large one with what appears to be a lion’s mane. Not to say they’re all fuzzy, oh no, a group with leathery grey skin walk past

the consistency of animalistic features differs wildly. Some of them could almost pass as human, with perhaps a strange angular look to their features, or a bit of coloured fur on their arms. Others are way more distinct, with snouts,

explain to me that the Folk were an alliance of disparate people, but I’d never really understood what he

rules here. To one degree or another, every member of the Folk is some blend

I can get behind it. So long as they aren’t interested in