Chrysalis

To purify the fifth’s mana is an absurd idea, a comical suggestion. It’s impossible, everyone knows it’s impossible, and not because we haven’t tried, or made half-hearted attempts. Hundreds and thousands have died, enough resources to bankrupt an empire have been spent, over several attempts, some by individual empires, some by conglomerates of several major powers.

All have been unsuccessful. Not only unsuccessful, but unmitigated disasters. Even when these efforts managed to gain a foothold, they were eventually snuffed out, unable to hold their ground against the unrelenting pressure placed upon them by the fifth. The monsters there will not abide any change to the environment, which is itself a horrifying ordeal to overcome.

Then, there are the Krath tribes, roving bands of sadistic killers, who will unleash unspeakable torment on any they capture, breaking the will of would-be invaders and sending them running back to the safety of the fourth. Against these factors, purifying the fifth has become nothing more than a dream within a dream.

Yet, when the great ant spoke of it, I couldn’t help but have hope.

- From the private notes of Rathwyn Werilos, Mage of the Tower

heard about it… really sucks. I hate it here. I can’t

to feed the wuffers. After all, they’re helpless little things, unable to fight at all, every drop of evolutionary potential and energy was required to create the incredibly unique set of organs and mutations required

carvers came up with was a sweet track system. Each section slots into the next and powers up, extending the reach of the formation and drawing in more energy, feeding

little shaping is required to smooth out the ground before we can lay down the track. The end result is that

incredible engineering of the

sense what we’re up to. The second they do, they come screaming out of the shadows, twisted with rage, and throw themselves into our defensive formation with no regard for their

easily able to outpunch the local riffraff. What makes it difficult is the atmosphere of the fifth. I can endure it for a while, but I’m a little different than the others. Having an exo-skeleton is a serious advantage since it takes the acidic effect a lot more time to eat through it than it would skin and muscle. My joints are vulnerable, as ever, but compared to the others, I’ve got

mana, he has to snatch his hand back as it begins to sizzle. Even Crinis has a hard time. Her flesh… shadow… I mean… is it even flesh anymore? Whatever. It’s a lot of things, but it ain’t that durable,

weakest of all of us, physically. Were he exposed to the atmosphere for even a few seconds, he might lose a limb. Thankfully, he’s the one who is the least likely to suffer, since, as a master mage, he doesn’t need to go anywhere near his

back the monsters before they can reach the rest of my family. Every now and again, I duck into the safe zone, just