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

and everything’s underway, I have to say, the fifth, despite everything I’ve heard about it… really sucks. I hate it here. I can’t believe even the mucus-ridden

of evolutionary potential and energy was required to create the incredibly unique set of organs and mutations required

feed to our happily chuffing wuffers. The answer the carvers came up with was a sweet track system. Each section

work and versatile enough that only a little shaping is required to smooth out the ground before we can lay down the track. The end result is that

the incredible engineering of the

of the shadows, twisted with rage, and throw themselves into our defensive formation with

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

Her flesh… shadow… I mean… is it even flesh anymore? Whatever. It’s a lot

the 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 monsters before they can reach the rest of my family. Every now and again, I duck into the safe zone, just for a little breather and to give myself a thorough scan, to ensure I’m clean