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

fifth, despite everything I’ve heard about it… really sucks. I hate it here. I can’t believe even the mucus-ridden toxi-snails actually enjoy living here. Take a vacation in the fourth rather than trying to melt my face off, maybe you’ll learn how to

we intend to use 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 to not only tolerate the toxic mana, but purify it. As such, they’re supposed to remain protected, nestled in the

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

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

the incredible engineering

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

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

time he so much as sticks a finger outside the slowly expanding bubble of clean 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, so if it's exposed to

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

part, I remain almost completely outside of the cleansed mana, working to push back 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 of