Cyrus takes a bit more cover behind the bridge remains.
"Are you sure we can't cross? We have a lot of money! We won't tell your boss."
"NO! NO! YOU CAN'T! YOU CAN'T!" the creature shouts, although not quite as loudly or angrily as before.
Tai Leng and the block of dirt under him rise a few more feet in the air and then are quickly tossed by the giant shadowy hand holding them.
The troll manages to throw Tai Leng all the way over and across the river, but doesn't come even close to hitting Brother Cyrus. Tai Leng attempts a safe-roll at the last moment, to try and absorb as much of the impact as possible.
!NO NEED GOLD! BOSS GIVE ME STRENGTH! AND BOSS KNOW! BOSS ALWAYS KNOW!! the creature says...
There's a clear tinge of fear in the monster's voice. Although he tries to hide it, his acting is as subtle as you'd expect from a giant barely-intelligent monster and you can tell that rather than being angry at you, the creature is more worried about displeasing his "Boss".
- - -
"We're pretty strong too. Why don't we talk it over?"
"Yes, we could kill your boss for you." Tai says, brushing ice off him.
"BAH! YOU SMALL AND WEAK! LIKE THEY THREE!" he growls, pointing with a claw at the three shadowy humanoid bodies impaled on spikes near the river. "I BIG AND STRONG, BUT BOSS STRONGER! HE GIVE ME AND MATE SHADOW. BUT MATE LET WEAKLING CROSS. THEY SAY THEY PAY WELL. BOSS KILL THEM AND SEND WHITE LADY TO KILL MATE TOO... HE KNEW SHE DONE IT... NOW I ALONE, BUT I ALIVE."
Despite his booming voice, the troll doesn't sound angry anymore. In fact, he sounds almost... Sad.
"I'm sorry for your loss. So it was not you who killed these people." Cyrus nods to himself as he glances at the staked bodies before turning back to the troll. His voice as he speaks gains a steeled edge as he declares. "If you desire revenge for your mate, I can help you." Cyrus draws his blade and plants it in the ground, his hands fold over the hilt as he stands straight-backed and looking towards the troll.
"It is not easy to find a mate and even more so to replace what is stolen from you. My name is Cyrus Vance, oathbound to balance the due when Evil hungers. I would like to know your name sir Troll."
"I ONLY EAT OR BEAT. NOT STAKE ANYONE. THOSE ARE BOSS' KILL." the troll waves an oversized hand around. Simultaneously, the giant shadow hand that threw Tai Leng over the bridge disappears. Black smoke and shadow join the troll at his severed arm, and a few seconds later, his arm is back.
"NO DIFFERENCE... YOU CROSS, BOSS WILL NOTICE. BOSS KILL YOU... BUT... I KNOW HOW TO HIDE... WHITE LADY'S PET. SNAKE MAN. HE VISITS HER. HIDES FROM BOSS EYES. KEEPS HER SECRETS. BOSS NOT KNOW, BUT I KNOW. I SEEN IT. KILL HIM. TAKE HIS MAGIC. THEN BOSS' EYES NOT SEE YOU! I LET YOU CROSS! YOU CAN KILL WHITE LADY... OR NOT LET HER FIND BOSS' TREASURE. THEN HE KILL HER. GOOD ANYWAY. SMALLINGS LIKE IT TOO. SHE TAKEN THEIR HOUSES."
"Thank you for your help. Where do we find this Snake Man?"
"UP THERE. NEAR FALLS. IN THE BLACK CAVE. HE HIDES BEHIND DEAD BUGS." the troll points upriver, to a waterfall about 2 miles in distance. "BUGS ARE ANNOYIN', BUT DUMB AND EASY TO SQUASH. CAN FOLLOW THEM TO BLACK CAVE. SNAKEMAN THERE."
"Right, let's go." Cyrus follows the river after waving Tai Leng after him. Once a distance away Cyrus speaks again.
"I think the pale man from the sewer might have found some new allies..."
"Was he still alive? I'd forgotten."
You move upstream as the troll instructed, and about 20 min later, you reach a "waterfall". The stream of gelid darkness does indeed cascade from a cliff about 60 ft high, although it looks more like a heavier-than-air "gasfall" than a waterfall, although there's at least some liquid matter mixed in.
About 40 yards to your left, into the blackened forest, you see the fresh carcass of a shadowy bear-ish thing. Around it, several hound-sized ant-like creatures quickly ravage its flesh, taking bits of it and taking it away somewhere deeper into the woods.
Tai Leng follows the ants, as he was instructed.
"Let's follow them back to this Snake Man like the troll said."
It's extremely easy to follow the line of oversizesd "ants"... As long as.you remain a few feet away from them, they show no reaction to your presence.
Half a mile into the forest, the swarm enters an area with no grass, trees or vegetation of any kind, just grey gravel. About 600 ft into this barren lands, the bugs reach a large rock so dark it blurs together with the blackness in the horizon.
There's a wide crack in the rock, which serves as an entrance to what seems to be the lair of the tireless insectoid creatures. Crawling around it are two larger "ants". They are significantly bigger than their carrion-carrying kin, and have much longer and sharper mandibles. They also appear to be much more alert than the drones.
"What do you think Tai? Should we try to take one out together before the other or one apiece?"
"The Ogre mentioned they were easy to kill, so best to get this done quickly, in case greater numbers show up. I say we split the two between us."
You can get as close as 10 ft away from the drone ants before they even react to your presence. The soldier ants crawling around the entrance of the cave seem more dangerous and more alert, actively "smelling" the air with their antennae.
Cyrus shrugs and circles around to get a decent charge lane before swooping in. He rushes in holding his blade low before bringing it to bear in a horizontal slash!
Brother Cyrus slashes through one of the soldier ants before it has time to react .
With the death of the two sentries there's a sudden agitation in the colony. Drone ants hasten their pace and some of them change course and spread out.
You can hear the sound of hundreds of panicked insectoid legs crawling inside the black rock. A quick glance into the tunnel also reveals an odd blueish light down the tunnel.
"Should we go straight in? Perhaps finding a side or back entrance might be in order if there's truly that many of them."
"If they're anything like normal ants then the workers shouldn't swarm us. If we hurry maybe we can get what we need and go!" Cyrus says as he quickly moves into the tunnel.
Cyrus appears to be correct as the worker drones don't really bother you guys, although some of them do come disturbingly close and even crawl over your legs on occasion.
The main problem however are soldier ants, who do seem to be congregating around certain corners, closing off certain paths. While they don't actually attack you (for now), they do constantly hound and block you. Sometimes, you get quick glances at small globes of ghostly blueish flames, softly illuminating larger galleries in the otherwise pitch-black lair.
Through the winding tunnels of the colony, you find yourselves herded by angry chitinous pincers to a tunnel unlike any other you have seen in this place... Barely illuminated by one of the floating orbs of blue light, its extremely smooth walls and ground, lead you on a straight line directly to a very well-dilapidated and detailed stone gate that is integrated to the rocky surface around it.
This place is slightly colder than the rest of the cavern, and has a very faint smell of ammonia.
A small army of soldier drones snap at your ankles whenever you motion to step away from the tunnel... But otherwise don't attack or follow you.
"Blasted creatures!" Cyrus curses aloud as he steps back to avoid getting snapped at. He looks curiously at the stone gate and cautiously approaches it, blade drawn.
If nothing suspicious stands out to him, he'll attempt to open it if there is an obvious means.
Brother Cyrus notices a bunch of humanoid-ish scratch marks on the walls, near ground level... But other than that (and the giant ants fiercely clicking their pincers at the entrance of the tunnel), there's no sign of immediate danger.
The gate has no visible knob or lock. It's basically a giant carefully lapidated rock.
Seeing no other alternative, Brother Cyrus pushes it open. It takes some effort, but the gate slowly opens, revealing a large chamber illuminated by a bizarre "chandelier" made of dark green candles fixed to what looks like a amalgamation of multiple insectoid carcasses that hang to the ceiling by threads of a semi-solid blacks goo. The smell of ammonia is noticeably stronger here, but not enough to cause you any serious disconfort.
There are two stone doors on the chamber (not counting the gate), one directly in front of you and another to your right. The former is very smooth and has two green candles by its sides, both unlit, the latter is much rougher-looking, covered in scratch marks of all sizes and shapes and with a puddle of some mucous substance slowly oozing from under it.
The walls are full of small tunnels, all barely large enough for one of the ants to crawl through. At the very center of the ceiling there's a hole wide enough that a horse could easily ride into (if it could climb walls, that is).
A small number of ants creep through the tunnels. There's something different about them... They all seem mishaped, with legs of different sizes, oddly shaped pincers, weird fungi growing from their carapaces, twisted antennae, extra eyes, etc.
Tai scratches his bald head.
"What need do ants have for doors?"
Being an adventurous sort, he goes to investigate the mucous-y door.
As Tai Leng approaches the door, he senses an acrid smell strong enough to make his eyes tear up a bit. Mixed with the still present scent of ammonia, it makes for a rather unpleasant experience.
Wisely, he does his best to step around the mucous puddle on the floor and tries to push the stone door... It doesn't seem to be locked, but is quite heavy and partially stuck.
As Tai Leng positions himself to push the door as firmly as he can without slipping on (or sticking to) the disgusting goo next to his feet, he hears faint sounds coming from the other side of the stone barrier.
"Do you...do you think the ants let us through because they hate whatever is in this part of the tunnel more than us?" Cyrus glances back to the previous chamber before moving to back up Tai Leng. He pinches his nose in response to the acrid smell.
"I'm not sure if this gate was the smartest first choice..."
"Nonsense. We should do the most dangerous thing first, so we may give it our all and retreat if it proves beyond our abilities."
After making a deal with the new owner of the Silent Rolls casino, you leave Blue Shell in search for a missing priest, a middle-aged man named Samwell Ritto.
Following a mysterious maps that lists his last known locations, you come across a few odd phenomena. Oddly intense dreams, a villaged burned to the ground and a dome of shadows, which you enter.
In this weird area of darkness and shadows, you learn something foul is going on, and a weird shadow troll agrees to let you cross his bridge (or what is left of it), but warns you that doing so would be of no use if you don't find a way to hide from the "Boss' eyes", but tells you that the "snake man" who lives upstream has means of doing it, and oftens does so in order to see someone the troll calls "the white lady".
You find the hideout of the snake-man, a giant anthill. And are "gently" pushed into a rough-looking, but well-built dungeon.. And so now here you are.
With some effort, Tai Leng pushes the heavy stone door, taking care not to touch the mucous puddle on the ground. As the door slowly opens, an overwhelming acrid smell burns into his nostrils.
Beyond lies a immense chamber, only barely illuminated by floating orbs of sickly green flames. About two dozen ox-sized cocoons made of greenish tar-like substance litter the ceiling and walls, which are full of small tunnel through which a number of mutated, malformed giant ants travel.
From somewhere above you, a sickly, rispid voice speaks to you in little more than a whisper...
"You... should not be a here... These are not Yrval's chambers..."
"Yrval?"
"Yes... He's the one who takes care of negotiations..." says the voice, now closer. "This is where work is done..." it adds, now closer still.
Two yellow eyes glow faintly in the dark, attached to... Something... That crawls down a wall on the opposite side of the room. "Leave... Or join the production."
The acrid smell gets stronger and stronger. More of the bizarre ants approach your position... And a few of the sickly coccoons shake slightly.
"Certainly, I am alwasy willing to help. Just a few clarifications: negotiate with who, do what work, and produce what?"
"What?! How can you not..." the voice speaks with a confused tone before falling silent for just a moment and speaking again, this time with a shout. "You... You are not a buyer! WHO ARE YOU? WHO SENT YOU?"
Between its questions, the owner of the voice is revealed... A man with blueish skin and no arms or legs, but with six long spider-like appendages coming out from where his ribs should be. It crawls like a giant insect down from the ceiling, but with his torax upside, and his head hanging loosely, almost dead. His eye sockets glow with the yellowish light you saw before... And his mouth is filled with a third, much larger eye. A purple-ish haze lingers around the bizarre creature.
"It's a funny story actually. We didn't even mean to come here, but alas this...rip in reality is blocking the way to where we actually need to go. You see..." Tai begins, and launches into a full explanation of why they're here, who they're searching for, and their encounter with the Frost Ogre which led to their current ant-filled detour.
Cyrus focuses a moment as he attempts to ascertain this man-spider's moral standing. His eyes' irises faintly gaining a golden hue to them while he does so.
"Truth be told, we're looking for something of a 'snake-man'. Is that Yrval?" Cyrus cuts to the chase.
He doesn't seem interested in Tai Leng's explanation beyond the fact that you two shouldn't be here.
Brother Cyrus detect no aura of evil.
"I should've known that idiot would be followed..." he says with a hoarse voice. "No matter. I can always use another experiment or two... Now... Come peacefully... And I'll make you far greater than you ever dreamed possible! Join us in the blessing of The Mother!"
"Who is this 'Mother'? And how do you intend to make us 'greater'? I am already a genetically perfect human thanks to the very thorough eugenics program carried out in my home country. You would be hard pressed to improve on me."
"There's no such thing as perfection... But Mother takes us closest. She shows us the one true path to perfection. Let me show you..."
The creature extends one of its long insectoid limbs and lightly touches one of the nearby cocoons, which then proceeds to throb for a moment before parting in four equal parts, which quickly dissolve into green-brownish goo.
Where there was a cocoon, now stands a muscular humanoid with grey skin covered in glowing blue patterns. Its face has three eyes, no nose and a powerful jaw.
"Stronger than gorillas, faster than horses, senses sharper than a hound's, capable of surviving in the direst of circumstances, immune to pain and fear. Flesh harder than steel, capable of deflecting blade and spell while regenerating whatever few wounds it suffers..." brags the man-creature while the silent humanoid stands still. "And this is just one my early projects... Created here, in this hellhole, in a matter of weeks."
He then points at you... "Hopefully this dreadful mission should be over soon... And we'll be back to the city in a few days or weeks. Just imagine how much I can improve you then!"
"Yes... It'll be glorious!"
"And what of the mind? The physical attributes are certainly impressive."
"He can learn, calculate and come up with solutions like any other living creatures... Mother's education program will make sure he knows all he needs to know." the creature continues to speak with its bragging tone. "Now... Put away your belongings. You won't need them. Stay still while your chrysalis is formed." he says as more of the malformed ants approach you.