Between a Rock and a Carapace

62. Too Much Honesty is a Little Painful

I’m nervous. What’s the story going to be? No matter what, I don’t think it’s going to be something I like. Don’t keep me in suspense, let me hear the damage. Just how bad are things going to be?

The three guards have remained perfectly still, watchful and poised, they don’t miss a single movement I make. The three older Shapers are a little more mobile, but not by much. I get the feeling these golgari are more attached to stone than just having different varieties of it for skin. They’re unusually still when they don’t have to be moving, as if actually becoming a rock.

[You know the purpose of our Cult?]

[Absolutely. You desire for a twentieth Ancient to take its place amongst the other nineteen. Something about ‘closing the circle’ or some such.]

She nods in agreement.

[That is correct. We seek to empower a monster in order for it to dominate the lower strata and achieve a tier of evolution on par with the existing Ancients.]

[Do you actually know what tier the Ancients are?] The theoretical maximum tier? I wonder how high it is! Ten? TWENTY!

[No, we don’t.]

Dang.

[To our knowledge, there have been only two conversations between the sapient races of the surface and the Ancients. During the Cataclysm we now refer to as the Time of Rending, the Mana level in the Dungeon rose to unprecedented heights. When the tunnels connected to the surface, Mana from the centre of Pangera flooded the skies, followed by a tidal wave of monsters that nearly washed away every remnant of civilisation on this world.]

Yikes.

[Sounds pretty bad. How long ago was this?]

[More than two thousand years ago. When the Mana reached its peak, the Ancients themselves were able to come to the surface for a time, devastating all they found. Tales of the destruction they wrought are legend to this day. Scholars debate the history of these events, for not much that was written during that time survived, but we do not believe the Ancients sought to destroy the surface world. In our Cult, we are told they devoured monsters more readily than they did us.]

[Well, why not? That’s how monsters get stronger, after all.]

[The Ancients cannot evolve, nor can they Level up. This we believe to be true. So why consume so much? Could it be they sought to help, rather than hinder?]

Giant monsters turn up and eat everything, and these people think they were trying to be helpful? Crazy talk.

[Sure…] I lamely agree.

[During this time is when those two conversations took place. The one you spoke to before spoke of the Red Truth. This is the name given to the knowledge that was passed on from a dialogue between a powerful ka’armodo Wizard and Arconidem, who rose under their lands. For us, it was Yarrum, the Eternalworm. A Shaper by the name of Igiun Farranon communed with the great worm before founding the Cult of the Worm in secret.]

[So… what did they say? The Ancients, I mean.]

All three of them snap their attention to me.

[That we will not share!] The words are sharp, cutting.

[Sure, sure. No need to get stressed!]

They relax only by about half a percent.

[Those who do not share our goals are not able to receive the words of the Ancients. It is a sacred mission.]

[Of course it is. Gotta… you just gotta love them Ancients. Worms. The whole lotta them. Great stuff.]

I think that works? There is a brief pause in the dialogue. I presume they’re discussing my incredible, sincere, and fervent love of the Ancients and worms. For my part, I continue to remain perfectly still. No need to give anything away.

[Did you notice anything odd about the last wave?] A new voice breaks into the conversation, younger, lighter than the others.

[How could I? It was the first wave I’d ever experienced.]

I honestly don’t have a point of reference. The wave was immensely dangerous to us at first, but eventually turned into a boon for the colony, enabling us to harvest experience and Biomass at an incredible speed. By the end of it, I’d started hoping it might stick around. The solid defences we encountered on the way down to the second stratum gave me pause, though. There may have been more going on beneath us than I’d assumed.

[We thought that might be the case. Compared to other recent waves, this was much longer and more intense. The Mana levels in the upper strata rose beyond what we would expect, by far. Even now, the Mana has yet to return to what we would consider normal levels.]

[I’d noticed that,] I can’t help but muse. [It started to rise not long after I was born, and it’s never gone back to the level I experienced then. I can’t say I never wondered why that might be the case.]

There is another brief pause as they confer.

[Indeed. The Cult of the Worm has decided another Cataclysm is likely coming. We never experienced the build-up to the Time of Rending, since at that time, the Dungeon had not breached the surface and was unknown. We believe the waves will start to build, as if from an ocean, each one greater than the last and receding a shorter distance before the next arrives, until Mana crashes over the surface of Pangera, perhaps for the last time.]

Why the heck would it be for the last time? They have no reason to think that. Perhaps they do, or perhaps they want me to think they do! Sneaky.

[That’s interesting,] I say, trying to stay focused.

[For us, as well as those who follow the Red Truth, this has precipitated a call to action. The time for the final Ancient to ascend is running short. We can no longer divide our efforts and resources in a dozen different directions, hoping that one of our candidates will achieve the final ascension. This approach has failed so far and there is no reason to believe it will serve for the final push. Instead, we are taking a different approach.]

[Oh?] I’m not sure I like the sound of this.

[We have gathered all of the monsters we are currently supporting here in this place. Although it is crude, the Cult has decided the best way to determine the most worthy monster is through a trial by combat.]

[Soooo… you want us to like… duel? For the right to be sponsored by you guys? What if we lose?]

[Naturally, those monsters who lose will become fuel to speed the growth of the more deserving monster who wins.]

[That’s cold. I’m a sapient creature, you know? You want me to fight to the death like a slave?]

[We understand your past, but it isn’t your present. Time is short and we have been driven to these barbaric methods. We don’t like it, but we have no choice.]

You think you have no choice, but you don’t know for sure! By the by, I think that guy is perfectly happy at this turn of events. He’s looking at me as if I’m a juicy steak for his favourite dog.