Though the Compound of Eyes provided images of events miles away in real time, it still took Clotho a few precious moments to realize thing were going awry. By now the Biomancer's Guild, near empty and built more for lavish comfort than defensive fortitude, had crumbled as the ground beneath it became a sinkhole. Those who had destroyed it, however, had remained unseen as Clotho had hoped, assuring her that the remainder of the operation would go as smoothly.

Thus, she didn't immediately register her plan falling apart. Rather than a simple foundation, the barracks of the city guard had several underground floors. Without the raw materials to make bricks or concrete in the jungle, the people of Virens had evidently chosen to build downward rather than upward. When the platoon of Antlions and its imp handlers breached the walls of the third, then, and encountered the men-at-arms within, they were unsure of what to do. The imps were dumbfounded and hesitant, terrified of fighting but equally scared of the prospect of failure. Aggressive and mindless, the Antlions fell back to their primary, instinctual strategy: charge.

“No!” Clotho slammed her fist into the wall as the first Macula's receptor went dark. The last thing it had seen was an iron spearpoint accelerating quickly. “Wretched worms!” Her furious words went unheeded; the Compound of Eyes relayed information one way only, and even then only sight—not sound. After this initial outburst, the Swarm Keeper quickly regained her taciturn composure. With no way to relay her commands over the distance that separated her and her floundering troops, the only hope left was the possibility of taking more direct control. The dull, savage, diminutive psyches of her creatures had been designed to function as a hivemind, coordinating offense and defense alike between each species using their own signals and impulses. Such phenomena were common in nature, and like the hiveminds of ants and bees, hers had a queen. Clotho abandoned the Compound of Eyes and darted to her Heart, praising her own foresight to situate the Compound and her sanctum so closely. Once inside the folds of her cocoon, she attempted to reach out telepathically to her Antlions fighting in the barracks of Virens. Like a spider on its web, she dimly felt the reverberations of their activity echoed upon her own psyche, and attempted to send out her own vibrations in return. The entire process was difficult and experimental, but Clotho bent her full consciousness to the task. The pressure mounted; within her cocoon, she twisted and writhed, trying desperately to make the connection...

[b]Fool[/b]

In a flash, all of Clotho's focus washed away. Her eyes snapped open, and her pent-up energy burst her cocoon into shreds while the entire chamber echoed with her shriek. “No! The hivemind was within my grasp!”

[b]Wrong[/b]

The voice spoke from within her mind, but was more masculine, guttural and sinister. Another aspect lay beneath all of that: great age. “Who is this? How am I hearing you in my thoughts?”

[b]All you are is because of me[/b]

Clotho breathed steadily, slowing her pulse to normal levels. Confusion and anger threatened to overtake her, but if she succumbed to either, all would be lost. “I'll deal with you later,” she resolutely addressed the empty room, which was silent but for the smooth, quiet slither of the fiber strands of her Heart weaving themselves back together to reform the cocoon she had sundered. Dismissing the whole hivemind-tether theory as a failure, most likely not even possibly in the first place, she returned in haste to the Compound of Eyes.

She arrived just in time to witness the final moments of the battle in the barracks through the dying eye of the last remaining Macula. Outnumbered and severely intellectually outmatched, the Antlions had fallen under waves of guardsmen. Their husks lay strewn about the room, leaking vital fluids from dozens of wounds. In defeat everything looked remarkable similar; stone-faced men standing still in the torchlight, gazing at the unmoving corpses of their monstrous foes. Only two figures stood out to Clotho. One was plainly the new captain of the guard, adorned in extravagant armor stained with the guts of Antlions. The other, a slender, short-haired blonde adorned in traveler's cloak and wielding a curved longsword, was totally new to her. Though Clotho couldn't hear the woman speak as she approached the Macula, blade extended, she could read her lips well enough. [i]A great evil is watching our city through these vile eyes,[/i] she was declaring to the guardsmen. [i]We must prepare ourselves to face this threat.[/i] The woman made a swift cut with the tip of her sword, and the receptor went dark.

Clotho crossed her arms and thought for several minutes about what had just transpired. Defeat for her operation in Virens, the need for proper leadership in all future endeavors, the voice in her head, and this mysterious human female. “It seems,” she said at last, speaking to the empty Compound, “That Virens has a hero.”

[hider=Status]
Status of Sabotage: partial failure (Biomancer's Guild is rubble, guard barracks remains)
Location: Dungeon
Dungeon: Jungle north of Saploya River, N16°W12° An nearly complete, vast hive spanning the length, width, and height of a massive, ancient tree in the jungle. The hive itself is constructed of a magically-created liquid that expands and hardens into a stiff, paperlike substance upon exposure to air. The main body of the hive is suspended by countless support struts that reach for hundreds of feet in every direction. The Dungeon Heart is situated at the very top of the tree. Bugs called Macula infest it, functioning as living security cameras and alarms. Currently has: Dungeon Heart, Myrmidon Spawner. Living Foundry, Apothecary, Macula infestation, Compound of Eyes
Forces: 27 Drone Imps, 95 Myrmidons, Myrmidon Construct Invicta, 34 Antlions, Adjunct Baudrii, alchemist Rammel Vitreus, alchemical assistant Kayla Oakhurst
[/hider]
[u]Compendium Entry[/u]
Fury – the Kindling of Vengeance and one of the three Apocrypha of Elysium. Primarily called Eris Contiello. A human who presided over the gladiatorial Sand Pits of Anicetus as its administrator now traveling Elysium to discover her true purpose. Stocky, red of hair, stubborn, and strong of will, she remains somewhat dubious of the tale of the Horsemen, despite the best efforts of her 'brothers'. Wields the Sadist's Lash, a length of rope infused with her magic to become a spiked whip capable of tearing flesh from bone with ease.