At its mistress's command, the Antlion carried Baudrii up the sheer trunk of the King of the Forest, seeking a place to deposit him where he could recuperate undisturbed. With her construct taken care of, Clotho peered out into the jungle, waiting for the arrival of her nemesis. As she did so, she stretched her wings and found that they were usable once more, having recovered from the slight burn inflicted upon them by the heroine's lightning. The Swarm Keeper rose into the air, her morale vastly improved now that the miracle of flight was once again hers. Ten of her twelve remaining Lambents rushed to join her in her flight, circling the tree in search of any sign of the hero and her diminished forces. While there were almost certainly Macula in the vicinity that could pinpoint her enemy's location, Clotho felt that any diversion from the front lines could be a potentially lethal mistake. As such, she continued to patrol her Dungeon's perimeter with her Lambents, dodging hanging vines and hives while scanning the ground below.

Just as the Swarm Keeper had anticipated, the hero soon arrived. She almost didn't spot them; the humans were moving quickly between patches of vegetation in hopes of staying in cover. [i]Good...we'll let them continue to think that they have the element of surprise.[/i] Using her insect cries, Clotho commanded her Lambents to withhold their attack and instead do their best to seem like they were still patrolling, all the while keeping tabs on the intruder's location. With that strategy in mind, Clotho left the human marauders to keep scurrying over the murky ground beneath the King of the Forest's expansive shade and circumnavigated the tree once more. When she returned, she saw with some alarm that the humans were only a few hundred feet from the entrance to the Myrmidon Den at the foot of the tree. Did they really think that the yawning, musty hole was an entrance? That was fortunate indeed. Careful not to betray her detection of the humans' presence, she swiftly ordered he Myrmidons to prepare an ambush and then moved on.

It worked better than she could have hoped. The men and women seeking to kill her were so fixed on their own cleverness that they never suspected the cave they were entering was really a dead end. Once they had reached the end of the line and thrown a few curses around, the trap was sprung. In the darkness -particularly without the annoyance of the heroine's lantern- the Myrmidons had the advantage. Spear thrusts ended the lives of half of the remaining men within the first minute, and the heroine found herself unable to rally a defense in the foreign, hostile environment. All they could do was flee to the light, an uphill path that resulted in heavy categories. The heroine, like any good leader, fended off Clotho's creatures while the remainder of her men escaped.

Upon finally trudging out into the light, the heroine was greeted with a sorry sight. The men whose lives she had preserved only moments ago were mostly dead; in their fear and disorientation upon leaving the Den, they had been easy targets for the Lambent above. She fell to her knees, katana buried in the loam, her face twisted by hatred and grief. 

Clotho alighted before her, and kicked the blade away before the heroine could draw it and engage her. “Congratulations, monster,” she spat, brushing blonde hair from her eyes, “Your ruthlessness and evil has won you this day. But you will lose the war. Your deeds today will inspire new heroes to take up arms against you. Good will triumph in the end. My only regret is that I won't be around to see it.”

The Stinger flashed out of Clotho's left wrist. It beaded venom, a vile brown brew reluctantly fashioned for her by her new alchemist. “Not true. Today I am going to let you live.”
An incredulous glare was the heroine's response. “Why waste your breath with lies? Kill me and be done with it, or set me free.”
“I'm liking a third option. You will work for me.”
“Why should I...[b]agh![/b]” The woman's eyes went wide as the Stinger was planted in stomach. Immediately, the corrupted life energy spread throughout her body. Her upper body remained mostly unchanged, except for some paling of the skin and growing two chitinous horns. Her lower body, however, morphed into a repulsive mess of shell and skin, twitching and transforming until it was the abdomen, legs, tail, and pincers of a huge scorpion. When the painful polymorph was complete, the heroine ceased her writhing.

Upon seeing herself, she burst out crying, her spirit broken. Clotho beamed. “A complete success! And here I was thinking that the chemist might have been playing me. I honestly thought it wouldn't work and you would die instantly as a repulsive hunk of biomass, but here you are, a real Scorrow!” Invicta raced up to her mistress's side. “Lock her up,” Clotho ordered. “And try not to get stung or kill her in the process. We've beaten our first real hero; I wouldn't want this special occasion soured.”

[hider=Status]
Location: Oerwood Jungle
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 Den. Living Foundry, Apothecary, Macula infestation, Antlion Colony, Compound of Eyes, Lambent Nest
Forces: 28 Drone Imps, 89 Myrmidons, Myrmidon Construct Invicta, 35 Antlions, 12 Lambents, Adjunct Baudrii, alchemist Rammel Vitreus, alchemical assistant Kayla Oakhurst, Scorrow
[/hider]