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BingellyNeedless to say, that couldn't happen. Turning her focus back to her blueprint, she rushed to complete it. Her level-three minion was a somewhat anthropomorphized firefly. As tall as a boar and as wide as a hippopotamus, these creatures were formidable foes. When on the ground, little distinguished them from their mundane cousins, but when flying their abilities were far greater. Using a variety of specialized muscles in their four forearms, they could extend quadruple long chitin blades for melee combat. While their design, even rushed, enabled them to wield these natural weapons with speed and strength, their real power came from the chemicals in their bodies. Every inch of their exoskeletons was packed with the chemicals luciferin and luciferase, and when these creatures opened their pores and let oxygen in, the resulting reaction would cause their entire bodies to emit intense bioluminescence. This light could blind at close range, but its real usefulness would be the sacs in the fireflies' abdomens, which were made to mass-produce the caustic liquid and store it before launching globs of it. In short, the fireflies were armed with naturally-made, glowing acidic projectiles. With her schedule compromised, Clotho was forced to abandon many of the cosmetic adjustments she desired, but function was always priority over form.
Even with her rush, however, she wasn't in time. From the crimson sky above hurtled a runic stone, bathed in maleficent red energies. Without Clotho to organize any sort of defense, the magic meteor went unchallenged, and crashed into the crown of the King of the Forest. It ripped through branches, hive, and leaves alike, only stopping when it buried itself in the trunk with an impact that shook the whole dungeon. After that, the momentary chaos seemed, over, and despite the downfall of leaves and wood to the forest floor there didn't seem to be any lasting damage.
Once free of her entangling cocoon, Clotho sped to the impact sight. When she arrived, she found the stone lodged in the wood. However, it appeared that -despite the degree to which it was embedded- it might not be for long; judging by the deterioration of the bark around the stone, it had some sort of degenerative aura. Clotho, suspended in midair, remained motionless for a moment as she pondered how to deal with the problem. Around her, dozens of insects milled aimlessly, sharing in her anxiety but doing nothing helpful. On a whim, the Swarm Keeper extended a finger and pointed at the stone. The insects around her, spurred to action by her silent command, converged and flew straight at the smooth, glyph-inscribed surface. Upon impact, they dissolved into dust, their pitiful lives obliterated in an instant.
As she considered that, she was confronted by a voice in her head. This one was very distinct from the other; unlike the first, which sounded like an individual's, this one was a loose, unsynchronized hodgepodge of many. Though it did not frighten her, she was on alert nonetheless.
“I can give you what you want most,” it whispered. “You crave power and ownership, to make your mark on the world and rule it. With my help you will have unimaginable power.”
Clotho's response was abruptly cut off by that of the first voice, which contained some anger.
Back off, outsider. This one already has direction and borrowed power, courtesy of me.
The second voice, which Clotho judged was coming from -or at least being transmitted by- the otherworldly stone, replied scathingly. ”The power you hold is nothing, the remnant of a dead Keeper. If you want to conquer, to destroy, to dictate, swarm queen, you will feed me the stolen gem of the life mages.”
As suddenly as it had come, the voice was gone. By now the stone had eaten away at the wood so much that it lost its purchase in the trunk, and its weight slid it out of the hole it had created. Once more the artifact plummeted to earth, taking out anything in its path. It landed at the base of the tree, on the opposite side from the Myrmidon Den.
Left with more questions than answers, Clotho could do nothing but go about her business. In short order the Lambent Nest, a huge, roughly sphere-shaped hive hanging from the branches, was set up and the eggs of her first ten Lambent injected with growth hormone and left to mature. Of course Clotho wanted power, but to blindly agree to a dark deal was to invite disaster. Moreover, she decided to beware the voice in her head; if the stone's was telling the truth, the being she heard was an insidious Keeper from another age trying to manipulate her. Clotho felt besieged from all sides—-all she needed now was the hero from Virens to attack her Dungeon. Clotho sighed heavily, holding her head in her hands, and flew down to the forest floor to find her construct
Compendium Entry
Lambent – large fireflies with a few human traits. Decently intelligent, strong, and fast, though their dark brown exoskeletons cannot sustain much damage. They wield natural blades extended from their first two pairs of legs. Their bodies are full of chemicals that react to produce intense light. This light can be used to disorient foes, but the chemicals are even more useful when stored in their abdomens for use as glowing, caustic projectiles to rain down on foes from above.