Lugubrious

Dungeon Keepers

Before an hour had passed Clotho found herself in the shadow of a massive jungle tree. This gnarled, centuries-old colossus loomed out of the vibrant, tropical forest around it like a stone bastion looms over a muddy town of huts. Its bark, stained by countless events over the course of its massive lifespan, resembled a grand mosaic of life. Though ages old the tree still thrived, ripping open the clouds of the sky and replacing it with its own viridian masses. Vines hung down from the tree, long, limp fingers reaching down from above, the politician's tendrils of influence. They ensnared other trees in the vicinity, keeping them in the firm hold of their elder and preventing them from ever being able to ascend to the same heights. This wondrous plant was a jealous lord. No lord, however, could boast immunity to the usurper.

The tree enraptured Clotho, from the majesty of its height to the incredible life that it sustained. Primates, birds, reptiles, and billions of insects, unaware of the conqueror standing in the shade of their vertical kingdom, carried out their daily routines. Clotho caught the enticing scent of magic on the wind, seeping from the timber and every creature that called it home. There could be no better opportunity than this to establish a Dungeon and start creating her own legacy. “Drones.”

Her five minions, intent on devouring the corpse of an unfortunate anteater, abandoned their kill to heed her call. They gargled and rasped slightly as they approached. “Follow me.” Clotho held her rapier aloft, briefly running a clawed finger along its length. The weapon flushed with the repulsive yellow-green, black-speckled magic that she had used to summon her imps, which then spread to her hand like a tiny tide of ants. She stared intently at her left hand, molding the magic between her armored claws, and finally turned her palm outward to release it. A jet of sticky, beige fluid launched at high pressure from the outstretched limb toward the great tree, where it lodged with a wet sploge. Upon exposure to air, the secretion expanded and dried, forming a rigid, paperlike substance several feet in diameter, very much like the hive-material of the yellowjacket wasp. Panicked wildlife fled from it as it hardened, turning a smooth cocoa brown interspersed with tan stripes. Clotho flung her end of the tether to the ground, anchoring it there and thereby connecting earth and tree.

After a few seconds, five more jets were fired at the tree, each from one of the mandibled maws of Clotho's imps. They didn't have quite the same strength as their masters, but performed their job efficiently nonetheless. Three of the strands crossed as they were expanding, forming strange shapes. Once the initial six strands solidified, the imps climbed them, heading toward the king tree. Clotho watched them go, exhilarated. They would continue creating these strands, linking the king tree to the ground, other trees, and even other strands to create an elaborate, gigantic nest. In a few hours the basic structure of the hive would be complete and real construction could begin. Until then, Clotho did have a few ideas on how to keep herself occupied. She moved out from the king tree's shade into the sunlight, lightly stepping over the mooring point of one of her soon-to-be hive's support strands.

With a few, fitful flutters, her wings unfurled from their inactive 'cloak' position and spread for use. The afternoon sunlight caught them perfectly, streaming through the transparent green membrane while glinting off the orange pigmentation that bordered it. Clotho beat her wings several times, building up enough speed to generate lift, and then rose into the air. She made a beeline for the apex of the king tree, which -as of yet- was unperturbed by the imps' work. Grinning wildly, Clotho held out a hand and sprayed a broad swath of the tree with the material, creating a surface and then a canopy to cover it. Once it hardened, Clotho charged at it with rapier extended, and broke into the canopy from above.

She quickly took stock of the structure she had made. She now hovered in a domelike chamber, complete with floor riddled with holes through which the rest of the tree could be accessed. Far below she could hear her imps at work, noisily slaving away to finish the hive. With only five imps, though, it would be a long and arduous task. Clotho landed on a branch protruding through the paper floor and lashed it with her rapier, creating a dozen more rifts through which new drone imps would claw their way into her service. Leaving the imps to their job, Clotho jammed the tip of the rapier into the crunchy floor to keep it hand before employing more magic to transform the barren dome into an acceptable Dungeon Heart.

Half an hour later, the only flaw remaining with the chamber was the high-altitude wind whining through the hole Clotho had entered by. Using a seemingly uncharacteristic amount of precision, she had fashioned chairs, tables, shelves, and (most important of all) a comfy cocoon in the room's center, anchored by a vast amount of thin strands in all directions, that hummed with Clotho's life force—her Heart. Deeply satisfied, she climbed into the open cocoon, which closed around her as she entered the requisite trance to create her first minion.

Status:
First Minion: 0/3
Location: King Tree, jungle north of Saploya River, N16°W12°
Dungeon: An incomplete and unfurnished yet 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.
Forces: 15 Drone Imps

Unlikely Heroes

Yeesh, that was a frightening period of nil. So glad we're back in business.

Dungeon Keepers

So glad that we'e back in business.

Dungeon Keepers

That's some very impressive description, Jay.

Dungeon Keepers

"Are...you sure about this?"

Theo always questioned Nona, wherever she asked him to be or whatever she asked him to do. The real question, underlying it all, was why a well-to-do youth like him from one of Virens' oldest and most prominent families would waste his time with a lowborn urchin like herself. Nona knew the answer: he saw a decently pretty face in a bad situation and had decided that, as the poor are often the most easily manipulated, to win her heart with acts of kindness. However, the boy wasn't nearly as clever as he thought he was, and Nona's quick wit continually managed to keep him at arm's length. His conviction had softened, and now he second-guessed her all the time, wanting to regain control of their interactions. Today, however, was different. Rather than grudgingly consent to what the awkward teenager thought was a relationship-building outing, Nona had herself requested his presence.

There were depths to this girl Theo couldn't fathom. Though tall, painfully thin, and flat as a board, Nona maintained a sort of quirky mystique that proved to be her number-one asset in stringing Theo along. She didn't like using people, even just accepting the hospitality of Theo's home to avoid sleeping in the streets or -worse- the stigmatized poor house, but today it was necessary. For about a month now a low, urgent voice had pleaded with her in her dark, contorted dreams, and last night they had called out for aid. That was why she and her reluctant companion journeyed through the jungle a few miles northeast of the bustling logging town of Virens, loosely following the Saploya river. Already they had passed rows and rows of stumps, slated for removal and to be replaced by new saplings, courtesy of the conscientious Virens city officials. The Biomancers' Guild would see to it that the new shoots would grow up in a range of a few months, rather than decades, and Nona loved to watch them pump radiant green magics into the soil. Magic was something she had always desired but never attained, whether by lack of schooling in the arcane arts or by not being born with the gift.

A few hours after the young pair began their trek, they stopped at a little lumber yard deep in the smothering, humid jungle interior. Both were panting and sweating as Theo knocked on the door of the hut at the yard's center. After a few minutes passed with no response, Nona, with blank eyes and face, simply pushed open the door and strode in. The voice of her dreams was here, coaxing her in. Theo began to felt a twinge of unease, but he followed her nevertheless. "What is this place..?" he whispered, and Nona rolled her eyes.

She instantly found the source of the voice. It was hard to miss: on the top shelf of a roughly-hewn cabinet (probably harvested and constructed right here) was a corked amber jug with a bug inside. This was no normal bug, however; it was easily the size of Nona's hand, wasplike in its form, but covered with nasty-looking greenish carapace and spikes. It had four glowing orange eyes, legs reminiscent of blades, and a huge stinger, from which some sort of venom had leaked to pool on the jug's bottom. As Nona's entrances gaze fell upon it, the insect beat its wings and buzzed around the jug. Theo, fascinated and disgusted by the creature, was shocked to realize that he, too, was hearing a voice from within the jug. Free me...

Theo recoiled but Nona stepped forward. Ignoring his irksome, berating inquiry of "What the hell are you doing?", Nona stretched up to the jug, seized it from the shelf, and threw it to the floor in a huge crash. Now free, the insect darted upward, zooming around the room, filling it with its ominous, droning buzz. With a shake of his head, Theo ran from the hut, muttering to himself, "Screw it. She's not worth it." Nona, meanwhile, was staring into the eyes of the bug, and it back at her. She heard it one last time, a smug thanks, before it darted forward and sank its huge stinger into her neck. Its essence passed from arthropod to human and the lifeless shell fell to the floor.

Nona screamed, her mind and body alike wracked by massive pain. With her eyes screwed shut and teeth clamped tight, she didn't see the changes coming over her. Her skin hardened and grew into a murky brownish-maroon carapace, jointed and armored. Her arms and legs grew in length, the fingers becoming clawlike digits and her five toes fusing together into three long ones, one of which faces backward. Her borrowed clothes ripped away as her exoskeleton grew, and she gained two feet of height. A pair of gossamer, beetle-like wings erupted from her back and settled into a vague cloak shape to remain protected until they could be used. Two stag beetle horns reached upward from the sides of her head. As her exterior transformed, her mind changed as well. The memories, knowledge and personality of some malevolent being, stored within the bug that had stung her, flowed through her brain. There, they fused with her own, producing neither human girl nor eldritch monstrosity but something in between. Neither of them mattered any longer--only what existed now truly mattered. With a final crack of bones dissolving, the change was complete.

Slowly, clumsily, the new Keeper pushed herself to her feet from the place on the hut's floor where she had fallen in the throes of her change. She felt confused, but very powerful. As she regained her footing, she noticed a hilt embedded in the ground, and she reached down to pluck it. The hilt belonged to a rapier, a very thin, flexible blade, covered with barbs and made of the same chitinous material as her own carapace. It was a glorious weapon, one that suited her perfectly, and just the tool to boss around some imps. She had to duck to leave the hut, as she was now taller than the doorway. There was no sign of Theo, but every sign of a glorious reign soon to begin. A passing butterfly alighted on the tip of her rapier, and the Keeper watched it with cruel, yellow eyes. "At last," she told the jungle, "I am free. My name...is Clotho."

After gently flicking the butterfly from the tip of her blade, Clotho lashed it around, cutting the earth and staining it a vile yellow-green with magic. The discoloration spread until it was about two feet in diameter, bubbling and hissing. A minute passed. Then, a small red claw reached up from one of the puddles, grabbed the edge, and hauled out an imp. Four more arose, and the puddles vanished after they did so. They looked inquisitively at the Keeper that had summoned them, sizing up their master with crossed arms. They didn't expect Clotho to quickly jab each of their necks with a finger, injecting a weaker strain of the same venom that had changed her into them. As she watched with pride, the imps fell to the ground, writhing and changing, into more insectoid forms. Afterward, they still resembled imps, but had mandibles, an extra pair of eyes, and an extra pair of arms. "Drones," she hissed. "Come with me deeper into the jungle. We have a lair to make."

Status
Location: Tiny lumber yard along the Saploya River, northeast of Virens
Dungeon: N/A
Forces: 5 Drone Imps
Compendium
Clotho - the Swarm Keeper. A lowborn human girl called Nona was stung by an insect carry the soul of a Keeper from an age long past, and the fusion of the two minds made her. A tall, lithe physical fighter that prefers speed to brute strength and is a master of bugs and parasites of all kinds. She is a foot taller than most men, with long arms and legs, and has a chitinous exoskeleton that is a dull brown-maroon in color. Two gossamer rounded wings form into a cloak when not in use.

Dungeon Keepers

Alright, I've got a clear idea in mind. In short, bugs and parasites. Did you want to make the opening post, Bbeast, and set the scene? I think it's standard or something for the maker to do the first.

Dungeon Keepers

One thing I always enjoy about these is seeing the evil imaginations of others. It's pretty fantastic.

Ah, I can hardly wait to get started. Except I must. Expect my OP tomorrow.

Dungeon Keepers (Interest Check)

I'm ready to begin.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeons: The Unsettling Future

I know school and work is really hectic this week, but our progress is really quite paltry. Still, I'm sure that over the next few days it'll bear fruit.

Dungeon Keepers (Interest Check)

You know what? This is exactly the sort of RP I've been looking for. Count me in! I'm already brainstorming new ideas.

Assallya, I think the general idea is that, initially, we primarily work with ourselves but eventually span out and are able to meet and greet/murder other Keepers.