A Weapon Too Free

The Suss

"That is a hell of a view," Essendra said.

The sky was the first thing that struck you. A vast dome of shimmering colours that was larger than Vellanixhal. Magical energies of a dozen different Circles were intertwined up there. If there was a pattern, it was too complicated for mortal eyes to comprehend. Essendra wondered if it always flickered or if the need to renew the spell was the reason it did so. Either way it was a majestic sight.

The dome exactly matched a huge depression in the ground. It looked like an open, conical quarry, but on a grander scale. There were paths and causeways running up and down the sloping sides, criss-crossing as they went. At many junctions there were tall humps resembling termite mounds. Perspective was deceptive, though, because while those paths seemed wide enough for just one person, in fact they were easily broad enough for three wagons. The termite mounds were each as tall as four- or five-storey house. What the eye had taken to be a bush was, in fact, a tree.

The slope steepened as it approached the middle of the pit. There were other termite mounds here, larger still, and old buildings of more traditional construction. Stairways were cut into the bare rock, alongside rope bridges and ladders. Even from this distance you could see figures, some humanoid, some not, moving about. Eventually the incline was steep enough that it was more like a wall than a floor. Here there were windows cut into it, and doorways, connecting whatever labyrinthine underground passages lay beneath the topside buildings. It was dark there, even during the day. As the sheer walls descended they were too shadowed to make out any further detail. The dead centre of the pit was a shaft and no human eyes had ever seen the bottom.

Rising out of the chthonic gloom was another building. It was impossibly slender. Perhaps it had once been a wizard's tower before the insects of the Suss had made it their own. Its vaults lay somewhere in the very bottom of the pit but it stretched high enough to almost reach the level of the pit's lip. Whereas the other buildings were plain, this tower was painted bright colours, ones that matched the shimmer overhead. If it had been left to the elements the decoration would have long since faded. The monsters must have maintained it. Essendra could only guess at the reason. Dozens of little windows and balconies poked out of the walls. Many were filled with teeming masses of insect bodies. At the very top of the tower, where you might expect a pointed roof or flat surface etched with arcane symbols, there was a large, pulsating orb. It was irregularly-shaped, almost like a misty gemstone of remarkable size. It wasn't quite possible to tell what it was exactly. A magical crystal, perhaps, or a giant egg-sac. Perhaps even the bower of a giant monster that ruled over the insect nation.

"That is a hell of a view," Essendra repeated. She wasn't wrong.

The Suss, as big as it was, was ringed by adventurers. Insect monsters would start pushing through the barrier once it had weakened enough and the adventurers were there to stop them from spilling out into the countryside. There was a festival atmosphere in anticipation of the bonanza of experience the slaughter offered. Dedicated teams were standing by ready to clear a path for the scouting parties heading into the heart of the monsters' lair. There were spellcasters on the ground, ready to accost any flying monsters that made a break for it. It would be a fool's errand to try to stop every monster; stopping the most dangerous of them was enough. The remainder would be cleared up over the coming months.

Sellas's scouting party had been assigned a route that entered on the south side of the Suss. They waited a safe distance from the magical shield until it flickered into near invisibility. Pushing against the barrier was a curious prickling sensation that none of them enjoyed. The magic felt like it was clawing at their arms and legs, pulling them back. Drud even needed a helping push to break through. The support team spread out in front of them, on the lookout for any attackers.