Chapter 983: A Tour of Ash and Fire

h.e.l.lo, dear readers! Once again, it is I, your friend Travelling Tolly, writing to you of my adventures in the lands of the Colony!

And such a grand adventure it has been. From the charming city of Renewal, to the wonders of Anthome and the incredible things these industrious monsters have created, I must say I have been positively delighted with my experience.

Also, it cannot be overstated, that the tea and biscuit service has been as fine as one would find in the Golden City itself. That is not something I say lightly, dear reader! But it is true!

So many people neglect the importance of the little things when going on tour. Yes, obviously, seeing wondrous marvels that cannot be seen anywhere else is important, but getting a decent cup of tea and a bikkie for dipping is what elevates an experience to the truly unforgettable!

That is my position and I shall not be dissuaded from it!

I must say that my guide, the wonderful Emilia, had been beyond patient. I had originally engaged her to tour Renewal and the nearby nest, and here we were, weeks later, about to descend to the third stratum. She was the soul of patience, and very accepting of my constantly shifting priorities.

"As long as you"ll have me, I will be happy to accompany you throughout the lands of the Colony," she told me. Such a lovely and caring young lady!

She was very particular about our sleep schedule though.

So it was at last that we descended into the third stratum. Now, as you may know, reader, the third is not a popular destination for travellers. Abysmally hot, hard to breathe, and not much to look at unless you enjoy looking at millions of wriggling demons trying to poke each other in the eye.

Nevertheless! I have committed to exploring ALL of the Colony"s territories, and so I shall!

On the day of our departure, my escorts and I gathered together with Emilia within the walls of Anthome. The three of us had been confined to a special "acclimation zone" for several days to allow our bodies to adjust to higher mana densities in comfort, a welcome innovation to say the least.

"Welcome Tolly," Emilia smiled, "I hope you rested well?"

"It was difficult to sleep with all the excitement - don"t glare at me, girl, I rested! I rested!"

She is quite strict on proper sleep.

"I am pleased to hear it."

Once more, serenity settled over the face of our guide and she led us through the well appointed and wonderfully decorated tunnels of the ant nest.

The Colony had been relentless in its dedication to overcoming my expectations, so I was quite excited to see what they had in store for us in the third. I didn"t expect the surprises to start before we even arrived!

"What"s this?" I asked, a little wide-eyed.

"This is our conveyance deeper into the Dungeon," came the matter of fact reply.

We had been led to a fairly largish chamber, perhaps forty metres across, with a solid metal floor. There were other people gathered as well, standing in loose groups around the place, golgari, human, brathian, even a ka"armodo.

"We aren"t taking a gate?"

"The Colony likes to be mana-efficient and gates are anything but. This chamber, and another nine just like it, were built to move people and cargo between the second and third strata. Moving this way, we will consume only ten percent of the mana than it would take for us to move via gate."

"But how long will it take? It"s a long way down…."

"We will arrive in an hour."

"An hour!"

I was dubious to say the least, dear reader. However, I swallowed my doubts. The Colony had proven me wrong many times already!

It was a good thing that I kept quiet. As the room continued to fill with people, a bell chimed, loud and clear from somewhere overhead.

"Miss Tolly. Place your feet in through the loops," Emilia advised.

I looked down to see that small, metallic loops had been released from the floor at regular intervals. All around me, pa.s.sengers were finding a place on the platform and slipping their feet through the strange material.

When amongst the Colony, do as they do! That"s my advice, reader, and I am seldom wrong!

My escorts and I hastened to imitate the others and I found, much to my amazement, that the loops tightened themselves over my feet once I"d slipped them through. Quite remarkable! And comfortable enough, I might add. Nothing more than a slight pressure to the top of the foot.

"We will be going quite fast," Emilia told me calmly, "the straps ensure that you don"t fly up off the platform."

"Off the… how fast will we be going exactly?"

"Very."

It started slowly, at least. The platform on which we stood gave a gentle lurch, no more than a slight dip, then it began to descend at a stately pace.

It was then I realised that we had been stood on top of a circular, vertical shaft. The walls were completely smooth stone, flattened to a degree that scarcely seemed possible.

We continued to accelerate, and continued, and continued, until the walls were a dizzying blur and that slight pressure on the roof of my foot had grown significantly.

Despite the obvious speed we were travelling, I felt remarkably comfortable, as if I were insulated from the wind pressure somehow. Looking around me, I could see some gentlemen were reading newspapers, and one old lady appeared to have fallen asleep!

"This set of shafts was dug almost ten years ago," Emilia informed me, never missing an opportunity to educate on the Colony"s workings. "It was decided that moving personnel and material between the main nest in the second stratum and the third was much too slow and a more rapid means needed to be employed that used less mana than the gate. As you can imagine, the Colony needs to move tens of thousands of individuals every day, the gates were stretched to breaking point, so another solution needed to be found. The shaft runs for a hundred kilometres, straight down."

"And we will complete our journey in an hour?"

"That is correct."

And she was right. We chatted back and forth as the platform continued to descend at its absurd speed. I felt it begin to slow a full ten minutes before we reached our destination. When it finally came to a stop, the pa.s.sengers around me slipped their feet from the loops and began to make their way to the exit, a neat opening that now appeared on one side of the shaft.

"Here we are," Emilia smiled. "The third stratum awaits."