After the team's first encounter with the giant ants the prospect of wading through an entire army of them lost it's sheen. The acidic smell of dying ants surrounded them and they could hear the sounds of more ants coming up the tunnel. They quickly devised a plan, using their knowledge of nature, to avoid detection by covering themselves in the pheromones of dying ants. They watched with cautious curiosity as new worker ants arrived and began to lift and carry the corpses of the dead ants away back down into the hive. Feeling brave the group decided to hitch a ride along with the dead ants and hid themselves among the corpses. The worker ants did not detect them, due to their camouflaging scents, and dutifully carried them away along with the dead ant husks.
Along the way Jym kept an eye on the crystal compass. As they passed a major crossroads the compass took a distinct turn, but the group was carried swiftly past the area. Suddenly the worker ants carried the party out into an open area and marched toward a cliff. Over the cliff was a massive midden heap largely made up of the corpses of giant ants. Before they could be tossed onto the heap the group was able to get safely off their rides. The workers were confused by these "dead ants" that moved and attempted to grab them and toss them into the pit, but the party fell back and stayed out of reach.
Just when it seemed that they had been backed into a corner a high pitched screech pierced the air. The sound seemed to come from deep within the hive and the worker ants immediately responded to the sound, surging back into the tunnels. When the cliff area was cleared the party was alone. They decided to go see what the commotion was about and followed the ants back inside. When they reached the cross-roads they had passed before they found a raging battle underway. An invading group of kruthick were fighting their way into the hive. Kruthick appear to be a twisted cross between insects and reptiles with poisonous spines protruding from their chitinous armor. Giant ants were swarming over the invaders and dying in droves as the much tougher kruthick tore them apart.
The high-pitched cry came again, this time sounding closer and coming from the tunnel the compass pointed out before. Jym checked it again and found that the crystal source was moving. Could it be a living thing? The party watched from the side-lines as the battle raged on and the ants began to lose ground to the invaders as more arrived. The huge ant queen entered the area, covered in crystal shards protruding from her massive body and pulsing with magical light. The newcomers attacked the party, pulling them into the combat.
Lethe charged past the middle of the fight to single out the queen. She lashed out with vicious kicks from her many legs and spitting acid. The kruthick shot poisonous spines at their enemies and cut and slashed with their razor sharp mandibles. Dawn noticed that patches of the tunnel gave off an arcane aura that could possibly be exploited offensively. She targeted one of these patches near the insectoid combatants with a burst attack and was rewarded by a chain reaction of arcane explosions, devastating the creatures. Scion's elemental attacks also reacted with the arcane patches, compounding damage on her targets. The party focused their attacks on the ant queen, weakening her, until the kruthick pulled her down and began to devour her. Most of the ants had been slain at this point.
A massive kruthick hive lord entered the fight, sending the remaining kruthick into a killing frenzy. Macros got its attention quickly and was savaged by it. Jym and Mongo stepped up to support Macros allowing him enough time to take his second wind. The front line fighters were drenched in venom spit from the hive lord. The party surrounded the remaining kruthick and eventually brought them all down. During the short breather after the fight Mongo collected poisonous spines from the kruthick and Jym harvested more chaos crystals from the corpse of the dead ant queen.
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