Egress Unveiled Event: The Forgotten
Option 2: The clan you’ve messed with is outraged, their feelings towards outsiders have gone down.
Draw or write your Reosean facing down the angry crowd. Will you try to placate them and explain the Forgotten's less than fortuitous situation, or will you stand your ground and laugh in their faces?"
Featured Reoseans:
https://www.deviantart.com/reos-empire/art/Scourge-14534-901537573
https://www.deviantart.com/reos-empire/art/Somos-14129-892659177
https://www.deviantart.com/reos-empire/art/S-T2-Troall-16559-1018001738
1225 Words
By FourDayz and Renya06
Their awareness spread as the Cold did into the hearts and soul of their new thralls.
They wouldn't call themselves a hive mind.
That would imply multiple consciousnesses working towards a similar goal.
It was laughable.
They were only one mind.
And they had only one goal.
'Spread' they repeated like a mantra.
Their many eyes hadn't missed how the Untouched had fled into adjacent tunnels, yet they didn't feel the need to give chase.
They leisurely followed instead.
There was no urgency.
In time, the Cold would consume all.
The frost was beginning to form on the rim of the hole and creep across the floor. Somos took a few steps back pushing the “haedian” (as Troall introduced them as) back. The others did the same. Even if they didn’t understand the threat, they felt the urgency to stay away. They saw what had happened to the haedians of the other clan. Their bodies frosted over, eyes and bodies took on a blue hue. That wasn’t normal.
“Well, I’d say we did a terrific job wouldn’t you say?” Somos grinned though it was more of a grimace.
“I don’t quite care what happens to the other clans,” Troall started, still watching the zombified haedians march in unison. “But this? They’ll think we did this.”
Technically, you did. Somos thought. He had half a mind to keep his mouth shut.
“You said you’d stop this. How?”
“Hit him in the head.” Somos said plainly, then shrugged when Troall and the other haedians gave him an incredulous look. “It worked the first time.”
“Its a simple plan at the very least.”
It was only then that they realized roar of the wind had died down and the blizzard had moved on. The frost and snow still persisted. Troall dropped down into the first cavern. Somos and the other haedians followed after.
“It’s heading towards the next clan. Things are already tense between us and The Brutes. This will only make our lives harder than it already is!”
Somos did notice the difference between The Forgotten haedians and The Brutes. Where The Brutes looked well fed and muscled, The Forgotten were disheveled, skinny and had a desperate hungry look in their eyes. Yet he felt no remorse for them. It seemed like Troall blamed him for what happened. Well, he wasn’t the one who started the storm and even if he did, he did the job, didn’t he?
Troall sent the rest of the haedians back to home base with their equipment then addressed him. “The Brutes aren’t far from here. We’ll want to get ahead of the storm, yes?”
Somos nodded.
“Then follow me. I won’t slow down for you.”
All was quiet in The Brute's square. Or as peaceful as it ever was, with their fiery attitudes colliding against each other's on a constant basis. As a couple argued on the outskirts, fog suddenly formed out of their mouths, and they stared at the wisps of condensation in surprise; their argument temporarily abandoned. They looked around, noticing that it seemed to affect everyone else in the vicinity. It didn't take long after that for the shivers to start as the temperature plummeted.
Confusion flowed through the crowd as pale blue orbs appeared from the darkness. First, two, then more, a smaller creature leading a group of Brutes into the light of the square's many crystals. Swirls of frigid air started to buffer the bystanders, and wings flapped as headians hopped away from the uncomfortable draft.
Was this one of The Forgotten's ill-thought-out ploys again? They were truly like roaches, this lot, and only they would plan such an outlandish attack. They kept trying to plead their way into their resources, but why should the Brutes be forced to share? Troall's lying, conniving bunch were not deserving of such generosity. When their cajoling had failed, those traitors had tried to forcibly take materials but proved no match for The Brutes' overwhelming strength. Now, they were resorting to cowardly scheming in their desperate attempts to get what they wanted.
And what had they done to their brethren? They walked as if in a trance, unnaturally coloured eyes glowing in the gloom. A male headian Brute stepped in the way of the incoming disaster, still a distance away.
"Are you with Troall? Set our people free, and get out of here, intruder, or we'll make you leave!"
The creature at the front of the pack never even slowed down, "Are you deaf? I said scram!"
Troall led Somos through a maze of tunnels and caverns. They zig-zagged and twisted around tight corners. The roof was constantly changing in height. Through spots of light and almost complete darkness, Troall effortlessly navigated this strange obsticle course, calling out warnings for Somos, who could barely keep the tip of her tail in sight. If Somos wasn’t following an expert spelunker like Troall, he would never believe that someone could actually get from one place to another.
Yet, here they stood at the mouth of another cavern, Somos trying to catch his breath. Troall barely seemed exhausted.
Well she didn’t just finish fighting a battalion, he thought bitterly to himself.
This cavern was much larger than the rest. The ground was much smoother and flat but most notable of all, it housed society of haedians. The same well-built, adept fighters that Frosty’s power had claimed. The other clan, Somos guessed. Directly to their left was the storm. It’s radius far bigger than before and growing. The haedians were beginning to gather around it and formulate a plan. Unfortunately, whatever they came up with useless once the cold touched them.
“Troall! Surface dweller!”
“Ah, shit,” Somos groaned. A few of them had spotted the pair. They rushed forward and surrounded them.
“This another one of you surface dweller pranks?” One snarled viciously. “We’ve had ENOUGH of these stupid games you and your friends have been playing with us.”
“Look at what they’ve done!” Another spat with all the venom they could muster. They pointed a claw to their enslaved companions, trapped within the blizzard’s walls. “How do you explain this harmless prank?”
They continued to shout a Troall demanding action and retribution. To send the surface dweller back where they came since they’ve caused nothing but bane since their arrival.
It almost made him feel a little bad for Troall.
But he had heard enough whining from this other clan. The storm was advancing and no amount of bargaining was going to get Frosty to reign himself in.
Somos jumped forward, knocking a couple of the haedians over, telling them to stick it where the sun don’t shine instead of apologizing. He heard a quite a few gasps and could help but chuckle. He aimed straight for the centre of the storm.
The plan? Tackled the blue bastard to the floor. After that? Run.
There was no way they were going to stick around to clean up this mess, not that there was much that the could do. He was pretty sure he severed the last few ties with the vulgar words he used. No, he was no diplomat.