The walk to the center of power for the arachnid people was a brief one, the great crag flowed with the smoothness expected of insectoid peoples, following marked-out paths that Inta couldn't perceive if he tried for a thousand years but which for Entoma might as well have been lit up like the northern lights that Solution reported in the distant coastal lands of Mict'aratz. Vendors sold curious furry looking fruits and meats that smelled wholly unfamiliar, save for some which were clearly legs of the ants which served as pack mules. There was no shouting, and the only real noise to speak of was the steady, constant… tap and scratch.
Tap and scratch.
Tap and scratch.
Tap and scratch.
Of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of legs on every surface, occasionally there was the sound of a tinging of metal against metal from a smith, but little was said and there was no music that Inta could hear.
But to Entoma? There was a noise that was otherworldly in its appeal, composed not of spoken words or the strumming of lutes, it was composed instead of pheromones, music as a scent that her receptors could pick up in ways that delighted her down to her soul.
She cast her eyes about the hustle and bustle of the wide open ground and found the cause, a scorpionwoman stood on a single ancient stone that was part of the canyon itself and 'danced' back and forth, swaying her upper torso and lightly clicking her claws together while she swayed, casting out the music that could not be compared with anything in the Sorcerous Empire.
Their guide slowed and Entoma watched as he turned his torso to look at the woman of his species, her stinger swaying in perfect rhythm, she had an almost human shape in the upper part of her body, and like him, wore nothing but her outer shell.
Had they not been under an obligation to reach their destination, one thing was clear, 'He would have stopped to enjoy her art, and maybe more.' Other scorpionmen and women were lingering near, swaying in time with the pheromonal musician.
But they had duties, and though Entoma was tempted to ask for him to linger, she said nothing. And so they passed on, continuing on the busy but quiet city until they reached a great wide stone which might have once been a plateau itself, but which instead had been carved into a single great palace.
It was the most human looking out of all the structures, and even it was unlike anything Entoma had ever seen. The vendors' stands were all carved into the stone itself, forever rooted into place, and worn smooth by time or intent. But the palace? The palace was the same 'in theory' carved out of the stone itself but the vast array of colors which marked the canyon wall had been 'worked with' to instead create an endless web of designs out of the many layered shades of the painted chasm walls.
So instead of layers, these shades made shapes, carvings of ants down at the base gave way to carvings of spiderpeople near the middle, and scorpionpeople at the top. Vast in number, all were shown in various scenes as if the very palace itself told the story of their rise.
Ants and what appeared to be 'antpeople' were shown carving out rock, spiders stringing bridges, and then great stone carvings of battle scenes against the beastmen. 'The cause of those gashes in the canyon walls.' Entoma recognized, and the carvings that made up the palace showed what one might expect. Beastmen falling to their deaths or pulled to it by spider webbing, scorpion stingers over beastmen corpses, and swarms of ants and those she now assumed stood over them, overwhelming beastmen forces.
Entoma felt an immediate sense of doubt about the accuracy of the depiction. 'They may rule themselves, but they are too afraid of the Devor for me to believe they won as handily as these carvings suggest they did.' The palace conveniently enough, had stone steps ascending to an open doorway, that was the next thing she realized was off.
'There are no doors.' A few houses had dangling webs that swayed in the wind, but wood was almost nonexistent, and anyone could have just walked into any open area without so much as a by your leave.
At the palace steps stood two oversized ants, and like the others before, these showed no sign of intelligence, but at the top of the steps stood a pair of towering scorpionmen as guards. They wore no armor and bore no other weapons than the ones with which they were born, but to say they were large would be to credit the word, too little. They towered as tall as Minotaur Champions, as tall as Entoma twice over and their claws were large enough to easily close over three or four heads at once.
'If we had not been escorted, there would be a fight if we tried to get in here, I'm sure of that.' Inta thought as the guards clicked their mouths and allowed the escort to pass by. Inta and Entoma drew many a curious glance, but no word of question or welcome or even hostility passed their way.
The palace itself was unlit, completely dark except for a little bit of glowing moss that was so obviously not strategically placed that Entoma dismissed the faint green glow as a mere byproduct of something that passed for 'art' in their minds or was otherwise somehow considered decorative, or useful in some unforeseen way.
The steady click of the guard's pointed legs continued as he indifferently led them through the winding passages which were wide enough only for two to pass abreast, everything, compared to the Academy at least, was far more confined.
Yet far from feeling uneasy, it felt as natural as walking to move through the shadows, clad in her mask and her fine travel attire, she couldn't help but think, 'I chose the perfect companion for this.' She was right, Inta had no trouble with the darkness and no trouble with the stone confinement surrounding them both, for him it was as easy as a stroll through the parks of Arwintar. She felt her heart skip a beat while she looked at him. Without thinking about it, he'd moved in front of her to act as her bodyguard, and without considering it, she'd allowed him.
He moved with the easy swagger of a veteran confident in his skills, and with good reason. 'I may have bested him, but that was only an exhibition, I mustn't ever forget that he survived being hunted throughout the Southern Holy Kingdom and wrought havoc with a handful against whole armies.' As sanguimancers went he was second to none, even if he was no match for Nazarick. But then again, what could be?
These affectionate thoughts and praisings carried on for her until they reached a smaller passage, a long tunnel too small for most forms of beastmen to get through, and the scorpionman stopped and waved them through.
"Go." He said. "I will be here when you are done." His sideways jaws chittering several times as if to say he was done talking.
Inta went through first, the walls were so close he didn't have to stretch his arms out to touch both sides, and the reason was clear. It would keep larger beastmen from getting inside.
When they came out the other side after several lengthy minutes walk through the pitch black tunnel, they emerged into a wide chamber shrouded in darkness but which was plain as day to the visiting ambassador and her escort.
They didn't miss seeing the guards on the wall, a mix of ants, scorpionman handlers, and spiderwomen, though the spiderwomen at least wore armor on their torsos and carried metal swords and shields. 'Another entrance must be around for them to get in and out of here…' But there was no clear answer as to where it lay, not that Inta could see when he thought it over.
In the far center of the room against the wall sat a pallet of high stone on which sat a spiderwoman and a scorpionman. "Who are you to come before the throne of the Kingdom of the Crag. Arachnaden does not see many visitors, and they have almost never been good ones." The scorpionman chittered his jaws after he finished speaking, and the spiderwoman put a hand on his shoulder.
"Now, now, a few manners wouldn't hurt. I am Arachne. Mother of the webs. This is Antares, Father of the Crags. You are strangers here, and that is rare, but strangers may mean many things, good or ill, only you can tell us which it will be. So…?" She extended a human hand and held it palm up while spider legs tapped the stone beneath her. "Tell us."
"I am Entoma Vasilissa Zeta of the Sorcerous Empire to the west." Entoma said and stepped forward two paces before taking a deep bow. "I come to inform you of the coming destruction of the Devor Empire. They are damned, and it is our hope that you will allow our armies to pass through your lands, even build the bridges we need, to easily reach and destroy our enemy."
The Mother of the Webs and Father of the Crags took one look at each other, and began to laugh so uproariously that their bodies spasmed as if having a seizure for several unbroken minutes.