Chrysalis

Holy. Moly.

I freeze in shock and surprise for so long that the ants behind just start climbing up my legs and over my back. When they run into my antennae, I come back to myself and start moving again, still boggling at the ridiculous sight in front of me.

From our position, the road begins to slope down again, towards a… basin? Filled with… a desert? I guess? It's absolutely massive. It's been kind of hard for me to visualise just how much space these mountains take up on the inside, but this makes it fairly easy.

They're big. Really big.

Somehow, the ka'armodo managed to carve out the entire thing and turn it into one giant desert playground, without the mountain collapsing on their heads. I guess they aren't wizard-lizards for nothing. As mages, the big scaled snobs are respected the world over.

The basin itself isn't just a barren, sandy wasteland either, oh no. Most of it is taken up with a truly massive city, with more towers and residences climbing up the walls on the mountain interior, much like Rylleh. Goodness knows how many ka'armodo actually live here, but it could be as many as a million, given all the space they've got, along with their setsulah retinues. I'm starting to realise why Desert Basin is considered such a hub. It's incredible.

Fortunately, we don't have to go too far to reach our destination. Another pavilion, even larger and more lavish than the last one, has been erected close to the entrance and away from the main city. We find it and begin setting up, but it isn't long before a sinuous thread of mind magic slithers through the air and prods me.

I don't let it connect, but rather begin to trace it back to the source. The caster has gone to great lengths to conceal their location, sending their spell winding through twisted paths, using only just enough mana to bridge the gap, inverting and hiding it as much as possible.

But, I suspect they didn't go all out, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to manage it. Turns out, Rassan'tep isn't all that far away. In fact, he's directly beneath me.

"I'm just going to dig a quick tunnel," I announce to the room.

"Is that a wise idea, Eldest?" Sloan scurries over to ask. "We've been expressly forbidden from digging on our own."

"This one should be fine. I'll be back in a few minutes."

As much as we're being watched while here in the Desert Basin, there aren't even any setsulah here inside the pavilion with us, let alone a ka'armodo. Besides that, I think Rassan'tep is just as interested as I am in keeping this face-to-face a secret.

With a flex of my many minds, I summon my earth mana and begin to peel away the sand beneath my feet, revealing the rock beneath, which I also tunnel through. I don't have to go far, only a few metres, before the stone opens up into a chamber below. I clear just enough space to squeeze myself through and head down, sealing the tunnel shut again behind me.

I find myself in a dimly lit, secretive-looking space, with braziers burning low in the corners.

As expected, Rassan'tep is here, the massive ka'armodo, with his arms folded across his chest… ish… bit, along with his full retinue of setsulah. As his kind prefers, the lizard-wizard is fully decked out in golden decorations; rings, torques, bracelets, all thick and gleaming, adorn him just about everywhere they can. In fact, I think he has a new nose ring, something I haven't seen on any other ka'armodo.

Once again, that barely noticeable thread of a mind-bridge reaches out to me, and this time I accept it.

[Hey Rassan'tep, how've you been? Not rustling termites at all, are you?]

The old lizard flares his nostrils, eyes narrowing.

[I hope you have not come to speak to me of termites. There are ancient beasts of unfathomable power in the deep beneath us, waking for the first time in centuries. It would be a waste to spend time conversing about those… things.]

He's not wrong. Termites still suck, though. Hate those guys.

[Alright, fine. I know Arconidem is awake, which should be exciting for you. In fact, I saw him, kind of. Freaky-looking thing.]

The ka'armodo grows still, as do his servants, clueing me in that they too are part of this conversation.

[You saw, the Demon God?] he asks carefully.

[Well, in person? No. He sort of projected himself via ambient mana. I don't think I can explain it better than that. Looked like a demon larva, except… big. And on a chair. Throne. Thing. Except the chair is alive. No wait, the chair is part of him, and he is alive, so the chair is too. Alive.]

Somehow, the ancient mage manages to make sense of what I'm trying to say.

[Yes, your description matches what we know of the Demon God. He appears as his children, the larval form of the demons, except seated upon a great throne, and colossal in size.]

Do I feel like there's a little bit of reverence in the eyes of this lizard and his lizard-adjacent servants as they look at me? I hope not, holy moly.

[Look, I know you're big supporters of Arconidem, or worship him, but I have to say, I'm not a fan. What he's doing to the demons? Forcing them to fight each other? Lame. Big time.]

That doesn't go down so well, but Rassan'tep manages to restrain himself.

[Let us not discuss the relationship between the Demon God and the demons. That goes back a long time, and is more complex than you might think. Let us instead turn to the knowledge that you crave. We do not have long, and I am certain you have many questions.]