Art by the lovely  DragonFoxDemon
Cintiwyrm, Overlord Resonance-of-Gemstones mine

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Water drips.

The smell is wet Earth and iron rusted, a hint of copper and other smells that escape definition at the long moment of the Eternal Now. The sound curves oddly in this chamber, where the eye wants to look forever on, but the inner ear keeps telling you that it's curving downwards at an ever steady rate. It feels strange, and your stomach feels like it should be flipping.

It's not. Perhaps that is what's most disturbing of all.

Your approach to the throne was quiet, respectful, and the Overlord looked upon you with his four eyes, observing you with a languid moment of his fronds and antennae. He took his time, letting his glass slip upon the tray held by a slave attendant, and nodded his approval to his advisor who sat upright upon a cushion beside him.

"Welcome.". He spoke, but it didn't seem to be with his mouth. He spoke, and his voice whispered in your thoughts. "You are not what I expected, but you are welcome, none the less, to the throne of thehirteen realms of the Cintiwyrm Hedgemoney. Yours is the fourth species we have encountered. But yours, yes, is very welcome. Come, approach the throne, let us have a look at you."

You do so. The Cintiwyrm had come at the hour of need for your people, through the greatest war if survival that you had ever waged. The Swarm had come, and eaten through all but the very last line when the Wyrms had landed, and provided a significant defense to your people. It would take generations to recover the damages done, but generations or not, it had a chance now.