In the centre of the large opening, surrounded by hundreds of lamia and then thousands of spiders, there was a pedestal and on it there was an egg. At first glance, the egg didn’t look special, just another lamia egg, it was white and leathery like any other. But since it was brought outside and put on the decorated pedestal for everyone to see, of course, it was special.
The egg trembled ever so slightly pulling everyone’s attention.
“So it begins…” The Spider King looked at the egg with anticipation.
“Our first child, sss…” The Queen Lamia looked at the egg with affection.
The egg trembled again, a bulge pressed against the leathery exterior, soon the shell split open. A tiny snake-like head poked out of the hole.
“SSS!” The child hissed demanding attention.
“Yes! [Inspect].” The Spider King invoked straight away.
Monster Race: Serpentine
Variant: Royal Chaos Lamia
Magic Affinity: Dark
👑
🕸️🐍🕸️
🎆
HP:15
MP:25
STA:12
Active Perks
[Illusion], [Charming Gaze]
Passive Perks
[Reflective Scales], [Chaos Blessed]
Resistances
[Cold Weakness: Medium], [Dark Resistance: Lesser]
The child, like all lamia hatchlings, was more snake-like than human-like at this point, but the humanoid features will develop with time. But more importantly, the hatchling’s skin was obsidian black and her big round eyes were purple; this was in contrast with Lamia Queen’s pale tones. What this meant was that she was a Chaos Lamia and not Cave Lamia like her mother. Also, the stats were still low, but she was an infant so they will grow in time.
But the most importantly. “She inherited my Chaos Blessed!” He exclaimed slightly concerned, after all, that perk was a tad bit unpredictable.
“Oh, no… Sss!” The Lamia Queen hissed in contempt. “There’s no doubt… Sss… She’s the Chaos Lamia Queen!”
Indeed, his wife had warned him that sooner or later a Chaos Queen variant would appear. But this was a cause of celebration, no?
“Why are you looking like that at our child?” He asked somewhat worried.
“SSS!” The hatchling hissed at Lamia Queen with an equal amount of animosity.
“SSS!” The Lamia Queen hissed back. “We’re different variants-sss, and more importantly, there can’t be two Queens-sss!”
“There can’t?” The Spider King struggled to understand some lamia traditions and customs to this very day. “But she’s our daughter.”
“She is, sss,” she acknowledged mellowing ever so slightly, “but she’ll never see me as her own… We’re sort of rivals now.”
“That can’t be…”
As if to prove the point the hatchling slithered off the pedestal and then towards her mother only to let out a piercing ‘SSS’ of harsh discontent. But then right after, she slithered to her father to display a completely different reaction.
“Sss.” She hissed softly and the hiss was filled with loving affection.
And right after the hatchling coiled around the King’s leg and then slithered expertly all the way up to his neck. It happened so fast that there was barely any time to react.
“Huh?” The Spider King felt something wet on his neck, it wasn’t exactly a kiss because it came with a prick leaving two tiny punctures on his neck.
“Well, sss, at least she likes you.” The Lamia Queen commented with a nostalgic smile.
Slightly confused about the bite, he pulled the coiled hatchling away from his neck. His daughter gave him a curious look and hissed a mirthful giggle of ‘S-s-s’. Her tail was now wrapped tightly around his arm and she looked rather comfortable.
“She’s stronger than she looks.” He commented on the binding sensation.
The previous harsh gaze of the Lamia Queen was nowhere to be seen and she approached closer. “I wouldn’t expect any less from our child… if only she wasn’t a…”
“SSS!” The hatchling child bared her razor-sharp fangs at her mother.
“A different variant…” The Queen Lamia finished.
“I think she’s perfect.” He said honestly. “And I bet, with some time and good parenting, you’ll get along just fine!”
“SSS!” The daughter hissed again harshly making the Lamia Queen slither away to keep the distance.
“We’ll sss-see…” She didn’t sound too convinced.
Well, even if the nearby cave lamias weren’t exactly ecstatic about the turn of events, he was positively happy with this child. And in contrast, the young chaos lamias were giddily hissing something at the borders of the gathering.
“Anyways-sss, I guess we have a new queen, sss-o a ceremony is in order. Husband you should let the chaos lamias do their thing.” She pointed at the obsidian-coloured Lamia who were standing on the sidelines.
“Oh, I guess I should.”
His wife and her subjects gave way to the approaching group of chaos lamias.
“My King, sss.” The oldest and the obvious leader of the group addressed. “Finally, the day has come.”
He simply nodded.
The Chaos Lamia finished gathering infront of the Chaos Lamia Queen. The hatchling child refused to leave his left arm, so he just raised it towards the gathered group. The lamia lowered themselves giving the equivalent of kneeling. He couldn’t help but notice his daughter’s eyes glow in bright purple.
“Is this her Chaos Blessed in action?” He wondered in a whisper.
All Chaos Lamia spoke in unison: “Bound by blood and Chaos, sss, we swear an eternal oath to our Chaos Lamia Queen, sss, for she is our sovereign, our mistress, and the daughter of our King. In her presence, sss, we offer our fangs and sss-scales as sss-symbols of our loyalty, ready to strike fear into the hearts-sss of her enemies-sss. We pledge our mortal bodies and undying sss-souls for our Queen in this eternal oath. With her command, sss, we shall unleash Chaos upon the world. Long live the Chaos Queen! SSS!” The Chaos Lamia eyes glowed bright in purple. “Long live the Chaos Queen!” They repeated and the glow disappeared.
With those last words, the Chaos Lamia simply slithered back to the sidelines of the large gathering. The ceremony was rather short, and judging from the unusually pale face of his wife, the Lamia Queen, it was an unusual one. Indeed, it did sound somewhat menacing.
The Spider King gave a glance to his daughter’s eyes, they were back to the mundane purple.
She raised her chin as if proud letting yet another giggle. “S-s-s.”
“You won’t unleash Chaos upon this world, will you?” He asked concerned.
“S-s-s.” Was the reply of the daughter.
…
While the birth of Chaos Lamia Queen was an unexpected one, the rest of the celebrations proceeded as planned. Various petitioners were waiting in line to shower either the hatchling child or her parents with gifts. Well, no one would outdo the GIANT ‘ENEMY’ SPIDER but there were a few gifts worth mentioning.
“… and thus, I present you our best and brightest.” The High Chief pointed at the gathering of young drows kneeling behind him.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
For one reason or another, all of them were young girls, and for more unknown reasons they were wearing nothing but sacks for clothing. While the sacks were made out of Blue Cloth, by no way this was an appropriate attire for your ‘best and brightest’; well, the Drow had developed traditions of their own…
The High Chief Continued. “As you might have guessed the assistants here,” he pointed at the group behind, “they have unique perks and talents and will surely serve your child well. And of course, when the time comes, don’t be hesitant to Evolve them into Driders!”
Oh! So that was his angle… More Driders. The prerequisites for the Drow to evolve were somewhat elusive, after all, the only drow to evolve so far was the Drow Assistant. Well, the time will show.
“I thank you for the young Drow Assistants, we’ll look after them well.” He thanked.
And so did the nearby wife. “Yes-sss, thank you.” Albeit sounding somewhat withdrawn. No doubt she still worried about the future of two Lamia variants.
There was nothing to worry about! He took the arm of his wife into his trying to comfort her.
“It will be fine.” He reassured. “You can do this, no, together we can do this.”
The next notable mention was Gareth.
“I present you,” he pointed at a flock of shadowy and tentacled monsters, “IceShard Devourers! Fully trained and Tamed. With this, your transportation empire will reach new heights!”
“Yes!” The Spider King jumped out of his seat with clear excitement. “You’re absolutely right. I’m so happy your little project worked out!”
Gareth gave a self-satisfied bow right before leaving.
While the IceShard Devourer wasn’t a very fast monster, it could fly and that by itself was revolutionary! Moreover, it was capable of carrying a significant load on its back, and thus perfect for flying shipments.
That was that, and the next were of course the Kobold King.
“My King,” He began from under the umbrella. “I offer you my bestest daughter, yes-yes, so you can MARRY her!”
A shy kobold emerged from behind the bulky Kobold King, her yellow scales were glistening in the light with a bright golden sheen. She didn’t wear much for clothing except for a simple-looking loincloth yet most of her body was covered in gem-encrusted bands, bracelets and other jewellery.
Well, there were a lot of ‘off’ points about all of this. First, the celebration was for his hatched daughter, so shouldn’t the Kobold King offer a son to serve the Chaos Queen as a knight or something like that? Second, he was already happily married, and third….
The Lamia Queen jumped out of her seat. “You lizard! I’ll eat you and your daughter! SSS!” She proclaimed waving a fist.
“Eek!” The shy kobold disappeared behind her dad.
“Eek!” The Kobold King disappeared behind his drow wife.
The Drow Wife, the one who still held the massive umbrella, sheltered her husband from the possible Lamia Queen’s assault.
“I told him this was a bad idea. I did. We’re so sorry.” She bowed deeply to the Queen in apology.
And thus the ‘gift’ had to be denied. However, not before a curious ‘[Inspect]’.
Monster Race: Dragonoid
Variant: Royal Gold Kobold
Magic Affinity: Light
👑
💛 🦎💛
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HP:50
MP:500
STA:50
Active Perks
[Claw], [Tail Swipe], [Carve Metal]
Passive Perks
[Gem Sense], [Dragon Blood], [Gold Scales]
Resistances
[Elemental Resistance: Medium]
And while the Spider King wasn’t much into kobolds, this one was positively shiny; especially that 500 MP; which was rather unusual. Later he’ll make sure to visit the Kobold King and propose that the two daughters become friends, surely a kobold like that is bound to become legendary.
After kobolds came the Mer, or well the large fish tank with their representative, the Mer Princess. While they entrusted the Spider King with their Sapphire Scales it seems that it wasn’t the only gift the Mer had prepared.
Day Sapphire showered the Lamia Queen with a plethora of praises, and for what must be five solid minutes, and it did wonders to raise her otherwise sour mood.
“… May the Queens be forever Beautiful!” With those words, the spiders rolled no less than a hundred barrels of Kelp Cream. “All yours, my Queen.” Day Sapphire bowed to her Queen.
“How wonderful, sss!” The Lamia Queen exclaimed. “I wouldn’t expect any less from my sss-subjects.” She clapped her hands in glee.
Indeed, the Mer were serving under the Lamia Queen, or at least this was the official story, but considering the events in the CreamKelp fields the reality was much different. Of course, the Queen didn’t need to know any of that!
Day Sapphire gave a cheeky wink to the Spider King and with that her tank was pushed away.
The next one was the messenger spider coming from the territory of the Great Ancestral Tree, the wisp due to natural limitations couldn't be present but they did send a present.
“From the Wisp. To the child.” The spider bowed handing in an item.
The item was a wooden crown and it was rather simple in its design with no flair and decorations but as soon as the Spider King laid his fingers on the crown he could feel powerful magic swirling inside; and he didn’t even have that Magic Sight! This was something very powerful…
“[Inspect].”
Item: Crown of Dominion
Quality: Legendary
Bonuses
+500MP,
Active Perks
[Bestow Rank], [Create Dominion]
Passive Perks
[Growth: Medium], [Leadership Aura]
Resistances
[Charm Resistance], [Undestructable]
Yeah, to be this powerful, the materials no doubt had to come from the Great Ancestral Tree itself. And the crown had some interesting perks. The only unknown there was the Create Dominion perk, it was even coloured red, well, it wasn’t too hard to guess what it did, but even then, the exact effects of it were mysterious.
Either way, this was a splendid gift. “Spider, send our thanks to the Wisp.”
And just like that, one messenger spider was replaced by another.
“From the Myconid Queen. To the child.” The spider bowed handing in an item.
“Oh?”, “SSS?”, the two were generally surprised.
The Myconid Queendom was a small one so no one expected any gifts, yet the spider had an item in its spidery hand. The item was only a tiny bead, no bigger than a marble.
“[Inspect].”
Item: Spore of Control
Quality: Masterwork
Active Perks
[Enthral]
Description
A super rare and powerful spore that, when released, allows the user to permanently enthral the target.
“SSS! I want that. Give it to me!” The Lamia Queen demanded.
“Yeah, no… this seems dangerous. Why would the Myconid Queen gift this to a child?” He questioned the spider.
The spider just shrugged, of course, the spider didn’t have those answers.
“Send her our thanks anyway.” He turned to look at his wife who was eyeing the seed greedily. “No one is using this. This is a forbidden item!” He declared depositing it inside his inventory for safekeeping.
“If you sss-say sss-so…” She didn’t seem to protest it too much, but. “And I have my Charm anyway…” She pouted.
Indeed, she did.
More guests came bearing even more gifts, like the Fennec gifting perfume or Johny handing in jugs of SlugJelly or Centauri promising their Centauri Cavalry to the future cause of the Chaos Queen, or so and such.
Perhaps the birth had split the Chaos and Cave Lamia further, but evidently, the massive gathering and united celebration only strengthened the Monster Realm as a whole. Strangely, or perhaps not, the Chaos Lamia made a nest inside the GIANT ‘ENEMY’ SPIDER, which mind you had that red coloured magic affinity. Chaos Lamia plus Chaos wielding construct – one could foreshadow a lot of things from them coming together. But more importantly, the supermassive construct was destined to head towards the Aurelian Dutchy.
The reason was simple, with the celebration over there was no reason to keep the walking fortress in the MegaFarm only for it to collect dust. Citadels like that were best put to use! After all, Aurelius proved that he could defend his territory and now was the time to send him some small help to break the stalemate with the Holy Empire. And also, to take the Fallen Capital, the capital city of the Fallen Kingdom.
With those goals, manned by spiders and young chaos lamias alike, the citadel began its slow walk towards the distant east. The new Chaos Queen was perched in a chair right there in the citadel’s spidery head and the command centre. She was too young to speak, not to mention issue commands, but she had capable and trusty servants and also the supervision of ever-reliable spiders. The Growth: Medium was there to grow her body and soul alike, not to mention the EXP boost, in other words, there was no better place for the future Queen to be. Just by being in the command centre, she would reap plentiful EXP and also hopefully learn how to be a splendid leader.
Actually with the departure of the Chaos Lamia, the native Lamia relaxed and the jovial mood was back in their faces; It seems that two snakes were pleased by the same spider, even better!
“Dear husband.” The Lamia Queen gave a gaze filled with active Charm to the Spider King.
By this point, the King here had a full resistance, but even, despite all her flaws, the super-duper-massively-flawed wife still had her charms.
“Yes, dear wife.”
“I want another child, sss! She grabbed his waist.
“Now? Here?”
Her answer wasn’t of a verbal kind, but she did answer and vigurously so.
And thus, the Monster Realm continued to prosper.