Athl sent the following report to TMN:
Greetings Paramedic,
While on the way back to town from a hunt, Joel and myself encountered a ball of flames in the distance that seemed to start chasing us. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a rat (see above); completely unharmed by the flames, it proceeded to attack until we also caught on fire. The fire didn't burn, and I can't quite describe the feeling it gave, but it was definitely a rush! Anyone or anything coming in contact with it also caught on fire, so it spread quite fast, and if you weren't already in flames, you were quickly chased down by others and made so, as horrible as that may sound.
Spreading the fire a little
Everyone in town on fire
As I was saying, it wasn't long until the entire town was on fire when a few of us decided to see how an arachnoid would react to all of this. We ran to their cave as quickly as we could, unintentionally spreading the flames throughout the eastern forests as we went. I don't know what we thought we would achieve by any of this though. Despite resisting the flames for some time, the arachnoid eventually caught on fire too. We stayed a while and hunted some more. Once we grew tired and the flames had begun to die down, we decided it was time to head back to town.
Running to Noids Cave in Eastern Forest
Still running to Noids Cave
Spreading flames in the Noids Cave
Back in town, everyone was going about their business. The fire had stopped, and it was almost as if it never happened. Upon discussing the sudden and strange turn of events with others that missed the show, we quickly headed east in efforts to find any creatures still on fire. We managed to catch a glimpse of what looked like a flaming vermine, but this time we could smell it burning; suddenly out of nowhere, Fire Myrms showed up and began invading the Eastern Walls.
Searching for proof of fire with others
Fire Myrms begin attacking the Eastern Walls
Many of the older and stronger exiles were able to hold them off for some time, though it quickly broke out into town as they started coming from all directions. The community banded together brilliantly, fighting off the massive hoards of seemingly endless myrms for several hours. Those that weren't strong enough to help fight chained the fallen by the masses to the many healers and mystics taking refuge with the dead and wounded in the library. It got very out of control, even mushrooms caught wind of what was happening and joined in the fight against us. Just as it was starting to look like a bit of a lost cause, and many were beginning to doubt their own survival, the town folk managed to seize control of the temple and slowly take back control starting with the western edges.
The fight in town
Fallen and wounded in Library
More fighting
Even more fighting
Every last Myrm was slaughtered, some of which are now big fat trophies by someone's fireplace—especially those Matriarchs. The whole community came together as always and fought relentlessly, and without the efforts of many this could have turned out completely different. There are still some unsolved parts to the tale though: what unknown forces caused me to die by myrms down my pants; where did Stora get such foul language from; and why is the aura of flames still appearing around town? Perhaps this is only the beginning of something far more sinister.
Big fatty myrm trying to get into the sketch
We quickly dispatched it
Final sketch of who was left at invasion's end
Kind regards,
-Athl
P.S.
Update: The fire can be "cured" by a Champion. You run into them, and they equip their Lava Cloak, and the flames disappear. Thought this might be valuable information, I didn't discover it.
Discussion on the Clan Lord Sentinel