Iron ants

Iron ants, a particualy nasty monster with acidic spit, a hive mind, sword snapping pincher's, the size of a small dog, and there's five of them starring hungrily at you.

"Fuck." Is all you can say before they charge at you. You quickly grab your spear and book it down the trail. As you haul ass down, two more appear out of tunnels in the mountain, acid spit hurling towards you. A glob hits your side, knocking you off the trail and into the trees below.

"Ow! FUCK! SON OF A BITCH!"

You black out from the pain, the image of the squad of iron ants approaching you the last thing you see.

You awoke to the smell of something delicious being cooked. And a splitting head ache. With a groan you sit up, only to wince in pain. Your everything hurt, but especially your ribs.

"That was quite the spectacle to watch." Came a raspy voice. You turn your head to see a cloaked figure tending a fire. A small pot was being held up over the fire, probably a stew.

"W-Who are you? And why are you helping me?" You ask.

"Oh, no one in particular, just a passersby. You could say Im a collector of sorts. I collect stories. And I've not got one about a drow exile falling down a mountain while being chased by a bunch of iron ants. At least till now." The figure said as they dowled out the stew. You take it, eager to eat something that's not half raw or half expired.

"So your helping me just for the hell of it." You ask wearily. While not a monster, you're still a drow, and up here, those two were nearly the same.

"Absolutely." The figure says. The being's mouth moves into a bright smile, being completely visible compared to the rest of it's face. "Well Mr. Exile, i believe it's time we split ways. The iron ant queen is eager to find you after all." They say as they stand up.

"How do you know that?" You ask.

"Oh. Didn't you read the update log? The gods changed things up a bit to get more hero's to come. Your little burrow got taken over by the ant queen and made part of her dungeon. And you just set your foot in it, so your scent is quite fresh. But what you do from here on out is up to you." The figure says as they start walking. "I can't wait to see what you do."

They're gone, absorbed by the fog. You quickly finish your stew and end up putting the pot in your invitory. Looking around you see your knife and spear and quickly strap them to your body. With a quick calculation in your mind you've come up with a game plan.

Boss's tend to avoid each other unless provoked. Now you don't know the ant queen personally, you hope you never do, but if she follows that logic, then you must travel to the opposite end of the mountain range in this area. Doing so will cause you to pass by at least one of the top boss monster territories in the whole area.

Either the great Daemon lord who slumbers in the largest caldera around, or the Raven King, a Shape shifting bird man who controls the skies from his fortress to the west of the mountains. Rumor has it he has a giant bird under his command. Both these monsters of monsters have been around for a while, so the queen should know not to fuck with them.

Quickly taking off, you keep the mountains to your right, meaning your heading north, which also comes close to the hero town here. Utnop, the river town. But thats still safer than whwre you are now.

You travel for four days, killing small game on the way, not wanting to stop for long until you find a new home. As you camp for the fourth night, you hear sounds of fighting in the not so far distance. Quickly grabbing your spear you douse your fire and get closer to the noises.