Vespulan

Hive Hierarchy

The most important and innate thing to all Vespulans is the hive hierarchy. The hive hieracrhy determines everything about a Vespulans life from daily chores to mating rights. Hive hierarchy is strictly adhered to as the brain chemistry of a Vespulan will not allow them to go against the collective hive or a Vespulan higher than themselves in the hierarchy.

At the bottom of the hierarchy are Vespulan Spawn. Vespulan Spawn are born from the eggs laid by Vespulan Drones. Being the lowest in the hierarchy and with their limited intellect, Vespulan Spawn are treated more like guard dogs than actual members of the hive. Vespulan Spawn are often left to guard pools of Vespulan honey and act as an early warning system for the rest of the hive if intruders draw close.

Just above Vespulan Spawn, are Vespulan Gatherers. Vespulan Gatherers are a rare birth from Vespulan Drones. Sporting a much great intelligence from their siblings Vespulan Gatherers, are the scouts of the Vespulan Hive. Gathering food, water, and other necessities of the hive.

Vespulan Drones are not born of the hive but converted by a Consort or Matriarch. Most Vespulan Drones are adventurers who came too close to the hive or who attempted to pilfer the highly sought after Vespulan Honey. Vespulan Drones are responsible for the upkeep of the hive and repair any damage that may be caused to it. They are also responsible for giving birth to both Vespulan Spawn and Vespulan Gatherers. While deeply connected to the hive, with enough care, attention, and magic a Vespulan Drone can be brought back to their original form.

Vespulan Warriors are the defenders of the hive, and conquerors of new land when the hive needs to expand. Vespulan Warriors are Vespulan Drones who have gone through a rebirth by the Matriarch. This rebirth irreversibly changes the Drone and nothing short of a wish spell can bring the original person back before they became a Vespulan. Vespulan Warriors are the only class allowed to breed with the Matriarch.

Vespulan Consorts are the children of the Matriarch. Much like the Matriarch they possess the power to convert creatures into Drones. Unlike the rest of the hive Consorts do not have to act in the best interest of the hive and can even disobey orders from the Matriarch. As they mature a Vespulan Consort may choose to leave the hive in favor of starting their own. Others may stay and wait for the death of the Matriarch in which the eldest Consort will take the title.

Vespulan Matriarchs are the leaders of the hive. The power from the hive distorts their bodies in unnatural ways causing many to diverge from their humanoid origin. Matriarchs are responsible for ensuring their hive flourishes and expands. Giving birth to new Consorts and converting new Drones.

Vespulan Honey

The most sought after and valuable possession of a Vespulan hive is their honey. Much like a regular beehive, a Vespulan Hive spends much of its time and labor making its honey. Using it not only to feed the members of the hive but create structures, and weaponry.

Vespulan honey shares many of the same properties as a regular bee's honey. However, unlike regular honey, Vespulan honey has a few magical properties that separate it from its counterpart. Vespulan honey is incredibly sweet and can become incredibly addictive to those who ingest it in large quantities regularly. Those who find themselves addicted to Vespulan honey will also begin to notice physical and mental changes to their body as they begin to assimilate with the Vespulan hive.

Fractured Hive

The collective of a Vespulan hive is all tied to the Matriarch though only loosely. Many Drones, Spawn, and Gathers are first and foremost connected to their consort. These will make up the Consorts legion. When a member of this legion is cut off from their consort, whether it be through the death of the consort, or magically severing it from the collective they become fractured.

Undergoing this process causes a strange mutation and or transformation in the Vespulan Honey within the Vespulan's body. The honey becomes like that of a virus or parasitic fungus, and the more of it a Vespulan has in their body the less likely they are to survive. While this may not outright kill the Vespulan it will drive them to madness quickly as they have no collective to guide them, and with a weak mental ability the honey can easily control the body. Once it gains control of the body it will do whatever it can to spread itself into a healthy creature. This often causes mutations and deformations in the Vespulan that will significantly decrease its life but will make them far more dangerous and powerful.

Vespulan Spawn that are fractured, often do not live long. They will often stumble around in confusion, dying from predators, natural hazards, or starving to death. They are also the most susceptible of the Vespulans to the parasitic honey as they have the strongest connection to the hive mind and are largely unable to act without it.

Vespulan Gathers like their Spawn brethren often do not live long after being fractured. Being born into the hive they have an extremely strong connection to the mental network of the legion. So, when they become fractured it often leaves them weak and vulnerable to the parasitic honey. However, do to their more complex tasks compared to Vespulan Spawn they have more autonomy. Because of this some Vespulan Gathers are able to recover and become their own person independent of the hive they once served. This process is rare and is often a very difficult transition for the Gather as they will have full autonomy for the first time in their life.

Vespulan Drones are unique in the hive due to not being born into it. Because of this they have a weaker connection to the hive mind and will suffer less mental damage when fractured. Due to this Drones have the highest survival rate compared to all other Vespulans in the event of fracturing. If a Drone succumbs to the parasitic honey, it will be unable to be returned to the person it was before without the use of a wish spell.

Vespulan Warriors, while drones before have undergone an intensive transformation by the Matriarch of the hive. This leads them to be more deeply connected with the Matriarch then their consort which sets them apart from the rest of the hive. When a Warrior's consort is the source of their fracturing the Warrior will often times only experience mild discomfort, due to its mental link mostly being with the Matriarch. However, if the fracturing occurs with the Warriors connection to the Matriarch, they have little to no chance of not succumbing to the parasitic honey as they cease to function by themselves.

Vespulan Consorts, Vespulan Consorts are unique in the sense that they are the source of the connection and are not beholden to the Matriarch like the Warriors. Thus, Consorts cannot be fractured, however they can be infected by the parasitic honey. If this occurs the Consort is likely to succumb to its effects due to the large amount of Vespulan Honey within them. Consorts' bodies are often strong enough to not fall apart from the parasitic honey, however their mind will still be lost. These fallen Consorts will begin to rally other fractured Vespulans creating a dangerous infected legion.

Vespulan Matriarchs, much like Consorts Matriarchs cannot be fractured. But they can be infected. Matriarchs despite the large amount of Vespulan Honey within them often are able to easily fight off the parasitic infection. However, on rare occasions they can fall. Much like with the Consorts they will begin to rally fractured Vespulans. However, Matriarchs have the ability to do this much more efficiently on top of more efficiently spread the infected honey due to their power.

Fractured Legions

Fractured Vespulans often do not communicate with each other as they lack the mental networks to do so. Because of this, and the ravenous, destructive nature of the parasitic honey, fractured Vespulans will often attack each other. Attempting to destroy the other parasitic honey, and assimilate it into its own strain. Lesser Vespulans such as Spawn, Gathers, and weaker Drones do not have the amount of honey, or bodily integrity needed for this, causing most of these conflicts to end with both parties dead.

However greater Vespulans like stronger Drones, Warriors, Consorts, and Matriarchs often have enough honey, and bodily integrity to infect the other strain. Once the other fractured Vespulan has been assimilated to the same strain this forms a new hive mind, allowing them to communicate, albeit with less efficiency than normal Vespulans.

This begins the creation of a fractured legion. These legions do not have to be controlled by a Consort or Matriarch like they normally would be with regular Vespulans. While this is the most common case any Vespulan including Spawn or Gathers could create a fractured legion. These legions often only have two goals. To consume, and to spread.

All Vespulans in a fractured legion are connected centrally to the progenitor of the strain. If the progenitor of the strain dies, or a Vespulan is cut from this link they are set free once again as if they had never been apart of the hivemind. Without the stability of the hivemind they will begin to deteriorate once again, and rapidly mutate evolving into different strains once again. This is what makes fractured legions so dangerous, they cannot simply be killed by killing the leader.