Lokusi

The Lokusi are a species of ravenous and highly intelligent insectoid animals that have ravaged much of the surface of Solthris.

There are myriad types of Lokusi since they take on the traits of creatures they consume, but there are a few general forms to be familiar with, as well as some basic behavioral information.

Basics: First, all Lokusi are ravenous omnivores. There is no 'safe' Lokusi even workers can and will kill trained warriors, you cannot keep one as a pet, you cannot tame them, they are not properly-social creatures like most real hive insects. They care about eating and reproducing, if you feed a Lokusi in a cage for all its life it does not care, you are not a Lokusi and are still more food to it. If it gets the chance to eat you it will do so at its earliest convenience or drag you back to the nearest hive for storage as food later.

Lokusi take on the traits of things that they eat, but they do not seem to gain anything from other Lokusi aside from basic nutrition unless the one they ate had already absorbed a trait from a different meal. When Lokusi reproduce weakened versions of these traits will be passed down to new spawn, making the swarms ever more deadly.

Behavior: Lokusi are not sapient but even among the lowest breeds they are not stupid, they have a faint but still existent sense of self preservation, if a Lokusi has a sight of a meal that takes it through a hazardous area or an obvious trap*, it will attempt to navigate around it or call other Lokusi to it to access it. Lokusi recognize the difference between soldiers that might kill it, dangerous beasts, and helpless livestock or civilians and will attack accordingly. Some of this is rendered moot because Lokusi often move in such numbers that they do simply swarm at the direction of any target and they become less discerning in battle, but it is important to keep in mind when cornering strays.

* They would not go into a valley with soldiers standing over the top with weapons drawn, the attackers would have to conceal themselves, but the rank and file would not recognize the valley itself as inherently unfavorable terrain.

Lokusi WILL cannibalize each other if no other food is available this sort of infighting is generally kept to a minimum by the Queen who continually directs them to new food sources and manages the existing food stores, generally rival hives will ignore each other unless food is scarce or other stressors are applied, in the event hives do fight one queen will eventually devour the other and assume control of any survivors, which are slowly eaten by her original hive.

The Lokusi do not have a hive-mind, they must communicate with each other using a mix of pheremones and sound, and newly acquired traits from consuming creatures do not reappear in other areas unless the Lokusi bearing those traits visits a regional queen to begin spreading those traits to new spawn.

Hives:

Lokusi hives are made from a mix of mud, bone, excrement, wood pulp, and vomit that the Lokusi plaster together into their structures. They stink of rot and decay but are surprisingly sturdy at the lower areas. Higher areas tend to be slightly more brittle, with some chambers in the upper interior even becoming papery and easy to tear through. Hives tend to be warm due to the numerous Lokusi within and humid due to the rot and pools of liquid bile that eggs are kept in.

The Lokusi perform a rudimentary form of farming by infesting some plantlife or animal life harvested from their surroundings, usually trees and livestock but on occasion sapient races as well, with chemicals that cause them to become cancerously overgrown, while disgusting in all cases as the Lokusi tend to such 'crops' simply by vomiting nutrient slurry onto them, it is a particularly horrifying fate for any civilized races that are captured or have their homes made into hives. No one knows whether those that suffer such fates are still aware or if they are blissfully comatose, unaware of the horror that has become of their bodies, and no one ever hopes to find out.

Common Types: This list is by no means exhaustive but here are the most recognizable types of Lokusi.

Blightling: The smallest of the Lokusi, no bigger than a human palm at the largest, they appear similar to mundane flies save that they have no apparent eyes, only a large jawed mouth. They are often the first Lokusi seen prior to a swarm's advance. Blightlings are often underestimated due to their size but they are still possessed of sharp jaws enabling them to chew through earth and wood, some variants are more specialized for tunneling or flight. They are reviled for getting into food stores or undermining structural integrity or destroying equipment as they chew through nearly everything, but in large numbers they can devour unprepared settlements even without the aid of larger Lokusi. Typically they serve to alert the swarm to the presence of new food or threats and seem to be able to communicate their findings across distances. They are easy to kill and can be crushed with a harsh swat, but the death of one draws others in the immediate vicinity from hiding and can quickly lead to isolated discoverers being devoured. The best counteragents are fire, smoke, and magic. Loud noise seems to disorient them.

Bleakhorn: The most common Lokusi warrior breed, often chewing their way through the land either in tunnels or across it. They are ant-like save for their large horns. Most do not have wings but are deceptively fast due to their ability to sprint and their stamina. They will gorge themselves on available food or prey and anything they do not digest will be dragged back to the Lokusi hive. They are roughly the size of a large dog (1.5ft tall, 3ft long on average), and often use their horns of varying shapes to bash open the dens of animals, boxes of stored supplies, or the hiding places of their frightened victims. The carapaces on their bodies are relatively sturdy but can be broken by simple stones or heavy tree branches, though it will take numerous such blows to actually wound or kill a Bleakhorn unless vital areas are specifically targeted. On their own these creatures would not be a threat to civilized races but due to their vast numbers they can overwhelm even lightly fortified settlements. The best deterrents are to stab them through the eyes or to paralyze them by striking the segments that sit between the head and body. They will ignore loss of limbs and continue fighting but will not grow them back, so first waves are often marked by scratches, cracks and missing body parts.

Festergaunt: Hideous creatures the size of a horse and twice the length, these Lokusi are like a cross between a roach and a centipede, fast and frighteningly durable, they form the midranks of Lokusi assaults, often carrying disease and pestilence with them. They are particularly reviled because of the foul stench carried by their blood and the bile which they spit when attacking, which attracts more Lokusi and is mildly acidic to all other creatures. When the swarm is not in battle Festergaunts drag enormous balls of rolled-up food behind them, acting as mobile repositories for the Lokusi's spoils which will eventually be drawn back to the Hive. Like most Lokusi, they are best fended off with fire or by severing the head, smoke is less effective as the creatures bodies sit low to the ground, though flying variants have been seen.

Screamglutton: A more elite form of warrior, roughly the size of a carriage, and faintly reminiscent of a massive termite with a ridge of spines down its back. It will fill the air with earsplitting cries to signal and direct the lesser Lokusi around it and spits torrets of acid or caustic chemicals into the air to soften its prey before tearing through them with its enormous jaws. It's body is tougher than most armor and it will carry on fighting despite grievous injuries or limbs, so it is only seen guarding hives or in fullblown assaults by the swarm. There is no simple way to kill a glutton, its limbs are tough to sever, it has no particular weakness to magic, it seems only mildly deterred by flame and smoke. Its underbelly chitin is weaker but its sharp legs and large head make striking such areas difficult.

Cystkeeper: The typical worker Lokusi, usually large grub or caterpillar like creatures with a venemous needle-bite, their soft, bulbous, bodies are riddled with oozing cysts as other Lokusi typically bite chunks out of them when hungry which often heal back improperly, but such meager injuries cannot incapacitate them and they carry on their work, tending structures and gathering food from their cancerous crops, vommiting nutrient slurry onto them, and putting the gathered food into communal pools in different parts of the hive to feed newly hatched Lokusi or to keep the hiveguard sated. At all times there is at least one Cystkeeper that has metamorphosed to a Cystharvester that protects the other workers and sees to the production of new cyst-chambers, injecting plant or animal matter brought in with the horrific chemicals that cause them to turn into overgrown tumor-ridden horrors, and eventually producing royal-nectar in their bodies which the queen will consume from them to produce new queens. Cystkeepers are roughly the size of an alligator (12ft long avg), with Cystharvesters doubling in size. The best way to kill them is to lop the head off, but even then the head will remain dangerous for hours and the body will flail violently, so numerous cuts, bludgeons, or magical incineration is as always recommended. Cold in particular seems to affect Cystkeepers but hives tend to be hot and humid.

Vilestinger: Wasplike flying Lokusi warriors, usually about the size of a cow. Less numerous than Bleakhorns but far more dangerous, their stings can bring painful death, paralysis, horrific infestations of blightlings, cystkeepers or smaller vilestingers and much more. They will often carry off individuals bodily into the sky and then drop them to their death to feed on them later, before dragging corpses and livestock back to the hive. When expanding to new hives Vilestingers will carry eggs and Cystkeepers to begin construction either with or ahead of the Queen's arrival to a newly conquered territory. Their bodies are somewhat tougher than the bleakhorns but they are more hampered by loss of limbs, especially their wings. Smoke and fire remain effective weapons against Lokusi flyers as well.

Plagueneedle: Mosquito-like creatures with sharp mantis-like forelimbs, these Lokusi are roughly the size of a hawk, but will drain the blood of their targets and leave behind a cocktail of chemicals marking them so the weakened prey can be followed back to their homes by blightlings or other Lokusi. The needlers carry such virulent diseases that their victims often die within days of the attack, their bodies erupting in pus-filled pustules to spread the disease to others and render entire herds, or entire settlements, of creatures helpless to resist the onslaught of the swarm. While they are usually first seen alone, it will not be long before others arrive to feed on incapacitated. Plagueneedlers also carry a cocktail of their own pheremones to summon other Lokusi, mark areas suspected of containing food or hiding prey, warn away from dangerous locations, and many other purposes. Thankfully they are among the most fragile Lokusi, with their bodies being relatively soft, but their agility makes them difficult to hit and it is easy for them to sneak up on their prey and leave them too weak to fight back once their blood is drained.

Spawnburster: House-sized Weevils with soft abdomens with numerous holes in them through which new Lokusi are birthed into the battlefield, loaded with both fertilized and unfertilized eggs by Queens these horrific creatures spend their lives constantly dragging themselves through the swarms of the Lokusi to advance on new territories, keeping the swarm populated as the eggs hatch and the newborns chew their way through thin veils of slime covering their abdomens before bursting onto the battlefield. Once the fertilized eggs are exhausted they will expel stored genetic sludge gathered from consuming fallen Lokusi or provided by Queens onto the unfertilized eggs through their long proboscis and start the cycle anew until no eggs remain and they return to the hive. While terrifyingly strong the Spawnbursters are thankfully not skilled predators themselves, and the section of their thorax that meets the abdomen will bleed profusely if pierced, getting close to them is difficult though as they will shriek and expel numerous pheremones and other chemicals to draw other Lokusi to protect them or speed the hatching of eggs in their bodies.

Devourer: The most feared form of Lokusi, enormous beetle-like aberrations that range from two to three times the size of a house. There is typically one devourer born to a Queen every year, and hours after being born it will slowly fly to the furthest reaches of the swarm and begin advancing upon new lands. Devourers do not seem to rest, instead eating constantly and not returning food back to the hive. Indeed, Devourers never seem to return to a Lokusi hive unless its queen is in danger, which it seems to be able to sense instinctively, or to eat stored food there. Devourers will regrow severed limbs, and are the only Lokusi known to retreat from a swarmsiege, though thankfully they have demonstrated no further intellect than that beyond the typical Lokusi. Their bodies chitin is a tough plating that requires powerful magic or masterfully crafted weapons to breach, they have redundant organs throughout their bodies and while they typically attack by land their ability to fly gives them terrifying versatility. Their screams will travel for miles and the clouds of acid and caustic muck that bellow forth from the vents on their backs can cloud the sky. To drive off a devourer is an achievement worthy of great respect for skilled military commanders and armies. To slay a devourer is to be a hero.

Queen: Queens are the heart of the Lokusi swarm, their bodies as large as the largest devourer and their eggsacs stretching for up to ten times their body length. They do little more than eat, produce eggs, and either devour or mate with newly mutated Lokusi to inject those traits to new generations of spawn. The exact style of their heads varies from hive to hive, but typically they will resemble a larger form of one of the lower breeds mingled with locust-traits, and the one that they resemble will typically be more prevalent near that hive. Queens are capable of emitting screams and pheremones to signal lesser Lokusi to protect them but can also use smokescreens or oily coatings of chemicals to shield themselves from many forms of attack or to cripple their foes with sticky secretions, deadly venoms, cruel diseases and crippling acids. Queens rarely leave their hives save when first born to establish new territories.