Southland: The Insect Kingdoms

THE SOUTHLAND

A Fantasy Core Setting

© Jerry Harris 2014

Published here as Open Game Content.

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Southland Index

Monster Territories Index

The Insect Kingdoms

The Ancients experimented with magically mutating various insects as potential weapons.  (They had already altered other insects for useful, agricultural purposes.)  The creatures proved hard to control, and their military value was limited to a mere nuisance to the enemy.  They were mostly exterminated.  Unfortunately, three species got loose in the wild and multiplied after the Catastrophe.  Fortunately, they are confined to certain specific areas, otherwise they might be overrunning the continent.  These insects require a high concentration of radiant magic to breed and cannot expand beyond that range. 

Hiver’s Grove:

Seven Sisters Myth: Finding no succor in Pintupi, the Sisters fell faint in the fields outside the city.  A group of wasps took pity on them and brought them food and water.  Refreshed and grateful, the girls made them masters of the land around the city.

The Hivers (Giant Wasps) were created by the people of Pintupi.  Vicious and territorial, they kept the curious away from the site of the hidden city.  The magic of the cloak, and later shield, kept the mutation going.  The Wizard-King army that later laid siege to the city simply brushed them aside.  The Hivers would regroup and multiply after the Catastrophe, the area still saturated in ambient magic. 

Many hives in the area are old and empty, but recently abandoned ones may still have a giant wasp jelly substance inside.  Humans and Humanoids both find this jelly to be a delicacy with reputed enhancing properties (especially if enchanted).  It is obviously expensive, being so dangerous to gather.       

Giant Wasp

HD 2, Hp 8, AC 14 (Natural)

Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +2

Melee: Sting +6 to hit 1d6 + Poison DC 12 Fort Sv or uncon 1 turn

May inject poison once per encounter

Flight ability

Vulnerable to smoke.  They will scatter when faced with fire and smoke, at least temporarily. 

The Hivers patrol the area around the city and their hives with military-like precision and aggression.  They will immediately swarm against any intruders.  Distractions and fire with smoke are about the only ways to throw them off.  Hivers make a distinctive droning noise in flight.  A swarm of them will make an almost unbearable drone.

Swarmer Lands:

Seven Sisters Myth: The Sisters reached a magic portal held by a mad wizard.  When they asked him for passage to escape, he captured all of them, intending to have his way with them.  A tiny grasshopper saw the girls’ plight and offered to help.  He returned with a multitude of his fellows.  The wizard grabbed the prettiest sister and fled through the portal.  Grateful to the grasshoppers for freeing them, the Sisters made them masters of the land around the portal.

The Kalbarri region in western Southland could be decent farmland.  Unfortunately, the area is routinely denuded of vegetation by swarms of Giant Locusts, nicknamed “Swarmers.”  There is always at least a small population (only numbering in the hundreds) located around the KalbarriPortal.  [Wait a minute.  Doesn’t that entry include a different myth for the same place?  Yes, it does.  That’s how myths are, multiple and conflicting.]  It is their breeding ground.  As soon as the vegetation begins to recover in the surrounding area, the Swarmers multiply into the thousands and begin to feed.  A few will come as far south as Perth and Kalgoorie, but never in great numbers.  Their lifecycle is effectively chained to the Portal.

Giant Locust

HD 3, Hp 12, AC 18 (Natural)

Fort +6, Ref +3, Will +2

Melee: Bite +7 to hit 2d6

Jump +7 to hit, if two or more Locusts jump into an opponent in the same rd, the opponent is knocked down.  Swarmers can jump very high and far.

Ranged: Sticky Spit DC 12 Ref Sv or held in place, DC 18 Str or Escape Artist to get free.  Weakens after 1 turn to DC 12, dissolves after 2 turns.  A Giant Locust may do this once per encounter.  Usually used on prone opponents, it will then attempt to eat the hapless victim.

The Swarmers aren’t really aggressive, unless they are swarming to feed, in which case, anything organic is in trouble.  Swarmers in a somewhat passive state can still be dangerous if they are stirred up unnecessarily.  While not noisy individually, a group of Swarmers on the move will make a distinctive hum.