Monsuma
From EnorisWiki
The Monsuma (IPA:/mɑn.sum.ʌ//) are an undelegated species in the Zerakaul Galaxy. They have an insectoid appearance and hierarchy, and they are ruled over by a single, absolute queen. They are tightly divided into different castes, dominated by varying morphs. The Monsuma were the first species that the Dei'ihmorum attacked after their entry into the Zerekaul Galaxy, centuries after they forced the Enorisian Empire to flee to the Alizia Galaxy. While the Monsuma are a fairly advanced species, they never experimented, nor cared about, space travel. This fact almost lead to their downfall to the Dei'ihmorum.
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Anatomy
The Monsuma are broken into several different different castes, each of which have their own anatomy, though they share many common physical features, except for the Queen, who is rather unique among them. All of the castes have a shiny, brown-black exoskeleton and they generally lack any sort of antannae. They also all communicate with clicks and hisses, using their large mandibles. The following is in order from highest caste to lowest caste.
Queen
The Queen is the most distinctive of the different Monsuma castes. There is only one Queen, and she has absolute control over every caste, except for Rogues. Her body will grow and spread into every section of networks, providing constant defenses, surveillance, and security, as well as providing for light and bio-port chambers, as well other tasks. All castes, except the Cleaners, listen to her command for most important tasks. Any damage done to these extensions does no damage to the main body of the Queen.
The central part of the Queen is kept in the Queen's Chamber, which is guarded by Queen's Guards. Under normal circumstances, only these guards, Hiveminds, and Cleaners are allowed inside the Queen's Chamber. The Queen most often stays inside a fleshy cacoon, where she is connected to the rest of the colony by her extensions. The chamber is generally entirely covered in her extensions, and no ground, walls, or ceiling is left uncovered.
In cases of extreme emergency, the Queen is able to leave this cacoon. In her corporeal form, she looks vaguely similiar to other members of the Dei'ihmorum, but she lacks a complete exoskeleton. Instead, she has a mixed skeletal system, where portions of her body contains an exoskeleton and other portions contain an endoskeleton. Her chest, lower arms, lower legs, and lower stomach. She retains three pairs of large wings, though they are vestigial, and the Monsuma Queens have become too large to be able to be lifted up by them.
Hiveminds
Hiveminds are a rare cast, and only a handful ever exist in a colony at once. They generally are often delegated to intricate and complex activities, such as running the geothermal plants or military research laboratories, and they answer only to the Queen herself. The Hiveminds are geniuses, and they have more intelligence than any other caste. On top of this, they are strong, powerful beings. They are nearly eight feet tall, with long arms that reach down past their knees, nearly touching the ground. They have six long, incredibly strong fingers. While they extremely strong, they do not have much speed to use to their advantage.
The head of the Hiveminds appears to be, at first, an intricate head dress, when it is actually a part of their exoskeleton. It serves a purely ornamental purpose.
Queen's Guards
Queen's Guards are the second strongest caste, only falling in behind Hiveminds. Only several dozen exist at one time, and they all either directly protect the Queen or fight against extremely challenging enemies. They stand about seven feet tall and weight around 300 pounds, almost all of which is muscle. They have broad shoulders and chests, and their arms and legs are thick, being almost entirely muscle. Generally they are equipped with a melee weapon and a long range weapon, but they are more than capable of handling themselves without weapons. They could tear apart a Worker with ease, and a Soldier poses only a little bit more of a threat.
Soldiers
Soldiers are general defense and combat Monsuma. Compared to Workers, they are still small in number, but they are the third most common caste, behind Workers and Cleaners. In addition to this, Soldiers are also generally used for scientific and medical research. They stand about six and a half feet tall, and weigh between 200 and 250 pounds. They are more agile than the Queen's Guards and stronger than Workers. They are also the third-most intelligent caste, falling behind the Queen and Hiveminds, respectively. Soldiers are powerful and efficient, and they quickly carry out most tasks assigned to them. They have a thicker exoskeleton than any other caste, which acts as armor. They are also less sensitive to pain and can repair damage faster than the other castes as well.
Workers
Workers are the general working class of the Monsuma. They perform menial labor, such as digging tunnels, farming, looking after larvae, etc., and are the most common caste of the Monsuma. Due to their large numbers, they are the only class capable of reproducing, whereas all other castes are born directly from the Queen. They have their own subculture within the Monsuma, and other castes generally look down on them. Workers generally only reach about five or five and a half feet in height, and they normally weigh less than 150 pounds. They strong, but still weaker than any other caste, save for the Queen and Cleaners.
Due to the fact Workers can reproduce on their own, they have no real ties to the rest of the colony. Because of this, Workers are generally greatly supressed. They are not allowed to learn to read or write, they are often forced to stay in their own regions, where food supply is limited and provided by other castes, and they can not work in large congregations. When working, they are closely observed by designated Soldiers called watchers, who make sure that they are not showing signs of going Rogue. Due to this constant observation and opression, the relations between the Workers and the other castes is tumultuous, to say the least.
Cleaners
The second-most common caste, Cleaners are small, beetle-like creatures that clean-up debris and corpses from the tunnels. They are the only non-Sapient caste and they do not listen to orders from any creature but the Queen, who directs them on an extremely basic level. They simply spend their days keeping tunnels and cities tidy. If there is debris, they will take it to special collection areas where it is dumped off. If they come upon a corpse, groups of them will devour it. The raw materials are then given back to the Queen via her extensions, for use in producing new offspring. They are generally indifferent to combat or any sort of danger, and will continue to do there jobs even if they are in the middle of a fire fight.
Rogues
Technically not a caste of their own, Rogues are Monsuma that have broken away from the Queen's control. They are normally very violent, work in groups, and will attack any Queen-controlled Monsuma on sight. Special Soldiers, called seekers, hunt down and kill Rogues before they can do much damage.
