Polysiders & Co(ven) discord server for helping me flesh this out and acting as a sounding board to my ideas specifically Atlas Of Remembrance who helped a lot.
Youtuber, antscanada for getting interested in the world of ants and providing a lot of my knowledge of them.
SB user, King_DeDeDeo whose sapient species, the Kintu in his amazing quest, Foreign Space Biosphere, were the seed of my idea for a sapient insectoid alien and helped inspire me.
Youtuber, Biblaridion who sparked my interest in alien species.
Hello, this is my first world-building project that got this far with only one other fanfiction world before this so expect mistakes and bad delivery. Kasayi and the Azenkari who are sapient ant-like creatures were born from my disappointment at the dearth of non-hivemind insectoids in fiction. I wanted to see how an intelligent eusocial species would turn out in terms of culture and life. Also, this is very much in progress so there will probably be retcons, and be aware that a lot of this is more Rule of Cool than anything else, I try with some actual explanation but there are some very blatant unscientific things here. Please give me feedback, suggestions, criticisms, etc, that's the whole reason I'm even posting on SV. With no further adieu, I'll start off with Kasayi and some of the most prominent non-sapient species that call it home before I get to the Azenkari who are the main piece.
Kasayi is an earth-like planet that orbits a yellow star much like the Sun. It is low in density making it bigger than Earth yet having only 90% of its gravity. The atmosphere is 45% oxygen providing plenty for the major animal life forms of Insects that need those high concentrations to grow to larger sizes. The amount of water on Kasayi is far less than Earth, exposing more land with smaller oceans that can be navigated easily. The four continents have just recently started coming apart from their original Pangea form still being close together.
Two sizable moons surround the planet, one a rusty red, the other grey silver. These moons provoke the oceans of Kasayi to a frothing rage. Tides are unpredictable and powerful, easily eroding land structures and making travel a dangerous business.
One of the more unique lifeforms on Kasayi is the Chloronaut. They are immense cnidarian beings that have bonded with photosynthetic algae to produce large rafts that sail from continent to continent temporarily anchoring themselves then being carried away by the turbulent seas. They are biomes and ecosystems of their own with symbiotic animals aplenty. Just one example is how Razortooths spend their juvenile years feeding on Chloronaut parasites then defending their living home from voracious eaters once they mature. There are many more such cases of symbiotic organisms that call the immense beings home.
Coastal shores are dominated by Cnidarian/Algae beings like the Cholornaut. They stay competitive with plants due to their tolerance of salt water and harsh conditions being relatively simple organisms that do not require too strict of climates.
Heading inland, we encounter Earth-like plantlife with an abundance of large insectoids that comprise the majority of the Animal ecosystem in warmer climates. One might see a herd of Kiripans, deer sized grazers that frolic through dense jungles and temperate forests. Kiripans herds consist of a female and her harem of males that guard her and the children. The males have long mandibles and flashy bodies designed for drawing the attention of predators while the female is often larger due to carrying the eggs.
Looking underneath, one finds the realm of the Azenkari and the Murzen. Focusing on the Murzen, they are large sprinting predators with long slim bodies and many legs to help them catch up to their prey. Their hind segments store vast amounts of mild venom used to slow down and immobilize prey. These large subterranean predators hunt in family groups centered around a mother and her children with males hunting alone. Sensors on their legs can detect faint vibrations through the soil for locating their prey. Murzen have to eat a lot to maintain their large muscular bodies, easily chewing through half a dozen Azenkari in a day.
Going above again, Ziplancers glide through the forest, feeding on fruit and carrion alike. Their wings fold and unfold again and again producing their signature zip-zip sound as they patrol through the trees searching for food. They have specialized light flexible exoskeletons that can expand to permit gorging on available food quickly then dashing away.
In the sky, the Kilzen rule the roost. They are very distant relatives of the Ziplancer that have grown far larger with the nutrient boost caused by fully developed flying wings. It allows Kilzen to catch far more prey and be fast enough to simply move to another area if the climate in their home region gets unfavorable. Combine this with the family packs that Kilzen forms and an apex predator comes out that very few creatures can successfully resist.
In the cold northern continent lies a species quite unlike the ones so far. The Mograza are massive beaked mammals that subsist off of the cold Taiga and steppe. They form small herds of a male and his harem with the bull being brightly colored to display his strength to rivals and females. They are large yet low to the ground allowing them to resist biting winds and reach low grasses and lichen.
The Azenkari are the sole sapient species of Kasayi. They are divided into three castes, reproductives, workers, and soldiers. The workers are the size of a small dog with their mothers and fathers being far larger up to 6 feet long and 2 ½ feet tall. Workers can raise their upper bodies to use their front arms that are specialized for manipulation. Reproductives and Soldiers have far stockier front limbs and cannot reliably handle objects only being able to grab things with their mandibles. Soldiers are about the size of a large dog, their gasters can synthesize a variety of poisons which they can inject through their stingers similar to their Fathers.
Workers don't live long, only a dozen years or so before dying of old age. They are born helpless, only capable of eating soft foods from social stomachs until they turn six months old. Then they molt, rudimentary legs, mandibles, and most importantly, a large gaster capable of producing sticky silk erupt from their soft shells. Azeni uses this silk extensively in construction, artwork, and clothing. The larva will metamorphose for the final time after six months in the Silk stage, wrapping itself in a cocoon and emerging from it a full-grown Azenkari worker albeit severely lacking in knowledge from the one-year void of memory before their rebirth. A well-fed healthy Worker will live for perhaps a dozen years before succumbing to old age. Many will not even reach 8 years old as famine, predation, plague and war pick off most of the young resulting in old workers being highly valued and protected for their valuable life experience.
What doesn't help is that Workers have an atrophied sense of self-preservation and a fanatical zeal for sacrificing themselves for the Hive originating from both evolution and heavy cultural pressure. This is not to the same extent everywhere however it's always present as an essential part of Worker psychology.
Soldiers are very similar, being only a variant of the Worker. They have slightly longer life spans from the increased investment and time it takes for them to reach usefulness, somewhere around 16 years old if healthy. They also lack the silk stage and have 2 more molts due to their more complex bodies primarily sourcing from their poison mixing gasters.
The Reproductives in an Azenkari family group consisting of a Mother and her harem of males. These dispersal males join her when she leaves her family to help set her up serving as Workers and Soldiers in the early years. They will stick with her for life, contributing to the genetic diversity of the family and making good commanders and administrators thanks to their long lives. Reproductives live for 60 years with 10 of those years being spent on growing to their large size.
Eusociality came about from a phenomenon known as the helpers of the nest, a form of alloparenting in which older offspring stay with their progenitors to look over their younger siblings instead of dispersing on their own. Early proto-Azenkari evolved this practice due to the sheer number of threats that faced them as an r-selected species. Older offspring and their parents had more of a chance of passing down their genes when they assisted in raising large numbers of dispersal younger siblings rather than going out on their own. This resulted in them over time losing reproductive capability entirely and diversifying into Workers first and Soldiers later who came about via threat from large hyper carnivores and other proto-Azenkari family groups.
Cooperative behavior prompted a higher intelligence that could take advantage of the numbers, and more utilitarian mandibles when Soldiers largely took the responsibility of combat. After that, grasping limbs could be spared for the purpose of carrying which would evolve into handy manipulators with a creeping intelligence making use of tools and fire. The Reproductives also underwent a revamp, since their children handled most physical activities, they could dedicate that energy towards brainpower giving them an invaluable advantage when going independent and dispersing from their parents where they initially do not have offspring. From those humble origins of small underground family groups did the modern Azenkari descend.
The history of the Azenkari is long and complicated. Records past about 600 BDL are faint and only general impressions remain similar. Writing and records only truly came into full existence around 500 BDL. Before that time, life was too harsh, the primitive tools and farming only gave minor advantages against the dangers of the world. Clans were isolated oases in a desert of death. The one and only way they got information and news was by sending out and receiving males. However, the situation began to change with creeping advancements in technology. More and more Workers started living longer and the Azenkari entered a brief generation of prosperity called the age of Twilight. It is important to note that while all cultures had an age of Twilight, they were often at different times perhaps 50 years ahead or behind.
It would end catastrophically when Clans began to fill up all the available land. Azeni reproduction rates are extremely high and as a result, it didn't take long before they started hungering for the land of others. This was aided along by the fact that Clans are fairly xenophobic to each other especially during that era when cultures were only just beginning to meet.
Devastating wars broke out. Entire cultures vanished from the surface of Kasayi as more powerful warlike ones replaced them. The Azenkari underwent a consolidation under larger Clans from 400 BDL to 140 BDL forming the first true multi-clan societies like the Rosha-Gaza or the Trade Clan Debtors or Tassian vassalage systems. The Trade Clans were rising in this time and they explored the world using Chrononauts. Amsule to the east with its all-powerful Queens was discovered in 120 BDL and Saram in the south in 110 BDL however this would have devastating consequences that none foresaw. Pinpointing the exact year that The Dying started would be impossible however it seemed to have begun in the Trade Clans around 105 BDL.
Azenkari would become weaker and weaker then die on the spot. It wasn't the same everywhere, Amsule had shedding carapaces as part of the process. The outcome would still be the same, however, death. Death. Death in such numbers had never been seen before. Clans rotted and Nests became gravely quiet. The land stank of decomposing Azenkari piled everywhere. The sick sought to die as they had lived, with each other. The Forests were loud, extremely loud but not of Azenkari but with the zip of the Ziplancers. They traversed in massive swarms feasting on the rotting corpses of Azenkari. Predators rebounded, scavengers became Lords of the land. In the end, it was estimated that 60 to 70% of the entire Azenkari species died between 105 BDL and 70 BDL. The Dying set off a recession and a great quietness unseen since 300 years ago descended on Kasayi for a century. The Trade Clans were hit the hardest by The Dying and became reclusive for a long while though they did eventually regain that Trade heritage.
The species was demoralized and beaten down after the Dying. The plagues never truly disappeared but stayed in lesser forms hampering Azeni efforts to rebuild and reduce their reproductive rates= as more died from diseases. In a way, it was worse than the unrecorded era even if life was harsher because back then, there was no tragic fall from glory to look back on, only rising. The Revival proper would begin with the discovery of Stars. The news spread like wildfire through the Azenkari. Stars weren't just some floating lights, they had constellations and movement patterns and complexity. It motivated and inspired Azenkari across the globe. This would also lead to local Rosha dominance as nearby Clans sought them out for spiritual matters. Whole new mythologies and religions spun out as Clans sought to explain this new phenomenon.
I apologize for my long absence. I have built up a backlog however so expect another update in 2 days for staggered release reasons.
Around 40 ADS, the mists of history would clear out enough to distinguish prestigious Clans instead of general trends and events. The Ashera Clan was a small Rosha iron trader before the Revival. However, they would utilize their geographical closeness to the Tasians by trading weapons for their newly erupted wars in exchange for rich food from Tas. Ashera then used the opportunity to grow large and numerous. Wars were launched and Clans quickly vassalized, falling under Ashera numbers. They carved out the entire eastern side of Eddas using both their own soldiers and dozens of minor vassals bound to Ashera.
As a reaction to the Asheran Conquests from 42 ADS to 57 ADS, the Western Compact was formed in 55 ADS. The Compact was a simple coalition of Western Edda Clans to assist each other should Ashera attack thereby halting Ashera as they ran out of land to conquer. From 57 ADS to 82 ADS the Ashera reigned supreme even as their conquests ceased. They grew in numbers along with their vassals becoming famed across the world as many Clans sought out Asherans for spiritual guidance. However, this state of affairs would not last. Tas Forest Clans were settling in lick their wounds in 80 ADS, putting the constant war to a halt for a while. This had the unintended consequence of no longer needing so many Iron tools and weapons thus they lowered their trade with the Ashera and sent far less food.
Ashera was now faced with a massive issue on their claws, there were far too many Azeni for the amount of food that was coming in. They knew that they only had to weather the famine for a decade or so until the Tassians went back to war again. They taxed their vassals more, starving the poor servant Clans. The fires of rebellion were being stoked amongst the oppressed vassals and Ashera desperately needed a unifying cause as well as Azeni to die to relieve the famine. So they declared war on the Western Compact.
The weakened Ashera broke upon the defenses of the paranoid westerners who had been fortifying for over two decades at this point. This was exactly as planned by the Asheran leadership. The more Azenkari died, the better their position. They had their vassals take point, promising all loot to them. This was of course just a ploy to get even more weakened vassals who couldn't rebel. The plan however would backfire in the winter of 85 ADS as the Western Compact launched a massive offensive.
In the winter, the ground is hard and not at all suitable for tunneling, usually signaling a temporary end to the war in Edda. However, the Compact could see a prime opportunity by commencing an all-out offensive in their purely defensive war so far. The Asherans would be caught unprepared and many of their Servants might just retreat. The plan worked out, the vassals were driven back inch by inch. Their already shaky resolve crumbling into blind fear. The Compact continued the offense throughout the next year, bleeding Ashera white. By 87 ADS, Ashera was reduced to a shambling wreck of its former self, many of its vassals had rebelled and the Ashera Clan rapidly fractured as disagreements broke out into open fighting. One year later, the once-mighty Ashera were no more than some ruins torn apart by both themselves and former vassals out for revenge.
The Western Compact rejoiced until they recognized that the glue that bonded them together had melted. There was no big enemy coming to enslave them. There was also the matter of what to do with all that land they had captured.
Updates will be slower from this point on as I will be trying out a new style.
Viewpoints on the Asheran Hive and its Inner Workings
Viewpoints on the Asheran Hive and its Inner Workings
When we look back on the Ashera Hive, there are two conflicting narratives that emerge from two different cultures, Eddas and Tassians. The Rosha-Gaza (Edda) hated that the Asheran Hive even existed. To them, it was an engine of oppression that brutalized the Eastern side of Eddas while also being Heathens by cutting the Gaza part out. Most of the surviving records are from the Western Compact who were understandably very biased however they're all we have to work off of. Ashera's Fall destroyed much of the Eastern records.
The journals of Commanders during the war confirm this long cultural belief. One of them wrote, "The Vile Ones have reached new heights of cruelty. Even the Tassians would be horrified. I wish I could forget." - Section 4 of The Spearhead Into Hell. While of course, we cannot fully trust this book, there are others that corroborate the horror of the Hive. They described massive slave mines with starving vassals toiling away for more weapons, more materials, more of everything to support the grinding war machine.
The surviving vassals also contributed to the records by providing first-hand accounts of what it was like living under the Ashera Clan. "Snag disappeared yesterday. Balu a week earlier. They both bad-mouthed the Clan and they're gone. This provides an opportunity." from the autobiography of Singa, one of the spies of the Rebellion. He provided a deeper look into the higher echelons of Ashera as a double agent from a vassal Clan that was promoted into the role. Singa along with a band of Asheran sympathizers wreaked havoc among the higher ranks by framing those loyal to the Clan. They acted as fake watchmen boosting their false reputation and eliminating competent, loyal Asherans.
From his autobiography as well as other witness accounts, it seems that Singa's Band as they would be known after Ashera's fall was primarily made up of old Traditionalist males who wanted a return to the old Rosha ways.
One of the main takeaways though is that Ashera didn't know how to do anything. They had no experience with managing vassals or conquering or even war as they mostly utilized sheer numbers and before that, they were protected by a Gaza Clan whose name is now lost. From Singa and other sources, Ashera high command was a paranoid, guilt-ridden, incompetent mess by the end of the war. The Old Guard by now had mostly died off and the Ashera was led by those who had grown up during the times of prosperity. They didn't know how to handle a crisis and the institutional memory was severely damaged by the population boom. Singa's Band would not have gotten away with half of their antics had it not been this way.
This is one viewpoint from the Edda side however the Tassians were also heavily affected by the Ashera from the trade. We know from legends and writings of "Kypho's Iron Legion" also simply known as Kypho's or Iron Legion. They were an elite unit of Azenkari soldiers and workers who were outfitted with the highest quality armor and weapons straight from Ashera forges. Kyphos was a prominent Tassian Clan made even stronger by their trade with the Asheran Hive. They would influence Tassian politics for centuries to come due to their power and more importantly good sense. There are many writings on them due to their sheer longevity.
Iron from Ashera opened up new venues for the Tassians. "50 ___ Iron for 60 ___ Tassian to Trade Clan Sigmire." - Damaged Record Tablet from an ancient abandoned storehouse. They gained new resources and the many disparate Clans began to be unified under major Tassian powers. The records become more streamlined, less spread out and more legible in this period of consolidation. Some of the major prominent Clans are Kypho, Iodan, and Dunar. They all had access to the coast from what we could tell and traded with the Easterners vigorously.
Therefore, the Tassians praise the Ashera, glorify them even. In Tassian lands, you simply do not bad-mouth the Hive. Many scholars wrote about them such as, "The good Asherans prove that the Eddasians are not spineless cowards afraid of war. They did better than us!" - Musings On Our Mountain Neighbors written in 91 ADS by Euseph the Xenophile.
I'm trying a new style from the POV of an Azeni historian looking back. Materia-Blade informed me that my omniscient past tense third-person view was really boring and honestly, I have to agree. My own work is below my standards of what I would read so I'm going to try and correct it. This is the first time I'm trying this style. Please inform me of any mistakes and things I could do better on. Thank you.
Let's shift our focus to the other areas of the world, particularly the Trade Clans in the swamps. They kept very detailed records of transactions and their global trade network means that their documentation is widely spread among various cultures. They have a very close relationship with the Onthranians up north. Trade Clans are one of the very few cultures that even have interaction with them. From what we can tell, the big northerners acted as the Trade Clan's mercenary military force guarding them against rival Trade Clans and predators. They used all of their considerable and diverse resources to outfit the Northerners. Onthranians were buried with their weapons and armor when they fell in combat making it easy to tell.
The most prominent Trade Clan was the Baidy Clan who lived on one of the jutting twin peninsulas. A lot of Chloronauts migrate to that specific bay every year to breed and recharge in the fertile swamps. This allows Baidy to have enormous reach across the world. Baidy is always featured in records about the Trade Clan and is the face of the culture.
In 92 ADS, we know that a major war broke out between the Baidy and the Swalu, their rivals on the other peninsula right across from them. Corpses in that specific time rose sharply and many bore inflicted wounds from Iron weapons imported from Edda. From what we can tell from the corpses in the area, this was nothing new. Swalu and Baidy hated each other with a passion which is ironic because of how similar they really are. The causes of these wars are fairly obvious, access to Chloronauts. Even with the discovery of stars a century prior, telescopes were hard to come by and boat making hadn't caught up yet with the thrashing tides from the two moons.
The massive raft creatures were the only true reliable way to trade across oceanic barriers and they were far preferable to land based trade which was impeded by predators, numerous warzones and most importantly was slower than molasses. Trade Cans were among the most diplomatic Clans in the world with Outclanners, they preferred to make peace rather than war compared to other cultures across the globe.
Baidy after a long on and off conflict would eventually prevail over Swalu controlling both peninsulas in 100 ADS. They exploited their southern positioning to trade with the mysterious Saramers giving them an edge in gear and logistics. The grinding conflict occurred for 8 years and drained the Baidy to a shadow of what they once were. However, they won and emerged victorious with no rival and plenty of territory giving Baidy much more future potential. The Trade War refined their understanding of conflict and soon Baidy launched a campaign targeting Chloronaut rest sites across the coastline. They came up with contraptions to transport workers and soldiers onto the raft creatures allowing them to have the first navy on Kasayi, ramshackle as it might be.
By 111 ADS, Baidy had around 40% of Chloronaut rest sites across the eastern coast of Micant and was the premier trading power of Kasayi. This came with a cost however, their Clan was fragmented with their only large territory being the home peninsulas. Otherwise, they were scattered with small Nests at the rest sites. The fragmentation forced Baidy to decentralize, their control decreased as Nests got further and further from the capital nests. Most far outward Nests became less Baidy and more vassal being allowed vast freedoms to do as they wished.
By 127 ADS, all Trade Clan Nests were heavily fortified as the discord sown by Baidy grew more and more. Displaced Clans driven out of their homes by Baidy colonists attacked others for shelter and food. The Colonies meanwhile only grew in power and numbers establishing far flung coastal outposts on multiple continents. Competing navies came to be developed copying the ravenous Baidy fleet though they were far less in quantity.
It was in those chaotic times that Queen Lokik Omus emerged, hatched in 141 ADS. Lokik was born in a major trade hub by the name of Omus up to the north with close ties to the Tassians. Subsequently, it was militarily powerful yet economically limited by Home Nest elites who recognized the colonies' growing power and sought to restrain Omus. Lokik grew up with the whispers of rebellion and she would actualize the dream in 158 ADS.
With Lokik acting as a charismatic leader for the Rebellion, multiple other nests joined along with not so subtle Dunar Clan support from the Tassian side. Dunar agreed to lend some companies to the Rebellion in exchange for trade concessions. Multiple Clans from around the area also joined due to increasing fear over the Baidy monopoly, these forces included Indigenous trade clans forced out by Baidy colonizers.
The ensuing war was one of the first true naval wars in history. Swampy environments were hard to fight in and so it was waged with concentrated strikes on enemy nests. Chloronauts were uncontrollable and so were mostly used to deliver soldiers which meant that armies had to be essentially self-sufficient the moment they landed on shore. Most of the weight on the plant ships were occupied by supplies and the strategy was to set up a forward operating base that would be reinforced regularly ending with a takeover of the enemy. These FOBs were self-sustaining with Queens onboard to supply soldiers and workers as needed.
Unsurprisingly, the war lasted decades during which trade would plummet to near nothing as more and more resources went to fuel the war effort triggering a gradual decline on the east coast. Nests were traded back and forth over and over again raising entire generations of Drones who only knew war. Nothing of the trade they were once so famous for.
In the end, the Rebellion won their independence crystallizing as the Confederate Clans of the East Coast also simply known as the Confederates. Both sides were smashed and shattered, population figures were down across the board compared to pre-war times nearly 30 years ago when the rebellion ended in 184 ADS. Knowledge was lost. By the end of it, the Confederates didn't even consider the war worth it, only continuing to honor their ancestors. Baidy survived on the twin peninsulas but their days of dominance were over.
My apologies for the long absence, work has been a lot. As always, feedback is appreciated. Thank you.
