Quote:
“A thousand corpses and they still come! A thousand battles in their hives and they do not yield! For the goddess and the tree of blood we will not stop until the faceless ones are all ash!” -Sslar, Tharrn Battle Priestess
Description:
The Aranid are an insectoid species from the star system T'Klitac. This species has a unified system of government and live in massive subterranean hives that wind through their large home world. Because of their unified society the Aranid are excellent farmers and workers. Additionally they are able to reproduce at a high rate. The Aranid are xenophobic of species that are not able to hear the calls of their queens. Due to a hive-like mentality, they also do not deal with public opinion like other species. Their unified society gives them an additional bonus in counter-espionage. Given their exo-skeletons and general physical attributes, the Aranid field excellent ground combat troops.
While seemingly perfect in many ways, the Aranid, for all their strength in food and production, lack the ability to think creatively. Their research also tends to focus on specific topics, and their depth of knowledge is less than other species. Additionally, the Aranid find it difficult to interact with other species, giving them limited diplomatic options and having difficulty pacifying foreign populations.
Designer’s Notes:
The Aranid are modeled after social insects, namely ants. On Earth there are two things preventing large insects like this: the mass of the required exoskeleton and more importantly inability to get enough oxygen. The Aranids, despite their similarities to Earth insects, don’t share a lot of the biology of Earth insectoids. They have a respiratory system with something similar to box lungs and their exoskeleton is thin and supported by endoskeleton-like struts. This means that on the Aranid home world there are elephant and dinosaur sized insectoid monstrosities. The Aranids themselves are not a hive-mind in the usual sci-fi sense of species linked by cybernetics or telepathy. Each Aranid is an individual but the sentient ones are non-breeding and have no vested interest beyond helping the greater good of the overall hive. Occasionally, sentient mad queens are born and are generally put down. Aranids lack dedicated leaders, which means that “regime change” through espionage is impossible.
