Chrysalis

The word 'termites' rattles around in my head like an out of control, rage inducing pinball. If I had a lip it would be curled! If I could hiss, I would hiss! Which is weird, since I don't really have anything against termites per se, yet I feel an overwhelming need to rend flooding me. Look! My mandibles are actively gnashing the air without me having any input! It's as if my entire ant body is filled with the urge to destroy having merely heard the word of the ancient enemy!

In the interests of science I decide to speak to the ants around me. As the rest of them are going about their business I release a short and sharp burst of pheromones.

"Termites."

Holy smokes!

The reaction is instant! Every ant within range stops on the spot and starts quivering, their mandibles writhing in the air as if yearning to clamp around the necks of they who should not be named. This is bizarre! I know for a fact that the ants of my family have no idea what a termite is! They've never encountered them in their lifetime, never even heard the term. Is the hatred for the termite woven into our cores? Did I accidently drop that in when I modified the Queen's core? I'm pretty sure I'd remember deliberately placing a hatred of wood eating bugs into my siblings…

Regardless of the reason, the hunger for conquest is clearly there. How can the Colony live knowing that a giant monster termite nest exists out there in Pangera? We can't! We must destroy it! They cannot be permitted to exist within the same Dungeon!

a termite queen and are using it in a war

wooden

them for this behaviour and their allies would turn their backs, but these are not normal days. The repeated waves have everyone on edge. The Legion is stretched and cannot react as they wish, nor can they afford to alienate one of the old races who form their base of support at this time. The kaarmodo have

yeah, you're literally

has decided to ask that you repay the favour you owe

defend the Colony before the last wave, now we need to rush down to the fourth stratum in order to save her from getting woodchipped? That's a bit of

do you believe that you can help us? If

I suppose the repeated waves are giving everyone pressure, not just the Legion. If the Folk are up against it then they

different social structure. Whereas ants are almost entirely female, termites are a mix of both male and female. The Queens, who grow into pulsating, immobile egg machines are paired with a male, a king, during their nuptial flight, and remain together until one or the other dies. Unlike a female ant Queen, who usually only mates once in her lifetime, the termite royal couple will mate whenever they need to

I'm not quite sure. It isn't necessary to mate here in order to produce offspring for one thing, all that is required is Biomass, but I wager that there are still male and female termite workers, not that gender matters. I imagine that the kaarmodo captured and carefully modified the termite queen and now they direct her and her offspring against the tree in every way they can. What would