Stingblood Tribe

The Stingblood Tribe is one of the tribes of people native to the isles of Kurzhen, where they have become the dominant tribe, eradicating or enslaving the other residents of the isles.

They live in giant, hive-like structures that resemble those of ants, and found their cities atop underground cave complexes, where they mine for freshwater and cultivate (via farming) a great variety of mushrooms native to the region.

They are a very large race of people, and as a group entity are very belligerent and aggressive, tending to resolve problems and disputes with violence rather than words.

While unified as a race, they are dispersed between multiple "Hives," which are essentially miniature city-states along the isles, each with often competing interests and priorities. Each Hive is led by a Queen, and martially led by a Scourge.

Both the Queen and the Scourge of a Hive have the unique ability to telepathically communicate with members of their Hive, however other members cannot respond in kind, only receive.

Occasionally, when a Hive finds itself in a position of unmatchable power within the Stingblood Tribes, the Queen of that Hive will birth an heir known as an **Immortal**. This Immortal is able to telepathically communicate will members of all Hives, not limited to simply their own, and finds themself with the ability to moderately sway other Stingbloods to their command.

These Immortals unite the armies of all the Stingblood Hives, and set off on massive raiding expeditions known as "Grand Hunts" (compared to the standard Hunt a Scourge may set off upon.)

## Appearance & Biology

Members of the Stingblood Tribe find themselves with varying sizes and physical traits depending on their role in their hive. This is largely developed by what a Stingblood eats when they are born, with the type of mushroom they are fed vastly changing their body structure. They reproduce extremely quickly, and often replenish fallen armies sent on Hunts in mere weeks.

* **Yellow Shrooms**: Stingbloods that are fed Yellow Shrooms in their early stages will find themselves grow to become incredibly bulky and muscular, even without physical training, and stand on average at roughly 6'10", far exceeding the natural height of most humans. They are cultivated to be warriors and raiders, used as the armies of Hives, and trained to be both ruthless and relentless in their endeavors. These Stingbloods are referred to within the Hive as **Legion**, as they form the backbone of the military, and often follow orders from a Scourge without any fault
* **Blue Shrooms**: Stingbloods fed Blue Shrooms will find themselves in an almost opposite situation compared to **Legions**, as their physical growth becomes stunted, and they remain incredibly tiny for the entirety of their lifespan. They are the designated messengers and couriers of the Stingbloods, carrying all the messages that a Scourge or Queen wouldn't send themselves, often relaying information regarding Hunts from armies back to their Hives. They also occasionally see participation in combat, and are much more cunning than their **Legion** counterparts. They are known as **Bassani**.
* **Green Shrooms**: Stingbloods fed Green Shrooms will find themselves to grow to a physique somewhere in between the **Legion** and **Bassani**, often standing at the average human height. The unique aspect about these Stingbloods is that their skin becomes incredibly tough, as hard as rock. They are often utilized as shields that spearhead assaults, though they are rare compared to **Legion** and **Bassani**. Known as **Katarii**, they stand at a ratio of about 1 Katarri for every 100 Stingbloods.
* **Red Shrooms**: Stingbloods fed Red Shrooms will become extremely massive in a short period of time, dwarfing even the **Legion**, and standing at heights of almost 20' on average. They are the most physically powerful of all Stingblood variants, and sport an impressive 10 arms, each one being stronger than the combined strength of a **Legion**'s arms. Though, they are incredibly rare due to the rarity of Red Shroom. Known as **Hekatons**, there are usually only a couple dozen within a single Hive, with roughly 1 Hekaton for every 1000 Stingbloods.
* **Purple Shrooms**: The rarest of all Stingbloods are those that have been fed Purple Shrooms. Tailored to be the elite guards of Scourges and Queens, they have the body of a **Katarii**, the agility of a **Bassani**, and the power of a **Hekaton**. There are usually only a handful within a Hive, and they are extremely deadly in combat. They are also the only of the Stingbloods that have shown a rather high degree of free will, where most Stingbloods work for the benefit of the entire Hive, rather than for themselves. They remain eternally loyal, however this addition of personal desire has led to them being able to utilize Haki. These "Royal Guards" are known as **Pontara**.
* **Scourges:** Born with their title, Scourges appear physically similar to **Legion**, and maintain roughly the strength of a **Hekaton**. What distinguishes them most, however, is that Scourges sport a brilliant pair of fully-functioning wings, allowing them to see the battlefield from above, able to command their armies towards key positions, though they still lack advanced strategic thinking. Aside from their wings, which they can 'sheathe,' they can take on the appearance of any other type of Stingblood.
* **Immortals**: Immortals physically maintain all the strengths of every variant of Stingblood, and have physical strength rivalling that of an entire brigade of **Pontara**. They easily outclass **Scourges,** also having wings, but moreso in sheer power. Additionally they are hyper-intelligent, and are the only variant of Stingbloods that can maintain advanced strategic maneuvers within their armies, and as well have an innate sense of the state of every single Hive within their influence.
* They will know when and where each and every soldier perishes, the emotional output of every warrior, what they hear, what they see, what they think. They truly see all upon the battlefield, yet even with their strength they tend to only utilize their own bodies in combat if they see it necessary to find a decisive victory.
* Stingbloods are nearly exclusively born male, with all Legion, Hekaton, and Katarii being strictly male in biology. Bassani split between male and female roughly 30/70 respectively, and while Pontara, Scourges, and Immortals are not set to a gender, their rarity in itself means that the gender proportion within them is statistically irrelevant most of the time. It should also be noted that a Stingblood's gender is not decided at birth, rather being decided by what they eat.

**Uncommon Shrooms**

There are also some shrooms within the Isles that are only found within individual hives, monopolized fully as they grow only by certain conditions. In addition to the types of shrooms found within the Kurzhen Isles naturally, there have been cases of foreign shrooms being used as nutrients with entirely new effects and statures being drawn from them, however these shrooms are rare, as it has become apparent that Stingbloods can only develop from a certain family of shrooms, with others having no effect on biology.

* **White Shroom**: White Shrooms are native only to the territory of the **Wolf Hive**, and seem to only be able to grow in extremely cold temperatures. White Shrooms must be fed to a Stingblood in tandem with another type of shroom, as it provides a passive effect rather than changing the physicality of a Stingblood. These shrooms grant a Stingblood unnatural sensitivity towards sounds and smells, and additionally give the Stingblood eyesight roughly ~4x better than that of the average person, able to magnify their sight at will within this upper range.
* **Golden Shroom:** Golden Shrooms are an incredibly rare variant of **Yellow Shrooms**, with one being naturally mutated roughly once out of every million Yellow Shrooms. The Golden Shroom provides the same base biology as the Yellow Shroom, however additionally grants the Stingblood an unnaturally high energy well, seemingly providing infinite stamina and rapid physical regenerative effects.

## Strengths & Weaknesses

Aside from the differences in biology listed above, all Stingbloods share a few common traits:

* The origin of their name, Stingbloods, when cut, spew a dark reddish purple blood that stings those which it touches. This does not effect other Stingbloods, however it is quite painful for any non-Stingbloods that make contact
* Stingbloods are a warrior culture, and are incredibly powerful warriors. Even disregarding the remarkable organization of their armies, each individual Stingblood finds themselves able to stand their ground against overwhelming odds, never losing morale, and rather becoming more volatile and powerful the less likely they see victory to occur
* Stingbloods have the ability to tune out their sense of pain, and when in battle, they have the ability to enter a 'battle-frenzy,' that sees them disregard their wounds and fight to their last breath, with full vigor all along. This makes them incredibly dangerous, even when outnumbered and injured, as they will rage onwards towards victory, without the slightest care about the safety of their own live, prioritizing the glory of the Hive over their lives
* Stingbloods, except from Pontara, Scourges, Queens, and Immortals, tend to lack much free will and desire, making the average Stingblood nearly devoid of anything that could be considered 'entertainment' or 'joy' in life, aside from the rush they get from bloodlust
* It should be noted that, while only a limited number of Stingbloods can manifest Haki, this does not take away from the raw power other Stingbloods possess. Taking any Stingblood lightly is a mistake that could bear ill results

## Trivia

* inspired by ants, vikings, spartans, and the chaos wastes