T'lc-kha

These creatures are largely eusocial, there are very few males among the species and most are protected as precious resources. Hive members share a very simple telepathic link, without which separated members tend to fall into a catatonic state before dying of starvation, thirst or predation. Independent individuals, that do not suffer due to being separated from the hive, are occasionally spawned for important tasks to benefit their hive or to act as costly mercenaries. The queen provides much of the motivation for its hive. The species is incredibly cautious and very aware of the limited resources their world contains. As a result careful population control is practiced among the hives.

Rare T'lc-Kha spawn known as the "Sacrifice," T'lc-Kha that are made to assimilate lead in order to develop protective lining on their shell made of the metal. A sacrifice is a hulking brute compared to its kin in the hive, the added strength is required just to compensate for the added weight of the lead. The additional benefit is that these brutes are far more capable of surviving the wilds of the wasteland. After their shell has fully developed they are then sent into the wastes to look for Gold so that their hive may spawn the "Golden Children" their hive needs to combat arcane threats.

It may not be a surprise to many, but the T'lc-Kha have deep ties with the Cursed Wasteland. The truth is they are descended from the Teriads. Millennia of evolution have resulted in this evolutionary branch of the ancient bioweapons developing sentience. While having diverged greatly from their ancestors, the T'lc-Kha are still able absorb metals into their shell. Unlike their ancestors though it takes them weeks or months to process the metals into their carapace. No outsider privy to this connection but the queens are beginning to suspect that one exists. Encounters with true Teriads often result in confusion as those with sufficient organic components give off pheromones that are eerily similar to their own. The T'lc-Kha species as a whole feel a spiritual pull to the Cursed Wastes and old T'lc-Kha drones will often wander into the wastes to die.

Strangely, horses are terrified of these creatures and must be rigorously trained to ignore the instinctive fear they impose on the animal. As a result neighboring nations will often take corpses of these creatures to train their horses not to react so fearfully at their sight or scent.

#### **Name Structure**

T'lc-kha names would be short ones, two syllables is normal. Three maybe if they are of high caste/goldshells, four for queens.

From the race name alone we get 5 consonants (T, L, C, K, H), of which 3 are 'click' consonants (T, C, K). There could be a 6th 'buzzing' consonant (Z). For vowels, I'm thinking only ones without major lip movements, so (A, I, E) it is.

Now, the rules for their language might be that if a name/word starts with a click or buzz consonant and followed by another click, buzz or L, they are separated by an apostrophe. Ex. T'lc, C'za, K'che, Z'ki.

Words can end in either vowels or C, K, H.

No vowels, no problem - as long as it's just one syllable.

One hyphen possible for two-syllable names, and two hyphens for 3+ syllables.