Myrmidons

**Myrmidons** is the catch all term for the six species of related insectoid people who inhabit Centralia. Creations of Cybele, the Myrmidons are strange and alien to the mostly mammalian inhabitants of Centralia. They are well known for their inherent ties to air magic, inherited from their creator, the Force of Air.

## Species of Myrmidons

* **Formidians**, or the **Insect Queendom**.
* **Arachnae**, or **Weavers**.
* **Scarabadae**, or **Desert Crawlers**.
* **Mantids**, or the **Honourable Ones**.
* **Parasitids**, or **Bloodsuckers**.
* **Acridians**, the **Famine Worshippers**, who are extinct.

## Formidians

The **Insect Queendom** are one of the Myrmidon races, who share genetic similarities with the common ant. Most common of all races of Myrmidons after the Acridians' demise, Formidians are imposing beings who live in massive eusocial hives. Most live in Mezigo and other southern regions.

Formidians in general resemble ants of a human size and humanoid body plan. All have thick carapaces, usually brown or black, and antlike heads, with antennae and small eyes. Formidians have two pairs of arms, one pair at the shoulders and one on the ribs. These arms end in humanoid hands. Other castes of Formidians will have different arm shapes and specialisations. All Formidians usually have a gaster (the third part of an ant, after the head and thorax) which is attached to the lower back.

Formidians generally inhabit huge hive structures which spiral down into the ground, usually either in forested areas, or more increasingly, under major cities. Living in Mezigo, the Formidian colonies outside walled cities or clean areas are not immune to The Plague of Undeath, resulting in horrible undead ants melting inside their weakening carapaces called **Scuttlers**. Unlike undead humans, Scuttlers have little to no chance of maintaing their previous personality.

Formidian society is split into multiple castes:

* **Larvae**, who are the young Formidians hatched from eggs. Larvae do not leave the hive, and their carapaces are still pale and soft. These Formidians will become members of the other castes as they age.
* **Workers**, who are the most common and most baseline of all Formidians. They have two sets of arms and a normal carapace. Most Workers are female.
* **Soldiers**, who are the second most common caste. Their carapaces are dark and heavy, like plate mail, and are equally strong. They have massive mandibles, and heavy shield shaped heads. Their rib arms form into huge shields to guard their torso, with hands on the back, and their shoulder arms become razor sharp blades with fingers sharpened to a point.
* **Windcallers**, the rarest 'ordinary' caste. Windcallers sacrifice physical strength to increase their magical connections, allowing them to utilise wind magic. Most do this by using 'slicing wind' which allows them to slash things at range. The windcaller's rib arms remain the same, but their shoulder arms develop large carapace structures that resemble mage's staves, which they use to walk and cast with.
* **Drones**, particularly large Soldiers who are adapted to defend the Queen of the hive. They come in two varieties, Shield Drones, and Winged Drones. The shield-plates of Shield Drones have adapted to become huge, door-like structures that cover the Drone's entire body as they advance forward. A trio of Shield Drones can control an entire tunnel of a cramped Formidian hive. Their blade-arms meanwhile, have increased massively in length, and are charged with electricity from the Myrmidon air magic, allowing them to stab overtop their huge shields and stun their targets. Winged drones meanwhile are similarly large soldiers, who have developed large insectoid wings which they can use to fly. Generally much rarer than Shield Drones, Winged Drones can use their shrunk down shield-arms to fire bolts of electricity.
* **Queens** are the immobile and massively enlarged rulers of a hive, who lay the Hive's larvae and have access to powerful lightning magic. Queens generally reside in the lowest and safest part of any Formidian Hive.

## Arachnae

**The Weavers** are rare among the social and generally selfless Myrmidon races for being anti-social and definitely very selfish. For a Weaver, only one thing is important - looking out for number one. Generally emotionless, it is a wonder that Arachnae manage to breed, being as lonesome and secretive as they are. Weavers are most usually found in the Eastlands, inhabiting cellars and lofts, putting out their webs for birds and stray pets to eat. Some even become brazen enough to fish for human flesh.

Weavers consist of a spiderlike head with eight eyes and venomous fangs, a thorax with four pairs of arms, two arms on the shoulders, and two on the ribs, four tall legs extending from the back, and a large spinneret where the legs would be on a human. Most Weavers have black or grey carapaces with faint blue and white markings.

Arachnae do not have enough of a society to actually develop a religion.

Weavers spin huge webs which are stronger than steel chains, and charge them with electricity from their natural air magic. Touching a Weaver's web is generally akin to touching an electric fence, and will usually stun the unfortunate victim, causing them to become increasingly wrapped in the Weaver's webs. Then, the disturbance on the web network will summon the Weaver itself - to inject the poor sod with electrified venom.

Of course, Weavers are smart, and can be bargained with, although crossing one is not generally recommended.

## Scaradians

The **Desert Crawlers** are a species of Myrmidon whose closest insect relative is the scarab beetle. Travelling the arid lands of Mezigo, in groups of three or four, the resilient and resourceful Scarabadae have garnered a positive reputation as outgoing and considerate merchants and tinkers, carrying stock from town to town across the desert where more water reliant Mezigans could not. Their broad back-shell is often host to a veritable menagerie of trinkets, baubles and useful items, all strapped to the cheerfully opportunistic Scaradian merchant.

Scaradians are probably the only type of Myrmidon to have exclusively good relations, usually due to their habit of carrying large amounts of water to villages trapped in drought. Scaradians are also the most 'emotional' of the Myrmidons, in that most other Myrmidon species don't really have much truck with emotions in general.

Scaradians have a huge, heavy torso, the same height as a human, but much broader. Four long, strong arms protrude from the shoulder region, and they have bulky legs with broad feet. Their entire back is covered by a heavy shell-case which forms a natural hunch and blends into the top of their head, which is topped with long antennae. This shell case was at one point a shield for fragile wings, but Scaradians have steadily eveolved away from flight in exchange for much better defenses, what with the amount of flying predators in Mezigo. Most Scaradians have dark blue or black carapaces.

The Scaradian deity is called Death, who despite his name is actually quite harmless and beneficial. He represents the Scaradian acknowledgement that death is just another part of life, and is nothing to be scared of. He commands the Scaradians to perform rites for and bury any corpse they come across. This tends to be why Scaradians congregate at battlefields, to tend to the dead, not to eat the corpses, as some liars spread rumours about.

The Scaradian association with death generally means they *do not like* the Plague of Undeath, which subverts their efforts to bury the dead and corrupts people into undying monsters. Scaradians don't interact well even with sane Undead, and Scuttlers get even worse treatment. As a blessing from their god, Scaradians are completely immune to the Plague of Undeath, meaning an increasing number of Scaradians are assisting in working for a cure. Scaradians are some of the only beings that can cross the zombie-infested wilds of Mezigo.

When Scaradians use wind magic, they tend to be out in the desert, and summon large, fairly strong whirlwinds to whip up sandstorms. They can use these sandstorms to escape in a pinch, or to mask their approach on the very rare times they go on offence.

## Mantids

The **Honorable Ones** are large, powerful Myrmidons who are most closely related to mantises. The physically largest and most dangerous of all the Myrmidons, Orcish tribal memories seem to indicate Mantids originate in Ragasta, but these days they go wherever the battle is. Mantids are a species for whom combat is not a job, but a way of life and a religious obligation. Their deity, the - imaginatively named - War, demands that the Mantids battle, slay, and continually improve themselves. The Mantids justify this by saying, that when they cull the weak, they make the world's peoples stronger for the eventual return of the 'Dark Enemies' - the Mantid cultural boogieman. These Dark Enemies may or may not be the Void-beings, which has lead to many Mantids dedicating themselves to purging the Void wherever it may be found.

Your average Mantid is about eight feet in height, with a thick carapace, usually bright green, but also coming in yellow or red. Mantids have no need for stealth. They have raised heads on tall, heavily armoured neck stalks, bulky, spike lined torsos, and rather uniquely only one set of arms. These arms grow from the shoulder, and extend into huge, razor-sharp mantis arm blades. On the rare ocassion Mantids want to interact with something without stabbing it, they stab their blades into the ground and use their forelegs, which have relatively dextrous hand structures. Mantids have four legs in total, the fore-legs, which have hand-structures and are spiked, and the back legs, which are huge stabbing spikes covered in carapace thorns. These are under a long spiked shell-case, which can unfold to reveal large wings that cannot be used for flight, but are covered in bright and flashy patterns unique to each Mantid. These wing patterns are used as identification. Mantid vision is particularly good amongst Myrmidons, and they can use their air magic to sense disturbances in the air - allowing a Mantid to hunt you easily even in total darkness.

Mantids do not tend to use their air magic for anything but their air sense. To the average Mantid, if it cannot be killed by decapitating it with a guillotine claw, it deserves to kill the Mantid for evolving well.

## Parasitids

The **Bloodsuckers** are Myrmidons who resemble ticks or mosquitoes. The Parasitids are actually two closely related subspecies who are similar enough in culture and genetics to be classed as one race. The Parasitids are generally assumed to originate either in Ragasta or the hellish jungles of Raskav.

Parasitids live off of the blood of other species, but differ in preferred targets and level of aggression. Due to drawing blood from lots and lots of differing people, the Parasitids have a habit of spreading disease, a fact that is reflected in their blood thirsty god Pestilence.

The Acarii are the smallest and perhaps the most disgusting of the Myrmidons, being closely related to terrestial ticks. Acarii attach to larger animals or peoples, like elephants, ogres, and the like, and slowly drain their fill of blood. With two long, grasping arms, weak, bandy legs and heavy pot-belly which expands when full of blood, no-one except other Parasitids can stand to look at Acarii. The Mantids especially find them utterly repulsive, both for their weakness and cowardice. When an Acarii is attached to a larger being, sometimes they will give it a jolt of electricity from their blood-draining hollow fangs.

Anophelii meanwhile, are Parasitids derived from the blood-drinking mosquito. Anophelii are skeletally thin, with black or dark-red carapaces. They have a pair of large wings, that create a truly maddening buzz when they fly, two long, thin arms with claws - which they stab into victims to hold them in place - and a long, sharp probiscis which they stab into unfortunate victims to drain their blood. Anophelii will not attack creatures who can easily fight them off - instead picking on the weak and sickly to drain their fill. Anophelii probosces are not easily broken and are very sharp, usually charged with electricty to stun those the Bloodsuckers stab. The Anophelii also have the option of flying just out of reach of their target and pelting them with lightning until they are weakened enough for the Parasitid to move in.

## Acridians

The **Famine Worshippers** were a race of Myrmidons most closely related to the common locust.