Gohoths

**This article, Gohoths, was written by Capt.Hawkins. It may be linked to any page without asking for the author's permission.**

## Physical Appearance

### **Feathers**

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**Gohoths** are a semi-intelligent insectoid xenos species, inhabiting a planet called Gohoth. They do not possess any technology, nor are they capable of space travel, yet they are the dominant species of their world. Information about them is rather limited, as the species is hostile to all other life forms that enter the territory of their hive, including their rivals from other hives.

## History

History of this species is generally not known, as official databanks of the Imperium nor the Adeptus Mechanicus hold any mentions, further data on this xenos species, or encounters with it. Databanks in individual sub-sectors, however, contain data on this species and are compiled below.

* **Europan Planetary Federation** - Europans first encountered this species during their last expansion by a patrol fleet, exactly at 002.M42 during the colonization process of Tiandre H05U, when on the way towards the Tiandre, the fleet discovered life signs on a planet previously presumed as barren. Ships scanned and mapped the planet, using a plethora of systems to map the planet to gain as much as possible information. The atmosphere was diagnosed as unbreathable for humans, but the species in Gohoth, that appears to be based on Borane (Boron Hydride, BxHy) instead of Carbon, evolved to exist in such environment. Company of Aethran Chem Corps was deployed on the planet but soon had to be withdrawn due to extreme hostility of said xenos species. Instead of active intervention, Magii-Genetors of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Xenobiology branch, deployed dozens of drones and only a small contingent of Magii and Skitarii along with armored hub-units on the surface, to passively observe the aliens, and time to time, here and there, capture a living specimen for further examination and dissection.
* The Decimation of the Hope Mine: The Rogue Trader House of Sarin, hailing from the Azuran Sector, during the dispatch of a small fleet to the Segmentum Tempestus to scout for resources found the planet of Gohoth to be rich in prometheum and valuable industrial and precious metals in the year 044.M42, going on to form a mining colony on the world which operated for three years with minimal contact with Gohoth Drones and the occasional Hunter before a mining tunnel breached a massive hive, causing an overrun of the colony by Gohoth species Warriors, Juggernauts, and Devourerers. Nearly all of the miners were massacred, with only a small portion escaping in shuttles and landers to the remaining Sarin cargo ship in orbit. Ever the opportunist, the colony administrator, Angelo Sarin, captured a number of eggs and live specimens of the Gohoths to be held in stasis for illegal sale to fighting pits on Necromunda only to suffer a mysterious warp drive failure forcing them back into real space which was shortly followed by a containment breach. When the salvation beacon attracted an Ordinator Vanguard patrol aboard the Gladius-class destroyer Vigilant, the boarding team of six was quickly assaulted by waves of Warriors and several Juggernauts, losing a Brother-Initiate in the process. Upon reaching the bridge, they evacuated the ship and annihilated it with the guns of their own destroyer. The world has attracted the attention of Xenobiologists of the Forge World of Ferunus in the past several years, and a squadron of Adeptus Mechanicus vessels was soon after dispatched to investigate,

## Origin

Considering the gathered data, it seems this xenos species did not evolve on Gohoth, as there are some very significant genetic differences between them, and other native wildlife, which might suggest they were, somehow, and presumably with help of some other space-faring civilization, seeded to this world artificially. Another theory suggests that a yet unknown subspecies has the ability to shoot eggs across the void in the hope they land on a suitable planet, and thus it is possible that Gohoth is not the only planet they inhabit. Other planets are, however, not known at this moment.

## Hierarchy & Anatomy

These xenos live in a very strict hierarchy with defined roles. Most of the roles are listed below, in a hierarchical order, from the most important to the least important. Each role has it's own physical form or subspecies, that is adapted to their task, that cannot be changed, only evolved higher.

This section describes the organisms that reside in the core of the hive, and are essential for its continuation and preservation.

* **Queen** - One of the biggest organisms, whose only purpose is to gestate and lay exercise-ball-sized eggs, usually several each day. Queens are usually in the center of the hive, bloated and too heavy to move as their body can contain over a hundred eggs at once. Queens are usually fed and cared for by female Foremen, and accompanied by a group of so-called Royal breeders. Only the Queen can produce female drones.

* **Royal Breeder** - A male organism, whose only purpose is to supply the Queen with enough genetic material to keep the reproduction cycle going, and to protect her in case of danger. This position is usually competed for by other male breeders, and the loser ends up being fed to the Queen in a ritualistic manner. Royal Breeders look the same as regular Breeders, they are however slightly taller and bulkier.

* **Princess** - A smaller version of the Queen. Hive usually has several of them, and their purpose is the same as is the Queens. They are usually smaller, often still able to move at least a little, and lay fewer eggs. The Queen will tolerate only a limited number of Princesses in the hive, and Princesses the Queen does not approve of, can and will be exiled out of the hive, or killed and consumed.

* **Breeder** - Fully developed male organism, they again provide genetic material for the Princesses and protect them in case of danger. Each Princess keeps a group of them around herself, but the size of the group is limited. Other breeders can either fight over the privilege to be the Princess' mate or be exiled, in case they did not succumb to their wounds from the fight. May an exiled Princess and exiled Breeder meet, a new, small hive may be created.

The middle-ranked organisms each hold a unique function:

* **Drake** - Evolves from a Seeker. Final (known) evolutionary step. Drake is a large, flying creature. Its wing reformed into membrane-like wings, which gives the creature the ability to glide through the air and above the thick foliage. Their role is not exactly known precisely, as they are extremely rare, and only a few exemplars were ever recorded. It is presumed its role is to hunt prey too large for Hunters to take down, yet due to thick foliage covering nearly the whole planet, swooping from the skies on unsuspecting prey is not very valid hunting tactic.

* **Juggernaut** - Evolves from a Warrior. Final (known) evolutionary step. A Juggernaut is a huge, hulking monster, sized roughly as a Chimera IFV, and heavy as one as well. Its body is covered in very though chitin, with sharp spikes protruding from along its head and spine. Juggernauts are literally living battering rams.

* **Seeker** - Evolves from a female foreman. One of the two flying subspecies of this alien race. They have six, long thin legs, each with opposing claws, strong mandibles and two pairs of insectoid wings, their wingspan is usually about 4 meters. They buzz around the hive, serving more or less the same role as a male drone, but also searching for small prey to catch or gathering fruits and berries. Their function is also as sentries, that patrol the skies around the hive.

* **Hunter** - Evolves from a male foreman. Hunters are fast and nimble specimen, that venture from the vicinity of their hive to hunt the local wildlife. They usually hunt in packs, and most other species living in this world can't match their speed and agility, so a hunting party rarely returns without prey. They have four strong legs and a pair of bladed talons instead of their hands, in addition to strong tusks and razor-sharp teeth in their maws, and long, wide claws on their feet.

* **Nurturer** - Evolves from a Devourer. Nurturers are bigger than Devourers, and can process more food, and processes it better. Most of the Nurturers are bloated and usually immobile from all the food they digest and process, so they are fed by drones. In addition, they produce a special paste, that is fed almost exclusively to newly hatched drones, the Queen, and her Royal breeders, as it is the most nutritious form of a paste.

* **Warrior** - Evolves from a Builder. Warriors are considered as the main combat unit. They grow tall as a Space Marine and have six, powerful legs. Their formerly shovel-like growths reformed into scyche-like talons, which are sharp and very deadly. Their body is entirely covered in thick chitin and spikes. Warriors are tough and fast, yet not very agile, and a single specimen is a great threat for even an armed soldier.

* **Devourer** - Evolves from a female foreman. A devourer functions as a food processing organism. All the food that is brought into the hive goes through a devourer, that digests the food and turns in into a gooey, jelly-like, nutrient-rich substance that serves as food for the rest of the hive. Gohoths are able to live from unprocessed food but the amount of nutrients and energy they from unprocessed food get is low.

* **Builder** - Evolves from a male foreman. Subspecies specialized for digging new tunnels and chambers, and for earth-moving and terrain-forming. Builders grow stronger limbs, and their pincers grow into shovel-like growths with spikes, that can be used as picks and axes, so they can better dig through hard surfaces and tree roots.

* **Young Princess** - Evolves from a female foreman. They start developing reproductive organs and they frequently clash with other princesses over the best food and future mates. During this stage, the body of a princess grows and bloats, as it prepares for the next evolutionary step.

* **Young Breeder** - Evolves from a male foreman. Similar to their female counterparts. Young breeders start developing their reproductive organs, and their level of aggressiveness skyrockets, making them hyper-volatile, and dangerous to themselves and other members of their species. They clash very frequently and their duels are often deadly. Fortunately, the number of breeders always exceeds the number of princesses, usually at a rate of six to one, so the mortality rate is not much of a problem for the hive.

The lowest-ranked organisms form the most numerous group and do the bulk of the menial work:

* **Female Foreman** - First evolutionary step from the female drones. Female foremen care for the queen and the princesses, distribute food from the storage chamber and clean the hive. They are bigger and bulkier than regular female drones and show features of their future subspecies. Only female foremen are allowed to access the queen's chamber.

* **Male Foreman** - Similar to their female counterparts, Foreman does pretty much the same as the regular male drone does, but is bigger, tougher, and more dangerous. At this stage, it is also apparent what their next evolutionary step will be, as foremen get faint features of the subspecies whey will eventually evolve into.

* **Female Drone** - These stay inside and around the hive, caring for the princesses, assisting the Devourers and Nurturers. They also clean the hive, taking all the waste, filth and dirt out of the hive. Female drones are weaker and less aggressive than their male counterparts but have bulkier tougher bodies.

* **Male Drone** - The lowliest of the low, most numerous, and utterly expendable. Dozens of these drones die, and dozens of them hatch every day. They usually carry stuff around, mostly food and building material. Builders and Warriors usually keep a group of these drones around to assist them. They also act as the first response to any danger. Individually weak, with small pincers and mandibles, but three or four of these specimen is enough to overpower and kill an untrained human.

## Biology & Life Cycle

The life cycle of Goroths is rather unique. They are, of course, insectoid, hatched from an egg, that, after being fertilized, stays in the Queen's (or Princesses') body for about a month, before it gets laid. Like an egg, the future drone stays like that for about two additional months. Once hatched, it takes them a further couple of months to reach their final size and strength as a drone. They live as a drone for about two or three Terran years. Unfortunately, the mortality rate of drones is high, about 70%.

As the Drone organism reaches its age, they engage in ritualistic duels with other Drones. This occurrence is crucial for their transformation and evolution into a higher-ranked subspecies because the loser of this duel will inevitably die for the advancement of the other. The winning organism will wrap itself and the dead opponent into a cocoon, where the transformation takes place. Their bodies "melt" into a sticky, brownish goo, and over days reform into a Foreman subspecies, that is bigger and stronger than a regular Drone.

This system takes the 'survival of the fittest' credo to its extremes, as weaker individuals are literally killed and absorbed by the stronger individuals, which makes them even stronger.

As a Foreman, the species lives for another two or three years, before it undergoes the same process, and transform into a now specialized subspecies. The subspecies the Foreman evolves into might seem to be at random, yet it is coded into their genetic makeup, as the Queen can "choose" into which subspecies the drone will evolve. By this, Queens can influence the composition of the hive. If there is a lack of Warriors, it modifies the genetic code of the Drone eggs the Queen gestates to increase the chance of them becoming a Warrior.

With the second transformation done, the individual is now the six (known) specialized subspecies, that serve a crucial role in the hive, and are not just doing all the supportive and menial work. The lifespan here varies greatly, with the Young Breeders lasting for around a year, while the Devourers taking up to seven years before another transformation occurs if it can occur. In case no suitable rival to absorb exists, the individual lives for some time, before it dies of old age. This is an effective way to destroy a hive, for example, by systematically eliminating all the Devourers, the hive will over time starve to death.

With further transformation, the individuals get bigger, stronger, and more effective in their task, be it reproduction, hunting, protection or scouting, and foraging. The higher-ranked subspecies an individual organism reached, the fewer of the same-subspecies individuals are around, and so the highest-ranking individuals die of old age, as they have no other partner to fight and absorb. The hierarchical list above might not be complete, but no "Super Queen" has never been sighted, although, theoretically, they might exist in the biggest hives.

## Known Inhabited Planets

* **Gohoth** - The world of Gohoth is a lush, swampy world covered in dense, orange and red-colored forests of alien flora, and blue-ish, cobalt-rich rock formations. Despite the world being lush, it is inhospitable for humans, mainly due to a complete lack of oxygen in the atmosphere. Yellow-ish haze envelopes nearly the entire world, lowering visibility to two hundred meters at best, and usually to mere one hundred meters, which makes the navigation very difficult, and when one sees one of the Gohothan hives, the unlucky individual is already deep within the territory and is about to be hunted down by the insectoid Xenos residing inside. The world is designated as a Quarantine Jungle world.

## Disclaimer

* Feel free to use this xenos species as you desire. Their origin is purposefully set as unknown, so you can use them in your work, as they can live basically anywhere in the galaxy.
* You are **allowed** to edit this article in case you want to add another world they live on (along with some short lore on their discovery), an encounter with this species, or additional subspecies (please, stay reasonable with this). Please, do not edit this article for any other purpose.