Region spotlight: The Wastes

For untold time, the centre of the continent has been dominated by two important geographic features: The crystal sea, and the wastes. Whilst the crystal seas was a font of life and prosperity, the wastes was barren and inhospitable. The Caliphate of Bax nominally controlled the most northern section of the waste, but for the most part, the wastes were uninhabited except for strange and sparse wildlife.

The one exception to this rule was the Dromite Hive mind. This being arose from the collected psionic energies of a sub-sentient species of insectoids with humanoid characteristics. It was curious about the world, but wary. For centuries, it lived in isolation, practising its psionic potential.

When Delan was on his travels, he went through the wastes as part of a test on the resilience of the mind. When he made contact with the Hive mind, both beings came into conflict. The hive mind had almost unlimited psionic energy, but Delan had skills and powers that the Hive mind could not fathom. After their conflict ended in stalemate, they communicated and found common ground, and over time, a grudging respect. Both of them learned much from the other, and parted as equals and friends.

When the gods broke the world, they viewed the Hive mind as a powerful entity that could arise as a new god, and punished it too. Vanur collapsed the hive city, killing tens of thousands of drones. The Hive mind, unable to sustain itself with the energy coming from the meagre survivors, changed the drones into a sentient race, impressing part of its knowledge and abilities into the now sentient Dromites.

Ever since then, the Dromites have been the only true inhabitants of the wastes, with 5 new hive cities, each ruled over by a single breeding pair that have been gendered for a decade through psionic rituals. The dromites have a voracious curiosity and breed rapidly, and now that they have recovered their population, make their way into the rest of the world.

Culture

Dromites have a very ordered society, as their basic eusocial insectile nature has made them work together towards building a new society. Most Dromites have a zest for life and a curiosity for other races, and are interested in the outside world. Many Dromites, however have expressed a xenephobic leaning towards other races, wanting the Dromites to continue to set up new hive cities as the wastes slowly grow.

Dromites are agendered, but every decade a new pair is selected, and through a complicated psionic ritual are given gendered characteristics. These two become the king and queen of their hive city. At this stage, the total dromite population only allows 5 hive cities, as each city must have a certain number of members to fuel this gender ritual. Since all dromite of the same age share parents, the concept of family is more complicated. Dromites choose their families, and they can be quite fluid through their lives.

Dromites wear little clothing in the wastes, but love to wear belts and bandoliers to store useful items. There is no status assigned to their choice of clothing.

Language and names.

Dromite language is a mixture of varied shrieking sounds and clicking of their mandibles. It is impossible for other races to speak Dromite, though they can learn to understand it. Dromites are capable of speaking any other language, and can speak the ophiduan tongue quite well due to being able to replicate the vocal clicks with their mandibles.

As with Dromites themselves, names are agendered.

Names: Actechek, Acheklik, Chekikoo, Chuurrick, Echoka, Ektika, Hachikla, Hukukik, Ichorka, Iklakta, Kektaki, Kukokti, Takikeek, Tiktaku, Ukakta.