Cyclone

Hivemind

Whispers of engineering a rivalry between two augmented 'warlord' princes with independent hives ultimately had to be rejected due to a lack of resources. With the Hivemind only having two hives, two queens, and a little over a thousand drones to work with, a project of such a scale was deemed infeasible at the current time.

Some attention was directed towards further evolution, though. Adding stronger forelegs and chitinous barbs to the warriors was easily done, and it has increased their effectiveness. There was also effort devoted towards mimicking the venom of spiders and snakes, as well as on the webweaving ability of spiders, but for now those have yet to fully meet the desired results. A subset of worker drones has adapted to generate proteins that turn their saliva into a sticky goop, and a matching ability to spit this fluid a short range with some accuracy. While that initially seemed like a failure as they lack the ability to draw out threads of the protein and finely weave it like spiders do, it's still somewhat useful. They are able to chew bits of wood and other organic matter, allow it to mix with their adhesive saliva, and then regurgitate it as a sort of papery material that is useful for construction. Their spitting might also be useful in combat situations as a distraction or as a means of constructing sticky traps; we could consider adapting this new worker type to fulfill a supportive role to the warrior drones much like the proposed smaller and better armored "bait" warriors, or we could instead evolve them to gradually become more like spiders. Or we could perhaps just accept their current state and use them for construction workers.

One of the newly enhanced princes left the main Hive, accompanied only by a few bodyguard warrior drones. It attempted to hail and observe the various bees that it saw, but most seemed to just buzz by obliviously. Eventually it grew frustrated and took a more direct approach, marching to the nearest beehive and sitting underneath it. For a long time the prince looked expectantly at the beehive, occasionally clacking its mandibles together and gesticulating (in what it hoped was a non-threatening way) with its various limbs. A few bees hovered closely to investigate this strange visitor, and after some more time passed, one of them returned into its hive. A few moments later, dozens of other bees emerged. They began to slowly circle around, with about seven of eight of the little buzzing things edging closer and closer to the prince. The bodyguard warriors were apprehensive and their instincts were screaming to bite at the bees, but sensing that such an effort would have been futile, the prince made them stand down and offered no resistance as the bees grabbed onto his bulk and slowly lifted him into the air, up to the hive. They set him down upon a small branch up in the tree just next to their hive, and then from out of the beehive's opening peeked the head of one massive bee, their queen!

Much clicking and clacking and buzzing followed. Without any mutually intelligible language, communication was very difficult and slow, but the queen bee seemed to be of a reasonable intelligence and to have some desire, or at least receptiveness, towards taking the time to communicate. The queen bee gestured repeatedly in the general direction of our central hive, towards the berry bushes that we planted and which were just now beginning to bloom for the first time!

Hivemind

In order to satiate the Hivemind's newfound curiosity with the other local insects and their means of communication, the bugs begin to watch the bees and beetles in a different manner. Previously the drones had mostly paid attention to where the other insects were, where they were going, and how many of them were about; however, now they were looking very closely at other species' strange biology. The goal was to try to find some pattern to the madness that was the other bugs' mannerisms, but it seemed futile. Perhaps more promising was the idea that these other bugs might communicate with some sort of smells or chemicals, so whenever the bees or beetles would leave an area, our own drones would quickly try to sweep it for any pheromone trails or other scents that might have been used for communications. If there were any pheromones, they weren't the same ones that our species evolved to smell and utilize.

It seemed like a rather Sisyphean task, at the end of the day. Though the Hivemind as a whole was undeniably sapient and capable of logic and imagination, far less could be said for the bugs as individuals, especially in the case of the worker drones. Those bugs just acted almost like tools, using almost all of their limited autonomy and brainpower to interpret and fulfill their orders, rather than to think critically on a higher level. The warriors were slightly better off; they had to have some innate understanding of tactics in order to effectively work together and protect the Hive. Still, their intelligence was highly specialized and their minds were mostly concerned with things like searching for interlopers and how to most optimally fight beetles.

So neither the drones nor the warriors were able to glean much through their continued observations of the other bugs. Even if that obstacle could be overcame, with what resources and abilities the Hive possessed, composing and delivering some sort of message would have likely been difficult even if they discovered the mechanism by which the other species could communicate. But ever persistent, the Hivemind did not give up. In order to solve these issues it generated a plan that was maybe just crazy enough to work, and impulsively began work on it immediately.

Numerous ideas were floating around for how the Hive might best direct the species' evolution, either through enhancing the warriors or through trying to have the workers emulate the spiders' natural silk, but all were pushed aside at least temporarily while the forgettable prince caste underwent some drastic changes. Prior to this point the princes only had been charged with one job, and they had done it admirably; they lived for just a few weeks, and existed only to mate with the queens. All of their spare time was spent idling around and being utterly unproductive, despite them being more numerous and certainly far more expendable than the queens.

That unfulfilled potential was shaped into a new purpose by the evolution of much more sophisticated neural networks inside the princes. They grew to be intelligent, more than any of the drones and even the queens. To accommodate the increase in autonomy and intellect, the princes' bodies grew larger to the point that they could rival or even surpass the warrior drones in size if not sturdiness and ferocity. Their lifespans also became greater than before. They still are fleeting to the point that they individually might struggle to innovate or advance much, but it is no matter. They can work together, and the Hivemind remembers. If one generation dies too soon and leaves something unfinished, the next will be ready to pick right back up where they left off.

Eventually these princes might become even more autonomous, to the point that they could act as extensions of the Hivemind by organizing and directing the drones around them, and perhaps acting as ambassadors or generals. But for now, they are just smart enough to perhaps succeed where all others failed in studying the beetles and bugs. We'll just have to figure out exactly how they should go out and try to get the other bugs' attention.

Hivemind

After eating the berries, the bugs spat out the seeds. Some worker drones gathered these and ported them a short ways outside the main hive before dropping them onto the ground, and after continuing this for a long enough time, we managed to get a patch of sprouts to emerge. There are green bushes poking out of the grass, but so far they have yet to bear much fruit.

As the new generation came of age and grew to their adult sizes, the Hive became very crowded with the presence of no less than a thousand of our species. So it was split up, with hundreds of drones as well as a new queen establishing a satellite hive on the other end of the tunnel to the forest, further cementing control over the berry bushes and allowing for the Hivemind to project more of its power into that region. Using the new hive as a base of operations, more troops of bugs were sent out to scout the forest.

The Hivemind was conflicted and so the warriors have not yet agitated or attempted to capture the bees, but they did note the creatures' presence and report back the exact location of three beehives. There was of course the one that the Hive had previously seen and long known about, up in a tree near the forest's border, but the drones also found another two beehives deeper into the forest. It's unclear if the three beehives are independent or if they work together as our Hivemind, but in either case, it would be easy enough to send warrior drones up a tree to storm one of the hives using the element of surprise; the bees have never really paid attention to us or seen us as a threat, after all. Of course, one expects that there would still be quite a few casualties when attacking a beehive.

Scouting troops also managed to figure out where all these beetles are coming from--deeper into the forest is a huge fallen log covered with fungi, and next to it is a pile of fallen leaves and sticks. The beetles swarm out from burrows under the log and the leaves. It's impossible to get an accurate count, but there could easily be 300 of them in that nest and the surrounding area. This information didn't come freely though. Despite trying not to engage, several small scouting groups were attacked by the beetles, and some were wiped out altogether. It seems that those bugs have grown quite intolerant of us, and any presence in their territory is met with immediate aggression. Skirmishes along our border are somewhat rare, though. The beetles still keep to their side of the forest. It seems as though they've wisely ceded the berry bushes to us, and all the beetles that we see skulking around the edges of our territory are more akin to border guards than some raiding force.

Directed by the Hivemind's will, the warriors have develop larger mandibles with more crushing force. They still retain the paralytic venom, which has been useful against larger foes like spiders and snakes. We've long since rooted out the population of spiders and snakes that resided within the vicinity of the berry bush and our forest nest (and the spoils of that were spidersilk, snakeskin, meat for it, and knowledge of their various traits), but occasionally some of them still wonder in from outside and need to be dealt with.

The Land

Hivemind

Those drones that ventured off into the grasslands never do return. They were expendable and so not terribly missed, but their disappearance was still foreboding enough that no further expeditions were sent in that direction.

The Hivemind dispatched a sizable troop into the forest. Usually the drones didn't go much farther than the outskirts (or fell prey to snakes, birds, or any other manner of terrors if they did) but that was when they went alone and had no warriors to protect them. This time, the troop ranged deeper into the forest than the Hive had ever dared to go before. Along the way, they were attacked by a giant spider, but through the use of sheer numbers and a newly evolved paralytic venom inside the warriors' mandibles, they were able to slay it with only a few casualties taken. Bees buzzed obliviously overhead as the spider was dismembered and sent back to the Hive in pieces to serve as food. Waste not, want not.

After that was sorted, the troop pressed on and they found a great thicket filled with berry bushes. There was immediately a skirmish between the troop and several beetles that had been inhabiting the area. Despite the beetles having a nasty bite of their own and being like tanks with shells too thick to be pierced by the warriors' mandibles, they were defeated. The beetles simply were not as numerous or coordinated as our species and so they were easily pinned down and rendered helpless while their legs were bitten off.

Some of the beetles scurried off and retreated deeper into the forest. Instead of pursuing, the troop of drones began gathering huge quantities of berries and carrying them back to the Hive. More expeditions followed, made easier by a winding tunnel that was eventually dug from the nest all the way to the edge of the forest. More beetles were seen skulking around in the following days, and though they've been driven away from the berry bushes, they probably have a nest somewhere and the Hivemind can only wonder at what other resources they might still control.

With the berry bushes now solidly inside the Hive's territory, the food supply has massively increased. Things got frisky back at the Hive, and the Queen spawned an unprecedented horde of larvae. There are currently only about 250 drones and one queen, but there's about to be a population boom of hundreds when the new generation grows. This opens up the possibility of establishing more Hives, or perhaps even launching a full invasion into the forest or somewhere else.

The Land

Hivemind

With time, some of the Hivemind's drones begin to diverge into a warrior caste. They have grown larger than the generic drones and developed a thicker carapace. Their mandibles are larger and more exaggerated, and while they still retain those as their only true weapon, with greater size has come the ability for them to use their foremost legs to pin down enemies. They have had some opportunities to practice this and train together, and have developed a strategy of using a team of warriors in which several work together to pin down a larger foe while others try to bite its exposed limbs.

Three worker regiments are sent out into the surrounding land. One group ventured into the forest and retrieved some small twigs, while another regiment brought back some pebbles from the riverside. The third group was supposed to head further into the grasslands, but they still haven't returned yet...

Hivemind

As an OOC note, I meant to imply that an order like "evolve wings" is fine when I said IC, "Perhaps in reaction to some sort of selection pressure or with a conscious effort, the Hivemind could change these characteristics."

Hivemind

The Hivemind has a moment of introspection, contemplating the situation. The species is large by the standards of most insects, but still rather small. The queen has grown to be about the size of a tree leaf, with all the others ranging from tiny larvae just a bit bigger than grains of sand to the size of cockroaches. The species has minimal polymorphism, with just three types of members: a singular female queen, a few male princes, and two hundred of a generic breed of sterile drones. The drones are not noteworthy in many aspects; they can act as a group to defend the hive, but are prone to wander out alone in search of food and are thus prone to being preyed upon by larger (or more clever) insects or animals. Their only weapons are their mandibles, which they can use to bite and tear off the flesh of smaller creatures, or simply annoy larger ones. Perhaps in reaction to some sort of selection pressure or with a conscious effort, the Hivemind could change these characteristics.

The nest is rather humble. It is little more than a mound of dirt hollowed out by a system of tunnels and warrens, with the queen and the larvae kept safely in a large chamber at the bottom. The only resources that the Hive has to speak of are a few days' worth of food stored inside the hive, as well as the one queen, three princes, and two hundred eager drones. The nest isn't very tall, so the weeds and grass help to hide it.

The nearby forest is known to have berries, which have always been a good (albeit unreliable) source of food., Recently the drones have seen bee nests up in the trees.

Hivemind

In this RP, we all collectively control a hivemind of big bug creatures. The hive of bugs has only just achieved a rudimentary level of sapience, and while great things might be coming for it, the Hivemind is unfortunately somewhat divided and schizophrenic. What's going on inside the bugs' heads sounds more like a party full of screaming kids than anything resembling organized directions.

And you can be one of those voices! Just step on in and start shouting out orders.

Periodically I will post a prompt that says what the Hivemind has been up to (which might include a few suggested courses of action and/or a picture) and then everyone can post on the IC to say what they want to happen next. For instance:

An Example

Prompt: Some of the Hivemind's drones are acting lazy and sluggish. Maybe they are sick.

Person 1: Have the other bugs eat the lazy ones!
Person 2: Throw them into a river before they spread the sickness!
Person 3: Eat them!
Person 4: Do nothing and hope that it all works out!

The bugs would probably end up being eaten in that example, because multiple voices were shouting to do that and we all know that you win an argument by being louder than everybody else. But disclaimer: sometimes the Hivemind might not choose to be democratic and perform the most popular order.

And that's basically it! It's not very complicated, so let's get started.

---

With a start, the Hivemind sudden realizes that it is aware! Its species has probably existed for a long time, but they have only just achieved sapience and have very little memory or knowledge of anything except for their immediate surroundings. The Hivemind has a few hundred drones and a single nest located in a grassy area between the edge of a forest and a small river.

The Land

The Hive has long been stagnant, sending lone drones to forage for food in the forest (risking death by the hands of predators) and gathering just enough to sustain itself and scrape by. Now that the Hive has an intelligence, perhaps things will change.

Divinus: The God RP, Mk. III. Finished in Record Time™!

&


Cyclopes

It was atop a mountain summit that Synros was born once again.

This was neither the greatest nor the least of the Qiangshans’ many peaks, merely the first one that the cyclopes had stumbled upon when they’d first marched that way so many years ago. There had been some great and fiery scaled beast nested up there, but it had been no match for Atlas; the giant had lifted an entire hillock, carried it up the mountain on one shoulder, and then used it to crush the waking beast. Or so the tales went; Atlas had been the first to reach the mount, and the beast’s skull had already been reduced to splinters by the time his smaller brethren caught up. Some suspected that Atlas had merely pummeled it to death with his fists or hurled boulders at it, but the giant insisted he’d crushed it beneath a hill.

In the time since their conquest of the peak that had become their camp, the cyclopes had continued to go about gathering meteorites from far and wide. By Synros’ decree they brought their prizes back their mountain and heaped them up, slowly raising a small pyramid of the black sky-stones. Atlas would have none of it, though. Instead he prowled the mountain range, wandering up and down the slopes in a journey half to satiate his curiosity and the cyclopes’ longing for exploration, and half to appease his now infamous bloodlust. Many a dragon was driven from its nest by the giant’s brawny hands and the massive rocks that he threw.

Decades passed, though the cyclopes had neither concept of years nor sense of time. In those days they roamed their faroff mountains in packs mostly unopposed by and unknown to the rest of the world, and very few perished. The fear of those earliest days began to fade from their hearts, but so too did some of that grim and whetting determination that had accompanied their uncertainty. They were beginning to grow soft, the meteorites were trickling in slower than ever as they’d already scoured many hills a dozen times over, and Atlas was ever more restless, so Synros finally decreed that they had gathered enough. He summoned them all to the peak and they waited days until every last band had returned. Once all of them were accounted for, the demigod spoke. They all watched attentively--all of them save for Atlas, who instead sat down and toyed with a boulder in his hand near the back of the crowd.

"In the dark of night and the stillness of my eye, I have seen visions of the glory and might that is ours to claim,” his great and powerful voice resounded, recoiling off the distant mountain peaks.

It was punctuated by a thunderclap of a crash as Atlas tossed his boulder off the mountain slope. “Then why you tell us to run aroun’, picking up rocks? No glory in that. No strength in scurrying down there like bugs.”

The colossus stood up to his full height and raised his chin to look down on Synros and the whole crowd. He somehow seemed to grow another three hands taller, looming over them like that. Synros frowned and crossed all four of his arms. At first he had thought that he’d found a staunch ally in Atlas, but the so-called Might of the Cyclopes had been an obstacle and an adversary at every turn despite how he’d once proclaimed his friendship-

Atlas wasn’t done. “And why is it that you all listen to him, anyways? Just ‘cause he has four arms makes him better than me? Than us? Just one of mine could hurl him off this mountain!” The giant flexed his arms overhead, and it seemed as if even more rocky flesh erupted out from the gaps between the chiseled muscles. There was freakish muscle upon muscle upon muscle.

The display sent an icy lance of fear into Synros’ spine, but with an indomitable will he fought it off before it could creep into his expression. He is like stone, a mountain made flesh, but stone is not strong, for it will shatter where steel only bends. I must be Steel!

"Brother, I will show you strength,” he finally said. Atlas grinned, and he charged forward, pushing his way through the throngs ever closer to his next battle, with the lusting light in his eye seemed to roar, ’Finally!’

Synros advanced too, but he stopped right before he reached the line of cyclopes, and he stooped down to lift one of the fallen meteorites from its place at the bottom of the pyramid stack. He held it high into the air for all to see, then set it down upon a bench-like flatten rock and struck it with his fist. Then he struck it again, and again, his back to the crowd even as Atlas blindly tried to push forward. Synros knew not what he was doing, but he felt a calling, as if this was just right, and he chose to trust his instincts. His four fists rained down upon the dull grey rock so fast that they were a blur, and the meteorite groaned and glowered with a soft heat, and then it surrendered and was finally broken and shaped to his will. He held up the product for all to see, and it was a great helmet with short, ornamental spikes atop its otherwise functional form. The front was open and gave way for his eye and face to remain unobstructed, so perhaps it was more like a crown.

He held it high, and when Atlas finally broke through the crowd and stood right before his rival, he looked down in confusion. Synros seized the moment and placed the crown upon his head before an awed crowd. And then he took into his hands an even greater meteorite, and he began to forge the rounded end of a mace. "This is my strength, the might I have seen. Watch, and I shall give it to you too!” he proclaimed, and suddenly the throng was rushing forwards to engulf Atlas once more as they crowded as close to Synros as they could be.

And then Atlas knew that he had been tricked and bested, for this was not a contest of true might at all.

Summary+Might/Prestige

The cyclopes make their home in the mountains of DF. They spend a long time just keeping to themselves out in the wilderness, gathering up meteorites into a great big pile at Synros’ behest. Atlas is not thrilled with the prospects of being a “scurrying bug” looking for rocks, so he wanders the mountains during this time and is mentioned to have had several encounters with nesting dragons, none of which end well for said dragons.
The tension between Atlas and Synros eventually comes to a boil, and Atlas wants to fight, but Synros cleverly chooses that moment to realize his power of shaping metal. He uses his fists to cold-forge lumps of meteoric iron into a mundane helmet and mace, but this is just the beginning.

No MP spent. Synros is crafting mundane iron weapons as a free action under his portfolio of Steel.

Atlas prestige was 7, now 9
+1 for minor role
+1 for major role

Divinus: The God RP, Mk. III. Finished in Record Time™!

@AspenIvan for Apademi

Hider

Apologies for the wait!

The first and most important thing to raise is that Adorable Saucer, the guy that writes for Shengshi, has stated his intention to wrap up his loose ends and leave the RP. Though he did say that he would be willing to help get you set up, it's worth bearing this in mind and potentially reconsidering parentage. Ultimately that choice is up to you.

We suggest that this accoutrement you mention "She pulled from the ground a glaive of stone haft and diamond blade, which she has found equally useful for threshing and fighting" should be created as an artifact IC. That's just a more organic means of doing things, and that would also justify it being much more powerful than something just linked to Apademi's general appearance and form.

The Settlement Portfolio, particularly as viewed by one that sees herself as a Gardener. works well because it leaves you with lots of things to do and engage in. There was a comment or two from the other GMs about how it seems very strange to associate Settlement with, "The size, strength, durability, and ferocity to be a serious obstacle to any non-divine invaders." I actually find it more strange that Apademi possesses the powers to effectively terraform in order to make locations "ideal" for settling, rather than just helping mortals to adapt to whatever surrounding they'll be inhabiting. The connotation of a 'Gardener' in a more modern sense perhaps lends to this idea of changing a patch of desert into some lush green golf field, but one could just as easily start a garden of cactus out in the desert.

Overall your sheet and concept are good and all I could do above was offer some insight that might provoke some reconsideration over a few parts, but your sheet is good and by all means you can take the above as suggestions rather than disqualifying factors. Apademi's accepted, so welcome to the gang!