Alien Hives

Hivers travelled throughout the Frontier,seeking a world where one of the Children could flourish and grow to take the place of their lost Mother, but with little success. After centuries of failed efforts beyond the edge of charted space, their hopes were rekindled with the distant Radiance Cascade, which echoed the Mother’s dying cries in their ancestral memories. Many Hiveships set out for the Sirius Sector. Their arrival set off a series of conflicts with the factions there known as the First Contact Wars, as communication proved difficult and many assumed the Hives were hostile because of their alien appearance and nature. The Hivers soon were locked into a war of extermination with the various species of Sirius, which only concluded when the DAO Union discovered a means to communicate.

Peace provided its own challenges for the Alien Hives, as they soon found themselves confronted with several alien ideas and values that challenged the structure of their society. They strive to stand on equal footing with the other species of the Sirius Sector, protect their migratory routes and defend their seeded worlds. Some in the lower castes now demand new rights, undermining the harmonious working of their Hiveships, while certain Hive Lords still wage a long war against all the species of Sirius, fearing that the corrupting influence of outsiders might ultimately destroy their way of life completely.

How will your Hive adapt?

History

Evolution

The Alien Hives evolved on the world of Ar'ksenos where the the environment was deeply unstable, leading to several extinction events often due to internal imbalance. Despite these frequent extinctions, a several sapient species gradually emerged, existing in an uneasy balance between each other and their environment. Perhaps the strangest of these was the entity known as the Mother, a massive plant-like super organism who was determined to stabilise Ar'ksenos's environment.

The Painful Embrace

The Mother gradually learnt to transmit her memories through spores; initially communicating with simple forms of life, she was able to influence the environment of Ar'ksenos to mitigate several disasters. Yet, as she made her presence known to sapient species, there were many who feared her and resisted her, resulting in a long and painful period of war remembered by the Hivers as The Painful Embrace. Centuries of war would take a devastating toll on the planet, but eventually the Mother and her supporters claimed victory and began to rebuild a more stable world.

The End of the Everbloom

After thousands of years of prosperity where the Mother watched over and guided the other species of her world, gradually spreading through their system through psychically generated Wormholes. The Mother set to work on something that would allow the children of Ar'ksenos to reach the stars. Yet, before she could complete her work, she died suddenly with a great psychic scream. The Mother's last gift to her followers would allow them to survive, however: the Hiveships, each one possessing an embyronic form of the Mother which Hivers came to know as the Children.

The Scream that Eats Sky

The Hivers travelled through space for generations, seeking to recreate their lost system within the Frontier. Then they sensed the Radiance Cascade, which echoed the psychic scream of their mother which they could feel from even sectors away. Many Hiveships set a course for this new sector, hoping that they might learn more about the fate of the Mother and perhaps even find a means to restore her.

The First Contact War

As they approached the Sirius Sector, the Alien Hives came into contact with a number of powerful factions. In the Frontier, the Hivers simply avoided the relatively sparse examples of intelligent life, but within the more densely populated Outer Sphere of the galaxy, the Alien Hives soon came into conflict with the ambitious Eternal Dynasty and several other species who assumed the Hivers to be hostile due to their alien appearance and nature.

Diplomacy

A DAO Union delegation manages to establish contact a Hiveship, and a fruitful collaboration leads to the creation of a spoken and written version of the Hiver language, allowing communication between Hivers and other species. The Alien Hives are eventually able to make peace with their neighbours, finally ending the First Contact War.

Culture Shock

Peace provided its own challenges for the Alien Hives, as they soon found themselves confronted with a number of alien ideas and values that challenged the structure of their society. A number of those in lower castes began questioning their purpose and demanding new rights, undermining the harmonious working of the castes. Some Hive Lords rejected peace entirely, fearing that the corrupting influence of these other cultures might ultimately destroy their way of life completely.

Timeline

• 4712 BRC - The Everbloom Begins
• 952 BRC - Death of the Mother
• 0 - Radiance Cascade
• 105 ARC - The First Contact War Begins
• 114 ARC - Arrival In Sirius Sector
• 123 ARC - Communication Established with DAO Union

Society

The Alien Hives remain a new neighbour and outlier in the region. Many of the Hives continue to follow their great ships as they migrate through the stars, grazing on colonies and uninhabited worlds. Others have established inward looking kingdoms, while others seek to learn from their neighbours and adapt to the Sirius sector.

The Children

When they first emerged, each Hiveship carried an embryonic form of a new Mother. They were the first copies of her, not linked to her central brain in the original home planet. These undeveloped organisms, fragile and needy, were named the Children. Each Hiveship seeks a world where its Child could grow into a new Mother so that the Hivers could once more nurture a system akin to the Garden they were forced to abandon in ancient times.

Biotechnology

Perhaps the greatest tool the Alien Hives possess is their genetic adaptability, allowing them to match and sometimes exceed even the most sophisticated technology found in Sirius. Such changes are often instilled during their incubation, moulded by the Hiveship itself, to suit the needs of the Hive as a whole. Within the span of a generation for Humans, a Hiveship’s population may change completely, phasing out Hive Warriors for Hive Guardians to adapt to cave worlds or turning towards the quick-gestating Grunts to fill a population shortfall.

Migration

The Alien Hives live a nomadic existence. Hivers travel along long migration routes, monitoring promising worlds that might serve as a new homeworld for them. They stop at various planets to collect food, air and genetic material. In the populous Sirius Sector, many of these planets are inhabited by other sentient beings who often object to having giant space beasts absorb a large part of their vital resources. When an agreement cannot be negotiated, conflict can arise. Many Hives have decided to try to only exploit uninhabited worlds, while some others elected to take what they need by force.

Psychic Abilities

Psychic powers are an essential asset of the Alien Hives. Hivers themselves refer to it as Kalīktō, which is often translated as “the veil”. They view the veil as pervasive, linking all living things together and unifying many distinct entities into a greater whole, despite some being completely blind to its existence. All Hivers possess some degree of psychic ability, even down to their plant life. In a Hiveship or on a seeded world, vines grow and wrap themselves around tank treads, and dense shrubbery may open up paths for Hivers while attempting to impede intruders.

Social Hierarchy

The Alien Hives have altered themselves drastically to fill several different roles within the Hive, either having their bodies moulded to the role before birth in an incubation chamber or later on through the painful process of modification in a crysallis chamber. Each strain of the Hive They are organised in a strict caste system that assigns roles to each species, all playing their part in the constant migration of the Hive. The greatest authority and responsibility are born by the Hive Lords. Prime Warriors serve as examplars and lead from the front, while Snatcher Lords serve as advisors.

Some among the Alien Hives, faced with the individual freedom of other species, have started to question their own rigid social order.  But seeing how other species live, some members of the Alien Hives have started questioning the social order. Why couldn’t a member of the grunts be improved to the level of a Hive Lord? Partisans of the status quo will argue that the Hive itself is an organism, with each alien playing an essential part. Some Hive Lords have gone the other way and enacted a much more despotic rule.

Warfare

The Alien Hives mostly fight for access to resources. Most of the fights they get into have to do with asserting their right to access resources. So a planet that is on their migration path might have been colonised and the new inhabitants refuse to let them feed. Or they might be attacked by others with a claim to that planet. They might have trouble because their itinerary takes them through someone’s frontier, or they might be famished and decide to feed on an inhabited planet even if they need to fight the locals. On the battlefield, they can be quite impressive, communicating mainly through psychic means, moving like a huge sentient organism with a high amount of coordination.

The Radiance

The Alien Hives refer to the Radiance, both its effect and the zone which contains it as О̄thranefaigaz. This is usually translated as “The scream that eats the sky”. Hivers view it as an echo of the Mother's death throes. Extreme proximity causes particularly negative effects for the more psychically sensitive; likened to a continual scream that seeks to drive them to self-destruction at the core of the Radiance. It has also been known to cause mutations in egg clutches and individuals who wander too close.

Yet there are many Hivers who believe that the Radiance Exclusion Zone may possess the key to understanding the mystery of the Mother's sudden death and perhaps even the key to a new home system where they can finally prosper.

Language

Those born in a Hive are assigned a clutch name along with any siblings they are born alongside (Drath, meaning Claw), followed by a number describing birth order (So the oldest child would be Drath Air, or Drath One). Names are usually considered gender neutral as the Hiver's language has little gender distinction since much of the reproductive process is managed through their Hiveship.

Hivers usually earn a nickname from either their clutchmates or others who they work closely with. Hivers will usually adopt one of these names as their formal forename once they enter adulthood.

Notable Hivers may take multiple names, and eventually drop their original clutchname and number. Hivers dropping their clutchname and number in favour of multiple forenames signifies independence from family and siblings. This is particularly common among higher casts of a Hive.

Example Names

[Arādheis] [Vothske] [Zā’ir] - [Nickname] [Clutch] [Number]

Leader Names

• Hūkherkh Re’akh Khnōsez
• Ikheis Trōsaith Kseth
• Nīserkh E’uthalk

Grunt Names

• Arādheis Vothske Zā’ir
• Vreidhoiv Sa’uth Khi
• Okhnareith Frithne Vaith

Note that characters are usually referred to by their first name (in italics).

Trivia

Notable Locations

• The Clearing - Heavily depopulated in the wake of the Radiance Cascade, this region of space is a place of peace and refuge for the newly arrived Hivers.
• The Charred Edge - Bordering the Eternal Dynasty, this region is marked by the worst devastation of the First Contact War.
• The Lush Expanse - Once almost inaccessible, wormholes in this region have stabilised; allowing the Alien Hives to be the first to colonise worlds here.
• The Foreign Confines - A populated border region where Hivers must rely on stealth and cunning in order to survive among the other species already established there.

Notable Hives

• Ikhanoz, The Sowers - Among the most prominent Hiveships in Sirius, Ikhanoz has spent decades turning polluted worlds into verdant paradises.
• Makhradontos, The Many Fangs - Having barely survived the ruthless violence of the First Contact War, Makhradontos Hivers have become focused more upon survival than seeding.
• Okhredoz, The Harvesters - Instead of seeding planets, Okhredoz Hivers seek out worlds and strip as many organic compounds as they can before moving on in order to strengthen themselves. 
• Voithsor, The Shadowbloom - Migrating through contested regions, Hiveship Voithsor has adopted stealth as its survival strategy in the way it travels, seeds planets, and fights. 
• Glathenez, The Mindvine - Feeling a deep connection to the Veil, Glathnez Hivers rely on psychic abilities more than most of their kind.
• Krosī’os, The Bitterbark - After getting infected by unknown parasites in Sirius, Krosī’os Hivers have a shortened life expectancy, but their poisons are considered particularly potent. 
• Andarthēnoz, The Windswept - Moving quickly between systems and scouting planets with winged troops, and only lingering if the planet shows promise for seeding.
• Tsu’avagor, The Blind Flock - The Hive’s population is tightly controlled by the Hive Lords, who purge any defiant elements. Tsu’avagor Hivers are few in number but fanatically loyal and often quite large.

Notable Characters

• Druzhak Sarkh Vias (Edge of the Radiance) - An honourable Prime Warrior turned leader, concerned foremost with the survival of his people.
• Vradhez Sa’uth Dhrē (Edge of the Radiance) - A manipulative Snatcher Lord with potent psychic abilities. He seeks a brighter future for his people at any cost.
• Drekhor Vothske Thoir, “The Vengeful” (Alien Hives Faction Book) - A Hive Lord who famously led a furious charge against the Eternal Dynasty seeking revenge. Rumours persist that he continues his war of vengeance to this day.
• Snatcher Lord Nisuv Rezaith Zārē, “The Nectar Tongue” (Alien Hives Faction Book) - A Snatcher Lord who views cooperation as essential to the Hive’s prosperity, and an extension of the Mother’s teachings.
• Prime Troseis Loithn Khe, “The Gluttonous” (Alien Hives Faction Book) - A mutated but ingenious Prime Warrior, whose obsession with digestion led him to create a bio-weapon known as the Bileburner.
• Ksi’adoz, Ksaga Zā’oir, “The Murdering Darkness” (Alien Hives Faction Book) - Sporting a ragged cloak, this Shadow Hunter uses smoke and mists to disorient his enemies before striking.

Proverbs

• "The individual thinks, the Hive knows."
• "Why forge what can be bred?"
• "Pity the exile, deprived of the warm embrace of the Hive."
• "When one bleeds, all hurt."
• "The First Contact War was difficult, but at least we knew who to eat."

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