Story
The night was filled with clicking. Thousands of mandibles rattled in rhythm as the hive gathered around the shores of Ikrenn Lake. The water reflected the black spire above, jagged and immense, its peak lost in the mist.
From the tunnels along the rim, the Kratik-warriors marched in, their shells glistening with resin oil. The Builders had raised high columns of hardened secretion that flared with pale fire, casting the lake in a sickly green glow. Farmers and Workers lined the banks, rows upon rows, their heads bowed.
At the heart of it all lay the Queen. Her body stretched across a resin platform, immense and glistening. The air trembled with the scent she exhaled, binding every mind together in silence. Then the Zzikk-chant began, a chorus of high-pitched clatters echoing from the workers, joined by the deep grinding of the warriors’ mandibles.
A single figure was brought forth, bound in strands of hardened silk. A human, pale and terrified, dragged from some mountain trail where he had lost his way. To the Tikirri he was no man at all, but a Takkar, a demon.
The Builders pushed him forward until he collapsed before the Queen. She lowered her head, antennae brushing his face, tasting his sweat. For a long moment the hive waited, still as stone. Then, with a slow grinding sound, the Queen sank her mandibles into his flesh.
The lake erupted in clicking thunder. The hive sang as one, convinced their goddess had tasted the world beyond, and judged it false.

Description

The insect folk call themselves the Tikirri, a name that clicks and rattles on the tongue. Their hive thrives within the vast crater, sealed off from the outside world by the jagged wall of the Kretazh Rim. To them, the crater is the whole world. The sky is their shell, the mountains their edge, and all who crawl in from beyond are demons to be slain.

The Crater Realm

At the very heart rises the Tikreth Spire, a black shard of meteoric stone that pierces the sky. It is the Queen’s throne and the holiest place in all the hive. Encircling it lies the cold waters of the Ikrenn Lake, perfectly round, fed by hidden springs. Beyond the water stretch ordered farmlands, carved into geometric patterns like scales. At the crater’s edge, burrows, towers, and tunnels pierce the walls of the Kretazh Rim, where warriors keep eternal watch.

The Castes

Every Tikirri is born to a fixed shape, molded for its duty.

• The Taka-Queen: Vast and sacred, she is both ruler and goddess. Her voice and pheromones weave the hive into one.
• Ikra-Princesses: Swollen egg-bearers, future queens who wait in shadow. Should one molt too soon, she is torn apart and devoured.
• Ekrit-Princes: Pale and short-lived, they exist only to seed the princesses, then perish.
• Kratik-Warriors: Thick-plated, crushing, bred for violence. They swarm along the rim, their mandibles clattering like drums.
• Tikren-Farmers: Quick and many-handed, they tend to fungus beds, herd crawling stock, and irrigate the fertile ringland.
• Kretik-Builders: With hooked claws and resin glands, they raise bridges, towers, and the hive’s great structures.
• Tzikk-Workers: Small, tireless, countless. They tend the eggs, carry burdens, and fill every humble task.

Beliefs

The Tikirri believe the Queen fell with the black star that birthed the crater. The lake is her first blood, the spire her crown, the rim her bones. To leave the crater is unthinkable, for beyond it lies only emptiness and demons. The hive is one body, the Queen its heart, and all else merely limbs.

Foreigners

When an outsider stumbles into the crater, they are seen as Takkar, demons. Their bodies are shredded by the mandibles of the warrior caste, and is cast into the lake as an offering to the black star.

Possible Secrets

The Black Spire is not stone

The Tikreth Spire is not solid rock at all but a fragment of the meteor itself. Deep inside lies a pulsing crystal core that emits a faint chittering hum. The Queen’s power comes from her connection to this core, and if it were shattered, the hive’s unity might collapse.

The Hollow Tunnels

Hidden beneath the Kretazh Rim are tunnels leading beyond the crater. They are sealed with resin, guarded by Kratik-warriors, and never spoken of. Long ago, a casteless brood attempted to escape and never returned.

The Lake is poisoned

Ikrenn Lake looks pristine, but its waters are heavy with strange minerals from the meteor. Outsiders who drink from it fall sick or die, while the Tikirri have adapted to its venom.

The Rim Cracks

The Kretazh Rim is slowly weakening. A great quake could one day shatter part of the wall, opening the crater to the outside world and exposing the Tikirri to the true scale of existence.

Adventure Hooks

The Cracked Rim

A recent quake has opened a fissure in the Kretazh Rim. Strange insect scouts have been seen in nearby valleys, clattering mandibles echoing at night. Locals fear a swarm will pour out if the fissure is not sealed.

The Black Crystal

Fragments of strange, humming crystal have been found in riverbeds near the crater. Scholars suspect they are shards from within the meteor spire. Acquiring more would mean venturing into the hive itself.

The Insect Jihad

A gap in the mountain wall has been found, and insect warriors are swarming out, ready to destroy all demons outside.

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