Chapter 41: 41. Interlude V

Most sapient insectoids on Ross lived in scattered tribes who dominated only their local area and preferred to be left alone in the grand scheme of things. Such species came and went across the millenia, but the foremost representative of this particular group of races were the Mantis Hives.

Unlike their marginally more peaceful brethren, their hives spread out below ground until it ran into so many obstacles that it became more efficient to build upward. They then created giant artificial mountains where they could tunnel and construct their abodes as usual. Forever. The potential for growth was infinite, only the distance to more worthy resources was a challenge.

This was not a problem to be dealt with by the spiritual caste at the very top. 'Mantis' society factions were called precisely that because they were led by hordes of ants controlled by towering Mantis commanders. Those commanders displayed varying degrees of intelligence and strategy, but only the absolute rarest and most elite generals showed any inkling of personal magical ability. It was therefore quite the mystery why so many of their lower level commanders carried items that clearly held powerful enchantments.

The open secret of Mantis Hive civilisation was that there was a secluded upper caste, even above the leadership other races were so often forced to contend with. These insects held a tremendous spiritual power, nearly from birth, and were the only ones to display true magic prowess even at lower levels. If Livia had seen them she would have dropped her jaw and described the creatures as 'Giant lady bugs'. Of course, the comparison was ridiculous, the mighty Coccin were much more graceful, much more slender in form. Even if they did happen to share the same stylish pattern of shell on the back.

This mighty insect civilization held several Hives, that were the equivalent of kingdoms, and spanned a huge area on Elderwood, despite having originated on one of the lesser continents. They were distinguishable by the colour painted on their shells, although the patterns themselves were individual. The brighter the colour the higher the standing, and the prestige of the faction, among the contending Hives. The Coccin had their version of a society, but the Mantis' cheap imitation was made up of various social classes, who all contended for more prestigious tasks and grew their populations to breed bigger and stronger, hoping to spawn the next great military leader, with all the prestige that entailed.

But despite the impressive size of the Coccin holdings they were not at all known as makers, other than the great magic tools that some of the Coccin schools competed at creating.

When it came to gathering and putting to use building materials for their great underground mansions, or the rare cuisine that was demanded each season, or even the supplies that empowered their military forces, it was all handled by their lessers in the Mantis caste. They were handed careless and relentlessly increasing quotas to fulfill, told to spawn more servants and get them Assignments from the Coccin mandated [System] to get the job done, and were then left to their devices with but a few laws in place to prevent conflict with other powerful species on Elderwood. Of course those laws often got ignored when a new deadline approached and ones career-life was on the line, but this was by design, in a sense.

The Coccin are not however one of the races claiming to have invented the [System], but they do insist their elevated state was what made them deserving and what keeps it from disappearing in the first place. The distinction being a simple matter of which stance is likelier to endure scrutiny.

To the neighboring races it simply looks like the Hives are governed by greed incarnate, when in fact a distinct detachment from reality is the far closer explanation. But it was not like the Mantis commanders were about to explain this, and the few idiots who had brought the issue up with the upper caste had not been seen again, they were added to the growing list of malfunctioning servants.

Nevertheless ant gathering-partys continued to be deployed, with the same unreasonable demands come winter or spring, and only when things turned truly desperate, and the ant warriors started dying like flies, would the Mantis caste go out themselves and raid until they were killed off or a surplus had been achieved. This was the way of things, and when resources were finally plentiful was the one time when the ant populations were well fed and left to grow their families, which often led to a golden age where new standards within the species were set, before inevitebly hard times arrived once more with the ever increasing quotas, and the lower caste was told to tighten their belt straps for a desperate bid at having the resources last them another season of ranging further and wider, leading to inevitable losses and decline.

The Mantis never made the connection, but kept demanding the same efforts regardless of the condition the lower caste was in.

Meanwhile the Coccin jaunted around their great society, which the lesser castes did their best to emulate, and engaged in heated debates regarding everything from civic reform to identity politics and the temperaments and inclinations of various Great Spirits.

It was a good life at the top, even if there was a risk of becoming too pampered to know it.

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