Coming in at #1 in the polls this Spring is (are) Atharm and Volucris Suicidium! Also, I use such fancy shipping for the prizes that you don't even have to worry about the intercontinental shipping prices. In fact, the prize should already be in your mailbox (or on the front porch, depending how big a box you think it takes to hold all those bragging rights).
Bio:
Spoiler Alert!
Excerpt from the vox-text Flora and Fauna of the Eastern Frontier, composed by Zaeus of the Primadon Applied Sciences Bureau. Please be aware, therefore, that the Primadon Science Laboratory 32 hour clock has been used, and that all times / measurements recorded are scientifically calculated for absolute precision, in accordance with PrimaGov requirements:
We made contact with the Gorillinator scouts at 25:43 hours and 6 seconds - they had been exploring the Cik-Cyakk Swamp for months, reading the terrain, keeping out of the way and attempting to predict the ease of Marro advance through this territory. The news they brought was dire - the Marro had finally begun to advance deep into the marsh, already annexing 36.8 percent of the territory for the Hive Mind. The scouts had done their best to avoid direct combat and simply observe, but one of the three had been lost. The two that remained, however, told the most amazing tale.
When the Marro first entered the territory, they encountered fierce resistance from the volucris suicidiae, mostly due to one queen organism who ruled over a hive at the border of the swamp. Reports indicate that this queen showed immense cunning and intelligence, seeming to lead in combat and formulate strategies in a way that seemed unexpectedly advanced. She would be near the thick of combat, sending out her drones in force to dispatch small groups of Marro invaders, then, once the Marro had been picked apart, she would fly up and fertilise their corpses with larvae. In larger battles, she would fertilise Marro bodies in the midst of combat, allowing felled drones to be replaced in the midst of battle. By using the Marro themselves to replenish her forces, she was able to keep her hive at maximum battle-readiness for longer than could be reasonably expected. She even displayed as yet undocumented behaviours that, while disquieting, proved quite effective; when the Marro had her wounded in battle, she often ate her own larvae which she’d only just deposited, rejuvenating herself through their sustenance and allowing her to survive at the cost of her larvae. From a long-term perspective, making such sacrifices to keep the queen alive is an effective survival strategy, however distasteful it may be to civilised minds. The scouts gave her a name - Atharm, an old Primadon name meaning ‘she who is without sentiment’.
Despite her best efforts, though, she could not win this war - her drones were not the only ones who could reproduce with great efficiency, and the Marro always had reserves. She held the Marro at bay for 9 days, 27 hours and 43 minutes before falling, losing an average of 0.236 miles of ground a day - a rate slower than some of our outer colonies have achieved. Eventually, though, she was cornered by a vanguard of Marro Stingers, with none of her larvae nearby to sustain her. Our scouts report, however, that they didn’t see her die. Instead, just before the Stingers opened fire, there was a blinding flash of light, and, once it cleared, she was gone. I would wonder if it were some other evolutionary defence mechanism we haven’t identified yet, were it not for reports of similar occurrences among soldiers on our borders. Something strange is happening, mark my words.
After she disappeared, the remainder of her hive was exterminated within 12 minutes and 46 seconds, and no other queens have proven able to hold out for more than 2 days against the Marro advance. At this rate, we estimate that the the volucris suicidiae will be rendered extinct within 2 months and 17 days, and without this lethal species causing the Cik-Cyakk Swamp to be virtually uninhabitable, our eastern borders will be compromised. Strategic reorganisation advised.
Bio:
Spoiler Alert!
Excerpt from the vox-text Flora and Fauna of the Eastern Frontier, composed by Zaeus of the Primadon Applied Sciences Bureau:
As we ventured deep into the Cik-Cyakk Swamp, we encountered the most remarkable species of insect. Known as volucris suicidiae, or ‘winged suicide insects’, they grow remarkably large, and rather quickly too - properly cultivated larvae can develop into fully grown examples of the species in mere minutes. This is a necessity, as their strategy of reproduction is rather brutal. You see, each volucris suicidium is born with a large, spear-like structure, which is so cleverly attached, and is carried in such a way, that unless you look very closely it easily passes as the real deal. This ‘spear’ is used to pierce their prey, injecting enough toxins to fell most creatures, but in doing so, the spear breaks away from the body of the volucris suicidium, leaving a gaping wound which results in the death of the insect. Such weapons, though admittedly on smaller scales, are far from unheard of among the insectoid kingdom, but are typically used as weapons of last resort, to defend the hive, and I’ve never seen one so unbelievably well disguised. The volucris suicidium is, to my knowledge, unique in that it actively seeks out organisms to slay in this way, ensuring its own demise in the process.
The average volucris suicidium - the drone - is exceptionally short-lived, lacking any biological directive to eat once it has passed the larval stage of development, though the queen organisms defy this standard. The role of the drone is purely to kill other organisms, and to die in the process. In doing so, they allow the queen to deposit the next generation of larvae within the host corpse, which will provide them with warmth, protection and sustenance for the exceptionally short time it takes for those that survive to develop into fully grown drones. Then, the hunt will begin once more with the freshly developed drone. It is an evolutionarily ingenious, fascinating, yet fundamentally depressing and pointless existence.
And coming in second and third (after tying for first in the initial poll) are
@All Your Pie
's Vorelanj and Dread Locust Dragoon and
@Yodaking
's Poxi Vespimic and Insect Drone:
Spoiler Alert!
Vorelanj and Dread Locust Dragoon
Info:
Spoiler Alert!
Q: If my opponent’s Dread Locust Dragoon activates Mortal Shed when I target it, can I choose another target?
A: No. While activating Mortal Shed does affect combat dice, it cannot cause the attacked Dread Locust Dragoon to become an invalid target. As such, after targeting the Dragoon you must carry the attack through whether its controller activates Mortal Shed or not.
Poxi Vespimic and Insect Drone
Also, since I'm filling this post with pictures in spoilers, here are the rest of the entries.
Guards leap into action, their Stealth Flying enabling easier answer to the call of Guards! Guards!
Because they're common, both your Guard selections could be them.
They protect each other with their Guardian Strike.
Guards! Guards! creates a bonus target, triggering Guardian Strike an additional time.
@flameslayer93
's Kkyal the Enforcer and Kraul Wing Soldier
Deep within the forests of Feldspar, Aquilla discovered a mysterious new hive of insect warrior drones. Aquilla had never seen such coordinated ferocity before! And their queen has frightening powers of her own, including the ability to summon a giant wall of thorns. The drones must be careful to protect their Queen, however. If she falls, her drones will lose all guidance.
May 3rd, 2019, 07:32 PM
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