Vespidan
"Vespidan? They are pretty much giant wasps! Just as aggressive, but a lot bigger to boot. Still, provided you can distinguish their meekly males, you can actually establish good relations, as Vespidan are renowned builders. Don't try and take advantage of them though, their female counterparts wouldn't like that. And those they don't like usually die."
— Tordek, dwarf fighter and Adventurer
The insectile race known as Vespidans were created in the First World as a side project by Calistria, the elven goddess of lust, revenge, and wasps. Loosely related to elves, wasps, and fey, the highly social vespidan formed societies of rigid caste-based hierarchies centered around a reproductive queen.
Calistria quickly grew bored of the strongly lawful aligned societies of her creations and soon abandoned them for other ventures, though she still regards their wasp-like form and tenacious territorial ways fondly and they still revere her as the mother of their species.
Physical Appearance
Vespidan body structure is relatively similar across the castes with the noteworthy visual differences being in size, proportions, and hair colors. Their carapace is largely a single color usually ranging from yellow to yellow-orange to orange to red and accented with dark stripings from brown to black, with their limbs reversing the primary and secondary colors. Members of the same hive generally share the same color and pattern and there even being little variation between hives in a region. Their crafting techniques are largely alchemical based and use very little fire, most commonly working with giant insect chitin, leathers, and silks. Their armor and clothing designs reminiscent of elven and fey fashions.
Society
Vespidan society is built and relies on the instinctive dedication to the good of the hive exhibited by every member. A single Queen acts as the central authority in all matters of a hive and is the sole reproductive member capable of producing an egg at a rate of up to one per month, twin eggs are possible but un- common, while triples are rare in the extreme, and greater numbers are unheard of. An egg takes about two weeks to hatch into a soft pale infant-like vespid baby, or 'larva'. In very small colonies (those with less than a couple dozen individuals) the eggs and larva are protected and cared for solely by the queen. In the largest colonies (up to a thousand or more members) they are protected and cared for by both the queen and the most experienced and elite of the worker caste.
Larva are nursed by both the queen and any caretaker sisters assigned to them, nurturing them like mammals would, until their carapace hardens enough to eat food on their own after about one year of age. The vespid child, appearing much like a wingless, stingerless child version of an adult, is then allowed to grow and experience hive life and is encouraged to learn what it means to contribute to the hive. At eight years of age they molt their wings, and stingers in females, and are now considered adolescents and are expected to begin pursuing a path to benefit the hive. At twelve a vespid is considered to be a full adult and given all of the responsibilities that go with it.
Those that begin to place their own needs and/or individuality above the needs of the hive risk being cast out as 'hive-broken' , considered a taboo mental illness in hive society. The hive-broken, while might act more like any other individual of another humanoid race pursuing their own wants and dreams, are treated as bogeymen within hives with young being told stories of mad cannibalistic hive-broken.
These are merely fairy tales, as Vespids generally do not consume the flesh of their own or of sentient humanoids unless emergency demands it. Though they culturally detest wastefulness and will usually feed their dead and those of their enemies to the young of the giant wasps a hive tends to keep in a fashion similar to cattle and horses. Also, young vespids, those under 12 but above 1 year old, are strictly carnivorous while the adults over 12 become largely herbivorous, becoming intolerant of solid meat proteins, though liquid like blood and broths are fine, resorting to hunting only to feed their young.
The domesticated giant wasps of the vespidan serve many purposes depending on their needs and training.
They can serve as battle steeds for cavaliers, draft beasts pulling small carts, plows, and other devices for vespid agriculture, and, like cattle to humanoids, can be a source of wasp honey and meat for vespidan and their young. There are rare particularly gifted vespidan ranchers who can extend their ability to train wasps to not attack giant honeybees, whose honey, meat, and domestic uses are far more desirable. If such an individual is able to peacefully keep both wasps and bees she'll find herself as one of the most valuable members of a hive.
Drones (males) are considerably less desirable as they are physically weaker than their female counterparts, lacking any natural defenses, and have weaker overall cooperative instincts. A drone's real purpose is in their necessity for reproduction. For this reason they are prized and treated more like royal treasures than actual people. To prevent inbreeding, Drones are traded with other Hives for either another drone or they are traded for a small fortune of resources. This combined with their more gregarious and less xenophobic tendencies makes drones prone to becoming hive-broken as well. Despite this stigma, Drones are highly respected for their raw magical talent. And they are often deployed as diplomats to other races due to their Gregarious nature. Because while Vespidan Hives are usually isolated, and fiercely defended by the territorial Vespidans, eventually these expanding Hives will encroach up the lands of other civilized races, making contact inevitable.
In the event of the death of a queen, or prolonged absence, a hive can usually keep up as normal but is severely weakened in it's ability to respond to new threats to the hive. The Queen's absence will cause a small amount of Workers (around 3%) to develop into Queens themselves. In this event the queens develop increasingly aggressive tendencies toward one-another until a 'Queen-War' breaks out until one queen is determined the winner with any surviving contenders exiled from the hive's territory, forced to survive on their own until they are able to acquire a drone and begin their own hive, are driven hive-broken by despair, or worse fates. Sometimes a Queen leaves with a sizable contingent to create a new Hive, or sends one away to colonize a new area, with the intend to force this effect. Thus allowing new Hives to be created.
Workers form the vast majority of a hive's population and manage nearly all aspects of a hive's infrastructure, agriculture, production and virtually all non-authoritarian roles of colony society. Their most noteworthy professions involve their abilities to train giant wasps as livestock and mounts and create massive, impressively strong structures out of durable paper and mud that dries harder than stone and their ability to create weapons and armor from chitin through secretive alchemical shaping and treatment processes that leaves it as hard as steel and also produces exquisite quality leathers. The workers in the field often travel in teams and are usually fighters, rangers, rogues, or clerics.
Vespidan Hives are renowned for their tenacity in facing threats, often relying on guerilla tactics and making use of the terrain against their foes. But they are also more than willing to face their foes head on should the need arise. Most members of the Hive can fight, and will do so till their dying breath. Workers are led by tacticians, and supported by Priestesses of Calistria as well as the magical might of the Hive's Drones.
Should the threat be sufficiently high, then several Hives will often join together, even if there were previous tensions between them. They recognize that the need for survival comes first, and those that attack a single Hive will eventually have to face as many Hives as it takes for them to deal with the new threat.
Relations
Vespids are inherently xenophobic and can quickly see any sentients in their territory as a threat, though they are significantly more tolerant of the presence of elves and any obvious followers of Calistria. Hives that find the need to make arrangements with neighboring species will try to make use of their drone's innate charisma to create treaties and alliances.
As such, Hives that have regular contact with humanoids might produce more drones to act as diplomats as they have an easier time communicating with the neighbors.
Hive-broken usually get better opportunities to meet with other races. They find halflings and gnome's small stature to be more approachable but their whimsical tendencies off putting. They usually can't tell the difference between humans, half-elves, and half-orcs and with their highly varied natures often find someone of these races to identify with and rely on as a guide to humanoid society. They tend to find the stout build of dwarves almost comical, but find their rigid tradition based culture the easiest to understand.
Hive-broken Vespid often find difficulty fitting in. They are drawn to human settlements where the people share a similar freedom of thought as the broken, but they often find themselves feared or reviled for their wasp-like visage and the various dangers, both real and imagined, that the hive-folk can inflict on travelers along with a distinct unfamiliarity with human society, the value of money for example. Should the broken find camaraderie, their new allies often find themselves with a staunchly loyal compatriot that excels in teamwork.
Religion
The primary religion of the Vespidan is their racial goddess, The Waspmother. This is specifically Calistria but the form of worship is so removed as to be a completely different religion altogether. A structured religion promoting teamwork, self- sacrifice for your allies, and strict acknowledgment of leadership runs anathema to the chaotic whims of the fickle elven goddess. Sages believe that vespid divine casters are powered not by Calistria but by their very faith in the philosophy the Waspmother represents to them. Any vespid that is approached with this contradiction often becomes immediately incensed and aggressive. Virtually all hives worship the Waspmother, though there are a few queens who have been made to see the truth and have turned their hive to the worship of other lawful deities that better fit with their ethos. Hive-broken generally still revere the Waspmother but are much more likely to worship other deities than their hive- bound kin.
Names
Vespid names are elven in origin, the language given to them by their creator Goddess. A vespid takes the name of their mother queen as their surname in situations where it is needed. Queens usually discard their mother's name entirely upon their advancement believing it no longer important to their identity. Hive-broken often discard their mother's name as well, out of shame, anger, or frustration, they are just as likely to adopt a new name entirely, usually one based on whatever culture in which they've grown comfortable.
Queens
Queens are the natural leaders of vespid hive structure and often stoic and regal, standing about 6 feet in height on average with a lithe grace. Their hair and neck fluff tend to be pale in color (Silver, blonde, pale red, etc). They tend to wear armored flowing attire that is regal in appearance and favor elegant or elaborate weapons or can be powerful spellcasters. They are entirely female.
Workers
Workers stand about 4 feet on average with an athletic build. They are extremely loyal and quick to turn aggressive toward perceived threats to the hive. Their hair and neck fluff tend toward dark colors (black, brown, auburn, etc. With Auburn being the most common). They tend to wear simple, efficient armor and wield light weapons and shields or ranged weapons. They are entirely female.
Drones
Drones, the males of the species, are much more docile than the other members. Standing about 4 feet like the workers, they look much like their female counterpart, except frailer and flat-chested (an evolutionary bluff inherited from their wasp relatives as they lack the female's dangerous stingers). Their hair and neck fluff can be any color common to queens or workers. They often wear light, flowy clothing and if they can defend themselves at all are usually spellcasters.