Kiepheloi Stasis Cell
Although domesticated kiepheloi have a suppressed swarming instinct compared to their wild counterparts, a colony might spontaneously produce one or more queen cells for seemingly no reason. Despite being a relatively minor issue, this has the potential to develop into a more serious problem, especially if the colony does not swarm after the newborn queens hatch, as kiepheloi do not tolerate the presence of more than one queen in a hive.
This usually results in the new queens being ejected from the hive. While while this is not a guaranteed death sentence, a domesticated kiepheloi queen is at a considerable disadvantage in the wild. Not only are domesticated kiepheloi bred to be considerably less aggressive than their wilder counterparts, and thus ill-suited to defending their territory, selective breeding has also suppressed their burrowing instinct. In the absence of a suitable space to build a nest, a domesticated kiepheloi queen would be incapable of creating her own space, leaving herself vulnerable to predators.
Although an easier solution would be to eliminate the unwanted queens altogether, the status of the kiepheloi as sacred creatures complicates matters. Furthermore, there are practical reasons why their keepers might want to preserve the unwanted queens while also preventing the problems that could arise from the hatching of these unwanted queens. To that end, the moradeikon have created the kiepheloi stasis cell, a device that can halt the development of an unborn queen without harming it until such time that it can be safely allowed to mature.
Access & Availability
Kiepheloi stasis cells are available, at no cost, to keepers and tenders of kiepheloi colonies, but the method of their manufacture is a closely guarded secret. This is not because of economic interests, but because the devices require a certain degree of precision unavailable to the layman. Despite the relative simplicity of the devices' operating principles, the band of temperatures at which unborn kiepheloi queens can be kept at long-term without damage is relatively narrow, and the magical knowledge required to ensure that the temperature is kept steady long-term is more than a layperson in Orochtha is capable of.
Discovery
The operating principles behind the stasis cell were discovered as a quirk of chance. Amas Kainelos, a moradeikon working at Athaios 200 years ago, was conducting a regular check on the hives under his management during winter. At this time, he discovered that one of the hives had produced two queen cells, and although all signs indicated that they had been created toward the end of autumn, they showed none of the hallmarks of development that the Amas would have expected to see in queen cells of their age.
Intrigued, Amas left the queen cells in place, curious to know whether the unborn queens were deceased or if their development had somehow stalled. Conducting more frequent weekly checks instead of the customary monthly checks of the hives, Amas tracked the state of the queen cells. They remained dormant through the coldest months of the year, and only began to display signs of life as the weather warmed. Their development did not fully resume until well after the start of spring, when temperatures consistently remained above freezing.
Much to Amas' surprise, the young queens developed naturally, and he was able to successfully induce the colony to swarm. The two queens took a contingent of workers each and moved into spare hives that Amas had at hand, and were able to build healthy colonies of their own. He had imagined that the long period of dormance would have had deleterious effects on the unborn queens, but further observations over the course of the proceeding year showed no signs of damage to the queens or their colonies.
Amas took his findings to his superiors and was permitted further experimentation. He was allowed to induce a different hive into swarming, and used magic to simulate the cold winter months. Sure enough, the queen cells produced by the hive when he induced it into swarming entered dormancy. He had discovered a way to safely remove queen cells from a hive without damaging their integrity. All that remained was to create a device that could maintain the required conditions over long periods of time.
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