Ambrosia

An alien-looking city where one of the largest insect hives live and work. Led by the mysterious Queen Anemoia, a giant mixture of insect and wyvern that appeared seemingly out of nowhere to begin leading a hive of her own, and a loyal and ravenous one at that. One of the many homes transformed by infestation.

Ambrosia, the alien and sprawling hive-city of the humanoid insectoids, rises in the murky, fetid depths of the swamp, where the mist clings like a shroud and the air hums with unseen wings. It is a grotesque blend of natural growth and calculated construction, where the swamp’s chaos is molded into the rigid, overwhelming order of the hive. At its heart sits Queen Anemoia, an enigmatic and calculating monarch whose pheromonal rule over the Insectoid species in northern Yorn drives the hive city’s relentless expansion. Ambrosia is less a city and more a living organism, constantly growing, mutating, and reshaping itself to meet the needs of its insectoid inhabitants. Built from a combination of resin, organic material, and the twisted remains of conquered towns, the city is a visual testament to the hive’s relentless conquest. At the city’s core is a towering spire of resin and swamp stone, where Queen Anemoia resides. The hive’s throne chamber is a cavernous space filled with bioluminescent fungi and pulsating walls that seem alive, resonating with the faint hum of the queen’s pheromones. Here, her attendants serve her every whim, while warriors and drones receive her commands.

Ambrosia grows outward by consuming the towns and villages it conquers. These conquered settlements are stripped of their original identity, their structures encased in resin and transformed into hive extensions. Marketplaces become storage chambers, homes become larval nurseries, and temples become incubation chambers for new drones. Surrounding the city is a maze of bridges and suspended walkways made from hardened silk and resin, connecting hive outposts and acting as defensive barriers. These webs are patrolled by sentinels, who keep watch for both intruders and escapees. Beneath Ambrosia lies a swampy underlayer where the remains of the hive’s enemies and failed drones are discarded. This toxic, bubbling mire is both a warning to outsiders and a resource for the hive’s alchemists, who extract strange compounds from the decaying matter.

The hive’s social structure is as rigid and stratified as its physical form, dictated by Queen Anemoia’s pheromonal influence. Every individual has a purpose, and deviation is neither tolerated nor possible for long under her control. The bulk of Ambrosia’s population are drones, mindlessly loyal workers and soldiers of all sorts of enraptured insectoids of every subspecies who toil endlessly to expand and maintain the hive. They are the builders, foragers, and warriors, every action guided by the queen’s will. A smaller, more intelligent caste serves as Queen Anemoia’s direct aides. These humanoid insects carry out her commands, relay her pheromonal messages, and oversee the drones. Deep within Ambrosia, a caste of insectoid alchemists concoct strange substances from swamp plants, venom, and the decayed remains of enemies. Their brews empower the hive’s warriors, reinforce its structures, and enhance the queen’s pheromones. The human tribes conquered by Ambrosia are either exterminated, absorbed into the hive as mindless servants, or exposed to horrific fates through exposure to the queen’s alchemical experiments.