Long Live the Queen!

William J. Keith (wjk150@email.psu.edu)


(Any wilderness setting acceptable.)

The first thing any sane, newly-sentient Ethereal Giant Ant Queen would reasonably do when under the gentle care of demons is attempt escape. All it takes is patience, sufficient Essence, and convenient Tether used by one's captors. Once on Earth, the Queen's exoskeletonized, gigantic, multilimbed form, complete with mandibles, claws, and poison, quickly dispatched the humanoid Vessels of her keepers. This done, she fled into the wilderness.

Once there, she began doing what her instincts said she was supposed to. She began building a home from the time-honored ant materials of dirt and spit, giving birth to workers, eating everything organic in sight, and encouraging her offspring to do the same. "Home," of course, is an anthill. However, due to shaping by Nybbas' experts, the "anthill" is turning out to be an alien-like pyramid.


A Malakite of Jordi patrolling nearby notices some ecosystemic imbalances. Tracking it to its source, he finds the Ant Queen's pyramid, shortly after the Nybbasites get out of Trauma. The Media team was in a bad mood. They flubbed up a mission, got killed, and now have to go recapture someone, in this *disgustingly* isolated town. Thus, when they met the Malakite, he was in trouble. However, the Queen rescued him -- workers swarmed the Media team, sending them back to Trauma. From a Malakite's point of view, anything that kills demons can't be all bad. Also, this looked like it'd require more resources than he had at the moment, so he retreated and picked up some allies. The Nybbasites did too... here begins the game.


The demons' task is simple. Recapture the Ant Queen -- send her back to the Marches, where the massive amount of Essence she needs to recreate her Vessel will give the Nybbasites plenty of time to get her under control. The PCs may be put in charge of keeping the angels out of the way, or helping sneak the Nybbasites in to kill the Ant Queen. The only complicating factor is that the angels may be trying to free the Ant Queen from Hell's control, which cannot be allowed. Even killing her permanently would be preferable.

The object for an angelic team is more complex. While the Queen cannot be allowed to stay on Earth -- besides the ban on Ethereals, she's disrupting the local ecology, and the Jordite(s) will insist on removing her -- there remains her antipathy towards the demons. The Malakite is not entirely averse to helping her escape her yoke. A free Ethereal is better than one in thrall to Hell. Since she's already helped against demons, it should be a piece of cake -- right?


Possible endings: If the Ant Queen is Vessel-killed, her drones will die. However, because she's so weak-willed, she's likely to lose her single Celestial Force. This would leave her nonsentient, and ripe for control by the Media. If permanently destroyed, the reformed Ethereal will be the base archetype Ravening Horde: nonsentient, uncontrollable by Hell, and uninterested in returning to Earth. If she survives Trauma, and the angels helped her stay out of the demons' hands, she will be grateful, and stay away from Beleth's side of the Marches, dreamscapes, or Earth. If the angels simply killed her, she will be embittered toward Heaven and an easy mark for re-capture and use by the Nybbasites. Otherwise, GM's call.

If the Queen survives an attempt to physically kill her, she will dig in and continue fortifying her complex, while trying to work out how to create a new Queen. This is impossible, since she cannot really reproduce, and the complex will eventually fall to massive assault. However, this will be a great deal of work for either side, and there is a substantial probability that mundane humans might see the complex before its destruction.

The best option for angels is to communicate with her. Any Jordian Kyriotate can; adding one as an ally will lower the difficulty of an angelic game, although if the angels request one's aid one's assignment is reasonable. Tongues(Ethereal), applicable resonances or other methods will indicate that she is willing to return to the Marches and knows the site of the Marches-Tether that the demons used to arrive in the area. It's about fifty miles from the site of the Pyramid complex, old and dying as a tourist attraction. Ferrying the Queen up the Tether will earn her gratitude and agreement to nearly anything.


The Ant Queen: 4 Co/2 Et/1 Ce. (G:IN: IQ 7.) Her Vessel includes: Mute, Deaf, No Fine Manipulators, Horrifying Appearance, high Strength/ST, Body Hits/HT, Claws, Mandibles, tough exoskeleton (high Protection/PD/DR), six-legged, and antennae for air currents. If playing in G:IN, the Queen is the center of a Hive Mind with Mindless Drones (the Workers) that function up to 100 miles. She has 50 Workers at game start, but can have up to 99.

The Workers: may be encountered building the complex, gathering food nearby (organic mass is to build new Workers), or tending to the Queen. They're mindless, under total control of the Queen. They have just enough independent function to fight or perform other basic tasks when ordered to. They have a single Corporeal Force. While their Body Hits/HT are low, one must pass the Protection/PD/DR of their exoskeleton to damage them, and they can attack with claws and mandibles, similar to the Songs of Claws(short) and Fangs(large). They will wait for orders before defending themselves, communicated chemically.

The Pyramid Complex: The main pyramid is 200' on a side and so far 50' tall. Inside is a maze of chambers and passages similar to a standard ant colony, except for architecture. The Queen's chamber is dug in 20 feet underground near the center.

The Media team: 2-5 9-Force demons of the Media, leaning toward Ethereal Forces. They have some Corp. Discords... needed Vessels fast.

The Malakite: 11-Force (4 Co/3 Et/4 Ce) solo agent of Jordi's, large coyote Vessel usually patrols this area. The local ecosystem was doing fine until this came along.


Return to main Iron Rev page.