Iron Ant
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Description:
Iron ants are large insects resembling ants in both appearance and behaviour. They feed on both plants and animals (including unfortunate humanoids), but most curious (and problematic) is their need to consume iron and other metal ores - presumably in order to grow their carapaces. In order to ingest metal iron ants first need to dissolve it, which they do by grinding up ore with their mandibles and then spraying a powerful acid onto the rubble from a gland in their abdomen. This turns the metal into a slurry that they suck up, leaving the rock and dust behind to be moved out of their tunnels.
Iron ants make their colonies in rocky terrain, boring tunnels similar to ant nests through solid rock, following and ingesting metal ore veins as they go. While their own tunnels are too narrow for most humanoids to crawl through, they are not at all opposed to using large tunnel systems as a starting point for their nests, and iron ants are particularly feared by miners.
Iron ant workers will range over large regions in search of food for the nest. They usually travel in groups of 1d8 individuals. If they discover an ore rich cave or mine they will return to their colony to 'report' their finding, and then come back to take control of the food source with 3d6x10 more iron ants - a mixture of soldiers and workers.
If the food source is an operational mine, they will quickly overrun it, killing and eating everyone trapped inside. If they seek to expand their colony, they may then look to bring a 'princess' from their mother colony and establish her there as a new queen, otherwise they will simply strip the location of precious ore, carrying it back to their home colony and leaving only rubble and dust behind.
Special:
An iron ant can expend a point of Resolve to expel a jet of acid in a line to a range of 4 hexes. Anyone along the line may attempt to dodge, but blocking with a shield results in both the shield and the defender being exposed. Anyone covered in this acid will find their metal weapons, armour and equipment quickly destroyed - though enchanted weapons will not be affected.
Iron ant acid is prized for its military application, and armies will often seek to have access to iron ant farms so they can harvest this acid for use in projectiles that will destroy enemy weapons, armour and equipment.
Iron ants are immune to Composure damage caused by morale loss due to reductions in troop strength in combat.
Variants:
Iron ants range in size and form between the small, weak drones and the large, powerful queens. An iron ant colony never has more than one queen, and a colony is usually comprised of about 80% workers, 15% soldiers and 5% drones. The ratio of soldiers to workers may vary of the colony is preparing to expand, or if the colony is under constant threat.
Soldier
Soldiers are female iron ants that have not been fed royal jelly, but have been raised in close proximity to the queen. Exposure to the queen's hormones makes them larger, more powerful, and more aggressive than workers. Their exoskeletons are extremely hard and thick and shine like stainless steel. They can reach the size of a humanoid child. Soldiers principally defend the colony but also assist with labour, using their powerful mandibles to help break up rock. They will also venture out to protect workers and to seize and control food sources or to support the establishment of a new colony. When encountered far from the nest, they are usually encountered in large numbers as part of a group send to exploit a new food source or develop a new colony. If a nest is attacked all of the soldiers within it will immediately respond and fight to the death.
Worker
Workers are female iron ants that have not been few royal jelly and have been raised further from the queen, leaving them smaller and less developed than their sister soldiers. Their metallic exoskeletons are thinner and weaker than those of soldiers. They grow to about the size of a dog, and can still be very dangerous - especially in large numbers. Workers work in and around the nest, taking care of the young, and gathering ore and breaking it up in their mandibles to serve it to the young and to the queen. Workers are the most commonly encountered subtype, and will often be found far from a nest, scouting for food sources.
Drone
Drones are the male iron ants whose only purpose is to breed with the queen. They stay deep inside the nest, in pockets close to the queen's chamber. They are underdeveloped, with weak mandibles, small heads, and a leathery skin instead of a metallic exoskeleton.
Queen
Iron ant queens begin as princesses - selected from a lot of newly hatched soldiers and then fed a diet of royal jelly - a form of the metallic slurry all iron ants eat that has been partially digested by the queen hereself and is then excreted from special glands. This jelly causes the princess to grow very large. A princess will be created either for the purposes of establishing a new colony or to replace an aging queen. If the princess is a replacement, the queen will continue to feed her until she is large enough to kil and eat the queen and take control of the colony - otherwise, when she is ready, the princess will be escorted from the nest to a newly secured location where she will found her own hive.
Iron ant queens can be very large, easily reaching the size of a horse, making her unable to pass through the tight passages that lead to the inner chambers of the nest. Their mandibles are deadly and, and their exoskeletons have the appearance of thick, stainless steel, marbled with streaks of gold and platinum - they are ornate, beautiful and extremely valuable not only as a source of rare and precious metals, but also as priceless trophies deemed nearly impossible to hunt.