Sectile
Physiology
The sectile are an industrious species of insectoid people with chitinous exoskeletons, multifaceted eyes, and sharp mandibles. All playable characters of this species are male haploid long-range drones, as workers (sterile female sectiles) and queens (fertile female sectiles) never leave their hives, and short-range drones (nymph males) never adopt behaviours that allow them to function with any kind of autonomy. Long-range drones are indistinquishable from one another by non-sectiles; their exoskeletons are pale green with light brown stipes, and they stand 170 cm tall and weigh 60 kg on average.
Drones are compelled to explore, and to gather information about the world at large and share that information with other long-range drones returning to their hive through an exchange of pheromones. They aim to locate another hive if possible, to reproduce with its queen (which may or may not be welcome), and to return to their own hive at the end of their lives to reproduce with their own queen. Unlike short-range drones, long-range drones are adapted to mimic the behaviours of other species in organized society, enabling them to integrate to some extent. Despite their attempts to integrate, their physiology, psychology and mannerisms remain significantly alien to other species, leaving them susceptible to dsicrimination and exploitation.
Life Cycle
Sectiles have the shortest life cycle of all humanoid species, at only 1 year. They are born from eggs, laid by a single queen living deep within their hive. Females are kept infertile and live their lives as workers inside the hive. Males hatch and remain in an immature nymph stage, working as short range-drones to expand the hive and bring back food.
When a queen grows too old and a new queen is needed, several female eggs will be fed a special diet of royal jelly, enabling several queen contenders to hatch. As these contenders grow over the first few months of their lives, they are culled down to one by the female workers using some unknown selection heuristic. Those who are culled are fed selectively to a small group of short-range drones seemingly chosen by the aging queen to be promoted to long-range drones.
After feeding off the culled queen contenders, the short-range drones enter a new life-cylce, maturing beyond their nymph stage into the full adult male stage. At this point they choose individual names, usually taken from only a small handful that have been adopted by the hive, and they are sent to gather information about the world, share it with other long-range drones, reproduce with a queen in another hive if possible, and ultimately to return to their own hive before death to breed with their own queen.
Culture
Sectile hive culture is strictly caste based and very rigid. Individuals are not allowed to express any free-will, and it is not clear if they even want to. The only sectiles who exhibit any kind of autonomy comprehensible to other species are long-range drones, who seem at best to be extremely odd.