Olthoi

AC:DM Bestiary Description

Olthoi are a scourge upon the land: insectoid engines of death standing from seven to eight feet tall. They are responsible for the Empyrean flight from the world, and until a decade ago ran rampant across Dereth. Their numbers have diminished since Elysa Strathelar and Thorsten Cragstone overthrew them, but they can still be found deep in their dark, underground hives.

Olthoi are fast, vicious fighters, impaling victims with a pair of huge, overhead striking arms and eviscerating them with smaller, razor-sharp talons. Once they choose a foe they continue to attack until that foe is dead. To them, anything that is not an Olthoi is either prey or a potential slave. Like ants and bees, Olthoi come in different forms, each suited to a particular role in their society:

Grubs are wormlike newborn Olthoi. It is assumed that they go through a pupal metamorphosis, but such remains unseen by human eyes.

Nymphs are immature Olthoi. They are relatively weak and easy to kill, but can still slaughter an entire party of inexperienced adventurers.

Workers are sterile drones, responsible for digging new tunnels and other menial tasks. They are the most common form of Olthoi.

Harvesters and Gardeners are specialist forms of Workers, who respectively forage for food in the territory around their hive, and tend the fungal gardens within the hive.

Soldiers and Legionaries have but one purpose: to find threats to the hive and destroy them. Their barbed claws can slice through the strongest armor. They can also spit streams of acid.

Eviscerators (also called Praetorians) are the elite shock troops of the Olthoi. They are very rarely seen, as they are specifically bred to defend Queens and their eggs. Other than the Queen, they are the deadliest form of Olthoi encountered by humanity.

Nobles are the male counterparts to the Queen. They exist solely to help her create more Olthoi, although they are formidable opponents on their own.

Queens are believed to be extinct in Dereth. There are always rumors that Workers are breeding new Queens somewhere underground, waiting until the time is right to conquer the surface once again.