Sha'az

The sha'az were a semi-humanoid insectoid race that dwelled upon the arctic ice.

Description
The sha'az body combined both insectoid and humanoid characteristics, with the large thorax and abdomen of an insect but the torso and head of a humanoid. It had six insect-like limbs ending in strong retractile hooks. The four hind legs were dedicated to walking and climbing. The two front legs attached to the torso had smaller prehensile hooks that served as hands. The sha'az typically stood erect on its four hind legs and used its fore legs as arms. The limbs and body were very slender with wiry musculature. The torso had a narrow but muscular waist and a broad chest.

It had a partial exoskeleton, with chitinous plates upon the thorax, back, and shoulders. Thick gray skin covered the rest of the body, particularly the legs, neck, and abdomen. All over, it was covered with a furry white down for warmth; this was thickest on the lower hind legs, which had an additional dense growth like felt.

The head was almost humanoid, with a deep-set eyes and hooked nose over a mouth, but with a pair of big serrated mandibles that protruded from its cheeks. The same white fur grew on its head in a thick mane.

The sha'az had a significant sexual dimorphism. A male sha'az had four wings of fragile and translucent appearance that rested on his back amidst the white down, as well as a potent venom on his mandibles. A female sha'az had no wings or venom.

Abilities
The sha'az were well-adapted to arctic conditions. Their warm fur guarded them against the cold and their hooked feet could move over snow and grip slippery ice and the steepest slopes with ease. If forced to travel south into warmer weather they could perish from the ordeal.

The wings of the male sha'az let them fly well in most conditions, except in extremely poor weather.

The venom of the male sha'az caused those bitten by their mandibles to progressively freeze over a matter of minutes until they either resisted the poison or were wholly frozen and died. This venom could only be used once a day. This was particularly effective against hauns, the sha'az's natural enemy.

A sha'az knight had a limited empathic ability with which it could communicate with the queen. Used when outside the hive, it worked without fail up to away, but beyond this it grew unreliable. It had a 10% probability of failing every minute up to away, increasing by 1% for every additional mile to a maximum of 90% no matter how far. When the empathy failed, it could not be attempted again until the next day.

Combat
Sha'az favored fighting in numbers, particularly when on a hunt. A lone sha'az would avoid battle, and if the threat was great, sha'az would try to alert their hive to the danger. Otherwise, they were courageous foes.

Though they did not wear armor, sha'az would use shields and weapons. Warriors favored spears, swords, bows, and nets, as well as their own mandibles and venom. They could even use their bows while flying, though at a penalty.

Drones had little combat ability and would only fight if they had no other option or the sha'az queen was threaten. They were rarely armed.

Society
Sha'az society was divided by sex and caste in a eusocial hive system. Male sha'az were the warriors, engaged in hunting and defense. One in ten sha'az warriors was a knight who was highly resilient and capable of empathic communication with the queen. Female sha'az were drones who maintained the hive and served the sha'az queen. The queen was a female sha'az who could cast spells as an advanced cleric, and the only one capable of magic and making magical items, as well as laying eggs (weighing each) to breed more sha'az. A hive could be home to anywhere from thirty to sixty sha'az, with half of them warrior males and the other half drone females, plus the queen.

While a sha'az queen had a lifespan of several centuries, she sometimes produced a young queen who, upon reaching adulthood, departed to found a new hive. This daughter and her hive would be a loyal vassal to her mother-queen, giving rise to a feudal system wherein social status was decided by closeness of relationship to the mother-queen and with many layers of mother–daughter allegiances. In any case, when a queen passed away, her drones ritually sealed the hive's entrance and the entire hive fell into mourning before dying themselves for lack of air. Any vassal hives then pledged allegiance to the eldest daughter, who would be the new mother-queen.

The sha'az communicated through a combination of words, motions, and scents. They were literate.

Diet
Being carnivorous, they hunted for food, typically taking deer, seals, polar bears, whales, and even enormous ice-slugs called haundar. One haundar could supply enough meat to feed a sha'az hive for tendays. Hence, they were a key part of the sha'az diet, yet for this reason they were also rare.

Homelands
Sha'az dwelled in arctic climes, where they dug their hives into the glaciers.

Relations
They traded shell pieces with members of other races.

The great enemy of the sha'az were the evil psionic worm-like hauns. Not only did they compete for the haundar, but also the haun preyed on sha'az eggs, using them to gain control over the haundar they parasitized.

Usage
Sha'az eggs contained a substance that deteriorated one's resistance to the psionic powers contact and mindlink. It made them cost half as much psionic energy and caused attempts to be automatically successful for a period of seven days per egg. Haun injected this substance into the blood of their haundar.

History
Circa 1367 DR, on the ice of the Great Glacier, a brood of hauns on their haundars began launching cunning and covert raids on travelers and surrounding sha'az villages and human nomad tribes, kidnapping anyone they could. For a few months they terrorized the area; the hauns took so many captives they needed to construct a colony for them over one of their satellite lairs.

Only the sha'az recognized their traditional enemies, but suffered badly with their villages destroyed, their drones kidnapped, their eggs stolen, and even their queen slain. The remaining warriors were leaderless and too few in number to effectively fight back, and too fearful to approach the equally fearful nomads for an alliance. Both set traps such as pitfalls and iceslides to defend against the hauns. Eventually, adventurers arrived to investigate, and after being caught in a trap, were met by nomads led by Huktal or by surviving sha'az. Working together, they would track the haundar trails back to the slave colony and try to fight the hauns to free the slaves.

Afterward, the hauns abandoned tactics and attacked surrounding villages directly; the inhabitants held out and were besieged, and sought adventurers to aid them. Meanwhile, the sha'az retaliated, hunting lone hauns where they found them and even skirmishing with larger forces when able, and they had one brood on the run. Finally, they discovered a populous haun icehold and made an alliance with the adventurers to help them destroy the brood for good.

Appearances

 * Book of Lairs