The giant harvester termite was a large insectoid creature. [3][1]
Description[]
Giant harvester termites varied greatly in size, from the smallest workers of around 2 feet (0.61 meters) in length[1] to the large kings and queens that were hidden away deep beneath the earth.[3] The termite workers were small, feeble creatures focused on the endless maintenance of the colony. The soldiers were guards of both the hive and royalty, with the king being a particularly large soldier specimen. The queen was a bloated being that could barely move, spending her life producing new eggs for the hive.[3][1]
Behavior[]
The termites were nocturnal and shunned light, moving around in great numbers of thirty or more workers to forage for plant material, accompanied by a few soldier termites.[3] They would use the plant material as fodder for fungus that they cultivated on the walls of their underground galleries, and fed their young and rulers alike with the fungi.[1]
Combat[]
In combat, only the soldier termites would actively fight against an enemy. While the workers would retreat into the hive, the soldier termites did not back down from invaders, no matter the numbers or chance of victory. While not intelligent, soldier termites had an innate sense of tactics due to their breeding. They would attempt to flank their foes whenever possible, aiding each other to bring down foes that were particularly difficult to strike.[1] The soldiers had strong sword-like jaws that could cut an enemy in half with one bite, and were able to spit 1 pint (570 milliliters) of an irritating kerosene-like fluid against hostiles up to 10 feet (3 meters) away.[2] Those hit by the fluid would be blinded for up to 2 minutes.[3] If exposed to flame or other heat source, the fluid would burn, causing great damage to whoever was covered in it.[3]
If intruders made it to either the egg or the royal chambers, then all termites, except special attendants and guards, would fight and fight even harder than they had elsewhere against any foe, with every able-bodied termite coming to reinforce their kin as an telepathic call would be sent out.[3] The giant king termite had a defensive spit like the soldier termites but could spit twice the amount and twice the distance.[3] The giant queen termite meanwhile had even less combat capability than the workers; she was barely able to shift herself around, relying exclusively on her guards for protection.[1]
Ecology[]
Giant termites built nests consisting of stone-hard mounds around 100 feet (30 meters) in diameter and anywhere from 50 feet (15 meters) to 500 feet (150 meters) high, with numerous circular openings near the top. These openings led to diagonal, horizontal, and vertical passages, which in turn led to underground chambers that was the hive proper.[3][1]
Inside the underground lair, there would be as many as ten times the workers and soldiers as encountered on the surface spread throughout the nest. The king and queen termites would be found only in the royal chambers, always located near the bottom of the hive, with the egg chamber nearby containing as many eggs as there were workers and soldiers combined.[3] Near the royal chambers was placed a shaft leading to the repository well where unusable materials would be dumped—such as gold, bronze, and other worthless minerals.[3]
Giant termites were found in various locations, from the tropical mountains and jungles of Kara-Tur[4][2] to the desert wastes,[1] and in the great Cormanthor forest.[5] They mostly lived where it was warm and where large amounts of vegetation were available.[3]
The worst enemy of the giant termites was the formians, as they hated the termites and enjoyed eating their eggs. If a giant termite hive detected formian raiders, they would send out the crisis telepathic call long before the raiders had reached the hive proper.[3]
Abandoned termite mounds often served as lairs for various creatures in the wastes, as they made for excellent temperature-controlled lairs, at least until the lack of maintenance made the hive uninhabitable.[1]
History[]
Around Year of the Prince, 1357 DR, a group of owlbears in the starwood of Cormanthor were facing extinction due to lack of food. That was until they stumbled upon a pit containing a fallen oak tree, infested with giant harvester termites. After crushing and eating those they could find and fish out by sticks, they left the rest of the nascent colony alone. A month later they returned and found the pit crawling with larvae, as thousands of termites had hatched since last the owlbears had been around. This time, the owlbear pack dumped rotting tree-limbs and wet leaves into the pit, then sat around and watched the small insects feed on the soft foliage. Every so often, an owlbear would eat a handful of larvae but otherwise would leave them alone. After a time, the owlbear pack decided it was much easier to eat the termites than to hunt wolves or serpents. Over the next few weeks, the owlbears kept dumping rotten wood into the pit and the termite colony kept growing. Any soldier termite would be killed and eaten as soon as it hatched, due to the annoying habit of spewing their flammable liquid on the owlbears. More pits were then dug by the owlbears, and more giant harvester termite colonies were established by leaving adult termites in these new pits. Other owlbear packs soon copied the practice and throughout the starwood many owlbears subsisted on homegrown termites. The owlbear population not only stabilized, but slowly began to expand.[5]
Moreover, the owlbears ate the adult termites by crushing them, so as to get to the tender innards, then tossed the empty shells back into the pits. A fortuitous effect of mixing owlbear saliva with decomposing termite shells was an aroma that was near-irresistible to wild horses. The owlbears soon learned to hide behind trees near their termite pits, then pounced on the horses who came to investigate the smell, and tossed the remains of the carcass into the termite pit after eating their fill.[5]
But pyrolisks were also attracted to the termite pits and, while the owlbears despised their trespassing, they would rather give up a termite pit than risk incineration. Once a pyrolisk hen located an acceptable termite pit, she would eat all the adult termites, then decorate her new nest by scattering a few shiny objects like gems. After laying an egg or two, the pyrolisk hen then abandoned the nest. The hatchlings would spend the first few weeks of their lives eating termite larvae until they were old enough to fend for themselves and leave the termite pit.[5]
If one of the termite pits happened to be set on fire, it would spew a geyser of flame some 10 to 20 feet (3 to 6.1 meters) into the air, killing all termites and any pyrolisk hatchlings caught within.[5]
Appendix[]
Appearances[]
Novels & Short Stories
Video Games
Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir
Organized Play & Licensed Adventures
Servants of the People
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Jennifer Clarke-Wilkes, Bruce R. Cordell and JD Wiker (March 2005). Sandstorm. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 197–198. ISBN 0-7869-3655-X.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Jean Rabe, David Krolnik (August 1998). Masks of the Dohi-ri. Living Jungle (RPGA), p. 9.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 Gary Gygax (August 1983). Monster Manual II 1st edition. (TSR, Inc), pp. 118–119. ISBN 0-88038-031-4.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Gary Gygax, David Cook, and François Marcela-Froideval (1985). Oriental Adventures. (TSR, Inc), p. 114. ISBN 0-8803-8099-3.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 James Butler, Elizabeth T. Danforth, Jean Rabe (September 1994). “Cormanthor”. In Karen S. Boomgarden ed. Elminster's Ecologies (TSR, Inc), pp. 24–25. ISBN 1-5607-6917-3.