Biene

Biene meets the criteria for the cross-flight subspecies The Hivemind - Mutant Strange




The hivemind's origins are blurry. It always existed; it never existed; there is no start or end to its tale. One thing is known, however: it is a haunting threat to dragonkind and Sorneith itself, aiming to swallow the entirety of the world.

On its surface, the hivemind consists of black, insectoid creatures, which are often said to resemble dragons in their shape and stature. They have pitch-black carapaces and joints that move with a distinctly robotic feel. They are not alive in the contemporary sense - instead, most individuals are drones, under the control of a rogue consciousness that treats them less like living beings and more like extensions of its own body. A consciousness is a brain, its drones are the organs, and their hive is the chassis.

The presence of a consciousness is critical in supporting a hive. Drones are hollow-minded beings without autonomy or individuality, and most are not programmed with any sort of survival failsafe to remind them to eat and drink if the consciousness commanding it is disconnected. Consciousnesses are sentient in the most alien of senses - they use logic and reason, but lack any sort of empathy or moral compass and prize efficiency above all else. They can even communicate with other consciousnesses along a psychic signal (much like a radio signal) referred to as the baseline wavelength.

Much like an ant colony or a living body, sects of drones are divided into different castes and given different tasks, forming groups not unlike organ systems. Some drones are scavengers, others are guards, and yet others produce drones or food.

Drones can create more of themselves naturally by laying eggs, but this process takes time. To bolster their numbers in the meantime, a hive will capture dragons and force them through a process called assimilation, wherein the victim is gradually transformed, mind and body, into a new drone. The process of assimilation varies from hive to hive, but most commonly involves a drone vomiting assimilation fluid - a substance found in a gland in the back of a drone's throat - into the victim's mouth, after which assimilation begins.

Hives are a scourge upon the land that they live. They steal dragons away from their homes to be assimilated or eaten, leech nutrients from the soil, and attack all those who would dare stand up against them. A hive will not stop its expansion until the consciousness is killed. If left unchallenged, the hivemind (the collective existence of all hives) will rise up to swallow the whole of Sorneith.

Do not let it win. Do not give in. Do not assimilate.



MUTANT STRANGE
X / Wasp
X / Bee
Any / Any
Like pure drones, strange drones can have mutated tertiaries as well, the effects of which are highly variable.