Spathinae

Spathinae are an insectile species occupying several worlds in the Vast. Individually, these creatures have significant physical variety, resembling wasps, mantises, and moths, among others. Each inch-long spathinae is much like the insect it resembles, but thousands organize themselves to form a biological and neural network. The result is a colony that operates much like a single sapient creature. Such a colony is like a swarm and refers to themselves in the plural, but their consciousness is specific, with one personality and set of memories. The colony can alter their shape.

Most take humanoid form, speaking with a buzzing, layered voice from a featureless “head.” Spathinae colonies prefer armor adjusted so each constituent can wear one component, allowing the colony to behave like a swarm.

Most colonies realize creatures made up of a single contiguous mass can have difficulty thinking of a distributed sapience as a group with a common purpose, rather than a single creature able to act like a swarm. Most spathinae use the colony’s name without pointing out that each constituent has its own name.

Damage can disrupt a spathinae colony’s network, or even cause the colony to “die,” their connection failing and sapience fading away. Hundreds of constituents might survive, but the colony dissipates, barring magic that returns life to and reunifies the disintegrated consciousness. Remnants of “dead” colonies might join other constituents to form a new colony, but any connection to the original is ephemeral.

Spathinae do not grieve such losses. Many revere Oras and see life as a constant process of exploration and change. Constituents make sacrifices so the colony can thrive. Colonies take risks, face challenges, adapt, and dissolve to advance their species. A given colony can endure for more than a century, but colonies also disperse and re-form, surrendering individuality for greater good.

Even the spathinae do not know where they originated—any records of this place were lost to the Gap. They have no clear indication if any planet on which they now reside was their home world. Most spathinae colonies pay little heed to their lack of history, however, as evolution continues without regard for the past. Some feel, though, that purposeful advancement requires them to seek their origin and learn from that place.

Most societies treat spathinae colonies as individuals, with the rights and obligations thereof. However, a few peoples, such as the Azlanti, see spathinae colonies as no more than a collection of bugs, and in such cases, the colonies have no rights at all.