Bookworm
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To enhance an older Sithspawn creation of the Lady of Secrets
- Image Credit: https://tl.net/forum/starcraft-2/498989-new-swarm-host
- Canon: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: Horde Mother Rhak-skuri Hornets
- Name: Horde Matriarch
- Designation: Non-sentient
- Origins: Valrar
- Average Lifespan: 60 Galactic Standard Years
- Estimated Population: Planetary
- Description: While they appear similar to the Horde Mother, the Horde Matriarchs are larger and darker, enhanced in many ways by the Lady of Secrets and her alchemists.
- Breathes: Type I
- Average Height of Adults: 4.5 meters
- Average Length of Adults: N/A
- Skin color: Dark Gray to a deep Purple bordering on Black
- Hair color: No hair
- Distinctions: The most prominent physical features for the Horde Matriarchs are their massive armored front claws they use to burrow quickly into the ground and the large egg sac on its back. Much like the old Horde Mothers, this egg sac is host to countless eggs that the Horde Matriarchs can produce every six seconds and force spawn the semi-symbiotic offspring they carry to attack enemies or defend itself.
- Races: No other races
- Force Sensitivity: Non-Sensitive
Strengths:
- Like its predecessor, the Horde Matriarchs are able to spawn offspring, in this case the more evolved Hornets, to attack enemies and to defend the Horde Matriarch that birthed them. This can be done every six seconds due to the slight enhancements done during the alchemization process on the growth hormones and adrenal glands of the Horde Matriarch.
- In creating the Horde Matriarchs, the Lady of Secrets enhanced their armor through Sith alchemy and the inclusion of rhak-skuri genomes into the Horde Mother strain. Armoring that can take sustained hits from lightsabers, blasters, slugthrowers, and other small arms now covers the front claws of the beast, the large crest on the creature's head, and the along much of the egg sac's surface.
- The inclusion of rhak-skuri DNA to the base Horde Mothers has also given them the ability to emit a low level of the hallucinogenic pheromones produced by the spider-like creatures from Upekzar, although the Lady of Secrets modified the pheromones to not affect dark siders. While not an offensive trait of the creature, it does add another layer of defense within a meter of the creatures if they are attacked and the pheromones are breathed in.
- The underbelly of the Horde Matriarchs are still unarmored, easily allowing enemy attacks to wound or kill the creatures while they are moving.
- Much like the Horde Mothers, Horde Matriarchs are intrinsically attached to their egg sac. If the growth on their back is damaged enough, the shock of the wound will trigger a massive heart attack and they will die.
- Like other lesser Sithspawn, Force Light and other direct applications of the Force can easily destroy Horde Matriarchs.
- Diet: When embedded in the ground, they absorb nutrients from their surroundings while fresh meat is brought to them by their Hornet offspring.
- Communication: Among their own kind, and to their offspring, it communicates through roars and hisses. It can understand commands given through the dark side of the Force or spoken in the Sith language.
- Technology level: No technology level
- Religion/Beliefs: No religion or belief system
- General behavior: Like its predecessor, the Horde Matriarchs are a more sedentary creature that focuses many of its actions into protecting their egg sacs. If enemy forces are able to fight through the swarms of Hornets they unleash, the Matriarchs will flee to what they deem a safe distance and begin disgorging a new swarm of offspring. However, if under the command of a Sith Beastmaster, they will portray more aggression and will advance into danger against their base cowardly instincts.
With the new offensive planned against the Silver Jedi, the Lady of Secrets and her alchemists decided to revisit some of their older Z-series Sithspawn in a bid to enhance their abilities. While unsure on which creatures to begin working on, Taeli received a request from
Joycelyn Zambrano
. The current heir to the Emperor was an enthusiastic user of the Horde Mothers and their Wasp offsprings and had inquired if the Triumvir of Power could somehow create a stronger strain of each. The Lady of Secrets responded by creating the Horde Matriarchs.The new creatures, while keeping to the overall appearance of the Horde Mothers, are larger, darker, and more heavily armored than the old monsters. The egg sacs on their backs have been further modified through Sith alchemy, reducing the time it takes for the creatures to gestate and create new spawns. The Lady of Secrets even saw fit to include rhak-skuri DNA into their genome, giving them an even greater ability to protect themselves by emitting hallucinogenic pheromones that create crippling fear among the enemies of the Sith that reach them.
