Andekhah, the 500th Rebirth
Andekhah, 500th of her memory, Queen of the Shaxa hive.
Appearance
An immense, jagged shadow defines Andekhah. Eight spear-like legs jut like broken fingers from her thorax, and four colossal wings adorn her back. Her upper body bears an almost humanoid shape, albeit twisted, jagged, and grotesque. Her face is dominated by a gaping expanse of fearsome teeth and rimmed by curving horns, while her eyes are tiny, sunken, and glittering. Behind her looming frame lies a massive, pulsating abdomen from which all of her children are born.
Skills and Abilities
Andekhah is the matron of her hive, having birthed countless generations of Chi'xilixi over the eons. She is the epicenter of the Shaxa hivemind, and while her children need no convincing to defend her, she may assume direct control over any number of them within 500 km. She may exert a lesser influence at even greater distances, and can see through her children's eyes, hear through their ears, and compel their actions seemingly anywhere upon the continent of Malakath.
In order to maintain such an elaborate mental web, Chi'xilixi queens are powerful psychics. They are able to attack the minds of other species, burrow into their thoughts, and, if the target is weak enough, break them from within. Any traveler compelled to turn away from a hive's center has felt the touch of a queen, and those in their immediate presence have been known to turn their blades on allies or themselves.
Naturally, Andekhah's size grants her great physical strength. Her exoskeleton is second only to dragon scales, though her underbelly and abdomen bear soft spots. She is so large, in fact, that moving requires great effort. She is capable of flight, but it requires so much energy that she will only do so in the most dire of circumstances. A prolonged flight will see her immobilized afterwards for weeks, months, or perhaps years.
She is blind in name only, for while many lifetimes of darkness have seen her eyes shrunken and useless, she sees using her psychic abilities in concert with her prodigious chemical senses and her hivemind network.
The Queen's Attendants: A Chi'xilixi queen's body is covered in billions of miniscule, gnat-like creatures referred to as her attendants. It is unclear if these area special class of Chi'xilixi or if they represent a symbiotic relationship, but their purpose is clear: defend the queen at all costs. The swarm of attendants appears to act autonomously to deter enemies that get too close, reject beings that try to touch the queen, and will even use their own bodies to clot wounds. At the same time, a queen does appear to be able to direct the swarm at will, implying that they too are under a psychic control.
In order to maintain such an elaborate mental web, Chi'xilixi queens are powerful psychics. They are able to attack the minds of other species, burrow into their thoughts, and, if the target is weak enough, break them from within. Any traveler compelled to turn away from a hive's center has felt the touch of a queen, and those in their immediate presence have been known to turn their blades on allies or themselves.
Naturally, Andekhah's size grants her great physical strength. Her exoskeleton is second only to dragon scales, though her underbelly and abdomen bear soft spots. She is so large, in fact, that moving requires great effort. She is capable of flight, but it requires so much energy that she will only do so in the most dire of circumstances. A prolonged flight will see her immobilized afterwards for weeks, months, or perhaps years.
She is blind in name only, for while many lifetimes of darkness have seen her eyes shrunken and useless, she sees using her psychic abilities in concert with her prodigious chemical senses and her hivemind network.
The Queen's Attendants: A Chi'xilixi queen's body is covered in billions of miniscule, gnat-like creatures referred to as her attendants. It is unclear if these area special class of Chi'xilixi or if they represent a symbiotic relationship, but their purpose is clear: defend the queen at all costs. The swarm of attendants appears to act autonomously to deter enemies that get too close, reject beings that try to touch the queen, and will even use their own bodies to clot wounds. At the same time, a queen does appear to be able to direct the swarm at will, implying that they too are under a psychic control.
