I think this will be most interesting. I see
Xithispk (still without a translation stone, so basically unable to talk), as he is generally a good aligned honorable monk type, getting along pretty well with Tera as a human. And then I imagine a dramatic moment towards the end when she tries to convince him to accept assimilation and join her in
the Cast...
Hmmmm, might have to see how it works out on that one.
Pre infestation Tera will definitely find Xithispk very intriguing since she's never been to
Malakath or seen his kind before. They'd definitely get along pretty well!
In general, pre infestation Tera will basically be the party healer. She doesn't have magic but she uses herbs, bandages and potions to compensate.
And Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Ruin is a sequel. It's almost impossible to enjoy without having the benefit of reading the first book; Children of Time. Both are absolutely unbeatable if you like science, odd animals like arthropods, space, and world building, though.
Children of Time is great. It's weird. It's like a different kind of post apocalyptic. A different kind of ancient aliens. A different flip on so many sci-fi cliches really. Although I might just like it because I'm a fan of spiders.
The Children of Ruin, though. It's taking all of the antes up a notch from the first book.
Neat! I'll have to look up the series! I commercial fish during the summer so I have lots of time to read books!
The Zerg influence I noticed, but not so much Enders Game or Starship Troopers, although, admittedly, I never read either book, only watched the movies. And I'm not really knowledgeable about 40k very much at all.
The influence from Enders Game and Starship Troopers is more on how the hivemind works.
In Enders Game the aliens have queens controlling a hive, if you kill the queen the entire hive dies immediately (because the Cast expand both through reproduction and infestation I think it wouldn't make sense for every creature to be solely reliant on the queen to live, or having zero agency to carry out the will of the swarm). But moreso I'm looking at the sort of
culture that becomes. A civilization made entirely of queens cooperating together (only the drones are a little more than mere extensions of the queens consciousness).
The Chi'xilixi have a limited hivemind according to their lore:
"All
Chi’xilixi within a single hive are born from a single queen, and they possess a very limited hivemind within individual colonies. While each individual retains their own identity, they are often aware of the emotions and sensations of their nearby hivemates. This phenomenon is strongest the closer a chi'xilixi is to their place of birth, yet the reason for this is as of yet unknown to outsiders."
As all of his hivemates are dead and gone, and he has traveled very far from the place of his birth, it seems unlikely that the hivemind connection would work out very well. Well... not unless he were infected and assimilated too, in which case it may be that the Cast recieve an upgrade to their entire hivemind system making it even more complex. But then I don't think he's going to go for that...
Hmmm, I think it would be reasonable to say that the Chi'xilixi have a more chemical based hivemind, like ants and bees.
The Cast in it's current state is a purely psionic hivemind, a combined consciousness. But with an actual guiding will it could evolve exceptions (as I have planned), using other creatures to take over guiding certain parts of the swarm so that the queen doesn't have to do it all herself.
Oh! I just realized why joining the Swarm would be an actual draw for Xithispk!
Because he's lost his hive! He would crave that sort of connection again!
Of course, he's more reasonable than to surrender his individuality so readily, but still the struggle would be real!
Does that mean they'll try to assimilate anyone who can tap into their hivemind network, or mimic their brain wavelength? That could prove troublesome
They assimilate creatures for their genetic traits. Adding a chemical mode of communication would certainly be valuable, but only if there's a creature in the Swarm who was intelligent enough to recognize its utility in addition to the Psionic collective.
However, with
Dauner's physical traits and abilities, they would definitely prefer to assimilate HIM if at all possible!
As it stands, the Cast is aimless, without a guiding purpose outside of "Survival of the fittest", "Adapt and Evolve" and "Serve the collective"
Tera will change that once she's assimilated giving the swarm a guiding purpose... Her will, which I intend for her to do either as an act of self-sacrifice... Or as a clutch moment of terror where she's suddenly dragged screaming into the darkness to be assimilated.
Another way this plot could go is if they DO escape the castle then they might attempt to destroy the infection from the source... Delving into the ancient dungeon where the Cast was imprisoned and released, and facing the source of all the spores infesting everyone...