Akala

There are rumors of a horror that lurks beneath the surface of this and other worlds all which point to the name, Akala.  These creatures have a unique lineage sharing characteristics of scorpions, spiders, ants and humanoids.  Their origins are steeped in mystery though scholars believed to have traced them back to a world within the prime plane called Tyr.

Many millions of years ago a culture of great power and wealth called the Akuba, sought to protect their cities, temples and boarders without the expenditure of their own lives.  Driven by the notion that nature is always the best teacher, the Akuba experimented with various forms of natural automatons.  Combining certain insect forms with the special dexterity of humanoid features, they finally found their solution…, the Akala.

For centuries these creatures drove back the Akuba’s enemies allowing them protected boarders at almost no cost, other than the land it took for the creatures’ hives.  The Akala were so successful that there came a point at which there were no enemies left to speak of.  They had long sustained their numbers and growing population on the corpses of their enemies and their herd animals, but soon this would not be enough.  Before they had even realized what had happened the Akuba found themselves completely surrounded by a highly aggressive enemy from which they had no defense.

Their creations began to starve as their search for food brought them inevitably back to their masters who also had nothing left to give them.  The small industry the Akuba had used to start and augment their creatures was far too small to feed them all. The Akala turned on their masters wiping them out in less than a decade.  What controls their masters had bred into them had been diluted by time.  Color schemes and symbols used in subtle combinations that once designated friend from foe, turned into a dinner bell. 

Though there are variations on at theme these creatures all have similar features.  The average Akala is approximately seven feet long and six feet tall with a slender half humanoid torso covered in patterns of chitin plates over their leathery dark skin.  Exaggerated hands looking more like clawed catcher’s mitts grow from their slender yet powerful arms. Their faces, dotted with eight multifaceted eyes, are humanoid in shape with an elongated snout containing rows of sharp teeth.  On either side of this snout are mandibles which attach to the head behind the jaw and curve like scythes past it. The lower half of the body has eight long spider-like clawed legs connected to a heavily armored scorpion like flat abdomen ending in a fearsome tail.  Their colors range from a smoky gray to charcoal black with combinations of red, orange and yellow patterns all over their bodies. 

Akala life is very similar to that of their distant ant cousins.  The larger portions of the population are drones who take care of building structures, foraging for food, taking care of the hive and young, basically the workers.  Next would be the warrior class who aggressively scout out any possible threats communicate them to the hive and then eliminate them by overwhelming force.  Planners and directors guide the day to day tactics and strategies with the nobles and the queen at the heart of the community.

The Akala have a mind set that revolves around the number 3.  Their simple credo of scout, conquer and spread is at the basis of everything they do.  They will send one scout in each of three directions from a hive, or base, keeping in mind the path from which they came.  When a threat is found, they will always send a force estimated at three times a threat’s ability to repel.  Should this be found inadequate, three times that number will be sent. 

Their life span is not easily determined as many die early on in life though it is known that many drones survive to become warriors and this process takes as many as 30 years.  One can estimate by this and the fact that warriors have been known to last an additional 90 years, that their life span is at least 120 years.  Other ranks perhaps beyond this may live for up to 300 years if not otherwise killed in battle. There are no politics, no arguments, no laws.  The hive mind revolves around expanding their numbers and territory.  The Akala have no enemies in the true sense as others would understand, everything to them is a temporary threat to be addressed in due time.  Other races see these creatures as one of the ultimate threats to their existence.  Worlds invaded by these creatures haven’t long to survive.