Once you click on one of the factions, your loreslop will be served here!
Unseen labyrinths of tunnels and caverns lay below nutritious dirt patches all across the globe. Each town and village may have multiple miniature city-states of mammalian creatures toiling to eek out an existence within the Boroughs. While differing in size, most of these Mammalian Boroughs operate in similar fashions, with some even offering uneasy alliances to each other. A dozen or so species make up the population, each with their own purpose and place within society. Shadowy Councils decide the fate of thousands of Critters, rarely seen by the common folk outside of their palace-caverns deep beneath the earth. It is said that on the rare occasion a councilman will reveal themselves to the public, they are usually flanked by processions of devoted servants, armed guards and even private small armies. Commenting on whether this is a waste of resources would be futile however, as your hide could be the next to decorate their lavish fur cloaks…
Life within the Boroughs is simple for the most part. Those who do not fight on the front lines usually toil above surface in the vegetable fields and maggot farms that dot the Boroughs surface entrances. This position is extremely dangerous, as you're always one night away from a rampaging Monstrum or Colony raid, yet many still choose this life for first pickings at rations.
Others may attend positions within the Armour-Weaver guilds in the deep burrows, or as labourers in the ever-expanding tunnels that make up the dizzying maze that is a Mammalian Borough. Each Borough has its own crest, colours and culture that they proudly wear upon their armour and banners, using symbols inspired by the location of their tunnels or the types of flowers and plants that grow within the area.
Technology within the Boroughs is vastly different depending on which one you visit. Some still only live in holes dug straight into the dirt, while others construct metropolises of straw and sticks, towers that extend infinitely down towards the earth's crust. Rudimentary locomotive technology is still in early production, with most travel done on Monstrum back, typically small tamed voles. The weaponry disparity is vast, from straw shield and spear to complex explosive mines used by the Mole Tunnelers, to stem-rifles and stump-guns. Rat trap masters have been known to use razor thin plant stems as tripwires, while Hare Brutes prefer to use ancient conker mallets to bash their enemies with.
Many within the Boroughs only know of the great victories and heroic sacrifices of the willing soldiers sent to the front lines in some far lands, with all information and news heavily mandated by the Councils. That is all except the bunnies however. Each bunny that lives within a Borough is a veteran, surviving their first month on the frontlines. None of them ever talk about their time on the surface, choosing never to see the sun and scrape out an existence within the damp and dark, finding company in others that bare the same scars.
High up nestled between the branches of trees span entire empires of honeycomb and wax castles. Crusades of buzzing insects fly down in their thousands, protecting their Queendoms with righteous bravery. A myriad of species find home within these metropolises; Bees, Wasps, Hornets, Butterflies, Ladybugs and Dragonflies all have a role to play under the absolute monarchy of their Queen.
A Hive Queen is the single most important figure within the Queendoms, with every other servant willing to die at a moments notice in her name. A Queen and her Queendom share the same name, as to fight for one is to fight for both. While a Queen can be any species, all share the same fate; to be the ruler of one of these vast Queendoms is a lifetime of servitude for your subjects. She is locked in her throne for eternity, woven into the wax fabric of the cities she oversees. Every thought and demand she has ripples through the very bones of society, all heading her call in the most desperate of circumstance. At times, a Queen is transported around her territory, waving feeble limbs at her subjects from within her gleaming throne. Eventually, a Queen becomes one with the throne, being all consumed within it. When a new Queen is to be chosen, her last request echoes through the mind of every citizen with the name of her chosen heir.
The Queendoms typically thrive ontop of trees, spreading out like a yellowed fungus across its branches and within the hollowed-out trunk. Daughters of the current Queen may try to start their own society, and split off from the main Hive, travelling to a new settlement. To do so is an act of treason, and should the new Queendom be destroyed, its occupants and their offspring will be in eternal servitude to the true Hive Queen. Architecture within the Queendoms is some of the most magnificent ever devised by Critterkind, bountiful gardens and stunning castles being erected from reserves of honeycomb and wax.
To fight for the glory of the Queendoms is a high honour, with each foot soldier being drilled and disciplined by one of the twelve Hive Princesses. These royal commanders lead the charge against enemies of the Hive, using their advantage of flight to overwhelm the enemies from the skies. Pollinator knights charge upon Bee monstrums and Ladybug Guard form unbreakable walls of hyper-dense armoured shields. Dragonflies take to the skies and drop explosive sap-inferno payloads onto enemy backlines while Wasp Musketeers shoot volley after volley of stinger-rounds to shred infantry.
To face the Queendoms in battle is to face a swarm of drilled precision and royal displays of heroism. Most do not live to forsee this however, for hordes of tortured servants are directed to rush at the enemy frontlines, to die in mass foundations that pave the way for the Empire's expansion.
In the dark and the damp, millions of bright eyes blink from thousands of multi-limbed bodies, scratching and clawing at the bases of silk-spires and armoured cathedrals that make up the many Grand Colonies.
It is under floorboards and within rotting attics these city states are founded, ever sprawling and expanding upwards and outwards. Rows of nests and hovels are created and destroyed to make way for further expansion as the higher-ups demand it.
At the peak of these societies are the Spiders, faithful devotees of the Grand Web. Only one in one hundred thousand spider eggs reach maturity and as a result this has created a cult of perfection and arrogance within the lucky few to survive till adulthood, imbued with a sense of self-righteousness and holiness. Those who survive are lorded as nobles and Kings, worshipped by the lesser species in the Colonies. Their armoured Cathedrals sing the praises of the Grand Web, believing only a spider can decide the fate of each Critters life string, cutting those who defy them without hesitation. Outside of pompous hymns, many Spiders are wonderful Architects, using pulleys made from the finest silk to create contraptions and buildings that are a marvel to behold. On the battlefield they prefer to stay out of danger, with most Arachno-Architects simply field testing their newest inventions with scores of slave termites dragging baffling creations of silk and rotting wood, hoping it doesn't misfire.
Due to the dwindling numbers of Spiders within the Grand Colonies, most labour and menial tasks are completed by worker ants forever expanding the territory with mindless monotony. From hatching, all ants are given daily doses of hypno-pheromone, enough to dull their senses and sentience to a state of utter obedience. Only when an ant has proven its hardiness will it get promotion within society, and their dose of hypno-pheromone lessened. This causes the pinnacles of ant society to recognise the horrors and brutality of their people, with many choosing to self administer heavy pheromones to dull their emotions. The same goes for Soldier Ants, as Generals are often found surrounded by thousands of drones, yet none can hold a conversation. Some adept ants are chosen to become Pheromone-Wizards, their main function is to make sure all soldiers have the correct concoction of pheromones, often experimenting with new potent remedies which may prove fatal to their own kind. The reason ants endure with this existence is unknown to the other factions, but scouting missions into the deepest Grand Colonies report hearing constant wailing from the lowest levels, a sound of royalty in eternal captivity.
Life within a Grand Colony is forever busy with phero-smog creating a blanket separating the lowest Critters from the Holy Arachnid Spires. Chitin Foundries employ most of the workforce, where captured Monstrums are stripped of their carapace and repurchased into armour for the continued war efforts, with each Grand Colony fighting on a dozen different frontlines at any one time. Beetles, Termites and Cockroaches also tend to maggot farms and egg nests, making sure the thousands of Critters are fed just enough to keep production steady. A select few are tasked with handling the Monstrum zoos, breeding barbaric creatures for use in construction and warfare. While most Critter city-states utilise Monstrums in various ways, only the Grand Colonies have perfected their use with everything from Stag-Beetle Cavalry to the Centipede Behemoths being deployed against the enemies of the Grand Web.
It is said that all Wetland Sovereigns derive from a singular great empire hundreds of winters ago. It spanned the world, fairly distributing resources. The current state of the Sovereigns could not be further from that tale.
Whether you are a toad, newt, slug, worm or one of the other semi-aquatic Critter species that make up the Sovereigns, your loyalty is fickle. Your beliefs are bought, sold, traded, stocked and shared between the handful of corporations that rule each Sovereign. Typically resources such as shelter, food, weaponry and lives are owned by monopolies headed by shareholding committees. This system allows each Sovereign to be fighting on multiple sides in dozens of different wars, all marching under different corporation banners and paid alliances.
Only when the main sphere is under threat will the Sovereigns unite to defend it, for their society would surely crumble if the shareholders were harmed. The term "Sphere" is simply used to describe the giant bubbles that create a permeable field around the individual settlements that make up a Sovereign. Inside of the spheres toil thousands of workers crawling through algae-fields or mining sunken bones for shareholders to sculpt into elaborate badges of office. Any Critter within these underwater expanses can theoretically become a shareholder, and a handful of successful military generals have found themselves gifted with such a position. This possibility keeps the engine of war churning, with thousands dissolving in heaps upon far away river banks in the hope of such power.
The militaries of the Sovereigns fight with a dizzying amount of different formations and tactics. This comes down to each and every weapon also being a tool for mining and excavating, bringing foreign riches back underwater to expand their company and in turn allow a promotion. It is not unheard of for lower commanders to take stolen treasure for themselves and bring it to an enemy Sovereign for glory and promotion.
On the battlefield, leaders tend to use scouting forces of worms and other burrowing species to gather information on enemy positions. Following their reports, precise strikes from Spawn Artillery regiments allow for pinpoint accuracy, forcing mutated Monstrum frogs to fire spawn eggs from their backs in toxic barrages. Cleanup forces of Toad Croakers will then dispatch the surviving enemy forces, allowing the Battle Broker to enter and take the companies' cut of the spoils of war.
Unseen labyrinths of tunnels and caverns lay below nutritious dirt patches all across the globe. Each town and village may have multiple miniature city-states of mammalian creatures toiling to eek out an existence within the Boroughs. While differing in size, most of these Mammalian Boroughs operate in similar fashions, with some even offering uneasy alliances to each other. A dozen or so species make up the population, each with their own purpose and place within society. Shadowy Councils decide the fate of thousands of Critters, rarely seen by the common folk outside of their palace-caverns deep beneath the earth. It is said that on the rare occasion a councilman will reveal themselves to the public, they are usually flanked by processions of devoted servants, armed guards and even private small armies. Commenting on whether this is a waste of resources would be futile however, as your hide could be the next to decorate their lavish fur cloaks…
Life within the Boroughs is simple for the most part. Those who do not fight on the front lines usually toil above surface in the vegetable fields and maggot farms that dot the Boroughs surface entrances. This position is extremely dangerous, as you're always one night away from a rampaging Monstrum or Colony raid, yet many still choose this life for first pickings at rations.
Others may attend positions within the Armour-Weaver guilds in the deep burrows, or as labourers in the ever-expanding tunnels that make up the dizzying maze that is a Mammalian Borough. Each Borough has its own crest, colours and culture that they proudly wear upon their armour and banners, using symbols inspired by the location of their tunnels or the types of flowers and plants that grow within the area.
Technology within the Boroughs is vastly different depending on which one you visit. Some still only live in holes dug straight into the dirt, while others construct metropolises of straw and sticks, towers that extend infinitely down towards the earth's crust. Rudimentary locomotive technology is still in early production, with most travel done on Monstrum back, typically small tamed voles. The weaponry disparity is vast, from straw shield and spear to complex explosive mines used by the Mole Tunnelers, to stem-rifles and stump-guns. Rat trap masters have been known to use razor thin plant stems as tripwires, while Hare Brutes prefer to use ancient conker mallets to bash their enemies with.
Many within the Boroughs only know of the great victories and heroic sacrifices of the willing soldiers sent to the front lines in some far lands, with all information and news heavily mandated by the Councils. That is all except the bunnies however. Each bunny that lives within a Borough is a veteran, surviving their first month on the frontlines. None of them ever talk about their time on the surface, choosing never to see the sun and scrape out an existence within the damp and dark, finding company in others that bare the same scars.
High up nestled between the branches of trees span entire empires of honeycomb and wax castles. Crusades of buzzing insects fly down in their thousands, protecting their Queendoms with righteous bravery. A myriad of species find home within these metropolises; Bees, Wasps, Hornets, Butterflies, Ladybugs and Dragonflies all have a role to play under the absolute monarchy of their Queen.
A Hive Queen is the single most important figure within the Queendoms, with every other servant willing to die at a moments notice in her name. A Queen and her Queendom share the same name, as to fight for one is to fight for both. While a Queen can be any species, all share the same fate; to be the ruler of one of these vast Queendoms is a lifetime of servitude for your subjects. She is locked in her throne for eternity, woven into the wax fabric of the cities she oversees. Every thought and demand she has ripples through the very bones of society, all heading her call in the most desperate of circumstance. At times, a Queen is transported around her territory, waving feeble limbs at her subjects from within her gleaming throne. Eventually, a Queen becomes one with the throne, being all consumed within it. When a new Queen is to be chosen, her last request echoes through the mind of every citizen with the name of her chosen heir.
The Queendoms typically thrive ontop of trees, spreading out like a yellowed fungus across its branches and within the hollowed-out trunk. Daughters of the current Queen may try to start their own society, and split off from the main Hive, travelling to a new settlement. To do so is an act of treason, and should the new Queendom be destroyed, its occupants and their offspring will be in eternal servitude to the true Hive Queen. Architecture within the Queendoms is some of the most magnificent ever devised by Critterkind, bountiful gardens and stunning castles being erected from reserves of honeycomb and wax.
To fight for the glory of the Queendoms is a high honour, with each foot soldier being drilled and disciplined by one of the twelve Hive Princesses. These royal commanders lead the charge against enemies of the Hive, using their advantage of flight to overwhelm the enemies from the skies. Pollinator knights charge upon Bee monstrums and Ladybug Guard form unbreakable walls of hyper-dense armoured shields. Dragonflies take to the skies and drop explosive sap-inferno payloads onto enemy backlines while Wasp Musketeers shoot volley after volley of stinger-rounds to shred infantry.
To face the Queendoms in battle is to face a swarm of drilled precision and royal displays of heroism. Most do not live to forsee this however, for hordes of tortured servants are directed to rush at the enemy frontlines, to die in mass foundations that pave the way for the Empire's expansion.
In the dark and the damp, millions of bright eyes blink from thousands of multi-limbed bodies, scratching and clawing at the bases of silk-spires and armoured cathedrals that make up the many Grand Colonies.
It is under floorboards and within rotting attics these city states are founded, ever sprawling and expanding upwards and outwards. Rows of nests and hovels are created and destroyed to make way for further expansion as the higher-ups demand it.
At the peak of these societies are the Spiders, faithful devotees of the Grand Web. Only one in one hundred thousand spider eggs reach maturity and as a result this has created a cult of perfection and arrogance within the lucky few to survive till adulthood, imbued with a sense of self-righteousness and holiness. Those who survive are lorded as nobles and Kings, worshipped by the lesser species in the Colonies. Their armoured Cathedrals sing the praises of the Grand Web, believing only a spider can decide the fate of each Critters life string, cutting those who defy them without hesitation. Outside of pompous hymns, many Spiders are wonderful Architects, using pulleys made from the finest silk to create contraptions and buildings that are a marvel to behold. On the battlefield they prefer to stay out of danger, with most Arachno-Architects simply field testing their newest inventions with scores of slave termites dragging baffling creations of silk and rotting wood, hoping it doesn't misfire.
Due to the dwindling numbers of Spiders within the Grand Colonies, most labour and menial tasks are completed by worker ants forever expanding the territory with mindless monotony. From hatching, all ants are given daily doses of hypno-pheromone, enough to dull their senses and sentience to a state of utter obedience. Only when an ant has proven its hardiness will it get promotion within society, and their dose of hypno-pheromone lessened. This causes the pinnacles of ant society to recognise the horrors and brutality of their people, with many choosing to self administer heavy pheromones to dull their emotions. The same goes for Soldier Ants, as Generals are often found surrounded by thousands of drones, yet none can hold a conversation. Some adept ants are chosen to become Pheromone-Wizards, their main function is to make sure all soldiers have the correct concoction of pheromones, often experimenting with new potent remedies which may prove fatal to their own kind. The reason ants endure with this existence is unknown to the other factions, but scouting missions into the deepest Grand Colonies report hearing constant wailing from the lowest levels, a sound of royalty in eternal captivity.
Life within a Grand Colony is forever busy with phero-smog creating a blanket separating the lowest Critters from the Holy Arachnid Spires. Chitin Foundries employ most of the workforce, where captured Monstrums are stripped of their carapace and repurchased into armour for the continued war efforts, with each Grand Colony fighting on a dozen different frontlines at any one time. Beetles, Termites and Cockroaches also tend to maggot farms and egg nests, making sure the thousands of Critters are fed just enough to keep production steady. A select few are tasked with handling the Monstrum zoos, breeding barbaric creatures for use in construction and warfare. While most Critter city-states utilise Monstrums in various ways, only the Grand Colonies have perfected their use with everything from Stag-Beetle Cavalry to the Centipede Behemoths being deployed against the enemies of the Grand Web.
It is said that all Wetland Sovereigns derive from a singular great empire hundreds of winters ago. It spanned the world, fairly distributing resources. The current state of the Sovereigns could not be further from that tale.
Whether you are a toad, newt, slug, worm or one of the other semi-aquatic Critter species that make up the Sovereigns, your loyalty is fickle. Your beliefs are bought, sold, traded, stocked and shared between the handful of corporations that rule each Sovereign. Typically resources such as shelter, food, weaponry and lives are owned by monopolies headed by shareholding committees. This system allows each Sovereign to be fighting on multiple sides in dozens of different wars, all marching under different corporation banners and paid alliances.
Only when the main sphere is under threat will the Sovereigns unite to defend it, for their society would surely crumble if the shareholders were harmed. The term "Sphere" is simply used to describe the giant bubbles that create a permeable field around the individual settlements that make up a Sovereign. Inside of the spheres toil thousands of workers crawling through algae-fields or mining sunken bones for shareholders to sculpt into elaborate badges of office. Any Critter within these underwater expanses can theoretically become a shareholder, and a handful of successful military generals have found themselves gifted with such a position. This possibility keeps the engine of war churning, with thousands dissolving in heaps upon far away river banks in the hope of such power.
The militaries of the Sovereigns fight with a dizzying amount of different formations and tactics. This comes down to each and every weapon also being a tool for mining and excavating, bringing foreign riches back underwater to expand their company and in turn allow a promotion. It is not unheard of for lower commanders to take stolen treasure for themselves and bring it to an enemy Sovereign for glory and promotion.
On the battlefield, leaders tend to use scouting forces of worms and other burrowing species to gather information on enemy positions. Following their reports, precise strikes from Spawn Artillery regiments allow for pinpoint accuracy, forcing mutated Monstrum frogs to fire spawn eggs from their backs in toxic barrages. Cleanup forces of Toad Croakers will then dispatch the surviving enemy forces, allowing the Battle Broker to enter and take the companies' cut of the spoils of war.