Part 58: Regarding Klackons

Regarding Klackons

The klackons are a bizarre folk native to Arcanus, whose role in history has, to my best knowledge, been relatively minor to this point. The klackons are relatively insular by habit, and have no love for other peoples. In wars, they have fought ruthlessly against their enemies, having been quick to the most terrible acts of violence; nonetheless they have often been content merely to defend their own territories rather than seek conquests abroad. As with all peoples, they fell under the rule of the Confederation of Wizards, until that empire collapsed from its own ambition. Since then, survivors of their folk have gathered in Ixtu as a shelter against a perilous world. In appearance they resemble great upright ants, with two arms and two legs, of various colors and forms according to their caste.

Learning and lore are nearly unknown amongst the klackons, and their crafts are fairly crude but serviceable. Their society is a strange caste-based society, directed by a natural Sorcery that attunes their minds to each other and renders them docile and harmonious with each other. They possess five different castes, set from the egg. The builders and diggers are a brick red, who use their own saliva to mix with mud to create a material very strong and durable. This material is then used to build their buildings and structures, and to surface roads which will endure under many feet. Both their laborer caste and their warrior caste are black and heavier-built than their other castes, having a thicker shell as a natural armor. Their laborers are set to many tasks, from simple hauling of materials to the various crafts that they pursue, while their warriors are fearless and disciplined in battle. Their farmers and caretakers are set to care for their young, to gather food, and to raise crops; this caste is a rich green in color. They possess also a breeder caste, mothers and fathers to all their differing castes, but my spirit saw nothing of this caste, for they and their eggs are protected away at the very heart of their town. All klackons are tireless workers at their appointed role, laboring unwearyingly with but little sleep. In the town and near it they are very productive, but they do not truly settle their surrounding districts with villages and homesteads, and they must travel far to accustomed farms and mines. Amongst their own people, personal possessions and money are unknown, but they are willing to trade with other peoples for useful items more easily produced by outside hands, at least with the current mood of the town of Ixtu.

They lack any true religion whatsoever; their closest equivalent is also the only recreation known to Klackons. This is a gathering of many Klackons in a great hall in Ixtu, where they raise their voices in a wordless, tuneless song and commune with one another and with the Sorcery that commands and binds them all. With this communion they are refreshed and filled with a new zeal for their tasks.

The klackons are an utterly alien society far from our own borders. Far better, I think, to leave them to their own devices rather than stir them to resentment of outsiders.