Tiny Steps Bees, Hornets, and Termites

Bees:
Bees are probably the most prominent of the hive bugs of the “many bugs” of the Scholars’ Redoubt, with multiple bee cities within the western reaches of the region. As hive bugs they have had since the start a very hierarchical organization, but there are some differences in just how this works compared to the ants. Firstly, bees don’t prioritize other bees in the way ants do, but rather bees take their city of origin as a deeply, deeply important thing, focusing on that first and foremost rather than species – in fact, for the first two generations it was rare to ever see bees far from their home cities, though this has loosened in the most recent years. Secondly, the urges around queens have been particularly important for bees; not only do bee cities have queens but those queens are *extremely* important. They are not only the rulers of their cities but their personification, living life vastly differently than other bees as they are raised from birth as untouchable manifestations of their hives, and harming a queen WILL get you killed. Ranks are much more clear than the sometimes specializing and sprawling rank structures the ants have – you’re a Worker (the vast majority of bees, civilian and military), a Drone (in the new context, somebody devoted primarily to childcare and education or administration or magic), or you’re the Queen. Notably, Workers and Drones are not actually restricted in gender, though Queens are.

With only three ranks, one of which predominates, most bees don’t have rank names. Instead they are named usually after some geographic feature of or around their hives where they first worked, though they do have ritualized dances that will convey just what their job is on top of their names, for within the hive. (Though these dances take up a much smaller role than before bugs became people, it’s still not uncommon to see bee dancers because of this, though they’re careful not to mix up ritual and non-ritual dances.) Queens have a different name structure – they are named the “Queen of (Their Hive)” and nothing else.

Example Bee Names: Blue Flower, Oaktree, Holeinthewall, Queen of Black Stone Hive, Queen of Low Grotto.

Hornets:
One of three kinds of wasp that can be found in the known world, hornets are the most plentiful of the three within the Scholars’ Redoubt, actually being the dominant population in a couple of cities, thanks to the hornets being the closest wasps to the Scholars’ Redoubt from Wasp Hell. Though they are hive bugs, hornets are particularly strange among hive bugs because their ranks are far looser than those of the bees and ants, and they value personal strength and achievement quite highly. Thusly, while hornet cities do have queens (though not kings), princes and princesses, and commoners, the distinction between the latter two categories often only matters insofar as it determines politics between cities – policies within hornet cities are frequently determined by rocking up with a sufficiently strong posse and either convincing or “convincing” your rivals to drop their ideas, whether they be royal or commoner, except by the decree of queens. Tasks are almost never limited by royalty or lack thereof, nor is marriage. Hornets have a tendency to engage in “nuptial flights” – even with an inability to fly, they usually travel around when they elect to start families or romances, *especially* with princes and princesses, who will often start new villages or muscle into new cities when they go on their nuptial flights, followed by several other hornet families. Hornets are a semi-nomadic people because of this, as large portions of hornet cities will not move but there will still be groups of hornets traveling around the region, and small hornet polities popping in and out of existence. This tendency among all 3 wasp types is one of the reasons that war broke out in Wasp Hell.

Hornets tend to be named after accomplishments they’ve made – extremely young wasps without any achievements are numbered, but mild accomplishments in young childhood are accepted for naming, with increasingly impressive achievements becoming the basis for naming as the years go on.

Example Hornet Names: Raid Crush, Brilliant Deduction, Far Exploration, Grand Construction, (a child’s name) Arm-Wrestle

Termites:
Termites have a history of being a mighty scourge, terrorizing a large portion of the known world as the termite-centric and brutal Termite Empire which met a chaotic end. This is a point of awkwardness for the termites of the Scholars’ Redoubt, which are a much smaller and much less warlike termite population centering around a singular city, Built upon Ruins, which largely fell apart fifteen years ago and was rebuilt over the next few with the aid from the termites’ neighbors. Termite society is separated into three categories here – royal, worker, and soldier. Royals can be either kings or queens, and there’s actually a great many of these within Built upon Ruins, organized into a Congress of Royals. Royals do embark on nuptial flights like hornets… but in the end, they always return to Built upon Ruins, as it’s the one termite-majority city here. Workers are the vast majority of the termite population, and tend to just stick within the city, performing their roles. Soldiers are often the emissaries of the termites, both guarding the city and being sent to perform the inter-city tasks commonplace within the Scholars’ Redoubt, though it’s not uncommon for young royals to be sent off to do these things as well. These caste roles are pretty strict, and they do see the bugs in them raised quite intentionally for these roles from birth, with formal training that actually supersedes that of any of the other hive bugs besides the ants.

Names depend upon what caste you’re in – royals get names that match various royal seeming qualities, workers get names that match qualities of industry and craft and skill, and soldiers get names that ironically match either military *or* match cooperation and peace. (They tend to be long, however, and shortened nicknames are common).

Example Termite Names: Grace and Judiciousness (Grace), Unceasing Determination (Deter), Innovative Design (Design), Keen Reflexes (Keen), Adroit Diplomacy (Adroit)